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I ask whimsical questions | Public Policy Nerd | Author: #Parliamental | Youtuber | Longform content evangelist | LAMP Fellow
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Sep 26, 2018 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Seems like it's a 4 - 1 #AadhaarVerdict.

3 Partial read downs in favor of Government.
1 in favor of Government.
1 Ultra dissent

Sigh. This is good though. It means the Supreme Court has acknowledged that not all is well in Aadhaar land.

There were some major problems which have been rectified.
Sep 12, 2018 • 9 tweets • 6 min read
.@CNNnews18 has counted tubelights and fans in Vijay Mallya's designated jail cell. Apparently they're looping "the video that will bring Mallya back"

One panelist keeps calling Mallya a Congress baby.

*slow clap*
#nlprimetime While Rahul Shivshankar asks why UPA did meherbani on Mallya, Shehzad Poonawala on @TimesNow made an epic observation:

"MAAL KITNA LIYA... MAALLIYA!"
#NLPrimetime
Sep 11, 2018 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
You're still wondering why it's important to create a hue and cry about the Huffpost story?

Think about this scenario: A 100 folks from say, China, sitting in one room and creating Aadhaar after Aadhaar using a patched software which has geo-location disabled.

Every single day. This is an actual national security issue of gigantic proportions. Mind is reeling thinking about possibilities of how this can be misused.

For all you know, terrorists in sleeper cells must have procured Aadhaar numbers and are living amongst us. Totally Legitimized by Aadhaar.
Sep 11, 2018 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Big story!

A patch that allows operators to create multiple Aadhaar numbers bypassing biometric security features has been found. Who knows how many fake IDs were created using this.

Now waiting for UIDAI to come in & scream, "THERE HAS BEEN NO BREACH!"
huffingtonpost.in/2018/09/11/uid… This is a consequence of allowing random enrollment operators to create IDs, driven by per-enrollment incentives. They found a hack to maximize profits by creating multiple IDs.

This means that corruption in service delivery is still happening. Aadhaar is a total failwhale!
Aug 30, 2018 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
If the Congress did Demonetisation and we were in 2013, the media would be calling it the biggest scam ever done by a political party.

A 15 lakh crore scam. People would be out on streets, Anna Hazare would be going crazy. Sibal would be giving Zero Loss theories, trying to justify their move. Ramdev would be screaming about black money.

Wait... we've seen this happen somewhere before, haven't we?
Maybe it's just my imagination.
Aug 25, 2018 • 16 tweets • 6 min read
Aadhaar through the ages.

A #thread - Nilekani: Let there be an ID that is voluntary in nature & would prove to be an empowerment tool for millions!

UPA: Cool. Like a citizenship ID?

NN: Nope. Just an ID. No rights will be granted... But eventually... all citizen rights will be dependent on it! Get it?

UPA:
Aug 6, 2018 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
Met so many people who follow #SansadWatch during the @themediarumble.

Realised that this experiment has the potential to become a platform for non-policy background folk who are interested in the field to just gain a further understanding of public policy! What fun! And in all seriousness I want to thank these enthu cutlet bunch of people (much like me) for being so upfront with feedback and give suggestions about what direction #SansadWatch should take.

Please keep the feedback coming! We have a lot of work to do!
Jul 31, 2018 • 6 tweets • 4 min read
If @rssharma3 is using his number stunt to normalise leaking personal data and reducing the concerns regarding privacy violations into a joke, he is doing everyone a great disservice.

My piece where I ask him 5 questions, seeking answers.
newslaundry.com/2018/07/31/aad… 5 questions to Mr @rssharma3.
Since he's been so proactive on Twitter lately, I hope he answers these.

Number 1!

(Source: tribuneindia.com/news/nation/rs…)
Jul 30, 2018 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
A few people are claiming that they found proof about @rssharma3 buying a 3-year subscription for a 'dishonorable' right wing website.

How does this information harm him? It doesn't. But when you add some context to it, it would. The new Draft data protection bill categorises political beliefs as "sensitive personal data". What it means is that it should have more protection than normal personal data.

Think about it this way: suppose the evidence is that he subscribed to Postcard news. What if.
Jun 13, 2018 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
Jharkhand has agreed to buy power from Adani at a higher price while a large chunk of the power generated will go to Bangladesh. amp.scroll.in/article/881928… This story raises some very important questions about how Adani is operating in India.

It wants to run a powerplant on Indian soil to supply power to Bangladesh while giving minimal benefits to the power-starved state of Jharkhand.
Apr 4, 2018 • 13 tweets • 5 min read
Inspired by this tweet, I'm going to list out a few issues that should have gotten relentless massive coverage, Gormint should have been questioned constantly, but seem to have died down.

Or maybe we just got distracted too fast?

Here we go... The entire country's budget was passed in 36 minutes without discussion.

Everyone should have collectively lost their minds but, after a short burst of outrage, we swallowed it up whole as if it's normal.

newslaundry.com/2018/03/14/fin…
Mar 14, 2018 • 21 tweets • 7 min read
Watch Lok Sabha right now!!
Speaker is passing Ministry budgets one after the other while other members are going crazy!

ZERO discussion on the Budget. ZERO!
#sansadwatch Demands for grants PASSED!
ALL Ministries!
In under 13 minutes!
WITHOUT DISCUSSION!

THIS IS RIDICULOUS!
Jan 18, 2018 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
CCTVs in school is the most horrible policy decision I've heard in a long long time.

Now kids who are scared of asking questions to teachers because the class will make fun of them would think, "If I ask a question, the class AND THEIR PARENTS will make fun of me! Better STFU!" Back in school, because I had horribly boring teachers and I was a terribly bad student, I would put Famous Fives & Harry Potters between my school books and try to escape.

Thank goodness there were no CCTVs in the classroom back then. It would've been like actual prison then.
Sep 25, 2017 • 11 tweets • 4 min read
Demonetisation was a failure but don't blame PM.

It's RBI's fault.
It's SC's fault.
And the media, of course.
thehindu.com/news/cities/ch… On 8th of Nov, 2016, PM comes on TV & announces that the money in everyone's pockets are just pieces of paper.

But it's not his fault!