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The government has issued an order prohibiting the development of new China-related applications.

The latest step is in addition to the restriction that began in 2020

 when the government prohibited applications such as TikTok and PUBG Mobile.

WHY IN NEWS 

According to persons acquainted with the situation, the Indian government has ordered the banning of 54 applications that have ties to China and represent a security danger to the country. Garena Free Fire, Tencent's Xriver, and NetEase's Onmyoji Arena are among the apps that will be prohibited. Since border tensions with China flared in May 2020, the government has blacklisted roughly 300 applications in the nation. As a result of the government decision, Google has 'temporarily barred access' to the applications in issue from Google Play in the nation. 'These 54 applications are said to capture sensitive user data and get different key permissions.

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These real-time data are being misappropriated and sent to servers in hostile countries 'In a statement, the administration claimed. 'Other severe concerns include the fact that some of these applications can conduct espionage and surveillance operations through camera/mic, obtain precise location (GPS), and engage in malicious network behaviour similar to previously restricted apps. These applications were reportedly involved in acts that jeopardised the country's sovereignty and integrity, as well as constituting a major threat to the state's security and defence.' With over 184,700 ratings on the App Store and over 105,501,450 on Google Play, Garena's popular battle royale game Free Fire is perhaps the most popular app among the new batch.

LIST OF APPS LIST BANNED YESTERDAY :

AppLock

APUS Security HD (Pad Version)

Astracraft

Badlanders

Barcode Scanner - QR Code Scan

Beauty Camera - Selfie Camera

Beauty Camera: Sweet Selfie HD

CamCard for SalesForce Ent

Conquer Online

Conquer Online - MMORPG Game

CuteU Pro

CuteU: Match With The World

Dual Space - 32Bit Support

Dual Space - 64Bit Support

Dual Space Lite - Multiple Accounts & Clone App

Dual Space Pro - 32Bit Support

Dual Space Pro - Multiple Accounts & App Cloner

DualSpace Lite - 32Bit Support

Equalizer - Bass Booster & Volume EQ & Virtualizer

Equalizer & Bass Booster - Music Volume EQ

Equalizer Pro - Volume Booster & Bass Booster

EVE Echoes

Extraordinary Ones

FancyU - Video Chat & Meetup

FancyU pro - Instant Meetup through Video chat!

FunChat Meet People Around You

Garena Free Fire - Illuminate

Isoland 2: Ashes of Time Lite

Lica Cam - selfie camera app

Live Weather & Radar - Alerts

MoonChat: Enjoy Video Chats

MP3 Cutter - Ringtone Maker & Audio Cutter

Music Player - Equalizer & MP3

Music Player - MP3 Player

Music Player - Music, MP3 Player

Music Plus - MP3 Player

Nice video baidu

Notes - Color Notepad, Notebook

Onmyoji Arena

Onmyoji Chess

Parallel Space Lite 32 Support

RealU Lite -video to live!

RealU: Go Live, Make Friends

Rise of Kingdoms: Lost Crusade

SmallWorld-Enjoy groupchat and video chat

Stick Fight: The Game Mobile

Tencent Xriver

Twilight Pioneers

UU Game Booster-network solution for high ping

Video Player Media All Format

Viva Video Editor - Snack Video Maker with Music

Voice Recorder & Voice Changer

Volume Booster - Loud Speaker & Sound Booster

Wink: Connect Now

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has instructed Google and Apple to prohibit access to the applications in order to enforce the ban. 'We have alerted the impacted developers and have temporarily disabled access to the applications that remained accessible on the Play Store in India,' a Google spokeswoman said in a prepared statement after receiving the interim order issued under Section 69A of the IT Act. At the time of writing, Apple has not responded to a request for comment on the situation. However, none of the applications that have been ordered to be prohibited in India are available on the App Store in India. The restriction is being enforced by the ministry under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act of 2000. The clause effectively gives the government the authority to restrict public access to material via any computing device. This isn't the first time the government has outlawed applications with Chinese origins in the nation. It began in June 2020, when the Ministry of Information Technology banned 59 applications, including TikTok, Shareit, UC Browser, and WeChat, among others. 

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The government placed a similar ban on approximately 47 applications in July 2020, most of which were clones or merely altered copies of previously prohibited apps. Following that, the authorities issued another order banning 118 applications and games, including PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile Lite. The IT ministry announced 43 new applications for its last blocking decision in November 2020, extending the prohibition on China-linked apps. AliExpress, CamCard, and Taobao Live were among the sites on the list. Chinese corporations like as ByteDance and Tencent have reduced their business and personnel base in the nation as a result of the banning of over 267 applications. Experts, on the other hand, do not believe the prohibitions will have a significant influence.

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