INDIA REJECTS CHINA’S ALLEGATIONS, BLAMES BEIJING’S TROOP BUILD-UP FOR TENSION

India hit out at China on Thursday for once again holding it responsible for the eastern Ladakh standoff, asserting that the "provocative" behaviour and "unilateral" attempts by the Chinese military to alter the status quo resulted in a serious disturbance of peace and tranquillity in the region.

India's reaction came in response to China's fresh allegation that the "root cause" of the tensions between the two countries was New Delhi following a "forward policy" and "illegally" encroaching Chinese territory.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said China continues to deploy a large number of troops and armaments in the border areas and it was in response to Chinese actions that the Indian armed forces had to make appropriate counter deployments.

He said it is India's expectation that the Chinese side will work towards an early resolution of the remaining issues along the LAC in eastern Ladakh while fully abiding by bilateral agreements and protocols.

"It was the amassing of a large number of troops by the Chinese side, their provocative behaviour and unilateral attempts to alter status quo in contravention of all our bilateral agreements that resulted in the serious disturbance of peace and tranquillity along the LAC in eastern Ladakh," he said.

He also referred to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's message to his Chinese counterpart at a meeting in Dushanbe earlier this month. "As emphasised by the external affairs minister at his meeting with the Chinese foreign minister earlier this month, it is our expectation that the Chinese side will work towards an early resolution of the remaining issues along the LAC in eastern Ladakh while fully abiding by bilateral agreements and protocols," Bagchi said.

AMARINDER QUITTING CONGRESS, FRESH U-TURN BY NAVJOT SINGH SIDHU

Former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday said that he will end his 52-year-long association with the Congress even as his rival Navjot Singh Sidhu appeared to reverse his decision to quit as state unit chief after a meeting with new CM Charanjit Singh Channi.

Singh said he was leaving the Congress due to humiliation by the party high command and sidelining of senior leaders, but added that he will not join rival BJP.

His announcement came at Chandigarh airport after he landed from Delhi, where he met Union home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday and national security adviser Ajit Doval on Thursday morning. The 79-year-old leader insisted that both meetings were non-political and focused on security and social issues in Punjab.

“I am not remaining in Congress, I am not joining the BJP,” he said.

The developments came on a day the Congress appeared to inch closer to resolving the turmoil roiling its government in Punjab, after Channi met Sidhu. At the two-hour meeting, Channi and Sidhu agreed on the setting up of a coordination panel for prior consultation on all major policy matters and decisions of the government, said people aware of developments. The new panel, which is likely to be constituted by Friday, is also expected to take a decision on two appointments by Channi that were opposed by Sidhu, and were said to be catalysts for his resignation.

‘HOW CAN HIGHWAYS BE PERPETUALLY BLOCKED?’: SUPREME COURT ON FARMERS’ STIR AT DELHI BORDER

The Supreme Court on Thursday took a grim view of the continuing blockade of highways connecting the national capital to the neighbouring states by farmers protesting against the farm laws, saying the roads cannot be blocked perpetually.

“Redressal can be through judicial form, agitation, or parliamentary debates. But how can highways be blocked and this happen perpetually? Where does it end?”, Justices S K Kaul, who was heading a two-judge bench, remarked while hearing a plea by a Noida resident alleging hardships to commuters due to the ongoing protests.

The bench, also comprising Justice M M Sundresh, sought to know what the government was doing to get the roads open for traffic.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the bench that a three-member high-level committee was formed and the farmers were invited to speak but they refused to join.

69% ADULTS GIVEN ONE DOSE, 25% BOTH

Nearly 69 per cent of India’s 94 crore adults have been covered with at least one dose of Covid vaccine and 25 per cent have received both, the Centre said yesterday.

India had crossed the 89-crore dose administration mark as of last night with six states and UTs achieving 100 per cent first dose coverage, 10 states achieving more than 80 per cent first dose coverage, 15 states 60 to 80 per cent, and only seven states with less than 60 per cent coverage.

KEY COVID NUMBERS

Current Active Cases Countrywide: 2,68,546

New Cases in last 24 hours: 27,293

Recovered in last 24 hours: 28,239

Change in no. of Active cases in last 24 hours: -1,228

No. of deaths in last 24 hours (Total Covid Deaths so far): 282 (4,48,372)

Daily Tests (Wednesday): 15,06,254

Daily Positivity Rate (Proportion of Positives among total Tested): 1.5%

Percentage of Population Vaccinated (At Least One Dose / Two Doses): 48.5% / 17.8%

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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

CHINA DELIVERS FIRST BATCH OF AID TO TALIBAN

China has delivered the first batch of its $31 million humanitarian assistance, comprising emergency supplies such as blankets and jackets, to the Taliban’s interim government in Afghanistan. China’s ambassador to Afghanistan Wang Yu and acting minister of refugee affairs of the Afghan caretaker government Khalil-ur-Rehman Haqqani attended the handover event.

Terming China as a “good neighbour and friend of Afghanistan”, Haqqani hoped China could provide further assistance in the future.

Like the rest of the world, China is yet to officially recognise the Taliban’s interim government. However, it has kept its embassy in Kabul open along with Pakistan and Russia while the missions of other countries were shut after the Afghan militant group took control of the war-torn country last month.

FUMIO KISHIDA ALL SET TO BECOME NEW JAPAN PM, WILL SUCCEED YOSHIHIDE SUGA

Japan's former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida has won the governing party leadership election and is set to be become the next prime minister. Kishida replaces outgoing party leader Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who is stepping down after serving only one year since taking office last September.

As new leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, Kishida is certain to be elected the next prime minister on Monday in Parliament, where his party and coalition partner control the house.

THE REST

=========

LONG-DRAWN PROCESSES POSE REAL DANGER TO ACQUIRE DEFENCE TECH, SAYS ARMY CHIEF

Expressing his frustration with the slow and bureaucratic process for capital acquisitions once again, Army Chief General M M Naravane on Thursday said “the danger that our long-drawn procurement processes and bureaucratic speed-breakers would prevent us from acquiring cutting edge technology is a real one”. He also called the system of L1, where the cheapest bidder gets a contract, a legacy of the colonial era.

The Army Chief has been vocal about the speed and complexity of the capital procurement processes on multiple occasions in the past.

On Thursday, he said that although “much work” has been done in bringing about systemic changes with the aim of ease of doing business, it is still a “work in progress”. “There are still archaic rules and processes that defy logic and are at variance to modern best practices. This needs to be addressed,” he said.

PROTEST OUTSIDE SIBAL’S HOUSE ‘HOOLIGANISM’, SAY G-23 LEADERS

Several Congress leaders of the “Group of 23”, which had last year written to party chief Sonia Gandhi demanding an organisational overhaul, yesterday condemned the attack on their colleague Kapil Sibal’s house and termed it “orchestrated hooliganism”.

Former minister P Chidambaram, who is not part of the G-23, also condemned the attack. “Feel helpless when we cannot start meaningful conversations within party forums. I also feel hurt and helpless when I see pictures of Congress workers raising slogans outside the residence of a colleague and MP. The safe harbour to which one can withdraw seems to be silence,” he said.

Former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda termed the attack by a section of Congress workers “orchestrated hooliganism”.

Another former minister Anand Sharma urged the party chief to identify and discipline the miscreants.

Sibal had on Wednesday said there was no president in the Congress at the moment and no one knew who was taking the decisions. Several Congress leaders countered Sibal by saying, “Sonia Gandhi is the Congress president and she is taking all decisions.”

GORAKHPUR RAID DEATH CASTS A SHADOW ON U.P. POLICE

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Thursday met the family of the 38-year-old property dealer from Kanpur who died after a late-night police raid at a hotel in Gorakhpur, accepting most of their demands, including a government job for his wife.

With the Opposition linking the death to his government’s high-handed style of working, the CM also held a meeting where officials were instructed to “improve the working style of the police force”. A tweet by his office said: “There have been complaints against certain policemen of being involved in illegal activities. Such officers must be identified and should face action. Those policemen who are involved in serious crimes should also be dismissed.”

The six policemen part of the raid have been suspended and are facing a murder charge, though no arrests have been made. The post-mortem report shows injuries to his body before death and states cause of death as “coma”.

MAHA. HOME MINISTER WONDERS IF PARAM BIR SINGH HAS LEFT THE COUNTRY

Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil on Thursday said the state government was looking for IPS officer Param Bir Singh and that it was not a “good thing” if he left the country. Patil was responding to reports about investigating agencies fearing that Singh had fled the country.

Talking to reporters, Patil said, “We are looking for his whereabouts.” When asked whether Singh has left the country, Patil said, “I have heard something like that but as a government servant, he cannot leave the country without informing us. We have issued a Lookout Circular (LOC) and if he went away, it is not good.”

The CID has been looking for Singh in order to execute the bailable warrant issued against him by the KU Chandiwal commission after Singh did not appear before it after repeated summons.

Singh had gone on leave from his positing as DG Home Guards on May 7 citing health concerns. He was shunted out as the Mumbai Police Commissioner after the Ambani terror scare case earlier this year.

RBI'S NEW AUTO DEBIT RULES COME INTO FORCE TODAY

With the RBI extended deadline coming to an end, there will be no automatic recurring payment for various services including recharge and utility bill as the additional factor of authentication (AFA) becomes mandatory from today.

Under the new norms, banks will be required to inform customers in advance about recurring payment due and transaction would be carried following nod from the customer. So the transaction would not be automatic but would be done after authentication from the customer.

Most of the banks have informed their customers about the new rules.

HDFC Bank in a bulk message to customers said as per RBI guidelines on e-Mandate on cards, the bank will decline non-compliant recurring transaction at merchant web or app on ‘your Credit/Debit Card from October 1, 2021.’ "Alternate Solution - Retry regular payment on Merchant Web/App authenticated via OTP or Pay via AutoPay in BillPay on our NetBanking for your Electricity /Water/Gas/ Landline/Postpaid mobile/Broadband/Insurance billers," it said.

RBI had said the requirement of AFA has made digital payments in India safe and secure and the primary objective of the framework was to protect customers from fraudulent transactions and enhance customer convenience.

In the interest of customer convenience and safety in use of recurring online payments, the framework mandated use of AFA during registration and first transaction (with relaxation for subsequent transactions up to a limit of 5,000).

IAF OFFICER SAYS SENIORS FORCED HER TO WITHDRAW RAPE COMPLAINT

A 28-year old female Indian Air Force officer at the air force administrative college in Coimbatore who was sexually assaulted, has levelled serious charges against the IAF authorities, including forcing her to withdraw the complaint against the accused flight lieutenant.

The charges found place in the FIR registered by the police based on the complaint by the woman officer at the all-woman police station, after the IAF authorities including the college commandant failed to take any action in the incident, which happened on September 10, till September 20.

The woman also alleged she was subjected to 'two-finger test' at the air force hospital to ascertain rape, which was banned by the Supreme Court a few years ago.

The police had arrested the accused Amitesh Harmukh on September 25.

The IAF had approached the local court Monday, demanding that the accused, since he is a serving officer, be handed over to it to stand trial in general court-martial proceedings in line with provisions of the Air Force Act, 1950.

The Coimbatore Police had retorted that the survivor had approached them after Air Force Authorities failed to help her in the matter.

The accused was finally handed over to IAF yesterday.

TELECOM DEPT ASKS VODA INDIA, AIRTEL TO PAY RS 3,050 CR IN PENALTIES

The telecom department has asked Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel to pay within three weeks Rs 3,050 crore as penalties for allegedly breaking licence terms by denying Reliance Jio Infocomm their networks, two weeks after the government announced a relief package for the industry.

Airtel has to pay Rs 1,050 crore and Vodafone Idea Rs 2,000 crore for the alleged violation of norms on points of interconnection (PoIs) in 2016.

RETURN OF MOVIE MANIA: SILVER SCREEN SET TO HOG THE LIMELIGHT ONCE AGAIN

A rebirth of the film industry is imminent with nearly 100 films ready for release in the next four months and the Maharashtra government allowing cinemas to reopen after October 22.

Maharashtra is key for the Hindi film business (32 of the 100 are Hindi) because it accounts for between 27 and 30 per cent of its all-India box office collections, largely determining the success or failure of a movie.

The state also accounts for a fifth of the country’s 3,000 multiplexes and 400 single screens. Once the cinemas in Maharashtra reopen, it means that nearly 97 per cent of the country’s total movie screens will be open, either with 50 per cent seating restrictions or at full capacity.

Multiplex chains have decided to push for doubling the gap between the theatrical release of a movie and its release on an OTT platform from four to eight weeks from April 2022.

The move could bring them at loggerheads with OTT players who had narrowed the gap between the two releases to four weeks in the wake of Covid-related restrictions in cinemas halls. Production houses without the financial muscle to hold on to a movie for long periods have negotiated deals with OTT players to reduce the gap to get a better price for their content since box-office collections were muted because of low occupancy in theatres.

OLYMPIANS’ EQUIPMENT ARE THE TOP PICKS AT E-AUCTION OF PM’S MEMORABILIA

With the e-auction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mementos entering its last week, the items gifted to the PM by this year’s Olympic medallists remain the top picks.

On the block at the virtual auction – to continue till October 7 — are 1,340 items, which include the T-shirt worn by Avani Lakhera (with a base price of Rs 15 lakh), a stole with the signatures of the Olympians (base price of Rs 90 lakh), the fence used by Bhavani Devi, Rakshak Brand hockey sticks used by the Women and Men Hockey teams, and an autographed badminton racket used by P V Sindhu.

The javelins used by gold medallist Neeraj Chopra and paralympic gold medallist Sumit Antil have received highest bids so far —Rs 1,00,10,000 and Rs 1,00,01,000, respectively — though the offerings have not been much higher from their base price of Rs 1 crore each.

The proceeds from the e-auction will go towards the Namami Gange Mission.

The memorabilia also include a replica of the Ayodhya Ram Mandir presented to the PM by UP CM Yogi Adityanath, a wooden replica of the Chardham presented by Uttarakhand Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj and a memento of the Victory Flame presented to the PM by General Bipin Rawat, celebrating 20 years of the Kargil War.

IPL MATCH 44: CSK TROUNCE SUNRISERS TO SEAL PLAY-OFF BERTH

Chennai Super Kings had things their way as they cruised to a six-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League match, in Sharjah, on Thursday.

Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis scored 45 and 41 runs respectively before Ambati Rayudu and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni overcame a late wobble to take Chennai Super Kings over the line in the final over.

The victory enabled the Super Kings consolidate their position on top of the table and become the first team to seal a place in the play-offs in IPL 2021.

Chasing 135, the Super Kings got off to a decent start, du Plessis and Ruturaj scoring 27 in the first four overs.

Earlier, Chennai Super Kings put up another disciplined bowling performance to restrict Sunrisers Hyderabad to 134 for 7.

The Sharjah surface, which produced high-scoring games last year, has been a complete contrast this season with its slow nature making stroke-making difficult.

Each of the 8 teams have played 11 matches now – CSK have won 9, DC 8, RCB 7, KKR 5, MI 5, PBKS 4, RR 4, SRH 2

Today’s Match – KKR vs PBKS

INDICATORS

Sensex 59,126 (-287), Nifty 17,618 (-93), Trading Value NSE (Rs.crores) 72,973

Nasdaq 14,449 (-64) Dow 33,844 (-547), S&P 4,308 (-52)

US$-Rs. 74.14 GBP-Rs. 99.78, Euro-Rs. 85.92, UAE Dhm-Rs.20.18, Can$-Rs. 58.32, Aus$- Rs. 53.46

GBP 0.74 /US$, Euro 0.86 /US$, Jap.Yen 111.70  /US$, Aus$ 1.38 /US$, Sing 1.35 /US$, Bang Taka 84.24 /US$, Can$ 1.27 /US$, Mal Ring 4.18 /US$,

Pak Re 170.48 /US$, Phil Peso 50.96 /US$, Russian Rouble 72.74 /US$, NZ$ 1.45 /US$, Thai Baht 33.75 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 26.47 /US$

Bitcoin - USD 43,545

Dollar Index 94.34, Brent Crude 78.16 BDI 5,167

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,731 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 4,549 / 4,449, Silver (Rs. Per KG) 63,000

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Many times we overestimate the problems and underestimate our potentials. Faith in ourselves alone will give us the true estimate of both.

OFF TRACK

An American minister was arrested for being drunk, high, and for wearing a skirt. 

"Why is that illegal?" asks a Scotsman. "Where I am from, if you see a guy drunk, stoned out of his mind, and wearing a skirt, you say, 'Good morning, Grandpa!'"