Tanaya Das, Author at Adamas University

Is our data safe: QUESTIONS OF PRIVACY AND OTHER CONNECTED RIGHTS

Co-contributors: Arnab Sengupta, Souvik Dutta, Lawyers, High Court, Calcutta

The questions of privacy rights and growing, expanding technology are not new. Even prior to the advent of the present pandemic, several key points were raised regarding the protection of private data and the ever increasing foray of technology into our daily lives. Such technological intrusion has come in many forms, chiefly, in the forms of social media and other applications across all platforms of operating systems, be it on the personal computer, or handheld mobile device, or tablet. Computer applications have been a key component of our lives ever since we were first armed with a smart device. In the 21^st century, technology has been all pervading and with it, we have inherited some glaring concerns as to the implications of using such technology.

DEEPLY ENTRENCHED:

In recent times, the use of several social networking services have raised concerns of varying degrees, as to the invasion of private data and unauthorised sharing of such data with third parties. While some social sites such as Facebook encourage and require complete personal information e.g. full names, birthdates, location, relationship status, personal preferences, other social sites are less invasive and do not mandate the providing of personal information to such degrees. In other words, in today’s world, social networking is unavoidable and inevitable[1] unless one decides to undertake pains of being unable to fully utilise the internet, which very few possess the willingness to do.

Electronic governance can be more particularly described as application of information and communication technology for rendering governmental services, exchanging information, online transactions, incorporation of various individual systems between governments and citizens, governments and businesses, intra-departmental sections within governments, and back-office workings into the entire and complete governmental scaffold.

In India, e-governmental and e-governance services have seen a rise in the past few years under the auspices of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India, as well as other respective state governments. A National e-Governance Plan has been outlined by the said ministry that incorporates social media frameworks, citizen engaging framework, etc[2]. An example of the extensiveness of e-governance in India can be given of the Aadhar programme[3], implemented in relation to residential and biometric information of all citizens of India.

BREWING TROUBLES:

Prior to pandemic, information technology has been widely used and the concerns that came with it have been troublesome. Social media has been criticised for its unauthorised sharing of private data of individual users[4]. A study, published as far back as 2006, has listed the hurdles faced by privacy advocates when it comes to e-governments[5].. Without a doubt, providing personal information to e-governmental sites is quite indispensable in order to benefit from its services, and this has raised some irksome privacy concerns with users[6].

So far as India is concerned, the above concerns have persisted especially given that India still lacks a concrete, efficient, and reliable data privacy law[7]. Currently, India’s most comprehensive provisions of the law can be accessed through the Information Technology Act, enacted in the year 2000. The Information Technology (Reasonable security practices and procedures and sensitive personal data or information) Rules, 2011, provide an outline of India’s data protection policies. It has been reported that the chief problem lies in the fact that most websites store their data unencrypted on their servers, thereby making it quite easy for them, or governments, or hackers, to monitor that data[8]. There have been some developments in that area since then. Interestingly, the Supreme Court of India has declared the right to privacy a “fundamental right” keeping in conformity with the Fundamental Rights enshrined in the Indian Constitution[9]. It remains to be seen how far the implications of this historic judgement go when it comes to information technology.

PANDEMIC ERA AND TECHNOLOGY:

According to the United Nations, technology is key in combating the Novel Coronavirus pandemic and the UN had also released a new policy brief earlier in April, 2020, highlighting the role of technology in Coronavirus relief initiatives across the globe[10]. China, the epicenter of the present outbreak has been combating the virus by incorporating several technologically sound measures including positioning technologies, satellite monitoring, robotics, health sensors and applications, etc[11]. General consensus indicates that technology has been indispensable in our fight against Covid-19[12]. Such has been the case in India as well[13]. It has been reported by the World Economic Forum that the present crisis has ushered in a new era of technological innovation in India[14]. The Government of India has launched several programs and applications to combat Covid-19 the most prominent being “Aarogya Setu” (having a subscriber base of ten crores at present), and this application may be deemed mandatory for travelling across the country as per reports[15]. Socially, the entire world is at present reliant on social networking and video conferencing computer programs that have enabled a large populace to remain in contact with one another despite the physical social distancing rules and norms implemented by world governments[16].

Privacy International has raised unavoidable issues regarding this[17]. Contact tracing, a key component in tackling infection rates in communities, has raised questions as to the viability of such methods versus infringement of individual privacy[18]. Joseph Cannataci, the United Nations “special rapporteur” on the right to privacy, had warned against the eroding privacy rights of individuals in the midst of the current pandemic[19].

Such concerns were also raised in India, especially regarding the “Aarogya Setu” application[20]. However, officials from the Government of India have clarified that the concerns are unwarranted at best and every effort is being made to protect the personal data of users[21]. Yet, breaches in security of data are not new in the Indian context[22]. According to a recent report by Deccan Herald, unprotected servers are a worrisome aspect of data storage in India[23]. On the 11^th of December, 2019, the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019, was introduced in the Indian Parliament by its Minister of Electronics and Information Technology. The bill is pending as of date[24].

Very recently there had been alleged leaks of private data and video streams from the video conferencing application known as “Zoom” (owned by Zoom Video Communications). Amidst all the controversy, Zoom has reportedly updated its security features[25]. This is indicative of the fact that the most worrisome breaches in private data storage are becoming more frequent and strict laws and policies are required to tackle this problem. The situation is grave especially among users of social networking sites as most of the populace has maintained social contact through these sites due to physical lockdown being in force.

CONCLUSION:

A gleaming example of proper handling of data and protection of citizens’ privacy can be found today in the European Union. The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union postulates that citizens of the Union have a right to protection of their personal data[26]. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is an essential step towards ensuring proper protection of private data and such laws have been quite successful in the European Union. This legislation had been incorporated in the EEA Agreement in 2018[27]. In addition to the above, further tangible and successful steps have been taken by the Union to protect its citizens’ private data[28]. Overall, it can be proposed that in today’s world, the European model has been successful and quite robust.

The conclusion to be drawn from all this is simple; better handling of users’ data is need of the hour; bet it social networking or e-government utilities. The Data Protection Bill pending in the Indian Parliament would have to be of exemplary quality and efficient.

[1] See a study published by University of Wollongong, Australia, available at “https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/0cfa/7be2f83d648b86797aa5edd9fc078ad214e0.pdf?_ga=2.169375523.363422140.1589432425-693423378.1589432425” – Accessed on 14.05.2020, 10:34 hours. See also “https://www.exchange4media.com/digital-news/social-media-is-unavoidable-todayjames-wardincanus-42227.html” – Accessed on 14.05.2020, 10:36 hours.

[2] “https://meity.gov.in/divisions/national-e-governance-plan” – Accessed on 14.05.2020, 10:58 hours.

[3] “https://uidai.gov.in/about-uidai/unique-identification-authority-of-india/about.html” – Accessed on 14.05.2020, 11:02 hours.

[4] “https://www.forbes.com/sites/kalevleetaru/2018/12/15/what-does-it-mean-for-social-media-platforms-to-sell-our-data/#306d86472d6c” – Accessed on 14.05.2020, 11:22 hours. See also “https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-46618582” – Accessed on 14.05.2020, 11:30 hours.

[5] See “Belanger, F. and Hiller, J.S. (2006), “A framework for e‐government: privacy implications”, Business Process Management Journal, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 48-60.”

[6] Al-Jamal, Maryam & Abu-Shanab, Emad. (2015). Privacy Policy of E-Government Websites and the Effect on Users’ Privacy. 10.15849/icit.2015.0066.

[7] See “http://elplaw.in/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Data-Protection-26-Privacy-Issues-in-India.pdf” – Accessed on 14.05.2020, 11:48 hours.

[8] “https://www.forbesindia.com/article/checkin/indias-internet-privacy-woes/35971/1” – Accessed on 14.05.2020, 12:06 hours.

[9] “Justice K.S. Puttuswamy (Retd.) v. Union of India”, (2017) 10 SCC 1, see “https://indiankanoon.org/doc/127517806/” – Accessed on 14.05.2020, 12:14 hours.

[10] “https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/policy/digital-technologies-critical-in-facing-covid-19-pandemic.html” – Accessed on 14.05.2020, 12:26 hours.

[11] “https://www.geospatialworld.net/article/the-sino-approach-use-of-technology-to-combat-covid-19/” – Accessed on 14.05.2020, 12:33 hours.

[12] “https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/03-04-2020-digital-technology-for-covid-19-response” – Accessed on 14.05.2020, 12:45 hours. See also “https://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/covid-19/understanding-covid-19-s-impact-on-the-technology-sector-.html” – Accessed on 14.05.2020, 12:46 hours.

[13] “https://www.expresscomputer.in/news/technology-crucial-in-combating-covid-19-nivruti-rai-intel-india-head/55575/” – Accessed on 14.05.2020, 12:49 hours.

[14] “https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/coronavirus-covid19-innovation-technology-india/” – Accessed on 14.05.2020, 12:55 hours.

[15] “https://www.hindustantimes.com/tech/aarogya-setu-india-s-covid-19-tracking-app-now-has-10-crore-users/story-at2phHaAtAIb5uPFDwvVII.html” – Accessed on 14.05.2020, 13:12 hours.

[16] “https://www.hec.edu/en/knowledge/instants/what-role-social-media-during-covid-19-crisis-0” – Accessed on 14.05.2020, 13:15 hours. See also “https://theconversation.com/covid19-social-media-both-a-blessing-and-a-curse-during-coronavirus-pandemic-133596” – Accessed on 14.05.2020, 13:30 hours.

[17] “https://privacyinternational.org/examples/tracking-global-response-covid-19” – Accessed on 14.05.2020, 13:32 hours.

[18] “https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/covid-19-contact-tracing-technology-and-privacy-concerns/75119433” – Accessed on 14.05.2020, 13:34 hours.

[19] “https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/coronavirus-lockdown-surveillance-tracking-dictatorship-authoritarian-united-nations-privacy-a9438561.html?utm_source=reddit.com” – Accessed on 14.05.2020, 15:20 hours.

[20] “https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/software/legal-experts-point-out-liability-concerns-with-the-aarogya-setu-app/articleshow/75561944.cms” – Accessed on 14.05.2020, 15:40 hours.

[21] “https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/aarogya-setu-safe-not-used-for-surveillance-assures-government/articleshow/75685880.cms” – Accessed on 14.05.2020, 15:45 hours.

[22] “https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/tech/8-biggest-data-leaks-of-2019-that-hit-indian-users-hard/what-causes-data-breach/slideshow/72839190.cms” – Accessed on 14.05.2020, 15:49 hours.

[23] “https://www.deccanherald.com/business/business-news/unprotected-servers-behind-big-data-breaches-report-793168.html” – Accessed on 14.05.2020, 15:51 hours.

[24] “https://www.prsindia.org/billtrack/personal-data-protection-bill-2019” – Accessed on 14.05.2020, 16:01 hours.

[25] “https://www.dw.com/en/zoom-rolls-out-new-security-measures-amid-privacy-concerns/a-53156470” – Accessed on 14.05.2020, 15:13 hours.

[26] Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation). See more at “https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:12012P/TXT” – Accessed on 14.05.2020, 16:11 hours.

[27] “https://www.efta.int/About-EFTA/news/Incorporation-General-Data-Protection-Regulation-GDPR-EEA-Agreement-and-continued-application-Directive-9546EC-508856” – Accessed on 14.05.2020, 16:18 hours.

[28] “https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection/data-protection-eu_en” – Accessed on 14.05.2020, 16:21 hours.

Can machine become self-aware: A guide to the emerging era of Artificial Intelligence

It was in the year 2015, one morning, while trying to plan my higher education, I came across an article in a magazine ‘Computerworld’ titled “Can Machine Learn”. I found the topic very interesting and started reading more about it. Artificial Intelligence and machine learning since then, have become two terms which are trending but these two term are also much confusing.

As Herbert Simon has defined Artificial Intelligence (AI) as –

“We call programs intelligent if they exhibit behaviors that would be regarded as intelligent if they were exhibited by human beings.”

Then how can we describe machine learning because the term is in close relation to Artificial Intelligence. Let us dig deep into this

What is machine learning?
How it is related to Artificial Intelligence?
What are the basic if someone needed to start machine learning?
What are the career aspects in machine learning?

Machine Learning: What it is?

Lots of books have defined this term is many ways. The famous book “Machine Learning” written by Tom M. Mitchell [3] defines

“A computer program is said to learn from experience E with respect to some class of tasks T and performance measure P, if its performance at tasks in T, as measured by P, improves with experience E.”

The definition itself explain many terminologies like Experience denoted by E, Class of tasks denoted by T and performance measure denoted by P which may not be understood by a laymen.

Hence as a layman we can say machine learning is a concept which makes a machine able to learn.

For making a machine able to learn we need to feed the machine with some past data based on some specific tasks and measure how it is performing when new specific task are assigned to it. If same behavior exists in past then only the machine can predict if the same task will happen again. Prediction mainly depends on past cases.

How Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence are related?

Nowadays, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming a major tool to map thought process with computational model. Artificial Intelligence (AI) captures, shares, develops and transform knowledge as per the desired format of organization. It originates from Greek mythology of artificial beings with thinking ability. This terminology is introduced by John McCarthy almost 30 years ago. But the journey started much before that. Vanner Bush put forward a system which turn up and understand human’s mind. Many computational models have been proposed using software tools to capture intrinsic knowledge associated with application domains.

Artificial Intelligence is a domain or field that can be handled by several sub-fields like vision, robotics, speech processing, expert systems, natural language processing, machine learning. Machine learning are mainly some algorithms that recapitulate over large datasets. They are mainly handling the task of prediction, classification and clustering. They analyze patterns in data and can help to produce reliable result from history. Nowadays as a result, numerous sectors are being associated with machine learning like automobiles, health, entertainment, cooking, e-commerce, etc.

Day by day as artificial intelligence is replicating human though process in terms of analyzing, learning and decision making. Machine learning systems are helping human race in many ways

Less error prone than humans, if coded properly
Able to do repetitive and tiresome tasks without getting tired or bored, since machines do not have any feelings or emotions.
More organized than humans
Memorizing capability is exceptionally higher
High capability in detecting frauds, assisting human and integrating power with other technologies

Not compulsory but requirement will be helpful

Statistics

Machine learning techniques and algorithms are mostly borrowed from or dependent on statistical theories. Statistical distributions help to understand the variations in data. Some knowledge of descriptive and inferential statistics is helpful to extract and gather some meaningful information from data.

Linear Algebra

The subjects include many topics like vectors, matrices, transformations to understand the internal working of the algorithms. But no harder mathematics are required. Nowadays libraries like scikit-learn in Python and caret in R is dealing with hard core mathematics which makes implementation of machine learning algorithms easy. [1]

Calculus

To gain deeper insights about advanced machine learning algorithms like deep learning, neural network, knowledge of calculus like gradient descent, nonlinear functions are helpful.

Probability

Probability itself is a huge area, but it acts as a pillar in the field of machine learning. Some concepts like maximum likelihood, Bayesian probability, probabilistic graphical models includes some skills of probability.

Programming Language

Learners of machine learning have a big question regarding what programming language is best?

R or Python. To answer this debatable question I always suggest the choosing of the language depends on the particular task. For what purpose you are going to implement machine learning according to that you have to choose your coding language. Beside R or Python environments like Weka, Scikit-Learn are mostly used by non-coders who want to implements machine learning algorithms to perform their task.

Career Aspects in Machine Learning

Start-ups and big tech giants are tending towards artificial intelligence and machine learning for decision making and predictive projects. Pay scale of machine learning engineer in the United States is $100,956 per year as reported by the top American website that provides salary and compensation information about different companies [2] The salary of a data scientist with machine learning skills in India is around 9 lacs and whereas in the US it is around $92,000[4].
“According to a Tractica Report, AI driven services were worth $1.9 billion in 2016 and are anticipated to rise to $2.7 billion by end of 2017 of which 23% of the revenue comes through machine learning technology.
A report from TMR mentions that MLaaS (Machine learning as a Service) is expected to grow from $1.07 billion in 2016 to $19.9 billion by end of 2025.”[5]

Conclusion
Lastly I want to conclude that this digital era i.e machine learning is going to create a boom in job opportunities for upcoming professionals. Applications in sector of cyber security, recognition, recommenders etc are looking for machine learning experts for better delivery in services in form of prediction or decision making. Besides all these, sectors like healthcare, manufacturing, production, human resource, marketing etc have good opportunities to develop forefront applications. We have to understand that in order to make machine learn in a much efficient way, we human beings have to understand the subject in best possible way.

References

[1] Sakshi Gupta. (2019, October) Springboard blog. [Online]. https://in.springboard.com/blog/prerequisites-for-machine-learning-to-get-started/

[2] PayScale. [Online]. https://www.payscale.com/

[3] Tom M. Mitchell, Machine Learning.: Mc Graw-Hill education.

[4] (2019, May) Edureka. [Online]. https://www.edureka.co/blog/machine-learning-career/

[5] (2017, November) ProjectPro. [Online]. https://www.dezyre.com/article/why-you-should-learn-machine-learning/362

Is Earth breathing again?

The ongoing Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has adversely impacted the globe in various ways. Some of the impact is irreversible while some of it could be turned around. The present crisis could be even termed as a watershed moment for humanity. However, this is not humanity’s first bout with a dangerous and infective disease; we have faced pandemics before (Plague of Athens, Plague of Justinian, The Black Death, Influenza Pandemic of 1510, The First Cholera Pandemic, The Spanish Flu, The Asian Flu, HIV/AIDS Pandemic, 2002-04 SARS Outbreak, 2009 “Swine” Flu Pandemic, Ebola Virus Pandemic, et al)[1]. What set the present scenario apart from previous ones, are two things: a. High infectivity of the Novel Coronavirus strain[2] and b. The world has never been more connected, countries have never been more interdependent. Needless to say, COVID-19 has facilitated a disastrous impact on the global economy, along with politics, society, religion and financial structures around the world[3].

Setting aside the aforesaid effects of COVID-19 on humanity, the result of lockdowns, quarantines and travel bans[4] initiated by and across all nations for halting the spread of the disease is an intriguing one, as far as the environment is concerned.

For decades, scientists all over the world have been harping on about global warming and mankind’s carbon footprint[5]. The environmental crisis had undoubtedly reached its zenith in the last decade[6]. Environmental activists have continued their protests for better handling of the environmental crisis. All that drastically changed with the advent of COVID-19 at the beginning of 2020.

A major feature of enforcing a complete lockdown everywhere is the fact that no one is travelling (for work or leisure) anymore; people are working from their homes thanks to technology, particularly the World Wide Web. Plying of automobiles has been brought to an almost complete standstill (same with aeroplanes, waterways, and railways), resulting in a massive drop in carbon emissions globally; most particularly in China and India. It is estimated that there has been a drop in global carbon emissions by almost 25 percent till now[7]. This bears good news for numerous cities around the world. An example may be provided in this respect, of New Delhi[8]. Not only transportation, but the global shutdown of industries

[1] “en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_epidemics” – Accessed on 06.05.2020, 13:03 hours.

[2] “https://www.who.int/news-room/commentaries/detail/modes-of-transmission-of-virus-causing-covid-19-implications-for-ipc-precaution-recommendations” – Accessed on 06.05.2020, 13:05 hours.

[3] “https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2020/04/22/impact-of-covid-19-on-global-economy-structure/” – Accessed on 06.05.2020, 13:07 hours.

[4] “https://www.bbc.com/news/world-52103747”

[5] “https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/12/the-decade-we-finally-woke-up-to-climate-change/”, see also, “https://www.wri.org/blog/2019/12/6-ways-climate-changed-over-past-decade”

[6] “https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51111176”

[7] “https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-coronavirus-has-temporarily-reduced-chinas-co2-emissions-by-a-quarter”

[8] “https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/11/positively-alpine-disbelief-air-pollution-falls-lockdown-coronavirus” .

has also benefitted the planet[1], pollution and greenhouse gas emissions around the world having been drastically reduced.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words:

“How dare you!” was a compelling war cry famously uttered by 17 years old environmental activist Greta Thunberg at the 2019 United Nations Climate Action Summit[2] held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. Her speech consisted of a well-articulated assertion that humanity has always and continues to prefer economic growth to a sustainable environment. Indeed, humankind has reaped large benefits by exploiting the environment ever since the Industrial Revolution. At times, such actions have been excruciatingly selfish, with dangerous repercussions on our world’s fragile ecosystem. Be it the erosion of green cover from Earth’s surface, be it dumping plastic all over the oceans or depletion of minerals, degradation has been the order of the day when it comes to Earth’s treasures, which we consider our resources. Quite a lot has been pledged, but very little has been actually done to combat the adverse effects on the environment precipitated by human actions, resulting in unwanted consequences[3].

COVID-19 has severely affected our civilization, both on biological terms as well as economically. However, it has taught us one vital lesson; that we cannot take planet Earth and her ecosystem for granted. Our actions concerning the environment throughout the ages have longstanding consequences that may be felt by generation after generation.

Let us, for a moment, delve deeper into the origins of COVID-19 to better understand the context of the principle referred to in the sub-heading above. It is believed that COVID-19 originated in the “Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market”, located at Wuhan, China[4]. From a study published in Science Direct[5], it is revealed that wild animals such as bats, rabbits, pangolins, et cetera, have been sold for food or traditional Chinese medicine at these wet markets and most, if not all, these animals were being kept and then cooked in grossly unhygienic conditions leading to cross-contamination, that ultimately resulted in transmission of the virus to humans. Wildlife trade is regulated and managed by authority of the United Nations’ Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)[6]. However, illegal wildlife trade has been rampant[7] everywhere, mostly emanating from the incessant demand for use as trophies, souvenirs, manufacture of goods and traditional medicine. The wet markets in

[9] “https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/company/corporate-trends/manufacturing-grinds-to-a-halt-in-key-sectors/articleshow/74765038.cms?from=mdr”, See also,

“https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-19/biggest-factory-shutdown-since-ww-ii-sweeps-through-u-s-europe”

[10] “https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/23/world-leaders-generation-climate-breakdown-greta-thunberg”

[11] “https://www.oecd.org/environment/climate-change-consequences-of-inaction.htm”

[12] “https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/04/coronavirus-linked-to-chinese-wet-markets/”

[13]“https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2090123220300540”

[14] “https://www.cites.org/eng/disc/what.php”

[15] “https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/illegal-wildlife-trade” –

China involved in wildlife trade were banned during the initial outbreak of SARS in 2002-03, but were allowed to open again thereafter. However, it is speculated that the present ban may be of a permanent nature[1].

If anything, the impact of our actions on the biodiversity of the planet is well established in light of the ongoing pandemic.

The Way Forward (Conclusion):

The future of human civilization as we know it in the 21^st century has never been more uncertain. Till date, people have been infected worldwide and more than two million people have died from COVID-19[2]. Economically, the situation looks grim. As per reports, oil prices in the United States have fallen to negative, resulting from lack of demand[3]. Environmentally, COVID-19 has exposed a lot of the adverse effects humanity has had on the ecosystem since the beginning of the Industrial Age. It comes as no surprise that a month and a half’s inactivity on the industrial and automotive front has so effectively healed our planet. The present circumstances have left no doubt that the future lies not in fossil energy, but renewable, alternative sources of energy. Investments in renewable sources of energy have been proposed by quite a few legislations throughout the world.

In ancient Greek religion, Gaia was considered a primordial deity who was planet Earth personified. Among all the devastation COVID-19 has caused globally, quite curiously, it has aided Gaia in breathing again.

Co-contributors: Arnab Sengupta and Souvik Dutta, Lawyers , High Court at Calcutta

[16] “https://www.newscientist.com/article/2239559-coronavirus-china-wildlife-trade-ban-could-become-law-within-months/”

[17] “https://covid19.who.int/”

[18] “https://www.bbc.com/news/business-52350082”