Science & Tech — VisionIAS Mains-365 Condensed Notes
OVERVIEW & PURPOSE
VisionIAS “Mains-365 Science & Technology” summary distils current‐affairs content for UPSC-Mains preparation.
Coverage spans:
IT, Computers & Robotics
Biotechnology, Nanotechnology & IPR
Space Science & Applications
Health & Medicine
Miscellaneous Emerging Technologies
Each sub-section below captures: context/Why-in-News, core concepts, applications, national & global initiatives, challenges, ethical / socio-economic implications, statistical references, and way-forward.
IT, COMPUTERS & ROBOTICS
International Year of Quantum Science & Technology
UN declared 2025 (marking 100 yrs of Heisenberg’s breakthrough).
Key use-cases: Quantum Key Distribution, high-precision sensing, simulation for drug discovery/material design.
Indian ecosystem: National Quantum Mission 2023, QuEST, QCAL, NMQTA.
Challenges: regulation vacuum, extreme cryogenic cooling, scalability, infrastructure cost, low R&D spend \approx0.64\% GDP.
Brain–Computer Interfaces (BCIs)
Neuralink’s “Blindsight’’ FDA ‘breakthrough device’ status to restore vision.
BCIs acquire CNS signals → translate into commands.
Types: Invasive, Partially-invasive (ECoG), Non-invasive (EEG).
Applications: neuro-prosthetics, wellness, cognitive enhancement, gaming.
Concerns: infection, data privacy, ‘stimuli attacks’, cyborgisation ethics.
Indian support: amended New Drugs & Clinical Trials Rules 2019, Phenome-India, ICGA.
Organ-on-Chip (OoC)
1.4\,\text{billion\$} market by 2032; pillar of “BioE^3” – Biotechnology for Economy, Environment, Employment.
Micro-fluidic chips + living tissues + drug-delivery cues + real-time sensors.
Advantages over animal/2-D culture: precision therapeutics, human physiology mimicry.
Nobel Prize in Physics 2024
John Hopfield (Hopfield network) & Geoffrey Hinton (Boltzmann machine); laid foundation of modern artificial neural networks.
Deepfakes
AI-synthesised audio/video/images; US “Take It Down Act’’; Indian redress via IT Act 2000, IT Rules 2021, I4C.
Risks: national security, democratic trust, non-consensual abuse.
Mitigation: proactive regulation, detection tech (MIT Detect Fakes), cyber-literacy.
Big Data
India joined UN-CEBD.
Defined as datasets whose volume/velocity/variety demand novel architecture.
Use-cases: logistics (Swiggy), OTT (Netflix), smart-cities, earth-sciences.
Bottlenecks: real-time analytics, skilled manpower, GDPR-type compliance.
Supercomputers
PARAM Rudra & new HPC for weather launched under National Super-computing Mission.
Performance metric FLOPS; earliest PARAM 8000 1991; AIRAWAT ranked 75^{th} 2023.
Issues: energy, cooling, semiconductor import-dependency.
Path: domestic fab (India Semi-mission), green HPC.
4\text{D} Printing
3-D object + time; stimulus-responsive shape-shift.
IIT team printed artificial blood vessels.
Sectors: soft-robotics, aerospace (Nitinol), drug-delivery.
BIOTECHNOLOGY, NANOTECHNOLOGY & IPR
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO)
Draft amended Hazardous Micro-Organism Rules 2024.
Techniques: Gene-gun, Agrobacterium, Electroporation, Micro-injection.
Indian status: Bt-cotton 2002; Bt-brinjal moratorium 2009; GM mustard (DMH-11) cleared but not commercialised.
Concerns: ecological spill-over (Monarch butterflies), seed sovereignty, IP monopoly.
RNA Editing
First clinical proof-of-concept.
ADAR converts adenosine \rightarrow inosine on mRNA → reversible vs permanent DNA-CRISPR.
Nobel Prize in Medicine 2024
Victor Ambros & Gary Ruvkun: micro-RNA discovery (post-transcriptional gene regulation).
miRNA roles: development, immunity, oncogenesis, diagnostics.
Mitochondrial Transplantation
Moving healthy mitochondria to diseased cells (Parkinson, infertility, heart failure).
Challenges: cold-storage limits, immune rejection, germline ethics.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2024
David Baker (computational protein design – Top7), Demis Hassabis & John Jumper (AlphaFold protein-fold prediction).
Recombinant Proteins
IISc developed scalable process (Pichia pastoris).
Applications: insulin, vector-vaccines, GM feed, bioremediation.
Graphene
2004 discovery; 2010 Nobel.
Properties: 200\times stronger than steel yet \frac16 weight; 2.3\% light absorption; impermeable to gases; quantum Hall.
Indian thrust: India Graphene Engineering & Innovation Centre (IGEIC); Graphene-Aurora program.
SPACE SCIENCE & APPLICATIONS
Axiom-4 Mission
First ISS government-sponsored flights for India, Poland, Hungary >40 yrs.
Indian payloads: microgravity crop growth, cyanobacteria, tardigrades.
Inputs for Gaganyaan (crewed LEO 400\,\text{km}, 3 days).
Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS)
400–450\,\text{km} orbit; 5 modules; base-module launch 2028; full 2035.
Space Docking Experiment (SPaDeX)
Indigenous autonomous rendezvous of chaser & target cubesats at 700\,\text{km}, \approx28\,000\,\text{km/h}.
Third Launch Pad
Approved for Sriharikota; supports NGLV & upgraded LVM-3 (semi-cryogenic stage); \approx4 yrs completion.
Engine Technologies
Scramjet: DRDL 120\,\text{s} active-cool test; needs rocket boost to hypersonic (>\text{Mach} 3).
CE-20 Cryogenic: LPSC; powers LVM-3 upper stage (Chandrayaan-3, OneWeb).
Cryo uses LH_2 at -253^\circ\text{C} & LOX -183^\circ\text{C} → high Isp, eco-friendly (water vapour).
Aditya-L1
7 payloads; halo-orbit around Sun–Earth L_1; imaged solar-flare kernel.
Hyperspectral Imaging constellation “Firefly’’ (Pixxel)
6 private satellites → tree-level spectral fingerprinting.
Outer Space Governance
Artemis Accords (launched 2020, now 55 signatories inc. India).
Issues: 130\,\text{million} debris pieces; resource extraction norms; traffic mgmt.
UN recommendations: new treaty, debris-removal, inclusive stakeholder framework.
Space Debris
Starship explosion spread fragments over Florida/Bahamas.
Mitigation: IADC, UN guidelines, ISRO–NETRA, IS4OM, “Zero-Debris Charter’’ (12 nations).
Space-Based Surveillance (SBS-3)
CCS okayed comprehensive land-sea-air EO constellation; builds on SBS-1 (2001), SBS-2 (2013).
NavIC
7 sats ( 3 GSO + 4 IGSO) S-band & L5; 1500\,\text{km} beyond borders; used in Op. Sindoor.
Satellite Internet
Starlink licensed 5 yrs; other constellations: OneWeb, Kuiper, China’s Qianfan.
Issues: latency, secure use (terrorists), ozone depletion, e-waste.
Ladakh Observatory Hub
MACE Cherenkov telescope (world 2^{nd} largest) inaugurated at Hanle; region ideal Mars/Moon analogue.
Black-Hole Merger
Largest masses detected via gravitational waves; furthers tests of General Relativity & stellar evolution.
Geomagnetic Storms
G5 storm struck Earth after 20 yrs; driven by CMEs & solar flares; threats to grid, GNSS, airlines.
Meteorite Fall (Beed, Maharashtra)
Provides primordial clues to solar-system composition; India collaborating via All-Sky Fireball Network.
HEALTH & MEDICINE
Trans-Fat Elimination
WHO milestone report 2018–2023: policy cover rose 6\%\to46\% of world pop.; 2023 target unmet.
India: FSSAI cap 2\% TFA; “Heart Attack Rewind’’; REPLACE framework.
Obesity
PM highlighted 1/8 people obese; NFHS-5: women 24\%, men 23\%; children <5 yrs overweight 3.4\%.
Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR)
UN declaration aims 10\% mortality reduction by 2030; calls \$100\,\text{m} funding.
India risk: 2\,\text{million} deaths / year by 2050.
Environment (Protection) Rules 2019 limit 121 antibiotic residues in effluent.
Zoonotic Diseases
IDSP 2018–2023: 8.3\% outbreaks zoonotic; Japanese Encephalitis 29.5\% of them; NE India hotspot.
Drug Quality
CDSCO recalled 49 drugs; only \approx2\,000/10,500 units WHO-GMP compliant; SSDRS scheme strengthening labs.
Fixed-Dose Combinations
35 FDCs banned; pros: pill-burden, cost; cons: dose-inflexibility, AMR, unapproved exports.
CAR-T Therapy
India’s first indigenous product launched; autologous T-cells engineered with chimeric receptor.
Oral Rehydration Therapy
Inventor Richard Cash passed; ORS + zinc lowered under-five diarrhoeal deaths by \approx67\% since 1990.
Pandemic Agreement (WHA 2024)
Aligns with IHR 2005; sets Pathogen Access & Benefit Sharing (firms give WHO 20\% of output).
Non-Communicable Diseases
NCDs cause 74\% global, 63\% Indian deaths; intensified screening launched; aims SDG 3.4 one-third mortality cut.
Tuberculosis
New 6-month BPaLM (Bedaquiline Pretomanid Linezolid Moxifloxacin) for MDR-TB vs old 20 mths; India TB cases 25.52\,\text{lakh} 2023.
Neglected Tropical Diseases
WHO 2024 report: target 90\% reduction people needing interventions by 2030; India holds 40\% global NTD burden.
Rare Diseases
CDSCO okayed first anti-complement therapy; NPRD 2021 groups 63 rare diseases; treatment gaps – 95\% have none; under-utilised CoE funds 47/71\,\text{crore}.
MISCELLANEOUS EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors
North India’s first PHWR at Gorakhpur; 2\times700\,\text{MW} units.
Fast Breeder Reactor
500\,\text{MWe} PFBR at Kalpakkam commissioning by 2026 → Stage-2 of 3-stage nuclear program.
Thorium-Molten Salt Reactor
China’s first grid-connected reactor 2025; India rich in monazite 8–10\% Th in Kerala sands.
Small Modular Reactors / Bharat Small Reactors
Capacity \le300\,\text{MW}_e; budget 2024 announced PPP; benefits: passive safety, modular factory build; issues: cost-per-MW, HALEU fuel.
Tokamak Fusion – ITER
Central solenoid completed; 30+ nations; India via Institute for Plasma Research.
Sodium-Ion Batteries
Lab cell: 80\% charge in 6 min, >3,000 cycles; 15–20\% cheaper vs Li-ion, decentralised supply.
Hyperloop
IIT-Madras & TuTr built 410\,\text{m} test-track; theoretical 1200\,\text{km/h}; vacuum maintenance & passenger g-forces key hurdles.
Desalination
IIT-Bombay lotus-leaf graphene evaporator; comparison: Thermal (LT-MED in Lakshadweep) vs Membrane (Nemmeli RO).
Light Supersolid
CNR-Italy created polariton supersolid, bridging photonics & quantum matter → stable qubits, photonic circuits.
Vigyan Dhara Scheme
Clubbing three MoST umbrella schemes 2021–2026; aims human-resource pool, FTE researcher rise & gender parity.
CROSS-CUTTING ETHICAL & PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Privacy & Data Ownership (Deepfakes, BCIs, Big-Data).
Dual-Use & Militarisation (Quantum, NavIC, Space-based Surveillance, Gene-editing).
Environmental Sustainability (Graphene production, Cryogenic fuels, Space Debris, Desalination brine).
Inclusive Access & Equity (Pandemic treaty PABS, Trans-fat elimination, Rare-disease funding, Hyperloop affordability).
Indigenous Capability vs Global Partnerships (BAS, SMRs, Fast Breeder, ITER, Axiom).
QUICK-RECALL FORMULAE & DEFINITIONS
Body Mass Index =\dfrac{\text{Weight (kg)}}{[\text{Height (m)}]^2}
Solar Storm Severity: G1\text{ (Minor)}\ldots G5\text{ (Extreme)}
Lagrange Points: \nabla V =0 in rotating reference frame → L1 \ldots L5.
Haber’s law (toxicology) context AMR waste C\times t = k (constant effect).
REVISION TIPS
Correlate tech with SDG targets (e.g.
SDG-3 health ↔ CAR-T, AMR, NTDs;
SDG-7 clean energy ↔ SMR, Fusion, Sodium-Ion Battery;
SDG-9 innovation ↔ Quantum, Graphene, 4D-printing).
Integrate ethical viewpoints: utilitarian benefit vs deontological rights (Deepfakes, Gene-editing).
Use Indian constitutional hooks: Art 21 (privacy, health) for Deepfakes & drug quality; DPSP Art 48A for clean environment (Space debris, desalination).
CONCLUSION
Mastery over these developments—technical details + governance dimensions—will enrich UPSC answers with depth, policy linkage, and futuristic insight.