Farm laws row can be solved in 5 minutes if PM steps in: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut
Mumbai, Dec 16: The issues flagged by agitating farmers can be solved in five minutes if Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself steps in, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said on Wednesday.
Raut said the BJP-led NDA government should have a dialogue with the farmers who are protesting for the last 21 days outside Delhi demanding scrapping of the Centre's three new agri-marketing laws.
The government can solve the issue in 30 minutes sitting with the (agitating) farmers, if it wants...I think the issue will be solved in five minutes if the prime minister himself intervenes, he told PTI over the phone from New Delhi.
The Sena leader said the protesters are Indias own farmers and the government should have a dialogue with them.
Speaking to a Marathi news channel, Raut said the government has stretched the issue far.
Stretching the issue this far, is like paving way for a new anarchy, Raut said.
Enacted in September, the three farm laws have been projected by the Centre as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove the middlemen and allow cultivators to sell their produce anywhere in the country.
However, the protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that the laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of minimum support price and do away with the mandis, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.
Raut criticised the Centre over the decision of not holding the winter session of Parliament due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
We will have to see why they are not holding the session...because the session has to be held as there is democracy, the Rajya Sabha member said.
Without naming the BJP, he said it protested in Maharashtra seeking reopening of temples, but has now kept the temple of democracy (Parliament) shut.
How will this work? he asked.
To a question, the Rajya Sabha MP exuded confidence that the Shiv Sena will retain its control over the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in the 2022 civic polls.
The BJP had earlier said it will dislodge the Shiv Sena, its former ally, from power in the cash-rich BMC.
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Indian startup's 'Drishti' satellite launched aboard SpaceX rocket
New Delhi (PTI): Bengaluru-based space start-up GalaxEye's Mission Drishti satellite was launched on Sunday aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from California.
Mission Drishti is the world's first OptoSAR satellite, integrating electro-optical (EO) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors into a single operational platform, according to the company.
While EO sensors capture high-resolution images during sunlight and clear skies, SAR sensors provide all-weather and all-time images, using radar pulses.
In a statement, Suyash Singh, founder and CEO of GalaxEye, said, "With the satellite (Mission Drishti) now successfully in orbit, our immediate focus is on completing its commissioning. As we move through this phase, we are already witnessing strong global interest in the differentiated datasets enabled by our OptoSAR payload."
The satellite will help address long-standing limitations of conventional systems and enable more reliable and consistent data acquisition across diverse environmental conditions, the company said.
As a dual-use Earth observation satellite, the mission will support use cases across defence, agriculture, disaster management, maritime monitoring, and infrastructure planning.
The satellite is also expected to complement India's broader initiatives, including the 29 active Earth Observation satellites outlined in ISRO's recent annual report.
The launch came after five years of indigenous research and development, and extensive environmental testing and performance validation of the Mission Drishti.
In a statement, Lt Gen AK Bhatt (Retd), director general of Indian Space Association (ISpA), said, "GalaxEye has achieved what only a few global players have, which is seamlessly combining optical and SAR capabilities on a single platform to enable persistent, all-weather intelligence."
What stands out is not just the technology, but its broader impact on how downstream applications will increasingly define value in the space economy, particularly in Earth observation, where timely, decision-grade insights are critical," he added.
ISpA is the premier industry association of space and satellite companies in the country.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh also took note of the Mission Drishti launch, saying the development marked a significant milestone in India's space journey.
In a post on X, the minister said, "The successful launch of the world's first OptoSAR satellite, and the largest privately-built satellite in the country, reflects the immense potential of our young innovators driving nation-building."
GalaxEye aims to scale up Mission Drishti to a constellation of 10 satellites by 2030, developing a robust and sovereign Earth observation infrastructure for India.
