Awareness In The Fields Of IT, Space, Computers, Robotics, Nano-Technology, Bio-Technology And Issues Relating To Intellectual Property Rights

Previous Year Questions Asked In Mains From This Topic

• How is S-400 air defence system technically superior to any other system presently available in the world? [2021]

• What are the research and developmental achievements in applied biotechnology? How will these achievements help to uplift the poorer sections of the society? [2021]

• What do you understand by nanotechnology and how is it helping in health sector? [2020]

• What is India’s plan to have its own space station and how will it benefit our space programme? [2019]

• How is the Government of India protecting traditional knowledge of medicine from patenting by pharmaceutical companies? [2019]

• How can biotechnology help to improve the living standards of farmers? [2019]

• Why is there so much activity in the field of biotechnology in our country? How has this activity benefitted the field of biopharma? [2018]

• Stem cell therapy is gaining popularity in India to treat a wide variety of medical conditions including Leukaemia, Thalassemia, damaged cornea and severe bums. Describe briefly what stem cell therapy is and what advantages it has over other treatments ? [2017]

• 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. [2017]

• Discuss the potential threats of Cyber attack and the security framework to prevent it. [2017]

• Discuss India’s achievements in the field of Space Science and Technology. How the application of this technology has helped India in its socio-economic development? [2016]

• 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. [2016]

• 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. [2015]

• 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. [2015]

• Discuss the advantages and security implications of cloud hosting of servers vis-a-vis in-house machine-based hosting for government businesses. [2015]

• 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 this database publicly available under open-source licensing. [2015]

• Can overuse and free availability of antibiotics without Doctor’s prescription, be contributors to the emergence of drug-resistant diseases in India? What are the available mechanisms for monitoring and control? Critically discuss the various issues involved. [2014]

• 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. [2014]

• International civil aviation laws provide all countries complete and exclusive sovereignty over the airspace above their territory. What do you understand by ‘airspace? What are the implications of these laws on the space above this airspace? Discuss the challenges which this poses and suggest ways to contain the threat. [2014]

• Bringing out the circumstances in 2005 which forced amendment to the section 3(d) in Indian Patent Law, 1970, discuss how it has been utilized by the Supreme Court in its judgement in rejecting Novratis’ patent application for `Glivec’. Discuss briefly the pros and cons of the decision.  [2013]

• What do you understand by Fixed Dose Drug Combinations (FDCs) ? Discuss their merits and demerits. [2013]

• What do you understand by Umpire Decision Review System in Cricket ? Discuss its various components. Explain how silicone tape on the edge of a bat may fool the system ? [2013]

• What is a digital signature ? What does its authentication mean ? Give various salient built-in features of a digital signature. [2013]

• How does the 3D printing technology work ? List out the advantages and disadvantages of the technology. [2013]