LAC STANDOFF: RAJNATH SINGH MAKES A STATEMENT IN LOK SABHA

India on Tuesday blamed China for being in breach of all agreements and for causing the resultant military standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh made a statement in Lok Sabha at 3 pm saying India was ready to resolve the issue through dialogue but added “the House can be assured that we remain prepared to deal with all contingencies... No one should doubt our determination to safeguard our borders”.

He referred to the Galwan incident of June 15 saying, “Our brave soldiers inflicted costs, including casualties on the Chinese side.”

Chinese actions reflect a disregard of our various bilateral agreements, said Rajnath Singh and apportioned blame on China. “The amassing of the troops by China goes against the 1993 and 1996 Agreements. Respecting and strictly observing the LAC is the basis for peace and tranquillity in the border areas and explicitly recognised in both 1993 and 1996 agreements.”

“Indian armed forces abide by it; this has not been reciprocated by the Chinese side. Their actions have led to face-offs and frictions from time to time along the LAC,” the Minister told the Lok Sabha.

The agreements have procedures and norms to deal with the situation of face-offs. However, in the recent incidents, this year, the violent conduct of Chinese forces has been in complete violation of all mutually agreed norms, he said.

As of now, the Chinese side has mobilised a large number of troops and armaments along the LAC as well as in the depth areas. There are several friction areas in Eastern Ladakh, including Gogra, Kongka La and North and South Banks of the Pangong Tso. In response to China’s actions, Indian armed forces have also made appropriate counter deployments, he said.

Referring to the recent incidents along the southern bank of the Pangong Tso, a 135 km glacial-melt lake, Rajnath Singh said the Chinese side engaged in provocative military manoeuvers on the night of August 29 and 30 in an attempt to change the status quo. “Timely and firm action by our armed forces along the LAC prevented such attempts from succeeding.”

Our armed forces have maintained “restraint” in the face of provocative actions, they have also equally displayed “bravery” when required to.

Differentiating from past such stand-offs, Rajnath Singh said in the past too “we have had situations of prolonged stand-offs in our border areas with China which have been resolved peacefully. Even though the situation this year is very different both in terms of scale of troops involved and the number of friction points, we do remain committed to the peaceful resolution of the current situation”.

Congress had demanded a discussion on the issue of stand-off between China and India in Eastern Ladakh. The govt, however, declined to honour it citing sensitivity of the issue.

OPPOSED BY OPPOSITION & BJP ALLY SAD, BILL TO REPLACE FARM ORDINANCE PASSED IN LOK SABHA

Opposed not only by over half-a-dozen opposition parties led by the Congress but also NDA ally Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), the Lok Sabha Tuesday passed the bill by voice vote to replace the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, promulgated in June.

The reservation expressed by SAD’s Sukhbir Singh Badal against the bill caught the NDA unawares but comes amid farmers’ protest in Punjab and Haryana against the three farm ordinances that will be replaced by bills in the Parliament’s monsoon session.

Badal said there are many apprehensions about the bill and till these are cleared, it should not be passed. On being asked why he was not happy with the changes proposed, he said, “The farmer told me it’s like Reliance Jio. When they introduced the phone, the low cost offered by the company killed competition and when the monopoly of Reliance was established, it increased the prices. Similarly, multinational companies will come to invest in the agriculture sector and offer facilities at low cost initially, only to hike it later.”

Besides the Congress, the other opposition parties who opposed the bill included the Trinamool Congress, NCP, BSP and the CPI(M). The opposition parties called the bill “anti-farmer” and said it is being enacted to benefit corporates and multinational companies.

However, the Shiv Sena and the TDP, supported the bill that amends the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. The BJD, TRS and YSR Congress Party, too, supported the bill.

NSA DOVAL WALKS OUT OF SCO MEET OVER PAKISTAN’S MAP SHOWING J&K AS PAK TERRITORY

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval Tuesday left the meeting of NSAs of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) members after Pakistan “deliberately projected a fictitious map” of the country in “blatant disregard to the advisory by the host” Russia.

In response to a query at a media briefing, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said NSA Ajit Doval walked out of the virtual meeting after Pakistan’s representative Dr Moeed Yusuf projected in the background the new political map of the country that depicts Jammu and Kashmir as a disputed territory, and claims the regions of Sir Creek and the erstwhile state of Junagadh in Gujarat as part of its territory.

CHINESE FIRM ZHENHUA DENIES CHARGES OF ILLEGAL DATA MINING

Chinese data firm Zhenhua Data Tuesday denied all the allegations of “illegal” data collection as reported in an investigation by The Indian Express, saying the company does not obtain private information from public sources.

According to a statement issued by the company, the Overseas Key Information Database (OKIDB) “does exist, but not as magical as media reported” and that it “merely connects individuals to the social media they use”. The OKIDB reportedly uses advanced language, targeting and classification tools, which include hundreds of entries without any explicit markers.

“Our data are all public data on the internet. This is just data integration. Its operations, which involve collecting and mobilising data, are 100 per cent from open sources with no data mining, and is no different from its Western peers, such as US public-tracking platforms called EveryPolitician and GovTrack,” said Sun, a representative of Shenzhen-based Zhenhua.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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TRUMP PRESIDES AS ISRAEL, UAE AND BAHRAIN SIGN HISTORIC PACTS

Declaring “the dawn of a new Middle East,” President Donald Trump on Tuesday presided over the signing of historic diplomatic pacts between Israel and two Gulf Arab nations that he hopes will lead to a new order in the Mideast and cast him as a peacemaker at the height of his reelection campaign.

Hundreds of people amassed on the sun-washed South Lawn to witness the signing of agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. The bilateral agreements formalize the normalization of the Jewish state’s already thawing relations with the two Arab nations in line with their common opposition to Iran and its aggression in the region.

“We’re here this afternoon to change the course of history,” Trump said from a balcony overlooking the South Lawn. “After decades of division and conflict, we mark the dawn of a new Middle East.”

The agreements do not address the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While the UAE, Bahrain and other Arab countries support the Palestinians, the Trump administration has persuaded the two countries not to let that conflict keep them from having normal relations with Israel.

'ANY IRAN ATTACK WILL SEE 1,000 TIMES GREATER U.S. RESPONSE'

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday vowed that any attack by Iran would be met with a response "1,000 times greater in magnitude," after reports that Iran planned to avenge the killing of top general Qasem Soleimani surfaced.

A U.S. media report, quoting unnamed officials, said an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate the U.S. Ambassador to South Africa was planned before the presidential election in November. "According to press reports, Iran may be planning an assassination, or other attack, against the U.S. in retaliation for the killing of terrorist leader Soleimani," Mr. Trump tweeted.

"Any attack by Iran, in any form, against the United States will be met with an attack on Iran that will be 1,000 times greater in magnitude!"

THE REST

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UP CREATES SPECIAL FORCE WITH POWER TO ARREST WITHOUT WARRANT

The Uttar Pradesh govt on Tuesday notified the creation of a special force empowered to search any premises or arrest any person without any warrant or orders of a court.

The move prompted a strong reaction from the Congress, with its state unit chief Ajay Kumar Lallu equating it with the 1919 Rowlatt Act or Black Act and saying that the party will explore legal options to challenge it.

The new force, named UP Special Security Force, will cater to the security of metro railways, courts, airports, banks and other vital installations in the state.

“Under the Act, any member of the Force can arrest a person without any warrant or orders of a magistrate if there is an attack to members of the Force, the threat of, the use of criminal force or obstruction in the discharge of duty,” said the additional chief secretary. “If a crime is committed, the members of the Force can frisk any suspect without any search warrant without giving him any chance to escape or hide the evidence. On being convinced that the person has committed the crime, the person can be arrested,” he said, adding, the Force will also be empowered to search any suspect’s premises without any search warrant.

SC STOPS SHOW ON ‘UPSC JIHAD’: BID TO VILIFY MUSLIMS WITH UNTRUTHS

The Supreme Court on Tuesday restrained Sudarshan News from broadcasting remaining episodes of a show that the channel claims “exposes” the “infiltration of Muslims” in the civil services.

“At this stage, prima facie, it does appear to the Court that the intent, object and purpose of the episodes which have been telecast is to vilify the Muslim community. An insidious attempt has been made to insinuate that the community is involved in a conspiracy to infiltrate the civil services. Several statements in the episodes, which have been drawn to the attention of the Court are not just palpably erroneous but have been made in wanton disregard of the truth”, a three-judge Bench headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud said.

On August 28, the court had declined to impose a “pre-broadcast interlocutory injunction” on the show titled ‘Bindass Bol’, presented by its editor-in-chief Suresh Chavhanke.

An episode of the show was broadcast on September 10, a day after the central govt gave it the green light on condition that there is no “violation of the programme code”.

SERUM INSTITUTE GETS NOD TO RESUME OXFORD COVID-19 VACCINE TRIAL IN INDIA

The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) gave permission to Pune Serum Institute of India (SII) to resume its phase two and three clinical trials of the Oxford Covid-19 vaccine candidate in the country.

The DCGI has also asked SII to submit the details of the medication used as per protocol for the management of the adverse events.

The DCGI had on September 11 directed Serum Institute of India to suspend any new recruitment in the phase two and three clinical trial of the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine candidate till further orders in the backdrop of pharma giant AstraZeneca pausing the clinical trials in other countries because of ''an unexplained illness'' in a participant in the study.

AstraZeneca has already resumed trials in the UK for the vaccine.

ONION FARMERS SLAM GOVT OVER EXPORTS BAN

A sudden ban on export of onions has come as a rude shock to farmers in the largest growing state of Maharashtra who had stocked their winter harvest hoping for a better price. A day after the centre prohibited exports, wholesale prices crashed on Tuesday.

Onion growers are now ruing the short window of opportunity they lost. During the prolonged lockdown most growers sold their harvest at a loss—for ₹7-8 per kg compared to production cost of ₹10 per kg. Following heavy rains and high moisture some of the stored crop and part of the kharif plantings were damaged. This led to a rise in wholesale prices and farmers were hoping to recover their losses from the stored onions.

“No one came to our rescue when we were selling at a loss, now the govt won’t let us recover part of our losses from the stored onions," say the farmers. “The truth is the govt does not care about farmers, it is more concerned about keeping prices low for the consumer," Pagar added.

The govt can no longer impose a stock limit on traders (after the new ordinance amending the Essential Commodities Act) so an export ban is its only tool to keep wholesale prices in check.

AFTER SAYING NO, TOYOTA SAYS YES TO EXPANSION PLAN IN INDIA

Toyota Motor Corp. said on Tuesday that it remains committed to the Indian market and its local unit announced an investment of more than ₹2,000 crore, just hours after a report cited a top company official as saying that the company will halt its expansion plans because of high taxes on cars.

“The future of sustainable mobility is strong here in India and Toyota is proud to be part of this journey. We are investing 2000+ crore towards the electrification of vehicles,” Vikram Kirloskar, vice-chairman of Toyota Kirloskar Motors, the local unit of Toyota, said in a post on Twitter.

FILM PERSONALITIES SIGN ‘OPEN LETTER’ CALLING OUT MEDIA ‘WITCH-HUNT’

Actor Sonam Kapoor and filmmakers Anurag Kashyap and Mira Nair are among over two thousand people who have signed an open letter condemning the media’s “witch-hunt” of Rhea Chakraborty in the coverage of Sushant Singh Rajput’s death investigation.

Film personalities, including Frieda Pinto, Zoya Akhtar, Farhan Akhtar, Alankrita Shrivastava, Gauri Shinde, Reema Kagti, Ruchi Narain, Rasika Dugal, Nitya Mehra, Amruta Subhash, Mini Mathur, Dia Mirza, Kubbra Sait and others have also signed the letter that asks the media to “hunt news, not women”.

“Dear news media of India. We are worried about you. Are you feeling ok? Because, as we watch your witch-hunt of Rhea Chakraborty, we cannot understand why you have abandoned every professional ethic of journalism, every tenet of human decency and dignity and chosen instead to physically assault a young woman with your camera crews, endlessly violate her privacy and work overtime on false accusations and moralistic innuendo for a drama of ‘Rhea ko phasao’,” the letter reads.

The letter condemned the media for promoting damaging stereotypes of “vishkanyas” and “dayans” while trivialising depression and perpetuating regressive stereotypes about mental health.

KANGANA LASHES OUT AT JAYA BACHCHAN

Speaking in Rajya Sabha, veteran actor and Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan charged that the film industry was being defamed and slammed those from the entertainment industry indulging in it, saying they were “biting the hands that feed them”. Though she did not take any names, her remarks come a day after BJP’s Lok Sabha MP and Bhojpuri actor Ravi Kishan said there was problem of drug addiction in the film industry and also actor Kangana Ranaut’s recent remarks calling Bollywood a “gutter”.

Meanwhile in Lok Sabha, the govt also said no actionable inputs were received by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) revealing the alleged nexus between people in the film industry and drug traffickers.

Kangana Ranaut promptly gave a stern response to Jaya’s statements. She took to Twitter thus:

“Jaya ji would you say the same thing if in my place it was your daughter Shweta beaten, drugged and molested as a teenager, would you say the same thing if Abhieshek complained about bullying and harassment constantly and found hanging one day? Show compassion for us also.”

In another tweet, Kangana recalled the incident when a “famous choreographer” had said “Rape kiya toh kya hua, roti toh di na (so what if you’re violated, at least you got paid)” and asked Jaya Bachchan if it was that she was implying?

“There are no proper HR departments in production houses where women can complain, no safety or insurances for those who risk their lives every day,no 8 hours shift regulations,” mentioned Ranaut.

KEY ANNOUNCEMENTS BY APPLE

Apple announced the Apple Watch Series 6, and it has a new health sensor on board: you can measure your blood oxygen saturation with the new Watch. The Apple Watch Series 6’s screen can get 2.5 times brighter outdoors and also has an always-on altimeter. The Apple Watch Series 6 starts at $399 for the GPS version.

Apple also debuted a lower-priced Apple Watch called the Apple Watch SE that starts at $279. Apple will also continue to sell the Series 3, which starts at $199.

Apple revealed a new iPad Air with an all-screen design, like the company’s iPad Pro. It has a bigger 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display with a 2360 x 1640 resolution. And the company has moved the Touch ID button from the front of the device to the top in the sleep / wake button.

The new iPad Air also has a new Apple-designed chip: the 5nm A14 Bionic. Apple says it has a 6-core CPU, a new 4-core GPU architecture, and a 16-core neural engine. As for cameras, it’s got the same 12-megapixel rear camera on the iPad Pro but with improved video stabilization, and it also has a front-facing 7-megapixel FaceTime HD camera. The Lightning port has also been switched out for USB-C.

The new iPad starts at $599. Apple says it will be available next month.

Apple will be releasing a number of software updates today, including iOS 14, iPadOS 14, watchOS 7, and tvOS 14.

INDICATORS

Sensex 39,044 (+288), Nifty 11,522 (+82), Trading Value NSE ,(Rs.crores) 53,815.11

Nasdaq 11,190 (+134) Dow 27,996 (+2), S&P 3,401 (+18)

US$-Rs. 73.45 GBP-Rs. 94.57, Euro-Rs. 87.17, UAE Dhm-Rs.19.99, Can$-Rs. 55.77, Aus$- Rs. 53.69

GBP 0.77 /US$, Euro 0.84 /US$, Jap.Yen 105.55 /US$, Aus$ 1.36 /US$, Sing 1.36 /US$, Bang Taka 83.33 /US$, Can$ 1.31 /US$, Mal Ring 4.13 /US$,

Pak Re 165.82 /US$, Phil Peso 48.37 /US$, Russian Rouble 75.05 /US$, NZ$ 1.48 /US$, Thai Baht 31.16 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 27.81 /US$, Norway NOK 9.01 /US$

Bitcoin - USD 10,737

Dollar Index 93.04 Brent Crude 41.01 BDI 1,282

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,958 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 5,146 / 5,046 Silver (Rs. Per KG) 69,500

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. – Aristotle

OFF TRACK

Somewhat sceptical of his son's newfound determination to become the next Charles Atlas, the father nevertheless followed the teenager over to the weight-lifting department.

"Please, Dad," whined the boy, "I promise I'll use them every day."

"I don't know, Michael. It's really a big commitment on your part," the father pointed out.

"Please, Dad?"

"They're not cheap either."

"I'll use them Dad, I promise. You'll see."

Finally won over, the father paid for the equipment and headed for the door.

From the corner of the store he heard his son yell, "What! You mean I have to carry them to the car?!"