United Arab Emirates names its first female astronaut
Dubai, Apr 10: The United Arab Emirates named the next two astronauts in its space programme Saturday, including the country's first female astronaut.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai who also serves as the autocratically ruled country's prime minister and vice president, named the two astronauts on Twitter.
PC: Khaleej Times
He identified Noura al-Matroushi as the UAE's first female astronaut, with her male counterpart as Mohammed al-Mulla.
A later government promotional video described al-Matroushi, born in 1993, as an engineer at the Abu Dhabi-based National Petroleum Construction Co.
Al-Mulla, born in 1988, serves as a pilot with Dubai police and heads their training division, the government said.
The two had been selected among more than 4,000 applicants in the UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula that's also home to Abu Dhabi.
The two will undergo training at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
If al-Matroushi ends up going on a mission, she could become the first Arab woman in space, the UAE government said.
Anousheh Raissyan, an Iranian-American telecommunications entrepreneur and millionaire from Dallas, became the first Muslim woman and first Iranian in space when she traveled as a self-funded civilian to the International Space Station in 2006. She reportedly paid 20 million to travel there as a tourist.
The first Muslim in space was Saudi Prince Sultan bin Salman, who joined the crew of the shuttle Discovery in 1985.
In 2019, Maj. Hazzaa al-Mansoori became the UAE's first astronaut in space, spending an eight-day mission aboard the International Space Station.
The Emirates has had other recent successes in its space program. This February, the UAE put its Amal, or Hope, satellite in orbit around Mars, a first for the Arab world. In 2024, the country hopes to put an unmanned spacecraft on the moon.
The UAE also has set the ambitious goal of building a human colony on Mars by 2117.
انضمام نورا المطروشي لبرنامج الإمارات لرواد الفضاء كأول رائدة فضاء عربية إنجاز نوعي جديد للمرأة الإماراتية، نبارك لها هذا الاختيار ونتمنى لها ولزميلها رائد الفضاء محمد الملا كل التوفيق في مهمتهما ورفع اسم الإمارات عالياً.. تهانينا لقيادتنا الرشيدة وشعبنا الكريم pic.twitter.com/VcIslc6Dzh
— Manal MR AL Maktoum (@MMbinRashid) April 10, 2021
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TVK chief Vijay appointed Tamil Nadu CM, to be sworn-in on May 10
Chennai (PTI): Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar on Saturday appointed TVK chief C Joseph Vijay as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and and the leader will take oath on Sunday, the Lok Bhavan said.
The swearing-in of the Vijay-led ministry will be held on Sunday at 10 am here at Nehru Stadium.
Vijay was appointed CM after he presented letters of support from the VCK and the IUML who have two MLAs each. The governor held talks for about an hour over the requisite support.
According to a Lok Bhavan press release, Vijay was appointed the chief minister by Governor Arlekar as per the provisions of the Constitution. The governor also invited Vijay to form ministry.
Further, Arlekar asked Vijay to seek the vote of confidence on or before May 13.
The TVK chief met the governor along with Congress top leader K Selvaperunthagai and leaders of supporting parties including the CPI(M) State Secretary P Shanmugam.
Taking into account support from VCK and IUML, who have 2 seats each, the TVK's seat tally has now touched 120 in the 234-member Assembly.
