Important Current Affairs 20th November 2019

Lt Col Jyoti Sharma becomes first female JAG officer from Army to be deployed on foreign mission

• Lieutenant Colonel Jyoti Sharma has been appointed as the Indian Army’s female Judge Advocate General officer.

• She became the first female officer from the army to be deployed on a foreign mission.

• Lt Sharma will be appointed as the military legal expert with the government of Seychelles.

• Wing Commander Anjali Singh joined Indian Embassy in Russia as India’s first female military diplomat in an abroad mission in Sep.

Kolkata Becomes First Indian City to Install ‘Third Umpire’ RT-PCR Machines

• The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has installed India’s first-of-its-kind high-end Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) machines for quick detection of diseases like dengue, tuberculosis and swine flu.

• The RT-PCR machines will serve as a ‘third umpire’ in situations when medical reports and blood tests reveal contradictory results.

• These machines will give accurate DNA report on blood tests in order to ascertain the exact cause of illness.

IRCTC Signs MoU with Karnataka Tourism to market & run Golden Chariot train

• Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC), a tourism arm of Indian Railways, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) to market and operate the Golden Chariot Train in New Delhi .

• Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) will soon hand over the reins of the train to IRCTC. IRCTC is planning a revamp of the train itineraries also to add different flavours that Karnataka has to offer.

• The new itineraries shall be a mix of history, culture, wildlife and nature. It is proposed to include Bandipur, Mysore, Halebid, Chikmagalur, Hampi, Bijapur and Goa in the itinerary.

Virat Kohli named PETA India’s 2019 Person of the Year

• Indian Cricketer, Virat Kohli has been named as the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India’s Person of the Year 2019.

• Virat Kohli is a fierce animal rights proponent who never hesitates to run out cruelty to animals any way he can.

• Earlier, this accolade has been received by Shashi Tharoor, Anushka Sharma, Sunny Leone, Sonam Kapoor, Hema Malini, R Madhavan, Jacqueline Fernandez and former Supreme Court Justice KS Panicker Radhakrishnan.

Football Delhi 1st in India to Launch Academy Accreditation and Licensing System

• In a bid to improve football, professionalise the set-up and to reach out to every stakeholder in the National Capital Region (NCR), Football Delhi has implemented the Academy Accreditation and Licensing System.

• Delhi is the first state association to do so.

• This is an effort to ensure that every small football academy in the city, including schools and NGO-operated football training centres in the NCR, benefits as Football Delhi tries to spread the sport.

Sudhir Mital elected president of Gymnastics Federation of India (GFI)

• Former Competition Commission of India chairman SudhirMital and Shantikumar Singh were elected as president and general secretary respectively, of the Gymnastics Federation of India (GFI).

• KaushikBidiwala was elected as treasurer, defeating Ashok Kumar Sahoo by 42 votes to 2.

• Mital, a retired IAS officer of Punjab cadre, was a former president and served as GFI chief from 2003 to 2007. He served as chairman of Competition Commission of India in 2018 after joining the organisation in 2014 as a member.

• Shantikumar, a former national level gymnast from Manipur, had earlier served as GFI treasurer from 2011 to 2015 and then got elected as secretary in the 2015 elections.

Satya Nadella tops Fortune’s Businessperson of the Year 2019 list

• Microsoft’s Chief Executive Officer SatyaNadella has topped the Fortune’s Businessperson of the Year 2019 list. The list features 20 Businesspersons.

• Elizabeth Gaines of Fortescue Metals Group is on second, Brian Niccol is on third.

• Ajay Banga the CEO of Mastercard is the top Indian in the list and is ranked at 8th spot. JayshreeUllal of Arista is ranked at 18th.

Universal Children’s Day – 20 November

• Universal/World Children’s Day is celebrated on 20 November annually to promote international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and improving children’s welfare.

• The day also marks the anniversary of adoption of Declaration and Convention of the Rights of the Child.

• In 1959, UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child

• In 1989 UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

• 2019 marks the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.