The Hindu : Front Page : Space tech for development, says ISRO chief

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Thursday, Nov 10, 2005

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Space tech for development, says ISRO chief

Special Correspondent

KOCHI: Chairman of the ISRO G. Madhavan Nair has said that India's space programmes exemplify how space can be the harbinger of societal transformations.

Speaking after receiving the M.K.K Nayar award of the FACT Lalita Kala Kendram and the MKK Nayar Foundation at a ceremony at FACT's Udhyogamandal centre on Wednesday, Mr. Madhavan Nair pointed out that space technology had helped bring in a new `paradigm of integrated development' to remote villages. "Space technology enables society to harness the benefits of knowledge society," he said. "The knowledge society has to be built upon the societal transformation through large-scale improvements in education, healthcare, agriculture, community empowerment and governance emerging from technology convergence."

He noted that the ISRO had embarked on a space-related village resource centre (VRC) project. At the VRCs, space applications could be integrated with other IT and e-governance-related services and taken to the village community. This effort was focussed on providing services such as tele-education, tele-medicine, disaster management and local weather services. He hoped the VRCs would empower villagers with real-time information .

John Mathai, Additional Chief Secretary to the Kerala Government, who presented the award to Mr. Nair, said M.K.K. Nayar was a great visionary and institution builder. G. C. Gopala Pillai, chairman and managing director of FACT, presented a ponnaada to Mrs. Soudamini M.K.K.Nayar.

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