Morning Brief: Manali-Leh Rail Line To Be The World’s Highest; No Woman Of Reproductive Gets Entry Into Sabarimala Temple On Day One; And More

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

Manali-Leh Rail Line To Be World’s Highest At 5,360 Meters

The rail link between Manali and Leh, which is proposed at the height of 5,360 meters, will be the world highest once built. India’s first railway station inside a tunnel will come up in Himachal Pradesh. The station will be built by the Indian Railways at the height of 3,000 feet inside a tunnel part of the strategically important line, which will provide an alternate route to the Army. It will come up in Keylong, which is the administrative centre of Lahaul and Spiti district, around 60 km from Manali and 120 km from the Indo-Tibetan border. The tunnel which will house the station will be 27 km long.

The 465-km line, to be built at a cost of Rs 83,360 crore, is likely to have around 74 tunnels, 124 major bridges and 396 minor bridges. The Indian Railways has completed the first location survey for the proposed line. The government is planning to construct 14 strategic rail lines along India’s border, including the Missamari-Tenga-Tawang line (378km), North Lakhimpur-Bame-Silapathar line (249km) and Pasighat-Tezu-Rupai link (227km) along the China frontier.

Day One: No Woman Of Reproductive Age Gets Entry Into Sabarimala

As protesters remained determined to thwart what they said was an attack on their traditions, no women of reproductive age entered Lord Ayyappa’s abode. The temple opened yesterday for the first time since the Supreme Court, in a controversial ruling, overturned a centuries-old tradition restricting the entry of women of reproductive age. The Left Democratic Front government, led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), has refused to file a review petition. The ruling has triggered widespread protests by women throughout the state.

On Wednesday, over 1,000 police personnel deployed by the state government used force against women camping along the roads leading to the shrine to prevent women of reproductive age from entering. Protesters turned away multiple activists, including an avowed atheist, from the base camp. Those against the Supreme Court’s move have argued that the primary objective of the practice was to preserve and honour the celibacy of the deity, Lord Ayyappa.

Tatas In Talks To Buy A Large Stake In Struggling Jet Airways

The Tata group, which started the country’s first commercial airline in 1932, is in talks with Jet Airways to pick up a large stake in the company. According to the Times of India, the $103 billion business behemoth has sought management control of the Jet Airways, founded by Naresh Goyal in 1995. In June 2018, the airline was reported to have a market share of 13.7 per cent. The Tata group is already in the business and has two aviation joint ventures, one with Singapore Airlines operating Vistara and the other with budget airline Air Asia.

In the last few months, Jet Airways has delayed the disbursement of the salaries of its employees. It has reportedly announced that its flight attendants can avail 'leave without pay' for 50 days. Cabin crew members form a large chunk of company’s employees. The carrier had a gross debt of Rs 8,620 crore in June and projected net losses of Rs 724.94 crore in 2017-18.

Modi To Address 20 Meetings In Three States

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address 20 meetings in three states going to polls next month, Mint has reported. According to the daily, the Bharatiya Janata Party election team has divided the states of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan into 10 zones, and each of these is likely to have at least one rally.

Elections in Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram are scheduled for 28 November, while Rajasthan and Telangana will go to the polls on 7 December. Counting of votes will start on 11 December, the Election Commission has said.

CBI Extradites ’93 Blasts Conspirator, Six Others From Different Countries

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has successfully extradited a key mastermind of the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, Mohammed Farooq alias Farooq Takla, from the United Arab Emirates. An aide of Dawood Ibrahim, he has been produced in a special court trying cases under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act. He is currently in judicial custody.

The CBI has also been successful in bringing back six other men, most of whom are economic offenders. These men have been identified as Mohammad Yahya, Mohammad Sultan Qadir, Vinay Mittal, Lomuto and Danial Santhan. They have been extradited from Bahrain, Singapore, Indonesia and Dubai.

From Swarajya

Fit Of Rage Or Religious Fanaticism? Here’s All We Know About Motive Behind Gurugram Shooting So Far: When the wife and son of an additional sessions judge in Gurugram were shot at in daylight, it uncovered the Christian evangelism and bigotry that has found a foothold in Haryana.

Time To Revisit Hegde’s Call To Find An Alternative Currency To The US Dollar: We are witnessing one-way traffic while dealing with the dollar, as its value seems to be on the rise every passing day.

As The Gates To Sabarimala Temple Open, Here’s The Issue As It Stands: The Sabarimala shrine has opened today for the first time since the SC’s judgement on it last month. As of now, here is how the conflict has developed.

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