Indore: ISRO is expanding with demand for satellites for social and commercial purposes increasing day by day for which industries need to come forward and take up the challenge of making subsidiary facilities, former ISRO chairman Madhavan Nair said on Friday.He was in Indore for World Business and Economy Congress held at Sage University.Nair said only India was able to provide cost effective satellite launch pads to the world, and countries are approaching India for satellite launches. “It was the dream of Vikram Sarabhai that space technology should be used for societal purposes. We have achieved this dream by setting up three major programmes in the field of education, medicine and disaster management. Through satellite technology, students in remote parts of the country can attend classes held in metro cities and people can also get in touch with specialist doctors,” Nair said.He also highlighted contribution of space technology for disaster management, wherein death toll due to cyclones on Odisha coast had been brought down to less than 10. “Now that Dr Vikram Sarabhai’s dream of using space technology for social purposes is being fulfilled, we need to perfect our science in sending common people into space before attempting to send astronauts on Mars,” he added.The first day of Congress also saw participation of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and state minister of higher education and sports Jitu Patwari. Patwari said that Congress stands with government to take action against those behind the act.“In MP we have identified around 200 colleges, where we will implement smart classes and a budget of Rs3000 crore has been planned to be allotted. Private universities are also welcome to help government in this,” Jitu said.Acid attack survivor Lakshmi urged students to be courageous and fearless, asking them to face problems heads on.

Stay updated with all the Latest Indore headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.