The Governor of Karnataka, Mr T N Chaturvedi, today (October 21, 2004) inaugurated the Tenth Session of the Intergovernmental Consultative Committee (ICC) on Regional Space Applications Programme (RESAP) at Hotel Capitol, Bangalore. This session is organised by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Inaugurating the ICC session, Mr Chaturvedi said that Asia and the Pacific has established itself as a global economy but the benefits are yet to reach a majority of the population in the region. ESCAP should respond to the dynamic needs of the countries in this region in the emerging globalisation scenario and related social issues. He appreciated the role of ESCAP in recognizing the role of space and its application to benefit the society at large and to reduce the disparities between different sections of the society. He said that space technology provides the last mile connectivity for reaching the benefits of high technology to empower the rural population. ICC could take note India's achievements in space and added that India is ready to share its experience and at the same time broaden its own understanding about the benefits of space.

Earlier, Mr Madhavan Nair, Chairman, ISRO, in his address, highlighted the achievements of India in space including the recent launches of RESOURCESAT and EDUSAT and the applications of space technology in several fields like communication, broadcasting, meteorology and resources survey. He also highlighted the recent initiatives in space applications like Tele-Medicine and Tele-Education. He informed that the first cluster of Village Resource Centres was inaugurated by the Prime Minister of India on October 18, 2004 which is aimed to benefit the grassroots level society by addressing several applications like resources information, education, adult literacy, skill improvement and tele-medicine. He urged ICC to discuss on how best space technology could be utilized to eradicate poverty, illiteracy and disaster warning and disaster mitigation. He also requested ICC to discuss on how to reduce the cost of space systems and organization mechanisms to make available the benefits of such systems to the society at the grassroots level. He said that India is committed to share its experiences and resources in the collective effort to give RESAP a new direction.

Ms Okaido Keiko, Deputy Executive Secretary, UN ESCAP, in her address, said that the Bangalore session of ICC had the largest gathering of leaders of space agencies and government agencies. She said that globalization is shaping the economic and social scenario in the ESCAP region and RESAP has been initiated to exploit space technology to manage this globalization scenario and bridge the digital divide that exists.

Under the Regional Space Applications Programme (RESAP) for development in Asia and the Pacific, the ESCAP, which is the Regional Commission of the United Nations, promotes regional cooperation and facilitates equitable sharing of the benefits of space technology primarily in support of poverty alleviation, food security and disaster management. ESCAP derives necessary mandate for carrying out these activities through Ministerial Conferences. The first Ministerial Conference on Space Applications for Sustainable Development was held at Beijing, China in 1994 and it provided the necessary framework under RESAP for regional cooperation. The second Ministerial Conference was held at New Delhi in 1999 and it identified specific common denominator projects in the prioritised areas. India has been an active player in shaping the RESAP programme, and by virtue of its leadership in space technology and applications, it plays a key role in driving the RESAP activities.

The high-level Intergovernmental Consultative Committee (ICC) guides the RESAP activities. ICC is represented by Heads of space agencies in the ESCAP region and it meets annually in different countries. The Tenth session of ICC, inaugurated at Bangalore today will continue tomorrow also under the Chairmanship of Mr Madhavan Nair, Chairman, ISRO. This session is considered as a milestone event in the backdrop of many UN Summits and rapid advances that are taking place in space technology and applications. UN attaches high priority to this meeting. Dr Kim Hak Su, Executive Secretary, ESCAP, is attending the session besides several Heads of Space Agencies and other high level UN dignitaries. The Bangalore session, which is being attended by delegates from 16 countries and three observers, will set out the agenda for the third Ministerial Conference and is expected to provide the content and direction for that conference.

Dr V Jayaraman, Director, Earth Observation Systems, ISRO, welcomed the delegates to the conference. Mr Xuan Zengpei, Chief Information, Communication and Space Technology Division, UN ESCAP proposed the vote of thanks.