JAISHANKAR AND WANG TO MEET TODAY IN MOSCOW

With the crisis in Ladakh deepening after Indian troops occupied key heights and thwarted Chinese moves in the Chushul sector, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi will meet over lunch in Moscow today to try and dial down tensions on the Line of Actual Control.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that Jaishankar and Wang will have a luncheon meeting, hosted by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Tensions have surged in Ladakh where 5000-7000 Chinese troops, backed by tanks and artillery, are in a faceoff with Indian troops who took key heights along the stretch from the Pangong Tso south bank to Rechin La on August 29-30 to turn the tables on the PLA. The Chinese have been reluctant to complete troop disengagement on the Pangong Tso north bank and at Gogra Post. Nearly 50,000 Chinese troops have massed along the Ladakh frontier, and the Indian Army has mirrored the deployment.

Army sources said at Mukpari, where shots were fired Monday evening, a first at the LAC in 45 years, 30-40 Chinese troops continue to be 200-300 metres away from Indian positions.

On the north bank of Pangong Tso too, troops of the two sides are 500 metres from each other on the ridgeline between Finger 3 and Finger 4.

This will be the second meeting of Foreign Ministers of Russia-India-China, the RIC grouping, since the LAC standoff began early May. The last meeting, held via videoconference on June 23, was the first face-time between Jaishankar and Wang after the Galwan Valley clash. They had spoken to each over phone on June 17, two days after the incident in which 20 Indian Army personnel and an unspecified number of Chinese troops were killed in clashes.

Meanwhile, a senior Army officer said that at the brigade commander level talks, India has let China know about certain “red lines” that their troops should not cross. Indian troops have created “wire obstacles” near their positions on the heights, the officer said, and “we have told them that these are red lines”. He said each time the Chinese troops approach Indian positions, “we send them a message through the hotline, and through loudspeakers on the ground” telling them not to come close.

The Chinese, he said, have been trying to “dislodge” Indian troops from their new positions at multiple locations, almost daily.

RAJNATH, FRENCH DEFENCE MINISTER TO ATTEND RAFALE INDUCTION TODAY

More than a month after the first five Rafale fighter jets arrived in India on July 29, they will be formally inducted as part of the 17 Squadron, nicknamed Golden Arrows, today. The ceremony at Ambala Air Force Station will be attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and French Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly.

These five jets are the first batch of the total 36 aircraft that India had bought off-the-shelf through an inter-governmental deal from France in September 2016 for Rs 59,000 crore. The next batch of the jets is likely to arrive in October, and the last of the 36 aircraft will come to India by end of 2021. Since the arrival of the five jets, the focus had been to operationalise the aircraft at the earliest. The pilots and groundcrew had undergone comprehensive training on the aircraft, including the highly advanced weapons systems, before that.

INDIA, FRANCE, AUSTRALIA HOLD FIRST TRILATERAL DIALOGUE WITH FOCUS ON INDO-PACIFIC

India, Australia and France on Wednesday held talks for the first time under a trilateral framework with focus on enhancing cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, a region that has been witnessing increasing Chinese military assertiveness.

The virtual meeting was co-chaired by foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, secretary-general in French ministry for Europe and foreign affairs François Delattre and secretary in Australian department of foreign affairs Frances Adamson. “The focus of the dialogue was on enhancing cooperation in the Indo-Pacific Region,” the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement.

It said the “outcome-oriented” meeting was held with the objective of building on the strong bilateral ties that the three countries share with each other and synergise their respective strengths to ensure a peaceful, secure, prosperous and rules-based Indo-Pacific Region.

The MEA said the three sides agreed to hold the dialogue on an annual basis.

MARATHA QUOTA: CAN STATES GO BEYOND 50% QUOTA? BIGGER BENCH TO DECIDE

A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court Wednesday referred to a Constitution Bench the question whether states have the power to exceed the 50 per cent reservation limit. The 50 per cent ceiling was set by a nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court in its landmark 1992 ruling on Indra Sawhney vs Union of India, which most call the Mandal Commission case.

Wednesday’s reference means the question will have to be answered by at least an 11-judge bench. The reference was made by the bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao, Hemant Gupta and S Ravindra Bhat.

Ruling on petitions challenging the Maharashtra law providing reservation to Marathas in jobs and admission to medical and dental institutions, the bench said the reservation law will not apply to the year 2020-2021.

The law, enacted during the rule of the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government, provided a 16 per cent quota to the Maratha community in the matter of jobs and admissions.

The High Court, while upholding the law, said 16 per cent reservation was not justifiable and that it should not exceed 12 per cent in education and 13 per cent in jobs, as recommended by the Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission (MSBCC). The High Court had said that the “50% limit of reservation can be crossed subject to availability of quantifiable and contemporaneous data reflecting backwardness, inadequacy of representation and without affecting the efficiency in administration”.

The petitioners argued that the quota would breach the 50 per cent ceiling set by the Supreme Court in its ruling on the Indra Sawhney vs Union of India case.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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OXFORD-ASTRAZENECA VACCINE’S TRIAL HALTED AFTER PATIENT FALLS ILL

Pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca on Tuesday halted global trials of its coronavirus vaccine, developed along with Oxford University, because of a serious and unexpected adverse reaction in a participant, the company said. The trial’s halt will allow the British-Swedish company to conduct a safety review.

In large trials, AstraZeneca said, participants do sometimes become sick by chance, but such illnesses “must be independently reviewed to check this carefully.” The firm said it was “working to expedite the review of the single event to minimise any potential impact on the trial timeline”.

AstraZeneca’s vaccine is in Phase 2/3 trials in England and India, and in Phase 3 trials in Brazil, South Africa and the US. The WHO said safety is paramount in vaccine trials and temporary suspensions aren’t unusual to evaluate any unexplained illness .

Meanwhile, a group of researchers from around the world has alleged data discrepancies in a study published in The Lancet last week that reported the Russian coronavirus vaccine candidate, Sputnik V, had been successful in producing an immune response in Covid-19 patients.

Originally written by Enrico Bucci, a biochemistry and microbiology expert at Temple University, US, Monday, the dissenting letter has since received the backing of at least 23 other scientists who have lent their support as co-signatories.

In their open letter to the researchers and Lancet editor Richard Horton, Bucci and others have pointed out that a number of graphs used to present the study results had unexplained repetitive patterns. They have sought the numerical data for all the experiments to evaluate the present study.

U.K.'S NEW LAW 'BREACHES EU TREATY'

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was accused on Wednesday of presiding over a "rogue state" as his government introduced legislation that intentionally breaches its EU withdrawal treaty in the messy countdown to a full Brexit divorce.

Johnson defended the government's approach after its extraordinary admission that the new Bill governing post-Brexit trade in Britain and Northern Ireland breaks international law.

Asked why the British public at large should respect any laws now, the Prime Minister told Parliament: "We expect everybody in this country to obey the law."

In a bad-tempered exchange with Scottish nationalist MP Ian Blackford, Johnson insisted the Bill was about "protecting jobs, protecting growth, ensuring the fluidity and safety of our U.K. internal market". "My job is to uphold the integrity of the U.K. but also to protect the Northern Ireland peace process and the Good Friday Agreement," he added, calling the new Bill a "legal safety net" if the EU makes an "irrational interpretation" of post-Brexit arrangements.

The government maintains its new U.K. Internal Market Bill is needed to smooth trade between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and help power a recovery from the pandemic, once a post-Brexit transition ends this year. But under its EU Withdrawal Treaty, Britain is meant to liaise with Brussels on any arrangements for Northern Ireland, which saw decades of bloodshed until the 1998 Good Friday deal, and will become the U.K.'s only land border with the EU.

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PANAMA RELEASES PRELIMINARY FINDINGS ON WAKASHIO GROUNDING

The Panama Maritime Authority (AMP) has released some preliminary findings from the ongoing investigation of the grounding of the Panama-registered bulker Wakashio on a Mauritius reef.

A delegation of experts from Panama is in Mauritius collaborating in the investigation and AMP says that, while the inquiry is still in the data collection phase, the competent authorities have been able to confirm that on July 25, the Wakashio ship, owned by the Japanese company Nagashiki Shipping Co. Ltd. (Nagashiki Kisen KK), diverted from its navigation plan, which had been approved at the time of sailing from Singapore bound for Brazil. The course modification, says AMP, could have been be related to the celebration of the birthday of one of the crew members.

So far, based on crew statements, the change of course followed instructions from Wakashio’s captain to approach to about 5 miles off the coast of Mauritius, looking looking for a telephone and internet signal, so that the crew members could communicate with their families.

AMP says that the captain of the ship, the chief engineer and the first officer were on the navigation bridge when this improper approach took place, which caused a dangerous situation. alerted, in the first instance, by the Mauritian authorities.

While there were people on the navigation bridge with sufficient experience in assessing the problem, AMP says, it seems the wrong Electronic Nautical Chart was being used and with the wrong scale, which made it impossible to properly verify the approach to the coast and shallower waters.

AMP cites a lack of supervision and monitoring of the navigation equipment and an “excess of confidence” during the watch, as among the factors that could have caused the grounding.

CONG'S ADHIR RANJAN CHOWDHURY STANDS UP FOR RHEA CHAKRABORTY

Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Wednesday batted for actor Rhea Chakraborty, saying her arrest under the NDPS Act is "ludicrous" and her father is entitled to seek justice, the basic tenet of the Constitution.

Chowdhury also said the trial by media is an "ominous portent of our judicial system".

"Rhea's father is a former military officer, served the nation. Rhea is a Bengalee Brahmin lady, justice to actor sushant rajput should not be interpreted as a justice to Bihari.

"Father of Rhea is also entitled to demand justice for his kids, trial by media is an ominous portent for our judicial system. Justice for all is one of the basic tenets of our constitution," he said in a series tweets.

He said Rajput was an Indian actor, but the "BJP turned him into a Bihari actor, only to score electoral brownie points".

"Rhea Chakroborty has been indicted not for abetment of suicide nor murder nor any economic offences, she has been arrested under NDPS, ludicrous. "To please the Political Masters Central agencies have played their roles, after churning the sea they have discovered drugs instead of nectar. Still, they are groping in the dark to identify who is the murderer," he added.

BMC STARTS TO DEMOLISH KANGANA’S OFFICE, GETS A RAP FROM HIGH COURT AND FROM SENA’S ALLIES

On Wednesday morning, the BMC began demolishing Kangana Ranaut’s office for alleged structural violations. However, the Bombay High Court stayed the demolition and said that the action ‘prima facie does not appear to be bona fide and smacks of mala fide’.

Justice S J Kathawalla was hearing a petition filed by Ranaut challenging the notice issued by the BMC for illegal construction at her bungalow. The petition also sought a stay on the demolition process.

Kangana, known for her provocative statements, made harsh remarks against Maharashtra CM. "Uddhav Thackeray, 'tujhe kya lagta hai' (what do you think)?. You think you have taken a huge revenge by destroying my house in collusion with the movie mafia….Today my house is destroyed, tomorrow it will be your ego. The wheels of time keep changing," she said in a video message in Hindi, referring to the chief minister in the informal 'tu'.

Among those who criticized the BMC was the Sena's ally Sharad Pawar, who said the demolition action had "given the actor unnecessary publicity".

Former Mumbai Congress president Sanjay Nirupam did not mince words. “Sitting in Government you cannot do such things. It is sending a very wrong message. She (Ranaut) may be in contact with the BJP, she may be doing all this at the instance of the BJP, but why are you, a political party and that, too, a ruling party falling into such a trap? I cannot remain silent. It looks cheap.”

“Appalled as a Mumbaikar with the state of affairs in the economic capital of India. Maharashtra is Covid-19’s ground zero. Instead of focusing on governance, we’re busy settling political scores. Time for all parties to come together and set our priorities right,” tweeted Milind Deora, another former Mumbai Congress president.

AFTER JIO, FOREIGN INVESTORS PILE INTO RIL’S RETAIL ARM

Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd, which raised $1 billion from Silver Lake Partners on Wednesday, is set to draw additional investments worth $5 billion from other investors.

California-based private equity fund Silver Lake, an investor in Reliance Industries Ltd’s Jio Platforms unit, picked up 1.75% stake in Reliance Retail Ventures for ₹7,500 crore, valuing the company at Rs 4.21 trillion or $57 billion.

The fresh round of investments in the retail business will give parent Reliance Industries more firepower to take on strong rivals such as Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart for supremacy in the Indian organized retail space, where Reliance Retail is aiming to corner a significant market share through an omnichannel approach, analysts said.

BIODIVERSITY LOSS, IN NUMBERS

The WWF’s Living Planet Report 2020, released on Wednesday, has found that there has been a reduction of 68 per cent in the global wildlife population between 1970 and 2016. The report also found that 75 per cent of the the Earth’s ice-free land surface has already been significantly altered, most of the oceans are polluted, and more than 85% of the area of wetlands has been lost during this period.

The most important direct driver of biodiversity loss in the last several decades has been land-use change, primarily the conversion of pristine habitats into agricultural systems, while much of the oceans have been overfished.

The highest biodiversity loss due to land use change globally has been found in Europe and Central Asia at 57.9 per cent, then in North America at 52.5 per cent, Latin America and Caribbean at 51.2 per cent, Africa at 45.9 per cent and then Asia at 43 per cent.

The largest wildlife population loss, according to the Living Planet Index, has been in Latin America at an alarming 94 per cent.

The report also finds that one of the most threatened biodiversity globally has been freshwater biodiversity, which has been declining faster than that in oceans or forests. Almost 90 per cent of global wetlands have been lost since 1700 and global mapping has recently revealed the extent to which humans have altered millions of kilometres of rivers.

US OPEN: SINGLES DOWN TO LAST 4S

In this unique 2020 US Open, full of pandemic-induced changes on and off the courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, three familiar faces cherished the unfamiliar feeling of victory inside a near-empty Arthur Ashe Stadium. Six-time US Open champion Serena Williams and former finalists Daniil Medvedev and Victoria Azarenka all notched quarterfinal wins on Day 10.

Serena, mother of a 3-year old, beat unranked Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, in the quarterfinals. Pironkova also is a mother of a 2-year old.

Daniil Medvedev is back in the US Open semifinals after surviving two tiebreaks—each decided by razor-thin margins—and some late cramps in a three-set victory over childhood friend Andrey Rublev. The match flipped on the first-set breaker, where the No. 3 seed came back from 5-1 down and played one of the shots of the tournament at 6-all to break the spirit of his countryman.

We'll see a rematch of the 2012 and 2013 US Open finals when Victoria Azarenka takes on Serena Williams in the semi-final. The other women’s semi final will be played between Jennifer Brady and Naomi Osaka.

The me’s semi final looks this:

P. Carreno Busta (20) vs A. Zverev (5)

D. Medvedev (3) vs D. Thiem (2)

INDICATORS

Sensex 38,194 (-171), Nifty 11,278 (-39), Trading Value NSE ,(Rs.crores) 54197.63

Nasdaq 11,142 (+294) Dow 27,940 (+440), S&P 3,399 (+67)

US$-Rs. 73.41 GBP-Rs. 95.23, Euro-Rs. 86.54, UAE Dhm-Rs.19.98, Can$-Rs. 55.61, Aus$- Rs. 53.21

GBP 0.77 /US$, Euro 0.84 /US$, Jap.Yen 106.08 /US$, Aus$ 1.37 /US$, Sing 1.36 /US$, Bang Taka 83.33 /US$, Can$ 1.31 /US$, Mal Ring 4.16 /US$,

Pak Re 165.81 /US$, Phil Peso 48.58 /US$, Russian Rouble 75.78 /US$, NZ$ 1.50 /US$, Thai Baht 31.28 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 27.61 /US$, Norway NOK 9.08 /US$

Bitcoin - USD 10,371

Dollar Index 93.19 Brent Crude 40.55 BDI 1,328

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,946 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 5,050 / 4,950 Silver (Rs. Per KG) 68,010

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Good tactics can save even the worst strategy. Bad tactics will destroy even the best strategy. - George S. Patton Jr.

OFF TRACK

One evening a husband comes home to his apartment very roughed up.

When his wife sees him she asks, "What happened to you?"

Husband - "I got into a fight with the apartment manager."

Wife - "Whatever for?"

Husband - "He said he had slept with every woman in the complex except one!"

Wife - "I bet it's that snooty Mrs. Smith on the seventh floor."