Former ISRO chairman K. Kasturirangan no more
Former ISRO chairman Dr. K Kasturirangan passed away in Bengaluru on April 25. He was 84 years old.
According to a statement from ISRO: 'Dr. K. Kasturirangan has left for heavenly abode this morning at 10. 43 am at his residence in Bengaluru. His body will be kept in RRI for paying last respects on Sunday April 27th from 1000- 1200 hrs.'
Dr. Kasturirangan served as the fifth chairman of ISRO between 1994-2003, and also as the Secretary, Department of Space for over nine years.
During his four-decade-long career in ISRO, he was part of several key missions. He was the project director of India's first two experimental earth observation satellites BHASKARA-I & II. He steered the first operational Indian Remote Sensing satellite IRS-1A.
A recipient of Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Vibhushan, Dr. Kasturirangan got his Bachelor of Science with Honours and Master of Science degrees in Physics from Bombay University. He received his Doctorate Degree in Experimental High Energy Astronomy in 1971 while working at the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad.
When he served as ISRO chairman, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) was launched and operationalised. The first successful flight testing of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) took place unders hip his leadership.
ISRO states that as the Director of ISRO Satellite Centre, he oversaw the activities related to the development of new generation spacecraft, Indian National Satellite (INSAT-2) and Indian Remote Sensing Satellites (IRS-1A & 1B), as well as scientific satellites.
'He has also overseen the design, development and launching of the world's best civilian satellites, IRS-1C and 1D, realisation of the second generation and initiation of third generation INSAT satellites, besides launching ocean observation satellites IRS-P3/P4. These efforts have placed India as a pre-eminent space-faring nation among the handful of six countries that have major space programmes,' states his profile on the space agency's website.
Dr. Kasturirangan served as a member of the Rajya Sabha, and was a member of the Planning Commission during the UPA government.
More recently, Dr. Kasturirangan chaired the drafting committee for the National Education Policy 2020, and headed the 12-member steering committee responsible for developing a new National Curriculum Framework.
He was the author of the Kasturirangan Committee report on Western Ghats, which in 2013, identified an area of 59,940 sq. km of natural landscape of Western Ghats, spread across Karnataka, Gujarat, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Maharashtra as ecologically sensitive.
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