RAJNATH HOLDS TALKS WITH CHINESE COUNTERPART IN MOSCOW

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Chinese counterpart Gen. Wei Fenghe

held talks in Moscow on Friday on ways to ease escalating border tension in

eastern Ladakh, government sources said.

It is the first high-level meeting between the two sides after the border

row erupted along the Line of Actual Control(LAC) in eastern Ladakh in early

May though External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security

Advisor Ajit Doval held separate telephonic talks with Chinese Foreign

Minister Wang Yi to resolve the standoff.

The focus of the talks between the two defence ministers was said to be on

ways to resolve the prolonged border standoff. The meeting was requested by

the Chinese defence minister, Indian govt sources said.

Both Singh and Wei are in Moscow to attend a meeting of the Shanghai

Cooperation Organisation(SCO) defence ministers which took place earlier in

the day.

Tensions flared up again in the region after China unsuccessfully attempted

to occupy Indian territory in the southern bank of Pangong lake five days

ago when the two sides were engaged in diplomatic and military talks to

resolve the border row. India occupied a number of strategic heights on the

southern bank of Pangong lake and strengthened its presence in Finger 2 and

Finger 3 areas in the region to thwart any Chinese actions.

China has strongly objected to India's move. India has, however, maintained

that the strategic heights are on its side of the LAC. India has also rushed

in additional troops and weapons to the sensitive region following China's

transgression attempts.

In his address at the SCO ministerial meet, Singh said peace and security in

the region demands a climate of trust, non-aggression, peaceful resolution

of differences and respect for international rules. Singh's comments in the

presence of the Chinese defence minister was seen as a veiled message to

China over the border row in eastern Ladakh.

Minister Jaishankar is also scheduled to travel to Moscow next week to

attend a meeting of the foreign ministers of the SCO on September 10. He is

expected to have a meeting with Wang Yi on the sidelines of this meeting.

ARMY CHIEF COUNTERS CHINA: INDIAN ACTIONS ONLY ALONG LAC

Army chief General M M Naravane, who has been reviewing operational

preparedness in eastern Ladakh after Indian troops occupied heights to

thwart Chinese manoeuvres, Friday said the situation along the Line of

Actual Control is "tense".

He said Indian actions have only been along the LAC - this was his way of

countering Chinese allegations that Indian troops crossed the LAC last

weekend.

Indian and Chinese brigade commanders have been meeting regularly ever

since, but the talks have not made much headway.

The Army, General Naravane said in Leh, will ensure that the status quo is

not changed unilaterally. "The situation along the LAC is tense. We have

undertaken precautionary deployment in some areas. The troops are prepared

for all contingencies that may arise. All these actions have been carried

out only along the LAC," he said. He expressed confidence that India and

China can find a resolution to the four-month military standoff via talks.

"Over the past three months," he said, "both sides are engaged in resolving

the situation."

Military and diplomatic channels, he said, are functioning and the "Indian

side is firmly committed to resolve the current situation along the LAC

through engagement. We will continue to utilise all existing mechanisms to

reduce tension and to ensure that the status quo is not unilaterally

changed".

The diplomatic ties will not be normal again unless there is complete

disengagement and de-escalation by its troops on the border, Foreign

Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said yesterday. "It cannot be business as

usual. we are always willing to talk and engage but there will be no

compromise," he said at a webinar organised by the Indian Council of World

Affairs with academics from all over the country. "Even in the depth of the

Covid crisis, we kept the communication lines (with China) open. Ground

commanders are talking as we speak. But it is a fact that unless there is

peace in the border areas, normal bilateral ties will be affected," he said.

RAJNATH, RUSSIAN COUNTERPART MEET, DISCUSS MILITARY COOPERATION

Several media reports say that Russia has accepted India's request to

continue with its policy of not supplying arms to Pakistan. "Russia

reiterated its policy of no arms supply to Pakistan, following India's

request," sources were quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

The reiteration of Russia's policy was made during visiting Indian Defence

Minister Rajnath Singh's meeting with his counterpart Gen Sergey Shoigu in

Moscow Thursday evening.

The Russian Embassy in India tweeted that the Russian Defence Minister

highlighted colossal potential of collaboration between Russia and India

during his meeting with his Indian counterpart.

"Military and technical cooperation were discussed," the embassy said.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for External Affairs, V Muraleedharan, spoke on

the India-Russia Young Scholars International e-Conference 2020 on the 20th

anniversary of India-Russia Strategic Partnership: "The time tested

India-Russia relationship is based on unparalleled mutual trust and respect,

common interests and concurrence on fundamental issues of global affairs."

NEW TAPES SHOW MORE OF NIXON 'HATRED' FOR INDIA, INDIANS

A set of newly declassified White House tapes reveal in stark detail

President Richard Nixon's deep antipathy towards India and Indians, which,

fanned by his National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger, determined United

States policy towards New Delhi in the early 1970s.

At a meeting with a group of senior officials in the Oval Office on June 17,

1971, Nixon disparaged Indian women as the "most unattractive women in the

world", and Indians as the "most sexless" and "pathetic" people. Kissinger

called Indians "superb flatterers" whose "great skill" was to "suck up to

people in key positions".

Contents of the new tapes, which were released in batches up to May this

year, were reported by Prof Gary J Bass of Princeton University in an

opinion piece in The New York Times on Friday. Bass had filed a legal

request for their declassification.

Nixon and Kissinger had deep misgivings about then US Ambassador to India

Kenneth B Keating, who had, much to the dislike of the President and the

National Security Adviser, briefed them on the atrocities committed by

Pakistan on the Bengalis. On the tape, as Nixon wonders why Keating was on

the side of the Indians, Kissinger says: "They are superb flatterers, Mr

President. They are masters at flattery. They are masters at subtle

flattery. That's how they survived 600 years. They suck up - their great

skill is to suck up to people in key positions."

In another passage in the book, Bass wrote: "Nixon bitterly said, 'The

Indians need - what they need really is a-,' Kissinger interjected, 'They're

such bastards.' Nixon finished his thought: 'A mass famine.'"

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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

COVID-19 VACCINE DISTRIBUTION NOT EXPECTED UNTIL MID-2021: WHO CHIEF

SCIENTIST

The large-scale global distribution of vaccines against Covid-19 is not

expected until mid-2021, the WHO chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan told

a press briefing on Friday.

"So realistically speaking, probably the second half, the middle of 2021 -

maybe the second quarter, the third quarter of 2021 - is when we can start

seeing doses actually flowing into countries so that they can start to

immunize their populations," Swaminathan said.

"We expect results from some of the candidates, which are already in Phase 3

trials, to come by the end of the year or beginning of next year, following

which they'll have to be scaling [up] manufacturing to produce the hundreds

of millions of doses that are going to be needed," Swaminathan commented.

TRUMP ANNOUNCES HISTORIC ACCORD BETWEEN FORMER FOES SERBIA, KOSOVO

Former foes Kosovo and Serbia have agreed on a historic pact to normalize

economic relations, US President Donald Trump announced Friday at the White

House.

"A truly historic day," Trump said, with Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti

and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic sitting beside him in the Oval

Office. "Serbia and Kosovo have announced economic cooperation on a broad

range of issues."

Serbia and its former territory, which declared independence in 2008, remain

bitter over a bloody war fought two decades ago.

The European Union failed for nearly a decade to broker a thaw in relations.

The US effort focused on business and commerce, however, with Serbian

negotiators insisting they would not go as far as recognizing Kosovo as a

full-fledged state.

"It took decades because you didn't have anybody trying to get it done,"

Trump said of the deal.

"There was a lot of fighting and now there's a lot of love."

Vucic said Trump had done a "great job" and praised the US president's

commitment to the region, inviting him to visit Serbia.

TRUMP ENCOURAGES SUPPORTERS TO TRY TO VOTE TWICE, SPARKING UPROAR

U.S. President Donald Trump has urged residents in the critical political

battleground of North Carolina to try to vote twice in the Nov. 3 election,

once by mail and once in person, igniting a furor for appearing to urge a

potential act of voter fraud.

"Let them send it in and let them go vote," Trump said in an interview on

Wednesday with WECT-TV in Wilmington, North Carolina. "And if the system is

as good as they say it is, then obviously they won't be able to vote" in

person.

Trump has repeatedly asserted, without evidence, that mail-in voting -

expanded by some states because of the coronavirus pandemic - would increase

fraud and disrupt the November election, although experts say voter fraud of

any kind is extremely rare in the United States.

The Democratic National Committee accused Trump of encouraging voter fraud

and said the president was undermining confidence in the fairness of the

election.

Trump's campaign and the White House later denied that he meant to tell

people to vote twice. "The president is not suggesting anyone do anything

unlawful," White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany told Fox News Channel on

Thursday. "What he said very clearly there is make sure your vote is

tabulated and if it is not, then vote."

THE REST

========

OIL TANKER TOWED FROM SRI LANKA SHORELINE AMID SPILL FEARS

The VLCC New Diamond, on fire off the eastern coast of Sri Lanka, is being

towed out to sea amid fears of a major new oil spill in the Indian Ocean.

The Panamanian-registered vessel, which began burning on Thursday, is

carrying about 270,000 tonnes of crude oil.

Sri Lanka's navy and India's coastguard have attempted to douse the blaze

with water cannon and helicopter drops.

One Filipino crew member died in an engine room explosion that sparked the

fire, the Sri Lankan navy said. The remaining 22 crew, consisting of five

Greeks and 17 Filipinos, were taken off the ship, officials said.

The vessel is owned by Liberia-based Porto Emporios Shipping Inc.

A spokesperson for the Navy said on Friday there was no immediate threat of

an oil spill, but that in the event of a spill Sri Lanka would "definitely

need international support".

As of Friday evening, the Indian Coast Guard has deployed six ships and two

aircraft for fire fighting and pollution response.

BREAK TRANSMISSION CHAIN: CENTRE TO 15 HIGH COVID LOAD DISTRICTS

The Centre on Friday asked leaders of five states with high active case load

and deaths to break the chain of COVID transmission and reduce death rate

below one per cent.

Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan today held a video conference with the

Health Secretaries of 15 districts across Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka,

Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh asking to aggressively test and track patients.

These 15 districts comprise Chittoor, Prakasam, Mysuru, Bengaluru Urban,

Ballari, Koppal, Dakshina Kannada, Davangere, Ludhiana, Patiala, Chennai,

Coimbatore, Salem, Lucknow and Kanpur Nagar.

These have been exhibiting higher active caseload, fatality rates and a

surge in the COVID cases for the past four weeks.

Covid-19 cases in India raced past 4 million on Friday, just 13 days after

hitting the 3 million mark.

While India took the longest time for cases to rise from one to 1 million

(168 days), its subsequent growth in infections has been the fastest.

SC DISMISSES REVIEW PLEAS, JEE, NEET REMAIN ON SCHEDULE

Clearing the way for NEET and JEE (Main), the Supreme Court Friday dismissed

a clutch of petitions, including one filed by Ministers from six

Opposition-ruled states, seeking a review of its August 17 order that

allowed the entrance exams for medical and engineering courses to be

conducted. "We have carefully gone through the review petitions and the

connected papers. We find no merit in the review petitions and the same are

accordingly dismissed," a Bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and B R Gavai

said.

The JEE (Main) started on September 1 and will continue till September 6,

while NEET will be held on September 13.

JIO BROADBAND ANNOUNCES STEEP PRICE CUT

Unlike the runaway success of its telecom services, Reliance Jio's broadband

venture has been underwhelming. A year after its commercial launch, the

broadband business has less than a million subscribers, less than half of

key rival Bharti Airtel's 2.4 million connections. Seen in relation to the

company's ambitious target to enter 50 million homes and enterprises, the

numbers appear even smaller.

But this week Jio decided to take action, announcing an aggressive unlimited

broadband service with an entry price of Rs 399 with 30 mbps speed. The

killer is not only the price; all the new packs offer unlimited usage, which

is a new industry standard. Bundled offers with over-the-top (OTT)

subscriptions are also virtually unmatched - Rs 999 for 11 channels (Amazon

Prime, Disney Hotstar, Zee 5, Sony Liv, Alt Balaji, Voot amongst others but

not Netflix). To include Netflix, and also get speeds of 300 mbps and all

the other 11 OTT channels, the price tag is Rs 1,499.

The offers could force Airtel or BSNL to rethink their price strategies.

SHOWIK CHAKRABORTY, SAMUEL MIRANDA HELD AS NCB PROBES BOLLYWOOD 'DRUG

NETWORK'

Rhea Chakraborty's brother Showik and the house caretaker of late actor

Sushant Singh Rajput were on Friday night arrested by the Narcotics Control

Bureau (NCB) for allegedly procuring non-commercial quantity of marijuana/

ganja from an alleged drug supplier at least 10 times between September 2019

and April this year.

As per the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, for

non-commercial quantity, a person can get immunity from prosecution in lieu

of volunteering for rehabilitation treatment. The NCB generally registers

cases involving marijuana only when about 20 kg or more is involved.

However, the NCB said it was probing if Showik and Samuel Miranda were part

of a "network" involved in buying and selling of marijuana to Bollywood.

With Showik and Miranda's arrests, seven people have been held in a case

filed by the NCB. An NCB official said they will question Showik and Miranda

to find out the intended recipients of the marijuana they had allegedly

procured. The official said that based on what they say, they might call

others for questioning.

Stressing on a larger network, the NCB said it was investigating "the drug

angle in the Sushant Singh Rajput case" and wanted to investigate the case

thoroughly "so as to uproot the drug citadel in Mumbai, especially

Bollywood".

HARBHAJAN SINGH ALSO PULLS OUT OF IPL IN DUBAI

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh on Friday became the second high-profile Chennai

Super Kings cricketer after batsman Suresh Raina to pull out of IPL 2020 in

UAE due to personal reasons. While the veteran off-spinner clearly stated

that he wanted to stay with his family in this 'difficult' time and the CSK

team-management have been very supportive towards his decision, there were

speculations that the 13 personnel, including two cricketers testing

positive for Covid-19, might have had a role in it.

However, a friend of Harbhajan clarified that it was purely personal and the

situation in Dubai had no influence in the off-spinner's decision to opt out

of IPL. A source close to Harbhajan said that it would be "absurd" to

attribute the decision to 13 Covid-19 cases in CSK camp.

"I will not be playing IPL this year due to personal reasons. These are

difficult times and I would expect some privacy as I spend time with my

family. CSK management has been extremely supportive and I wish them a great

IPL Stay safe and Jai Hind," Harbhajan tweeted.

Harbhajan was roped in by CSK ahead of IPL 2018 for his base price of INR 2

crore. CSK now have three front-line spinners - leg-spinner Imran Tahir,

left-armer Mitchell Santner and seasoned leg-break bowler Piyush Chawla, who

was bought for a hefty sum.

THE FUTURE IS NOW: YOUNG STARS STILL PACKING US OPEN DRAW

This year's US Open could be a preview of the players who will go deep in

Grand Slams for years to come. Eleven men aged 22-and-under are in the third

round, marking the most at a major championship since 2005 Wimbledon (13)

and most in New York since 1992. These 11 are: Felix Auger-Aliassime, Denis

Shapovalov, Alex de Minaur, Casper Ruud, Corentin Moutet, Alejandro

Davidovich Fokina, J.J. Wolf, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Andrey Rublev, Taylor

Fritz, Frances Tiafoe.

The seven players aged 21-and-under who reached the third round this year

also marked the most at the US Open since 2008. If history is any

indication, there could be a few future Grand Slam champions among the list.

INDICATORS

Sensex 38,357 (-634), Nifty 11,334 (-194), Trading Value NSE ,(Rs.crores)

55640.17

Nasdaq 11,313 (-145) Dow 28,133 (-159), S&P 3,427 (-28)

US$-Rs. 73.13 GBP-Rs. 97.02, Euro-Rs. 86.57, UAE Dhm-Rs.19.90, Can$-Rs.

55.83, Aus$- Rs. 53.19

GBP 0.75 /US$, Euro 0.84 /US$, Jap.Yen 106.22 /US$, Aus$ 1.37 /US$, Sing

1.36 /US$, Bang Taka 83.23 /US$, Can$ 1.30 /US$, Mal Ring 4.14 /US$,

Pak Re 165.27 /US$, Phil Peso 48.54 /US$, Russian Rouble 75.25 /US$, NZ$

1.48 /US$, Thai Baht 31.34 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 27.45 /US$, Norway NOK 8.91

/US$

Bitcoin - USD 10,441

Dollar Index 92.80 Brent Crude 42.66 BDI 1,395

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,934 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 5,054 / 4,954

Silver (Rs. Per KG) 67,050

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

He knows not his own strength that has not met adversity. - Ben Jonson

OFF TRACK

An interoffice football game was held every year between the company's

marketing and support staff.

The support staff whipped the marketing department soundly. But the

marketing department showed how they earn their keep by posting this memo on

the bulletin board after the game:

"The marketing department is pleased to announce that during the 2020

football season, we came in 2nd place, having lost just one game all year.

However, the support staff had a rather dismal season, as they won only one

game."