UP announces space tech scholarship in Shubhanshu Shukla's name

Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, the Indian Air Force pilot who became the first Indian to visit the International Space Station as part of NASA-backed Axiom Mission 4, returned to his hometown Lucknow on Monday to a series of public celebrations and official felicitations, where Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced a scholarship in his name for students pursuing space technology. Shukla, who spent roughly 18 days aboard the ISS conducting experiments prepared by Indian researchers, landed in India on August 17 and has since taken part in multiple outreach events in Delhi and Lucknow.

At a ceremony at Lok Bhawan attended by Adityanath, deputy chief ministers Brajesh Pathak and Keshav Prasad Maurya and ISRO chairman V. Narayanan, the chief minister lauded Shukla’s achievement and said the astronaut’s experience could help apply space technology to challenges such as climate change, disaster management and agriculture. Adityanath directed the state science and technology department to tap Shukla’s expertise and announced the scholarship to support students aiming for higher studies in space technology. The CM also highlighted that more than a dozen institutions...