| Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day's biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. We hope you are staying safe. India says it was the PLA that opened fire along the LAC Hours after the Chinese Army claimed that Indian troops opened fire along the disputed Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, the Indian Army said on Tuesday morning that it was actually Chinese troops that had fired a few rounds in the air. Following fresh tensions, Army chief Gen Manoj Naravane briefed Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on the ground situation, a defence source said. "In the instant case on September 7, it was the People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops who were attempting to close-in with one of our forward positions along the LAC and when dissuaded by own troops, PLA troops fired a few rounds in the air in an attempt to intimidate own troops," an Army spokesperson said in a statement. "However, despite the grave provocation, own troops exercised great restraint and behaved in a mature and responsible manner," he said. No shots have been fired along the disputed boundary between India and China since 1975. Stating that India was committed to disengagement and de-escalating the situation along the LAC, the spokesperson said, "China continues to undertake provocative activities to escalate. At no stage has the Indian Army transgressed across the LAC or resorted to use of any aggressive means, including firing." In a late-night statement on Monday, the PLA had accused the Indian Army of illegally crossing the LAC and entering the south bank of Pangong Lake and the Shenpao mountain area and "outrageously firing warning shots". China has confirmed five youngsters from Arunachal are in PLA custody, says Rijiju  A signboard is seen from the Indian side of the Indo-China border at Bumla, in the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. File The five youngsters from Arunachal Pradesh who were allegedly captured by the PLA less than a week ago have been found in China, Union Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs Kiren Rijiju has said. "China's PLA has responded to the hotline message sent by Indian Army. They have confirmed that the missing youths from Arunachal Pradesh have been found by their side. Further modalities to hand over the persons to our authority are being worked out," the Minister tweeted on Tuesday evening. Rijiju is the BJP MP from the Arunachal West constituency that covers the Upper Subansiri district. Officials in Arunachal Pradesh hoped the PLA would return the five teenagers soon, just as the Indian Army had handed over 13 yaks and four calves to China on September 7. The animals had strayed into East Kameng district west of Upper Subansiri on August 31. The five teenagers from the Nacho area of Upper Subansiri district had gone hunting to the Tungdara Mountain or Sera-7, close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China. They went missing on September 4 and members of their families claimed they were taken away by PLA personnel. NCB arrests Rhea Chakraborty  Rhea Chakraborty arrives at Narcotics Control Bureau office in Mumbai on Tuesday. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) today arrested actor Rhea Chakraborty on charges of allegedly procuring drugs, in a case linked to the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Chakraborty reached the NCB office, located at Ballard Estate in south Mumbai, around 10.30 am in a car escorted by a Mumbai Police vehicle. She had been questioned by the NCB for about eight hours on Monday and six hours on Sunday. The NCB had started its inquiries based on WhatsApp chats retrieved from Chakraborty's phone, which allegedly revealed conversations around procuring drugs. The agency, in its remand application, sought judicial custody of Chakraborty till September 21. PUBG Corp says China's Tencent won't publish mobile game in India  A boy plays an online game PUBG on his mobile phone sitting outside his house. File PUBG Corp, the unit of a South Korean company behind PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG), will no longer give Tencent Games the rights to publish its popular mobile game in India, it said in a blog. The announcement came a week after India banned 118 apps, mostly of Chinese-origin and PUBG among them, to step up pressure on Beijing amidst tensions along the border. "Moving forward, PUBG Corporation will take on all publishing responsibilities within the country," the company said, adding that it was exploring ways to provide gaming experiences to Indian users. Tencent, which ran the franchise in India, confirmed that PUBG Corp would take on the responsibilities of publishing the mobile game in India. "Our existing cooperation with PUBG Corporation in global markets other than India is not affected," Tencent said in a statement. India is the game's biggest market by number of users. Opposition to put up joint candidate for Deputy RS Chairman  A view of the Parliament House building in New Delhi. File The Congress today decided that the Opposition will put up a joint candidate for the post of Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman and it will reach out to various parties in this regard. The decision comes ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament starting September 14 and was taken at the Congress Parliamentary strategy group meeting chaired by party chief Sonia Gandhi. The meeting was attended by the party's leaders in both houses, including Rahul Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad, and leader of the Congress party in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. The incumbent, Harivansh Narayan Singh from the Janata Dal (United), was elected to the post in 2018. He demitted office when his Rajya Sabha term ended this year. But he has since been re-elected to the House, making him eligible to hold the post again. While the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is expected to once again pick him as their candidate for the post, the Congress may ask the DMK to contest the election. Maharashtra scraps 70:30 quota for medical admissions The Maharashtra government has scrapped the 70:30 region-wise formula for admission in medical courses in the State. The formula implied reservation for 70% locals (from that region) in medical colleges and 30% from the rest of the State. Making an announcement in the State Assembly, Medical Education Minister Amit Deshmukh said admissions would now be based on the results of students who have appeared for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET). "Instead of the 70:30 quota, it would be 'one Maharashtra, one merit,'" the Minister said. Students and parents in the State had since long been demanding the scrapping of the contentious 70:30 formula for admissions in medical courses. Under the quota, 70% seats in medical colleges were reserved for students in their districts. The number of medical colleges in the State's Marathwada and Vidarbha regions is less compared to other areas. Hence, students from these regions felt that they were at a disadvantage when it came to getting admission in medical colleges. Evening Wrap Vaccine Watch: Scientists question Russia's findings  In this handout photo taken on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020, and provided by Russian Direct Investment Fund, a new vaccine is on display at the Nikolai Gamaleya National Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology in Moscow, Russia. Just four days after the results of the Phase-1/2 trials of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine for the novel coronavirus was published in The Lancet, a group of 16 scientists has written an open letter to the authors of the paper and Dr. Richard Horton, editor of the journal, raising questions about the integrity of the published data. The letter by Enrico M. Bucci, Adjunct Professor at Temple University, who is well known for his work in biomedical scientific integrity, along with 15 other scientists from Italy, Japan, Germany and France, has raised concerns over "potential data inconsistencies" in the published paper. "With a group of colleagues, I found the data presented in the recent paper on The Lancet a bit puzzling. We need access to the original data," Dr. Bucci tweeted. Stating that the scientific community should "pay even more attention to the scientific evidence and the underlying data," they pointed out the importance of making data "fully available for close scrutiny". "In lack of the original data… the research described in the article published by The Lancet presents several different points of concern," they wrote. "The points raised [by the 16 scientists] are valid. Without access to the actual data, the points and patterns on the graphs look too similar at multiple places. This raises concern about the data, and therefore the way this vaccine was tested," virologist Dr. Shahid Jameel, CEO of the DBT-Wellcome Trust India Alliance, said in an email to The Hindu. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 43,38,106 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 73,506. Notwithstanding the concerns raised about Russia's vaccine development process, the Central government today said Russia has requested India's help in the manufacturing of its vaccine by Indian companies and for conducting phase three studies in India. Russia rolled out the first batch of its Sputnik V vaccine for public use today. Earlier in the day, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan wrote to Railways Minister Piyush Goyal urging him to resume the 'Shramik Special' trains from Odisha to other states to facilitate the return of migrant workers to their workplaces. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. | 
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