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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.

  • [pib] Plasmonic Semiconductor Nanomaterials

    Researchers are exploring ways to develop plasmonic semiconductor nanomaterials for removal of toxic organic compounds from water by harvesting solar light.

    Nanotechnology is a pathbreaking technology which can create many new materials and devices with a wide range of applications, such as in nanomedicine, nanoelectronics etc.  PSN is one such application. Topics like PSN are most likely to be asked in the competitive examinations.

    Plasmonic Semiconductor Nanomaterials

    • PSN are metal-like materials with free electrons on the surface that oscillate collectively when hit by light.
    • It uses solar light to increase the photocatalytic efficiency to degrade pollutants as well as generate renewable Hydrogen.
    • These materials can easily adsorb toxic ions like arsenic and fluoride, which are often found in water in North East India and convert it to its not toxic forms when they are exposed to sunlight.
    • PSN can be used for hydrogen energy generation, a process which has shown high photon to hydrogen conversion efficiency under visible and near infra-red light.

    What are Semiconductors?

    • Semiconductors are materials which have a conductivity between conductors (generally metals) and nonconductors or insulators (such as most ceramics).
    • Its resistance falls as its temperature rises; metals are the opposite.
    • They can be pure elements, such as silicon or germanium, or compounds such as gallium arsenide or cadmium selenide.

    Back2Basics: Nanomaterials

    • Nanomaterials are materials of which a single unit small-sized (in at least one dimension) between 1 and 100 nm (the usual definition of nanoscale).
    • Materials with structure at the nanoscale often have unique optical, electronic, or mechanical properties.
    • They are created from the gas phase by producing a vapour of the product material using chemical or physical means.
    • Examples of nanomaterials include carbon nanotube, nanoparticles, metal rubber, quantum dots, nanopores and many more.

  • Making use of technology to trace Covid-19 cases

    The article argues for the greater adoption of technology in tracing the Covid-19. Taking a cue from the success of JAM and UPI, recently launched app Aarogya Setu could also be the next game-changer in the fight against the pandemic. However, there are several challenges that are also discussed here.

    Success story of domestic digital platforms

    • The success of two domestic digital payment platforms offers us an opportunity to show how the tracing of COVID-19 cases can be done at scale and with greater speed.
    • The JAM (Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile) trinity for DBTs (Direct Benefit Transfers) and UPI (Unified Payments Interface) have made India a technology leader in money transfers.
    • The JAM has lent efficiency to the transfer of funds to the needy.
    • It was drafted into action recently to channel payments to the more vulnerable who need help in dealing with the adverse economic consequences of the lockdown.
    • The UPI is emerging as a transaction vehicle of choice for all retail payments.
    • In March, 148 banks were on the UPI platform, helping process over 120 crore transactions worth over Rs 2 lakh crore.

    The success story of the UPI and JAM is important from the UPSC point of view. Riding on the success of these two, the Aarogya Setu could also become the third and help in the fight against the epidemic. So, we should be aware of the basics of its working and problems the app could face.

    How the Aarogya Setu works?

    • Widespread adoption is required: The success of India’s Aarogya Setu mobile application will depend on its widespread adoption.
    • Based on bluetooth technology: The app relies on bluetooth technology to map and deconstruct the contact history of individuals who may have come in contact with potential carriers of the coronavirus.
    • Exchange of information between apps: If two individuals are at the same place at the same time, their apps can exchange information-up to a maximum distance of about 15 feet.
    • Exchange of the above information is without the server knowing anything about it.
    • The app notifies users and authorities of individuals who are at risk.
    • Privacy safeguards: Some privacy safeguards have been put in place to ensure that individuals do not share personally identifiable information with each other but only with authorities — that too, in select cases.
    • A confidence-building measure would be to release the code for public scrutiny with the aim of further bolstering privacy standards.

    What are the possible challenges in the success of Aarogya Setu?

    • The distribution of the detection framework necessitates a rethink, beyond an app.
    • Issues with app download in India: Nandan Nilekani has underlined that app downloads in India are perhaps the most expensive compared to any other developed or fast-developing nation.
    • Despite the falling cost of data, Indian users consider several factors before downloading an app such as required storage space, the potential impact on battery and data usage.
    • Given India’s open internet, several publishers from across industries and geographies are vying for smartphone real estate.
    • Challenge involved: In such a situation, drawing attention to particular use-cases i.e. Aarogya Setu-howsoever urgent-is challenging.

    Following are the suggestions to overcome the shortcoming of the Aarogya Setu. Though they are for Aarogya Setu, we can apply these in other situations in which mobile technology bases app is used by the government in the larger public interest such as rescue operation or warnings in case of disaster.

    So, what could be the alternate strategy?

    • The alternative strategy involves using the reach of the other famous apps (for ex. Paytm) to do what we want to do i.e. tracing by delinking.
    • Delinking involves separating the technology we want to use for tracing (the backend) from the channels (the front end).
    • A fine-tuned backend can be pushed to, and used by, publishers (other apps) who already have the reach.
    • Similarity with UPI: This is akin to the UPI being used by several banks and technology firms for payment.
    • The government did build its frontend in the form of the BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) app but mostly for signalling purposes.
    • In the current context, the government can consider using its own app for tracing and for additional use-cases such as passes and approvals for movement when the lockdown is gradually eased out.
    • It could even host other health-related features.
    • Expanding its ambit and making it a conduit like JAM will likely increase the incentive for people to embrace it.

    Limitations of using GPS and Bluetooth for tracing in India

    • Another area where improvisations are called for is the tooling for tracking.
    • While reports have indicated that the developers are using bluetooth for tracing and are also capturing GPS coordinates, both users and device manufacturers limit their usage of these technologies in favour of other optimisations.
    • Users are concerned with both data and battery usage while device manufacturers kill background jobs even if the publishers have sought and secured permissions from users.
    • These tendencies are pronounced on Android, the dominant mobile operating system in India.
    • What are the other options? In such a scenario, developers ought to think about using other techniques.
    • For instance, using cell tower data and WiFi identifiers to bolster tracing efforts.
    • This is especially important in a context where only a third of our population has smartphones and even fewer people have devices with bluetooth capability.
    • Even the recently announced Google-Apple partnership may not have meaningful results in this setting.

    Conclusion

    With the potential ramifications of COVID-19’s spread in India and across the globe, the nation’s recent history of technological successes and a government committed to agile governance, the pandemic presents an opportunity for the country to show its people and the world how technology is a force of good.

  • Covid-19: Software vendors focus on big data, AI despite fall in IT spending

    The article discusses how COVID-19 has prompted the software companies to focus on technologies that are still in demand. The IT companies have started to focus on ways to leverage the potential of AI and the Big data to deal with the pandemic.

    Impact on IT companies and how they are planning to cope with it?

    • Fall in spending: Spending on information technology (IT) globally is expected to shrink by 3-4% by the end of 2020.
    • Impact: That would have a severe impact on hardware and slowdown in the software and service businesses.
    • How companies are planning to deal with the situation? Software vendors such as IBM, SAP Software Solutions and Microsoft Corporation plan to make use of emerging technologies to become more relevant to their customers.
    • IBM has created an AI platform ‘Watson Assistant for Citizens’ on its public cloud.
    • The platform helps citizens understand and respond to common questions about covid-19, commonly known as the novel coronavirus.
    • While the ongoing pandemic is having a dreadful impact on companies at scale, matured ones are taking a pause and rethinking their analytics approach.
    • Using data analysis to prepare contingency plan: Data science teams are being called into action to crunch petabytes of data and build best business models on trusted data for decision-makers to quickly prepare contingency plans.
    • This is where we are seeing enterprises using AI, machine learning, and natural language processing to mine the data and build predictive or prescriptive models in IBM Cloud Pack for Data.

    UPSC could ask question connecting the use of IT and its potential to deal with the pandemics. And it could also be other way round you can cite the example of use of IT in the health sector.

    Adoption of the AI by various sectors

    • The government and public service agencies as well as healthcare and research companies urgently need AI solutions and analytics as they are in a race to find a treatment for the deadly disease.
    • Other industries with high end-user touch-points like banks, insurance, retail, etc. are also in urgent need to use AI/ML-driven analytics and cognitive technologies to automate their communications, streamline predictions, decision making, etc.

    AI and Big data could be a game-changer across the various sectors, health being one of them. As among the buzzwords in technologie today UPSC could ask about AI and Big data.

    Covid-19 as an opportunity for the IT industry

    • The covid-19 crisis is an opportunity for IT vendors to build and improve on their capabilities on AI and big data.
    • Leveraging AI: They are also keeping an eye on emerging uses cases in AI for disease detection, tracking, and prevention.
    • Relatively smaller companies are also launching dedicated AI-based apps to assist people amid the covid-19 crisis.
    • Eka Software Solutions recently released ‘COVID-19 Risk Monitoring’, it help customers quickly gain visibility in supply chain risks by showing a company’s contract position across countries with reported cases of the virus.
    • Based on company data, the app instantly visualises contracts at risk and provides businesses with the ability to identify alternate suppliers to maintain business continuity.

    Conclusion

    As the epidemic is far from being tamed, various sectors are likely to feel the existential crisis and IT could be one of them. But they can also turn this crisis into an opportunity by leveraging the AI and Big data in tackling the epidemic at various levels.

  • What are Primordial Black Holes (PBH)?

    A scientist duo from Pune has studied primordial black holes that were born as a result of a tiny bump in the potential energy levels of the universe, at a time when it was expanding rapidly.

    Strange space events are known to be the favourites of UPSC 🙂

    Primordial Black Holes (PBH)

    • PBH are a hypothetical type of black hole that formed soon after the Big Bang
    • It is believed that they are formed as a result of collapsing radiations as opposed to the collapse of massive stars, which is the case of any other black holes.
    • PBH can be massively large as 3000kms or be extremely tiny like nucleus of an atom.

    What did the study conclude?

    • The study has confirmed that this marginal rise in potential energy resulted in birth of several PBHs and also emitted very powerful gravitational waves.
    • Approximately 14 billion years ago before the commencement of the Hot Big Bang phase, the very young universe was found to be active and expanding at a highly accelerated rate.
    • This exponential growth in its size was fuelled by the presence of uniform energy field and density as the universe passed through the Cosmic Inflation phase.
    • According to the scientists, as time passes, this uniform energy prevailing in the Inflation Field wanes out.
    • As a result, the universe resumes its normal decelerating rate.

    Expansion of universe

    • Gravity is normally attractive in nature. The PBH did undergo rapid expansion due to the Inflation field which contrarily possessed repulsive gravity.
    • This pushed the universe to expand at a much faster rate than normal.
    • The universe had expanded to nearly 10^27 times its original size, that too, within just fraction of a second by the time Cosmic Inflation phase concluded.
    • Thereafter, the remnant energy possessed by this gravitational force got converted mainly into photons (light) in addition to protons, electrons, neutrons and other particles.
    • As the universe continued to grow exponentially during the Cosmic Inflation phase, it sent across tiny quantum jitters.
    • These fluctuations, released in a specific fashion, when sufficiently large, slowly give birth to galaxies and stars. Among those that were significantly large, helped form PBHs.

     

  • What is Contact Tracing Technology?

    Global technology giants Apple and Google have announced that they are partnering on developing contact tracing technology to help governments and health authorities tackle the novel coronavirus pandemic.

    What did tech-giants announce?

    • Contact tracing is considered essential for bringing epidemics under control and is expected to help governments in relaxing lockdown orders.
    • The tech companies announced that they would build a comprehensive solution that includes application programming interfaces (APIs) and operating system-level technology to assist in enabling contact tracing.

    What is contact tracing?

    • The WHO defines contact tracing as the process of identifying, assessing, and managing people who have been exposed to a disease to prevent onward transmission.
    • Via contact tracing, people who have come into contact with a person carrying a disease are alerted and identified.

    Importance of contact tracing

    • Identifying people at the onset of symptoms and promptly isolating them reduces exposure to other persons, preventing subsequent EVD (Ebola Virus Disease) infections.
    • Additionally, prompt isolation and admission of the symptomatic person to a treatment facility decreases the delay to supportive treatment, which improves the likelihood of survival.

    How will the new technology by Google and Apple work?

    • Google and Apple are the developers of the Android and iOS platforms respectively, which together power most of the world’s smartphones.
    • Both companies will release application programming interfaces (APIs) that would enable interoperability between Android and iOS devices using apps from public health authorities.
    • The official apps will be available for users to download via their respective app stores, as per the press release.
    • When this step is realized, phone-based matching via official apps will help alert people if they have come in contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19.

    Actual working

    • For this to work, COVID-19 patients would have to declare their status to the respective apps voluntarily.
    • Following this, all people whose Android/iOS smartphones were detected nearby such patients, would get notified.
    • This means the user will be notified even if he/she was around a stranger who has tested positive for the disease.

    Issues with contact tracing

    • Privacy, transparency, and consent are of utmost importance in this effort.
    • The tech giants should look forward to building this functionality in consultation with interested stakeholders.

    Note: How is our Aarogya Setu app different from the technology mentioned in the newscard?

  • Zoonotic Diseases: Medical Sciences Involved & Preventive Measures

  • TB diagnostic kit ‘Truenat’

    ‘Truenat’, a diagnostic machine used to test drug-resistant TB has now been approved by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for conducting Covid-19 tests.

    Truenat

    • The Truenat TB test is a new molecular test that can diagnosis TB in one hour as well as testing for resistance to the drug rifampicin.
    • This test for TB uses a sputum sample taken from each patient.
    • It is a small battery operated device which requires minimal training and is usable even in smaller settings such as the Primary Health Centre.
    • It uses a chip-based technology and takes just up to 60 minutes for a test, screening or confirmatory.

  • [pib] Chitra Acrylosorb Secretion Solidification System

    Scientists at Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) have designed and developed a highly efficient superabsorbent material for liquid respiratory and other body fluid solidification and disinfection for the safe management of infected respiratory secretions.

     Chitra Acrylosorb Secretion Solidification System

    • It is a highly efficient superabsorbent material for liquid respiratory and other body fluid solidification and disinfection.
    • AcryloSorb can absorb liquids at least 20 times more than its dry weight and also contains a decontaminant for in situ disinfection.
    • Containers filled with this material will immobilize the contaminated fluid by solidifying it (gel-like), thus avoiding spillage and will also disinfect it.
    • The canister containing the solidified waste canister can then be decomposed as all other biomedical waste by incineration.

    How it works?

    • In the developed system, suction canisters, disposable spit bags have been designed with “AcryloSorb” technology.
    • They are lined inside with the AcryloSorb material.
    • The AcryloSorb suction canisters will collect the liquid respiratory secretions from ICU patients or those with copious secretions treated in the wards.
    • The container will be spill-proof and can be sealed after use, making it safe and fit for disposal through the usual incineration system for biomedical wastes.

    Significance of Acrylosorb

    • Sealable and disposable spit bags can be provided for solidifying the sputum and saliva of ambulant patients with respiratory infections, which can then be incinerated.
    • Thus it reduces the risk for the hospital staff, the need for personnel for disinfecting and cleaning the bottles and canisters for reusing them and makes the disposal safer and easier.

  • Man versus microbe

    Context

    The present COVID-19 outbreak has brought to light the old struggle between humans and viruses.

    The constant struggle between humans and viruses

    • Hijacking the cell machinery of the host: Microbes, particularly viruses, have only one goal — to find a suitable host and multiply. Viruses, however, do not multiply by themselves. They need the cell machinery of the host for replication.
    • Around two-thirds of all infections in humans are caused by viruses.
    • The current COVID-19 outbreak caused by a coronavirus, SARS-CoV2, has brought this struggle to light once again.
    • Coronavirus has the upper hand now: The virus seems highly successful because it spreads rapidly from human to human and has a lower rate of mortality.
    • Humans have faced new viruses at regular intervals. These include the Ebola, Zika, HIV, the Flu virus H1N1, the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) — the latter two are from the coronavirus family.
    • Animal to humans: These viruses have all appeared in the last few decades, having jumped from their animal reservoirs to humans.
    • Many of these viruses have a much higher mortality rate than the SARS-CoV2 that caused COVID-19.
    • Victory would be at huge costs: Like before, humans will come out of the present crisis as winners but that will happen at a huge cost, in every sense of the word.
    • The loss would include untimely loss of human lives, economic losses and a general loss of confidence in the human ability to deal with a tiny unknown enemy.

    Steps involved in dealing with the virus

    • It involves dealing with any new viral outbreak is to be able to accurately test, detect and track the spread of the virus, and isolate the infected persons to stop further spread.
    • Knowing the genetic makeup of virus matters: In order to implement the first step, it is important to obtain information on the genetic makeup of the virus, which forms the basis of developing highly specific diagnostic tests.
    • Three types of tests are being used which have different advantages associated with them and are based on different technologies. These are described below-

    1. What is the RT-PCR technique?

    • Currently, the most reliable and widely-used test is based on a technique called RT-PCR (Reverse Transcription Time Polymerase Chain Reaction).
    • This test aims to detect the viral RNA, the genetic material of SARS-CoV2.
    • The testing begins with the careful collection of swabs taken from the nose or the back of the throat of the patient and extraction of the viral RNA.
    • However, this extracted viral RNA from the swab is too tiny an amount for direct detection.
    • Amplification: The RT-PCR, through many different reactions that include the conversion of viral RNA to DNA — its amplification and detection — makes it possible to confirm the presence or absence of the virus.
    • The testing kits contain all chemicals and materials required for carrying out the RT-PCR based tests, which are performed by government-approved laboratories such as India’s National Institute of Virology.
    • However, many more testing centres, including those run by private players, have now been allowed to carry out the tests in many countries to bridge the huge demand and supply gap.
    • Why testing matters? It is now clear that countries which were able to scale up the testing of the virus in patients at an early stage were able to control the spread of the disease far better than those which did not.
    • Only viable control measure: Given that there is no cure or vaccine for the control of COVID-19, testing of infected patients much more quickly and tracking their contacts to isolate them till they clear off the virus is currently the only viable control measure.

    2. How CRISPR is proving helpful in scaling up the testing?

    • There is good news of a relatively new but powerful technology called CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats).
    • CRISPR is highly specific in directly detecting viral RNA and confirming the presence or absence of the virus.
    • Interestingly, viruses also attack bacteria and the discovery of CRISPR itself was based on understanding how bacteria cut off the viruses.
    • What are the advantages of CRISPR-based test? The CRISPR-based test is quick and circumvents the need for both expert handling as well as PCR machines and can be done at multiple locations in about half an hour.
    • It can also fend off delays and other logistic problems in collection and transportation of test samples.
    • These tests are being validated and readied for approval.
    • Two companies, separately founded by the two scientists who discovered the CRISPR technique, have also announced that they are ready with their CRISPR-based test for validation and approval.
    • Test in 10 minutes: They have claimed that these tests can be performed within 10 minutes and can be conducted by using a paper strip format.
    • Test in 5 minutes: Another company, Abbott Laboratories, has recently announced the approval of their portable test for coronavirus, which the company claims can provide the results in five minutes.
    • Such a point of care test will not only greatly enhance the speed of large-scale testing but will also relieve the tremendous pressure faced by frontline healthcare providers.

    3. Serological tests to detect the realistic information on the spread of the virus

    • Why we need serological tests? The above described RT-PCR and the newly developed CRISPR based tests are needed for scaling up the testing.
    • But many individuals infected with the virus do not show symptoms of the disease and recover completely.
    • How to test these cases to gather realistic information on the spread of the virus?
    • Such information will be necessary for designing future control strategies.
    • How serological tests work? This is done with serological tests, which are carried out in blood samples collected from a large population and are based on the detection of antibodies that are produced in response to the viral infection.
    • Advantage of the serological tests: These tests are relatively easier to develop and use, less expensive, and also do not need much sophisticated infrastructure or highly trained manpower.
    • Serological tests for COVID-19 have already been developed by many groups and are already in use.
    • India also plans to carry out serological tests to examine the actual spread of the disease in different parts of the country.

    Conclusion

    Lockdowns are essential to control the disease but long-term strategies to deal with the disease would be based on the knowledge of its actual spread. The newly-developed point of care tests should be successfully able to bridge the existing gap in the testing of the virus. This will also assist in gearing up facilities to treat the severely sick as well as relieve and protect frontline health providers. Meanwhile, hopefully, efficient drugs therapies and efficacious vaccines against COVID-19 will also be discovered soon.

  • GRACE-FO Mission

    NASA releases new global maps mapping groundwater, soil wetness using GRACE-FO satellites.

    GRACE-FO Mission

    • The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On (GRACE-FO) mission is a partnership between NASA and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ).
    • GRACE-FO is a successor to the original GRACE mission, which orbited Earth from 2002-2017.
    • It carries on the extremely successful work of its predecessor while testing a new technology designed to dramatically improve the already remarkable precision of its measurement system.

    Why need such data on groundwater and soil moisture?

    • Groundwater and soil moisture — which depicts wetness in soil — are crucial for irrigation and crop growth.
    • The need to constantly monitor groundwater and soil moisture is important since both act as useful indicators for predicting drought conditions.
    • One of the goals of the new global maps is to make the same consistent product available in all parts of the world, especially in countries that do not have any groundwater-monitoring infrastructure.
    • The data would help in managing the selection of appropriate agricultural crops and predicting yields.