Current affairs 02 March 2023

India wins GSMA Government Leadership Award 2023.

• India has been awarded the prestigious GSM Association (GSMA) Government Leadership Award 2023 at Mobile World Congress Barcelona on 27 February 2023.
• Reason: For implementing best practices in telecom policy and regulation.
• Minister for Communications, Ashwini Vaishnaw has also informed that the Right of Way (RoW) permissions which used to take more than 230 days, now get approval within 8 days.
• More than 85% of mobile tower clearances are now instantaneous.

ISRO successfully conducts flight test of cryogenic engine for Chandrayan-3.

• ISRO has successfully conducted the flight acceptance hot test of the CE-20 cryogenic engine for the Chandrayan-3 mission.
• The test was successfully conducted on February 24 at the ISRO Propulsion Complex, Mahendragiri, Tamil Nadu.
• The hot test was carried out for a planned duration of 25 seconds at the High Altitude Test Facility.
• The engine will power the Cryogenic Upper Stage of the LVM3 launch vehicle of the mission.
• Chandrayaan-3 is India’s 3rd moon mission.

8th Edition of Raisina Dialogue to be held on March 2 in New Delhi.

• The 8th Edition of the Raisina Dialogue will be organized from 2-4 March 2023 in New Delhi.
• The Dialogue will be inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi and joined by the PM of Italy, Giorgia Meloni as the Chief Guest.
• Theme 2023: Provocation, Uncertainty, Turbulence: Lighthouse in the Tempest
• It is a flagship conference of India on geopolitics and geo-strategy.
• It is organized by the Ministry of External Affairs in collaboration with Observer Research Foundation.

1st Anti-Corruption G20 Working Group meeting organizes in Gurugram.

• The first Anti-Corruption Working Group (ACWG) meeting of the G20 is being organized in Gurugram, Haryana from 1st - 3rd March 2023.
• The ACWG was joined by over 90 delegates from 20 member countries, 10 Invitee countries, and 9 International Organizations.
• Aim: To strengthen International Anti-corruption mechanisms.
• G 20 ACWG meetings have one Chair (Presidency country) and one co-chair country.
• The co-chair for the G20 ACWG 2023 is Italy.

Kerala temple deploys life-size "robotic elephant" for festival.

• A Kerala temple, Irinjadappilly Sree Krishna Temple (Thrissur district), has introduced a life-size motorized model of an elephant for performing rituals such as carrying processional deities.
• The 11-foot-tall robotic elephant, weighing 800 kg and made of an iron frame and rubber coating, was donated by People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India.
• Film actor Parvathy Thiruvothu joined hands with PETA in donating the robotic elephant, which cost 5 lakh rupees.