An exhibition titled “75 Years of Independence: India’s Achievements in Science and Technology” will be inaugurated on February 22 at 3.30 pm.by Dr. Atul Narayan Vaidya, Director, CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research (CSIR-NEERI), Nagpur at Raman Science Centre and Planetarium, Nagpur.
India is celebrating 75 years of its Independence by a year-long commemoration titled “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav”. Under this auspicious occasion, a plethora of activities and programmes have been planned by Scientific and Technological Institutes all over India
especially DST and Ministry of Culture, Govt of India. This is to celebrate India’s achievements in the last 75 years, especially in science & technology which are fabrics for development of any nation. It is beyond doubt that science, technology, and innovation have played a decisive role in the phenomenal growth and development of the country in the last 75 years.
Despite being attacked and ruled by foreigners for centuries and draining out all the resources by the erstwhile rulers, post-independence, India had left no stone unturned to move ahead on the path of development for enhancing the standard of living of its people across all sections of society.
In the last 75 years, India has used the stairs of science & technology to rise and make its presence felt even among the elite group of nations. In a short span of 75 years, we.have achieved exemplary feats that can be considered second to none. Just to name a few: We
did establish a record of sending the maximum number of satellites in one launch. We have landed on Mars in our maiden attempt. We have seen Green, White & Blue Revolutions becoming AtmaNirbhar in food. We have achieved a position much closer to self-reliance in
several sectors of the economy and infrastructure. We are a leading nation for exports in many fields. It is really a good and proud time to celebrate and showcase the important milestones of the post independence era.
National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) which is one of the leading premier organisation in science popularisation in the country, functioning under the aegis of Ministry of Culture, Govt of India, has also joined this ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ by organizing several programmes and activities. One of them is an informative exhibition ‘75 Years of Independence:
India’s Achievements in Science & Technology’. It comprises 50 panels showcasing major achievements under 18 sectors. It is a joint venture with Vigyan Prasar.
India had a rich culture of science & technology which dates back to the time of Mehrgarh. The excavated sites of Mehrgarh and Indus –Saraswati Civilizations and the Vedic and post-Vedic literatures and artefacts provide ample evidence that there grew on Indian soil a
very rich scientific and technological culture. Extant manuscripts prove that in the field of mathematics, ancient Indians were a force to reckon with. When the western civilization was still in its cradle, Indian astronomers had made giant leaps in astronomy. Indian men of medicine utilized the wealth of indigenous herbs to make potent antidotes for several incurable diseases and performed the first ever plastic surgery in the world. Town planning, architecture and metallurgy flourished in ancient India. In metallurgy, India’s primacy in zinc and brass metallurgy is too well known. Agriculture and horticulture, ship building and navigation, standardisation of weights and measures, coin minting, water power technology, environmental
conservation practices, gems and jewelleries, acoustics and development of musical instruments etc. are some of the other areas where ancient India achieved substantial progress.
In 1947, the newly born independent India inherited a shattered economy from the British. The partition of the country and subsequent political disturbances and mass exodus across the border stalled the economic development completely. But successive five-year plans
envisaged an overall development in agriculture and industry that put a check on ‘Ship to mouth’ economy and with the aim of self-reliance and placed India strongly among the scientifically and technologically developing nations.
In the last seven-and-a-half decades, India achieved remarkable development in agriculture, heavy industry, irrigation, energy production, nuclear power capability, space technology, biotechnology, telecommunication, oceanography and science education and research.
Today India, an IT superpower, has the largest scientific manpower and largest railway network in the
world. The new look India is all poised for a giant leap forward in science and technology. It will be strongly boosted by the new landmark policy called “Science, Technology and Innovation Policy 2020” with a core vision of being decentralized, evidence informed, bottom-up, experts-driven, and inclusive.
The exhibition will take the visitor through an absorbing journey of seven & a half decades of Science and Technology in free India, with special emphasis on indigenous development and a march towards self-reliance, in a story telling mode with the help of informative visual and graphic panels. It highlights landmarks of India’s development and exploration in S&T, furthering public understanding of science and technology and thus will create a scientific
awareness in the society and a sense of national pride. The story is not exhaustive, but indicative only.
