DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS: 21st DEC 2019


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.