Technology

Applications of Science and Technology in Social and Economic development, Indigenous technology, Transfer of technology and developing new Technologies

India : From Technology deprived nation to the world leader in Science
The years immediate after independence from 1950 to 1960s saw many scientific changes in the country from agriculture to industrialisation. When the independence came, one of the first and foremost measure taken were the establishment of new R&D organisation and revamping of existing institutes to meet country's need.
One of the primary concern that arose in early 1950s were the defence of our border from the hostile neighbouring countries. In order to address this Defence Research Development Organisation(DRDO) was established in 1958. The organisation played a major role in strengthening India's defence technologies and today India is missile super-power with the most modern nuclear powered ballistic missile and submarine INS Arihant on board nuclear reactor.
Another major challenge was to ensure food security in the country with frequent famine and low agriculture productivity. 'Food for everyone' was a distant dream and starvation was common. With high demand and low supply, India's foreign reserve largely went into importing food to feed the people. The situation changed with the advancement in the field of Bio-Technology which led to the Green Revolution in India. To be precise Green Revolution refers to the period starting from 1953 ad lasting through late 60s. During which agriculture yield increase in India, due to which improved agro-economic technology in India and help the country to become self-reliable in terms of food. Development of superior yielding, disease resistant crop varieties particularly Wheat. Introduction of chemical fertilizers and indigenous innovations in farming practices and irrigation made it possible.
The technological changes resulted in quadrupling of food grains production in the country. Today India is hub of Bio-Tech parks dedicated to research and development in agriculture and food production.
Organisations like Indian Council of Agricultural Research who led the research leading to Green Revolution in India have played a major role in this. In the year immediately post-independence, India practically had to import almost everything related to the basic need of the people. This was when India's premium research and development organisation - Council of Scientific and Industrial Research stepped in. The organisation having national laboratory across the country started with research in attaining self sufficiency in basic needs such as vegetables, oils, fertilisers, drugs, plastics, scientific instruments, graphite-carbon, molassses, glass, fuel & etc; and today provide support to some of the important industries in the world realising that basic and fundamental research was necessary to develope indigenouslies. The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research was established in 1945 which along with Indian Institute of Sciences contributed to the fundamental research for the betterment of the nation. Then within trees industries and noble method in farming and irrigation and of-course with the increase in population, India also realised the need for a Clean & Renewable energy, so 60s was the time when the country started establishing itself as a nuclear power nation. The early seed was sown by the great visionaries like Homi Bhabha with the establishment of Atomic Energy Commission in 1948. During the 1960s India started the first stage of its nuclear energy programme based on Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor and using natural uranium as fuel. The first nuclear power plant in the country was set-up at Tarapore, Maharashtra in October, 1969. It is interesting to note that in 1969, India was the first country in Asia and among the few countries in the world that had operating nuclear power reactor. India quickly set-up reactors like Apsara, Purnima, and Zerlina and today have 21 functioning nuclear reactor in 7 power plants producing a total of 13,292.91 GW per hour of electricity. During 60s the nuclear programme faced many criticism. Many thought that India should focus on developing basic amenities but there is no doubt that



In our last episode we saw how during our 50s to 70s, Science & technology stepped in lavatate

Global satellite to be named after Abdul Kalam
A global satellite for earth observation and disaster risk reduction -- GlobalSat for DRR -- proposed under the UN framework will be dedicated to APJ Abdul Kalam as a tribute to the vision of the celebrated rocket scientist and former Indian President who died July 27.
This has been stated by Milind Pimprikar, chairman of CANEUS (CANada-EUrope-US-ASia) Organization on Space Technologies for Societal Applications headquartered in Montreal, Canada.

Founded in 1999, CANEUS serves to develop a common platform for space technology solutions for natural and man-made disaster management. The "GlobalSat for DRR" is a UN-driven global initiative on sharing space technology for disaster risk reduction, Pimprikar said.

Launch of this satellite was mooted at the third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held at Sendai in Japan this March.

Comet probe Philae wakes up
Europe’s tiny robot lab Philae, hurtling through space on the back of a comet, has sent home its first message in nearly seven months. Scientists have said that Philae may soon resume science work, opening up a new chapter in its exhilarating voyage.

Europe recently announced that its comet-chasing mission Rosetta would be extended until September 2016 and may end with the dying mothership touching down on the comet.

Rosetta:

Rosetta was launched on 2 March 2004 on an Ariane 5 rocket and reached the comet on 6 August 2014, becoming the first spacecraft to orbit a comet. Rosetta took off from Earth 10 years ago carrying Philae and traveled 6.4 billion miles before arriving at the comet.

Philae:

Philae ’​s mission was to land successfully on the surface of a comet, attach itself, and transmit data from the surface about the comet’s composition. It is a robotic European Space Agency lander.

It landed on comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, more than ten years after departing Earth.
The mission seeks to unlock the long-held secrets of comets — primordial clusters of ice and dust that scientists believe may reveal how the Solar System was formed.
The scientific goals of the mission focus on “elemental, isotopic, molecular and mineralogical composition of the cometary material, the characterization of physical properties of the surface and subsurface material, the large-scale structure and the magnetic and plasma environment of the nucleus.”
Sensors on the lander will measure the density and thermal properties of the surface, gas analyzers will help detect and identify any complex organic chemicals that might be present, while other tests will measure the magnetic field and interaction between the comet and solar wind.

Philae is equipped with an array of experiments to photograph and test the surface of Comet 67P as well as to find out what happens when the roasting effect of the sun drives off gas and dust.