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GS Paper: GS3-17.Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, Robotics, Nano-technology, Bio-technology and issues relating to Intellectual Property Rights.

  • New ideas needed for online privacy policies

    The article discusses challenges posed by online privacy policies and suggests some ideas to make them more user friendly.

    Issues with online privacy policies

    • Such policies are not designed for easy reading.
    • These policies are full of legal jargon and most are difficult to read.
    • Most policies are exclusively in English, which is clearly inadequate in a country where no more than 12 per cent are comfortable with the language.
    • A human-centric study across India found that even people who couldn’t read or write, when made aware of what they were consenting to, cared deeply about it.
    • Online consent is, therefore, a false choice for most Indians.

    Importance of consent in data ecosystem

    • Consent is also the fulcrum of India’s fast-growing data ecosystem.
    • The Data Protection Bill under consideration by Parliament lists consent as a legal ground for data processing.
    • Last year, NITI Aayog sought public comments on the Data Empowerment and Protection Architecture (DEPA), a system that will connect an individual’s financial, health, telecom and other data so that it can be moved from one provider to another.
    • DEPA intends to use consent to ensure that users remain in control of their data.

    New ideas needed to give users greater control

    1) Business as steward of consumer trust

    • Businesses need to become more responsible stewards of consumer trust.
    • Experiments suggest that making consumers read privacy policies by getting them to stay on the “privacy policy” page for a few minutes, led to increased trust in businesses and greater data sharing.
    • Businesses can adopt such ideas to make users trust them more.

    2) Regulatory bodies need to guide consumers

    • Consumers do not have the time or knowledge to go through privacy policies.
    • The food regulator’s food safety certifications and the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE)’s rating guides have become part of our everyday lives.
    • Similarly, a “privacy rating” for apps can help individuals make more informed choices about their data.
    • Such “rule of thumbs” can help them cut through the jargon, trust businesses more and share more data.

    3) Running awareness campaign

    • Governments and industry associations can play an enabling role by running innovative awareness campaigns that leverage local contexts, and relatable narrative styles.
    • The campaign should include awareness about messages logging off from public computers, and not sharing phone numbers easily.

    4) Some other ideas

    • The “burden of proof” on privacy should rest with providers rather than consumers.
    • Businesses should act as fiduciaries of user data and act in the best interest of the user than simply maximising profits.

    • Regulators can create a new class of intermediaries that warn consumers about dangerous practices, represent them, and seek recourse on their behalf.

    Consider the question “What are the issues with the consent to the online privacy policies? Suggest the measures to give users greater control over their digital destinies.

    Conclusion

    By educating and empowering every Indian, we will enable her to participate fully in India’s digital economy, and thereby create a meaningful digital life for every Indian. Only then will the true potential of Digital India be realised.

  • NASA’s Curiosity Rover celebrates 3000 days on Mars

    The Mars rover ‘Curiosity’ has completed 3,000 Martian days.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Which region of Mars has a densely packed river deposit indicating this planet had water 3.5 billion years ago?

    (a) Aeolis Dorsa

    (b) Tharsis

    (c) Olympus Mons

    (d) Hellas

    Curiosity Rover

    • Curiosity is an SUV-sized Mars rover designed to explore the Gale crater on Mars as part of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission
    • The main mission of Curiosity was “to search areas of Mars for past or present conditions favourable for life, and conditions capable of preserving a record of life.”
    • It has a suite of instruments:
    1. A gas chromatograph, a mass spectrometer, a tunable laser spectrometer, X-ray diffraction, fluorescence instrument help study the rocks
    2. The Mars Hand Lens Imager (for close-up pictures) and a Mast Camera (to take photos of the surroundings)
    3. An instrument named ChemCam to vaporize thin layers of Martian rocks.
    4. Radiation Assessment Detector to study the radiation environment at the surface of Mars
    5. Rover Environmental Monitoring Station to measure atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity, winds, plus ultraviolet radiation levels
    6. Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons instrument to measure subsurface hydrogen

    Back2Basics: Martian Day/ Sol

    • Coincidentally, the duration of a Martian day aka ‘Sol’ is within a few per cent of that of an Earth day, which has led to the use of analogous time units.
    • A sol is slightly longer than an Earth day. It is approximately 24 hours, 39 minutes, 35 seconds long.
    • A Martian year is approximately 668 sols, equivalent to approximately 687 Earth days.
    • Mars has an axial tilt and a rotation period similar to those of Earth.
    • Thus, it experiences seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter much like Earth.

  • ‘Recoiling’ Black Holes

    A supermassive black hole, which is estimated to weigh up to 100 billion times the mass of the Sun, is seemingly missing, leaving astronomers perplexed.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Recently, scientists observed the merger of giant ‘blackholes’ billions of light-years away from the Earth. What is the significance of this observation?

    (a) ‘Higgs boson particles’ were detected.

    (b) ‘Gravitational waves’ were detected.

    (c) Possibility of inter-galactic space travel through ‘wormhole’ was confirmed.

    (d) It enabled scientists to understand ‘singularity’.

    The ‘missing’ black hole

    • The black hole is supposed to be located in Abell 2261, an enormous galaxy cluster that is about 2.7 billion light-years away from our planet.
    • So, when we look at a celestial object, we are looking at how it appeared that long ago in the past.
    • At 2.7 billion light-years away, the Abell galaxy is at an overwhelmingly large distance away from us.

    What could have happened?

    • Every large galaxy in the universe has a supermassive black hole at its centre, whose mass is millions or billions of times that of the Sun, says NASA.
    • The black hole at the centre of our galaxy– the Milky Way– is called Sagittarius A*, and is 26,000 light-years away from Earth.
    • Scientists have been using data gathered in 1999 and 2004 to look for the centre of the Abell galaxy, but have so far been unable to find its black hole.
    • A reason for this could be that Abell’s black hole has been ejected from the centre of the galaxy.

    Recoil of Black Holes

    • When two black holes merge, they release what is known as gravitational waves– invisible ripples travelling at the speed of light, which squeeze and stretch anything in their path.
    • As per the theory of gravitational waves, during such a merger, when the amount of waves generated in one direction is stronger than another, the new big black hole can be sent away from the centre of the galaxy into the opposite direction.
    • This is known as a “recoiling” black hole.
    • So far, though, scientists are yet to find definitive evidence for recoiling black holes and are still to discover whether supermassive black holes can merge and release gravitational waves.
    • As of now, only mergers of significantly smaller black holes have been verified.

    Why it is significant?

    • The researchers assert that this may have happened because of the merging of two smaller galaxies to form Abell– a process in which both of their black holes merged to form an even bigger black hole.
    • If this hypothesis turns out to be true, it would mean a major breakthrough in astronomy.

    Back2Basics:

  • Mukundpura CM2

    An asteroid which made its landfall in Mukundpura village near Jaipur has been named after the same village and is under the study of Geological Survey of India, Kolkata.

    Try this question from CSP 2014:

    Q.What is a coma, in the content of astronomy?

    (a) Bright half of material on the comet

    (b) Long tail of dust

    (c) Two asteroids orbiting each other

    (d) Two planets orbiting each other

    Mukundpura CM2

    • The meteorite named Mukundpura CM2 was classified to be a carbonaceous chondrite.
    • This is a type of stony meteorite, considered the most primitive meteorite and a remnant of the first solid bodies to accrete in the solar system.
    • The composition of carbonaceous chondrites is also similar to the Sun.
    • Chondrites are silicate-droplet-bearing meteorites, and this Mukundpura chondrite is the fifth carbonaceous meteorite known to fall in India.

    Why it is important to study meteorites?

    • Meteorites are representative of asteroids.
    • Asteroids are the remnant debris of the inner solar system formation process and thus offer the formation history or the building blocks of the planets.
    • Therefore, by studying meteorites in the laboratory and asteroids by exploration and sample return mission we try to reconstruct the activity of early solar system events.
    • Also, asteroids are often rich in volatiles and other minerals and can be exploited for future planetary exploration.

    Do you know?

    Meteorites are broadly classified into three groups – stony (silicate-rich), iron (Fe–Ni alloy), and stony-iron (mixed silicate–iron alloy).

    Details of its study

    • The study revealed that Mukundpura CM2 had experienced varying degrees of alteration during the impact.
    • Some minerals like forsterite and FeO olivine, calcium aluminium rich inclusion (CAI) minerals escaped alteration.
    • Few magnetites, sulphides and calcites were also found.
    • Detailed spectroscopic studies revealed that the meteorite had very high (about 90%) phyllosilicate minerals comprising both magnesium and iron.
    • Further X-ray studies showed it also had aluminium complexes.

    Relevance to asteroids

    • The results of the Mukundpura CM2 study are relevant to the surface composition of near-Earth asteroids Ryugu and Bennu.
    • In October 2020, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission collected samples from Bennu and is expected to return in September 2023.
    • Last month, Japan’s Hayabusa-2 mission landed on Earth with samples from Ryugu.

    Back2Basics:

  • Agricultural research in India

    The article highlight the need for more emphasis on agricultural R&D as a solution to the woes of the farmers.

    India needs low-input high-output agriculture

    • Amid farmers protest against farm acts, the current debates focus mainly on MSP, reducing farmers’ debt liabilities, reducing post-harvest losses, cash transfers and marketing reforms.
    • India with entrenched poverty requires low-input, high-output agriculture; low input in terms of both natural resources and monetary inputs.
    • Very little attention is being given to reducing the natural resource inputs — most critical being water —and agricultural R&D.
    • This cannot be achieved without science and technology.

    Following are the areas in which Indian agriculture needs R&D to reduce agriculture inputs

    1) Water usage for agriculture

    • India receives around 4,000 billion cubic meters (bcm) of rainfall, but a large part of it falls in the east.
    • Moreover, most of the rain is received within 100 hours of torrential downpour, making water storage and irrigation critical for agriculture.
    • India has one of the highest water usages for agriculture in the world — of the total 761 bcm withdrawals of water, 90.5 per cent goes into agriculture.
    • In comparison, China uses 385.2 bcm (64.4 per cent) out of the total withdrawals of 598.1 bcm for agriculture.
    • China’s per-unit land productivity in terms of crop production is almost two to three times more.
    • The total estimated groundwater depletion in India is in the range of 122-199 bcm .
    • The depletion is highest in Punjab, Haryana, and western UP.

    2) Increasing the yields of coarse-grain crops and oilseed crops

    • Years of intense research on yield increase and yield protection by breeding varieties and hybrids resistant to pests and pathogens have made wheat, rice and maize stable high yielders.
    • Environmentalists suggest replacing rice with coarse grain crops — millets, sorghum etc.
    • However, the yields of these crops are not comparable to those of wheat and rice even when protective irrigation is available.
    • These crops have a serious R&D deficit leading to low yield potential as well as losses to pests and pathogens.
    • This leaves us with pulses and oilseeds.
    • In the 2017-18 fiscal year, India imported around Rs 76,000 crore worth of edible oils.
    • Three oilseed crops (mustard, soybean, and groundnut) are already grown very extensively.
    • Soybean and groundnut are legume crops and fix their nitrogen.
    • All three crops not only provide edible oils but are also an excellent source of protein-rich seed or seed meal for livestock and poultry.
    • Unfortunately, yields of the three crops are stagnating in India at around 1.1 tons per hectare, significantly lower than the global averages.

    3) Genetic improvements of crops

    • Pests and pathogens can be best tackled by agrochemicals or by genetic interventions.
    • A recent global level study on crop losses in the main food security hotspots for five major crops showed significant losses to pests — on average for wheat 21.5 per cent, rice 20 per cent, maize 22.5 per cent, potato 17.2 per cent, and soybean 21.4 per cent.
    • India is one of the lowest users of pesticides.
    • In 2014, comparative use of pesticides in kilograms per hectare in some select countries/regions is as following: Africa 0.30, India 0.36, EU countries 3.09, China 14.82, and Japan 15.93.
    • A more benign method for dealing with pests is through breeding.
    • The Green Revolution technologies were based on the effective use of germplasm and strong phenotypic selections.
    • Recombinant DNA technologies since the 1970s have brought forth unprecedented opportunities for genetic improvement of crops.
    • Since 2000, genomes of all the major crops have been sequenced.
    • The big challenge is in the effective utilisation of the enormous sequence data that is available.
    • India’s efforts in all three areas are half-hearted.

    Way forward

    • Over the last 20 years, India has been spending between 0.7 to 0.8 per cent of its GDP on R&D.
    • This is way below the percentage of GDP spent by the developing countries and Asia’s rapidly growing economies.
    • There are structural issues like lack of competent human resources and lack of policy clarity.
    • However, the biggest impediment to agricultural R&D has been overzealous opposition to the new technologies.

    Consider the question “India needs low-input, high-output agriculture. This cannot be achieved without science and technology. In light of this, examine how R&D could play a role in the advancement of agriculture in India.”

    Conclusion

    Maybe the present crisis in agriculture would lead to a greater appreciation of the need for strong public supported R&D in agriculture.

  • India to explore Lithium reserves in Argentina

    India has inked a pact with an Argentine firm to jointly prospect lithium in the South American country.

    Why such a move?

    • Currently, India is heavily dependent on import of these cells and the move to ink sourcing pacts for lithium is seen as another salvo in the front against China, a key source of both the raw material and cells.
    • India is seen as a late mover as it attempts to enter the lithium value chain, coming at a time when EVs are predicted to be a sector ripe for disruption.
    • And 2021 is likely to be an inflexion point for battery technology, with several potential improvements to the Li-ion technology.

    About Lithium

    • Lithium is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3.
    • It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the lightest metal and the lightest solid element.
    • Like all alkali metals, lithium is highly reactive and flammable and must be stored in mineral oil.
    • When cut, it exhibits a metallic lustre, but moist air corrodes it quickly to a dull silvery grey, then black tarnish.
    • Lithium metal is isolated electrolytically from a mixture of lithium chloride and potassium chloride.
    • It is a crucial building block of the lithium-ion rechargeable batteries that power electric vehicles (EVs), laptops and mobile phones.

    Global producers of lithium

    • Australia and Chile have swapped positions as the world’s leading lithium-producing country over the past decade. In 2019, the world’s Top 5 lithium producers were:
    1. Australia – 52.9% of global production
    2. Chile – 21.5%
    3. China – 9.7%
    4. Argentina – 8.3%
    5. Zimbabwe – 2.1%
    • The U.S. ranked 7th with 1.2% of the world’s lithium production.
    • In 2019, the world’s Top 5 lithium reserves by country were:
    1. Chile – 55.5% of the world’s total
    2. Australia – 18.1%
    3. Argentina – 11.0%
    4. China – 6.5%
    5. U.S. – 4.1%

    Lithium-ion batteries

    • A lithium-ion battery or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery.
    • They are commonly used for portable electronics and electric vehicles and are growing in popularity for military and aerospace applications.
    • A prototype Li-ion battery was developed by Akira Yoshino in 1985, based on earlier research by John Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham, Rachid Yazami and Koichi Mizushima during the 1970s–1980s.
    • In 2019, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was given to this trio “for the development of lithium-ion batteries”.

    How does it work?

    • In the batteries, lithium ions move from the negative electrode through an electrolyte to the positive electrode during discharge, and back when charging.
    • Li-ion batteries use an intercalated lithium compound as the material at the positive electrode and typically graphite at the negative electrode.
    • The batteries have a high energy density, no memory effect and low self-discharge.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles produce one of the following as “exhaust”:

    (a) NH3

    (b) CH4

    (c) H2O

    (d) H2O2

    Limitations

    • Despite the improvements in lithium-ion batteries over the last decade, long charging times and weak energy density are still barriers.
    • The Li-ion batteries are seen as sufficiently efficient for applications such as phones and laptops, in case of EVs.
    • They still lack the range that would make them a viable alternative to internal combustion engines.
    • A number of alternatives are being fostered to achieve more optimal options.

  • Bird Flu Outbreak

    An outbreak of bird flu was confirmed in Kerala, Rajasthan and Himachal.

    Try this question from our AWE initiative:

    There is been an increase in occurance of zoonotic human infectious diseases are zoonotic . Give reasons for this. Also suggest ways to contain and decrease the frequency of such events.(250 Words)

    What is Bird Flu?

    • Bird flu is an infection caused by avian influenza viruses, which are of different types A, B and C.
    • Type A avian influenza viruses are the most frequently associated with avian influenza epidemics and pandemics.
    • There are 16 hemagglutinin (H1 to H16) and 9 neuraminidase types (N1 to N9) identified till date.
    • There are various modes of transmission of human influenza including inhalation, direct or indirect contact etc. can have manifestations ranging from mild to severe or fatal disease.
    • Avian influenza A (H5N1) results in a high death rate amongst infants and young children.
    • The first outbreak of human infection by avian influenza viruses (H5N1) was observed in 1997 in Hong Kong. Since then a large number of outbreaks have been reported in different parts of the world.

    The H5N8 strain

    • The presence of the H5N8 subtype of the Influenza A virus was reported in ducks in parts of Kerala.
    • While it can prove lethal for birds, the H5N8 strain of avian influenza has a lower likelihood of spreading to humans compared to H5N1.
    • While the source of infection is yet to be pinpointed, the role of migratory birds in passing on the virus is suspected.

  • [pib] 40th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica (ISEA)

    40th Indian Scientific Expedition is set to depart for Antarctica from Mormugao Port, Goa.

    Try this question:

    Q.How does the cryosphere affect global climate? (150W, CSM 2018)

    Indian mission on the Antarctic

    • The Indian Antarctic Program is a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional program under the control of the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research, Ministry of Earth Sciences.
    • It was initiated in 1981 with the first Indian expedition to Antarctica.
    • The program gained global acceptance with India’s signing of the Antarctic Treaty and subsequent construction of the Dakshin Gangotri Antarctic research base in 1983, superseded by the Maitri base from 1990.
    • The newest base commissioned in 2015 is Bharati, constructed out of 134 shipping containers.

    Its significance

    • This 40th expedition is procuring fuel from India after about 22 years. Till the last expedition, fuel was being obtained from outside the country.
    • Indian Oil Co. Ltd. has supplied aviation fuel, Jet A1 in bulk and packed form to a non-aviation customer and is delivered to an ocean-going vessel for the first time.

    Why need such a mission?

    • Polar Regions are crucially important in answering key questions about global climate change.
    • It contributes towards the global sea-level rise, the background aerosol properties, variability in the sea ice cover and phenomena like Antarctic haze and ozone concentrations.
    • Attempts to address some of these issues are helping in mitigating several important problems concerning human life and well-being.

    Back2Basics: India’s polar missions

    • The first Indian expedition to Antarctica sailed from Goa on December 6, 1981, and reached the shores of this polar continent on January 9, 1982.
    • India has two stations in the polar continent of Antarctica – Maitri and Bharati, which are being operated under NCPOR, Ministry of Earth Sciences.

    Indian mission on the Arctic

    • Himadri Station is India’s first Arctic research station located at Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway. It is located at the International Arctic Research base, Ny-Ålesund.
    • It was inaugurated on the 1st of July, 2008 by the Minister of Earth Sciences. It is followed by IndARC.
    • The United States Geological Survey estimates that 22% of the world’s oil and natural gas could be located beneath the Arctic.
    • ONGC Videsh has signed joint-venture with Russia for oil exploration there.

  • ‘Digital Ocean’: the Digital Platform for Ocean Data Management

    The Ministry of Earth Sciences has inaugurated the web-based application “Digital Ocean” developed by INCOIS.

    Digital Ocean

    • Digital Ocean is a first of its kind digital platform for Ocean Data Management.
    • The platform will be promoted as a platform for capacity building on Ocean Data Management for all Indian Ocean Rim countries.
    • It would help share ocean knowledge about the ocean with a wide range of users including research institutions, operational agencies, strategic users, the academic community, and the maritime industry and policymakers.
    • It also provides free access to information to the general public and the common man.
    • It will play a central role in the sustainable management of our oceans and expanding ‘Blue Economy’ initiatives.

    Its’ features

    • It includes a set of applications developed to organize and present heterogeneous oceanographic data by adopting rapid advancements in geospatial technology.
    • It facilitates:
    1. Online interactive web-based environment for data integration,
    2. 3D and 4D (3D in space with time animation) data visualization,
    3. Data analysis to assess the evolution of oceanographic features,
    4. Data fusion and multi-format download of disparate data from multiple sources viz., in-situ, remote sensing, and model data, all of which is rendered on a georeferenced 3D Ocean.

  • Exploiting 5G strategically

    The article examines the threat posed by the Chinese 5G technology to the world and India.

    Implications of Chinese 5G technology for Nepal

    • The launch of 5G in Nepal would mean that Nepal’s business interests could pass into Chinese control.
    • Real-time information on weather, routes, map, etc could be based on Chinese 5G, thus making locals or visitors to Nepal dependent on it.
    • A related development of infrastructure along the borders, where most mountaineering sites are, could make Nepal’s borders vulnerable and damage its tourism industry.
    • With lower incomes, the tourism industry might get lured into Chinese cheap loans, leading to a strategic debt trap.
    • Such development would have several ramifications for India.

    Implications of Chinese 5G technology for the world

    • 2020 has been no ordinary year —Militaries have been pushed to the borders, treaties, and agreements are being signed, and a record number of military deals have happened.
    • This year has witnessed the most unprecedented intensification of global military conflicts since the Gulf War.
    • AI applications have been at display in warfare, with drone killing machines being advertised.
    • There is no option left but to get the 5G technology now.
    • Huge Chinese investments across the world to spread a 5G network will encompass the planet — a “digital encirclement of the world”.
    • Combined with the BRI (Belt and Road Initiative), this encirclement would be complete.
    • Intrinsic to the BRI is the fact that Chinese companies will build digital infrastructure.
    • Militaries who allow Chinese 5G, could then become hostage to Chinese technology, as seen during the pandemic.

    Indian 5G technology: Advantages and challenges ahead

    •  India is likely to survive the Chinese 5G invasion if it accelerates the launch of the Indian 5G.
    • India is working on technologies that would enable it to launch Indigenous 5G that would run IoT platforms for civilians as well as military applications.
    • The banning of Chinese apps and blocking of hardware supply chains would be the correct counteroffensive to protect the business and security interests of the country.
    • The problem is India being poor in “implementation”.
    • Where India starts losing out is in slow adoption, getting entangled in policy processes and the crosshairs of the bureaucracy. 

    Consider the question “What are the concerns with the adoption of Chinese 5G technology? How indigenous 5G technology help India and what are the challenges in developing it?” 

    Conclusion

    India must get its timing right. The implementation of 5G, though a bit delayed, can make India a good alternative to China. But agreements like RCEP and China’s other debt strategies will remain a larger threat to the world.