Privacy bill seeks access to ‘non-personal data’ from companies

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The government holds ultimate rights and powers to seek access to users’ data to help formulate policies, showed the Personal Data Protection Bill which was circulated among the Parliament members on Tuesday.

IANS has viewed the Data Protection Bill. The final bill also sees the government back down from its previously strict stance on data localisation.

The relevant section of the bill reads: “Nothing in this Act shall prevent the central government from framing of any policy for the digital economy, including measures for its growth, security, integrity, prevention of misuse, in so far as such policy do not govern personal data. The central government may, in consultation with the authority, direct any data fiduciary or data processor to provide any personal data anonymised or other non-personal data to enable better targeting of delivery of services or formulation of evidence-based policies by the central government, in such manner as may be prescribed”.

“Non-personal data” is any data other than personal data.

This may cause trouble for Facebook, Google, Amazon, Flipkart, Uber and others who could be asked to share data for policy formation by the government. The bill will be introduced in Parliament in the current session, but won’t be passed as the session concludes on December 13. It will be referred to a for review further.

The Personal Data Protection Bill, which was circulated to the Parliament members on Tuesday, was eagerly awaited by top technology companies as it could affect the way they process, store, and transfer Indian consumers’ data and how they will be impacted.

The bill’s latest version has a provision empowering the government to ask a company to provide anonymized personal data, as well as other non-personal data, to help target the delivery of government services or formulate policies.

The final bill also seeks social media intermediaries, like Facebook and Twitter, to allow Indian users to “voluntarily verify” their accounts in a manner that can be prescribed in the future. This method of voluntary verification has not been laid out by the bill. It only states that any user who voluntarily verifies his account “shall be provided with such demonstrable and visible mark of verification”.

Section 28 of the Bill notes: (3) Every social media intermediary which is notified as a significant data fiduciary under sub-section (4) of section 26 shall enable the users who register their service from India, or use their services in India, to voluntarily verify their accounts in such manner as may be prescribed.(4) Any user who voluntarily verifies his account shall be provided with such demonstrable and visible mark of verification, which shall be visible to all users of the service, in such manner as may be prescribed.

The bill defines “personal data” as information that can help identify a person and has characteristics, traits and any other features of a person’s identity. Any other data is non-personal, the bill said, without elaborating.

The bill also said large social media platforms should be required to offer a mechanism for users to prove their identities and display a verification sign publicly, a move that would raise a host of technical issues for companies including Facebook, WhatsApp, and Chinese app TikTok.

“Sensitive personal data”, which includes financial and biometric data, could be transferred outside India for processing, but must be stored locally, the bill said.

The bill draws its origins from the Justice BN Srikrishna Committee on data privacy, which produced a draft of legislation that was made public in 2018.

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CNBC-TV18 Market Highlights: Sensex ends 173 points higher, Nifty holds 11,900; IT, banking stocks gain

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Indian shares reversed losses in the last leg of trade to ended higher on Wednesday, led by gains in IT and private bank stocks. The Sensex ended 173 points higher at 40,412, while the Nifty50 index ended 53 points higher at 11,910.

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Oil prices rise but US-China trade war weighs on demand outlook

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Oil prices inched up on Tuesday as OPEC’s deal with associated producers last week to deepen output cuts in 2020 continued to provide a floor for prices, but US-China trade tensions clouded the demand outlook.

Brent crude settled up 9 cents at $64.34 a barrel, and West Texas Intermediate oil rose 22 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $59.24 a barrel.

The benchmarks fell 0.2 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively, on Monday.

Last week, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and associated producers like Russia agreed to deepen output cuts from 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) to 1.7 million bpd to support prices.

However, a Dec. 15 deadline for the next round of US tariffs on Chinese imports weighed on markets.

“Now that the producers announced a production cut last week, the market is holding just below three-month highs,” said Gene McGillian, director of market research at Tradition Energy. “Without a US-China trade deal, the market is having trouble heading into a new leg in this rally.”

US President Donald Trump does not want to implement the next round of tariffs, US Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said on Monday – but he wants “movement” from China to avoid them.

The Wall Street Journal reported that officials from both sides were laying the groundwork for a delay of a fresh round of tariffs.

Also, the growth rate of China’s imports of major commodities has accelerated in recent months, indicating Beijing’s stimulus efforts may be bearing fruit and that the impact of a trade war may not be as bad as feared.

But investors remained on edge ahead of other events this week, with the British election on Thursday and US and European Central Bank meetings.

On Tuesday, US House Democrats agreed to support a separate US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement after a year of negotiations, clearing the way for ratification by the Congress this year. The trade deal must also still be approved by the Canadian parliament.

US crude oil inventories were expected to have dipped last week, while stocks of refined products were seen higher with gasoline stocks set to rise for the fifth straight week, a preliminary Reuters poll showed.

The American Petroleum Institute (API), an industry group, is scheduled to release its data for the latest week at 4:30 p.m. EST (2130 GMT) on Tuesday, and the weekly EIA report is due at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday.

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Asian shares adrift as tariff deadline looms

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Asian stocks flatlined on Wednesday as Sino-US trade talks approached a weekend deadline with little sign of progress, while a tightening of the UK election race knocked the pound.

Investors are beginning to suspect that even if US tariffs due to take effect on Sunday are delayed, it may be 2020 before Washington and Beijing can agree a broader rapprochement.

In the absence of detailed trade news, focus moves to the US Fed’s outlook for the economy due at 2000 GMT — along with an expectation interest rates will be held steady — and Thursday’s British election.

“The market is just so singularly focused on the trade thematic, it seems to push everything else aside,” said James McGlew, executive director of corporate stockbroking at Perth broker Argonaut.

“These things never end well. Tariffs and artificial barriers in economies can never level the playing field the way proponents theorize it will … no-one wins until this stops, it’s as simple as that.”

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan barely budged. Japan’s Nikkei ticked lower after White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said a decision on the Dec. 15 tariffs would come soon, also knocking modest early gains off Australia’s S&P/ASX 200.

The biggest mover of the morning was the British pound, which shed 0.3 percent to hit $1.3128 after a closely watched YouGov poll showed the ruling Conservatives tracking toward a much slimmer majority than forecast a fortnight ago.

The pound had climbed to an eight-month high overnight, before the survey, as investors priced in a comfortable Conservative victory and expected it could end years of uncertainty over Britain’s exit from the European Union.

YouGov’s research director, however, said the results showed a hung parliament was possible.

“Granted, this still portrays a Tory majority but given what is already priced … the actual outcome has resulted in some of the heat coming out of a fairly frothy market,” said Chris Weston, head of research at Melbourne brokerage Pepperstone.

TRADE STALEMATE

On the trade front, officials from Canada, Mexico and the United States signed a fresh overhaul of the quarter-century-old North American trade pact, but there were few hints of progress on a deal between the globe’s two largest economies.

A Wall Street Journal report that said US and Chinese officials were preparing for a delay to the Dec. 15 round of tariffs knocked bonds but did not shift stocks since it suggested no resolution to the trade conflict.

“Assuming it is (delayed), then trade policy uncertainty is set to linger well into the next decade,” said Ray Attrill, head of FX strategy at National Australia Bank.

“This has very much been the emerging consensus heading into the weekend deadline, hence the reports have failed to spark any market volatility.”

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow later said that no decision had been reached regarding the tariffs, which will automatically take effect unless they are reversed or suspended.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 each fell 0.1 percent, while the Nasdaq dropped by a little less.

The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes, which moves inversely to price, last stood a little higher at 1.8399 percent.

U.S. inflation data due at 1330 GMT, expected to hold steady, may further decrease the likelihood of 2020 rate cuts should it surprise on the upside.

The Fed is widely expected to hold rates steady at the conclusion of Wednesday’s policy meeting, with investors instead focused on any change to the central bank’s view of the economy and its 2 percent growth forecast for next year.

Elsewhere in currencies, the dollar slipped against the euro overnight as German economic sentiment sharply rose after an unexpected rebound in October exports.

US crude dipped 0.25 percent to $59.09 a barrel, while gold was slightly lower at $1463.526 per ounce.

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Sustainable hospitality: What a small town in Karnataka can teach us about circular economy

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Most of our usual economic practices are the result of the habitual ‘take-make-use-dispose’ linear economy which we have been a part of; and as an outcome, our planet has been witnessing constant environmental degradation and natural resources depletion for a long time. But with the world of human beings finally awakening to this harsh reality, we look to stem the erosion by adopting a sustainable ‘take-make-use-reuse-recycle’ economic system called circular economy. A circular economy is closed and inclusive and adopts conscious practices for optimal resource usage, eliminating or minimising wastage, reuse and recycle. The idea which first emerged in the 1970s-80s, initially gained popularity in production and manufacturing.

According to Murray, Skene and Haynes, a circular economy is a sustainable development strategy or economic model that attempts to conceptualise the integration and interaction of economic activity and environmental issues in a sustainable way, balancing economic, environmental, technological and social aspects. A closer reading of this description suggests that this guiding essence is applicable to any sector including service sectors like hospitality.

Green practices

The principles and practices of circular economy can be, nay, are already being adapted in the world of hospitality, and successfully. How?

There is a small town called Kumta in Uttara Kannada in Karnataka. Miles of the ocean, flanked by rolling green hills, dotted with small rivers, forming a wide estuary ideal for fishing. But the true play of colour happens at night when the seawaters light up as you step into the water – a phenomenon called bio-luminance, as spectacular as the northern lights, yet a little less explored. This virgin district, with so much natural resources available for harvest, can soon be overrun by commerce, with most of its beauty plundered. So, the community has come together to protect its own, with a vision to give back to the land as much as they take from it. And in doing so they have created a circular economy, with the tourism and hospitality industry acting as the foundation supporting the micro-economy.

The idea is to create several hospitality products – a large hotel with a convention centre, a range of high-end tents and Finnish glass structures for exclusive experiences, lodges around the river for wildlife spotting and bamboo homestays for the affordable segment; but all these properties are built around sustainability. There is careful use of water, natural filtration plants, recycling, and waste management to avoid polluting natural resources, solar plants for energy efficiencies, etc. The projects will be in partnership with the local community. While the hospitality projects shall be the natural consumers for all resources, they will simultaneously provide opportunities to the local community.

Entrepreneurship – Locals who would set up homestays shall be coached on providing services and will have revenue share arrangements with capex providers.

Employment – A large part of the local community will be employed with these hospitality providers who focus on local recruitment. Hospitality training shall be provided to uplift basic skills.

Food consumption – Local fisheries, dairies, and farmers shall provide stock for daily consumption. In addition, each project shall entail their own kitchen farms and provide herbs, vegetables, etc.

Local activities – Tourist engagement activities to be planned and managed with the inputs and expertise of local experts and guides. Activities can be floating restaurants, fishing and water sports, excursions into the jungles, foraging, and birding and wildlife tours. Locals will be trained to provide these services.

Arts and crafts – Sessions in local crafts and products for tourists made by local folk or artists can be sold directly to hotels or through souvenir shops.

While tourism makes use of micro suppliers, certain large industries can also grow autonomously. Fisheries can tie up with cold storage companies for surplus produce. Transport providers will increase – helicopters will transport customers from Goa / Bangalore and local taxis (battery vehicles) will take care of within-area travel. Dairy products such as cheeses can be produced too, directly contracting with large food chains. And each of these industries, in turn, shall provide an impetus to tourism.

There has been a perceptible shift in the behaviour of the hospitality industry’s consumers. The average consumer is aware of and supports green practices. This gives an additional motivation to the industry to not only be environmentally responsible but also to adopt principles of circular economy. According to the findings of recent research, consumer awareness of sustainable issues has a direct impact on companies’ adoption of circular economy and green practices. The Kumta project is a $300 million initiative under the United Nations to conserve natural resources and create a huge impact across the 150 km radius of the district. And if we can save one district, one untouched virgin district and make it into a thriving vibrant and economically strong circular economy, it can stand as a demonstration, a proof of concept for a better India, a better world.

Aditi Balbir is the founder and chief executive officer of V Resorts.

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How and why to build a ‘meaningful’ business as an entrepreneur

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Entrepreneurs aim to solve a problem they are passionate about; be independent and work for themselves, and innovate. Starting a business from the ground up is a tough job. If you are trying to solve a problem that is considered a ‘social one’, it requires an innovative approach and a can-do mindset to deliver a scalable business. The chances of failure is high, but as an entrepreneur, one should worry about the opportunity you might miss rather than fathom the thought of failure.

When you set out to build a for-profit social enterprise, it’s important to combine proven practices along with technology to address complex social problems. For example, while building a business that provides financing solutions to largely excluded communities in the lower socio-economic strata of society, combining established microfinance principles along with innovative technology can ensure successful lending to this demographic. An approach that combines these two aspects results in a highly scalable and profitable business model with social impact.

According to one of the world’s most successful start-up accelerators TechStars, 10 percent of their companies fail in their journey. This figure is even higher when entrepreneurs try to create a “meaningful” business. But challenging the status quo would result in greater satisfaction, and the potential to create social impact at scale is in itself a noble mission.

So what is the secret to success? Below are five factors to success

• The right mindset: If you want to succeed in solving societal problems, the right mindset is key. To every problem, there is a solution, however challenging it might seem. However, the most obvious solution is not always the right one and you may only learn this through practice. It’s crucial to be quick to execute, learn and pivot. Failure is not a concept. You are always learning and making progress. Finally, focus on your strengths and use that to create value.
• Choosing the right problem: So what’s the right problem to solve? Choose a problem you are connected to and believe in, because you need the drive to work 24/7 in finding a solution. Choose one big enough that it matters and one that other people are trying or have been trying to solve.
• Right location: Location, location, location! The most favourable place to adopt and scale your idea might not be your home. Instead you need to be sure the market is ready to adopt a solution and consider the size of the addressable market. Crucial for success for entrepreneurs is a market where it is easy to do business and you can rapidly show proof of concept, without too much bureaucracy.
• Invest in a great team: This means a team that believes in the mission, challenges the status quo, is competent in key areas from fundraising to business development. Occasionally add in “the odd duck” — people from a different background to bring in a fresh perspective.
• Go big or go home: Just like the quote, give it all you’ve got and be the best that you can be, or don’t participate. All you’ve got is what is going to make you achieve the scale that matters. Identify the key strength of your product or service and double down on them. Always do faster in order to stay ahead of the competitors. While learning fast, growing, pivoting or doubling down on certain parts of the business, communicate clearly with all stakeholders and build relationships with key stakeholders.

If all these are done while keeping the DNA, mission and vision of the company, you will surely build a scalable meaningful business. Always remember, “if it were easy, someone would have already done it”.

Cedrick Tandong is CEO, Three Wheels United.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow