From the Newsroom: Centre blocks another 43 Chinese apps; Kohli, Ashwin nominated for ICC Player of the Decade

In your evening news brief, From the Newsroom, Centre blocks access to 43 more Chinese mobile apps; India has conducted over 13.36 crore Covid-19 tests; Russia will charge less for its Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine than rivals; Prime Minister Narendra Modi cautioned states and union territories against laxity in fighting Covid-19; Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said that the Covid-19 vaccine may be available in a month; Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin nominated for ICC Men's Player of the Decade Award, and Narcotics Control Bureau busted an international drug racket.

Here is the top news of November 24, 2020:

The government on Tuesday blocked access to 43 more Chinese mobile apps, including Alibaba Workbench, AliExpress, Alipay Cashier, CamCard and WeDate, for being prejudicial to the sovereignty, integrity and defence of the nation.

The Ministry of Electronics and IT has issued the order for blocking the access of these apps by users in India based on the comprehensive reports received from Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center, Ministry of Home Affairs, an official release said.

Earlier on June 29, the government had blocked access to 59 mobile apps and on September 2, 2020 another 118 apps were banned under section 69A of the Information Technology Act.

India has conducted over 13.36 crore tests so far to detect Covid-19 cases, including 10,99,545 in a day, while the cumulative positivity rate in the country is sustained at low levels and the daily positivity rate has fallen below four per cent, the health ministry said on Tuesday.

The country registered less than 40,000 fresh coronavirus cases in a span of 24 hours after six days. Since November 8, the number of daily cases has been sustained below the 50,000-mark, the ministry said.

Russia will charge less for its Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine than rivals as Moscow aims to produce more than 1 billion doses at home and abroad next year, the head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund said on Tuesday.

"The cost of one dose of the #SputnikV vaccine for the external market will be less than $10 (two doses per person is necessary) – two or more times cheaper than mRNA vaccines with similar efficacy levels (based on announced mRNA vaccines pricing & interim Phase III results)," tweeted the vaccine maker.

The vaccine will be free of charge for Russian citizens.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday cautioned states and union territories against any laxity in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic and called for reducing the positivity and fatality rates by focusing on curbing the virus transmission.

Interacting with Chief Ministers, the Prime Minister also called for more RT-PCR tests, even as he underlined that India's Covid-19 situation is more stable than other countries in terms of recovery and fatality rates.

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Tuesday said that the Covid-19 vaccine may be available in a month.

Speaking to media persons, at the Mysuru Airport, at Mandakalli, on the outskirts of the city, the CM said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed the CMs of all states, in a video conference, to make arrangements to administer the vaccine in phases, on priority".

Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin were on Tuesday nominated for the coveted ICC Men's Player of the Decade Award with the Indian captain featuring in all five men's categories for his incredible run in the last 10 years.

Kohli and veteran off-spinner Ashwin are the two Indians among seven players nominated for the most prestigious award.

Besides the Indian duo, Joe Root (England), Kane Williamson (New Zealand), Steve Smith (Australia), AB de Villiers (South Africa), and Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) are the other contenders in this category.

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) busted an international drug racket and arrested four persons including two women and two Nigerian nationals in Bengaluru. NCB officials also seized 6.8 kg of the drug - Pseudoephedrine - worth nearly Rs 20 lakh.

Based on intelligence inputs on November 11, NCB officials under the guidance of Amit Ghawate, zonal director of Bengaluru, raided a courier outlet in Amruthahalli and seized the parcel. The drug, Pseudoephedrine, was concealed in baby bags. Preliminary investigation found that the parcels were destined to two different consignees in South Africa.

Source: DHNS / PTI