A reception for ISRO women scientists, numbering about 225 which led the ISRO’s Republic Day tableau at Kartavya Path, was hosted by Union Minister Jitendra Singh at his residence in New Delhi. Those included the eminent women scientists team depicted in Chandrayaan 3, Aditya L1 and other recent success stories that have received global acclaim.
The ISRO tableau was led entirely by eight women scientists, while 220 invited women scientists along with their spouses cheered the contingent. The all-women contingent was derived from various ISRO centres at Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Thiruvananthapuram, and Sriharikota.
Jitendra Singh, the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, said, this day of glory was made possible by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had brought in new space reforms and liberated the space sector from the shackles of the past.
The women scientists said they felt extremely honoured and privileged for the spontaneous applause as the ISRO tableau paraded down the Kartavya Path.
Expressing gratitude for giving them an opportunity to showcase their achievements to the nation, they said they were overwhelmed by the warm hospitality accorded to them at the national capital that made them forget the cold winter of Delhi. Jitendra Singh said, as ISRO tableau started approaching the President’s enclosure, the narration was ISRO- “Viksit Bharat Ki Pehchaan”.
The space agency depicted the historic moment when its spacecraft Chandrayaan 3 successfully touched down on the moon on August 23 last year. The milestone led India to become the first and the only country in the world to land near the unexplored lunar south pole.
During the reception, ISRO Chairman S. Somanath introduced to the Minister the women Project Directors and scientists like Nigar Shaji, ISRO’s ‘Sunny Lady’, Radha Devi of ADRIL and other leading Scientists who made history like Kalpana Kalahasti, Reema Ghosh, Ritu Karidhal and Nidhi Porwal.
Women will be equal partners in our nation’s journey during the Amritkaal and the women scientists of ISRO will be its torchbearers as we march towards a Viksit Bharat in 2047, said minister Jitendra Singh.India became the fourth country to make a successful robotic moon landing last year with its Chandrayaan 3 mission.
Later, it successfully launched the Aditya-L1, India’s first solar mission. These milestones not only secured India’s standing in the global space economy but also fueled the engines for the private space sector in India. Among other feats India now aims for are the Gaganyaan Mission in 2024-2025, setting up ‘Bharatiya Antariksha Station’ by 2035, and sending the first Indian to the Moon by 2040.
(with inputs from ANI)
