ISRO took initiatives for feasibility studies on missions to Venus: Govt

Responding to a question in the Lok Sabha, Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Wednesday claimed that ISRO has taken initiatives for feasibility studies on missions to Venus.

New Delhi, Dec 14: Union Minister Jitendra Singh has said that said that ISRO has taken initiatives for feasibility studies on missions to Venus.

Replying to a written question in the Lok Sabha Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Wednesday said that ISRO has taken initiatives for feasibility studies on missions to Venus. "Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh today informed that ISRO has taken initiatives for feasibility studies on missions to Venus as well as Aeronomy studies," a statement from the Union Department of Space said. He was replying to a written question in the Lok Sabha Union Minister Jitendra Singh.

The term "aeronomy," coined and introduced about 60 years ago, refers to the scientific study of the upper atmospheric regions of the Earth and other solar system bodies. It covers the chemistry, dynamics and energy balance of both neutral and charged particles.

"Both these missions are being conceptualized and the scientific scopes are being deliberated nationally with participation of science community," a news agency quoted him as saying. On Tuesday, Union Agricultural minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Minister of State Dr Jitendra Singh formally released the data products and services of RISAT-1A satellite for the user community. An MoU was signed between the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and the Department of Space to develop the Krishi-Decision Support System (Krishi-DSS) using geospatial technologies and related databases for enhancing evidence-based decision-making capability of all the stakeholders in the agriculture sector, a statement from the government said.

"A new dimension is being added in the field of agriculture. Revolution is being initiated in the agriculture sector through space science. He said that the agreement between the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Space will further enhance the strength of the agriculture sector. If this knowledge reaches the farmers, their production and productivity will increase. The quality of production will increase and export opportunities will also increase," Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said.

He also claimed that the agriculture department is also working on AgriStack to help farmers increase their help and save their crop losses through forecasting. "Crop estimation, allotment to states, survey to declare an area dry, disaster assessment, - all these tasks will become easy after adopting technology. This technology is very beneficial for the agriculture sector as well as the country. After the completion of AgriStack, there will be a revolutionary change in the field of agriculture," said Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.

Dr Jitendra Singh said that RISAT-1A data would be extremely useful in developing decision support systems for Agriculture, Bioresources, Environment, Water Resources and Disaster Management. He said efforts were made to make this coordination and cooperation possible. "The main achievement in the last eight years under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi was to use science for Ease of Living and it should be taken out from the laboratory. He further informed that in the year 2020, the rules of the Department of Space were amended," said Jitendra Singh.