This August, our country entered its 75th year as an independent country. Can you believe that we are only a quadricentennial away of our centenary as an independent nation !!!
India has grown drastically since its independence, and one of the credits for this growth goes to the technological development of our country. Technological advancement doesn’t only make the existing operations more efficient but also boosts the economy by creating new jobs.
This Independence Day, let’s look into five technologies that played a vital role in making a better India.
Space and Science Technology: Shaping Independent India
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is an institution that every Indian is proud of. The visionary scientist Dr. Vikram Sarabhai identified the importance of space science, and ISRO was founded under his guidance. The ISRO made the impossible possible with its limited resource. The progress of ISRO in the last four decades is unimaginable.
The ISRO brought a change not only in space science in Independent India but also in its culture and political position. While leading an unfair competition with NASA and ESA, ISRO made its position through several successes.
Some of the successes of ISRO are:
- SRE-1 in 2007,
- INSAT launch,
- Launch of Aryabhata (India’s first satellite),
- Chandrayan I,
- Mangalyaan
India’s satellite in space gives it the power to come in the same league as the world-leading countries. It also helps in the weather forecast and geo navigation in India.
Notable personalities: Vikram Sarabhai, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, K. Radhakrishnan, Prof. Satish Dhawan, Nambi Narayanan
Television Broadcasting Technology: Uniting Independent India
Television Broadcasting is the technological innovation that brought the country together like nothing else. Television also led independent India to know more and dream big.
The first broadcasting center was established in Delhi for educational purposes in 1959 as a part of the UNESCO program. But, India has not experienced television broadcasting for entertainment purposes until early 1970. In 1972, Bombay got its first TV station. Following Bombay, more TV stations were opened all over India; in Srinagar, Amritsar, Calcutta, Madras, and Lucknow. In those days, Doordarshan was the only television broadcasting provider operating all over India. The next big step in television broadcasting was when Doordarshan used the INSAT 1A satellite and started color broadcasting in 1982.
Television broadcasting has changed the lives of Indians in many different ways. It helped Indians to feel connected. The Doordarshan initiatives like Mile Sur Mera Tumhara is one such example. It also helped Indians to know and understand the way the rest of the nations operated. It gave us goals, ambitions, and competitiveness.
The Indian children from far-flung areas could feel the connection with the rest of the world through this small magic box.
Notable personalities: Sandip Sinha
Computers: Revolutionizing Independent India
The experts termed our current era the era of computers. It becomes almost impossible for a country to be a leading power in the world without a strong base in computing innovation. The first digital computer in independent India was an HEC‐2M (Hollerith Electronic Computer Model 2M) designed by A.D.Booth. It was installed in the Indian Statistical institute in Kolkata in 1955.
Tata Institute in Fundamental Research (TIFR) played a vital role in advancing computing science in India. The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Automatic Calculator (TIFRAC) was the first computer made in India that was developed in TIFR in 1960. India plunged into the Digital world in the 80s.
1981 can be marked as the golden year for digital India as three path-changing events occurred in this year as in this year:
- Infosys started its journey,
- Wipro started marketing minicomputers in India,
- NIIT came into the market as a computer-training institution
The pictures have changed a lot by then. As per the data for 2020, 5% of the global IT industry was spent in the Indian IT industry. India is making its mark in the global technology industry.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the future of the digital technology. Recently, India showed its success signs in data science and AI that would make its mark in the future.
The digital power strengthened independent India and helped it to keep its head high. The digital advancement also makes it distinguishable from other countries in this subcontinent. The digital knowledge among the youths of India made it a perfect place for offshoring. It connects the Indian youths to the global task force.
Notable Personalities: Homi J Bhaba, Samarendra Kumar Mitra, N.r. Narayana Murthy, Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay
Telecom (Mobile and Internet): Connecting Independent India
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If the development in computing is one part of digital India, then the telecom revolution is another part of it. The telecom industry in independent India showed some rapid in the 90s.
25 years ago, Videsh Sanchar Nigam (VSNL) introduced the internet in India on 15th August 1997. The entry of the internet into the Indian market is one of the most progressive steps for independent India. The telecom industry in India has shown steep progress in the last 30 years. In 2022, India is heading to its 5G-service rolling out in 13 cities throughout the country. Mobile networking also completed 27 years in India, and it has become one of the fastest growing industries in India.
Among all the telecom providers in India, Reliance Jio Infocom needs a special mention for making the internet available and affordable for each Indian citizen.
The fast and easy internet is one of the reasons for the trend of start-up growth in India. It also helps our country to innovate new technologies like UPI. The internet-based industry development became useful in the time of corona-caused lockdown. The internet makes us productive to contribute to the country’s GDP even in the most fearsome time of our life, March-August,2020.
Open access to the internet gives the power to the current generations to be more productive, knowledgeable and connected.
Notable Personalities: Srinivasan Ramani
Electronic Voting Machine: Guarding Independent India
A fair and impartial election is the backbone of any democracy. India is one of the most notable democracies in the world, so a technological innovation for a fair election process deserves mention in this article. The Electronic Voting Machine(EVM) is one such example. EVM makes the election process more transparent, efficient, and time-effective.
The Election Commission of India develops the EVM with the help of two public agencies, Electronics Corporation of India Ltd. (ECIL) and Bharat Electronic Ltd. (BEL), to replace the previous election method using the ballot paper. It was first used in the assembly election in Kerala in 1982 and then not used until 1988 due to the SC order. 2004 Loksabha Election deserves a special place in the Indian History books as this is the first time only EVM has been used in the elections in the entire country.
Any new innovation aims to make the process faster and more accurate, and by using EVM, the election commission was able to achieve both. It drastically reduced the electoral fraud compared to the paper ballot. Also, it makes the election process more efficient by transforming the counting into an automated process from a manual task. We can proudly say that this India-invented technology has been exported to other countries, like, Nepal, Bhutan, and Namibia.
EVM’s innovation and development gives India the power to maintain global democracy.
Notable Personalities: S. L. Shakdhar
India has gone a long way from its independence. The road was tough and full of hurdles, but India managed to progress by overcoming all the obstructions.
This year while celebrating Independence Day, let’s think for a moment and feel proud as a part of the country that developed and delivered global-standard technology with its limited resource.