Rajrishitulyakul

Rajrishitulyakul dynasty ruled over the south Kaushal. They ruled from 5^th to 6^th century AD. From the bronze inscription it is known that they followed Guptsamvata. This shows that accepted the supremacy of the Gupta Dynasty.

There are six known rulers of the Rajrishikulya Dynasty. They are all follows:

1. Sur
2. Dayit I
3. Vibhishan
4. Buimsen I
5. Dayitverman II
6. Bhimesen II

 

Nal Dynasty

NalDyansty ruled over the south Kaushal in the present day Bastar area. They ruled from 5^th to 12^th century. From the Rajim Inscription it is known that was the founder of NalDyansty.

Nal dynasty ruler Bhavdatverman and Skanda vermin has made Pushkari the capital city.

Vilas Tung was the ruler of Nal Dynasty, he made the Rajiv Lochan temple.

Nals were the contemporary of Vakatakas and Bastar was the centre of their power. Nal lost their power after defeating from Somvanshis.

 

Sharabpuriya Dynasty

It was established in 6^th century. Sharabh, the father of Narendra has established this dynasty.

Sharbhpur was the capital of this dynasty, which is near to Sirpur(Raipur district). There are two bronze inscription in Pipardula(Sanrangarh) and second Kurud(Raipur). These two inscription writes about Narendra’s kindness and his donation to poor. There is another ruler from this dynasty, Prashanna, who started gold coins and established Prashanapur near the banks of river Nidila. Sharbhpur, Shripur and Prashanpaur are written in bronze inscription. Sudevraj established Shripur. In 6^th century Sharabpuriya dynasty came to known as Amaryakul dynasty.

 

 

Pandu Dynasty

 

The first ruler of this dynasty was Udayan. Other rulers are Indrabal, Ishandev, Rankemedi and Bhavdev.

Tivardev made Pandu dynasty a strong kingdom. He was the follower of Shaivism. He adopted Kosalapati title after winning over Kaushal, Utkal and some other Mandals.

Mahanabhdev was the son of Tivardev. He started calling himself as somvanshis. In various inscription it could easily be seen. They patronized all the religions including Buddhists. Many scripture and Viharas are found recently found in recent historical search. Four Bronze inscription of Ballarjuna have been found from bardula, Lodhia, Mallar and Bonda.

 

 

Somvanshi

 

Somvanshiruled in south Kaushal from 9^th to 11^th century.

They considered themselves as the rulers of Kaushal, Utkal and Kalinga. They have adopted Trikalingadhipati title as well.

In their coin image of Rajlakskmi could be seen easily.

The prominent rulers of this dynasty are Shivgupta, Mahashivgupta, Bhimrath II, Dharmaratha, Nahutha, Yayati and Chandihar. Kalchuris continuously attacked on their kingdom. This has shaken their kingdom.

 

Introduction

Global energy demand continues to climb as the industrialized world’s energy use rises, millions pull themselves out of poverty in developing countries, and the world population expands. Thus, the debate over the energy supply of the future intensifies. This debate is complicated by ongoing global climate destabilization as a result of green house gas (GHG) emissions produced largely from combustion of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) for energy. These scientific findings and economic threats have catalyzed commitments by many industrialized countries to curb GHG emissions, which in turn have created an enormous need for large-scale sources of energy alternatives to the polluting and potentially dwindling economic supplies of fossil fuels. Nuclear technology is often proposed as a solution or as part of the solution for a sustainable energy supply. In fact, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recommended nuclear power as a key mitigation technology that is currently commercially available. The term sustainability, however, has numerous meanings that range from the light (pale) green definitions that normally refer to near-term financial sustainability to dark green long-term multi-faceted descriptions of sustainability. Here the concept of just sustainability, which includes what has been called the equity deficit of environmental sustainability, will be used as if these requirements are met so will those of the other weaker definitions.

This conception of sustainable development focuses equally on four conditions:

• improving our quality of life and well-being
• On meeting the needs of both present and future generations (intra- and intergenerational equity)
• On justice and equity in terms of recognition, process, procedure and outcome
• On the need for us to live within ecosystem limit.

 

Advantages

• Nuclear power generation does emit relatively low amounts of CO2. Nowadays global warming because of the greenhouse gases is a hot topic. The contribution of nuclear power to global warming is relatively little. This is a great advantage of nuclear power plants. Otherwise we have to reconsider that the water used in the cooling towers produces H2O vapors, which is the number 1 greenhouse gas. H2O causes about 2/3 of the greenhouse effect. This is because of a positive feedback mechanism. If  the earth warms up, there will be more H2O vapors in the air, which reinforce the greenhouse effect.
• Nuclear power plants already exist and are available worldwide. So in comparison to, for example, nuclear fusion, the technology does not have to be developed first. Also other new technologies (wind energy, solar energy, …) are still in its infancy.

 

• Coal-fired power plants, like this one emit pollutants that can contribute to climate change, decreased air quality and acid rain. Compared to coal, nuclear power production results in very little atmospheric pollution. In 2010, massive fossil fuel emissions brought the air quality in Hong Kong dangerously low; residents were advised to remain indoors for safety. Nuclear power plants won’t create smog like this.
• While nuclear plants are somewhat expensive to build, a single facility can provide massive output for years. When this picture was taken in 2000, nuclear power accounted for almost 20 percent of all the city lights you see within the United States.
• Reliable nuclear technology is already developed. No new innovations are needed to create nuclear reactors that are relatively safe and efficient. Above, the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation opens a new research reactor in 2007.

 

Disadvantages

• Raw Material

Uranium is used in the process of fission because it’s a naturally unstable element. Unfortunately, this means that while the uranium is being mined, transported and transformed into the contained pellets used in the fission chamber it is at risk of splitting on its own. This releases harmful radiation into its surroundings, and can be harmful to those handling the material. Runoff from the uranium mines poses a dangerous health risk and possible contamination to water tables.

• Water Pollutant

Nuclear fission chambers are cooled by water. This water is then turned into steam, which is used to power the turbines. When the water cools enough to change back into liquid form, it is pumped outside into nearby wetlands. While measures are taken to ensure that no radiation is being pumped into the environment, other heavy metals and pollutants can make their way out of the chamber. The immense heat given off by this water can also be damaging to eco systems located nearby the reactor

• Radioactive Waste

One of the main worries people have about nuclear power is what to do with the radioactive waste that is generated by the reactors and secondly, what is the safety impact of storing this waste. However, even though no long-term solution has been found to eliminate the problem of waste management, the problem is much smaller than is commonly perceived. As can be seen below, the amount of deaths linked to radioactive waste over the long term are insignificant, especially when compared to the deaths caused by coal and solar power.

 

 

Deaths per 1,000 MW plant per year of operation due to waste:

One of the reasons for this low death rate is that the quantities of radioactive waste generated by a reactor are not large. In fact, the waste produced by a nuclear reactor is equivalent to the size of a coin per person, per year (Lauvergon 2003). It has even been calculated that “if the United States went completely nuclear for all its electric power for 10,000 years, the amount of land needed for waste disposal would be about what is needed for the coal ash that is currently generated every two weeks” (Cohen 1990). Worldwide, 40,000 tonnes of waste are generated annually, 15,000 tonnes being spent fuel and the 25,000 remaining tonnes, low level radioactive materials such as protective clothing or shielding (Cohen 1990).

• Reactor Safety

The reputation of nuclear power as an unsafe energy source is grossly unfair and due mainly to the Chernobyl catastrophe. It is possible to see that of all major electricity sources, nuclear is by far the source with the lowest number of fatalities, with the possible exception of renewables (for which figures aren’t available). Additionally, these figures don’t take into account premature deaths caused by pollution. If included, this would place traditional energy sources even further behind nuclear power in terms of safety.

• Proliferation Risks

The necessary raw material needed to construct a nuclear weapon is highly enriched uranium or plutonium. Enrichment technology can be used to produce highly enriched uranium. Reprocessing – certainly when the fuel has only been used in the reactor for a short time – could be used to separate out plutonium suitable for use in a nuclear weapon. International agreements have been concluded (the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Additional Protocol) to make trading in nuclear material and technology and the distribution of the know-how required to construct nuclear installations subject to international supervision. This means control of the peaceful use of nuclear energy technology and security of nuclear fuel. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) pursues initiatives to eventually bring all enrichment and reprocessing installations under international supervision. At the moment, the situation is not yet adequate.

• Emissions

While greenhouse gas emissions have a potential worldwide impact through global warming and climate change, SOx, NOx and particulate matters have regional or local impacts.

• Complexity in Operation

This source of energy has a load factor of 80% and future reactors will be able to produce electricity 90% of the time. This is second only to fossil fuels. However, nuclear power does face a problem. It takes 24 hours to get a plant up and running. This means that nuclear plants cannot easily adjust to fluctuating demand. This is why nuclear plants tend to be turned on constantly except during maintenance when other sources, usually fossil fuels, tend to be used to adjust for demand.

Among the risks associated with nuclear energy are the threat of terrorism and proliferation, and one point of discussion is therefore whether expansion of nuclear energy in the Netherlands would pose greater security risks than in the current situation, with only a single nuclear power station.

There are three types of terrorism threat:

• The use of explosives to disperse radioactive material; this is sometimes referred to as a “dirty bomb”. Construction of a dirty bomb does not require any material from the nuclear fuel cycle. Radioactive material is also present outside the nuclear energy sector, for example at hospitals. Security measures for the fuel cycle must therefore be aimed at preventing material falling into the hands of terrorists.
• Acquisition of a nuclear weapon by a terrorist organisation. The size and complexity of the necessary equipment means that it is no simple matter for a terrorist organisation to develop and construct a nuclear weapon. Security for nuclear installations must be aimed at minimising the risk of terrorist attacks.
• An attack on a nuclear installation, storage site, or transport of radioactive material with the intention of causing radioactive substances to be released, thus contaminating the surrounding area. Security systems that close down the reactor automatically in the event of operator error also restrict the potential threat arising from any terrorist takeover of the power station. Designers of nuclear installations and transport containers also take account of the possibility of terrorist attacks. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has proposed that there should be explicit design requirements for new nuclear power stations as regards resistance to attack using an airliner.

Rural-Urban Composition:

For the first time since Independence, the absolute increase in population is more in urban areas that in rural areas

Rural Population in India: 68.84%

Urban Population in India:31.16%

Level of urbanization increased from 27.81% in 2001 Census to 31.16% in 2011 Census

The proportion of rural population declined from 72.19% to 68.84%

 

INDIA/STATE/UT	TOTAL POPULATION	RURAL POPULATION	URBAN POPULATION	RURAL POP PERCENTAGE	URBAN POP PERCANTAGE
A & N ISLANDS	3,79,944	2,44,411	1,35,533	64.33	35.67
ANDHRA PRADESH	8,46,65,533	5,63,11,788	2,83,53,745	66.51	33.49
ARUNACHAL PRADESH	13,82,611	10,69,165	3,13,446	77.33	22.67
ASSAM	3,11,69,272	2,67,80,516	43,88,756	85.92	14.08
BIHAR	10,38,04,637	9,20,75,028	1,17,29,609	88.7	11.3
CHANDIGARH	10,54,686	29,004	10,25,682	2.75	97.25
CHHATTISGARH	2,55,40,196	1,96,03,658	59,36,538	76.76	23.24
DADRA & NAGAR HAVELI #	3,42,853	1,83,024	1,59,829	53.38	46.62
DAMAN & DIU	2,42,911	60,331	1,82,580	24.84	75.16
GOA	14,57,723	5,51,414	9,06,309	37.83	62.17
GUJARAT	6,03,83,628	3,46,70,817	2,57,12,811	57.42	42.58
HARYANA	2,53,53,081	1,65,31,493	88,21,588	65.21	34.79
HIMACHAL PRADESH	68,56,509	61,67,805	6,88,704	89.96	10.04
INDIA	1,21,01,93,422	83,30,87,662	37,71,05,760	68.84	31.16
JAMMU & KASHMIR	1,25,48,926	91,34,820	34,14,106	72.79	27.21
JHARKHAND	3,29,66,238	2,50,36,946	79,29,292	75.95	24.05
KARNATAKA	6,11,30,704	3,75,52,529	2,35,78,175	61.43	38.57
KERALA	3,33,87,677	1,74,55,506	1,59,32,171	52.28	47.72
LAKSHADWEEP	64,429	14,121	50,308	21.92	78.08
MADHYA PRADESH	7,25,97,565	5,25,37,899	2,00,59,666	72.37	27.63
MAHARASHTRA	11,23,72,972	6,15,45,441	5,08,27,531	54.77	45.23
MANIPUR	27,21,756	18,99,624	8,22,132	69.79	30.21
MEGHALAYA	29,64,007	23,68,971	5,95,036	79.92	20.08
MIZORAM	10,91,014	5,29,037	5,61,977	48.49	51.51
NAGALAND	19,80,602	14,06,861	5,73,741	71.03	28.97
NCT OF DELHI	1,67,53,235	4,19,319	1,63,33,916	2.5	97.5
ORISSA	4,19,47,358	3,49,51,234	69,96,124	83.32	16.68
PUDUCHERRY	12,44,464	3,94,341	8,50,123	31.69	68.31
PUNJAB	2,77,04,236	1,73,16,800	1,03,87,436	62.51	37.49
RAJASTHAN	6,86,21,012	5,15,40,236	1,70,80,776	75.11	24.89
SIKKIM	6,07,688	4,55,962	1,51,726	75.03	24.97
TAMIL NADU	7,21,38,958	3,71,89,229	3,49,49,729	51.55	48.45
TRIPURA	36,71,032	27,10,051	9,60,981	73.82	26.18
UTTAR PRADESH	19,95,81,477	15,51,11,022	4,44,70,455	77.72	22.28
UTTARAKHAND	1,01,16,752	70,25,583	30,91,169	69.45	30.55
WEST BENGAL	9,13,47,736	6,22,13,676	2,91,34,060	68.11	31.89

 

 

 

 

 

Age Structure:

 

Age- sex structure is one of the most important characteristics of population composition. Almost all population characteristics vary significantly with age.

Information is included by sex and age group (0-14 years, 15-64 years, 65 years and over). The age structure of a population affects a nation’s key socioeconomic issues. Countries with young populations (high percentage under age 15) need to invest more in schools, while countries with older populations (high percentage ages 65 and over) need to invest more in the health sector. The age structure can also be used to help predict potential political issues. For example, the rapid growth of a young adult population unable to find employment can lead to unrest.

Below is the age structure of India:

 

 

0-14 years: 27.71% (male 186,420,229/female 164,611,755)
15-24 years: 17.99% (male 121,009,850/female 106,916,692)
25-54 years: 40.91% (male 267,203,029/female 251,070,105)
55-64 years: 7.3% (male 46,398,574/female 46,105,489)
65 years and over: 6.09% (male 36,549,003/female 40,598,872) (2016 est.)

 

 

Sex Ratio:

Sex ratio is used to describe the number of females per 1000 of males. Sex ratio is a valuable source for finding the population of women in India and what is the ratio of women to that of men in India.

In the Population Census of 2011 it was revealed that the population ratio in India 2011 is 940 females per 1000 of males. The Sex Ratio 2011 shows an upward trend from the census 2001 data. Census 2001 revealed that there were 933 females to that of 1000 males.

While Kerala with sex ratio of 1084 top the list, Daman and Diu with sex ratio of 618 is at the bottom of the list.

Below is the list of states according to the sex ration. In the list we can see the states with good sex ratio.

 

		2011 Census
S.No.	State	Sex Ratio	Child Sexratio
–	India	943	919
1	Kerala	1084	964
2	Puducherry	1037	967
3	Tamil Nadu	996	943
4	Andhra Pradesh	993	939
5	Chhattisgarh	991	969
6	Meghalaya	989	970
7	Manipur	985	930
8	Orissa	979	941
9	Mizoram	976	970

 

 

 

Since the grant of diwani for Bengal, Bihar and Orissa in 1765, the major concern of the East India Company’s administration in India was to collect as much revenue as possible. Agriculture was the main basis of economy and the main source of income and hence, although the nawabi administration was retained with Muhammad Reza Khan acting as the Naib Diwan for the Company, several land revenue experiments were introduced in haste to maximise extraction.

In 1772, Warren hastings  introduced a new system, known as the farming  system. European District Collectors, as the nomenclature suggested, were to be in charge of revenue collection, while the revenue collecting right was farmed out to the highest bidders. About the periodicity of the settlements, a number of experiments were made.

But the farming system ultimately failed to improve the situation, as the farmers tried to extract as much as possible without any concern for the production process. The burden of revenue demand on th peasants increased as a result and often it was so onerous that it could not be collected at all. The net outcome of this whole period of rash experimentation was the ruination of the agricultural population. In 1784, Lord Cornwallis was therefore sent to India with a specific mandate to streamline the revenue administration.

Up to 1793 A.D., The East India Company continued to follow the revenue farming system in Bengal Presidency. In 1782, Sir John Shore Committee was appointed to draft a new land revenue policy. The policy was approved by Michael Dundas, The President of Board of Control and William Pete the P.M. of England.

Permanent Settlement

The Permanent Settlement or Zamindari Sysem was introduced by Lord Corniwallis in 1793. In Bengal, North Cauvery Delta in Madras Presidency and Varanasi division. It covered altogether 19% of the total cultivable land under company rule.

Terms and Conditions of the System

• Zamindars were recognized as owner of the lands. Zamindars were given the rights to collect the rent from the peasants.
• The realized amount would be divided into 11 parts. 1/11 of the share belongs to Zamindars and 10/11 of the share belongs to East India Company.
• The Zamindars were also given Judicial powers
• The Sunset Law come into force in the event of Zamindars becoming defaulters.
• The system was introduced for a period of 10 years.

 

Effect of the system

• The effects of this system both on the zamindars and ryots were disastrous. As the revenue fixed by the system was too high, many zamindars defaulted on payments. Their property was seized and distress sales were conducted leading to their ruin. The rich zamindars who led luxurious lives left their villages and migrated into towns. They entrusted their rent collection to agents who exacted all kinds of illegal taxes besides the legal ones from the ryots.
• This had resulted in a great deal of misery amongst the peasants and farmers. Therefore Lord Cornwallis’ idea of building a system of benevolent land-lordism failed. Though initially the Company gained financially, in the long run the Company suffered financial loss because land productivity was high, income from it was meagre since it was a fixed sum. It should be noted that in pre- British period a share on the crop was fixed as land tax.

Ryotwari Settlement

The Ryotwari experiment was started by Alexander Reed in Baramahal in 1792 and was continued by Thomas Munro from 1801 when he was asked to take charge of the revenue administration of the Ceded Districts. Instead of zamindars they began to collect revenue directly from the village , fixing the amount each village had to pay. After this they proceeded to assess each cultivator or ryot separately and thus evolved the Ryotwari System. It created individual proprietary right in land, but it was vested in the peasants, rather than in the zamindars.

Effects of System

• It raised the revenue income of the government, but put the cultivators in great distress.
• In many areas no surveys were carried out and the tax of a ryot was assessed on an arbitrary basis, based on village accounts.
• The cultivating peasants were, therefore, gradually impoverished, and increasingly indebted and could not invest for the extension of cultivation.
• The Ryorwari system did not also eliminate village elites as inter mediaries between the government and the peasantry. As privileged rents and special rights of the mirasidars were recognised and caste privileges of the Brahmans respected.

Mahalwari System

Mahalwari system was introduced in 1833 during the period of William Bentick. It was introduced in Central Province, North-West Frontier, Agra, Punjab, Gangetic Valley, etc of British India.The Mahalwari system had many provisions of both the Zamindari System and Ryotwari System. In this system, the land was divided into Mahals. Each Mahal comprises one or more villages. Ownership rights were vested with the peasants. The villages committee was held responsible for collection of the taxes.

Effects of the Land Revenue Policy

• Land become a Commodity for the first time in Indian history
• Property rights in the land created for first time
• New rural classes were formed- The absentee landlords, money lenders and age earning working class.
• Commercialisation of agriculture encouraged. As a result , shortage of food crops took place causing famines. The 1832 Ganjan famine(Orissa) and 1875 deccan famine were the worst famines.
• The revenue policy was the single most important cause for all the major civilian rebellions in modern India, against the British.

 

 

 

 

Social Reforms Movements in Muslim Community: Wahabi Movement & Aligarh Movement

 

The Muslims reformers in India launched many religious movements. Some tried to revive the religion and other tried to reform the religion. During the 19^th century religion reforms movement were on the peak. Movements like Deoband Movement, Ahamadiya movement, Aligarh Movement;Wahabi Movement has influenced the masses and made them think about their religion and their status.

In this article, we will discuss about Wahabi movement and Aligarh Movement.

 

Wahabi Movement

 

Timings of movement:

Wahabi movement expands from 1820 to 1870.

Foundation of movement:

Saiyad Ahmad was the leader of movement in India who was influenced by the teaching of Abdul Wahab of Arab and saint shah Waliullah.

Objective of movement:

Wahabi movement was a reformist movement, which tried to do away with un-Islamic practices in Islam. It was a Islamic purifying movement. However, later the movement turned against Sikh and British Imperials.

Important events of movement:

Saiyad Ahmad led a countrywide movement to spread his movement. He wanted to make India from Dar-ul-Hurb to Dar-ul-Islam. Dar-ul-Hurb means land of Kafirs.

Syed Ahmed criticized all changes and innovations in Islam and encouraged a return to the pure Islam and society of Arabia of the Prophet’s times.

For the achievement of the desired objectives, Syed Ahmad looked for

• the correct leader,
• a proper association and
• a safe territory from where he wanted to launch his Jihad.

At first, he revolted against the Sikh kingdom ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh. In 1830 they captrured Peshawar but they lost it to Sikhs in 1831 after the battle of Balakot.

After the inclusion of Punjab in 1849 in East India Company British was the target of Wahabi Movement.

Wahabi revolted against British in 1860s but British understood the upcmongdanger. They suppress the movement after attacking Wahabi bases in Sathana, Bihar.

Effect of movement:

Wahabi Movement spread the word of religion in Islam and it accepted Islam as the most important religion in the world. The British in 1870 altogether suppressed the movement.

Aligarh Movement

 

Foundation of movement:

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan launched the Aligarh movement. He started the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh in 1875, which was later, become center of Aligarh Movement.

Objective of movement:

Unlike Wahabi movement Aligarh movement was a revivalist movement; which sought change in religion as the need of the hour. Aligarh movement saw western education necessary for the development of individual.

Important events of movement:

The Aligarh Movement was the drive for modern Muslim education.

Itplayed an important role to Indian Muslims by its political foresightedness.

From the early stages, the movement was political in nature.  In 1886 Sir Syed Ahmad Khan founded the All India Muhammadan Educational Conference i to promote more broadly the educational aims of Aligarh Movement.

New trend in Urdu literature was due to Aligarh Movement. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and his association accepted and promoted simple style, which helped Muslims to understand the main purpose of the movement. It discarded the old writing style of Urdu, which was not for the common people.

The Aligarh Movement promoted adoption of a historical and moral attitude, which influenced the life of the Indian Muslim.

It helped scholars to leave the romantic style of prose and poetry.

Urdu Defense Associationconsidered asderivative of the Aligarh Movement.

The DeobandSchool was opposed to the movement as Aligarh Movement. They considered it as supporters of the British

 

Effect of movement:

The Wahabi movement and other movements before 1857 saw Muslims anti- British. After the revolt, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan thought to have support of British in the development of Islam and Muslims in India.

Aligarh Movement gave political representation to Muslims and improved their social condition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction

• India’s missile programme took a shot from space programme, beginning 1967.
• In 1972, Rohini- a 560 two-stage, solid propulsion sounding rocket was developed and test fired
• India first launched its small 17-tonne SLV-3 space booster in 1979
• India successfully injected the 35 kg Rohini I satellite into near-earth orbit in 1980.
• In 1987, an augmented booster, the 35-tonne ASLV had begun flight testing.
• In 1983 a decisive shift took place in India’s missile program with the launch of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) The principal aim was to develop a family of strategic and tactical guided missiles based on local design and development for three defence services.

Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme

The Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) was conceived by renowned scientist DR.A P J Abdul Kalam to enable Indian Attain self-sufficiency in the filed of Missile Technology.

 

Prithvi

• The Prithvi missile is a family of tactical surface-to-surface short-range ballistic missiles(SRBM) and is
• India’s first indigenously developed ballistic missile.
• it was first test-fired on 25 February 1988 from Sriharikota, SHAR Centre,
• It has a range of up to 150 to 300 km.
• The land variant is called Prithvi while the naval operational variant of Prithvi I and Prithvi II class missiles are code named Dhanush(meaning Bow).

Agni

Surface to surface intercontinetal ballistic missile.

Agni-I is a single stage, solid fuel, road and rail mobile, medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBM) This shorter ranger missile is specially designed to strike targets in Pakistan.

Agni II is an operational version of Agni I and is an intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) test-fired in April 1999.

The range for Agni II is more than 2000 km.

Agni III, an intermediate-range ballistic missile was developed by India as the successor to Agni II. Intended to be a two-stage ballistic missile capable of nuclear weapons delivery, it is touted as India’s nuclear deterrent against China. The missile is likely to support a wide range of warhead configurations, with a 3,500 km range and a total payload weight of 2490 kg.

Agni V, believed to be an upgraded version of the Agni III The inter-continental ballistic missile  have a range of about 5000-6000 km . Agni V will be able to carry multiple warheads and would also display countermeasures against anti-ballistic missile systems.

 

Trishul

Trishul is the name of a short range surface-to-air missile developed by India as a part of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program. It has a range of 9 km and is fitted with a 5.5 kg warhead. Designed to be used against low-level (sea skimming) targets at short range, the system has been developed to defend naval vessels against missiles and also as a short-range surface-to-air missile on land.

 

Akash

Akash is a medium range surface-to-air missile developed as part of India’s Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme to achieve self-sufficiency in the area of surface-to-air missiles. It is the most expensive missile project ever undertaken by the Union government in the 20th century.

 

Nag

Nag is India’s third generation “Fire-and-forget” anti-tank missile. It is an all weather, top attack missile with a range of 3 to 7 km.

 

Other Missiles

Significant additions also include

 

PINAKA– the Multi-Barrel Rocket System , an area weapon system to supplement the existing artillery gun at ranges beyond 30 km, having quick reaction time and high rate of fire has been accepted by the user after extensive trials.

 

BrahMos-  being jointly developed with Russia, is a supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft or land.

BrahMos is among the fastest supersonic cruise missiles in the world, at speeds ranging between Mach 2.5 to 2.8, being about three and a half times faster than the American subsonic Tomahawk cruise missile. Although BrahMos is primarily an anti-ship missile, it is also capable of engaging land-based targets.

 

Nirbhay- cruise missile  was announced in 2007—a subsonic missile with a range of 1000 km. Capable of being launched from multiple platforms on land, sea and air. Nirbhay will supplement BrahMos in the sense that it would enable delivery of warheads farther than the 300 km range of BrahMos.

In 2008, New Delhi announced the end of the IGMDP with the focus now shifting towards serial production of missiles developed under this programme.

 

Shaurya– a landbased variant of the K-15 Sagarika which can be stored in underground silos for longer time and can be launched using gas canisters as booster was successfully test-fired in November 2008. This nuclear-capable missile aims to enhance India’s second-strike Sagarika missile is being integrated with India’s nuclearpowered Arihant class submarine that began sea trials in July 2009.

 

Dhanush– which has been tested several times in recent years believed to be a short-range, sea-based, liquid-propellant ballistic missile—perhaps a naval variant of the Prithvi series, with a maximum range of approximately 300 km.

 

Air-to-air missile Astra– It is an air to air missile Beyond Range (BVR). This is the first indigenous air-to-air missile developed by India. The range of this missile is 80 km in head-on chase and 15 km in tail chase.

 

Ballistic Missile Defence system

Two interceptor missiles, the Prithivi air defence missile and the Advanced Air Defence (Ashwin) missile are designed to provide a high-low cover against incoming ballistic missiles. Prithivi is reported to be capable of intercepting missiles at exo-atmospheric altitudes of 50 – 80km, while the AAD is designed to operate at endo-atmospheric altitudes of upto 30kms.

 

It would be apposite to conclude by stating that India’s missile programme represents an iconic image demonstrating sovereignty and self-reliance vis-à-vis its technological achievements. Resultant of nearly three decades of research, India’s guided missile programme has assumed a self-sustaining character and become fundamentally crucial to New Delhi’s proposed minimal deterrent.