From the Newsroom: India contemplating more economic measures against China

In today’s episode, India contemplating more economic measures against China. Karnataka High Court has directed the state government to reconsider the dates of KCET (Karnataka Common Entrance Test) 2020, scheduled on July 30 and 3. Flipkart kicks off the new hyperlocal service Flipkart Quick in Bengaluru. Karnataka has unveiled its plans to set up a Rs 5,000 crore Bengaluru Lifesciences Park and chapter on Tipu Sultan taken off from the textbooks of Class 7.

Here is the top news of today, Tuesday: July 28, 2020:

With New Delhi contemplating more economic measures against China, Beijing has stated that it would take “necessary measures” to protect interests of its companies in India.

A day after Modi government barred the use of 47 clones and different versions of the previously banned 59 Chinese apps in India, Beijing asked New Delhi to “correct” its “wrongdoing”.

Ji Rong, a spokesperson of the Chinese embassy in New Delhi, said: “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.”

India on June 29, banned 59 apps linked to China, alleging that they were used in activities “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order”.

The move came in response to China’s military aggression along its disputed boundary with India in eastern Ladakh. The banned apps included TikTok and WeChat, owned respectively by ByteDance Limited and Tencent Holdings Limited of China.

Though the ban was imposed almost four weeks back, the existing WeChat users in India were being able to access the social networking app and send and receive messages till a couple of days back. The WeChat, however, on Sunday officially restricted its users from sending and receiving messages from India, thus fully implementing the ban imposed on it.

New Delhi is also planning more economic offensives against China, with its security agencies identifying the communist country's companies, which have past or continuing links with the People’s Liberation Army and are operating in India.

The companies identified so far for having links with the Chinese PLA include Alibaba Group Holding Limited, Tencent Holdings Limited, Huawei Technologies Company Limited and the SAIC Motor Corporation Limited. The list also includes the Xinxing Cathay International Group Company Limited, which has invested in the Xindia Steels Limited that has an iron ore pelletisation facility at Koppal district of Karnataka.

Karnataka High Court has directed the state government to reconsider the dates of KCET (Karnataka Common Entrance Test) 2020, scheduled on July 30 and 31. The High Court has asked the state government to place its decision by 2.30 pm on Wednesday.

A division bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice H P Sandesh observed orally that unlike in the SSLC examination, the students do not have a second CET test.

The Rajasthan government has forwarded a revised recommendation to Governor Kalraj Mishra for calling an assembly session from July 31 after the Cabinet discussed the points raised by the governor on the issue.

The Cabinet meeting was chaired by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

Meanwhile, back in Karnataka, JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy said that "Congress is another name for horse trading".

The former Chief Minister said Congress is an expert in dividing political parties and purchasing MLAs and added that In fact, the term horse trading in politics came to be in use because of it.

He said: "Congress has launched a nation-wide Save Democracy, campaign against the BJP which is buying MLAs to topple democratically elected governments. What has the Congress done? Haven't they lured all BSP MLAs who supported the Congress to form the government in Rajasthan? Is this not a buyout?"

Leading e-commerce firm Flipkart kicked off the new hyperlocal service Flipkart Quick in Bengaluru.

As part of the first phase, Flipkart Quick will offer to deliver 2,000 products in categories varying from Grocery, Fresh, Dairy, Meat, Mobiles, Electronics Accessories, Stationery Items and Home Accessories.

Customers can expect the ordered goods to be delivered within 90 minutes and also get an option to book a 2-hour slot as per their convenience. Also, there are no time restrictions to place the order and get it delivered between 6:00 am and 12:00 am. However, they have to pay a minimum delivery fee of Rs 29.

Karnataka has unveiled its plans to set up a Rs 5,000 crore Bengaluru Lifesciences Park that promises to be a major centre for research and innovation in the biotechnology sector.

Deputy Chief Minister CN Ashwath Narayan, who is the IT/BT minister, said that the park will come up on a 9 million sqft space in Electronics City. The foundation stone for the park will be laid tomorrow by Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa.

Narayan said: “There is totally 86 acres, which includes the Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology (IBAB) on 10 acres, the Centre for Human Genetics on 10 acres and the Bengaluru Bioinnovation Centre (BBC) on 10 acres. Our demand initially was for 4 lakh sqft, but by December 2022, we will have a building on 10 lakh sqft in the first phase.”

Karnataka government's decision to trim the textbooks for this academic year 2020-21 in the backdrop of delay in commencing the academic year due to Covid-19 pandemic has led to the exit of chapter on Tipu Sultan--the 'Tiger of Mysuru' from the textbooks of Class 7. However, the government has decided to retain similar chapters on Tipu Sultan in 6th and 10th Classes.

Coping with the pandemic and trying to balance the syllabus with the remaining period of the academic year, the education department has recently trimmed the syllabus in text books for all classes from 1 to 10th. Currently text books in 6th, 7th and 10th grades have chapters on Tipu Sultan.

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