Mann ki Baat: PM Modi says youth have benefitted a lot from space sector reforms

In the 113th episode of his monthly radio programme Mann Ki Baat on Sunday Prime Minister PM Narendra Modi lauded the advancements in Indias space sector highlighting how the sectors reforms have greatly benefited the nations youthPM Modi also emphasised the importance of the inaugural National Space Day celebrated on August 23A lot is happening in 21stcentury India that is strengthening the foundation of a developed Bharat For instance on August 23 the entire nation celebrated the first National Space Day Once again you must have rejoiced in the success of Chandrayaan3 Last year on this very day August 23 Chandrayaan3 successfully landed at the ShivShakti point on the moons southern hemisphere making India the first country to achieve this milestone PM Modi stated during his addressThe countrys youth have also greatly benefited from the reforms in the space sector he addedPM Modi also engaged with the leaders of Galaxeye a spacetech startup founded by alumni of the Indian Institute of Technology IITMadras asking how their technology could benefit the nationSuyash a member of Galaxeye recounted the startups journey beginning with their participation in the Hyperloop project where they gained recognition as one of the top 20 teams out of 1500 worldwideDuring our engineering studies we conceived a project called Hyperloop We formed a team named Avishkar Hyperloop and took our idea to America That year we were the only team from Asia to participate proudly raising our national flag We were among the top 20 teams out of approximately 1500 from around the world Suyash shared in response to the PMs queryHe also praised the governments decision to open up the space sector to private companies calling the 2020 move a landmark decisionWe were very excited about this he addedPM Modi congratulated the team on their achievements The team also explained how their technology could capture clear images through clouds and at night providing daily updates on any location in IndiaWe can take a clear picture of any part of the country every day The data we gather will be used in two main areas First to enhance Indias security by monitoring our borders oceans and seas daily tracking enemy activities and providing intelligence to our armed forces Second to empower Indian farmers Weve already developed a product for shrimp farmers that can measure water quality in their ponds from space at a fraction of the current cost In the future we aim to produce the highest quality satellite images to address global challenges like climate change explained one team memberWhen PM Modi inquired about the technologys precision the team mentioned it could capture resolutions of less than 50 cm covering more than 300 sq km at a timeAnother team member informed the Prime Minister about the significant changes in policies such as the GeoSpatial Data Policy and Indian Space Policy over the past three years noting how ISROs infrastructure and facilities have become accessible to themWe can now easily visit ISRO to test our hardware which has been tremendously helpful for us and other startups he notedPM Modi concluded by saying that when reforms occur in a sector they have a ripple effect benefiting many peopleThe youth of the country are now eager to explore their future in this field right here in India he saidWith ANI inputs