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By Samar Halarnkar

I call it the TADA mentality. Seek, question and detain. No warrants needed, no tedious investigation. The Indian bureaucrat is largely an anachronism in the age of the Internet, 24/7 work weeks and business deals sealed almost as soon as you can think them up. Just how ponderous and heavy-handed our babus are shone through when details of the much-awaited Information Technology Bill, 2000 came to light last week. This bill is the enabling superstructure that Indian e-commerce was waiting for. It will allow an economy which presently cannot prosecute hackers (computer records are not recognised as evidence) to leapfrog into an immediate future where you could pay your bills online simply by using digital signatures -- quite simply, a series of numbers.

The bill had a provision that changed the anticipation of the digerati to disbelieving horror. Essentially, Clause 73A(1) said any person hosting a website on an Indian server would have to file all details with the government. Clause 73B(1) was worse: it said anyone running a cybercafe would have to maintain a register of people who used the caf, the sites they visited.

Both the clauses were dropped within a day of becoming public and sparking an outcry. The point is, how did they find their way into the bill in the first place? Remember that this bill was drafted by technologically enlightened babus who understood how infotech and the Net worked. But, of course, it is hard to change conditioning and the instinct that screams control, control, control.

There is still the TADA-like Clause 79 which was not dropped. It allows an officer of the rank of deputy superintendent of police and above to burst into any public place, search and arrest any person suspected of having committed or about to commit an offence under the Act. This provision could be misused in ways that are as yet hard to imagine. Dilip Dhanasingh, a struggling, hardworking Net entrepreneur in the backwaters town of Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu, says, "Let's assume I have a cool biz plan which would rock the world. What if the officer takes the info and seeks a venture capitalist or what if he keeps track of my work and slowly pulls all my clients." Paranoia? Not at all. Sure, there would be few officers today who would have such computer knowledge. But tomorrow is another day, another era. Fear the advent of the cyber babu.

GOOD SCHOOLS
It's coming to the time of the year that parents so dread: admissions. Making the right choice is a nightmare, especially if they're looking for residential schools. Goodschoolsofindia.com is the web version of a well-received book which gives you all the information you need about India's best residential schools. Sorted by name, affiliation -- Central Board of Secondary Education, state secondary boards, International Baccalaureate and so on -- and type (boys, girls or co-ed), the site offers exhaustive information on schools from Sharanabasveshwar Public School in Gulbarga, Karnataka, to Donyi Polo Vidya Bhawan in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh. If only it offered downloadable admission forms, or offered online admissions. Who knows, it could happen.

MIND ZONES
The idea is interesting: an online talent scout. Mindzones.com are offering a total of Rs 3 crore in prizes and scholarships to nurture talent in sports, art, music and creative writing. You can write poems or limericks, design logos or make paintings, do online tests and get certification for your intelligence levels. This brainchild of Delhi psychiatrist Dr Sanjay Chugh and investment banker Neeraj Batra will also host the "National Genius Search Contest" twice a year and award scholarships of Rs 2 lakh each to the winners.

WEDDING PAGES
It's amazing: the kind of portals and vortals that are being set up. Weddingsutra.com says it is India's first wedding portal. It offers a great community experience for about-to-be-married couples, even married couples. There's a variety of information for couples on the doorstep of marriage as also help for parents on everything from guest lists to etiquette. There's information on how to make wedding arrangements, on fashion, beauty, health, jewellery, fitness pretty exhaustive.

MISSING KIDS
If it works, it's a great idea. In this age of VCs and multimillion-dollar valuations, it's great to see a site with only philanthropic aims. MissingIndiankids.com intends to help parents and law-enforcement agencies in tracking down missing children. It offers many options: displaying photos or details of individual children, banners, links to other missing children websites. You can also print posters that can be physically pasted.

Samar Halarnkar is general manager (content services) of India Today Group Online. His e-mail address is samarh@india-today.com

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