kozhikode l monday l april 05, 2021 l `7.00 l PAGES 30 l city EDITION facebook data leak leaves 53 crore users vulnerable Hackers posted user data, including phone numbers, biodata, locations, date of birth and some email IDs for free on a forum 61 lakh indians vulnerable to cyberattack Facebook claims it’s old data The leak, found by cyber intelligence firm Hudson Rock, has compromised the privacy and cyber security of 61 lakh Indians as well. The hackers siphoned off user data from 106 countries. The worst hit was the US with 3.2 crore breaches, followed by UK with 1.1 crore. Cybercriminals now have access to the data, which can be used to scam or impersonate users online ■ ■ Facebook tried to downplay the situation with a spokesperson claiming the data in question is old and was first brought to its notice in 2019. It claimed that the issue was ‘fixed’ in August ’19 But Facebook remained tightlipped on what the ‘fix’ was. It was also silent on the ready availability of user data for hackers 87 million users’ data obtained by Cambridge analytica without their consent in 2013 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 they’ve spoken. over to you Despite ban on kottikalasham, all three fronts take to streets on open campaigning’s final day Express CM ends campaigning in Dharmadom, Chennithala releases more proof of power purchase deal Cong leader Rahul Gandhi, Union Min Nirmala Sitharaman address rallies on last lap T P Sooraj Vincent Pulickal Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan waves to supporters during the conclusion of his campaign at Muzhuppilangad in Dharmadom | Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attends a road show on the beach road in Kozhikode | NDA, LDF and UDF activists come together at Poojapura in Thiruvananthapuram. Parties throw Covid caution to wind, show strength on streets E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @T’Puram Top leaders of all three major fronts including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, tore into opponents as the high-octane campaign for the assembly elections wound to a close on Sunday evening. Though the ‘kottikalasham’’, the grand finale of campaigning, was banned, the three fronts took to the streets with rallies and roadshows, throwing Covid guidelines to the wind. In Nemom, the police had a tough time dispersing the supporters of the three fronts who thronged the street soon after the campaign speech of Rahul Gandhi, MP, for UDF candidate K Muraleedharan ended. The campaign also witnessed some interesting scenes as the LDF candidate in Vattiyoorkavu, V K Prasanth, took out his roadshow on a road roller to spread the message of the road development he claimed to have carried out in the constituency . At Malampuzha in Palakkad, UDF candidate S K Ananthakrishnan took to the street on a bullock cart in protest against the rising fuel prices, while Rahul Gandhi reached a meeting venue in Kozhikode in an autorickshaw from the helipad. The ‘captain’ of LDF, Pinarayi, took out his road show in Dharmadom in Kannur transforming the streets into a sea of red, while Opposition leader Chennithala released further “proof ” the power purchase deal between KSEB and Adani Enterprises while addressing media in Idukki. Senior Congress leader Oommen Chandy didn’t take out a road show at Puthuppally . Supporters of LDF and UDF had a brief face-off at Cheruthoni in Idukki during the final moments of the campaign. However, there was no major untoward incident in the state. In Kannur, CM Pinarayi took a dig at former chief minister Chandy while replying to the latter’s claims of development projects carried out KERALA by the previous UDF ASSEMBLY government. “The deELECTIONS velopment that was witnessed during the L D F g o ve r n m e n t term is not eyewash. The hospitals were upgraded as medical colleges by not just changing the boards (as was done by UDF). The financial assistance to the people was distributed by not forcing them to stand in queues under the scorching sun for hours,” he said. “The former chief minister is trying to defend his party by spreading false stories.” ● More on P7  2021 final hurrah The general trend is in favour of the Left Democratic Front. It is not created by anyone deliberately. The public opinion has naturally changed in our favour as the result of good governance Pinarayi Vijayan, Chief Minister The open campaigning has ended. The time has come for the people of the state to give their verdict against a rule which was full of scams. What we’ve been witnessing is mafia rule Ramesh Chennithala, Oppn Leader Kerala is witnessing competition in scams including solar scam, gold scam, dollar scam and drug pedalling scam. I am sure the BJP-led NDA is the best alternative in Kerala Nirmala Sitharaman, Fin Min Covid action plan: Modi wants public involvement Gujarat 04 Apr 49,447 2,839 2,815 Madhya Pradesh 03 Apr 43,183 02 Apr 39,544 01 Apr 27,918 31 Mar 31,643 30 Mar 29 Mar 40,414 Maharashtra 47,913 3,446 3,187 Tamil Nadu 3,567 Delhi Uttar Pradesh 5,818 4,373 Karnataka Maharashtra Chhattisgarh 49,447 81% of new cases in 8 states Cases in last 24 hrs E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi On a day India reported 93,249 new Covid-19 cases and 513 deaths, Prime Minister Narendra Modi went into a huddle with top experts to chart out an action plan to curb the exponential infection growth. Taking a grim view of the high case load and deaths in Maharashtra, Punjab and Chhattisgarh, Modi directed that central teams comprising public health specialists and clinicians be sent to the these states to address the crisis. The high level meeting called 4,373 4,991 4,234 4,225 04 Apr 03 Apr 02 Apr 01 Apr 2,975 31 Mar 2,792 30 Mar 3,082 29 Mar at the field level. Modi sought the rollout of a five-fold strategy of “Testing, Tracing, Treatment, Covid-appropriate behaviour and Vaccination” with a special campaign for 100% mask usage, personal hygiene and sanitation at public places/workplaces and health facilities for seven days from April 6-14. No mask needed in Assam, claims Sarma A day after Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma claimed that since there is no Covid in the state, no one needs to wear a mask, Assam’s health department made virus testing mandatory for incoming air and train passengers from Mumbai and Bengaluru. Assam’s figures are indeed low — just 68 new cases on Sunday. Curfew in Maharashtra to cushion economy Sud h i r Su r ya w a n s h i @ Mumbai Karnataka by the prime minister was given a detailed presentation, which stated that 10 states are contributing more than 91% of cases and deaths due to Covid-19. The experts attributed the rising trend line to lapses in Covid-19 protocol compliance, pandemic fatigue and lack of effective implementation of containment measures Reeling under the burden of daily case surge, the Maharashtra government on Sunday introduced a raft of strict measures like weekend and night curfews, but stopped short of a complete lockdown. The new measures include a weekend curfew, starting 8 pm Friday to 7 am Monday; and strict night restrictions between 8 pm and 7 am, starting Monday (April 5). Only essential services would be allowed to operate unhindered till April 30, after which the restrictions could be eased based on an assessment of the outcome of the measures. The decision was taken at an urgent cabinet meeting, during which Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray proposed a complete lockdown, an idea his colleagues opposed, pointing out its economic fallout. Based on the inputs, Thackeray also decided to impose restrictions on gatherings by promulgating CrPC section 144. 40 tribal families in Ranni don’t know election is on SAJIM O N P S @ Pathanamthitta A TINY area under a torn tarpaulin sheet. One cannot call it even a makeshift hut, but that’s where Rajan and Omana, a young tribal couple, and their daughters aged three and seven have been living for many years --- in Manjathodu colony near Laha in Ranni. As the rest of Ranni constituency came alive during the campaigning finale on Sunday the two , wondered what the noise was all about. The reason: They didn’t know an election was about to happen. They do have voter ID cards, but don’t know its purpose either. For the 40 Malampandaram tribal families living in the forest land at Manjathodu, there are bigger things to worry about. The biggest is to make sure that their children are not starving. Then there is the fear of elephants that could raid their colony anytime. Living deep inside the forest for weeks together to collect money they , don’t feel connected to the rest of the world. But for the honey they collect, the  world too doesn’t care about them. Over 100 voters live in the colony . “Is this election time? We don’t have any money to go by the bus to cast votes. We also do not know who are all contesting and why this election is being held,” said Rajan, who was disappointed that he could not collect any honey on Saturday. Weather is getting hotter and a shortage of drinking water is being felt already, which adds to his tension. Raju M, chieftain of Malampandaram tribe, and wife Asha do not know anything about the candidates. “We do not know who our candidates are. If a candidate approaches us, we’ll give our votes to that candidate. But nobody comes to us these ● More on P7 days,” said Asha.  poll bytes rahul confident of UDF forming next govt T’Puram: Congress national leader Rahul Gandhi campaigned for Nemom candidate K Muraleedharan on Sunday. While addressing the corner meet, Gandhi proclaimed that K Muraleedharan had already won from Nemom constituency and expressed confidence in the UDF forming the next government. ‘BJP will increase vote share in kerala’ T’Puram: I am hopeful our vote share and number of seats will increase this time,said Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi in an interview to TNIE. He also said that NDA will be a ‘constructive opposition’ if it cannot get desired results on its own. LDF contesting polls unitedly: Jayarajan Kannur: Clarifying his stance on his earlier FB post on ‘captain’ remark, CPM former Kannur district secretary P Jayarajan on Saturday wrote that the LDF is contesting the polls unitedly and Pinarayi is the team leader. Meanwhile, the CM lashed out at media for blowing the FB post out of proportion. TPR shoots up, Covid second wave in state? CRPF personnel carrying the coffin of a fallen jawan in Chhattisgarh on Sunday | PTI U nn i k r i s h n a n S @ T’Puram THE state recorded a test positivity rate (TPR) of 6.20% on Sunday — the highest since February 22 — giving strong indications of a second wave of Covid-19 in the state. Currently there are 27,893 active cases in the state, but health experts say the actual number could be far higher and the situation in the state would worsen in the coming days. Sunday’s new cases (2,802) may not look alarming due to the low number of tests (just above 45,000) conducted, they say . CM Pinarayi Vijayan expressed the concern that Covid is spreading fast in the state. He urged the public to ● More on P7 stay alert.  WITH THIS ISSUE THE ESSENTIAL CAMPUS DIGEST 30 PAGES, INCLUDING 16 OF edex (TABLOID) YOUR LIFE COACH It was 2010 Dantewada attack rerun; toll 22 Sana Shakil/Ejaz Kaiser @ New Delhi/Raipur A group of around 200 Maoists silently observed the movement of a team of CRPF and state police personnel for nearly a day before singling out a largely isolated detachment of 150 personnel for a full scale attack on Saturday at Bijapur in Chhattisgarh. As on Sunday, 22 personnel had died, 35 were injured and one missing, suspected to have been captured by the Maoists. Saturday’s encounter is the biggest blow to the security forces since April 2017’s Burkapal attack. The modus operandi of Sat- urday’s encounter appears to be similar to Burkapal or Dantewada (2010) attacks, wherein the armed Maoists isolated and attacked a party of soldiers returning from an area domination exercise. Armed forces repeatedly falling prey to this tactic — attacked when they have been in the field for over 24 hours — raises questions on the lessons learnt by the security forces from their past brushes with the Maoists. “Our aggressive anti-Maoist operations will continue with renewed strategy,” said Director General (anti-Maoist operation) Ashok Juneja. The exact casualty on Maoist side could not be confirmed.  ● More on P10