Daily Briefing: Congress to vote for next chief today; CBI summons Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia; and more

All arrangements are complete for voting day, according to Congress election chief Madhusudan Mistry. Meanwhile, starkly different emotions were on display in the campaign teams of Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor. On one side was supreme confidence and on the other, cautious optimism. The party is set to vote today to elect its next president — its first non-Gandhi chief in close to 25 years. 

The CBI has summoned Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia to join its investigation into the AAP government’s  now-scrapped excise policy at 11 am Monday. The move was slammed by AAP, which claimed Sisodia would be arrested by the agency and that the latest action was linked to the Gujarat polls.

Only in the Express 

The Ministry of Railways has stripped Amitabh Banerjee of his powers as Chairman and Managing Director of its PSU Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC). Allegations against Banerjee include: Using his home as a “company guest house” and getting the company to pay personal household expenses and long-term visa fee for foreign travel on personal passport.

In the latest edition of Idea Exchange, Jitendra Singh, Minister of State, PMO, talks about his government’s solidarity with Kashmiri Pandits, tackling rising unemployment and why the Centre doesn’t interfere in the working of the CBI. 

In our Opinion section today, Ashok Gulati writes: “While agriculture gets severely impacted by climate change, it also leads to almost 28 per cent of the global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions thus contributing to global warming. So, it is time to invest not only in climate adaptation strategies but also re-work our policies that can mitigate GHG emissions for agriculture.”

From the Front Page 

As part of India’s G20 Presidency between December 2022 and November 2023, the government is planning to host five key meetings focusing on the “culture track” at Khajuraho, Bhubaneswar, Hampi and Agra, The Indian Express has learnt. These cities have been chosen mainly for well-known monuments. The government had announced last month that there will be 215 meetings in all, spread across 55 sites, covering most states during India’s G20 presidency.

Must Read 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday dedicated 75 digital banking units to the nation, taking forward an announcement that was made in the 2022-23 Union Budget. What are DBUs and what services will they provide? We explain.

The weeklong National Congress of the Communist Party of China began in Beijing on October 16. This five-year event defines the political-institutional character of the CCP due to its monopoly of Chinese politics. The Party Congress is also expected to extend Xi Jinping’s paramount leadership. However, there are factions within the party. An expert explains who might remain in power and who might make way for others.

In 1979, Munna Singh was booked along with nine others for allegedly rioting armed with deadly weapon and attempt to murder. In October, 2022, he was acquitted due to lack of witnesses. In between these two lines lies the unusual case of a man who faced trial as an adult for 33 years before it was finally decided in 2012 that he was a minor at the time of the incident. The Indian Express spoke to Singh who said that bearing the tag of an accused for 43 years left deep scars in his mind.

From ‘dry fruit milk shake’, ‘kesar milk’ to the ‘Great Khali Punjabi Thali’ and ‘king-size Khali parantha’ – a look at the menu of “The Great Khali Dhaba” and it has every imprint of the larger than life image that the former WWE star enjoys. Khali is all set to wear another hat as a restaurateur on Monday, with the inauguration of his “The Great Khali Dhaba”, an eatery offering Punjabi food in Karnal of Haryana.

And Finally… 

Given that India’s top order for the T20 World Cup is stacked with right-handers – and Rishabh Pant is not a guaranteed starter in the XI – India will likely miss an ‘impact’ left-hander in the middle order. We take a look at the advantages of having left-handers in the line-up and whether India’s batting can make up for the scarcity of left-hand batters.

Delhi Confidential: Chief Justice of India U U Lalit was felicitated on Sunday in Solapur by the Bar Council of Bombay and Goa. The location of the event was chosen to honour the CJI, who was born in Solapur. The CJI recalled his ties with the city and said he is still in touch with many of his classmates from school even after 39 years in the legal profession.

In today’s episode of the ‘3 things’ podcast, we talk about the case against GN Saibaba and why the High Court acquitted him, the conflict between the UP and the Uttarakhand police over a raid that ended in fire-fighting and death, and the crackdown on illegal immigrants in Manipur.

Until tomorrow,

Sonal Gupta and Anandu Suresh