Union minister Jitendra Singh on Saturday inaugurated the space centre at Central University of Jammu. Source: Facebook
The Satish Dhawan Centre for Space Sciences at Central University of Jammu was inaugurated on March 12. The first course with an intake capacity of 60 students will be launched this year.
The centre, named after former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and pride of the Dogra community of Jammu and Kashmir, will facilitated ground-based observations for Atmospheric Studies. It boasts a research lab for Astrophysics, Atmospheric Sensing and a Glacier Studies lab for better use of large quantities of water stored in the form of seasonal snow, ice and glaciers in the rivers of north India.
Union minister Jitendra Singh on Saturday inaugurated the centre and also a conference on Frontiers of Space Technology and Applications for Humanity.
The centre will be the second teaching institute of its kind in the country, the first being situated in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram.
“We will start the first course this year and the intake capacity will be 60 seats. The selection criteria will be IIT-JEE so that there is no discrimination,” the minister said.
The ISRO had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Central University of Jammu in October 2018 for setting up of a centre with facilities for geospatial data analysis to help in sustainable use of natural resources and plan land-use patterns.
New avenues such drones and Space Technology have made inroads into every sector, including housing, smart cities, railways and highways, the minister pointed out.
Asking the youth to become self-reliant, he said the Purple Revolution started by IIIM Jammu (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Indian Institute Of Integrative Medicine) is spreading fast across the country. Jammu has a lot of potential for dairy and space technology.
Purple Revolution is Jammu and Kashmir's contribution to start-up. Also called Aroma Mission, it was launched by the Union Ministry of Science and Technology through the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research.