Current Affairs Sep 2019 - Persons in NEWS

1 - Indian-Origin Doctor Bhasha Mukherjee Crowned Miss England 2019

23-Year-Old Indian-Origin British Doctor Bhasha Mukherjee has been crowned Miss England 2019. She will compete in the 69^th Miss World contest to be held in December in London. She has a Bachelor's degree in medicine and surgery from the University of Nottingham.

Bhasha has an IQ of 146, making her officially a "genius". Her family shifted base to the UK when she was 9 years old. She now stays in Derby.

2 - France’s Franky Zapata successfully crosses English Channel on hoverboard for 1^st time

French inventor Franky Zapata successfully crossed the English Channel on his Flyboard Air, a jet-powered hoverboard. He departed from Sangatte, France and arrived in Dover, England.

Zapata invented the Flyboard in 2011, a device that uses a water jet to propel the rider through the air behind a boat. He later invented the Flyboard Air, a board powered by four turbo jet engines that allows a rider to fly through the air untethered, using a computer to keep it stabilized.

3 - Hima Das roped in as brand ambassador of Gatorade India

Gatorade India has appointed ace sprinter Hima Das as its brand ambassador. She joins P.V. Sindhu and star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra as the brand ambassador of the US sports drink in India.

Gatorade has been actively working with sportspersons across the world. It has worked with Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, Argentine professional footballer Lionel Messi, and American tennis star Serena Williams and Real Madrid’s James Rodriguez, among others.

4 - Wing Commander Anjali Singh becomes India’s first female military diplomat

Wing Commander Anjali Singh has become the first female officer from the armed forces to be posted as a military diplomat in any of the Indian missions abroad when she joined the Indian Embassy in Moscow as a Deputy Air Attache.

Singh is from the aeronautical engineering branch of the Indian Air Force (IAF) with 17 years of service. She is trained on MiG-29 aircraft. The role of a defence attache is to assist in cooperation, training and procurement in the field of defence between the country she represents and the country in which she is posted.

5 - US swimmer criss-crossed English Channel in 54-hour feat

An American breast cancer survivor, Sarah Thomas, became the first person to swim across the English Channel four times non-stop in a 54-hour feat of endurance. She is an open water marathon swimmer from the US state of Colorado.

Only four swimmers have previously completed the approximately 21-mile Channel crossing between Britain and France three times without stopping. Sarah was diagnosed with breast cancer a year ago.

6 - Govinda appointed as brand ambassador of Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh government has appointed actor Govinda as brand ambassador to promote state’s traditions and tourist places. Govinda was a Congress Lok Sabha MP from Mumbai North constituency in 2004.

Madhya Pradesh is a state of vivid culture, historical places, hill stations, and rich wildlife experiences. With three world heritage sites, plenty of national parks, and wildlife sanctuaries, it is a true adventure destination of central India.

7 - Ponung Doming becomes first woman officer from Arunachal Pradesh to become Lieutenant Colonel in Indian Army

Ponung Doming of Arunachal Pradesh became the first woman officer from the state to be elevated to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Indian Army. Ponung joined the Officers Training Academy, Chennai in 2008.

After joining as Lieutenant, Doming rose to the position of Major within four-and-half years. In April 2014, she had also joined the UN peacekeeping mission at the Democratic Republic of Congo. In the armed forces, women are recruited only in the officer’s rank. They constitute 3.8% of total number Army officers.

8 - Visa appointed PV Sindhu as brand ambassador

Visa has signed up world badminton champion Pusarla Venkata Sindhu (PV Sindhu) as its brand ambassador for two years. Sindhu has also become an athlete member of Team Visa for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

PV Sindhu is India’s first ever world champion in badminton, who struck gold at the 2019 World Championships. Sindhu is also the recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award. Visa has been supporting the Olympic Games as a worldwide sponsor since 1986.