Does Aadhar create a superstate?

Have you read George Orwell’s 1984: A dystopian novel published in 1949, set in the year 1984, when the people of Great Britain, a province of a superstate named Oceania, became victims of perpetual war, omnipresent government surveillance and propaganda?

Hold on, now we are 34 years late, in 2018: Chinese authorities were able to locate and arrest a man attending a concert of more than 60,000 people using facial recognition technology. China has 170 million CCTV cameras already in use across the country, establishing the world’s largest camera surveillance network, which is anticipated to add millions more over the next few years that are likely to feature forms of artificial intelligence that will include more facial recognition options. Earlier this year, officers at the Zhengzhou East high-speed rail station were provided special glasses that were embedded with facial scanning technology. William Nee, China researcher at Amnesty International, warned that, “The potential to give individual police officers facial-recognition technology in sunglasses could eventually make China’s surveillance state all the more ubiquitous.”

On one hand, Our PM rightfully boasts that Aadhar implementation has weeded out fake beneficiaries of the porous public distribution system, subsidised gas connection and host of other services by identifying the targeted population saving huge amounts of public money. On the other hand, the public activists suspect ‘snake being smuggled in as rope’!

Is it time to accept the inevitable that debate about privacy is now just an academic exercise in futility? We have already traded it for the convenience and glamour of technology, be it UBER, FB, WhatsApp and host of other Apps., and no amount of carping will restore it. Under public pressure, governments will no doubt provide coating of sugar and make laws to try to protect it from corporate attacks; but the irony is, that in this matter where the interests of the state and the market converge, for reasons of security and profit, respectively, the loser is the freedom of the citizen. But Some may object as ‘unlimited freedom is synonymous with anarchy’!

Our own government’s obsession with it is a matter of concern: ‘The straws in the wind are not encouraging’, as Avay Shukla (Retd Addl Secy, HP) writes in a column in today’s Indian Express. It is significant that the new draft Privacy Bill proposed by the Srikrishna Commission has a clause which exempts the government from taking consent of the individual before accessing his personal information. The government has also proposed a law which will make DNA profiling of every citizen mandatory.

This can be dangerous for individual liberty in a country where even a speech in a university or a cartoon in a newspaper or a gig by a stand-up comedian is charged as sedition. So, let us face the reality: with Aadhaar, the big brother has arrived.

Chinese’s prevail over religion

Chinese state media has said the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) authority should prevail over religion, after a rare standoff between the Hui Muslim community and police delayed the planned demolition of a mosque in north-central China’s Ningxia region.

Hundreds of ethnic Hui Muslims – who make up nearly 50% of China’s 23 million Muslims – staged peaceful sit-in protests after authorities had moved in earlier this week to pull down the grand mosque in Weizhou town, reports said.

China has also turned its northwestern province of Xinjiang, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), like Tibet, into a “no-rights zone” and a “massive internment camp” for the Muslim Uyghur community, a United Nations meeting on human rights was told. There are also news reports that the province, where Uyghurs make up about 45 per cent of the population, were being sent to re-education camps in the name of fighting religious extremism; In many cases, Uyghur families have been separated after family members, often males, were sent to the camps.

The issue of the treatment of Uyghurs was raised at the UN meeting by Gay McDougall, vice-chair of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, who said she was “deeply concerned” by reports.

How long do you want to live?

People queue up to wish recovery of their ailing leader. Why? He is bed-ridden since long, may be without any meaningful interaction. Is the wish not a punishment to sustain the suffering?

A famous sloka on this subject reads thus:

अनायासेन मरणं विनादैन्येन जीवनं ।

देहि मे कृपया शम्भो त्वयि भक्तिं अचन्चलं ॥

Requesting Lord Shiva to kindly grant three wishes: Bless a peaceful death without any bodily troubles; A life without any trouble for the basic needs; Total Bhakti to Lord shiva.

Adversary in the disguise of an ally!

You may win over your sworn enemies but not your self centred back-stabbing allies, the famous adage goes.

Strong willed Turkish premier Erdogen refused the arm twisting Trump purportedly on the issue of detention of American evangelical pastor Andrew Brunson. Brunson has been held in Turkey since 2016 on charges of spying and involvement in the country’s failed coup that took place two years ago.

After a failed negotiation between delegations of the two NATO allies, Trump had tweeted that he would double tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminum. The tariffs rose significantly in the last one week after this announcement of sanctions and tariffs on Ankara.

The US announcement, coupled with rising inflation in the country and Erdogan’s reluctance to increase lending rates, degraded lira’s value by 30 per cent in the next three days, which impacted currencies of Asian nations and the Euro.

Turkey’s government on Wednesday announced increase in tariffs on US-imported products such as cars, alcohol and cigarette as a retaliatory measure. The move will raise duties on American alcohol to 140 per cent, cars to 120 per cent and tobacco leaves to 60 per cent. It has also announced doubling of tariffs on rice, cosmetics and coal.

US and other ‘Developed Nations’ are known for their interferences in the internal affairs of their allied nations with their overt and covert arm-twisting strategies.

Never believe such crony allies.

Religious tolerance

I always wonder how, many a literary analysts, even belonging to Hinduism, could critically analyse the various religious writings of this religion with impunity; they not only go scot free even if it hurts the feelings of religious Hindus but also are hailed ‘secular’!

But such controversial analysis of Christianity or Islam would not be taken too kindly;

worse is that of Muslims, many of those religious ones believe they are specially chosen and anyone who does not share their faith is condemned to an eternity of hellfire! this is the origin of ISIS ideology which inspires recently many youths.

The refusal of Imams of U.K. to perform the last rites of the terrorists, is a mute dismissal of the violent path chosen by the ‘misguided’; it is time for religious Muslims to face up to the cracks in their own home lest they have to accept the consequence of being considered as the perpetrators of violence.

Unless the fatwa culture is shunned by the religion and criticism is responded by non-violent means, religious tolerance would be a distant dream. Till then they may have to face the music of the responses from ‘inane’ Trumps.

Tail piece: Is excessive tolerance of Hinduism, a virtue or vice?

Do we need Bullet trains?

An interesting and motivating article by the Editor, The Hindu Business Line that appeared in ‘The Hindu’ today: A truly lateral thought that counters the arguments on viability ridiculing its planning….

Here are its highlights..

One needs not only vision to think big and possess indomitable will to withstand the criticism of being megalomaniacal but also pursue unrealistic expensive and fanciful dreams. Take such dreams which the contemporaries must have been critical off: the early Taj Mahal or Great Wall of China or the recent Narmada Dam or the International Space Station (costing $200 billion) or Al Maktoum airport for which Dubai Sheiks are pumping $82 Billion or the South-North water linking project that the Chinese have undertaken which is the world’s largest hydro-engineering project with two 1000km water linking canals. These mega projects help in technologies and services, create tens of thousands of jobs, execution capabilities sparking innovations, shaping the world and the landscape around them. One showcase will trigger the aspirations of others like the Delhi Metro has been able to accomplish in India….

That is why we need not one project like Bullet train but many such mega projects to raise the technology and quality levels in engineering and develop skilled labours and enterprises that Create the eco-system!!

THINK BIG … DREAM THE IMPOSSIBLE…Make others envious….

It is now a concern that the bullet train project moving at snail’s pace: with the deadline of dec 2018 approaching for acquisition of land, only 0.9 of 1400 hectares have been acquired for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet train project. The Japan funding agency, JICA has stopped the payment on the grounds that the project did not show any progress due to several disputes. JICA, has agreed to provide nearly Rs. 80,000 crore for the estimated at 1 lakh crore. Only the first installment of Rs 125 crore was sanctioned when the Japanese PM visited Gujarat in last September has so far been released.

It is indeed tough to acquire agricultural land in a country where it is the livelihood of the poor. The demand of the land losers is job apart from the monetary compensation. While there are ‘many ways’ for a private entrepreneur to acquire land, the options for a government agency is limited.

Take for example Jamnagar, where RIL has built its world’s largest refinery. The entire complex consist of manufacturing and allied facilities, utilities, off-sites, port facilities and a township with over 7500 acres of land., which more than twice that of the one under acquisition for the high speed train! ‘Nowhere have farmers had it so good as Jamnagar where many have fixed deals for as high as Rs. 3.09 lakh per 2.5 acre for non-irrigated land and Rs. 4.06 lakh per 2.5 acre for irrigated land with Reliance Industries Limited’ wrote Times of India in its 31st March 2007 issue. They lead now a princely life and are envied by those who didn’t have any land to offer!

This could well be a case study for social scientists and agro-economists to understand the acumen and skills of Jamnagar’s farmers who willingly offered their lands for industrial development, make money and still remain farmers by buying farm lands in vicinity. In the process, they not only grow economically but also become partners in growth and economic progress. No less credit to Ambanis!

Land acquisition is not only a social issue but political as well. It has always been a pain in the neck. But, there is much more than just that meets the eye. After all India is not China…..!

No projects – Dravidian Dream for Green Tamilnadu

Look at the way Naidu pushes the projects! Neutrino project takes shape in AP….Our NGO is happy that the project is out of Tamil Nadu! VaiKo and other jokers who know nothing of the scientific background on this project has successfully frustrated DAE to move out inspite of 70 crores of wasteful expenditure; DAE has taken the right decision but a hard one, of moving out…Why DAE alone should fritter away their energy in educating public? Is it not the duty of the academia and the media as well…? The scientists have no voice….?

Can political terrorism stall the progress of a scientific project of national Importance and frustrate the researchers? Yes, if one closely analyse the road blocks to the Nutrino Project INO at the Theni site.

Following is a gist of the responses to the concocted myths:

– neutrinos do not present any radiation risk even to the level of the commonly used X-rays or cosmic radiation

– The rock strata has been seismically assessed to be stable during the tunnelling in the construction as well as during its operational phase

– The large electromagnets are not detrimental

– There is no mass denudation of the forests to disturb the flora and fauna

– The Water requirement that will be met from Mullaiperiyar dam is not significant

– There won’t be any restriction for the tribals in paying their daily obeisance to their deity Ambarappar

Now on the befits of neutrino study which is fundamental and futuristic

– Probing the early universe

– Studying the properties of sun

– Study to explore nutrino detectors in imaging for medical purposes

There is a trend for opposing any technological projects in Tamil Nadu, starting with Kudankulam and now INO; primarily to sow the poison seeds in the minds and show the present regime as anti-Tamil. It is an open secret that the opposition for the Kudankulam projects has origins much more sinistral in design than it appeared to be.

As one disgusted scientist put it, ‘if the situation is so vitiated that the deployment of paramilitary forces are required to ensure safety of the facility and the personnel, it is better not to pursue research’

Mu Ka once questioned ‘is Ram an engineer to construct Sethu?’ Taking cue may we ask: Whether Vai Ko, an atomic scientist to say that mullai Periyar dam is at the risk of collapse if neutrino project is implemented in Theni? Whether he is so well informed that even researchers from IISc who allay such apprehensions leave alone the scientists from BARC who wish to pursue the advanced neutrino research?

How can a country prosper if the establishment allows the scientists to be frustrated by illiterates of science and technology?

Checks and balances are required for a developing society; but can it allow vested interests stall projects in the name of NGOs? Those alien nations who wish to fritter away our energy and resources, fuel dissensions through copious unscrupulous funding. There is no end to the story: be it power plants, irrigation dams, etc., in the name of GREEN.

Lallu was quoted as saying in a public meeting to trumpet his concern for rural children: ‘I am against construction of roads.. why? There will be vehicle speeding and your children will get crushed’ so much is his confidence in gullible public… these political terrorists don the attire of erudite and articulate untruths from the rooftops, the scions of knowledge researchers would only seek asylum in hermitages! May be that is what the lobbyists wish to What happened to TATAs in West Bengal! Mamta not only succeeded in getting into power but also in pronouncing the unfriendly industrial policy; No enterprise will dare touch Bengal with even a long stick? Well done Mamta and the (progressive) Bengalis!

If the assistance of state government is not forthcoming no investment should be made from the central government funds henceforth and the fruits of the project, like the share of power produced from the station should be cut to that unfriendly state. the infamous NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) syndrome should be snubbed at all costs.

Handful of people are able to decide (or no decision in case of TN) on the majority of public. Democracy in full cry? Seven decades of progress?

Egalitarian societies – an utopian dream?

Egalitarian societies – an utopian dream of 21st century:

With machines being equipped with more and more ‘intelligence’, the world which is presently providing mass employment to the proletariats, would become increasingly insensitive to their being left in the lurch! Though much is talked about egalitarian societies, there would be dwindling sensitivities towards these superfluous ‘castes’: during natural calamities these will be the first species to disappear and the ‘super humans’ caste’ in Silicon Valley with ‘awesome knowledge’ would justify this extinction as natural selection in evolution; is it not the same slogan put up by the ‘nobles’ in the nineteenth century? While the subsequent industrial and cultural revolution brought the relevance of working class and some semblance of equality between the ‘haves and have nots’ in the twentieth century, the coming decades would only aggravate the existing disparities. This class which was found indispensable as they propelled the wheels of prosperity With their might, would find itself no more relevant, barely could compete with the new bots of the present decade….

The wealth would accumulate to a few families who have harvested the fruits of knowledge through justifiable strategies, consequently would corner the exorbitantly unaffordable health and extension of life services. Only these newfound aristocratic families of ‘Silicon Valley types’ would benefit from the advanced research in health and life extension – not the commoners!

So much for the equality in society!!! Is this a positive outlook in the society?

Artificial Intelligence – an Armageddon in waiting?

Since the beginning of industrial revolution there were fears that mechanisation and automation would lead to job losses. But, not only it created new jobs but the average standard of living improved dramatically. Lost jobs were replaced by newer capabilities. Would this sustain in the new era of Technological disruption caused by artificial intelligence? Solution is indeed unfathomable. For example, the self driving cars with interconnected algorithm, can dramatically reduce the mortality caused by accidents involving over speeding, alcohol abuse and distracted driving. But for the bugs that might be in the algorithms which would eventually be resolved, the automated navigation would reduce drastically the accidents and hence the mortality! It is a welcome sign but What would the redundant drivers do?

In an another plane, an astute banker may become redundant to assess the credibility of a potential borrower. Even complex negotiations may not be the forte of experienced and skilled executives – a system with right sensors to interpret the facial expressions, hand movements and even body odours would make fewer mistakes, can guide far more accurately and reliably. The highly remunerative white collar jobs would be mutely surrendered to technology!

The physical capabilities of humans were replaced by machines in the last century- and now the cognitive functions are at the risk of being replaced by sensors and algorithms. Where are these evolutions leading the next generation to? Would this disruption lead to better and comfortable life -yes… would it lead to job losses or create jobs with newer skills? – may be….

With Brexit and Trump’s protectionist policies to preserve the jobs for the natives, it appears the politicians predict less of job creation. Are they doomsayers….May be … only the coming decade would unfold the mystery!

A recent uproar from the ‘’netizens’ is that google tracks your position even when the location option is ‘off’! But hold your breath: Days are not far off when an ‘external algorithm’ will know you better than You know yourself; they would make better selections ‘than’ you ‘for’ you! The pace with which the artificial intelligence technology is taking over our life, the run-of- the-mill jobs would soon be handed over to AI robots that would interact and provide solutions better than a human interface. The murmurs of loss of privacy with ‘Big Brother’ overseeing, would fade away sooner than later.

The present millennium would inevitably see a host of innovative products and services such as those offering designer genes for off springs, targeted nanobot cyborg therapy, electro-cranial helmets to beat depression and enjoy life with all leading to an age of 80 being the present 50. What else one would need? After all life is about pleasure, health and longevity!

The fear of God would become a myth of the past as the fruits of life would be provided by technology! All the present Religions that promise salvation for good deeds and hell otherwise, would be replaced by a new Religion: humanism with liberal individual free will ‘to do what I feel like’ taking a back seat.

What is taught to the present generation in schools would not be relevant at all to them in the course of even a decade: the linear model of first eduction then earn for ever would soon be replaced by a model of repeated cycles of ‘education – earn’ else one would have to perish.

So don’t cry foul on the Tsunami of change engulfing you…… Be Prepared to face the challenge!!

Paradox in beliefs

Would it not be a paradox to believe that an omnipotent god would rely on human efforts to protect him? Isn’t it the belief that deviation from age old practices would desecrate Him, based on this dogma? Even if that be the case, would the ever merciful become vindictive?

Since there is belief that almighty himself would not act against the ‘vandals’, can the devotee take it upon himself as the ‘protector’ of the God? Is it that he believes that he is not different from Him? May be the devotee believes that the ravages are against his ‘supreme belief’ that he identifies as no different from ‘personal self’. It is more to safeguard his ‘ego’ than to act on behalf of Him?

If his faith had been unrelenting, would he react in this way? Is it akin to loosing Faiths in social institutions such as the government or justice? To protect one’s faith in God which is mystical, you loose faith in social institutions that are in the real world, and take over those activities upon yourself such as indulging in riots!

Paradoxical isn’t it?