PREPARED TO FIGHT A FULL-FLEDGED WAR IN WINTERS IN LADAKH: ARMY

The Indian Army has drawn comparisons between its preparedness and capacity

to weather the extreme conditions in the icy Himalayan heights and declared

that it is "well prepared for the prolonged standoff in eastern Ladakh"

where PLA troops have created an explosive situation.

A spokesman of the Northern Command said: "Altitudes in Ladakh range from

High to Super High Altitude and there is a lot of snowfall, after the month

of November up to 40 feet of snow is experienced. Coupled with this,

temperature dipping down to minus 30-40 degrees is a usual phenomenon. Wind

chill factor makes matters further worse for the troops. The roads also get

closed due to the snow. But despite all this, most encouraging part for

India is that the Indian soldiers have a huge experience of winter warfare

and are psychologically tuned to operate at short notice. While this fact is

known to the world, the operational logistics capabilities are hardly

known."

Rebutting China's state media, particularly Global Times, that the Indian

Army would not be able to withstand the harsh conditions in Ladakh heights,

the spokesman said that it can be best attributed to the "ignorance" of

Chinese media. "The Indian Army is fully prepared and more than capable of

fighting a full-fledged war even in winters in Eastern Ladakh."

The spokesperson said that logistic capability relates to mobility, habitat

and billeting, quality services from health, special rations, repair and

recovery, heating systems, high-quality weapons, ammunition and quality

clothing. While much of this capability existed earlier and troops could

simply plug and play, a lot has also been boosted since May this year when

China showed first signs of aggression.

The Indian Army has experience in Siachen where conditions are much more

demanding than the frontiers with China. Traditionally there were two routes

for moving into Ladakh, that is through Zojila and Rohtang Passes.

Compared to Indian troops that are battle-hardened physically and

psychologically, Chinese troops are mostly from urban areas and not used to

hardships or prolonged deployment under field conditions, the spokesperson

said.

"China's concept has always been to win wars without fighting; hence if they

create conditions for a war, they will come across a better trained, better

prepared, rested and psychologically hardened Indian troops. These worries

have been percolating the minds of Chinese troops and are visible in Chinese

media," the spokesperson added.

NO CHINESE INFILTRATION IN LAST 6 MONTHS: MOS IN RAJYA SABHA

The govt yesterday said there has been no infiltration from across the

Sino-Indian border over the past six months while 47 attempts were made

along the India-Pakistan border during the period. In Jammu and Kashmir, we

have adopted a multi-pronged approach, including multi-tiered deployment,

improved intelligence, fencing and technological solutions, to contain

infiltration, according to a statement by the govt in parliament.

The Congress promptly attacked the Centre for denying any infiltration along

the Indo-China border terming the claim as an insult to martyrs who died in

Galwan.

"Understand the chronology. The PM said no one crossed the border. Then he

took a huge loan from a China-based bank. Then the Defence Minister said

China occupied our land. Now, MoS Home says there's no infiltration. Is Modi

govt with Indian Army or with China?" tweeted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi,

who's currently in US, accompanying his mother Sonia Gandhi for her annual

medical check-up.

TATA PROJECTS WINS BID TO CONSTRUCT NEW PARLIAMENT BUILDING

The Tata Projects Ltd has won the bid to construct the new Parliament

building at a cost of Rs 861.90 crore. It pipped Larsen and Toubro Limited

that had submitted a bid of Rs 865 crore.

The new Parliament building is part of the Centre's Central Vista project.

It had been challenged in the Supreme Court while Opposition have also

raised questions. The govt has justified its decision to build a new

Parliament building by saying that current one was "showing signs of

distress and over-use".

The Central Vista is an iconic three-km stretch in the heart of New Delhi

that runs from the Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate. Flanked by large green

spaces and containing significant structures such as Parliament, the

Secretariat buildings and the National Archives, it is recognised around the

world as a striking example of innovative urban planning and architecture.

The Opposition has suggested that the Rs 20,000-crore Central Vista project

should be cancelled to put in that money for the country's fight against

Covid pandemic.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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

FED VOWS TO KEEP INTEREST RATES NEAR ZERO UNTIL INFLATION RISES

The US Federal Reserve kept interest rates pinned near zero on Wednesday and

made a bold, new promise: to keep them there until inflation is on track to

"moderately exceed" the US central bank's 2 per cent inflation target "for

some time."

The new guidance marks a monetary policy shift, first announced by the Fed

last month, that is aimed to offset years of weak inflation and allow the

economy to keep adding jobs for as long as possible.

"Effectively what we are saying is that rates will remain highly

accommodative until the economy is far along in its recovery," Fed Chair

Jerome Powell said in a news conference following the release of the central

bank's latest policy statement and economic projections.

"That should be a very powerful statement in supporting economic activity"

and returning inflation to the Fed's 2 per cent inflation goal faster, he

said, adding that he thinks the forward guidance will be "durable"

PAKISTAN PARLIAMENT JOINT SESSION PASSES 3 FATF-RELATED BILLS TO AVOID BEING

BLACKLISTED

A joint sitting of Pakistan's Parliament on Wednesday passed three crucial

Financial Action Task Force-related legislations, as part of the

government's efforts to escape from being blacklisted by the global money

laundering and terrorist financing watchdog.

The three legislations were part of efforts by Pakistan to move from the

FATF's grey list to the white list.

The Islamabad Capital Territory Waqf Properties Bill is aimed at proper

management, supervision, and administration of Waqf properties in the

territorial limits of Islamabad Capital Territory.

The Anti-Money Laundering (Second Amendment) Bill, 2020 is "aimed at

streamlining the existing anti money laundering law in line with

international standards prescribed by FATF", said the publication.

According to the Anti-Terrorism Act (amendment) Bill, 2020, the

investigating officer, with the permission of the court, can conduct covert

operations to detect terrorism funding, track communications and computer

system by applying latest technologies in 60 days. The court may extend the

period for another 60 days.

The bill said funding for terrorism was a major obstacle in the country's

development and a source of disgrace to it. Terrorism funding was benefiting

those elements which were not only a threat to internal and external peace

of the country but also its allies, it said.

THE REST

========

GOVT SETS UP GROUP UNDER CYBER SECURITY HEAD TO PROBE CHINA WATCHING

Taking up the matter with the Chinese Ambassador, the govt Wednesday set up

an expert committee under the National Cyber Security Coordinator to study

the revelations in China Watching, an investigation by The Indian Express,

that a Shenzen-based company, with links to the Chinese government, is

monitoring over 10,000 Indian individuals and entities.

The "targets," as the ongoing investigation has revealed, include President

Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, key Opposition leaders and

men and women from across a range of disciplines, politics, legislature,

science and strategy to business, judiciary and the media. This is a subset

of the huge group of hundreds of thousands of people worldwide that were

being watched by Zhenhua Data, the Chinese firm.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the matter was taken up with the

Chinese govt. He said a representative of Shenzen Zhenhua has in a statement

"stated that the data collected was from open sources and is no different

from its peer organisations in Western countries." They have, he said,

denied accessing private information from confidential sources. "As for the

OKIDB (Overseas Key Information Database), the company claimed that this was

a mechanism to connect individuals to the social media that they use," he

said.

Jaishankar's response came hours after Congress members raised the issue

during Zero Hour.

LOK SABHA CLEARS BANKING REGULATION (AMENDMENT) BILL

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday cleared the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill,

2020, a law that aims to protect the interest of depositors by bringing

cooperative banks under the regulatory framework of RBI. Opposition parties

were demanding that the Bill be withdrawn and sent to the Select Committee,

terming it an "infringement or encroachment" upon powers of states and

federal structure and the cooperative movement in the country.

The Finance Minister, while making it clear that the law will only cover

cooperative societies acting like banks, said the aim of the legislation is

only to ensure that depositors of cooperative banks, a large number of which

are in the red, do not suffer. "No one is infringing upon the power of

States or federalism. Banking and regulation of banking is definitely under

Central list. State cooperative laws are not being touched," she said.

Adding that no one can deny the success story of cooperatives, Sitharaman

said one also needs to keep in mind the fact that in past two decades 430

cooperative banks have been de-licenced and gone into liquidation, whereas

not a single commercial bank, whose depositors are protected by the

depositors law, have gone under liquidation.

IMA PUBLISHES LIST OF 382 DOCTORS WHO DIED OF COVID

The Indian Medical Association on Thursday published a list of 382 doctors

who succumbed to COVID 19 in the line of duty and demanded adequate

compensation for their families. IMA in a statement also demanded that

doctors who died of COVID be treated as martyrs for purposes of

compensation.

"To feign that doctor death data doesn't merit the attention of the nation

is abominable. If the Government doesn't maintain the statistics of total

number of doctors and health care workers infected by Covid 19 and the

statistics of how many of them sacrificed their life due to the pandemic, it

loses the moral authority to administer the Epidemic Act, 1897, and the

Disaster Management Act. This also exposes the hypocrisy of calling them

corona warriors on one hand and denying them and their families the status

and benefits of martyrdom," says IMA president Rajan Sharma.

IMA also questioned MoS for Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey for stating before

Parliament that public health comes under states and so the insurance

compensation data is not available with the Union Government. This amounts

to abdication of duty and abandonment of the national heroes who have stood

up for our people, said IMA.

CBI COURT TO GIVE JUDGMENT IN BABRI DEMOLITION CASE ON SEPT 30

A special CBI court hearing the Babri mosque demolition case will pronounce

its judgment on September 30.

Judge SK Yadav has directed all accused to remain present in the court on

the day of judgement.

Prominent among the 32 accused are former deputy prime minister LK Advani

and BJP leaders MM Joshi, Kalyan Singh, Uma Bharti and Vinay Katiyar.

The arguments of the defence and prosecution concluded on September 1.

ANTI-CAA PROTESTERS WANTED TO ENGINEER DELHI RIOTS, NOT JUST BLOCK ROADS,

SAYS CHARGE SHEET

The Delhi Police Wednesday filed its charge sheet in a special court against

15 people in the Northeast Delhi riots case, and claimed that the main aim

of the "key conspirators" was not to hold a chakka jam (blockading a road)

protesting the Citizenship Amendment Act, but to "engineer a riot" and

"ensure communal skirmish".

The police charge sheet said the anti-CAA protests were planned and the

organisers engineered the riots to bring a "bad name to the government". It

alleged that the core committee - key members of which were Umar Khalid,

Sharjeel Imam, Safoora Zargar, the Pinjra Tod collective as well as the

Popular Front of India - held a series of meetings planning the protests,

and also discussed possible consequences of thee plan, including the

possibility of riots and violence. But they still went ahead with it, the

police stated, adding that this is "evidence" to justify booking the accused

in a case of conspiracy.

CAN'T JUSTIFY LICENSE GIVEN TO BJP STALWARTS IN DELHI RIOTS - JULIO RIBEIRO

TO POLICE CHIEF

A day after Delhi Police Commissioner S.N. Shrivastava wrote back to veteran

cop Julio Ribeiro assuring him that the investigation into the February

riots in the national capital was being conducted without any

discrimination, Ribeiro Wednesday hit back saying the commissioner did not

explain the "license given to three BJP stalwarts".

"There are doubts in my original open letter which you have not addressed. I

realise that it is difficult, indeed impossible, to justify the license

given to the three B.J.P. stalwarts I named - licence to rant, rave and

threaten those who are peacefully protesting perceived wrongs," Riberio has

written in his mail to the Delhi police commissioner, released to the media.

"If the speakers were Muslims or Leftists the police would have surely taken

them in for sedition!", he further wrote.

Ribeiro had written to Shrivastava Sunday where he had questioned why BJP

leaders Kapil Mishra, Anurag Thakur and Parvesh Verma have not been brought

in for questioning by the Delhi Police in connection with the riots.

Shrivastava, however, had written back to Ribeiro Tuesday defending the

police's action.

DR REDDY'S BAGS RUSSIAN DEAL FOR SUPPLY OF COVID VACCINE IN INDIA

Russia's sovereign wealth fund RDIF will supply 100 million (10 crore) doses

of Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine to drug maker Dr Reddy's Laboratories upon

getting regulatory approval in India, a statement said on Wednesday.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and Dr Reddy's Laboratories have

agreed to cooperate on clinical trials and distribution of Sputnik V vaccine

in India, RDIF and Dr Reddy's said in a joint statement.

On August 11, the Sputnik V vaccine developed by the Gamaleya National

Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology was registered by the

ministry of health of Russia and became the world's first registered vaccine

against Covid-19 based on the human adenoviral vectors platform.

Deliveries could potentially begin in late 2020 subject to completion of

successful trials and registration of the vaccine by regulatory authorities

in India, the statement added.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories co-chairman & MD G V Prasad said that the company is

pleased to partner with RDIF to bring the vaccine to India. The Phase I and

II clinical trials have shown promising results. "We will be conducting

Phase-III trials in India to ensure safety and efficacy for the Indian

population and to meet the requirements of the Indian regulators. Sputnik V

vaccine could provide a credible option in our fight against COVID 19 in

India," he added.

SUMEDH SAINI: PUNJAB TOP COP WHO'S BEING HUNTED BY FORCE HE HEADED

The top IPS officer who tackled militancy in Punjab with an 'iron fist', the

state's youngest ever director general of police is now a wanted man.

The 1982-batch IPS officer and former Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini had been

on the run for 15 days from the very police force he once commanded until

Tuesday when the Supreme Court stayed his arrest.

Saini is wanted by the Punjab Police in a 29-year-old case of abduction and

murder of a Sikh youth during the days of militancy in Punjab.

Multiple police teams of the Punjab Police had raided various residences of

Saini in Punjab, Himachal and New Delhi, but the decorated police officer

whose mere mention evoked terror among militants, managed to elude the

police.

A Mohali court had on 11 September issued non-bailable warrants against

Saini after the Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissed his anticipatory

bail plea on 8 September. But the Supreme Court Tuesday stayed his arrest

until further orders.

Saini has in his defence before the courts termed the entire exercise as a

"political and personal witch hunt" launched at the behest of Chief Minister

Captain Amarinder Singh who, he alleges is motivated by a "strong animus"

against him.

A protege of the celebrated IPS officer K.P.S. Gill, Saini's image in the

state is that of a strong and brave officer who took on terror with an iron

hand but one given to excesses, arrogance and misuse of power.

Saini was also once a trusted officer of Chief Minister Captain Amarinder

Singh but he lost his backing in 2005 during Amarinder's first tenure as

chief minister.

AUS WIN MANCHESTER THRILLER BY 3 WICKETS; WIN SERIES

Glenn Maxwell and Alex Carey centuries guided a thrilling chase to help

Australia win the series. At 73/5, their backs were against the wall, but

the writing wasn't finished yet as two splendid tons from Alex Carey (106)

and Maxwell (108) helped Australia overtake England's 302/7

It's the first bilateral ODI series England have lost at home since 2015!

Earlier, England made a fantastic recovery from a horror start to end with

302/7 after 50 overs. Captain Eoin Morgan won the toss and decided to bat

first in Manchester but they lost two wickets in the first two balls of

their innings. But from there on Jonny Bairstow steadied the ship and

finished with a belligerent 112. A quickfire fifty from Chirs Woakes helped

England cross 300.

Scores: England 302/7 (50.0); Australia 305/7 (49.4)

INDICATORS

Sensex 39,303 (+259), Nifty 11,605 (+83), Trading Value NSE ,(Rs.crores)

50,980.18

Nasdaq 11,050 (-140) Dow 28,032 (+37), S&P 3,385 (-16)

US$-Rs. 73.47 GBP-Rs. 95.07, Euro-Rs. 86.99, UAE Dhm-Rs.20.00, Can$-Rs.

55.77, Aus$- Rs. 53.75

GBP 0.77 /US$, Euro 0.84 /US$, Jap.Yen 105.10 /US$, Aus$ 1.36 /US$, Sing

1.35 /US$, Bang Taka 83.62 /US$, Can$ 1.31 /US$, Mal Ring 4.12 /US$,

Pak Re 165.94 /US$, Phil Peso 48.35 /US$, Russian Rouble 74.94 /US$, NZ$

1.48 /US$, Thai Baht 31.07 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 27.87 /US$, Norway NOK 9.01

/US$

Bitcoin - USD 10,943

Dollar Index 93.47 Brent Crude 42.07 BDI 1,289

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,947 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 5,158 / 5,058

Silver (Rs. Per KG) 69,000

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

The natural flights of the human mind are not from pleasure to pleasure but

from hope to hope. - Samuel Johnson

OFF TRACK

Three weeks after her wedding day, Barbara called her minister. "Reverend,"

she wailed, "John and I had a horrible fight!"

"Calm down, my child," said the minister, "it's not half as bad as you

think. Every marriage has to have its first fight!"

"I know, I know!" said Barbara. "But what am I going to do with the body?"