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Mangaluru, Jul 29: Ahead of popular Hindu festival Raksha Bandhan, Karnataka postal circle has introduced an online portal 'Rakhi Post' to deliver rakhis across the country amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

This year Raksha Bandhan will be celebrated on Monday, August 3.

This service can be used to send rakhis to people across the country without violating the coronavirus norms.

Speaking to news agency, Senior Superintendent of Post offices, Shriharsha N said, "I am happy to announce that Karnataka postal circle has introduced an online portal 'rakhi post' to deliver rakhis to people during coronavirus phase."

"People willing to avail this service can visit this portal and pay a nominal amount of Rs 100 to send a rakhi," Shriharsha said.

The official has suggested to avail the service before July 31 for the timely delivery of rakhis.

The portal is also offering a special service to send rakhis to the soldier deployed on the borders. "We have also introduced a unique feature to deliver rakhis to Indian soldiers on the borders," he added.

New Delhi, Jul 27: A month after banning 59 Chinese applications, the government of Indian has now reportedly banned 47 more apps of Chinese origin in the country. According to sources, the 47 banned Chinese apps were operating as clones of the earlier banned apps. 

The list of the 47 Chinese applications banned by the Indian government will be released soon.

India has also prepared a list of over 250 Chinese apps, including apps linked to Alibaba, that it will examine for any user privacy or national security violations, government sources said. The list also includes Tencent-backed gaming app PUBG.

Some top gaming Chinese applications are also expected to be banned in the new list that is being drawn up, sources said. The Chinese applications, that are being reviewed, have allegedly been sharing data with the Chinese agencies.

Today's decision follows after a high-profile ban of 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, as border tensions continued in Ladakh after a violent, fatal face-off between the Indian and Chinese armies. The government said these apps were engaged in activities that were prejudicial to the sovereignty, integrity and defence of India.

A government press release announcing the ban stated: "The Ministry of Information Technology, invoking it's power under section 69A of the Information Technology Act read with the relevant provisions of the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking of Access of Information by Public) Rules 2009 and in view of the emergent nature of threats has decided to block 59 apps since in view of information available they are engaged in activities which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order".

A day later, Google said it has removed all the banned applications from the Play Store. Following the ban, TikTok refuted the claims that suggest it will pursue legal action against the Indian government for banning the app in India.

Reacting to the 59 apps banned by India, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said the country is "strongly concerned regarding the decision of the Indian government".

“China is strongly concerned, verifying the situation,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

"We want to stress that the Chinese government always asks Chinese businesses to abide by international and local laws-regulations. The Indian government has a responsibility to uphold the legal rights of international investors including Chinese ones," Zhao Lijian said.

Bengaluru,  Aug 4: Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly, Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said that he has tested positive for COVID-19 and admitted himself to a hospital.

"I have been tested positive for COVID-19 and also been admitted to the hospital on the advice of doctors as a precaution. I request all those who had come in contact with me to check out for symptoms and to quarantine themselves," Siddaramaiah tweeted.

Earlier on Sunday, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa had said that he tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

4,752 new COVID-19 cases and 98 deaths were reported in Karnataka on Monday, taking total cases to 1,39,571 including 62,500 discharges and 2,594 deaths, the State Health Department informed.