Table of Contents:
1. First Woman to Command Frontline IAF Combat Unit - Shaliza Dhami 
2. India Ranks 108^th on Electoral Democracy Index 2023 
3. Rest of India beat Madhya Pradesh to win Irani Cup 
4. BBC Indian Sports Award for the Year 2022

First Woman to Command Frontline IAF Combat Unit - Shaliza Dhami
 

The Indian Air Force has selected Group Captain Shaliza Dhami to take over command of a frontline combat unit in the Western sector. For the first time ever in the IAF's history, a woman officer has been given command of a frontline combat unit. Group Captain Dhami was commissioned in the year 2003 as a Helicopter pilot and has over 2,800 hours of flying experience. A Qualified Flying Instructor, she has served as Flight Commander of a Helicopter Unit in the Western sector. A Group Captain in the IAF is equivalent to a Colonel in the Army. 

Shaliza Dhami 

• The first woman officer in the IAF to receive a permanent commission and the first woman to become a Flight Commander.  

• First woman IAF officer to get selected in front-line combat unit. 

Indian Armed Forces 

• The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. 

• Headquarters: New Delhi 

• Air Force Day: October 8 

• Commander-in-Chief: Droupadi Murmu, India President 

• Motto: Nabha? Sprsam Diptam -Touch the sky with Glory (Taken from Bhagavad Gita) 

• Chief of the Air Staff - Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari. 

India Ranks 108^th on Electoral Democracy Index 2023 

India ranks 108^th in the Electoral Democracy Index of the V-dem Democracy report 2023. The country ranks way below countries such as Tanzania, Bolivia, Mexico, Singapore and Nigeria. Denmark ranked first with the highest comprehensive score of 0.89 in the LDI. India has also been named in the top 10 autocratizing countries in the last 10 years. 

India's ranking dipped from the 100th position in 2022 to 108th this year in the Electoral Democracy Index (EDI) report's while it was 97th in the Liberal Democracy Index (LDI). The Liberal Democracy Index captures both liberal and electoral aspects of democracy based on 71 indicators such as free and fair elections, political and civil rights and more 

Rest of India beat Madhya Pradesh to win Irani Cup 

The Irani Trophy or Irani Cup, is a first class cricket tournament organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). It is played annually between the winners of the Ranji Trophy and a Rest of India cricket team. The Rest of India team includes players from Ranji teams of various states. This is 25^th time Rest of India team capturing the Irani Cup. They defeated Madhya Pradesh by 238 runs in the final and became champions for the second time in a row. 

Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored a century in both innings against Madhya Pradesh, was given the Player of the Match award. He scored 213 in the first innings and 144 in the second innings. 

BBC Indian Sports Award for the Year 2022 

The BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year Award is an initiative first announced in December 2019 by BBC Hindi to celebrate and honour sportswomen from India who have excelled in their chosen field of competition. It was first awarded in 2020 to P V Sindhu. The other important sports awards by BBC India are; 

• BBC Indian Sports Women of the year award: Mirabai Chanu 

• BBC Para Sports Women of the year award: Bhavina Patel 

• BBC Lifetime Achievement Award: Pritam Siwach 

• BBC Emerging Player of the Year: Nitu Ghangas 

Mirabai Chanu 

• Full name: Saikhom Mirabai Chanu 

• Born in: Manipur  

• Item: Weightlifting 

• The first Indian to win an Olympics silver medal in weightlifting 

Bhavina Patel 

• Born in: Gujarat 

• Item: Table Tennis   

• Won the silver medal in Tokyo Paralympics, 2020 

• Won a gold medal in the women’s singles class, Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022

Pritam Siwach  

• Former captain of the Indian Women's Hockey Team 

• Born in: Haryana 

• Item: Hockey 

Nitu Ghangas  

• Born in: Haryana 

• Item: Boxing 

• Won the gold medal in Commonwealth Games, 2022