Uttar Pradesh also records over 300 lightning-related fatalities annually, the highest in the country. Given its vast river plains, dense population, and vulnerable rural settlements, officials say a dedicated satellite system is imperative to forecasting disasters specific to its terrain.The state is also witnessing a quiet revolution in science education. CM Yogi approved ISRO’s Village Vaigyanik Karyakram (VVK) — a pioneering rural space education initiative that aims to nurture scientific curiosity and prepare the next generation of scientists and engineers from Uttar Pradesh’s rural landscape.The VVK, developed jointly by ISRO’s SAC and the Vyomika Foundation, is now expanding beyond classrooms. It will be driven through mobile science buses under the initiative Space on Wheels, which will carry interactive science models and exhibits and host seminars and webinars by ISRO scientists.Currently, meritorious students are taken on study tours to ISRO’s Ahmedabad facilities. Plans are underway for a national-level, student-led satellite payload project involving 75 Basic Education schools from each district of the state. Additionally, rural space laboratories are being set up in government schools to ensure children in villages have access to the same opportunities as their urban counterparts.State Governor Anandiben Patel, who also met with the ISRO team, urged them to establish a space lab at the primary school on the Raj Bhawan premises. The SAC team inspected the site and identified an area for the lab.The push for VVK builds on the success of India’s first Rural Space Education Lab at Hasudi Ausanpur village in Siddharth Nagar district, eastern Uttar Pradesh, established in 2021 in collaboration with the Vyomika Space Academy.The lab, equipped with telescopes, VR-enabled learning tools, and working satellite and rocket models, has already gained popularity among students. Over 10,000 students from 15 districts have benefited from these rural space labs.In another significant development, a proposal for setting up North India’s first Astronaut Training Centre in Uttar Pradesh has also been put forth by ISRO SAC for consideration by the state government. Sources said that such a facility would strategically place the state at the forefront of India’s growing space-tech ecosystem.
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