New Delhi: When Cyclone Idai struck Zimbabwe in 2019, communication networks collapsed, leaving entire communities cut off from rescue services and exposing gaps in emergency communication and disaster response.For Tanatswa Manjeya, the disaster was personal: it claimed the life of his grandfather. Years later, the harrowing experience became the inspiration for a satellite-based solution he presented in Delhi Tuesday.Manjeya, a final-year electrical and electronics engineering student at Aditya University, was among six young innovators from across India who presented solutions to real-world problems at the ‘Viasat: Space for Good India Challenge’ finale, but the jury was not letting their ideas fly without scrutiny.“Why do you need a satellite for this?” and “What happens when the sky is cloudy?” were among the simpler questions panellists posed as they challenged students to demonstrate whether their innovations could work beyond the drawing board.Organised by Viasat, a satellite communications company, in strategic partnership with Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe), the second edition of the competition shortlisted finalists from a multi-stage selection process.Gautam Sharma, managing director of Viasat India, said, “Through this programme, we are providing students access to technology, mentorship and real industry engagement. Just as importantly, we are bringing together all stakeholders because no single organisation solves global challenges alone.”Manjeya’s project, Aegis, proposes solar-powered communication hubs that allow stranded people to send SOS messages when mobile networks fail. The system will also use AI to analyse environmental data, anticipate infrastructure failures and identify safer evacuation routes.Another innovation focused on the crucial minutes following a building collapse, when rescue teams often struggle to locate affected structures and those trapped under debris. Parth Bhagwat Kharat, a computer engineering student of Dr D Y Patil Institute of Technology, Pune, has developed BhuKavach, a sensor designed to detect building collapses and immediately transmit exact GPS coordinates. “The system prioritises local networks but switches to satellite connectivity when terrestrial infrastructure fails,” he said.Nived Krishna, a computer science PhD student at IIT Kharagpur, sought to ensure that disaster warnings reach even the remotest communities. His project, MARK, proposes using satellites to relay emergency alerts to low-cost receivers installed at schools and panchayat offices, which will then trigger local sirens. “During calamities, govt emergency alerts often fail to reach remote Himalayan valleys, tribal forest belts or coastal communities in the absence of local cell towers or if the existing ones are knocked out,” he said.Taking satellite technology into agriculture, Shashank Kumar Singh, a PhD researcher at IIT Gandhinagar, proposed ChronoSentinel, a system that combines satellite observations with the internal biological clocks of plants. “Plants undergo subtle shifts in their internal rhythms long before visible signs of disease, drought or environmental stress appear,” he explained. By tracking these changes from space, the technology could help farmers and forest managers identify distress early and intervene before significant damage is done.The focus of the competition then shifted from problems on Earth to dangers in space. Adeetya Uppal, an aerospace engineering student at IIT Kharagpur, developed Drishti, an AI-powered system to prevent collisions involving space debris. “Traditional collision-warning protocols can take hours for human operators to react, wasting valuable fuel and endangering operational satellites,” she explained.Aryan Gupta, a mechanical engineering student at IIT Roorkee, turned his attention to the security of satellite-connected devices. His project, Sentinel, proposes a lightweight, battery-efficient security framework for remote sensors used in agriculture, railways and other infrastructure.The finalists, who competed for a Rs 11.5-lakh prize pool, received mentorship to refine their proposals. Uppal secured first place, followed by Singh in second and Gupta in third.
