From The Newsroom: Govt bans 118 Chinese apps including PUBG

In your evening news brief, From The Newsroom, Centre has blocked 118 mobile apps including PUBG, Army commanders of India and China hold another round of talks; Supreme Court judge Justice Arun Mishra retires and Karnataka to go with first of the two options to compensate the state for the GST revenue loss.

Here are the top news of today, Wednesday: September 02, 2020:

The Centre has blocked 118 mobile apps that are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, Defence of India, Security of State and Public Order. This list includes popular gaming App PUBG. Earlier, the government had banned 59 apps in July including TikTok and WeChat.

The upcoming monsoon session of Parliament, beginning September 14, will not have Question Hour and a shorter duration for members to raise matters of public importance, prompting the opposition to accuse the Modi government of “murdering democracy”.

The fortnight-long monsoon session will be marked by several firsts such as sittings of both the Houses on Saturdays and Sundays, staggered timings for the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, instead of simultaneous proceedings and strict restrictions on movement in Parliament premises.

“There will be no Question Hour and private members’ business during the session,” a Rajya Sabha notification said.

On the first day of the monsoon session, the Lok Sabha will meet from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and the Rajya Sabha from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. For the rest of the duration of the session till October 1, the Rajya Sabha would meet in the mornings and Lok Sabha in the afternoon.

The two-hour break between will be used to disinfect chambers of both the Houses.

The decision to scrap the Question Hour and private members’ business has not gone down well with the Opposition.

“Opposition MPs lose the right to question the government. A first since 1950? Parliament overall working hours remain the same so why cancel Question Hour? Pandemic excuse to murder democracy,” Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien said.

Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had already written a letter to Speaker Om Birla protesting the decision to scrap the Question Hour.

“We request the government to reconsider the decision,” Chowdhury said adding that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had sounded him out beforehand about the changes citing the Covid-19 pandemic.

“BJP government’s decision to suspend the Question Hour for the entire session conveys just one message – even elected representatives have no right to question the government,” DMK member Kanimozhi said.

Supreme Court judge, Justice Arun Mishra was on Wednesday described as "iron judge for his firm and unshakeable" demeanour.

He was also praised as a "beacon of light, courage and fortitude".

The third senior most judge, who retired on Wednesday, passed several important judgements related to Sahara-Birla diary case, land acquisition compensation, SC/ST law, Bhima Koregaon case, daughters right to ancestral property, Prashant Bhushan contempt case. But he has faced immense criticism during his six years tenure.

Four senior most judges' unprecedented press conference on January 12, 2018 questioned allocation of sensitive cases to select bench and Justice Ranjan Gogoi cited Mumbai judge B H Loya case, which was then placed before Justice Mishra.

Giving his vote of thanks in an international conference, Justice Mishra described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as "versatile genius who thinks globally and acts locally," inviting wide criticism.

On Wednesday, Justice Mishra, for customary practice sat in a bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde.

Days after China's "provocative actions" in Pangong lake area in eastern Ladakh, the situation in the region remained sensitive on Wednesday while army commanders from both sides held another round of talks to defuse tensions, government sources said.

The army of the two countries held Brigade Commander-level talks in Chushul with a focus on bringing down tensions in the Pangong lake area, they said, adding similar dialogue on Monday and Tuesday, each lasting over six hours, did not produce any "tangible outcome".

Sources said India has achieved tactical gains in eastern Ladakh in the last few days by occupying a number of strategically important hill tops and locations.

On Monday, the Indian Army said the Chinese military carried out "provocative military movements" to "unilaterally" change the status quo on the southern bank of Pangong lake on the intervening night of August 29 and 30 but the attempt was thwarted by the Indian troops.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava on Tuesday said the Chinese PLA was engaged in "provocative action" again on Monday when the ground commanders of the two sides were holding talks to ease the situation following China's attempt to change the status quo in the Pangong lake area two days back.

"The situation in the area remained sensitive," said a source.

The two sides were earlier engaged in a confrontation on the northern bank of Pangong lake but it was for the first time such an incident occurred on its southern bank, they said.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday carried out a comprehensive review of the situation in eastern Ladakh at a high-level meeting attended by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, Army Chief Gen MM Naravane and Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria.

BJP-ruled Karnataka on Wednesday announced that it would pick the first of the two options provided by the Centre to compensate the state for the GST revenue loss.

Under Option 1, Karnataka will be eligible for a compensation of Rs 18,289 crore, whereas under Option 2, the state was eligible for Rs 25,508 crore.

The decision to go with the first option was taken after Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, the finance minister, held a meeting with senior finance department officials.

"After the evaluation of both these options, it is felt that Option 1 would be more beneficial to the state's finances. Hence, the Government of Karnataka has decided to convey to the Government of India its preference for Option 1. This would help the state in augmenting its revenue in the present financial year," the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said in a statement.

Following the GST Council meet held last week, two options were proposed for states to address GST compensation shortfall.

Several state governments have rejected both the options, stating that the Centre was bound by law to compensate states. Under Option 1, states will have to cumulatively borrow Rs 97,000 crore to cover shortfall in compensation caused only due to the implementation of GST, while Option 2 allowed states to borrow the entire GST compensation shortfall of Rs 2.35 lakh crore.

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