PANGONG ON BOIL AGAIN: CHINA CLAIMS INDIA FIRED WARNING SHOTS

Days after Indian troops thwarted Chinese manoeuvres and occupied strategic

heights on the south bank of Pangong Tso and Rechin La near Rezang La, the

south bank of the lake appeared to be on the boil again late Monday night

with the Chinese PLA claiming that Indian troops had fired warning shots,

prompting it to "take countermeasures to stabilize the situation on the

ground".

There was no immediate response from the Indian Army or the Ministry of

Defence.

In a statement, Colonel Zhang Shuili, spokesperson for the PLA Western

Theatre Command, claimed the Indian Army "crossed the line and entered

Bangong Hunan, the western section of the Sino-Indian border" and the

"Indian actions seriously violated the relevant agreements and agreements

between China and India, pushing up regional tensions, and easily causing

misunderstandings and misjudgments".

Describing these as "serious military provocations. of very bad nature",

Zhang urged "the Indian side to immediately stop dangerous actions,

immediately withdraw cross-line personnel, strictly restrain front-line

troops, and strictly investigate and punish personnel who fired shots to

ensure that similar incidents do not occur again".

Exactly a week ago, Indian troops occupied strategic heights on the south

bank of Pangong Tso and Rechin La, giving them a commanding view of the

terrain in the Chushul sector. Troops can keep an eye on China's Moldo

garrison and prevent any attempt to ingress via the Spanggur Gap.

On September 4, Army chief General MM Naravane, while reviewing operational

preparedness in eastern Ladakh, said the situation along the Line of Actual

Control was "tense".

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

countering Chinese allegations that Indian troops crossed the LAC, a charge

the PLA repeated Monday night.

With the occupation of these heights, the Indians hope to make the Chinese

return to the disengagement talks table. The PLA has been reluctant to step

back from the north bank of Pangong Tso and Gogra Post after agreeing to

total disengagement.

Acknowledging that the current situation along the Line of Actual Control

was "very serious," External Affair Minister S Jaishankar said that it

called for "very, very deep conversations" between the two sides at a

"political level".

Jaishankar is going to Moscow to attend the Shanghai Cooperation

Organisation foreign ministers' meeting between September 9 to 11, where he

is likely to have his first in-person meeting with his Chinese counterpart

since the standoff began early May.

CASES SURGE, CENTRE REACHES OUT TO HOTSPOT DISTRICTS, FINDS GLARING GAPS

The Centre has received detailed feedback from officers at the district

level, identifying loopholes in the implementation of containment,

surveillance, and clinical management strategies for Covid-19 in several

states. These lapses are said to be the key reasons for the massive spike in

cases in recent weeks.

Following the detection of nearly 6 lakh new infections in the week

beginning August 31, the Centre has over the last few days made a

significant change in targeting its messaging on tackling the novel

coronavirus. It has moved away from addressing states at the level of their

health secretaries, and has instead begun to communicate directly with

administrative officials and chief medical officers (CMOs) who are fighting

the pandemic at the level of the district.

India on Sunday recorded 90,802 new infections, the second straight day of

90,000-plus numbers, signalling an extraordinary surge that has seen daily

detections rise sharply through the previous week. On Monday, however, the

new cases amounted to about 75,000.

India (4.2 million cases) stands only behind US (6.4 million) in total

positive cases detected, But the new daily cases are about thrice the new

cases in US. And the no. of daily Covid-19 deaths is also far higher India.

On Monday India counted 1129 news deaths, while US had 286 and Brazil 315.

KAMATH PANEL IDENTIFIES 26 STRESSED SECTORS, OUTLINES RULES FOR RECAST

An RBI-appointed expert committee on a resolution framework for bank loans

stressed on account of the pandemic has outlined parameters to deal with 26

sectors buffeted by Covid-19. The findings of the committee have been

accepted by the RBI, which on Monday issued a circular detailing the

financial parameters to be followed by lending institutions.

According to the much-awaited report, the pandemic affected retail and

wholesale trade, roads, textiles, and engineering the hardest, while sectors

that were already under stress, such as non-banking financial companies

(NBFC), power, steel, and real estate, piled up more misery due to the

crisis. The committee identified almost all major sectors including auto,

real estate, and aviation.

It also found areas such as agriculture, food, pharma, and IT, among a few

others, that remained mostly unaffected.

The panel, headed by former chief of New Development Bank K V Kamath, did

not specify the amount that would need restructuring, but gave its

recommendations basing itself on parameters after discussion with

stakeholders and rating agencies, and going through financial reports of

companies as well as some of those of the RBI.

But bankers who studied the report said roughly Rs 4-4.5 trillion of loans

would need to be recast even after taking into consideration the economic

recovery in the coming months.

The India Inc leaders are also keenly watching the developments in the

ongoing case in the Supreme Court, which is hearing the 'interest on

interest' during moratorium, and is expected to give its order soon.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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

BREXIT BACK IN CRISIS AS UK THREATENS TO UNDERCUT DIVORCE PACT

Britain's tortuous divorce from the European Union veered into fresh crisis

on Monday after London signalled it could undermine the exit agreement with

Brussels unless free trade terms are agreed by next month.

In yet another twist to the four-year saga since Britain voted narrowly to

quit the EU, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government was reportedly

planning new legislation to override parts of the Brexit Withdrawal

Agreement it signed in January.

That could potentially jeopardise the whole treaty and create frictions in

British-ruled Northern Ireland where special arrangements had been made to

avoid a hard border with Ireland to the south that could be detrimental to a

peace agreement.

Britain said it would honour the divorce deal and was simply offering

clarifications to the part on Northern Ireland to avoid any future legal

difficulties.

But the Financial Times newspaper cited three people as saying the proposed

internal market bill was expected to "eliminate the legal force of parts of

the withdrawal agreement" in areas including state aid and Northern Ireland

customs.

EU diplomats were aghast, cautioning that such a step - leaked on the eve of

new talks in London - would tarnish Britain's global prestige and heighten

chances of a tumultuous final disentangling from the bloc on December 31.

Sterling fell against the dollar and euro.

TRUMP STOKES RIGHT-WING CLAIM ABOUT KAMALA'S 'CHINA LINKS'

US President Trump faced the humiliation of having his tweets flagged on

Monday after relaying a series of incendiary, race-baiting messages from an

account that was eventually suspended by Twitter. The embarrassment came

even as he launched an all-out attack on Democrats, blaming them for

everything from stray violence in some cities to wars and economic woes,

while singling out vice-presidential nominee Kamala Harris for "Chinese

ties" through her husband.

Some of Trump's tweets were so dubiously sourced, so lacking in credibility,

and so inflammatory that Twitter suspended the account @alwaysactions that

he generously relayed from.

On Monday, Trump trained his guns on Harris, retweeting a sketchy story from

a right-wing outlet that she could be vulnerable because DLA Piper, a law

firm her husband Doug Emhoff worked for, "boasts nearly 30 years of

experience in China and over 140 lawyers dedicated to its 'China Investment

Services' branch".

The story invited ridicule on Trump because not only do many major law firms

and lobbying groups have China (and for that matter India) desks, but also

because of Trump's own ties with China, which were public before the

coronavirus debacle. But Trump continued to batter Democrats with the China

hammer, tweeting: "Of course they want Biden. I have taken $Billions from

China and given it to our Farmers and US Treasury. China would own the US if

Biden & (his son) Hunter got in!"

SAUDI ARABIA JAILS 8 IN FINAL RULING ON KHASHOGGI MURDER

A Saudi Arabian court jailed eight people for between seven and 20 years on

Monday for the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, state media

reported, four months after his family forgave his killers and enabled death

sentences to be set aside. None of the defendants was named.

Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was last seen

at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018, where he had gone to

obtain documents for his impending wedding. His body was reportedly

dismembered and removed from the building and his remains have not been

found.

After the ruling, Khashoggi's fiancee said the eight jailed were not the

only ones responsible for the murder.

Some Western governments, as well as the CIA, have said they believed Prince

Mohammed had ordered the killing. Saudi officials denied he played a role.

THE REST

========

BJP'S RAM MADHAV AT TIBETAN UNIT SOLDIER FUNERAL

Sending a strong message to China, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav attended

the funeral Monday of Subedar Nyima Tenzin of the Special Frontier Force, a

covert Indian unit, comprising mostly of Tibetans in India, tasked to carry

out classified missions. This said to be well adept in high altitude

warfare.

Nyima died on August 30 when he stepped on a vintage mine near the south

bank of Pangong Tso. This was around the time Indian forces were occupying

strategic heights in areas of the Chushul sector to turn the tables on the

Chinese - the PLA has been reluctant to complete the disengagement of troops

along the Line of Actual Control.

While the government or the Army has not commented on the death of Nyima,

the presence of Madhav, a senior member of the ruling party, at the funeral

in Leh will rile the Chinese given that the Vikas regiments of the SFF

largely comprise Tibetans in India. Raised during the 1962 war with China,

the SFF remains under the Cabinet Secretariat but functions under the

operational control of the Army.

The Army has not commented on the SFF or its role in the Chushul sector

operations.

CHINA QUESTIONS NATIONALITY OF MISSING ARUNACHAL YOUTHS

Reiterating its claim over Arunachal Pradesh, China on Monday refused to

part with details "about five missing Indians". "China has never recognised

so-called 'Arunachal Pradesh' which is China's south Tibet region, and we

have no details to release yet about question on Indian army sending a

message to PLA about five missing Indians in the region: Chinese FM

spokesperson Zhao Lijian," said a tweet by the state-run Global Times paper

of China.

Five youths from Nacho area of Upper Subansiri district of Arunachal

Pradesh, who went to the Indo-China border with the Army as porters, were

picked up by the Chinese PLA when the boys were on their way back to their

villages.

AFTER THACKERAY, THREAT CALL FOR SHARAD PAWAR, MAHA. HOME MINISTER

Even as police are probing the threat call to blow up Maharashtra Chief

Minister Uddhav Thackeray's private residence here, an anonymous caller

phoned Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh's Nagpur office, threatening

him and NCP chief Sharad Pawar, a minister said.

On Sunday, Mumbai police had beefed up security outside Thackeray's

residence Matoshree after an unidentified caller, claiming to be fugitive

underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's aide, called the bungalow's landline number.

Maharashtra NCP unit president and Water Resources Minister Jayant Patil

said "threats to the chief minister and Sharad Pawar is a serious matter".

"Anti-social elements are trying to raise their heads again. The state home

department will probe the matter," he told reporters.

BIHAR ELECTIONS: RIFT WIDENS BETWEEN NDA ALLIES LJP, JD-U

The rift between the two warring NDA allies - LJP and JD-U - appears to be

widening.

While the LJP on Monday authorised its president Chirag Paswan to take a

call on whether it will fight against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-headed

JD-U and also decided to prepare a list of candidates for 143

constituencies, the JD-U hinted it may not enter into an alliance with the

LJP in the upcoming elections in the State.

The JD-U said any party which is a part of the NDA in the state will have to

accept the leadership of Nitish Kumar.

INDIA SUCCESSFULLY TESTS HYPERSONIC MISSILE

India on Monday successfully flight-tested a Hypersonic Technology

Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV) from APJ Abdul Kalam testing range (Wheeler

Island) in Balasore, Odisha.

The technology has been developed by Defence Research and Development

Organisation (DRDO).

With the successful launch, the organisation has demonstrated capabilities

for highly complex technology that will serve as the building block for

NextGen Hypersonic vehicles in partnership with industry, DRDO said in a

tweet.

Hypersonic weapons essentially combine the speed of ballistic missiles with

the maneuvering capabilities of cruise missiles. They can travel at around 5

times the speed of sound, making them hard to track compared to traditional

missiles.

'RUSSIAN COVID VACCINE TO BE TESTED IN INDIA THIS MONTH'

Clinical trials for the Russian Sputnik V vaccine will be held in India this

month, the chief of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill

Dmitriev told a news agency in an interview where he tackled questions on

whether Moscow had stolen the vaccine and if Sputnik V trials had been done

on too few people as compared to its western competitors.

Besides India, clinical trials will also begin this month in Saudi Arabia,

UAE, the Philippines and Brazil and the preliminary results of this phase

(Phase 3) will be published in October-November, said Dmitriev.

A familiar face in India, Dimitriev said its competitors were working on

technologies such as mRNA that are yet to be proven for safety and efficacy.

While clinical trials of Sputnik V showed no serious adverse events, the

incidence of serious adverse effects for other candidate vaccines ranged

from one to 25 per cent.

FORMER ICICI BANK CHIEF CHANDA KOCHHAR'S HUSBAND ARRESTED

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Monday arrested Deepak Kochhar, husband of

former ICICI Bank chief Chanda Kochhar, in connection with its money

laundering probe into loans disbursed by ICICI Bank to Videocon group for

alleged pecuniary considerations.

ED is probing Deepak and Chanda Kochhar apart from Videocon Group promoter

VN Dhoot for alleged money laundering in the matter of loans disbursed to

the Videocon Group by the ICICI Bank. The loans later turned Non-Performing

Assets (NPA). Videocon Group had allegedly made investments into companies

held by Deepak Kochhar after disbursal of loans cleared by Chanda.

In June this year, ED attached assets worth Rs 78.15 crore belonging to the

Kochhars. These included residential flats, land, cash and plant and

machinery located in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.

KANGANA RANAUT GIVEN Y-PLUS SECURITY AHEAD OF MUMBAI VISIT

Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut was on Monday granted Y plus category

security by the Home Ministry ahead of her visit to Mumbai on September 9.

Kangana thanked Union Home Minister Amit Shah for providing her with the

security. Taking to Twitter, Kangana said: "This shows that no one can crush

a patriot in the country. I am thankful to Home Minister Amit Shah." "Had he

(Amit Shah) wanted, he would have told me to visit Mumbai later but he

respected India's daughter and acknowledged my self-respect. Jai Hind,"

Kangana tweeted.

The move by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to accord security

cover to Kangana comes amid a spat between her and Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut

after she compared Mumbai to Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK).

Earlier on Sunday, Raut demanded that the actor Ranaut apologise for her

comments against Mumbai and Maharashtra.

RHEA CHAKRABORTY FILES COMPLAINT AGAINST SUSHANT'S SISTER, DOCTOR

Actress Rhea Chakraborty, who is accused of abetting the suicide of actor

Sushant Singh Rajput, has filed a complaint with Mumbai Police, accusing

Rajput's sister Priyanka Singh and a Delhi-based doctor of forgery and

preparing a "fake" prescription of medicines for anxiety.

In her complaint sent to the Bandra police here on Sunday, Chakraborty

sought that Priyanka Singh and Dr Tarun Kumar, working with Ram Manohar

Lohia Hospital in Delhi, be booked under relevant sections of the Indian

Penal Code for forgery, the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances

(NDPS) Act and the Telemedicine Practice Guidelines.

US OPEN: SINGLES DOWN TO LAST 8S (ALMOST)

Men's Singles

P. Carreno Busta (20) vs D. Shapovalov (12)

B. Coric (27) vs A. Zverev

A. Rublev (10) vs D. Medvedev (3)

A. de Minaur (21) vs D. Thiem (2)

Women's Singles

J. Brady (28) vs Y. Putintseva (23)

N. Osaka (4) vs S. Rogers

T. Pironkova vs S. Williams (3)

The 4th quarter final match will be played between winners of the following

2 Round-4 matches

V. Azarenka vs K. Muchova (20)

E. Mertens (16) vs S. Kenin (2)

Karolina Pliskova, the No. 1 women's singles seed, was beaten in the second

round by Caroline Garcia.

INDICATORS

Sensex 38,417 (+60), Nifty 11,355 (+21), Trading Value NSE ,(Rs.crores)

46466.05

(US Markets were closed on account of Labour Day)

US$-Rs. 73.26 GBP-Rs. 96.63, Euro-Rs. 86.62, UAE Dhm-Rs.19.94, Can$-Rs.

55.95, Aus$- Rs. 53.33

GBP 0.75 /US$, Euro 0.84 /US$, Jap.Yen 106.25 /US$, Aus$ 1.37 /US$, Sing

1.36 /US$, Bang Taka 83.31 /US$, Can$ 1.30 /US$, Mal Ring 4.15 /US$,

Pak Re 165.05 /US$, Phil Peso 48.61 /US$, Russian Rouble 75.65 /US$, NZ$

1.49 /US$, Thai Baht 31.32 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 27.59 /US$, Norway NOK 8.92

/US$

Bitcoin - USD 10,342

Dollar Index 93.13 Brent Crude 42.07 BDI 1,362

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,926 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 5,059 / 4,959

Silver (Rs. Per KG) 67,220

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

There are means to live and there are reasons to live. Blessed is the man

who has both.- Anonymous

OFF TRACK

It was her first day in office, and Judy arrives very late.

"How come you're late?" asks the boss.

"It was awful," she explains. "I was walking down the street and there was

this terrible accident. A man was lying in the middle of the street; he was

thrown from his car. His leg was broken and there was blood everywhere.

Thank God I took that first-aid course; all my training came back to me in a

minute."

"What did you do?" asks the boss.

"I sat down and put my head between my knees to keep from fainting!"