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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England sticking with Key, McCullum and Stokes despite Ashes humbling
London (AP): England is not sacking anybody following the 4-1 Ashes loss in Australia.
A review of the tour by the England and Wales Cricket Board, announced within hours of the final match in January, was concluded on Monday. Firing people would “be the easy thing to do,” ECB chief executive Richard Gould said but he insisted, "This is not the time to throw everything out."
Managing director Rob Key, coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes kept their jobs after the best England side to go to Australia in 14 years lost the Ashes in 11 days with two games to spare.
“Moving people on can sometimes be the easy thing to do. That's not the route that we're going to take,” Gould said. “I've seen the driving ambition and determination that we're lucky enough to have within our leadership group to take the lessons from the Ashes and move forward.”
Gould previously was the chief executive of Bristol City soccer club and said the ECB would not follow the same route as soccer's hire-and-fire culture.
“Cricket is a very unique sport in that it takes a team of leadership ... it's not like football where there's a single point of failure or success with a manager," he said. He added the ECB would not “select or deselect management based on a popularity campaign.”
The main criticisms of England's tour were poor preparation, player misbehavior, and selection mistakes.
At a press conference at Lord's, Gould and Key said McCullum and Stokes have not had a “bust up,” they did not want McCullum to “completely change” but “to evolve,” the behavior of some players was “unprofessional,” there will be more consequences for underperforming, and a commitment to “better long-term planning” ahead of major test series.
Some changes were already implemented for the Twenty20 World Cup, where England reached the semifinals. Gould implied that performance saved McCullum.
Key acknowledged that England supporters would be disappointed to see the management team go unpunished.
“I know people want punishment and that people then should be sacked for that,” Key said. “That doesn't mean we don't feel like we've gone through some serious pain: Brendon, myself, Ben. It's been as tough a time as I think I've had.”
