Happy Independence Day: 7 greatest Indian tech organisations

70 years of independence has taught us a lot of things. Most of those learnings however, come from a handful of technology institutions that have transformed our lives in many subtle, yet significant ways. Let us celebrate our Independence Day by acknowledging the contributions of the greatest technology institutions of our country.

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)

The Indian Institute of Technology was first established in 1951, just four years after our independence and a perfect example of Jawaharlal Nehru’s commitment to education at the time. The IITs are said to be modeled after the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and quickly established themselves as a world class educational institutes.

The IITs of India have trained minds like Amit Singhal, who helped rewrite Google’s search algorithm and even Narendra Karmarkar, who formulated the Karmarkar’s algorithm for solving quadratic equations.

But that’s not all. It’s said that the IITs contribute about 15 times more to India than is invested in it and by some estimates, each IITian, on average, generates a 100 jobs.

We’re not even talking about the technological contributions made by the institute to our country.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)

The Defence Research and Development Organisation was established in 1968 following the Sino-Indian war. The war placed India’s lack of defence technology in stark contrast to China and other nations in the region.

DRDO, along with its sister organisation, NSTL (Naval Science and Technology Lab) have spearheaded India’s quest for world class military technology. In particular, their contribution to missile development is significant.

The BRAHMOS missile, a collaboration between India and Russia is a world-class missile system and among the only supersonic cruise missile systems capable of wiping out battleships in one shot. It’s also considered to be the world’s fastest operational cruise missile.

Before that, the Agni program developed ICBMs (Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile) that extended India’s reach to well beyond its own borders and immediate neighbors.

Other successful products of these research establishments include the Dhruv helicopters, which have resulted in significant foreign sales, and the Arjun Tank (Mk.II), which has managed to outclass many of its closest rivals, including the Russian T-90. If that wasn’t enough, India also boasts of the largest operational stealth ships in the world today.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)

When it comes to Isro, entire articles can be dedicated to them. Where do we even begin? Under the leadership of people like APJ Abdul Kalam, the Indian Space Research Organisation has had some globally significant achievements under its belt.

Their PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) rocket platform is among the cheapest and most reliable in the world, their space program rivals any in the world when it comes to economic and the likes of the Mars Orbiter Mission have shown that India is no slouch when it comes to space. India’s IRNSS, an indigenous GPS system of sorts, will also soon be operational courtesy of ISRO.

All India Radio (AIR)

All India Radio (AIR) has defined radio broadcasting in India for decades. The AIR network covers more than 99 percent of the country and is considered to be among the largest radio networks in the world.

The radio service was established in 1930 and continues to serve the country to this day, 76 years later.

It’s not without reason that All India Radio is considered to be the “voice of the nation."

Doordarshan

Say what you may about our national broadcaster, it is one of the largest in terms of reach and studios and transmitter infrastructures in the world. After its initial test run on 15 September 1959, Doordarshan started regular daily transmissions back in 1965 as part of the All India Radio.

DD also gave the Indian television industry the first taste of general entertainment programming, with noted shows such as Hum Log, Nukkad as well as spiritual shows such as Ramayana and Mahabharata. For many born before the 90s the only TV known was Doordarshan.

Keeping up with the times, Doordarshan has switched to digital transmissions. In 2004, Doordarshan also launched the DD Free Dish which is a multi-channel free-to-air DTH service which has a capacity of 80 SDTV channels and 32 radio channels.

Channels such as Gyandarshan I, Gyandarshan II and CEC UGC (VYAS) are educational channels from IGNOU. In 2015, DD also launched the only channel for farmers known as DD Kisan, to help them with information about best agricultural practices related content, farming techniques and so on.

Indian Institute of Science (IISc)

This was one of the earliest scientific research institutes that was established in India. The founding dates back to 1909, and it acquired a deemed university status in 1958.

Located in Bengaluru, IISc is to date one of the finest institutes for anyone interested in scientific research. It was one of the first institutes to set up the Supercomputer Education and Research Centre (SERC) in 1990.

It also works actively with other renowned institutes in India such as ISRO, DRDO, National Aerospace Laboratories as well as private research labs such as C-DAC, Google, Microsoft Research, IBM Research and so on.

NID

Think ‘design’ and you’re automatically thinking of NID. The National Institute of Design was established in Ahmedabad in 1961 as an “autonomous institute for the research, service and training in industrial design."

This design school is considered to be among the top design schools in the world and among the few places where designers and artists go to truly express themselves. Some of the famous alumni from the school include the likes of Sujata Keshavan, who has established India’s leading graphics design firms and two time winner 0f the prestigious, A&M award. Another famous alumnus is Dibakar Banerjee, who’s known for films like Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! and Bombay Talkies.