New Delhi, August 12(HS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday set an inspiring tone for the 18th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA), telling over 300 of the world’s brightest young astronomers from 64 countries that in India, “the sky is not the limit — it’s just the beginning.”
Addressing the gathering via video link,PM Modi painted India as a unique confluence of “tradition and innovation, spirituality and science, curiosity and creativity.” He invoked the legacy of Aryabhatta, the 5th century pioneer who both discovered zero and declared that the Earth rotates on its axis — “He started from zero and made history,” the Prime Minister remarked.
The PM spotlighted India’s cutting-edge space and astronomical prowess — from the Indian Astronomical Observatory in Ladakh, “close enough to shake hands with the stars” at 4,500 metres altitude, to the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope in Pune, which probes the mysteries of pulsars, quasars, and galaxies. He cited India’s vital role in global mega-science collaborations like the Square Kilometre Array and LIGO-India, alongside recent landmark missions such as Chandrayaan-3’s historic lunar South Pole landing, the Aditya-L1 solar observatory, and Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla’s voyage to the International Space Station.
Reinforcing India’s investment in next-generation talent, Mr. Modi highlighted the 10 million school students experimenting in Atal Tinkering Labs, the ‘One Nation One Subscription’ initiative granting free access to top global journals, and the country’s leading record in women’s STEM participation. Inviting international collaboration, he told the young minds, “Who knows, the next big scientific breakthrough may well be born from such partnerships.”
But PM Modi also anchored his cosmic vision to Earthly needs, urging participants to use space science for human betterment — improving weather forecasts for farmers, predicting disasters, tracking glacier melt and wildfires, and connecting remote communities. “The future of science lies in solving real-world problems with imagination and compassion,” he said.
Calling this year’s IOAA — the largest ever — a testament to the power of international collaboration, the PM thanked the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education and Tata Institute of Fundamental Research for hosting the event. His closing words echoed both aspiration and challenge: “Aim high, dream big — because for us, the cosmos is not the end, it is the start of the journey.”
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
