INDEPENDENCE DAY: Enrichment of Technology
“Be proud to be an INDIAN”
“India has known the innocence and insouciance of childhood, the passion and abandon of youth, and the ripe wisdom of maturity that comes from long experience of pain and pleasure; and over and over again, she has renewed her childhood and youth and age”― Jawaharlal Nehru.
It is our 75th Independence day and there was significant progress in various fields from our GDP to mortality rate. We have been through a lot of societal, cultural, and economical changes to reach the point we are at right now. We have written about a few notable achievements that India contributed to in the field of technology and research.
Drugs and Vaccines
India houses the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, the Serum Institute of India (SII) in Pune which has been monumental in these times of Covid. India was one of the countries that were on the front lines of research on Polio, our researchers developed two types of vaccines Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) and Injectable Polio Vaccine (IPV). The fight against Polio was for 66 long years and as of 2014, we are Polio free.
Even now for Covid 19, Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Institute of Virology (NIV) made the COVAXIN which has been quite useful to vaccinate India which has an enormous population of 137 crores. India is the world’s largest provider of generic medicine by holding a 20% export share. There are over 20,000 registered drug manufacturers in India, they produce over 50 percent of the global demand for various vaccines.
ISRO Launching 104 satellites
The Indian Space Research Organization deployed 104 satellites in a single launch. PSLV-C37 was launched on February 15th,2017 it is India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, it was launched with 104 satellites. It consists of a Cartosat-2 series satellite to observe the earth and 103 co-passenger satellites composed of one each from Kazakhstan, Israel, The Netherlands, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and 96 from the United States of America (USA), as well as two Nano satellites from India.
This mission strengthened India’s role as a cost-effective and reliable hub for launching satellites, amid rising competition against other countries in the global race. ISRO held the record of launching the most number of satellites deployed with a single launch till SpaceX broke the record this year.
Reaching Mars in the first attempt
On 24th September 2014, as most of us sipped our morning coffee, headlines flashed all over the world, “Mangalyaan: India’s race of space success”. After a total of 300 days and 670 million kilometers, ISRO’s Mangalyaan had entered into the orbit of the Red Planet.
Detailed specifications and constant monitoring were required even after the satellite left the Bay of Bengal on the 5th of November 2013. Mr. K Radhakrishnan and co achieved what seemed impossible at the time making India the 1st Asian, 4th among all countries to reach Mars, and also the only country to do so in its maiden attempt. Applauses from all parts of the world came pouring into what was declared as a historic event by our Prime Minister. Fun fact: The satellite was built at a lower cost than the total budget of Hollywood’s “Gravity”!
ISRO has now planned for a Mangalyaan 2 mission which will be launched reportedly in 2025.
Vyomitra
Vyomitra is a humanoid female robot that is being developed by the ISRO. Various countries have flown out animals to space to conduct experiments but ISRO doesn’t want to do that but instead, they have decided to develop a humanoid female robot that can take part in future uncrewed space missions. It can speak in two languages either English or Hindi and is known to be able to perform a few basic tasks. As it is a humanoid robot it will act like us and will be able to answer your questions too.
“I can do switch panel operations, ECLSS [environment control and life support systems] functions, be a companion, converse with the astronauts, recognize them and also respond to their queries.” These were her words in the inaugural session of the “Human Spaceflight and Exploration — Present Challenges and Future Trends” in Bengaluru on January 22, 2020. She will be used during the Gaganyaan mission next year which will send humans to the Low Earth Orbital (LEO) using an Indian launch vehicle and bring them back.
First Nuclear bomb test (Pokhran)
The pressure of nuclear threat forced India to open the doors to its first-ever successful nuclear bomb test on 18th May 1974 in Pokhran, Rajasthan. Though this test was announced as a “peaceful nuclear explosion”, there was a backlash from other countries, especially America who had placed surveillance satellites upon our territory and threatened to impose sanctions.
On May 7th, 1998 the equipment was covertly flown from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) to Jaisalmer Airport and then to Pokhran through trucks. DRDO scientists have calculated the timings when the US satellites won’t be above Pokhran and set the date and time to launch. Even most of the assembly work was carried out at night when the chances of satellite detection were low. Scientists and officials were disguised in army uniforms to make it seem like a regular army patrol. It was carried out with utmost secrecy that even a few innermost cabinet ministers were informed of this later.
Finally, on May 11th, 1998 at around 3:45 pm India carried out “Operation Shakti” by detonating 3 nuclear bombs namely — Shakti I: a thermonuclear device, Shakti II: a fission device & Shakti III: a sub-kiloton device. Two days later on May 13th two more fission devices, Shakti IV and V were detonated. CIA chief George Tenet admitted the petty failure in their intelligence. These tests placed India on the pedestal of very few nations with nuclear weaponry.
“Freedom is the open window through which pours the sunlight of the human spirit and human dignity.”
Let this day be special and wonderful, Spread your wings created by the individual who can labor in freedom.
Live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others till then we will get more BLOGS and have an amazing journey….…..
