Mallikarjun Kharge  elected as the new Congress president

• Mallikarjun Kharge was elected as the new Congress president on Wednesday after he secured 7,897 out of the 9,385 votes polled.
• His rival, Shashi Tharoor, sprung a surprise by polling an impressive 1,072 votes.
• Kharge, 80, the first nonGandhi leader in 24 years to occupy the party’s top post, will take charge on October 26.
• In the nearly 137year old history of the Congress, it was the sixth time that the party witnessed an electoral contest for the top post.

Establishment of Indian National Congress (INC):

• The INC was established in 1885, by A.O. Hume, a retired civil servant who was staying in Shimla post-retirement.
• He invited many Indian leaders regarding the Indian cause, and he laid the foundation of the ‘Indian National Union’.
• But, after the suggestion of Dadabhai Naoroji, its name was changed to ‘Indian National Congress.’ The word ‘Congress’ was taken from the American Constitution.

Background of establishment of INC

• The groundwork for the establishment of an all-India organization had been laid in the late 1870s and early 1880s.
• A retired English civil servant, A.O. Hume gave this idea a final shape by mobilizing leading intellectuals of the time.
• Hume obtained permission from the then-Viceroy of India, Lord Dufferin, for the first session. It was supposed to be held in Poona, but it was moved to Bombay due to a cholera outbreak in Poona.
• Hume had written an open letter to Calcutta University graduates in 1883, expressing his desire to establish a body for educated Indians to demand greater participation in government and to provide a platform for dialogue.
• In 1890, Kadambini Ganguly, the first woman graduate of Calcutta University, addressed the Congress session, symbolizing the freedom struggle’s commitment to granting women in India their due status in national life.

Features of INC

• The INC was India’s first national political movement, with the initial goal of involving more Indians in the country’s governance.
• Its purpose was later upgraded to complete independence. After independence, it grew into a major political party in the country.
• The INC was a moderate organization in its early years, limiting its methods to constitutional methods and dialogue.
• Its demands were restricted to increasing the number of Indians in the civil service and armed forces. It never mentioned independence.
• After a few years, the party’s demands and approach became more radical.
• By 1905, there was a clear schism in the party, which was now split between old moderates and the newer group, the extremists – so named because of their radical methods.
• The Nationalist activity was carried out through provincial conferences and associations, newspapers, and literature in addition to the Indian National Congress.

Major objectives of INC

• A Pan India Organization: To found a democratic, nationalist movement through a pan India organization.
• Politicize and politically educate people: Congress aimed to increase awareness about the colonial exploitative policies the political rights of Indians. To this end congress focused on demanding increasing representation in councils, Indianization of civil services etc.
• Anti-colonialism: Develop and propagate an anti-colonial nationalist ideology; Promote friendly relations among nationalist political workers from different parts of the country.
• Forward looking political and economic programme: Formulate and present popular demands before the government with a view to unifying the people over a common economic and political programme.
• Promote Nationalism: Develop and consolidate a feeling of national unity among people irrespective of religion, caste or province

China blocks 2 proposals of India on Pak. terrorists at UNSC again

• China once again blocked proposals by India and the U.S. to designate Pakistan based terrorists on the UN Security Council’s 1267 list of terror entities.
• The listings for LashkareTaiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed’s son Talha Saeed and Shahid Mehmood, deputy chief of a front for the LeT named the Falah I Insaniyat Foundation (FIF), were made by New Delhi and Washington jointly.
• They submitted in the proposals that Talha Saeed and Mehmood were wanted for procuring funds and recruitment for the LeT/ JuD ( JamaatudDawa), the group behind the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and other terror attacks in India.

About 1267 committee

• It was first set up in 1999, and strengthened after the September, 2001 attacks. It is now known as the Da’esh and Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee.
• It comprises all permanent and non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)
• The 1267 list of terrorists is a global list, with a UNSC stamp. It is full of Pakistani nationals and residents.
• It is one of the most important and active UN subsidiary bodies working on efforts to combat terrorism, particularly in relation to Al Qaeda and the Islamic State
• It discusses UN efforts to limit the movement of terrorists, especially those related to travel bans, the freezing of assets and arms embargoes for terrorism.
  • India has made at least three attempts in the last decade— in 2009, 2016 and 2017 — to list JeM chief as “global terrorist”. All attempts have been blocked by China at Pakistan’s behest.
  • Procedure of Listing:
    • Any member state can submit a proposal for listing an individual, group, or entity.
    • The proposal must include acts or activities indicating the proposed individual/group/entity had participated “in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing, or perpetrating of acts or activities” linked to “ISIL (Da’esh), Al-Qaida or any cell, affiliate, splinter group or derivative thereof”.
    • Decisions on listing and de-listing are adopted by consensus. The proposal is sent to all the members, and if no member objects within five working days, the proposal is adopted.
      • An “objection” means curtains for the proposal.
    • Any member of the Committee may also put a “technical hold” on the proposal and ask for more information from the proposing member state.During this time, other members may also place their own holds.
    • The matter remains on the“pending” list of the Committee until such time as the member state that has placed the hold decides to turn its decision into an “objection”, or until all those who have placed holds remove them within a timeframe laid down by the Committee.
    • Pending issuesmust be resolved in six months, but the member state that has placed the hold may ask for an additional three months. At the end of this period, if an objection is not placed, the matter is considered approved.

Rupee slips to a new low against the dollar

• 83 The mark the rupee touched for the first time against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday amid unabated foreign capital outflows and a strong dollar in the overseas markets.
• At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened strong at 82.32 but later pared gains to settle at an all time low of 83.01 (provisional) against the American currency

The rise in food prices drive U.K. inflation to a 40 year high

• 6 The pace at which food prices rose in the U.K. last month, driving inflation back to a 40year high.
• Food prices soared due to the cost of staples such as meat, bread and milk.
• This pushed consumer price inflation back to 10.1%, the highest since 1982 and equal to the level reached in July.
• This has led to calls for more government intervention.

Centre to promote destinations in 15 States as part of Swadesh Darshan 2

• Prayagraj, Chitrakoot, and Gwalior are among the cities identified in 15 States across the country to be promoted as part of India’s new domestic tourism policy which moves away from theme based tourist circuits and focuses on revving up destination tourism.
• The initiative is being taken as part of the first phase of the ‘Swadesh Darshan 2’ which will be kicked off in January.
• Fifteen States are part of the first phase which include Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra.
• Two destinations from each State have been identified, Some of the prominent places identified are Jhansi and Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh, Gwalior, Chitrakoot and Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh and Ajanta and Ellora in Maharashtra.

Aramane Giridhar to be new Defence Secretary

• Aramane Giridhar, Secretary in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, has been appointed the next Defence Secretary.

Tamil Nadu launches mission to save critically endangered vultures

• Alarmed at the 96% decline in India’s vulture population between 1993 and 2003, the Central government put into place two action plans to protect the species at the national level – the first in 2006 and the second, ongoing plan for 2020 – 2025.
• One of the important action points in this nationwide plan is the formation of State level committees to save the critically endangered population of vultures.
• Acting on it, the Tamil Nadu Government formed a State level Committee to set up an institutional framework for the effective conservation of vultures, which almost went extinct in the country at the beginning of the 21st century.
• In Tamil Nadu, four species of vultures are found — the Oriental white backed vulture, the long billed vulture, the redheaded vulture, and the Egyptian vulture.
• The first three are residents and can be found in the landscapes of the Nilgiris and Sathyamangalam,”
• There is evidence of Egyptian vulture breeding only at one site in Dharmapuri
• Vultures play a key role as nature’s scavengers, keeping the environment clean. Their social and ecological significance cannot be underestimated

Rustom2 UAV to complete user trials by August 2023

• The indigenous medium altitude long endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation is expected to complete all user trials by August 2023
• Parallelly, a separate project for the weaponisation of the Rustom UAV is also under way.
• Four prototypes of Rustom2 are currently flying.
• Five production models will be manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.
• (HAL), which is the production partner The production models will be ready in five or six months Last December, Rustom2 had crossed a milestone by reaching an altitude of 25,000 feet and an endurance of 10 hours.
• The target is to reach an altitude of 30,000 feet with an endurance of 20 hours, the officials stated.

PM Narendra Modi lay a foundation stone for a new airbase at Deesa in the Banaskanta district of Gujarat at Indo -Pakistan border.

PM Modi inaugurate Defence Expo 2022 at Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat

Sanjay Malhotra has been recently appointed as the new Revenue Secretary

ICAS Bharati Das has been named as the New Controller General of Accounts

Zila Sainik Board has been set up by Delhi LG for the welfare of ex-servicemen

Source : THE HINDU