The Income Tax department today launched the second phase of ‘Operation Clean Money’ to detect black money post-demonetisation. Over 60,000 individuals will be investigated in the second phase.

Policy-making body of the department, the Central Board of Direct Taxes, CBDT said it has detected undisclosed income of over 9,334 crore rupees between November 9, 2016 till February 28 this year. The notes ban was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8 last year.

CBDT said over 60,000 persons, including 1,300 high risk persons, have been identified for investigation into claims of excessive cash sales during the demonetisation period. It said, more than 6,000 transactions of high value property purchase and 6,600 cases of outward remittances shall be subjected to detailed investigations under second phase of operation ‘Clean Money’. 

The policy-making body said all the cases where no response is received shall also be subjected to detailed enquiries. As part of the first phase of the ‘Operation Clean Money’, launched on January 31 this year, the department had sent online queries and investigated 17.92 lakh persons out of which 9.46 lakh persons have responded to the department.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said the government’s ‘DigiDhan’ movement for digital payment is a step towards curbing the menace of corruption. While paying rich tributes to Dr B R Ambedkar on his 126th birth anniversary at the Deekshabhoomi in Nagpur, Mr Modi also launched two new schemes under the BHIM app for referral bonus to individual users and cash-back for merchants to incentivise them. 

Seeking to rope in youngsters to promote cashless transactions, the Prime Minister said for any person who introduce to the BHIM app, he will get a cash back of 10 rupees and if someone refer 20 people a day, he can earn 200 rupees. 

Commenting on the Aadhaar-based digital payment mobile application, Mr Modi said the BHIM app is positively impacting several lives across the country. He said the nation is reaching a time when financial transactions will take place at the the mobile phones.

In December 2016, Modi had launched the BHIM app for facilitating electronic payments by consumers. In March, the government launched Aadhaar Pay, a new Android-based smartphone app.

Mr Modi said there was an era when the thumb was a sign of being illiterate and now, the thumb which is used for Aadhaar-based transactions, has become people strength. He said awards of 250 crore rupees have been given boost to the less-cash transactions. 

The Prime Minister also felicitated the winners of the mega draw of incentive schemes to promote digital payments — the Lucky Grahak Yojana and DigiDhan Vyapaar Yojana. He asked the awardees to become ambassadors of a less-cash campaign.

Any citizen without access to smartphones, internet, debit or credit cards will be able to transact digitally through the BHIM Aadhaar platform.

The inevitable faultlines in the unimaginable PDP- BJP coalition government in the sensitive border state of Jammu and Kashmir has brought to the fore that it is not a truly representative government which can deliver. 

Further, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s curt message to the angry youth of Kashmir prodded by separatists and terrorists is to decide whether they want development (read tourism) or terrorism. This has added a new dimension to the disturbances in the only Muslim majority state in the country. 

The mood has inevitably changed in the Valley because of an unworkable coalition believing in different ideologies. With politics being the art of the possible, the late J&K chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s experiment of trying to bring together the PDP and BJP appears to have bombed. 

The chances of ressurecting it is remote given the irreconciliable differences along with the fact that no one wants a snap poll. Matters have gone from bad to worse for more than a year and the ground situation has been steadily deteriorating as evidenced with the violence and poor turnout in the bypolls. 

The political atmosphere has changed radically. The challenge before the Narendra Modi government is to keep the political engagement alive. Since 2008 voters in Kashmir have shown a strong desire to vote irrespective of the violence, clashes or separatists giving a call to boycott the democratic process. 

The lowest turnout of two per cent in Srinagar this time is a reflection of voters desire to steer clear of participating in the polls. The youthful disrupters whose numbers are increasing on the ground with each passing day is unlikely to cease any time soon. 

While the Modi government wants to impose its own idea of India in the Valley, the pull of radical Islam from outside has been posing fresh challenges to the struggle of Kashmiris in the Valley.  The trouble in Srinagar is indicative of the uncertain and extremely delicate environment in the state. 

The previous Congress led UPA government’s attempt to pursue a dialogue with Pakistan in an attempt at normalising the bedeviled relations persuaded more Kashmiris to repose faith in the ballot box. 

Ironically Modi began with the handicap of trying to convince the Kashmirs of his sincerity because of the anti-Muslim bias coupled with the ruling BJP’s three-point Hindutva agenda one of which seeks abrogating Article 370 of the Constitution according special status to J&K. The other two pertain constructing a Ram temple in Ayodhya and having a Uniform Civil Code.

The Prime Minister’s security-centric approach towards Pakistan failed after the killing of Burhan Vani considered as the posture boy of Kashmir and the indiscriminate use of pellets resulting in a large number of deaths. The promise of ‘bijli-sadak-pani’ intertwined with its Hindutva agenda has failed to work in J&K. 

Any attempt to reach out to Islamabad might not work at this juncture with a Pakistani military court sentencing former Indian Navy officer Kulbushan Jadhav to death without even providing consular access in flagrant contravention of the Vienna Convention. 

It has been widely seen in the past that the situation in the Valley becomes manageable whenever bilateral issues are up for discussion and resolution. It is another matter that such efforts have invariably come to nought. On the other hand the Mehbooba Mufti government has failed to deliver on all fronts so far — be it containing terror, governing the state well or in spurring development.  

The current round of by-elections has not only been a huge let down in J&K alone but also in R K Nagar in Chennai which was represented by the late chief minister of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalithaa. Reports from Madhya Pradesh are also disconcerting. Stone pelting and firing, along with alleged booth capturing were reported in the Ater assembly seat in Bhind district. 

It is a wake up call for the Election Commission of India about the challenges ahead. Considering the protests about the alleged manipulation of the EVMs which has been stoutly denied by the ECI, the autonomous body and a creation of the Constitution, has once again last Wednesday challenged the political parties, scientists and engineers to prove that the EVMs can indeed be hacked. The ECI is banking on the EVMs being tamper proof and hoping for a repeat of 2009 when none could crack the code at a similar open challenge. 

With South Kashmir becoming the new centre of militancy, the Centre has inexplicably lost the opportunity to evolve effective counter strategies during the pause in the winter. It has become imperative for the Modi government to restart the dialogue with all the stakeholders to soothe ruffled feathers. Allowing a drift in the surcharged atmosphere has the portends of creating another dangerous turn of events. 

(T R Ramachandran is a senior journalist and commentator. The views are personal.) 

New Delhi : As the Modi government continues to accord high priority to its  “Make in India” flagship programme, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley today welcomed the U.K.’s interest in manufacturing in India as evidenced by recent MoUs between companies of the two countries.

In a joint statement issued during the ongoing visit of the U.K.’s Secretary of State for Defence Michael Fallon, both the ministers acknowledged the progress being made in defence manufacturing and recognised the potential for further cooperation in the sector under the “Make in India’’ framework. The U.K. minister is on a four-day visit to India beginning April 11. The two ministers also held delegation level talks today

While lauding defence cooperation between the two countries, Mr. Jaitley cited examples of recent announcements including the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Bharat Dynamics Ltd. and Thales UK on technology transfer opportunities for missile systems and efforts to develop an Advanced Hawk jet trainer jointly by the BAE Systems and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). 

To further facilitate cooperation between the UK and Indian companies, the two Ministers agreed to extend the current Defence Equipment Cooperation MoU and work towards early completion of an expanded MoU, that will provide a platform for the UK and Indian industries to collaborate on and support transfer of technology on projects in areas of mutual interest.

The two Ministers welcomed measures to ensure life cycle support and sustenance of UK-origin defence platforms used by India, which may include setting up joint ventures and other collaborative arrangements.

The UK and India will encourage interactions between the Indian Army Design Bureau and Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S)/Army Capability Branch through their Defence Equipment Sub-Group, according to the joint statement. 

The UK and India will explore establishing a secure communications method in order to share classified material.

The U.K. Defence Secretary’s visit reaffirmed and consolidated UK-India defence cooperation in the framework of the Defence and International Security Partnership, agreed in November 2015, and the subsequent joint statement between the two governments a year later. 

“This enduring defence partnership will encompass not only cooperation in defence industry but also stronger military to military engagement, including training and advanced joint exercises,’’ the joint statement said.

The renewed engagement will place capability and technology development at its core and seek to harness the complementary strengths of both nations in defence manufacturing and use the combined strengths of their respective private and public sectors to develop defence solutions for use in both home and shared export markets.

The two Defence Ministers will also continue to consult and co-ordinate policies across a range of global security challenges, especially those intended to eliminate the scourge of international terrorism, in pursuit of their shared goal of a more secure world.

Based on the Defence and International Security Partnership (DISP) and building on existing Defence Consultative Group (DCG) mechanisms, both sides will explore additional areas for institutional engagement.

The Ministers agreed to further strengthen their naval and maritime interactions, including enhanced Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) through the bilateral technical agreement to exchange information to track terrorist and pirate vessels, a key deliverable of the DISP. The two Ministers also agreed to further develop cooperation between the UK Hydrographic Office and the Indian Navy Hydrographic Office.

India and the UK will endeavour to build a range of Capability Partnerships focussing on varied aspects of military effectiveness such as specialised training interactions and exchange of best practices areas like Counter Terrorism (CT), Counter Improvised Explosive Devices (CIED), Air Force Training, Air Total Safety, Aircraft Carriers, Maritime Safety, Shipbuilding and UN Peacekeeping. Efforts are already underway with exchanges of subject matter experts to discuss air safety collaboration and future CT requirements.

The first general elections were held in India in 1952, where symbols of each candidate were marked on separate boxes in each polling station. However, the system of maintaining separate ballot boxes for each of the contesting candidates soon gave way to the ballot paper system which presented multiple names of the contesting candidates along with their election symbol. Advancement in technology ensured the ballot was then replaced by the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

The aspersions cast on the EVM today go a long way back to the very year in which it was first employed. It was the bye-election of Parur Assembly constituency of Kerala in 1982 and the EVMs had been installed in 50 polling stations. Consternation rose the minute the result was announced. Of six candidates, Sivan Pillai of the Communist Party of India came out on top securing 123 votes more than A.C. Jose of the Congress (A) Party.  The result was immediately challenged by Jose on the ground that the EVMs should not have been introduced without making due amendment in the Representation of People’s Act, 1951.

The Supreme Court in the challenge made by Jose struck down the election results of booths where the EVMs were employed. Subsequent to the pronouncement of the Supreme Court in A.C. Jose, Section 61A was inserted in the Representation of People Act, 1951 by the Parliament in December 1988 which empowered the Election Commission to use EVMs. .

The Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) which has lately grabbed the spotlight, interestingly were first developed for a different purpose. Scientists of Bharat Electronics Limited (B.E.L) initially developed the machine for trade union elections. Grasping the utility and its relevance to the country’s general elections, the Election Commission then approached B.E.L. for manufacturing an EVM suitable for the general elections. The scientists after thorough experimentation and research designed such an EVM, manufactured in 1989-90; these were for the first time used in 16 Assembly Constituencies in the Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan.  The machines also made their debut in Delhi at the General Elections to the respective Legislative Assemblies in November 1998.

Much water has flown since but the issue of possible tampering has reared its head time and again before the courts, though the courts have ruled it out.  The Karnataka High Court in 2004 in Michael B. Fenandes vs. C.K. Jaffer Sharief held that EVMs were fully tamper proof and further held that there was no possibility of manipulation or mischief at the instance of anyone. The issue of possible tampering was also negated by the Madras and Bombay High Court.

The Supreme Court while hearing the Public Interest Litigation filed by Dr. Subramanium  Swamy issued additional directions to ally the fears surrounding this electronic voting machine.  The Court issued directions for introduction of VVPAT system (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail), which involves a printing paper trail when the voter casts his vote, in addition to the electronic record of the ballot, for the purpose of verification of his choice of candidate and also for manual counting of votes in case of dispute. The Supreme Court in its judgment concluded that it was satisfied that the “paper trail” is an indispensable requirement of free and fair elections and that the confidence of voters in the EVMs can be achieved only with the introduction of the “paper trail”. The Supreme Court directed that in order to ensure fullest transparency in the system and to restore the confidence of the voters, it was necessary to set up EVMs with VVPAT system as this system would prove to be extremely helpful for manual counting of votes in case of dispute.

The system was accordingly introduced by the Election Commission of India in 21 polling stations of the bye-election of Noksen Assembly Constituency in Nagaland during September 2013. Later, acting on a dispute over the election result, the Election Commission carried out a count of the paper slips of VVPAT in respect of all polling stations and found no discrepancy between the electronic and paper count.

Despite the directions issued by the Supreme Court, the introduction of EVMs with VVPAT has not been implemented fully.  The recent elections in UP and the claims by the Opposition of alleged tampering of EVMs has brought the issue again to the forefront.  The non-availability of funds with the Election Commission to the tune of Rs. 3,000 crores, for the purchase of 16 lakh EVMs has been cited as one of the main reason for this failure.

The need to dispel voter concerns over the increasing use of technology in elections and the lack of transparency thereof has been a matter of great debate not only in India but several other countries.  In the 2017, United States Presidential election, nearly 70% of the voters cast paper ballots by hand.  Following their custom, the  five states—Delaware, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, and New Jersey—used the “direct recording electronic” (DRE) machines exclusively and more than half of the other states conducted post-election auditing, by checking vote totals against paper records. Such audits are designed to verify that the electronic voting systems (either DRE voting machines or optical scan voting systems) are accurately recording and counting the votes. In the randomly-selected precincts, a hand count of the voter-verified paper records is compared to the totals reported by the electronic voting system.

After a largely successful trial period spanning from 1998 to 2005, two citizens challenged the constitutionality of electronic voting before the German Constitutional Court. The case argued that the use of electronic voting machines was unconstitutional and that it was possible to hack the voting machines thus the results of the 2005 election could not be trusted.

The Court held that the public nature of elections is a fundamental precondition for democratic political will formation and creates a major pre-condition for the well-founded trust of the citizen in the correct operation of the elections. The use of electronic voting machines requires that the essential steps of the voting and of the determination of the result can be examined by the citizen reliably and without any specialist knowledge of the subject.

The Constitutional Court, however, explicitly left the door open for the use of electronic voting machines if the constitutionally required possibility of a reliable correctness check is ensured. The Constitutional Court held that voting machines are conceivable in which the votes are recorded elsewhere in addition to electronic storage. While the court’s decision did not rule out the use of voting machines in principle, the decision by the German Constitutional Court, stressing the need for transparency in the electoral process without specialist technical knowledge, effectively ended use of electronic voting in the country and no further moves to adopt machines that meet the transparency requirements have been made either.

In April 2009, the Irish government announced the scrapping of the controversial electronic voting system. The machines were originally put on trial in three constituencies in the 2002 General Election and were intended for nationwide use in the 2004 European and local elections. But a number of security and transparency issues were raised, undermining the public’s trust. The nation has gone back to paper and pencil mode. Similarly, Netherlands were both an early adopter and early abolisher of electronic voting. It started using the EVM in the 1980s. In 2008, the use of electronic machines was abolished.

So what course does India chart? Does it follow the path adopted by countries like Germany and scrap electronic voting altogether? Pulling off EVMs from the poll booths? Much like the courts,  the Election Commissioners have time and again shown preference for the adoption of the VVPAT along with the EVMs instead of merely doing away with the system altogether. Former Chief Election Commissioners S Y Quraishi and H S Brahma recently called for a quick rollout of the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines in all polling stations across the country. They explained their stance saying that it was the only way to silence doubts over the alleged tampering of EVMs. The Election Commission has sent more than 10 reminders to the Centre since June 2014 for the release of funds to carry out phased implementation of the VVPATs.

As recently as 24 March 2017, the Supreme Court itself issued notice to the Election Commission on a Public Interest Litigation pertaining to the introduction of a paper trail. The Supreme Court observed that the Election Commission had not complied with the directions issued by it in 2013. This again has provided fresh fodder to the debate over the veracity of the EVMs.

While the courts have repeatedly held that the EVMs used in the Indian electoral process are tamper proof it has also provided directions for the introduction of the VVPAT system to rule out the remotest concerns. In lending support to the VVPAT, the Indian legislature has shown the way forward in this heated debate over EVMs. Its stern directions for the quick implementation of the VVPAT along with EVMs is proof of its commitment to assuage the voter and hence secure the democratic processes that India prides itself in. 

(The writer is a Supreme Court Advocate)

India got its very “Google Map” called “Nakshe”, the web portal designed by Survey of India (SoI) contains topographic maps or open series maps (OSM) containing natural and man-made geographical features including terrain or topography. These OSM maps can be downloaded for free “Nakshe” in pdf format on 1:50,000 scale through Aaadhar enabled user authentication process.

Launching “Nakshe” — http://soinakshe.uk.gov.in/ Â— which also marked the 250th anniversary celebrations of SoI, Union Minister of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan said this portal would help in making the vision of the country in its strongest form and help the Prime Minister’s Digital India initiative. “Nakshe” will facilitate usage of open series maps by common man. It is also an attempt to strengthen linkages between government departments and geospatial industry to ensure appropriate planning and execution of transformational projects like Smart City and Digital India, he added.

FEATURES OF NAKSHE PORTAL

·         All OSM maps to be made available to Indian citizens for free download in .pdf format with reference to the national map policy.

·         Ensure compliance with National Data Sharing and Accessibility policy (NDSAP) 2012 as per which the government is committed to provide access for data generated using public money.

·         Address security concerns and tracking through Aadhar based authentication and bar coded tagging to Aadhar number of concerned user.

·         Application to be hosted in National Data Centre of NIC and security auditing to be done by CERT-IN before actual hosting of the application. A domain name “Nakshe” has been registered for the portal.

·         All Indian residents having Aadhar can access the portal.

·         About 3000 open series maps are available for download as of now.

·         The downloaded maps can be used to meet the requirements of study, research and developmental activities.

·         Commercialisation of the downloaded product is strictly prohibited.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Courtesy – ICT Flash

Vehicle users in India will soon see changes in petrol and diesel price on daily basis. Price will be aligned to international crude oil prices. 

Petrol, diesel prices to change every day in five cities from May 1

Petrol and Diesel prices will change every day in sync with international rates in five select cities from 1st May. A pilot for daily revision of petrol and diesel price will be first implemented in Puducherry, Vizag in Andhra Pradesh, Udaipur in Rajasthan, Jamshedpur in Jharkhand and Chandigarh. 

Indian Oil Corp – IOC chairman B Ashok told a news agency that state-owned fuel retailers IOC, BPCL and HPCL will launch it on pilot basis and gradually extend it to all over the country. 

State fuel retailers currently revise rates on 1st and 16th of every month based on average international price of the fuel in the preceding fortnight and currency exchange rate.

As per the trends of International crude oil prices consumers need not to worry as the price do not fluctuate on daily basis.

EC throws open challenge to people to hack its EVM’s from 1st week of May

The Election Commission has thrown an open challenge to people to hack its Electronic Voting Machines. The move came after opposition parties urged it to revert to the paper ballot system raising doubts over infallibility of the EVMs.

Sources said, from first week of May, experts, scientists, technocrats can come for a week or 10 days and try to hack the machines.The Commission had announced a similar challenge in 2009 and it claimed no one could hack the EVMs. 

Information and Broadcasting Minister Venkaiah Naidu has welcomed the Election Commission’s decision to open challenge. Speaking to media, Mr Naidu said, if anybody has proof they can show that to the commission.

In the times of demonetization when the Modi Government is urging people to move towards electronic modes of payments, the factor that will matter most in making digital payments successful is uninterrupted internet access, particularly in rural areas where reliable mobile network are still a big issue.  While top mobile operators, including government-owned BSNL, is striving hard to ensure uninterrupted mobile network for better voice and uninterrupted data transfer, a Gurgaon-based telecom company – Vihaan Networks Ltd or VNL – has shown the way that could help realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of “Digital India”.

Through its unique and ‘green’ mobile solutions, VNL has set up broadband networks in three villages in Rajasthan that provide seamless Wi-Fi coverage free of cost. These networks are literally maintenance-free that can be managed by any villager and are not dependent on government power supply as they are solar powered,

Though the villages of Karenda, Phalsa and Bahadari are yet to get good roads and proper supply of water, what they can boast of is uninterrupted Wi-Fi network that delivers good broadband speed and is free of cost. Students here can be seen visiting various websites related to education and jobs though they sometimes do visit entertainment and sports website for recreation. VNL has also provided broadband services to government school and ‘panchayat ghars’ in these villages that helps school and gram panchayats to get their official work done.

“We have created high-speed wireless internet services solutions especially for rural areas. Our ‘Rural Broadband Solution’ is totally solar-powered and standalone wireless broadband solution that provides seamless Wi-Fi coverage anywhere. It needs no shelter, air conditioning, connection to power grid, generator or diesel fund, and is ready for business in days providing fully-functional broadband,” says VNL Chairman Rajiv Mehrotra.

Another interesting innovation from VNL is ‘Gurukul’, village internet kiosk solution that enables rural communities to access high speed broadband internet without the need for connection to power grid or diesel generators. “High speed broadband internet access enables children to take advantage of distance learning and other e-learning initiatives. Villagers can also access the internet for e-finance and e-governance related tasks. Our modern and ‘green’ broadband solutions will help the government in speedy realization of the ‘Digital India’ goals,” adds Mr. Mehrotra.

Being close to Delhi, these villages had access to mobile networks and broadband, but erratic mobile connectivity and power supply besides high data packages made it difficult for them to freely use internet. “But for almost two years VNL has been providing us uninterrupted broadband access. Villagers, particularly children, are happy that they can use internet for education and other purposes. It has also helped us to get crucial information related to agriculture and weather. With the government scrapping old Rs.1000 and Rs.500 notes, people are now learning internet banking and other modes of e-transaction, thanks to good broadband network,” says a village elder.

VNL, which also has to its credit of supplying cost-efficient and reliable mobile network in Naxal-affected states, is planning to take its rural broadband solution to other remote areas of the country. “Our rural solution can bring broadband revolution across India, particularly in remote villages and far off places in states like Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Northeast, Andaman and Nicobar Islands. These easy-to-maintain and cost-effective Wi-Fi solutions can provide uninterrupted internet access to people. It can also help in running administration as we have demonstrated in these villages,’ Mr. Mehrotra adds.

Government sources say the Telecom Department and the BSNL have taken VNL’s experiment very positively and is mulling over starting a pilot project by using the technology. “VNL’s low-cost, and maintenance-free broadband solution looks ideal for taking Prime Minister’s Narendra Modi’s ‘Digital India’ campaign to the next level. The Prime Minister is pushing for e-payments and e-transactions post scrapping of old currency, the challenge for the government is to see that every Indian gets uninterrupted internet access. And to make it possible, we need solutions like the one being provided by VNL,” a senior DoT official adds.

New Delhi: Both the Houses of Parliament were adjourned sine die today. During the session, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha passed several important legislations, including four bills related to Goods and Services Tax (GST) and held debates on several key subjects.

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan described the second part of the Budget session as productive and constructive. She said during the session, 24 bills were introduced out of which 23 were passed by the Lok Sabha. She said over eight hours were wasted due to disruptions during the session but the members sat 28 hours and 40 minutes extra to dispose of the urgent government business.

The legislations which have been passed include, four GST Bills, Payment of Wages (Amendment) Bill, the Specified Bank Notes( Cessation of Liabilities) Bill, the Maternity Benefit (Amendment Bill) Bill, the Enemy Property ( Amendment and Validation) Bill, the Mental Health Care Bill and the Motor Vehicles ( Amendment) Bill. The Union Budget and relevant Appropriation Bills were also given approval.

Rajya Sabha Chairman Mohammed Hamid Ansari said the Upper House passed or returned 14 bills during the session which generated lively debates. He said Union Budget 2017-18 and the working of the Railway Ministry were discussed at length. He said the issues relating to electoral reforms and Aadhaar saw animated debates in the House.  
The members also asked 260 supplementaries which is about 48 per cent of the total supplementaries asked. The second part of Budget session had begun on March 9.