It’s not easy to tag a billion people into a single database. But when the government under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh decided to go ahead with the Unique Identity card (UID Card) project in India in 2009, who would he turn to, to head this most ambitious project — the biggest social project on the planet. The man he turned to was none other than Nandan Nilekani, the man who had taken the biggest Indian software company Infosys to great heights as its CEO. The Multipurpose National Identity Card which came to be known as the Aadhar card was aimed to provide a unique identification number for all residents of India and used primarily for the efficient delivery of welfare services. Nandan gave up his coveted job at Infosys to drive this mammoth project home. Despite a change in the government and judicial questions, Aadhar today is being made mandatory for use by all citizens, linked to all financial transactions. A look at this unique man.
Just like the Aadhar was revolutionary at the time, the present government has launched an ambitious project to bring the nation under a single tax system – the GST – which has divided the business community over its benefits. Exactly a month from its midnight launch, we take a view in our Platform section on how this one nation, one tax has united and divided the nation.
In Business, we dive into the world of some amazing startups which are getting more and more inventive with each passing day and offering services and goods that were unimaginable a few years ago. Startling we must say!
As we move on to an increasingly digital world, health and environment are becoming big concerns for the young and growing. Lack of exercise and pollution being the biggest, there are attempts to offer simple solutions to such complex issues. Cycling is being promoted by a young woman in Ahmedabad as one such simple solution. Cycling Cities takes a look at why our cities are not cycle-friendly.
Then we have an interesting column from a globe-trotting Indian journalist who has interviewed more heads of states and visited more countries that any other journalist in India. Saeed Naqvi reminisces about his visit to Israel, the Jewish state.
In the Books section, we take a look at India’s most formidable politician. She was someone who dominated our political narrative and forged a cult of personality so deep that we still feel the reverberations today. Indira Gandhi loomed larger than life for much of India’s post-independence history. On the centenary of her birth, journalist and author Sagarika Ghose takes a look back at Gandhi; delving into not just the political animal but the woman with a complex private life.