New Delhi, Sep 18: While celebrating Chandrayaan’s success, India is at the same time also using Space Technology and its applications in various sectoral development projects, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Space and Atomic Energy, Dr Jitendra Singh said on Monday.
Addressing a special session “Emulating Chandrayaan-3 Success in Biomedical Sciences”, Dr Singh said space technology today has virtually entered every Indian household.
“Space Applications is being utilised in almost all sectors such as weather forecasting and disaster management, smart city project, infrastructure development, railway tracks & management of unmanned railway crossings, roads & buildings, telemedicine, governance, and most importantly, the ‘Svamitva’ GPS land-mapping,” he said, adding, “It is in these last 7 to 8 years that we have shown the world how Space Technology & its scientific applications could be used for sectoral development… (We have to) make our boys and girls understand the huge enormous, collateral positives coming out of this. Now suddenly this technology has become available all across the country.”
Dr Jitendra said the landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the virgin South Polar region of the Moon demonstrated before the world India’s technological capability and talent through cost-effective means. The evidence of Mineral Elements like Sulphur, Cobalt, Hydrogen and Water Molecules by Chandrayaan-1 mission is being looked up by the entire scientific community across the globe because they expect some new inferences, he said.
Today India is laying down the targets such as on climate change, we have set the Net Zero target by 2070, and tomorrow we will be one of the major exporters of hydrogen, the union minister said, adding, “We have actually proved to the world we can meet you on your platform. We are no longer taking the lead from others; we are in a position to give a lead to the rest of the countries. So India is now ready to lead, the world is ready to be led. Now it’s up to us, how much capacity we have to lead and that is why it is giving esteem to each and every citizen.”
Dr Singh said India’s quantum leap in the space sector has only been possible after Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the courageous decision to “unlock” this sector from the “veil of secrecy”.
“We had everything, but we were possibly waiting for an enabling milieu to happen. And that enabling milieu had to come from the level of the policymakers, from the level of the political leadership and that happened after Prime Minister Modi came in,” he said.
Dr Jitendra Singh, who is also a known Diabetologist and Professor of Medicine, said the ‘Anusandhan National Research Foundation’ (NRF) will have 70-80% of its funding from non-government sources.
