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
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut alleges irregularities in Maharashtra Assembly election results
Mumbai: As the counting of votes for the Maharashtra Assembly elections progresses, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut has raised serious allegations of irregularities in the results. Speaking to the media, Raut claimed, "There is something wrong with these election results. This is not the decision of the people."
Currently, the BJP-led alliance is leading in 215 seats, while the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is ahead in 61 constituencies. According to Raut, several seats that should have gone to the MVA were allegedly "stolen."
He further alleged, "Money machines were set up in every constituency. Maharashtra’s people are honest, but the election process here has seen the highest level of dishonesty. We knew the sentiment of the public, but this outcome does not reflect it."
Raut also connected the developments to recent controversies involving Gautam Adani, claiming that the focus has been shifted to the election results to divert attention from issues affecting the BJP. He accused the BJP of manipulating the elections, stating, "Mumbai is going into the hands of Gautam Adani."
