DAY AFTER, CONG DISSENTERS SAY ISSUES RAISED NEED REDRESSAL

A day after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, where members

pledged their loyalty to the Nehru-Gandhi family and targeted the 23 senior

leaders for their letter to party chief Sonia Gandhi, some of the

signatories said on Tuesday that the party should have focused on the

content of the letter instead. They also said that their loyalty to Sonia

was unquestionable.

The CWC on Monday acknowledged the letter, but neither discussed its content

nor gave any specific commitments on the way forward.

Coming out in support of the letter, senior Congress leader Mani Shankar

Aiyar said that he has sent a message to the high command endorsing the

“constructive suggestions” made in it. “I have endorsed the letter. Because

I thought that those were constructive suggestions. I didnÂ’t find anything

anti-Sonia Gandhi or anti-Rahul Gandhi. So, I endorsed it. I had not seen

the letter. Nobody approached me for my signatureÂ… I decided to take my own

initiative and I have informed the high command that I endorse these

suggestions,” Aiyar said.

M Veerappa Moily, one of the signatories, said that his loyalty still lies

with Sonia, but argued that “if there is a party, then there is a leader. If

the party itself is collapsing everywhere, the leadership will not be

strengthenedÂ….the letter should have been used for strengthening the hands

of Sonia Gandhi, not to weaken her, but the debate has been

counter-productive, it was to weaken her only.”

Kapil Sibal, also among the 23 behind the letter, put out a cryptic tweet:

“It’s not about a post. It’s about my country which matters most.”

“Friends, we are not dissenters but proponents of revival. The letter was

not a challenge to leadership but a parchment of action to strengthen the

party. Universally, truth is best defence, whether it be court or public

affairs. History acknowledges the brave and not the timid,” tweeted Vivek

Tankha, another signatory.

“Well said. Sooner than later, those who saw the letter as an offence will

also realise that the issues raised are worth consideration,” said Mukul

Wasnik, another signatory.

INDIA'S UN MISSION EXPOSES PAKISTAN'S LIES AT UNITED NATIONS

India hit out at Pakistan for its litany of lies at the United Nations after

Islamabad's UN envoy claimed to have given a statement in a Security Council

meeting not open to non-Council members and said that the biggest sponsor of

cross-border terrorism against it now tries to "masquerade itself as a

victim of terror".

The Pakistan Mission falsely claimed that its UN envoy Munir Akram gave a

statement at a Security Council debate on Report of the Secretary General on

Threats to International Peace and Security posed by Terrorism Actions.

However, the Security Council meeting on threats to international peace and

security was not open to non-members of the Council. A photograph of the

meeting tweeted by the German Mission to the UN showed only envoys of the 15

Security Council members participating in the meeting. Pakistan is not a

member of the Council.

Giving a strong rebuttal to Pakistan's lies, New Delhi termed Pakistan's

claim that India has hired terrorists as mercenaries to hit them as

"laughable". "Coming from a country which is a known sponsor of cross-border

terrorism which has made the world suffer due to its actions, this claim is

nothing short of being preposterous!," India said.

CHINA ENVOY: GALWAN CLASHES UNFORTUNATE, NOW WORKING TO HANDLE TALKS

PROPERLY

More than two months after the Galwan clashes claimed lives of 20 Indian

soldiers, and talks to resolve the stand-off along the LAC in a stalemate at

present, ChinaÂ’s ambassador to India, Sun Weidong, has described it as an

“unfortunate incident”, and a “brief moment from the perspective of

history”.

He also said that they are “working to handle it properly”, while referring

to the multiple rounds of diplomatic and military-level talks. Sun made

these comments at the India-China Youth Forum, held on August 18. The

transcript of his interaction was published by the Chinese embassy on

Tuesday.

In the webinar, Sun said, “As two rising major neighbours, China and India

should abandon the old mindset of drawing lines by ideology, and get rid of

the old game of ‘one’s gain is another’s loss’ and ‘zero-sum game’.

Otherwise, you would be led astray and go down a wrong path.

Sun said that in order to achieve development goals, both countries need a

“peaceful and favourable” external environment. “China and India,

neighboring countries, should live in peace and avoid conflicts,” he said.

On the economic ties, under stress following the Galwan clashes in mid-June,

the Chinese envoy said, “I think the two big economies should attract each

other like magnets, rather than [allow it to] forcefully separate them.”

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

======================

BIDEN ADMINISTRATION WILL MAKE US SOCIALIST NATION, WARN REPUBLICANS

Top Republicans, including Indian-American Nikki Haley, have warned

Americans that Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his running

mate Kamala Harris' victory in the elections will convert the US into a

“socialist utopia” and a “fundamentally different” country.

Urging the voters to re-elect Donald Trump for another term, senior party

leaders in their prime-time address on Monday at the four-day Republican

National Convention presented the President as a statesman, a friend to

Black Americans and a shield against an assault on American values. They

said that the future of America was in danger if the November 3 polls

resulted in the defeat of incumbent President Trump.

Former US ambassador to the UN, Haley, in her address, said, “Their vision

for America is socialism. And we know that socialism has failed everywhere.

Joe Biden and the socialist left would be a disaster for our economy. But

President Trump is leading a new era of opportunity,” Haley said.

TrumpÂ’s son Donald Trump Jr alleged that Biden's radical leftwing policies

would stop US economic recovery cold. “He's already talking about shutting

the country down —again. It's madness,” he said. “Joe Biden and the radical

left are also now coming for our freedom of speech and want to bully us into

submission. If they get their way, it will no longer be the Silent Majority,

it will be the Silenced Majority,” Trump Jr said.

AFGHANISTAN ASKS PAKISTAN TO CARRY OUT UN SANCTIONS ON TALIBAN

Afghanistan asked Pakistan on Tuesday to fully implement UN Security Council

sanctions on terrorist groups and individuals even as foreign minister Shah

Mahmood Qureshi held talks with a Taliban delegation that included several

sanctioned leaders.

On August 18, PakistanÂ’s Foreign Office issued a statutory regulatory order

to enforce UN sanctions, which include a freeze on assets, a travel ban and

denying access to weapons, against scores of operatives of the Taliban and

Haqqani Network.

Less than a week later, a Taliban delegation led by Mullah Abdul Ghani

Baradar, the deputy political chief of the group, arrived in Islamabad on

Monday at the Pakistan governmentÂ’s invitation for talks on the Afghan peace

process.

A statement issued by AfghanistanÂ’s foreign ministry said the notification

issued by Pakistan on implementing the UN Security Council sanctions had

been “carefully considered and thoroughly reviewed….Afghanistan “urges the

government of...Pakistan to abide by its obligations and its international

responsibilities to implement the above-mentioned resolutions and to be

committed to their full implementation.”

THE REST

========

RAIGAD TOLL 13, 4-YEAR-OLD SURVIVES 19 HOURS IN DEBRIS

Rescuers sifting through the rubble of a five-storeyed building in

MaharashtraÂ’s Raigad district on Tuesday found a four-year-old boy alive and

his mother dead beneath the debris, police said.

Death toll in the collapse reached 13 with recovery of 12 bodies from the

rubble on Tuesday, police said. A man died of cardiac arrest on Monday night

after he was hit by a stone from the falling building, police said.

So far eight persons have been rescued, while around 7 persons are still

missing after the Tareq Garden building in Mahad town, around 170 km from

Mumbai, came down like a pack of cards on Monday evening, an official said.

Police on Tuesday registered an offence against five persons, including the

builder and architect of Tareq Garden in connection with collapse.

SC RESERVES VERDICT ON PUNISHMENT TO PRASHANT BHUSHAN

The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved its verdict on punishment to Prashant

Bhushan who was on August 14 convicted of contempt of court for scandalising

the Judiciary by his tweets against CJI SA Bobde and four former CJIs.

Attorney General KK Venugopal said, "My suggestion would be to give a

quietus to this matter without getting into that exercise." In the pre-lunch

session, he had suggested a warning to Bhushan would suffice.

Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, representing Bhushan, said, "Although AG says

a reprimand is in order, I'll say a general statement is enough and there is

no need to reprimand him." He urged the court not to make him a martyr. "A

general message, not even a reprimand....My humble and most respectful

submission is don't make Prashant Bhushan a martyr," Dhavan said.

Dhavan's reply came after Justice Mishra asked, "If we decide to punish him,

what should be the punishment?

Justice Mishra also sought to know “what is wrong in an apology if we have

hurt somebody”.

At this, Venugopal said: “Perhaps he feels it’s an admission of guilt.”

NIA FILES DETAILED CHARGESHEET IN PULWAMA ATTACK CASE

Calling the Pulwama attack a “well-planned criminal conspiracy hatched by

Pakistan-based leadership of terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad”, the

National Investigation Agency (NIA), in its chargesheet filed on Tuesday,

has listed key evidence including the “forensically matched” voice of JeM

chief Masood AzharÂ’s brother, Rouf Asgar, discussing the attack, and a

Pakistan government identity card issued to AzharÂ’s nephew, Mohammed Umer

Farooq, the key conspirator.

The other pieces of evidence include photographs of “every step” of the

attack, from planning to execution, spanning over 10 months; logs of

WhatsApp calls to numbers in Pakistan with pinpointed locations; records of

several lakhs of rupees deposited in two Pakistan bank accounts in Umer

FarooqÂ’s name.

Forty CRPF personnel were killed when a suicide bomber, later identified as

Adil Ahmed Dar, a local resident, rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a

CRPF convoy in Pulwama on February 14 last year. The NIA has said Dar used

about 200 kg of explosives.

The 13,800-page chargesheet, filed in an NIA special court in Jammu, has

named 19 people, including Masood Azhar, his brothers Rouf Asgar and Ammar

Alvi, and nephew Umer Farooq. Of the 19, six are dead, seven have been

arrested, and the remaining six – Masood Azhar, Rouf Asgar, Ammar Alvi (all

Pakistan-based) and three local militants – are still at large.

“The investigation has revealed that the Pulwama attack was the result of a

well-planned criminal conspiracy hatched by Pakistan-based leadership of

terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad. The JeM leaders have been sending

their cadres to the terrorist training camps of Al-Qaeda-Taliban-JeM and

Haqqani-JeM in Afghanistan for receiving training in explosives and other

terrorist tactics,” the chargesheet has said.

Special Judge Suneet Gupta has fixed September 1 for hearing the arguments.

CONSUMPTION SHOCK SEVERE, ECONOMIC RECOVERY WILL TAKE LONGER: RBI

The RBI Tuesday indicated that the economy will take “quite some time to

mend and regain” the pre-Covid momentum, as the “shock to consumption is

severe” and the “poorest have been hit the hardest”.

The RBI also cautioned about the loss of recovery momentum since June, with

states imposing localised lockdowns.

The RBI said the recovery will happen when the non-discretionary spending —

expenses that people cannot do without, such as food and rent — leads the

way, with a durable increase in disposable incomes enabling discretionary

spending like vacation and entertainment.

The central bank has warned that high frequency indicators so far point to a

retrenchment in activity that is unprecedented in history. Rating agencies

and analysts have forecast a contraction of up to 20 per cent in the GDP in

the first quarter of 2020-21 due to the lockdown induced by the Covid-19

pandemic.

According to the central bank, the pandemic has also exposed new inequities

— white collar employees can work from home while essential workers have to

work on site, exposed to the risk of getting infected. In some areas of work

such as hospitality, hotels and restaurants, airlines and tourism,

employment losses are more severe than in other areas. “The poorest have

been hit the hardest,” it said.

Urban consumption demand has suffered a bigger blow – passenger vehicle

sales and supply of consumer durables in the first quarter of 2020-21 have

dropped to a fifth and a third, respectively, of their level a year ago. Air

passenger traffic has ground to a halt. Rural demand, by contrast, has fared

better.

RUSSIA APPROACHES INDIA TO PRODUCE SPUTNIK VACCINE

The government on Tuesday said India and Russia were in communication on the

recently registered Sputnik-V Covid-19 vaccine developed by Gamaleya

Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology and the Russian Direct

Investment Fund.

Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, co-chair of the national Covid-19 vaccine

administration task force, confirmed the dialogue on a day when Russia is

learnt to have formally approached India for collaboration to produce

Sputnik-V and for approval to conduct phase-3 human trials in India.

“The two countries are in communication. Initial information has been

shared. Some details are awaited,” said Bhushan, indicating India had asked

Russia for additional safety data.

AS IF NO RULE OF LAW: SC PANEL CHIEF TO GOVT ON CHAR DHAM ‘VIOLATIONS’

Pointing to “brazen” violation of forest and wildlife laws by the Char Dham

Pariyojana of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), the

chairperson of the Supreme Court-appointed High Powered Committee (HPC) has

asked the Environment Ministry to take strict action.

Underlining that laws have been violated “as if the Rule of Law does not

exist”, HPC chairperson Ravi Chopra, in an August 13 letter to the

Environment Secretary, said the project has caused “incalculable and

long-term damage to the Himalayan ecology” by felling trees, cutting hills

and dumping muck (excavated material) without valid permission on various

stretches.

The project is meant to widen 889 km of hill roads connecting major

pilgrimage sites in Uttarakhand.

WORLD-CLASS GEAR FOR 30K ADDITIONAL TROOPS AT LAC

With additional troops to be positioned along the Line of Actual Control

(LAC) in Ladakh during winter, the Army is procuring world-class snow boots,

gloves, layered jackets, trousers and sleeping bags.

New sleeping habitat like arctic tents and special high-nutrient diet are to

be provided.

It is the first time that so many troops will be stationed during winter in

eastern Ladakh along the 826-km LAC. Under normal circumstances, troop

levels are no more than two brigades (around 10,000). Heated habitat with

bunker-type beds already exists to house these many troops.

This year, the challenge will be the additional 30,000 troops who along with

equipment have been stationed since May this year to ward off any

misadventure by China.

The night time temperatures there are expected to be minus 30°C in peak

winter.

DELHI METRO OUTLINES SOPs AHEAD OF EXPECETED RESUMPTION OF SERVICE

The Delhi Metro plans to completely discontinue tokens and cash transactions

involving commuters once services resume and allow only smart cards, which

will also have to be recharged solely through cashless modes.

Metro services, suspended since March 22 in the wake of the coronavirus

outbreak, is likely to resume in September in a limited manner under Unlock

4 guidelines expecetd to be released by the Home Ministry.

According to a plan drawn up following guidelines of the Union Ministry of

Housing and Urban Affairs, parking facilities at the stations and feeder bus

services that connect the stations with nearby areas will remain unavailable

for the time being.

According to the plan, train frequency will be less initially and scaled up

based on demand. Alternate seats will have to be left vacant and a distance

of one metre will have to be maintained between two persons standing.

“The duration of trains waiting at every station will be increased

substantially so that passengers have sufficient time to board and alight.

There will be announcements inside trains and stations for maintaining

social distancing. Some stations may be skipped if sufficient passengers are

not available or the train is already full,” says the SOP.

ED SHARES ‘DRUGS-LINKED’ INFO ON RHEA WITH CBI, NCB

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is probing a money laundering angle

into the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput and has questioned

his girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty, has referred some evidence to the CBI and

the Narcotics Control Bureau about her alleged links to banned drugs, a

charge vehemently denied by her lawyer.

The officials said the central probe agency stumbled upon certain data and

these “prima facie” inputs have been shared with the two federal agencies

but did not give any details of the nature of evidence referred to the

agencies.

“Rhea has never consumed drugs in her life ever. She is ready for a blood

test,” her lawyer Satish Maneshinde said in reply to the allegations.

INDICATORS

Sensex 38,844 (+45), Nifty 11,472 (+6), Trading Value NSE ,(Rs.crores)

60,963

Nasdaq 11,466 (+87) Dow 28,248 (-60), S&P 3,444 (+12)

US$-Rs. 74.08 GBP-Rs. 97.19, Euro-Rs. 87.56, UAE Dhm-Rs.20.16, Can$-Rs.

56.10, Aus$- Rs. 53.17

GBP 0.76 /US$, Euro 0.84 /US$, Jap.Yen 106.25 /US$, Aus$ 1.39 /US$, Sing

1.36 /US$, Bang Taka 83.31 /US$, Can$ 1.32 /US$, Mal Ring 4.16 /US$,

Pak Re 167.80 /US$, Phil Peso 48.50 /US$, Russian Rouble 74.89 /US$, NZ$

1.52 /US$, Thai Baht 31.42 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 27.20 /US$, Norway NOK 8.96

/US$

Bitcoin - USD 11,364

Dollar Index 93.11 Brent Crude 46.02 BDI 1,491

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,928 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 5,136 / 5,036

Silver (Rs. Per KG) 66,710

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Time changes everything except something within us which is always surprised

by change. - Thomas Hardy

OFF TRACK

Q. I'm going camping and I need to know all about tents.

A. Tent sizes are measured in units of men, as in "a three-man tent"; this

tells you how many men are required to erect the tent if they are all

professional tent engineers. Even then, the tent will collapse under unusual

weather conditions, such as nightfall. When carrying a tent for camping, do

not forget to carry your credit card also, so that you can check into the

nearest hotel.