A powerhouse in space technology, private players are answering the call of ISRO. More innovation is needed in other areas
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Long before economic prosperity, India had invested in space technology and nuclear research – moves that have now made it a giant in these areas. Now, realizing this as a key element of economic development, considerable progress is being made in research in other areas of science as well. India is one of the top five countries in space exploration. Gaganyaan, the Indian manned space flight programme, an ambitious and difficult mission, is on track. The manned space program is a major milestone for India. The challenge here, as with India’s space program for decades, is technology, as India has had to develop them largely on its own.
cover story , challenges ahead
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) alone cannot create a large space ecosystem. Therefore, around 50 entrepreneurial ventures have stepped in to build and launch rockets, satellite clusters, and develop applications. Public-private partnerships are rapidly developing in the space sector.
There is also increasing use of space technology for efficient governance under the ministry. Property records are being prepared by surveying over 250,000 panchayats under the Swamitva scheme using a combination of Survey Grade Drones and a Continuously Operated Reference Stations (CORS) network. The maps thus created are highly accurate. When completed it will be useful in implementing government schemes.
India is now ranked 46th out of 50 countries in the Global Innovation Index (GII) – an improvement from 48th position in 2020. The ministry, led by Jitendra Singh, is promoting research parks, which house technology business incubators, which will spur innovation until they are built. commercial undertaking.
Singh is also in-charge of the Personnel Ministry. The ministry has also facilitated lateral entry of eligible persons into the bureaucracy, apart from states willing to work for the central government and those serving in the All India Services including IAS and IPS. It enables filling of vacancies of mid-level managers in ministries and results in faster decision making. Online recruitment has also been started for some administrative posts.
