Daily GK Updates - 23rd February, 2019

NATIONAL UPDATES:

1.Kerala police induct first ever robot ’KP-BOT’ into their force :  Kerala Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan has inaugurated India’s first Humanoid Police Robot ‘KP-BOT’ at the Police Headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The robot’s gender is declared female (ranked as Sub-Inspector) keeping in mind women empowerment and gender equality. The work on the project was started by state police Cyberdome and a Kochi based start-up, Asimov.In 2018’s Cocoon Cyber Conference it was announced that robots will be included in the police force.

2.  CCEA approves KUSUM Scheme for farmers’ welfare : The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by PM Narendra Modi approved the launch of ‘Kisan Urja Suraksha Evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan’ (KUSUM Yojana). The objective of the KUSUM Yojana is to provide financial and water security to farmers. The scheme aims to add a solar capacity of 25,750 MW by 2022. The Central Government will provide total financial support of Rs 34,422 crore for the scheme.

3. West Bengal sets up Directorate to deal with tax evasions' cases : West Bengal Government has set up a separate Directorate to deal with the cases of tax evasions.The headquarters of the Directorate will be situated at Kolkata and will have seven branch offices in the Districts. The state government has estimated that evasion of commercial taxes, excise duties and taxes on the building and land registration leads to revenue losses of one thousand crore rupees in the State.

4. UP CM launches Scheme for Adolescent girls : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched ‘Scheme for Adolescent girls’ in the state. The objective of the scheme is to take care of the education of girls, aged between 11 to 14 years, till graduation, who have left studies. The state government has also decided to observe 8th of every month as Adolescent Girls Day at Anganwadi centres across the state.

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES:

1.Eighth World CSR Congress 2019 held in Mumbai : The 8th World Corporate Social Responsibility Congress (World CSR Congress 2019) was held in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The theme of the year 2019 is ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ (SDGs) to focus on corporate strategies, innovation, and strategic alliances. Dr. Soumitro Chakraborty won ‘CEO of the year’ award.

2. Sudan: President Bashir declares a year-long state of emergency : Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has declared a year-long state of emergency throughout the country. He also dissolved his cabinet and local governments throughout the country. Omar al-Bashir's term ends in 2020 and he has repeatedly promised over the years not to make new runs for the presidency. Since December 2018, various areas in Sudan have been witnessing popular protests over the deteriorating economic conditions and price hikes of basic commodities.

3. Climate change has officially led to the extinction of a mammal, the Australian rat : According to the Australian government, a small brown rat is the world's first mammal known to have become extinct due to ‘human-induced climate change’. The mammal ‘Bramble Cay melomys’ which had not been seen for almost 10 years was initially pronounced extinct after “exhaustive” conservation efforts failed. It was found only on a small sand island near the coast of Papua New Guinea.

OTHER UPDATES:

DEFENCE:

1. OFB gets clearance for producing 114 long-range artillery gun ‘Dhanush’ : The Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) has received a bulk production clearance from the Indian Army and the Defence Ministry for production of 114 'Dhanush' artillery guns. 'Dhanush' is the first long-range artillery gun to be produced in India. It is the product of efforts by the OFB and the Army with various contributions.

BUSINESS/ECONOMY:         

1. Ajay Singh appointed as the Head of AIBA Elite foundation : India's boxing chief Ajay Singh has been elected as the president of the Foundation Board for Better Boxing of AIBA (International Boxing Association) for a tenure of 4 years. Currently, Mr. Singh is the president of the Boxing Federation of India. AIBA formed the Foundation Board for Better Boxing in the last meeting of its Executive Committee to formulate an action plan for global development of the sport in future.