Freedom of Press

On 29th January 1780, the Hickey’s Bengal Gazette or the Calcutta General Advertizer was published. It was the first English newspaper to be printed in the Indian sub-continent. The press was the chief instrument of forming a nationalist ideology The resolutions and proceedings of the Congress were propagated through press. Trivia: nearly one third of … Read more

Rise of National Movement and Indian National Congress

Why did national movement arise? Indian nationalism rose to meet the challenges of foreign domination The British rule and its direct and indirect consequences provided the material and the moral and intellectual conditions for the development of a national movement in India. Clash of interest between the interests of the Indian people with British interests … Read more

Civil Rebellions and Tribal Uprisings

The backbone of the rebellions, their mass base and striking power came from the rack-rented peasants, ruined artisans and demobilized soldiers CAUSES The major cause of the civil rebellions was the rapid changes the British introduced in the economy, administration and land revenue system. The revenues were enhanced by increasing taxes. Thousands of zamindars and … Read more

Spread of Modern Education

1781: Hastings set up the Calcutta Madrasah for the study and teaching of Muslim law and related subjects 1791: Jonathan Duncan started a Sanskrit College at Varanasi for the study of Hindu law and philosophy. 1813: Charter of 1813 directed the Company to spend Rs. 1 lakh for promoting modern sciences in the country. This … Read more

Administrative Organization of the British

Army Army fulfilled four important functions: Instrument to conquer Indian powers Defended the British Empire in India against foreign rivals Safe-guarded against internal revolt Chief instrument for extending and defending the British Empire in Asia and Africa. Bulk of the army consisted of Indians. In 1857, of the total strength of 311400, about 265900 were … Read more

India in the Eighteenth Century

Bahadur Shah 1 (1707-12) Muzam succeeded Aurungzeb after latter’s death in 1707 He acquired the title of Bahadur Shah. Though he was quite old (65) and his rule quite short there are many significant achievements he made He reversed the narrow minded and antagonistic policies of Aurungzeb Made agreements with Rajput states Granted sardeshmukhi to … Read more

GPS Aided Geo Augmentation Navigation (GAGAN)

It is a planned implementation of Satellite Based Navigation System (SBNS) developed by Airports Authority of India (AAI) and ISRO. GAGAN is expected to provide a civil aeronautical navigation signal consistent with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Standards and Recommended Practices as established by the Global Navigation Satellite System Panel. GAGAN was launched in August … Read more

Chandrayaan-1

Launch: October 22, 2008             Site: Satish Dhavan Space Centre, Sriharikota

The objectives of the programme were:

  1. To develop and orbit a spacecraft around moon using an Indian-made launch vehicle.
  2. To prepare a three-dimensional atlas of both the near and the far side of the moon.
  3. Chemical and mineralogical mapping of the entire lunar surface.
  4. To study the impact of Moon Impact Probe on the surface of the moon as a fore-runner to future soft landing missions.

NASA’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) had on Chandrayaan-1 had detected water on the surface of moon. The mission was expected to last two years. However, the communication with the satellite was lost on 29 August 2009 and the mission was declared over. It lasted for 312 days and achieved 95 percent of its objectives.

Chandrayaan-1 was selected by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) as one of the recipients of its annual AIAA SPACE 2009 awards for contributions to space science and technology.

Read moreChandrayaan-1

Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)

SDO is a NASA mission launched on February 11, 2010 which will observe the sun for over five years. The observatory is a part of the living with a star program. SDO’s goal is to understand the sun’s influence on earth and near-earth space by studying the solar atmosphere on small scales of space and … Read more