India to have space station by 2035: Minister

During his visit to the Meteorological Centre, Shimla, here today, Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, said that India will have its own space station by 2035. The minister said that the space station would give a big boost to the country’s capabilities in the missions requiring deployment of satellites and preparedness for emergencies.

The minister further said that the country’s weather forecasting was at par with the rest of the countries and the department was high up on the priority list of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The minister reviewed the entire forecast system and equipment at the Shimla Meteorological Centre. “We apprised him of our entire forecasting system and about the 48 Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) that would be set up in the state in the near future,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, Director, Meteorological Centre, Shimla. The state government has already signed an MoU with India Meteorological Department for setting up these AWS.

The automatic weather stations will provide real-time data to improve forecasting and preparedness to handle natural disasters. It will also help in sectors like agriculture and horticulture. At present, there are 22 automatic weather stations in the state.

During his visit to the Meteorological Centre, Shimla, here today, Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, said that India will have its own space station by 2035. The minister said that the space station would give a big boost to the country’s capabilities in the missions requiring deployment of satellites and preparedness for emergencies.

The minister further said that the country’s weather forecasting was at par with the rest of the countries and the department was high up on the priority list of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The minister reviewed the entire forecast system and equipment at the Shimla Meteorological Centre. “We apprised him of our entire forecasting system and about the 48 Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) that would be set up in the state in the near future,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, Director, Meteorological Centre, Shimla. The state government has already signed an MoU with India Meteorological Department for setting up these AWS.

The automatic weather stations will provide real-time data to improve forecasting and preparedness to handle natural disasters. It will also help in sectors like agriculture and horticulture. At present, there are 22 automatic weather stations in the state.

Dr Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Earth Sciences, today accused the Congress of misusing the Constitution for furthering its own interests and trying to project the BJP as anti-constitutional.

While kicking off the BJP’s ‘Samvidhan Parv’ – which is aimed at making people aware of what the BJP has done to protect the Constitution under Prime Minister Narendra Modi here today – the minister said that the BJP would take the programme to the district and the block level to highlight how it was actually the Congress that had dishonoured the Constitution and insulted DR Ambedkar.

“The Congress used Article 356 of the Constitution 88 times to dislodge the elected government and to further its own interest. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made amendments for empowering poor and weaker section of society,” Singh said while addressing a press conference here today.

“The amendment brought after Indira Gandhi’s election was challenged, the move to increase the tenure of Parliament and Assemblies to six year, the Shah Bano incident… the Congress did it all to protect its own interests. On the other hand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi ensured 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and Vidhan Sabha, empowerment youth and weaker sections, etc,” the minister said.

When asked if Home Minister Amit Shah had disrespected Ambedkar with his comments in Parliament, the minister replied in the negative and instead blamed the Congress for showing disrespect to Ambedkar. “The Modi government has built memorials of Ambedkar at five places in India and London. The Modi government established the Dr Ambedkar International Centre in Delhi. And it was the NDA government that conferred Bharat Ratna on Ambedkar. And yet, the Congress says the BJP does not respect Ambedkar,” he said.