Was UIDAI helpline number 'inadvertently' coded in 2014 or 2015? Google to answer
New Delhi, Aug 4: Google's admission that it had in 2014 inadvertently coded the 112 distress number and the UIDAI helpline number into its setup wizard for Android devices triggered another controversy on Saturday as India's telecom regulator had only recommended the use of 112 as an emergency number in April 2015.
After a large section of smartphone users in India saw a toll-free helpline number of UIDAI saved in their phonebooks by default, Google issued a statement, saying its "internal review revealed that in 2014, the then UIDAI helpline number and the 112 distress helpline number were inadvertently coded into the SetUp wizard of the Android release given to OEMs for use in India and has remained there since".
However, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recommended only in April 2015 that the number 112 be adopted as the single emergency number for the country.
According to Google, "since the numbers get listed on a user's contact list, these get transferred accordingly to the contacts on any new device".
Google was yet to comment on the new development.
Meanwhile, a French security expert that goes by the name of Elliot Alderson and has been at the core of the entire Aadhaar controversy, tweeted on Saturday: "I just found something interesting. I will probably do a full disclosure tomorrow".
"I'm digging into the code of the @Google SetupWizard app and I found that".
"As far as I can see this object is not used in the current code, so there is no implications. This is just a poor coding practice in term of security," he further tweeted.
On Friday, both the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) as well as the telecom operators washed their hand of the issue.
While the telecom industry denied any role in the strange incident, the UIDAI said that some vested interests were trying to create "unwarranted confusion" in the public and clarified that it had not asked any manufacturer or telecom service provider to provide any such facility.
Twitter was abuzz with the new development after a huge uproar due to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Chairman R.S. Sharma's open Aadhaar challenge to critics and hackers.
Ethical hackers exposed at least 14 personal details of the TRAI Chairman, including mobile numbers, home address, date of birth, PAN number and voter ID among others.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
UP Cong chief Ajay Rai hospitalised after fainting, stable
Lucknow (PTI): Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai was hospitalised here after he fell unconscious due to low sodium levels, party leaders said on Saturday.
They said he was admitted to Medanta Hospital on Friday evening and is stable.
"Ajay Rai was admitted to Medanta Hospital in Lucknow at around 6 pm on Friday after he fell unconscious as his sodium levels had dropped. He fell unconscious at his residence in Lucknow. For the entire day, he was engaged in party programmes and had also gone to the airport," Uttar Pradesh Congress spokesperson Anshu Awasthi told PTI.
Congress in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Avinash Pande told PTI, "Now, he (Ajay Rai) is stable and I am also reaching Lucknow."
Medanta Hospital Director Dr Rakesh Kapoor told PTI that Rai collapsed at his home on Friday evening and was subsequently admitted to the hospital's emergency ward.
Medical examinations revealed that Rai was suffering from a sodium deficiency and elevated blood pressure. Doctors administered immediate treatment and he is doing significantly better now, Kapoor said.
A team of doctors is monitoring his health. Rai is conversing with others and his condition is stable, he added.
In a post on X late Friday night, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished Rai a speedy recovery.
Rai hails from Varanasi and had contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections against Modi from the parliamentary constituency. The Congress appointed him as the Uttar Pradesh unit chief in 2023.
