International Current Affairs

• High Commissioner Pranay Verma and Bangladesh Education Minister Dr. Dipu Moni jointly inaugurated the Indian Higher Education Meet 2023 on 18 March. It was organized under the aegis of the Study in India program in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
• Higher educational institutions from different parts of India participated in the event. Some of the top ranking educational institutes of India participated in this event.
• The Indian High Commissioner invited Bangladeshi students to take advantage of India’s globally prestigious higher education system & build new bridges of friendship and understanding between the youth of the 2 countries.
• Bangladesh Education Minister Dr. Deepu Moni recognized the important role of education in promoting better understanding between India & Bangladesh and thanked Study in India for taking the initiative to organize the event in Dhaka.

Study in India :

Study in India program is a flagship project launched in 2018 by the Ministry of Education, Government of India. This program is designed to encourage and invite the global student community to pursue their higher education in India. Since its inception, the Study in India program has attracted over 150 students.

• Janata Samajwadi Party leader Ram Sahai Prasad Yadav has been elected as the third Vice President of Nepal.
• In the 17 March polls, Yadav defeated Astalakshmi Shakya of the CPN (UML) and Mamata Jha of the Janmat Party. He was supported by the ruling coalition, including the Nepali Congress, the CPN (Maoist Centre), and the CPN (Unified Socialist).
• A total of 311 federal MPs and 518 provincial assembly members participated in the vote. A polling station for the election was set up at the Federal Parliament Building at New Baneshwar in Kathmandu.
• According to the Constitution, the Vice President can perform the duties of the President during his absence. The term of the Vice President is five years from the date of his election.
• Ram Sahay Prasad Yadav was a former Minister of Forest and Environment and a member of the first federal parliament of Nepal. In the 2017 Nepalese general election, he was elected from the Bara 2 constituency.

• The Indian Navy’s P-8 aircraft has reached Guam in the US on 14 March, 2023, where it will participate in ‘Exercise Sea-Dragon 23’.
• This military exercise will run from 15 March to 30 March, 2023. During this exercise, the participating countries will practice joint anti-submarine operations.
• This is the 3rd US Navy conducted multilateral ASSW exercise for long range MR ASW aircraft.
• The P-8I will represent the Indian Navy, while the P8A of the US Navy, P1 of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force, CP 140 of the Royal Canadian Air Force and P3C of the Republic of Korea Navy will participate in the exercise.

• The US Senate has confirmed President Joe Biden’s nomination of Eric Garcetti as the US Ambassador to India.
• On 15 March, 52 members of the Senate supported Garcetti’s nomination while 42 opposed it.
• Seven members of the Republican Party also supported Garcetti, along with members of the majority Democratic Party.
• There was no US ambassador in India since January 2021, after almost two years, America has appointed its permanent ambassador to India.
• Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said that the relationship between the US and India is of utmost importance.

• The US has formally recognized the McMahon Line as the international border between India’s Arunachal Pradesh and China, rejecting Beijing’s claim that Arunachal Pradesh lies within Chinese territory.
• A bipartisan proposal to this effect was first introduced in the US Senate in February. In this resolution on 14 March, Arunachal Pradesh was considered an integral part of India and India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity were also supported.
• Apart from recognizing the McMahon Line, the resolution also condemned China’s provocative activities in the region.
• At the same time, China is also making its claims on Bhutan. Former US Ambassador to Japan and Senator Bill Haggerty said the resolution expressed the Senate’s support for explicitly recognizing Arunachal Pradesh as an integral part of India.
• The resolution, titled Affirmation and Condemnation of China’s provocative activities in South Asia, came after a major clash between Indian and Chinese forces in Arunachal’s Tawang in December 2022.

• The third edition of multilateral exercise “La Perouse” is scheduled to be held from 13 to 14 March 2023 in the Indian Ocean region.
• The edition will see the participation of personnel, ships and integral helicopters from the Royal Australian Navy, French Navy, Indian Navy, Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force, Royal Navy and United States Navy.
• This biennial exercise ‘La Perouse’ is organized by the French Navy. It aims to enhance maritime domain awareness and maximize maritime coordination among participating navies in the Indo-Pacific region.
• The exercise will see complex and advanced naval operations, including surface warfare, air defense exercises, cross deck landings and strategic manoeuvres.

• On 10 March 2023, Silicon Valley Bank, one of the largest banks in the US, has been shut down. US regulators ordered the closure of the bank.
• This bank was started in the year 1983 in Santa Clara, California and it was considered to be the biggest pro bank of the tech industry.
• State regulators seized the bank and appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as its receiver.
• The job of Silicon Valley Bank was to provide services to the startup companies of the world. Such startups who got funding used to deposit their funds in this bank due to low interest rates and easy liquidity terms, which were invested in debt securities by the bank.

• Senior Nepali Congress leader Ram Chandra Paudel has been elected as the third President of Nepal.
• The president is elected by an electoral college consisting of members of the federal parliament (House of Representatives and the National Assembly) and provincial assemblies.
• In the presidential election, he defeated CPN-UML Vice President Subhash Chandra Nembang by 33 thousand 802 votes. Mr. Nembang got 15 thousand 518 votes.
• A total of 313 members of the federal parliament and 518 members of the provincial assemblies participated in the voting.

• Xi Jinping has been elected President of China for an unprecedented third term.
• About 3,000 members of China’s rubber-stamp parliament – the National People’s Congress (NPC) – voted unanimously on 10 March to elect Xi Jinping as president.
• With this, Xi Jinping has become the first leader of China who is holding the post of President for the third consecutive time.
• In the year 2013, he became the President of China for the first time. After that in 2018, he was elected the President of the country for the second time.
• China’s parliament also elected Zhao Lejie as the new parliament speaker and Han Zheng as the new vice speaker.

The inaugural Joint Military Exercise FRINJEX-23 between the Indian Army and the French Army will take place at the Pangode Military Station in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, on 7 and 8 March 2023.

• This is the first time that the two armies are collaborating in this manner, with each contingent consisting of a Company Group from the Indian Army’s troops based in Thiruvananthapuram and the French 6th Light Armoured Brigade.
• The primary objective of the exercise is to improve inter-operability, coordination, and cooperation between both forces at the tactical level.

Questions : What is the name of Joint Military Exercise conducted between the Indian Army and the French Army at the Pangode Military Station in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, on 7 and 8 March 2023.

a) FRINJEX-23
b) confluence exercise
c) ‘Kazind-22’
d) Surya Kiran XVI

Ans : FRINJEX-23