Morning Brief: Mayawati May Skip Opposition Meet On 10 December; Train 18 To Be Launched On 25 December Between New Delhi, Varanasi; And More

Good morning, dear reader! Here’s your morning news brief for today.

Mayawati May Skip Opposition Meet On 10 December

Bahujan Samaj Party chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati is likely to skip the meeting of opposition parties called by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu on 10 December. According to an NDTV report, efforts of the Congress to convince her representative Satish Chandra Mishra have also failed. Earlier, Mayawati had refused to forge an alliance with the Congress in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, and tied up with Ajit Jogi’s party in Chhattisgarh instead of the Rahul Gandhi-led Congress.

The opposition get-together will come just a day before the results of assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram. Votes will be counted on 11 December. The winter session of Parliament is also scheduled to begin on 11 December and will end on 8 January.

Train 18 To Be Launched On 25 December Between Delhi, Varanasi

India’s first engine-less train, known as Train 18, is likely to be launched on 25 December between New Delhi and Varanasi. According to reports, the Indian Railways is yet to chalk out a final plan for the train. However, according to the tentative plan, the train will leave the New Delhi station at 6am and will reach Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency, at 2pm. For the return journey, the train will start at 2.30 pm from Varanasi and reach the national capital at 10.30pm.

Train 18 had crossed the 180 km per hour speed limit during a trial run on Sunday in the Kota-Sawai Madhopur section. Sharing a video of the trial run on Twitter, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal had quipped, “Zor Ka Jhatka Dheere Se Laga”. If the tracks and the signal systems of the Indian Railways permit, the train can touch the speed of 200km per hour. However, for now, the train will only be allowed to run at a maximum speed of 160 km per hour.

Kerala Minister Compares Sabarimala Priest To Donkeys

Kerala’s Public Works Department minister and senior leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) G Sudhakaran on Monday compared the Sabarimala temple head priest to donkeys. Addressing a gathering Kerala's Alappuzha, the minister said that the donkeys in the temple town have more grace than the priest. According to reports, the minister said, “At the temple town, it is the donkeys that do most of the work. Till date they have not gone on any protest”.

The minister’s remarks are consistent with the Left Democratic Government’s Sabarimala policy, which has turned a blind eye to the protests at Sabarimala and has used overwhelming force to evict those protesting against the Supreme Court’s verdict despite the Kerala High Court’s rap. The High Court had slammed it for using excessive police force against devotees under the guise of implementing the verdict of the apex court.

NRC: Out of 40 Lakh Left Out, Only 7 Lakh File Claim As Deadline Nears

Out of the 40 lakh left out of the first draft of Assam’s National Register for Citizens, which was aimed at identifying illegal immigrants in the state, only around seven lakh people have filed new claims for inclusion in the list, The Indian Express has reported. The Supreme Court has fixed 15 December as the last date for the submission of claims. The process had begun on 25 September.

On 1 November, the apex court had allowed the use of five additional documents in applications for inclusion of names in the NRC. These include the 1951 NRC, electoral roll up to 24 March 1971, citizenship certificate, refugee certificate and ration card. The draft NRC, which was published on 30 July, included the names of 2.9 crore people out of the total applications of 3.29 crore.

ED Attaches “Fraudulently” Acquired Plot In National Herald Case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached a plot of land in Haryana’s Panchkula allotted to Associate Journals Limited (AJL), which publishes the National Herald newspaper. The ED’s action, which is linked to the National Herald case, comes after the agency said that the plot was acquired “fraudulently”. The plot was allotted to the company by Haryana’s former chief minister and senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda. According to ED sources, Hooda caused a loss of Rs 65 lakh to the exchequer by granting the land to AJL

The plot, allotted in 1982, was cancelled in 1995 as AJL did not use it. According to the ED, it was “dishonestly and fraudulently” reallocated to AJL in 20005 by Hooda. Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi, the chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance, are accused in the National Herald case and were granted bail by a Delhi court in 2015.

Rajhdhani Successfully Reaches Speed Of 160 Km Per Hour

During the trial run of Rajdhani rake on Mumbai-Delhi route by the Railways’ Research Design and Standards Organisation, the train successfully achieved the speed of 160 km per hour. The trials were conducted in October and November using the WAP-5 locomotive engine in push-pull mode. The Mumbai-Delhi route is capable of handling high speed and Rajdhanis on this route may run at 160 km per hour after the proposal is approved.

Explaining the push-pull mode, RDSO’s chief public relation officer A K Sinha said, “Two electric engines were fitted at the both ends of Rajdhani. While one engine pulled the train, the other pushed it with its additional power. It was found that push-pull mode can also cruise like ‘Train 18’ trainset”.

From Swarajya

Banks’ Biggest NPA Is 4 Per Cent CRR: RBI Can Kill Three Birds With One Stone By Cutting It: It is time for the RBI to reduce the single biggest NPA in banks’ portfolio by cutting CRR drastically. If the RBI does not do it now, it will miss the bus.

Speaking Of Ancestors, And Fake News Vendors: Instead of trying to demean the story of the lower-caste tea-seller, who worked his way up from nothing, it would be better if the retainers introspected about the less-than-sterling and in fact highly dubious pedigree of their precious dynasty.

Recalling The India-Pakistan War 1971: Every year, 16 December is marked as Vijay Diwas, though not as enthusiastically as it should be, but it is 3 December which receives little attention.

How Catholic ‘Repackaging’ Of An Indian Fable Destroyed Its Purpose: The eccentric adventures of Paramartha Guru and his disciples aim to ignite the spirit of self-worth and independent inquiry, but it was stealthily usurped by the Christian missionary to serve its own heinous end.

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