Annual Report - The Centre For Internet And Society: Fill & Download for Free

What amazes me about Indians is the laws which are implemented and are unaware of irrespective of the number of years the laws have been passed by the parliament of India-Attempted suicide illegal, not if successful -In a blatant undermining of the basic ideals of democracy, Section 309 of the Penal Code makes sure you are punished if you don’t do suicide right. The law states that a successful suicide is legal, but failure to succeed might land you in jail. This is based on the notion that if the person dies, the matter dies with him/her. But, should they survive, they stand answerable and punishable for their action. (Section 309 of the Penal Code)2. The unlucky lottery- The Indian Treasure Trove Act makes for one unfortunate lottery. According to this 1878 law, chancing upon unclaimed money, amounting to more than Rs. 11, on the road and failing to report the same to the local authority might result in prosecution. In a morally compromised world, it makes one wonder if this law is of any importance.3. You need good teeth to become a motor vehicle inspector- You read it right. In a toothy tale, according to this law, among the various physical tests, one needs to pass in the process of becoming a motor vehicle inspector in Andhra Pradesh, one is also needed to have good teeth. All aspirants of this job better start the oral hygiene regimen.4. Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958, Section 14:- If you are living in Delhi then your landlord does not have the right to forcefully vacate your house without giving prior notice to you.5. Limitation Act, 1963:- If your office does not pay you then you have the power to file an FIR against it within 3 years. But if you report after 3 years, you will not get anything for the due.6. Salt Cess Act, 1953- The law levies a cess - a tax imposed for special administrative expenses - on salt manufacturers at the rate of 14 paise (2 cents) per 40kg on all salt made in a private or state-owned salt factory. The proceeds - after deducting the cost of the collection - are used to meet the expenses of salt-making, labor welfare, and research. In 2013-14 collections from the tax amounted to $538,000 (£343,400), which was nearly half the cost of collecting it. Given that collections are so low, says the Delhi-based Centre for Civil Society, removing this act - and tax - would have little effect on the government's finances. A High-Level Salt Enquiry Committee set up in 1978 recommended that the tax should be scrapped since the "annual collection was very small" while the total cost of collecting it was more than half of the total collection. The recommendation is still pending. Although 92% of salt in India is produced by private companies, its salt industry is controlled by what is called the Indian Salt Service, employing some 800 officers.7. The Aircraft Act, 1934- The law defines an aircraft as "any machine which can derive support in the atmosphere from reactions of the air". So it includes "balloons, whether fixed or free, airships, kites, gliders and flying machines". It also says only the government can make rules regarding "possession, use, operation, sale, import or export of any aircraft or class of aircraft".By this logic, it would be illegal to fly kites and balloons without government clearance in India.8. Indian Telegraph Act, 1885- The Indian Telegraph Act was introduced by the British government in India to curb rebellion. But with the advent of the internet and social media, the use of telegraph and thus, this act has been rendered moot.What such an archaic provision is still doing in the constitution is beyond us.9. Motor Vehicle Act 1988, section -185, 202:- At the time of driving if your 100ml. blood contains more than 30mg. of alcohol then the police can arrest you without a warrant.image source:India Today10. Criminal Procedure Code, Section 46- No woman can be arrested before 6 A.M. and after 6 P.M.(In exceptional cases they can be arrested as mentioned in point 7)11. Indian Penal Code, 166 A- A Police officer can’t refuse to lodge an FIR if he/she does they could be jailed from 6 months to 1 year.12. Income Tax Act, 1961:- In the case of tax violations, the tax collection officer has the power to arrest you but before arresting you, he/she will have to send a notice to you. Only Tax Commissioner decides how long you will stay in the custody.13. Maternity Benefit Act, 1961:- No company can fire a pregnant woman. It may be punishable by a maximum of 3 years of imprisonment.If the company (Government or private) has more than 10 employees then the pregnant women employee is eligible to get 84 days paid maternity leave.image source:14. As per the Citizen Charter (Indian Oil Corporation website):- There are very few people who know that if their gas cylinder blasts during the cooking of food then the gas agency is liable to pay Rs. 50 lakh to the victim as compensation.To claim this compensation consumers need to lodge an FIR to the nearest police station and submit it to the concerned gas agency.image source: Naidunia5-star hotel can’t prohibit you from drinking potable water and using its washrooms.Indian Srius Act, 188710. If a young boy and a girl want to live together in a “live-in relationship”, they can do so because it is not illegal. Even the newborn from this relationship is also a legal son or daughter and this newborn has the full right in the assets of his/her father.15. Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956:- If somebody belongs to the Hindu religion and has a son or grandson then he can’t adopt a second child.There must be a gap of at least 21 years between you (the adopter) and your adopted son.image source:authorSTREAM16. A police officer is always on duty whether he/she wearing a uniform or not. If a person makes a complaint to the officer, he/she could not say that he can’t help the victim because he/ she is not on duty.

PG culture in IT hubs is the biggest fraud and a systematic loot of IT employees (especially gullible freshers who join the industry at a starting salary that has been stagnant since a decade).PG means “Paying Guest” i.e. a stranger living in my house like a guest member except paying me monthly rent for remaining as a guest in my house.Now coming to PG culture in these IT hubs, the treatment is far from it. Having experienced it first hand, some of my observations are:One room is shared by 3 other people. That makes 4 people in one 10 by 12 room (4 beds and 4 small cupboards in parallel).You are entitled to a single bed and a small cupboard, nothing more nothing less.If room is not sufficient, your bed and cupboard can be adjusted in an enclosed dry balcony as well.Privacy - WTF is that !! Some of my pen drives were stolen, and lucky me that my personal laptop was saved from theft as I vacated it within 1 month.If the house is a 4 storey building of 3BHK flats in each floor, the total number of people accomodated = 4 per bedroom * 3 bedrooms * 4 floors = 48 people !!Rent in 2013 in Pune IT park area (Hinjewadi) was Rs 5000/- per cot per month. This means, total annual rent from all the paying guests is Rs 5000 * 48 * 12 = Rs 28.8 lpa (probably more than the annual salary of a Senior Project Manager in Infosys at that time).Income Tax paid on the rented PG - Cannot be determined, as rent was collected in cash only and a typical local grocery store type receipt was given (which would raise more scrutiny as valid HRA proof while filing IT returns)While vacating the premises, the landlord or PG owner or whatever nomenclature is deemed fit, haggles for an entire year rent claiming to be part of the agreement when you enter the PG. The strange thing is that, no such legal agreement is signed and such a touted agreement is a word of mouth convention with zero legal validity. But, a naive fresh IT recruit has much to fear of the reputation stigma of getting into a legal mess, despite being on the right side of the law. Hence, the loot. Many forfeit their hard earned legitimate money into these Black Holes while leaving the so-called PG.Food is provided at stipulated time slots only.Now my questions, based on the definition of Paying Guest (highlighting the word Guest):How many of you would provide your Guest with a cot and a small cupboard and nothing else ??Are guests not entitled to some privacy or the feeling of being a guest in somebody's house, especially when they are paying ??How many people are ready to accommodate 48 guests in a family of two or three ?? (Why call this PG after all !! Why not tag it as Melbourne Cricket Ground !!)Relationship between a host and a guest is based on mutual trust. If that relationship is a commercial one, then trust is build on foundations of legality (i.e. proper legal agreement). But, this word of mouth convention as trust and then fleecing a gullible guest while leaving is daylight loot.For years together, these so-called PG owners have abused the system, looted IT juntaa in broad daylight, made a bloody cartel owing to the monopoly of demand supply mechanics and were getting away from the law of the land.Being a one time victim of these scamsters, I would be more than happy to see them and their nefarious cartel decimated to dust if WFH becomes the default norm. It's good that whatever the system was unable to do in years, a genetically modified virus did that in a matter of months. Enough of looting and cheating by a monopoly built around an outdated cost arbitrage business model of the current IT industry in India.PG doesn't mean only timely food and a roof overhead to stay safe. It is much more than that. When these thugs repeatedly abused the essence of the word “Guest”, they deserve this economic aftermath of this pandemic.As such it is consistent with the teachings of Bhagavad Gita 4.7 - Whenever immorality, unethical practice, exploitation rises, God manifests himself on the earth to preserve the good and destroy the evil. This has happened before and this will continue to happen everytime whenever nefarious designs exceed the threshold of civilized society.Perhaps, this pandemic and WFH culture is one of the ways in which God is decimating unscrupulous practices and the people who have made fortunes around this loot.Edit: My response to some cliche arguments like:“PG owners are there to make profit not charity” - Exactly. Neither are IT employees supposed to make charity by overcrowding in and around one SEZ area, and overpaying just because a handful of ignorant folks perceive that we earn in Dollars and spend in Euros. In a democracy, everybody is free to think about their own profit, and you cannot expect one section of society like the IT employees to bear the burden of the entire SEZ economy i.e. do justice to the employer, pay income tax on salary and keep on getting overcharged for almost everything. In the past decade or so, the real estate folks thought only about their own profit with total disregard to their end customers (mostly IT employees) and justified this exploitation under demand vs supply economic theory. Now the situation has changed, and, companies along with many of the IT employees are finding it personally profitable to remotely work from their hometowns. By virtue of the same “Free Market Economy” theory, it is as justified as the overcharging by real estate folks. Moreover nobody has got any moral authority to talk about how the real estate economy in IT hubs will collapse if WFH becomes permanent and people reverse migrate to their hometowns while creating opportunities there.“Nobody forced you to live in a PG” - I have lived both in sharing accommodation with flatmates as well as PG as well as independent accommodation in 1 BHK (office + cooking + household chores all by myself). So, in my personal capacity, I have every right to criticize and expose the greedy lot among PG owners and landlords, especially when other cheaper options exist and they fleece gullible lot of IT juntaa by over-inflating the rents & commissions.“Pay more to get decent services. PG owners are there to do business” - This argument holds in a truly free market economy where there is no cartel/nexus/mafia. Such an argument has got zero realistic value when the underlying business has degraded to a cartel. The people who are saying this, are the same ones who have got selective amnesia about the pre-Jio era telecom market. Even though, a customer was capable of paying more for better internet service, still then cellular companies were operating like a cartel and were fleecing the end customers with high priced 3G data packs at 2G speeds. Jio entered the market like a disruption, provided faster internet, and the same cartel are now crying out about the monopoly of Jio. Drawing parallel with the above analogy, COVID-19 pandemic was a much needed disruption to demolish the unhealthy nexus of real estate developers, brokers, landlords and PG owners who were fleecing the public by creating their monopoly around IT hubs, and were rather offering sub-standard service of early 2000’s while charging inflation corrected prices of 2020.“PG owners have their own cost liabilities to pay for” - As if IT employees have the “Potato-to-Gold” machine !! Everyone who earns his/her living has his/her own assets & liabilities. PG owners and real estate folks are not some special creatures from Mars or Venus who should be treated special.PG owners and landlords have invested heavily initially — That is the most absurd, illogical and perhaps the most disgusting argument in the entire conversation. Heavy initial investment is not a licence to brazenly flout the laws. Following the law of the land is not a matter of choice or someone's personal convenience. It is a damned compulsion. Deal with it. You cannot evade taxes just because you don't like it or have made heavy investments. Other people cheating and evading taxes doesn't make an existing tax evading landlord a saint. It simply makes him a tax offender and perhaps a criminal relying on whataboutery to justify his criminality. The point is, if you don't like the taxation laws, either change the laws via appropriate democratic processes, or simply go to another country that has existing laws to entertain your whims and fancies. Please don't shamelessly justify the brazen illegality and thuggery just because it suits your personal agenda.Presence of some sound economic theories that say WFH is not a sustainable solution - All economic theories exist as long as the society exist and not the other way round. In a society that is suffering with overcrowding, overpopulation, over-exploitation of natural resources, crimes arising due to excessive dependency on a particular area’s resources, exploitative mindset and anti-migrant sentiments, any economic theory, however sound it might look on paper will go down the toilet. Those economic theories which gave solid backing to creation of SEZ’s and selective economic growth of a particular area, were done and dusted during the worst migrant crisis of India during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is as useless as putting all eggs in one basket. All it took to demolish such uneven economic model was a virus.N.B.: Some blessed souls have pointed out that this answer reeks of jealousy towards PG owners and landlords. The fact is, nobody is jealous of a landlord or PG owner making money. By God’s grace, many of us are self sufficient to get two decent square meals a day and spend good time amidst our family and friends. So, there is no point in being jealous towards a handful of folks who made business by forming cartels and fleecing people, and, are now are facing losses due to pandemic. From an IT professional’s perspective, who rakes his/her brain for more than 9 hours in front of a laptop screen, we folks have got better things to do, rather than to get jealous of someone who believes business means an unlimited license to loot people in broad daylight. Like every normal person, we also don’t like to get financially exploited and still behave like a saint, just because some crackpot armchair economists are here to justify all of it under terms like “Free Market Economy” , “Demand vs Supply” etc. Peace.Update: The real estate lobby in IT hubs needs to accept legalized win-win solutions like this — UP Govt Planning to Introduce New Tenancy Law to Reduce Disputes Between Tenants, Landlords to gain confidence of people, rather than crying over their justified losses, because of their current inability to loot people owing to the pandemic and WFH culture. Until and unless the real estate lobby doesn't vouch for such legalized solutions, which protects the interests of the tenant and landlord, nobody will ever have an iota of empathy for such crooks who are justifying this organized loot on crackpot economic theories of demand vs supply. Such arguments are really laughable as it is like a scamster Harshad Mehta giving theories on economics and market.Edit: Today after 1.6k+ upvotes, 16 re-shares and 189.2k+ views, the answer was collapsed by Quora Moderation. It took 189.2k+ views to ascertain and fraudulently report this answer that it should be in English. (I never realised that Quora supports AI based translation such that some people read this entire answer as Chinese !!) This proves that the ones who have fraudulently reported the answer are not only unscrupulous, but also illiterate enough not to understand English. Hence, the abuse of Quora policies. Anyways, before Burnol (to bear the burnt of uncomfortable truth), these illiterate folks need the nursery school ABCD book first to understand English. Disabling comments because I don't want such fraudulent people to pollute the comments section in Hebrew (as allegedly the Answer Needs to Be In English as per the abuse of Quora policies).

Around 40 government agencies have deployed a tool developed by a Delhi-based technological institute to monitor what people do on social media, Scroll.in reported earlier this week. At the same time, on Thursday, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that security agencies are trying to get new software tools with face recognition capabilities to dig into social media to track criminals.This comes soon after the BJP government abandoned its plans for building a Social Media Communications Hub following a challenge in the Supreme Court from Trinamool Congress MLA Mahua Moitra. Although the government said it would not contest the case, the Latest News, In depth news, India news, Politics news, Indian Cinema, Indian sports, Culture, Video News report says that the tool, called the Advanced Application for Social Media Analytics (AASMA), has been widely used to track citizens' social media activities. It was developed by the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology in 2013-14 and its use by government agencies has grown without much scrutiny or oversight."Government of India has officially declared this project as STRATEGIC in nature and is closely monitoring the growth of the same," Latest News, In depth news, India news, Politics news, Indian Cinema, Indian sports, Culture, Video News quoted from the institute's annual report of 2016-2017. The report also said that more than 40 state and central government departments had deployed the tool by April 2017 and another 75 had requested its installation at the time.According to Latest News, In depth news, India news, Politics news, Indian Cinema, Indian sports, Culture, Video News, the tool can be used to collect data around the clock from Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and Google+. It can track social profiles, carry out "sentiment analysis" of posts and track user devices.A compendium of projects published in 2017 by the Bureau of Police Research and Development says that AASMA will be distributed among central and state law enforcement/intelligence agencies at no charge, with hardware and Internet connectivity. According to a 2016 report by The Hans India, the tool requires just a one-time investment of Rs 30 lakh and a particular number of police personnel to monitor it. The tool provides a single dashboard view of all the information in the system, which has been the subject of criticism."There seems to be a Star Trek-type obsession with dashboards which results in massive data collection and centralisation of personal data," Sunil Abraham, Executive Director of the Centre for Internet and Society, had told HuffPost Indiawhile speaking about the Andhra Pradesh government collecting citizen data into a series of dashboards. "This is a huge security risk."According to the BPRD compendium, AASMA also supports various Indian languages such as Hindi and Bangla, and can send alerts through email and SMS depending on the criteria set by then officers using the tool.Political parties are now showing a lot of interest in tracking social media to carry out sentiment analysis of voters to determine issues to campaign on, and also to carry out psychographic profiling of individuals. In Andhra Pradesh, at the Real Time Governance Centre across the hall from the Chief Minister's office, a team of four to five officials monitor social media for mention of government projects, along with key words like 'Chandrababu Naidu', in order to track what people throughout the state are saying. Tools like AASMA will only make this process easier.BEYOND TRACKING SOCIAL MEDIAAside from tracking social media, the government is also now looking for ways to use facial recognition to fight "terrorists" and "cybercrime", according to a report. On Thursday, Home Minister Singh said cybercrimes were posing a "big challenge" to the security establishment and added that security agencies have detected that terrorists were using the "dark Internet" to recruit operatives and to "sell and purchase confidential information by big criminals"."We can track criminals through the CCTV cameras. But at times, it is very difficult to identify and recognise them. We are trying that face recognition technology is better improved so that if a criminal is not identified by CCTV cameras, there should be a technology to get his face recognised. This is what we are trying... We are also trying that if there is no information about them (criminals) in the CCTNS (crime and criminal tracking network system), we should have such software that can dig into the social media network and collate information about such elements," the home minister said.The Punjab police is already running a project called PAIS which uses facial recognition to identify people using a smartphone or even CCTV footage. And speaking to HuffPost India, a senior police official said that Aadhaar could provide the missing information to bring not just people who have been sentenced to jail, but all citizens, under this surveillance dragnet."I believe that Aadhaar access will have to be given to the police," he said. "Right now, only people who have been jailed are being tracked. If you give the police more data, it will only benefit people."However, Singh might have been speaking from incomplete information. For example, he claimed that there has been no incident of terrorism in India in the last four years, and also said that the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS) will be launched across the country, although the system was actually first launched in 2009, and has been widely deployed. By 2016, 13 states were already filing 100% of FIRs online through the system.