National Technology day, 2022

In news– Every year National Technology day is celebrated on May 11 to mark its importance in our day-to-day life.

About National Technology day-

It was first celebrated in 1999 on 11th May.
It was officially declared by the Late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee after the Five nuclear tests that were carried out on May 11, 1998 at a test site in Pokhran in Rajasthan.
It is important to note that the name of Shakti-98 (‘Operation Shakti’) was given to this nuclear test which was later on named as pokhran- II and the nuclear test conducted in 1974 named as pokhran-I.
Initially the code name of the nuclear test was ‘Smiling Buddha’.
May 11 also marks a significant achievement for several other innovations. These include India’s first-ever indigenous aircraft, Hansa-1’s maiden test flight, in which the light two-seater aircraft flew over Bengaluru in Karnataka for the first time.
The plane was designed by National Aerospace Laboratory (NAL) for pilot training, surveillance, and reconnaissance purposes.
Country defence research arm, DRDO also tested a short-range missile with a quick reaction time – the surface-to-air – Trishul missile.
They later got inducted into the Indian Army and Air Force as part of India’s Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme.
The theme for 2022 is ‘ Integrated Approach in science and technology for a sustainable future’.
As part of the event Technology Development Board (TDB) organises National awards for the commercialisation of technologies under the categories like National Awards, MSME awards, and Startup awards.

Pokhran-I and II-

Operation Smiling Buddha was the assigned code name of India’s first successful nuclear bomb test on 18 May 1974.
Pokhran 1 was a test to see if a homemade device explodes or not. It was a peaceful nuclear explosion.
Pokhran-I was also the first confirmed nuclear weapons test by a nation outside the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.
Officially, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) characterised this test as a “peaceful nuclear explosion”.
After 24 years of the first nuclear test carried out in the year 1974 under the regime of Late Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi, the second nuclear test was carried out on 11th May 1998 in Pokhran while Late Prime Sh. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister Of India.

- First was to validate new designs to ensure the credibility of the nuclear deterrent as the data set from the 1974 test was limited.
- The second was to declare that India was now a nuclear weapon state and modify the terms of its engagement with other states accordingly.
- The third was to generate an acceptance of India as a responsible state with an impeccable non-proliferation record.
The tests achieved their main objective of giving India the capability to build fission and thermonuclear weapons with yields up to 200 kilotons.