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WUHAN FOOTBALL TEAMMAKES EMOTIONAL RETURN TOGROUND ZERO OF PANDEMIC 12
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New Delhi: The Centre onSunday rescinded permissionto e-commerce firms to resu-me the sale and delivery ofnon-essential items fromMonday, a move that seems tohave been prompted by pro-tests by local traders whosebusinesses will continue to fa-ce restrictions during the ex-tended national lockdown tillMay 3.
The home ministry spoke-sperson said the process ofpermissions and revisionswas dynamic and when the listof items that e-commercefirms would have been able todeliver was examined, it wasfound to be too extensive, rai-sing concerns of the lockdownto contain Covid-19 being com-promised. Home ministry offi-cials also said renewed curbson e-commerce will ensure a“level playing field” withsmall retailers. As of now, on-ly kirana shops, meat, fruit &vegetable sellers and pharma-cies are allowed to function.
The revision was accom-panied by a dose of politics.Congress had on Saturday sa-id the rules favoured e-com-merce platforms. “While their(local traders) shops are lock-ed down for the last onemonth, their main competi-tors are open and have been al-
lowed to sell non-essentialitems online. This is injusticeto retailers and the govern-ment should not allow this,”Congress leader Ajay Makenhad said.
Government sources saidwhile Congress was suppor-ting this position, states whereit was in office, like Rajasthan
and Maharashtra, were ope-ning up all goods for e-com-merce.
In an order on Sunday, ho-me secretary Ajay Bhalla ex-cluded from the revised MHAguidelines issued only four da-ys ago the sub-clause allowinge-commerce companies tofunction and their vehicles to
ply with the necessary per-missions in non-containmentzones from April 20.
The delivery of essentialitems, such as groceries andhygiene products, by e-com-merce companies will, howe-ver, continue.
Move To Ensure‘Level Playing
Field’ With SmallRetailers: MHA
Govt U-turn: E-comm firms candeliver only essential items
ANI
As many as 13 Covid-19patients recoveredfrom the infection in
the state on Sunday whiletwo fresh cases were report-ed. The new cases were re-ported in Kannur and Kozhi-kode and both these personshad returned from the UAE.
Meanwhile, lockdown re-laxations will come into ef-fect in two zones of the state-- Green and Orange-B -- onMonday. Kottayam andIdukki come under theGreen zone while Thiruva-nanthapuram, Alappuzha,Palakkad, Wayanad andThrissur fall under the Or-ange-B zone.
The total number of Co-vid-19 cases reported in thestate has gone up to 401, ofwhom 270 have recoveredfrom the infection. As manyas 129 persons are undertreatment in various hospi-tals now. The total number ofpatients who had come fromabroad is 283, includingeight foreigners.
As many as 55,590 peopleare under observation in thestate, of whom 461 with sus-pected symptoms are admit-ted to designated isolationfacilities. The total numberof samples sent for tests is19,351, of which 18,547 sam-ples have tested negative.
In districts where thelockdown relaxations kickin on Monday, educationalinstitutions, cinema theat-res, shopping malls, parksand bar hotels will remainclosed while institutions re-lated to health, agriculture,
fishing, plantation, animalhusbandry and finance willbe allowed to function. In-ter-district travel has beenbanned, except for healthemergencies, in both thesezones.
Functions related to pub-lic services like LPG andfuel movement, power dis-tribution, water supply, es-sential commodities andmedicines will be permittedbut marriage functions havebeen banned in these zones.Government offices canfunction with 50% employ-ees while hotels and restau-rants can function till 7pm.Restaurants can serve take-away orders till 8pm. Relax-ations in Orange-A zone,
comprising Ernakulam,Kollam and Pathanamthit-ta, will come into effect onlyon April 24.
Health minister K KShailaja said all precau-tions prescribed by thehealth department shouldbe strictly followed despitethe relaxations. Those whohave fever or symptoms offever, cough or sore throatshould restrain themselvesfrom going out and minglingwith others. Social distanc-ing should continue, shesaid. People should contin-ue using masks and sanitiz-ers while going out. Massgatherings, social visits andunnecessary travel shouldbe avoided.
Lockdown relaxations inseven districts from today
Policemen check a vehicle during heavy rains in Kochi on Sunday
Jipson Sikhera
DAY
26LOCKDOWN
BRITISH PM JOHNSONRETURNS TO WORK AFTER RECOVERY
TRUMP WARNS CHINA OFCONSEQUENCES IF IT’S ‘KNOWINGLYRESPONSIBLE’ FOR COVID-19 11
FULL COVERAGE: P 3-8, 11
Lockdowns have made everyonechange track, even robbers. Unab-le to get their hands on gold and
gadgets with people staying put in the-ir homes, it’s the liquor vends and gro-cery stores that have become the newtargets across the country this month.
Maharashtra’s string of robberiesreads like a shopping list from a res-taurant (rather bakery since butterand eggs seem to be hot). In Bhiwandi,burglars made off with 300 eggs, 6packets of flour, 4 litres of milk, 60bags of rice and other groceries worthRs 2 lakh from Rakesh Kirana store onFriday.
From a Borivali store, butter worthRs 1,400 was stolen. Mumbai’s TilakNagar police registered an FIR afterunknown individuals broke into ashop at Chembur and fled with cigaret-te packets, tobacco sachets, beedis andRs 3,000 in cash. In Kolkata’s Chitpore,robbers made off with spices, soap, de-tergent powder and cash by breakingdown a shop door.
For thieves, the clampdown on boo-
ze sales have lent an aura to liquorvends, so far restricted to a diamondshop. Andhra Pradesh has reported 24cases of theft at liquor shops so far du-ring the lockdown.
On April 1, burglar broke into SriVenkateswara Wines in Bhoiguda,Secunderabad, and stole 20 bottles ofliquor worth Rs 26,000 and Rs 8,000cash. The shop owner found it out fourdays later while going through the sto-
re’s CCTV feed and lodged a policecomplaint. The culprits were identifi-ed as Faizan and P Himendra, a BComstudent. They were arrested on April10, but by that time, they had just eightbottles left. “The duo sold 12 bottles forRs 42,000, three to four times above theoriginal price,” inspector M A Javedsaid.
Earlier this month, two incidentsof liquor theft were reported in Delhiin 48 hours. In the first, thieves in theMundka area of Outer Delhi broke in-to a closed government liquor shopand stole several boxes of liquor worthlakhs of rupees. In the second, a policepatrol on Roshanara Road found manycases of liquor missing from the DelhiConsumer Cooperative Whole Store.
Some thieves are more troublewhen caught. In Punjab, Ludhiana po-lice caught two motorcycle thieves,but one of them started showing symp-toms and had to be taken for Covid-19screening. He tested positive, resul-ting in eight personnel of Focal Pointpolice station being quarantinedalong with the judge before whom thethief was produced.
Butter & booze new gold for burglars
The first shipment of 5.5million tablets of hyd-
roxychloroquine is current-ly on its way to the UAE fromIndia. “... @UAEembassyIn-dia succeeded in obtainingapproval of the Indian go-vernment to export adequa-te quantities of #Hydrox-ychloroquine to UAE,” theEmirates’ mission in Delhitweeted. P 6
1st HCQ shipmenten route to UAE
SpiceJet on Sunday said alimited number of staff
from its engineering teamhas been put on leave with-out pay (LWP) for a montheach on a rotational basisand that no decision has beentaken on salary cut acrossthe company. Majority of the5,500-odd employees ofGoAir will also be on LWP tillMay 3, the airline has said. P 9
SpiceJet, GoAirstaff on LWP
Thunderstorms in Pakis-tan smashed some of
the newly renovated domesat the Gurdwara Darbar Sa-hib in Kartarpur. At leasteight domes of the Sikhshrine collapsed in heavyrain on Friday evening. In-dia has taken up the issuewith Pakistan and urgedimmediate rectification. P 6
8 domes collapsein Kartarpur shrine
New Delhi: Support for busi-nesses hit by the pandemicand lockdown can come in theform of measures like a higherworking capital limit to helpthem tide over the disruptionand meet statutory dues rat-her than outright tax conces-sions at a time when the go-vernment’s fiscal situation isstretched.
Meeting demands for reliefand waivers spanning virtual-ly all sectors of the economywill be hard to meet and a bet-ter option is to take steps thatwill enable companies to func-tion and meet obligations likestaff salaries and vendor bills.While the idea is to support bu-siness, some economic pain isinevitable and needs to be sha-red. “Everyone will have to ta-
ke a hit in some measure,” anofficial source said.
With the government gea-ring up for a protracted battleagainst the coronavirus, it iswary of loosening pursestrings too much. It is also feltthat the support offered mustmake the best use of resourcesrather than giveaways thatmay be spread too thin andmay not sustain economic acti-vity for long. It is pointed outthat businesses have at timescome up with demands thatare not easy to implement. Forinstance, exporters want an
additional 3-4% support,which is not feasible. “Sectoralpackages are difficult becausethe government is already bur-dened, plus how do you priori-tise when several sectors arehit,” asked an official.
Companies have petitio-ned the government to getbanks to provide higher short-term loans in the form of wor-king capital support with therepayments being back-ended,a proposal the Centre seemsamenable to, though it is not infavour of providing large-sca-le guarantees to firms to ac-cess loans, sources said. Com-panies have sought funds tohelp meet their payment obli-gations at a time when saleshave dried up for a large partof the economy due to the lock-down.
Centre wary of tax cuts, may offerfunding to keep businesses afloat
�Tax collection meagre, P 9
It is felt that thesupport offered mustmake the best use ofresources rather thanmere giveaways thatmay not havesustained impact
Sidhartha & Rajeev Deshpande TNN
New Delhi: A day before ahost of relaxations to boosteconomic activities kick inamid the lockdown, Union mi-nister Prakash Javadekar sa-id on Sunday that more reliefmeasures are bound to come ifIndia continues to manage thecoronavirus crisis well, asser-ting that “you cannot (have)lockdown permanently”.
“PM Narendra Modi gavethe call of lockdown at theright time and is now partiallyallowing economic activitywhile the lockdown continu-es. With such a (huge) popula-tion we have managed well, ifthis continues we will get mo-re relief,” Javadekar said.
While the relaxations star-ting from April 20 are primari-ly aimed at boosting the ruraleconomy, Javadekar expres-sed confidence that economicactivities will start in cities aswell “sooner than later”.
“The lockdown has beenvery successfully conducted.The world is praising it becau-se this is the way to fight thecoronavirus. But, you cannot(have) lockdown permanent-ly, economic activity needs tobe started. AGENCIES | P 7
Javadekar: Morerelaxations in the offing
New Delhi: In a big relief forthousands of migrant labou-rers stranded due to the lock-down, the Union home mini-stry on Sunday allowed intra-state movement of such peo-ple from relief camps andshelters to their respectiveplaces of work if foundasymptomatic upon scree-ning.
However, no movement ofsuch labourers outside thestate/Union Territory wherethey are currently locatedshall be allowed.
“Since additional new ac-tivities outside containmentzones have been permittedwith effect from April 20, the-se workers could be engagedin industrial, manufacturing,construction, farming andMGNREGA works,” the ho-me ministry said, while allo-wing their movement withinthe state or Union Territory tobe facilitated according to la-id-down guidelines or stan-dard operating procedures.
According to the standardoperating procedures, suchlabourers should be registe-red with the local authorityconcerned and their skillmapping carried out to gaugetheir suitability for variouskinds of works. If they wis-hed to return to their place ofwork within the state/UT,they would have to be firstscreened for Covid-19 and tho-se who are asymptomatic wo-uld be transported to their re-spective places of work. Thelocal authorities would haveto provide food and water forthe duration of their journey.
Movement oflabourers withina state allowed
Migrant workers in Gunturdistrict, Andhra Pradesh
TOITIMES NEWS NETWORK
The Centre on Sunday cla-rified that no decision
has been taken as yet on theresumption of domestic orinternational flights, accor-ding to an official statementby the ministry of informa-tion and broadcasting.
The Union ministry of ci-vil aviation has advised theairlines to open their boo-kings only after the govern-ment’s decision in this re-gard. This clarification co-mes after Air India on Satur-day opened the bookings forselect domestic flights fromMay 4 onwards and for the in-ternational flights from Ju-ne 1onwards. AGENCIES | P 6
No decision yeton resumption
of flights: Centre
The finance ministry onSunday said there will be
no cut in pensions to centralgovernment employees. Theministry clarified its posi-tion after reports that the go-vernment is planning to cutpensions.
“It is being reported thata 20% in central governmentpensions is being planned.This news is false. There willbe no cut in pension disbur-sements. It is clarified thatsalaries and pensions willnot be affected by govern-ment cash management in-structions,” the ministry sa-id in a tweet. AGENCIES
‘No cut in pensionto central govt
employees’The death toll due to Covid-19
rose to 519 and the numberof cases climbed to 16,116 in thecountry on Sunday, registeringan increase of 31deaths and1,324 cases since Saturdayevening, according to theUnion health ministry.However, a PTI tally of thefigures reported by variousstates as on Sunday 6:40pmshowed 538 deaths in thecountry. AGENCIES | P 6
India’s Covid tallycrosses 16,000Name of State / UT Cases on
April 19*Total Cases Recovered Deaths
Maharashtra 552 4,200 164 223Delhi 0 1,893 207 43Gujarat 228 1,607 94 58Tamil Nadu 105 1,477 411 16Madhya Pradesh 0 1,402 64 70Rajasthan 126 1,477 200 23Uttar Pradesh 151 1,135 125 16Telangana 0 809 186 18Andhra Pradesh 44 647 42 17Kerala 2 401 270 3
552 CASES IN MAHARASHTRA ON SUNDAY
*As of 10pm
Students stranded in Kota, a major coaching hub in Rajasthan for competitive examinations, being takenhome in a bus by the UP government amid the nationwide lockdown, in Lucknow on Sunday
�May refund, P 9
All restrictions imposed by the Union home ministry will beimposed in 88 hotspots – including those in the Green zone –
declared by the state health department, chief secretary Tom Josesaid. The hotspots announced by the health department include thecity corporation area in both Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam.The district-wise breakup of hotspots is as follows:Thiruvananthapuram (3), Kollam (5), Alappuzha (3),Pathanamthitta (7), Kottayam (1), Idukki (6), Ernakulam (2),Thrissur (3), Palakkad (4), Malappuram (13), Kozhikode (6),Wayanad (2), Kannur (19) and Kasaragod (14). P 5
Restrictions to continue in 88 hotspots
2 Fresh Cases OnSunday, 13 Recover
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
�HOW KASARAGOD TURNED THE TIDE, P 4
OTHER STORIES
SPRINKLR EFFECT: Two writers debate Kerala govt’s decision to ‘share’ Covid-19 data
Kerala is international-ly appreciated for itsstrategy against Co-
vid-19. However, within Ker-ala this appears to be shad-owed by the controversy ondata process out-sourcing to an over-seas company. This ar-ticle wishes to discussonly legal aspects fordata processing con-tracts, not the con-tract's terms or the decision-making process.
The Data Privacy Rules,2011 under InformationTechnology Act is the appli-cable data privacy law in In-dia. It categorizes health-re-lated information or medi-cal records or history as“sensitive personal data”(SPD). Any entity handlingSPD must publish a privacypolicy on data handling.Such policies are standardcompliances and providedby most service providers.
Further, privacy law re-quires prior written consent
from data providers (the pub-lic in this case), and informthem about purpose of datacollection, intended recip-ients and right to update theirdata or withdraw consent. Itis unclear whether the Keralagovernment has complied
with the aforesaid.Data collection
must be for lawfulpurpose and retainedonly until requiredfor that purpose. Da-ta collected, such as
an individual’s health, trav-el or movement data by anaggregator (in this case, theKerala government) can betransferred to a US entity fora lawful purpose, subject toensuring standard securitymeasures and the recipientensuring required levels ofdata protection.
Current law does notmandate data localization,but if the server for data ismaintained in India, theconcerns on export of SPDbecomes redundant.
Ensure a properbreach-proof contract
�Not end of the road, P 3
Anoop Narayanan
At the outset, let me clar-ify that the views ex-pressed here are re-
garding the transfer of sensi-tive data on Covid-19 by thegovernment of Kerala to thetransnational corpo-rate Sprinklr and noton the state govern-ment’s dealing withthe pandemic, which ithas done remarkablywell and from whichothers can learn importantlessons.
Having said that, it is cru-cial to see la affaire Sprinklras a ‘neo-liberal’ tendency,something that no govern-ment that claims to be Marx-ist even in name can justify.The Kerala government ishelmed by a politburo mem-ber of the CPI-M and it isalarming that he is not readyto even engage in a construc-tive discussion on this issue,instead rubbishing thecharges raised as a figment ofthe opposition parties’ imagi-nation.
The opposition partiesmight well have an axe togrind, even amid a rangingpandemic, and the chief min-ister has every right not todignify their charges with astudied response. But then,there is another charge that
many scholars andacademics of a pro-nounced Leftist per-suasion are making –that the wholeSprinklr issue is notabout contracts or
agreements or proceduresbut on how data, much morethan goods and services, isthe most ‘commodified’ as-pect of 21st century society.
Pinarayi Vijayan and histheoretical overseers in thePB would surely know that‘commodifying’ is the es-sence of capitalism, a processwhich, subtly and in increas-ingly sophisticated ways,scrubs away everything thatpartakes of human values orlabour in the creation of aproduct.
Marxist govt’s moral failure
�Privacy devalued, P 3
V Krishna Ananth
Illustration: RamTIMES NEWS NETWORK
KOCHI TIMESOwing to the extraordinary
situation arising out of Covid-19 pandemic, Kochi Times will temporarily appear within the mainedition of The Times of India. However, it will retain its distinctive identity and unique brand of storytelling. To get your daily dose of your favourite entertainment and lifestyle coverage, please turn to P 13 & 14
To advertise with us, call 1800 120 5474 | To order your copy, call 1800 1200 004 toll free or visit - subscribe.timesgroup.com
CCI NG 3.7 Product: TOICochinBS PubDate: 20-04-2020 Zone: Kochi Edition: 1 Page: TOIKRKFP User: annu.mathew Time: 04-19-2020 23:00 Color: CMYK
The Times Of India - Kochi, 4/20/2020 Cropped page Page: 3
THE TIMES OF INDIA, ERNAKULAM / KOCHI MONDAY, APRIL 20, 2020 3TIMES REGION
Thiruvananthapuram:Law minister A K Balanhas said the IT department
has donenothingwrong in en-tering intoan agree-ment withUS companySprinklr on
data storage. There was noneed to get the clearance ofthe law department since itis a temporary agreement.
“The present attempt isto defame the chief mini-ster. There is nothing se-rious in the allegation,’’said Balan here on Sunday.
The state could put acontrol on the spread ofCovid-19, he said. Duringthe process, the govern-ment had to collect the de-
tails of the people who hadcome from abroad and alsotheir direct contacts tocheck the spread. These de-tails were collected by lo-cal bodies and health de-partment.
The IT departmentstressed the need for a soft-ware to store this databaseand for analysing it for fu-ture actions.
The department tookthe decision to partnerwith a software providerafter going through all theaspects, including the se-crecy of the data that willbe stored.
The state governmenthas no objections to the de-cision taken by the IT de-
partment on entering intothe short-term agreementwith Sprinklr. Followingthe allegation that the datacan be misused, the stategovernment has ordered totransfer the data to C-Dit,the law minister said.
It is not mandatory thatthe agreement with theSprinklr should be infor-med to the cabinet or anyother department.
The details regardingthe data analysis is takencare of by the IT depart-ment. Only the IT depart-ment has the responsibili-ty for this, he said.
If the IT department fe-els that it needs an opinionfrom the law department
before signing the agree-ment, then it can send it tothe law department. Other-wise it is not mandatory, headded.
All these allegationsare an attempt to cover upthe good works being doneby the state government inthe Covid-19 prevention,the minister said.
The state has been rece-iving accolades from va-rious fronts, including theinternational community,for its efforts to check thespread of Covid-19.
The opposition is irri-tated over this and hencewants to defame the go-vernment and its chief mi-nister, Balan said.
‘Attempt ToDefame CM;Allegation
Not Serious’
Law department need notvet Sprinklr pact: Minister
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Thiruvananthapuram:Higher education ministerK T Jaleel has clarified thatthe government has not di-rected state universities toschedule examinationsfrom May 11 onwards. Uni-versities have only been as-
ked to prepare themselvesby setting May 11as a tentati-ve date, they may be able toresume the pending exami-nations. “However, the realschedule of examinationswould be completely depen-dent on the Covid-19 situa-tion during the post lock-down period,” he said onSunday.
The minister told TOIthat it would be wrong to in-terpret a government orderin this regard as if the hig-her education departmentin Kerala has directed alluniversities to schedulepending examinations toform May 11. “Following theinteractions with vice-chancellors of all universi-
ties, we havereached a col-lective under-standing thatwe shouldstart prepa-ring for the
conduct of the examina-tions if the nation comesout of lockdown by May 3and other ground realitiesstood favourable then. Sin-ce students are now statio-ned at various places follo-wing the statewide lock-down, we need to give themenough time to adjust them-selves to the new examina-tion schedule. So, the gene-ral impression is that if cir-cumstances permit, univer-sities may startexaminations by May 1,” Ja-leel said. The order also saidthat examinations would beconducted only subject tothe approval from the he-alth department. Hence,there was no need for anyconfusion, he said.
A government order no-tified on Saturday createdconfusion among studentsand a section of academici-ans as there were interpre-tations that the government
wanted all universities torestart examinations fromMay 11 and complete thesame a week later.
“There are various fac-tors that universities wouldneed to consider when theycome out with a revised ex-amination schedule. We arenot sure how long the rest-rictions in hotspot restric-tions would continue be-yond May 3 and how in thatcase universities operatingfrom such places could ma-ke arrangements for exami-nation amidst such restric-tions. Things would be morechallenging for universitieslike KTU with pan Kerala ju-risdiction,” said sources inthe higher education de-partment.
Moreover, AICTE in a setof instructions given to app-roved colleges has clarifiedon the other day that it, inassociation with UGC, wasplanning to revise the aca-demic calendar and freshinstructions on conduct ofsemester examinations wo-uld be shared with them on-ce a committee appointedfor the same submits its re-port.
Varsity exam dates dependon Covid situation: Jaleel
MAY 11 ONLY ATENTATIVE DATE
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
The legal requirements for data proc-essing contracts are same as othercontracts.
Assuming that government did notfollow contractual procedure, it does notmean the end of the road for this arrange-ment. Data processing outsourcingacross the globe is handled through con-tracts with service providers. Contract-ing process involves due diligence of ser-vice providers, followed by comprehen-sive service agreements addressing com-pliance requirements, confidentialityobligations, periodic audits, breach ofcontract remedies, damages, indemni-ties, etc. Therefore, excluding any priorcompromises occurred due to contrac-tual deficiencies, the concerns of not hav-ing a comprehensive agreement but onlya standard form purchase order (al-though that too forms a valid contract),can be addressed and rectified. If the ser-vice provider is otherwise acceptable, andapplicable laws are complied, the contractmodification is only a procedural exer-cise.
The propriety of foreign law as thecontract's governing law or US jurisdic-tion does not merit much debate, unless itcontravenes the concerned government'scontracting policies. Indian law does notprohibit, and courts have clarified thatparties can choose governing law and ju-risdiction in a contract. Further, Indianlaw does not provide for punitive or conse-
quential damages. Therefore, in a con-tract such as this, if there is no agreementon liquidated damages for breach, if an af-fected party claims significant damages, aUS court and the contract governed underthe US law will be rather beneficial. It willalso strengthen the ability to enforce ajudgment and damages against the US en-tity, as service provider's assets may alsobe located in the US.
Finally, from social impact and legalcompliance perspective, one of the majorquestions is whether data subjects haveprovided informed consent for data proc-essing by a foreign company. Normally,consent is obtained in standard forms,wherein data subjects agree to use oftheir data for processing, disclosure, re-tention and transfer. The telecommunica-tion, internet, banking, credit card, insur-ance, retail, loyalty rewards, mobile appli-cations, online gaming, video editingapps obtain people's data and process/transfer such data under similarly ob-tained consent. Another example wouldbe data processing for passports by pri-vate companies. An important concern iswhether our citizens are aware of the
manner in which their data is/will beused by the foregoing entities or the con-sequences thereof. Will it make any differ-ence, if someone explains to them thatthey are providing consent for data collec-tion and subsequent processing by an In-dian or foreign company? It may not to themajority!
If this is our current social situation,legally how different is the government'sinitiative of data collection and process-ing from the private sector and that too,primarily for disaster management,which the government is visibly carryingout efficiently compared to other states orcountries. The real concern should bewhether government will ensure that da-ta is not misused and not retained longerthan required, unless anonymized. Theonly solution is to ensure contractingwith a reputed service provider under awell-drafted contract.
To conclude, the world faces reportedand unreported data breaches of variedmagnitudes on a daily basis. Most occurnot because of absence of contracts orlack of parties’ sophistication. These arelike any other theft, and all that one can doin the context of data theft is to get securedwith a good service provider and contractwith remedies for breach, same as we usebank vaults for physical property.
(The writer is principal, ANA LawGroup, a Mumbai-based law firm that spe-cializes in data privacy laws. Disclaimer:Views expressed above are the author’sown)
Does not mean end of the road�Continued from Page 1
The propriety of foreign law asthe contract's governing lawdoes not merit much debate,unless it contravenes the concerned govt’s policies
Thiruvananthapuram:Taking on the traditional ri-vals, BJP state president K
Surendranon Sundaysaid chiefminister Pina-rayi Vijayanand his prede-cessor Oom-
men Chandy are the samewhen it comes to corruption.
“With the Sprinklr datascam now coming out, Vi-jayan’s office is working in thesame way as what happenedwhen Congress leader Oom-men Chandy was the CM. It’scorruption that’s happeningform the family and their of-fices,” said Surendran whilespeaking to the media. He de-manded a CBI probe into thescam.
“What Sivasankar (IT sec-retary M Sivasankar) saidyesterday is a lie. Vijayanshould now come clean onthis data controversy,” addedSurendran.
Sivasankar on Saturdaywas seen running to variousTV channels to give inter-views where he took the en-tire responsibility on himselfabout the data transfer to theUS firm and said it was hiscall. AGENCIES
Vijayan andChandy samewhen it comes
to graft: BJP
Palakkad: An investigationhas begun into the death of in-fant brought from Salem in Ta-mil Nadu to Thrissur who diedon the way to a hospital as theambulance was stopped at Cha-vadi check post of Tamil Nadunear the Walayar inter-statecheck post.
District superintendent ofpolice G Siva Vikram has orde-red an inquiry by the intelligen-ce wing of the police depart-ment.
There were allegations thatthe ambulance was detained atChavadi check post by TamilNadu officials despite showingthe treatment documents fromthe Salem hospital.
After this incident the Co-imbatore district collector hasalso ordered an inquiry into thedeath of the infant and sought areport from Tamil Nadu health,revenue and police departmentofficials on the incident.
Now, both the Coimbatoreand Palakkad district admini-strations have directed the re-spective state officials not tostop any ambulance comingwith serious patients. TNN
Inquiry soughtinto the death
of infant
AMBULANCEDELAYED
Kottayam: A family was alle-ged to have been ousted fromtheir rented house near Tho-dupuzha in Idukki district onSunday.
According to police, the ho-use owner is an 81-year-old re-tired teacher and a case underSections 341, 506 and 294b ofthe IPC was charged againsthim and was let off on bail ashe was a senior citizen. Thehouse owner has also filed acase against the tenants andsome local people for causingdamage to his house, car andscooter. He is staying alongwith his 76-year-old wife in thehouse while the temporaryshed where the tenant livedwas in the premises of the ho-me.
The tenant who is a dailywage worker has been stayingin the place for the last threemonths for a monthly rent ofRs 1,000. According to the hou-se owner, the tenant who wasknown to him before had notpaid the rent till now.
However, the tenant saidthat the house owner had thre-atened him and he was forcedto vacate the house along withhis wife and five-year-oldchild. He also said that he fai-led to pay the rent as he had nowork owing to Covid-19 pande-mic.
Sicily Jose, Thodupuzhamunicipal chairperson saidthat the power and water supp-ly to the temporary shed wasdisconnected by the house ow-ner on Saturday. The chairper-son assured that the ousted fa-mily will be provided shelter.
Owner on bail filescase against oustedtenant for damage
TIMES NEWS NETWORK The tenant said thatthe house owner hadthreatened him andwas forced to vacatethe house along withhis wife and child. Healso said that he failedto pay the rent as hehad no work owing toCovid-19 pandemic
Kozhikode: No new case werereported in Kozhikode on theday. In Kozhikode, 8,428 per-sons are under observations atthe houses and hospitals. Outof this, 8,400 persons are keptunder home isolation and re-maining 28 under the isolationwards of the Kozhikode go-vernment medical college ho-spital.
Labour and excise mini-ster T P Ramakrishnan soughtactive public cooperation forthe strict enforcement of Co-vid-19 lockdown rules. The mi-nister said that Kozhikode dis-trict is in the red zone due tothe continuous spread of Co-vid-19, hence, restrictions arenecessary for the effective con-tainment of Covid-19. Addres-sing the review meeting onSunday, he said that the peoplewho are kept under home iso-lation should not step out of
their houses and the ward levelrapid response team will supp-ly food and necessary groceryitems if necessary.
Mobile Integrated Scree-ning Team (MIST), functio-ning under the Kozhikode dis-trict medical office, has com-menced health check-ups co-vering rented houses andcamps of guest workers. Thehealth department authoritieshave informed that the medi-cal check-up will continue inthe coming days and free medi-cines are being distributed ondetection of ailments. Apartfrom this, an entomological te-am also commenced a field-le-vel survey to check the larvaeof mosquitos causing commu-nicable diseases. The movewas taken following reportingof communicable diseasesfrom various parts of the dis-trict. TNN
No new Covid-19cases in Koz dist
Kozhikode: People are queu-ing up to donate blood at threegovernment hospitals. The ho-spitals are getting calls frompeople from all walks of life ex-pressing their keenness to do-nate their blood. Thanks to aFacebook post published byKozhikode district collectorSambasiva Rao on his Facebo-ok page 10 days ago requestingthe public to come forward todonate blood during the lock-down to avoid shortage and toensure its availability to theneedy.
The blood banks are recei-ving blood from donors after astrict screening process. Apass is being issued to help do-nors to reach Kozhikode Go-vernment Medical College Ho-spital (KGMCH). The donorsand organizations approa-ched the KGMCH, Kottapa-ramba government women
and children hospital and go-vernment beach general ho-spital to fix an appointment todonate blood.
The blood banks have ex-cluded donors who have travelhistory to Covid-19-hit countri-es and states, and those whohave been residing in the iden-tified Covid-19 hotspots in Koz-hikode. The health depart-ment doesn't encourage peo-ple kept under home quaranti-
ne and their family membersand those who have come incontact with them to donateblood. The blood banks in thegovernment sector affiliatedto Kerala State AIDS ControlSociety in Kozhikode is func-tioning at three governmenthospitals.
According to health de-partment officials, the bloodbank at KGMCH can store mo-re than 1,000 units of blood per
day which include all the com-ponents of blood. The bloodbank at the Kottaparamba canstore around 200 units whilethe beach hospital blood bankcan store 100 units.
Dr Archana Rajan, districtnodal officer of transfusionservices, said a fixed time slotis given for each donor to ensu-re social distancing at the blo-od bank and to avoid gathe-ring. “We have been receivingcalls from multiple groups andorganizations and individualsurging willingness to donateblood. At present, 70 to 80 unitsof blood are required at themedical college per day as thenumber of patients is less com-pared to earlier due to the lock-down. We receive blood fromaround 50 to 60 people per day,’’she said adding that the medi-cal college also issues a certifi-cate for blood donation to thedonors as it can be produced atthe time of police checking.
Kozhikode witnesses good response forblood donation after collector’s request
A donor donating blood at a blood bank in Kozhikode on Sunday
TOI
Kochi: Cardinal George Alen-cherry, the head of the Syro-Malabar Church, celebratedhis 75th birthday at Mount StThomas, the headquarters ofthe Church at Kakkanad onSunday.
Bishop Sebastian Vaniam-purackal, the curia bishop, andother residents of Mount StThomas, felicitated the majorarchbishop and he cut a birth-day cake, limiting the birthdaycelebration, due to the lock-down. “The cardinal is verymodest in his personal affairsand he doesn’t have a habit ofhaving a grand celebration onhis birthday. Considering thatit was his 75th birthday, it wo-uld have had a bit more colour-
ful, if not for the lockdown,” sa-id Fr Antony Thalachallor, se-cretary of Syro-Malabar Me-dia Commission.
Cardinal Alencherry wasthe main celebrant in the Sun-day Mass held at Mount St Tho-
mas which was telecasted liveby a Church-run channel. Thecardinal urged the faithful topray for the world that is in themidst of a pandemic.
The cardinal, born on April19, 1945 at Thuruthy,Changa-nassery, is the president of theKCBC and chairman of the In-ter-Church Council.
Alencherry, who was the bi-shop of Thuckalay, was electedthe major archbishop by a Sy-nod of the Syro-MalabarChurch following the demise ofthe incumbent, Mar VarkeyVithayathil, on April 1, 2011. Hewas installed on May 29, 2011.Pope Benedict XVI elevatedhim to the office of Cardinal onFebruary 18, 2012. Alencherrytook part in the conclave of 2013to elect the present Pope.
Cardinal Alencherry’s 75thbirthday is a low-key affairTIMES NEWS NETWORK
Cardinal George Alencherrycutting the cake on his 75thbirthday at Kakkanad on Sunday
TOI
Kozhikode: Blood is the most precio-us gift that someone can gift to anotherperson. Upholding this message a gro-up of higher secondary school stu-dents, who are members of the natio-nal service scheme (NSS), are spen-ding the lockdown to sensitize their fa-mily members, relatives andneighbours about the importance ofdonating blood. The district NSS star-ted a blood donation drive as the dis-trict collector sought support of thepublic to address the shrinking size ofthe blood banks following Covid-19.“We have 13,900 NSS volunteers in thehigher secondary section and all mem-bers are planning to identify at leasttwo donors,” S Sreechith, NSS districtcoordinator. As these students are mi-nors they are identifying their pa-rents, relatives and neighbours to ful-
fil the requirement, he said. As manyas 150 persons, identified by NSS vo-lunteers have already donated blood tothe blood bank at Kottapparamba go-vernment women and children hospi-tal in the last six days. They have pre-pared a list of over 700 blood donors,including their contact number andblood group details in just five days.
The NSS is planning to identifyover 25,000 blood donors with the sup-port of students. The campaign is co-ordinated by the district coordinator,cluster coordinators and programmeofficers. The Programme officer andformer volunteers are also joining theblood donation campaign. Donorsfrom Balussery, Thamarassery, Koyi-landy and other areas are joining theventure, said Sreechith. Deputy collec-tor C Biju and officials of the health de-partment are extending support to theproject, he added.
NSS to identify 25,000 blood [email protected]
Thrissur: The LDF convenor A Vijayaraghavan on Sunday criticised the UDF leaders for the alleged“personal attack against the chief minister” in the data transfer controversy involving Sprinklrcompany and Kerala government.
Addressing a news conference here, the LDF convener alleged the opposition is indulging adeliberate political campaign targeting the chief minister to undermine the success made byKerala in the combat of Covid-19 outbreak under his leadership.
“They can point out the shortcomings in the measures undertaken by the government andcriticise it. But it is unfair to attack the family members of political figures. If the children of the UDFleaders are dragged into controversies, what will be the situation in Kerala,” he asked.
Vijayaraghavan said the opposition was trying to insult the people of Kerala, and they will haveto pay a heavy price for this. TNN
LDF convener slams UDF over attack on Vijayan
A person’s privacy is justone part of what is deva-lued or lost. Even on the
limited privacy question, it isshocking to see what is impliedby those trying to defend thegovernment’s stand on theSprinklr issue – so much of datatheft is already happening andon a unprecedented scale (cuethe Googles and Facebooks ofthe world) and, moreover, willan ordinary Indian even if pre-sented with a standard consentform understand its signifi-cance?
Asenior PB member on Sun-day said in a press conference inThiruvananthapuram that anextraordinary situation (read,pandemic) demands extraor-dinary (read, ideologically sus-pect) responses. The tone at thepress conference was stridentbut the bad conscience and apol-ogetic nature of the argumentwas clearly on show. But, andthis is important, it showed thatat least some people in thestate’s ruling party showed asmattering of awareness ofwhat is really at stake where‘sharing’ data is concerned.
It is necessary to point outanother interesting point in thiscontext: According to Sprinklr’swebsite, “The choice” it tells us,“is not between systems or plat-forms.” It is, “between regress-ing to the past or embracing thefuture.” And then it goes on totell you: “The choice is endingup on the wrong side of history –or being on the right side”. Lookat how Sprinklr markets itself,tailor-made for a Left govern-ment desperate to convince theworld, and above all itself, that itis on the right side of history.
By playing ball with thecommoditization of anythingand everything, in this case verysensitive data, the Pinarayi Vi-jayan government, is by nostretch of imagination, “beingon the right side”. As it belatedlytries to engage in damage con-trol by casting the issue in quasi-legal and procedural terms,something that its gulliblecadres and sympathizers wouldswallow, the real nature of theissue cannot be obscured -- thatthe Marxist government of Ker-ala has done something serious-ly unethical.
The writer is associate profes-sor, department of history,School of Social Sciences, Sik-kim University, Gangtok. Dis-claimer: Views expressed aboveare the author’s own
Privacy part ofwhat is devalued�Continued from Page 1
CCI NG 3.7 Product: TOICochinBS PubDate: 20-04-2020 Zone: Kochi Edition: 1 Page: TOIKRK03 User: roshan.verghese Time: 04-19-2020 22:11 Color: CMYK
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