ISRO former chairman K Kasturirangan passes away at 84

BENGALURU: Former ISRO Chairman Dr K Kasturirangan passed away. He was 84. He was the chairman of ISRO for nine years. The country honored him with the Padma Vibhushan. After retiring from ISRO, Kasturirangan served as a Rajya Sabha MP and a member of the Planning Commission from 2003 to 2009. K Kasturirangan is a person who led India's space research for nine years.

He had also served as the Vice Chancellor of JNU and the Vice Chancellor of Rajasthan Central University. He was the project director of Aryabhata and Bhaskara satellites. He took over as the head of ISRO on March 31, 1994. He resigned from the post on August 27, 2003. After this, he led many space launches globally.

The report he prepared on the protection of the Western Ghats, which includes Kerala, was a subject of much debate. He took up this mission on the instructions of the central government after previous reports became controversial. The first task force on the protection of the Western Ghats was led by Madhav Gadgil, a professor of ecology.

There was a strong concern that widespread evacuations would be required to implement the things suggested in the Gadgil report. There were large-scale protests in all five states from Kerala to Maharashtra. Kasturirangan was then appointed to review the Western Ghats Conservation Report.