KALABURAGI  MONDAY  NOVEMBER 09, 2020  `7.00  PAGES 28  CITY EDITION DATA OF 2 CRORE BIGBASKET USERS ON SALE ON DARK WEB A hacker has put customer data, including contact details, on sale for about `30 lakh, cyber intelligence firm Cyble said EMAIL-IDS, ADDRESSES LEAKED: CYBLE HOW TO CHECK IF YOU HAVE BEEN AFFECTED According to Cyble, which routinely monitors the dark web, the data put on sale includes names of customers, email IDs, password hashes, contact numbers, addresses, date of birth, location and IP addresses. The data breach occurred on October 14, but was detected only 17 days later on October 31. After validation, Cyble informed BigBasket on November 1 ■ ■ BigBasket said it has lodged a complaint with the Bengaluru Cyber Cell and is evaluating the authenticity of the claim If you are worried that your BigBasket data is compromised, you can register on Cyble’s data breach monitoring platform, AmiBreached.com, to ascertain your risks $3bn EXPECTED SIZE OF INDIA’S ONLINE GROCERY SEGMENT BY YEAR END CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOGGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ WARANGAL ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI 290 JOE BIDEN 214 DONALD TRUMP Electoral college votes Electoral college votes 75,199,800 popular vote 70,804,676 popular vote 270 TO WIN EXPECT GREEN CARD, H1-B VISA SQUEEZE TO EASE P U S H K A R B A N A K A R @ New Delhi WITH Joe Biden set to enter the Oval Office in January, the protestations of President Donald Trump notwithstanding, lakhs of Indians who head to the United States every year for studies, employment and immigration could heave a sigh of relief. In the four years of the Trump administration, it has not been smooth sailing for Indians for whom the US is a land of opportunities and a stepping stone for economic prosperity . From green card holders, students and H1-B visas, the numbers have been steadily going down. Take the lawful residence permits, or green cards. The road to the US has been bumpy since Trump took tenancy of the White House, resulting in a decline of Indians acquiring the coveted residency permit. n 2010 when Barack Obama was President, more than 69,000 Indians got the green card (see Graphics heading Year Indians who got green card % increase/ decrease 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 69,162 69,013 66,434 68,458 77,908 64,116 64,687 60,394 59,821 54,495 ---0.2 -3.7 3.04 13.8 -17.7 0.89 -6.6 -0.9 -8.9 Source: Department of Homeland Security table). The number peaked in 2014, when nearly 78,000 Indians managed to get it. But in the years since, and particularly after Trump became President, it has slowly gone down. Last year only about 54,000 Indians got the green card, registering a sharp drop of 8.9% from the previous year. “Biden is likely to be more open to easing restrictions on visas and immigration. It is worth noting that he is the only presidential candidate to release an agenda proposal aimed at Indian-Americans, which among other things, lays out his plan for visas and immigration,” said Kriti Upadhyaya, a researcher at the Washingtonbased Center for Strategic and International Studies. She felt that Biden would be more supportive of familybased immigration. “His more progressive visa plans include exempting recent graduates of PhD programmes in STEM fields from any caps,” Upadhyaya said. H1-B visas, the most sought after by Indians, is another area where Trump has cracked down and proposed curbs. Though a US court stayed the move, Trump’s decision to halt all non-immigrant visas, including H1-B, caused tension among Indians, especially the CONTINUED ON: P7 IT sector. While I may be the first woman in this office, I won’t be the last. Because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities - Kamala Harris, US Vice President-elect Karnataka origin Dr Vivek Murthy to head US Covid task force under Biden K S H I V A K U M A R @ Mysuru WITH Democrat Joe Biden winning the US Presidency in a fiercely contested election, former US Surgeon General Dr Vivek Murthy, who traces his roots to Hallegere of Mandya district, is expected to take over as the head of the Covid-19 task force of the United States. President-elect Biden is likely to make an official announcement on Monday . The former Vice Admiral in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, who was also the 19th Surgeon General of the United States, Dr Vivek will have a tough job on hand tackling the pandemic, with the USA leading the world in Covid-19 figures. Dr Vivek, along with former LOSING OUT Gajani needs to be saved, with a GI tag B O S K Y K H A N N A @ Bengaluru THIS Gajani is not going to do battle. Instead needs to be rescued! Gajani Kagga crop, a paddy variety which is being forgot, ten and lost with the rising hybrid varieties and aquaculture, desperately hopes the Centre will ‘rice’ to the occasion and give it a Geographical-Indication (GI) tag. At present, the local farmers, through their association, are protecting the last remaining area. With the losses in aquaculture, farmers are also now demanding seeds from the government to cultivate it again. The Karnataka Biodiversity Board (KBB) has written to the central government recommending that GI tag be given to Gajani Kagga variety (Oryza sativa), which is now sown in a small pocket of Kumta in Uttara Kannada district. The saThe Gajani Kagga paddy variety is line-tolerant variety is unique unique to the state’s coastal belt to coastal regions. Ananth Hegde Ashisara, chairman of the Board, told The New Indian Express: “The Board took the decision because of this variety’s uniqueness and the threat it faces. It needs protection and recognition and so we have asked the Ministry of Commerce to give it a GI tag because of the agro-biodiversity of the region.” Experts from Kumta said this was much required. Environmental Management and Policy Research Institute (Empri) in its Agro-Diversity report, prepared eight years back on the unique varieties of paddy had listed Gajani Kagga, , P5 pointing that it needs protection. WITH THIS ISSUE THE ESSENTIAL CAMPUS DIGEST YOUR LIFE COACH 28 PAGES, INCLUDING 16 OF edex (TABLOID) President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and others, had rooted for Biden as President. Speaking to TNIE, his father Dr H N Narasimha Murthy confirmed that Dr Vivek will be named the head of the Covid Task Force on Monday and will be leading a team of experts to work on Covid-19 containment and ensure that people get the P5 best health care. Army officer, 3 jawans killed in J&K encounter Forces foil infiltration attempt by armed terrorists near LoC in one of fiercest shootouts in the state this year, kill three F AYA Z W A N I @ Srinagar THREE Army personnel, including one of officer rank, and a Border Security Force constable were killed during an operation to thwart an infiltration bid by a group of heavily-armed terrorists in J&K’s Machil sector on Sunday . Three of the terrorists were eliminated. According to defence spokesman in Srinagar, Colonel Rajesh Kalia, it all started around 1 am when a joint team of Army and BSF troops guarding the Machil sector noticed suspicious movement, about 3.5 km from the Line of Control (LoC). On inspection, it was found that an infiltration attempt was underway The troops con. fronted the infiltrators, leading to an encounter, which lasted until 4 am. A BSF jawan, identified as constable Sudip Sarkar, was killed. One terrorist was also killed while others managed to slip away after three hours of gunfight. More troops were then rushed to the area in the pre-dawn hours to search and track the other terrorists down. Drones, helicopters and other surveillance equipment were also deployed. Finally more than six hours af, ter the initial gunfight ended, the 2x8 J&K LG pays tributes to slain soldiers J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha paid tributes on Sunday to the four security forces personnel killed in Kashmir. “The L-G saluted the supreme sacrifice of the jawans and lauded the courage and valour displayed by them while protecting the integrity and sovereignty of the country,” a spokesperson said Army found the terrorists. Around 10.20 am another gunfight erupted about 1.5 km from the LoC, during which two terrorists and three Army soldiers were killed, Kalia said. Two soldiers, who were injured were evacuated to a military hospital for specialised treatment. The anti-militancy operation was still going on when the reports last came in. Defence sources said Sunday’s encounter was the second deadliest along the LoC this year. Sources added that the Army has beefed up security and antiinfiltration grid along the LoC, anticipating Pakistani attempts to push more militants into Jammu and Kashmir before the onset of winter. Slow chug for double engine in Bihar last lap M U K E S H R A N J A N @ Muzaffarpur/Darbhanga/Bhagalpur IF the exit poll projections come true when the votes are counted on Tuesday then the “double engine” that , has powered Bihar since 2017 faces the danger of getting derailed. The “double engine” refers to the combination of the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar and the NDA government at the Centre that, in their proclamation, is taking the state on the path of development. Both Nitish and Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to the “double engine” during the campaign. From the first rally in Sasaram on October 23 to the last address to the voters through an open letter, Modi said he had “full faith that the power of the double engine will take Bihar to new heights of development in the next decade.” But did Bihar really take huge strides because of the double engine? The record is mixed, with the state’s economy growing in double digits during 2017-18 and 2018-19 but not doing so well on other fronts. The cold statistics find expression among the people, with the mood on the ground overwhelmingly of Nitish doing a lot of good work in his first two terms in office but faltering in the last five years, three of which were CONTINUED ON: P8 with the double engine. EXPRESS READ Retired BU Professor hangs self at home Bengaluru: Prof Ashok Kumar, a retired head of the department of Electronic Media at Bangalore University, committed suicide by hanging at his house here on Sunday. He was hoping to become a V-C of one of the cluster universities, according to his colleagues | P5 Former bureaucrat Senthil joins Cong today Mangaluru: Former IAS officer S Sasikanth Senthil has announced that he will be joining the Congress on Monday. Senthil, who was the DC in Mangaluru, said his priority for now is to help the DMKCongress alliance to win the 2021 Tamil Nadu assembly polls | P5 ‘WORTH PRINTING NOTES FOR STIMULUS’ ABHIJIT BANERJEE Nobel Laureate in Economics Delaying the enforcement of a strict lockdown would have helped lessen the economic impact of the pandemic, feels Economics Nobel Abhijit Banerjee. Also, India could have printed notes amounting to 3% of its GDP and given it away to the people as stimulus. Even now, it’s worth printing and giving 1% of GDP to people, he feels FULL REPORT: P7