Technology in the India Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India (office: 15 August 1947 ± 27 May 1964), initiated reforms to promote higher education, science, technology in India. The Indian Institute of Technology ² conceived by a 22 member committee o f scholars and entrepreneurs in order to promote technical education ² was inaugurated on 18 August 1951 at Kharagpur in West Bengal by then mi nister of education Maulana Abul K alam Azad. Beginning in the 1960s, close ties with the Soviet Union enabled the Indian Space Research Organization to rapidly develop the Indian space program and advance nuclear power in India even after the first nucleartest explosion by India on May 18, 1974 at Pokhran. India accounts for about 10% of all expenditure on research and development in Asia and the number of scientific publications grew by 45% o ver the past five years. India invested US$3.7 billion in science and technology in 2002-2003. Five Indian Institutes of Technology were listed among the top 10 science and technology schools in Asia by Asiaweek. The numberof publications by Indian scientists is characterized by some of the fastest growth rates among major countries. India, together with China, Iran and Braz il are the only developing co untries among 31 nations with 97.5% of the world's total scientific productivity. The remaining 162 developing countries contribute less than 2.5% o f the world's scientific output. The former minister of education Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, inaugurated the Indian Institute of Technology at Kharagpur in West Bengal. Possibly modeled after the Massachusetts Institute of Technology these institutions were conceived by a 22 member committee ofscholars and entrepreneurs under the chairmanship of N. R. Sarkar. Radio broadcasting was initiated in 1927 but became state responsibility only in 1930. In 1937 it was given the nameAll India Radio and since 1957 it has been ca lled Akashvani . Limited duration of television programming began in 1959, and complete broadcasting followed in 1965. The Indian Government acquired the EVS EM computers from the Soviet Union, which were used in large co mpanies and research laboratories. Tata Consultancy Services ²established in 1968 by the Tat a Group ² were the co untry's largest software producers during the 1960s. Indian agriculture benefited from the developments made in the fields of Biotechnology, for which a separate department was creat ed in 1986 under t he Ministry of Science and Technology. Both the Indian private sector and the government have invested in the medical and agricultural applications of bi otechno logy. Massive Biotech parks were es tablished in India while the government provided tax deduction for research and development. The Indian economy underwent economic reforms in 1991, leading to a new era ofglobalization and international econo mic integration. Economic growth of over 6% annually was seen between 1993-2002. Same year a new permanent Antarctic base Maitri was founded and continues to remain in operation till date.
