Day 34 – Q 2.What are some of the breakthrough innovations carried out by Indian scientists? Discuss.

2. What are some of the breakthrough innovations carried out by Indian scientists? Discuss. 

भारतीय वैज्ञानिकों द्वारा किए गए कुछ सफल नवाचार क्या हैं? चर्चा करें।

Introduction:

Very less is known to world about India’s contribution towards Scientific and technological innovations. The greatness of Indian innovations goes back to ancient India which was known for rich scientific contributions right from the use of zero, precise calculation of eclipses, concept of atom, to “Shushruta Samhita” involving complex surgery and “Charak” explicitly describing diseases, their causes and modes of treatment.

Body: 

Break through innovations carried out by Indian scientists:

• Brahmagupta was the first to give rules to compute with zero.
• Varahamihira’s main work in the book Pancha-Siddhantika on mathematical astronomy.
• Susrutha is widely regarded as the most ancient surgeon of the world. He was the inventor of the art of Plastic surgery and is regarded as the ‘Father of Plastic Surgery‘.
• Ajay V. Bhatt is an Indian-American computer architect who helped define and develop several widely used technologies, including AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port), PCI Express, Platform Power management architecture and various chipset improvements. He is mostly famous for the invention of the USB technology on which the modern storage devices such as pendrive works.
• Chemistry professor Rajagopalan Vasudevan devised a way to transform common plastic litter into a substitute for bitumen — the main ingredient in asphalt used for road construction. Known as the “Plastic Man,” Vasudevan’s indigenous invention has already paved 3,000 miles (5,000 kilometers) of plastic thoroughfares in at least 11 Indian states.
• Narinder singh is an Indian-born American Sikh physicist known for his work in fibre optics. He was named as one of the seven ‘Unsung Heroes’ by Fortune magazine in their ‘Businessmen of the Century’ issue. His innovations in the technology of fiber optics changed the communication industry. He is also known as “Father of Fiber Optics”. He was officer in Indian Ordinance before moving to USA.
• Meghnad Saha is known for the thermal ionisation of elements, and it led him to formulate what is known as the Saha Equation. This equation is one of the basic tools for interpretation of the spectra of stars in astrophysics. By studying the spectra of various stars, one can find their temperature and from that, using Saha’s equation, determine the ionisation state of the various elements making up the star. It is used in studying the physical and chemical state of stars.
• Satyendra Nath Bose was an Indian physicist specializing in mathematical physics. He is best known for his work on quantum mechanics in the early 1920s, providing the foundation for Bose–Einstein statistics and the theory of the Bose–Einstein condensate.
• J C Bose, pioneered the study of radio and microwave optics, made important contributions to the study of plants and laid the foundation of experimental science in the Indian sub-continent. He was the first person to use semiconductor junctions to detect radio signals, thus demonstrating wireless communication for the first time.
• Dr. Suryasarathi Bose, Assistant Professor of Department of Materials Engineering and a team invented a water purifying system that could even eliminate harmful bacteria at a nanoscale level.
• A non-invasive device that can measure heart and lung, called the Fibre Bragg Grating Heart Beat Device, was invented by S Asokan, Professor at Department of Instrumentation and Applied Physics and his team. The device simply needs to be wrapped around a person’s chest, while the sensors detect cardiac activities, measure blood pressure, count blood glucose levels, and monitor respiration. Made of an optical fibre sensor, this device can easily help detect heart conditions early.
• In 2012, Sathees C Raghavan, associate professor with IISc’s biochemistry department and his team developed a molecule inhibitor, SCR7, which could revolutionise cancer treatment.
• Another twist to the water purifier, this innovation by Professor Vasant Natarajan, from the Department of Physics is low cost and does not require membranes or electricity. According to Natarajan, this device could purify all kinds of water – sea, bore well, ponds, even rain water – into drinkable water, and produce 1.5 litres out of 3 litres of impure water.
• Lastly, a name that needs no introduction. He is probably the greatest scientist of Modern India. Nicknamed as ‘Missile Man’.  For four decades he worked as a scientist and science administrator, mainly in DRDO and ISRO. His work on the development of ballistic missile and launch vehicle technology made it possible for India to develop its defense and be independent of foreign Tech. He also played a prominent role in India’s Pokhran-II nuclear tests in 1998 for which he was also awarded Bharat Ratna.

Conclusion:

This legacy of innovations needs to be further taken forward because innovation is the one and only medium that can provide solutions for the present and emerging problems in the years to come. Government has taken number of steps to encourage development of scientific temper through schemes such as AIM (Atal Innovation Mission), INSPIRE and revive the traditional Indian knowledge through schemes such as AYUSH mission.