From The Newsroom: Indian Army says 'fully prepared for war'; Babri Masjid demolition case judgement on September 30

In your evening news brief, From The Newsroom, Indian Army says fully prepared to fight a full-fledged war even in winters; Babri Masjid demolition case judgement on September 30 and Delhi Police files charge sheet in northeast Delhi riots case.

Here are the top news of today, Wednesday: September 16, 2020:

Asserting that it is fully prepared to fight a full-fledged war even in winters in eastern Ladakh, the Indian Army on Wednesday said if China created conditions for war, they will face a better trained, better prepared, fully rested and psychologically hardened Indian troops. In a statement, it said compared to physically and psychologically battle-hardened Indian troops, Chinese troops mostly are from urban areas and not used to hardships or prolonged deployment under field conditions. The Army' Northern Command headquarters made these assertions reacting to China’s official media Global Times reports that India's operational logistics is not geared up adequately and it will not be able to fight through winters effectively. “This can best be attributed to ignorance. Indian Army is fully prepared and more than capable of fighting a full-fledged war even in winters in eastern Ladakh,” a Northern Command spokesperson said here. “India is a peace-loving country and wishes to have good relations with its neighbours. India always prefers to resolve issues through dialogue. While talks are in progress to resolve the border issues with China in eastern Ladakh, at the military level it is well prepared for the prolonged stand-off,” he said. He said altitudes in Ladakh range from “high to super-high altitude” and there is a lot of snowfall – up to 40 feet after November. “Coupled with this, the temperature dipping down to minus 30 to 40 degree Celsius is a usual phenomenon. Wind chill factor makes matters even worse for the troops. The roads also get closed due to the snow. But despite all this, the 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,” the spokesperson said. While these facts are known to the world, he said, adding the operational logistics capabilities, however, are hardly known.

Delhi Police on Wednesday filed a charge sheet before a city court under the stringent law UAPA and various sections of the IPC against 15 persons for larger conspiracy in northeast Delhi riots in February.

According to the sources, those named in the charge sheet are Taahir Hussain, Mohd Parvez Ahmed, Mohd Illyas, Saifi Khalid, Ishrat Jahan, Miran Haider, Safoora Zargar, Asif Iqbal Tanha, Shahdab Ahmed, Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita, Tasleem Ahmed, Saleem Malik, Mohd Saleem Khan and Athar Khan.

Special cell of Delhi Police told Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat that it has relied upon CD-R and Whatsapp chats.

In the charge sheet running into 10,000 pages, the police has listed 747 witnesses and of them 51 have recorded their statements under CRPC 164 (before the magistrate).

The final report has been filed under stringent Unalawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), various sections of Indian Penal Codes and Arms Act.

The police said it has given chronology of conspiracy and relevant events in its charge sheet which is likely to be taken up for consideration in the coming days.

“The evidence includes WhatsApp chats of February 24, the time when riots were happening. At that point, key conspirators were guiding their foot soldiers about violence in the area. The key conspirators were directly in touch with their foot soldiers,” police said.

“WhatsApp groups were used by conspirators for 'violence in Seelampur-Jafarabad area. There were 25 protest sites in 25 cities. 25 WhatsApp groups were especially created for each city. The impression was given that they were anti-CAA protest group but through these sites conspirators were being guided,” it said

The Special Cell said that Tahir Hussain, Khalid Saifi and Umar Khalid had allegedly planned to carry out massive violence in the Capital during US President Donald Trump visit in Delhi.

The much awaited judgement in the Babri Masjid demolition case, in which several senior BJP leaders, including L.K.Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti and Kalyan Singh are accused, would be pronounced by a special CBI court here on September 30.

Special Judge (CBI) S.K.Yadav has directed all the thirty two accused persons to be present in the court on that day. There were in all 49 accused persons in this case to start with but 17 of them have died since then.

The accused persons, who died during the pendency of the trial, included, former VHP international president Ashok Singhal, Giriraj Kishore, Vishnu Hari Dalmiya, Mahant Avaidyanath and Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray's father Bala Saheb Thackeray.

According to the lawyers representing the CBI and the defendants, the special judge was currently busy writing the judgement.

The supreme court had directed the special CBI judge to deliver the verdict by September 30.

The cases, which pertained to the demolition of the disputed structure in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992 by thousands of 'karsevaks', were heard on a daily basis by the special CBI judge.

Soon after the demolition of the disputed structure two FIRs were registered at the Ram Janmabhoomi police station in Ayodhya against unidentified 'karsevaks', Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and BJP leaders.

Forty seven other FIRs were also registered later.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Russias sovereign wealth fund, and Dr Reddys Laboratories Ltd. have agreed to cooperate on clinical trials and distribution of Sputnik V vaccine in India. Upon regulatory approval in India, RDIF shall supply to Dr. Reddys 100 million doses of the vaccine, Dr Reddys said in a release on Wednesday. The Sputnik V vaccine, which is based on well-studied human adenoviral vector platform with proven safety, is undergoing clinical trials for the coronavirus pandemic, it said. Deliveries could potentially begin in late 2020, subject to completion of successful trials and registration of the vaccine by regulatory authorities in India, the release said. Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said RDIF is very pleased to partner with Dr. Reddys in India. Dr. Reddys has had a very well established and respected presence in Russia for over 25 years and is one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in India, he said. "India is amongst most severely impacted countries from COVID-19 and we believe our human adenovirus dual vector platform will provide a safe and scientifically validated option to India in the battle against COVID 19," the release quoted Dmitriev as saying. RDIF partners will receive an effective and safe drug to fight the coronavirus. The platform of human adenoviral vectors, which is the core of the Russian vaccine, has been tested in more than 250 clinical studies over decades, and it has been found safe with no potential negative long-term consequences, Dmitriev said.

Sandalwood actress Sanjjanaa Galrani, who has been arrested in a Sandalwood linked drug peddling case and is in police custody (PC), was taken to KC General hospital around 12.05 pm for a medical test including a Covid-19 test.

The Sandalwood couple Aindrita Ray and Diganth appeared before the central crime branch (CCB) officials at CCB office on Wednesday.

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