PM Modi names Chandrayaan-3 touchdown point as 'Shiv Shakti'

The touchdown point of Chandrayaan-3 on the Moon would be named 'Shiv Shakti', and that of Chandrayaan-2 would be named 'Tiranga', Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his speech at ISRO headquarters in Bengaluru on Saturday.

"'Shiv' exemplifies the welfare of humanity, and 'shakti' enables us to achieve this," Modi said. He added that 'shakti' refers to women power, acknowledging the contributions of women scientists in the mission.

"Four years ago, when Chandrayaan-2 left its footprints on the moon, there were discussions about naming that point. But we decided that it would be named after the success of Chandrayaan-3. Now that we have the tiranga in every home (referring to Har Ghar Tiranga campaign) and on the moon, that point will be named Tiranga point," he said.

Congratulating the ISRO team, Modi said that August 23, the date of Chandrayaan-3's landing, would be henceforth observed as National Space Day.

On the occasion, ISRO chairman S Somanath presented Modi with images from Chandrayaan-3, including that of the national flag on the lunar surface.

"This is the first time that humans are seeing images of this area, and India achieved this. Today the whole world has acknowledged India's scientific spirit and technology," he said.

Modi said that India is now using space technology for tracking and monitoring various programmes like Swachh Bharat Mission, disaster prediction, telemedicine and tele education.

He asked ISRO to collaborate with Central and state governments to conduct a national hackathon on applying space technology to improve governance, involving the youth. The government will also conduct quiz competitions on Chandrayaan for students starting September 1, he said.

He said that ancient Indian texts including Aryabhatiyam had rich scientific knowledge, and asked school and college students to scientifically prove these.

India's space industry is expected to grow from eight billion dollars to 16 billion dollars in the next few years, hence the government is bringing reforms in the sector, he said. He added that the number of startups in India's space sector has increased from four to 150 in the past four years.