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I deem it a great honour to deliver this 4th JRD Tata Memorial
Lecture, instituted by ASSOCHAM in memory of one of the most illustrious
sons of India. I thank ASSOCHAM and particularly its President
Mr Raghu Modi for giving me the privilege to address this august
gathering. As the oldest apex Chamber in the country, with a current
membership of over 75,000, ASSOCHAM is a significant voice of
Indian industry both at home and abroad. Among the distinguished personalities, in our
own lifetime, Mr. JRD Tata has left an indelible imprint as a
visionary, industry leader and a doyen of epoch making endeavours
with deep commitment to India's development. He was the pioneer
of aviation in India; even today, I feel inspired when remembering
his historic flight from Karachi to Bombay, with a small mailbag
at the back. Equally historic was his role in launching India
into the age of nuclear science by lending support to Homi Bhabha
in the establishment of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.
As a captain of industry, institution builder, statesman, and
educationist and in such other aspects of his multifaceted personality,
he displayed courage of conviction and quintessential humanism.
Generations to come will regard the mission and contributions of this illustrious man worthy of emulation. |
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VISION In my younger days, I had the good fortune of working closely with the space pioneer Dr. Vikram Sarabhai. I was always struck by the professional and personal rapport between JRD Tata and Vikram Sarabhai. About Vikram, JRD fondly mentioned, "Few men that I have known call for more admiration and affection than Vikram Sarabhai" While JRD was a pioneer in aviation, Vikram was a pioneer in space. Vikram's vision was to make India second to none in the use of space to leapfrog the process of development. The uniqueness of this vision was that he saw new opportunities in space for a developing country like India, barely within three years of the launch of the first Sputnik. And this was in contrast to the common perception that the spectacular space feats of the early era were nothing more than an extension of the cold war rivalry. More explicitly, in the vantage point of space, he perceived possible solutions to issues of national development, particularly those relating to communication, broadcasting of educational and other developmental programmes, timely and precise information about natural resources, meteorological observations and natural disaster management. His intuitive mind saw that space is a community resource, having outreach to all and capable of serving without distinction between rich and the poor and transcending barriers of knowledge, literacy and any form of social or geographical imbalance. It is interesting to note at this juncture, that these kinds of remote and not so obvious relationships between developments in science and technology elsewhere with totally different objectives and their pragmatic relevance to deal with down to earth problems in the context of a developing country like ours, is something that we need to be continuously seized with. BEGINNINGS OF A CULTURE - TOWARDS A STRATEGY: The space activities in India had modest beginnings. A pioneering step was, initiating a sounding rocket program in the Southern tip of India to enable scientific investigations of the unique upper atmospheric and ionospheric phenomena above the geomagnetic equator. While the scientific purpose was the immediate aim, such a step was crucial in developing the nucleus of a new culture in which large group of persons in diverse activities learn to work together for the accomplishment of a single objective. The real social and economic fruits of technology can be realized only by those who apply them through understanding. It was also understood that engaging in advanced fields of research, inevitably leads to establishment of collaborative relationships at international level, an ability to deal with peers and a capability to establish mutuality that can sustain such relationships; even when the flow of know how is in one direction to start with. Establishment of a Space Science and Technology Centre in the vicinity of the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station, for developing expertise in aerospace engineering, manufacture of atmospheric sounding rockets and a modest satellite launcher was an important step in that direction. The aim was to produce men and women who acquire the capability to do front ranking research. Once such human resources were created, organizing task oriented projects for tackling nation's practical problems became possible. STRATEGY TO SYSTEMS The Indian Space programme evolved through three major phases. The first phase related to initiation of activities with the objective of proof-of-concept evaluation, followed by the experimental phase of realizing end-to-end capability demonstration and leading finally to the operational phase for providing regular services. In the initiation phase, one of the primary tasks was evaluation of the efficacy of space systems as either alternative to conventional terrestrial systems, or to look at them as complementary or supplementary to the conventional approaches, particularly in the area of resource management. The pioneering Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) was such a step to evaluate the efficacy of the satellite broadcasting system with a vast outreach to provide developmental communications and literacy. SITE was a unique sociological experiment of its kind anywhere in the world, involving 2400 villages spread over six states of the country, covering nearly 200,000 people and it used the American ATS-F satellite. Another interesting initiative was the Satellite Telephony Experimental Project (STEP), using the Franco-German Symphony Satellite for evaluation of the overall technical interfaces between space and ground systems towards improving the communication capabilities. In the case of remote sensing, for earth resources survey, the first American satellite LANDSAT was used to acquire imageries of the Indian landmass towards assessing the ability to quantify the various natural resources and in some cases their dynamics. In all these studies relating to the initiation phase, use of foreign space systems, configuring the ground system to suit the national needs and conditions, and working closely with potential user community, were the essence of the related efforts. This phase also witnessed the development of the first satellite launch vehicle SLV-3, with a capability of orbiting 40 Kg class of satellites to low earth orbit. In the second phase, i.e. experimental phase, a major exercise was undertaken to create an end-to-end capability in the design, development and in-orbit management of space systems, together with the associated ground systems needed for the users. These were systems with limited capability, realized within stringent cost and time controls. In the case of remote sensing, the experimental satellites Bhaskara-1 and Bhaskara-2 were the pioneering steps in this direction. The Bhaskara mission, even with 1 km resolution, enabled developing the capability to image from space, transmitting and processing the image information on the ground, disseminating the data products to the users and getting their response. The Ariane Passenger Payload Experiment (APPLE), provided the unique opportunity to design and develop a 3-axis stabilized communication satellite with all the relevant technologies, but with the limited capability of two transponders. Besides building, deploying and in orbit management of such a satellite, a number of interesting communication and broadcasting experiments were carried out with APPLE as the forerunner of future operational communication satellites. In the operational phase, major space infrastructures have been created over the last two decades. Such infrastructure broadly fall under two classes; one for communications, broadcasting and meteorology, through a multi-purpose satellite system (INSAT) and second, the space based remote sensing infrastructure, the Indian Remote Sensing satellite series (IRS). Currently the INSAT system consists of six satellites with a total capacity of 80 transponders, providing services for telecommunication and television broadcasting. The broadcasting capabilities of these satellites are not only used for regular entertainment, but also for distance education, and developmental communications. More recently, these capabilities are being used for newer areas of applications like telemedicine and e-Governance. The communication capability of the INSAT system has significantly improved the quality and support of high-density traffic between metropolitan areas. At the same time, it has extended the outreach to less accessible areas like Northeast and the islands. These satellite communications have also ushered in a new era of business communications among closed user groups, particularly using VSATs. The meteorological system of the INSAT is unique for this region, enabling vital information for weather and severe storm warning. On the remote sensing side, creation of an operational space based Earth Observation System has received a major thrust recognizing the crucial need for timely, accurate and precise information on natural resources. Based on the experience of the experimental satellites, the BHASKARAs, and taking into account the unique nature of the Indian requirements such as in agriculture, the first of the operational Indian Remote Sensing satellite was designed and developed over a time frame of 1982-88. The IRS-1A launched in 1988 compared favourably in its performance with the then contemporary satellites elsewhere. Within three years, an on-orbit spare IRS-1B, was also orbited. Parallely, the second generation IRS system has been developed with improved capabilities of observation and providing best resolution of 5 meter compared to the 35-meter capabilities of the first generation. The unique complement of sensors onboard IRS-1C/1D makes this as one of the most versatile civilian satellites available for earth observations anywhere. Parallely, the Earth Observation Satellite infrastructure was further augmented through orbiting two more satellites primarily for ocean observations. The second in this series, IRS-P4, carries sensors both for physical and biological oceanographic studies. Thus the currently available Indian constellation for land and ocean observations represents perhaps a unique constellation of its kind anywhere, for earth observation particularly from the point of view of resource information generation and management. It is thus to be noted that the current operational systems, both INSAT and IRS, have capabilities at contemporary levels and could provide services which are comparable to the best anywhere in the world. Even though, the third phase has resulted in setting up operational space infrastructure for regular services, the quest for newer applications and higher levels of performance continues. In this context, the phases of initiation and experimentation will continue to be relevant. Some of the newly emerging areas are navigation, geographical positioning, high-resolution imaging, microwave remote sensing, mobile communications and Direct to Home broadcasting. Newer dimension in bringing above areas into operational status is to address the issues related to the use of global systems, create or share regional systems, or set up national systems. Towards achieving the operational status as elaborated earlier, certain strategies were to be adopted and pragmatic decisions to be made, down the way, at different points in the programme. Let me give a few examples. Encouraged by the lessons of the SITE experiment and based on the potentialities of a space-based communication and broadcasting system for developmental needs of the country, it was decided to go for a space-based communication and broadcasting system. Taking into account, the time frame for the design and development of an operational INSAT satellite and noting the urgency to initiate the services in this area, it was decided to go for creating this infrastructure by a bought out option for the first generation INSAT systems, even as we embarked on the design and development of the second generation systems. The four satellites of the first generation were thus procured, launched and operated for providing space based communication and broadcasting services for the national needs in the first instance. On the other hand, the strategy adopted was different in the case of earth observations. Although it was decided to go ahead with the use of then existing foreign satellites for developing the remote sensing applications in the country, the special requirements of earth observations, peculiar to our country, called for an indigenous design and development strategy for the realisation of the first generation operational remote sensing satellite systems. Another example relevant to the present discussion is about the decision, in the early phase itself, to de-couple the time frame for the development of the launch vehicles and their operational support to the satellite launches. Considering the complexities of launch vehicle development and the need to have several validation steps including actual flights with the attendant longer time frame for the realisation of such capabilities, it was consciously decided, in the programme to seek launch support services for the operational satellites with outside agencies. Such a strategy enabled on the one hand timely establishment of space system services for national development and on the other hand provided specific inputs for defining the capability for launch systems for these classes of satellites. In this process, the operational capability for launch of IRS class of satellites has now been realised with Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) which can put one tonne class of satellites into polar orbit from Sriharikota and thus compatible with the present generation of IRS. The development of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) has matured with the successful first test flight of this vehicle early this year. Operationalisation of GSLV in the near future will result in a similar capability for launching INSAT class of satellites. One important message that emerges from the above discussions is that in introducing high technology system for objectives relating to developmental and other innovative service, judicious decisions need to be made involving careful assessment and evaluation of most suitable systems, exercise of buy or build options and planned development of the capabilities well dovetailed to the user needs leading to the timely introduction of such systems duly factoring the consideration of self-reliance in a pragmatic way. SYSTEMS TO INSTITUTIONS: As observed earlier, right from the inception stage, planning of the space systems has been clearly dovetailed to the ultimate user needs. Experience from earlier experiments involving broadcasting, communication and remote sensing, and dealing with the user communities, provided the inputs for the creation of appropriate formal institutional frameworks. These in turn became the starting point for the definition of the scope for the space systems. In the case of remote sensing, the institutional framework involved setting up of the Preparatory Committee of the National Natural Resources Management System (NNRMS), which later transformed into Planning Committee of NNRMS. This committee, which at the overall level provides the directions for the creation of remote sensing capabilities for the country, consists of Secretaries of the line departments of the Government of India dealing with natural resources and headed by a Member of Planning Commission. Such a structure enables, on the one hand, involvement of major user communities to address issues of ensuring the use of such systems in their own areas of thematic applications and on the other hand to facilitate incorporating this new and powerful technique into the related conventional approaches. Similarly the INSAT Coordination Committee, with the Secretaries of the user departments, namely Information and Broadcasting, Communication, Information Technology and Science and Technology with the participation of the Space Department, is the apex body to address the development of space communication and broadcasting and planning of their utilisation for the TV networks as well as for telecommunications. The broadcasting capability further has been used through the same mechanism to promote distant education, developmental communication and other socially relevant developmental activities. In the context of Space Science, the Advisory Committee On Space Sciences consisting of some of the leading space scientists in the country provides directions for space science research. The three structures identified above, are unique to our country with no parallel, anywhere else in the world. An important outcome of the creation of such institutional framework is that every time a satellite is sent to space, there is no question of looking for its users. Being user driven also meant the beginning of a culture of accountability and transparency. Further, these institutional mechanisms are unique in recognising the socio- economic imperatives at the grass root level and facilitating integration of the space capabilities into the existing conventional systems. Even as these institutional frameworks have worked effectively in managing the Indian Space Programme, we have not been oblivious to the changing situations in the overall context of the country, particularly the impact of new developments of globalisation, liberalisation and economic integration. Against this backdrop, constant review of the existing legal and policy framework has also been receiving the attention. A recent example is the satellite communication policy that enables private investments into satellites for satellite ownership and registration within the country. This is a major step in bringing private sector into the ownership and operation of satellites. Similarly, in the area of remote sensing, policy for the dissemination of high-resolution imageries has been announced. This is expected to enhance the use of remote sensing in civilian activities. As space activities are expanding and creating new opportunities for a variety of segments like NGOs , industries and service organizations, ISRO is diversifying the institutional framework for space activities as evident from the policy initiatives just mentioned. ISRO has helped creation of an informal framework in which NGOs and service providers in private sector have collaborated constructively in defining our plans and in promoting expanded use of space. This is in addition to the already increasing role of private entrepreneurs in providing value added service in thematic resource areas. Particularly note-worthy has been the association of non-governmental agencies in areas such as watershed development and telemedicine. SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGY INNOVATIONS: Building technological competence is a key factor for the success of space programs. Starting from basic developments, ISRO has achieved a level of technology, which is world class. The Indian Remote Sensing program is an excellent example of achieving this level of world leadership. Innovative approach is key to such a development. With the inputs from the initiation and experimental phases as elaborated earlier, we were in a position to take the next step, to achieve a quantum jump in terms of establishing a National Earth Observation system for natural resources management. In contrast to expensive, heavy spacecraft with complex moving mechanisms adopted by the world for earth observations, the first generation IRS was designed with many innovations. A pioneering, but risky, step of using solid-state detector arrays ensured simplified designs, besides triggering development of novel optical systems and an original approach to low weight spacecraft. This gave better-cost efficiency, improved turn around time for manufacture, a high degree of reliability, yet a performance comparable to best systems in the world. This choice of solid-state detectors also offered better growth potential - and in fact became a world trend. The very constraints that India faced in terms of overall launch capability were also turned to advantage by innovation to realize lightweight and compact state of art satellites. In the very next generation (namely IRS-1C and 1D satellites) further innovations have enabled new capabilities that outperformed contemporary systems. A unique combination of sensors ranging from high resolution cameras to multi-spectral and wide angle camera systems were incorporated in the satellite - making them the best systems in commercial domain. In view of such capabilities, they have become part of global source of remote sensing data, sharing about 20% of the world market at the present juncture. Influence of external environment is a powerful triggering factor on innovations. The total embargo on technologies related to space launch systems have demanded development of technology - starting from scratch. Such a constraint has brought the best out of our human resources, particularly through teamwork - taking technology to the highest level of performance. The solid propulsion technology, developed by ISRO, is one of the examples where such excellence is seen. Solid propellant based first stage used in PSLV or GSLV is among the top four in the world. The use of Fuel binder Hydroxyl Terminated Poly Butadine (HTPB) was a pioneering step for solid rocket motors resulting from such innovations, in which industry was also a partner. This also became a trendsetter in the world of solid rocket propulsion. Even, with the above type of emphasis on totally indigenous routes to technology realization, ISRO at no point of time was averse to adopt technologies available elsewhere, in case there is a distinct advantage for exercising such an option in terms of timeframe and cost. The ability to continuously upgrade and update the technology through adoption and absorption of technologies from outside, suitably tuning them to our specific needs and subsequently improvising and improving them to take it to higher levels of efficiency standards and performance, has also been a strategy which has been adopted in many cases. Lastly, total systemic technology, acquired from abroad has also been used in the ISRO programmes with subsequent modifications and resultant improvements. It should be noted that both the second and third approaches, do call for certain basic level of competence and capability within the organization, as technology absorption cannot take place without an indigenous competence base. The attendant innovation introduced to such technology further upgrades it. In the absence of such indigenous competence base, and lack of innovation, there is a risk of perpetual dependence on the original source. SYSTEMS AND APPLICATION INNOVATIONS: The raison d'etre of institutions created for space is the delivery of service to society through applications. Significantly, applications of space are distinguished by their ability to shrink time and distance - the hallmark of innovations from space. Space is a bridge that can connect the most backward and isolated areas with the most developed ones in a rapid way. The urban medical centers for example can be linked to health centers in remote villages and small towns, extending the services of specialists who are available only in cities. Vital information needed for development in rural areas can reach the needy farmers or extension workers in a timely way from experts located in a district or state headquarters. There are areas where conventional methods or tools are too cumbersome to employ to get results in a timely fashion, as in cases of conducting nationwide surveys of forest inventories or generating a terrain map for the whole country. Use of space technology is vital in these cases. However, there are many other areas where space inputs can be combined with the traditional methods in an innovative way so that there is visible improvement in the result. Success rate in drilling wells was doubled when space information was integrated into the conventional data. Where as conventional methods demand step-by-step process to reach the last mile, the space technology can bypass that route. A significant advantage of space again is its flexibility for integration of several newly emerging technologies and such a convergence can be seen in cases of space based internet gateway services, digital video broadcasting, mobile communications and disaster management support. SPACE COMMUNICATIONS: Although taken for granted now, the communications via space had been the source of extraordinary innovations in applications. The foremost from INSAT system was phenomenal expansion of television coverage in India. Television was barely covering eight urban centers when the worlds' largest sociological experiment SITE beamed television programs to 2400 villages in 1975. Soon after the establishment of INSAT in early 1980's, the television has grown into a nationwide phenomenon and now it can provide access to 87% of population with over 1000 transmitters in INSAT network. Besides influencing social and cultural landscape of India, television primes substantial economic activities. Each satellite communication transponder, whose typical annual lease charges are about Rs.5 crores, triggers average advertisement revenue of Rs.50 crores. In case of VSAT service providers, typical value additions range from 2 to 3 times lease charges. The satellite TV and VSAT services present a growing market opportunity in India. The advent of new technologies for digital video broadcasting and advances in satellite technologies which offers greater flexibility in allocation of space resources in tune with demands will be exploited in future. The national demand for transponders is expected to grow from the present level of 80 - 100 numbers to about 250 in various frequency bands in the next five years. Indian entrepreneurs will have to venture into production, ownership and operations of satellites for communications. Such a role for industries will be the integral part of maintaining national capability in this vital area of infrastructure that covers spectrum of services to economic, social and strategic sectors of the country. No future revolution is going to take place without the role of knowledge. Even in contemporary industrial evolution, knowledge is a major player. If we have to advance nationally and also wish to play a meaningful role in the comity of nations, imperative of rapidly spreading literacy, education and skills cannot be over emphasized. The most important resource to achieve this goal is the teacher or trainer. In past, there has been tremendous effort to enhance access of rural population and the urban poor to schools. Number of primary schools registered a three-fold increase from 1950-51 to 1998-99 to a level of 6.27 lakhs. The upper primary schools too saw a more dramatic growth and reached a number of 1.9 lakhs in 1998-99. However, if we look at the student to teacher ratio, the situation is not encouraging. There is on the average 58 students for each teacher at primary level and corresponding number is 32 students at upper primary level. In real terms, the growth in the number of teachers has fallen steadily over time from 5.6% in 1952 to 4.6% in 1960's and 2.7% in 1970's. Between 1984-85 and 1989-90, the growth rate dropped to 1.6%. All these statistics indicate the shortage of teachers and more importantly the need for an effective way to maintain quality. The spatial asymmetry of development and the scarcity in availability of human resources are key issues and therefore the relevance of distance education is high in our context. Similar arguments apply for upgrading of skills in a number of areas including professional, continuing and higher education. Extensive experience gained through the use of INSAT in several states and conduct of innovative experiments such as Jhabua Development Communications Project have increased the awareness, demand and urgency for evolving a robust national system for tele activities such as distance education, telemedicine and a wide range of training and developmental communications. Main goal here is to energise an innovative social process that will enhance human resources quality rapidly. The strategy is to elevate the general level of performance and to prevent pulling down the high performers to mediocre levels. The GRAMSAT network conceived by ISRO is meant to promote above goals and is directed to serve underdeveloped locations, through innovative use of satellite system, addressing vital social needs. This network aims to bring in synergy of a wide variety of organisational mechanisms - the voluntary bodies, government agencies, entrepreneurs, service industry and academic institutions.
Advent of INSAT system provided the synoptic viewing capability for weather related phenomena over India and its neighborhoods. As weather forecasting is a complex science which relies on extensive data collected both from ground and space platforms and use of sophisticated computer models, INSAT's role in imaging the weather systems of the region and collection of data from a number of unattended platforms and dissemination of data as well as information to various processing centers is significant. Globally, experience has shown that improvement in weather forecast depends on several factors and 15-20% can be attributable to the contributions from satellites. However, in case of severe weather systems like cyclones, this contribution could be as high as 60%. The most important application, which was developed by the India Meteorological Department, using the imaging capability of INSAT, is the tracking of cyclones and timely dissemination of warning information to vulnerable sections of population and concerned authorities. INSAT's meteorological observation capability is also of considerable interest to global community and this has recently become an instrument for furthering international cooperation. Future Indian weather satellites will continue to play a prominent role in improving accuracy and horizon of weather forecasts, which are important for agricultural operations such as sowing, irrigation and pest control and for several other sectors of economy. International community is seeking India's active role in promoting global cooperation in space-based meteorology and its applications. Megha Tropiques mission, which is being jointly planned by ISRO and the French National Space Agency (CNES) is a shining example of a unique mission for serving global scientific community. NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT: Impact from Indian Remote Sensing Satellites arises from two diverse functions. In the first place, they enable overall survey of natural resources so that the information they provide becomes the basis for strategic planning and policy formulation. Secondly when these strategies are implemented - the satellites fulfill the need for timely monitoring of the results. Space based data enables efficient understanding of interrelationships among various resources and the impact of human intervention. Such a capability is the key to evolve strategies for sustainable development and use of natural resources. In what follows we provide a few examples of the role of satellites in monitoring and inventory of natural resources. Agriculture : Proper estimate of agricultural yields in advance have tremendous impact on our economy as well as social life. Data from IRS have been regularly utilized for assessing the areas under various agricultural crops in various states and also for prediction of their yields about a month in advance of harvest, to the level of accuracies demanded by the Bureau of Economics and Statistics (90% accuracy/90% confidence level). As a sequel to this experience, an improved model for a National System for Forecasting Agricultural output using Space, Agro-meteorology and Land based observations (FASAL) is being instituted by the Ministry of Agriculture. In past, data from Indian remote sensing satellites have also been effectively used (i) for monitoring irrigation commands (for which the country has invested Rs.200, 000 crores, at 96-97 prices, in major and medium irrigation projects) (ii) for faster reclamation of water logged and salt affected lands and (iii) for developing strategies for micro watershed management which is key to economic development of rain-fed rural areas, resulting in visible improvement in productivity wherever implemented. Space will continue to be a valuable tool to face the challenges of current times and of future in the field of agriculture, which accounts for nearly 65% of nation's employment and 26% of GDP. Its key challenges in terms of making it profitable for farmers, diversifying it, promoting capital formation, value addition, improving market access, sustaining and improving productivity, all need a sound strategy for its implementation. A vision for an innovative route of development in agriculture, with the backdrop of WTO regime and ecological crises that threaten to bring down productivity, could truly be derived from the convergence of biotechnology with space and informatics. Precision agriculture embodies such convergence. With a goal to achieve a quantum jump in agricultural productivity and reduced cost of cultivation, the precision agriculture plays catalytic role in order to achieve a common ground based on convergence of space, bio - and information technologies combined with diversified and resilient agricultural systems. Model of precision agriculture has to be adopted to India taking into account the predominance of fragmented land holdings, heterogeneity of crops and livestock, and concepts of farm families in our rural conditions. While the ecological integrity of farming systems is an imperative need, it is equally important to extend the access of information and market to the small farmers. The precision agriculture model for India while addressing these issues provides an innovative route for sustainable agriculture in globalised and liberalised economy. At the core of this new emerging agricultural regime will be the dynamic information services emanating from space-based systems, which can provide strategies for cropping systems. These strategies can also integrate objectives of sustaining productivity of land and water resources, maximizing returns from them and also effectively responding to external factors such as prices, which are influenced by global markets. Such strategies could be implemented with farmers participation facilitating 'aggregated farming' so that productivity can still be enhanced overcoming the disadvantage of fragmented land holdings. In addition, for the country as a whole the synoptic vision of a satellite combined with information services could provide necessary inputs in planning for a cropping regime in different parcels of agricultural land, taking due account of agro-climatic characteristics, resource endowments and market conditions. Targeting Drinking Water: The ground water potential maps for entire country, prepared during eighties, have been the major source of information that contributed to the success of National Drinking Water Mission (NDWM). Search for groundwater, particularly in areas with consolidated and semi-consolidated rock formations, considered more difficult from the point of view of exploration and recharge, is considerably aided by the use of hydro-geomorphological maps prepared using satellite data. These maps are extensively used for locating prospective groundwater sites around problem habitation as a part of a ' scientific-source' finding approach. This approach has raised success rate better than 90% in most cases, compared to 45% success rate achieved using conventional technique. Besides groundwater targeting, remote sensing data also provides information about suitable sites for recharge and thus enable the sustainable development of water resources in the country.
DISASTER MANAGEMENT: Innovative use of communication and meteorological
capability of INSAT system is an outstanding example of space
applications that helps in saving thousands of lives and livestock
in the coastal areas of India. Installation of the unique, unattended,
locale-specific Cyclone Warning and Dissemination System (CWDS)
consisting of more than 250 disaster-warning receivers in selected
cyclone-prone coastal areas have been providing advance warning
of the impending cyclone to the targeted villages, taking advantage
of the direct broadcast capacity of INSAT system. By virtue of
combining INSAT and IRS capabilities, warning, disaster assessment
and other services were extended during super cyclone of Orissa
in a rapid way that was unparalleled by other means. When this
state was affected by flood again this year, inundation maps were
generated with shortest turn around time, depicting the marooned
areas at regular intervals soon after floods in order to assist
relief operations. This information was disseminated to the user
community within hours through the Internet. ISRO's plan for the
country is to create a digital database covering all the areas
prone to disasters such as cyclone, floods, drought, landslides
and earthquakes. These databases will be so designed as to enable
rapid monitoring of natural disasters and to help in other disaster
management functions. In addition, rapid response to restore communications
will be a priority. NATIONAL SPATIAL DATA
INFRASTRUCTURE (NSDI) With the overall leadership established in applications of remote sensing data in the field of natural resources, ISRO's broader vision for future is to develop a system for regular census of nation's natural resources and generation of reports on "State of the Country's Environment". Such census can identify natural resource "hotspots", that are a cause for concern. This in turn can lead to identification of environmentally sensitive areas requiring urgent conservation/management action. National Spatial Data Infrastructure is the mainstay to support the National Resources Census activity.
Myriad are the innovation processes in applications of space.
The strong base created for continuous development of India's
space infrastructure will facilitate its expanded role for newer
and innovative applications, preserving our pre-eminent position
in this field. OTHER DIMENSIONS: I am hopeful that in the near future, the Indian industry will succeed in producing a total space system, not only for meeting national needs but also for export to other countries. I assure the representatives of Indian industries that ISRO will leave no stone unturned to enable our industry to achieve a pre-eminent position. International Linkages: International cooperation has always been an integral part of the Indian space programme. Cooperation with USA in major programmes such as SITE, with the then USSR for the launch of our early satellites and with Europe for launch of APPLE gave impetus to early stages of the programme. Over the years, as ISRO has matured in experience and technological capabilities, the face of international cooperation has changed from one of receiving assistance from developed countries, to working with them as equal partners and also offering assistance to developing countries. The success of the Indian remote sensing satellites IRS 1C and ID offering the most sophisticated features in the civilian realm till recently, and the PSLV providing opportunities for commercial launches highlighted before the international community that the Indian space programme had come of age. When ISRO flew a German camera on its satellite and launched it with the PSLV, it showed the world another possibility of working together with India. The next launch of the PSLV saw two small satellites from Germany and S. Korea as the first commercial payloads for the PSLV. The forthcoming launch will have another German satellite and one from Belgium. A major highlight of recent cooperative endeavors is the development, launch and operation of the Indo-French joint satellite mission, Megha Tropiques - dedicated to climate research. On the other side of the coin, great attention is paid for cooperating with other developing countries and sharing with them the experience and expertise we have gained. A major highlight of this approach is the setting up of the Centre for Space Science and Technology Education for the Asia Pacific (CSSTE-AP) in Dehra Dun offering training programmes to the countries of this region. On the commercial front, Antrix Corporation, in partnership with Space Imaging of USA, has been successfully marketing data from the IRS series of satellites through several ground stations set up all over the world. Antrix also provides a single window to the world for obtaining products and services from ISRO in different aspects of space technology and applications. ISLAND TO CONTINENT: While we recognize that the Indian Space Programme is not the panacea for all problems facing the country, there are many things unique about the experience derived from doing space. Over the years, the programme has enabled us to learn several things, which are unique in their culture, content, approach and above all grassroot relevance. Realisation of reliable space systems, whether it is a launcher or a satellite, demands highest level of professionalism. The requirements of reliable performance in the harshest of environments put severe demands on the engineering and scientific skills in terms of expertise, ingenuity and above all a high level of team spirit. Further, even at the cost of repeating what I said earlier, making the system relevant to the broader needs of the country's development is a unique challenge for which original and innovative institutional structures have to be thought of. The questions related to level of technological developments in the broader context of industrial base and manufacture are other issues that had to be tackled suitably. Additionally, optimizing the resources at the national level, for the conduct of space program, including the involvement of R&D and academic institutions has been an important factor. Creating internationally competitive systems, which could provide global services, has been another facet of this programme with its attendant challenges for addressing the geo-political concerns, cost competitiveness and above all stringent performance needs. Creating a viable space capability also means the ability to establish new dimension of relationships with other countries at the political level through the instrument of collaboration and cooperation. Above all, when one succeeds in a major space mission it signals several other additional characteristics of a society: a) that there can be a synergy between highly diverse systems of engineering, technology, applications and development; b) a success like that of GSLV further signifies that highly complex technologies and engineering inputs can be synergised for realisation of a system which performs exactly as set out years earlier. This system capability in the broader context, is also the need of the hour for realisation of several other multidisciplinary projects; c) for such an environment to succeed, it is extremely important that there is a very well structured management system with high level of communication between different levels and highest standards of professional integrity and honesty; d) In addition, when such a system is ultimately put to its intended use, there is the additional important factor of user satisfaction. This in turn implies complete transparency and accountability for the entire effort. Translating these and many other characteristics of a space endeavour could considerably enhance, in our view, the quality of outcome in similar efforts. Where as one has the satisfaction of seeing this happening in many other areas in our country, much more needs to be done. How do we do this? We need to identify and integrate such islands of excellence into a holistic national development strategy for optimal results; in other words from Island to Continent. This is precisely what JRD had in mind when he wanted to make the adventure of flying a continental endeavor. In a letter to Mr. Ratan Tata who in 1965 was the President of the Jamshedpur Co-operative Flying Club, JRD said, "For many years I have wanted to see flying take its place among the sporting and other extra-curricular activities of the people of Jamshedpur, not only because of my own abiding love for aviation, but also because of its character and nation-building aspects. Although the flying of aircraft has evolved greatly from the early pioneering days, it still requires most of the qualities which go in the making of a good citizen of a country: skill, discipline, self-reliance, physical fitness and coolness and courage in emergencies". Thank you,
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4th
JRD TATA MEMORIAL LECTURE