GOOD THOUGHTS AND IDEAS FOR BETTER LIFE

  Can Technology Make Elections More Secure, Faster and Less Dependent on Manpower? India conducts one of the world's largest democratic exercises. Millions of citizens participate in elections, while enormous human resources, logistics, security arrangements and public expenditure are required to conduct polling across the country. As India moves rapidly toward digital governance, it is worth asking an important question: Can we make the election process more digital, more efficient and more secure while protecting the secrecy and freedom of every citizen's vote? One possible approach is to create a secure digital connection between the Aadhaar identity system and the Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC/Voter ID), combined with carefully designed biometric authentication at the time of voting. This is not a proposal to replace democracy with technology. Rather, it is an idea to use technology to strengthen the democratic process 1. Linking Aadhaar with Voter ID At present, the...

  A Public-Interest Proposal for Safer Digital Entertainment The rapid growth of OTT platforms has transformed the way Indians watch films, web series and other digital entertainment. People can now access a vast variety of content from the comfort of their homes. This freedom of choice is valuable and should be preserved. At the same time, however, there is an important issue that deserves greater public and policy attention: How can we protect children from accidental exposure to adult-oriented content when OTT programmes are watched in ordinary family homes? My suggestion is simple: India should explore a technology-based National Child Safe OTT Framework that protects children without imposing blanket censorship on legally permissible adult content. The Difference Between a Cinema Hall and a Family Home In a cinema hall, people generally choose a particular show and enter a controlled environment. Age restrictions and other safeguards can be applied at the point of entry. The s...