Unique identity number to be rolled out in 12 to 18 months

September 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Move over passport and PAN card! Identity authentication at banks, gas connection centres or while providing rural jobs will just be an SMS away, Unique Identification Authority chief Nandan Nilekani said Saturday. "Our project will provide a unique identification (UID) number, not a card.

September 21st, 2009 CHENNAI - Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said on Monday that the proposed unique multi-purpose national identity cards would be issued to all citizens of the country by 2011. Speaking to newsmen here, Chidambaram informed that in the first phase during the current fiscal, 1.2 crore people in about 3,331 coastal villages and cities would receive the cards.

September 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government will complete the census survey across the country by next year for issuing the unique multi-purpose national identity cards for all citizens, Home Minister P. Chidambaram said here Friday.

September 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Home Minister P.Chidambaram said here on Friday that, his ministry has initiated a project to bring all the over 16,000 police stations in the country under a single network to counter terror challenges. Inaugurating a conference on small entrepreneurship Chidambaram said, the project, which would attract an estimated cost of Rs 2,000 crore, would be operational by 2012.

September 9th, 2009 MUMBAI - Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) chief Nandan Nilekani said on Wednesday that at least 60 crore people would get their identity cards in next five years. "We expect to give Unique Identification Numbers (UIDs) to at least 600 million citizens in the next 4-5-years.

September 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Delhiites may get their individual unique ID numbers in three years, Unique Indentificaiton Authority of India Chairman Nandan Nilekani said Wednesday. "Delhi as a state is much ahead in this respect than other states.

July 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Nandan Nilekani took charge as the chairman of the Unique Identification Database Authority of India Thursday and started work on the government's ambitious project to provide a single identity number and card to each of the country's 1.17 billion people. Nilekani, who met with reporters briefly after assuming office at Yojana Bhavan, the headquarters of the Planning Commission here, said the main task of the authority would be to create a database that will help in issuing unique identity cards.

July 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Nandan Nilekani took over as chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIADI) here today. Interacting with the media on the occasion, Nilekani said Unique Identification Numbers would ensure multifarious benefits by enabling different applications.

July 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Infosys Technologies co-founder Nandan Mohan Nilekani formally takes over as the chairperson of the newly formed Unique Identity Authority at Yojana Bhavan, the headquarters of the Planning Commission, here Thursday. Nilekani, 54, will enjoy the rank of a cabinet minister.

June 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI J - The Union Cabinet has appointed the Infosys Chief Nandan Nilekani as the Chairman of National Authority for Unique Identity. Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ambika Soni said the new authority will function under the planning commission, and Nilekani will be enjoying cabinet tatus.

June 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Import of Chinese mobile phones without unique identity code numbers has been banned, India's commerce ministry announced. "Import of mobile handsets without International Mobile Equipment Identify (IMEI) number or with all-zero IMEI is prohibited with immediate effect, the Director General of Foreign Trade said in a notification.

May 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - To keep an eye on terrorists often mixing with common people, the Union Government has initiated an unique scheme to provide a multipurpose national identity number to every citizen in the country by 2011. "The national population register will be ready by 2011 and the multipurpose national identity cards (MNIC) will be issued to all residents in 2011," Union home minister P Chidambaram said.

May 12th, 2009 AHMEDABAD - Rising illegal immigration from neighbouring Bangladesh is posing the biggest threat to India's national security, Minister of State for Home Sriparakash Jaiswal said Tuesday. 'The Indian government is already working towards introducing the multi-purpose national identity card for every citizen and would ensure that all the citizens possess a card within a span of the next four years,' he said at the valedictory function of a two-day international conference on security and identity management-2009, organised by the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad here.

May 7th, 2009 LUDHIANA - A number of girl children, either abandoned by their parents or orphans, have found a shelter at The Unique Home here. Run by Bhai Ghanayya Ji Charitable Trust, the Unique home provides support to 52 girls, who were abandoned by their parents once and now some of them have grown up..

February 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government has made a provision of Rs.1 billion (Rs.100 crore) in the interim budget for 2009-10 for its proposed 'unique identification' project. The government had last month notified the setting up of the project, Unique Identification Authority of India, which will give a unique number to every citizen.