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New Delhi : Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh, said here on August 11, 2020, that one of the major highlights of the Modi government has been that in the last six years, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is no longer confined mainly to the launching of satellites, but it has been constantly enlarging its role in development activities thus contributing to PM Narendra Modi’s mission of “Transforming India”.
Briefing about the comparative improvement in the crop condition and increased productivity in the agriculture sector in the month of July 2019 vis a vis month of July 2020, because of the extensive use of data from remote sensing satellites, Dr Singh said that the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), which is a proven indicator for vegetable/crop health or vigour, clearly shows better crop conditions during the month of July this year than what it was during the same month last year, according to a PIB release.
Dr Singh recalled that over four years back, on the intervention of PM Modi, an extensive brainstorming exercise was held in the union capital wherein representatives from different Ministries and Departments were engaged in an intense interaction with scientists from ISRO and Department of Space to work out how best space technology could be utilised as a modern tool for supplementing, improving, and expediting infrastructural development as well as implementation of various welfare schemes. Following this, he said, space technology is now being used in diverse sectors including Agriculture, Railways, Roads and Bridges, Medical management/telemedicine, procurement of timely Utilisation Certificates, disaster forecast and management, weather/rain/flood forecast, etc.
As for the agriculture sector, Dr Singh informed that the ISRO technology is now also being used to carry out crop production forecast for at least eight major crops including wheat, Kharif,and rabi rice, mustard, jute, cotton, sugarcane, rabi sorghum and rabi pulses.
In the Railway sector, for example, Dr Singh said, it was in the recent years that the applications of space technology were realised in guarding the unmanned Railway crossings, detecting obstructive objects on rail tracks to avoid train accidents and other such activities. Similarly, he said, satellite imaging is now being utilised for supervising the Indian borders and to check foreign infiltrations.