Current Affairs Updates: 15 December 2019

1. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi chaired the first meeting of the National Ganga Council in Kanpur

2. NASA has finally selected a sample collection site on asteroid Bennu after the arrival of OSIRIS-REx

3. Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy inaugurated the Virtual Police Station at Andhra University. This is the first such
facility in the State of Andhra Pradesh

4. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh chaired a meeting of the Consultative Committee of Parliament for the Ministry of
Defence in New Delhi.

5. The International Hockey Federation unveiled a new world ranking system for 2020 in Lausanne, Switzerland. The new
method will come into effect from the 1st January 2020. The new ranking will be match-based instead of tournament-
based calculation.

6. Jamaica’s Toni-Ann Singh was crowned as Miss World 2019 at a beauty pageant held in London, UK. She won the
coveted Miss World title for the year 2019 after beating her contenders, Ophely Mezino from France and Suman Rao
from India. She received her crown from Mexico’s Vanessa Ponce de Leon, the winner of Miss World 2018

7. India’s Lakshya Sen wins men’s singles title at Bangladesh International Challenger badminton in Dhaka

8. Sri Lanka’s Mithun Perera wins ICC RCGC Open Golf Championship in Kolkata

9. United States beat International team to win Presidents Cup golf tournament in Melbourne.

10. BWF WORLD TOUR FINALS BADMINTON

Title winners at BWF World Tour Finals badminton in Guangzhou, China:
Japan’s Kento Momota: Men’s singles
China’s Chen Yufei: Women’s singles
Mohammad Ahsan & Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia: Men’s doubles
China’s Chen Qingchen & Jia Yifan: Women’s doubles
Zheng Siwei & Huang Yaqiong of China: Mixed doubles

11. The World Economic Forum (WEF) announced the Winners of 26th Annual Crystal Award for the year 2020. The Crystal
Awards recognises as well as celebrates the achievements of leading artists and cultural figures whose leadership
inspires inclusive and sustainable change. The annual awards are hosted by World Economic Forum’s World Arts Forum.
WEF’s 2019 Crystal Award Recipients
Jin Xing– China’s media personality. She was recognized for her leadership in shaping inclusive cultural norms
Theaster Gates– Chicago-based artist. He was recognized for his leadership in creating sustainable communities
Lynette Wallworth­- Australian artist. She won for her leadership in creating inclusive narratives
Deepika Padukone- Indian actress. She won the award for her remarkable leadership in raising mental health
awareness. She is the only Indian actress who has won 26th Annual Crystal Award for spreading mental health
awareness.

12. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) will set up a task force on gene therapy in order to encourage research
in the field. The purpose of setting up the task force is to explore gene editing based therapeutic approaches that will
treat illness.