Indian Science in 1998
I998 was an eventful year for nuclear scientists in India. They shook the world with a series of five underground nuclear explosions at Pokharan on May 11th and 13th. While India claimed that it became the sixth nuclear power, the test led to sanctions and US blacklisting of around 260 Indian institutions. A number of Indian scientists have faced the threat of expulsion form the United States and many senior Indian scientists had denied visas to the US.Unmindful of the tremors triggered by the nuke test, scientists progressed on other fronts as well. In a triumph for indigenisation, the 200 MW second unit of the Rajastan Atomic Power Station (RAPS) was made critical after successful enmasse replacement of coolant channels with Indian ones. The station was shut down in August 1994. Again in the power sector, the country has signed a 2.5 billion U S dollar deal with Russia to build two 1000 MW light water reactors at Kudamkulam in Tamil Nadu.
The space scientists had a bit difficult time. The
INSAT -2C faced serious trouble and lost its earth lock in July 98. However, The 'Anterix' corporation, the marketing arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), has started getting international market access. It would launch satellites for Germany and Korea. The remote sensing data of the IRS have been widely accepted by scientists all over the world. The department has also managed to get the first of the seven cryogenic engines from Russia, which has been delayed due to various reasons. This raised hopes of the first Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle's maiden test flight on scheduled time this year.Under a deal signed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) with the European Space Agency's Arianespace, Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLVs) and Ariane rockets will launch small 100-125 Kg satellites in the coming years.
In
March 1998, Bharat Ratna was awarded to Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam, the father of Indian missile programme and the scientific adviser to the defense ministry. Defense scientists test fired for the first time a novel version of Surface -to- air Missile (SAM) "Trisul". Akash, a multi target surface to air missile was also test fired by the DRDO. For the first time in India, the scientists have developed a pilot-less training aircraft "Nishant" and it was successfully test flown in September '98.Indian scientists' quest for self-reliance bore fruit in another sector also. An advanced version of the Param super computer, "PARAM 10,000" was unveiled by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC). Param-10,000, the second largest super computer in Asia, is capable of doing 100 billion calculations per second.
For IT sector in India, 1998 was an excellent year. The Information Technology Task Force, set up by the Prime Minister, has recommended steps to make India an IT super power by the year 2008. It is projected that the software export from the county by 2008 would cross US $50 billion mark against the present US $2 billion.
India is gradually becoming a hot spot for IT activities in the world. It was evident from the Microsoft corporation's decision to set up its first out side the U S Centre in India. Hyderabad is fast becoming the IT hub of the country.
In medical science also, 1998 was a wonderful year for India. The National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi has developed an indigenous kit to detect AIDS causing virus (HIV) and the kno-how has already been transferred to the industry. This raises hopes for cheaper Indian kits in the market to replace imported ones. Indian Industry once again scored with the development of yet another home-grown recombinant vaccine against Hepatitis-B. This was developed by Bharat Biotech Limited, Hyderabad.
Scientists from National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) in Bangalore contributed to advancement of basic science when they discovered 'tiny rafts' on cell surfaces, transporting a class of proteins the way ' boats carry people across the river'. The phenomenon of "rafting, observed for the first time in living cells, may lead to new methods of preventing transmission of infectious diseases.
In an another development, scientists at Delhi University produced for the first time the tiniest "polymeric nano particles" which may revolutionize oral drug delivery system and render existing methods of making pills and tablets obsolete. The nano particles are tiny spheres of biodegradable polymers that can be filled with drugs or vaccines. Because these lilliputian drugs carriers are designed to bypass the liver and go directly to the blood stream, side effects are eliminated and smaller dosages will suffice.
Pediatricians at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) isolated a chemical "surfactant" from goat's lungs that may give a new life to almost two lakh premature babies who die every year in the country because of lung inadequacy.
Scientists at the
Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) in Lucknow, tested a new drug for relapsing malaria, a potential alternative to the plasmodium Premquine to which vivax parasite is becoming resistant in some parts of the world.The year was perturbing to crop scientists of the developing world including India, with news of a U S patent granted for terminator gene technology which can prevent seed germination and so prevent farmers from raising crops from their harvest seed. Agitated farmers in Karnataka and Anthra Pradesh stopped trials of genetically engineered cotton (Bt- cotton) developed by the US firm Monsanto, under mistaken fears that it may contain the terminator gene.
At the same time the
Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has announced that Indian farmers would get genetically modified seeds (Transgenic seeds) by the turn of the century.The country's first early- maturing maize hybrid that can be bred quickly in just 70-80 day's has been developed by researchers at Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI).
A hi-tech software developed by scientists at the Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (IICB), Calcutta can now demystify our genetic secrets. The software called protein chaos game representation
(PROCGR) can decode protein sequences in genetic materiel of all living organisms.The first indigenous catalytic converter to reduce emissions from two and three wheelers using two stroke engines was launched in October 98, making India one of the few countries in the world having this technology.
In Physical science, scientists at Calcutta based
Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP) and Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC) developed a nuclear detector for the large hadron collider, a huge particle accelerator being built by the European Centre for Nuclear Research in Geneva.It was also a year of disappointment to some because scientific
predictions failed to occur. Millions of people in India and elsewhere in the world could
not see the much- hyped Leonid meteor shower that apparently came 16 hours ahead of the
predicted time. Some pending problems for science remained unsolved and India is also
trying hard to break the nut. The ozone hole grew bigger, the AIDS virus continued to
spread its tentacles into every nook and corner of the globe and there is no easy solution
for the Y2-K bug.
