LIVE: Rajnath Singh holds talks with his Chinese counterpart in Moscow

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3:08 AM

Faceless approach in taxation to bring down compliance cost: Finance secy

Finance Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey on Friday said that when the world was turning faceless and digital, it was time for tax administration to also go faceless and eliminate the physical interface between the taxpayer and the Income Tax department.
 

Speaking at a webinar on ‘Transparent Taxation: India's Tax system becomes fearless, painless and seamless’, the finance secretary said that the tax system was going to be entirely data-driven and seamless tax reforms would change the way taxes are paid in the country. Read more

3:06 AM

America will stand up for dissidents, defenders of human rights in China under my watch: Biden

Democratic presidential candidate and former vice president Joe Biden has said that under his watch, America is going to stand up for the dissidents and defenders of human rights in China.
 

“Under my watch America is going to stand up for the dissidents and defenders of human rights in China,” Biden said.
 

“We have to lead not just by the example of our power, but (by) the power of our example,” Biden said in response to a question during a virtual fundraiser.
 

“Look at the example we're setting around the world. This guy has embraced every autocrat in the world. And he's poked his thumb in the eye of our allies and friends. And look at all the people who know better. And they remain silent,” Biden said as he slammed the policies of President Donald Trump whom he is challenging in the November presidential elections.
 

“I've had a lot of meetings over the years... probably met more with Xi Jinping than any world leader just because President Obama asked me to get to know him when he was vice president. I travelled 17,000 miles and in China made it real clear: We don't need war... I want to make one thing clear, you either play by the rules or we don't play. You got to pay a price for violation of human rights. There's plenty of ways economically that can occur,” Biden said.
 

3:04 AM

Defence minister Rajnath Singh meets his Chinese counterpart in Moscow

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday pushed for restoration of status quo ante at all friction points in eastern Ladakh during talks with his Chinese counterpart Gen. Wei Fenghe in Moscow, in the first highest level face-to-face contact between the two sides after the border row erupted in Ladakh in early May.
 

The focus of the talks that lasted nearly two and a half hours was on ways to resolve the prolonged border standoff, sources said.
 

Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar and Indian Ambassador to Russia D B Venkatesh Varma were part of the Indian delegation at the talks that began at around 9:30 pm(IST) at a prominent hotel in Moscow following a request from Gen. Wei.
 

"The meeting between Raksha Mantri Shri @rajnathsingh and Chinese Defence Minister, General Wei Fenghe in Moscow is over. The meeting lasted for 2 hours and 20 minutes," Singh's office tweeted.
 

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has previously held telephonic talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the border standoff.
 

Sources said the Indian delegation strongly objected to Chinese army's fresh attempts to change the status quo in the southern bank of Pangong lake in eastern Ladakh and insisted on resolution of the standoff through talks.
 

The Indian side wanted restoration of status quo ante at all friction points in eastern Ladakh, the sources said.
 

3:02 AM

GLOBAL MARKETS: Stocks falter as tech stays weak, dollar dips after three-day run

A gauge of global stocks fell for a second straight day on Friday and marked its biggest weekly percentage drop in nearly three months, while the dollar ran out of steam, ending a three-day run higher, after a US payrolls report painted a weaker economic picture.

 

US job growth slowed in August as financial aid from the government was depleted, with nonfarm payrolls increasing by 1.371 million jobs versus 1.734 million in the prior month.
 

Expectations were for the addition of 1.4 million jobs. The unemployment rate fell to 8.4% from 10.2%.
 

"It points in the right direction, but still leaves some question marks as 8.4% of unemployment is still a high rate," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York. "They certainly point to recovery, but yet a weak recovery."
 

On Wall Street, stocks remained under pressure for a second consecutive session, as technology shares again played an outsized role. The tech sector dropped 1.34% and suffered its biggest two-day percentage drop in almost six months.
 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 159.42 points, or 0.56%, to 28,133.31, the S&P 500 lost 28.13 points, or 0.81%, to 3,426.93, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 144.97 points, or 1.27%, to 11,313.13.
 

US markets are closed on Monday for the Labor Day holiday.
 

The pan-European STOXX 600 index lost 1.13% to close down 2.03% on the week. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.95% to end the week and give the index its biggest weekly percentage drop since mid-June.
 

10:05 PM

Italian GP: Hamilton fastest ahead of Bottas in 2nd practice

Mercedes again topped the leaderboard as Lewis Hamilton posted the fastest time ahead of teammate Valtteri Bottas in second practice Friday for the Italian Grand Prix.
 

The championship leader finished .262 ahead of Bottas, who was quickest in first practice. McLaren driver Lando Norris was third, .897 slower than Hamilton.

Ferrari improved slightly in the second session at its home track. Sebastian Vettel went from 19th in P1 to 12th, and Charles Leclerc moved from 11th to ninth, but both were more than a second slower than Hamilton.
 

Both Ferrari drivers ran off track and Leclerc was heard saying over team radio, "The car is so hard to drive.” Hamilton has won five of the seven races and is 47 points ahead of Red Bull rival Max Verstappen and 50 ahead of Bottas.
 

Verstappen was fifth in the second session, 1.036 slower than Hamilton. He finished in the same position in first practice after spinning at the Ascari chicane, sidelining him for 25 minutes as his car was repaired.
 

“Not a good day struggling with grip and balance in general,” Verstappen said. “So quite a bit of work to do.” Earlier, Bottas posted the fastest time in first practice. The Finnish driver's best lap was .245 seconds quicker than Hamilton and .797 ahead of Red Bull driver Alexander Albon.
 

10:03 PM

Update: Rajnath meets Chinese counterpart

Amid heightened border tension in eastern Ladakh, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday held talks in Moscow with his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe.
 

Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar and Indian Ambassador to Russia D B Venkatesh Varma are part of the Indian delegation at the talks that began at around 9:30 PM (IST) at a prominent hotel in the Russian capital.
 

It is the first highest level face-to-face meeting between the two sides after the border row escalated in eastern Ladakh in early May. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has previously held telephonic talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the border standoff.
 

Singh and Wei are in Moscow to attend a meeting of the defence ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) which took place earlier in the day.

9:57 PM

Rajnath holds talks with Chinese defence minister

Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar and Indian envoy to Russia D B Venkatesh Varma part of Indian delegation in talks with Chinese Defence Minister

9:56 PM

Rajnath Singh holds talks with his Chinese counterpart in Moscow

This is the first high-level meeting between the two sides after the border row escalated in eastern Ladakh in early May though External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held telephonic talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the row.
 

Singh and Wei are in Moscow to attend a meeting of the SCO defence ministers which took place earlier in the day.
 

The sources said the meeting has been requested by the Chinese defence minister.
 

Indian and Chinese troops are engaged in a bitter standoff in multiple places in eastern Ladakh.
 

Tensions flared up 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 festering 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. However, India has maintained that the heights are on its side of the LAC.
 

India has also rushed in additional troops and weapons to the sensitive region following the Chinese attempts.
 

Army Chief Gen MM Naravane is currently on a two-day visit to Ladakh to carry out a comprehensive review of the security situation in the region in view of the Chinese attempts.
 

9:50 PM

Credit guarantee scheme needed for startup loans: SBI economists after change in RBI norms

Startups lack collateral against which loans can be availed, and a credit guarantee scheme is essential to ensure that benefits of the Reserve Bank's new priority sector lending reach the new-age enterprises, economists at SBI said on Friday.
 

Other measures of the newly drafted guidelines of RBI, like moves to address regional disparities in credit and loans to farmers for installing solar plants, were welcomed by the economists.
 

Earlier in the day, the Reserve Bank came out with revised guidelines for priority sector lending (PSL) which included lending of up to Rs 50 crore to startups to be included in the priority sector portfolios.
 

Banks are mandated to lend over 40 per cent of their advances to priority sectors and penalised with parking the shortfall in low interest-earning instruments.
 

The SBI economist explained that startups do not have collateral and performance evaluation mechanism matrix. Hence, it will be interesting to see how the lenders can diversify their risk appetite while lending to startups which do not meet traditional security/collateral/cash flow requirements.  "We believe a suitably structured guarantee scheme from the government could be helpful in the current scenario to give an impetus to lend to start-ups," they said in a note.
 

9:49 PM

Finance Comm advisory panel suggests providing range for fiscal deficit targets for Centre, states

The economic advisory panel of the 15th finance commission on Friday suggested providing a range rather than a number as fiscal deficit targets for both the Centre and states in a report, the commission's chairman N K Singh said on Friday.
 

Singh said as the pandemic has created a more uncertain world, the commission did not brush aside the suggestion, however, a final decision on providing a range as fiscal deficit targets is yet to be taken.
 

"Looking at the uncertainties, I felt that, there was merit at looking at a range than a number... Having a range will be in congruity with what you have in monetary policy with +/- 2 per cent (inflation target) and that we could, no doubt, while giving fiscal number say that the central number is this, and it will be more realistic," Singh told reporters here.
 

Singh, however, said that providing a range of fiscal deficit would require amendments in the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act.

"It (providing a range) would mean revisiting the FRBM law which provides for giving a fixed point of fiscal deficit," Singh said.

9:49 PM

Customs to probe links between accused in Kerala gold smuggling and Bengaluru drug trafficking

The Customs department has decided to investigate the alleged links between a key accused in the Kerala gold smuggling case and a prime accused in the Bengaluru drug trafficking, even as a political slugfest erupted between the Congress and CPI(M) over the issue.
 

Sources said one of the arrested people in the gold smuggling is suspected to have links with a prime accused in the Bengaluru drug trafficking case.

They said the Customs will move an application in Court seeking to further investigate the man, who is currently in judicial remand, in view of his alleged contacts with the key drug trafficking case accused.
 

"We would like to know the nature of contacts between the arrested persons in the two separate cases," an official said.
 

Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala demanded an investigation into CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan's son's alleged link with a key accused in the Bengaluru drug trafficking.
 

Stepping up his attack against CPI(M) over the issue, Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, Chennithala, on Friday said it was reported that drug trafficking accused Mohammed Anoop and gold smuggling accused Ramees had contacted over phone several times.
 

Addressing a press conference in
 

Thiruvananthapuram, he claimed Kerala CPI (M) secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan's son Bineesh Kodiyeri has admitted that he had connection with Anoop.

9:48 PM

BJP condemns Sena protests against Kangana

The BJP on Friday condemned Shiv Sena protests against actor Kangana Ranaut even as the former distanced itself from her remarks likening Mumbai to PoK and stating that she feared the metropolis' police more than the mafia.
 

The women's wing of the Shiv Sena had carried out protests against her in Mumbai and Thane, and had shouted slogans as well as slippered her photographs and effigies.
 

Taking to Twitter, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis' wife Amruta Fadnavis said, "We may not agree with what someone has to say, but we must defend the right to express in democracy! Freedom of speech, freedom of belief, freedom of movement, freedom of press-cannot b suppressed! We can have counter arguments but beating posters of critics with chappals is a new low."
 

Former state minister and BJP leader Ashish Shelar, meanwhile, said, "We completely disagree with Kangana's comments about Mumbai and residents of this city. I also want to ask Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut not to attack BJP from the shoulders of actor Ranaut."
 

9:47 PM

One more held in connection with DYFI activists' killing in Kerala

Police on Friday arrested one more person, a local INTUC leader, who was absconding after two DYFI activists were hacked to death on Onam festival eve allegedly by Congress workers.
 

With this, eight people have been arrested by the investigation team.
 

Earlier, police had arrested seven people, including a woman, who had allegedly helped the accused to escape after the crime.
 

"We have arrested one accused from his hiding place near here.A total of eight have been arrested till now.
 

One more person is to be nabbed," the investigating officer told PTI.
 

Mithilaj (30) and Haq Muhammed (24) of the CPI(M)'s youth wing DYFI were fatally attacked with sharp edged weapons at nearby Venjaramoodu on Sunday night.

The killings are suspected to be a fallout of political rivalry between the CPI(M) and the Congress workers.
 

The CPI(M), heading the ruling LDF coalition, had alleged that Congress and its MP Adoor Prakash were involved in the matter.

9:47 PM

Gunmen kill 22 people in 2 attacks in Nigeria's middle belt

Gunmen have killed at least 22 people in Nigeria's central Niger state in two attacks this week, local officials said Friday.
 

The killings of civilians and local defense force members were blamed on armed bandits who have been staging an increasing number of attacks in Nigeria's middle belt.
 

“The Nigerian authorities have left rural communities at the mercy of rampaging gunmen who have killed at least 1,126 people in the north of the country since January, Amnesty International said in a statement last month.
 

In the latest attack, the gunmen had been planning to attack and kidnap residents in Dukku in the Rijau local government area on Thursday, but their attempts were thwarted by local defense force members, according to Kabiru Maikundi, a retired army colonel who coordinates security in Niger state.
 

The clashes led to the deaths of some bandits and at least 17 local defense fighters, said local council chairman Baba Bello. He did not specify the number of bandits killed.
 

9:35 PM

Rajnath set to meet Chinese Defence Minister in Moscow shortly

In the midst of heightened tensions in eastern Ladakh, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is set to hold talks with his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe on Friday evening in Moscow, government sources said.
 

The meeting is scheduled to start at 9:30 PM (IST), they said. It will be the first high-level meeting between the two sides after the border row escalated in eastern Ladakh in early May though External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held telephonic talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the row.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh