UN chief appoints Indian-origin satellite expert as Director of UNOOSA
United Nations (PTI): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed Indian-origin satellite industry expert Aarti Holla-Maini as Director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) in Vienna.
Holla-Maini of the United Kingdom will succeed Simonetta Di Pippo of Italy.
UNOOSA works to promote international cooperation in the peaceful use and exploration of space and in the utilisation of space science and technology for sustainable economic and social development.
Holla-Maini brings to this position over 25 years of professional experience in the space sector including in managerial and advocacy functions.
Most recently, she has held the role of Executive Vice-President Sustainability, Policy & Impact at NorthStar Earth & Space. Prior to that, she spent over 18 years as the Secretary-General of the Global Satellite Operators Association, a statement issued here said on Monday.
Holla-Maini's experience includes service as a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on Space; member of the Advisory Group of the Space Sustainability Rating managed by eSpace at the cole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) Space Center; member of the Advisory Board of the Satellite Industry Association of India; Senior Space Policy Advisor to Forum Europe and as Expert Advisor on Space Traffic Management for European Union studies 2021-2023.
She was also one of the chief architects of the Crisis Connectivity Charter established in 2015 for emergency telecommunications via satellite with the UN World Food Program's Emergency Telecommunications Cluster.
Holla-Maini holds a bachelor's degree in law with German law from Kings College London, UK, and a master's degree in business administration from HEC Paris, France.
She is also an alumna of the International Space University and speaks English, French, German and Punjabi and has moderate knowledge of Dutch.
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SWR announces special trains for passengers stranded by large-scale IndiGo cancellations
Bengaluru (PTI): The South Western Railway on Saturday announced a series of special trains, in coordination with Central, South Eastern and Southern Railways, to clear stranded passengers following large-scale IndiGo flight cancellations across the country.
The special services will operate between December 6 and 10 on high-demand routes, including Bengaluru–Chennai, Bengaluru–Pune, Yesvantpur–Hazrat Nizamuddin, Shalimar–Yelahanka and Ernakulam–Yelahanka, officials said.
According to an official statement, SWR will run Train No. 06255/06256 between Chennai Egmore and KSR Bengaluru, 06257/06258 between Bengaluru and MGR Chennai Central, 06259/06260 between Yesvantpur and Hazrat Nizamuddin, and 06263/06264 between Bengaluru and Pune.
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Central Railway will operate Train No. 01413/01414 between Pune and Bengaluru, while South Eastern Railway will run Train No. 08073/08074 between Shalimar and Yelahanka. Southern Railway will operate Train No. 06147/06148 between Ernakulam and Yelahanka, the statement said.
Railways has advised passengers to check updated timings on its official channels and arrive early at stations.
For at least five days in a row, IndiGo flight operations have been significantly disrupted, with a large number of cancellations and delays causing hardships to thousands of passengers. In many cases, baggage has been misplaced.
