Current Affairs One-Liner : 28th & 29th May 2023

• National:
• Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Shri Giriraj Singh launched the ‘SAMARTH Campaign on Promoting Digital Transactions in 50000 Gram Panchayats’ under the AmritMahotsav in Lucknow on 25th May 2023
• According to a report released on May 23, 2023 by UNICEF/WHO/The World Bank Group: the Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates (JME), 18.7% of Indian children were affected by wasting in 2020 due to poor nutrient intake and/or recurrent illnesses

• Princess Sophia Duleep Singh, daughter of Maharaja Duleep Singh – the last ruler of the Sikh empire – and the goddaughter of Queen Victoria, was honoured with a commemorative Blue Plaque in London on Friday
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off Assam’s first Vande Bharat Express in Guwahati via video conferencing. The train will connect Guwahati with New Jalpaiguri and will operate on all days except Tuesday. The train will cover the 411-km long journey in five-and-a-half hours
• On May 26, 2023, Rocket Lab USA Inc.’s Electron two-stage rocket launched the second and final pair of shoebox-sized weather-tracking satellites for NASA’s TROPICS mission from Launch Complex 1 at Māhia Peninsula, New Zealand. This pair is named as ‘Coming to a Storm Near You’
• Total of 23 MLAs and AICC secretary N.S. Boseraju took oath as Ministers in the Congress Government led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Karnataka on Saturday, May 27, 2023. Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot administered the oath of office to 23 legislators and Mr. Boseraju as Ministers at the Glass House in Raj Bhavan in Bengaluru
• Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu recently sought the Centre’s directions to the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) to return Rs 9,242 crore deposited under the National Pension Scheme (NPS) by the state government
• Scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on May 28 at 7.12 am commenced the 27.5 hour countdown for the launch of a navigation satellite on board a GSLV rocket in Sriharikota on May 29
• The Delhi High Court dismissed a plea challenging notifications enabling exchange of Rs 2,000 currency notes without any requisition slip and ID proof
• India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a new parliament building on Sunday morning amid a boycott that saw 19 opposition parties refuse to attend the ceremony . The vast new, triangular shaped complex in the heart of Delhi will house the country’s upper and lower parliamentary houses
• Bank of Baroda’s economic research department (ERD), India’s GDP is expected to grow in the 6-6.5 per cent range in FY24. This projection takes into account an expected slowdown in the global economy, which may impact the external sector, and the continued resilience of the domestic economy
• Economy:
• According to a PwC India report titled “The Indian Payments Handbook - 2022-27”, UPI transactions are expected to exceed one billion per day by 2026-27, accounting for 90% of retail digital payments in the nation
• The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has come out with a standard operating procedure (SoP) for scrutiny of GST returns for fiscal 2019-20 onwards under which the analytics unit will identify returns for scrutiny depending on various risk parameters
• Microfinance loans in India increased 21.3% year-on-year (YoY) at US$ 42.36 billion (Rs. 3.5 trillion) in FY23, backed by revised regulatory norms and higher demand
• World:
• The International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers has been commemorated annually on 29 May since 2002. The date marks the start of the first UN peacekeeping mission, the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), in Palestine in 1948. The theme of the 75th anniversary of UN Peacekeeping is ‘Peace begins with me’
• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has won the presidential election in a runoff vote. He overcame his secular challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu in the first round on May 14
• French director Justine Triet became the third female director to win the Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or on May 27, 2023. She won the prestigious prize for her courtroom drama 'Anatomy of a Fall
• Somalia’s government and federal member states have announced that direct universal suffrage would be introduced with local elections set for June 2024. This move follows a pledge by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in March to end a complex indirect system in place since 1969
• Iraq has recently unveiled an ambitious plan to turn itself into a regional transportation hub by developing its road and rail infrastructure, linking Europe with the Middle East
• Twitter has withdrawn from the European Union’s online disinformation code of practice. The code is a voluntary agreement that most major social media platforms pledged to abide.
• Sports:
• Defending champions India put up a brilliant attacking display to trounce Thailand 17-0 in their final Pool A match in the Men’s Junior Asia Cup 2023 in Salalah, Oman
• The Indian junior men’s hockey team registered a come-from-behind 3-1 win over Japan in their second Pool A game of the Men’s Junior Asia Cup 2023 in Salalah, Oma
• Indian badminton player H.S. Prannoy won his first-ever BWF World Tour title at the Malaysia Masters Super 500 tournament on May 28th, 2023. He defeated China’s Weng Hong Yang in a hard-fought three-game match
• Jyothi Yarraji won the gold medal in the women’s 100m hurdles event at the Kurpfalz Gala 2023 athletics meet in Weinheim, Germany on Saturday. She clocked a season-best time of 12.84s in Final A to win the event at the World Athletics Continental Tour Challenger meet
• Indian athlete Parul Chaudhary won the bronze medal in the women’s 3000m steeplechase in the USATF Los Angeles Grand Prix 2023 athletics meet at the Drake Stadium on May 26. She clocked a new personal best of 9:29.51
• The Indian women’s hockey team put up a spirited showing in the fifth and final game of its tour Down Under, registering a 2-1 win over Australia A in a closely-fought contest on Saturday. Navneet Kaur (10th minute) and Deep Grace Ekka (25th) scored the goals for India
• Books:

• A book titled, “RINGSIDE – Up, Close and Personal on India and Beyond” will be released by renowned author Dr Shashi Tharoor on May 30, 2023. This book was written by Chairman of the Editorial Board of Lokmat Media Group and former MP Dr Vijay Darda
• Obituary:
• G.H. Nayak passed away at his residence in Mysuru on May 26. He was 88 years old and is survived by his wife, a daughter and a grand-daughter. He was a well-known personality in the Kannada literary world and had received several awards for his work, including the Kendra Sahitya Academy Award for his work ‘Uttarardha’,

• Appointments:
• On 27th May 2023, the Government of India (GoI) appointed chief justices to five High Courts: Bombay, Madras, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala and Rajasthan. These appointments were recommended by the Supreme Court Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud on 19th April 2023
• Srikrishnan Hari Hara Sarma has been appointed as MD & CEO of Karnataka Bank. Karnataka Bank’s board of directors has appointed him as an additional director to take up the position of MD and CEO of the bank. He has been appointed for three years effective from the date of his assuming charge
• Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, has been appointed as a member of the Advisory Committee to the President of the 28th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
• Praveen Kumar Srivastava was sworn in as the Central Vigilance Commissioner by President Droupadi Murmu on May 29, 2023. He was working as the acting Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) since December last year after completion of Suresh N. Patel’s tenure as the chief of the probity watchdog
• Banking:
• Indian Bank has entered into an agreement with Indian Clearing Corporation Ltd. (ICCL) as its Clearing and Settlement Bank. Indian Bank will now facilitate banking services to members of BSE, Mumbai for clearing and settlement operations.

Question:

Q.1 In which minute did Deep Grace Ekka score her goal for India?
a. 10th minute
b. 22nd minute
c. 25th minute
d. 30th minute

Q.2 Who has been appointed as the MD & CEO of Karnataka Bank?
a. Srikrishnan Hari Hara Sarma
b. Ravi Kumar
c. Anil Kumar
d. Rajesh Sharma