Rajnath Singh calls for long term public-private partnership to make India a knowledge economy

Chandigarh, Jan 3: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday called for an active and long-term public-private partnership to take the education & science sectors to a global level and make India a knowledge economy. “Today, the private sector is exposed to a large number of opportunities in the space sector. Whether it is defence or space, we are fully welcoming the private sector,” he said inaugurating Kalpana Chawla Centre for Research in Space Science & Technology (KCCRSST) at Chandigarh University. He also launched a Scholarship Scheme, worth Rs 10 crore, for the wards of Defence Personnel of the three Services. Listing out some of the measures aimed at tapping the potential of the private sector, Singh said, the Government is sharing technology & expertise and opening its various facilities for the industry. He stated that transfer of matured technologies is under consideration. On the setting up of Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), he said, the independent agency will act as a single window for matters related to the space sector. The Raksha Mantri added that the Government is laying special emphasis on promoting the use of space-based applications through every sector. Use of geo-tagging for roads and other infrastructure in villages, monitoring of development works in remote areas through satellite imagery, and identifying problems related to crops and fields for farmers is helping the government in many ways, he added. Rajnath Singh called for working towards development of futuristic technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Big-Data and Block-chain for the overall development of the Nation. He stressed that progress in space technology will develop scientific temper in the youth of the country and India will move forward in frontier technologies.