Morning Brief: Speeding Up Triple Talaq Hearings; Rs 10,000 Crore Rail Infrastructure Upgrade; Ujjwala Milestone On Cards

Good Morning, Swarajya Readers! Here's What You Need To Know Today.

Speeding Up Triple Talaq Hearings: Signalling its resolve to quickly decide an issue with potentially severe socio-political implications, the Supreme Court has set 11-19 May as the timeline to conclude hearings on the legality of triple talaq. The court said it would hold daily sittings between 11 May and 19 May to decide pleas by Muslim women to declare the practice of oral talaq illegal.

Railways To Spend Rs 10,000 Crore On Infrastructure Upgrade: Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has vowed to achieve zero accident level on the tracks. “Indian Railways will spend about Rs 10,000 crore for renewal of tracks and adopt the latest technology to detect rail fracture to reduce the accident rate to zero level,” Prabhu said while replying to a debate on Appropriation (Railways) Bill in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. He also said that the Railways will install train protection warning system and eliminate all unmanned level crossings across the country by using Rs 1 lakh crore ‘Railways Suraksha Kosh’.

Ujjwala Milestone On Cards: Narendra Modi government Ujjwala scheme is set to achieve a new milestone. In the next two days, representatives from a state-run fuel retailer will knock on the doors of a poor household in Odisha. That household will mark the two crore milestone for providing free LPG connections to BPL (below poverty line) households. Ujjwala was launched on 1 May 2016. For 2016-17, the target was set at 1.5 crore households.

Predicting Poll Results Illegal, EC Tells Media: The Election Commission of India has objected to television news channels and newspapers using astrologers, tarot card readers and political analysts to predict poll results even before the voting ends. In an advisory issued to all newspapers and news channels on Thursday, the EC told them to “refrain from telecasting/publishing similar programmes in future elections during the prohibited period under Section 126(A) to ensure free, fair and transparent election”.

New Push To Connect Tawang With Rail Network: The Centre has asked Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha and Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju to study the feasibility of connecting India-China border district of Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh with the railway network. The two ministers will tour the state on Saturday to study the viability of connecting Tawang with Bhalukpong which is the last station of Indian Railways on Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border.

Two-Wheeler Majors Offer Big Discounts After BS-III Order: A day after the Supreme Court banned sale and registration of BS-III vehicles from 1 April, two-wheeler companies Hero MotoCorp, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India, Bajaj Auto and Suzuki Motorcycle are offering discounts of up to Rs 22,000 to liquidate stocks. With 6.71 lakh two-wheelers, out of over 8 lakh BS-III vehicles impacted by the ban, dealers said the immediate effort is to sell as many units as possible before the deadline by offering “unheard of discounts” in the industry.

Indian Companies Giving Jobs To Americans, Says Sushma Swaraj: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has said that Indian IT companies operating in the United States are generating jobs and not stealing jobs of the Americans. "So far, Indian companies have given direct employment to 1.56 lakh Americans and supportive jobs to 4.11 lakh Americans," Swaraj told the Rajya Sabha during the Question Hour. She added that between 2011 and 2015, the Indian companies have made an investment of $2 billion, paid taxes worth $20 billion and Indian workers have contributed $7 billion in social security scheme.

South Korea’s Ousted President Park Geun-Hye Arrested: South Korea’s ousted President Park Geun-hye arrived at a detention centre near Seoul early on Friday after being arrested over the corruption and abuse of power scandal that brought her down. The Seoul Central District Court ordered Park’s arrest on charges of bribery, abuse of authority, coercion, and leaking government secrets. “It is justifiable and necessary to arrest as key charges were justified and there is risk of evidence being destroyed,” the court said.

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SWARAJYA SPECIAL

India Must Abandon Its Namby-Pamby Approach To Dealing With Kashmir: The fight in J&K is between Islamism and secularism, not India and Kashmiriyat. We should have no doubts on what our end-goals should be here. Full incorporation of J&K into India.

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