Padma Vibhushan Dr. Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan

Dr. Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan , grasping the attention of the audience, deliberated on the topic that what was the vision of Vikram Sarabhai and how he came up with the visionary thought of new development, how the space program started and ISRO came into existence. He also elucidated the audience about the genesis of the program that how tremendously space management would help in solving multi-various problems in India. Furthermore, he illustrated on Multi-dimensionality of space, like what were the aspects that were considered and aimed upon for the program to come into existence.

Talking about the program, the speaker also emphasized on the 'stages of evolution of the program' - Initiation phase (1960-70's) , Experimental Phase (1980's) ,Operational Phase (1990's) , and then the Expansion phase (Beyond 2000's). He further provided glimpses of Satellite communication and its societal relevance that how lives have become so easy with this like Television, Weather and Climate forecast, Disaster Management etc. Not only urban areas are benefited with this but also the remote areas have its benefits and social relevance like Enhancing Agricultural Production, Optimisation of Water resources, Minimise Land degradation, Bio-resource conservation, Disaster Proofing, Infrastructure build-up.

Furthermore, he also revealed about the strategies for decision making and how the institutional framework was established and demonstrated via flowchart. The decision making process of Chandrayaan- I was also discussed by briefly touching upon all the 9 stages. As it was more about Management, the economics of India's space program, Cost benefits, International linkages, Policy dimensions, Legal perspectives were also reviewed very explicitly and also discussed some salient management practices.