Current Affairs 01 March 2023

ANS : C 

• Lieutenant General MV Suchindra Kumar has assumed the appointment of the Vice Chief of the Army Staff on 1 March 2023
• He has taken over the appointment from Lieutenant General BS Raju who has taken over the reins of Jaipur-based Sapta Shakti Command.
• Prior to this, he was tenanting the appointment of Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Strategy) at Army HQ.

ANS : C 

• The G20 meeting of the Anti Corruption Working Group began in Gurugram on 1 March 2023.
• Union Minister Jitendra Singh addressed the G20 meeting.
• Representatives from 20 member nations, 10 invitee nations and nine international organisations (such as Interpol etc.) will be attending the meeting.
• The issues like food and energy security and development cooperation, counter-terrorism, new and emerging threats, global skill mapping and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief will be figured in the meeting.   
• Around 100 representatives will be part of detailed discussions on strengthening the international anti-corruption mechanism between 1 March 2023 and 3 March 2023.
• The co-chair for the G20 ACWG 2023 is Italy.

 ANS : D 

• Senior Indian Information Service officer  Rajesh Malhotra has assumed the charge of Principal Director General, Press Information Bureau.
• He takes over after the superannuation of Satyendra Prakash on 28 February 2023.
• A 1989 batch officer, Mr Malhotra was earlier working in the Ministry of Finance. 
• He was associated with the Election Commission as in-charge of media and communication for 21 years.

ANS : A 

• Bola Tinubu was declared the winner and sworn in as President of Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, in March 2023.
• He is a former governor of Lagos state.
• Tinubu received 8.79 million votes, surpassing Atiku Abubakar, the leading competitor, who received 6.98 million. 
• President Muhammadu Buhari is stepping down after two terms in office.

ANS : C 

• MP govt presented a green budget of Rs 3,14,025 crore.
• This is the last budget of the current tenure of the government.
• There is no provision for any new tax in the budget and stamp duty has also been cut in many categories. 
• A provision of Rs 1,02,976 cr has been made for the welfare of women.
• The Government has announced to start of Mukhyamantri Balika Scooty Yojana for meritorious girls.
• Under this scheme, scooties will be gifted to the girls who get the highest marks in class 12th in the state.
• Another new scheme has been announced in the budget named ‘Ladli Bahna‘.
• Under this scheme, women in the state will be given financial assistance of one thousand rupees per month.
• A provision of Rs 8 thousand crores has been made for the Ladli Bahna Yojana. 
• Various provisions have been made for the education and employment sector including increasing MBBS seats up to 3 thousand 605, Rs 3 thousand 230 crore for CM Rise schools and provision of one thousand crore for Mukhyamantri Kaushal Yojana.

ANS : B 

• The Second Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group (ECSWG) meeting will be held at Gandhinagar in Gujarat from 27 to 29 March 2023.
• It will commence with a side event on water resources management wherein presentations on the Best Practices in Water Resources Management by G20 member countries will take place.
• This will be followed by an excursion and a site visit to Adalaj Vav which demonstrates the ancient water management practices of India. 
• Delegates will also visit the Sabarmati Riverfront, to witness the wastewater management practices like the use of treated water from the sewage treatment plants to replenish the river.
• The first G20 ECSWG meeting concluded in Bengaluru in February 2023.

ANS : D 

• The G20 Foreign Ministers meeting will be held in New Delhi from 1st to 2nd March 2023.
• During the event, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and several dignitaries are scheduled to share their perspectives on the emerging global challenges and international matters. 
• The global meeting of the foreign ministers comes days after a meeting of finance chiefs of the bloc in Bengaluru.
• Foreign Minister of Brazil Mauro Vieira, Foreign Minister of Mauritius Alan Ganoo and International Labour Organisation Sherpa Richard Marc Samans have arrived in New Delhi. 
• India has especially invited leaders of countries including – Nigeria, UAE, Oman, Singapore, Spain, Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, and the Netherlands.
• The members will discuss issues related to Sustainable Development Goals, Gender Equality and Women Empowerment, disaster relief and humanitarian assistance, strengthening multilateralism and most importantly food and energy security, global health debt related issues.

ANS : A 

ANS : D 

• Zero Discrimination Day is an annual day celebrated on 1 March each year. 

Zero Discrimination Day :

• The day was first celebrated on March 1, 2014. 
• It was launched by UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe. 
• The theme for 2023 is Zero Discrimination Day is “Save lives: Decriminalise“.
• UNAIDS is highlighting how the decriminalization of key populations and people living with HIV saves lives.

ANS : A 

• Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully conducted the flight acceptance hot test of the CE-20 cryogenic engine, in February 2023.
• The Engine will power the Cryogenic Upper Stage of the LVM3 launch vehicle for the Chandrayaan-3 mission.
• The test was successfully conducted at the ISRO Propulsion Complex, Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu.