'India should be proud of ISRO's achievements'

Chennai, Apr 22: Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the country must feel proud of the 16,000 odd Indian Space scientists who have made Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) win the competitive global bid to launch Italian satellite Agile from Sriharikota tomorrow.

Speaking after conferring the Sankara Ratna Award-2006 on ISRO Chief G Madhavan Nair here last night, he said the ISRO winning a highly competitive global bid to commercially launch an Italian satellite was no mean achievement.

''It was possible due to the personal sacrifices of the scientists'', he said, lauding the efforts of ISRO scientists, who had made India a forerunner in space technology.

''We must become a nation with a scientific temper, and the road ahead is through science, education, technology and good economics.

Every aspect of our life will be touched by space science and research,'' he added.

''Now India is among the very few countries which has the capability to launch a foreign satellite'', he noted.

Accepting the award, Dr Nair said the award was a recognition to the ISRO's contributions to Indian society and to the dedicated efforts and sacrifices made by the entire ISRO community and its 16,000-odd staff.

Expressing its continued commitment in serving the rural masses, Dr Nair said ISRO would multiply its technical assistance to set up telemedicine centres and satellite assisted mobile medical units across the country to take the advanced medical facilities to rural India. He said over two lakh people had been screened through the telemedicine facility of Sankara Nethralaya for ensuring better ophthalmic care to the rural populace in the state.

He said apart from telemedicine, the tele-education concept was also catching up and the tie-up between the ISRO and the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation had given a fillip to the adult literary programmes through resource centres.

IOB CMB T S Narayanasami handed over a cheque for Rs one crore to Sankara Nethralaya and lauded the pioneering efforts made by the institution.

UNI