IT, Space, Biotech & IPR — UPSC Mains GS-III Questions (2013–2025)

How can India achieve energy independence through clean technology by 2047? How can biotechnology can play a crucial role in this endeavour?

How does nanotechnology offer significant advancements in the field of agriculture? How can this technology help to uplift the socio-economic status of farmers?

What is the present world scenario of intellectual property rights with respect to life materials? Although India is second in the world to file patents, still only a few have been commercialized. Explain the reasons behind this less commercialization.

Describe the context and salient features of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023.

Introduce the concept of Artificial Intelligence (AI). How does AI help clinical diagnosis? Do you perceive any threat to privacy of the individual in the use of AI in healthcare?

Launched on 25th December, 2021, James Webb Space Telescope has been much in the news since then. What are its unique features which make it superior to its predecessor Space Telescopes? What are the key goals of this mission? What potential benefits does it hold for the human race?

What is the basic principle behind vaccine development? How do vaccines work? What approaches were adopted by the Indian vaccine manufacturers to produce COVID-19 vaccines?

What are the research and developmental achievements in applied biotechnology? How will these achievements help to uplift the poorer sections of society?

What do you understand by nanotechnology and how is it helping in health sector?

What is India's plan to have its own space station and how will it benefit our space programme?

How is the Government of India protecting traditional knowledge of medicine from patenting by pharmaceutical companies?

How can biotechnology help to improve the living standards of farmers?

Why is there so much activity in the field of biotechnology in our country? How has this activity benefitted the field of biopharma?

India has achieved remarkable successes in unmanned space missions including the Chandrayaan and Mars Orbitter Mission, but has not ventured into manned space missions. What are the main obstacles to launching a manned space mission, both in terms of technology and logistics. Examine critically.

Why is nanotechnology one of the key technologies of the 21st century? Describe the salient features of Indian Government’s Mission on Nanoscience and Technology and the scope of its application in the development process of the country.

India’s Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL), which has a database containing formatted information on more than 2 million medicinal formulations, is proving a powerful weapon in the country’s fight against erroneous patents. Discuss the pros and cons of making the database publicly available under open-source licensing.

What do you understand by ‘Standard Positioning Systems’ and ‘Precision Positioning Systems’ in the GPS era? Discuss the advantages India perceives from its ambitious IRNSS programme employing just seven satellites.

What are the areas of prohibitive labour that can be sustainably managed by robots? Discuss the initiatives that can propel research in premier research institutes for substantive and gainful innovation.

Discuss the advantages and security implications of cloud hosting of servers vis-a-vis in-house machine-based hosting for government businesses.

In a globalized world, Intellectual Property Rights assume significance and are a source of litigation. Broadly distinguish between the terms—Copyrights, Patents, and Trade Secrets.