Papercracker

 Indian-origin aeronautical engineer to fly into space Sirisha Bandla, a 34-year-old aeronautical engineer, is set to become the third Indian- origin woman to head to space when she flies as part of Virgin Galactic’s first fully crewed flight test on Sunday. Ms. Bandla, who was born in Guntur, Andhra Pra- desh, and brought up in Houston, Texas, will join Sir Richard Branson, the com- pany’s billionaire founder, and five others on board Vir- gin Galactic’s SpaceShipT- wo Unity to make a journey to the edge of space from New Mexico. “I am so incredibly ho- noured to be a part of the amazing crew of #Unity22, and to be a part of a compa- ny whose mission is to make space available to all,” she tweeted. Ms. Bandla will be astro- naut no 004 and her flight role will be Researcher Ex- perience, according to her profile on Virgin Galactic. She will become the third Indian-origin woman to fly into space after Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams. Ms. Bandla started in her role as the Vice Pr...

 Bangladesh Fire The owner of a factory where 52 people died in a fire was arrested for murder Saturday as it emerged that children as young as 11 had been working there. Police said Abul Hashem and four of his sons were among eight people de- tained over the inferno, which broke out Thursday and raged for more than a day. A separate inquiry has been launched into the use of child labour at the food factory. Jayedul Alam, police chief for Narayanganj district where the factory is located, said the entrance had been padlocked along with multi- ple other breaches of safety regulations. “It was a delib- erate murder,” the police chief told AFP. Before his arrest, Mr. Hashem had told The Daily Star newspaper the fire “may have been a result of workers’ carelessness” and a discarded cigarette could have sparked the carnage

Biden nominates Garcetti as Ambassador to India  U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday nominated Los An- geles Mayor Eric Garcetti to the post of Ambassador to India. Mr. Garcetti’s nomina- tion, which had been ex- pected for weeks, was an- nounced by the White House as part of a set of am- bassadorial nominations. Mr. Garcetti, 50, who has been the Mayor of Los An- geles since 2013, is a former intelligence officer from the Navy and is a Rhodes Scho- lar. He also served on the Ca- lifornia Board of the Human Rights Watch, a rights advo- cacy organisation that has frequently criticised the In- dian government’s rights record. Mr. Garcetti, in a state- ment, said he was honoured to accept the nomination and would “forge partner- ships and connections that will help strengthen Los An- geles’ place on the world stage”. If confirmed by the Senate, Mr. Garcetti would replace Kenneth Juster, a Trump appointee who was the Ambassador till January. The Embassy in New Delhi is being run by inte...

India hands over relics to Georgi  External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Saturday at- tended the formal handing- over ceremony of the holy relics of 17th century queen St. Ketevan to Georgia, near- ly 16 years after they were found in Goa, describing such historical objects as a “bridge of faith” between the two countries. Mr. Jaishankar is on a two- day visit to Georgia, a stra- tegically important country situated at the intersection of Eastern Europe and West- ern Asia. “Today is a special day, not only for Georgia but also for India. I have the honour to hand over the holy relics of St. Queen Ketevan to the people of Georgia,” Mr. Jaish- ankar said at the ceremony at the Sameba Holy Trinity Cathedral. “I consider my- self blessed that the purpose of my first visit to Georgia is such an auspicious one,” he said. Mr. Jaishankar handed ov- er the relics of St. Queen Ke- tevan to the government and the people of Georgia at a ce- remony in Tbilisi in the pre- sence of Beatitude...

Vietnam appoints first Honorary Consul in India  As part of Vietnam’s efforts to deepen cooperation with various States, industrialist N.S. Srinivasa Murthy, based in Bengaluru, has been ap- pointed Honorary Consul- General of Vietnam for Karnataka. “He is the first Honorary Consul-General of Vietnam from India and the 19th across the world. He is the third Consul-General to be appointed globally this year,” said Vietnamese Am- bassador in India Pham Sanh Chau, addressing a small gathering amid CO- VID=19 protocols. The ap- pointment is for a period of three years. Mr. Murthy is the owner and managing partner of N. K. Subbiah Setty & Sons, which has been manufactur- ing agarbattis (incense sticks) since 1932. Speaking at the event, Mr. Murthy said his endeavour will be to promote trade bet- ween Vietnam and South In- dia and in particular Karnataka. Bilateral ties In a telephonic conversation on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulat- ed Pham Minh Chinh on his appoi...

U.P. panel readies two-child norm plan  The Uttar Pradesh State Law Commission has prepared a proposed draft Bill for popu- lation control, under which a two-child norm will be im- plemented and promoted. After the law comes into force, a person with more than two children will be de- barred from several benefits such as government-spon- sored welfare schemes and from contesting elections to the local authority or any bo- dy of the local self-govern- ment, the draft says. Ration card units will be limited to four persons. A person contravening the law will also become in- eligible to apply for State go- vernment jobs and be barred from promotion in govern- ment services and any kind of subsidy. The provisions will come into force one year after the date of the publication of the gazette, the draft says. Chief Minister Yogi Adi- tyanath will on July 11 launch the Uttar Pradesh Popula- tion Policy 2021-2030 on the occasion of World Popula- tion Day. Sops for sterilisation The Commiss...