The Centre for Internet and Society
https://cis-india.org
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Amid Unrest in the Valley, Students See a Dark Wall
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/amid-unrest-in-the-valley-students-see-a-dark-wall
<b>Strap: Frequent, prolonged restrictions on internet have kept many from using the learning resource.</b>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; "><b>Srinagar, J&K: </b>On November 18, Srinagar lost 3G and 4G connectivity after a militant and a sub-inspector of the Jammu & Kashmir police force were killed, and one militant caught alive in a<a href="http://www.uniindia.com/news/states/si-militant-killed-1-ultra-arrested-alive-in-srinagar/1050461.html"> </a><a href="http://www.uniindia.com/news/states/si-militant-killed-1-ultra-arrested-alive-in-srinagar/1050461.html">brief encounter</a> on the outskirts of the city, near Zakoora crossing. District authorities said data connectivity was snapped to “maintain law and order”.</p>
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<th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/JKEducation1.png/@@images/77d075bb-5b8f-4f93-81ad-1f6e9a56f35c.png" alt="JK Education 1" class="image-inline" title="JK Education 1" /></th><th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/copy_of_JKEducation2.png" alt="JKEducation2" class="image-inline" title="JKEducation2" /></th><th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/JKEducation3.png" alt="JK Education 3" class="image-inline" title="JK Education 3" /></th><th style="text-align: center; "><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/JKEducation4.png" alt="JK Education 4" class="image-inline" title="JK Education 4" /><br /></th>
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<p class="normal" style="text-align: center; "><span class="discreet">Students in Srinagar’s SPS Library. Picture Courtesy: Aakash Hassan </span></p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">But to Jasif Ayoub, an aspiring chartered accountant, it seemed like an obstruction to his exam preparations. Not being able to access lectures and texts online, Ayoub was perturbed. He had moved from Anantnag in south Kashmir, to Srinagar, only to have an easy access to the vast pool of information on the world wide web. “My hometown witnesses internet shutdowns very frequently. That is why I moved to live with relatives in Srinagar to prepare for my exams. But the internet speed here too is getting worse by the day,” says Ayoub.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">The internet is usually the first administrative casualty when any law & order situation arises in the Kashmir Valley, which has been restive and agitated over the last two decades. Despite the frequency of shutdowns, the state still does not issue a prior warning, or offer emergency connectivity measures. Residents know the pattern now: the mobile internet and SMS are the first to go down, and then broadband and other lease-line service providers follow.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">J&K tops the list of Indian states that have witnessed most number of internet shutdowns, with 27 being the count from 2012 to 2017, according to <a href="https://internetshutdowns.in/"><i>internetshutdowns.in</i></a>, run by Software Freedom Law Centre<i>. </i>There has been a sharp rise in the curbs on internet imposed this year, with over 30 shutdowns until November 22. Government authorities who issue and implement these bans say it is the only way to undercut the strength of social media in organising movements and resistance. The prime example is<a href="http://kashmirdispatch.com/2016/07/24/11-burhan-funeral-pictures-which-you-missed-due-to-internet-clampdown/144891/"> </a><a href="http://kashmirdispatch.com/2016/07/24/11-burhan-funeral-pictures-which-you-missed-due-to-internet-clampdown/144891/">Burhan Wani</a>, the 21-year-old Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander who had used his Facebook account to<a href="http://www.firstpost.com/india/the-virtual-world-hizb-ul-mujahideens-burhan-wani-innovates-to-influence-youth-in-kashmir-2794392.html"> </a><a href="http://www.firstpost.com/india/the-virtual-world-hizb-ul-mujahideens-burhan-wani-innovates-to-influence-youth-in-kashmir-2794392.html">popularise</a> and justify militant resistance. Wani’s death saw protests erupting across the Valley, which made the state snap internet services for about<a href="https://scroll.in/latest/827906/prepaid-mobile-internet-services-restored-in-kashmir-after-six-months"> </a><a href="https://scroll.in/latest/827906/prepaid-mobile-internet-services-restored-in-kashmir-after-six-months">six months</a> on prepaid mobile networks. For four months, there was no internet access on postpaid mobile networks too. These have been the longest intervals of ban. However, day-long, hour-long and even week-long periods of non-connectivity are alarmingly common.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">The incessant disruption of internet services prevents students from accessing online education resources. Class IX student Haiba Jaan in Srinagar depends on lectures from Khan Academy, an online coaching centre, to clarify a lot of concepts. A resident of Hyderpora in Srinagar, Haiba points to the i-Pad in her hand. “This is the best way of learning," she says. "I was not satisfied with my teachers in school or tuition classes. I found studying on the internet quite useful. But, the problem with that is the regular internet shutdowns." Her parents got a postpaid broadband connection the previous year to help Haiba. "But even that gives up many times during total internet shutdowns," says Haiba.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">In May this year, the government suspended the use of 22 social media and messaging platforms in Kashmir for a month. Skype was one of the messaging services banned. This put Mehraj Din through great trouble. Shortlisted for a summer programme at Istanbul, Turkey, this scholar of Islamic Studies at Kashmir University, had to appear for the final interview via Skype. "The ban could have ended all my chances to get selected had the organisers not agreed to an audio interview considering the ground situation here," says Mehraj, who is currently compiling his dissertation for the university. "I have a deadline to meet, but repeated shutdowns have affected my work," he says. "This a punishment from the State."</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; "><b>Full libraries, half studies</b></p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">When home and mobile internet connections are snapped, the state government's e-learning initiative in public libraries provides some respite. Mehrosha Rasool wants to secure an MBBS seat through the NEET competitive exam. She visits the SPS library in Srinagar religiously to access the study material that has been downloaded and made available on computers. The 17-year-old resident of Nishat in Srinagar says libraries are useful since one never knows how long the internet services at home will stay stable. Irshad Ahmad, another student utilising the facilities at SPS library, says he moved to Srinagar from Pattan town of north Kashmir because "this facility of accessing education material is not available at the library in my tehsil."</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Most prominent libraries in Srinagar have computers and tablets for students’ access, "But the rooms often become overcrowded as hundreds of students have registered at the libraries for internet facilities," says Mehrosha.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Schools in the Valley, meanwhile, rely on traditional means in the absence of the e-learning systems. Javaid Ahmad Wani, a political science teacher from south Kashmir’s Anantnag, believes that with little time in the year to even complete the basic syllabus thanks to frequent and sudden school closures during periods of unrest, supplementary e-learning is a distant possibility. Even when teachers and students do have access to these resources to stay updated, internet shutdowns make them unreliable. Therefore, teachers and schools stick to conventional means. Javaid admits that he has himself lost opportunities to an internet shutdown. “I could not submit the form for the main exam of the J&K public service last year because there was no Internet,” he says.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; "><b>Curbs pinch civil service aspirants</b></p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Many among the civil service aspirants are dependent on the internet for preparations. Anees Malik, a resident of Shopian, is preparing for the civil service exams. "I cannot afford coaching, so I rely on the internet," he says, especially for mock exams and previous question papers. "In such a situation, losing connectivity almost every other week is the worst thing to happen.”</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Sakib Wani, a Kupwara resident who is currently studying chemistry in Uttarakhand, notices a marked indifference in Kashmir to using online resources. "Those applying for scholarships and pursuing higher education may be using it but not to the extent that students in other states of India do it,” Sakib says. He believes that the repeated internet ban could be a possible reason for students to not opt for online educational resources. With colleges and schools shut for weeks during conflict periods, the internet could have been a great way to continue education formally and personally, but the repeated shutdowns have closed that door of opportunity too.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Aakash Hassan is a Srinagar-based freelance writer and a member of <a href="http://www.101reporters.com/">101Reporters.com</a>, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters. He has reported on conflict, environment, health and other issues for different publications across India.</p>
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<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Shutdown stories are the output of a collaboration between 101 Reporters and CIS with support from Facebook.</p>
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For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/amid-unrest-in-the-valley-students-see-a-dark-wall'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/amid-unrest-in-the-valley-students-see-a-dark-wall</a>
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No publisherAakash HassanInternet ShutdownInternet Governance2017-12-21T14:07:46ZBlog EntryHow Media beat the Shutdown in Darjeeling
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/how-media-beat-the-shutdown-in-darjeeling
<b>Strap:Journalists did what the state was expected to do: fight rumours.</b>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; "><b>Darjeeling, West Bengal: </b>The West Bengal government banned internet in the hills of north Bengal on June 18. The ban was lifted on<a href="http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/darjeelings-internet-suspension-extended/article19754745.ece"> </a><a href="http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/darjeelings-internet-suspension-extended/article19754745.ece">September 25</a>, one hundred days later. The precautionary “law and order measure”, introduced in the wake of violence following the breakout of a fresh stir for separate Gorkhaland state, was used as a virtual tool by the administration to bargain for peace with protesters in subsequent weeks. Quite naturally, it caused severe hardships to over one million people. Journalists covering the agitation were among the most severely affected.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">“It was a first for me — reporting breaking stories from the ground and having to dictate the development on the phone to my office back in Delhi,” says Amrita Madhukalya, a senior reporter with the DNA newspaper. “The first story I broke after reaching Darjeeling was how the agitation had caused losses in excess of Rs 100 crore ($15.6 million) for the tea industry. I sent that story via a string of five SMSes to office before reading it out to one of our subeditors to ensure no discrepancies crept in.”</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Sometimes even phone networks were down. “I have a friend who owns a shop in a small market complex near Chowk Bazaar,” says another senior print journalist from New Delhi. “On this one occasion when even SMSes were not going through, this friend helped me access data from a location that only he knew of. There were at least five to ten journalists from national newspapers looking for internet in Darjeeling in mid-July. He clearly didn’t want to attract their or the district magistrate’s attention.”</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">The clampdown on internet connectivity began a day after<a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/darjeeling-unrest-one-police-officer-critically-injured-gjm-claims-death-of-2-supporters-gorkhaland-protests-4708737/"> </a><a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/darjeeling-unrest-one-police-officer-critically-injured-gjm-claims-death-of-2-supporters-gorkhaland-protests-4708737/">three people</a> died of bullet injuries following clashes between pro-Gorkhaland protesters and the police in the heart of Darjeeling town on June 17. One policeman was feared killed. It later came to light that, having braved a near fatal blow from a <i>khukuri</i>, a traditional Gorkha blade, he was severely injured but alive.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">By the evening, several videos of an underprepared but infuriated police force thrashing protesters began to circulate on social media. The state intelligence informed Kolkata that the protesters were planning to march around town with the<a href="http://www.asianage.com/metros/mumbai/190617/hills-still-on-edge-gjm-takes-out-rally-with-body-of-activist.html"> </a><a href="http://www.asianage.com/metros/mumbai/190617/hills-still-on-edge-gjm-takes-out-rally-with-body-of-activist.html">bodies</a><span> </span>of the three victims the next afternoon and that the social media outcry against the use of force by police was turning increasingly vitriolic. Internet services were clamped early next morning.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">As the Gorkhaland movement lingered on and the intensity of violence waned, data services continued to remain a casualty. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the service would be resumed once normality was restored. As the cycle of news shifted to more compelling narratives and senior journalists from big cities returned from Darjeeling, the vacuum was filled by Facebook news pages run by young social media activists, like With You Darjeeling, Chautari24, North Bengal Today, North Bengal Express, etc.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">“A blanket ban on internet since June 17th, 2017 was the biggest challenge we faced,” says Rinchu D Dukpa, who edits the very popular Darjeeling Chronicle, a Facebook news page with over 140,000 subscribers. “Imagine over two months of no internet. Getting word out on important news events from the region was such a challenge those days. In addition, countering distorted, biased and unverified news and narratives spewed by mainstream media and even social media platforms paid for by the state was almost impossible due to lack of internet.”</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">On several occasions, especially after clashes between locals and the police, rumours quoting death toll would surface. During one such clash in Sukna near Siliguri, one news channel claimed three people had died. It later<a href="https://dilipsimeon.blogspot.in/2017/09/a-journey-into-heart-of-rage-and-fear.html"> </a><a href="https://dilipsimeon.blogspot.in/2017/09/a-journey-into-heart-of-rage-and-fear.html">turned</a><span> </span>out that there was no casualty. One more<a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/kolkata/president-s-rule-after-90-days-of-shutdown-wild-rumours-doing-the-rounds-in-darjeeling/story-CFzWpYICwHMsXnMHif7r9L.html"> </a><a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/kolkata/president-s-rule-after-90-days-of-shutdown-wild-rumours-doing-the-rounds-in-darjeeling/story-CFzWpYICwHMsXnMHif7r9L.html">interesting</a><span> </span>rumour that did the rounds was the imposition of President's rule in Darjeeling. Much of it was fuelled by a lack of healthy flow of information. That there was an internet ban did not help.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">The administration of another popular Facebook page run from Darjeeling, which has over 35,000 likes, was taken over by the administrator’s friends in the US. Requesting that his and his page’s name be kept secret, the administrator says he requested his friends in the US to scour content from website reports and e-paper versions of the relevant newspapers.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">The ban was eventually lifted on September 25, just five days after the Mamata Banerjee government succeeded in weaning away rebel leader Binay Tamang from the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, the party leading the agitation. Binay went on to be appointed as the chairman of a new board of administrators for Darjeeling hills.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">“The ban may have been very severe but Darjeeling’s geography did offer respite at certain locations,” says Biswa Yonzon, a freelance journalist. “Those area that face the hills of neighbouring Sikkim, would receive internet signals. The connectivity wasn’t always great but it did the job for most local journalists reporting for papers such as The Statesman, The Telegraph and The Times of India.”</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">In fact the area just behind Darjeeling’s town square Chowrasta, which faces the towns of Jorethang and Namchi in South Sikkim, is now known as the Jio hill, after the Reliance 4G network. In Kalimpong, the misty Carmichael hill too is called by the same name.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Manish Adhikary is a Siliguri-based freelance writer and a member of <a href="http://www.101reporters.com/">101Reporters.com</a>, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.</p>
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<p>Shutdown stories are the output of a collaboration between 101 Reporters and CIS with support from Facebook.</p>
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For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/how-media-beat-the-shutdown-in-darjeeling'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/how-media-beat-the-shutdown-in-darjeeling</a>
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No publisherManish AdhikaryInternet ShutdownInternet Governance2017-12-19T15:57:10ZBlog EntryThe Rising Stars in Music Loath Losing their Only Platform
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/the-rising-stars-in-music-loath-losing-their-only-platform
<b>Strap: The music from Kashmir wants to find a way out, but shutting internet down only adds to the bitterness.</b>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; "><b>Srinagar, J&K: </b>Amid the gaudy Old City area of Srinagar, where the air is heavy with the pungent smell of teargas shells, 25-year-old Ali Saifuddin has been busy working on compositions that he will perform at a prominent indie music festival in Pune in December 2017. Pune may be discovering Saifuddin’s music only now, but he has performed in Dubai and London too, owing to the fanbase he has garnered on social media.</p>
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<th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/JKMusic1.png/@@images/f6f403df-e513-4d69-b038-b8e82ba5ac8a.png" alt="J&K Music 1" class="image-inline" title="J&K Music 1" /><br /></th><th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/JKMusic2.png/@@images/9488b671-1d80-4fa6-94d6-d7202c7c1a4e.png" alt="J&K Music 2" class="image-inline" title="J&K Music 2" /><br /></th><th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/JKMusic3.png/@@images/19d91b89-13d7-4d2c-a66d-7e3416507f2f.png" alt="J&K Music 3" class="image-inline" title="J&K Music 3" /><br /></th><th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/JKMusic4.png/@@images/4973863e-49a3-4eba-90c4-1d4eb70e6565.png" alt="J&K Music 4" class="image-inline" title="J&K Music 4" /><br /></th>
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<td style="text-align: justify; "><span class="discreet">Mehmeet Syed’s popularity on social media has taken her <br />to countries like US, UK, Australia and Abu Dhabi <br />(Picture Courtesy: Mehmeet Syed Facebook page)<br /></span></td>
<td colspan="2" style="text-align: justify; "><span class="discreet">Umar Majeed shot to fame with his rendition of Pakistan’s national anthem on the Santoor</span></td>
<td style="text-align: justify; "><span class="discreet">Yawar Abdal, a Kashmiri singer, says he <br />doesn’t see the logic behind keeping the <br />internet shut for months <br />(Picture Courtesy: Yawar Abdal Facebook Page)</span></td>
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<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">It was in 2014 when the budding musician bought recording gear and created a Facebook page. Hours after uploading his first video, Saifuddin became an internet sensation. “I was stunned to see thousands of views on Facebook. People who I had never met with hailed my tunes and encouraged me to produce more,” Saifuddin says.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">With 9,000 followers on Instagram and more than 6,000 ‘likes’ on his Facebook page, Saifuddin often gets offers to perform outside Kashmir.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">“(As an artist) you need a platform, and in Kashmir, it is the internet that sides with you,” says Yawar Abdal, another popular Youtuber, whose song<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4jchTQ4EeA"> </a><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4jchTQ4EeA"><i>Tamanna</i></a> has garnered over 400,000 views since June. “I uploaded a minute-long video on Facebook in April last year. It became viral and made me famous,” Abdal says.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">The 23-year-old Pune University student has more than 13,000 followers on Instagram and above 10,000 likes on Facebook. “There are no shows organised in Kashmir. Internet is the only platform where people can broadcast what they posses,” he says.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Frequent curfews, even online, are like a curse for Kashmiris. Internet services are being clamped down in the Valley quite often, particularly after the killing of militant leader Burhan Wani on July 8. Wani’s killing sparked violent protests resulting in the deaths of 15 civilians the very next day. The clashes killed 383 people - including 145 civilians, 138 militants and 100 state and Central security personnel - and around 15,000 others were injured. While many were also put under<a href="http://brighterkashmir.com/jkccs-releases-human-right-review-of-2016/"> </a><a href="http://brighterkashmir.com/jkccs-releases-human-right-review-of-2016/">illegal detention</a> following the outbreak of deadly violence, the government suspended internet for more than six months in 2016.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">In such a scenario, where shutdowns are stretching from streets to the social media, it is not surprising to see Kashmiris voice their dissent through art whenever they find a window open. In 2017, internet services were blocked<a href="https://www.internetshutdowns.in/"> </a><a href="https://www.internetshutdowns.in/">27 times</a> across various districts of the Valley, either on mobile, or on both mobile and broadband, in the hope that it prevents rumour mongering and instigation of violence.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">“This is unnatural and tantamount to choking a person’s right to free speech,” says Saifuddin, who has been criticising the human rights violations in Kashmir with songs that carry a political undertone. Son of medical doctors based in UK, Saifuddin got initiated to rock music through Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin during school days, before heading to Delhi University for a BA degree in 2011. “There I found the treasure of music. I finally had a computer and an internet connection. Youtube became my first, and so far, the only teacher,” recalls Saifuddin. His songs on Youtube include<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_kh_YKoELM"> </a><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_kh_YKoELM"><i>Aye Raah-e-Haq Ke Shaheedon</i></a><i>,</i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IO2gNtVb0E"><i> </i></a><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IO2gNtVb0E"><i>Phir Se Hum Ubharaygay</i></a><i>, </i>and<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1CSL-1OzKw"><i> </i></a><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1CSL-1OzKw"><i>Manzoor Nahi</i></a><i> - </i>a song he posted to protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Kashmir in November 2015.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">For Mehmeet Syed, whose music was limited to CDs since 2004, internet opened new avenues. Her popularity on social media has taken her to countries like US, UK, Australia and Abu Dhabi among others. “Being on social media is very important as it lets people stay updated about my work. My popularity touched new heights after I took to the internet,” says Syed, who owns a verified Facebook page with more than 1.20 lakh followers. On Instagram, she is a novice. But an internet ban means “heartbreak” to her. “Internet is not shut down in other places witnessing violence and conflict…We are very unfortunate to face internet bans,” says Syed.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">“As singers, we have to record songs, mail them for editing, or receive content from studio. Without internet, we are stuck, paralysed,” she says.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Explaining how internet is more than a means of free expression, Mehmeet says, “Times have changed. This is the era of iTunes and YouTube. The songs we release in Kashmir are watched online across the globe. And this is how you earn today.”</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">The freedom to share content has empowered even the marginalised lot who were only known locally for their talent. Abdul Rashid, a transgender wedding singer popular as ‘Reshma’ in Srinagar’s Old City, became an online sensation after one of her wedding songs was widely viewed on Facebook, and media followed up with stories around her.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">“Nobody knew me outside my locality. But today, I get calls from across Kashmir to sing on weddings. This became possible through Facebook. It gave me wide publicity,” Reshma says.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Umar Majeed, a Class 12 student from Zainakoot in Srinagar, is keeping the folk tradition of Kashmir alive with the help of internet. While the 19-year-old inherited skills on Santoor from his father, Abdul Majeed, it was social media that propelled him to fame. Umar played the national anthem of Pakistan on Santoor, accompanied by two other musicians on Rabaab. “The instrumental composition was viewed 450,000 times in two days,” says Umar, adding that they are working on a musical theme of the Indian national anthem as well.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">With 5,000 friends on Facebooķ and 2,500 followers on Instagram, Umar has a quite wide network for a schoolkid. “We get a lot of encouragement and confidence when people comment on and appreciate our work online,” he says. But repeated internet ban keeps the young musician away from the much needed feedback.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">“When I get an idea, I instantly compose it on Santoor and upload it on Facebook to get viewers’ response… But when there is internet ban, I have no mood to play even when I get an idea, and soon I forget it,” he says.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Mehmeet points out that internet not only promises freedom of expression but also provides monetary support to indie artists through platforms like iTunes, Google Play, Pandora, Amazon and Sawaan. She has been generating revenue to support her music through 21 of her tracks uploaded on these platforms, Mehmeet says.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">The repeated shutdown of internet during the Republic Day and Independence Day also sends a wrong message to Kashmiris, says Mehmeet. “We realise that such attitude is step-motherly, which is unacceptable. And we as Kashmiris have not yet reached the stage where we think we have got independence.” Saifuddin seconds her sentiments. “If it is a democracy, then I have a right to speak my heart out. Why would the government choke my voice?” he asks.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">When asked if the clamping down of internet service affects his music and earning, Saifuddin retorts poetically: “If not for the internet, I wouldn’t be around. So yes, it pains to see Kashmir being sealed on streets and on the cyberspace as well.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">“It makes you angry at times to see things that happen nowhere but in Kashmir.”</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Abdal, on the contrary, wants his music to be apolitical. “I sing the songs of Sufi saints and strive to rejuvenate the dying Kashmiri music,” he says.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">But, the ban on internet services leaves him perturbed. “Without listeners, you begin losing interest. I hope one day the government understands that there is no logic in keeping the internet shut for weeks and months,” says Abdal, adding that he also observes a drop in demand for live gigs in the absence of internet.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">“When you have a lot to share, but the medium through which you could take it to people is blocked, discomfort is what you’re left with.”</p>
<p class="callout" style="text-align: justify; ">Umar Shah and Mir Farhat are Srinagar-based freelance writers and members of <a href="http://www.101reporters.com/">101Reporters.com</a>, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.</p>
<hr style="text-align: justify; " />
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Shutdown stories are the output of a collaboration between 101 Reporters and CIS with support from Facebook.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/the-rising-stars-in-music-loath-losing-their-only-platform'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/the-rising-stars-in-music-loath-losing-their-only-platform</a>
</p>
No publisherUmar Shah and Mir FarhatInternet ShutdownInternet Governance2017-12-21T15:59:24ZBlog EntrySorry, Business Closed until Internet is Back On
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/sorry-business-closed-until-internet-is-back-on
<b>Strap: Exporters say they lose face with international clients when internet shutdowns block deliveries.</b>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; "><b>Vadodara, Gujarat:</b><b> </b>A household name in Vadodara, Jagdish Farshan has been famous for Gujarati snacks like <i>Leelo Chevdo</i> and <i>Bakarwadi </i>since 1938. Since the year 2000, they started exporting their snacks to the millions of Gujaratis settled across the globe, especially in Africa, USA, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. It is one of the many indigenous businesses that helps Gujarat contribute 25% of the total exports from India. But the outfit synonymous with both tradition and modernity for 79 years, was also one of the many exporters to receive an unexpected jolt in August 2015, during the week-long internet shutdown during the Patidar protests for reservations across the state.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Kalpesh Kandoi, the chairman of Jagdish Farshan Pvt Ltd says, “Gujaratis in various countries buy our snacks online through our website, or through email. During the internet ban, we suffered quite a lot due to the blockage of orders and failure of deliveries.” Since nearly 50% of their annual revenue comes from exports, the shutdown threw a significant spanner in the works. Although the government claims it banned only mobile data, many businesses admit to their broadband and WiFi also being hit, or seeing debilitating delays.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">“Of course, if there is an emergency from the importers’ side, they can call us directly,” says Kandoi. “But then again, a kind of inconvenience is created to them from our side, which is very shameful. It destroys our trustworthiness and credibility.” Many of their production centres in Gujarat, especially Vadodara, fell back on meeting orders when bank payments were stuck, or orders weren't accessible. Thankfully for the company, its manufacturing unit in Australia was able to meet at least some of the international orders when most districts of Gujarat couldn't access the internet.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">The ban seems to have had a domino effect outside India too. Preeti Shah, who imports snacks and sweets from Jagdish Farshan through her small home-based business in the USA, couldn't meet orders there during the internet ban in Gujarat. She told <i>101reporters </i>on the phone from Philadelphia that when she started her business of selling Gujarati snacks 3 years ago, she marketed her service by calling her neighbours, friends and acquaintances personally. “I found that in return they emailed me their snack orders,” says Shah. “During the internet blockages in India, I had to apologise for not delivering the snacks to my clients because my orders were not fulfilled by the Gujarat-based exporters.” She lost 12 to 15 clients, most of them regulars. “The government has to realise the impact of the ban. What if I had lost all my clients just because of the internet ban?” she asks.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Gujarat is a major hub for several industries like dairy, automobile, gems, and pharmaceuticals, but its biggest exports are of cotton yarn, oilseeds, and seafood. With its highly advanced and well-equipped marine fish production techniques, it is able to export fish to UAE, Australia, USA, Japan, China, Canada, Brazil, Thailand, and Germany. Gems and jewellery too, though exported from Mumbai, are processed in Surat, Gujarat, one of the largest diamond hubs in the world. Already severely hit by demonetisation in November 2016, with large-scale closures, layoffs and losses, the diamond industry nearly buckled under the internet ban too.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Most of all, it is the unpredictable, ad hoc, and unannounced nature of the internet shutdowns that frustrates exporters, who liken it to annoying roadblocks traffic policemen install to allow VIP movement. For instance, in February 2016, the state suspended mobile internet services suddenly for four hours <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-miscellaneous/tp-others/gujarat-shuts-down-internet-during-exam/article8294672.ece">to prevent cheating during a revenue service exam. </a></p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Chandresh Shah, president of the Exporters and Importers (Exim) Club and the founder of Madhav Agro Foods, says that the entire export industry relies on the internet for over 95% of its business. “It is absurd on the part of government to ban internet for any reason especially when they know that it will hamper exporters to a great extent. They have to provide alternatives, or announce beforehand. People who are importing our products consider us unprofessional and we look foolish in the international markets. So such policies need to be revamped and rationalised properly.” He adds that the rising economic cost of such shutdowns must be factored in. A <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/intenet-shutdowns-v-3.pdf">2016 study by Brookings Institution </a>that looked at 81 instances of internet shutdowns across 19 countries between July 2015 and June 2016 found that they had cost the world economy a total of $2.4 billion. India, at a conservative estimate of $968 million due to 22 shutdowns (as much as Iraq), was <a href="http://www.livemint.com/Industry/HBa7uLVF6xO7mKbAIN9X5L/How-much-does-internet-shutdown-cost-India-Brookings-says-.html">one of the biggest losers</a>.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">As the digital economy grows, the cost of frequent internet shutdowns will only accelerate. As the central government pushed the ‘Make in India’ initiative, Surat-based Falguni Patel (name changed) was inspired to start an online boutique in late 2014. A textiles student and first-time entrepreneur, she invested nearly Rs 10 lakhs ($15,600) through loans and savings. Unfortunately, a few months into her business, an internet ban was put in place. “It was a sheer coincidence that I received an order from Madhya Pradesh, along with an advance payment, just two days before the week-long internet ban. After that they mailed me four times – first with some requirements, then two follow-up emails and a final one demanding a refund of the advance –but I didn’t receive any of these due to the ban. Meanwhile, I used the advance to purchase raw materials needed.” After the ban was lifted, Patel realised what had happened. “When I called them personally and explained the situation, they called me unprofessional. When I said I would repay their money in 3-4 instalments, they filed a police complaint against me for theft.” Only a single order had turned bad, but it delivered a strong enough blow. Discouraged by the experience, and pressured by her parents who didn't want her to invest in the business anymore, Patel shut her website, and shelved her e-commerce dreams.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Some companies, like Dinesh Mills, one of Vadodara’s oldest textile companies, prevented losses by invoking their brand value and stepping up customer relations during the ban. Uday Shitole, General Manager – Sales, at Dinesh Mills, says the internet is a boon for the export industry due to its speed, web orders, low cost, and proper documentation. But he admits that in India, it's mandatory to have traditional back-up systems, even if this is much costlier, because political realities make even something as advanced as the internet unpredictable. Sudhir Purohit, Vice President (Exports), Dinesh Mills Ltd, says their decade-long relationships with suppliers and purchasers, initiated in the pre-internet days, stood the company in good stead. “We export the materials through digital orders too, but in our system, the negotiation of contracts has to be handled in person and non-negotiable ones can be done wholly through the internet. Without this, we will be vulnerable to any disruption, like internet ban, or accidents, that will definitely lead to delays and losses.”</p>
<p class="callout" style="text-align: justify; ">Nalanda Tambe is a Vadodara- based freelance writer and a member of <a href="http://www.101reporters.com/">101Reporters.com</a>, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.</p>
<hr style="text-align: justify; " />
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Shutdown stories are the output of a collaboration between 101 Reporters and CIS with support from Facebook.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/sorry-business-closed-until-internet-is-back-on'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/sorry-business-closed-until-internet-is-back-on</a>
</p>
No publisherNalanda TambeInternet ShutdownInternet Governance2017-12-19T16:25:24ZBlog EntryDays to Derail Work of Two Generations?
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/days-to-derail-work-of-two-generations
<b>Strap: How an internet shutdown hurt a family woodwork business.</b>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; "><b>Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh: </b>It was reportedly Bahlul (Bahlol) Lodi, the founder of Lodi dynasty, who in the 15th century first settled some Afghani craftsmen and their families on the outskirts of the old town in Saharanpur. Today, this area houses the <i>Lakdi Market</i>, home to world-famous wood art and handicrafts. From large fretwork screens and doors to trays, bowls and trinket boxes, these intricately carved wooden objects are called for from as far as Europe, the Middle East and Australia. The woodworking industry is the mainstay of thousands of artists, workers and entrepreneurs here, many of whom are part of small mom-and-pop operations.</p>
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<th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/UPfamilybusiness1.jpg/@@images/f7d2a605-dcd4-4a41-b108-b253e5aea8e0.jpeg" alt="UP family business 1" class="image-inline" title="UP family business 1" /></th><th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/UPfamilybusiness2.jpg/@@images/fd24c184-8e35-4b17-bd1d-a08b735bc9d3.jpeg" alt="UP family business 2" class="image-inline" title="UP family business 2" /></th><th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/UPfamilybusiness3.jpg/@@images/dd6e7c62-baf8-4c0a-af42-a92168497863.jpeg" alt="UP family business 3" class="image-inline" title="UP family business 3" /></th><th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/UPfamilybusiness4.jpg/@@images/e5b6ef0b-5e99-40a2-980a-843b9353c1fa.jpeg" alt="UP family business 4" class="image-inline" title="UP family business 4" /></th>
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<td colspan="4"><span class="discreet">Craftsmen at Furqan Handicrafts in Saharanpur</span></td>
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<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Mohammad Aarif, 28, heads one such business which has been in the family since two generations. Founded by his father four decades ago, Furqan Handicrafts has survived several<a href="http://www.downtoearth.org.in/indepth/the-wood-femine-29933"> </a><a href="http://www.downtoearth.org.in/indepth/the-wood-femine-29933">challenges</a>, such as rising prices of the fast exhausting raw material and middlemen, but the losses caused by a 10-day-long internet shutdown jolted him. He lost around Rs 7 lakh ($10,900) during this time. Six months on, he is still dealing with the repercussions, uncertain if he would ever recover the money.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Dalits and Thakurs in Shabbirpur village of Saharanpur district had their daggers drawn since violence first broke out in the village on<a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/up-1-killed-houses-torched-as-thakurs-dalits-clash-in-saharanpur-4642544/"> </a><a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/up-1-killed-houses-torched-as-thakurs-dalits-clash-in-saharanpur-4642544/">May 5</a>. The increasing friction led to a revenge cycle of violence, and subsequently to indefinite<a href="https://hindi.news18.com/uttar-pradesh/lucknow-news-internet-services-closed-in-saharanpur-due-to-violence-998319.html"> </a><a href="https://hindi.news18.com/uttar-pradesh/lucknow-news-internet-services-closed-in-saharanpur-due-to-violence-998319.html">suspension</a> of internet services on May 24, which went on till June 2, under the orders of the district magistrate to avoid rumour-mongering and hate messages being circulated on social media and messaging apps. The suspension of services in this west Uttar Pradesh city brought life to a standstill and Aarif’s business is just one of those which suffered dramatic losses during this one week.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Furqan Handicrafts is famous for its handicraft items and furniture, both in the country and abroad. Their products go as far as Malaysia, Finland and China. Aarif uses his mobile to make payments for the raw materials as he travels a lot, and this helps him conduct his business on the go.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">“We have employed around 20 workers,” says Aarif. When the shutdown came into effect without warning on May 24, he had only around Rs 20,000-30,000 ($310-470) cash in hand. “Can you imagine running a business of this size, with a weekly turnover of Rs 10 lakhs, with so little cash in hand and having the liability of over 20 families on your head?” Aarif asks. “I ran out of cash on May 26 and then the real problems began. The banks were closed and the internet was shut down. We were left with no options. The situation was so tense outside that we could not even think of going to other districts to transact or to even our own banks when they eventually opened after two days,” the businessman says.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Moreover, Furqan Handicrafts has been accepting a good chunk of their orders online - either through their website or on WhatsApp. So the shutdown also affected the demand side of the business adversely. All the little consolatory lies he told himself to steel against the mounting panic didn’t help for long with the shutdown stretching on indefinitely. “I told my workers that the media said the situation would return to normal soon, and that helped us keep calm initially. We were hopeful that we would be able to conduct transactions in the next two days, but the situation worsened when the shutdown continued for over a week,” Aarif says.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">“Our suppliers refused to sell us the raw materials without being paid first. Sometimes we may get some materials on loan, but most times only money does the talking. The chemicals that we get from Delhi have to be paid for fully in advance. We had more difficulties when we weren’t able to move our finished product. They were just lying there, collecting dust, and we incurred further losses in re-polishing them. And we were not able to pay our workers for the hours they had put in,” Aarif recalls.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">It was not just his business that suffered, his employees felt the sting of the shutdown as well. Najeer Ahmad, a woodworker at Furqan Handicrafts, says that everything was normal in the beginning but situation started worsening after two days. “After the second day, work started slowing down and eventually, stopped completely. Our boss told us that we couldn’t get any raw materials because we weren’t able to pay the suppliers. Whatever little materials we had in the workshop, we used up, but then when there was none left, there was no work… since there was no work, there was no money. The boss usually settles our wages at the end of every week and gives us walking-around money every day. Without either of these, it became quite difficult to manage.”</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Another of his employees, Rashid, was able to weather the shutdown because he had some cash lying around at home. “<i>Aise to jumme ke jumme hisaab ho jaata hai </i>(Usually, we get paid every Friday)<i>.</i>” So, even though he wasn’t paid that Friday like he usually is, he made do. But he still lost wages because of the lack of work during that week.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">“We have lost money in lakhs already. If something like this were to happen again it would ruin us,” says Aarif. But he still manages to see the silver lining in this suffering, and is glad that he did not lose his clients. “<i>Allah ka shukar tha ki hamara koi bhi client toota nahi. Nuksaan ki bharpaayi to ab tak nahi ho paayi hai, lekin Allah chahega to jald hi ho jayegi </i>(Thank god that we didn’t lose any of our clients. We haven’t been able to recover the losses yet, but god willing, we will be able to make up)<i>.</i>”</p>
<p class="callout" style="text-align: justify; ">Mahesh Kumar Shiva is a Lucknow - based freelance writer and a member of <a href="http://www.101reporters.com/">101Reporters.com</a>, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters. With inputs from Saurabh Sharma, a Lucknow-based reporter.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Shutdown stories are the output of a collaboration between 101 Reporters and CIS with support from Facebook.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/days-to-derail-work-of-two-generations'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/days-to-derail-work-of-two-generations</a>
</p>
No publisherMahesh Kumar ShivaInternet ShutdownInternet Governance2017-12-21T16:18:57ZBlog EntryEvery Town had its Jio Dara
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/every-town-had-its-jio-dara
<b>Strap: In the hills of Darjeeling, residents facing an indefinite internet shutdown were thrown an unexpected lifeline in the form of 'Jio dara', a feeble signal from Sikkim towers that nevertheless kept a small line of communication open between the besieged towns in the region and the rest of the world.</b>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; "><b>Bangalore, Karnataka: </b>Alvin Lama writes rock music is his downtime, and these days his songs are rather politically charged. The 100-day internet shutdown in Darjeeling during the Gorkaland agitation in 2017 inspired his latest single, titled<a href="https://www.facebook.com/Gsihm/videos/vb.1835066709/10207932050739205/?type=2&theater"> </a><a href="https://www.facebook.com/Gsihm/videos/vb.1835066709/10207932050739205/?type=2&theater">Jio Dara</a>. In Lama’s song, he tells his listeners, “Come let’s go to Jio Dara” where they can be free from the prison of internet shutdown to send and receive messages from the outside world. “I am using that window of access to tell people about our struggle. It has a bit of an anti-administration message,” he says.</p>
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<p style="text-align: center; "><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/WBJio.jpg/@@images/4adfc2eb-90c3-4660-8773-0787b2628ffe.jpeg" alt="WB Jio" class="image-inline" title="WB Jio" /></p>
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<td style="text-align: center; "><span class="discreet">View from Carmichael Ground, a Jio Dara spot (Picture Courtesy: Nisha Chettri, Caffeine and Copies)</span></td>
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<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Jio Dara (‘dara’ meaning ‘hillock’), also alternatively called ‘Reliance gully’, was not always a specific place but a small window of opportunity during which a weak 2G signal could be accessed in the hills. Towns like Darjeeling and Kalimpong lie very close to the border of West Bengal, separated from their northern neighbour Sikkim by the river Rangeet; and often in the hills along the river bank, phones pick faint signals from the mobile phone towers in Sikkim. For a population that was completely shut off from the outside world, even this thin, fragile lifeline was precious. “I was not here during the agitation but somehow would get information about what was happening in the hills from my family and friends through the Jio Dara,” Alvin says.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Alvin, also founder director & CEO of the Good Shepard Institute of Hospitality Management, is not the only musician to immortalise Jio Dara in song. Young student Saif Ali Khan and his friends also wrote and composed their own ode to this happy accident. “It was really born out of boredom,” he says. “My brother, my friends and I were sitting around the campus and chatting. Classes were cancelled due to the strike and our education was on hold. And we overhead a couple talking about where they were going to go for their date. Of course, we should go to Jio Dara, the girl said, and that led to an argument.”</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">This sparked off their<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybewgPw_Ack"> </a><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybewgPw_Ack">Jio Dara</a> song which was written, composed and recorded by Khan and his friends under their Firfiray Productions. A satirical take on the internet shutdown and how it has affected the lives of the students in Darjeeling, the song plays out like a dialogue between two lovers and serves as a light-hearted look at a situation that was anything but.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">For three months between June and September, the administration had shut down internet access in Darjeeling and in its surrounding hills. This prevented the outside world from hearing the voices of the Gorkhaland protesters but information still trickled out, as it is wont to do, through various sources, one of these being the Jio Dara.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">How did this work? Reliance Jio had not long ago made a big splash in India’s telecom market with cheap unlimited data packs and lifetime validity deals, and many had switched to Jio to take advantage of this. This was what eventually gave Jio users the edge, helping them tap into the signal from the towers across the border. While it isn't clear whether signals from other networks were also available in these spots (information varies from they were no other networks at all to there were some but they were even weaker than Jio), what's certain is that without the free internet that Jio subscribers enjoyed, access to the internet through other networks was not feasible after a point because recharging your number at the local mobile shop wasn't an option anymore.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">These hotspots used to vary, according to Lama. “The signal would be strong today, but next day one might have to move a few hundred metres up or down till they connected with the network. So, you would go searching in the hills till you get a signal and then the word would spread,” he says. People in Darjeeling were lucky in that their Jio Dara was inside town near the mall in Chowrasta, but it was not as convenient in Kalimpong. One had to travel a couple of kilometres from the city centre to Carmichael grounds, sometimes go even further up the hill towards areas that were facing Sikkim. “People would get to know through word-of-mouth and the number of people there would snowball,” Lama tells us. People, young and old, would come to log in, even though the connection was patchy and slow, to talk about the events of the day, upload pictures, connect with family and friends and basically tell the world what really was happening in Darjeeling.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">It became an unofficial symbol of resistance. Each town had its very own Jio Dara and it transcended merely a physical location to become an idea. “Our habits changed after June 18, when the government undemocratically blocked the internet service in the hills,” writes Nisha Chettri, a journalist with the Statesman, in her blog ‘Caffeine and Copies’. Carmichael Ground in Kalimpong invariably became a meeting spot for all sorts of occasions – birthdays, dates, get-togethers. She says that some Jio users even shared their mobile hotspot with others so that everyone could use the internet.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Local journalists would file their stories and upload their pictures side by side with ordinary citizens updating their social media statuses. It helped journalists like the Telegraph’s Passan Yolmo to maintain a line of communication with his publishers. Most evenings he would connect to the Jio Dara to send across photographs from the day, as many as the feeble 2G connection would allow.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">“I don’t know who first found this spot behind Chowrasta,” says Khan. Perched in the centre of the city and at a higher elevation than the rest, Chowrasta is a popular tourist destination in Darjeeling; so it couldn’t have been long before people stumbled onto this secret. “I accidentally discovered it one day when I walked past it and suddenly my phone started pinging and I received a bunch of texts on WhatsApp. I checked my phone and realised I was connected to Sikkim’s Jio network.”</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Ayswarya Murthy is a Bangalore-based journalist and a member of<a href="https://101reporters.com/"> </a><a href="https://101reporters.com/">101Reporters.com</a>, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.</p>
<hr />
<p>Shutdown stories are the output of a collaboration between 101 Reporters and CIS with support from Facebook.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/every-town-had-its-jio-dara'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/every-town-had-its-jio-dara</a>
</p>
No publisherAyswarya MurthyInternet ShutdownInternet Governance2017-12-21T16:24:52ZBlog EntryTaxes in the Time of Internet Shutdown
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/taxes-in-the-time-of-internet-shutdown
<b>Strap: Darjeeling businesses buckle under a bandh, network ban, and GST</b>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; "><b>Darjeeling, West Bengal: </b>In mid-June, SC Sharma, a tax lawyer in Darjeeling, was in a fix. Thanks to street protests, he had not left his house for a week. There was an internet shutdown across the district. As a third assault, the finance minister was announcing a new tax regime that confused him. A combination of these factors made Sharma anxious: many of his clients were going to miss the tax deadline and be saddled with a huge fine.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Spurred by the West Bengal government’s new language policy that sidelined minority interests, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, a political party that campaigns for a separate state for Nepali-speaking Gorkhas, had called for <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/darjeeling-unrest-what-you-need-to-know/article18959968.ece">a bandh</a> from June 12 across the northern hills. Schools and offices were closed. Public transport stopped. Banks would be closed for 104 days. GJM activists and the police clashed everywhere.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">The state administration shut the internet down in the Darjeeling hills on June 18. A fortnight later, with the lockdown still in place, the central government rolled out the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), a pan-India single tax to replace several state-level indirect taxes.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">“My clients were jittery because of the penalty issues,” Sharma says. “There was no way I could study the GST, as there was no internet. We were crippled from all sides.” He had also heard reports of GST filing website crashing repeatedly even in regions with regular network services. “Everything was already a mess, and then GST is launched with all the fanfare.”</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Since the GST was a new concept, it had to be studied before returns were filed. With no internet, most businessmen were in the dark. Even advisors like tax lawyers and chartered accountants were in a soup as they were unable to use the internet or go down to the plains in Siliguri to address the issue.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Girish Sharda, owner of Nathmulls Tea, an online-cum-retail business of high value tea, felt lost when the GST was introduced. “We tried to solve the GST issues but we could not go online and find a solution.So we just sat around as all shops were shut too, and waited for the bandh to be declared open. It has been a terrible time for all of us in business.”</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">The June-July season was one for second flush tea, the darker, stronger variety that constitutes 21% of Darjeeling tea exports, and 41% of its revenue. Losses of Rs 250 crores ($39 million) in the season from the triple attack trickled down to the 55,000 permanent and 15,000 temporary workers in the 87 tea gardens in the region.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Ranjeev Pradhan, who runs a construction company in Darjeeling, says those weeks were nightmarish, “The bandh, the internet shutdown, the voice call drops, the sudden introduction of the GST – all this has really taken a toll on me and several others who run small businesses in Darjeeling. Things are still not right. All we need is some peace of mind which is missing right now.”</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Only small-scale businessmen like Jeevan Sharma, who had dual offices in Darjeeling and Siliguri, managed to file GST. “If I did not have my chartered accountant based in Siliguri, it would have been impossible to file returns. Siliguri was open and the net was available, so the CA didn’t have a problem. Although the process was very slow because of technical snags in the servers.”</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Businessman Gyanendra, who runs Krishna Service Apartments, was not so lucky. “I was held up in Darjeeling because of the bandh. We had practically zero business for the 108 days of forceful bandh, and yet I had to think about filing GST first. This magnitude of shutdown was unthinkable for us.”</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Anjan Kumar Kahali, a prominent lawyer who deals with income tax and GST, had a harrowing time during the initial launch. “The system was not stable at all and the GST site kept on hanging after a short duration of use. Entries were taking forever to upload and results were not shown on time and taking really long to verify. The delay was hampering all my other work. Even today, the servers are still far from fast. I have heard that it is not before the end of this financial year that matters will be sorted out.”</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">In September, the GST council headed by the finance minister Arun Jaitley provided some relief for GST defaulters by extending the July deadline to October first, and then again to November. “I am relieved that I will be getting some extra time to file the returns without paying heavy fines,” says Kahali.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">The tea and tourism industries, on which Darjeeling depends most, were severely hit by the bandh. In a politically sensitive time, the double whammy of the internet ban and GST seems to have deepened anger against the state. “The people of the hills feel betrayed, both by the centre and the state,” says Sharma. “They feel they have been taken for a ride once again like they have been several times before.”</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Avijit Sarkar is a Siliguri-based journalist and a member of <a href="http://www.101reporters.com/">101Reporters.com</a>, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.</p>
<hr style="text-align: justify; " />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Shutdown stories are the output of a collaboration between 101 Reporters and CIS with support from Facebook.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/taxes-in-the-time-of-internet-shutdown'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/taxes-in-the-time-of-internet-shutdown</a>
</p>
No publisherAvijit SarkarInternet ShutdownInternet Governance2017-12-20T15:49:31ZBlog EntrySilence on the Dera Front
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/silence-on-the-dera-front
<b>Strap: How DSS followers, accused of violent protests after their leader was sentenced, manage without the internet.
</b>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; "><b>Sirsa, Haryana</b>: Raj Rani’s two expensive smartphones are her whole world. But the 32-year-old entrepreneur from Haryana’s Hisar district found them entirely useless when she needed them most – on August 25, during the <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/gurmeet-ram-rahim-singh-rape-latest-convicted-3-dead-violent-protests-followers-india-spiritual-a7912341.html">violent protests by members of the spiritual group Dera Sacha Sauda</a> (DSS) after their leader Gurmeet Ram Rahim was convicted of rape.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">“My family follows DSS, and had gone to attend the monthly congregation on August 15 (which also happened to be Ram Rahim’s birthday), when were told that ‘Pitaji’ asked us to stay back in the premises, in case of an adverse verdict by the court in rape cases against him,” she says. This is understood to have been done as a show of support that could put pressure on the judiciary and state for a favourable verdict.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Along with lakhs of other followers, Rani was present in Dera’s Sirsa headquarters with her two children. She stayed in constant touch with her husband Sunny Kumar, a businessman based in New Delhi. "Every day, I showed him the Dera premises and religious activities through WhatsApp video calls,” she says.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">She recalls “the nightmarish moment” on the night of August 24 when the Haryana police and the Indian army surrounded the Dera. They imposed a curfew in the town, and restricted people from coming in and going outside the premises spread over 700 acres.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Rani says that the government blocked the internet on August 24 – a day before the self-styled godman appeared in the Panchkula court. Service providers of different companies, including mobile phone and landline services, were also barred at the Dera Sacha Sauda headquarters. As a result, Rani lost all contact with her husband. “I was confident until I was connected with my family over WhatsApp call and video chat, but as soon as this went away, I started losing faith, and felt afraid,” she says.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">After the curfew was imposed and internet was shut down, Rani says the devotees started to panic. They demanded that the DSS management permit them to go to their respective homes after Gurmeet’s arrest on August 25. After his conviction for rape, Rani says the politically influential and funds-flushed DSS fell like a house of cards. “There was chaos all around,” she says.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Fearing that Dera followers would vandalise public property to protest their leader’s conviction, the police had restricted public transport. Private vehicles were being allowed to move only after multiple security checks. On the morning of August 27, hundreds of devotees started to leave the Dera premises by foot. Rani walked about 50 kms along the national highway 10 (Hisar-Sirsa) up to Fatehabad district.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">It was a coordination committee of police, legislators, and bureaucrats from Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh, under the chairmanship of Punjab governor and union territory administrator VP Singh Badnore, that took the decision to ban the internet. After the order on August 24, all the SMSes, dongle, and data services provided on mobile network were suspended. The government only allowed phone calls during the internet shutdown in affected districts in these states.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Dissing the police’s claims that Dera followers started the violence first, provoking the cops to fire, 32-year-old shopkeeper Gaurav Soni, an ardent DSS follower for seven years, insists that things went out of control because the internet connection was snapped. He says that senior members in the Dera’s internal WhatsApp groups couldn’t send messages to calm angry followers. “Whatever happened was a result of a communication gap,” says Soni, who joined the protests. “No one asked the followers to get violent, and followers never attempt such things without proper instructions. But since there was a leadership gap, thanks to the break in communication, all this occurred.”</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Vikas Kumar, an IT expert of the Dera Sacha Sauda agrees, "As soon as we came to know about the conviction, we tried to send a message from Dera chairperson Vipasana Insan, requesting followers to maintain peace, and keep faith in the judicial process. But we couldn’t upload this message because mobile internet and broadband services were banned." They also tried to call key Dera leaders. “But it was too late by then, and followers clashed with law enforcement agencies," Vikas adds.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">The Dera’s protests, and the related internet and transport shutdown seemed to have impacted the group’s own followers too.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Those outside Haryana received misleading or panic-inducing forwards and videos, worrying them, but also worsening the anger against the state administration. Rajat Singh, a 65-year-old Dera follower from Mansa district, Punjab, says his son Rishipal Singh, had gone with several followers to the court in Panchkula, Haryana, where Gurmeet’s case was being heard. Rajat Singh says that since the internet was not banned at Punjab’s Mansa, he continuously received photographs of bullet-ridden bodies, charred cars, massive fires, and vandalism on WhatsApp. It’s unclear how Dera members from Haryana were able to send these pictures, overriding the blocked internet. “I was so disturbed,” he says. “As soon as we came to know that the Haryana police had opened fire on the followers, I started calling my son,” he says. But phone networks were constantly busy or spotty. “My son’s phone was not reachable. I asked relatives to send him text messages, or messages on WhatsApp, but the internet was not working.” It was much later, when Rishipal made a rushed call, that they were assured of his well-being.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Unaware of the violence at the Dera, 37-year-old Rakesh Kumar, a DSS follower from Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, was visiting Sirsa on August 24. “I booked a hotel in Sirsa district through an app, and chose to pay at the hotel. When I reached Sirsa, the internet was off.” Kumar went to the Dera taking lifts from a few vehicles plying on the sly, but soon returned to his hotel after followers went on a rampage. He wanted to leave Sirsa, but “got stuck” because the hotel didn’t allow him to leave without paying. ATMs were closed, vandalised, or not working, and it was generally unsafe to go out. “I had some balance on PayTM, but that was also not working as there was no internet connection,” he says.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Without Facebook or Twitter accounts, the Sirsa police had no way to counter rumours, discourage violence, or call for peace, says additional deputy commissioner (ADC) Sirsa, Munish Nagpal. A ban, he says, was the only way for them to nip crowd mobilisation in the bud, and curb rumours from spreading to Dera followers in other states of north India.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">“The ban controlled the situation to a certain extent, but it handicapped us, and slowed the process of our communication with seniors in Chandigarh,” admitted Ashwin Shenvi, the superintendent of police (SP).</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">The Haryana police, chief minister and health minister are usually active on social media, and the government too prides itself on being digitally savvy, but during the ban, every account was inactive. This despite the state offices having broadband.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">It is worth pointing out that DSS is credited for the Bharatiya Janata Party’s first ever win in Haryana in the 2014 state elections. Gurmeet Ram Rahim and CM Manohar Lal Khattar have even shared stages multiple times for photo-ops. Many believe this to be the reason behind the state government not being very vocal, online or offline, in condemning the violence by Gurmeet’s followers. It could have ticked off DSS’s over 50 million followers, a large votebank. The political dynamics, hence, were also responsible for internet becoming a victim of the violence unleashed.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Sat Singh is a Rohtak-based journalist and a member of <a href="http://www.101reporters.com/">101Reporters.com</a>, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.</p>
<hr style="text-align: justify; " />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Shutdown stories are the output of a collaboration between 101 Reporters and CIS with support from Facebook.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/silence-on-the-dera-front'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/silence-on-the-dera-front</a>
</p>
No publisherSat SinghInternet ShutdownInternet Governance2017-12-20T15:58:44ZBlog EntryWill Darjeeling Regain the Trust of Tourists?
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/will-darjeeling-regain-the-trust-of-tourists
<b>An agitation coupled with an internet ban that left tourists stranded, it looks like a tough time ahead for tourism in the Hills.</b>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; "><b>Darjeeling, West Bengal: </b>The tourism industry in Darjeeling proved to be as crippled as most businesses operating from the town due to the agitation for a separate state of Gorkhaland. With the scenic beauty of the hills and the spectacular views it affords, Darjeeling has always been a major tourist attraction. A substantial part of the town’s employment is attributed to the tourism industry, which took a bloody blow with the ban on internet services that eventually lasted a hundred days.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">“The bookings for Darjeeling generally commence four months prior to the annual Hindu festival Durga Puja (usually in September or October), but this time most of the enquiries were for Sikkim. The Hills usually see huge footfall during Puja, but the unrest hit tourism badly and we incurred huge losses,” says Samrat Sanyal, a tour operator.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">The tourist season generally starts around April and continues till late October. That the internet shutdown came right in the middle of this period — it was first announced on June 18 and lasted till late September — did not help matters. Sanyal says that in 2016 around 85% of the tourist footfall took place around the time of Durga Puja, but in 2017 it had fallen to around 5-10%. Though things have relatively calmed down, Sanyal believes the flow of international tourists will remain low for a while. Other tour operators this reporter spoke to also echoed Sanyal’s sentiments and said that the aftermath has left tourists with little confidence in the Hills.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Sources in the tourism department say that apart from the internet shutdown, a general response to the strikes and the violence attributed to the agitation played a major role in “maginalising tourist flow”. The tourists who came to the Hills around the time the agitation intensified could not even get in touch with their families as the mobile reception was poor for days, besides no web connectivity. Many who had already arrived at Darjeeling had to cut short their vacation.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">One of them was Kartik Lodha. A tourist from Rajasthan, Lodha was caught unawares by the strike that came just as he prepared to go paragliding in Delo. He had no choice but to return to his hotel midway. With no internet to assist him in looking for a way out, Lodha left Kalimpong the next morning in a state bus with police escort. "It’s the locals who suffer the most during such situations. They are the ones who will have to deal with these problems and difficulties in the long run. Barring a missed vacation, we will be fine," said Lodha.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Blaming the state for imposing the shutdown and creating “unwanted problems” in the Hills, Tapash Mitra, a tourist from Kolkata, said that "the West Bengal government is hindering its own tourism industry”. He had planned a three-day trip with his family, but had to return on the day of his arrival. "I just want the people to have peace in the Hills."</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Homestays were also badly hit and saw a spate of booking cancellations in the wake of the agitation and the subsequent network shutdown. Nimlamhu, the owner of Green-Hills homestay at Sangsay, said that more than the owners of hotels or homestays, tourists suffered as they were left stranded, unsure of what they would have to do. “Nothing works when the internet is banned. Even refunds cannot be processed.”</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">When asked about the arrangements that were eventually made to refund the tourists’ money, he said, "The amount was refunded because we were left with no option, and for those guests who were our regular customers, we adjusted the balance with their future bookings."</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">He said, however, that it was difficult to contact those who booked stays in advance but were hit with the news of the strike before they arrived there. "There was no way we could contact the guests as the internet was banned. About 50-60% of our bookings are done online and we couldn’t even refund their money through netbanking. We had to personally call them up and apologise for the unforeseen circumstance, and request hem to bear with us, not knowing that the strike would last as long as it did," said Nimlamhu.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Sweta Neriah, who is in charge of Palighar, a homestay in Ecchay, was preparing their promotions when the town was hit with the blanket-ban on internet. "For international guests we have a system where payment is done only during checkout. We did incur heavy losses this season and I’m sure we will feel the impact of this slump for some years. Incidentally, this happened just when the international tourist flow started to pick up in this part of the world."</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Complaining that the internet ban cost them a year’s business, Kabir Pradhan, the owner of the homestay, said, "Internet is the only way to really promote a business these days. We need to keep updating out official pages on every social networking site to market it. Only then can we attract clients and agents."<br /> He now looks forward to the spring season.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Meanwhile, many tour guides say they suffered huge losses with the internet ban and dip in the number of tourists. Manisha Sharma, who used to work as a tour guide, says she regrets being in the hills as the ban robbed her of three months’ income. “Had I not been here, I could have travelled to some other places with tourists, but the movement of vehicles was also restricted during the agitation, leaving me broke and with few options,” says Sharma.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Roshan Gupta is a Siliguri-based journalist and a member of<a href="http://www.101reporters.com/"> </a><a href="http://www.101reporters.com/">101Reporters.com</a>, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.</p>
<hr />
<p>Shutdown stories are the output of a collaboration between 101 Reporters and CIS with support from Facebook.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/will-darjeeling-regain-the-trust-of-tourists'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/will-darjeeling-regain-the-trust-of-tourists</a>
</p>
No publisherRoshan GuptaInternet ShutdownInternet Governance2017-12-20T16:01:33ZBlog EntryAadhaar linking deadline approaches: Here are all the myths and facts
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/aadhaar-linking-deadline-approaches-here-are-all-the-myths-and-facts
<b>Love it or hate it, you just can't escape it. We're talking about Aadhaar, which is a bigger buzzword than usual in the face of the looming end-December deadline for linkages with bank accounts, PPF, insurance policies, ration card and perhaps even PAN. As India rushes to comply, there are a number of myths and half-truth making the rounds. </b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The article was published by <a class="external-link" href="http://www.businesstoday.in/current/policy/aadhar-linking-deadline-last-day-uidai-bank-account/story/265465.html">Business Today</a> on December 7, 2017.</p>
<hr style="text-align: justify; " />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The official website of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the body issuing the biometrics-based Aadhaar number, helpfully lists out some of them, while others came to light when activists took up cudgels on behalf of Aadhaar-harassed citizens. But, either ways, you need to know the hard truth behind them.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Myth:</strong> Aadhaar-linkage is not only mandatory for every Indian citizen but also every person residing in the country.<br /><strong>Fact:</strong> In a notification dated May 11, 2017, the Central Board of Direct Taxes exempted the following categories from mandatory Aadhaar enrolment: <br />Those who are not citizens of India, non-resident Indians as per Income Tax Laws, those aged over 80 years at any time during the tax year, and the residents of Assam, Meghalaya and Jammu & Kashmir.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The UIDAI has also made it clear that NRIs and those holding the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card are not eligible to obtain Aadhaar as per the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016. "NRI/OCI need not verify their bank account or SIM or PAN with Aadhaar. If required, they may inform the service provider(s) that they being NRI/OCI are exempted from Aadhaar verification," the UIDAI had said on Twitter way back in October, and followed it up with a circular in mid-November.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As per the Aadhaar Act, only a "resident" is entitled to obtain Aadhaar, which refers to an individual, irrespective of nationality, who has resided in India for a period aggregating 182 days or more in the year immediately preceding the date of application for enrolment. So, this means that even NRIs and expats fulfilling the above criteria can apply for Aadhaar, but they cannot be forced to link their Indian bank accounts with it.<br /><strong><br />Myth:</strong> I had to give my fingerprints to get a SIM card and now the telecom company will keep my biometrics for future use<br /><strong><br />Fact:</strong> According to UIDAI, a telecom company cannot store your biometrics at its end. All the biometrics collected should be encrypted by the service provider and sent to UIDAI at that instant itself. Any storage of biometric by any agency is a serious crime punishable with up to three years of imprisonment under the Aadhaar Act.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Myth:</strong> Aadhaar is prone to data breaches and leaks<strong><br />Fact: </strong>Yes, there have been at least two serious leaks reported in the media, but the UIDAI has denied both of them.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In May 2017, The Centre for Internet and Society, a Bangalore-based non-profit research organisation, had reportedly investigated three government portals linked with social welfare schemes that together leaked Aadhaar information of around 1.3 crore people. Then, two months later, came news about over 200 government websites Aadhaar information public. This raised a lot of concerns and detractors cried themselves hoarse.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">According to the UIDAI, some agencies of central or state governments had been proactively putting up details of their beneficiaries as required under the RTI Act. While the said information was promptly removed from the offending websites, the authority points out that no biometrics were displaced.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">"Therefore to say that Aadhaar has been breached, data has been leaked, is completely incorrect and misleading," it says.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Moreover, the Aadhaar Act and IT Act are now in place, which impose restrictions on publication of Aadhaar numbers, bank account, and other personal details.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Myth:</strong> Aadhaar has a poorly verified database.<br /><strong>Fact:</strong> Several security measures are in place to ensure that Aadhaar enrolment system is secure. It is done through registrars-credible institutions like state government, banks, Common Service Centres which employ enrolment agencies empanelled by UIDAI. The latter, in turn, employ operators certified by the authority. Aadhaar enrolments are done only through customized software developed and provided by UIDAI. Every day, the operators have to log into the enrolment machine through their Aadhaar number and fingerprints. Once an enrolment is done, the operator is required to sign through his/ her biometrics. Moreover, at the time of enrolment itself, the captured data is encrypted and can't be read by anyone other than the UIDAI server.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Myth:</strong> People are being denied benefits and rations because they don't have Aadhaar or because of biometrics issues<strong><br />Fact:</strong> UIDAI CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey has clarified to the media that though Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act stipulates that benefits and subsidies from the Consolidated Fund of India shall be given on the basis of Aadhaar or proof of possession of an Aadhaar number, the lack of it cannot be grounds for denial. "Section 7 specifies that till Aadhaar number is prescribed, the benefits should be given through alternate means of identification," Pandey said to The Hindu.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Act also provides for statutory protection to those who are unable to authenticate because of worn-out fingerprints, medical conditions like leprosy or other reasons such as technical faults. "The field agencies have been accordingly instructed through the notifications issued by the government. In spite of this, if a person is denied because he does not have Aadhaar or he is unable to biometrically authenticate, it is undisputedly a violation of instructions issued by the government and such violators have to be punished," added Pandey.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Myth:</strong> Publicly sharing the Aadhaar number, to track a lost Amazon package, for instance, makes one susceptible to identity fraud<br /><strong>Fact:</strong> Your Aadhaar number, just like your mobile phone number or bank account number, is not a secret though it is certainly sensitive personal information. Just as no one can hack into your bank account using just the account number, identity theft is impossible using the Aadhaar number alone.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">What you need to assiduously protect are things like passwords, including OTPs, and PINs. A prudent practice would be to never put up any sensitive personal information on websites or social media platforms.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/aadhaar-linking-deadline-approaches-here-are-all-the-myths-and-facts'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/aadhaar-linking-deadline-approaches-here-are-all-the-myths-and-facts</a>
</p>
No publisherAdminAadhaarInternet GovernancePrivacy2018-01-01T16:04:25ZNews ItemTwitter India Workshop
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/twitter-india-workshop
<b>Manasa Rao attended a workshop organized by Twitter titled "The Network Effort". It was an effort by the Public Policy and Government team at Twitter to enable NGOs and non-profits to conduct successful Twitter campaigns and teach them best practices.</b>
<p>The handbook for the workshop <a class="external-link" href="https://about.twitter.com/content/dam/about-twitter/values/twitter-for-good/NGO-Handbook-Eng-Digital.pdf">is here</a>.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/twitter-india-workshop'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/twitter-india-workshop</a>
</p>
No publisherAdminInternet Governance2018-01-01T16:10:28ZNews ItemIndia’s Data Protection Regime Must Be Built Through an Inclusive and Truly Co-Regulatory Approach
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/the-wire-amber-sinha-december-1-2017-inclusive-co-regulatory-approach-possible-building-indias-data-protection-regime
<b>We must move India past its existing consultative processes for rule-making, which often prompts stakeholders to take adversarial and extremely one-sided positions.
</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The article was published in the <a class="external-link" href="https://thewire.in/201123/inclusive-co-regulatory-approach-possible-building-indias-data-protection-regime/">Wire</a> on December 1, 2017.</p>
<hr style="text-align: justify; " />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Earlier this week, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology released <a title="a white paper" href="http://meity.gov.in/white-paper-data-protection-framework-india-public-comments-invited" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">a white paper</span></a> by a “committee of experts” appointed a few months back led by former Supreme Court judge, Justice B.N. Srikrishna, on a data protection framework for India. The other members of the committee are Aruna Sundararajan, Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Ajay Kumar, Rajat Moona, Gulshan Rai, Rishikesha Krishnan, Arghya Sengupta and Rama Vedashree.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">With the exception of Justice Srikrishna and Krishnan, the rest of the committee members are either part of the government or part of organisations that have worked closely with the government on separate issues relating to technology, with some of them also having taken positions against the fundamental right to privacy.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Refreshingly, the committee and the ministry has opted for a consultative process outlining the issues they felt relevant to a data protection law, and espousing provisional views on each of the issues and seeking public responses on them. The paper states that on the basis of the response received, the committee will conduct public consultations with citizens and stakeholders. Legitimate concerns <a title="were raised earlier" href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/citizens-group-questions-data-privacy-panel-composition-aadhaar-4924220/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">were raised earlier</span></a> about the constitution of the committee and the lack of inclusion of different voices on it. However, if the committee follows an inclusive, transparent and consultative process in the drafting of the data protection legislation, it would go a long way in addressing these concerns.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The paper seeks response to as many as 231 questions covering a broad spectrum of issues relating to data protection – including definitions of terms such as personal data, sensitive personal data, processing, data controller and processor – the purposes for which exemptions should be available, cross border flow of data, data localisation and the right to be forgotten.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">While a thorough analysis of all the issues up for discussion would require a more detailed evaluation, at this point, the process of rule-making and the kind of governance model envisaged in this paper are extremely important issues to consider.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In part IV of the paper on ‘Regulation and Enforcement’, there is a discussion on a co-regulatory approach for the governance of data protection in India. The paper goes so far as to provisionally take a view that it may be appropriate to pursue a co-regulatory approach which involves “a spectrum of frameworks involving varying levels of government involvement and industry participation”.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">However, the discussion on co-regulation in the white paper is limited to the section on regulation and enforcement. A truly inclusive and co-regulatory approach ought to involve active participation from non-governmental stakeholders in the rule-making process itself. In India, unfortunately, we lack a strong tradition of lawmakers engaging in public consultations and participation of other stakeholders in the process of drafting laws and regulation. One notable exception has been the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), which periodically seeks public responses on consultation papers it releases and also holds open houses occasionally. It is heartening to see the committee of experts and the ministry follow a similar process in this case.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">However, these are essentially examples of ‘notice and comment’ rulemaking where the government actors stand as neutral arbiters who must decide on written briefs submitted to it in response to consultation papers or draft regulations that it notifies to the public.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This process is, by its very nature, adversarial, and often means that different stakeholders do not reveal their true priorities but must take extreme one-sided positions, as parties tend to at the beginning of a negotiation.This also prevents the stakeholders from sharing an honest assessment of the actual regulatory challenge they may face, lest it undermine their position.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This often pits industry and public interest proponents against each other, sometimes also leading to different kinds of industry actors in adversarial positions. An excellent example of this kind of posturing, also relevant to this paper, is visible in the responses submitted to the TRAI on the its recent consultation paper on ‘Privacy, Security and Ownership of data in Telecom Sector’. One of the more contentious issue raised by the TRAI was about the adequacy of the existing data protection framework under the license agreement with telecom companies, and if there was a need to bring about greater parity in regulation between telecom companies and over-the-top (OTT) service providers. Rather than facilitating an actual discussion on what is a complex regulatory issues, and the real practical challenges it poses for the stakeholders, this form of consultation simply led to the telecom companies and OTT services providers submitting contrasting extreme positions without much scope for engagement between two polar arguments.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">A truly co-regulatory approach which also extends to rulemaking would involve collaborative processes which are far less adversarial in their design and facilitate joint problem solving through multiple face to face meetings. Such processes are also more likely to lead to better rule making by using the more specialised knowledge of the different stakeholders about technology, domain-specific issues, industry realities and low cost solutions. Further, by bringing the regulated parties into the rulemaking process, the ownership of the policy is shared, often leading to better compliance.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Within the domain of data protection law itself, we have a few existing models of robust co-regulation which entail the involvement of stakeholders not just at the level of enforcement but also at the level of drafting. The oldest and most developed form of this kind of privacy governance can be seen in the study of the Dutch privacy statute. It involved a central privacy legislations with broad principles, sectoral industry-drafted “codes of conduct”, government evaluations and certifications of these codes; and a legal safe harbour for those companies that follow the approved code for their sector. Over a period of 20 years, the Dutch experience saw the approval of 20 sectoral codes across a variety of sectors such as banking, insurance, pharmaceuticals, recruitment and medical research.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Other examples of policies espousing this approach include two documents from the US – first, a draft bill titled ‘Commercial Privacy Bill of Rights Act of 2011’ introduced before the Congress by John McCain and John Kerry, and second, a White House Paper titled ‘Consumer Data Privacy In A Networked World: A Framework For Protecting Privacy And Promoting Innovation In The Global Digital Economy’ released by the Obama administration. Neither of these documents have so far led to a concrete policy. Both of these policies envisioned broadly worded privacy requirements to be passed by the Congress, followed by the detailed rules to be<span> drafted</span>. The Obama administration white paper is more inclusive in mandating that ‘multi-stakeholder groups’ draft the codes that include not only industry representatives but also privacy advocates, consumer groups, crime victims, academics, international partners, federal and state civil and criminal law enforcement representatives and other relevant groups.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The principles that emerge out this consultative process are likely to guide the data protection law in India for a long time to come. Among democratic regimes with a significant data-driven market, India is extremely late in arriving at a data protection law. The least that it can do at this point is to learn from the international experience and scholarship which has shown that merits of a co-regulatory approach which entails active participation of the government, industry, civil society and academia in the drafting and enforcement of a robust data protection law.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/the-wire-amber-sinha-december-1-2017-inclusive-co-regulatory-approach-possible-building-indias-data-protection-regime'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/the-wire-amber-sinha-december-1-2017-inclusive-co-regulatory-approach-possible-building-indias-data-protection-regime</a>
</p>
No publisheramberAadhaarInternet GovernancePrivacy2018-01-01T16:18:54ZBlog EntryFIGI Symposium 2017
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/figi-symposium-2017
<b>Innovative Approaches to Digital Financial Inclusion Challenges. </b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The <strong>first edition of the Financial Inclusion Global Initiative (FIGI) Symposium </strong>was held in Bangalore, India, from 29 November to 1 December 2017. The Symposium was organized jointly by the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), jointly with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank and the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructure (CPMI) and the kind support of the Government of India. </p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Elonnai Hickok participated in the symposium and spoke in the "Security, Infrastructure, and Trust" working group on big data and privacy in DFS. For more info on the symposium, <a class="external-link" href="https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-T/extcoop/figisymposium/2017/Pages/default.aspx">see here</a>.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/figi-symposium-2017'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/figi-symposium-2017</a>
</p>
No publisherAdminInternet GovernancePrivacy2018-01-01T16:29:42ZNews ItemSex, drugs and the dark web
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-hindu-saurya-sengupta-sex-drugs-and-the-dark-web
<b>Blend anonymity and bitcoins for a ‘guaranteed safe’ cocktail of terrifying potential.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The article was published in the <a class="external-link" href="http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/internet/sex-drugs-and-the-dark-web/article19818872.ece">Hindu</a> on October 7, 2017.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span>It’s hardly a secret that marijuana’s quite easy to get nowadays. Cigarette shop owners, paanwaalas, and otherwise innocuous dealers of innocuous goods hide their stash just out of sight of the unaware. Rustom Juneja is just another marijuana-smoking adult in one of India’s biggest cities. He used to get his ‘stuff’ from local dealers. Till he “got bored of Indian produce,” as he says. So, in 2015, he decided to go to the dark web.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">“I brought strains of marijuana from the U.S. and Canada, from a marketplace on the dark web,” Juneja says. The packages were shipped from their respective countries, they traversed borders, bypassed stringent security and checks, crossed continents, and landed at Juneja’s doorstep.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">That is the dark web for you. Completely unpoliced, willing users can find anything, from the aforementioned marijuana, to “hard” drugs, to military grade-weaponry and even sex workers. All delivered to your doorstep just like books or designer watches from Amazon, Flipkart, or Snapdeal. And yes, some even offer cash-on-delivery. Returns might not be as simple, though.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Earlier this year, a group of students were arrested in Hyderabad on charges of purchasing LSD (also called ‘acid’) on the dark web. But they weren’t arrested because they had made the transaction on the dark web; they were arrested because the purchase and/ or use of LSD is illegal under Indian law (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In India, transactions on the dark web belong to a legal grey area. More importantly, the transactions here are mostly untraceable.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">So, just what is the dark web?</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; "><span>Shadow world</span></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The world wide web is a Brobdingnagian mass of data, parts of which are ‘indexed’ so that they may be found by users through search engines (Google, Bing, etc). The parts of the web that aren’t indexed, and therefore available for public access, are known as the ‘deep web’. This was the part initially known as the dark web, with the ‘dark’ being more an allusion to being kept away from the light of regular access than its now more nefarious association. While it’s near impossible to put a number to it, unofficial estimates mostly concur that the vast majority of the web is unindexed.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Then, in the early 2000s, programmers began developing techniques that would be able to offer anonymous access to these hidden bits of the web. In 2002, the U.S. Naval Laboratory released one of the earliest versions of The Onion Router (TOR), a software that would allow anonymous communication between American intelligence agents and operatives on foreign soil.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This didn’t go quite according to plan, though. Tor was soon appropriated by cyberpunks, who began using the protocol to give access to websites that would host, share, and trade illicit goods. Today, the dark web is a sub-section of the deep web, accessed using specialised software like Tor that ensures absolute anonymity.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; "><span>The onion protocol</span></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">“If you want to track anything on the <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/tag/541-428/internet/?utm=bodytag"><span>Internet, </span></a>it can happen at three levels — the level of the person who sends a request, at the level of the person responding to this request, or it can happen in between these two ends,” says Udbhav Tiwari, Policy Officer at the Centre for Internet and Society.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">“Because of this structure, it is easy to track actions and resources across the Internet, using the same terminology that makes it so easy to index and search. So, people began thinking this might become a problem.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Most of us have heard of the Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure or HTTPS, a protocol that ensures that information is encrypted and secure the moment it leaves a computer till the time it reaches a destination computer. But this protocol only protects one of the three levels on which information might be tracked. The dark web is built to ensure that the remaining levels are also protected and kept anonymous.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">“The reason it’s called the ‘onion’ protocol is because there are bits of information that are encrypted over and over again. So, when something leaves one computer, it is encrypted with a layer, then it hits another computer and is encrypted with another layer, and it hits another computer, where it is encrypted yet again. When this information returns, each layer is peeled off, so that you get the information you requested, with none of the encryption,” Tiwari says.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This kind of encryption makes it borderline impossible to figure out who is communicating with who and what they are talking about, unless the physical machines at either end are compromised, or a vulnerability on these machines is exploited by setting up a fake website on the Internet — a technique the FBI uses to track child pornography.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">And what does it all mean? A level of guaranteed secrecy with terrifying potential. A 2015 study found that light drugs were the most traded commodity on the dark web, and that as much as 26% of its content could be classified as ‘child exploitation’.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">A 2016 study found that almost 57% of live websites on the dark web hosted illicit material. The ease of access and the minimal chances of being caught has meant a steady rise in the use of the dark web and the murk it peddles.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">It’s a market where both buyer and vendor are rated, like Uber. This establishes trust, and authenticates the veracity of a potential transaction. Thus, for instance, buyers are obviously more inclined to buy an assault rifle from a highly-rated seller. And you will be sold grenades only if your ratings assure the vendor you’ll fulfil your end of the transaction.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Once a transaction is finalised, the payment is held ‘in escrow’ — a third party arbitration system which ensures the buyer is paid only after they have met their end of the bargain. The third parties also arbitrate in the event of a dispute.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; "><span>As easy as pie</span></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Juneja bought marijuana three times, all from the same vendor, but only two shipments reached him. The third time, the parcel never landed, but the arbiters decided in favour of the vendor because he had a much better rating and Juneja lost his money.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">With no proper method to find out whether the vendor has shipped a product or the buyer has received it, this adjudication is seen as the best stop-gap arrangement. For Juneja, as for many others, the loss was a deal breaker, and he didn’t go back to the dark web.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">When the first two shipments did arrive though, they came with absolute swagger and nonchalance. “The product was sealed and flattened out, as if it were a magazine or postcard.” It does say something of international security that it can’t differentiate between a shipment of <em>The New Yorker</em> and marijuana.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Dark web transactions were initially carried out using legal state-issued currencies. However, the simplicity of tracking online transactions made with property monitored by the government led to the rise of cryptocurrencies — digital or virtual currency that uses cryptographic techniques for security and which would be beyond state control. Besides the need to go underground, there was a political angle.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">“These people see money as a state incursion into private affairs,” says Jyotirmoy Bhattacharya, economics professor at Delhi’s Ambedkar University.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The first, and still most popular, cryptocurrency was released in 2009 — bitcoin. Created by an unknown person or group of people, going only by the pseudonym Satashi Nakamoto, bitcoin was intended as a ‘peer-to-peer electronic cash system’, which would be completely decentralised, with no central server or state authority. This meant that the value and proliferation of bitcoin would be determined by its creators and users.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span>The idea of a virtual currency has been around since before Nakamoto, but a large problem was in limiting creation and supply. Bitcoin was the first to solve this problem. “Bitcoin uses a technique known as the ‘proof-of-work’ (POW). So, to create a new set of this currency, you have to spend some amount of computational resources. This limits how much currency you can generate, thus ensuring that the currency has a value,” says Bhattacharya.</span></p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; "><span>What is bitcoin?</span></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">“A bitcoin is simply a solution to a puzzle. If there are a set of puzzles that are a part of the bitcoin protocol, one bitcoin is simply one of the solved puzzles of that set, along with a digital signature of who solved the puzzle,” says Bhattacharya. A public ledger tracks the ownership of bitcoins, which ensures that the same one is not used again by the same person.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">“Since there is no central authority, your transaction has to match the globally agreed ledger.” To ensure that ownership of bitcoin is legitimate, every transaction is published in the ledger, thus creating a ‘chain of transactions’ known as a blockchain.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Over the past few years, the value of bitcoin has skyrocketed, so much so that people have begun investing in it, as an asset. When bitcoin was first used as tender in early 2010, it was valued at around $0.003. For a brief while in August, one bitcoin was valued at $4,500, a record high.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In the everyday world of eggs and bread, though, bitcoin has limited use. It is still unrecognised by several nations, and deemed illegal in many others. It’s in the dark web that it finds its most votaries. While it would be flippant to suggest that bitcoin is used on the dark web solely for illicit uses, it is difficult to deny its origins for that purpose, and its continuing use there.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Bedavyasa Mohanty, an Associate Fellow at Observer Research Foundation Cyber Initiative, says that there are Indian users transacting on the dark web using bitcoin and claims that this number is only likely to increase as accessibility increases. “Bitcoin cannot be tracked,” says Mohanty. “With the ledger and the blockchain, you can trace the trail of a certain bitcoin, but it is anonymised. You can’t point out who owns that bitcoin.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This, in effect, means an entirely anonymous transaction may be made on the dark web for any number of illegal goods or services using a currency that leaves a trail which goes nowhere and leaves no fingerprints. This, in a nutshell, is the danger when bitcoin combines with the dark web.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Several users I spoke to either claimed that fears about the dark web were mostly unfounded, or that the freedom it offered was an essential facet of the Internet. But it can’t be denied that the sheer possibility that somebody can deal in child porn or hard drugs or deadly weapons right under the nose of the law is a terrifying one.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">From the perspective of Indian law enforcement, given the technical knowhow they have to track down owners and users of bitcoins, the chances of discovery are minimal, says Mohanty. The currency uses a system of public and private ‘keys’, ensuring that an intercepted bitcoin transmission is useless without those keys. To top it, India does not have any clear laws to regulate cryptocurrencies.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">“For India to regulate cryptocurrencies, it would need to legally recognise their existence,” says Mohanty. “And if you do recognise them, what do you treat them as? As a security? Or as a currency that can be traded openly, and so on. That’s part of the reason why the Reserve Bank hasn’t formally recognised cryptocurrencies.”</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; "><span>Flagging illegal trades</span></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Bitcoin exchanges in India insist that they follow strict guidelines and e-KYC (Know Your Customer) rules, ensuring that the identity of every customer on the exchange is verified. “If somebody tries to use a bitcoin from Zebpay or any other recognised exchange, they will definitely be tracked down,” says Saurabh Agrawal, co-founder of Zebpay, one of India’s largest bitcoin exchanges.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">“We use strong software; if any of our users use bitcoins for illegal purposes, we close their accounts. We’ve done this in the past and will do so in future as well.” He claims their software maintains a list of web addresses deemed ‘red alert’ sites, and the moment a bitcoin is sent to such a site, the transaction is flagged.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Others are less positive. “While we can track whether a transaction is made through illegal routes, to some extent it’s true that we cannot track all transactions in real time as this takes a large amount of data,” says Sathvik Vishwanath, CEO, Unocoin.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">“But if someone is trying to buy or sell from illegal marketplaces, we have a mechanism where we can — and do — stop it.” Given that customers are KYC-verified, “they don’t try to indulge in malicious activities,” he says.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Pan to Rustom Juneja. Juneja made three transactions in 2015, using bitcoins purchased entirely legally from an exchange. “You have to create an account on any of the markets online, and transfer your bitcoins to that account,” Juneja informs me. His account too was KYC-verified, and they had all his details — PAN number, Aadhar, and so on. He had no clue then that the exchanges had tracking methods. “Look, if these actually worked, there’s no way we wouldn’t have been caught,” he says.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Part of the problem, of course, is that Indian law does not recognise the dark web as a separate entity from the ‘surface’ web; there are no special laws for it. Yet, even if laws were put in place, there are few ways in which states can monitor or block the use of the dark web owing to a host of technical and legal reasons.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">“A sense of urgency [regarding the dark web], especially relating to the use of bitcoin for illicit activities, hasn’t been instilled in the government yet,” says Mohanty. “What they are worried about is terrorism, and the use of anonymous technologies and chatrooms for radicalisation, terror planning, or buying and selling weapons.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Juneja is one of a few thousand active Indian users on the dark web. Nothing stops them from buying a strain of marijuana from Canada. But nothing stops them from buying a Kalashnikov either.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; "><span>Sunny side up</span></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The dark web isn’t necessarily only a marketplace for all of the world’s nefarious practices. The very anonymity and shrouds that the dark web offers can be used for general practices by users looking merely for privacy.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Aritra Ghosh, a Ph.D student of Computational Astrophysics at Yale University says, “(The dark web is) possibly the only way to do something in “secret” away from any kind of surveillance. Onion routing still hasn’t been broken. So, it can play a substantial role in movements against companies, governments and so on.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">And this is a quality that many frequenters of the dark web swear by. Even the ability to use anonymous messenger service with a near-complete guarantee of not being ‘watched’ drives a lot of people here.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Akarsh Pandit, 24, says unrestricted access to many resources including books and documents is an area of huge potential. “Another significant pro is the avoidance of national firewalls that exist in some countries. Moreover, you gain access to unindexed search results,” he says.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-hindu-saurya-sengupta-sex-drugs-and-the-dark-web'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-hindu-saurya-sengupta-sex-drugs-and-the-dark-web</a>
</p>
No publisherAdminInternet Governance2018-01-02T16:13:14ZNews ItemAttempted data breach of UIDAI, RBI, ISRO and Flipkart is worrisome
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/daily-o-october-4-2017-attempted-data-breach-of-uidai-rbi-isro-and-flipkart
<b>Perhaps, we got lucky this time, but the ongoing problem of massive cyber-security breaches wouldn't stop at one thwarted attempt to steal sensitive information from the biggest and most important databases. </b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This was published by <a class="external-link" href="https://www.dailyo.in/variety/uidai-rbi-isro-flipkart-hack-cyber-security-data-breach-dark-net/story/1/19893.html">DailyO</a> on October 4, 2017.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span>An</span><span> <a href="http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/trends/current-affairs-trends/uidai-bse-among-6000-indian-organisations-reportedly-affected-by-data-breach-2404223.html/amp" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">alarming report </a></span><span>on a potential data breach impacting almost 6,000 Indian organisations — including the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) that hosts Aadhaar numbers, Reserve Bank of India, Bombay Stock Exchange and Flipkart — has surfaced and supposedly been contained.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">A cyber security firm in Pune, Seqrite, had found in its Cyber Intelligence Labs that India's national internet registry, IRINN (Indian Registry for Internet Names and Numbers), which comes under NIXI (National Internet Exchange of India), was compromised, though the issue has reportedly been "addressed".</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Sequite tracked an advertisement on the "dark net" — the digital underworld — offering access to servers and database dump of more than 6,000 Indian businesses and public assets, including the big ones such as UIDAI, RBI, BSE and Flipkart.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The report states that the "dealer could have had access to usernames, email ids, passwords, organisation name, invoices and billing documents, and few more important fields, and could have potentially shut down an entire organisation".</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The UIDAI has <span><a href="https://twitter.com/UIDAI/status/915528090230517761" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">denied</a></span> the security breach of Aadhaar data in the IRINN attacks, in an expected move. "UIDAI reiterated that its existing security controls and protocols are robust and capable of countering any such attempts or malicious designs of data breach or hacking," said the report, which is basically a rebuttal from the powerful organisation at the heart of centralising all digital information of all Indians.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Though the aggrieved parties have been notified, and the NCIIPC (National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre) is looking at the issue, what this means is that digital information is a minefield susceptible to all kinds of threats from criminals as well as foreign adversaries, along with being commercially exploited by major conglomerates.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Till August 2017 alone, around <span><a href="https://www.medianama.com/2017/08/223-ransomware-india-wannacry-petya/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">37 incidents</a></span> of ransomware attacks have been reported, including the notorious WannaCry attacks. But what makes the attacks very, very threatening is the government's insistence — illegal at that — to link Aadhaar with every service, and create a centralised nodal, superior network of all networks.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This "map of maps" has been rightly called out as a potential <span><a href="https://thewire.in/118541/national-security-case-aadhaar/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">national security threat</a></span>, as it makes a huge reservoir of data vulnerable to cyberthreats from mercenaries, the digital underworld and foreign adversaries.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><img alt="A widely circulated report prepared by the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) underlined the major flaws in the 2016 Aadhaar Act, that makes it vulnerable to several digital threats. Photo: Reuters" src="https://smedia2.intoday.in/dailyo//story/embed/201710/data-inside_100417083834.jpg" title="data-inside_100417083834.jpg" /></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span><strong>A widely circulated report prepared by the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) underlined the major flaws in the 2016 Aadhaar Act, that makes it vulnerable to several digital threats. Photo: Reuters</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">That the data dump in the digital black market provides access to entire servers for a meagre sum of Rs 42 lakh, as mentioned in the report, is a sign of how insecure our personal information could be on the servers of the biggest government organisations and commercial/online retail giants. This includes the likes of Flipkart, which store our passwords, emails, phone numbers and other important information linked to our bank details and more.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Whilst UIDAI was declared a <span><a href="http://meity.gov.in/writereaddata/files/UIDAI%20CII%20notification%20Dec15.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">"protected system"</a></span> under Section 70 of the Information Technology Act, and a critical information infrastructure, in practice, there are way too many breaches and leaks of Aadhaar data to merit that tag.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Because the current (officially thwarted) attempt to hack into these nodal databases involved the data of hundreds of millions of Indians, the matter has been dealt with the required seriousness. However, as the report states, "among the companies whose emails they found were Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, Indian Space Research Organisation, Mastercard/Visa, Spectranet, Hathway, IDBI Bank and EY".</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This is a laundry list of the biggest and most significant organisations, with massive digital footprints, which are sitting on enormous databanks. Hacking into ISRO, for example, could pose a formidable risk to India's space programmes as well as jeopardise information safety of crucial space projects that are jointly conducted with friendly countries such as Russia, China and the US.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">A widely circulated report prepared by the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) on the Aadhaar Act and <span><a href="https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/aadhaar-act-and-its-non-compliance-with-data-protection-law-in-india" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">its non-compliance with data protection law</a></span> in India underlined the major flaws in the 2016 Aadhaar Act, that makes it vulnerable to several digital threats.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Moreover, CIS also reported how government websites, especially "those run by National Social Assistance Programme under Ministry of Rural Development, National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) run by Ministry of Rural Development, Daily Online Payment Reports under NREGA (Governemnt of Andhra Pradesh) and Chandranna Bima Scheme (also run by Government of Andhra Pradesh) combined were responsible for<a href="http://m.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/aadhaar-data-leak-exposes-cyber-security-flaws/article9677360.ece" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span> publicly exposing</span> </a>personal and Aadhaar details of over 13 crore citizens".</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The government has been rather lackadaisical about the grave security threats posed by India's shaky digital infrastructure, saying it's robust when it's not: the UIDAI itself has been brushing the allegations of exclusion, data breach and leaking of data from various government and private operators' servers and there have been several documentations of the security threat as well as the human rights violations that the digital breaches pose for India's institutions and its citizens.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As noted welfare economist Jean Dreze <span><a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/dissent-and-aadhaar-4645231/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">says</a></span>, "With Aadhaar immensely reinforcing the government's power to reward loyalty and marginalise dissenters, the embers of democracy are likely to be further smothered."</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Even as India's jurisprudence held privacy and autonomy as supreme, Indians remain vulnerable to institutional failures and an abject lack of awareness on the gravity of digital destabilisation.</p>
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For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/daily-o-october-4-2017-attempted-data-breach-of-uidai-rbi-isro-and-flipkart'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/daily-o-october-4-2017-attempted-data-breach-of-uidai-rbi-isro-and-flipkart</a>
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No publisherAdminAadhaarInternet GovernancePrivacy2018-01-02T16:20:58ZNews Item