'118 Chinese apps ban will give innovation an Aatmanirbhar boost': Javadekar not fretting

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Thursday lauded the Centre's decision to ban 118 Chinese apps, calling it a 'great move' in the direction for an Aatmanirbhar Bharat. He added that this would also give a boost to India's own innovation sector that would now work towards developing new and better apps in place of the Chinese Apps.  

Last week, during his Mann Ki Baat address, PM Modi had lauded indigenous apps like Zoho, StepSetGo, Chingari, FTC talent and others that had been selected as winners amongst nearly 7000 entries for the 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge'. After PM Modi's address, domestically-designed apps were seen trending on the Google Play Store, across various segments and categories as people sought to download the 'Made in India' apps.

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Centre bans 118 more Chinese apps 

In a massive development on Wednesday, the Centre banned 118 more Chinese Apps including PUBG amid the prolonged standoff with China at the Line of Actual Control. As per the Union government, they were engaged in activities that are prejudicial to sovereignty, integrity and security of the state. The Information Technology Ministry received numerous complaints regarding misuse of these Apps for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data in an unauthorized manner to servers located outside India.

It noted with deep concern the compilation of data, its mining and profiling by elements hostile to national security. Mentioning that the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, MHA has sent an exhaustive recommendation to block these malicious Apps, the IT Ministry added that there has been a bipartisan concern by public representatives as well as a strong chorus in the public space to take strict action. The Apps have been banned in both mobile and non-mobile Internet-enabled devices. The Centre exuded confidence that this move will safeguard the interests of crores of Indian mobile and internet users. Recently, the Information and Technology Ministry banned 47 Apps which were variants or clones of the 59 Chinese-linked Apps banned earlier. Check out full list here.

Read: After PM Modi's Mann Ki Baat, Indigenous Apps Trend On Google PlayStore

Read: PUBG Banned In India: Here's A List Of Alternative Gaming Options For Indian Players