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Google debuts Tez, a mobile payments app for India

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Re: Google debuts Tez, a mobile payments app for India

#91

Post by wtmt »

halflings wrote: post #22
amrrs wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a story i'm trying to understand. 1. Indian Government wants to emulate something like SSN (in the US) as a single identifier for every citizen in this country. 2. This is an easy way for a Government to track the actions of every individual digitally and financially - end of Privacy!

1) SSN is not really a model for a unique identifier for every citizen. Immigrants have SSNs too, and can have different ones if they have done multiple stays in the country. You also can live without an SSN in the US. 2) I mean... the government is entitled to know where your money is coming from if they are asking you for taxes. otherwise, there would be no way to combat tax fraud. This is not a new thing.

Not sure if you're from or are in India. Aadhaar is for residents in India, not just citizens. Anyone who's been resident in India for 180 days is eligible to get it. Since Aadhaar also has an "introducer system" where one can apply for it without any documentation but with an Aadhaar holder vouching for them, almost anyone in the country can easily get one.

The passport office accepts Aadhaar as proof of identity and proof of address. So any resident can get an Aadhaar and then get a passport, effectively getting citizenship!

Re: Google debuts Tez, a mobile payments app for India

#92

Post by wtmt »

fgpwd wrote: post #35
mavendependency wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not confine this number to banking, then.

yes, just read the news that driving licenses have to be linked with aadhar. Phone numbers have to be too. Pretty soon it would be impossible to do anything without aadhar = end of privacy

With the heavy push for linking it almost everywhere, the government could also use it against individual citizens (dissidents) to cause "civil death" - can't drive, can't use bank accounts, can't study in schools/colleges, can't have a cell phone number, can't have a salaried job (where tax is deducted at source and PAN is expected to be linked), can't get pension...can't even conduct a funeral for a relative (this is the latest move - death certificates require Aadhaar of the dead or that of a close relative).

It's truly "one number to rule them all"!!! In the hands of an oppressive government, dissent can be easily stifled and quelled!

Re: Google debuts Tez, a mobile payments app for India

#93

Post by wtmt »

fgpwd wrote: post #36
nitin_flanker wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The recent decision of Supreme Court about right to privacy will prevent this in future. I'm not sure about what exactly will happen to Adhaar ID but, we may see that linking-it-with-every-account thing reduced a lot.

I remember 1-1.5 years ago, the Supreme Court had asked the government to publish widely in print and electronic media to make it clear that Aadhar was not mandatory. It was never done. I don't really see a situation where the government would back out of Aadhar, regardless of supreme court rulings. The court has reiterated this many times but the government has shown that it does not care. “The Union of India shall…

What's puzzled me over the years is that the Supreme Court has, in the intervening period, taken suo moto cognizance and action on other issues/topics, but hasn't really come down hard on the government about this. Despite media coverage on people dying without getting pension or food rations, the central and state governments have been pushing ahead to cut expenditure on welfare schemes heavily through this route.

Re: Google debuts Tez, a mobile payments app for India

#94

Post by jogjayr »

smnrchrds wrote: post #78
lapgrjigwvjjz wrote: post #13

PS : It's pronounced like 'Taze' but with a soft T. It means 'quick' :)

I was wondering about that. Tez means quick in Azerbaijani Turkish as well. It's interesting that it has the same meaning in a language spoken so far away.

I'm fairly certain the word is of either Persian or Arabic origin. It probably came to the subcontinent during one of the numerous invasions by Arabic or Turco-Persian conquerors in the Middle Ages [1]. You'd be surprised how many words Hindi/Urdu and Turkish (or Farsi) have in common.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urdu#Origin

Re: Google debuts Tez, a mobile payments app for India

#95

Post by smnrchrds »

jogjayr wrote: post #94
smnrchrds wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was wondering about that. Tez means quick in Azerbaijani Turkish as well. It's interesting that it has the same meaning in a language spoken so far away.

I'm fairly certain the word is of either Persian or Arabic origin. It probably came to the subcontinent during one of the numerous invasions by Arabic or Turco-Persian conquerors in the Middle Ages [1]. You'd be surprised how many words Hindi/Urdu and Turkish (or Farsi) have in common. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urdu#Origin

Interesting. I was aware of Persian influence on Urdu. As a Persian speaker, I can understand the entirety of the national anthem of Pakistan without even a dictionary. But Azeri and Hindi is a not a combination I have encountered before.

Re: Google debuts Tez, a mobile payments app for India

#96

Post by jogjayr »

smnrchrds wrote: post #95
jogjayr wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm fairly certain the word is of either Persian or Arabic origin. It probably came to the subcontinent during one of the numerous invasions by Arabic or Turco-Persian conquerors in the Middle Ages [1]. You'd be surprised how many words Hindi/Urdu and Turkish (or Farsi) have in common. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urdu#Origin

Interesting. I was aware of Persian influence on Urdu. As a Persian speaker, I can understand the entirety of the national anthem of Pakistan without even a dictionary. But Azeri and Hindi is a not a combination I have encountered before.

Hindi and Urdu are mutually intelligible [1][2]. They use a different script and slightly different vocabularies [3]. But because of exposure via Bollywood and other media (my personal experience) most people who speak one can understand the other. Bollywood song lyrics and especially dialogue from movies from the 70s, 80s and 90s are very heavily Urdu-influenced (and in fact the movies even had credits in English, Hindi, and Urdu). Urdu itself is also spoken widely in India.

As someone who learned Hindi in school (i.e. didn't grow up speaking it at home) I'm able to understand Urdu reasonably well, but probably would do a poor job speaking it. I'd have to stop constantly and think of the Urdu equivalent for a certain word before using it.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindi

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutual_intelligibility#Dialect...

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindi#Comparison_with_Modern_S...

Re: Google debuts Tez, a mobile payments app for India

#97

Post by sumedh »

blocked_again wrote: post #73
sumedh wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the use of UPI now that Indians have so many different types of denominations for transactions.

To start with you have to go to an ATM to get currency and the ATM starts charging after you do N transactions a month.

Which is what we did in the past and you know what they say old habits die hard.

Re: Google debuts Tez, a mobile payments app for India

#98

Post by tacomonstrous »

Myrmornis wrote: post #75
tacomonstrous wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FYI, 'soft T' doesn't mean anything to western English speakers. They have a 'T' and a 'Th', the latter of which is actually a fricative, and not really a 'T' sound in the strict sense. I guess an Indian 'soft T' is better described as a more Italian sounding 'T', articulated mainly against the teeth.

Is a soft T like the way some Americans say "water", i.e. with a "D" like sound, as compared to the hard "T" in water traditional in British English?

That's actually closer to the voiced retroflex sound which Indians often use as their 'hard D', articulated further back in the palate, with the tongue rolled back a bit.
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