A short, crisp and well-researched look at the technology of the country and where India stands today- data as per 2012

1. TECHNOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENT IN INDIA AND
THE WORLD
Presented By: Saurabh Mazumdar, Zoeb Matin and Danesh Balsara.

2. TOPICS COVERED
• Indian Technology In The Past
• Indian and World Technology At Present
• Scope In Future

3. INDIAN TECHNOLOGY IN THE PAST
Ancient And Medieval Phase Of Technology
Post-Independence Phase Of Technology

4. ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL PHASE OF
TECHNOLOGY
• Town Planning and Infrastructure
• Medicine and astronomy
• Warfare

5. TOWN-PLANNING AND INFRASTRUCTURE
• The Indus Valley Civilization had modern facilities like
water reservoirs, canal irrigation, hydraulic engineering and
even flush toilets.
• There were methods of standardization which were used in
architecture.
• Dams, bridges, wells, ponds, step-wells like the Great Bath at
Mohen-Jo Daro were also built during this period.

6. MEDICINE
• The Heritage Of Ayurveda
• The First Ever Inoculation Procedure In The World For
Smallpox (8th Century BC)
• Physician Sushruta pioneered Plastic and Cataract Surgery
Procedures.
• The First Ever Veterinarian Clinics Inaugurated By Ashoka.

7. ASTRONOMY• Aryabhata wrote aryabhatiya, a book on planetary motion.
• Brahmagupta studied instantaneous planetary motion.
• Maharaja jai singh ii built the ‘jantar mantar’ observatories
in Delhi and Jaipur in 1724 and 1727-34 respectively.

8. WARFARE
• Rocket artillery and other advanced weaponry extensively
used In both ancient and medieval warfare especially by
ruler tipu sultan against the British in Mysore.

9. NUCLEAR WEAPONS
Description of a weapon in the Mahabharata.
(it was) a single projectile Charged with all the power of the
Universe….The corpses were so burned As to be
unrecognizable. The hair and nails fell out; Pottery broke
without apparent cause, and the birds turned white. After a few
hours All foodstuffs were infected....
• Openheimer believed that the first atomic bomb was used in
the Mahabharata.

10. INDIA AND THE WORLD
Ancient Egyptian Glyph featuring what is considered
modern Advanced Technology
Indian Pushpak Viman

11. CIVILIZATIONS COMPARED - CHINESE
Chinese compass Chinese Printing Chinese gunpowder missiles

12. CIVILIZATIONS COMPARED - EGYPTIAN
Egyptian pulley Egyptian potter’s wheelThe Sphinx

13. CIVILIZATIONS COMPARED - GREEK
Greek war machine Greek catapults Archimedes Death Ray

14. POST INDEPENDENCE PHASE OF
TECHNOLOGY
• 18th August 1951- Maulana Abul Kalam Azad inaugurated the
first IIT (Indian Institute Of Technology) at Kharagpur, West
Bengal.
• 1957- Akashvani was created in 1957.
• 1958- Defense Research and Development Organization was
formed.
• 1960s- India acquires EVS EM computers from Russia.
• 1966- Apsara Reactor became
operational

15. INDIAN SPACE PROGRAM
• First Rocket Launching Station at Thumba, Thiruvananthapuram,
Kerala- 21st November, 1963. Dr. Homi Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai
were instrumental in developing the launching station.
• Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) was developed the
same year.
• The First Satellite- Aryabhatta I was launched in 1975.

16. INDIAN TECHNOLOGY AT PRESENT

17. POSITIVE DEVELOPMENTS
• In the last decade , there has been more than 45% rise in the
scientific publications, which is more than any other Asian
nation.
• Five of the IITs in India have been lauded as the best
technology schools in the whole continent.
• The ISRO has gone on to develop electric propulsion systems
for boosting work performance of satellites.
• The recent successful launch of the Agni V missile has made
India secure in defense systems.
• The IT industry is flourishing in the country.

18. FACTS TO BE LOOKED INTO
• India has only 140 researchers per 1,00,000
people. The figure in USA is nearly 4,651.
• As in 2002-2003, India’s total expenditure on
science and technology was merely $3.7 billion.
• China invested $15.5 billion, while Japan pegged
a figure of $124 billion.
• In 2003, only 1% of India’s GDP represented its
expense in research and development.

19. MAJOR PROBLEMS IN INDIA
• Unanimous opinion suggests that India does not lack funds
but there is lack of ethics.
• The technology industry is dominated by government,
resulting in inefficiency.
• Ambitious projects like the 3G spectrum allocation have
fallen prey to scams and fraudulent practices.
• There is lack of efficiency in publishing research findings
and patents for new technologies. Researchers don’t get
the right due for their hard work.

20. OTHER FACTORS
• Restrictions on FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) deprive
India from the latest advanced technology.
• Brain Drain- Qualified and brilliant scientists are forced to
work abroad as local environment is poorly developed.
• Poor development and utilization of locally developed
technologies.

21. BENEFITS OF R AND D EXPENDITURE
• In Finland, the total expense on R and D from the
GDP rose from 1.5% in 1985 to 3.2% in 2001.
• The results- there was substantial increase in the
country’s GDP/ export ratio.
• In the same year, Finland’s labor productivity was
nearly 100%.
• India needs to take a cue and improve its R and D
expenditure. But it has many hurdles to face.

22. FUTURE PROSPECTS

23. EXPECTED DEVELOPMENTS
• The Cable Amendment Act 2012 aims to making
digitization of TV sets mandatory.
• Indian government plans to integrate cloud computing
technology in the IT industry.
• Government telecom companies to bring in 4G connectivity
soon.

24. THINGS THAT INDIA NEEDS TO DO
• Build a better infrastructure for
science and technology.
• Increase expenditure on research and
development.
• Bring about transparency in the
industry.
• Provide researchers with better work
amenities, opportunities and
incentives.

25. HOW WILL FDI HELP
• FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) will let foreign
countries and companies to introduce the most
advanced technology in India.
• To ensure this, the restrictions and hurdles need to be
overcome.
• The Reserve Bank Of India has been assisting foreign
companies in bringing in investment in Indian
businesses.

26. CHANGE IN ATTITUDE
• India needs to revise many of its current policies on
exports, imports and technology expenditure.
• The indigenous sources of technology need to be pooled
together and local scientists should be given recognition.

27. CONCLUSION
• India has a great history of technology.
• Post-independence policies and recent hurdles have made
matters a bit difficult.
• India needs to amp up its investments in R and D and
lower restrictions on foreign inflows.