'Tremendous response': 23 companies interested in ISRO's small satellite launch vehicle technology
Bengaluru (PTI): Seeing the success of ISRO's numerous missions, as many as 23 companies have evinced interest in acquiring the Indian space agency's Small Satellite Launch Vehicle technology, a top official said on Thursday.
Chairman of Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) Pawan K Goenka said that they are keen to see how the private sector uses the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) technology.
"There has been a tremendous response, 23 companies have (so far) shown interest in applying for this technology. Of course only one of them will get it," he said.
IN-SPACe, an autonomous nodal agency under the Department of Space (DOS), formed in 2020 to promote, enable, authorise and supervise non-government entities (NGEs) to undertake space activities, had in July floated an Expression of Interest (EoI) for transfer of technology (ToT) of SSLV with the last date to respond to it being September 25.
"Technology transfer is something we are working on very aggressively, because we really want to see how ISRO's technology is leveraged by private sector. A lot is happening in that area and the biggest one is of course SSLV technology transfer, where we are transferring the launch vehicle lock, stock, and barrel completely to the private sector," Goenka said.
Addressing the inaugural function of the International Conference on Space here, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), he said, this is perhaps the first ever example where an agency anywhere in the world has transferred the full design of a launch vehicle to the private sector.
Further noting that there are 42 applications or space technologies to be transferred to the private sector, Goenka said ISRO is working very closely with IN-SPACe and vice versa to get the process going, and 19 technologies are ready for transfer.
IN-SPACe is working on the manufacturing aspect with state governments, he said, adding that the idea is to try and get all inclusive infrastructure, with a plug-and-play kind of setup for the industries focusing on manufacturing, where infrastructure will be provided by the state government.
"We are in the process of signing an MoU with one state and we are working with another state to make that happen," Goenka added.
He also said currently India's Space economy is at USD 8 billion and the vision is to take it to USD 44 billion by 2033. "Lot of work is being done towards this and everyone will have to play an important role for this."
A Catalogue of Indian Standards for Space Industry', developed by INSPACe and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) containing 15 standards that private players will be recommended to follow was released on the occasion.
Australian High Commission Deputy High Commissioner Sarah Storey during her address reiterated her country's commitment to collaborate and partner with India in the space sector, while Australian Space Agency Chief Enrico Palermo through a video message at the conference highlighted common areas of interest for both countries to collaborate.
Both of them lauded India's achievements in the space sector, particularly the Chandrayaan-3 and Aditya L1 missions.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
