Year of milestones and achievements

The year 2016 for India was full of challenges. There were great deals of achievements in social and developmental sectors. The noticeable progress was in the field of technology, education and social realms. India has emerged as a global leader and a strong nation.
EDUCATION
Education is the key to nation building as well as to provide requisite knowledge and skills required for sustained growth. India has achieved tremendous progress in this sector since its Independence in 1947. Under the Five-Year Plan, educational facilities in India have been expanded at all levels. There are abundant facilities for elementary, higher and technical education across the length and breadth of the country. A population of more than one billion is striving for universal primary education, and there is encouraging progress in it. The number of literate people in the country has increased from 5.7 crores in 1951 to 57 crores in 2001, increasing by 10 times over a period of 50 years. The literacy rate has increased from 18 per in 1951 to 67.5 per cent in 2007. Making significant progress, India has reduced its "out of school" children by over 90 per cent, a fact acknowledged by UNESCO's global education report. India is also predicted to be the only country in South and West Asia to have an equal ratio of girls to boys in both primary and secondary education.
INVENTIONS
India's amazing treat in the social sector was the invention of the world's cheapest smartphone. It was surprisingly priced at Rs251 (less than $4), and known as Freedom 251. The Android-based handset is aimed to bring mobile phone ownership to the Indian mass market, where one in 10 people own a mobile phone. The company's Chief Executive Mohit Goel and his invention were one of the most talked about topics in the year 2016.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Hypersonic Flight Experiment: India successfully tested its first-ever indigenous space shuttle, the Reusable Launch Vehicle - Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD). It weighs about 1.75 tonnes and was built at a cost of Rs95 crore. It was built at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram by a team of 600 scientists over five years. It is considered to be a cost-effective medium to launch objects in the space. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to test such prototypes before the final version, which will be about six times larger at around 40 metres and will be completed by the year 2030. This invention is a feather in the cap of India's space industry as it has been completely designed and built at home.
Satellites in orbit: India put 20 satellites into the Earth's orbit, including 17 from foreign countries in 2016. It is another major achievement of ISRO, as the space agency seeks to become a low-cost and reliable choice for launches. The expedition has put India right after Russia and the US for the number of satellites launched from a single rocket so far.
FOREIGN POLICY
India's foreign policy last year reflected the leadership's resolve to extend the country's influence in the comity of nations. The government's performance in this field was laudable, and helped the country consolidate its grip on world politics. The content, conduct and style of the foreign policy bear the imprimatur of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Also known as the Modi Doctrine, the prime minister has led the charge from the front, establishing personal equations and developing rapport with several world leaders, including Barack Obama, Shinzo Abe, Angela Merkel and Vladimir Putin. 
One of the major achievements of foreign policy has been to invigorate Indian overseas communities and bring them into the mainstream of decision-making. The objective is to put them at the forefront in terms of investment and nation-building policies. 
India strengthened its multilateral and regional relationship, and was seen proactively engaged on the forums of G-20, BRICS, Asean and the United Nations.
Modi's foreign policy is focused on improving relations with neighbouring countries in South Asia, engaging the extended neighbourhood in Southeast Asia and the global powers. 
Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj believes that India's 'Act East Policy' will replace the decade-old 'Look East Policy', emphasising a more proactive role for India in this region. Similarly, the policy to reengage SAARC states is meant to further economic dividends as well as peace prospects in the region and beyond.
-mehkri@khaleejtimes.com