Dr V Narayanan appointed as ISRO chief, succeeding S Somanath
New Delhi (PTI): Rocket scientist V Narayanan was on Tuesday appointed Secretary, Department of Space, succeeding S Somanath, who will complete his tenure next week.
"The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved appointment of Shri V. Narayanan, Director, Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, Valiamala as Secretary, Department of Space and Chairman, Space Commission for a period of two years with effect from 14.01.2025, or until further orders, whichever is earlier," an official order said.
Secretary, Department of Space, also holds the charge of chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
Somanath had assumed charge as the Secretary, Department of Space, on January 14, 2022 for a three-year term.
Narayanan, a distinguished Scientist at the ISRO, has nearly four decades of experience and has held various key positions within the Indian space organisation.
Narayanan's expertise lies in rocket and spacecraft propulsion. He was the Project Director for the C25 Cryogenic Project of the GSLV Mk Ill vehicle.
Under his leadership, the team successfully developed the C25 Stage, a vital component of GSLV Mk III.
Narayanan, who is a Rocket & Space Craft Propulsion Expert, joined the ISRO in 1984 and functioned in various capacities before becoming Director of the Centre.
During the initial phase, for four and a half years, he worked in the Solid Propulsion area of Sounding Rockets and Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV) and Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC).
In 1989, he completed M.Tech in Cryogenic Engineering with First Rank at IIT-Kharagpur and joined the Cryogenic Propulsion area in Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC).
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Modified scheme to provide cashless treatment for road accident victims nationwide: Nitin Gadkari
New Delhi, Jan 8: The government will come up with a modified scheme by March to provide cashless treatment for road accident victims nationwide, under which they will be entitled to a maximum amount of Rs 1.5 lakh per accident per person, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said on Tuesday.
According to Gadkari, the scheme will be applicable to all road accidents caused by the use of motor vehicles on any category of road.
The National Health Authority (NHA) shall be the implementing agency for the programme, in coordination with police, hospitals and State Health Agency etc.
The programme will be implemented through an IT platform, combining the functionalities of the e-Detailed Accident Report (eDAR) application of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and the Transaction Management System of NHA.
"The broad contours of the pilot programme are -- victims entitled to cashless treatment up to a maximum of Rs 1.5 lakh per accident per person for a maximum period of 7 days from date of the accident," Gadkari said while addressing a press conference.
The government will come up with a modified scheme by March this year.
On March 14, 2024, the ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) had launched a pilot programme to provide cashless treatment to road accident victims.
The pilot programme -- initiated in Chandigarh -- was aimed at establishing an ecosystem for providing timely medical care to the victims of road accidents, including during the golden hour.
The pilot project was later expanded to six states.
The road transport and highways minister also said the government is studying labour laws to frame a policy for fixing working hours for commercial drivers, on the lines of pilots, as driver fatigue is resulting in fatal road crashes, Gadkari said, adding that India is facing a shortage of 22 lakh drivers.
MoRTH organised a two-day workshop on January 6, and 7, 2025 to holistically deliberate issues, solutions and next steps to be taken to help drive transformation in India's road transport sector.
During the two-day workshop, accelerating implementation of Vehicle Scrapping Policy, pan-India adoption of PUCC 2.0, timelines for introduction of BS-VII norms were discussed, along with expected reduction in pollution with the norms.
Gadkari also launched the scheme for pan-India setup of Driver Training Institutes (DTI) which provides incentives for setting up DTIs and additional incentives for integrated infrastructure of ATSs and DTIs.
The minister stressed on the introduction of specific regulations and guidelines for improving E-Rickshaw safety, given the proliferation of e-rickshaws across the country.
Gadkari said deliberations were done for introduction of Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) for trucks and strict enforcement of retro reflective tape for transport vehicle safety.
Implementation of monitoring centers & vehicle location tracking devices (VLTD) for safety of women and children were also discussed.
The meeting also discussed the launch and integration of all faceless services by the end of March 2025.
"Further, a Committee of Secretaries with representatives from States, MoRTH and NIC will work towards standardization of faceless services modules, document standardization for registration," he added.
