[NEWS OF THE DAY]

1. PM Modi flags off Gandhinagar-Mumbai Central Vande Bharat Express train
2. RBI raises repo rate by 50 basis points
3. Congress president poll Contest: Tharoor rules out withdrawing as Kharge files nomination
4. India to support Indonesia for G20 Summit amid differences over Russia
5. Canada asks citizens to avoid traveling to 3 Indian states, week after MEA warning on hate crimes
6. 19 people dead after blast at educational centre in Kabul, (a journalist claimed more than 100 students)

What Else

7. SC Collegium recommends transfer of two HC Chief Justices; elevation of 3 judges
8. Indian Railways introduce first electric train in J&K on the Banihal-Baramulla route
9. China’s Big Fund corruption probe casts shadow over chip sector
10. Nepal: Election code of conduct comes into force
11. Pakistan: Explosion at a market in Balochistan’s Kohlu kills one, injures 20
12. Pakistan: In first IMF meeting, Ishaq Dar briefs lenders on economic situation
13. In 2^nd cypher-related leak, Imran and party bigwigs purportedly strategize ‘foreign conspiracy’

PM Modi flags off Gandhinagar-Mumbai Central Vande Bharat Express train

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the Gandhinagar-Mumbai Central, 3^rd Vande Bharat Express train at Gandhinagar on Fri, as a part of his 2^nd-day schedule.
• The other two are run between New Delhi — Varanasi and New Delhi — Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra.
• The train will run 6 days a week, except Sun, and will travel from Mumbai to Gandhinagar within 6 hrs 20 mins, covering 522 km.
• The Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai has set a target of manufacturing 75 Vande Bharat trains by Aug 2023. (here)

RBI raises repo rate by 50 basis points

• The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Sept 30, increased the policy repo rate by 50 basis points (bps) to 5.9% making loans expensive. 
• The MPC also lowered the growth projection for FY23 from 7.2% to 7%.
• Growth for the 2^nd quarter has been projected at 6.3%, for the 3^rd and 4^th quarters at 4.6%, and 7.2% for the first quarter of the next financial year.
• The inflation projection for FY has been retained at 6.7%.
• While the projection for Q2 is 7.1%, the projection for Q3 and Q4 is 6.5% and 5.8% respectively. Also Q1 of FY 23, inflation has been projected at 5%. (here)

Congress president poll Contest: Tharoor rules out withdrawing as Kharge files nomination

• The Congress President Election came to its climax on Fri as the contenders for the post filed their respective nominations.
• Veteran leader and Kerala MP Shashi Tharoor also filed his papers and clarified that he won’t opt out of the contest.
• Tharoor, a part of the G-23 leaders’ group, made his intentions to fight the party polls clear soon after the announcement of a contest.
• G-23 group leader Manish Tewari extends support to Kharge in polls.
• Mallikarjun Kharge, who seems to be leading towards a clear win for the party chief post, is a veteran leader of Congress and most importantly a non-dynast who rose from the grassroots level in the party.
• Whoever becomes Congress President will work under the Gandhi family says Digvijaya Singh. (here)

India to support Indonesia for G20 Summit amid differences over Russia

• India has conveyed its active support to Indonesia to “finalize meaningful outcomes” at the upcoming G20 Summit against the backdrop of sharp divisions within the grouping over Russia’s invasion.
• Amitabh Kant, India’s G20 Sherpa who led an official delegation to the third G20 sherpa meeting under Indonesia’s G20 presidency, conveyed New Delhi’s support.
• The G20, which groups the world’s 20 largest economies, remains sharply divided over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. (here)

Canada asks citizens to avoid travel to 3 Indian states, week after MEA warning on hate crimes

• Canada has issued a travel advisory asking its citizens to avoid entering Gujarat, Punjab, and Rajasthan due to “unpredictable security situation and presence of landmines”.
• It comes a week later when India warned about a sharp increase in hate crimes and anti-India activities, adding that justice is yet to be delivered.
• The advisory, however, excludes the Wagah border crossing in Punjab.
• ThePrint (sources)- The MEA advisory was intended to send strong signals to the Canadian govt for their “lackadaisical approach” towards India’s concerns.
• Also, MEA to give a “loud and clear” message to the Trudeau govt which continues to “rely heavily on these elements for vote bank politics.” (here)

Indian Railways introduce first electric train in J&K on Banihal-Baramulla route

• Indian Railways is introducing the first electric train for Kashmir on the Banihal-Baramulla corridor (137 km) will start Oct 2^nd, with a total project cost has been 324 cr.
• The Indian railways have carried out multiple trials on the Budgam-Baramulla rail link and Banihal-Baramulla rail link as well.
• The push for pollution-free railways is going on to convert all the trains running on fuel to electric trains, which will reduce costs of operation by 60%. (here)

SC Collegium recommends transfer of two Chief Justices; elevation of three judges

• The SC Collegium led by Chief Justice of India U. U. Lalit has recommended to the govt the transfer of the CJs of Orissa and Jammu and Kashmir High Courts.
• The Collegium has sought the transfer of CJ to Madras, and J&K to Rajasthan.
• The Collegium has also recommended the elevation of 3 senior High Court judges as Chief Justices, including Justice Jaswant Singh, a judge of the Orissa High Court to CJ of Orissa HC, Bombay High Court judge, P.B. Varale to elevate CJ of Karnataka HC while Justice Ali Mohd Magrey of HC of J&K High to elevate as Chief Justice.
• There are 326 vacancies in the 25 High Courts as of Sept 1^st out of sanctioned posts 1108, while the SC has 29 working judges out of a sanctioned 34 judges. (here)

[NEIGHBORHOOD]

19 people dead after blast at educational centre in Kabul

• At least 19 people have been killed and dozens of others injured in Afghanistan’s Kaaj education center at 7:30 am local time Kabul.
• [However, a local journalist, claimed to cite a member of the center, that We have so far counted 100 dead bodies of our students. The number of students killed is much higher. The classroom was packed.]
• In a Twitter post, NGO Afghan Peace Watch said a suicide bomber detonated himself among students, targeting Kaj educational center in a Hazara neighborhood.
• This explosion comes a few days after a blast was reported outside the Russian Embassy, near the Wazir Akbar Khan area of Kabul that sparked a global outcry.
• This series of blasts come as the Taliban completed one year of its rule in Afghanistan.
• Rights groups said the Taliban had broken multiple pledges to respect human and women’s rights. (here)

China’s Big Fund corruption probe casts shadow over chip sector

• The sudden disappearance of Gao Songtao last July, the bespectacled former vice-president of govt fund manager Sino IC Capital, was a warning of a coming storm.
• Months later, the Chinese Communist party’s internal watchdog confirmed that Gao had been under investigation for corruption.
• Yet it was not President Xi Jinping’s public campaign to eliminate graft from financial markets that was behind the detention.
• Instead, the deeply feared and highly secretive Central Commission for Discipline Inspection had been running a different operation.
• The target: China’s massive semiconductor sector and what has been happening to the tens of billions of dollars raised to invest in it.
• Over the past 3 months, at least 12 people including fund managers, company executives, and a minister — all with deep ties to the chip industry — have come under investigation or disappeared-CCDI and local media. (here)

Nepal: Election code of conduct comes into force

• The Election Commission has decided to implement the code of conduct for the Nov 20 federal and provincial polls from Wed with vows drawn from the leaders on Sun.
• However, political analysts say this time also implementation of the election code is going to be a ritual because the ‘toothless’ poll authority cannot implement it properly.
• The Election Commission has been making stricter codes of conduct of late but lacks a mechanism to monitor and implement them properly. (here)

In 2^nd cypher-related leak, Imran and party bigwigs purportedly strategize ‘foreign conspiracy’

• The clip on social media allegedly features a conversation between Imran, and party leaders about a cypher that Khan has for long presented as evidence of a “foreign conspiracy” to oust him.
• Following the release of a recording of Khan just 2 days ago, another audio surfaced on Fri, allegedly an extension of the previous recording but featuring Khan and PTI leaders. (here)

Pakistan: Explosion at market in Balochistan’s Kohlu kills one, injures 20

• A blast in a shop in Kohlu city, Balochistan’s killed 1 and injured at least 12 people on Fri one is critically injured.
• The police said that the site of the explosion was sealed for investigation.
• Several people are stuck under debris from the shop as a result of the explosion, but a rescue operation is underway. (here)

In first IMF meeting, Ishaq Dar briefs lenders on economic situation

• International Monetary Fund (IMF) Mission Chief Nathan Porter on Thu expressed the global lender’s support for Pakistan in its hour of need.
• The newly appointed Fin Min Ishaq Dar, Porter extended felicitations to the minister on assuming the charge and shared IMF’s assessment of the challenges facing.
• The IMF official also discussed the support of international lenders for the country to mitigate the effects of flash floods.
• The minister stated that the govt would take measures to reduce the burden on the economy while protecting the vulnerable sections of the population. (here)
• The worsening fuel crisis in Pakistan has resulted in the disruption of Pakistan Railways (PR) services with trains gradually coming to a standstill.
• The reason given by PR is the lack of revenue in the wake of floods.