Vijayawada native Jaya Badiga has been appointed judge of Sacramento county superior court in California, the first woman from Andhra to become a judge in the US. Jaya is the daughter of industrialist and former Machilipatnam MP Badiga Ramakrishna. Earlier, she was commissioner in the Sacramento court. She graduated from Osmania University before relocating to US. There, she secured a Juris Doctor - a professional degree required to practise law - from Santa Clara University. In 2009, Jaya triumphed in the California state bar exam to embark on a legal career that spanned over a decade in private practice. Jaya was among 18 new judges appointed in California.
Young scientist award for Indian American
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and the Society for Science announced that Krish Pai, 17, of Del Mar, California, received the second Regeneron Young Scientist Award at the 2024 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). This is the world’s largest pre-college science and engineering competition. He will be awarded a $50,000 prize for his innovative machine-learning research aimed at identifying microbial genetic sequences that can be modified to biodegrade plastic. Other Indian American winners included Tanishka Balaji Aglave, 15, of Valrico, Florida, and Ria Kamat, 17, of Hackensack, New Jersey.
Indian student dies in bike mishap
In a tragic incident, an Indian student in New York died after he met with a bike accident. Shri Belem Atchyuth from Andhra Pradesh was a student at The State University of New York (SUNY) and passed away in a bike accident. “Saddened to learn about the untimely demise of Shri Belem Atchyuth, a student at SUNY who met with a bike accident and passed away yesterday evening,” the Consulate General of India said in a post on X. Expressing “deepest condolences” to his family, the Consulate said they are in touch with the “bereaved family & local agencies to extend all assistance including sending the mortal remains back to India”.
Indian woman charged with stabbing
An Indian woman in Singapore was charged with stabbing a six-year-old boy repeatedly with a pen at a childcare centre here in 2022, leaving marks on his face and scalp. The 43-year-old woman was handed one count of ill-treating a child under her care under the Children and Young Persons Act. The court issued a gag order that forbids publication of the victim’s identity, the accused’s identity as well as the location of the incident. According to the charge sheet, the woman is an Indian national and a Singapore permanent resident, the report said. The boy was in her care on November 16, 2022, at the childcare centre when she allegedly stabbed his head several times with a pen.
Indian dies after inhaling poisonous gas
A 40-year-old Indian national died after inhaling a poisonous gas while carrying out routine tank cleaning at a water work site in Singapore. The Indian national, who has not been named, was one of three men aged between 24 and 40 who had collapsed and were found unconscious at the waterworks agency's Choa Chu Kang Waterworks. All three were taken to the hospital unconscious, where the worker died. The two surviving workers are in the intensive care unit at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, said the Public Utilities Board (PUB) in a statement. The Indian was employed as a cleaning operations manager by Supersonic Maintenance Services, according to a report.
11 militants arrested for Pak suicide bombing
Pakistani authorities have arrested 11 Islamist militants who were involved in the suicide bombing that killed five Chinese engineers in March in the north of the country which borders Afghanistan, officials said. The arrested men belong to local Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which is an umbrella group of dozens of Sunni Islamists and sectarian militant groups. The TTP aims to overthrow the government and replace it with a harsh brand of Islamic law. Police said a cellphone which the suicide bomber had been using to communicate with his local handlers led to the arrest of the suspects. The investigation and evidence show the militants had been taking instructions from TTP leaders in Afghanistan, police said.
Docs treat scores of heatstroke victims in Pak
Doctors treated hundreds of victims of heatstroke at hospitals across Pakistan after an intense heatwave sent temperatures above normal levels due to climate change, officials said. Temperatures soared as high as 49°Celsius the previous day in Mohenjo Daro. The city, known for its archaeological sites, is in southern Sindh province, which was badly hit by climate-induced monsoon rains and devastating floods in 2022. The heatwave is forecast to continue for at least a week.
Man kills 8 in China knife attack
A man killed eight people and wounded one more with a knife in central China, state media reported. The stabbing took place in the city of Xiaogan in Hubei province, state broadcaster CCTV said. The 53-year-old attacker surnamed Lu had previously been treated for mental illness, it added. He is being held by police, who are investigating the attack. The wounded person's injuries were not life-threatening, according to state news agency Xinhua. Mass violent crime is relatively rare in China, which strictly prohibits citizens from owning firearms, but there has been a spate of stabbings in recent years. Earlier, a woman wielding a fruit knife killed two people and injured four more at a primary school in central Jiangxi province.
Trump campaign condemns film 'The Apprentice'
Donald Trump’s re-election campaign condemned the film “The Apprentice”, depicting his 1980s rise, as “pure fiction” and threatened legal action following its Cannes Film Festival premiere. Campaign spokesperson called the film “garbage” that sensationalises debunked lies and announced plans to sue. Director Ali Abbasi responded by offering to screen the film for Trump. “The Apprentice”, starring Sebastian Stan as Trump, portrays his rise as a real estate mogul. A controversial scene depicts the alleged rape of Ivana Trump, based on her 1990 divorce deposition, which she later said was not literal. The film got an eight-minute standing ovation at Cannes.
9 die as gusty wind brings down election stage
An election rally in northern Mexico descended into tragedy after a gust of wind sent the stage careening into the crowd, killing at least nine people, authorities said. At least 78 other people were injured in the accident, some seriously, said Nuevo Leon governor Samuel Garcia. Footage showed a chaotic scramble as people screamed and tried to leap away from the collapsing structure, with lights and a giant screen toppling onto the area where presidential candidate Jorge Alvarez Maynez and members of his Citizens’ Movement party were standing. The met service had warned of heavy rain, wind gusts of up to 70km per hour and possible tornadoes in Nuevo Leon and other northern states.
