Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology

Science and Technology in Ancient Period: Mathematics, Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry, Botany, Zoology, Physiology and Medicine (including Surgery), Ship- building, Mining and Metallurgy, Engineering and Architecture

Like people in any other part of the world Indians too, have a rich legacy of scientific ideas.
A desire to now the unknown, accompanied with experimentation and observation have always generated scientific temper. This has led to the assumption that truth lay in the real world with all its diversity and complexity.
It has been the responsibility of scientists to unravel the mystery behind the truth and utilise available resources for the progress of humanity.
Science and technology in ancient and medieval India covered all the major branches of human knowledge and activities, including mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, medical science and surgery, fine arts, mechanical and production technology, civil engineering and architecture, shipbuilding and navigation, sports and games
Ancient India was a land of sages, saints and seers as well as a land of scholars and scientists. Ancient India’s contribution to science and technology include:
Mathematics – Vedic literature is replete with concepts of zero, the techniques of algebra and algorithm, square root and cube root. Arguably, the origins of Calculus lie in India 300 years before Leibnitz and Newton.
Astronomy – Rig Veda (2000 BC) refers to astronomy.
Physics – Concepts of atom and theory of relativity were explicitly stated by an Indian Philosopher around 600 BC.
Chemistry – Principles of chemistry did not remain abstract but also found expression in distillation of perfumes, aromatic liquids, manufacturing of dyes and pigments, and extraction of sugar.
Medical science & surgery – Around 800 BC, first compendium on medicine and surgery was complied in ancient India.
Fine Arts – Vedas were recited and recitation has to be correct, which gave rise to a finer study of sound and phonetics. The natural corollary were emergence of music and other forms of performing arts.
Mechanical & production technology – Greek historians have testified to smelting of certain metals in India in the 4th century BC.
Civil engineering & architecture – The discovery of urban settlements of Mohenjodaro and Harappa indicate existence of civil engineering & architecture, which blossomed to a highly precise science of civil engineering and architecture and found expression in innumerable monuments of ancient India.
Shipbuilding & navigation – Sanskrit and Pali texts have several references to maritime activity by ancient Indians.Sports & games – Ancient India is the birth place of chess, ludo, snakes and ladders and playing cards.

DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE IN ANCIENT INDIA

Mathematics has been called by the general name of Ganita which includes Arithmetic’s, Geometry, Algebra, Astronomy and Astrology.
Arithmetic is called by several names such as Pattin Ganita (calculations on board), Anka Ganita (calculations with numerals).
Geometry is called Rekha Ganita (line works) and Algebra, Bija Ganita (seed analysis), Astronomy and Astrology are included in the term Jyotisa.
India has a rich heritage of science and technology.
The dependence on nature could be overcome by developments in science. In ancient India, religion and science worked in close proximity.

Ancient Indian Botany and Taxonomy

Medical Botany

The bulk of the Ayurvedic medicines belong to the plant kingdom. And all the Ayurvedic texts deal with botanical aspects, mainly the identification and categorization of plants as source of drugs.
The Charaka Samhita has a chapter titled Vibhagavidya, dealing with the classification of plants and animals.
The Susruta samhita, the second Ayurvedic classic, also deals with several aspects of botany such as morphology and taxonomy.
Susruta also provides classification of plants on the basis of medicinal properties.

Plants in Vedas

The most celebrated plant that finds frequent mention in the Rgveda and later Samhitas is the Soma plant.
The Vedic Indians hail Soma as the Lord of the forest (vanaraja).
The botanical identity of Soma plant, however, has not been decided till today. The probable candidates are Ephedra (a Gymnosperm); Sarcostemma (flowering plant); and mushroom (a fungus).
The second most mentioned plant was peepal or the Asvattha (Ficus religiosa) during the Vedic period.
The Rgveda refers to utensils and vessels fashioned out of the wood of the Asvattha tree.
Some of the other trees that find mention in the Vedas are:

Silk cotton (Salmalia malabaricum);
Khadira (Acacia catechu)
Simsupa (Dalbergia sissoo);
Vibhitaka (Terminalia bellerica);
Sami (Prosopis sp.);
Plaksa (Ficus infectoria);
lksu (sugar cane – Saccharum offcinarum) finds a mention as a cultivated plant in the Atharvaveda, Maitaryani Samhita, and other texts.

The Vedic Indians knew about many flower-bearing and fruit-bearing plants, like Palasa (Butea monosperma), two varieties of lotus – white (pundarika) and blue (puskara), white lily (kumuda), cucumber (urvaruka), jujuba (Zizypus jujuba), udumbara (Ficus glomerata), kharjura (Phoenix dactylifera) and bilva (Aegle marmelos), etc.
Written records, in the form of manuscripts, are available in Sanskrit and several other Indian languages. Sanskrit literature includes the Vedas, the Upanisadas, and epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. The lay literature includes prose, poetry, and drama of a number of Sanskrit authors like Kalidasa, Magha and Bhavabhuti, in whose works the information on plants is incidental and given by way of comparison.
Technical literature comprises medical works like the Charaka and Susruta Samhitas, lexicons like Medininighantu and Amarakosa, as well as the encyclopedic works like Arthasastra and Brhatsamhita.
These works generally give excerpts of botany or what is known as vrksayurveda. In addition, there are a number of exclusive works under the title of Vrksayurveda.
Parasara’s Vrksayurveda is supposed to be the most ancient work in actual botany, to have been composed during first century BC and first century AD.

Plant Pathology

Many references to plant diseases and their treatment are also available in the Vedic literature. According to S. Sundara Rajan, the Atharvaveda explains the destruction of corn due to insect pests.
Vinaya, the famous Buddhist text, describes the blight and mildew diseases. A much later text, Sukraniti, gives a detailed account of danger to grains from various agents such as fire, snow, worm, insect, etc.
Gunaratna, in his Saddarsanasamuccaya, observes that plants are afflicted by diseases, displacement or dislocation of flowers, fruits, leaves and barks in the same way as the human body suffers from jaundice, dropsy, emaciation, stunted growth of finger, nose, etc., and respond to treatment like human bodies.

Germination

The technical term used for seed is vija. The seed is enclosed in a vessel called vijakosa. The endosperm is called sasya and the cotyledon vijapatra.
Parasara used the term vijamatrka to denote cotyledon and recognizes monocotyledonous (ekamatrkavija) and dicotyledonous (dvimatrkavija) seeds.
Germination of a seed is called ankurodbheda, which means sprouting of the seed to life; ankura means seedling.
According to Susruta, proper season, good soil, requisite supply of water and good seeds are required for germination of the seed.

Gunaratna observes in his commentary that the seeds of vata (Ficus indicum), pippala (Ficus religiosa), nimbu (Melia azadirachta), etc. are germinated during the rainy season under the influence of dew and air

Reproduction, Sex and Heredity

Ancient Indian literature also deals with sex, genetics, and reproduction of plants by fruits, seeds, roots, cuttings, graftings, plant apices and leaves.
Buddha Ghosa, in his Sumangala-vilasini, a commentary on the Digha Nikaya, describes some of these methods under such terms as mula-vija (root seed), khandabija (cuttings), phaluvija (joints), agravija (budding) and bija-bija (seed).
Atharvaveda and Arthasastra describe the propagation by seed (bija-bija or vijaruha) and bulbous roots (kandavija), respectively.
The method of cutting (skandhavija) is described in the Arthasastra, Brhatsamhita and Sumangala-vilasini in the case of sugar cane, jackfruit, blackberry, pomegranate, vine, lemon tree, asvattha (Ficus religiosa), nyagrodha (Ficus bengalensis), udumbara (Ficus glomerata) and several others.
Some ideas related to sexuality in plants are noticeable in the Harita and Charak Samhitas.
Charak recognized male and female individuals in the plant called Kutaja (Hollerhina antidysenterica), and the male categories of plants bearing white flowers, large fruit and tender leaves and the female categories characterized by yellow flowers, small fruits, short stalk, etc.
The Rajanighantu mentions the existence of male and female plants in the plant Ketaki (Pandanus odoratissimus).
The male plant is called sitaketaki, and the female is called svarna ketaki. Regarding heredity, Charaka and Susruta mention that the fertilized ovum contains in miniature all the organs of the plants, for example the bamboo seed containing in miniature the entire structure of the bamboo tree, and further that the male sperm cell have minute elements derived form each of its organs and tissues. Such ideas closely resemble Darwin’s ‘gemmules’

Indian Chemistry Through The Ages

Chemistry Indus Valley Civilization (2600-1900 BC)

The Indus valley civilization was the earliest society, which had developed an elaborate urban system depicted in terms of streets, public baths, temples and granaries etc. They also had the means of mass production of pottery, houses of backed bricks and a script of their own. So we can say that the story of early chemistry in India begins from here.
Pottery: It could be regarded as the earliest chemical process in which materials were mixed, moulded and fired to achieve desirable qualities. Thousands of pieces of pottery were found in the Rajasthan desert, varied in shape, size and colour. They show that prehistoric people knew the art of making pottery by using burnt clay. Coloured and wheel made pottery was found at Harappa. Pottery was decorated with various designs including geometric and floral patterns as well as human and animals figures. Remains of glazed pottery were also found at Mohenjodaro.
Bricks: Burnt bricks were manufactured on a large scale for making houses, drains, boundary walls, public bath etc.
Cement: Gypsum cement had been used in the construction of a well in Mohenjodaro. It was light grey and contained sand, clay, traces of calcium carbonate and lime.
Minerals: The Indus valley people used a number of minerals for a variety of useful products such as medicinal preparations, plasters, hair washes etc. Faience, which is a sort of proto-glass, was quite popular with the Harappans and was used for ornaments. They also smelted and forged a variety of objects from lead, silver, gold, and copper; and also used tin and arsenic to improve the hardness of copper for making artefacts.

Chemical Arts and Crafts in Later Periods

Glass making, pottery, jewellery making, dyeing of clothes and tanning of leather etc. were the major chemical arts and crafts in the early periods. As a result of this expanded activity, the alchemical knowledge increased. Following were the major chemical products that contributed to the development of chemistry.
Glass: Glass is a fused solid mixture of a number of substances like lime, sand, alkali and metallic oxides. It is of various kinds – transparent, opaque, coloured and colourless. No glass objects were found at the sites of the Indus valley civilization, except for some glazed and faience articles. A number of such glass objects were found at Maski in south India (1000-900BC) , Hastinapur and Taxila (1000-200BC). In this period glass and glazes were coloured by the addition of colouring agents like metal oxides. Ramayana, Brhatsamhita, Kautilya’s Arthasatra and Sukranitisara mention the use of glass. There is ample evidence to suggest that ancient India glass making was quite widespread and a high degree of perfection was achieved in this craft. There was a traditional glass factory at Kopia in Basti district of Uttar Pradesh. Glass slag was found at Kolhapur, Nevasa, Paunar and Maheshwar. Glass furnaces of late medieval period were found at Mysore. The Mughal period (AD1526-1707) saw the flourishing of the art of glass making in India.
Paper: From the Chinese traveller I-tsing’s account it appears that paper was known to India in the seventh century AD. In the beginning the process of papermaking was simple and more or less similar in all parts of the country. The main centers of paper making in medieval India were Sialkot, Zafarbad, Murshidabad, Ahmedabad, Mysore etc.
Soap: For washing clothes ancient Indians used certain plants and their fruits like the soap nuts of Ritha and Sikakai. Fruits like Sriphala and Sarsapa (Brassica compestris) were also used to wash different kinds of clothes. Guru Nanak’s prayer written in the late sixteenth century AD contains the earliest reference to soap. There were references to soap like substances called Phenaka in the second and third century AD texts like Manusmrti and Yajnavalkyasmrti. Indians definitely began to make proper soaps in the eighteenth century AD. In Gujarat, the oil of Eranda (Ricinus communis), seeds of plant Mahua (Madhuca indica) and impure calcium carbonate were used by them. These were used for washing but gradually soft soaps for bathing were made.
Dyeing: Plants and their products like madder, turmeric and safflower were the principal dyeing materials. Orpiment and some insects like lac, cochineal and kermes were the other materials used for dyeing. A number of classical texts like Atharvaveda (1000 BC) mentioned some dye stuffs. Dyes were extracted from inorganic substances by repeatedly soaking and mixing them in water and allowing the materials to settle. Then the solution was taken out and spread on a pot and evaporated to get the dry dye. Some other substances having tinting properties were Kampillaka (Mallotus phillippinesis), Pattanga (Cesalpinia sappan) and Jatuka (a species of Oldenlandia). A large number of other materials were also used for dyeing. Synthetic dyes were made by mid-nineteenth century.
Cosmetics and Perfumes: A large number of references to cosmetics and perfumes in Sanskrit literature were found like in Brhatsamhita of Varahamihira. Cosmetics and perfumes making were mainly practised for the purpose of worship, sale and sensual enjoyment. The Bower Manuscript (Navanitaka) contained recipes of hair dyes which consisted of a number of plants like indigo and minerals like iron powder, black iron or steel and acidic extracts of sour rice gruel. Gandhayukti gave recipes for making scents. It gives a list of eight aromatic ingredients used for making scents. They were: Rodhara, Usira, Bignonia, Aguru, Musta, Vana , Priyangu, and Pathya. The Gandhayukti also gave recipes for mouth perfumes, bath powders, incense and talcum powder. The manufacture of rose water began perhaps in the nineteenth century AD.
Ink: An inkpot was unearthed during the excavations at Taxila, which suggests that ink was known and used in India from fourth century BC. The Ajanta caves displayed some inscriptions that were written with coloured ink, made from chalk, red lead and minium. Chinese, Japanese and Indians had used Indian ink for quite a long time. The recipe for ink was also given in Rasaratnakara of Nityanatha. The ink made from nuts and myrobalans kept in water in an iron pot was black and durable. This ink was used in Malabara and other parts of the country as well. Special ink prepared from roasted rice, lampblack, sugar and the juice of plant Kesurte (Verbsina scandens) was used in the Jain manuscripts. Ink was made both in liquid and solid forms, by using lampblack, gum of the plant Mimosa indica and water in the nineteenth century. Tannin’s solution became dark blue-black or greenish by the addition of ferric salts and it seems that this fact was known to Indians during late medieval period, and they used this solution for ink making.
Alcoholic liquors: Somarasa, which was mentioned in the Vedas, was probably the earliest evidence of the use of intoxicants in India. Kautilya’s Arthasastra listed a variety of liquors such as Medaka, Prasanna, Asava, Arista, Maireya and Madhu. Caraka Samhita also mentioned sources for making various Asavas: cereals, fruits, roots, woods, flowers, stems, leaves, barks of plants and sugar cane. About 60 Tamil names were found in Sangam literature, which suggest that liquors were brewed in south India since the ancient times. Medieval alchemical texts also mentioned fermented liquors and their methods of preparation. Alcoholic liquors were classified into the following categories depending on their applications in alchemical operations:

Dasanapasani Sura: used in dyeing operations
Sarvacarani Sura: used in mixing operations of all kinds
Dravani Sura: used in dissolving substances
Ranjani Sura: used in dyeing operations
Rasabandhani Sura: used in binding mercury
Rasampatani Sura: used in distillation of mercury

Susruta-Samhita used the word khola for alcoholic beverages; perhaps the modern word alcohol is derived from it. A large number of alcoholic preparations were described in various texts.

Ancient India’s Contribution to Physics

The Five Basic Physical Elements in Ancient India

From the Vedic times, around 3000 B.C. to 1000 B.C., Indians (Indo-Aryans) had classified the material world into four elements viz. Earth (Prithvi), fire (Agni), air (Maya) and water (Apa).
To these four elements was added a fifth one viz. ether or Akasha.
According to some scholars these five elements or Pancha Mahabhootas were identified with the various human senses of perception; earth with smell, air with feeling, fire with vision, water with taste and ether with sound.
Whatever the validity behind this interpretation, it is true that since very ancient times Indians had perceived the material world as comprising these 5 elements. The Buddhist philosophers who came later, rejected ether as an element and replaced it with life, joy and sorrow.

Indian Ideas about Atomic Physics

Since ancient times Indian philosophers believed that except Akash (ether), all other elements were physically palpable and hence comprised miniscule particles of matter. The last miniscule particle of matter which could not be subdivided further was termed Parmanu. The word Parmanu is a combination of Param, meaning beyond, and any meaning atom. Thus the term Parmanu is suggestive of the possibility that, at least at an abstract level Indian philosophers in ancient times had conceived the possibility of splitting an atom which, as we know today, is the source of atomic energy. This Indian concept of the atom was developed independently and prior to the development of the idea in the Greco-Roman world. The first Indian philosopher who formulated ideas about the atom in a systematic manner was Kanada who lived in the 6th century B.C. Another Indian philosopher, Pakudha Katyayana who also lived in the 6th century B.C. and was a contemporary of Gautama Buddha, had also propounded ideas about the atomic constitution of the material world.
These philosophers considered the Atom to be indestructible and hence eternal. The Buddhists believed atoms to be minute objects invisible to the naked eye and which come into being and vanish in an instant. The Vaisheshika school of philosophers believed that an atom was a mere point in space. Indian theories about the atom are greatly abstract and enmeshed in philosophy as they were based on logic and not on personal experience or experimentation. Thus the Indian theories lacked an empirical base, but in the words of A.L. Basham, the veteran Australian Indologist “they were brilliant imaginative explanations of the physical structure of the world, and in a large measure, agreed with the discoveries of modern physics.

Anu and Parmanu

It was Kanada who first propounded the that the Parmanu (atom) was an indestrutible particle of matter. According to the material universe is made up of Kana. When matter is divided and sudivided, we reach a stage beyond which no division is possible, the undivisible element of matter is Parmanu. Kanada explained that this indivisible, indestructible y cannot be sensed through any human organ.
In saying that there are different types of Parmanu for the five Pancha Mahabhootas, Earth, water, fire, air and ether. Each Parmanu has a peculiar property which depends, on the substance to which it belongs . It was because of this conception of peculiarity of Parmanu (atoms) that this theory unded by Kanada came to be known Vaisheshika-Sutra (Peculiarity Aphorisms). In this context Kanada seems to arrived at conclusions which were surpassed only many centuries after him.

Mining and Metallurgy in Ancient India

Metal, precious or not, is also a prime material for ornaments, and thus enriches cultural life. Metallurgy may be defined as the extraction, purification, alloying and application of metals. Today, some eighty-six metals are known, but most of them were discovered in the last two centuries. The seven metals of antiquity‘, as they are sometimes called, were, more or less in order of discovery: gold, copper, silver, lead, tin, iron and mercury. For over 7,000 years, India has had a high tradition of metallurgical skills.
The glazed potteries and bronze and copper artefacts found in the Indus valley excavations point towards a highly developed metallurgy. The vedic people were aware of fermenting grain and fruits, tanning leather and the process of dyeing. By the first century AD, mass production of metals like iron, copper, silver, gold and of alloys like brass and bronze were taking place. The iron pillar in the Qutub Minar complex is indicative of the high quality of alloying that was being done. Alkali and acids were produced and utilised for making medicines. This technology was also used for other crafts like producing dyes and colours. Textile dyeing was popular. The Ajanta frescoes reflect on the quality of colour. These paintings have survived till date. A two metre high bronze image of Buddha has been discovered at Sultanganj (Near Bhagalpur).

Copper Metallurgy in Ancient India

Harappan Civilization:

The first evidence of metal in the Indian subcontinent comes from Mehrgarh in Baluchistan, where a small copper bead was dated to about 6000 BCE; it is however thought to have been native copper, not the smelted metal extracted from ore.
The growth of copper metallurgy had to wait for another 1,500 years; that was the time when village communities were developing trade networks and technologies which would allow them, centuries later, to create the Harappan cities.
Archaeological excavations have shown that Harappan metal smiths obtained copper ore from the Aravalli hills, Baluchistan or beyond. They soon discovered that adding tin to copper produced bronze, a metal harder than copper yet easier to cast, and also more resistant to corrosion.
Whether deliberately added or already present in the ore, various impurities‘such as nickel, arsenic or lead enabled the Harappans to harden bronze further, to the point where bronze chisels could be used to dress stones.
Shaping copper or bronze involved techniques of fabrication such as forging, sinking, raising, cold work, annealing, riveting, lapping and joining.

Gold Metallurgy

The noble metals, gold and silver, are found in the native state, and as is well known, gold and silver were used to make jewelry and sheet metal due to the great ductility and lustre of the pure metals.
Some of the early rich finds of gold artifacts were from the cemeteries in Bulgaria in Europe (5th millennium BC) with accouterments of hammered and sheet gold. Some of the most elegant gold vessels made by the repousse technique come from the Mesopotamia (2500 BC).
Spectacular gold castings are known from ancient Pharaohnic Egypt, such as the enigmatic face of the young Pharaoh Tutenkhamen (1300 BC).
Early gold and silver ornaments from the Indian subcontinent are found from Indus Valley sites such as Mohenjodaro (ca 3000 BC). These are on display in the National Museum, New Delhi.

Iron Metallurgy in ancient India

While the Indus civilization belonged to the Bronze Age, its successor, the Ganges civilization, which emerged in the first millennium BCE, belonged to the Iron Age.
But recent excavations in central parts of the Ganges valley and in the eastern Vindhya hills have shown that iron was produced there possibly as early as in 1800 BCE. Its use appears to have become widespread from about 1000 BCE, and we find in late Vedic texts mentions of a dark metal‘ (krṣnāyas), while earliest texts (such as the Rig-Veda) only spoke of ayas, which, it is now accepted, referred to copper or bronze.
Whether other parts of India learned iron technology from the Gangetic region or came up with it independently is not easy to figure out.
What seems clear, however, is that the beginnings of copper-bronze and iron technologies in India correspond broadly with those in Asia Minor (modern Turkey) and the Caucasus, but were an independent development, not an import.

Engineering and Architecture in Ancient India

The achievements of Indian people in the field of engineering began in the proto-historic times, from the third millennium B.C. or even earlier.
The ancient Indian civilization like those of Iran, Iraq, Mesopotamia, and Egypt showed skill in the construction of buildings and granaries, in town-planning, and in the provision of civic amenities like community baths and other sanitary conveniences.

Prehistoric Period Engineering and Architecture:

The earliest evidence of the technical skill of the ancient Indian lies perhaps in the numerous tools he carved out of stone in the course of his struggle for existence.
A long period of trial and error requiring power of observation and the application of what was observed in his natural surroundings must have intervened between this period of the fashioning of crude pebble tools and the development of the hand-axe.
The early Paleolithic age was followed by the middle Paleolithic age when he made tools on fine-grained flakes, which were smaller in size and included scrapers, points, awls or borers, blades, etc.
These tools, archaeologists think, might have been used for dressing animal skins and barks of trees, smoothing the shafts of spears, cutting, chopping, etc.
They may be classified into two groups-core and flake-according to the way in which they were made. Core tools were made by chipping or flaking away a stone until the desired shape was obtained.
Flake tools were made, however, by detaching a large piece from a stone and then working it into the requisite shape.
A third classification put forward by some archaeologists is the chopper-chopping tool group; these tools were made from pebbles by knocking off a portion to make the cutting edge.

Architecture during Harappan Period

Remains of the Indus valley civilization (fourth-third millennium B.C.) unearthed at Mohenjodaro and Harappa now in Pakistan, Lothal in Gujarat, and Kalibangan in Rajasthan amply testify to the welldeveloped technical skill of ancient Indians.
Mohenjo-daro in Sind and Harappa in the Punjab are deemed to have been the capital cities of the Indus valley. Each of the towns was approximately three miles in circuit.
The dwellers of Mohenjo-daro were among the world‘s pioneers in city construction.
The largest buildings unearthed in Mohenjo-daro measure more than 73 m X 34 m. Road alignments were from cast to west and from north to south, each crossing the other almost at right angles in a chessboard pattern.
The width of the roads varied from approx. 10 m. to 5.48 m., depending on the requirements of traffic. There is evidence of attempts to pave the roads at some places

Engineering and Architecture in Vedic Period

Whereas the Indus valley civilization was essentially urban, relying on extensive trade and depending upon organized city life for its existence, the Vedic civilization was primarily pastoral or an agricultural one in which complex urban organization was unknown. It is not surprising, therefore, that highly developed cities like Harappa and Mohenjodaro did not appear during the Vedic period and that technology was in evidence only to the extent of providing for the necessities of village life.
Vedic texts are replete with words descriptive of dwellings and contrivances which provide an idea of the extent of technological knowledge of the period.
The word pura occurs frequently in the Rg-Veda and later Vedic texts and appears to mean a fort or fortification.
Hundred-walled forts arc also mentioned. The term maha- pura (great fortress) appears in the Taittiriya Samhitd, Aitareya Brdhmana, and other texts.
The type of material with which the forts were constructed is not clearly indicated. In all probability they were temporary structures, perhaps merely ramparts of earth with ditches and stone walls, or possibly made of wood. In one place the Rg-Veda refers to a fort made of stone (asmamayi).

Engineering and Architecture in Post-Vedic Period

For evidence of the engineering and technical skills of ancient Indians in the early post-Vedic period we have to depend largely on literary sources. We are told of high walls with watch towers, strong ramparts with buttresses, and gates.
A number of towns and cities, called janapadas, of considerable importance had developed before the seventh century B.C. Noteworthy among them were Ayodhya, Varanasi, Campa, Kampilya, Kausambi, Mathura, Mithila, Rajagrha, Saketa, Sravasti, Ujjayini, and Vaisall. An example of’ a stone wall around a hill fortress before the sixth century B.C. has been unearthed near Rajagrha-modern Rajgir.
The superstructures of buildings during this period were all made of wood or brick. Reference may in this connection be made to the ruins of some other ancient cities like Taksasila and Sanci. Taksasila is mentioned as a flourishing city and centre of learning in Buddhist literature probably compiled at least in the fourth century B.C. Archaeological excavations at the Bhir Mound have revealed several layers, of which the latest and uppermost was quite clearly of the late third or early second century B.C.
The ruins unearthed in the Bhir Mound bear adequate testimony to the kind of house-building technique in vogue at the time. The buildings were of rubble masonry, in which kanjur and limestone, finished with a coaling of mud-plaster, were used.
The remains of a fairly large house, with a courtyard and pillared hall and flanked by narrow, blind alleys have also been excavated in the western part of the Bhir Mound.

Engineering and Architecture of Buddhist Stupa and Viharas

In the construction of religious edifices like Stupas and Caitya-grhas the Buddhists showed their engineering skill. Construction of stupas and chaityas was an important aspect of Buddhist religious life.
The word stupa is derived from the root stup, meaning ‗to heap‘, and suggests the mound shape and method of construction of these edifices, while the word caitya is derived from citi (altar). Stupas are pre-Buddhist in origin, being associated with burial mounds.
The earliest Buddhist stupas were most probably low mounds consisting of layers of piled-up earthen tumulus which were separated from each other by thinner layers of stone chips and cloddy clay.
The proportions of stupas after construction were enlarged in some cases, and a stupa is sometimes seen to have been enlarged several times.
For this reason, and because of wreckage and decay, it is not always possible to determine the exact shape and type of construction of the original stupa.
The earliest ones were built solid without any interior structural support or fill. Of the earliest dated stupas, those erected by Asoka were made of bricks and mud mortar.
The Sunga period saw some innovations in construction like providing a veneer of hammer-dressed stones and in plastering the surface of the dome. Gradually the advantage of filling the core with rubble or other material was recognized.
And the outward thrust of the fill material on the facing wall was minimized by dividing the inner space into compartments in the form of boxes or radiating spokes like those of the wheel of a cart.
The stone railings and gates of stupas at Barhut and Sanchi clearly point to the earlier prototypes being made of wood.

Engineering and Architecture in Temple Architecture

The Gupta period (A.D.300-600) saw the beginnings of systematic construction on the basis of structural principles in temple architecture.
The basic elements are a square sanctum (garbhagrha) for the image, a small pillared portico (mukhamandapa), and sometimes a covered circumambulatory passage (pradahinapatha) around the sanctum. The characteristic of the early temples is a flat roof as found at Sanchi, Tigawa, and Eran (all in Madhya Pradesh); later temples such as are seen at Deogarh (Madhya Pradesh) and Bhitargaon (Uttar Pradesh) show a rudimentary spire (Sikhara).
There was a tendency during this period in stone construction to use stones larger than what the size of the building warranted. This was because the relationship between the strength and stability of construction and the economy of materials was yet to be understood.
The stone was usually prepared at the site of the quarry. Fragments of carvings found at some quarries suggest that the sculpturing of the stones was also usually done at the quarry site, although sometimes this was done after the stone had been set in its place on the temple itself. All of this entailed accurate measurements

Engineering and Architecture of Rock-Cut Architecture

The rock-cut temples, both cut in and out of the rock, mostly followed the contemporary architectural styles.
The earliest group of such temples excavated by Asoka in the Barabar and Nagarjuni hills (Gaya district), depicts the basic forms of rock-cut architecture. Subsequent rock-cut shrines, especially those of the Buddhists in western India at Bhaja Kondhane, Pitalkhora, Ajanta, Junar Karle, and Junagarh, were fashioned in imitation of the earlier wooden constructions. Among the monasteries, the two double storeyed ones at Ellora are the largest.
Brahmanical caves are at their best at Badami, Ellora, Elephanta, and Mahabalipuram with a profusion of beautifully carved-out sculptures. At Mahabalipuram huge granite boulders have been chiseled to various shapes

Astronomy in Ancient India

Astronomy made great progress. The movement of planets came to be emphasized and closely observed. Jyotishvedanga texts established systematic categories in astronomy but the more basic problem was handled by Aryabhatta (499 AD).
His Aryabhattiya is a concise text containing 121 verses. It contains separate sections on astronomical definitions, methods of determining the true position of the planets, description of the movement of the sun and the moon and the calculation of the eclipses.
The reason he gave for eclipse was that the earth was a sphere and rotated on its axis and when the shadow of the earth fell on the moon, it caused Lunar eclipse and when the shadow of the moon fell on the earth, it caused Solar eclipse.
On the contrary, the orthodox theory explained it as a process where the demon swallowed the planet.
All these observations have been described by Varahamihira in Panch Siddhantika which gives the summary of five schools of astronomy present in his time.
Aryabhatta deviated from Vedic astronomy and gave it a scientific outlook which became a guideline for later astronomers. Astrology and horoscope were studied in ancient India.
Aryabhatta’s theories showed a distinct departure from astrology which stressed more on beliefs than scientific explorations

Mathematics in Ancient India

The town planning of Harappa shows that the people possessed a good knowledge of measurement and geometry. By third century AD mathematics developed as a separate stream of study.
Indian mathematics is supposed to have originated from the Sulvasutras. Apastamba in second century BC, introduced practical geometry involving acute angle, obtuse angle and right angle.
This knowledge helped in the construction of fire altars where the kings offered sacrifices. The three main contributions in the field of mathematics were the notation system, the decimal system and the use of zero.
The notations and the numerals were carried to the West by the Arabs. These numerals replaced the Roman numerals. Zero was discovered in India in the second century BC. Brahmagupta’s Brahmasputa Siddhanta is the very first book that mentioned ‘zero’ as a number, hence, Brahmagupta is considered as the man who found zero. He gave rules of using zero with other numbers.
Aryabhatta discovered algebra and also formulated the area of a triangle, which led to the origin of Trignometry.
The Surya Siddhanta is a very famous work. Varahamihira’s Brihatsamhita of the sixth century AD is another pioneering work in the field of astronomy.
His observation that the moon rotated around the earth and the earth rotated around the sun found recognition and later discoveries were based on this assertion. Mathematics and astronomy together ignited interest in time and cosmology. These discoveries in astronomy and mathematics became the cornerstones for further research and progress.

Medicine in Ancient India

Diseases cure and medicines were mentioned for the first time in the Atharva Veda. Fever, cough, consumption, diarrhoea, dropsy, sores, leprosy and seizure are the diseases mentioned.
The diseases are said to be caused by the demons and spirits entering one’s body. The remedies recommended were replete with magical charms and spells. From 600 BC began the period of rational sciences.
Takshila and Taranasi emerged as centres of medicine and learning. The two important texts in this field are Charaksamhita by Charak and Sushrutsamhita by Sushruta. How important was their work can be understood from the knowledge that it reached as far as China, Central Asia through translations in various languages. The plants and herbs used for medicinal purposes have been mentioned in Charaksamhita.
Surgery came to be mentioned as a separate stream around fourth century AD. Sushruta was a pioneer of this discipline. He considered surgery as “the highest division of the healing arts and least liable to fallacy”. He mentions 121 surgical instruments. Along with this he also mentions the methods of operations, bone setting, cataract and so on. The surgeons in ancient India were familiar with plastic surgery (repair of noses, ears and lips).
Sushruta mentions 760 plants. All parts of the plant roots, barks, flowers, leaves etc. were used. Stress was laid on diet (e.g. salt free diet for nephrites). Both the Charaksamhita and the Sushrutsamhita became the predecessors of the development of Indian medicine in the later centuries.
However, surgery suffered in the early medieval time since the act of disecting with a razor became the work of a barber.

Geography in Ancient India

The constant interaction between man and nature forced people to study geography. Though the people were clear about their own physical geography, that of China and also the Western countries, they were unaware of their position on the earth and the distances with other countries.
Indians also contributed to shipbuilding. In the ancient period, voyages and navigation was not a familiar foray for the Indians.
However, Lothal, a site in Gujarat has the remains of a dockyard proving that trade flourished in those days by sea. In the early medieval period with the development of the concept of tirtha and tirtha yatra, a vast mass of geographical information was accumulated.
They were finally compiled as parts of Puranas. In many cases separate sthala purana was also compiled

Ancient Ship-Building & Maritime Trade

The traditional construction of a boat starts with the laying of a keel (keel is foundation beam for the boat and ship), a massive piece of wood supported on a branching stern about a foot above the ground at both ends.
This is stepped to take the stern-post (rearmost part of a ship or boat) and also the stem post (the pointed front part of a ship or boat), all made of massive pieces of timber. The keel is laid first and later the planks or ribs are attached.
Usually for the keel and stern one single piece of wood is always preferred. The planks are then fastened horizontally on either side of the keel.
The planks join is edge to edge. Rudder is a flat broad piece of wood, which is mainly used for getting a forwards lead to the expected direction and is not seen in all traditional crafts. In some crafts the rudder is replaced by a paddle or oars, which function as a rudder. Paddle is a short oar with a broad blade at one or both ends and oar is a pole with a flat blade used in rowing.
These are necessary for a straight and swift movement of the vessels. Generally all the ships use the wind power. In the ship the mast is fixed on ribs above the keel.
The mast is made out of a timber tree but the builders prefer a bamboo piece, because of its suitability to make a mast long, and strong. Sail is a sheet of canvas spread to catch the wind and move a boat or ship forwards.
It is used in traditional vessels; the shape of sail is triangular to make it easy to catch the wind. Sails are fixed to the mast with ropes. The sails are used mainly when the vessels are going to the mid sea, so that they can make use of the maximum wind energy.

Preservation & promotion of culture and indigenous knowledge- Use of Regional Language in ICT

“A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people.” -Mahatma Gandhi

Indigenous Knowledge (IK) refers to the knowledge, innovations, and practices of indigenous groups in matters related to agriculture and environmental management, medicine and health, and art and language.
Traditional Cultural Expressions (TCEs) are also part of IK. Like IK, TCEs have also been passed from one generation to the next (orally or by tradition) and are an integral part of a culture’s identity and heritage.
These expressions include, but are not limited to, music and song, stories, symbols, dances, rituals, architecture, arts and crafts.
Indigenous knowledge has been noted to make a significant contribution to sustainable development of local communities, as it is seen as a set of perceptions, information, and behaviour that guide local community members to use the land and natural resources.
The goal of managing indigenous knowledge is to provide the right information to the right people at the right time.
Traditions represent a critical piece of our culture. They remind us that we are part of a history that defines our past, shapes who we are today and who we are likely to become. It brings families together and enables people to reconnect with friends and functions to strengthen a sense of community.
Tradition reinforces values such as freedom, faith, integrity, a good education, personal responsibility, a strong work ethic, and the value of being selfless.
Traditional Knowledge includes Cultural Knowledge, Artistic Knowledge, Medicinal Knowledge, Biodiversity/ Natural Resources Knowledge, Agricultural Knowledge, Sacred Knowledge
The word, ‘indigenous’ ordinarily means ‘belonging to’, or ‘specific to’, or ‘a particular place’. Dictionaries define the term indigenous as “originating or occurring naturally in a country or region. In this sense, the terms “traditional knowledge” and “indigenous knowledge” may be interchangeable.
WIPO also states that TK and IK would be interchangeable if we consider the term indigenous to mean, ‘belonging to’, or ‘specific to’, or ‘a particular place’

Some important characteristics of TK can be identified as follows:

it is transmitted from generations to generations
in many cases, it is transmitted orally for generations from person to person
it is being considered by the communities as gift of God and not as a private property
such knowledge typically distinguishes one community from another
it is usually impossible to identify the original creator of the information
it is learned through continuous observation, experience and practice
it is inseparable part of communal and cultural life of its holders, and
it is usually associated with the biological resources

Indigenous Knowledge (IK):

The indigenous groups all over the world have peculiar cultural belief systems which demonstrate their immense knowledge and respect for the earth.
These systems contain rules that define how the environment should be treated.
Their various rituals, ceremonies and prohibitions regulate the use of natural resources and resource management aiming at a balanced ecosystem. Indigenous people are the custodians of the invaluable biological and genetic wealth on the earth.
To entitle certain knowledge as indigenous, it must posses certain characteristics, namely,
communal ownership and attribution of knowledge
sharing of knowledge through specific consent of the relevant group
right to use and deal with knowledge
collective rights and interests held by indigenous people in their knowledge
close interdependence between knowledge, land, and other aspects of culture in indigenous societies
oral transmission of knowledge in accordance with well understood cultural principles, and management of knowledge through specific rules including rules regarding maintaining secrecy and sacredness of knowledge.

Methods to preserve and promote cultural traditions are

Heritage Preservation:

Heritage preservation is the visual and tangible conservation of cultural identity. Heritage is the reflection of the identity of the people and is a mirror of our national unity. It represents our history and our identity; our bond to the past, to our present, and the future.
Heritage sites need to actively be preserved so that they do not fall into disrepair, and funds need to be allocated.
History is important because it brings us all together and this is a cornerstone of nationhood that should be protected by every state and culture.
The preservation of cultural heritage in times of conflict is very essential. Theft, war, civil disorder, terrorism, neglect and vandalism are human factors in the accidental or willful destruction of our heritage.
Disasters need to be managed in order to control them, or at least to mitigate the effects.
Improving our environment for preserving our heritage is a must. Cultural heritage is under attack – from environmental degradation and climate change, from socioeconomic pressures and the accelerating pace of urbanization and from the strains of global tourism.

Some methods adopted for better heritage preservation are:

Chemical Preservation-Chemical preservation of excavated objects and structures are done to increase their longetivity.
Structural Conservation-Structures are improved, stabilized, additionally strengthened and reinforced to undo the harms done by pollution, acid rains, and other chemicals and made natural-disasters resistant, by maintaining their pristine look.

In an era of globalization, cultural heritage helps us to remember our cultural diversity, and its understanding develops mutual respect and renewed dialogue amongst different cultures.

Tourism Development:

37% of the global tourism has a cultural motivation. When tourism is identified as part of an overall development strategy, the identification, protection, and enhancement of historic resources is vital for any sustainable effort.
Worldwide, heritage has a significantly greater economic impact per trip. In some places cultural heritage tourism is one of the main economic contributors.
The tourism sector is the ‘industry’ that uses cultural heritage to the greatest extent as support for its backbone activities like hotel accommodation, transport and catering. Due to the exploitation of heritage, many new jobs were generated in the tourism sector.
When heritage tourism is developed or done right, the biggest beneficiaries are not the visitors but the local residents who experience a renewed appreciation and pride in their local city and its history.

Influence of Media:

Films, television and radio broadcasts are other powerful means that can influence culture. Media can travel into the most remote villages and unearth the traditional practices, celebrations, martial arts and present them forcefully and creatively to the entire people.
Promotion of people as cultural brand ambassadors, building influence through the local vernacular media, an improved media strategy that promotes cultural content and supports cultural projects with less or no commercial value can also help preserve and promote culture. In addition, for any community to be able to preserve its culture, its people must have pride in their culture.
However, if western culture is appreciated more than the indigenous ones, the cultural heritage of the country would undoubtedly go into oblivion. Hence, it is important that, the press and opinion leaders in the country intensify the drive to project the country’s rich cultural heritage, in order for the public to accept them.

Preservation of Intangible Cultural Heritage:

Arts strengthen cultural values. Formal theatrical performances, sculptures, paintings, music and food festivals, paintings, folk tales, songs, novels, poems, martial arts and crafts groups, all these should be encouraged.
To be kept alive, intangible cultural heritage must remain relevant to a culture and be regularly practiced and learned within communities and between generations. The issue of festivals attracts people from far and near and during such occasion, each tribe celebrates a festival to portray the culture of their people.
Traditional music and dance project the cultural identity and heritage. Indigenous musical instruments, such as dhol, pepa etc. are used on such festivals. The importance of cultural celebrations is that they help to imprint the Assamese culture in the minds of both the present and future generation.
Campaigns amongst the masses should be done to honor revolution and national resistance wars, commemorate national heroes and martyrs, appreciate our cultural well-known men, pay gratitude to revolutionarily credited people etc.

Development in Education:

The national and state government needs to encourage historians to document the history and indigenous culture of the state. The education on the cultural heritage of Assam must go hand in hand with excursions.
Youths should be encouraged to learn the community’s indigenous culture and visit historical places of interest in order to acquaint themselves with the rich culture of the state.
The youth in the various educational institutions can also organize cultural festivals and displays during anniversaries, entertainment and on important occasions.
Libraries and museums disseminate information and cultural heritage resources. The upkeep and maintenance of museums and archaeological sites will considerably improve with the introduction of modern technology.
At least one museum should be set up in each district with different chambers for visual and other forms of art, architecture, science, history and geography with regional flavor

Digital Preservation:

Digitalization converts materials from formats that can be read by people (analog) to a format that can be read only by machines (digital). Benefits of digital preservation are as follows:

Easy to be viewed from anywhere, at any time of the day
Can be readily printed from the web
Viewers can find what they are looking for quickly and independently
Save staff reference time by answering frequently asked questions on the web
Electronically enhanced images can be viewed with greater legibility
Increased use of collections and facilitated learning and scholarship

The preservation benefits for collections include:

Objects do not have to be reshelved or located by staff
Objects are not handled frequently thereby reducing wear and tear.

Government Action:

Both the national and state government should implement the following steps and measures-

Tapping of the Public-Private Partnership models should be done for sustenance of Arts and Crafts. Publication through private sector should be encouraged as they have all the modern technology and know-how to produce the best from the worst.
Greater involvement of universities in schemes promoting arts and culture as well as inclusion of Fine Arts as a subject in universities
Preserving and properly promoting India’s rich intangible cultural heritage by inventorizing and documenting oral traditions, indigenous knowledge systems, folklores and tribal and oral traditions and dance forms like Bihu and other folk dances besides classical forms.
Enhancing assimilative capabilities in order to adapt to emergent challenges of globalization and technological innovations.
Promoting regional languages
Making cultural and creative industries work in tandem for growth and employment.
Generating demand for cultural goods and services as a matter of sustenance rather than patronage, thus bringing out the art and culture sector in the public domain.
The promotion of export of cultural goods and services.
Recognizing ‘cultural heritage tourism’ as an upcoming industry by building cultural resources with an adaptation of scientific and technological knowledge to local circumstances as well as forming partnerships between local and global bodies.
Making possible the infusion of knowledge capital in cultural institutions by flexible engagements.
Accelerating propaganda and promoting the awareness of people to participate in cultural activities. Timely discovering and commending typical exemplary individuals and entities that have made a significant contribution to the cultural life.
Great efforts should be spent on the collection and exploitation of material and immaterial cultural values. Organizing cultural festivals of some minority ethnic groups who have typical cultural characters. Protecting, preserving, and improving the quality of art and literature, cultural works. Training artistic talents. Organizing contests of art and literature to select the best pieces of works which have a high educational and aesthetic nature.
Expanding international cultural exchange. Actively introducing the Assamese cultural quintessence and character in order to improve the prestige and position of our state and country in international arena and making the best use of technological assistance from advanced countries for the development of culture.
Strengthening the examination and control and the State management of cultural activities, publication, newspapers and preservation of cultural values, art performances, copyrights, advertisement and cultural services. Preventing anti-cultural and non-cultural phenomena
Enhancing the training of managerial and professional staff of cultural branch, especially ethnic minority staff. Cultural staff at grassroots level should be continually and further trained to satisfy the demands of preserving and promoting the cultural traditions of our state.

Concluding Remark

Culture, as a force, has both its own economic and political consequences in the life of any state.
Without culture, a nation is as good as extinct, erased from the surface of the earth, blotted out and, an existence without dignity or recognition.
The only way to wipe out a people from the face of the earth is to take away their culture.
The blending of one culture with another also has the potential of killing off cultures. We must make an effort to sustain our cultures.
The challenge is to preserve our cultures by practicing and making them part of our lives.

THE NEED FOR PROTECTING TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE

Protection of indigenous knowledge is essential in many aspects. Lack of proper legal and policy frameworks for the protection of TK in the developing countries provides a vacuum for the developed and industrialized nations to exploit the traditional knowledge and resources of indigenous communities.
Protection of indigenous knowledge will stop the multi-national pharmaceutical companies from the North, who purport to discover herbal medicines owned and used by the indigenous communities for thousands of years, from patenting the medicinal plants and its derivatives at the expense of the indigenous communities.
Since, TK incorporates information and know-how on a variety of matters, including resources management, traditional medicines, crafts, artistic designs and cultural assets, its adequate protection is essential to preserve the cultural values of aboriginal communities.
It is a cultural heritage property right which must be protected and shared equitably in the interest of all humankind. The need to protect indigenous knowledge is more relevant now than ever before in the IP global market.
It has been revealed that commercial interests very often violate indigenous intellectual property rights. Although such violations do not formally constitute a breach of written legal standards, as neither national legislations nor international standards acknowledge the rights of indigenous people, these violations are still accountable to indigenous customary law.
The underlying principles for granting protection to TK, inter alia, are equity considerations, conservation concerns, preservation of traditional practices and culture, promotion of its use in modern developments, prevention of appropriation of components of TK by unauthorized parties, facilitating access to TK, etc.

Equity Considerations

The argument for protection of TK is principally based on equity considerations. TK generates value for new industries especially in the field of pharmaceuticals, plant breeding, food preservation etc.
The current system of appropriation of TK for the new lines of modern industries neither recognizes TK adequately nor does it compensate satisfactorily the TK holders. For example, the farmers are not being compensated for the germplasm they create and the value they contribute for the new industry.
Similarly, the traditional medicinal practitioners and healers are not being compensated for the information they impart to the bioprospectors regarding the use of medicinal plants found in their surroundings. The holders of TK usually do not charge for the herbs, seeds etc

For Stimulating Conservation

Another factor underlying the claim for protection of traditional knowledge is based on the importance of such knowledge for conservation purposes.
It is an undisputed fact that TK involves vital information highly useful to modern science and health care. However, protection of TK against loss and misappropriation and adequate compensation to traditional knowledge holders are core elements to stimulate the broader use of TK.
Since the indigenous population inhabit the world’s most useful biological diversity, the preservation of the same would be important for the future use.
Principle 3 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, 1992 also states that the right to development must be fulfilled so as to equitably meet developmental and environmental needs of present and future generations. An encouragement to preserve and conserve the biological diversity through adequate means is necessary to stimulate the activities of indigenous and local communities.
The recognition of rights would encourage them to conserve the natural resources. If fairly compensated, they would have more incentives to conserve and preserve the same not only for the existing generation, but for the generations to come.

Preservation of Traditional Practices and Cultures

The preservation of TK is not only a key component of the right to selfidentification and a condition for the continuous existence of indigenous and traditional peoples; it is also a central element of the cultural heritage of humanity.
The crisis affecting the world’s diverse cultures and languages is, according to some estimates, far greater than the biodiversity crisis. The recognition of their culture would raise the profile of that knowledge and encourage respect for it, both inside as well as outside the knowledge holding communities.
This will make the learning and development of such knowledge a more attractive prospect for the younger members of such communities, thus perpetuating its existence and continuing its traditional lifestyles and cultures.
The possibilities of economic returns for the use of that knowledge by third parties acts as a further incentive for community members to respect their knowledge and continue to engage in practices in which that knowledge is used and generated.
Lack of motivation in the younger generation to learn the tradition is another reason cited for the protection of TK. There is a fear that TK will suffer extinction with the death of the elders of the community.
TK is generally viewed with disdain and as being inferior since it does not confirm to the accepted scientific methods of learning in the context of the modern reductionist approach of science.
Only by concerned efforts to protect it and accord it due respect can this trend be stopped

Regional language internet usage is where the real growth will be in India

In the mid 1990s, 80% of the world wide web had English language content. By 2011, that share had fallen to roughly 27% as other languages – French, German, Spanish, Russian, and Chinese – spread online. India’s many languages, though, have lagged behind others.
Second only to the US, India has over 125 million English speakers. Online, English is still India’s lingua franca, but more of its 1.3 billion people can turn into netizens only if the online use of its 22 other official languages is encouraged.
A recent study of 4,612 urban citizens and 2,448 rural Indians by management consultancy KPMG India and search giant Google found that nearly 70% of Indians consider local language digital content more reliable than English content.
Of all the internet-using native speakers of an Indian language, most prefer Hindi, the co-official language of the Indian union along with English. By 2021, an expected 201 million Hindi users – 38% of the Indian internet user base – will be online, according to the KPMG-Google study.
Marathi, Bengali, and Tamil follow, capturing 9%, 8%, and 6% of the user base respectively.
So, native language apps and sites proliferate to make it easier for people to grasp online information.
Moreover, increasing the use of native languages could help chat applications and digital platforms deepen their user base
The KPMG/Google report identifies a number of apps and web categories that currently have relatively low penetration rates in India but could see rapid growth if local-language integration picks up.
Payments, government services, news, and classifieds all could grow at a compound annual growth rate between 26% and 34% from 2016 to 2021 if there is local-language expansion. For example, among those who traditionally shop offline, 50% were willing to shift online if provided with an end-to-end Indian language experience
Similarly, over 60% of rural users consider language a barrier to accessing online government services, the report says. Increased use of Indian languages on the internet will come as a relief to them. It could also help better dissemination of regional news as almost 60% of Indian-language internet users prefer such news.
Also, nearly 90% of them are more likely to respond to a digital advertisement in their local language as compared to English ads.
“Almost every new user that is coming online – roughly nine out of 10 – is not proficient in English, So, it is fair to say that almost all the growth of usage is coming from non-English users
Indian language users already far exceed the number of English language users in the country and will continue to do so–their user base grew from 42 million in 2011 to 234 million in 2016.
In the five-year period after that, Indian-language users are expected to grow at an additional rate of 18% to 536 million. In the same period, English-language users are likely to grow by a mere 3% to reach 199 million.
Meanwhile, technological advancement could aid and encourage the increased use of local languages.
“Advance voice translation and recognition technology could help Indian language internet users, who find and search navigation using text inputs in their regional language a challenge.
Other factors that will likely contribute to bringing India’s next billion online are reduced data charges, rising disposable income, growth in overall internet penetration and smartphone production, and improvements in digital literacy in rural India, as well as more Indian language-friendly devices and websites.
While Reliance Jio’s low prices and freebies are already moving in that direction, companies like Google are increasingly providing Indian language interface and content.

Value Addition by Science & Technology- Current Science & Technology developments in India

Science and Technology hold the key to the progress and development of any nation. Technology plays a Fundamental role in wealth creation, improvement of the quality of life and real economic growth and transformation in any society.
The role of Science and Technology in our daily life is altering the way people live, behave, and communicate with profound effects on economic development. Science and Technology are now the key elements to development as the scientific revolutions reinforce economic progress, infrastructure and improve health and education system
Innovation is the primary key to the technological growth and leads to better living standards. The degrees to which developing countries can emerge as economic powerhouse depends on their ability to apply insights from science and technology.
The potential of Science and Technology for growth is endless. For example, the computing is unlocking infrastructure backlogs and handling integrated supply chains which can transform economic performances by enabling accessible and affordable services in healthcare and education. The emerging technology of internet and cloud-based solutions has transformed human experience.

New Science, Technology and Innovation Developments In India

While it is the private sector that constitutes the engine of innovation, national policies create environments that can encourage or constrain the ability of firms to innovate.
The more innovative firms are, the more they are profitable and the more value-added they create in a nation. It is, therefore, vital for countries to put in place policies to create an effective and efficient national innovation system (NIS).
Four conditions need to be met for building an effective national innovation system.
These are

strong and competitive pressures on domestic firms;
the presence of high quality human capital;
well developed links between industry, institutions and academia; and
openness and access to foreign technologies.

These determinants of an NIS indicate that innovation involves far more than science and technology. It cannot be denied, however, that a forward-looking S&T policy can be developed to foster an appropriate mix of these determinants.
Indeed, the first step towards, and the necessary pre-requisite to, any good NIS is an effective S&T policy. In recognition of this, all advanced and industrialising countries consciously foster an S&T policy.
The pressures of international competition have made both knowledge creation and exploitation vital for business success. As a result, the internationalisation of R&D has increasing relevance for strategic management of companies and the strengthening of national innovation systems.
The globalisation of R&D is establishing deep roots for several reasons.

Firstly, changing geopolitical infrastructures are creating new opportunities for synergistic R&D activities across national frontiers.
Secondly, rapidly changing technologies are no longer constrained by geographical boundaries.
Thirdly, increasing complexities of technological systems are making it imperative to generate and implement knowledge in emerging fields quickly and collaboratively.
Fourthly, the need for brainpower with an ever-increasing sophistication is being met by identifying and employing people with the appropriate skills at appropriate locations wherever they may be. International R&D strategy is thus emerging to meet these challenges.

To this end, firms in developed countries and increasingly in some developing countries are being driven to take advantage of world-wide science and technology resources.
These factors have spurred the growth of science and technology developments in those nations, which have conducive environments.
Israel, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea and, to a lesser extent, Ireland, have made substantial progress in upgrading their innovative capacity and, as a result, have become beneficiaries of foreign investments in science and technology ventures.
Although countries such as India, China and Malaysia, have increased investments in areas related to science, technology and innovation at modest levels, there is little doubt that some of these, especially China and India, are potential scientific powerhouses

Trends in India’s Science and Technology Policy

It has long been recognised that investment in science and technology makes substantial contribution to economic growth in terms of higher growth rates of an economy’s total factor productivity.
In addition to direct returns, huge (positive) externalities have also been found to be associated with it.
Taking cognisance of the importance of technology’s role in development, advanced countries nurture continuing development of science and technology and most developing countries adopt R&D policies in the early phases of their development. Science and Technology policy constitutes an integral part of a nation’s overall industrial policy
While the former shapes the pace and direction of technology development, the latter determines the nature of demand.
Science and Technology policy of any nation is carved within the background of overall industrial policy.
If anything, S&T policy is supposed not only to give meaning to, but more importantly, to ensure achievement of the goals of industrial policy.
It is therefore the thrust and direction of industrial policy that determines the tenets of any S&T policy, although it must be said that R&D may lead to results that may also change the course of industrial policy.
Even so, S&T policy has almost always been driven by the goals of industrial development policy.
Two strands of S&T policy have existed – policies related to technology transfer from abroad through formal modes such as FDI, technology licensing and capital goods imports and domestic technology generation policies.

Recent developments

Some of the recent developments in the field of science and technology in India are as follows:

Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd launched its first-ever driverless tractor on developed at the Mahindra Research Valley hub in Chennai, which can be operated remotely via a tablet. The tractor is expected to be available commercially from early 2018.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has 21 rocket launches in the pipeline, along with testing of its heaviest rocket called the Geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV) MK-III.
India’s space business to witness tremendous growth in the next five years, on the back of technology advancement, global space business opportunity and a sharp rise in Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) satellite launch capability.
ISRO’s lunar dust mining plan focuses on generating and transporting energy to the Earth from Helium-3 rich lunar dust from the Moon, as part of its 2030 goal of meeting India’s energy needs.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to launch 2 satellites in March and April 2017, which includes the satellite meant for the benefit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations. ISRO also targets launch of second lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 in first quarter of 2018.
ISRO has launched a record high of 104 satellites in one go on a single rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

Space Research and Discovery

High-thrust cryogenic engine CE20 (ISRO, India)- To be used in heavy launch vehicle GSLV Mk-III.
Galactoseismology (India) Method to detect dwarf galaxies dominated by dark matter. Also explains ripples on outer disk of galaxy.
ASTROSAT(ISRO, India) India’s 1st dedicated multi wavelength space observatory.

In Defence and Combat Sector S&T Development

INS Astradharini	India	1^st indigenously-designed and built torpedo launch and recovery vessel.
INS Kochi	India	Indigenously built largest destroyer warship.
Akash Missile	India	Indigenously-built surface-to-air missile. Strike range of 25km and can carry warheads up to 60kg.
BrahMos Supersonic Cruise Missile	India	Successful 48th test firing of BrahMos. Has a range of 290km and a Mach 2.8 speed.
Akash Weapon System (AWS)	India	Indigenously developed and inducted into the Indian Army.

In Health and Medicine Sector S&T Development

ZikaVac

Bharat Biotech, India

World’s first vaccine for Zika Virus.

BGR-34

India

1^st Ayurvedic anti-diabetic drug.

BGR is acronym for Blood Glucose Regulator.

Artificial Liver Tissue

India

India’s 1^st artificial liver tissue using 3-D printing technology.

In Science and Technology Sector S&T Development


NBeG 47	India	First machine harvestable chickpea variety. To address labour shortage & reduce hard work.

Pruthvi Chip	Saankhya Labs, India	Chip powers a system that can use TV White Space or wasted spectrum bandwidth to beam Internet to scores of households.

Leap Second 2015	India	30^th June 2015 clocked 1 second longer as an extra second was added to the clocks world-wide at 23:59:59.
World’s first water-based computer	India-America	Synchronous computer that operates using the unique physics of moving water droplets.

In Research and Discovery Sector S&T Development

Tree frog Ghatixalus magnus	India	Discovered in the high ranges of Idukki district in the Western Ghats of Kerala.

Musa Indandamanensis	India	Sweet banana species. Bananas of this species are very sweet and are eaten by tribal people of the island.
4 new species of Fish; Puntius Nelsoni, Puntius Nigronotus, Systomus Chryseus and Systomus Rufus	India	Four new species of Fish discovered in Kerala.
Butterfly called Banded Tit	India	Tiny butterfly species discovered in forests of Changlang, Arunachal Pradesh.
Snow Leopard	India	Spotted the endangered snow leopards for the 1^st time in the North Sikkim Plateau.
New tree frog genus	India	Discovered a new genus of tree hole-breeding frogs in the forests of northeast.
Dracula Ant	India	Discovered by a group of citizen scientists in the Western Ghats region of Kerala.



New fish species named Puntius Dolichopterus	India	Discovered from a small water stream in Kayamkulam city of Kerala.

Blue whales	India	1^st time after 100 years Blue Whales were sighted off the coast of Maharashtra.
New species of fish called Pethia Striata	India	Discovered in the Kudremukh National Park, Karnataka.

New Catfish Species Glyptothorax Senapatiensis	India	New catfish species in the Chindwin river drainage in Senapati district of Manipur.

New species of Geckos, Cnemaspis Adii	India	Spotted at the ruins of the World Heritage Site of Hampi, Karnataka.
Grey Hypocolius	India	Small passerine bird species and sole member of the genus Hypocolius.
Rare Spiders Martensopoda Sanctor and Stenaelurillus Albus	India	The spiders belong to the Sparassidae and Salticidae families.
2 bloom-forming algal species, Ulva Paschima Bast and Cladophora Goensis Bast	India	Discovered off the west coast of India
Endangered forest owlet, Athene Blewitti)	India	Species belongs to the typical owls’ family, Strigidae that is on the verge of extinction.

Major developments/ achievements of Department of Science and Technology

Major developments/ achievements/ Main highlights of the activities of Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Science & Technology during the Year 2016 are as following:

National Initiative for Developing & Harnessing Innovation (NIDHI), a programme to address the complete chain of innovation ecosystem right from scouting to mentoring to scaling up innovations launched by DST. Establishment of a research park at IIT Gandhinagar has been supported at a cost of Rs.90 cr.
Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) has initiated a new scheme viz. Visiting Advanced Joint Research (VAJRA) Faculty Scheme. The scheme envisages to associate distinguished international faculty as Adjunct/Visiting Faculty in Indian institutions for a period of 1-3 month in a year.
Overseas Doctoral Fellowship scheme aimed to impart research training of Ph.D. Scholars in Indian institutions for collaborative research abroad was launched by SERB. Fellowship would be for a period upto 12 months.
‘Technology Vision 2035’ document was released by Hon’ble Prime Minister, on 3rd January 2016 during 103rd session of Indian Science Congress, held at Mysore University, Mysuru.
Devasthal Optical Telescope, an Indo-Belgian venture, successfully established by Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital was technically activated by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi and Hon’ble Prime Minister of Belgium, Mr. Charles Michel, remotely from Brussels.
Surya Jyoti: Photovoltaic integrated Micro Solar Dome, is the simple innovative technology developed to meet the lighting need for people who do not have access to reliable supply of electricity. The product has been included for subsidy under Off Grid and decentralized solar application scheme of Ministry of New and Renewable energy. The Ministry of Rural Development has informed to all States and Union Territories to explore the possibility of adopting this innovative technology of Surya Jyoti for the houses constructed under Prime Minister Awas Yojana-Gramin.
The National Award for the successful commercialization of indigenous technology was presented to SMITA Research Lab, IIT Delhi for the commercialization of N9 Pure Silver by , the Hon’ble President of India, during the Technology Day function on 11th May 2016. Technology was jointly developed by M/s RESIL Chemicals Private Limited and ARCI, Hyderabad under Nano Mission of DST.
Deployment of a mobile RO unit: DST has supported quick deployment and demonstration of a mobile water purification unit developed by CSIR-CSMCRI for producing portable water for drinking. It was demonstrated in Latur, Marathwada region which was facing severe scarcity of drinking water during this year’s drought period.
Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) based plasma system for portable water purification: A technology developed at CEERI Pilani through support by DST’s Water Technology Initiative (WTI) for Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) based plasma system for disinfection has been successfully transferred for commercialization to Turners Pvt. Ltd. Jaipur.

The Water Quality Laboratory at Kohima, Nagaland: The Referral Water Laboratory, fully equipped with the in house sophisticated analytical equipments for Water Quality analysis was inaugurated by the Hon’ble Union Minister of Science and Technology Dr. Harsh Vardhan at NASTEC, Kohima, Nagaland,
Solar Energy Research Institute for India and the United States (SERIIUS): The Indo-US consortium has developed the crucial prototype test loop that demonstrate the multiscale aspects of the supercritical CO2 Brayton cycle (s-CO2) at IISc Bangalore for development of high temperature concentrated solar power in the country.
BRICS STI Cooperation: To further strengthen the collaboration amongst the BRICS countries in the areas of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI), the 4th BRICS Science, Technology and Innovation Ministerial Meeting was convened on 8 October, 2016 at Jaipur.
DST and RC-UK have agreed to launch India-UK Clean Energy R&D Centre on solar energy, storage and integration with an investment of £ 5 million from each side.
Building upon the Thames-Ganga Partnership and recognising the importance of clean and portable water, DST and RCUK have agreed to launch a new collaborative programme on Improving Water Quality and Reusing Waste Water.
DST-Intel Collaborative Research for Real-Time River Water and Air Quality Monitoring: Recognizing the importance of developing the online River Water and Air Quality Monitoring systems, DST and Intel has initiated a joint programme at a cost of Rs.33 cr on a 50:50 cost sharing basis in Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode.
A new programme on Interdisciplinary Cyber Physical Systems (ICPS) to foster and promote R&D in this emerging field of research has been launched. A Cyber Physical System (CPS) is a mechanism controlled or monitored by computer-based algorithms, tightly integrated with internet and its users. It is an engineered system that are built from and depend upon, the seamless integration of computational algorithms and physical components
Collaboration with the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL), UK: Initiated to access its neutron facility for carrying out research in Nano Science and Technology.
DST constituted ‘Standing Committee for Promoting Women in Science’ to address a low representation of women in Science & Technology (S&T) domain. To provide opportunities to women scientists and technologists for pursuing research in basic or applied sciences, 227 projects were recommended for support. Twenty nine projects to women scientist were supported for finding out solutions to challenges/issues at the grassroots level for social benefit. To create opportunity of self employment and/or also sustainable career for the women scientists, one year internship in the domain of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) to 111 women was provided during the year.
Technology demonstrated for cyber-digital-physical reconstruction of Hampi heritage Plans for covering 100 monuments are under formulation.
DST-STI Policy Fellowship at post-doctoral level was initiated to generate a critical mass of policy researchers.
In the context of Start-up India initiative of the Government, INSPIRE Awards scheme has been revamped to foster culture of innovation among school children of class VI to class X. The scheme has been rechristened as INSPIRE Awards-MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting National Aspiration and Knowledge). The 6th National Level Exhibition & Project Competition was organized during December 10-11, 2016 along with India International Science Festival (IISF) at CSIR-NPL, New Delhi.

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