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■ Indian National Congress  (INC): • INC was formed by British civil servant Allan Octavian Hume in 1885. • Lord Dufferin was the Viceroy of British India when party was formed.  • The first conference of representatives was convened on December 25, 1885, by the Union of Pune (Maharashtra) but the meeting was later decided to be held in Bombay. • The meeting took place from December 28 to 31 in Bombay’s Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College. • The 1st session of INC held at Bombay in 1885. Womesh Chandra Bannerjee was the President of the 1st session of the Indian National Congress. • A total 72 delegates from all parts of the country took part in the session. They were called as "Brave 72". □ Few important sessions and presided by: • 1896 (Calcutta) - This session was presided by Rahmatullah M. Sayani. 'Vande Mataram' song was sung for the first time at the Indian National Congress session at Calcutta in 1896. The song was sung by Rabindranath Tagore. The song was written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee. • 1906 (Calcutta) - This session was presided by Dadabhai Naoroji. This session adopted four resolutions on: Swaraj (Self Government), Boycott Movement, Swadeshi & National Education. • 1907 (Surat) - This session was presided by Rash Bihari Ghosh. Congress was split into Moderates & Extremists. • 1911 (Calcutta) - National Anthem ‘Jana Gana Mana’ was sung for the first time in the Calcutta INC session in 1911. This session was presided by Bishan Narayan Dar. • 1916 (Lucknow) - Ambica Charan Mazumdar was the president at INC’s Lucknow session in 1916. The historic Lucknow Pact between the INC and Muslim League was signed during this session. It was also the session where the Congress’ moderate and extremist groups reunited. • 1920 (Calcutta & Nagpur) - In 1920, two sessions of Congress were held. In September 1920, special session held at Calcutta. This session was presided by Lala Lajpat Rai. Mahatma Gandhi moved the Non-cooperation resolution. In December 1920, Congress met once again in the Nagpur Session. This session was presided by C. Vijayaraghavachariar. Gandhi wished to pass the resolution of the Non Cooperation movement in the Calcutta session but due to opposition he was able to get it passed in the Nagpur session in 1920. • 1924 (Belgaum) - Mahatma Gandhi presided only one INC session. It was held at Belgaum in 1924. • 1929 (Lahore) - Jawarhalal Nehru presided the INC session at Lahore. The resolution for 'Poorna Swaraj' was passed in this session. • 1934 (Bombay), 1935 (Lucknow) - Rajendra Pasad was the president of the INC of Bombay conference in 1934 and the Lucknow session in 1935.  • 1938 (Haripura), 1939 (Tripuri) - Netaji Subash Chandra Bose presided 2 INC sessions. They are 1938 (Haripura) & 1939 (Tripuri). □ Who are the 1st of ? • 1st President of INC session - W.C.Banerjee (Bombay - 1885). • 1st Muslim INC President - Badrubdin Tyabji (Madras - 1887). • 1st English INC President - George Yule (Allahabad - 1888). • 1st Woman INC President - Annie Besant (Calcutta - 1917). • 1st Indian woman INC President - Sarojini Naidu (Kanpur - 1925).

■ International Mother Language Day, February 21: • 21 February of each year is commemorated as International Mother Language Day. • The day is celebrated to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism around the world. Language is just not a means of communication; it also represents vast cultural and intellectual heritage as well. • The theme of the year 2022 is “Using technology for multilingual learning: Challenges and opportunities”. • The United Nations mentions that we are losing a language every two weeks and at least 43% of the estimated 6000 languages spoken in the world are in danger. • The idea to celebrate International Mother Language Day was the initiative of Bangladesh. It was approved at the 1999 UNESCO General Conference. • The first International Mother Language Day was observed throughout the world in 2000. □ Languages in India: • India doesn't have any national language. • Part XVII of the Constitution deals with the official language in Articles 343 to 351. • As per the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, we had 14 languages at the commencement of the Constitution. Currently, we have 22 languages. • The 22 languages are: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dongri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. • Sindhi (added by the 21st Amendment Act, 1967), Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali (added by 71st Amendment Act, 1992), Bodo, Dongri, Maithili, and Santhali (added by the 92nd Amendment Act, 2003). • More than 19,500 languages or dialects are spoken in India as mother tongue, according to census data. There are 121 languages which are spoken by 10,000 or more people in India, it further said. • The 121 languages are presented in two parts - languages included in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, comprising 22 languages and languages not included in the Eighth Schedule, comprising of 99 languages. • As per census 2011, the most popular language of India is Hindi which is the mother language of more than 52 cr, while Sanskrit is the language of 24,821 people only. English comes under the category of non-scheduled languages i.e  not specified in the eighth schedule. • There are some mother tongues that are used by millions but not specified in the Eighth Schedule to the Indian constitution, such as Bhojpuri (5 cr), Rajasthani (2.5 cr), Chhattisgarhi (1.6cr) and Magahi or Magadhi (1.27 cr). • Classical languages in India are Tamil (2004), Sanskrit (2005), Telugu & Kannada (2008), Malayalam (2013) and Odia (2014).

■ Speaker & Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha and State Assembly: • Article 93 for Lok Sabha and Article 178 for state Assemblies state that these Houses “shall, as soon as may be”, choose two of its members to be Speaker and Deputy Speaker. • The Constitution neither sets a time limit nor specifies the process for these elections. It leaves it to the legislatures to decide how to hold these elections. • In Lok Sabha and state legislatures, the President/Governor sets a date for the election of the Speaker, and it is the Speaker who decides the date for the election of the Deputy Speaker. • The legislators of the respective Houses vote to elect one among themselves to these offices. • Haryana and Uttar Pradesh specify a time-frame for holding the election to the Speaker and Deputy Speaker’s offices. • The Constitution provides that the office of the Speaker should never be empty. So, he continues in office until the beginning of the next House, except in the event of death or resignation. • The Speaker presides over the House proceedings and joint sittings of the two Houses of Parliament. • It is the Speaker’s decision that determines whether a Bill is a Money Bill and therefore outside of the purview of the other House. • According to Article 110(3), If any question arises whether a Bill is a Money Bill or not, the decision of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha (House of the People) shall be final. Under Article 109(1), a Money Bill cannot be introduced in Rajya Sabha. • According to Article 199(3), If any question arises whether a Bill introduced in the Legislature of a State which has a Legislative Council is a Money Bill or not, the decision of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly shall be final. • The Deputy Speaker is independent of the Speaker, not subordinate to him, as both are elected from among the members of the House. • Deputy Speaker presides the House in the absence of the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker chaired committees both inside and outside of Parliament. • The Deputy Speaker ensures the continuity of the Speakers office by acting as the Speaker when the office becomes vacant (by death, as in the case of the first Lok Sabha Speaker G V Mavalankar in 1956), and G M C Balayogi in 2002, or because of resignation by Speaker N Sanjiva Reddy in 1977 for fighting the Presidential election). • When a resolution for removal of the Speaker (as in 1987 against Lok Sabha Speaker Balram Jakhar) is up for discussion, the Constitution specifies that the Deputy Speaker presides over the proceedings of the House. • Usually, the Speaker comes from the ruling party. In the case of the Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha, the position has varied over the years. • The tradition for the post of the Deputy Speaker going to the Opposition party started during the term of Prime Minister Morarji Desai’s government. □ Articles related to Speaker & Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha: • Article 93 - The Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of the People. • Article 94 - Vacation and resignation of, and removal from, the offices of Speaker and Deputy Speaker. • Article 95 - Power of the Deputy Speaker or other person to perform the duties of the office of, or to act as, Speaker. • Article 96 - The Speaker or the Deputy Speaker not to preside while a resolution for his removal from office is under consideration. • Article 97 - Salaries and allowances of the Chairman and Deputy Chairman and the Speaker and Deputy Speaker. □ Articles related to Speaker & Deputy Speaker of State Assembly: • Article 178 - The Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. • Article 179 - Vacation and resignation of, and removal from, the offices of Speaker and Deputy Speaker. • Article  180 - Power of the Deputy Speaker or other person to perform the duties of the office of, or to act as, Speaker. • Article 181 - The Speaker or the Deputy Speaker not to preside while a resolution for his removal from office is under consideration. • Article 186 - Salaries and allowances of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker and the Chairman and Deputy Chairman.