Science and Technology in Everyday Life

What the official syllabus says

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

• Relevance of Science & Technology in day to day life.

This is the opening line of the paper's science section. It asks how science reaches ordinary people: in health, food, water, energy, communication and transport, and how government uses it to deliver services.

Topics in detail

Science, technology and society

• Science, technology and innovation: the difference between discovery, invention and diffusion
• Science policy in India: Scientific Policy Resolution (1958), Technology Policy Statement (1983), Science and Technology Policy (2003), Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (2013)
• Scientific temper as a Fundamental Duty (Article 51A(h))
• Research and development spending, the role of the government and of private industry; Anusandhan National Research Foundation (Act of 2023)
• Major science institutions: Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Department of Science and Technology, Department of Biotechnology
• Science institutions in Gujarat: Physical Research Laboratory and Space Applications Centre (Ahmedabad), Institute for Plasma Research (Gandhinagar), Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (Bhavnagar), Institute of Seismological Research (Gandhinagar), Gujarat Science City (Ahmedabad)

Health and medicine

• Vaccines: how they work, types (live attenuated, inactivated, subunit, mRNA, vector); Universal Immunisation Programme and Mission Indradhanush
• Diagnostics and imaging: X-ray, CT, MRI, ultrasound, PET; point-of-care tests
• Antimicrobial resistance: causes and the national action plan
• Communicable and non-communicable diseases; vector-borne diseases (malaria, dengue, chikungunya)
• Telemedicine (eSanjeevani) and digital health records (Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission)
• Generic medicines and Jan Aushadhi Kendras; traditional systems of medicine (AYUSH)

Food, agriculture and water

• High-yielding varieties, hybrid seeds and the science of the Green Revolution
• Biofortified crops; food fortification (iodised salt, fortified rice)
• Food preservation: irradiation, cold chains, pasteurisation; food safety standards (FSSAI)
• Drinking water treatment: chlorination, reverse osmosis, desalination (relevant to coastal Gujarat and Kachchh)
• Fluoride and salinity in groundwater and their health effects

Home, energy and transport

• LED lighting, energy-efficient appliances and star labelling
• Clean cooking fuel: LPG, piped natural gas, biogas; improved cookstoves
• Electric vehicles: batteries (lithium-ion), charging, and the FAME and PM E-DRIVE schemes
• Satellite navigation in daily life (GPS, NavIC), weather forecasts and cyclone warnings
• Mobile phones, internet, digital payments (UPI) and their technology

Science and public services

• Remote sensing for land records, crop estimation and urban planning
• Early warning systems for cyclones, floods and heat waves
• Forensic science in policing; DNA profiling
• Ethical and social questions: privacy, safety of new technologies, misinformation and science communication

Overlaps

• Prelims General Studies: Science and Technology (nature and scope of science and technology, relevance to day to day life, science policy and institutions).
• The next three pages of this paper take up the technologies one by one.