India In Space- A leap towards the Future

India’s progress in space has been very systematic starting with experimental satellites like Aryabhatta, Bhaskara, Apple and Rohini. It performed satellite application experiments like SITE, STEP and Apple application programme. The operational space services consist of INSAT system and Indian Remote Sensing Satellites (IRS). The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) made a modest beginning in launch vehicles like SLV-3, and ASLV. The first development flight of the indigenous Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) was carried out in 1992 which could put 1,000 kg class remote sensing satellite into 900 km polar sun-synchronous orbit.

India has acquired eminence in world class space science. It has mastered modern space technology and its various applications for the benefit of society. New space technology is being utilised for telecommunications, television broadcasts, weather watch and for providing information relating to agriculture, forests, water resources and minerals to mention a few.

In the past three decades ISRO has built an infrastructure sector of space programme – construction and operation of satellites and their launch vehicles, ground station and sensors. ISRO has also collaborated with other Indian institutions and over 250 private industries. Both private and public sectors manufacture a vanity of equipment and materials – light alloy structure for inter-stages, motor cases, liquid thrusters, propellant tanks, gas generation and electronic packages. The second launch facility at Sriharikota at a cost of Rs.280 crore is under construction.

Launch Business

In May last year ISRO embarked on the launch business through PSLV-C2 launch, thereby creating a strong impact on the global space market by successfully launching two foreign satellites along with its own ocean monitoring remote sensing satellite. They were launched by the PSLV. ISRO’s marketing agency Autrix Corporation has entered the world market with great success. It aims to secure about 20 per cent of the global share of remote sensing products. It is gratifying to note that PSLV with certain modifications can put payloads up to 4,000 kg into low earth orbits (LEO’s) and up to 800 kg into geo-synchronous transfer orbits (GTO’s).

So far India has been dependent on Ariane Space, the French space agency, for launching its satellites. But gradually ISRO is trying to make use of its own launching vehicles. Sriharikota’s proximity to the equator gives it a better payload advantage for any polar launch. The flight of INSAT-3B, INSAT-3A and the GSLV will take ISRO into higher orbit. Once the GSLV is declared operational, India’s future INSAT satellites will be launched by this rocket.

Reduced Costs

The Chairman of ISRO, Dr K Kasturirangan has projected a significant lowering of space launch costs in the country in the next few decades. While the cost for positioning one kg of material in space today was $20,000 it was presaged that the same would come down to $5000 by 2007 and as low as $500 per kg between 2030-2050. Fully reusable vehicles have also been foreseen. He reveals hat the performance efficiency of Indian spacecraft is on the increase.

According to Aerospace America, Indian remote sensing commercial satellites are among the best in the world. IRS-1C and IRS-ID provide the best high resolution data to the user community anywhere in the world and the data from these satellites are being received and used by several countries including the US, Japan, Germany, Korea, Thailand and Dubai.

India has now established credibility as a space technology vendor. The world’s largest satellite manufacturer in the US has ordered satellite hardware worth US $700,000 from India. India’s space technology export earnings have tripled from around Rs.10 crore to Rs.30 crore over the past three years.

INSAT-3B

Recently, ISRO launched the first of the third generation communication satellite INSAT-3B. This 2,070 kg satellite is primarily intended for business, development and mobile communications. It would almost double the transponder capacity. It would provide the first set of transponders for interactive training and developmental communications as part of the Vidya Vahini programme announced by the Prime Minister.

Indian space scientists are now engaged in the development of cryogenic engine, required for GSLV in future. Last February the test of first home-made cryogenic rocket engine was carried out but a hydrogen leak probably led to premature termination of the test. But scientists say the problem will soon be solved. The test was carried out at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu.

Experts agree that India crossed an important milestone in the development of indigenous cryogenic upper stage for GSLV. The engine had employed liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. This short duration test proved that many operations were successful which were done for the first time. Valuable data have been collected which are being analysed for further tests.

Towards Moon

Coming on the heels of all these developments is ISRO’s plan to go to the moon. ISRO has already begun preliminary studies to assess the feasibility of undertaking such a mission. ISRO’s satellite centre director, Dr P S Goel, says the study will cover scientific benefits which could be derived from the lunar mission. ISRO’s PSLV is a proven rocket and is capable of flying up to the lunar orbit. If India’s mission to the moon succeeds, then it would have joined the US and the former Soviet Union in making its presence felt in the lunar environment.

ISRO is also planning to launch a series of remote sensing satellites with a variety of applications including one solely dedicated to the field of astronomy.

Indian space scientists foresee several developments in the new millennium when they can scale new heights. Revolutionary developments in the fields of communication, information and micro- electronics are driving greater convergence and forging new directions for aerospace programmes. "Space would be a strong tool for development in future" sys Dr Kasturirangan. He is of the view that from development of civil applications such as personal mobile communications at a global level and management of natural disasters to futuristic vistas such as space power generation and space tourism the new possibilities are unlimited.

India’s experience has clearly shown that the investment in space always pays through remote sensing and telecommunications. By being fully self-reliant in space activities, it is certain that the resulting contribution from the space programme to the Indian GDP will be markedly significant.

Harish Agrawal

Knowledge Is the Real Development

"If you are educated and have knowledge then you can create wonders" by Anonymous 

If Our nation is developing then there is a single reason behind that and that is the day to day growth of the education sector in our county. Our nations educational development started just after our constitution is formed. The road was patchy but somehow we managed to take a pace. lets hear the story of the development of India's educational field.

In Initial days our Government decided to provide free and compulsory education to all children up to the age of 14. But this aim could not be achieved yet.

In First Five Year Plan 7.9% of total plan outlay was allocated for education. In Second and Third Plan, the allocations were 5.8% and 6.9% of the total plan outlay. In Ninth Plan only 3.5% of the total outlay was allocated for education.

To streamline the education, the Govt. implemented the recommendations of Kothari Commission under ‘National Policy on Education’ in 1968. The main recommendations were universal primary education. Introduction of new pattern of education, three language formula, introduction of regional language in higher education, development of agricultural and industrial education and adult education.

To combat the changing socio-economic needs of the country, Govt. of India announced a new National Policy on Education in 1986. Universalisation of primary education, vocationalisation of secondary education and specialisation of higher education were the main features of this policy.

National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) at National level and State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) at State level were established to maintain the standard of education. University Grants Commission (UGC) was instituted to determine the standard of higher education.

The following points explain the development of education in India after independence:

1. Expansion of General Education:

During the period of planning there has been expansion of general education. In 1951, the percentage of literacy was 19.3. In 2001 the literacy percentage increased to 65.4%. The enrolment ratio of children in the age group of 6-11 was 43% in 1951 and in it became 100% in 2001.

Primary education – been free and compulsory. Midday meal has been started in schools since 1995 to check drop-out rate. The number of primary schools has risen by three times from 2.10 lakh (1950-51) to 6.40 lakhs (2001-02). There were only 27 universities in 1950-51 which increased to 254 in 2000-01.

2. Development of Technical Education:

Besides general education, technical education plays important role in human capital formation. The Govt. has established several Industrial Training Institutes, Polytechnics, Engineering colleges and Medical and Dental colleges, Management institutes etc.

These are given below:

(a) Indian Institute of Technology:

For education and research in engineering and technology of international standard, seven institutes have been established at Mumbai, Delhi, Kanpur, Chennai, Khargpur, Roorkee and Gauhati, Technical education is imparted here both for graduation and post-graduation and doctorate level.

(b) National Institute of Technology (NIT):

These institutes impart education in engineering and technology. These were called Regional College of Engineering (REC). These are 17 in number throughout the country. There are other institutes in the country to teach engineering and technical education.

(c) Indian Institute of Management:

These institutes impart education in business management and administration. These institutes are located at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Lucknow, Indore and Kozhikode.

(d) Medical education:

There were only 28 medical colleges in the country in 1950-51. There were 165 medical and 40 dental colleges in the country in 1998-99.

(e) Agricultural education:

Agricultural Universities have been started in almost all States to improve production and productivity of agriculture. These universities impart education and research in agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry and veterinary sciences etc.

3. Women education:

In India, literary among women was quite low. It was 52% according to 2001 census. While the literacy among men was 75.8%. Women education was given top priority in National Policy on Education. Many State Governments have exempted the tuition fee of girl’s up to university level. Separate schools and colleges have been established to raise level of literacy among women.

4. Vocational education:

National Policy of Education, 1986, aims at vocationalisation of secondary education. Central Govt. has been giving grants to State Governments to implement the programme since 1988. Agriculture, Pisciculture, diary, poultry, typing, electronics, mechanical and carpentry etc. had been included in higher secondary curriculum.

5. Growth of higher education:

In 1951, there were 27 universities. Their number increased to 254 in 2001. In Orissa state, there was only one university in 1951. Now there are 9 universities.

6. Non-formal education:

This scheme was launched on an experimental basis from the Sixth plan and on regular basis from Seventh plan. The aim was to achieve universal elementary education to all children in the age group of 6-14 years. The scheme was meant for those children who cannot attend schools regularly and for full time due to poverty and pre-occupation with other works.

The Central Govt. is providing assistance to State Govt. and voluntary organisation to implement the scheme. Non-formal education centres have been set up in remote rural areas, hilly and tribal areas and in slums. These impart education to children of 6-14 age group.

7. Encouragement to Indian Language and Culture:

After the adoption of National Policy of Education 1968, regional language became the medium of instruction in higher education. Syllabus on science and technology, dictionaries, books, and Question Papers are translated into regional languages. Indian history and culture have been included in school and college curriculum.

8. Adult education:

Simply speaking adult education refers to the education for the illiterate people belonging to the age group of 15-35 years. The National Board of Adult Education was established in the First Five Year Plan. The village level workers were assigned the job of providing adult education. The progress remained not too good.

The National Adult Education Programme was started in 1978. The programme is considered as a part of primary education. National Literary Mission was also started in 1988 to eradicate adult illiteracy particularly in rural areas.

The Centre gives assistance to states, voluntary organisations and some selected universities to implement this programme. There were 2.7 lakh adult education centres working in the country in 1990-91. This programme helped to raise the literacy rate to 65.38% in 2001.

9. Improvement of Science education:

Central Govt. started a scheme for the improvement of science education in schools in 1988. Financial assistance is given to provide science kits, up gradation of science laboratories, development of teaching material, and training of science and mathematics teachers. A Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET) was set up in NCERT to purchase equipment for State Institutes of Educational Technology.

10. Education for all:

According to 93rd Amendment, education for all has been made compulsory. The elementary education is a fundamental right of all children in the age group of 6-14 years. It is also free. To fulfill this obligation Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) has been launched.

The above discussion makes it clear that a lot of development in education has been made in India after Independence. There is wide growth in general education and higher education. Efforts have been made to spread education among all sections and all regions of the country. Still our education system is ridden with problems.

Author: Pooja Mehta

The healthcare boom

Life is long and thanks to healthcare development

A decrease in death rates is considered one of the major achievements that came India’s way in this sector. While life expectancy was around 37 years in 1951, it almost doubled to 65 years by 2011. Infant mortality has also seen a marked decline with death rate coming down to half of what it was during the 50s. Similar improvement was noticed in maternal mortality rate also.
After a long-drawn struggle, India has finally been declared a polio-free country. Malnutrition in children under five years came down to 44% in 2006 from 67% in 1979. Government’s efforts yielded result as the number of tuberculosis cases also got reduced to 185 per lakh people in 2009. The cases of HIV-infected people are also witnessing a declining trend. Besides increased public health spending (about 6% of the GDP), the government has launched a series of ambitious initiatives including ‘Healthcare for all by 2020′ and distribution of free medicines to the people falling under lowest-income group.

The Story of Green Revolution in India

Introduction

The Green Revolution in India was a period when agriculture in India increased its yields due to improved agronomic technology. It allowed developing countries, like India, to overcome chronic food defects. It started in India in the early 1960s and led to an increase in food production, especially in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh during the early phase. The main development was higher-yielding varieties of wheat, which were developed by many scientists, including American agronomist Dr. Norman Borlaug, Indian geneticist M. S. Swaminathan, and others. The Indian Agricultural Research Institute also claims credit for enabling the Green Revolution,[1] in part by developing rust resistant strains of wheat.

The introduction of high-yielding varieties of seeds (hybrid seeds) and the increased use of chemical fertilizers and irrigation led to the increase in production needed to make the country self-sufficient in food grains, thus improving agriculture in India.[3] The methods adopted included the use of high-yielding varieties (HYVs) of seeds with modern farming methods.

The production of wheat has produced the best results in fueling self-sufficiency of India. Along with high-yielding seeds and irrigation facilities, the enthusiasm of farmers mobilised the idea of agricultural revolution. Due to the rise in use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers there were negative effects on the soil and the land such as land degradation.

Measures adopted

•             Use of high yielding varieties (HYVs) of seeds or hybrid seeds

•             Expansion of irrigation infrastructure

•             Use of insecticides

•             Use of pesticides

•             Consolidation of holdings

•             Land reforms

•             Improved rural infrastructure

•             Supply of agricultural credit

•             Use of chemical or synthetic fertilizers

•             Use of sprinklers or drip irrigation

•             Use of advanced machinery

•             Use of vector quantity

Problems that were addressed

Low irrigation

The well irrigated and permanently irrigated area was only 17% in 1951. The majority of the area was dependent on rainfall and, consequently, agriculture suffered from low level of production.

The green revolution was possible due to adequate water supply through irrigation. The government undertook a number of minor, major and multipurpose irrigation projects to supply sufficient water to cultivable lands so that the dependence of farmers on rainfall reduced to great extents. The government also made provisions for digging canals, hand pumps, etc., for adequate and increased water supply.

Going forward, the government should create enabling mechanisms to fuel the growth in quality seed production. Public sector spending on irrigation, rural infrastructure (storage, post-harvest and connectivity) and credit availability are key inventions which will encourage farmers to invest in newer technologies as their returns would be better.

Frequent famines

Famines in India were very frequent during the period 1940s to 1970s. Due to faulty distribution of food, and because farmers did not receive the true value for their labour, the majority of the population did not get enough food.  Malnutrition and starvation was a huge problem.

Lack of finance

Small and marginal farmers found it very difficult to get finance and credit at economical rate from the government and banks, hence, fell as easy prey to the money lenders. They took loans from zamindars,who charged high rates of interests and also exploited the farmers later on to work in their fields to repay the loans (farm labourers) .

Lack of self-sufficiency

Due to traditional agricultural practices, low productivity, and a growing population, often food grains were imported — draining scarce foreign reserves. It was thought that with the increased production due to the Green Revolution, the government could maintain buffer stock and India can achieve self-sufficiency and self-reliability.

Agriculture was basically for subsistence and, therefore, less agricultural product was offered for sale in the market. Hence, the need was felt to encourage the farmers to increase their production and offer a greater portion of their products for sale in the market. The new methods in agriculture increased the yield of rice and wheat, which reduced India's dependence on food imports.

49% of people in India are employed in agriculture.

Criticisms

Indian Economic Sovereignty

A main criticism of the effects of the green revolution is the cost for many small farmers using HYV seeds, with their associated demands of increased irrigation systems and pesticides. A case study is found in India, where farmers are buying Monsanto BT cotton seeds—sold on the idea that these seeds produced 'natural insecticides'. In reality, they need to still pay for expensive pesticides and irrigation systems, needing to borrow from money lenders to finance their expensive change from traditional seed varieties. Many farmers are not able to pay for the expensive technologies, and especially if they have a bad harvest, they cannot pay back their debts, and many have committed suicide (600-700 a year in 2006/2007). This can allow larger farms, even foreign owned farming operations, to buy up the local small farms.

Vandana Shiva notes that this is the "second Green Revolution". The first Green Revolution, she notes, was mostly publicly-funded (by the Indian Government). This new Green Revolution, she says, is driven by private [and foreign] interest - notably MNCs like Monsanto. Ultimately, this is leading to foreign ownership over most of India's farmland.

From many to just handful

The Story of Integration Of India

The political integration of India established a united nation for the first time in centuries from a plethora of princely states, colonial provinces and possessions. Despite partition, a new India united peoples of various geographic, economic, ethnic, linguistic and religious backgrounds. The process began in 1947, with the unification of 565 princely states through a critical series of political campaigns, sensitive diplomacy and military conflicts. India transformed after independence through political upheaval and ethnic discontent, and continues to evolve as a federal republic natural to its diversity. Sensitive religious conflicts between Hindus and Muslims, diverse ethnic populations, as well as by geo-political rivalry and military conflicts with Pakistan and China define the process.

When the Indian independence movement succeeded in ending the British Raj on August 15 1947, India's leaders faced the prospect of inheriting a nation fragmented between medieval-era kingdoms and provinces organized by colonial powers. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, one of India's most respected freedom fighters, as the new Minister of Home Affairs emerged as the man responsible for employing political negotiations backed with the option (and the use) of military force to ensure the primacy of the Central government and of the Constitution then being drafted.

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Unwanted Partition that Captured the Freedom in Two Nations

Lets have a look at the most repeated story of Partition of a Motherland into two nations India and Pakistan

Reasons for partition

India and Pakistan won independence in August 1947, following a nationalist struggle lasting nearly three decades. It set a vital precedent for the negotiated winding up of European empires elsewhere. Unfortunately, it was accompanied by the largest mass migration in human history of some 10 million. As many as one million civilians died in the accompanying riots and local-level fighting, particularly in the western region of Punjab which was cut in two by the border.
The agreement to divide colonial India into two separate states - one with a Muslim majority (Pakistan) and the other with a Hindu majority (India) is commonly seen as the outcome of conflict between the nations' elites. This explanation, however, renders the mass violence that accompanied partition difficult to explain.

 If Pakistan were indeed created as a homeland for Muslims, it is hard to understand why far more were left behind in India than were incorporated into the new state of Pakistan - a state created in two halves, one in the east (formerly East Bengal, now Bangladesh) and the other 1,700 kilometres away on the western side of the subcontinent.

It is possible that Mohammed Ali Jinnah, leader of the Muslim League, simply wished to use the demand for a separate state as a bargaining chip to win greater power for Muslims within a loosely federated India. Certainly, the idea of 'Pakistan' was not thought of until the late 1930s.
One explanation for the chaotic manner in which the two independent nations came into being is the hurried nature of the British withdrawal. This was announced soon after the victory of the Labour Party in the British general election of July 1945, amid the realisation that the British state, devastated by war, could not afford to hold on to its over-extended empire.

Transfer of power

An act of parliament proposed a date for the transfer of power into Indian hands in June 1948, summarily advanced to August 1947 at the whim of the last viceroy, Lord Louis Mountbatten. This left a great many issues and interests unresolved at the end of colonial rule.
In charge of negotiations, the viceroy exacerbated difficulties by focusing largely on Jinnah's Muslim League and the Indian National Congress (led by Jawaharlal Nehru).
The two parties' representative status was established by Constituent Assembly elections in July 1946, but fell well short of a universal franchise.
Tellingly, although Pakistan celebrated its independence on 14 August and India on 15 August 1947, the border between the two new states was not announced until 17 August.
It was hurriedly drawn up by a British lawyer, Cyril Radcliffe, who had little knowledge of Indian conditions and with the use of out-of-date maps and census materials.
Communities, families and farms were cut in two, but by delaying the announcement the British managed to avoid responsibility for the worst fighting and the mass migration that had followed.

Tensions in India

Many have wondered why the British and Indian leaders did not delay until a better deal over borders could have been agreed. One explanation is that in the months and years immediately following World War Two, leaders on all sides were losing control and were keen to strike a deal before the country descended into chaos.
Immediately before World War Two, India was ravaged by the impact of the Great Depression, bringing mass unemployment. This created tremendous tensions exacerbated during the war by inflation and food grain shortages. Rationing was introduced in Indian cities and in Bengal a major famine developed in 1942.
The resulting discontent was expressed in widespread violence accompanying the Congress party's 'Quit India' campaign of 1942 - a violence only contained by the deployment of 55 army battalions.

With the cessation of hostilities, the battalions at the disposal of the government in India were rapidly diminished. At the same time, the infrastructure of the Congress Party, whose entire leadership was imprisoned due to their opposition to the war, had been dismantled.
The Muslim League, which co-operated with the British, had rapidly increased its membership, yet still had very limited grassroots level organisation.
This was dramatically revealed on the 16 August 1946, when Jinnah called for a 'Direct Action Day' by followers of the League in support of the demand for Pakistan. The day had dissolved into random violence and civil disruption across north India, with thousands of lives lost.
This was interpreted by the British as evidence of the irreconcilable differences between Hindus and Muslims. In reality, the riots were evidence as much of a simple lack of military and political control as they were of social discord.
Further evidence of the collapse of government authority was to be seen in the Princely State of Hyderabad, where a major uprising occurred in the Telengana region, and with the Tebhaga ('two-thirds') agitation among share-cropping cultivators in north Bengal. A leading role was played in both by the Communist Party of India.
Elsewhere, the last months of British rule were marked by a naval mutiny, wage strikes and successful demonstrations in every major city. In all of these conflicts the British colonial government remained aloof, as it concentrated on the business of negotiating a speedy transfer of power.

Hopes for Pakistan

Strong support for the idea of an independent Pakistan came from large Muslim landowning families in the Punjab and Sindh, who saw it as an opportunity to prosper within a captive market free from competition.
Support also came from the poor peasantry of East Bengal, who saw it as an opportunity to escape from the clutches of moneylenders - often Hindu. Both were to be disappointed. Independent Pakistan inherited India's longest and strategically most problematic borders.

At the same time, 90% of the subcontinent's industry, and taxable income base remained in India, including the largest cities of Delhi, Bombay and Calcutta. The economy of Pakistan was chiefly agricultural, and controlled by feudal elites.

Furthermore, at the division of India, Pakistan won a poor share of the colonial government's financial reserves - with 23% of the undivided land mass, it inherited only 17.5% of the former government's financial assets. Once the army had been paid, nothing was left over for the purposes of economic development.
The great advantage enjoyed by the Indian National Congress was that it had worked hard for 40 years to reconcile differences and achieve some cohesion among its leaders. The heartland of support for the Muslim League, however, lay in central north India (Uttar Pradesh) which was not included within Pakistan.
Muslims from this region had to flee westwards and compete with resident populations for access to land and employment, leading to ethnic conflict, especially in Sindh.

Post-partition and conflict over Kashmir

The death of Muhammed Ali Jinnah in 1948, the conflict with India over the Princely State of Kashmir (which both countries claimed at independence), as well as ethnic and religious differences within Pakistan itself, all combined to stymie early attempts to agree on a constitution and an effectively functioning civil administration.
This failure paved the way for a military takeover of the government in 1958 and later on, a civil war in 1971. This saw the division of the country and the creation of the separate state of Bangladesh. Ever since then, military rule has been more often than not the order of the day in both countries.

At independence, in India and in Pakistan, civil unrest as well as ethnic and religious discord threatened the stability of the new country. However, the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi on 30 January 1948 by a Hindu fanatic strengthened the hand of secularists within the government.

Indian politicians ratified a constitution, which led to the first democratic elections in 1951. This made India the world's largest democracy and consolidated governmental authority over the entire subcontinent.
However, major tensions have persisted among both Muslim and Sikh communities, which suffered most from the violence and land loss resulting from partition. These tensions erupted most seriously in the 1980s in a violent campaign for the creation of a separate Sikh state which led ultimately to the assassination of Indira Gandhi.

Renewed victimisation of Muslims has also occurred, notably with the destruction of the Muslim shrine at Ayodhya in 1992 and anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat in 2004. With such notable exceptions, however, India has maintained a remarkable level of cohesion since independence, especially if one considers that it is a country nearly the size of Europe.

For both India and Pakistan, the most singular conflict unresolved since partition has concerned the former Princely State of Kashmir, whose fate was left undetermined at the time the British left. Lying as it did on the border, Kashmir was claimed by both countries, which have been to war over this region on numerous occasions.

The conflict has wasted thousands of lives and millions of dollars, but is closer to a solution now than at any time since independence. If achieved, it might finally bring to fruition the dreams of Mohammed Ali Jinnah and Mahatma Gandhi and once more set an example for post-colonial societies elsewhere in Africa, Asia and the Middle East to imitate and follow.

Source: BBC