RAJNATH SINGH ON CHINA TALKS EVE: FOR PEACE, NEED ABILITY TO DETER WARUnderlining that "peace cannot necessarily be achieved by a desire for peacebut by the ability to deter war," Defence Minister Rajnath Singh saidThursday that "India is determined to protect its sovereignty andterritorial integrity in the face of unilateralism and aggression, no matterwhat the sacrifice".Singh's remarks, at a webinar to mark the 60th anniversary of the NationalDefence College, came on the eve of the eighth round of talks between Indiaand China to dial down tensions along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakhwhere the two armies have faced off since May. The Corps Commander-leveltalks will be held today at Chushul.In his address, Singh said: "India has fostered close relationships andpartnerships with like-minded friends to further the common interests ofcountries in the region and beyond." He mentioned the United States, Japanand Australia - along with India, these three countries make theQuadrilateral grouping or Quad - as countries with whom India now has anenhanced relationship.Without naming China or its aggression along the LAC, the Defence Ministersaid: "Recently, India has been facing other challenges on its borders.India is a peace-loving country. We believe that differences should notbecome disputes. We attach importance to the peaceful resolution ofdifferences through dialogue."Speaking on the "four broad principles that are likely to guide our questfor national security in the future," Singh said: "The first is the abilityto secure India's territorial integrity and sovereignty from externalthreats and internal challenges. Second, the ability to create secure andstable conditions that can facilitate India's economic growth. Third, weremain steadfast in the desire to protect our interests beyond the bordersin areas where our people reside and our security interests converge. Andfinally, we also believe that in a globalised and interconnected world, acountry's security interests are interlinked by shared and secure commons."BIHAR CAMPAIGNING ENDS, NITISH KUMAR SIGNS OFF: MY LAST ELECTIONWrapping up his campaign for the Bihar Assembly polls, in which he has beenovershadowed both by ally BJP and rival RJD, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar onThursday sought votes saying this election was his "last".Addressing a rally at Dhamdaha in Purnea district, the three-time JD(U) CM,who has been the face of Bihar since 2005, said, "Today is the last day (ofcampaign for the final phase of Assembly elections). Polling will take placethe day after tomorrow. This is my last election."Lending his weight to Nitish, Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued a letterto the people of Bihar on Thursday, saying he needed the JD(U) CM to ensureprogress in the state, and said he was glad that "the focus in Bihar pollshas been on development".In his open letter in Hindi, Modi listed several Central government schemesand said people have faith that only the NDA can work for the state'sdevelopment. "I need the Nitish Kumar government to ensure that there is nopaucity in Bihar's development and the welfare schemes continueuninterrupted. I have full faith that the power of 'double engine' will takeBihar to new heights."Both the PM, who addressed 12 rallies in Bihar, and the BJP have drawn onthe Ram temple, CAA, Article 370 and border tensions for their campaign.On Wednesday, the same day as Nitish sought to address fears over the CAA inMuslim-dominated border region of Seemanchal that votes on Saturday, theBJP's Yogi Adityanath said at a rally in Katihar, "Modiji has found asolution to the infiltration problem in the form of the CAA. Thoseinfiltrators who try to undermine the sovereignty and integrity of thecountry will be thrown out."The Opposition pounced on Nitish's remarks of this being his last electionto say these showed he had "finally heard the message on the ground".Tejashwi Yadav, the Opposition's chief ministerial candidate, said,"Nitishji was not ready to accept either the aspirations and hopes of Biharipeople, or the ground realities. We have been saying from the start that heis now tired and today, finally before the final phase, he has accepteddefeat and announced his retirement from politics, proving us right." RJD MPManoj Jha said, "During this entire campaign, Nitish failed to understandwhat the young people want."LJP president Chirag Paswan said Nitish's remarks further underlined thatpeople should not vote for him. "This time he gave no account of his lastfive years and has now said he will not be back to give an account nexttime. Do not give your vote to someone who will not come back for yourblessings," he said.MODI INVITES GLOBAL INVESTORS: INDIA IS THE PLACE TO BEThe Indian government will do whatever is needed to make the country anengine of global growth resurgence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi saidThursday, inviting the world's biggest long-term investors to invest inIndia's infrastructure space.Addressing senior representatives of the world's 20 largest global sovereignwealth and pension funds in a virtual roundtable, PM Modi said India "is theplace to be". Going forward, India will see an "exciting period ofprogress", he said as he invited investors to be a part of it."If you want returns with reliability, India is the place to be. If you wantdemand with democracy, India is the place to be. If you want stability withsustainability, India is the place to be. If you want growth with a greenapproach, India is the place to be," he said."India's growth has the potential to catalyse global growth resurgence. Astrong and vibrant India can contribute to the stabilisation of worldeconomic order," he added.The prime minister said any achievement by India will have a multipliereffect on development and growth across the world."India offers you demand, demography and diversity . Our approach is along-term and sustainable solution to issues," Modi said.The virtual global investor roundtable was organised by the Ministry ofFinance and the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund. It was attendedby global institutional investors based in the US, Canada, Korea, Japan,Australia and Singapore apart from countries in Europe and the Middle East.INDIA SLAMS SHIFTING KARTARPUR GURDWARA'S MANAGEMENT TO TRUSTIndia on Thursday described as "highly condemnable" Pakistan's decision totransfer the management of the Kartarpur Sahib gurudwara from a Sikh body toa separate trust, saying it runs against the religious sentiments of theSikh community.The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said India received representationsfrom the Sikh community expressing grave concern over the decision totransfer the management and maintenance of the gurudwara from the PakistanSikh Gurudwara Prabhandhak Committee to the administrative control of theEvacuee Trust Property Board, a non-Sikh body."This unilateral decision by Pakistan is highly condemnable and runs againstthe spirit of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor as also the religious sentimentsof the Sikh community at large..Such actions only expose the reality of thePakistani government and its leadership's tall claims of preserving andprotecting the rights and welfare of the religious minority communities,"the MEA said.INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS======================US POLL RESULTS STILL AWAITED: TRUMP REPEATS HIS 'POLL FRAUD' CLAIMSThough weary Americans will have to wait for some more time to know theclear winner of the closely-fought election between Republican PresidentDonald Trump and his Democratic rival Joe Biden, the former has renewed hisclaims that Democrats are trying to "steal" the election from him, and saidthat he would win if "legal votes" are counted. Meanwhile, Biden hasexpressed confidence in becoming the next president of the United Statesafter the counting of all votes is concluded.Unleashing harsh criticism of pre-election polling that showed him trailingDemocrat Joe Biden, Trump claimed without evidence that the ballot-countingprocess is unfair and corrupt. He also renewed his criticism of widespreaduse of mail-in balloting in the pandemic, and ramped up allegations of fraudagainst the Democrats, saying he will win if "legal votes" are counted."If you count the legal vote, I easily win. If you count the illegal votes,they can try to steal the election from us," he said, adding that theelection might end "at the highest court of land".With 253 projected electoral college votes, Biden needs just 17 more to winthe race to the White House. He can reach this magic figure by winningArizona (11), and Nevada (6), the two states where he's currently leading.Trump has 214 projected electoral college votes, and is currently leading inPennsylvania (20), Georgia (16), North Carolina (15) Alaska (3). But hedoesn't have a strong lead in Georgia.There could be some more clarity by Friday evening.Meanwhile, US courts have dismissed the Donald Trump campaign's lawsuitsrelated to alleged electoral malpractice in Michigan and Georgia. InMichigan, the Trump campaign had sought to stop counting of absenteeballots, while in Georgia it had alleged that even improper ballots werebeing counted.REPUBLICANS CALL OUT TRUMP'S FALSE CLAIMSRepublican lawmakers and officials are pushing back after President DonaldTrump Thursday night delivered a series of false claims about thepresidential election, though many did not mention him by name.Shortly after Trump at a news conference made baseless claims about massivevoter fraud in Pennsylvania, Sen. Pat Toomey said in a statement Thursdaythat once the state's final election count is "reached and certified, allparties involved must accept the outcome of the election regardless ofwhether they won or lost."The harshest pushback came from retiring Texas Rep. Will Hurd."A sitting president undermining our political process & questioning thelegality of the voices of countless Americans without evidence is not onlydangerous & wrong, it undermines the very foundation this nation was builtupon," he said in a tweet. "Every American should have his or her votecounted."THE REST========HARYANA HOUSE CLEARS BILL TO RESERVE 75% PVT SECTOR JOBS FOR LOCALSThe Haryana Assembly passed a Bill Thursday to reserve 75 per cent ofprivate sector jobs in the state for residents of Haryana amid objectionsfrom not just the Opposition but also a legislator of the JJP which is partof the BJP-led ruling alliance.Once it becomes law, the Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Bill,2020 - it was a promise made by the JJP before the 2019 state elections -will apply to companies, societies, trusts, limited liability partnershipfirms, partnership firms etc. located across the state.Maruti Suzuki India chairman R C Bhargava said: "Both CII and Maruti hadrepresented (to the authorities) when this draft proposal was published thatthis is not something which is in the interest of industry. Haryana may loseinvestments as a result. We stand by our previous stand. We feel that itwill affect the competitiveness of industry."It was opposed by JJP MLA from Narnaund, Ram Kumar Gautam, who called it a"ridiculous legislation" and "100 per cent wrong". "Why do you want to makesuch laws? This entire country is ours. If any brother comes from any otherstate to work, how can you stop him. Tomorrow, if our children go to anotherstate, they will not be allowed to work there. Where will our children go inthat case? I do not agree with it at all," Gautam told the House.Despite objections, opposition and demands to drop or amend certain clausesof the Bill, it was passed because of the majority that the BJP and JJPenjoy in the 90-member House.WILL END CONVERSIONS DUE TO LOVE JIHAD IN KARNATAKA: CM YEDIYURAPPAEchoing his counterparts in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh andHaryana, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Thursday said the stategovernment will introduce strong measures to curb religious conversions dueto "love jihad"."There are many reports about conversions due to love jihad. I don't knowabout other states, but in Karnataka we are going to end this. We areviewing the luring of girls with the use of money or love as somethingserious. We will take stern measures," Yediyurappa said at the stateexecutive meeting of the BJP in Mangaluru on Thursday.Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai said, "This issue of love jihad has beenaround for some time and it is a social evil. The thinking is that a law isnecessary."CENTRE'S DELHI ALARM OVER COVID-19The Covid-19 positive cases are rising alarmingly in Delhi.Positive Covid cases are slipping through the cracks.And, a higher positivity rate during RT-PCR tests compared to rapid antigentesting (RAT), which has a high degree of false negatives, is an "alarmbell".These are the main concerns flagged by the Centre to the Delhi governmentduring a high-level meeting chaired by Union Health Minister Dr HarshVardhan Thursday.Among the key recommendations made by the Centre are: Trace 15 closecontacts of at least 80 per cent of positive cases, and test and isolatethem within 72 hours; increase the proportion of RT-PCR tests, specificallyin super-spreader sites; conduct an intensive awareness drive on the linesof the dengue campaign.In teh first week of July, Delhi was reporting around 3,000 cases and 60deaths per day. In mid-August, Delhi, on an average, was registering around1,000 cases and 12 deaths per day. From mid-August to the first week ofNovember, the average daily numbers has reached 5,000 cases and 42 death perday.NO INTERIM RELIEF TO ARNAB IN BOMBAY HCRepublic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, who has been sent to 14 daysjudicial custody in an 2018 abetment to suicide case, failed to get anyinterim relief from the Bombay High Court. The division bench of Justice S SShinde and Justice M S Karnik, which was hearing the case, said it wouldwill hear both the sides and pass an appropriate order tomorrow (Friday).SAUDI ARABIA'S WEALTH FUND BUYS 2.04% STAKE IN RELIANCE RETAIL VENTURESSaudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) will invest Rs 9,555 crore($1.29 billion) for 2.04 per cent equity stake in Reliance Industries'(RIL's) retail arm. This investment values Reliance Retail Ventures (RRVL)at a pre-money equity value of Rs 4.587 trillion ($62.4 billion). The firmssaid the investment would further strengthen PIF's presence in India'sdynamic economy and promising retail market segment.The investment in RRVL follows PIF's earlier acquisition of 2.32 per centstake in Jio Platforms - the digital services subsidiary of RIL.NPCI GIVES APPROVAL FOR WHATSAPP TO GO LIVE ON UPI IN GRADED MANNERThe National Payment Corporation of India, which manages UPI, has decided toallow Facebook backed messaging service WhatsApp to go live on UPI in themulti-bank model. WhatsApp can expand its UPI user base in a graded mannerstarting with a maximum registered user base of 20 million in UPI, NPCIsaid.Though the condition of 20 million will be a dampener, it is some relief forWhatsApp, which began its pilot run two years ago, while it awaitedregulatory clearances to launch its UPI-based payments for its 400 millionusers in India.In a related development, NPCI has capped the share of total number oftransaction that a third party application can process at 30 per cent oftotal volume of transactions processed in UPI, effective January 1,2021.Currently, PhonePe, Google Pay, Paytm, and Amazon Pay, dominate the UPIecosystem, controlling majority of the transactions.According to industryestimates, the biggest player is Google Pay with over a 40 per cent marketshare, closely followed by PhonePe.NO BIG RELEASES IN 2020 AS UNCERTAINTY REMAINS OVER CINEMA HALL ATTENDANCEBlockbusters such as Radhe, starring Salman Khan, Sooryavanshi, featuringAkshay Kumar, and others such as sports drama 83 and Aamir Khan's Lal SinghChaddha have been pushed to 2021 as film producers are uncertain whetheraudiences will return to cinema halls just yet.This comes even as key Hindi film territories, especially Maharashtra,reopened their movie halls yesterday. While the seating capacity is cappedat 50 per cent, it is still good news for the Bollywood film industry thatearns around 20 per cent of its theatre revenues from Maharashtra alone.Given the 50 per cent limit, big-ticket movies will have to be shown indouble the number of theaters or the number of shows will have to bedoubled, sector experts say. This will make it difficult for distributors tokeep a tab on their budgets, which explains the reluctance of producers torelease the blockbusters over the next two months.IPL: MUMBAI IN FINAL AS BUMRAH, BOULT SHINE WITH BALLJasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult fired Mumbai Indians into the final of theIndian Premier League in Dubai on Thursday. The pace aces took six of theeight wickets to fall as the defending champions beat Delhi Capitals by 57runs.Boult, who finished with figures of 2 for 9, including a maiden from his twoovers, kicked off Delhi's demolition by dismissing Prithivi Shaw (0) andAjinkya Rahane (0) in the first over, before Bumrah took over, dismissingShikhar Dhawan (0), Shreyas Iyer (12), Marcus Stoinis (65) and Daniel Sams(0) for figures of 4 for 14 from four overs.Had Stoinis and Axar Patel (42) not put up a gutsy fight, Delhi Capitalswouldn't have finished with 143-8 or even lasted the 20 overs.Surya Kumar Yadav (51 off 38 balls) had earlier laid the platform on whichIshan Kishan (55 not out) and Hardik Pandya (37 no off 14 balls) built totake Mumbai Indians to 200 for 5.This is the sixth time that the Mumbai Indians has made it to the final, 4of which it has won.INDICATORSSensex 41,340 (+724), Nifty 12,120 (+212), Trading Value NSE ,(Rs.crores)55,841.71Nasdaq 11,891 (+300) Dow 28,390 (+543), S&P 3,510 (+67)US$-Rs. 73.99 GBP-Rs. 96.56, Euro-Rs. 87.21, UAE Dhm-Rs.20.14, Can$-Rs.56.49, Aus$- Rs. 53.43GBP 0.76 /US$, Euro 0.84 /US$, Jap.Yen 103.98 /US$, Aus$ 1.38 /US$, Sing1.35 /US$, Bang Taka 83.33 /US$, Can$ 1.30 /US$, Mal Ring 4.14 /US$,Pak Re 159.42 /US$, Phil Peso 48.26 /US$, Russian Rouble 77.42 /US$, NZ$1.48 /US$, Thai Baht 30.85 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 28.08 /US$, Norway NOK 9.23/US$Bitcoin - USD 15,678Dollar Index 92.65 Brent Crude 40.21 BDI 1,224Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,943 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 5,126 / 5,026Silver (Rs. Per KG) 66,100THOUGHT FOR THE DAYWhenever two good people argue over principles, they are both right. - MarieEbner von Eschenbach