National Technology Day Lecture
By M.A. Athul
 |
| Dr V K Saraswat |
Growth in technological capability in the areas
of defence, atomic energy and space in the last decade has given strategic edge
and an image boost to the country, said Dr V K Saraswat, DRDO chief recently. He
was speaking at a function organized by DRDO on National Technology Day in Delhi. Recollecting the contributions of
scientists like Dr Homi Bhabha, Dr Satish Dhawan, Dr Vikram Sarabhai and Dr A P
J Abdul Kalam, he said that the events like nuclear testing in 1974, 1998,
launch of first satellite, rollout of MBT Arjun tanks and the flight of LCA have
had a huge impact on the technology map
of the country .
Saraswat also said that earlier technology was
driving the way wars were being fought but in future security needs of the
country will drive the technology, giving examples of cyber warfare. He also reminded
about the need to develop non lethal weapons technology, for fighting insurgents,
who are own country men and women. He also stressed on the importance of
surveillance systems like mini, micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs),
intelligent systems like swarms of robots, etc for better intelligence gathering. He emphasized
on the importance of developing eco-friendly and sustainable technologies and
said that self-reliance meant independence from controls.
Earlier, the DRDO scientists gave presentations on specific
topics. Dr Dubey gave an insight into the Identification of Chemical Warfare Agents (CWAs) and their Markers,
Dr S Sai Kumar Development of Machining Technologies for Composites and
Ceramics and Ms V Sangamithra on challenges in developing the Weapon Locating Radar
(WLR), a force multiplier in the battlefield.
National Technology Day signifies the
achievements of Indian science and technology and has been celebrated after the
successful Pokhran II, nuclear tests on May 11 & 13, 1998. (Edited from a DRDO release.)
athulmenath55@yahoo.com
(The writer is a first
year PG student of Defence and Strategic Studies with Madras University. He is
currently on a 2-months’ internship with Tarmak007 based out of Bangalore. His
write-ups need not be news-breaks and indepth in nature; hence should be seen
as an ab initio effort by a budding
defence journalist. The views expressed by Athul need not be necessarily that of
Tarmak007.)