Which period is known as the Golden Era of Indian Hockey?
The Golden Era in Indian Hockey lasted for 28 years between 1928 to 1956. Between 1928-1956 India at the Olympics, won the gold medal consecutively, 6 times. India played 24 Olympic matches, won all 24, scored 178 goals (at an average of 7.43 goals per match) and conceded only 7 goals. India has also won gold medals at the 1964 and the 1980 Olympics, taking the total gold tally to 8. The first sporting achievement of independent India was the 1948 Olympic hockey gold medal. Over 25,000 spectators watched the 1948 Olympic hockey final between India and Britain, played at Wembley. This was the first time that India and Britain played an official hockey match, and India went on to beat Britain 4-0. That was the first time that India's national flag was displayed and India's national anthem, Jana Gana Mana, was played at an Olympic venue.
The Academy became functional from 01 October 1932 with a course strength of 40 Gentlemen Cadets. Brigadier L P Collins, DSO, OBE was the first Commandant. The first course had on its rolls Sam Manekshaw, Smith Dun and Mohd Musa. All of them later became the Chiefs of the armies of their respective countries namely India, Burma and Pakistan. The course was christened as 'PIONEERS'. The government acquired the estate of the erstwhile Railway College at Dehradun, which had the appropriate buildings and a fairly extensive campus to meet the requirements of the Academy at its birth.
Aryabhatta was the first Indian satellite, launched into a near earth orbit on April 19, 1975,by an Intercosmos rocket of erstwhile USSR. Carried three payloads, one each for X-ray astronomy,solar physics and aeronomy. Aryabhata was built by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to conduct experiments related to astronomy. The satellite reentered the Earth's atmosphere on 11 February 1992.The 360-Kg satellite was fabricated wholly by Indian scientists at Peenya, Bengaluru, in 26 months at a cost of Rs. 50 Million.