Indian Space Research Organisation the Himalayas. The Rangpur Observatory was set up in 1957 at Osmania University, Hyderabad. Space research was further encouraged by the technically inclined Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru. In 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1 and opened up possibilities for the rest of the world to conduct a space launch. The Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) was set up in 1962 by Jawaharlal Nehru, first Prime Minister of India. The prime objective of ISRO is to use space technology and its application to various national tasks. The Indian space programme was driven by the vision of
Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India a retired 1972 batch Gujarat cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, was appointed by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet to serve as newly-elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi's additional principal secretary. The status of an additional principal secretary—akin to the principal secretary—is generally considered equivalent to the Cabinet Secretary, the Government of India's topmost civil servant. Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India The Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India (PS to the PM; IAST: ) is the senior-most bureaucrat in, and the administrative head of, the Prime Minister's Office. The officeholder is generally a civil servant,