IT, Space, Defence, Emerging Technologies and IPR

What the official syllabus says

General Studies-III (Main Examination, Paper VI), (A) Science and Technology:

• General awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Defence, Computers, Robotics, Nanotechnology, bio-technology and other emerging technologies. Issues relating to intellectual property rights, etc.

The line asks for general awareness: what each technology is, what India has achieved in it, and what issues it raises. Intellectual property rights are named separately and need their own preparation.

Topics in detail

Information technology and computers

• Basic computer organisation: hardware, software, operating systems, memory and storage
• Internet, cloud computing, data centres, edge computing
• Artificial intelligence and machine learning: uses, risks (bias, deepfakes), regulation; IndiaAI Mission
• Big data, blockchain and their applications in governance
• Semiconductors: chip design and fabrication; India Semiconductor Mission and semiconductor projects in Gujarat (Dholera, Sanand)
• Supercomputing (National Supercomputing Mission) and quantum computing (National Quantum Mission)
• Telecommunication: 4G, 5G, optical fibre, satellite internet

Space

• Indian Space Research Organisation (1969) and the Department of Space; Vikram Sarabhai, the Physical Research Laboratory (Ahmedabad) and the early years of the programme
• Launch vehicles: SLV, ASLV, PSLV, GSLV, LVM3, SSLV; cryogenic engines
• Satellite families: communication (INSAT, GSAT), earth observation (IRS, Cartosat, RISAT, Oceansat), navigation (NavIC)
• Missions: Chandrayaan-1 (2008), Mars Orbiter Mission (launched 2013), Chandrayaan-2 (2019), Chandrayaan-3 (landing near the lunar south pole, 23 August 2023), Aditya-L1 (2023)
• Human spaceflight: Gaganyaan; space docking experiment; plans for an Indian space station
• Space reforms: Indian Space Policy 2023, IN-SPACe, NewSpace India Limited, private launch companies
• Applications: disaster warning, fisheries advisories, crop estimation, mapping
• Space debris and international space law (Outer Space Treaty, 1967)

Defence technology

• Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO, 1958)
• Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (1983): Agni, Prithvi, Akash, Nag, Trishul; BrahMos (with Russia)
• Aircraft and ships: Tejas light combat aircraft, INS Vikrant (indigenous aircraft carrier), INS Arihant (nuclear submarine)
• Self-reliance in defence: positive indigenisation lists, Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020, defence exports
• Defence manufacturing in Gujarat: the C-295 transport aircraft final assembly line at Vadodara
• New areas: drones and counter-drone systems, hypersonic weapons, directed-energy weapons, space and cyber as domains of warfare

Robotics and nanotechnology

• Robotics: industrial robots, automation and jobs, surgical robots, robots in disaster response
• Nanotechnology: properties at the nanoscale, nanomaterials (graphene, carbon nanotubes), Nano Mission (2007)
• Uses in medicine (drug delivery), agriculture (nano urea), water purification and electronics
• Health and environmental risks of nanoparticles; regulation

Biotechnology

• Recombinant DNA technology, genetic engineering, PCR, gene sequencing
• Genome editing (CRISPR), gene therapy, stem cells, cloning
• Genetically modified crops: Bt cotton (approved 2002, widely grown in Gujarat), GM mustard; the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee
• Vaccines and biosimilars; India's role as a vaccine maker
• Genome India project; biobanks; biotechnology policy (BioE3, 2024)
• Biosafety and bioethics: Cartagena Protocol, consent and data in genetic research

Intellectual property rights

• Types: patents, copyrights, trademarks, industrial designs, geographical indications, plant varieties, trade secrets
• WTO's TRIPS Agreement and the World Intellectual Property Organization
• Patents Act, 1970 and the 2005 amendment (product patents); Section 3(d) and the Novartis case (2013); compulsory licensing
• National IPR Policy (2016); Traditional Knowledge Digital Library
• Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act, 2001, and the potato variety dispute involving Gujarat farmers (2019)
• Geographical indications of Gujarat: Patan Patola, Gir Kesar mango, Kachchh embroidery, Sankheda furniture, Jamnagari Bandhani, Bhalia wheat, Tangaliya shawl, Agates of Cambay, Surat Zari craft
• Issues: access to medicines, biopiracy (neem and turmeric patent cases), software and AI-generated works

Overlaps

• Prelims General Studies: technology in space and defence, ISRO and DRDO, biotechnology, nanotechnology and other emerging technologies with their ethical, social and legal issues.