Mann Ki Baat: PM Modi hails ISRO's century in rocket launches, urges people to dedicate a day for science

Addressing the 119th episode of his monthly radio programme, 'Mann Ki Baat', on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the Indian Space Research Organisation, saying it has hit the century in space. Last month, the country witnessed the ISRO's 100th rocket launch.

He urged people to be scientists for a day at least, and visit centres related to science.

"The Champions Trophy is going on these days and there is an atmosphere of cricket for everyone. We all know the thrill of a century in cricket. But today, I am not going to talk about cricket, rather I will talk about the wonderful century that India has made in space. Last month, the country was a witness to ISRO's 100th rocket launch. This is not just a number, but it shows our resolve to achieve ever-new heights in space science. Our space journey started in a very normal manner. There were challenges in every step, but our scientists continued moving forward achieving victory over them," PM Modi said during his address.

"With time, the list of our achievements in space flights continues to grow longer. Be it building a launch vehicle, a success of Chandrayaam, Mangalyaan, and Aditya L-1 or carrying out the unprecedented mission of sending 104 satellites into space in one go with one rocket. The ambit of ISRO's success has been quite large. In the past 10 years, around 460 satellites have been launched, in which many satellites of other countries are also included," the PM said.

"The participation of women power has been continuously rising in the space sector. I feel very happy seeing that today the space sector has become a favourite of the youth. For our youth who want to do something thrilling and exciting in their life, the space sector is becoming an excellent option for them" the Prime Minister added.

Speaking about National Science Day 2025, which will be celebrated on February 28, PM Modi said that the interest and passion of youth in science matters a lot and presented an idea for it -- 'One day as a scientist'.

"You try to spend one day as a scientist. You must visit places like a research lab, planetarium or space centre that day. This will increase your curiosity about science. Like space and science, India is rapidly making its mark in another field. That is AI (Artificial intelligence). I went to Paris to take part in an AI summit. There, people lauded India's strides in the field of AI," PM Modi said.

He mentioned a teacher from Telangana, Thodasam Kailash, who is harnessing AI technology in digital song and music to help preserve the tribal languages, including Kolami. His tracks are being liked a lot by the tribal people. "People of India are second to none in adopting and using new technologies," he said.