• Six-time world champion pugilist Mary Kom has been appointed as the Chairperson of the International Boxing Association's (AIBA) champions and veterans committee.
• AIBA President Umar Kremlyov said this in a letter to the 2012 Olympic bronze-medalist. Mary Kom was elected by the Board of Directors of AIBA.
• The Committee, formed in December last year, consists of most respected worldwide boxing veterans and champions who have achieved significant results and who are ready to share their experience.
• Mary Kom thanked AIBA President and said she will give her best at the position.

• SpaceX successfully tested its Starship SN10 prototype rocket after two recent failed attempts.
• The rocket prototype was launched on Wednesday to an altitude of 10,000 kilometers and then landed back on the ground. However, the rocket exploded about six minutes after landing.
• The test launch is deemed successful because the goal was to gather information on how the flaps work to control the rocket when it is horizontal as it is falling back to earth.

• India signed a key pact with the Philippines for the sale of "defence material and equipment", which are likely to include BrahMos cruise missiles.
• Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, who was also present at the pact's signing ceremony in Manila, has reportedly said that his country is buying BrahMos missiles.
• The BrahMos missile is produced by an India-Russian joint venture “BrahMos Aerospace” and it can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft or from land platforms.
• It is the fastest supersonic cruise missile in the world.
• Currently the missile is used only by India, however several countries including Philippines, Vietnam, South Africa, Egypt, Oman, Chile and Brunei have expressed interest in the procurement of the missile.

• Australian conservationists unveiled plans to build the world’s first refuge for the platypus, to promote breeding and rehabilitation as the duck-billed mammal faces extinction due to climate change.
• The Taronga Conservation Society Australia and the New South Wales State government said they would build the specialist facility, mostly ponds and burrows for the semi-aquatic creatures, at a zoo 391 km (243 miles) from Sydney, by 2022, which could house up to 65 platypuses.
• Concerns about the platypus going extinct have been heightened since once-in-a-generation wildfires devastated 12.6 million hectares (31 million acres) of bush, nearly the size of Greece, in late 2019 and early 2020.
• Scientists estimate nearly three billion animals died in what the Prime Minister called the country’s “black summer”. A government inquiry found bushfires would likely occur more often because of warming temperatures.

• The UN General Assembly (UNGA) adopted by consensus a resolution sponsored by India and supported by over 70 nations declaring 2023 as the International Year of Millets, aimed at raising awareness about the health benefits of the grain and their suitability for cultivation under changing climatic conditions.
• The resolution titled ‘International Year of Millets 2023’ was initiated by India with Bangladesh, Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria, Russia and Senegal and was co-sponsored by over 70 nations.
• The 193-member General Assembly unanimously adopted the resolution, declaring 2023 as the International Year of Millets.

• The World Bank plans to introduce a $100-million credit guarantee scheme to boost India’s rooftop solar programme, which has not gained enough traction.
• The scheme will allow micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to avail concessional debt financing for setting up rooftop solar units, said two people aware of the development requesting anonymity.
• The World Bank scheme, along with State Bank of India (SBI) and the MSME ministry to accelerate adoption of rooftop solar units, will help MSMEs access credit of around $1 billion.
• This assumes significance given that India added around 4 gigawatts (GW) of rooftop solar capacity out of its 40GW target by 2022. Rooftop solar installations are part of India’s renewable energy target of 175GW to help reduce its carbon footprint by 33-35% from the 2005 levels, as part of global climate change transition commitments adopted by 195 countries in Paris in 2015.

• Bengaluru has emerged as the best city on ease of living parameters among 49 million-plus cities in 2020, pushing the earlier top ranker Pune to number two.
• Among 62 cities having less than one million population, Shimla has topped the list followed by Bhubaneswar, according to the Union housing and urban development ministry.
• Unlike the first ease of living index (EoLI) report of 2018, the latest ranking of cities in 2020 has put 111 cities in two categories, million-plus and cities having population less than a million.

• The Hindu Group received two golds and two silvers at WAN IFRA’s South Asian Digital Media Awards, culminating in being named ‘Champion Publisher of the Year’, owing to the best tally on the factors desk.
• The awards are introduced in recognition of excellent work achieved by information publishers, in digital media. The winners had been honoured nearly on the Digital Media India 2021 Conference held on Wednesday.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday will be conferred with the CERAWeek Global Energy and Environment Leadership Award on 5^th march.
• PM Modi will also deliver the keynote address at the Cambridge Energy Research Associates Week (CERAWeek) 2021 around 7 pm via video conferencing.
• CERAWeek Global Energy and Environment Leadership Award was instituted in 2016.

• West Indies white-ball captain Kieron Pollard on Wednesday became only the third man to hit 6 sixes in an international match during the opening T20I against Sri Lanka. Pollard followed in the footsteps of South Africa’s Herschelle Gibbs (2007 World Cup against Netherlands) and India’s Yuvraj Singh (2007 T20 World Cup against England) to achieve the rare feat.
• Akila Dananjaya was the bowler who was the recipient of the onslaught, as Pollard took him apart with consummate ease. Pollard was on 4 runs off 4 balls when he decided to launch the attack on Dananjaya, who interestingly in his previous over had claimed a hat-trick that had put the hosts on the back foot.

Download Daily GK PDF of 05 March 2021