Science and Technology in UP: Issues, Advancements and Efforts

What the official syllabus says

UPPCS Main Examination, General Studies VI.

Science and Technology: Its issues, advancements and efforts in UP.

Topics in detail

Science and technology for India in general is in General Studies III; here the focus is on UP: its institutions, its policies and how technology is used in the state's development and governance.

Institutions in UP

• Council of Science and Technology, Uttar Pradesh (CST-UP) and its schemes for research and science popularisation
• Higher education and research: IIT Kanpur, IIT (BHU) Varanasi, IIIT Allahabad, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology (Prayagraj), Banaras Hindu University, Aligarh Muslim University, state universities
• CSIR laboratories in Lucknow: Central Drug Research Institute, National Botanical Research Institute, Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Indian Institute of Toxicology Research
• Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow
• Agricultural research: Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research (Lucknow), Indian Institute of Vegetable Research (Varanasi), Indian Institute of Pulses Research (Kanpur), Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture (Lucknow), Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute (Jhansi), National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (Lucknow)
• Medical research: Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences and King George's Medical University (Lucknow), AIIMS Gorakhpur and Rae Bareli

Advancements

• Electronics and mobile phone manufacturing in Noida
• IT, data centres and the semiconductor ambitions of the state
• Defence and aerospace production: HAL units, the Defence Industrial Corridor, missile production at Lucknow
• Biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and medical devices
• Start-ups and incubators in universities and technical institutions
• Space technology in governance: remote sensing for land records, crops and forests (Remote Sensing Applications Centre, UP)

Technology in governance and services

• E-governance and digital services for citizens
• Digitisation of land records and online registration
• Telemedicine and digital health
• Smart classrooms and digital learning in schools
• Technology for policing and safety
• Drones in farming and surveys; geo-tagging of assets

Research that reached the field

• Centchroman, the non-steroidal oral contraceptive developed by the Central Drug Research Institute
• Mint (mentha) varieties and processing from the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, and the spread of aromatic crops under the CSIR Aroma Mission
• Sugarcane varieties and technologies from the sugarcane research institutes
• Vegetable and pulse varieties from the Varanasi and Kanpur institutes
• Toxicology and food-safety testing at the Indian Institute of Toxicology Research

Issues

• Low spending on research and development by the state and industry
• Shortage of trained teachers and researchers; brain drain
• Weak links between research institutions and industry
• Digital divide between urban and rural areas, and between men and women
• Patents and intellectual property from the state
• Science awareness and scientific temper

Efforts

• State policies for IT, start-ups, electronics, data centres and semiconductors
• Science popularisation: science fairs, the young scientists' programmes of CST-UP
• Innovation in schools: Atal Tinkering Labs
• Skill programmes in new technologies

Overlaps

Science and technology for India, ICT, space, biotechnology and intellectual property are in General Studies III; innovation in UP and its effect on employment in General Studies V.