Google Takes the Blame for UIDAI Number Showing Up in People's Phones
New Delhi, Aug 03: Google has finally put the controversy of UIDAI contact showing up seemingly randomly in people's phones at rest and confirmed that the issue didn't result from any directive by any authority in India but due to a software issue in Android. The controversy under which UIDAI's now-decommissioned toll-free number was spotted by many mobile phone users in the country can be traced back to 2014, Google said, when the then UIDAI number and the 112 distress helpline number were "inadvertently coded" within the Android setup wizard and has remained on devices, the company confirmed to Gadgets 360 via an emailed statement late on Friday.
"Our internal review has 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," a Google spokesperson said in a statement emailed to Gadgets 360. "Since the numbers get listed on a user's contact list, these get transferred accordingly to the contacts on any new device. We are sorry for any concern that this might have caused, and would like to assure everyone that this is not a situation of any unauthorised access of their Android devices. Users can manually delete the number from their devices."
The spokesperson also confirmed that the issue is set to be fixed in an upcoming release of the setup wizard that will be provided to OEMs over the next few weeks.
If you are wondering how iPhone users reported the number showing up in their contacts, it's likely down to the fact that they synced their contacts with a Gmail account that already had the said contact added to its list after being used on an impacted Android device.
The controversy arose after a large number of mobile phone users on social media reported the sudden placement of a contact featuring the old helpline number of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). UIDAI refuted media reports in a series of tweets earlier on Friday and highlighted that the helpline number spotted by the users, which was 18003001947, was no longer a valid toll-free number, and it was changed to 1947 two years ago. "UIDAI has reiterated that it has not asked or advised anyone including any telecom service providers or mobile manufacturers or Android to include 18003001947 or 1947 in the default list of public service numbers," the authority behind Aadhaar had said.
It was initially speculated that the helpline number was pushed from the telcos. However, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) denied any role in the matter by its associated telcos while responding to an emailed query. "The inclusion of a certain unknown number in the phonebooks of various mobile handsets is not from any telecom service provider," COAI had said
Courtesy: ndtv.com
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Rupee falls 9 paise to all-time low of 90.58 against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): Rupee depreciated 9 paise to an all-time low of 90.58 against US dollar in early trade on Monday, weighed down by uncertainty over an India-US trade deal and persistent foreign fund outflows.
Forex traders said rupee is trading with a negative bias as investors are in wait and watch mode and awaiting cues from the India-US trade deal front.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 90.53 against the US dollar, then fell further to an all-time intraday low of 90.58 against the greenback, registering a fall of 9 paise over its previous close.
On Friday, the rupee had slipped 17 paise to close at an all-time low of 90.49 against the American currency.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.05 per cent lower at 98.35.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 0.52 per cent at USD 61.44 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex was trading 298.86 points lower at 84,968.80, while the Nifty was down 121.40 points at 25,925.55.
Foreign Institutional Investors sold equities worth Rs 1,114.22 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.
"FPIs continue to be in selling mode in equity and debt while RBI has been selling dollars to fund their long positions," said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.
