Hinglish

Communications Infrastructure

Class 7 Social Science · Chapter 19: Infrastructure: Engine of India's Development · NCERT Exploring Society: India and Beyond section 19.5

Learn

When Zoya sends a voice note from Madhya Pradesh to a cousin in Tamil Nadu, electricity powers a mobile tower, the message races through fibre cables under fields, may bounce off satellites, and passes through servers in data centres before popping up on the other phone. Communication has travelled far: pigeons, runners and horse couriers carried messages for centuries; India's first printed newspaper, the Bengal Gazette, appeared in 1780; the telegraph sent dots and dashes from 1844; the telephone came in 1876; All India Radio began in 1930; then computers, email, the World Wide Web, smartphones and 5G.

In 1895 in Calcutta, J. C. Bose showed that wireless signals could pass through a wall to ring a bell. He invented early detectors and antennas but rarely patented them, so Marconi, who patented a similar device, became better known. Today India has about 116 crore wireless phone subscribers and some of the world's cheapest data; in the 1990s calls cost up to ₹17 a minute. Communication links let students learn online, send disaster alerts, power e-commerce (buying and selling online) and e-governance (government services online, such as storing documents in DigiLocker).

Explore: place events on the timeline.

  1. The Bengal Gazette was first printed in 1780. Put the marker there.
  2. J. C. Bose demonstrated wireless signals in 1895. Put the marker there.

Remember

  • Towers, fibre cables, satellites and data centres carry our messages.
  • From couriers to 5G, communication transformed; J. C. Bose pioneered wireless signals in 1895.

Quick check

Booking a train ticket on an app and paying online is an example of …

  1. using communication infrastructure for e-commerce
  2. a living root bridge
  3. a horse courier
  4. the telegraph
Answer

using communication infrastructure for e-commerce. Getting a certificate online would be e-governance.

Think about it

How do you think phone and internet rates in India became so cheap?

One answer

Competition among companies, huge numbers of users sharing the cost of towers and cables, cheaper phones and government policies that opened up the sector.

Practice

Practise with fresh questions at three levels (easy, medium, hard), some answered hands-on, with hints and worked answers. Get 4 of your last 5 right to finish the topic.