Monthly Current Affair GK Digest: March 2023

G-20 meeting of Anti Corruption Working Group begins in Gurugram

Current Context: The G-20 meeting of Anti Corruption Working Group in Gurugram was the first meeting of the group under India's chairpersonship and Italy as the co-chair country. The meeting was held from 1st to 3rd March 2023 at a hotel in Gurugram, Haryana.

About

• The meeting was inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Personnel & PMO, Dr Jitendra Singh who said that India will reaffirm unified action to ensure zero tolerance against corruption and deepen commitments towards countering graft globally.
• The meeting was attended by over 90 delegates from 20 members countries, 10 invitee countries and 9 international organizations such as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
• The meeting focused on topics such as asset recovery fugitive economic offender formal and informal channels of cooperation for information sharing,beneficial ownership transparency, and capacity building.
• The meeting also discussed ways to strengthen law enforcement cooperation for action against corruption and related economic crimes
• The meeting concluded with a call for enhancing mutual legal assistance, extradition requests, asset recovery requests, exchange of financial intelligence and other information among G-20 members.
• The meeting also agreed on a draft work plan for 2023-24 which will be submitted to the G-20 leaders' summit in Jakarta later this year.

Moody’s ups India’s GDP growth projection for 2023 to 5.5%

Current Affairs: Moody's Investors Service is a global rating agency that provides credit ratings, research and analysis for various sectors and entities. On March 1st 2023, Moody's raised India's economic growth forecast for 2023 to 5.5% from 4.8% pegged earlier.

Details

• The main reason for this revision was the higher capital expenditure proposed in the Union Budget 2023-24, which aimed to boost infrastructure spending and revive the economy after the Covid-19 pandemic. Moody's also cited a sustained economic momentum as a positive factor for India's growth outlook.
• Moody's also raised its growth projections for other G-20 economies such as the US, Canada, the Euro area, Russia, Mexico and Turkiye, accounting for a stronger end to 2022.
• According to Moody's, India had the highest growth rate of all G-20 countries followed by China at 5% and Indonesia at 4.8%.
• For fiscal 2023-24, the Reserve Bank of India has projected real GDP growth at 6.4% while the Economic Survey had estimated it in the range of 6% to 6.8%.
• Moody's said that India's growth outlook was supported by a strong recovery in private consumption and investment, as well as a favourable base effect from the sharp contraction in 2022.
• Moody's also noted that India's fiscal deficit target of 6.8% of GDP for 2023-24 was higher than expected, but it reflected a credible commitment to fiscal consolidation and transparency.
• Moody's said that India's credit profile remained constrained by low per capita income, high public debt, weak financial sector and governance challenges.
• Moody's also warned that India faced downside risks from potential new waves of Covid-19 infections, geopolitical tensions with China and Pakistan, social unrest and environmental shocks.

ISRO conducts flight test of cryogenic engine

Current Context: ISRO has successfully test fired the CE-20 cryogenic engine of its moon mission rocket on February 24 at its Propulsion Complex (IPRC) at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu³. The engine will be used for the third stage of India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III) that will launch Chandrayaan-3.

Key Highlights

• A cryogenic engine is a type of rocket engine that uses very low-temperature liquid propellants such as liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. These propellants are stored at extremely low temperatures and are pumped into a combustion chamber where they ignite and produce thrust.
• A cryogenic engine works on the principle of reaction thrust, which means that it throws mass in one direction and relies on the opposite force in the other direction.
• According to The Week, ISRO has successfully conducted the key test on cryogenic engine for Chandrayaan-3 mission on February 28 at its Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) at Valiamala near Thiruvananthapuram. The test was carried out for a planned duration of 25 seconds and demonstrated all performance parameters

Some of the advantages of using a cryogenic engine are:

• It is more environmentally-friendly than other options because it produces less greenhouse gases and pollution.
• It is non-toxic and non-corrosive, which makes it safer to handle and store.
• It has a higher mass flow rate than fossil fuels, which means it produces more thrust and power with less fuel consumption.
• It has a high-specific impulse, which means it can achieve higher speeds and altitudes with less propellant mass.

India exports seafood to over 120 countries

Current Context: According to, India is one of the largest fish producing countries in the world with a production of 14.73 million metric tonnes.It exports seafood to over 120 countries and is among the top 5 fish exporting countries in the world.Nearly 16 % of the country’s agricultural exports constitute fish and fish products.India is also one of the largest exporters of farmed shrimps.

Key Facts

• Reports that India is targeting to reach USD 14 billion by 2025 in marine products export.
• States that India's seafood market is expected to recover by 2022 boosted by a rise in domestic demand and exports.
• Mentions that India has launched a National Surveillance Programme for Aquatic Animal Diseases (NSPAAD) to ensure quality and safety of seafood products.

Some of the main challenges faced by Indian seafood exporters are:

• Lack of adequate cold storage and transportation facilities, which affects the quality and shelf-life of the products.
• Congestion at ports and roads¹, which causes delays and increases costs.
• Stringent quality standards and regulations imposed by importing countries, which require compliance with hygiene, traceability, labelling, etc.
• Competition from other seafood exporting countries like China, Vietnam, Thailand, etc, which offer lower prices and higher volumes.

Bola Tinubu wins Nigeria presidential election

Current Context: Bola Tinubu has won Nigeria's presidential election against Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi. He is a former governor of Lagos and a leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party. He got 37% of the vote,while his main rivals got 29% and 25% respectively. 

Key Points

• The election was disputed by the opposition parties, who called it a sham and demanded a rerun. Tinubu based his campaign on his record of rebuilding Lagos, Nigeria's biggest city.

Some of Tinubu's achievements are:

• He established the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) to improve traffic flow and reduce congestion.
• He built five additional general hospitals in Lagos state to provide better health care services.
• He initiated several urban renewal projects, such as the construction of new roads, bridges, housing estates and markets.
• He introduced free education at primary and secondary levels, and increased funding for tertiary institutions.
• He played a key role in forming the All Progressives Congress (APC), a coalition of opposition parties that defeated the incumbent People's Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 and 2019 general elections.

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