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ndia’s commitment to the use of science & technology as a key instrument in national

development has been clearly articulated time and again in various policy documents
right from the early years of independence.

And indeed, the progress made by our country since then in attainment of the stated
goals in policy and plan documents has been substantial.

In the past five decades 200 universities affiliating around 3000 colleges have been
established to serve as an incubation ground for producing lakhs of technically qualified
professionals.

India today is acknowledged as the third largest storehouse in the world for technically
qualified workforce.

The pioneering Indian spirit has manifested itself in many fields; many frontiers have
been won over.

Agricultural Research and Development

There was a time when Indian policy makers were worried about ways to feed the ever
growing population. Limited forex reserves meant importing food was never a feasible
idea, the other option was to bring more area under cultivation and that would have
meant cutting the forests.

The solution was “Green Revolution” aimed at increasing the yield per hectare of land by
using hybrid, high-yielding varieties of seeds.

Green revolution

Under a man; a visionary whose dream was to rid the world of hunger and poverty, the
great Dr M S Swaminathan, better known as the "Father of the Green Revolution”; India
developed into a country that fed itself.

Under the aegis of Indian Council of Agricultural Research, more than 2300 high
yielding, hybrid varieties of food grains and cash crops have been developed. The
achievements have been substantial by all means:

The Indian National Gene Bank established by the ICAR as a part of the National Bureau
of Plant Genetic Resources, has preserved more than 1, 50,000 accessions and samples.
The capacity of this gene bank has been increased to about 1 million making it the largest
gene bank of the world. It has more than 7100 accessions of underutilized crops.

World’s first hybrid cotton, pearl millet, the first hybrid sorghum, the first hybrid castor,
the first hybrid mango are some of the amazing achievements of Indian agricultural
research.

After China, India is only the second country in the world to develop its very own hybrid
rice.

The first amber coloured commercial Triticale dwarf and very high-yielding wheat
varieties were developed by ICAR, thereby providing sustenance to millions of hungry
Indians without actually cutting into the forest cover or being depended on imports.
Besides the green revolution, the yellow revolution in oil seeds, white revolution in milk
production, blue revolution in fish production and golden revolution in horticulture bear
ample testimony to the contribution of our agricultural scientists in making our country
self sustained in terms of food production.

Bhakra Dam

The Bhakra Nangal dam in itself stands as a proud testimony to the technical prowess of
Indian engineers. For all those NRIs who love to gawk at America’s Hoover dam, it
would come as a surprise that the Bhakra at 741 feet is one of the highest gravity dams
(compare Hoover Dam at 732 ft). The dam provides irrigation to 10 million acres, thus
playing a pivotal role in making the green revolution a true success.

Defense Research and Development

By far the most remarkable achievement of India in the S&T sphere is the triumph over
innumerable international sanctions to develop indigenous defence infrastructure. The
bigger the challenge, the more determined Indian scientist became.

Kaveri Engine

The GTX-35VS Kaveri is a low-bypass-ratio afterburning turbofan developed by the Gas


Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE), a lab under DRDO. Kaveri engine is an
indigenous Indian design intended to power production models of the HAL’s Tejas
fighter, also known as “Light Combat Aircraft" (LCA) as well as the proposed twin-engine
Medium Combat Aircraft (MCA). Further evolution of the Kaveri design is envisioned for
armored fighting vehicles and for ship propulsion.

The Kaveri engine has been specifically designed for the demanding Indian operating
environment, which ranges from hot desert to the highest mountain range in the world.

With its development India no longer has to go around the world begging for engines to
power its indigenous fighter planes and launch vehicles.

Tejas

Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) is India’s answer to the F-16s, understanding the
pressing need to be self reliant in defence it was developed indigenously by Hindustan
Aeronautics Limited.

HAL’s Tejas is an advanced, lightweight, supersonic multi-role fighter aircraft. Its tailless
compound delta wing design powered by a single engine makes it ones of the best multi
role aircraft around.

Sonars

DRDO, Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and the Indian Navy have developed a range of
Sonars for the Navy`s frontline combat ships. These include the APSOH (Advanced
Panoramic Sonar Hull mounted), HUMVAD (Hull Mounted Variable Depth sonar) and
the HUMSA (Hull Mounted Sonar Array), Panchendriya Submarine sonar and fire
control system, sonobuoy Tadpole, Simhika.
Sonars may be considered one of DRDO`s most successful achievements, years of toil
has now assured that today, the Indian Navy`s most powerful ships rely on Indian made
sonars.

Torpedoes

DRDO is currently developing multiple Torpedoes. These include a lightweight torpedo


(Advanced Experimental Torpedo). Apart from it DRDO is also developing heavy weight
wire-guided torpedo Varunastra and Thakshak thermal torpedo suitable for use against
both ships and submarines.

Here is a timeline of the indigenously developed missile systems in India.

1. Prithvi I

Prithvi I was one of the first missiles developed under Government of India's IGMDP.
Launched in February 1988, Prithvi I is a single-stage, liquid-fuelled missile. A surface-
to-surface missile, it has a range of 150 km and a mounting capability of 1000 kg. It was
inducted into the Indian Army in 1994.

2. Agni I

A nuclear-capable ballistic missile, Agni 1 is the first of the five-missile Agni series
launched in 1983 by the Defence Research and Development Organisation. It has a range
of 700 km.

3. Akash

Akash is a surface-to-air missile with an intercept range of 30 km. It has multi-target


engagement capability and is in operational service with the Indian Army and the Indian
Air Force.

4. Nag

Nag is a third-generation hit-to-kill anti-tank missile that was first tested in 1990. The
two-stage solid propellant weapon uses the lock-on before launch system where the
target is identified and designated before the weapon is launched.

5. Trishul

Trishul is a short-range surface-to-air missile equipped with electronic measures against


all known aircraft jammers. It has a range of 9 km and is used as anti-sea skimmer from
ships against low-flying attacks.

6. Agni II

An intermediate-range ballistic missile, the Agni-II was first test fired on April 11, 1999.
The surface-to-surface missile has a range of 2000 to 2500 km and can carry
conventional or nuclear warheads.

7. Prithvi III

Prithvi III is the naval-version missile with a range of 350 km. A two-stage surface-to-
surface missile, Prithvi III was first tested in 2000.
8. Brahmos

BrahMos is a supersonic cruise missile that is first test-fired on June 12, 2001. It was
developed as a joint venture between India and Russia and is the world's fastest anti-
ship cruise missile in operation.

9. Prithvi Air Defence (PAD)

India’s ballistic missile defence got a fillip with the development of PAD, which has been
given the moniker Pradyumna. The system was tested with a maximum interception
altitude of 80 km, and has been designed to neutralise missiles within a range of 300-
2000 km up to a speed of Mach 5.0. The technology employed in the PAD was the
precursor to the indigenously developed Advanced Air Defence (AAD) interceptor
missile which was tested in 2007, as well as the Barak-2 which was developed in
collaboration with Israel.

10. K-15 Sagarika

The successful test of the Sagarika marks an inflection point in India’s military history. It
forms the crucial third leg of India’s nuclear deterrent vis-à-vis its submarine-launched
ballistic missile (SLBM) capability. The K-15 Sagarika, which has a range of 750 km, was
successfully tested in February 2008, and was subsequently integrated with India’s
nuclear-powered Arihant class submarine.

11. Dhanush

Dhanush is a liquid propelled sea-based missile that was envisaged as a short-range


version of the Prithvi II ballistic missile. It has a range of 350 km and is capable of
carrying nuclear warheads. It was successfully test-fired from a naval warship in March
2011, and carries forward the legacy of the K-15 Sagarika.

12. Agni III

Agni III is an intermediate-range ballistic missile developed as the successor to the Agni
II. It is an improvement over its previous iteration, and has a range of 3,500-5,000 km,
making it capable of engaging targets deep inside neighbouring countries. It was
inducted in to the armed forces in June 2011, enhancing its strike capability.

13. Agni IV

Carrying forward the success of its predecessor, the Agni III was developed to strike
targets within a similar range but with a significantly shorter flight time of 20 minutes.
The Agni IV, which has a two-phase propulsion system is designed to carry a 1,000 kg
payload.

14. Shaurya

It was initially conceived as a surface-to-surface ballistic missile (SSM) variant of the K-


15 Sagarika, that can be stored in underground silos for extended periods and launched
using gas canisters as a trigger. The nuclear capability of the missile enhances India’s
second strike capability reduces the dependence on the K-15 ballistic missile which was
built with significant Russian assistance.

15. Nirbhay
Nirbhay is a subsonic missile which is ancillary to the BrahMos range. It uses a terrain-
following navigation system to reach up to 1,000 km. Nirbhay is capable of being
launched from multiple platforms on land, sea, and air.

16. Prahaar

Prahaar is a surface-to-surface missile with a range of 150 km that was successfully


tested for the first time in July 2011. Stated to be a unique missile, the Prahaarboasts of
high maneuverability, acceleration and accuracy. Primarily a battlefield support system
for the Army, the missile can be fired from a road mobile launchers and is extremely
mobile in battle situations owing to its lighter build.

17. Astra

Astra is a beyond-visual-range (BVR) air-to-air missile (AAM) that was tested


successfully in May 2011. In terms of size and weight, the Astra is the smallest missile
developed by the DRDO. It was envisaged to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft at
supersonic speeds in the head-on mode within a range of 80 km.

18. Agni V

Agni is India’s first inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM), with high road mobility,
fast-reaction ability and a strike range of over 5,000 km.

INS Vikramaditya- This majestic looking 45,570 tonne aircraft carrier that was
commissioned on 16 November 2013 at Severodvinsk, Russia, is Indian Navy's latest
acquisition that will be force multiplier to the Navy, as the Indian Ocean region is greatly
becoming infested by pirates. The former Admiral Gorshkov from Russia went into refits
and complete change in its structural design in 2004 to become INS Vikramaditya,
causing delay in delivery and cost escalation. The aircraft carrier will have 24 Mikoyan
MiG-29K fighter jets and mix of 10 helicopters that might include Ka-28 helicopters
ASW, Ka-31 helicopters AEW, ALH Dhruv choppers and SeaKing helicopters. The carrier
will be based in INS Kadamba in Karwar, Karnataka.

Mountain Strike Corps- Indian Government cleared about 50,000 strong Mountain
Strike Corps with two independent infantry and armored brigade, operating along the
entire line of actual control (LAC) with China. The Strike Corps will be headquartered at
Panagarh in West Bengal. This force will boast of "rapid reaction force capability in
mountains" and will be able to strike deep in Tibet in case of Chinese incursions in
Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims is its own territory.

INS Arihant and INS Vikrant- Indian defense scientists and technologists added
another feather to their cap by achieving the crucial criticality of the in-board nuclear
reactor. Arihant is India's first indigenously developed class of nuclear-powered ballistic
missile submarines with five more in the pipeline. It will also complete India's nuclear
triad capability.

Pilatus PC 7 MK II-This Swiss-made basic trainer aircrafts were inducted into the
Indian Air Force for the training of its cadets filling in an important gap in the transition
of pilots from ab-initio stage through intermediate and advanced stages into full-fledged
operational flying. Since its order the Air Force already has 14 aircraft and 75 more to
come.
GSAT-7 - This is India's first military satellite, that is exclusively for the Indian Navy
and will provide military communications thus improving the maritime security and
intelligence gathering abilities over the vast Indian Ocean Area. It will also link ships,
submarines, aircraft and command from land in real time

C-130J Super Hercules, C-17 Globemaster III and Boeing P-8I - India's
capability for strategic airlift got a boost with the induction of six C-130J Super Hercules
and four -17 Globemaster III with six more to be eventually delivered. Both these
aircrafts have displayed capability to land or take-off from semi-prepared runways. India
has placed another six C-130J Super Hercules on order. India had also ordered eight
Boeing P-8I for Long Range Maritime Reconnaissance and Anti Submarine Warfare
(LRMRASW) with it, receiving two of them on schedule adding teeth to its maritime
reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare.

BrahMos SLCM - The BrahMos project is a joint venture between India and its long-
time ally Russia that resulted in a development of supersonic cruise missile. BrahMos
has been billed as world's fastest cruise missile travelling at speeds of Mach 2.8 to 3.0.
With the land variant already in service, the successful testing of the missile under a
water pontoon will eventually pave way to its unlimate integration into the Indian naval
ships and submarines.

ALH-Dhruv Squadron - India commissioned its first Advanced Light Helicopter


(Dhruv) Squadron into the Navy at Kochi in November. Dhruv is an indigenous 5-ton
multirole helicopter used for transport, utility, reconnaissance and medical evacuation
roles.

Space Research

Since its advent, a significant feature of the Indian space programme has been the
underlying emphasis on reaping its benefits in the shortest possible time. To achieve this
objective simultaneous R&D was initiated in all the three spheres of space technology
namely rocket, satellite and space infrastructure development.

Indian Satellite Systems

Indian Remote Sensing: The IRS system is by far the world’s biggest constellation of
remote sensing satellites. These satellites provide data for applications in agriculture,
forestry, water harnessing, land use and land cover mapping, fold mapping and ocean
resources survey.

INSAT: The Indian National Satellite (INSAT) system is a shining example of what all
has been achieved by India’s space technology. The INSAT series is the largest domestic
communication system in the Asia-Pacific Region. Active satellites of this series include
INSAT-2E, INSAT-3A, INSAT-3B, INSAT-3C, INSAT-3E, KALPANA-1 (METSAT),
GSAT-2, EDUSAT (GSAT-3) and INSAT-4A. INSAT satellites provide transponders
(about 150) in various bands (C, S, Extended C and Ku) to serve the television and
communication needs of India.

The development of the INSAT system was a milestone by all means; it gave India the
prowess to stand on its own for all critical functions.

INSAT & development of India’s intellectual capital


A land mark achievement of the INSAT series has been its role in helping unleash the
power of distance learning. Never before had it happened that professors from India’s
premier educational institutes were accessible to students even in the remotest part of
India. ISRO in association with UGC and Doordarshan through interactive shows like
Gyan Vani brought about a silent revolution in the field of education.

Innumerable students from all parts of the country benefited from ISRO’s novel
methods, thereby immensely adding to India’s intellectual capital.

Launch Vehicles: The Indian Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV) was a project started in the
early 1970s by ISRO to develop the technology needed to launch satellites. The project
leader was Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. The first launch of the SLV took place in Sriharikota on
10 August 1979.

With its launch India joined the elite club of countries with such capabilities. Over the
years the technological capabilities of India in this sphere have increased many folds; the
SLV was followed by the ASLV (Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle), the PSLV (Polar
Satellite Launch Vehicle) and the latest of them all, the state-of-the-art GSLV
(Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle).

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched 2 satellites in March and April
2017, which includes the satellite meant for the benefit of the South Asian Association
for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations. ISRO also targets launch of second lunar
mission Chandrayaan-2 in first quarter of 2018.

ISRO has launched a record high of 104 satellites in one go on a single rocket from Satish
Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

ISRO has successfully placed remote sensing satellite RESOURCESAT-2A in orbit, to


provide continuity to ISRO's three tier imaging data, which will be extremely useful for
agricultural applications.

The Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C35
(PSLV-C35) has successfully placed eight different satellites in a single rocket mission,
including SCATSAT-1 for weather related studies, five foreign satellites and two satellites
from Indian academic institutes into orbit.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has completed its mission of developing
India's independent navigation system by launching Indian Regional Navigation
Satellite System (IRNSS - 1G), the seventh and final navigation satellite, which will
reduce the country's dependency on US Global Positioning System.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has signed a memorandum of


understanding (MoU) with the Airports Authority of India (AAI), aimed at providing
space technology for construction of airports, which will help make flight operations
safer and provide optimum utilisation of land.

Indian and American delegations have discussed an arrangement for Space Situational
Awareness (SSA), a programme for monitoring space environment and track potential
hazards and security threats, and have set up a bilateral mechanism for sharing
information for tracking movements of satellites, avoiding collisions and identifying
potential threats to space and ground assets.
The Department of Space/ Indian Space Research Organisation (DOS/ISRO)
and Kuwait Institute of Scientific Research (KISR) have signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the field of exploration and use of outer space.

The progress India has made in the field of space technology is incredible in all sense and
can be best described in the words of ex ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair. The year
was 1963; Madhavan Nair was in his final year at Thiruvanathapuram Engineering
College, on the last day of his final year papers Madhavan Nair woke up early to make
final preparations, to study alone he went to the hostel terrace.

Standing there he was witness to a very peculiar site, he saw a man cycling down the
road towards Thumba with “something” resembling like a rocket on his cycle carrier.
Closely following him, in fact, running behind the cycle was another young man. He was
certainly intrigued but didn’t knew he was about to witness history. The man cycling
with the “rocket” was none other than the father of Indian space research Dr Vikram
Sarabhai and the man following him on foot was Dr A P J Abdul Kalam. They were on
their way to Thumba to fire India’s first sounding rocket Nicke Apache. After sometime
Madhavan Nair witnessed a rocket rise on the western horizon. He had by chance
become witness to ISRO’s first space flight, an organisation he was destined to head one
day.

Today India is one of the leading nations in the field of space technology. From launch
vehicle technologies to satellite design, fabrication to its application in diverse areas like
communication, broadcasting, meteorology, disaster management, telemedicine etc.
Indian scientists have successfully developed and demonstrated it all.

Not amongst those who rest on their past laurels, Indian space scientists have charted
out ambitious plans to take Indian space programme to the next level.

And, with the successful testing of indigenously built Cryogenic engine, ISRO is
confident of meeting its policy targets and take India one notch up on the global space
arena.

Computing

PARAM

PARAM is the series of supercomputers developed by the Centre for Development of


Advanced Computing (C-DAC). The development of the same was taken up as a
challenge to break the hegemony of the western world when it came to super-fast
computing. The western world was reluctant to part with any of their technology as they
feared India would use it for its space programme.

Indian scientists under Dr Bhatkar developed something that was thought to be


impossible until now. He functioned as the architect of PARAM Supercomputers, GIST
multilingual technology and Education-To-Home (ETH) mission.

Technologies that had far reaching impact on India’s emergence as a pioneer in super-
fast computing.

The latest machine in the series is the PARAM Padma, which reached No. 171 on
the TOP500 in 2003. Others include PARAM 10000 and PARAM 9000/SS. The PARAM
10000 was India`s first TFLOPS computer. C-DAC has also developed a high
performance System Area Network called the PARAMNet-II having transfer speeds of up
to 2.5 Gbit/s.

The major applications of PARAM 10000 are in weather forecasting, remote sensing,
drug design and molecular modelling. PARAMs have also helped in India`s space
programme.

Investment Scenario

 Infosys Ltd has invested Rs 14.5 crore (Danish Krone 15.22 million) in a Danish
artificial intelligence start-up called UNSILO, which specialises in advanced text
analysis and has built a semantic search engine with best-in-class text
intelligence.
 NIDHI (National Initiative for Development and Harnessing Innovations), an
umbrella program pioneered by the Department of Science & Technology (DST),
has committed Rs 500 crore (US$ 75 million) to implement Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's Startup India initiative, by providing technological solutions
and nurturing ideas and innovations into successful startups.
 InnoNano Research, a clean water technology company, has raised US$ 18
million from NanoHoldings, a US-based energy and water investment firm,
which will be used to set up manufacturing facility, modern research laboratory
and technology delivery offices across North America, Asia and Africa to make
India an exporter of water technologies.
 Ecoppia, an Israel-based developer of robotic cleaning technology for solar sites,
has signed a deal with Sanmina Corporation, a US-based Original Equipment
Manufacturer (OEM), to begin mass production of their E4 robots at a new
facility near Chennai.
 Saama Technologies Incorporation, the Big Data analytics solutions and services
company, headquartered in the Silicon Valley, plans to invest US$ 2 million to
create the largest pure play data science and analytics hub in India.
 The Government aims to invest 2 per cent of the country’s GDP on research and
development (R&D) in its 12th Five-Year Plan period (2013–17). Accordingly,
the Government has undertaken various measures for promoting growth of
scientific research, such as:Sustained increase in plan allocations for scientific
departments
 Setting up of new institutions for science education and researchLaunch of new
Science, Technology and Innovation Policy 2013.Creation of centres of
excellence for research and facilities in emerging and frontline science and
technology areas in academic and national institutes.Establishment of new and
attractive fellowshipsStrengthening infrastructure for R&D in
universitiesEncouraging public-private R&D partnershipsRecognition of R&D
unitsFiscal incentives and support measures for enhancing industry
participation in R&D
Government Initiatives

 India and Israel have agreed to enhance the bilateral cooperation in science and
technology in the next two years, under the aegis of the S&T agreement
concluded in 1993, by providing US$ 1 million from each side to support new
research and development (R&D) projects in the areas of big data analytics in
healthcare and cyber security.
 India has become an Associate Member State of the European Organisation for
Nuclear Research (CERN), which will increase the collaboration between India
and CERN’s scientific and technological endeavours, and will increase
participation of Indian physicists, software engineers and electronics hardware
in global experiments.
 Ms Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State with Independent Charge for the
Ministry of Commerce & Industry, outlined plans of setting up a committee to
examine and expeditiously implement measures to improve India’s innovation
landscape.
 Dr Harsh Vardhan, Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences,
outlined Government of India's plans to pursue a green path to growth by
doubling investment in clean energy research to US$ 145 million in the next five
years from current investment of US$ 72 million.
 The Department of Health Research (DHR), Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare plans to set up a three-tier national network of Viral Research and
Diagnostic Laboratories (VRDLs) under which 160 VRDLs will be set up with
capability to handle around 30-35 viruses of public health importance.
 The central government plans to soon institute a nation-wide consultation
process with a view to develop the first publicly accessible Science and
Technology policy. The policy ‘Vision S&T 2020’ would articulate the country’s
future towards self-reliance and technological independence in the 21st century.
 The Union Cabinet gave "in principle" clearance for the location of a Laser
Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) facility in India which
will be the third in the world and will be set up and managed by the IndIGO
Consortium (Indian Initiative in Gravitational-wave Observations).
 The Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology of the
Government of India has become only the second country outside of Europe to
join the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO),which consists
of 1,700 eminent scientists and 84 Nobel laureates, and aims to encourage
research in the field of life sciences.
 The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has signed a Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU) with the National Remote Sensing Centre
(NRSC) under Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and North East
Centre for Technology Application and Research (NECTAR) to use spatial
technology such as satellite data to monitor and manage national highways.
 National Council of Science Museums (NCSM), an autonomous organisation
under the Union Ministry of Culture, is engaged in the establishment of Science
Centres across the country. NCSM is developing a Science City at Guwahati,
Assam, which would be handed over to the Government of Assam for future
operations and maintenance. The organisation has received proposals from
various state governments for setting up of such Science Cities. NCSM has
undertaken the Science Centres/Cities projects in a phased manner depending
on the availability of resources, project handling capacity of NCSM, and existing
level of science centre activities in a particular state.
Future challenges

Despite achieving a lot in the last 70 years, what is of paramount importance in the
present context of fast changing technological scenario is to keep the momentum going
and further the efforts in science and technological R&D.

The main challenge is to keep pace with the technological changes so as to ensure that
the S&T developments are used for socio-economic development and help India develop
into a country that can stand tall even amongst the tallest of the all.

 Dr. Koti Harinarayana - The brain behind India's first indigenously


built combat aircraft
 Tejas , which was the name given to the aircraft, saw first flight in 2001. Our
country's first self made light combat aircraft was built by HAL and developed
by Dr. Koti. It was a result of the diminishing value of the country's soon to be
obsolete Mig-21 fighter jets and, true to it's name, made our defence sector's
future a lot more radiant.

 K. Radhakrishnan and his team - In charge of the Mars Orbiter


Mission, need I say more?
 Also known as Mangalyaan, or Mars-Craft, this program by our very own space
research organisation has been lauded as one of the most low cost but high
functioning space missions till date. We can now proudly claim to be the only
nation to reach Mars orbit on its first attempt. The brain behind the operation
is actually credited to 14 scientists at ISRO.

 Mylswamy Annadurai (ISRO) - Behind Chandrayaan 1, India's first


moon probe
 This space probe was successfully inserted into the lunar orbit in 2008 and
pushed India's space program into the world map, placing us side by side with
NASA and the European Space Agency. Chandrayaan's greatest achievement
was the discovery of the widespread presence of water molecules in the lunar
soil.

 Vijay P. Bhatkar - Conceptualised India's first supercomputer


Called the PARAM 800 and unveiled in 1991, PARAM stood for parallel machine.
Living up to it's nomenclature of 'supreme', this machine, built indigenously by the
Centre for Development of Advanced Computing , placed India second after USA in the
field of supercomputing.

 U.R. Rao - The man behind The first satellite launched by India
Aryabhatta , the name given to the satellite, was an indigenously designed space-
worthy satellite that set up tracking and transmitting systems in the orbital sphere. U.R.
Rao, the chairman of ISRO at the time was the man behind the launch in 1975 that put
India on the world map in terms of space research.

 Subhash Mukhopadhyay - Gave life to India's first and the world's


second IVF baby
The 3rd of October 1978 saw Subhash performing India's first In vitro fertilisation which
resulted in the birth of baby Durga. Tragically, Subhash was only given a posthumous
recognition of his achievements in 1986 as the West Bengal Government refused to
support his 'unethical' methods.

 Narinder Singh Kapany - The creator Fiber optics


The process to transfer information freely and almost instantaneously was made possible
by the pioneering work of Narinder Kalpany. Fiber optics have revolutionised the way we
communicate, offering high speed data transfers as well as helping in medical
procesdures such as endoscopy and laser surgeries.
 Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha - The father of the Indian Nuclear
Research Programme
India achieved nuclear capability thanks to the efforts of Homi, thereby avoiding certain
conflict simply through non aggression treaties. This also made us one of the few nations
to have atomic power as a source of energy as well as a way to weaponise.

 Dr. A. Sivathanu Pillai - Oversaw the creation of Indigenously


developed missile systems
India's self sustaining missile developing programme is called BrahMOS . Dr. Pillai
developed the concept of the joint venture BrahMOS, which makes India one of the few
countries to develop it's own ballistic missiles as well as produce and supply missiles in
other key areas of the world. The onset of BrahMOS led to the negation of the absolute
power held by Western countries.

 Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam-


Under his leadership, India became a major military power after the successes of Agni
and Prithvi. India successfully launched satellite ROHINI in 1980 under his guidance.

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