'Shakti', The 1st Ever 'Made In India' Computer Chip Developed And Built By IIT Madras -
Ref: https://t.co/3rf1oz2aWA https://t.co/QHmrtivhLk
Yes, the news is exciting. We have succeeded in producing a computer chip. Kudos to IIT Chennai. Now let's look at some facts and find out if our feeling elated is justified or not. Here are some facts.
The first ever microchip was made in the year 1959 by Texas Instruments, USA. That would be sixty years in 2019. As of 2013, there were only four companies in the world that were producing microchips for computers: Intel (USA), Samsung (Korea), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC), and GlobalFoundries (USA).
Read more: https://qz.com/78272/just-four-companies-will-produce-the-microchips-on-which-the-global-economy-depends/
You are aware that external storage devices are so very important in the present day scenario. The technlogy involved in the flash drive is far simpler than the computer microchip - even then, then, the little pen-drive (also known as flash drive) was invented only 50 years after the computer chip! This is because, here was need for such a device only when the computer capacity got higher and higher. Apparently we have not even produced a single pen-drive in India.
You are aware of the "Make in India" campaign - the plan to make Asia’s third biggest economy into a global manufacturing hub, unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with much fanfare in New Delhi. There is an irony in this which very few have noted. The USB flash drive containing the electronic versions of the brochures freely distributed to visitors was made in China.
It seems to me, we keep making the same mistake again and again. Be it the automobile industry, communications, aviation, whatever. You may note, I have not included 'space science' in this list. That is because our country did not make that mistake in 'space science'; that is the reason why we are proudly ahead in the field comparable to the world leaders. What is the mistake, then?
Not starting from scratch.
You see, to be a master of anything, you need to start from the bottom. Have you noticed, we still do not have a single automobile, or TV, or an aircraft that is completely Indian? I know - immediately you raise your hands and say "Tata Nano". If you knew the truth you would be disappointed.
The famous "Indian" Nano car comprises of parts frrom USA, Germany, Ireland, Japan, England, France and Spain. For starters - the engine is made by Bosch of Germany.
Glass / St.Gobain, France
Piston/Piston Rings / Federal Mogul, USA
Instruments / Delphi Industries Ireland
Pnuematic system/Visteon USA
Camshaft / Mahle Germany
Wipers / Denso Japan
Rear View Mirrors/Ficosa Spain
Seats/Johnson Controls Ireland
Brakes/TRW Automotive USA
Engine Sealing/Freudenberg, Germany
Fuel level sensor/Continental AG Germany
Sadly, the NANO project was a flop - the company is closing down if not done so already.
Then we have the First Indian Jet Fighter Aircraft - TEJAS. It took 30 years to develop the aircraft. Finally it has joined the Indian Air Force. But the Air Force is not happy - according to one report, Tejas far behind competitors, not enough to protect Indian skies:
https://www.indiatoday.in/mail-today/story/tejas-indian-air-force-f-16-mig-21-fighter-planes-ajit-doval-1083350-2017-11-10 https://qz.com/78272/just-four-companies-will-produce-the-microchips-on-which-the-global-economy-depends/
A squadron of fighters usually contains between 12 and 24 aircraft; our Tejas squadron contains a pathetic 6 only so far. A recent report says "Air Force struggles to create Tejas fleet as HAL misses delivery targets"
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/air-force-struggles-to-create-tejas-fleet-as-hal-misses-delivery-targets/story-ykR7EYqmvu0HdzUnzsU4FP.htmlhttps://qz.com/78272/just-four-companies-will-produce-the-microchips-on-which-the-global-economy-depends/
Now you know why Dassault Aviation did not partner with the HAL - and chose RELIANCE instead?
You may be wondering: "what is this guy trying to tell me?"
Whether it is automobiles or aircraft, we need to start from scratch. Instead of embarking on a Jet fighter project 30 years ago, if we had embarked on a simple single-engined aircraft - entirely made in India - engine and all, we might have had a sloppy aircraft in about five years or so - but we would be learning! Improvements on the first junk made might have taken another five years to bring out a better model and more confidence. We would have had hundreds of sub contractors all over India. We should have had "flying clubs" in all major cities in the country. (Even the one in Bengaluru has closed down now) We should have let private people start "flying clubs" so that more and more people learn flying!
We would be finding all the faults by flying this tin can around and so we could have sorted out all that - maybe crashed a few - killed a few pilots - but improving it all the time, and in 30 years time we would have certainly reached a stage where we could boast of having developed a reasonably competitive jet fighter aircraft and not the junk that we have now. This is known as barnstorming - in the U.S.
Have you seen the first ever Rolls Royce car? It was 10 HP four cylinder car built in 1904. Now they are making several models like the Silver Cloud, the Ghost, Phantom, and the latest Sweptail.
Can we start making the "R/R Phantom" today? It is just not possible.
All the car manufacturers made what appears today as junk - but developed their cars to perfection - only by finding out what was the faults - this was done by encouraging drivers of cars to take part in rallyes and races and slowly, over the years the specifications became more stringent and the cars ultimate.
The engine it uses is the U.S made General Electric F404-GE-IN20.
The LCA project had in mind using the India Made Kaveri GTX-35VS Kaveri Engine but found it was not up to the mark, so decided to use the General Electric engine - costing $ 3.71 million in 2015. The total import content of the TEJAS remains at 40%.
India still continues to import 65% of its various military hardware and software, making it the world's largest arms importer, because of the miserable performance of DRDO and its 50 laboratories, five defence PSUs, four shipyards and 39 ordnance factories as well as the failure of successive governments to encourage the private sector to enter defence production in a major way.
Wake up, fellas!
