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Morning Brief: First Operational Launch Of GSLV, Railways Introduce Surge Pricing, Rafale Deal At Final Stages
Swarajya Staff
Sep 08, 2016, 07:14 AM | Updated 07:14 AM IST
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Good Morning, Swarajya Readers! Here’s What You Need To Know Today.
Major Milestone For GSLV & ISRO
ISRO has begun the countdown for the first operational launch of its GSLV vehicle powered by an Indian built cryogenic engine. The GSLV has seen nine launches so far but today’s launch is its first commercial, operational launch. Only five of the previous launches have been successful.
Cryogenic engines are notoriously hard to develop. They involve mastering technologies that store fuel (liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen) at extremely low temperatures of minus 250 C and sustained firing of the rocket motors for more than 10 minutes.
Today’s GSLV launch will put INSAT 3DR into orbit, a satellite built, among other things, for night time imaging.
Rafale Fighter Deal Close To Finalisation
The next meeting of the Cabinet Committee On Security (CCS) may finally clear the long pending acquisition of 36 Dassault Rafale fighter jets. Coming at a price tag of 7.25 billion Euros the deal will include significant technology transfers. Some 16 critical technologies are said to have been offered by France.
France will also invest or source 50% of the value of the deal from Indian defence and aviation sectors. Reports also say that assistance may be in offing to develop the locally built Kaveri jet engine which has been plagued by difficulties for decades now.
Railways Introduces Surge Pricing
Railways will soon introduce flexi-fares on three of express trains - the Rajdhani, the Duronto and Shatabdi. Reports says that prices will be set to increase at the rate of 10% for every 10% of the berths being sold.
The tatkal quotas will remain as they are. They will be priced at 1.5 times the base fares of the respective classes except in 1AC and EC classes.
Don’t Kill Goats
A public interest litigation has been filed in the Supreme Court today demanding that the court ban the mass, public slaughter of goats on the occasion of Bakr-Eid.Citing the Prevention of Cruelty To Animals Act the petition says that the killing of lakhs of goats is cruel, inhuman, barbarian” and cannot be protected in the name of religion.
The Supreme Court has in the recent past not hesitated to intervene in matters of religion. It has stopped the millennia old tradition of jallikattu and has evven imposed restrictions on Dahi-handi human pyramids. Meanwhile the Madras High Court has ordered a ban on the slaughter of camels on Eid. It said camels cannot be allowed to be slaughtered without any basic hygienic slaughter facilities.
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