CAN'T OCCUPY PUBLIC SPACE 'INDEFINITELY': SC ON SHAHEEN BAGH PROTEST

Maintaining that "democracy and dissent go hand in hand", the Supreme Court

on Wednesday ruled that roads and public spaces can't be blocked

indefinitely and demonstrations expressing dissent have to be in designated

places alone.

Deciding petitions seeking the removal of those protesting against the

Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) from Delhi's Shaheen Bagh, a three-judge

Bench headed by Justice SK Kaul said: "We have no hesitation in concluding

that such kind of occupation of public ways, whether at the site in question

or anywhere else for protests, is not acceptable and the administration

ought to take action to keep the areas clear of encroachments or

obstructions."

Though the protesters blocking the Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch,

including the Okhla underpass since December 15, 2019, were removed on March

24 after the Covid-19 lockdown was enforced, the apex court had chosen to

keep the matter pending to clarify legal position on the issue.

The court faulted the authorities for not taking any decision, saying:

"Unfortunately, despite the lapse of a considerable period of time, there

was neither any negotiation nor any action by the administration, thus

warranting our intervention."

The court said: "In what manner the administration should act is their

responsibility and they should not hide behind the court orders or seek

support therefrom for carrying out administrative functions. The courts

adjudicate the legality of the actions and are not meant to give shoulder to

the administration to fire their guns from."

To emphasise the importance of right to peaceful protest, the Bench headed

by Justice SK Kaul quoted Pulitzer Prize winner Walter Lippmann, who said:

"In a democracy, the opposition is not only tolerated as constitutional, but

must be maintained because it is indispensable." However, it said, "While

appreciating the existence of the right to peaceful protest, we have to make

it unequivocally clear that public ways and public spaces cannot be occupied

in such a manner and that too indefinitely."

PACT WITH JAPAN ON 5G TECH; EFFECTIVELY SHUTS DOOR ON CHINESE COS LIKE

HUAWEI, ZTE

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held the 13th India-Japan Foreign

Ministers' Strategic Dialogue with his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu

Motegi in Tokyo on Wednesday.

The ministers highlighted the need for robust and resilient digital and

cyber systems and welcomed the finalisation of the text of the cybersecurity

pact which will effectively shut the door on Chinese companies like Huawei

and ZTE to sell their advanced telecom equipment in India.

Reaffirming the similarities in their respective Indo-Pacific visions, the

Japanese side agreed to be the lead partner in the connectivity pillar of

the Indo-Pacific Oceans' Initiative. The duo also discussed convergence in

several areas, including maritime security, trade and investment,

manufacturing, skill development, health and wellness and UN reforms.

They emphasised that a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region must be

premised on diversified and resilient supply chains; and in this context,

welcomed the Supply Chain Resilience Initiative between India, Japan,

Australia and other like-minded countries.

SEEMS CHINA WANTS TO MARCH IN WITH CENSORSHIP: TAIWAN

Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu on Wednesday reacted sharply to the

Chinese embassy's statement that had asked the Indian media to "stick to

[the] Indian government's position on Taiwan question" and to "not violate

the One-China principle".

Wu, in a tweet posted by the Taiwan Foreign Ministry, said, "India is the

largest democracy on Earth with a vibrant press & freedom-loving people. But

it looks like communist #China is hoping to march into the subcontinent by

imposing censorship. #Taiwan's Indian friends will have one reply: GET LOST!

JW."

Responding to advertorials in some Indian newspapers, the Chinese embassy

had said in a letter, "Regarding the so-called forthcoming "National Day of

Taiwan", the Chinese Embassy in India would like to remind our media friends

that there is only one China in the world, and the Government of the

People's Republic of China is the sole legitimate government representing

the whole of China."

The embassy stated, "Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory.

These facts are recognized by UN resolution and constitute the universal

consensus of the international community. All countries that have diplomatic

relations with China should firmly honour their commitment to the One-China

policy, which is also the long-standing official position of the Indian

government."

AFTER 28 DAYS, RHEA CHAKRABORTY STEPS OUT OF JAIL

The Bombay high court on Wednesday granted bail to actor Rhea Chakraborty in

a drugs case related to her boyfriend Sushant Singh Rajput's death. While

granting her bail on a personal bond of Rs one lakh, the court asked the

actor to appear before the Mumbai police for 10 days and before the

Narcotics Control Bureau (which had arrested her) once a month for the next

six months.

Justice Sarang Kotwal of the HC also granted bail to Rajput's domestic aides

Dipesh Sawant and Samuel Miranda, but rejected the bail plea of Rhea'

brother Showik Chakraborty and alleged drug peddler Abdel Basit Parihar.

The NCB has charged Rhea under the stringent Section 27-A of the Narcotic

Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act that pertains to "financing and

harbouring illegal drug trafficking". It entails imprisonment up to 10 years

in prison and a bar on the grant of bail. The HC said simply paying for a

particular drug transaction does not qualify as financing drug traffic. "The

allegations against the applicant of spending money in procuring drugs for

Sushant Singh Rajput will not, therefore, mean that she had financed illicit

traffic," the court said.

The court also dismissed the argument that Rhea's bail be rejected to 'send

out a strong message' to society. "The learned ASG (additional solicitor

general) had argued that celebrities and role models should be treated

harshly so that it sets an example for the young generation... I do not

agree," Justice Kotwal said. "Everybody is equal before law. No celebrity or

role model enjoys any special privilege before the court of law. Similarly,

such person also does not incur any special liability when he faces law in

the courts," he said.

About Rhea's brother Showik, the court said: "The applicant (Showik) was

facilitating procurement of drugs from one party for supplying them to

Sushant Singh Rajput. He was clearly involved in illicit trafficking or

illegal trade of drugs..The applicant appears to be an important link in the

chain of drug dealers. He was in touch with different dealers. He had

monetary transactions with them."

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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

CREATORS OF GENETIC 'SCISSORS' WIN CHEMISTRY NOBEL

Two women scientists won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry on Wednesday for

creating genetic 'scissors' that can rewrite the code of life, contributing

to new cancer therapies and holding out the prospect of curing hereditary

diseases. Emmanuelle Charpentier, who is French, and American Jennifer

Doudna share the 10 million Swedish crown ($1.1 million) prize for

developing the Crispr/Cas9 tool to edit the DNA of animals, plants and

microorganisms with precision.

"The ability to cut the DNA where you want has revolutionised the life

sciences," Pernilla Wittung Stafshede of the Swedish Academy of Sciences

told an award ceremony. Charpentier, 51, and Doudna, 56, become the sixth

and seventh women to win a Nobel for chemistry, joining Marie Curie, who won

in 1911, and more recently, Frances Arnold, in 2018. It is the first time

since 1964, when Britain's Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin alone won the award,

that no men are among the winners of the chemistry prize.

US LAWMAKERS CONDEMN BIG TECH'S 'MONOPOLY POWER', URGE BREAKUPS

US House lawmakers who spent the last 16 months investigating the practices

of the world's largest technology companies said on Tuesday that Amazon,

Apple, Facebook and Google had exercised and abused their monopoly power and

called for the most sweeping changes to antitrust laws. In a report that was

presented by the House Judiciary Committee's Democratic leadership,

lawmakers said the four companies had abused their dominant positions,

setting and often dictating prices and rules for commerce, search,

advertising, social networking and publishing.

"Our investigation leaves no doubt that there is a clear and compelling need

for Congress and the antitrust enforcement agencies to take action that

restores competition, improves innovation and safeguards our democracy,"

Democrat Jerrold Nadler, chairman of the judiciary committee, and Democrat

David Cicilline, chairman of the antitrust subcommittee, said.

This is the most significant government effort to check the tech companies

since the government sued Microsoft for antitrust violations in 90s.

THE REST

========

INDIA'S FIRST COVID-19 WAVE FINALLY RECEDES

The first wave of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) appears to be receding

for the first time across the country, with cases seeing a steady drop for

three consecutive weeks now. Experts warn that with the festive season

coming up, the curve may rise again if people let their guard down during

the celebrations.

The seven-day average of daily cases in India touched 93,617 on September

16, the highest till date. In the three weeks since, this number (also

referred to as the daily case trajectory) has dropped every single day and

stands at 74,623 on Wednesday - down around 20% from the peak.

This drop is also mirrored in the death trajectory. The seven-day average of

daily deaths in the country was at its highest on September 15, when it

touched 1,169. This number has dropped near consistently since then, and as

on Wednesday, it stands at 977 - a drop of 16% from the peak.

Across the world, there have been fluctuations and waves in the case (and

death) trajectories - the US, for instance, is on its third wave currently -

but India's trajectory had been climbing throughout till mid-September.

The threat of a festive resurgence, however, is very real, as India's own

experience shows.

Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan identified Onam as the key factor that

caused the spike in the state. "The highest increase in active cases in the

country has been seen in Kerala and the surge is possibly due to the Onam

festivities," he said.

JOURNALIST, THREE OTHERS HELD ON WAY TO HATHRAS BOOKED UNDER TERROR LAW

A 41-year-old Delhi-based journalist and three others, who were detained by

UP Police Monday afternoon from a toll plaza in Mathura, were on Wednesday

booked under UAPA, the stringent anti-terror law.

According to the FIR filed in Maant police station, the journalist Siddique

Kappan, Campus Front of India (CFI) office-bearers Atiq-ur-Rahman and Masood

Ahmed, and a man identified as Alam, have been booked for an alleged

"conspiracy behind their visit to Hathras".

The FIR, filed on a police complaint, states: "During investigation, it was

found that there was a conspiracy behind their visit to Hathras. It had been

highlighted in media reports that efforts were being made by anti-social

people to trigger caste tensions and unrest on the basis of the unfortunate

incident in Hathras. In the wake of this, they were trying to collect funds

and were also running the website carrd.co. They were trying to invoke riots

and threaten law and order and social harmony."

FORMER CBI DIRECTOR ASHWANI KUMAR DIES BY SUICIDE AT SHIMLA HOUSE

Former CBI director Ashwani Kumar allegedly died by suicide by hanging at

his residence in Shimla on Wednesday, officials said. He was 69.

The local police found a note purportedly written by Kumar before his death,

the officials said. A preliminary probe indicates that a sudden change in

Kumar's active life over the last six months because of confinement at home

could be a probable reason behind the drastic move, but the police are

looking into all probabilities, they said.

A resident of Nahan in Himachal Pradesh, Kumar became the director of the

Central Bureau of Investigation in 2008, succeeding Vijay Shanker in the

midst of the agency's probe into the Aarushi Talwar murder case, which was

hogging media headlines.

INDIA YET TO ALLOW TRIAL OF RUSSIA'S SPUTNIK V IN LARGE STUDY

The Drugs Controller General of India has declined the proposal of pharma

company Dr Reddy's laboratories to conduct the third phase trial of Russia's

Sputnik V vaccine as the early trials have been condicted on a small group

of overseas population.

After Russia became the first country that claimed to have come up with an

effective Covid-19 vaccine, Dr Reddy's Lab joined hands with the Russian

Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to conduct clinical trials of the Sputnik V

vaccine as well as its distribution.

However, global experts raised concerns over the safety of the vaccine as it

was rolled out in a short time. Union health minister Harsh Vardhan recently

hinted that India has not given its nod to Dr Reddy's to go ahead with the

trial of the vaccine among Indian population yet.

Instead of jumping straight to a large-scale trial, Dr Reddy's has been

advised to consider a small trial.

EFFORTS ON TO MAKE MOBILE EXPORT HUB

Apple, Samsung and domestic players such as Lava Group are set to make India

a major export hub for mobile device manufacturing, taking on the might of

Vietnam and China which control 85 per cent of the global export market.

Samsung is said to have committed to manufacturing Rs 2.2 trillion worth of

mobile devices which are priced above Rs 15,000. The price is one of the key

eligibility criteria for the government's Production Linked Incentive (PLI)

scheme to spur exports.

Apple Inc's three vendors - Foxconn Hon Hai, Wistron and Pegatron - will

invest an incremental Rs 3,000 crore in manufacturing. They are committed to

producing over Rs 6.8 trillion worth of mobile devices above the price tag

of Rs 15,000 in five years.

Based on estimates by analysts, the bulk of the production value will be for

Apple - over Rs 500,000 crore in five years. The significance of this figure

can be gauged from the fact that Apple's revenues in FY19 were Rs 10,538

crore.

UGC LISTS 24 FAKE UNIVERSITIES, MOST IN UP AND DELHI

The UGC on Wednesday announced a list of 24 "self-styled, unrecognised

institutions" in the country, terming them as "fake" with the maximum of

them operating from Uttar Pradesh followed by Delhi..

A majority of eight of these universities are from UP - Varanaseya Sanskrit

Vishwavidyalaya, Varanasi; Mahila Gram Vidyapith, Allahabad; Gandhi Hindi

Vidyapith, Allahabad; National University of Electro Complex Homeopathy,

Kanpur; Netaji Subha Chandra Bose Open University, Aligarh; Uttar Pradesh

Vishwavidyalaya, Mathura; Maharana Pratap Shiksha Niketan Vishwavidyalaya,

Pratapgarh and Indraprastha Shiksha Parishad, Noida.

Delhi has seven fake universities - Commercial University Ltd, United

Nations University, Vocational University, ADR Centric Juridicial

University, Indian Institution of Science and Engineering, Vishwakarma Open

University for Self Employment and Adhyatmik Vishwavidyalaya (Spiritual

University).

TCS BEATS ESTIMATES ON FASTER DEMAND RECOVERY

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the country's largest IT services company,

on Wednesday beat street expectations in its second-quarter financials, led

by a rebound in growth in key verticals and geographies.

In dollar terms, revenues stood at $5.42 billion, an increase of 7.2 per

cent over the same period of the last financial year.

The board of directors approved a share buyback, the third one of the

Mumbai-headquartered company in the past four years.

The buyback, worth Rs 16,000 crore, is 1.42 per cent of its paid-up capital.

In 2018, it bought back 76.1 million equity shares, worth Rs 16,000 crore.

That constituted 1.99 per cent of its paid-up equity capital then.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC TO FACE STEFANOS TSITSIPAS IN FRENCH OPEN SEMI-FINALS

The only blemish on Djokovic's 36-1 record in 2020 so far was a result of

his fourth-round disqualification at the US Open for accidentally hitting a

line judge with a ball and he faced the same player across the net in Paris

on Wednesday night, Pablo Carreo Busta.

Top-seeded Djokovic, 33, rebounded in the best possible way to win 4-6 6-2

6-3 6-4, despite having tape on his neck and facing some issues with his

left arm early on.

Stefanos Tsitsipas roared into the semi-finals with a three-set demolition

of Andrey Rublev.

Russian Rublev, the 13th seed, was seemingly in control during the opening

set, leading 5-3 with Tsitsipas serving to stay in it. Four games later

Rublev had lost the set, and barely over an hour later he had lost the

match, winning only five more games as he was sent packing from Roland

Garros. What looked on paper another potential five-setter turned into a 7-5

6-2 6-3 procession for the Greek fifth seed.

The Women's Singles semi-final line up:

I.Swiatek (Poland) vs PODOROSKA (Argentina)

S.Kenin (4th seed, USA) vs P.Kvitova (7th seed, The Czech Republic)

IPL: CSK FAIL TO CHASE KKR'S 167

Kolkata Knight Riders beat Chennai Super Kings by 10 runs in Abu Dhabi last

evening. Opener Rahul Tripathi's 51-ball 81 helped Kolkata score 167 all out

in 20 overs. Dwayne Bravo took three wickets for Chennai. In reply, Chennai

were cruising at 99/1 in 12 overs. But after the 69-run partnership between

Shane Watson (50 off 40) and Ambati Rayudu (30 off 27) was broken, Chennai's

innings never managed to gather any momentum as they scored 157/5 in 20

overs.

INDICATORS

Sensex 39,879 (+304), Nifty 11,739 (+77), Trading Value NSE ,(Rs.crores)

53,620.77

Nasdaq 11,365 (+210) Dow 28,303 (+531), S&P 3,419 (+59)

US$-Rs. 73.27 GBP-Rs. 94.50, Euro-Rs. 86.14, UAE Dhm-Rs.19.94, Can$-Rs.

55.12, Aus$- Rs. 52.25

GBP 0.77 /US$, Euro 0.85 /US$, Jap.Yen 105.89 /US$, Aus$ 1.40 /US$, Sing

1.35 /US$, Bang Taka 83.30 /US$, Can$ 1.32 /US$, Mal Ring 4.15 /US$,

Pak Re 163.88 /US$, Phil Peso 48.41 /US$, Russian Rouble 78.19 /US$, NZ$

1.51 /US$, Thai Baht 31.21 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 28.14 /US$, Norway NOK 9.31

/US$

Bitcoin - USD 10,642

Dollar Index 93.63 Brent Crude 42.11 BDI 2,097

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,887 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 5,040 / 4,940

Silver (Rs. Per KG) 60,600

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Friends are the family we choose ourselves. - Edna Buchman

OFF TRACK

Before performing a baptism, the priest approached the young father, our

dear friend Braganza, and said solemnly, "Baptism is a serious step. Are you

prepared for it?"

"I think so," Braganza replied. "We have arranged for Ashoka caterers to

provide a sumptuous lunch for all the guests."

"I don't mean that," the priest responded. "I mean, are you prepared

spiritually?"

"Oh, sure," came the reply. "I've got three cases of beer and one of

whiskey."