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Former resident judge in Saint Lucia among two judges appointed to UN Dispute Tribunal

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Former resident judge in Saint Lucia among two judges appointed to UN Dispute Tribunal

The 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly recently elected two Caribbean nationals, Justice Francis Belle of Barbados and Justice Eleanor Donaldson-Honeywell of Trinidad and Tobago, to serve 7 year terms of office on the United Nations Dispute Tribunal (UNDT) as half-time judges.

The appointments took effect on July 10, 2019. UNDT half-time judges serve on rotation in New York, USA; Geneva, Switzerland; and Nairobi, Kenya.

Four judges were elected by secret ballot in total, Justice Rachel Sikwese of Malawi and Justice Margaret Tibulya of Uganda, were also appointed. Judges will serve on one of two entities — the other being the United Nations Appeals Tribunal — that comprise the Organisation’s system of the administration of justice for employment-related disputes. Half-time judges on the Dispute Tribunal are deployed up to a cumulative period of six months per year, as decided by the President based on the caseload and any judicial absences affecting the work of the Tribunal.

Through resolution 62/228, adopted in 2007, the Assembly decided that it will appoint judges to those tribunals based on the recommendation of the Internal Justice Council. As such, the judges elected were selected from a circulated list of candidates recommended by the Council (documents A/73/911 and A/73/911/Corr.1). Also before the Assembly was a related memorandum by the Secretary-General (document A/73/917).

To be eligible for appointment as a judge to the Dispute Tribunal, candidates must be of high moral character and impartial; possess at least 10 years of judicial experience in the field of administrative law or the equivalent within one or more national jurisdictions; and be fluent, both orally and in writing, in English or French.

A total of 325 applications were received globally, 51 of which came from Latin America and the Caribbean. 96 candidates advanced to the written assessment stage and 23 were invited to interview with the Internal Justice Council at the Hague, Netherlands. Finally, 7 candidates received the Council’s recommendation for consideration of an appointment by the General Assembly and 4 were appointed by the General Assembly by way of a secret ballot in an election process.

Occupational Safety and Health

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Occupational Safety and Health

Workers (People), as I promised, such will continue as I carry on in my mission to keep you well informed on chosen topics.

Increasingly, alcoholism ranks among the foremost international public health problems. Although therapeutic techniques developed in the past couple of decades, no more than a few alcoholics can be expected to improve.

Hello! Prevention therefore is a very urgent task, requiring an integrated approach involving many disciplines, the Federation, politicians and the general public as well as professional workers.

Quite apart from the St.Kitts and Nevis Trades & Labour Union, the public health and mental health and also the waste of human life let me say this: The economic cost of alcohol abuse is staggering. I wonder and it is especially frustrating and baffling for the non-alcoholic to understand and no less for me or doctors to explain.

Hear this: Why would a person who is basically intelligent, industrious and concerned in the welfare of his/her family become an alcoholic? People, prevention is everybody’s business.

There may also be different emphasis placed on the extent to which strategies should concentrate specifically on the prevention of alcohol problems and alcoholism or on the underlying factors (social or psychological etc.) which may lead to the development of alcohol problems in the first place. Mind you, I always make sure I have something to say and do that is important: it is no use going back to something which bore you stiff. Once you have plenty to do, you have got to be trusted.

A friend of mine is now dead because after much effort to give up drinking, he was shunted in his home with nothing to do-forgotten.

As part of some people’s work, they still have to visit a bar for they will hear gossip; it is considered part of their job but I am giving you a word of warning, when you consume booze and you do not eat, it could have a negative effect on your health and then you start worrying when the doctor advises that you should have an X-ray.

Before I close, let me also point out that it is said (don’t laugh) no wonder then that wine can sure all ills for intestinal, worms, jaundice, poor vision, deafness and for people going out of their mind, and Shakespeare in Othello obviously felt he did not have to go anywhere else to face the devil in Act II scene, speaking of wine (see below):

O though invisible spirit of wine

If thou hast no name to be known by

Let me call thee devil

Continue reading these weekly articles.

Thank you.

Powell Addresses Onstage Bad Word At 2019 Music Festival

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Powell Addresses Onstage Bad Word At 2019 Music Festival

BASSETERRE, St.Kitts (Friday 19th July 2019) – Chairman of the St.Kitts Music Festival Production and Artistes Selection Committee Jonel Powell has shared his view about the use of swearwords by artistes during onstage performances saying perhaps it is time to come up with some way “ in which the artistes can be free to have total artistic creativity.”

He was at the time making a response during the question and answer segment of a post-festival press conference held on Wednesday 17th July at the Ministry of Tourism located a Port Zante.

Questioned about the law that after there was no consequences as seen in the past after an artiste used the f-word during an onstage performance of 2019 festival, Powell commented: “We continue to include in our contracts clauses against swearing and profanity onstage. However, we do allow all the artistes to have their own artistic creativity, and we don’t in any way try to influence their performances.”

As many patrons who are attended the festival are aware, well-known English R&B songstress Ella Mai, whose hits include Boo’d Up, Trip and Shot Clock, dropped the f-bomb while interacting with her cheering fans.

Powell continued: “In that instance, an artiste swore; are you going to void a contract because an artiste swore a bad word? No. We had conversations with the artiste and the management after; she (the artiste) got carried away. It might have been unfortunate; I don’t think it was something that was overly offensive to any of the patrons. We’ve certainly have seen the sort of backlash, negative publicity that came out of the incidents of the past; most recently with 50 Cent, and so we spoke to them [and] they apologised to the committee; we accepted their apology. We won’t allow that to carry any dark cloud over the Music Festival.”

In 2016, well-known American Hip Hop artiste 50 Cent, got arrested and charged for using indecent language which sparked widespread debate on the local, regional and international scenes, refreshing arguments by fans and music lovers about such profanity prohibited laws relative to St.Kitts-Nevis.

This media house notes that many fans and patrons were concerned over whether Ella Mai would have gone through a similar outcome while others were curious as to whether the laws had changed.

Powell, who is a lawyer by profession, disclosed that perhaps that the particular component of the festival needs to be reviewed.

“We continue to encourage artistes to observe that particular component of the festival but at the same time perhaps it is something that needs to be reviewed going forward. The reality is this is a night concerts that start at 8’O clock and are geared towards an adult crowd and perhaps we are at a point in time after 23 years where we need to come up with some way whether legislatively or otherwise to create a sterile environment in which the artistes can be free to have total artistic creativity while at the same time performing to a mature audience who is well aware of the artistes who are coming in… but in this instance, this wasn’t any rap or gangster rap person bussing any bad word just to show you that it can happen with anybody.”

Rescued Student Gets Support; Public Asked To Have Compassion

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Rescued Student Gets Support; Public Asked To Have Compassion

BASSETERRE, St.Kitts (Friday 19th July 2019) – A female student from the Federation of St.Kitts-Nevis pursuing academic studies in the Republic of China (Taiwan) is currently receiving the necessary support following a rescue operation from a cliff recently, and members of the public are being asked to have compassion and respect of privacy during this time.

According to overseas news reports, the incident happened in Hualien County on Wednesday 10th July.

While there has been speculation surrounding the incident, it is not clear as to what exactly happened on the day in question. However, the local Taiwan Embassy in the Federation is reporting that technical, financial and emotional support to date has been offered to the young woman.

A press release dated 13th July read in full as seen below:

The Embassy is aware of the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the illness of a student from the Federation pursuing studies in the Republic of China (Taiwan). The Embassy has been actively engaged throughout the difficulties experienced by the student and has been offering technical, financial and emotional support to date. The Embassy in Taiwan has involved the Ministry of Foreign Affairs both in the Federation and in the Republic of China (Taiwan). At this point, the Embassy wishes to place on record its sincere gratitude to the government and people of the Republic of China (Taiwan), in particular, the many ordinary citizens of Taiwan who volunteered their services and the several agencies which participated to ensure a positive outcome under difficult and dangerous circumstances. The Embassy further wishes to request privacy and compassion for the student, her family and loved ones, in this clearly difficult time for them. The Embassy will continue to provide every support for the student and her family.

2017 Protestor Steps Up Public Outcry

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2017 Protestor Steps Up Public Outcry

BASSETERRE, St.Kitts (Friday 19th July 2019)- In 2017, he first took to the street with a placard followed by a series of media interviews in 2018 but this time around, businessman Wilmoth Doyling of Challengers Villagers has stepped up his protesting ways having organised a public meeting to take place in Basseterre next week.

This media house had an exclusive follow-up interview to a November 2018 chit-chat with the well-known heavy equipment operator and manager of Doyling Backhoe and Trucking Services who informed that to date he has sold one of his trucks he owned for over 10 years and is currently in the process of selling a backhoe-his most “valuable asset”- that he bought in 2016 in light of the ongoing matter relating to his turned sour work relationship with the government’s National Housing Corporation (NHC).

 “It has been over two years ago and nobody even look into my situation to say nothing to me. I made the demonstration since 2017. I went on the radio last year and up to now nobody come to me wanting to know what my problem is or what is the situation so I just decided to have a public meeting and to tell the public my story because they (those in authority) are treating me like I’m nobody, like I don’t exist so I’m going to bring my story to the general public and let the public know my story.”

Showing a permission letter signed by the Acting Police Commissioner Hilroy Brandy, that public meeting event is slated to take place on Friday 26th July on Bank Street from 4PM to 10PM. Doyling’s request was made on Monday 8th July.

“I have a lot to say. Just listen me; give me an ear. Come on out and hear my story. I ain’t going there to slander anyone, I just going there to talk the truth. I know the truth hurts sometimes but the truth can’t change. What I have to say will take about an hour, and an hour and half,” Doyling said by way of encouraging individuals to attend.

Doyling indicated that his decision to hold a public meeting was not an overnight one as he thought about it for “a long time; over a year” and remains unsatisfied that his continued outreach to those in authority has not gotten proper attention.

“They are treating me like I’m nobody. I made a decision because I really feel hurt but I made the decision that I have to do what I have to do,” he noted.

As gathered, during such time period in thinking about putting on public meeting, Doyling contacted the Prime Minister Dr. Timothy Harris and Premier Mark Brantley in trying to further address his situation.

“I went to the Prime Minister already. I went to the Premier already so I just decided that if you went to the top and come down, it doesn’t make sense to go to nobody lower than them.”

He recalled talking to his Parliamentary Representative of Constituency Four Lindsay Grant of the People’s Action Movement (PAM), the Tourism Minister, on the Friday of the 2017 St.Kitts Music Festival week while he protested outside Government Headquarters on Church Street.

His placard called for the attention of “Members and friends of the People’s Action Movement and Team Unity.”

Reflecting on that conversation, Doyling claimed: “He [Grant] came there the morning and he say to me ‘Wha going on?’ and I say ‘I cool’. He said ‘Why it had to lead to this?’ so I said to him ‘What nonsense you telling me? I tried to reach out to you Monday before I made this demonstration Mr. Grant and you told me that you don’t have no time for me that week’.”

 “… but the same Friday, he came there and he find time…” he said to this reporter.

Commenting on whether he believes that he has exhausted all communication efforts with those in authority, Doyling responded: “Well, yes because I feel like after two years and nobody communicate with me to say send somebody to find out what is the problem or whatever, it appears like they take the matter making it vexation; everybody like they get vex and decided ‘Well let we just push he aside’.”

He continued: “None of them talk to me since I went on the radio last year. Well, I don’t know if any of them made any comments about what I said; I never hear anybody that they (those in authority) said this or say that so I don’t know.”

When asked what keeps him motivated to push on in this matter, Doyling had this to say: “To see how over the years to see I support them, been there for them not just word of mouth but someone who put their hand in their pocket to support them. They might not have liked what I said but none of them come and ask ‘What is your issue? Come let us see if we can talk’. None of them in the PAM party say let us meet him at his level. If you don’t want to speak to me then let somebody around you come and speak to me; find out what going out and see if we can work something out but none of them decide to do that. I’ve been struggling for the past four years when I say struggling I mean really really struggling and to see that I support them; I support them. Hmph!”

“I support them and to see them treating me like that; that is not enough to motivate me? That is enough. I ain’t want nothing else but to be motivated by that,” he added.

French Centre Counting On Public Support At Fundraiser Event

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French Centre Counting On Public Support At Fundraiser Event

BASSETERRE, St.Kitts (Friday 19th July 2019)-This weekend, the Alliance Française de St. Kitts and Nevis is scheduled to host its annual Fundraising French Buffet Dinner -with an elegant dress code attached- in celebration of Bastille Day-the National Day of France commemorated on 14th July.

For the second year in a row, the event will be held under the patronage of Governor General Sir S.W. Tapley Seaton at Government House located at Springfield- Saturday 20th July at 7pm.

Director of the Alliance Française Marine Moncaut, during an interview with this media house, labelled the event the main fundraiser of the year.

“So the reason why we organise this event and it is important that we get that support too is that we are a non-profit organisation; we need to raise funds all the time and this is like main event fundraiser for the year. We are marking it as the Bastille Day event because it’s around that time…but it’s mostly an event where we count on the local community to support our actions.”

As informed, event entertainment will be provided by the Department of Culture with traditional percussions, flutes and dance as well as a song by the winners of the French Singing Competition.

“We have to emphasize on both parts of the culture,” shared Moncaut.

According to her, the Alliance Française’s mission is to promote the French language and the French culture in considering diversity and the local host.

“The Alliance Française is located in different places in the world and the mission is to promote the diversity through our culture and our language with collaboration with the local culture. It is very important for us to emphasise on that because it’s not about imposing our culture or anything related to such; it’s about giving some attraction to the language for those who want to learn different language and attract to a different culture also, and in collaboration with the local culture in recognition of the local history.”

The 2018 event saw the attendance of over 100 people including the Ambassador of France to the OECS Philippe Ardanaz.

Asked what she anticipates tomorrow’s event to be like, Moncaut replied: “We are hoping to have as many or more as the support because through the year, we organise different events, we always say we’re non- profit. We try to organise events that are low costs or free most of the time because the point isn’t to make money but at some point we need to get some oil in the machine for us to function and function well and if we want to develop we have to get the support.”

“So the support from our partners and sponsors we get it; we are hoping to get the support from the attendance of persons also to come and support the Alliance Française,” she further told.

Tickets can be sourced via WhatsApp at 1-869-667-9019 (Marine Moncaut), at the Alliance Française de St. Kitts and Nevis located at 1 Orchid Street or by credit card via jad.cash.

Event sponsors include Spice Mill, Poinciana, Marshall’s, Serendipity, Sweet & Savory, St. Kitts Marriott Resort & The Royal Beach Casino, Discovery bar, Ti Amo, Island Bakeries, Mixitalia SKN, Les Grands Vins de France, Opus Fine Wines and Spirits and Celebration City.

Passengers trapped aboard cruise ship that cancelled San Juan stop due to violent protests

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Passengers trapped aboard cruise ship that cancelled San Juan stop due to violent protests

Cruise ship passengers aboard Royal Caribbean’s Empress of the Seas complained of being stuck on the vessel after it was rerouted to Puerto Rico only to cancel a stop in San Juan because of violent protests in the city.

There are demonstrations calling for the resignation of Puerto Rico’s Governor Ricardo Rosselló after the leaking of 889 pages of embarrassing private chat messages on the Telegram app in which he makes homophobic and misogynistic remarks. He is refusing to go.

It comes as Puerto Ricans struggle to rebuild in the aftermath of a devastating and deadly hurricane with what they say is insufficient aid from the U.S. government, and to overcome a financial crisis that bankrupted the island.

Emily Berry wrote on Twitter that the “tiny” Royal Caribbean ship was rerouted from Cuba to Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands but passengers were then told that, after two days on the boat, they could no longer stop at San Juan. “Poor planning on alternative routes & crap service is making me regret all of this,” Berry tweeted.

Through its Twitter account, the cruise ship operator replied: “Due to demonstrations in Old San Juan, we felt it best to not take our guests there today.”

“That’s your response?” Berry wrote back. “Why not make alternative accommodations?! You realize we are STUCK on a TINY ship already rerouted from Cuba!! We’re already upset & that’s your response?! This ship is tiny with nothing to do like a prison.”

In a subsequent exchange, Royal Caribbean said that the change was “extremely last minute and if it wasn’t absolutely necessary, we would’ve avoided it altogether.”

Dawn Batties, who said she is on Empress of the Seas, praised Royal Caribbean for the decision not to stop in Puerto Rico “for our safety & the safety of the crew. So glad RCCL takes this kind of stuff seriously – just another reason to be Loyal to Royal!”

A spokeswoman for Royal Caribbean told Newsweek: “In light of current unrest in San Juan, Puerto Rico, we have canceled today’s call to San Juan. Empress of the Seas has been re-routed to Tortola, and our guests will receive refunds for prepaid shore excursions.

“We continue to monitor the situation closely and will make adjustments as necessary to ensure the safety and security of our guests and crew.”

Concerned about an upcoming cruise to Puerto Rico, another customer asked if there would be changes to the next Royal Caribbean trips.

“At this time we have not made any future itinerary changes. We’re closely monitoring the situation and will notify guests immediately if there is an update,” Royal Caribbean replied.

Empress of the Seas, which made its maiden voyage in 1990, is 692 feet long, 100 feet wide, has 11 decks, and can carry 2,270 guests and 668 crew.

CIBC FirstCaribbean joins hands across the sea

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CIBC FirstCaribbean joins hands across the sea

Bridgetown, Barbados, 16 July, 2019: Thousands of primary and secondary school children in six Eastern Caribbean countries are getting a greater chance of improving their reading skills through a touch from Hands Across the Sea, a non-profit organisation focused on advancing literacy levels of children in the region. Recently, CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank strengthened that support with a US$25,000 donation from the bank’s social responsibility arm, the FirstCaribbean International ComTrust Foundation.

Chairperson of the ComTrust Foundation and the bank’s Chief Executive Officer, Ms. Colette Delaney, said ComTrust’s trustees were quite taken with the organisation’s programme, especially its reach into Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). She said that the bank was very interested in promoting education and given the importance of reading and the scarcity of books in the area, the bank was very happy to assist the Hands Across the Sea programme.

Executive Director of Hands Across the Sea, Mrs. Harriet Linskey, thanked the bank and explained that the United States’ NGO was attacking the literacy challenge using a three-step programme that included creating or rejuvenating school libraries and providing training for librarians and teachers.

Mrs. Linskey and her husband Tom started the NGO about 11 years ago following their visits to the OECS and recognising that many schools in those countries had few new, pleasure reading books for their students and interest in reading was low. She pointed out that remedial reading was also of concern given that many secondary school students were reading way below their age group level and she added that, previously, helping some teens catch up on reading skills meant resorting to books well below their school level.

To combat these issues, Hands Across the Sea have been sourcing age-appropriate and culturally relevant new reading books that would ignite the interest of all in its target groups. This is being done in collaboration with the region’s school principals, teachers and librarians as well as United States Peace Corps Volunteers.

Mrs. Linskey told the presentation party at CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank that new books will be bought during July and by August, a process that would be completed in time for the books to be shipped and to arrive in the Caribbean by September, the start of a new school year.

She said that, so best practices could be maintained, Hands Across the Sea had been providing teaching manuals and had implemented a series of training programmes. Teacher training has been conducted in Grenada, and Dominica and St. Vincent were next on the agenda. In addition, the NGO’s on-island teams of Literacy Links also runs a Student Librarian programme, which has trained over 1,200 student librarians in the OECS.

To ensure that books and teaching supplies are being fully used, Hands Across the Sea visits recipient schools and projects and its local programme officers work directly with each Hands Wish Lists project.

Since 2008, when Hands Across the Sea reached out to Antigua, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the NGO has shipped 464,000 new children’s reading books, created or rejuvenated libraries at 400 schools and provided reading programme for 103,000 children.

Congo confirms 1st Ebola case in city of Goma

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BENI, Congo (AP) — The Congolese health ministry confirmed an Ebola case in Goma late Sunday, marking the first time the virus has reached the city of more than 2 million people along the border with Rwanda since the epidemic began nearly a year ago.

The health ministry said the man who had arrived earlier Sunday in the regional capital had been quickly transported to an Ebola treatment center. Authorities said they had tracked down all the passengers on the bus the man took to Goma from Butembo, one of the towns hardest hit by the disease.

“Because of the speed with which the patient was identified and isolated, and the identification of all the other bus passengers coming from Butembo, the risk of it spreading in the rest of the city of Goma is small,” the health ministry said in a statement.

The virus has killed more than 1,600 people in Congo and two others who returned home across the border to neighboring Uganda. Health experts have long feared that it could make its way to Goma, which is located on the Rwandan border.

The health ministries in Congo’s neighbors have been preparing for months for the possibility of cases, and frontline health workers already have been vaccinated.

The confirmed case announced late Sunday in eastern Congo involves a pastor who became ill last Tuesday. He then left Butembo on a bus, and arrived at a health center Sunday showing symptoms of Ebola, the health ministry said.

Violent attacks against health workers and treatment facilities have greatly compromised efforts to combat the epidemic in Butembo.

Eastern Congo is home to a myriad of armed groups, and Mai Mai militia fighters are active near the hardest hit towns. Health teams have been unable to access violent areas to vaccinate people at risk of infection and to bring infected patients into isolation.

Other times the violence against health teams has come from residents who do not want their loved ones taken to treatment centers or buried in accordance with guidelines aimed at reducing Ebola transmission.

While the experimental vaccine is believed to have saved countless lives, not all Congolese people have accepted it. Some falsely believe that the vaccine is what is making people sick, in part because people can still develop the disease after getting the shot if they already had been infected.

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Associated Press writer Saleh Mwanamilongo reported from Kinshasa, Congo.

India aborts moon mission launch, citing technical glitch

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India aborts moon mission launch, citing technical glitch

SRIHARIKOTA, India (AP) — India aborted the launch on Monday of a spacecraft intended to land on the far side of the moon less than an hour before liftoff.

The Chandrayaan-2 mission was called off when a “technical snag” was observed in the 640-ton, 14-story rocket launcher, Indian Space Research Organization spokesman B.R. Guruprasad said.

The countdown abruptly stopped at T-56 minutes, 24 seconds, and Guruprasad said that the agency would announce a revised launch date soon.

Chandrayaan, the word for “moon craft” in Sanskrit, is designed for a soft landing on the lunar south pole and to send a rover to explore water deposits confirmed by a previous Indian space mission.

With nuclear-armed India poised to become the world’s fifth-largest economy, the ardently nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is eager to show off the country’s prowess in security and technology. If India did manage the soft landing, it would be only the fourth to do so after the U.S., Russia and China.

Dr. K. Sivan, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, said at a news conference last week that the around $140-million Chandrayaan-2 mission was the nation’s most prestigious to date, in part because of the technical complexities of soft landing on the lunar surface — an event he described as “15 terrifying minutes.”

After countdown commenced on Sunday, Sivan visited two Hindu shrines to pray for the mission’s success.

Practically since its inception in 1962, India’s space program has been criticized as inappropriate for an overpopulated, developing nation.

But decades of space research have allowed India to develop satellite, communications and remote sensing technologies that are helping solve everyday problems at home, from forecasting fish migration to predicting storms and floods.

With the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission this month, the world’s biggest space agencies are returning their gaze to the moon, seen as ideal testing grounds for technologies required for deep space exploration, and, with the confirmed discovery of water, as a possible pit stop along the way.

“The moon is sort of our backyard for training to go to Mars,” said Adam Steltzner, NASA’s chief engineer responsible for its 2020 mission to Mars.

Because of repeated delays, India missed the chance to achieve the first soft landing near the lunar south pole. China’s Chang’e 4 mission landed a lander and rover there last January.

India’s Chandrayaan-1 mission orbited the moon in 2008 and helped confirm the presence of water. The Indian Space Research Organization wants its new mission’s rover to further probe the far side of the moon, where scientists believe a basin contains water-ice that could help humans do more than plant flags on future manned missions.

The U.S. is working to send a manned spacecraft to the moon’s south pole by 2024.

Modi has set a deadline of 2022 for India’s first manned spaceflight.

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