100 students from each NE state to visit ISRO

Imphal, April 21 (IANS) At least 100 science students from each of the eight northeastern states would get an opportunity to visit the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in Bengaluru to ignite curiosity and foster awareness about space science and technology, officials said on Monday.

A Manipur government official said that talented science students from the northeastern states would visit the ISRO headquarters in different batches starting from the month of April till December 2025.

A team of 13 students and a coordinator left Imphal on Monday for ISRO from the Imphal International Airport.

Nodal officer and Additional Director of Education, Manipur government, Bisheshwar Khumukcham, flagged off the team in the presence of parents, teachers and other officials at the Bir Tikendrajit International airport in Imphal.

According to an official of the state Education Department, the tour is organised under the programme North East Student Programme for Awareness, Reach and Knowledge on Space (NE-SPARKS).

The programme is to be implemented by North East Space Applications Centre (NE-SAC) under the initiative of the Ministry of the DoNER (Development of North Eastern Region).

The aim of the tour is to ignite curiosity and foster awareness about space science and technology, the official said.

The NE-SAC, located near Meghalaya's capital, Shillong, is a joint initiative of the Department of Science and the North Eastern Council (NEC) to provide developmental support to the northeastern region (NER) using space science and technology.

The centre has the mandate to develop high-technology infrastructure support to play the catalytic role in the holistic development of NER of India by providing space science and technology support.

The centre also coordinates with the State Remote Sensing Application Centres of NER and acts as a nodal centre for implementation of major national and regional programmes on natural resource management, infrastructure planning, healthcare, education, emergency communication, early warnings for disaster management support and atmospheric science research.

The centre has completed a number of application projects sponsored by the user agencies in the region and taken up research and development projects under Earth Observation Applications Mission, ISRO Geo-sphere Biosphere Programme, Satellite Communications, Disaster Management Support and Space Science Programmes.

The Union Home Minister is the President of the NESAC Society, while the ISRO chief is the Chairman of the NESAC Governing Council.

--IANS

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