Morning: Railways Removes All Unmanned Crossings On Major Routes In Five Months; Nitish Kumar Confirms Seat Sharing Deal With BJP For 2019; And Other News

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

Railways Removes All Unmanned Crossings On Major Routes In Five Months

Working on a war footing, the Indian Railways has managed to remove or man all unmanned crossings on major routes across the country in the last five months. The Railways started working on this project days after at least 13 school children were killed in April when a train rammed into their school van at an unmanned railway crossing near Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh. After the accident in Kushinagar, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal had advanced the deadline to eliminate all unmanned level crossings to September this year. Over 1,272 people have died in accidents at unmanned level crossings since 2007-08.

In April, there were 3,470 unmanned level crossings. Most of these are in low traffic areas and on lines where trains are allowed a low maximum speed. On tracks where trains are allowed to go up to a speed of 130 km per hour, all level crossings have been eliminated, the Indian Express says, adding that only 600 unmanned level crossings will be left by the end of this month. The Indian Railways has either eliminated the crossings by making subways for vehicles or manned by employing ex-servicemen or closed to avoid accidents in the future.

Nitish Kumar Confirms Seat Sharing Deal With BJP For 2019

Setting all speculation to rest, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Sunday that his party Janata Dal (United) has reached a seat-sharing agreement with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Times of India reported. According to the report, he said that the seat-sharing formula for the coming Lok Sabha polls has given JD(U) a “respectable share”. Earlier, Kumar had expressed unwillingness to agree with the BJP’s draft formula of “20-20 seats”. It was also alleged that he was in talks with former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Yadav, jailed for corruption, for a Mahagathbandhan against the BJP.

This development came on the day election strategist Prashant Kishor joined JD(U) at a party meeting in Patna. Kishor is credited with scripting the massive victory of JD(U)-Rashtriya Janata Dal-Congress combine in 2015. Kishor gained prominence after crafting Modi’s campaign for the 2014 elections.

ISRO Successfully Launches Two UK Satellites

In a full-fledged commercial launch, the Indian Space Research Organisation on Sunday put into orbit two British earth observation satellites together weighing around 900 kg from its launchpad in Sriharikota using its reliable workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PLSV). The two satellites, NovaSAR and S1-4, will be used for forest mapping, land use and ice cover monitoring, and disaster relief. The satellites were put into a sun-synchronous orbit 583 km from the earth nearly 17 minutes and 45 seconds after lift-off from the launchpad.

India Test Man Portable Anti Tank Guided Missile For The First Time

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has conducted the first-ever test firing of its man-portable shoulder-launched anti-tank guided missile  (MPATGM) system, Livefist has reported. It was tested at the KK ranges in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar. The system will have to undergo multiple development and user trials before it can meet the requirements of the Army.

The missile is a derivative of the NAG weapon system. The other versions of the missile are the baseline vehicle-launched version and air-launched version HELINA. Earlier this year, the Ministry of Defence had cleared the purchase of 300 NAG missiles with 25 tracked launcher vehicles in a deal worth $70 million.

From Swarajya

‘The Indian Dream’ For Pakistani Hindu Refugees: Pakistani Hindu refugees, from different castes, living in India with a larger Hindu family, are waiting for the day when they’ll be able to drop an identity prefixed to their name.

Key Factors That Will Dominate Chhattisgarh Assembly Election: A fascinating contest is on in Chhattisgarh, while Congress is aiming to cash in on anti-incumbency and make a comeback, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is hoping to consolidate its position further. Five key factors that will determine who wins.

Why The ‘Idea Of University’ Needs An Overhaul: By creating a deliberate climate of hostility, by isolating students from the pulse of the nation and the real needs of people, academics have produced generations of armchair revolutionaries who are neither fit for a revolution nor for the job market.

We hope you enjoyed reading our morning brief. Have a great day ahead!