ADHAR: Defines your identity

What is Aadhaar? 

Aadhaar is unique 12-digit number that will be issued to individuals by the UIDAI. The aim is to issue a unique ID number that can be verified and authenticated in an online, cost-effective manner. Most importantly, it should be robust enough to eliminate duplicate and fake identities.

However, getting an Aadhaar number is not mandatory. There is no deadline to get an Aadhaar number. Also, Aadhaar cannot be used as a replacement for existing ID proofs. It is also important to recognize that a ration card is not merely a proof of identity or address; it establishes eligibility to receive rations. Similarly, a driving license establishes eligibility to drive. Service providers may choose to embed Aadhaar into exiting forms of identification to make checks more robust.

Features of Aadhaar

You may wonder why anyone would enroll for Aadhaar if it isn’t mandatory, but having an Aadhaar number may actually be beneficial. Firstly, the number will, over time, form the basic, universal identity infrastructure over which registrars and agencies across the country can build their identity-based applications for delivery of services in an effective and cost-efficient manner. Registrars may include state governments, state public sector units (PSUs), banks, telecom companies, etc. who may in turn partner with enrolling agencies to enroll citizens into Aadhaar. Once residents enroll for Aadhaar, service providers will no longer face the problem of performing repeated Know Your Customer (KYC) checks before providing services. They would no longer have to deny services to residents without identification documents.

Another feature of Aadhaar is that, over time, it will be recognized and accepted across the country and across all service providers. Also, authentication would not be a hindrance, owing to the centralized technology infrastructure of the UIDAI. It enables 'anytime, anywhere, anyhow' authentication, which can be done both online as well as offline. Offline authentication can be done via cell phone or land line. Aadhaar will thus give migrants mobility of identity, and it will provide flexibility to poor and rural residents. It will empower them to access services like banking, public distribution system, as well as government schemes like National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) etc.

Aadhaar will also pave the way for a more cleaner and robust data bank. Today, there are multiple databases in existence and so it’s possible for people to furnish different details to different agencies. But since Aadhaar will be centralized, the instances of duplication and fraud will be rare. Every new applicant’s data will be sent to the Central ID Data Repository (CIDR), where it will be checked and verified on key demographic fields and biometrics, against the existing data collected. This self-cleaning mechanism will ensure that there is no duplication of data.

How to get Aadhaar?

Information about the Aadhaar enrolment will be made available in the local media. You will then have to go to the enrolment camp nearest to you and register yourself for Aadhaar. At the time of enrollment, you will have to provide certain documents such as ration card, passport, voter ID, driving license, electricity bill etc. as proof of identity. After registering, you will go through biometric scanning of fingertips and iris. You will also be photographed and given an enrolment number. Your Aadhaar number will be issued to you within sixty to ninety days.

Technology Used

Your biometric profiling will be done with the help of an iris scanner, a fingerprint scanner and a Web camera. The iris cameras conduct a mathematical analysis of the random patterns that are visible within the iris of an eye from some distance. Unlike fingerprints, which can become difficult to recognize over the years due to manual labor, the iris of an eye remains unchanged and is unique to every individual. The digital photo of the iris pattern is converted into an encrypted digital template, which cannot be re-engineered or reproduced in any sort of visual image. Iris recognition therefore affords the highest level of defense against identity theft, the most rapidly growing crime. Next up is face detection, which is used in biometrics, often as a part of (or together with) a facial recognition system. It is also used in video surveillance, human computer interfaces and image database management. The face detection system will measure and analyze the overall structure, shape and proportions of the face. These include the distance between the eyes, shape of the nose, jaw structure, forehead, mouth, etc. Finally, fingerprint scanning is done with the help of a scanner that captures a digital image of the fingerprint pattern. The scan is then digitally processed to create a biometric template, which is stored and used for matching.

Face Scanner

Iris scanner

Finger print Scanner

Once the data has been captured, it is then encrypted and sent to the CIDR (Central ID Data Repository). Here, it will be cross-checked for duplication against the existing data, thus reducing the possibilities of fraud. The authentication is enabled in a manner that the identity verification queries will only receive a Yes and No responses. Thus, the architecture ensures complete data security and under no circumstance will the residents data be shared with third parties. Also, to ensure seamless functioning, an Analytics and Continuous Improvement team reviews operations on an ongoing basis and releases relevant, actionable reports for all stakeholders.  

TECHNOLOGY- SPACE MOUSE (by Alisha Mishra)

To take a close look at something in the real world, you pick it up and examine it from every angle. It's so natural, you don't even think about it. Now working in 3D is just this intuitive. With the SpaceMouse, you can intuitively zoom, pan and rotate models, exploring and navigating your designs as naturally as if they were objects in the real world.

SpaceMouse with it's V-shaped cap naturally supports the zoom feature, it's 11 buttons puts the most used functions right at your fingertips. 

SpaceMouse is as essential a tool as your mouse or keyboard, giving you the ability to manipulate 3D objects on the screen, while simultaneously controlling 3D camera angles and positions for viewing those objects. It’s a much more natural, free-flowing way to work. If you use a common interface, executing even simple moves requires a decision, then keystrokes and/or mouse clicks. This interrupts your natural motion, slowing you down and actually restricting you from attempting more complete or continuous motion. But, the greater flexibility and interactivity of a 3D motion controller makes even difficult moves easy. You're free to go farther and be even more creative.

Place your fingers gently on the controller's cap. The cap senses pressure you apply to it - pushes, pulls and twists - and uses that information to correspondingly move your model, camera or eye point on the screen. Pull up or push down to move your model, camera or eye point up or down. Push left or right to move your model left or right. Pull towards you or push away to move your model nearer or farther away. Orient your model on the screen by simply twisting in any direction to rotate it around the X, Y or Z axis (pitch, roll, yaw) You will quickly be able to combine all movements and control your 3D models with six degrees of freedom. The amount of pressure you apply controls speed of movement. A light touch moves your models slowly and accurately; just increase pressure to increase speed. It will be like holding your model in your hand - interacting in 3D as you do in the real world.

TECHNOLOGY- MAN WITH THE SILICON APPLE- by Alisha Mishra

“Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.”

Steven Paul Jobs, the man behind personal computers. It was Steve who visualizes the way people wants to compute in 21^st century.  He made the computers available to the common man with the introduction of Macintosh in 1984. Then, begins the era of Graphical User Interface (GUI) in Personal Computing.

In 1974, Jobs took a position as a video game designer with Atari. Several months later he left Atari to find spiritual enlightenment in India, traveling the continent and experimenting with psychedelic drugs. In 1976, when Jobs was just 21, he and Wozniak started Apple Computers. The duo started in the Jobs family garage, and funded their entrepreneurial venture after Jobs sold his Volkswagen bus and Wozniak sold his beloved scientific calculator. Jobs and Wozniak are credited with revolutionizing the computer industry by democratizing the technology and making the machines smaller, cheaper, intuitive, and accessible to everyday consumers.

While Jobs was a persuasive and charismatic director for Apple, some of his employees from that time had described him as an erratic and temperamental manager. At the end of May 1985 – following an internal power struggle and an announcement of significant layoffs – Sculley relieved Jobs of his duties as head of the Macintosh division. He later claimed that being fired from Apple what the best thing that could happen to him;

“The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.”

Around the same time, Jobs founded another computer company, NeXT Computer. The NeXTcube was described by Jobs as an "interpersonal" computer, which he believed was the next step after "personal” computing. There comes the World Wide Web into the picture.

During the 90’s Jobs bought the Pixar studios and compete with the Disney. And under his guidance Pixar evolved as a renowned brand in animation industry.  In the absence of Steve, apple computers had seen many ups and downs. In 1997, Jobs came back to Apple and with it enters into partnership with the software giant Microsoft and Apple got its previous glory back in market.

In August 2011, at the age of 56, Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple, but remained at the company as chairman of the company's board. The contribution that the 21 years old Steve Jobs had made to this world will undoubtedly make him the “Person of Millennium”.
  
About the writer- Alisha Mishra is a B-Tech graduate in Computer Science & Engineering perusing research on Operating Systems.