India’s Super-duper home-made supercomputer
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- India had been subject to a technological embargo when the PARAM supercomputer was first developed. India established the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, or C-DAC, in 1988 to promote the development of self-sufficiency.
- PARAM 8000 was created in 1991 with a three-year timetable and a budget of about Rs 30 crore.
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Communication in hands reach
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- On July 31, 1995, the former Chief Minister of West Bengal, Jyoti Basu, and the then-Union Telecom Minister, Sukh Ram, had a handheld mobile phone conversation. Two of Nokia’s first mobile phones were utilised, marking a first for India.
- The network itself, is a joint venture between Australia’s Telstra and India’s B.K. Modi Group, was basic by modern standards but totally unclogged.
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Buddha smiled again
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- Five nuclear bombs were successfully underground tested by India on May 11, 1998; these tests, known as “Pokhran-II,” were conducted in Pokhran, Rajasthan.
- This day was designated as “National Technology Day” by our then-prime minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in order to support a growing democracy’s technological advancement. Each year, it is celebrated.
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