‘Seriously concerned’ by ban on apps: China

‘Seriously concerned’ by ban on apps: China

State-run media warn of fall in exports and investments

01/07/2020

Zhao Lijian

China on Tuesday said it was “seriously concerned” by India’s move to block 59 Chinese apps, which it described as “a deliberate interference in practical cooperation” between the two countries.

China’s state media warned the move would bring economic repercussions, including affecting outbound Chinese investment into India.

In separate statements issued by China’s Foreign Ministry in Beijing and its Embassy in New Delhi, the Chinese government called on India to review the decision.

“I want to stress that the Chinese government consistently asks Chinese enterprises to abide by international rules and local laws and regulations when conducting external cooperation,” China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said, expressing “strong concern”.

“The Indian government has the responsibility to protect the legitimate rights and interests of international investors in India, including Chinese businesses, in accordance with market principles,” Mr. Zhao said.

“Practical cooperation between China and India is mutually beneficial. Deliberate interference in such cooperation will not serve the interests of the Indian side,” he added.

In a separate statement, the Chinese Embassy in Delhi said it was “seriously concerned with and firmly opposed to such action”.

“India’s measure selectively and discriminatorily aims at certain Chinese apps on ambiguous and far-fetched grounds, runs against fair and transparent procedure requirements, abuses national security exceptions, and suspects of violating the WTO rules. It also goes against the general trend of international trade and e-commerce, and is not conducive to consumer interests and the market competition in India,” the statement said

The Embassy said the ban “will affect not only the employment of local Indian workers who support these apps, but also the interests of Indian users... ”

Chinese media and social media widely discussed the ban on Tuesday. China restricts a number of foreign apps and websites in the mainland, and among those blocked are WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

In an editorial, the Communist Party-run Global Times slammed what it said was “a lacklustre explanation for the nonsensical move”.

The newspaper quoted experts who “predicted Chinese overseas direct investment (ODI) into India will drop sharply in 2020, with two experts forecasting a more than 50% [reduction].”

Telangana puts off all entrance tests

Telangana puts off all entrance tests

A-G conveys govt. decision to HC

01/07/2020

All Common Entrance Tests (CETs) in Telangana for admissions to different courses, including the POLYCET 2020, were postponed by the government.

The High Court, hearing a petition for deferment of the tests, was informed by Advocate-General B.S. Prasad that the next dates would be announced in due course.

NSUI State president B. Venkat Narsing Rao had filed the petition. After hearing counsel for the petitioner, a Bench of Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy sought to know from Mr. Prasad whether the government would reimpose a lockdown in Hyderabad. The AG sought time till noon to ascertain the government stand. When the Bench re-assembled, he said the Cabinet was likely to take a call in a couple of days. To the Chief Justice’s question on the petitioner’s contention on deferment, he sought time till 2.30 p.m., saying the Chief Secretary was consulting the Departments concerned. When the Bench re-assembled, he announced the decision to postpone all tests.

Increase in retirement age of public servants is not to save money, State tells High Court

Increase in retirement age of public servants is not to save money, State tells High Court

A policy decision taken by the govt., it says without citing any reasons

01/07/2020

The State government on Tuesday denied as “false and wholly baseless” a claim that it had increased the retirement age of public servants from 58 to 59 only to prevent disbursal of terminal benefits to the tune of ₹5,000 crore and instead use the money to fight COVID-19.

Justices R. Subbiah and Krishnan Ramasamy of the Madras High Court were told that the increase in retirement age was a policy decision of the government and that an order issued by it in this regard on May 7 does not cite any reason for the increase.

The submissions were made in a counter affidavit filed in response to a public interest litigation petition preferred by advocate M. Karpagam, through her counsel R. Prabhakaran, against extending the benefit to government employees facing corruption charges.

Opposing the petitioner’s plea, the government told the court that the May 7 GO had been made applicable to all government servants irrespective of those facing disciplinary proceedings since their guilt could be proved only after conclusion of inquiry and not before that.

The government also stated that there were well laid down procedures for conducting inquiries against government servants and that they could be prevented from retiring even after attaining the age of superannuation just to complete the disciplinary proceedings.

Further, a government letter issued on May 14 had clarified that the May 7 GO would not be applicable to those who had not been allowed to retire as on April 30 and whose services had been retained for the limited purpose of concluding disciplinary proceedings.

The GO provides for extending the retirement age only for those who were due to retire from service on May 30 and beyond. Therefore, nothing survives in the PIL petition for adjudication as the government had taken all issues in consideration before issuing the GO, it said.

After taking the counter on file, the judges reserved their orders in the case after granting liberty to the petitioner to file a rejoinder, if she preferred to do so.

Flight brings back 177 from Kuwait

Flight brings back 177 from Kuwait

Mohali:02/07/2020

The GoAir flight number G8-7228, carrying 177 Indian passengers from Kuwait, landed at the Chandigarh International Airport around 7.15 pm on Wednesday.

Mohali Civil Surgeon Dr Manjit Singh said all the passengers have been asked to undergo strict institutional quarantine at their respective districts and their passports have also been taken into possession by the administration.

All repatriated persons, who mostly belong to different parts of Punjab and nearby states, will reach their districts under the supervision of the respective state government representatives, where they will be quarantined. TNN

Patanjali can sell Coronil but not as ‘cure’ to Covid-19: Govt

Patanjali can sell Coronil but not as ‘cure’ to Covid-19: Govt

New Delhi/Haridwar: 02.07.2020

The Union AYUSH Ministry Wednesday said Patanjali can sell Coronil but only as an immunity booster, days after yoga guru Ramdev's company launched it as a medicine for COVID-19 and is now calling it a product to “manage” the disease.

Patanjali Ayurved Ltd said there is no disagreement now between it and the Union ministry, which had last week asked it not to sell the ayurvedic drug till the issue it examined.

At a press conference, Ramdev lashed out over the flak he received after the launch of the drug, saying some people are hurt by the “rise of Indian culture”.

"I want to tell people who want to try these medicines that there is no restriction on their sale now and they will be available in a kit everywhere in the country from today," Ramdev said, referring to Coronil and the two other products Patanjali is promoting together.

The company claimed that the AYUSH Ministry has “categorically agreed” that Patanjali had “appropriately worked on COVID-19 management”.

"Now there is no difference of opinion between AYUSH Ministry and Patanjali,” it added in a statement.

The ministry confirmed that Patanjali can sell the product but not as a cure for the disease. ] “AYUSH Ministry has only given permission to sell this particular formulation as immunity booster and not as a medicinal cure for COVID-19,” it said.

Meanwhile, the Uttarakhand High Court issued notices to Patanjali, the Centre and the state government to file their replies within a week on a plea accusing the herbal products company of the COVID-cure claim it made at the launch of the drug.

In Haridwar, Ramdev told reporters that the AYUSH ministry had asked him to use the term “Covid management” in place of “Covid treatment” and he is following the instruction.

Even while backtracking on describing Coronil as a “treatment” for COVID-19, the company stuck to its claim that its trial on mild to moderately ill patients was successful.

The company's statement said the trial, conducted after the necessary approvals, showed 100 per cent recovery of patients within seven days. PTI

Patanjali Ayurved Ltd said there is no disagreement now between it and the Union ministry

Google removes over 100 Chrome extensions

Google removes over 100 Chrome extensions

Anam.Ajmal@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:02.07.2020

Google has removed over 100 malicious Chrome extensions as they were found collecting sensitive data by taking screenshots of the user’s screen and harvesting keystrokes to read passwords and other confidential information.

According to an advisory issued by India’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) last week, these malicious extensions posed as "tools to improve web searches, convert files between different formats, as security scanners, and more."

An extension is a small software that helps users in customizing a web browser. They can be used for several purposes, including blocking cookies, playing games and creating shortcuts.

CERT-In added that these extensions bypassed Google Chrome Web Store security scans, and had the "ability to take screenshots, read the clipboard, harvest authentication cookies or grab keystrokes to read passwords and other confidential information."

"Your browser history contains sensitive information and even when we are not using the web extension, they can still keep a track of our web activity. They can then collect data and misuse it," said cyber security expert Rakshit Tandon.

He added that one of the ways to eliminate this cyber threat is to not add third party extensions at all. "General public may not understand what is harmful for them. So, we advise people not to install any extension on their computer. Even if users install them, they should do it only after studying its reviews," Tandon added.

Sans ‘experience’, over 10L PPEs useless

Sans ‘experience’, over 10L PPEs useless

Melvyn.ReggieThomas@timesgroup.com

Surat:02.07.2020

Lakhs of personal protection equipment (PPE) kits that could have shielded thousands of frontline health workers from Covid-19 infections are gathering dust in the godowns of textile manufacturing units in Surat.

Reason: The online tenders on the government emarketplace (GeM) by various government departments, organizations and PSUs now has a special clause of ‘experience criteria’ ranging from 1-3 years for the suppliers of PPE kits.

Sensing a business opportunity after directives from the union textile ministry, at least 15 textile companies in the city to diversify into manufacturing PPE coveralls using the non-woven fabric. However, two months after making lakhs of PPEs, these units have suddenly become ineligible to sell the kits to the government, which is biggest buyer, as they don’t have the mandatory ‘one-three years experience.’ After research and development during April, the actual production of PPE kits started in the first week of May. In Surat alone, about 50,000 PPE suits were manufactured per day, which included coated and laminated suits with 100% breathable technology.

Shalin Vaidya, director of Sachin GIDC-based Rudra Digital Solution, a garment manufacturing company, told TOI: “We made significant investment for manufacturing 10,000 PPE kits per day. However, except for few private orders, we haven’t been able to make a bulk deal with the government agencies due to the experience criteria in the online tenders.”

Sanjay Saraogi, managing director of Laxmipati textile group, which has the capacity of making 5,000 PPE kits per day, said, "In April, the textile ministry had called for the indigenous manufacturing of PPE kits to lower dependency on import. We had no inkling that they require experience.”

Pramod Chaudhary, chairman of Pratibha Group, said, “Our PPE kits are approved by South India Textile Research Association (SITRA) and they are made out of laminated non-woven fabrics. In the government tenders, apart from the experience criteria, there is no mention of the laminated PPE kits. We are unable to make the PPE kits due to utter confusion.”

Mandatory experience criteria of suppliers has rendered huge losses

All the PPE kit manufacturers in Surat are either manufacturing fabrics, saris or garments. They don’t have any experience of making PPE kits. The government should keep the quality as criteria.

Jitendra Vakharia |

PRESIDENT ,SGTPA