DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 21TH
DEC 2019
1. ANTI-HIJACKING EXERCISE
‘APHARAN’
ü
Indian Navy(IN), Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and the Cochin Port
Trust conducted large scale anti-hijacking
exercise codenamed “Apharan”
off Kochi coast of Kerala.
More than 12 ships and helicopters of IN, ICG, and Cochin port trust
participated in the exercise.
2. NMSARB MEET 2019
ü Indian
Coast Guard (ICG) has organized the 18th National
Maritime Search and Rescue Board (NMSARB) meeting2019 in NewDelhi.
ü The
meet, chaired by K Natarajan -Director General (DG) of Indian Coast Guard and
Chairman NMSARB, saw the discussion over policy issues, formulation of
guidelines & procedures and assess the efficacy of National Search and
Rescue Plan.
3. AFGHANISTAN RECOGNIZE INDIAN PHARMACOPOEIA
ü Islamic Republic
of Afghanistan has
formally recognized Indian
Pharmacopoeia (IP), an official book of standards for drugs
manufactured & marketed in India in terms of their identity, purity and
strength.
ü 1st nation
to recognize IP, which is published by the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission
(IPC) on behalf of the Department of Commerce, and Ministry of Health &
Family Welfare.
4. WORLD’S FIRST GLOBAL REFUGEE FORUM
ü The 1st ever Global
Refugee Forum was held in Geneva, Switzerland. The forum
was co-hosted by United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and co-convened (brought
together) by Turkey, Germany, Ethiopia and Costa Rica.
ü $
2.2 billion was pledged by the World
Bank(WB) Group. The Inter-American Development Bank of US also pledged
to provide $ 1 billion.
5. 3RD INDIAN COMPANY TO CROSS M- CAP OF $ 100 BILLION
ü HDFC (Housing
Development Finance Corporation) Bank Ltd, has become
the 3rd company to
cross market capitalization (m-cap) of $ 100 billion (over
Rs 7 lakh crore) after Reliance Industries Ltd- RIL ($140.74 billion) & TCS($114.60billion). However, it closed
below the $100 billion mark at roughly $99.5 billion.
6. FORBES INDIA CELEBRITY LIST 2019
ü According
to the list of celebrity 2019, Virat Kohli has become the first sportsman to
gain the top spot for the first time with the annual earnings of Rs. 252.72
crore. Kohli replaced Bollywood superstar Salman Khan, who had been at the top
for the previous three years. Actor Akshay Kumar is at the second
position followed by Salman Khan.
7.
PATANJALI COMPLETES
ACQUISITION OF RUCHI SOYA
ü Patanjali
Ayurved made its first big acquisition to take over soya food brand Nutrela
maker Ruchi Soya for Rs.4,350 crore through an insolvency
process. Patanjali has settled Rs 4,350 crore of dues debt-ridden Ruchi Soya
towards financial creditors by infusing Rs 1,100 crore equity and arranging
another Rs 3,250 crore via debt.The acquisition will help Patanjali to acquire
edible oil plants and soyabean oil brands such as Mahakosh and Ruchi Gold.
ü Acharya
Balkrishna is appointed as the Chairman And
Managing Director of the Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd
ü Swami
Ramdev as non-executive director on its
new board.
8. WORLD’S OLDEST FOSSIL FOREST DISCOVERED
ü Scientists
discovered remnants of a 386-million-year old world’s oldest fossil forest
in a sandstone quarry in Cairo, New York, United States(US). This
forest is around 2 or 3 million years older than the current world’s oldest
forest at Gilboa.
9. ICC CONTINUES PARTNERSHIP WITH UNICEF FOR ICC WOMEN’S T20 WORLD CUP 2020
ü International cricket
council (ICC) has extended its partnership with UNICEF (United Nations
Children’s Fund) for ICC
Women’s T20 World cup 2020 to be held in Australia in 2020.
The main focus of this partnership is empowering women and girls in cricket.
