JAISHANKAR AND WANG HOLD DIRECT TALKS IN MOSCOW, DETAILS YET TO EMERGE

With the crisis in Ladakh deepening, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar

and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held direct talks in Moscow for more

than two hours Thursday night to try and dial down tensions along the Line

of Actual Control. Until midnight, there was no official word on the outcome

of the meeting which took place on the sidelines of a gathering of Foreign

Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

Before their bilateral meeting, Jaishankar and Wang attended a 90-minute

luncheon meeting hosted by Russian Foreign Minister - the three countries

make the RIC (Russia, India China) grouping.

After the RIC meeting, and before heading for the bilateral meeting with

Wang, Jaishankar, in a Twitter post, said "Attended the RIC Foreign

Ministers Meeting hosted by FM Lavrov in Moscow. Thank him for his warm

hospitality. India takes on the Chair of the RIC process."

MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava at a media briefing on Thursday

reiterated India's position that it was committed to resolve the current

situation through peaceful negotiation.

"Both India and China are in regular touch through diplomatic and military

channels to resolve the situation. This was the consensus when the two

Defence Ministers met," he said.

PM MODI CALLS "FRIEND" SHINZO ABE AFTER LANDMARK MILITARY AGREEMENT

After years of negotiations, India and Japan have signed the landmark

agreement that will allow their militaries access each other's bases for

logistics support.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday held a telephonic conversation with

his outgoing Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe and conveyed his gratitude for

playing a key role in greatly strengthening ties between India and Japan.

In the talks, PM Modi apprised Shinzo Abe his intention to work closely with

the new government of Japan and wished him the very best for the future, the

Ministry of External Affairs said.

The two leaders also welcomed the signing of a reciprocal logistics support

agreement between the Indian Armed Forces and the Self-Defense Forces of

Japan. "They concurred that the agreement will further enhance the depth of

defence cooperation between the two countries and contribute to peace and

security in the Indo-Pacific region," the MEA said.

FIRST 5 RAFALE JETS FORMALLY INDUCTED INTO IAF

Five French-made multirole Rafale jets were inducted into the Indian Air

Force on Thursday at a glittering ceremony in Ambala, in a major boost to

the country's air power at a time it is engaged in an escalating border

dispute with China.

Using the occasion to send a signal to China over the border row in eastern

Ladakh, defence minister Rajnath Singh said the induction was crucial

considering the atmosphere being created along the frontier and called it is

a "big and stern" message to those eyeing India's sovereignty.

Singh said Rafale is considered one of the best combat aircraft globally and

the deal to procure the jets was a "game changer" for India's national

security.

A traditional 'sarva dharma puja', a ceremonial water cannon salute to the

Rafale fighter jets and an aerial drill featuring breathtaking manoeuvres by

the aircraft marked their induction into the IAF's 'Golden Arrows' squadron

at the Ambala Air Force station.

CONSIDER NOT CHARGING INTEREST ON INTEREST, SC TELLS CENTRE, RBI

The Supreme Court on Thursday gave two weeks to the Centre, the RBI and

banks to put their heads together and chalk out sector-specific schemes with

regard to loan restructuring, charging of interest on interest and other

related issues.

A Bench led by Justice Ashok Bhushan -- which had earlier directed that

accounts not declared NPA till Aug 31 shall not to be declared NPA till

further orders -- wanted the Centre to consider not charging interest on

interest on deferred EMIs during the moratorium.

"On the interest issue we have yet to take a decision. But on the aspect of

interest on interest, we are inclined to pass an order that it may not be

debited," the Bench said.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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

WILL TAKE LEGAL ACTION AGAINST UK IF IT VIOLATES WITHDRAWAL AGREEMENT: EU

The European Union (EU) is ready to take legal action against the United

Kingdom (UK) if the latter violates the letter or spirit of the Withdrawal

Agreement it signed in January to begin exiting the EU. The UK has been

given time until the end of this month to either abandon or suitably revise

plans to introduce an Internal Market Bill in the British parliament to

effectively renege on some of its obligations.

In possibly the angriest statement issued by either party in the Brexit

process, the European Commission, which administers the EU, said,

"Vice-President Maros Sefcovic (of the EC) stated that if the Bill were to

be adopted, it would constitute an extremely serious violation of the

Withdrawal Agreement and of international law."

He alleged "by putting forward this bill, the UK has seriously damaged trust

between the EU and the UK". And pointed out that there was a number of

mechanisms and legal remedies to address violations "which the EU will not

be shy in using". It warned that violations will "put at risk the ongoing

future relationship negotiations".

TRUMP DOUBLES DOWN ON 'NO PANIC' APPROACH TO COVID-19

US President Trump is acknowledging that he intentionally played down the

lethal nature of the coronavirus so as to not cause panic and frenzy across

the world, even as critics are excoriating him for double-talk they say led

to tens of thousands of avoidable deaths. Denunciations of "Trump lied,

people died" rang across the political arena and social media as the US

president and his aides and supporters struggled to reconcile his remarks on

tape to journalist Bob Woodward confirming the deadly nature of the virus as

early as February, while publicly assuring the American people in the weeks

following that it was relatively innocuous, posed no great danger to the

country, and would simply go away.

Trump defended his stance at White House briefing, arguing "the fact is, I'm

a cheerleader for this country.I love our country..and I don't want people

to be frightened," adding, "We want to show confidence. We want to show

strength". While a few observers saw some merit in not wanting to panic the

people, what is inexplicable is his repeated minimising of the virus'

lethality in public, and more egregiously, not pressing for simple steps

like a mask mandate and setting personal example by wearing one.

As recently as Tuesday Trump mocked a reporter for wearing a mask while

asking a question at a White House briefing, sneering that he was trying to

be "politically correct". He also held a campaign rally in North Carolina

where large numbers of his supporters disdained masks.

Trump supporters, meanwhile, were mystified by why he agreed to talk to

Woodward, who became a legend in journalism by co-authoring the Watergate

exposes with Carl Bernstein, and who has since written insider accounts of

almost every presidency that have not always been flattering to the

incumbent.

THE REST

========

NO LET UP IN INDIA'S COVID-19 NUMBERS

India this morning reports a set of grim numbers - its steepest single-day

jump in active and total coronavirus cases, as well as Covid-19 deaths. With

a net addition of 24,611, the count of active cases has reached 942,796. The

total count is now at 45.59 lakh, with 96,723 cases getting added in 24

hours. And 1,213 fatalities reported in a day have pushed the country's

death toll to 76,304.

India now accounts for over 13 of all active cases globally, and over 8% of

all deaths.

India's doubling time for total cases stands at 32 days, for active cases at

29.1 days, and for deaths at 44 days.

India is currently conducting over 1.1. million tests every day, with a test

Positivity ratio of over 8%. The percentage of total test conducted so far

in india (in relation to the total population) is a little over 3.8% while

in US it's over 26%

DAY AFTER REGULATOR NOTICE, SERUM SAYS PAUSING OXFORD VACCINE INDIA TRIALS

Serum Institute of India has decided to halt ongoing clinical trials in

India of the Covid-19 candidate developed by The University of Oxford until

AstraZeneca restarts its own global trials of the vaccine. The development

comes a day after the Pune-headquartered firm announced that the

Swedish-British drug giant's decision to pause the ongoing trials while it

reviewed a potential safety concern would not impact the testing underway in

India.

The development comes a day after the Drug Controller General of India

(DCGI) issued a show-cause notice to the Pune-based Serum Institute of India

for failing to share the information about the pause on AstraZeneca vaccine.

On Tuesday evening, AstraZeneca had announced that it was temporarily

halting the global trials after one participant developed a "potentially

unexplained illness".

RAGHUVANSH PRASAD SINGH QUITS RJD, EMOTIONAL LALU ASKS HIM TO STAY BACK

Hours after Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, one of the tallest leaders of the RJD,

resigned from the party on Thursday, Lalu Prasad wrote an emotional reply to

his old comrade, telling Singh he was "not going anywhere".

In a two-line note written in Hindi from AIIMS, New Delhi, Raghuvansh told

Lalu: "I stood behind you for 32 years after the death of Karpoori Thakur.

Not any longer." He thanked the party, its leaders, and workers for their

love.

The RJD chief replied in his own hand, writing in Hindi from hospital in

Ranchi: ".I cannot believe (that you have resigned from the RJD). My family

and I want you to recover fast, and to see you standing among us. For the

last four decades, we have sat together to make political, social, and even

family decisions together. You should first recover, and we can then talk it

out. You are not going anywhere. I am telling you."

Raghuvansh, 74, a former MP and Union Minister, was admitted to AIIMS on

Wednesday with a persistent cough after recovering from Covid-19. Lalu, who

is serving a jail sentence in the fodder scam, is in poor health himself.

Raghuvansh has been upset with the attempts to induct his arch rival and

former MP Rama Kishore Singh into the RJD. He quit as RJD national vice

president about three months ago, and is reported to be upset with Lalu for

not stepping in even after he had made it clear that Rama Kishore "must not

be inducted into the RJD".

BJP ASKS MEMBERS TO NOT USE PARTY'S NAME IN US PREZ POLL

An unambiguous directive to the Overseas Friends of BJP-USA from the party's

Foreign Affairs Department head Vijay Chauthaiwale is apparently aimed at

allaying any impression that India's ruling party favours any candidate in

the US polls in which President Donald Trump of the Republican Party is

pitted against Democratic Party's Joe Biden.

"The OFBJP-USA members can participate in the US election campaign and

support any candidate or a party in their personal capacity but they have

been instructed not to use BJP or OFBJP name during the campaign,"

Chauthaiwale said.

It may be noted that the Republican campaign has used visuals of Trump's

participation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in huge public meetings like

'Howdy Modi', which happened in September 2019 in Houston, and 'Namaste

Trump', which was held in February this year, to woo the Indian diaspora.

NO STATE REGULATION OVER ELECTRONIC MEDIA SURPRISING, HC TELLS CENTRE

The Bombay High Court on Thursday sought to know from the central government

as to why there was no state regulation on the electronic media and asked

media channels to follow its previous order of maintaining restraint while

reporting on the Sushant Singh Rajput case.

The court also directed that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Narcotics

Control Bureau (NCB) be made parties to the PIL, including one filed by

eight former senior police officers of Maharashtra, seeking restraining

orders against "media trial" in the case.

A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni

directed the Centre to indicate extent of state control exercised in respect

of telecasting news having serious ramifications & other ancillary matters

which might come up while deciding PILs.

The Union I&B Ministry submitted that the question of media trial in the

case was referred to News Broadcasters Association (NBA) for probe and that

the government also has an inter-ministerial committee to review decisions

of NBA after the complaint is dealt by the association itself.

MGNREGS FUNDS FAST DRYING UP AS DEMAND SURGES

Funds allocated for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Generation

Scheme (MGNREGS) are fast drying up even as the project continues to attract

a sizeable chunk of the rural workforce.

Almost 63 per cent of the increased allocation of around Rs 1.01 trillion

has been spent in the first five months of 2020-21.

With more than six months to go for the fiscal year to close, experts said

if 100 days' of employment per year, as mandated by law, was to be provided,

this expanded allocation too might be insufficient and exhausted by December

or January.

PARESH RAWAL APPOINTED HEAD OF NATIONAL SCHOOL OF DRAMA

Veteran actor and former BJP MP Paresh Rawal was Thursday appointed

chairperson of the National School of Drama (NSD), India's premier theatre

institute that has trained actors such as Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri and

Irrfan Khan.

The post had been vacant since 2017.

"It will be challenging but fun. I will do my best because this is a field I

know very well. I have practical experience of 48 years of doing theatre

world over. I have some ideas. I will see that NSD 'ka zyada se zyada naam

roshan ho' (NSD gets more name and fame)," Rawal said.

The National Film award-winning actor, who started his journey in Gujarati

theatre in 1972 says his vision is to reach out to more people through

quality theatre.

TV SHOW ON 'MUSLIMS IN UPSC': GOVT ALLOWS TELECAST

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has asked Sudarshan News, whose

controversial programme promo claiming a "big expose on conspiracy by

Muslims to infiltrate government services" came under judicial scrutiny, to

ensure that the show does not violate the laid-down programme code, while

noting there is no pre-censorship of any show telecast on TV channels.

The channel, headed by Suresh Chavhanke, claimed vindication of its stance

and said in a statement that it will air the programme, "Bindas Bol", on

alleged Muslims' "infiltration" in UPSC, on Friday at 8 PM.

The programme had come under judicial scrutiny before the Supreme Court and

the Delhi High Court last month.

The apex court had refused to impose a pre-broadcast ban on Sudarshan TV,

but the high court in an interim order stayed the telecast of the show.

RELIANCE COULD OFFER 40% STAKE IN RETAIL ARM TO AMAZON

Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd. Is said to be

offering to sell a 40% stake in its retail business to Amazon, for about $20

billion.

The deal, if successful, would not only create a retail behemoth in India

but will also turn Jeff Bezos and Asia's richest man from rivals into allies

in one of the fastest-growing consumer markets in the world. At $20 billion,

the deal would be the biggest ever in India as well as for Amazon, according

to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Shares of Reliance Industries extended gains and touched an all-time high

after this story broke.

DUBAI COUPLE HOSTS GENDER REVEAL ON BURJ KHALIFA, VIDEO BREAKS THE INTERNET

Taking baby gender reveal to a whole new height, literally, Dubai-based

influencers took the celebration to the world's tallest building - Burj

Khalifa. The video of the epic moment has taken people around the world by

surprise.

Anas and Asala Marwah, who are all set to welcome their second child, hosted

the event in an extravagant ceremony, stunning all worldwide, as 163-storey

building lit up in blue and pink illustrations. Finally, as the couple along

with their daughter and family looked in excitement, after a countdown of

10, the tower turned blue. "It's a boy!" was projected on the 828-metre

tower congratulating the family.

The full video uploaded on their YouTube channel, the 'Anasala Family',

showing all the preparations and final reveal garnered over 12 million views

in a day, while on Instagram it got two million views.

US OPEN: OSAKA DOWNS BRADY, TO MEET AZARENKA IN THE FINAL

Two-times Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka advanced to the US Open final for

the second time in her career with a 7-6(1), 3-6, 6-3 victory over

big-hitting Jennifer Brady on Thursday.

Brady arrived at her first Grand Slam semi-final without having dropped a

set in New York and did not show any nerves but Osaka's firepower allowed

her to get by the American 28th seed in a high-quality match.

Fourth seed Osaka, who two years ago in New York won the first of two

consecutive Grand Slam titles, fired 35 winners, and had 17 unforced errors

inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Osaka's victory ended a splendid US Open run for Brady, whose previous best

Grand Slam performances came in 2017 when she reached the fourth round in

Melbourne and New York.

Up next for Osaka will be either third seed Serena Williams or former world

number one Victoria Azarenka of Belarus. In the just concluded second

semi-final between two mothers, Victoria Azarenka beat Serena Williams 1-6,

6-3, 6-3.

INDICATORS

Sensex 38,840 (+646), Nifty 11,449 (+171), Trading Value NSE ,(Rs.crores)

59535.39

Nasdaq 10,920 (-223) Dow 27,535 (-406), S&P 3,339 (-60)

US$-Rs. 73.33 GBP-Rs. 94.77, Euro-Rs. 86.80, UAE Dhm-Rs.19.96, Can$-Rs.

55.70, Aus$- Rs. 53.33

GBP 0.77 /US$, Euro 0.84 /US$, Jap.Yen 106.13 /US$, Aus$ 1.37 /US$, Sing

1.36 /US$, Bang Taka 83.20 /US$, Can$ 1.31 /US$, Mal Ring 4.16 /US$,

Pak Re 165.55 /US$, Phil Peso 48.55 /US$, Russian Rouble 75.20 /US$, NZ$

1.49 /US$, Thai Baht 31.24 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 27.55 /US$, Norway NOK 9.01

/US$

Bitcoin - USD 10,290

Dollar Index 93.27 Brent Crude 40.01 BDI 1,269

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,946 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 5,049 / 4,949

Silver (Rs. Per KG) 68,560

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life

he leads? - Albert Camus

OFF TRACK

A lion woke up one morning feeling rowdy. He went out and cornered a small

monkey and roared, "Who is mightiest of all jungle animals?"

The trembling monkey says, "You are, mighty lion!

Later, the lion confronts a deer and bellows, "Who is mightiest of all

jungle animals?"

The terrified deer stammers, "Oh great lion, you are by far the mightiest

animal in the jungle!"

On a roll now, the lion swaggers up to an elephant and roars, "Who is the

mightiest of all jungle animals?"

Fast as lightning, the elephant snatches up the lion with his trunk, slams

him against a tree half a dozen times, the lion is feeling like it'd been

run over by a safari wagon. The elephant then crapped on it, and ambled

away.

The lion hollered after the elephant, "Damn, just because you don't know the

answer, you don't have to get so pissed off !"