NASA's Indian-Origin diversity chief sacked

NASA's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion or DEI chief Neela Rajendra, is an Indian origin, has been sacked by the US space agency in compliance with Donald Trump's executive order, reports NDTV.

The order was issued to "terminate" all persons employed under such initiatives, and end all such programmes across the country.

In an e-mail update shared by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory last week, employees working at the top space lab were informed of Ms Rajendra's exit.

"Neela Rajendra is no longer working at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. We are incredibly grateful for the lasting impact she made to our organisation. We wish her the very best," read the e-mail, which, according to British newspaper Daily Mail, was sent by Laurie Leshin, Director of NASA's JPL.

Ms Rajendra was among a handful of employees whose job was not axed last year when NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab faced a severe fund crunch. The jobs of nearly 900 other DEI employees at the top space agency were terminated at the time.

In a bid to prevent her dismissal, NASA reportedly reassigned her to a newly created position—Head of the Office of Team Excellence and Employee Success—shortly after an executive order by President Trump. Despite the move, efforts to protect her ultimately failed.