Today's News in Media:Kudankulam Plant II Goes Critical; Air India Dumps Surge Pricing; NREGA Record FW ERI BOI

Your Monday Morning Briefing By Arihant Pawariya Good Morning, Swarajya Readers! Here's What You Need To Know Today. AFRICA OUTREACH India on Sunday signed five agreements with resource-rich African country Tanzania, including one for extending a line of credit of $92 million for rehabilitation and improvement of Zanzibar's water supply system. It is a Tanzania archipelago off the coast of East Africa. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also assured his Tanzanian counterpart of enhanced cooperation in healthcare sector saying that India is ready to meet the African country's priorities including the supply of medicines and equipment. Leaders of both the countries also agreed to deepen partnership in agriculture and food security. India will increase the import of pulses from Tanzania. NO SURGE PRICING Air India has decided to do away with the so-called surge pricing. Instead, the airline will lower its last minute ticket fares on four key routes: Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Chennai, Delhi-Kolkata and Delhi-Bengaluru to the level of 2-tier AC fare of Rajdhani trains four hours before the departure of flights to these destinations. The state-run airline expects that this move will boost its revenues and reduce the number of vacant seats that it has to fly with due to sky-rocketing last-minute fares. This may trigger other airlines to lower their fares too otherwise those who jack up prices by multiple times at last minute will be at disadvantage vis-a-vis Air India. NREGA RECORD The first quarter of this year saw a record jump in the employment generated under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). While the NREGA generated 54.81 crore person-days of employment in the first quarter of last year, the figure rose to 79.10 crore this year. Karnataka recorded the biggest increase (265%) against its projected target of 93 lakh person-days of employment followed by Uttar Pradesh (180%), Tamil Nadu (140%) and Rajasthan (125%). BAN ON HATE-PREACHER Bangladesh government has banned the broadcasting of Mumbai-based Islamic preacher Zakir Naik's Peace TV channel. It was reported that terrorists who carried out attacks at a cafe recently that claimed 22 lives were inspired by Naik. The Maharashtra government has also ordered a probe into the sermons by the Islamic televangelist. His Islamic Research Foundation is under the scanner of Indian Home Ministry. There are allegations that funds from abroad received by it have been spent on spreading hate and radical views. KUNDANKULAM PLANT The second unit of Kudankulam atomic power project in Tamil Nadu went critical (started nuclear fission) yesterday evening. This is the second 1,000 MW pressurised water reactor to go critical in the country. The first unit at Kudankulam went critical in July 2013. The commercial generation will start in four to six months time. The first unit is generating about 940 MW daily on an average and supplies power to Tamil Nadu (562.5 MW), Puducherry (33.5 MW), Kerala (133 MW), Karnataka (221 MW) and Andhra Pradesh (50 MW). MUST READ OP-EDS Time For An Urban Upgrade [RK Raghavan]: A rational, full-fledged review of policing the city is long overdue. To gain the citizens' confidence, it must also focus on the local police station. Burhan Wani's Killing And Its Aftermath [Syed Ata Hasnain]: The challenge is to withstand the emotions of the moment and ensure no 'martyr effect' takes place. The Separatists have no qualms about a few young men dying, and a repeat of 2010 is possible. Storm In The South China Sea: The International Court of Arbitration is set to give its ruling on the South China Sea disputes tomorrow. It is not clear whether the ruling will bring the final resolution. SWARAJYA SPECIAL The Queen Who Challenged Aurangzeb [Archana Garodia Gupta]: If Rani Chennamma of Keladi had not followed her rajadharma and given shelter to Rajaram, son of Shivaji, against Aurangzeb's forces, India's history would have been entirely different.