Syllabus- National Policy of Science & Technology: changes in Policy from time to time: Technology missions – ICT: Basics in Computers, Robotics, Nano technology and Communication.
Number of questions- Mains: 02, Prelims – 10
Mains Questions of the day-
1.How can Block Chain technology solve environmental crisis?
Introduction:
Write briefly about block chain technology
Body:
Mention how block chain technology can solve the environment crisis.
Conclusion:
- Digital infrastructure is a key to access the block chain technology for Environmental solution.
- It is evident that the block chain technology can certainly help in solving the environmental crisis and improve sustainability in various ways.
- However, driving the penetration of emerging technology like block chain will require improving digital infrastructure.
- As block chain and related digital technologies develop rapidly, policy makers are needed to adjust the regulations that can help design future energy systems and mitigate environment crisis.
Content:
Blockchain:
- Block chain derives its name from the digital databases or ledgers where information is stored as “blocks’’ that are coupled together forming “chains”.
- It offers a singular combination of permanent and tamper-evident record keeping, real-time transaction transparency and auditability.
- An exact copy of the block chain is available to each of the multiple computers or users who are joined together in a network.
- Any new information added or altered via a new block is to be vetted and approved by over half the total users.
- Even though block chain is well known for the technology behind cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum and Bitcoin, environmental researchers are now finding its use in solving the climate crisis, ranging from tracking the sustainability of products to monitoring pollution.
- Over the last few years, governments and organizations worldwide have focused on using various technological tools to mitigate climate change and biodiversity loss challenges.
- One of the tools that could be highly effective in tackling the climate crisis is block chain.
- From a technology point of view, block chain is a digitally distributed, decentralized ledger that helps track and verify transactions.
Block-chain technology can help to combat the environmental crisis:
- Investments that involve large, international sustainable development projects have become highly complicated causing delays and backlogs.
- Block chain-enabled processes and platforms can manage transactions highly effective and efficient.
- Due to this reason, sustainable development and other climate-related initiatives are desirable for investors.
- Block chain enabled processes and platforms can help manage stakeholders that work in different capacities
- This will help increase efficiency, reduce transactions and make climate-related sustainable development highly beneficial for private investments.
- According to a report by the report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), block chains distributed ledger technology can provide significant improvements by allowing investors, renewable energy project developers and purchasers to collaborate on a common platform with established global standards for compliance due diligence.
- South Africa-based renewable energy start up Sun Exchange allows anyone with an internet connection to purchase solar panels online and rent them to hospitals, schools, businesses and other companies in Africa.
- Sun Exchange uses the Bitcoin block chain for making cross border payments.
- This eliminates any potential intermediaries between investors and beneficiaries.
- Through Sun exchanges solar panels, companies in south Africa have reduced their energy costs by nearly 30%
- Power Ledger, a technology company in Australia, has started to explore the impact of block chain.
- The Organisation established a pilot project in India’s uttar Pradesh.
- They allowed home owners with solar panels on the roof tops to sell the power to other on the grid.
- This involves setting up of prices in real-time and implementing transactions over the block chain
- These systems can help increase the deployment of renewable energy
- Block chain Technology can also useful for sustainable and environmental friendly supply chain practices.
- The Technology can track products from manufacturer and help prevent inefficiency and waste by making supply chain transparent.
- Block chain can also help the consumers better understand how the products were made and shipped.
- This will allow them to make environmental friendly choices
- Foodtrax is the block chain-based App that plans to track the foot from its origin to shelf to eradicate food waste due to the storage and improper handling
- Through their block chain-based App, Foodtrax has interlinked data temperature loggers and equipment measuring and monitoring, focusing on the developing of a flexible solution that covers all steps related to the supply chain with transparency
- An area of environmental sustainability where the block chain can have a significant impact in recycling program on the block chain, organizations can give the Financial Incentives to individuals in the form of a cryptographic token
- This could be in exchange for depositing of recyclables will such as plastic, cans, bottles, containers etc.
- This helps to track essential data such as cost, volume and profit and also helps to evaluate the environment impact of an individual or company participating in the program
- Many organisations are already working on such block chain-based recycling program
- For instance, an Organisation named the plastic bank leverages block chain and IBM cloud Technology to create an application that can help to monetize Ocean plastic
- Through this its sustainability project, plastic banks turn plastic into currency by successfully setting up of collection centers across the third world countries
- This allows people to deposit used plastic in exchange of different incentives such cash benefits, cryptocurrencies etc.
- The organisation is now working on a block chain-powered applications that allows user to exchange plastic for cryptographic tokens.
- Although there are several benefits of block chain technology when it comes to solving the environmental crisis, there are many pitfalls associated with it.
- A significant amount of electricity and computing power is required for processing certain transactions on bitcoin and etherum block chains
- This is a crucial challenge in many countries where energy can be prohibitively expensive
- There is also a requirement for regulatory frameworks that will be key to addressing the high cost of processing power.
- Electricity tariffs would be required to change, so energy consumers are highly likely to participate in surplus energy trading through block chain platforms
2.Nanotechnology shapes the future of healthcare, Explain.
Introduction:
Write briefly about Nano -Technology
Body:
Mention the how Nano-technology shapes the future of Health care system.
Conclusion:
- Because of their small size, much concern has been expressed about the potential for adverse health effects arising from the ability of nanoparticles to penetrate cell walls and the blood-brain barrier.
- These concerns also include possible detrimental health effects during manufacturing and transportation.
- Therefore, there is a need to identify key gaps in knowledge and areas where further research may be targeted in order to efficiently exploit the technology.
Content:
- Nanotechnology is to have substantial application in the healthcare sector.
- It is the most radical and wide-reaching emerging technology.
- Its use cases, and its market share.
- Nanotech is a multi-disciplinary field of research that deals with the restructuring and manipulation of matters that are of the size of 1 to 100 nanometers, i.e., at the molecular level.
- The word ‘nano’ means ‘dwarf’ in Greek.
- Let’s understand what a nanometer is all about.
- building nano-robots, nano-tubes, nano-dots, nanowires, and nano-sheets that could be used for innovative and path-breaking medical applications from diagnosis of disease and drug delivery to the disease-affected areas of the human body with great precision, something that hasn’t been actively pursued until now.
- The space where nanotechnology meets healthcare is called nano-medicine.
- Industry experts estimate the nano-medicine market share to grow up to $260Bn in 2025 from $141Bn in 2020.
- While nanostructures occur naturally in soil, dust, oceans, plants, and animals, scientists today are building nano-materials with newly manipulated attributes or engineered properties.
- This holds massive potential and opens new doors in drug delivery systems, body scans, gene therapy, identifying cancer cells, and health monitoring.
- Nanotechnology is helping to considerably improve technology in sectors like information technology, homeland security, medicine, transportation, energy, food safety, and environmental science.
The most promising use-cases of Nanotechnology in Healthcare:
Targeted Drug Delivery System:
- In conventional drug delivery mechanism, when you take a medicine for a headache, it possibly goes through your entire body, including the head, to give you relief.
- This also means that the drug delivery mechanism is inefficient, slow, requires more drug consumption than needed, and may impact non-targeted organs.
- Nanotechnology can carry drugs to specific cells and release them when it reaches the targeted organ or area.
- This can be highly instrumental, for instance, in curtailing the side effects of chemotherapy.
Diagnosis:
- A biomarker, is a measurement, substance, or chemical in the body which indicates a disease or a condition.
- It is seen that nanotechnology can bridge the gap between measurable biomarkers representing the physiology of a biological process and clinical outcomes.
- Nanoparticles injected into humans can detect these biomarkers with extremely high efficacy as compared to scanning the human body from the outside, thereby reducing the chances of drug failure/rejection.
Medical Imaging:
- Nanoparticles/Quantum dots are so small that their surface area to volume ratio is relatively high, thus producing excellent contrast and fluoresce.
- In generic terms, a nanoparticle is more like a glow-in-the-dark thing, and its ability to reflect light will help us in biological labeling at the molecular level.
- Nanoparticles in medical devices and drug therapy can give us much better diagnosis results and treatments with a higher success rate.
Wound Treatment:
- One of the major pain points of wound healing is contamination with microorganisms.
- Silver nanoparticles have antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties that provide better wound healing efficacy with less bacterial resistance.
- They can be used as scaffolds for skin regeneration.
- Nano-fibrous materials can also be used as delivery systems for drugs, proteins, growth factors, and other molecules.
- This will help us in targeted drug delivery with minimal and effective drug usage.
- Needless to say, there exists great scope for advancements in nanotechnology that hold the potential to revolutionize and reinvent healthcare systems despite existing hurdles.
- Nanomedicine, nano-pharmacology, nano-imaging, and targeted drug delivery systems will make the diagnosis and prevention of diseases, and care delivery more efficient and patient-centric.
Prelims questions of the day:
1.Which of the following state in India, the world’s first Nano urea liquid plant has been established for commercial production of Nano urea?
- Maharashtra
- Gujarat
- Hyderabad
- Madhya Pradesh
Answer: B
Explanation:
Nano Urea Liquid (NUL):
- The world’s first Nano urea liquid plant has been inaugurated by Prime Minister at Kalol in Gujarat. India has become the first country to start commercial production of Nano urea in the world.
- National Fertilisers Limited (NFL) and Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers Ltd (RCF) signed MoU with IFFCO for ‘transfer of technology’ of Nano Urea Liquid (NUL) fertiliser.
- NUL contains nano-scale nitrogen particles which have more surface area and number of particles making it more impactful.
- India has become the first country globally to start commercial production of NUL.
- Significance:
- Reduces the requirement of conventional Urea by 50% or more.
- Improves Soil, Air & Water quality.
- Cheaper than conventional urea.
2.Consider the following statements about 5G Technology. Which of the following statement is not correct?
- The 5G networks will operate in the millimeter wave spectrum in between 300 to 3000Ghz
- It does work in low and medium band spectrum
- It requires fundamental change in core architecture of communication system
- The first country to adopt 5G on a large scale was South Korea
Answer: A
Explanation:
- The 5G networks will operate in the millimeter wave spectrum (30-300 GHz) is incorrect which have the advantage of sending large amounts of data at very high speeds because the frequency is so high, it experiences little interference from surrounding signals.
- 5G mainly work in 3 bands, namely low, mid and high frequency spectrum all of which have their own uses as well as limitations.
- Hence statement B is correct Enabling critical infrastructures: 5G will require a fundamental change to the core architecture of the communication system.
- Hence, statement C is correct.
- The first country to adopt 5G on a large scale was South Korea. Hence, statement D is correct
3.Which of the following statement is not correct regarding the Nano Urea Liquid?
- It will increase the growth of crops by restoring nitrogen to plants as an alternative to conventional urea
- It will improve the underground water quality.
- It will cut down chemical fertiliser requirement by 50%.
- The Unutilized nitrogen is going to waste
Answer: D
Explanation:
Nano-urea liquid:
- Nano urea liquid is a nanotechnology-based fertilizer to increase the growth of crops by restoring nitrogen to plants as an alternative to conventional urea.
- It enhances the nutritional quality and productivity of the crop along with improving the underground water quality.
- Conventional Urea, a chemical fertiliser, is used to artificially fulfill the nitrogen need of the plant while Nano urea liquid is developed to replace the former and cut down its requirement by 50%.
- When sprayed on leaves, Nano Urea easily enters through stomata and other openings and is assimilated by the plant cells.
- It is easily distributed through the phloem from the source to sink inside the plant as per its need.
- Unutilized nitrogen is stored in the plant vacuole and is slowly released for proper growth and development of the plant.
4.Which of the following organsiation developed and patented the Nano Urea Liquid Technology?
- Small Agri-Business consortium
- Farmer producer organization
- The Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited(IFFCO)
- All of the above
Answer: C
Explanation:
- The Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO), a cooperative society, has developed and patented the nano urea liquid technology.
- The plant in Kalol is set up by IFFCO with an investment of over Rs 175 crore and is capable of producing 1/5 lakh bottles of 500ml (and more) capacity of nano urea per day.
- Eight more such plants are announced to be set up across India.
- IFFCO will transfer the technology of Liquid Nano Urea to public sector fertiliser companies to increase production rapidly.
- The technology will be transferred to National Fertilizers Limited (NFL) and Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Limited (RCF) to establish new Nano Urea production plants and ramp up the supply of Nano Urea to farmers of the country.
5.Consider the following statements about Li –Fi. Which of the statements given above are correct?
- It can transmit data more than 200 times the speed of Wi-Fi
- Li – Fi range is very restricted
- Li -Fi system consumes more power
- Li – Fi is less secure than Wi-Fi
Answer: B
Explanation:
- Li-Fi, or light fidelity is a wireless technology that makes use of visible light in place of radio waves to transmit data at terabits per second speeds—more than 100 times the speed of Wi-Fi.
- Hence, statement 1 is incorrect Due to its Shorter-range Li-Fi is more secure than Wi-Fi.
- Hence, statement 4 is incorrect Li-Fi systems consume less power. It is more secure than Wi-Fi.
- Hence, statement 3 is incorrect: As visual light can’t pass through opaque objects and needs line of sight for communication, its range will remain very restricted to start with.
- Hence, statement 2 is correct in order to enjoy full connectivity, more capable LED bulbs will need to be placed at various places Style.
6.Which of the following country, is the first largest consumer of urea in the world?
- India
- China
- Russia
- United State of America
Answer: B
Explanation:
- China is the world’s largest consumer of fertilizers.
- In 2019, the Asian country consumed more than 45 million metric tons worth of nutrients.
- It was followed by India and the United States, with 29.4 and 20.4 million tons, respectively
- India is the World’s second-largest consumer of urea
- India is the second-largest consumer and the third-largest producer of urea in the world.
- India annually consumes around 33 million tonnes of urea, of which almost 70% is domestically produced, while the rest is imported from other countries.
- In the financial year 2020, the overall consumption of fertilisers stood at about 61 million tonnes, of which urea consumption increased exponentially.
- Most farmers prefer urea because other non-urea varieties like Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP), Muriate of Potash (MOP) etc. are expensive.
- Higher cost also leads to excessive use of urea and adverse impact on crops.
- Thus, the government took several initiatives including neem-coated urea, organic farming etc. to reduce the use of urea among the farmers.
7.Consider the following the statements about International Telecommunication Union. Which of the statements given above is/are incorrect?
- It is a specialized agency under United Nations
- It allocates satellite orbits
- It allocates global radio spectrum
- None
Answer: D
Explanation:
- International Telecommunication Union is a specialized agency under United nations for information and communication technologies – ICTs.
- Hence, Statement 1 is correct Founded in 1865 to facilitate international connectivity in communications networks, ITU allocate global radio spectrum and satellite orbits, develop the technical standards that ensure networks and technologies seamlessly interconnect, and strive to improve access to ICTs to underserved communities worldwide.
- Hence, statement 2 and 3 are correct
8.Which of the following has/have the applications of Block chain technology?
- Meta-verse
- Non-fungible tokens
- cross border payments
- All the above
Answer: D
Explanation:
- A meta-verse is a block chain-based public platform that uses a decentralized open-source ecosystem to enable users to create applications and engage in digital commerce. As an open-source block-chain infrastructure, a meta-verse typically includes a user-friendly a decentralized wallet and a decentralized exchange.
- Non-Fungible Tokens: Anything that can be converted into a digital form can be an NFT.
Everything from drawings, photos, videos, GIFs, music, in-game items, selfies, and even a tweet can be turned into an NFT, which can then be traded online using cryptocurrency.
- Block-chain technology in cross-border payments can enable secure transfers between an infinite number of bank ledgers. This allows one to bypass banking intermediaries who serve as middlemen to help transfer money from one bank to another.
9. Which of the following Services is/are Provide through Cloud Computing?
- Infrastructure- as-a-Service
- Platform-as-a-Service
- Software-as-a-Service
- Database-as-a-Service
Answer: A
Explanation:
- Anything that includes delivering hosted services over the internet comes under the broad umbrella of Cloud Computing.
- The services so provided are broadly of three categories as follows
1. Infrastructure-as-a-Service
2. Platform-as-a-Service
3. Software-as-a-Service
Hence, option 1 is correct
10.Which of the following ministry is responsible for formulated the National Strategy on Block-Chain Technology?
- Ministry of science and technology
- Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology
- Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
- Ministry of Commerce and Industry
Answer: B
Explanation:
- The strategy document aims at creating trusted digital platforms through shared Block-chain infrastructure; promoting research and development, innovation, technology and application development; and facilitating state of the art, transparent, secure and trusted digital service delivery to citizens and businesses, thus making India a global leader in Block chain Technology.
- Block chain is an apt technology for e-Governance solutions and other domains, leading towards enabling trust in digital platforms.
- Block chain provides the required security and privacy, and allows only trusted entities with privileges to record and access details in an accountable manner.
- National Strategy on Block chain has been formulated by Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), with the vision to create trusted digital platforms through shared Block chain infrastructure; promoting research and development, innovation, technology and application development; and facilitating state of the art, transparent, secure and trusted digital service delivery to citizens and businesses.
- This strategy document lays out overall vision towards development and implementation strategies for a National Block chain Platform covering the technology stack, legal and regulatory framework, standards development, collaboration, human resource development and potential use cases.
- It is envisaged that this strategy document would provide the necessary guidance and support for realizing the vision and creating a nationwide ecosystem for creating the National Block chain Platform and development of relevant applications using this platform in various domains.