Current Affairs May 2023

• Vigilance Commissioner Praveen Kumar Srivastava was sworn in as the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) by President Draupadi Murmu on 29 May. Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the ceremony.
• During his tenure in the Central Government, he assisted in negotiations relating to trade in services under the World Trade Organization as Director/Deputy Secretary in the Department of Commerce.
• He also served as Chief Vigilance Officer in RITES Limited and as Joint Secretary and Mission Director of Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.
• As Special Secretary and Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Shri Srivastava handled matters relating to cadre management of the Indian Police Service, personnel and general administration of the Central Armed Police Forces and Union Territories.

Qns : Who was sworn in as the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC)?

(A) Praveen Kumar Srivastava
(B) Jagdeep Dhankhar
(C) Jai Prakash Singh
(D) RK Vishwakarma

Ans : (A) Praveen Kumar Srivastava

• On 28 May, 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially inaugurated the new Parliament House.
• The New Parliament House in the Central Vista area of New Delhi is designed to accommodate the growing size and needs of the Indian Parliament.
• The building has seating arrangements for 888 members of the Lok Sabha and 384 members of the Rajya Sabha.
• It features 6 committee rooms equipped with state-of-the-art audio-visual systems.
• The building covers an area of approximately 65,000 square meters and has a triangular shape to optimize space utilization.
• It is a four-storied building constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 970 crore.
• The design of the building was done by Ahmedabad-based HCP Design, Planning and Management. The construction was carried out by Tata Projects Limited.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi also installed “Sengol” in a dedicated enclosure to the right of the Speaker’s chair in the Lok Sabha chamber.

Qns : Which company carried out the construction of the new Parliament House?

(A) Reliance Infrastructure Ltd.
(B) Sadbhav Engineering Ltd.
(C) Tata Projects Ltd.
(D) Dilip Buildcon Ltd.

Ans : (C) Tata Projects Ltd.

• Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ will be on an official visit to India from 31 May to 3 June at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• He will be on his first bilateral visit to India after assuming office in December 2022. He will be accompanied by a high-level delegation.
• During the visit, the Prime Minister of Nepal will call on President Draupadi Murmu and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and hold wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Modi to discuss diverse areas of bilateral partnership between India and Nepal.
• Other Indian dignitaries will call on the Prime Minister of Nepal. Apart from official engagements, the Prime Minister of Nepal will also visit Ujjain and Indore as part of his visit.

Qns : Who is the Prime Minister of Nepal?

(A) Pushpa Kamal Dahal
(B) Dinesh Gunawardena
(C) Sheikh Hasina
(D) Surya Bahadur Thapa

Ans : (A) Pushpa Kamal Dahal

• India’s longest bridge, the under-construction Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, is likely to be open to the public towards the end of this year.
• On 25th May, In a significant milestone, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde along with Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis inspected the under-construction Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) and flagged off the first bus to cross the MTHL to mark the deck slab installation completion.
• After the symbolic ceremony, work will proceed to the remaining stages like installing crash barriers, asphalting the deck, erecting view-cutters, setting up the open toll collection centres, security & surveillance systems, markers and signages, waterproofing the engineering structure, lights & reflectors etc. over the next four-five months.
• The total length of is about 21.8 km, sea length about 16.5 km and land length about 5.5 km.
• The 30.1 metre wide, six-lane bridge is being built at a cost of over Rs 17,800 crore.
• The link has interchanges at Sewri in Mumbai and at Shivaji Nagar, at SH-54 and at Chirle on NH-348 on Navi Mumbai side.

Qns : What is the name of the bridge, which will be the longest sea bridge in India?

(A) Delhi Trans Harbour Link
(B) Kolkata Trans Harbour Link
(C) Mumbai Trans Harbour Link
(D) Chennai Trans Harbour Link

Ans : (C) Mumbai Trans Harbour Link

• Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines Shri Pralhad Joshi will inaugurate the first Mining Start-up Summit in Mumbai on 29 May 2023.
• The conference is being organized under the joint aegis of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and the Ministry of Mines.
• This exclusive conference will mainly focus on innovation and technologies, which will improve performance and safety and help in building autonomy in the field of mining and metallurgy.
• The conference will also focus on interactions with leading industries, financial institutions and banks in the mineral exploration sector.
• This will benefit students and young professionals working in the fields of exploration, virtual reality, automation, drone technology, consulting etc. More than 120 start-ups and 20 leading industries will participate in the summit.

Qns : Where will the first Mining Start-up Summit be held?
(A) New Delhi
(B) Kolkata
(C) Mumbai
(D) Chennai
Ans : (C) Mumbai

• India’s National Climate Research Program was released on 26 May 2023 at the inauguration of the two-day International Climate Research Meeting (ICRC-2023) at DST’s Centre of Excellence in Climate Studies at IIT Bombay.
• The program paves the way for the future to coordinate national efforts to understand and address climate change through 2030 and beyond.
• More than 200 climate scientists, students, experts and policy makers from different parts of the country and around the world are participating in the International Climate Research Conference (ICRC-2023) to discuss India’s recent progress in climate research and plans for 2030.
• It aims to unveil the National Climate Research Programme, which is an important step in guiding and coordinating national efforts towards understanding climate change and solving its problems.
• There are also 20 major programs dedicated to climate change research. This extensive network includes a staggering 1,400 institutions where climate change studies and research take place, with a recent expansion of private institutions.

Qns : Where was the International Climate Research Meeting (ICRC-2023) held?

(A) IIT Delhi
(B) IIT Madras
(C) IIT Bombay
(D) IIT Kanpur

Ans : (C) IIT Bombay

• The King of Cambodia, Norodom Sihamoni, will arrive in India on his first state visit from 29 to 31 May.
• The visit is the culmination of the 70th anniversary celebrations of diplomatic relations between India and Cambodia.
• This visit by the King of Cambodia is taking place after almost six decades, the last visit of the present King’s father was in 1963.
• Secretary (East) said Raja would be accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on 30th May.
• President Draupadi Murmu will host a state banquet in honor of the visiting dignitary the same evening. Raja will also have bilateral meetings with President Draupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Qns : Who is the King of Cambodia?

(A) Philippe
(B) Charles
(C) Norodom Sihamoni
(D) Willem Alexander

Ans : (C) Norodom Sihamoni

• Ms. Suman Sharma, IRS took the oath of office and secrecy as a member of UPSC on 25 May. UPSC Chairman Dr. Manoj Soni administered him the oath.
• As an officer of Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax), 1990 batch, Ms. Suman Sharma, in her illustrious career of more than 30 years, has held several important positions and has been closely involved with the subject matters of International Taxation, Transfer Pricing, Export Promotion Schemes and Power Trading Agreements.
• Ms. Sharma was given “Award for the Best Search” while working in the Investigation Wing of the Income Tax Department. As Additional Director General of Foreign Trade, CLA, New Delhi, she dealt with export promotion schemes for all the exporters based in northern zone.

Qns : Who took the oath of office and secrecy as a member of UPSC on 25 May?

a) Dr. Manoj Soni
b) Ms. Suman Sharma
c) Mr. Ramesh Kumar
d) None of the above
Ans : b) Ms. Suman Sharma

• IPS officer Praveen Sood took charge as the director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on 25 May.
• A 1986 batch officer, Mr. Sood was earlier serving as the Director General of Police in Karnataka. Shri Sood has held various important positions during his long career of about 37 years.
• He has supervised the investigation of high-profile cases involving high-net-worth individuals. He worked to strengthen the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems and the Interoperable Criminal Justice System Network in Karnataka.
• Praveen Sood completed his BTech in Civil Engineering from IIT, Delhi. He completed his post graduation in Public Policy and Management from IIM Bangalore and Maxwell School of Governance, Syracuse University in New York.
• He has been decorated with the President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service in 2011 and the Police Medal for Meritorious Service in 2002. Praveen Sood interacted with CBI officials after taking charge.

Qns : Who recently took charge as the director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)?

(A) Praveen Sood
(B) Alok Kumar Verma
(C) Rishi Kumar Shukla
(D) Anil Sinha

Answer : (A) Praveen Sood

• Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi flagged off the first Vande Bharat Express from Dehradun to Delhi at 11 am on 25th May through video conferencing.
• This is the first Vande Bharat Express train of Uttarakhand. Equipped with world-class amenities, this express train will usher in a new era of comfortable travel experience for passengers, especially tourists visiting the state.
• The train is completely indigenously built and equipped with all advanced safety features including armor technology.
• The Railways department is electrifying rail routes in the country, in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of clean energy for public transport.
• Moving forward in this direction, the Prime Minister will inaugurate the electrification of railway sections in Uttarakhand. With this, 100 percent electrification of railways will be done in the state.

Qns : What is the name of the first Vande Bharat Express train in Uttarakhand?

(A) Dehradun to Mumbai Vande Bharat Express
(B) New Delhi-Varanasi Vande Bharat Express
(C) Nagpur-Bilaspur Vande Bharat Express
(D) Dehradun to Delhi Vande Bharat Express

Ans : (D) Dehradun to Delhi Vande Bharat Express