Science and technology in the service of the Nation
- Part 1 -

Dr H H Mate *

33rd State Level Science Exhibition for children, 2012-13 at Lamyanba Shanglen on January 04 2013
Pix - Deepak Oinam

Science and Technology play a crucial role in the progress and development of any nation. Our country has built a vast science and technology infrastructure that has helped the country to achieve remarkable success in food production, health care, Space, atomic energy, super computers and many others. As many as 17 Indian Scientific Institutions including Raja Ramana Centre for Advanced Technology in Indore, Institute of Physics in Bhubhaneswar, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics and Bose Institute, Kolkata, and Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai have supplied vital parts including magnets and detector for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) as well as developed software for analysis of data. Scientists from Delhi University collaborated with Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in the development of 1,000 microchip detectors for the compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment.

CV RAMAN AND HIS WORK

28 February 1928 was the day when one of the greatest experimental discoveries in the annals of 20th century Indian Science was definitively confirmed in a laboratory at the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS) in Kolkata. A group of Physicists led by Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman announced "A new Radiation," later named after him as Raman Effect. CV Raman was the first Indian Nobel Laureate in science. No other Indian scientists working in India has won a Nobel Prize after Raman. CV Raman's interests in Science were wide, from astronomy and meteorology to Physiology. Raman published 475 research papers and wrote five remarkable monographs. To commemorate that historic occasion, every year India Celebrates 28 February as National Science Day.

INDIAN DEFENCE RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT

Our country has a large international border which has faced several hostilities in the past .But, today Indian's defence system is capable of thwarting any attack from across the border, Thanks to our Scientists in the Defence Research and Development Organisation who have development advanced surveillance and weapons system including lethal missiles, World class armaments and ammunitions, fast moving frigates and an advanced battle tank.

The genesis of this success story can be traced back to the establishment of the Defence Research and development Organisation (DRDO) in 1958. Since its inception, the laboratories and establishment under DRDO have executed Programmes and Projects in diverse fields of aeronautics, armaments, missiles, combat vehicles, electronics and instrumentation, advanced computing and networking, engineering systems, agriculture and life sciences, advanced materials and composites and naval research and development.

Today, DRDO has enabled scientific research beyond defence related development. It has created and promoted awareness and interest of the academicians and other civilian science research and development organisations in defence science subjects, The major missiles development by DRDO include ballistic missile Prithvi, Dhanush, Agni and Shaurya; supersonic cruise missile Brahmos; and surface to surface missile Akaash.

Recently, an interceptor missile for the country's Advanced Air Defence was successfully tested. As a by - product of its research, DRDO has developed civilian applications of biotechnology especially in human waste disposal, disease control, Pest control, etc. Many of the technologies are available for civil use and have been transferred to private sector.

DEVELOPMENT OF ATOMIC ENERGY IN INDIA.

The Government of our country is aware of the enormous potential of nuclear energy for poorer generation. It was the farsightedness of Dr.Bhabha to start nuclear research in India, a time following the discovery of nuclear fission by Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman and soon after Enrico Fermi et al, reporting from Chicago the feasibility of sustained chain reactions. It was at Dr Bhabha's initiative that a three-stage Programme for the development of nuclear energy in India was drawn up.

The first phase, involving heavy water-moderated natural uranium fuelled reactors has been successful and work on the two phases-of using breeder reactors to generate more fuel, and using thorium for power generation - are also in progress. Aware of the enormous potential of nuclear energy for power generation and the need to build up skilled manpower to explore this newly emerging field of research, Dr Bhabha approached Sir Dorabji Tata Trust for starting nuclear research in India leading to the establishment of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) Mumbai, in 1945,Tata Institute of Fundamental Research has become an institution fully dedicated to carry out fundamental research in nuclear science in our country.

India's nuclear energy programme was the brainchild of Homi Jehangir Bhabha. He was instrumental in setting up the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research which provided the base and the structure for organising the early efforts of country's nuclear energy programme and for building a team of world class experts on nuclear energy, A nuclear research centre called the Atomic Energy Establishment Trombay (AEET) was set up at Trombay in 1954, which was renamed Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) after the tragic death of Bhabha in 1966.

India's first research reactor called Apsara became operational at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in August 1956. Apsara was the first nuclear reactor in Asia to go critical, even before China and Japan had theirs'. Today there are 20 nuclear power reactors in our country, operating at 6 (six) atomic power plants, generating 4,780, MW while 7 (seven) other reactors are under construction and are expected to generate an additional 5,300 MW (after construction for generation of power).

REVOLUTION IN AGRICULTURE OR, AGRICULTURE : THE BACKBONE OF ECONOMY.

Agriculture, as the backbone of Indian economy, plays the most crucial role in the socio-economic sphere of the country. Indian agriculture has been one of the remarkable success stories of the pas-independence era. Since independence, India has witnessed significant increase in production of food grains (Green revolution), oilseeds (Yellow revolution), milk (White revolution), fish (Blue revolution) and the fruits and vegetables (Golden revolution). The green revolution contributed to the Indian economy by providing food self-sufficiency and improved rural welfare.

All these became possible owing to the application of cutting edge of science coupled with the positive policy support, and hard work of Indian farmers. The Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), an apex organisation for conducting and co-ordinating agricultural research has been at the forefront to lead these agricultural revolutions in the country, making India not only self-sufficient in food but also with surplus.

Indian agriculture scientists have developed over 2,300 high-yielding varieties and hybrids of field crops, released and notified for their commercial cultivation. A total of 460 high yielding varieties and hybrids of horticultural crops have been developed. As a result, productivity of banana and potato has gone up three times each, and cassava two times.

India has emerged as the second largest producer of fresh fruits and vegetables in the world and is presently the largest exporter of spices and cashew. Food grains production has shown steady increase over the years. During 2011-2012, India produced 250.42 million tonnes of food grains compared to 232,07 million tonnes during 2010-2011. This is 18.35 million tonnes higher than 2010-2011. The production of pulses, oilseeds and cotton has also gone up significantly.

USE OF RADIOISOTOPES FOR BETTER LIFE.

The use of radioactive isotopes or radio isotopes and radiation technology in health care, industry, agriculture, and research is one of the most significant peaceful uses of nuclear energy. India is a leading producer of radio isotopes in the world, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre has pioneered the production and application of radio isotopes and has been supplying radioisotopes to various agencies for more than five decades.

Radioisotopes are broadly used in two ways. Some radioisotopes are very short - lived and give off low levels of radiation that can be detected using a radiation detector, Such short -lived radioisotopes are widely used for medical diagnosis and treatment. There are also radioisotopes that have longer half lives and emit energetic gamma rays that can be used to destroy cancer cells in humans, sterilize medical supplies and equipment, and destroy pests and bacteria for safe storage of food grains and spices.

Production of radioisotopes in India started with the commissioning of first research reactor Apsara at Trombay in 1956, The production capability was augmented in 1963 when the CIRUS reactor attained its full rated capacity of 40 MW ( thermal), There was a major increase in the production capacity when the 100-MW Dhruva reactor was commissioned in 1985.

Radioisotopes are also produced using the accelerator at Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre ( VECC), Kolkata, Radiation Sterilization using gamma radiation from cobalt - 60 source is a well - established in industrial process that has been used in India for more than 30 years. Gamma ray irradiation is a direct, simple and efficient one-time process of preserving food products. ISOMED at Trombay was the first radiation plant for sterilization of medical products set up in India by the department of Atomic Energy with the assistance from the United Nations Development Programme ( UNDP).

Note :- The writer of this Article is an eminent educationist and erudite scholar and founder of Dr S Radha-krishnan Foundation School, Churachandpur, Manipur. He is the recipient of Global Achievement Award, Global Achievers Award, Global Achievers Development Award, International Education Excellence Award, Global Education Excellence Award, Pride of India Award, Glory of India Award, Noble Son of India Award, Bharat Nav Nirman Ratan Award, Bharat Vibhu-shan Samman Puraskar, Jewel of India Award, Bharat Shiksha Ratan Award, Rashtriya Shiksha Ratan Award, Rashtriya Shiromani Award, Rashtriya Pragati Award, National Education Leadership Award, National Social Development Award, National Eminence Award, Asia Pacific Gold Star Award etc.

To be continued.....