Union Minister of State for Department of Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh stressed on the need for capacity building, awareness creation, research and development activities in the field of Space technology.He was speaking during MoU signing ceremony for establishing “Satish Dhawan Centre for Space Science” and national workshop on “Imagining the future of Space Science & its strategic importance” here today at Centre University Jammu.Union Secretary, Department of Space & Chairman, ISRO, Dr K Sivan, Former Chairman, ISRO, Dr K Radhakrishnan, Vice Chancellor, CUJ, Prof Ashok Aima, Chairman & CEO, J&K Bank, Parvez Ahmad besides senior scientists of ISRO, faculty members and students of the university were present on the occasion.During his address, Dr Jitendra Singh said that the centre, named after the renowned Space Scientist and former Chairman, ISRO, Prof Satish Dhawan, would be able to take up research in the area of different disasters like snowfall, landslides, avalanches, ground water, cloud cover, atmospheric conditions drought, flood/cyclone and climate change.The endeavor is to develop a Centre of Advance Studies in Space Sciences in J&K and spread the knowledge and skills about space science and technology, Dr Jitendra Singh said, besides exhorted upon the need to promote the programme of space applications and turn students into the future generation leaders of high technology research and industry in India and abroad.Considering the recurring natural calamities in the region, requirement of strengthening ground based observational capabilities of this region for weather and atmospheric research is of utmost important, he maintained.
Dr Jitendra Singh emphasized on using the ISRO data to understand the under-lying physical processes and the measurements of critical physical parameters that allow us to address fundamental questions in astronomy and astrophysics.The Regional Academic Centre for Space (RAC-S) is a regional level new initiative to pursue advanced research in the areas of relevance to the future technological and programmatic needs of the Indian Space Programme and act as a facilitator for the promotion space technology activities in the region, he added.He informed that 6 such RAC-S has been planned in different regions of the country. The centers will be located at Guwahati (Assam), Jaipur (Rajasthan), Kanyakumari (Tamil Nadu), Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh), Kurukshetra (Haryana) and Patna (Bihar).Chairman, ISRO, Dr K Sivan informed that the “Satish Dhawan Centre For Space Science” will have facilities of Geospatial Data Analysis, Ground based observations for Atmospheric Studies, Research lab for Astrophysics, Materials Sciences Lab for Space Applications, Atmospheric Sensing and Glacier Studies Lab and Disaster Management Unit.While addressing the gathering, Prof Ashok Aima informed that, based on the faculty expertise in the field of Radiation Dosimeter, Advanced Materials, Nanotechnology, Sensors, Energy and Environmental Science, Computational, Laser and Device Physics, the Material Research Lab for Space Application will also be setup at CUJ.Special focus of this lab will be to synthesize and design new sensors and materials for space applications, he said, adding that, this is the first of its kind coming up in Jammu and Kashmir and the building is proposed in an area of about 1150 Sqm.