Chapter-1 Biotechnology

United Nation Convention on Biological Diversity defines Biotechnology “any technological

application that uses biological systems, living organisms or derivatives thereof, to make or
modify products or processes for specific use”. And “Biological resources” includes genetic
resources, organisms or parts thereof, populations, or any other biotic component of
ecosystems with actual or potential use or value for humanity. India has become the world’s
12th biggest biotechnology economy having the second highest number of USFDA-approved
plants. Biotechnology will help developing countries accomplish things that they could never do

Conventional biotechnology is a biotechnology practice conducted by using simple methods

and instruments, without genetic manipulation. It has been done since thousands of years
ago to produce many kinds of products, such as beer, wine, tuak, sake, yogurt, bread, cheese,
soy sauce, tempe, tapai, and oncom.

Modern biotechnology is a biotechnology practice developed with genetic manipulation

technique, in which transfer of genetic material(transfer of gene) from one living organism to
the other occurs. Through this technique, humans can control the production according to his
desire. For examples, the production of pest and disease resistant plants, imperishable fruits,
and cattle which are able to produce more milk.

In the genetic manipulation process, organisms whose body containsforeign genes are
called transgenic organisms. They can be transgenic plants, transgenic animals, and
transgenic bacteria.

Principles of Biotechnology
1.Genetic Engineering: techniques to alter the chemistry of genetic material to introduce
into host organism and thus change the phenotype of organism

(NOTE: The genotype is a set of genes in DNA responsible for unique traits or
characteristics while the phenotype is the physical appearance or characteristic of an
organism.)

2.BIOPROCESS Engineering: Maintenance of sterile (microbial contamination-free)

ambience in chemical engineering processes to enable growth of only the desired
microbe/eukaryotic cell in large quantities for the manufacture of biotechnological
products like antibiotics, vaccines, enzymes, etc.

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Concept
In order to attain a phenotype , desired gene should be sent in to host but this gene can not
replicate by itself.so it must be integrated with recipient DNA to replicate, once it integrates with
host or recipient DNA it will reproduce itself and also transferred to future generation. This
replication of identical copies are also called as cloning.

What is Recombinant DNA?

Recombinant DNA technology is the joining together of DNA molecules from two
different species. The recombinant DNA molecule is inserted into a host organism to
produce new genetic combinations that are of value to science, medicine, agriculture,
and industry.

Steps involved in Recombinant DNA

(i) identification of DNA with desirable genes;

(ii) introduction of the identified DNA into the host;

(iii) maintenance of introduced DNA in the host and transfer of the DNA to its progeny.

Recombinant DNA Technology requires various tools like vector, host and enzymes such
as restriction enzymes, ligases, polymerases, etc.

Process involved
1.Cut the desired sequence of DNA through Enzyme called Restriction Enzyme

2.Use another Enzyme called Ligase to join DNA with plasmid(vector which can transfer
to host DNA)

3.Plasmid reaches to host DNA ,integrates and then creates multiple copies

Types of Biotechnology
Like the stripes of the rainbow, the different biotechnology applications are grouped into
seven colours or research and development areas. In this section, we highlight the most
relevant of each of them.

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• Red biotechnology: This is the health branch and responsible, according to
the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), for the development of
more than 250 vaccines and medications such as antibiotics, regenerative
therapies and the production of artificial organs.
• Green biotechnology: It is used by more than 13 million farmers worldwide
to fight pests and nourish crops and strengthen them against
microorganisms and extreme weather events, such as droughts and frosts.
• White biotechnology: The industrial branch works to improve
manufacturing processes, the development of biofuels and other
technologies to make industry more efficient and sustainable.
• Yellow biotechnology: This branch is focused on food production and, for
example, it carries out research to reduce the levels of saturated fats in
cooking oils.
• Blue biotechnology: This exploits marine resources to obtain aquaculture,
cosmetics and health care products. In addition, it is the branch most widely
used to obtain biofuels from certain microalgae.
• Grey biotechnology: Its purpose is the conservation and restoration of
contaminated natural ecosystems through, as mentioned above,
bioremediation processes.
• Gold biotechnology: Also known as bioinformatics, it is responsible for
obtaining, storing, analysing and separating biological information, especially
that related to DNA and amino acid sequences.

Applications of Biotechnology in various fields

• Applications of Biotechnology in Medicine

• Applications of Biotechnology in Agriculture
• Applications of Biotechnology in Animal Husbandry
• Application of Biotechnology in Food Processing
• Application of Biotechnology in Environment

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Applications of Biotechnology in Medicine

• Biotechnology techniques are used in medicine for diagnosis and treating

different diseases. It gives opportunities for the people to protect
themselves from dangerous diseases.
• The field of Biotechnology, genetic engineering has introduced techniques
like gene therapy, recombinant DNA technology and polymerase chain
reaction which use genes and DNA molecules to diagnose diseases and
insert new and healthy genes in the body which replace the damaged cells
• Genetic modification in mosquitoes can solve the problems of epidemic
diseases such as dengue and malaria
• Artificial insemination is the artificial introduction of semen into the
reproductive tract of a female animal. It is used extensively in breeding
animals, such as sheep and cattle
• Medical researchers believe that stem cell therapy has the potential to
dramatically change the treatment of human disease. A number of adult
stem cell therapies already exist, particularly bone marrow transplants that
are used to treat leukaemia.
• Stem cell transplantation was first used in the treatment of blood disorders
and it was a breakthrough. Conventionally known as bone marrow
transplantation, the stem cells responsible for production of the blood cells
reside in the bone marrow

Applications of Biotechnology in Agriculture

• Biotechnology has played a major role in agriculture by altering genes,

studying and cloning various crops in order to provide better quality
products of foods ultimately improving our lives.
• Hybrid Seeds, Artificial Seeds, Photosynthesis improver, Stress resistant
crops and plants, Biofertilizers, Bio-pesticides are some of the potential
applications.
• Potential advantages that biotechnology can confer across a wide range of
agricultural applications are in areas such as livestock management, storage
of agricultural products and sustaining current crop yields, while reducing
the use of fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides.
• Biotechnology offers a very promising alternative to synthetic foods and an
improvement on conventional plant-breeding technologies. Combined with

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other advanced agricultural technologies, it offers an exciting and
environmentally responsible way to meet consumer demand for sustainable
agriculture.

Applications of Biotechnology in Animal Husbandry

• The application of biotechnology in this area, in increasing production

efficiency through manipulation and control of physiological systems and
improving the health and well-being of animals, assumes great significance.
• Embryo transplantation, used with cattle, goats, pigs, and sheep, aims to
increase the number of offspring from a quality female.
• Cloning embryos to artificially produce genetic duplicates of an animal has
also become possible.
• Direct manipulation and alteration of an animal’s genetic material — genetic
engineering—has the potential to produce even more drastic changes in
animal breeding. It is believed that genetically altered pigs may one day be
able to provide compatible organs for emergency transplantation
(xenotransplantation) into humans.

Application of Biotechnology in Food Processing

• Biotechnology has a major application in the food sector.

• Bread, cheese, wine, beer, yogurt, and vinegar are all made by culturing
microorganisms and are really the oldest products of biotechnology.
• It helps in improving the edibility, texture, and storage of the food; in
preventing the attack of the food, mainly dairy, by the virus like
bacteriophage.
• Biotechnologists are also developing tests that will allow the detection of
food-contaminating microorganisms and the toxins they produce, which may
be present only in minute quantities.
• Biotechnology also has applications in the detection of mutagens
(substances that cause genetic mutations) in individual food products.
• GM crops which have been approved for use in food items in select
countries include corn, maize, soya, tomato, potato and papaya.

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• Latest innovations in biotechnology that fortify major staples with micro
nutrients like vitamin A, zinc and iron can be game changers for hunger
problem in India.

Application of Biotechnology in Environment

• Biotechnology can be used to tackle environmental issues like deforestation

and air pollution
• Biotechnology can help in finding out the level of Particulate Matter 2.5 in
the air
• Biotechnology is already providing a clean and renewable alternative to
traditional fossil fuels, the burning of which contributes to global warming.
• The benefit of environmental biotechnology helps us to avoid the use of
hazardous pollutants and wastes that affect the natural resources and the
environment.
• Biosensors, which combine a biological component (such as an enzyme) with
various electronic components to trigger a circuit when a particular type of
chemical is detected. Biosensors are capable of detecting extremely low
levels of proteins, hormones, pollutants, gases, and other molecules.

Gene Editing
Gene Editing is a type of genetic engineering in which DNA is inserted, deleted, modified or replaced
in the genome of a living organism. Unlike early genetic engineering techniques that randomly insert
genetic material into a host genome, genome editing targets the insertions to site specific locations.

CRISPR is widely considered the most precise, most cost-effective and quickest way to edit genes.

Pros:

• Most uses of genome editing have been in scientific research –for example
to investigate models of human disease.
• Genome editing has the potential to alter any DNA sequence, whether in a
bacterium, plant, animal or human being.
• It is a powerful tool that can reshape the way society deals many issues of
healthcare, food scarcity and the environment.

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• Crops and livestock (e.g. increasing yield, introducing resistance to disease
and pests, tolerance of different environmental conditions).
• Industrial biotechnology (e.g. developing ‘third generation’ biofuels and
producing chemicals, materials and pharmaceuticals).
• Biomedicine (e.g. pharmaceutical development, xenotransplantation, gene
and cell-based therapies, control of insect-borne diseases).
• Reproduction (e.g. preventing the inheritance of a disease trait).
• Engineering mosquitoes to control malaria and dengue.
• It can help fight against blood-related disorders such as haemophilia, sickle
cell anaemia, and Beta-Thalassemia.
• All such applications together can drive India’s economic growth over the
next decade to new heights.

Issues with gene-editing

• Balance Risks & Benefits: Due to the possibility of off-target effects (edits
in the wrong place creating properties different from those that were
intended) and Mosaicism (when some cells carry the edit but others do not,
leading to presence of two or more populations of cells), safety is of primary
concern.
• Application of the technique to human germline: Until now, all therapeutic
interventions in humans using genome editing have been performed in
somatic cells (i.e. only the patient gets affected, no chance of inheriting the
altered genes by the patient’s offspring). Safety concerns have been raised
regarding genome editing in human germline, where unpredictable changes
can be transmitted to following generations.
• Ecological impacts: A ‘gene drive’ can propagate a set of genes with
negative traits throughout a population which may lead to disappearance of
the whole targeted population with severe ecological consequences.
• Difficulty in regulation: The precise genetic modifications obtained through
CRISPR Cas9 technique makes it more difficult to identify a genetically
modified organism once outside the lab and also to regulate such organisms
in the market.
• At present there is no regulating body to keep a check on the practices and
applications of the technology. It may therefore lead to reduced
transparency, low quality and may also increase the unnecessary delay in
the treatment of patients.

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• Uncontrolled clinical trials: There are at present no standard norms for
standardization of norms for clinical trials for checking the efficacy of the
treatment.
• Concerns over ‘Designer Babies’: Engineering human embryos raises the
prospect of designer babies, where embryos are altered for social rather
than medical reasons e.g. to increase height or intelligence.
• The debate about gene editing has been going on for a long time now. Gene editing should be
encouraged to enhance the advancements in the field of science and improve the standard of
living of people E.g.: CRISPR technology is targeting to treat the rare disease caused by
mutation of one gene. At the same time, common guidelines need to be developed by
international communities which set the guidelines of what risks are acceptable and what are
not.

Suggestions

• India’s current regulatory architecture for approving novel treatments is

ambiguous and assigns overlapping functions to different governmental
bodies. This framework needs to be restructured to optimize trial approval
time while addressing safety requirements.
• A two-step model wherein the government works with industry and
research groups to accelerate clinical research is recommended. This model
consists of a national apex committee working in collaboration with existing
institutional ethics committees and independent accreditation agencies.
• It is envisaged that India will emerge as a significant contributor to the
world bioinformatics market and position itself as a global hub for
bioinformatics.
• Indian bioinformatics sector has numerous strengths and competitive
advantages to make the bioinformatics sector a sunrise industry of India.
• With the improvements in the IPR regime, increasing support from the
government and continuing efforts of the private sector companies, it is
very much likely that India could repeat its IT success story in bioinformatics
too.
• Much research on animal models and isolated human cells should be
conducted before any full-scale routine application in humans.

What is CRISPR-Cas9?

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• CRISPR–Cas9 is a unique technology that enables geneticists and medical
researchers to edit parts of the genome? by removing, adding or altering
sections of the DNA?
• It is currently the simplest, most versatile and precise method of genetic
manipulation and is therefore causing a buzz in the science world.

How does it work?

• The CRISPR-Cas9 system consists of two key molecules that introduce a

change into the DNA. These are:
o an enzyme called Cas9. This acts as a pair of ‘molecular scissors’ that
can cut the two strands of DNA at a specific location in the genome
so that bits of DNA can then be added or removed.
o a piece of RNA called guide RNA (gRNA). This consists of a small
piece of pre-designed RNA sequence (about 20 bases long) located
within a longer RNA scaffold. The scaffold part binds to DNA and the

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pre-designed sequence ‘guides’ Cas9 to the right part of the genome.
This makes sure that the Cas9 enzyme cuts at the right point in the
genome.
• The guide RNA is designed to find and bind to a specific sequence in the
DNA. The guide RNA has RNA bases? that are complementary? to those of
the target DNA sequence in the genome. This means that, at least in theory,
the guide RNA will only bind to the target sequence and no other regions of
the genome.
• The Cas9 follows the guide RNA to the same location in the DNA sequence
and makes a cut across both strands of the DNA.
• At this stage the cell? recognises that the DNA is damaged and tries to
repair it.
• Scientists can use the DNA repair machinery to introduce changes to one or
more genes? in the genome of a cell of interest.

Gene Therapy
Difference between Gene therapy and Gene editing:
All concepts of Gene therapy, Gene editing and CRISPR CAS9 are interlinked. We use Gene editing
for multiple reasons like designer babies, treatment of genetic disorders, for invention of medicines
etc., if we are editing Gene for health related then its called Gene therapy. Besides there is also
difference of degree, in Gene therapy we don’t replace the Gene

In gene editing, a mutated gene is revised, removed, or replaced at the DNA level. In gene therapy,
the effect of a mutation is offset by inserting a “healthy” version of the gene, and the disease-related
genes remain in the genome. Both approaches may provide a durable benefit to patients, and both
gene therapy and gene editing, alone or in combination, may lend themselves to the development of
transformative genomic medicines.

Genes, Proteins, and DNA

The human body is made up of trillions of cells. Each cell has a copy of your genome—the total
collection of all your genes and DNA. Genes are instructions that every cell in your body uses to
make the proteins they need to function. Genes can be found in long chains of molecules called
deoxyribonucleic acids (DNA) that are twisted together into the shape of a double helix.

There are 4 DNA molecules that are identified by the letters A, T, C, and G. Combinations of these
letters make up the genetic instructions that our cells use to make proteins. Our genes can also be a
source of disease.

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Small breaks in our DNA are incredibly common and are normally uneventful. DNA breaks can
happen from sunlight, for example, or during cell divisions that happen as we grow. Our cells have
built-in DNA repair processes that constantly fix these breaks as they occur.

However, breaks are sometimes repaired incorrectly, creating what is known as a mutation.
Mutations can occur spontaneously or be passed down from our parents. Mutations can also change
how our cells function, and may lead to serious diseases such as sickle cell disease (SCD), Leber
congenital amaurosis 10 (LCA10), cancer, and many others.

Gene therapy is a technique that modifies a person’s genes to treat or cure disease. Gene therapies
can work by several mechanisms:

1.Replacing a disease-causing gene with a healthy copy of the gene

2.Inactivating a disease-causing gene that is not functioning properly

3.Introducing a new or modified gene into the body to help treat a disease

Gene therapy products are being studied to treat diseases including cancer, genetic diseases, and
infectious diseases.

Types
1. Somatic Gene Therapy: Effects will not be transferred to next generation

2.Germline Gene Therapy: Effects transferred to next generation

Challenges
Response from immune system: our immune system might not accept newly introduced gene

Mutation of undesired Gene and collateral effect

High cost for treatment of disease through Gene therapy

Delivery of desired Gene to right place

Scientists can make mistakes and it can lead to occurrence of unwanted mutations

Possibility of Bio war

Virus is used as vector and it can show toxicity

Mitochondrial Gene Therapy

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What are mitochondria?
Mitochondria are tiny rod-like structures in cells which act as power houses, generating the energy
that allows our bodies to function. Unusually, they have their own DNA, distinct from the genetic
material within the cell nucleus. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) makes up about 0.1% of a cell’s total
DNA and does not affect individual characteristics such as appearance and personality.

About MRT technique: MRT techniques essentially swap a woman’s defective mitochondrial DNA
with that of a donor. The resulting embryo’s DNA will mostly come from the two parents who
supplied the egg and sperm, but a tiny proportion – a fraction of a percentage – will come from the
donor.

All cells have mitochondria, which are like power packs for the cells and create the energy that keeps
cells alive. While a child’s DNA is a mixture from both the mother and father, mitochondria are
separate “packages of genetics” that come solely from the mother.

Some people have a mitochondrial disease — a problem with the genetics in their mitochondria —
which can lead to severe, life-threatening conditions, although this is rare. One treatment for a
woman who might have one of these diseases is to replace the mitochondria in her eggs via IVF. This
can be done via a process like the one used in Greece where the DNA is taken out of the woman’s
egg and put into a donor woman’s egg once the DNA has been stripped from it, which is then
fertilized with sperm to create an embryo.

Why is it so controversial?
Some people don’t like the idea of a baby having three biological parents, and argue that
mitochondrial DNA goes some way to shaping important characteristics, such as personality. But the
scientific consensus is that swapping mitochondria is similar to changing a battery – it’s unlikely to
have much, if any, influence over a person’s behaviour.

Others have argued that the technique is unnecessary. After all, it won’t help those who have already
been born with mitochondrial diseases. Parents often don’t find out they are carriers of these
diseases until they give birth to sick children. And those who do know they could pass on a disease
have other options, such as using a donor egg. The technique is specifically for people who carry
genes for the disease, but want to have a child genetically related to them.

Another concern is that, by creating a new mix of genetic material, embryologists are creating lasting
genetic changes that will be passed down through generations, before we have a chance to find out if
they are dangerous. Some argue that this starts us on a slippery slope of germ-line editing – one that
could eventually lead to “designer babies”.

Is it ethical?
With this, a woman’s inalienable right to become a mother with her own genetic material became a
reality. However, some experts say the technique raises ethical questions and should be banned in

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cases not involving disease. The risks of the technique aren’t entirely known, though may be
considered acceptable if being used to treat mitochondrial disease.

Genome Sequencing
Genome sequencing is the process that involves deciphering the exact order of base pairs in an
individual. This “deciphering” or reading of the genome is what sequencing is all about. Costs of
sequencing differ based on the methods employed to do the reading or the accuracy stressed upon in
decoding the genome.

Need for genome sequencing:

1. Ever since the human genome was first sequenced in 2003, it opened a fresh
perspective on the link between disease and the unique genetic make -up of each
individual.
2. Nearly 10,000 diseases — including cystic fibrosis, thalassemia — are known to be the
result of a single gene malfunctioning.
3. While genes may render some insensitive to certain drugs, genome sequencing has
shown that cancer too can be understood from the viewpoint of genetics, rather than
being seen as a disease of certain organs

Genome Sequencing Initiatives by India

Genome India
Taking inspiration from the Human Genome Project, this year, the Department of Biotechnology
(DBT) initiated the ambitious “Genome India Project” (GIP) on 3rd January 2020. The GIP aims to
collect 10,000 genetic samples from citizens across India, to build a reference genome.

This project is led by the Centre for Brain Research at Bengaluru-based Indian Institute of Science,
which acts as the central coordinator between a collaboration of 20 leading institutions, each
collecting samples and conducting its own research. Institutes involved include the Indian Institute of
Science (IISc) in Bengaluru as well as several Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). For conducting the
project, investigators in hospitals will lead the data collection through a simple blood test from
participants and the information will be added to biobanks.

Indigen Project
The IndiGen initiative was undertaken by CSIR in April 2019, which was implemented by
the CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), Delhi and CSIR-Centre for
Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad.

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The objective is to enable genetic epidemiology and develop public health technologies
applications using population genome data.

This has enabled benchmarking the scalability of genome sequencing and computational
analysis at population scale in a defined timeline.

The ability to decode the genetic blueprint of humans through whole genome
sequencing will be a major driver for biomedical science.

IndiGen programme aims to undertake whole genome sequencing of thousands of

individuals representing diverse ethnic groups from India.

Significance

• This would aid our understanding of the nature of diseases affecting the
Indian population, and then ultimately support the development of
predictive diagnostic markers.
• This is a landmark initiative, particularly because it would bring valuable
addition to existing genome research, which has so far been limited to the
Western context
• It allows India to draw upon its tremendous genetic diversity, given the
series of large migrations historically, and thus, add greatly to the current
information about the human species.
• Through whole-genome sequencing, the plan is to build an exhaustive
catalogue of genetic variations for the Indian population. This would aid in
the designing of genome-wide association chips which will facilitate further
large-scale genetic studies in a cost-effective manner.
• It would also open new vistas for advancing next-generation personalized
medicine in the country, paving the way for predicting health and disease
outcomes and modulating treatment protocols based on the genome
sequences.
• The initiative would also support the development of targeted preventive
care, as it has the potential to help identify those population groups which
are more susceptible to various risk factors for certain diseases. For
instance, if a region shows a tendency towards a specific disease,
customized interventions can be made in the region, accordingly, leading to
more effective treatment overall.

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Cloning
Cloning is a technique scientists use to make exact genetic copies of living things. Genes, cells,
tissues, and even whole animals can all be cloned.

Types:
1. Therapeutic: In therapeutic cloning, the aim is to clone cells that make particular organs or types of
tissue

2.Reproductive: In this we actually reproduce not organ but entire being(donor) from where we got
genetic information

Methods:
1. Natural: This happens naturally when one embryo spontaneously divides into two or more
embryos, thus creating identical twins or, sometimes, triplets or even more

2.Artifical: An existing embryo is mechanically divided into two or more embryos that are then
allowed to develop naturally

3.Artifical and Donor: Through use of somatic cell of Donor.

Somatic cells are all the cells that make up an organism, but that are not sperm or egg cells. Sperm
and egg cells contain only one set of chromosomes, and when they join during fertilization, the
mother’s chromosomes merge with the father’s. Somatic cells, on the other hand, already contain two
full sets of chromosomes. To make a clone, scientists transfer the DNA from an animal’s somatic cell
into an egg cell that has had its nucleus and DNA removed. The egg develops into an embryo that
contains the same genes as the cell donor. Then the embryo is implanted into an adult female’s uterus
to grow.

Significance

• An embryo made by cloning can be turned into a stem cell factory. Stem
cells are an early form of cells that can grow into many different types of
cells and tissues. Scientists can turn them into nerve cells to fix a damaged
spinal cord or insulin-making cells to treat diabetes.
• The cloning of animals has been used in a number of different applications.
Animals have been cloned to have gene mutations that help scientists study
diseases that develop in the animals.
• Livestock like cows and pigs have been cloned to produce more milk or
meat.Example India is doing this project on Indigenous breeds

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• Cloning might one day bring back extinct species like the woolly mammoth
or giant panda.
• It overcomes the problem of immune rejection which is major concern
during organ transplantation.
• It can help in understanding process of ageing.

Issues

• Many researchers think it is worthwhile to explore the use of embryonic

stem cells as a path for treating human diseases. However, some experts are
concerned about the striking similarities between stem cells and cancer
cells. Both cell types have the ability to proliferate indefinitely and some
studies show that after 60 cycles of cell division, stem cells can accumulate
mutations that could lead to cancer. Therefore, the relationship between
stem cells and cancer cells needs to be more clearly understood if stem cells
are to be used to treat human disease.
• Researchers have observed some adverse health effects in sheep and other
mammals that have been cloned. These include an increase in birth size and
a variety of defects in vital organs, such as the liver, brain and heart.
• Another potential problem centers on the relative age of the cloned cell’s
chromosomes. As cells go through their normal rounds of division, the tips
of the chromosomes, called telomeres, shrink. Over time, the telomeres
become so short that the cell can no longer divide and, consequently, the
cell dies. This is part of the natural aging process that seems to happen in all
cell types. As a consequence, clones created from a cell taken from an adult
might have chromosomes that are already shorter than normal, which may
condemn the clones’ cells to a shorter life span. Indeed, Dolly, who was
cloned from the cell of a 6-year-old sheep, had chromosomes that were
shorter than those of other sheep her age. Dolly died when she was six
years old, about half the average sheep’s 12-year lifespan.
• Reproductive cloning would present the potential of creating a human that
is genetically identical to another person who has previously existed or who
still exists. This may conflict with long-standing religious and societal values
about human dignity, possibly infringing upon principles of individual
freedom, identity and autonomy. However, some argue that reproductive
cloning could help sterile couples fulfill their dream of parenthood. Others
see human cloning as a way to avoid passing on a deleterious g ene that runs

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in the family without having to undergo embryo screening or embryo
selection.
• Therapeutic cloning, while offering the potential for treating humans
suffering from disease or injury, would require the destruction of human
embryos in the test tube. Consequently, opponents argue that using this
technique to collect embryonic stem cells is wrong, regardless of whether
such cells are used to benefit sick or injured people.
• India does not have specific laws regarding cloning but has guidelines prohibiting
whole human cloning or reproductive cloning. India allows therapeutic cloning
and the use of embryonic stem cells for research purposes

Stem Cells

What are stem cells, and why are they important?

Stem cells have the remarkable potential to develop into many different cell types in the body during
early life and growth. In addition, in many tissues they serve as a sort of internal repair system,
dividing essentially without limit to replenish other cells as long as the person or animal is still alive.
When a stem cell divides, each new cell has the potential either to remain a stem cell or become
another type of cell with a more specialized function, such as a muscle cell, a red blood cell, or a brain
cell.

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Regulatory status in Iindia:

“National Guidelines for Stem Cell Research” jointly formulated by Department of Biotechnology and
the Indian Council of Medical Research was released by the Hon’ble Minister for Health & Family
Welfare on 11th October; 2017. As per the National Guidelines for Stem Cell Research (2017), at
present, there are no approved indications for stem cell therapy other than the hematopoietic stem
cell transplantation (HSCT) for hematological disorders. Accordingly, all stem cell therapy other than
the above shall be treated as investigational and conducted only in the form of a clinical trial after
obtaining necessary regulatory approvals. Use of stem cells for any other purpose outside the domain
of clinical trials will be considered unethical and hence is not permissible.

Stem cells are distinguished from other cell types by two important characteristics:
First, they are unspecialized cells capable of renewing themselves through cell division, sometimes
after long periods of inactivity.

Second, under certain physiologic or experimental conditions, they can be induced to become tissue-
or organ-specific cells with special functions. In some organs, such as the gut and bone marrow, stem
cells regularly divide to repair and replace worn out or damaged tissues. In other organs, however,
such as the pancreas and the heart, stem cells only divide under special conditions.

What are the similarities and differences between Embryonic and Adult
stem cells?
One major difference between adult and Embryonic stem cells is their different abilities in the
number and type of differentiated cell types they can become. Embryonic stem cells can become all
cell types of the body because they are pluripotent. Adult stem cells are thought to be limited to
differentiating into different cell types of their tissue of origin.

Embryonic stem cells can be grown relatively easily in culture. Adult stem cells are rare in mature
tissues, so isolating these cells from an adult tissue is challenging, and methods to expand their
numbers in cell culture have not yet been worked out. This is an important distinction, as large
numbers of cells are needed for stem cell replacement therapies.

GM Crops
GM Crops in India
According to WHO, Genetically modified organisms are the organisms in which genetic material has
been altered in a way that does not occur in natural recombination.

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All GM crops in India require approval from the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) for
use in commercial production. BT cotton is the only genetically modified crop allowed in India.
Biotech regulator recently allowed for the commercial production of GM Mustard in the
country.Several groups opposed the GEAC’s decision.

Arguments for GM Crops

1) GMOs can address challenges of food security. Biotechnology, around the world, has helped
farmers grow 311.8 million tonnes more food in the last 15 years.

2) The spectacular success of BT cotton: two billion hectares of biotech crops have been planted in
28 countries since 1996.Just as the adoption of BT cotton ensured that India transitioned into a
cotton-exporting country switching to high-yield oilseeds engineered specially for India’s semi-arid
zones can help India Reduce its dependence on imports.

At $10 billion annually, edible oil is India’s third-biggest import item after crude oil and gold. If a
farmer produces one tonne of oil, he also produces an equal quantity of cake, a by-product that is a
protein-rich feed for animals. When we import vegetable oils, we are denied a large quantity of
oilseed cake.

3) Farmers can also benefit from higher yields and income.

4) They can decrease the use of pesticides and herbicides and can protect the environment.

5) People around the world have been consuming products of biotech crops for more than 20 years.

6) GM crops can be engineered to withstand weather fluctuations and extremes.

Arguments against GM Crops

1) GM crops can cause long term consequences on human health. Ex: categorisation of glyphosate by
the World Health Organization as a “probable carcinogen”

2) GMOs are self-replicating organisms and cause genetic contamination of the environment which
cannot be reversed.

3) Its impact on the health of the people, environment, soil, groundwater or food chain is not known
yet.

4) The seed stock will also be contaminated at the molecular level.

5) It makes the farmers susceptible to the practices of MNCs and can raise the cost of cultivation and
put them in debt trap.

6) Regulation is not effective and conflict of interest is present, as field trials and safety data
generated by the company have commercial interest.

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7) The lack of transparency in the regulatory process further amplifies apprehensions. For ex refusal
of GEAC to publicly release the safety testing data

8) Recently BT cotton crop loss faced by farmers due to pest attack by the same pest it was designed
to resist. So farmers are now switching back to non BT crops.

Concerns / Challenges
Major opposition to GM cross can be stated as a trust deficit and sense of precaution. Lack of
transparency in the regulatory process and conflict of interest are the major reasons.

In India, organizations that are trying to commercialize GM crops are themselves involved in testing
their safety through field trials.

Data is also secretive. Concerns regarding loss of food biodiversity if corporate food varieties begin
to flood the markets.

The pesticide industry’s efforts to influence policymakers and regulators have obstructed reforms
globally. Their business model aims only at making profit.

Way Forward
• The technology need enabling policy to ensure their outcomes are in line with the spirit of their
promises.
• The government needs to improve infrastructure and access to funds and spur innovation.
• India needs to reform its regulatory structure to expedite approvals and make it easier to conduct
research.
• Promoting indigenous gene editing research is important to make treatments available at
affordable prices.
• Clinical trials need to be contingent on robust demonstration of safety and efficacy.
• A two-step model wherein the government works with industry and research groups to
accelerate clinical research is recommended.
• Responsible use of gene editing could be the remedy for some of India’s problems. This is India’s
chance to tailor this cutting edge tool to its own requirements and ensure affordable healthcare
to its people.

DNA Technology Regulation Bill, 2019

Key Highlights of Proposed Bill

• Purpose:

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o It allows law enforcement agencies to collect DNA samples, create DNA
profiles and special databanks for forensic-criminal investigations. It
states that all DNA data, including DNA samples, DNA profiles and
records, will be only used for identification of the person and not for any
other purpose.

• DNA profiling board:

o It creates DNA Profiling Board (DPB) that will be final authority that will
authorise creation of State-level DNA databanks, approve the methods
of collection and analysis of DNA-technologies. It makes accreditation
and regulation mandatory for DNA laboratories.

• DNA banks:
o It allows the government to set up DNA data banks across India to store
profiles. These banks will maintain a national database for identification
of victims, accused, suspects, undertrials, missing persons and
unidentified human remains.

• Penalty:
o It also empowers the government to impose jail term of up to 3 years
and fine of up to Rs. 1 lakh on those who leak information stored in such
facilities. It prescribes similar punishment for those who seek
information on DNA profiles illegally.

• Use of DNA Data:

o Under the Bill, DNA testing is allowed only in respect of matters listed in
the schedule to the Bill (such as, for offences under the Indian Penal
Code, 1860, for paternity suits, or to identify abandoned children).

• DNA Data Bank:

o The Bill provides for the establishment of a National DNA Data Bank and
regional DNA Data Banks, for every state, or two or more states.
o The National Data Bank will store DNA profiles received from DNA
laboratories and receive DNA data from the regional Banks.

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o Every Data Bank will be required to maintain indices for the following
categories of data: (i) a crime scene index, (ii) a suspects’ or undertrials’
index, (iii) an offenders’ index, (iv) a missing persons’ index, and (v) an
unknown deceased persons’ index.

• Protection of information:
o It also ensures that the data remain protected from misuse or abuse in
terms of the privacy rights of citizens.
o Under the Bill, the Board is required to ensure that all information
relating to DNA profiles with the Data Banks, laboratories and other
persons are kept confidential. DNA data may only be used for
identification of the person.
o However, the Bill allows for access to information in the Data Bank for
the purpose of a one-time keyboard search. This search allows for
information from a DNA sample to be compared with information in the
index without information from the sample being included in the index.

• Retention of DNA Data:

o The Bill states that the criteria for entry, retention or removal of the
DNA profile will be specified by regulations.
o However, the Bill provides for removal of the DNA Data of the following
persons:- (i) of a suspect if a police report is filed or court order given, (ii)
of an undertrial if a court order is given, (iii) on request, of persons who
are not a suspect, offender or undertrial from the crime scene or missing
persons’ index.
o Further, the Bill provides that information contained in the crime scene
index will be retained.

• DNA Laboratories:
o Any laboratory undertaking DNA testing is required to obtain
accreditation from the Board. The Board may revoke the accreditation
for reasons including, failure to: (i) undertake DNA testing, or (ii) comply
with the conditions attached to the accreditation. If the accreditation is
revoked, an appeal will lie before the central government or any other
authority notified by the central government.

• Obligations of DNA Laboratories:

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o Under the Bill, every DNA laboratory is required to perform various
functions, including: (i) following standards for quality assurance in
collection, storing, testing, and analysis of DNA samples, and (ii)
depositing DNA samples with the Data Bank.
o After depositing the sample for ongoing cases, the Laboratory is required
to return the biological sample to the investigating officer. In all other
cases, the sample must be destroyed and intimated to the concerned
persons.

Benefits of the Bill:

• By providing for the mandatory accreditation and regulation of DNA

laboratories, the Bill seeks to ensure that with the proposed expanded use
of this technology in the country.

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• There is also the assurance that the DNA test results are reliable and the
data remain protected from misuse or abuse in terms of the privacy rights of
our citizens.

DNA technology- significance and concerns:

• DNA analysis is an extremely useful and accurate technology in ascertaining

the identity of a person from his/her DNA sample, or establishing biological
relationships between individuals.
• A hair sample, or even bloodstains from clothes, from a scene of crime, for
example, can be matched with that of a suspect, and it can, in most cases,
be conclusively established whether the DNA in the sample belongs to the
suspected individual. As a result, DNA technology is being increasingly
relied upon in investigations of crime, identification of unidentified bodies,
or in determining parentage.
• But information from DNA samples can reveal not just how a person looks,
or what their eye colour or skin colour is, but also more intrusive
information like their allergies, or susceptibility to diseases. As a result,
there is a greater risk of information from DNA analysis getting misused.
• It is expected that the expanded use of DNA technology would result not
only in speedier justice delivery but also in increased conviction rates, which
at present is only around 30% (NCRB Statistics for 2016).

Challenges with the bill:

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• The draft statute, not only disregards the serious ethical dilemmas that are
attached to the creation of a national DNA database, but also, contrary to
established wisdom, virtually treats DNA as infallible, and as a solution to the
many problems that ail the criminal justice system.
• This Bill fatally ignores the disproportionality of the DNA bank that it seeks to
create, and the invasiveness of its purport and reach.
• It also conflates its objectives by allowing the collection of DNA evidence not only
in aid of criminal investigations but also to aid the determination of civil disputes.
• Importantly, while consent is not required before bodily substances are drawn
from a person accused and arrested for an offence punishable with either death or
imprisonment for a term exceeding seven years, in all other cases a person
refusing to part with genetic material can be compelled to do so if a Magistrate
has reasonable cause to believe that such evidence would help establish a person’s
guilt. Therefore, there’s no end to the state’s power in coercing a person to part
with her DNA.
• In Justice K.S. Puttaswamy (Retd) v. Union of India declared that the Constitution
recognizes a fundamental Right to Privacy. But, it is unclear whether the proposed
bill is compatible with the Right to Privacy or not.
• The Bill’s failure to place sufficient checks on the use of DNA evidence collected
in breach of the law makes the process altogether more frightening.
• The Schedule lists civil matters where DNA profiling can be used. This includes
“issues relating to the establishment of individual identity.” DNA testing carried
out in medical or research laboratories can be used to identify an individual. It is
unclear if the Bill intends to regulate such laboratories.
• The Bill requires the consent of the individual when DNA profiling is used in
criminal investigations and identifying missing persons. However, consent
requirements have not been specified in the case of DNA profiling for civil
matters.
• DNA laboratories are required to share DNA data with the Data Banks. It is
unclear whether DNA profiles for civil matters will also be stored in the Data
Banks. Storage of these profiles in the Data Banks may violate the right to privacy.
• DNA laboratories prepare DNA profiles and then share them with DNA Data
Banks. The Bill specifies the process by which DNA profiles may be removed from
the Data Banks. However, the Bill does not require DNA laboratories to remove
DNA profiles. It may be argued that such provisions be included in the Bill and not
left to regulations.

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Way Forward:

• DNA profiling should be undertaken exclusively for the identification of a

person and should not be used to extract any other information.
• The state must show that there exists a legitimate reason for extracting
DNA evidence and that the extent and scope of such extraction do not
disproportionately contravene a person’s right to privacy.
• To enact the law in its present form would only add a new, menacing
weapon to the state’s rapidly expanding surveillance mechanism. The
government should not allow the benefits of science and technology to be
privileged over the grave risks in allowing unrestricted access to deeply
personal material.
• Maintenance of strict confidentiality with regard to the keeping of records
of DNA profiles and their use should be considered a priority.

Bioinformatics
Bioinformatics is the application of information technology to the study of living things, usually at the
molecular level. Bioinformatics involves the use of computers to collect, organize and use biological
information to answer questions in fields like evolutionary biology.

It is an interdisciplinary field that develops methods and software tools for understanding biological
data. As an interdisciplinary field of science, bioinformatics combines computer science, statistics,
mathematics and engineering to analyze and interpret biological data. Bioinformatics has been used
for in silico analyses of biological queries using mathematical and statistical techniques.

Growth of biotechnology has accelerated particularly during the last decade due to accumulation of
vast information as a result of sequencing of genomes and solving of crystal structures. This, coupled
with advances in IT has made biotechnology increasingly dependent on computationally intensive
approaches. This has led to the emergence of a super- specialty discipline, called Bioinformatics. The
term ‘bioinformatics’ is the short form of ‘biological informatics’, just as biotechnology is the short
form of ‘biological technology’.

India’s potential and progress in Bioinformatics:

Bioinformatics is growing as an independent discipline and helping immensely to accelerate the
growth of Biotechnology. Its ultimate goal is to uncover the wealth of biological information hidden in
the mass of data and to obtain a clearer insight into the fundamental biology of organisms.
Bioinformatics has become a frontline applied science and is of vital importance to the study of new
biology, which is widely recognized as the defining scientific endeavor of the twenty-first century.
The genomic revolution has underscored the central role of bioinformatics in understanding the very

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basics of life processes. The growth in full genomic sequencing, structural genomics, proteomics,
micro-array etc. will be very slow without application of bioinformatics. In fact usefulness of these
areas to solve complex biological problems will be limited without bioinformatics and thus very high
importance to bioinformatics.

The Bioinformatics sector in India has grown rapidly as IT companies have also stepped up their focus
on the life sciences vertical. Companies like Infosys, Cognizant Technologies, HCL, MphasiS, and TCS
have made significant strides in this space. Indian Bioinformatics companies can look forward to
garnering a large chunk of the world market for bioinformatics services such as data mining, mapping
and DNA sequencing, functional genomics, proteomics and molecule design simulation. Growing
volumes of genomics data and an expanding number of participants contracting work to Indian
companies have encouraged many pharmaceutical, IT, and Biotechnology (BT) companies to enter the
bioinformatics sector. Indian IT companies such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Cognizant
Technologies, Infosys, and Wipro have already set up their bioinformatics divisions. Indian
pharmaceutical companies such as GVK Biosciences, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Biocon, AstraZeneca,
Ranbaxy, Biological E, and Nicholas Piramal too, are making rapid moves into the bioinformatics
arena. India is also witnessing the emergence of pure-play bioinformatics companies such as Strand
Genomics.

In India, major government organizations, such as Biotechnology Information System (BTIS) and
Department of Biotechnology (DBT) are promoting bioinformatics. DBT had identified bioinformatics
as an area of high priority during the 10thplan period(2002-2007). The Government of India is also
providing numerous tax incentives at par with IT to develop the bioinformatics sector. India has
combined its strength in biotechnology and IT to attract outsourcing contracts in bioinformatics by
building a Bio-IT park. The Bio-IT Park would be the launch pad for the bioinformatics industry as
STPs (Software Technology Parks) were for IT and position itself as a global hub for bioinformatics.
These parks would be a conglomerate of academic-industry-research initiatives, thereby opening up
new vistas for the Indian bioinformatics market and making it a sunrise industry for the future. The
Department of Biotechnology, Government of India has been working with other departments to set
up these parks, which is expected to position India in the global hub of bioinformatics. Establishment
of Bio-IT parks and new biotech policy acts as a growth catalyst for the bioinformatics sector.

Some of the achievements of India can be summed up in following

manner

• India was among the forerunners in the genomics space. The country
entered the league of the US, the UK, Canada, China and Korea by
successfully completing the Human Genome Project in 2009.
• Established in 1986, the DBT (regulatory body for biotechnology which also
takes care of bioinformatics).DBT is credited for the development of the
Biotechnology Information System network (BTISnet) in1987. India was the
first country to build such a network.

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• DBT formulated the Bioinformatics Policy of India (BPI) in 2004.
• DBT developed a mechanism aiding the exchange of information in
bioinformatics within SAARC member countries.
• India has more trained bioinformaticists than any other country in the
world.
• Double-digit growth in the bioinformatics sector.
• India among the preferred CRO and CTO locations for drug development
low-cost R&D and cheap availability of knowledge resources.

Biosimilar
Biosimilar is a biologic medical product that is almost an identical copy of an original product that is
manufactured by a different company. Biosimilars are officially approved versions of original
“innovator” products and can be manufactured when the original product’s patent
expires. Biosimilars are the generic versions of biologics medicines made from animal or plant
proteins as opposed to chemicals.

Difference between biosimilars and generics:

• Biosimilars involve developing equivalent of biological entity while generics involve

developing equivalent of a chemical entity-the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient.
• In case of biosimilars, biological entities being some ward different (and not as it is
of replica), every organism has to be engineered to produce the same therapeutic
effect while in generics, the copies of API can be generated
• Bio-similars differ from generics – in complexity, in the manufacturing processes
and in the data needed to demonstrate similarity for approval. The structure of

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Generic Simple and well-defined whereas for Bio-similar its Complex with potential
structural variations.
• Regulatory procedure to get approval for biosimilars is complex as compared to that
of a generic.

Prospects of Biosimilars:

• The growth of the biologics market for the treatment of cancer (monoclonal
antibodies), diabetes (insulin) and many other auto-immune diseases has in
turn resulted in creating a global opportunity for biosimilars also.
• Many Indian pharma companies are now making substantial investments
into biosimilar development and production for gaining the first mover
advantage.
• In 2014, Zydus Cadila became the first company in the world to launch the
biosimilar of Adalimumab patented by the US drug major AbbVie, which is
being used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and other auto immune disorders.
• As the biologics are priced very high, it is necessary for countries to reduce
prices through biosimilars.
• The growth in the biosimilars market is welcome from a human development
standpoint because they are more affordable than biologics, the high cost of
which often puts them out of reach of many patients.
• In recent times, patents of some biologics have expired and more will expire
before 2020. So moving towards biosimilars can fill the gap.
• Targeted towards Non-communicable diseases (cancer, asthma, and
arthritis):
o There is an alarming spike across developing countries in the
prevalence of non-communicable diseases.
o Therefore, promoting the production of complex generics and
biosimilars can have a positive development impact given how
targeted they are toward treating non-communicable diseases such as
cancer, asthma, and arthritis.
• Biosimilars industry can act as a springboard for the pharma companies to
innovate, excel and earn profit

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Challenges faced:

• The development is itself lengthy and expensive, and could cost more than
Rs 100 crore and take up to six or seven years.
• It is hard to generate investor interest if a product hits the market only after
seven years. So, India is unlikely to see startups in biosimilars, which could
also drive consolidation of some players.
• Expertise in biology is essential, and this subject does not yet have critical
mass in India. India has fewer research labs in biology than a big state in
Europe or the US. And, yet, things have improved in the last ten years, as
experience has built up in technology and regulation.

Way forward:

• Governments can support growth in this segment by clarifying the

regulatory framework for them, which is still evolving in many countries.
China is a recent example, where the government has identified biopharma,
including biosimilars, as a priority area for the country.
• India has to expand the biology research ecosystem by investing in
education and fundamental research.
• At the same time, a regulatory mechanism needs to be put in place and
appropriate monitoring needs to be done to ensure that unfair and unethical
practices are abstained from in preparation of biosimilars.

Bioplastics
• Bio-based plastics means they are developed form biomass (plants) such as
corn, sugarcane, vegetable oil or wood pulp Biodegradable plastics are those
which possess the characteristics of biodegradability and composability
• They can be converted into natural substances like water, carbon dioxide,
and compost by the action of micro-organisms in the environment.
• Bioplastics are biodegradable materials that come from renewable sources
and can be used to reduce the problem of contaminating plastic waste that
is suffocating the planet and contaminating the environment.

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• As an alternative to plastic, the use of bioplastics is being promoted,
consisting in obtaining natural polymers from agricultural, cellulose or
potato and corn starch waste.

Types of Bioplastics

• Bioplastics can be prepared from a variety of materials like starch, sugar,

cellulose etc.
• Cellulose-based plastics are made from wood pulp and they are used for
making film based materials such as wrappers.
• Thermoplastics are starch based plastics. They are used for production of
drug capsules as starch has ability to absorb moisture.
• These represent the most widely used bioplastic, constituting about 50
percent of the bioplastics market
• Polylactic Acid (PLA) is made from the fermentation of starch from crops. It
is used for preparing computer and mobile phone casings, cups, bottles and
other packaging.
• Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) is used for making bank notes and car parts etc.
• Polyamide 11 (PA 11) prepared from vegetable oils is used for making oil
and gas flexible pipes, and electrical anti-termite cable sheathing etc.
• Photo-degradable plastic which degrades on exposure to light.

Positive Impact of Bioplastics

• Environment:
▪ Bioplastics are better than petro plastics in terms of fossil-fuel
consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and energy efficiency.
▪ Biodegradable plastics are easy to recycle and are non-toxic.
▪ They reduce carbon footprint
▪ They do not involve the consumption of non-renewable raw materials
▪ Their production reduces non-biodegradable waste that contaminates
the environment
• They do not contain additives that are harmful to health, such as phthalates or
bisphenol A
• They do not change the flavour or scent of the food contained

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• These are degradable, equally resistant and versatile, already used in
agriculture, textile industry, medicine and, over all, in the container and
packaging market, and biopolymers are already becoming popular in cities
throughout Europe and the United States for ecological reason.

Negative Impact of Bioplastics

• But in terms of cost and applicability, bioplastics are inferior to petro plastics.
• Bioplastic production requires almost 80% of the energy required to produce
common plastic.
• In 2009, the Central Pollution Control Board tested 10 bioplastic samples but
found only 40% cleared the test for biodegradability.
• Biggest concern about compostable plastic is it would take around 40 days to
compost during which time it would have already been ingested by several
small animal forms, with a likely injurious impact.
• Bioplastic claims biodegradability on exposure to water:-
▪ The only standards on this require that within six months, the plastic
must have disintegrated into bits smaller than 2 millimetres and that
biodegradation must have progressed so that at least 30% of the
carbon has been converted by microorganisms (such as bacteria) into
carbon dioxide.
▪ This leaves the plastic to contaminate the seas for six months and
more.
▪ And if they touch the bottom of the sea, they may not degrade at all,
because it is much colder than the 30 degrees Celsius that is their ideal
degradation temperature.
▪ According to scientists, such micro-plastics cause extreme damage to
marine life.
• People cannot differentiate bioplastics from regular plastics in the trash. In
India there is hardly any segregation of wet and dry waste so it is unlikely that
even the best bioplastics will be pulled out for treatment.
• Not all bioplastics are biodegradable

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Conclusion
Instead of revolving around plastics it’s better into alternative techniques which are more
environment friendly like composting and making people aware about the importance of waste
management and protecting the environment.

Biofuels
What are Biofuels?
Any hydrocarbon fuel that is produced from an organic matter (living or once living material) in a
short period of time (days, weeks, or even months) is considered a biofuel.

Biofuels may be solid, liquid or gaseous in nature.

1. Solid: Wood, dried plant material, and manure

2. Liquid: Bioethanol and Biodiesel
3. Gaseous: Biogas

Classification of Biofuels:
1st generation biofuels are also called conventional biofuels. They are made from things like sugar,
starch, or vegetable oil. Note that these are all food products. Any biofuel made from a feedstock that
can also be consumed as a human food is considered a first-generation biofuel.

2nd generation biofuels are produced from sustainable feedstock. The sustainability of a feedstock is
defined by its availability, its impact on greenhouse gas emissions, its impact on land use, and by its
potential to threaten the food supply. No second generation biofuel is also a food crop, though
certain food products can become second generation fuels when they are no longer useful for
consumption. Second generation biofuels are often called “advanced biofuels.”

3rd generation biofuels are biofuel derived from algae. These biofuels are given their own separate
class because of their unique production mechanism and their potential to mitigate most of the
drawbacks of 1st and 2nd generation biofuels.

4th generation biofuels In the production of these fuels, crops that are genetically engineered to take
in high amounts of carbon are grown and harvested as biomass. The crops are then converted into
fuel using second generation techniques.

Government of India initiatives to promote the use of Biofuels:

Since 2014, the Government of India has taken a number of initiatives to increase blending of
biofuels.

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1. The major interventions include administrative price mechanism for ethanol,
simplifying the procurement procedures of OMCs, amending the provisions of
Industries (Development & Regulation) Act, 1951 and enabling lignocellulosic route
for ethanol procurement.
2. The Government approved the National Policy on Biofuels -2018 in June 2018. The
policy has the objective of reaching 20% ethanol-blending and 5% biodiesel-blending
by the year 2030.
o Among other things, the policy expands the scope of feedstock for
ethanol production and has provided for incentives for production of
advanced biofuels.
3. The Government has also increased the price of C-heavy molasses-based ethano

Salient features of the National Biofuels policy 2018

• Categorisation of biofuels to enable extension of appropriate financial and

fiscal incentives under each category. The two main categories are:
o Basic Biofuels- First Generation (1G) bioethanol & biodiesel
o Advanced Biofuels – Second Generation (2G) ethanol, Municipal Solid
Waste (MSW) to drop-in fuels, third Generation (3G) biofuels, bio-
CNG etc.
• Expands the scope of raw material for ethanol production by allowing use of
Sugarcane Juice, Sugar containing materials like Sugar Beet, Sweet
Sorghum, Starch containing materials like Corn, Cassava, Damaged food
grains like wheat, broken rice, Rotten Potatoes, unfit for human
consumption for ethanol production.
• Allows use of surplus food grains for production of ethanol for blending
with petrol to ensure appropriate price to farmers during surplus. However,
it needs the approval of the National Biofuel Coordination Committee.
• Thrust on Advanced Biofuels: Viability gap funding scheme for 2G ethanol
Bio refineries of Rs.5000 crore in 6 years in addition to additional tax
incentives and higher purchase price as compared to 1G biofuels.
• Encourages setting up of supply chain mechanisms for biodiesel production
from non-edible oilseeds, used Cooking Oil, short gestation crops.
• Synergising efforts by capturing the roles and responsibilities of all the
concerned Ministries/Departments with respect to biofuels in the policy
document itself.

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Potential Benefits

• Reduce Import Dependency: The large-scale production of biofuels would

reduce import dependency on crude oil and save forex.
• Cleaner Environment: By reducing crop burning & conversion of agricultural
residues/wastes to biofuels there will be reduction in GHGs emissions and
other particulate matters.
• Municipal Solid Waste Management: It is estimated that, annually around 62
MMT of Municipal Solid Waste gets generated in India. The policy promotes
conversion of waste/plastic, MSW to drop in fuels (hydrocarbon fuels from
solid waste).
• Infrastructural Investment in Rural Areas: addition of 2G bio refineries
across the Country will spur infrastructural investment in the rural areas.
• Employment Generation: the establishment of bio-refineries would create
jobs in Plant Operations, Village Level Entrepreneurs and Supply Chain
Management.
• Additional Income to Farmers: Farmers can capitalize on agricultural
residues /waste which otherwise are burnt by them. They can sell their
surplus output to ethanol making units when price dump, thus, ensuring
appropriate price.

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Critical analysis

• Abuse of policy especially when prices of crude oil soar as farmers would
find it economically more rewarding to convert farm produce into ethanol
for doping with petrol.
• Need of improvement in technological and financial feasibility with respect
to production of biofuels. Thus, industry academic collaboration should be
enhanced in an integrated manner.
• Inadequate supply-chain infrastructure to deliver biofuels to the final
consumer. Hence, improved investment should be done in building robust
infrastructure.
• Limits on private investment: The government should also take steps to
remove policy barriers that have discouraged private investment in building
supply chains for tapping India’s huge biofuel potential.

Way Forward

• The government has set some ambitious goals for the energy sector which
include electrification of all census villages by 2019, 24×7 electricity and
175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022, reduction in energy
emissions intensity by 33%-35% by 2030 and producing above 40%
electricity from non-fossil fuels by 2030.
• These goals clearly exhibit the Centre’s push towards strengthening the
energy infrastructure of the country while promoting the agenda of
sustainability.
• Additionally, in the official gazette of the National Policy on Biofuels, 2018,
MNRE has also discussed the government’s five-point strategy to curb the
country’s dependency on foreign imports in the oil and gas sector.
• The strategy involves increasing domestic production, adopting biofuels and
renewables, energy efficiency norms, improvement in refinery processes
and demand substitution.

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Ethanol blending programme in India

Ethanol is a biofuel, that is, a fuel produced by processing organic matter. The auto fuels we
commonly use are mainly derived from the slow geological process of fossilization, which is why they
are also known as fossil fuels. Ethanol in India is obtained primarily from sugarcane via a fermentation
process. Ethanol is high in oxygen content, which therefore allows an engine to more thoroughly
combust fuel. It can be mixed with fuel in different quantities and can help reduce vehicular
emissions. Also, since it is plant-based, it is considered to be a renewable fuel.

The Centre had “launched pilot projects in 2001 wherein 5 percent ethanol blended petrol was
supplied to retail outlets”.Success of field trials eventually paved the way for the launching of the
Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme in January, 2003 for sale of 5 percent ethanol blended
petrol in nine States and four UTs.Currently, 5 percent of ethanol is blended with petrol in India.The
government of India has advanced the target for 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol (also called
E20) to 2025 from 2030. E20 will be rolled out from April 2023.The central government has also
released an expert committee report on the Roadmap for Ethanol Blending in India by 2025.The
roadmap proposes a gradual rollout of ethanol-blended fuel to achieve E10 fuel supply by April 2022
and phased rollout of E20 from April 2023 to April 2025.

Need for Ethanol blending in India:

• Ethanol has become one of the major priorities of 21st Century India.
• Mixing 20 percent ethanol in petrol holds multiple attractions for India.
• First, it can potentially reduce the auto fuel import bill by a yearly $4 billion,
or Rs 30,000 crore.
• Second, it also provides for farmers to earn extra income if they grow
produce that helps in ethanol production.
• Third, and no less important, is the fact that ethanol is less polluting than
other fuels and, per the NITI Aayog paper, “offers equivalent efficiency at
lower cost than petrol”.
• Use of ethanol-blended petrol decreases emissions such as carbon
monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), the expert
committee noted. Higher reductions in CO emissions were observed with
E20 fuel — 50 per cent lower in two-wheelers and 30 percent lower in four-
wheelers.
• Spelling out the opportunity for India for embracing ethanol, the paper
stresses that “availability of large arable land, rising production of
foodgrains and sugarcane leading to surpluses, availability of technology to
produce ethanol from plant-based sources, and feasibility of making vehicles

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compliant to ethanol blended petrol make E20 not only a national
imperative, but also an important strategic requirement”.
• In Europe, biofuels have been seen as a measure to reduce emissions of
greenhouse gases from road transport because they were considered CO2 -
neutral fuels once lifecycle emissions are considered.

Challenges involved:

• Less Production: Currently, domestic production of bioethanol is not

sufficient to meet the demand for bio-ethanol for blending with petrol at
Indian OMCs.
o Sugar mills, which are the key domestic suppliers of bio-ethanol to
OMCs, were able to supply only 57.6% of the total demand.
o Sugar mills do not have the financial stability to invest in biofuel
plants.
o There are also concerns among investors on the uncertainty on the
price of bioethanol in the future as the prices of both sugarcane and
bio-ethanol are set by the central government.
o Compatible vehicles: vehicles need to be produced with rubberised
parts, plastic components and elastomers compatible with E20 and
engines optimally designed for use of E20 fuel”
o The NITI Aayog paper said that two-wheelers and passenger vehicles
that are now being made in the country “are designed optimally for
E5 (5 percent ethanol blend with petrol) while rubber and plastic
components are “compatible with E10 fuel”.
• Water Footprint:While India has become one of the top producers of
ethanol but it lags top producers, the USA and Brazil, by a huge margin and
remains inefficient in terms of water usage.
o India’s water requirements for producing ethanol are not met through
rainwater and the groundwater is used for drinking and other
purposes.
o Water footprint, that is water required to produce a litre of ethanol,
includes rainwater at the root zone used by ethanol -producing plants
such as sugarcane, and surface, ground water, and fresh water
required to wash away pollutants.
• Limited Sugarcane Availability:Sugarcane is another limited resource that
affects the ethanol blending in the country.

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o In order to achieve a 20% blend rate, almost one-tenth of the existing
net sown area will have to be diverted for sugarcane production. Any
such land requirement is likely to put a stress on other crops and has
the potential to increase food prices.
o India’s biofuel policy stipulates that fuel requirements must not
compete with food requirements and that only surplus food crops
should be used for fuel production, if at all.
• Lack of Alternatives:Producing ethanol from crop residue can be a good
alternative but the annual capacity of biorefinery is still not enough to meet
the 5% petrol-ethanol blending requirement.
o Other biofuels such as Jatropha Have often proven to be
commercially unviable.
• Handling issues:Ethanol being a highly flammable liquid marks obligatory
safety and risk assessment measures during all phases of production,
storage and transportation, thus increasing the cost and risk factor.

Way forward:

• In order to introduce vehicles that are compatible the committee

recommends roll out of E20 material-compliant and E10 engine-tuned
vehicles from April 2023 and production of E20-tuned engine vehicles from
April 2025.
• The Centre must look at ways to reduce the programme’s dependence on
sugarcane.
• Alternative feedstock like agricultural waste, recycled cooking oil, provides
for more environmentally friendly bio-fuels.
• There is a need to focus on raising the non-cane contribution to the ethanol mix.
• This can be done by incentivising both public and private players to set up
second-generation ethanol facilities.
• As we progress towards higher blending of ethanol, careful monitoring and
assessment of emissions changes will be needed to make sure that emission
reduction potential can be enhanced both for regulated and unregulated
pollutants

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Chapter-2 Space Technology
Space technology is technology for use in travel or activities beyond Earth’s atmosphere, for purposes
such as spaceflight or space exploration. Space technology includes space vehicles such as spacecraft,
satellites, space stations and orbital launch vehicles; deep-space communication; in-space propulsion;
and a wide variety of other technologies including support infrastructure equipment, and procedures.

The space environment is a sufficiently novel environment that attempting to work in it often requires
new tools and techniques. Many common everyday services for terrestrial use such as weather
forecasting, remote sensing, satellite navigation systems, satellite television, and some long-distance
communications systems critically rely on space infrastructure. Of the sciences, astronomy and Earth
science benefit from space technology.[1] New technologies originating with or accelerated by space-
related endeavors are often subsequently exploited in other economic activities.

Milestones in India’s Space Programme

YEAR MILESTONE

Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) formed by the

1962 Department of Atomic Energy and work on establishing Thumba Equatorial
Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) started.

First sounding rocket launched from TERLS

1963 (November 21, 1963).

1965 Space Science & Technology Centre (SSTC) established in Thumba.

1967 Satellite Telecommunication Earth Station set up at Ahmedabad.

1968 TERLS dedicated to the United Nations (February 2, 1968).

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) formed under Department of Atomic

1969
Energy (August 15, 1969).

Space Commission and Department of Space set up

1972 (June 1, 1972). ISRO brought under DOS.

1972-
Air-borne remote sensing experiments.
1976

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Chapter-2 Space Technology
Becomes Government Organisation (April 1, 1975).
1975 ISRO First Indian Satellite, Aryabhata, launched (April 19, 1975).

1975-
Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) conducted.
1976

1977 Satellite Telecommunication Experiments Project (STEP) carried out.

Bhaskara-I, an experimental satellite for earth observations, launched (June 7,

1979).
1979 First Experimental launch of SLV-3 with Rohini Technology Payload on board
(August 10, 1979). Satellite could not be placed in orbit.

Second Experimental launch of SLV-3, Rohini satellite successfully placed in

1980
orbit. (July 18, 1980).

First developmental launch of SLV-3.

RS-D1 placed in orbit (May 31, 1981)

1981 APPLE, an experimental geo-stationary communication satellite successfully

launched (June 19, 1981).
Bhaskara-II launched (November 20, 1981).

INSAT-1A launched (April 10, 1982).

1982 Deactivated on September 6, 1982.

INSAT-1B, launched (August 30, 1983).

1983 Second developmental launch of SLV-3. RS-D2 placed in orbit (April 17, 1983).

1984 Indo-Soviet manned space mission (April 1984).

First developmental launch of ASLV with SROSS-1 satellite on board (March

1987
24, 1987). Satellite could not be placed in orbit.

Launch of first operational Indian Remote Sensing Satellite, IRS-1A (March 17,
1988).
1988 Second developmental launch of ASLV with SROSS-2 on board (July 13, 1988).
Satellite could not be placed in orbit.

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INSAT-1C launched (July 21, 1988). Abandoned in November 1989.

1990 INSAT-1D launched (June 12, 1990).

Second operational Remote Sensing satellite, IRS-1B, launched (August 29,

1991
1991).

Third developmental launch of ASLV with SROSS-C on board (May 20, 1992).
Satellite placed in orbit.
1992 INSAT-2A, the first satellite of the indigenously-built second-generation
INSAT series, launched (July 10, 1992).

INSAT-2B, the second satellite in the INSAT-2 series, launched (July 23, 1993).
1993 Developmental launch of PSLV with IRS-1E on board (September 20, 1993).
Satellite could not be placed in orbit.

Fourth developmental launch of ASLV with SROSS-C2 on board (May 4, 1994).

Satellite placed in orbit.
1994 Second developmental launch of PSLV with IRS-P2 on board (October 15, 1994).
Satellite successfully placed in polar sunsynchronous orbit.

INSAT-2C, the third satellite in the INSAT-2 series, launched (December 7,

1995).
1995 Launch of third operational Indian Remote Sensing Satellite, IRS-1C (December
28, 1995).

Third developmental launch of PSLV with IRS-P3 on board (March 21, 1996).
1996
Satellite placed in polar sunsynchronous orbit.

First operational launch of PSLV with IRS-1D on board

(September 29, 1997). Satellite placed in orbit.
(An in-orbit satellite, ARABSAT-1C, since renamed INSAT-2DT, was acquired
1997 in November 1997 to partly augment the INSAT system).
INSAT-2D, fourth satellite in the INSAT series, launched (June 4, 1997).
Becomes inoperable on October 4, 1997.

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Chapter-2 Space Technology
INSAT system capacity augmented with the readiness of INSAT-2DT acquired
1998
from ARABSAT (January 1998).

INSAT-2E, the last satellite in the multipurpose INSAT-2 series, launched by

Ariane from Kourou French Guyana, (April 3, 1999).
1999 Indian Remote Sensing Satellite, IRS-P4 (OCEANSAT), launched by Polar
Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C2) along with Korean KITSAT-3 and German
DLR-TUBSAT from Sriharikota (May 26, 1999).

INSAT-3B, the first satellite in the third generation INSAT-3 series, launched by
2000
Ariane from Kourou French Guyana(March 22, 2000).

The first developmental launch of GSLV-D1 with GSAT-1 on board from

Sriharikota (April 18, 2001)
2001 ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C3, successfully launched three
satellites — Technology Experiment Satellite (TES) of ISRO, BIRD of Germany
and PROBA of Belgium – into their intended orbits (October 22, 2001).

Successful launch of INSAT-3C by Ariane from Kourou French Guyana,

(January 24, 2002).
2002 ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C4, successfully launched
KALPANA-1 satellite from Sriharikota(September 12, 2002).

Successful launch of INSAT-3A by Ariane from Kourou French Guyana, (April

10, 2003).
The Second developmental launch of GSLV-D2 with GSAT-2 on board from
Sriharikota (May 8, 2003).

2003
Successful launch of INSAT-3E by Ariane from Kourou French Guyana,
(September 28, 2003).
ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C5, successfully launched
RESOURCESAT-1 (IRS-P6) satellite from Sriharikota(October 17, 2003).

The first operational flight of GSLV (GSLV-F01) successfully launched

2004
EDUSAT from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota (September 20, 2004)

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ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C6, successfully launched
CARTOSAT-1 and HAMSAT satellites from Sriharikota(May 5, 2005).
2005 Successful launch of INSAT-4A by Ariane from Kourou French Guyana,
(December 22, 2005).

Second operational flight of GSLV (GSLV-F02) from SDSC SHAR with

2006
INSAT-4C on board. (July 10, 2006). Satellite could not be placed in orbit.

ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C7 successfully launches four

satellites – India’s CARTOSAT-2 and Space Capsule Recovery Experiment
(SRE-1) and Indonesia’s LAPAN-TUBSAT and Argentina’s PEHUENSAT-1
(January 10, 2007).
Successful recovery of SRE-1 after maneuvering it to reenter the earth’s
atmosphere and descend over the Bay of Bengal about 140 km east of Sriharikota
(January 22, 2007).

2007 Successful launch of INSAT-4B by Ariane-5 from Kourou French Guyana,

(March 12, 2007).
ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C8, successfully launched Italian
astronomical satellite, AGILE from Sriharikota (April 23, 2007).

Successful launch of GSLV (GSLV-F04) with INSAT-4CR on board from SDSC

SHAR (September 2, 2007).

PSLV-C10 successfully launches TECSAR satellite under a commercial contract

with Antrix Corporation (January 21, 2008).
PSLV-C9 successfully launches CARTOSAT-2A, IMS-1 and 8 foreign nano
2008 satellites from Sriharikota (April 28, 2008).
PSLV-C11 successfully launches CHANDRAYAAN-1 from Sriharikota
(October 22, 2008).

What is an Orbit?
• Basics of Orbit
• Types of Orbit

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Basics of Orbit
An orbit is a regular, repeating path that one object in space takes around another one. An object in an
orbit is called a satellite. A satellite can be natural, like Earth or the moon. Many planets have moons
that orbit them. A satellite can also be man-made, like the International Space Station.

Planets, comets, asteroids and other objects in the solar system orbit the sun. Most of the objects
orbiting the sun move along or close to an imaginary flat surface. This imaginary surface is called the
ecliptic plane.

What Shape Is an Orbit?

Orbits come in different shapes. All orbits are elliptical, which means they are an ellipse, similar to an
oval. For the planets, the orbits are almost circular. The orbits of comets have a different shape. They
are highly eccentric or “squashed.” They look more like thin ellipses than circles.

Satellites that orbit Earth, including the moon, do not always stay the same distance from Earth.
Sometimes they are closer, and at other times they are farther away. The closest point a satellite comes
to Earth is called its perigee. The farthest point is the apogee. For planets, the point in their orbit closest
to the sun is perihelion. The farthest point is called aphelion. Earth reaches its aphelion during summer
in the Northern Hemisphere. The time it takes a satellite to make one full orbit is called its period. For
example, Earth has an orbital period of one year. The inclination is the angle the orbital plane makes
when compared with Earth’s equator.

How Do Objects Stay in Orbit?

An object in motion will stay in motion unless something pushes or pulls on it. This statement is called
Newton’s first law of motion. Without gravity, an Earth-orbiting satellite would go off into space along
a straight line. With gravity, it is pulled back toward Earth. A constant tug-of-war takes place between
the satellite’s tendency to move in a straight line, or momentum, and the tug of gravity pulling the
satellite back.

An object’s momentum and the force of gravity have to be balanced for an orbit to happen. If the
forward momentum of one object is too great, it will speed past and not enter into orbit. If momentum
is too small, the object will be pulled down and crash. When these forces are balanced, the object is
always falling toward the planet, but because it’s moving sideways fast enough, it never hits the planet.
Orbital velocity is the speed needed to stay in orbit. At an altitude of 150 miles (242 kilometers) above
Earth, orbital velocity is about 17,000 miles per hour. Satellites that have higher orbits have slower
orbital velocities.

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Types of Orbit
Upon launch, a satellite or spacecraft is most often placed in one of several particular orbits around
Earth – or it might be sent on an interplanetary journey, meaning that it does not orbit Earth anymore,
but instead orbits the Sun until its arrival at its final destination, like Mars or Jupiter.

There are many factors that decide which orbit would be best for a satellite to use, depending on what
the satellite is designed to achieve.

• Geostationary orbit (GEO)

• Low Earth orbit (LEO)
• Medium Earth orbit (MEO)
• Polar orbit and Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO)
• Transfer orbits and geostationary transfer orbit (GTO)
• Lagrange points (L-points)

Geostationary orbit (GEO)

Satellites in geostationary orbit (GEO) circle Earth above the equator from west to east following
Earth’s rotation – taking 23 hours 56 minutes and 4 seconds – by travelling at exactly the same rate as
Earth. This makes satellites in GEO appear to be ‘stationary’ over a fixed position. In order to perfectly
match Earth’s rotation, the speed of GEO satellites should be about 3 km per second at an altitude of
35 786 km. This is much farther from Earth’s surface compared to many satellites.

GEO is used by satellites that need to stay constantly above one particular place over Earth, such as
telecommunication satellites. This way, an antenna on Earth can be fixed to always stay pointed

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towards that satellite without moving. It can also be used by weather monitoring satellites, because
they can continually observe specific areas to see how weather trends emerge there.

Satellites in GEO cover a large range of Earth so as few as three equally-spaced satellites can provide
near global coverage. This is because when a satellite is this far from Earth, it can cover large sections
at once. This is akin to being able to see more of a map from a metre away compared with if you were
a centimetre from it. So to see all of Earth at once from GEO far fewer satellites are needed than at a
lower altitude.

ESA’s European Data Relay System (EDRS) programme has placed satellites in GEO, where they relay
information to and from non-GEO satellites and other stations that are otherwise unable to
permanently transmit or receive data. This means Europe can always stay connected and online.

Low Earth orbit (LEO)

A low Earth orbit (LEO) is, as the name suggests, an orbit that is relatively close to Earth’s surface. It is
normally at an altitude of less than 1000 km but could be as low as 160 km above Earth – which is low
compared to other orbits, but still very far above Earth’s surface.

By comparison, most commercial aeroplanes do not fly at altitudes much greater than approximately
14 km, so even the lowest LEO is more than ten times higher than that.

Unlike satellites in GEO that must always orbit along Earth’s equator, LEO satellites do not always have
to follow a particular path around Earth in the same way – their plane can be tilted. This means there
are more available routes for satellites in LEO, which is one of the reasons why LEO is a very commonly
used orbit.

LEO’s close proximity to Earth makes it useful for several reasons. It is the orbit most commonly used
for satellite imaging, as being near the surface allows it to take images of higher resolution. It is also the
orbit used for the International Space Station (ISS), as it is easier for astronauts to travel to and from it
at a shorter distance. Satellites in this orbit travel at a speed of around 7.8 km per second; at this speed,

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a satellite takes approximately 90 minutes to circle Earth, meaning the ISS travels around Earth about
16 times a day. However, individual LEO satellites are less useful for tasks such as telecommunication,
because they move so fast across the sky and therefore require a lot of effort to track from ground
stations. Instead, communications satellites in LEO often work as part of a large combination or
constellation of multiple satellites to give constant coverage. In order to increase coverage, sometimes
constellations like this, consisting of several of the same or similar satellites, are launched together to
create a ‘net’ around Earth. This lets them cover large areas of Earth simultaneously by working
together.

Medium Earth orbit (MEO)

Medium Earth orbit comprises a wide range of orbits anywhere between LEO and GEO. It is similar to
LEO in that it also does not need to take specific paths around Earth, and it is used by a variety of
satellites with many different applications.

It is very commonly used by navigation satellites, like the European Galileo system (pictured). Galileo
powers navigation communications across Europe, and is used for many types of navigation, from
tracking large jumbo jets to getting directions to your smartphone. Galileo uses a constellation of
multiple satellites to provide coverage across large parts of the world all at once.

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Polar orbit and Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO)

Satellites in polar orbits usually travel past Earth from north to south rather than from west to east,
passing roughly over Earth’s poles.

Satellites in a polar orbit do not have to pass the North and South Pole precisely; even a deviation
within 20 to 30 degrees is still classed as a polar orbit. Polar orbits are a type of low Earth orbit, as they
are at low altitudes between 200 to 1000 km.

Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) is a particular kind of polar orbit. Satellites in SSO, travelling over the
polar regions, are synchronous with the Sun. This means they are synchronized to always be in the
same ‘fixed’ position relative to the Sun. This means that the satellite always visits the same spot at the
same local time – for example, passing the city of Paris every day at noon exactly.

This means that the satellite will always observe a point on the Earth as if constantly at the same time
of the day, which serves a number of applications; for example, it means that scientists and those who
use the satellite images can compare how somewhere changes over time.

This is because, if you want to monitor an area by taking a series of images of a certain place across
many days, weeks, months, or even years, then it would not be very helpful to compare somewhere at
midnight and then at midday – you need to take each picture as similarly as the previous picture as
possible. Therefore, scientists use image series like these to investigate how weather patterns emerge,
to help predict weather or storms; when monitoring emergencies like forest fires or flooding; or to
accumulate data on long-term problems like deforestation or rising sea levels.

Often, satellites in SSO are synchronized so that they are in constant dawn or dusk – this is because
by constantly riding a sunset or sunrise, they will never have the Sun at an angle where the Earth
shadows them. A satellite in a Sun-synchronous orbit would usually be at an altitude of between 600
to 800 km. At 800 km, it will be travelling at a speed of approximately 7.5 km per second.

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Transfer orbits and geostationary transfer orbit (GTO)

Transfer orbits are a special kind of orbit used to get from one orbit to another. When satellites are
launched from Earth and carried to space with launch vehicles such as Ariane 5, the satellites are not
always placed directly on their final orbit. Often, the satellites are instead placed on a transfer orbit: an
orbit where, by using relatively little energy from built-in motors, the satellite or spacecraft can move
from one orbit to another.

This allows a satellite to reach, for example, a high-altitude orbit like GEO without actually needing the
launch vehicle to go all the way to this altitude, which would require more effort – this is like taking a
shortcut. Reaching GEO in this way is an example of one of the most common transfer orbits, called
the geostationary transfer orbit (GTO).

Orbits have different eccentricities – a measure of how circular (round) or elliptical (squashed) an orbit
is. In a perfectly round orbit, the satellite is always at the same distance from the Earth’s surface – but
on a highly eccentric orbit, the path looks like an ellipse.

On a highly eccentric orbit like this, the satellite can quickly go from being very far to very near Earth’s
surface depending on where the satellite is on the orbit. In transfer orbits, the payload uses engines to
go from an orbit of one eccentricity to another, which puts it on track to higher or lower orbits.

After liftoff, a launch vehicle makes its way to space following a path shown by the yellow line, in the
figure. At the target destination, the rocket releases the payload which sets it off on an elliptical orbit,
following the blue line which sends the payload farther away from Earth. The point farthest away from
the Earth on the blue elliptical orbit is called the apogee and the point closest is called the perigee.

When the payload reaches the apogee at the GEO altitude of 35 786 km, it fires its engines in such a
way that it enters onto the circular GEO orbit and stays there, shown by the red line in the diagram.
So, specifically, the GTO is the blue path from the yellow orbit to the red orbit.

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Lagrange points
For many spacecraft being put in orbit, being too close to Earth can be disruptive to their
mission – even at more distant orbits such as GEO.For example, for space-based
observatories and telescopes whose mission is to photograph deep, dark space, being next
to Earth is hugely detrimental because Earth naturally emits visible light and infrared
radiation that will prevent the telescope from detecting any faint lights like distant
galaxies. Photographing dark space with a telescope next to our glowing Earth would be
as hopeless as trying to take pictures of stars from Earth in broad daylight.

Lagrange points, or L-points, allow for orbits that are much, much farther away (over a
million kilometres) and do not orbit Earth directly. These are specific points far out in space
where the gravitational fields of Earth and the Sun combine in such a way that spacecraft
that orbit them remain stable and can thus be ‘anchored’ relative to Earth. If a spacecraft
was launched to other points in space very distant from Earth, they would naturally fall
into an orbit around the Sun, and those spacecraft would soon end up far from Earth,
making communication difficult. Instead, spacecraft launched to these special L-points
stay fixed, and remain close to Earth with minimal effort without going into a different
orbit.

The most used L-points are L1 and L2. These are both four times farther away from Earth
than the Moon – 1.5 million km, compared to GEO’s 36 000 km – but that is still only
approximately 1% of the distance of Earth from the Sun.

Satellite
A satellite is a body that orbits around another body in space. There are two different types of satellites
– natural and man-made. Examples of natural satellites are the Earth and Moon. The Earth rotates
around the Sun and the Moon rotates around the Earth. A man-made satellite is a machine that is
launched into space and orbits around a body in space. Examples of man-made satellites include the
Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station.

Types of Satellites

1. Astronomical: Deployed for observation of distant planets, stars, galaxies, and objects in-universe. It
is a space Telescope hanging in space to photograph objects in space.

2. Biosatellite : Places animals or plants in space to conduct research on the effects of space on these
living objects.

3. Communication:These satellites support telecommunication. Telecasting, Phone calls, Internet

connectivity, Radio, and much remote connectivity are typical applications.

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4. Earth Observation: Deployed to study environment, monitor climatic changes and mapping the earth
for non-military purposes.

5. Navigation: Facilitates to trace the exact location of any objects on the Earth. This leads to the
development of new applications, technology, and business cases.

6. Killer (Military) : Deployed to attack enemy satellites and space objects during the war period.

7. Space Stations : Designed for human beings to live and conduct research on objects on planets, stars,
and galaxies.

8. Reconnaissance: Deployed for spying, surveying and scouting enemy territory during the war period.

9. Crewed Spacecraft: These satellites ferry astronauts to space and bring them back to earth. It has
good grounding facilities and helps astronauts in accessing space stations.

10. Recovery: Recovery satellites are mainly used to recover bio, reconnaissance and other satellites
back to earth.

11. Solar Power:Space-based satellites gather energy from the Sun and transmit it to earth for
consumption.

12. Miniaturized: Smaller sized and lower weight satellites are launched at an economical cost used for
the limited purpose of scientific data gathering and radio relay.

13. Tether:Tether satellites are connected to another satellite by the tether. It is used as a secondary
payload to another main satellite mainly used in students and mini-projects.

14. Weather : These satellites are used to measure and report the Earth’s weather, and the reports are
used in a weather forecast.

List of Earth Observation Satellites

Launch Orbit
Launch Date Launch Vehicle Application
Mass Type
Disaster Management System,
EOS-01 Nov 07, 2020 PSLV-C49/EOS-01 LEO
Earth Observation
Disaster Management System,
RISAT-2BR1 Dec 11, 2019 628 Kg PSLV-C48/RISAT-2BR1 LEO
Earth Observation
Cartosat-3 Nov 27, 2019 PSLV-C47 / Cartosat -3 Mission SSPO Earth Observation
Disaster Management System,
RISAT-2B May 22, 2019 615 Kg PSLV-C46 Mission LEO
Earth Observation
HysIS Nov 29, 2018 PSLV-C43 / HysIS Mission SSPO Earth Observation
Cartosat-2 Series PSLV-C40/Cartosat-2 Series
Jan 12, 2018 710 Kg SSPO Earth Observation
Satellite Satellite Mission
Cartosat-2 Series PSLV-C38 / Cartosat-2 Series
Jun 23, 2017 712 kg SSPO Earth Observation
Satellite Satellite

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Cartosat-2 Series PSLV-C37 / Cartosat -2 Series
Feb 15, 2017 714 kg SSPO Earth Observation
Satellite Satellite
RESOURCESAT-2A Dec 07, 2016 1235 kg PSLV-C36 / RESOURCESAT-2A SSPO Earth Observation
SCATSAT-1 Sep 26, 2016 371 kg PSLV-C35 / SCATSAT-1 SSPO Climate & Environment
Climate & Environment,
INSAT-3DR Sep 08, 2016 2211 kg GSLV-F05 / INSAT-3DR GSO
Disaster Management System
CARTOSAT-2 Series PSLV-C34 / CARTOSAT-2 Series
Jun 22, 2016 737.5 kg SSPO Earth Observation
Satellite Satellite
Climate & Environment,
INSAT-3D Jul 26, 2013 2060 Kg Ariane-5 VA-214 GSO
Disaster Management System
Climate & Environment,
SARAL Feb 25, 2013 407 kg PSLV-C20/SARAL SSPO
Earth Observation
RISAT-1 Apr 26, 2012 1858 kg PSLV-C19/RISAT-1 SSPO Earth Observation
Climate & Environment,
Megha-Tropiques Oct 12, 2011 1000 kg PSLV-C18/Megha-Tropiques SSPO
Earth Observation
RESOURCESAT-2 Apr 20, 2011 1206 kg PSLV-C16/RESOURCESAT-2 SSPO Earth Observation
CARTOSAT-2B Jul 12, 2010 694 kg PSLV-C15/CARTOSAT-2B SSPO Earth Observation
Climate & Environment,
Oceansat-2 Sep 23, 2009 960 kg PSLV-C14 / OCEANSAT-2 SSPO
Earth Observation
RISAT-2 Apr 20, 2009 300 kg PSLV-C12 / RISAT-2 SSPO Earth Observation
IMS-1 Apr 28, 2008 83 kg PSLV-C9 / CARTOSAT – 2A SSPO Earth Observation
CARTOSAT – 2A Apr 28, 2008 690 Kg PSLV-C9 / CARTOSAT – 2A SSPO Earth Observation
CARTOSAT-2 Jan 10, 2007 650 kg PSLV-C7 / CARTOSAT-2 / SRE-1 SSPO Earth Observation
CARTOSAT-1 May 05, 2005 1560 kg PSLV-C6/CARTOSAT-1/HAMSAT SSPO Earth Observation
IRS-P6 /
Oct 17, 2003 1360 kg PSLV-C5 /RESOURCESAT-1 SSPO Earth Observation
RESOURCESAT-1
The Technology
Experiment Satellite Oct 22, 2001 PSLV-C3 / TES SSPO Earth Observation
(TES)
Oceansat(IRS-P4) May 26, 1999 1050 kg PSLV-C2/IRS-P4 SSPO Earth Observation
IRS-1D Sep 29, 1997 1250kg PSLV-C1 / IRS-1D SSPO Earth Observation
IRS-P3 Mar 21, 1996 920 kg PSLV-D3 / IRS-P3 SSPO Earth Observation
IRS-1C Dec 28, 1995 1250 kg Molniya SSPO Earth Observation
IRS-P2 Oct 15, 1994 804 kg PSLV-D2 SSPO Earth Observation
IRS-1E Sep 20, 1993 846 kg PSLV-D1 LEO Earth Observation
IRS-1B Aug 29, 1991 975 kg Vostok SSPO Earth Observation
Earth Observation,
SROSS-2 Jul 13, 1988 150 kg ASLV-D2
Experimental
IRS-1A Mar 17, 1988 975 kg Vostok SSPO Earth Observation
Rohini Satellite RS-D2 Apr 17, 1983 41.5 kg SLV-3 LEO Earth Observation
Earth Observation,
Bhaskara-II Nov 20, 1981 444 kg C-1 Intercosmos LEO
Experimental

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Rohini Satellite RS-D1 May 31, 1981 38 kg SLV-3D1 LEO Earth Observation
Earth Observation,
Bhaskara-I Jun 07, 1979 442 kg C-1 Intercosmos LEO
Experimental

Satellite Launching Vehicles

SLV
Satellite Launch Vehicle-3 (SLV-3) was India’s first experimental satellite launch vehicle, which was an
all solid, four stage vehicle weighing 17 tonnes with a height of 22m and capable of placing 40 kg class
payloads in Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

The first experimental flight of SLV-3, in August 1979, was only partially successful. Apart from the
July 1980 launch, there were two more launches held in May 1981 and April 1983, orbiting Rohini
satellites carrying remote sensing sensors.

The successful culmination of the SLV-3 project showed the way to advanced launch vehicle projects
such as the Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV), Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and the
Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV).

ASLV
The Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV) Programme was designed to augment the payload
capacity to 150 kg, thrice that of SLV-3, for Low Earth Orbits (LEO). While building upon the experience
gained from the SLV-3 missions, ASLV proved to be a low cost intermediate vehicle to demonstrate
and validate critical technologies that would be needed for the future launch vehicles like strap-on
technology, inertial navigation, bulbous heat shield, vertical integration and closed loop guidance.

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PSLV
Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is the third generation launch vehicle of India. It is the first Indian
launch vehicle to be equipped with liquid stages. After its first successful launch in October 1994, PSLV
emerged as the reliable and versatile workhorse launch vehicle of India with 39 consecutively
successful missions by June 2017. During 1994-2017 period, the vehicle has launched 48 Indian
satellites and 209 satellites for customers from abroad.

Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is the third generation launch vehicle of India. It is the first Indian
launch vehicle to be equipped with liquid stages.

• It is a four stage launch vehicle.

• A large solid rocket motor forming the first stage,
• An earth storable liquid stage as the second stage,
• A high performance solid rocket motor as third stage, and
• A liquid stage with engines as fourth stage.
• The vehicle successfully launched two spacecraft – Chandrayaan-1 in 2008 and
Mars Orbiter Spacecraft in 2013

Vehicle Variants and Launch Capability

o No. of strap-on motors : Nil

PSLV-
o Payload capability to SSPO (600 km) : 1019 Kg
CA

• No. of strap-on motors : Two

PSLV-
• Payload capability to SSPO (600 km) : 1257 Kg
DL

PSLV- o No. of strap-on motors : Four

QL

o No. of strap-on motors : Six

o Payload capability to SSPO (600 km) : 1673 Kg
PSLV-
o Payload capability to sub GTO (284 x 20650 km) : 1425 Kg
XL
o Payload capability to SSPO (600 km) : 1523 Kg

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GSLV
The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) project was initiated in 1990 with the
objective of acquiring an Indian launch capability for geosynchronous satellites.

GSLV uses major components that are already proven in the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)
launch vehicles in the form of the S125/S139 solid rocket booster and the liquid-fueled Vikas
engine. Due to the thrust required for injecting the satellite in a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO)
the third stage was to be powered by a LOX/LH2 Cryogenic engine which at that time India did
not possess or had the technology know-how to build one.

Variants
GSLV rockets using the Russian Cryogenic Stage (CS) are designated as the GSLV Mark I while
versions using the indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS) are designated the GSLV Mark II.[21]
All GSLV launches have been conducted from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.

Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark II (GSLV Mk II) is the largest launch vehicle
developed by India, which is currently in operation. This fourth generation launch vehicle is a three
stage vehicle with four liquid strap-ons. The indigenously developed cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS),
which is flight proven, forms the third stage of GSLV Mk II. From January 2014, the vehicle has
achieved four consecutive successes.

GSLV MkIII, chosen to launch Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft, is a three-stage heavy lift launch vehicle
developed by ISRO. The vehicle has two solid strap-ons, a core liquid booster and a cryogenic
upper stage.

• GSLV Mk III is designed to carry 4 ton class of satellites into Geosynchronous

Transfer Orbit (GTO) or about 10 tons to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), which is about
twice the capability of the GSLV Mk II.
• The first developmental flight of GSLV Mk III, the GSLV -Mk III-D1 successfully
placed GSAT-19 satellite to a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) on June 05,
2017 from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota.
• GSLV MkIII-D2, the second developmental flight of GSLV MkIII successfully
launched GSAT-29, a high throughput communication satellite on November 14,
2018 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota
• GSLV MkIII-M1, successfully injected Chandrayaan-2, India’s second Lunar Mission,
in to Earth Parking Orbit on July 22, 2019 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR,
Sriharikota

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Significance

• It strengthens INDIA’s soft power diplomacy

• It reduces our dependency on foreign launch vehicles
• It has multiplier effect on other innovations like chandrayan 2,human space flights etc
• It leads to commercial
• Self reliance

What’s the difference between liquid and solid-fuel rockets?

There are two main types of rockets: liquid-fuel and solid-fuel. Liquid-fuel rockets consist of a fuel
and oxygen (or other oxidizer) in liquid state. They are combined in a combustion chamber and
ignited. The fuel flow to the engine can be controlled, the amount of thrust produced can be
regulated and the engine can be turned off or on as needed. Solid-fuel rockets consist of a fuel
and oxidizer that are pre-mixed in a solid form. Once the solid fuel is ignited, the resulting thrust
cannot be regulated or turned off. This fuel system is simpler, safer, and cheaper—but less
efficient—than that of a liquid-fuel rocket.

Functioning of Engines

Cryogenic Engine:
Rocket engine needs enormous amount of thrust to escape Earth’s gravitational pull. However the
chemicals used for engines are Hydrogen and Oxygen (Hydrogen used as a fuel, while Oxygen as
a oxidiser) that produces a good thrust, found in Earth in the form of gas. Carrying hydrogen and
oxygen in their gaseous form will require a bigger fuel chamber, which not only increase the size
but also weight of the rockets and this will mean undertaking of impossible task to send a launch
vehicle into space. So the solution is to use hydrogen and oxygen in their liquid form or in a
cryogenic form which is easier to transport, as the volume of propellent decrease. As density
increases in liquid form, more thrust can be produce in less burning time. Such engines are called
Cryogenic engine.

Cryogenic fuel is used in rockets, spaceships or satellites because ordinary fuel can not be used in
space due to the absence of an environment that supports combustion. This fuel requires storage
at an extremely low temperature (-253 degree Celsius) to maintain them in a liquid state.

Semi-Cryogenic Engine:
Unlike a Cryogenic engine, a Semi Cryogenic engine uses Refined kerosene instead of liquid
hydrogen. The liquid oxygen is used as a Oxidiser. That’s the advantage of using a Semi Cryogenic

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engine as it requires Refined Kerosene which is lighter than liquid fuel and can be stored in a
normal temperature. Kerosene combined with liquid oxygen provide a higher thrust to the rocket.
Refined Kerosene occupies less space, making it possible to carry more propellant in a Semi
Cryogenic engines fuel compartment. A semi cryogenic engine is more powerful, environment
friendly and cost effective as compared to a cryogenic engine.

IMPORTANCE OF SEMI CRYOGENIC ENGINE

GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite launch Vehicle) uses a three stage launching system.

First Stage:- It is a solid stage which provides lift off to the rocket.

Second Stage:- It is a Liquid Stage.

Third Stage:- The third stage is the Cryogenic stage. This stage provides a good amount of thrust
so that we can put satellites in a geostationary orbit.

India developed the technology of Cryogenic Engine and to develop it further ISRO required to
use a combination of Solid, Semi cryogenic and Cryogenic stage instead of a Combination of Solid,
Liquid and Cryogenic stage. That mean

First Stage:- Solid Stage.

Second Stage:- Semi Cryogenic Stage.

Third Stage:- Cryogenic Stage.

Using a semi cryogenic engine in second stage, GSLV will be able to provide more thrust and carry
more weight into the space. India plan to use Semi Cryogenic Engine in GSLV (Geosynchronous
Launch Vehicle), ULV (Unified Launch Vehicle) and RLV (Reusable Launch Vehicle) in future.

Recent launches
PSLV-C51 launch
PSLV-C51 was successfully launched by ISRO recently.

This was the 53rd flight of ISRO’s launch vehicle and the first dedicated mission of its commercial arm,
NewSpace India Ltd.

The mission was undertaken under a commercial arrangement with Spaceflight Inc., U.S.

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Satellites onboard:
It carried 19 satellites (Including Brazil’s optical earth observation satellite, Amazonia-1, and 18 co-
passenger satellites — five from India and 13 from the U.S.).

Amazonia-1 is the first fully Brazilian-made satellite, which would help to monitor the Amazon forests.

The Amazonia-1 was injected into its precise orbit of 758 km in a sun-synchronous polar orbit.

The satellites from India are:

The Satish Dhawan SAT (SDSAT) built by Space Kidz India. It has an engraving of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on the top panel.A nano-satellite intended to study the radiation levels, space weather
and demonstrate long-range communication technologies.

The UNITYsat, a combination of three satellites for providing radio relay services.Another satellite
belonging to the DRDO.

CMS-01 satellite
It is a communication satellite launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on board the
PSLV-C50.

CMS-01 is a communications satellite envisaged for providing services in extended C Band of the
frequency spectrum.

Its coverage will include the Indian mainland, and the Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands,
ISRO said.

The satellite is expected to have a life of more than seven years.

GSAT 30
GSAT-30 derives its heritage from ISRO’s earlier INSAT/GSAT satellite series and will replace INSAT-
4A in orbit.

GSAT-30 is configured on ISRO’s enhanced I-3K Bus structure to provide communication services from
Geostationary orbit.

GSAT-30 uses two satellite frequencies:

It gives the Indian mainland and islands coverage in the Ku band, and extended coverage in a wider
area stretching from Australia to Europe in the lower-frequency C-band.

The Ku and C bands are part of a spectrum of frequencies, ranging from 1 to 40 gigahertz, that are
used in satellite communications.

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Services:
With a mission life of over 15 years, GSAT-30 will provide DTH [direct-to-home] television Services,
connectivity to VSATs [Very Small Aperture Terminals] for ATM, stock exchange, television uplinking
and teleport services, Digital Satellite News Gathering (DSNG) and e-governance applications.

EOS-01
What is EOS-01?
It is an earth observation satellite.

EOS-01 is nothing but another Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT) that will work together with RISAT-2B
and RISAT-2BR1 launched last year.

Henceforth all the earth observation satellites would be called EOS-series.

What are earth-observation satellites used for?

Land and forest mapping and monitoring, mapping of resources like water or minerals or fishes, weather
and climate observations, soil assessment, geospatial contour mapping are all done through earth-
observation satellites.

Advantages of radar imaging over optical instruments:

Radar imaging is unaffected by weather, cloud or fog, or the lack of sunlight. It can produce high-quality
images in all conditions and at all times.

RISAT-2BR1

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What is RISAT-2BR1?
It is a radar imaging earth observation satellite.It provides services in the field of agriculture,
forestry and disaster management.Its mission life is 5 years.

Other satellites on board:The nine customer satellites were from Israel, Italy, Japan and the
USA.These satellites were launched under a commercial arrangement with New Space India
Limited (NSIL).

Background:The RISAT, which was first deployed in orbit on April 20, 2009 as the RISAT-2, uses
synthetic aperture radars (SAR) to provide Indian forces with all-weather surveillance and
observation, which are crucial to notice any potential threat or malicious activity around the
nation’s borders.Following the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, the launch of RISAT-2 was prioritised
over RISAT- 1, as its C-band SAR radar was not yet ready and RISAT -2 carried an Israeli-built X-
band radar.

Cartosat-3
Cartosat-3 is a third-generation agile advanced earth observation satellite with high-resolution imaging
capability. Developed by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), it will replace the IRS series.

Cartosat-3 has a panchromatic resolution of 0.25 metres making it the imaging satellite with highest
resolution and Mx of 1 metre with a high-quality resolution, which is a major improvement from the
previous payloads in the Cartosat series.

Cartosat-2 was used to plan and execute military operations such as ‘surgical strikes’ across the Line of
Control in 2016 and the operations across Manipur-Myanmar border in 2015. Cartosat-2 has got
resolution of 65 cm.

Applications of Cartosat-3:

It will address the increased user’s demands for large scale urban planning, rural resource and
infrastructure development, coastal land use and land cover etc

In its annual report of 2017-18, ISRO laid out a very clear strategy of developing India’s Earth
observation (EO) capabilities that is based on capturing different themes of land, water, cartography,
ocean, atmosphere, and meteorology.

New missions such as the Geo Imaging Satellite (GISAT), which will enable real-time imaging, alongside
the established Resourcesat, Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT), Cartosat, Oceansat and the Indian
National Satellite System (INSAT) constellation make India’s fleet of EO satellites one of the most
comprehensive remote-sensing data sets in the world.
.

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GSAT 29

The Indian Space Research Organisation has marked a big milestone by successfully testing its
heavy-lift launcher while launching an advanced communication satellite.

The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle MarkIII (GSLV MkIII) launched GSAT29, an
advanced communications satellite, into a geosynchronous transfer orbit where the satellite’s
closest approach to earth would be 190 km and the farthest 35,975 km

Work of GSLV-MkIII and GSAT-29:

According to ISRO, the GSAT-29 satellite is intended to serve as a test bed for several new
technologies. It is specifically designed to cater to communication requirements of users from
remote areas of the country. The mission life is about 10 years.

GSLV-MkIII is the fifth generation launch vehicle developed by ISRO and is designed to place
satellites of up to 4,000 kg in GTO.GSLV MkIII is the heaviest launch vehicle made in India, and
GSAT29 is the heaviest satellite to take off from Indian soil.The heavy lift launcher is going to be
used for Chandrayaan-II in early 2019.

GSAT- 11
GSAT-11 is ISRO’s heaviest satellite ever built and weighs about 5854 kilograms.

It was launched onboard Ariane-5 launch vehicle from French Guiana.

ISRO has revealed that the satellite will be initially placed in the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit and
will be later raised to Geostationary Orbit. It will be using the Liquid Apogee Motor which will be
onboard the satellite.

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GSAT-11 is part of ISRO’s new family of high-throughput communication satellite (HTS) fleet that will
drive the country’s Internet broadband from space to untouched areas.

According to ISRO, GSAT-11’s multiple spot beam coverage — 32 in Ku band and eight in Ka bands —
will deliver an improved service of 16 gbps over the Indian region and nearby islands.

The satellite will also have VSAT Terminals which basically will ensure that it can handle large capacity
platforms to support a huge subscriber base.

GSAT 11: Why is it important?

GSAT-11 will bring far greater speeds (16 Gbps of it, no less) and capacity to meet growing demand for
mobile and internet in households, businesses, and public organisations.

Large parts of rural areas still remain untouched by the scope of commercial telecom today —
something GSAT-11 is designed to change. Under Digital India’s BharatNet project GSAT-11 will boost
access to voice and video streaming in most, if not all, of rural India.

With India moving fast towards implementing ‘Smart Villages and Cities’, they can be efficiently linked
through a large communication satellite.

GSAT-7A
The GSAT 7 series was launched in 2013 as a dedicated communications satellite for the
Indian Navy, which made the Navy completely independent of relying on foreign satellites
for its blue water capabilities, thanks to GSAT 7 having a 2,000 nautical mile footprint.
This helps in providing real-time inputs to Indian warships, submarines and maritime
aircraft.

GSAT-7A would be placed in the geostationary orbit and this communication satellite is
expected to help the IAF to interlink different ground radar stations, airbases and AWACS
(Airborne Warning And Control System) aircraft. The idea is to improve the IAF’s network-
centric warfare capabilities.

The GSAT-7A is expected to have the Ku-band transponders and two deployable solar
arrays onboard.

The GSAT-7A is also expected to be a big push for drone operations as it will help the
Navy reduce the reliance on on-ground control stations and take satellite-control of
military unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) which should help boost the range and endurance
of the UAVs.

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In addition to GSAT-7A, the IAF would also be getting the GSAT-7C in a few years, to
boost the network-centric operations.

NAVIC

Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) is an independent regional navigation satellite

system designed to provide position information in the Indian region and 1500 km around the Indian
mainland.

IRNSS would provide two types of services, namely Standard Positioning Services available to all users
and Restricted Services provided to authorised users.

Its applications include:

• Terrestrial, Aerial and Marine Navigation.

• Disaster Management.
• Vehicle tracking and fleet management.
• Integration with mobile phones.
• Precise Timing.
• Mapping and Geodetic data capture.
• Terrestrial navigation aid for hikers and travellers.
• Visual and voice navigation for drivers.

How many satellites does NAVIC consist of?

It is a regional system and so its constellation will consist of seven satellites. Three of these will be
geostationary over the Indian Ocean, i.e., they will appear to be stationary in the sky over the region,
and four will be geosynchronous – appearing at the same point in the sky at the same time every day.
This configuration ensures each satellite is being tracked by at least one of fourteen ground stations at
any given point of time, with a high chance of most of them being visible from any point in India.

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Significance
1.National security

2.Reliability

3.Accuracy

4.Disaster management

5.South Asian and Regional cooperation

NISAR
NISAR is a joint Earth-observing mission between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization
(ISRO). NASA and ISRO are providing two radars that are optimized each in their own way to allow the
mission to observe a wider range of changes than either one alone. NISAR will detect movements of
the planet’s surface as small as 0.4 inches over areas about half the size of a tennis court.

About NISAR:
It’s an SUV-sized satellite that is being jointly developed by the space agencies of the US and India.

The partnership agreement was signed between NASA and ISRO in September 2014, according to
which NASA will provide one of the radars for the satellite, a high-rate communication subsystem for
science data, GPS receivers and a payload data subsystem.

ISRO, on the other hand, will provide the spacecraft bus, the second type of radar (called the S-band
radar), the launch vehicle and associated launch services.

The satellite will be launched in 2022 from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India, into
a near-polar orbit and will scan the globe every 12 days over the course of its three-year mission of
imaging the Earth’s land, ice sheets and sea ice to give an “unprecedented” view of the planet.

The goal of NISAR is to make global measurements of the causes and consequences of land surface
changes using advanced radar imaging.

This mission concept and the resulting partnership are in response to the National Academy of
Science’s 2007 survey of Earth observational priorities for the next decade, known as the decadal
survey.

One of the top priorities identified in this survey was to gain data and insight in three Earth science
domains: ecosystems, deformation of Earth’s crust and cryospheric sciences.

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Applications of NISAR:

• A dedicated U.S. and Indian InSAR mission, in partnership with ISRO, optimized for
studying hazards and global environmental change.
• Earth’s surface is constantly changing as a result of both natural and human
processes, and humanity’s exposure to natural hazards is increasing. NISAR will
measure these changes, from small movements of the crust up to volcanic eruptions.
• The NASA-ISRO SAR (NISAR) Mission will measure Earth’s changing ecosystems,
dynamic surfaces, and ice masses providing information about biomass, natural
hazards, sea level rise, and groundwater, and will support a host of other
applications.
• NISAR will observe Earth’s land and ice-covered surfaces globally with 12-day
regularity on ascending and descending passes, sampling Earth on average every 6
days for a baseline 3-year mission.
• NISAR’s data can help people worldwide better manage natural resources and
hazards, as well as providing information for scientists to better understand the
effects and pace of climate change. It will also add to our understanding of our
planet’s hard outer layer, called its crust.
• NISAR’s global and rapid coverage will provide unprecedented opportunities for
disaster response, providing data to assist in mitigating and assessing damage, with
observations before and after disasters in short time frames.
• NISAR maps will allow initial damage estimates to guide ground inspections for
damage assessment.

Significance from the point of India-US relations:

Space cooperation has usually not featured prominently in discussions between the two sides.

The joint statement of the third India-U.S. 2+2 strategic dialogue (Oct 2020) noted the agreement
among the four ministers to start cooperation on a specific agenda within the broad space domain –
Space Situational Awareness (SSA).The importance of SSA cannot be overemphasized given its utility
in ensuring safe, secure, and sustainable use of outer space.

There are good reasons for India and the United States to develop a collaborative mechanism to start
sharing SSA data.

Both are major spacefaring nations with significant investment in space; their societies and militaries
are dependent on space for a number of critical functions. Therefore, any disruptions of their space
assets would result not only in social and economic disruption but interference in the effectiveness of
their militaries as well.

Beyond space launches, India and the US have started cooperating in the area of Satellite Navigation
(SatNav).

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The “stellar” partnership between the two nations will be a very useful tool to address the matters
pertaining to disaster preparedness while it will also cater to the need for management of natural
resources across the world.

The U.S. and India also have a deep, cooperative relationship in weather systems and applications,
which rely heavily on space technologies

GAGANYAN
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to launch the first uncrewed mission in
December, as part of the human spaceflight programme ‘Gaganyaan’. It is facing challenges due to the
adverse impact of the COVID-19-induced lockdowns that has disrupted hardware delivery schedules.

As part of the mandate of Gaganyaan, two uncrewed flights are planned to test the end-to-end capacity
for the manned mission.

When was it announced?

Formal announcement of the Gaganyaan programme was made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi
during his Independence Day address on August 15, 2018.

The initial target was to launch the human spaceflight before the 75th anniversary of India’s
independence on August 15, 2022.

Objectives:
The objective of the Gaganyaan programme is to demonstrate the capability to send humans to low
earth orbit on board an Indian launch vehicle and bring them back to earth safely.

Preparation and launch:

Four Indian astronaut-candidates have already undergone generic space flight training in Russia as part
of the Gaganyaan programme.

ISRO’s heavy-lift launcher GSLV Mk III has been identified for the mission.

Relevance of a Manned Space Mission for India:

• Boost to industries: The Indian industry will find large opportunities through
participation in the highly demanding Space missions. Gaganyaan Mission is
expected to source nearly 60% of its equipment from the Indian private sector.

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• Employment: According to the ISRO chief, the Gaganyaan mission would create
15,000 new employment opportunities, 13,000 of them in private industry and the
space organisation would need an additional manpower of 900.
• Spurs research and development: It will thrust significant research in areas such as
materials processing, astro-biology, resources mining, planetary chemistry,
planetary orbital calculus and many other areas.
• Motivation: Human space flight will provide that inspiration to the youth and also
the national public mainstream. It would inspire the young generation into notable
achievements and enable them to play their legitimate role in challenging future
activities.
• Prestige: India could potentially become the fourth country to launch a human space
mission. The Gaganyaan will not only bring about prestige to the nation but also
establish India’s role as a key player in the space industry.

Project NETRA
An early warning system in space to detect debris and other hazards to Indian satellites.

What is Project NETRA (Network for space object Tracking and Analysis)?

Under the project, the ISRO plans to put up many observational facilities: connected radars, telescopes;
data processing units and a control centre.

They can, among others, spot, track and catalogue objects as small as 10 cm, up to a range of 3,400 km
and equal to a space orbit of around 2,000 km.

Significance of the project:

• The project will give India its own capability in space situational awareness (SSA)
like the other space powers — which is used to ‘predict’ threats from debris to Indian
satellites.
• NETRA’s eventual goal is to capture the GEO, or geostationary orbit, scene at
36,000 km where communication satellites operate.
• The effort would make India a part of international efforts towards tracking, warning
about and mitigating space debris.

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BHUVAN 3.0

About Bhuvan Panchayat Version 3.0:

Bhuvan Panchayat is part of ISRO’s Space-based Information Support for Decentralised Planning
Update project.

Aim: For better planning and monitoring of government projects.

Services: This version of the portal will provide database visualisation and services for the benefit of
panchayat members, among others.

The targeted audiences for this portal are Public, PRIs and different stakeholders belonging to the gram
panchayats.

Features:
Using Bhuvan satellite imagery, a hi-resolution database at 1:10,000 scale is applied to identify land
use, land cover, settlements, road and rail network etc. The portal offers database visualization, data
analytics, generation of automatic reports, model-based products and services for Gram Panchayat
members and other stake-holders.

Implementation:
In the project that will last for at least two years, ISRO will collaborate with the gram panchayat
members and stakeholders to understand their data requirements.

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MASS ORBITER MISSION

Mangalyaan, 2014
a) India joined an exclusive global club when it successfully launched the Mars Orbiter Mission

b) Budget that was at least 10 times lower than a similar project by the US

c) The Rs 450-crore project revolved round the Red Planet and to collect data on Mars’atmosphere and
mineral composition

Mission Shakti
Mission Shakti is a joint programme of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)
and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

As part of the mission, an anti-satellite (A-SAT) weapon was launched and targeted an Indian satellite
which had been decommissioned. Mission Shakti was carried out from DRDO’s testing range in
Odisha’s Balasore.

Significance:
India is only the 4th country to acquire such a specialised and modern capability, and Entire effort is
indigenous. Till now, only the US, Russia and China had the capability to hit a live target in space.

Seven mega missions by ISRO

Chandrayaan-2, XPoSat (to study cosmic radiation in 2020) and Aditya-L1(to the Sun in 2021).

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Undefined Missions – which include missions which are still in planning stage namely Mangalyaan-
2 (or Mars Orbiter Mission-2 in 2022), Lunar Polar Exploration (or Chandrayaan-3 in 2024), Venus
mission (in 2023), Exoworlds (exploration outside the solar system in 2028).

About Xposat:
The X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (or Xposat) is ISRO’s dedicated mission to study polarization. It will
launch in 2020.

It will be a five-year mission and will study cosmic radiation.

It will be carrying a payload named ‘polarimeter instrument in X-rays’ (POLIX) made by Raman Research
Institute. POLIX will study the degree and angle of polarisation of bright X-ray sources in the energy
range 5-30 keV.

The spacecraft will be placed in a circular 500-700km orbit.

About Aditya- L1 mission:

What is it? It is India’s first solar mission.

Objectives: It will study the sun’s outermost layers, the corona and the chromospheres and collect data
about coronal mass ejection, which will also yield information for space weather prediction.

Significance of the mission: The data from Aditya mission will be immensely helpful in discriminating
between different models for the origin of solar storms and also for constraining how the storms evolve
and what path they take through the interplanetary space from the Sun to the Earth.

Position of the satellite: In order to get the best science from the sun, continuous viewing of the sun is
preferred without any occultation/ eclipses and hence, Aditya- L1 satellite will be placed in the halo
orbit around the Lagrangian point 1 (L1) of the sun-earth system.

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Chapter-3 Nuclear Technology
Nuclear energy is the energy in the nucleus, or core, of an atom. Atoms are tiny units that make
up all matter in the universe, and energy is what holds the nucleus together. There is a huge
amount of energy in an atom’s dense nucleus. In fact, the power that holds the nucleus together
is officially called the “strong force.”

Nuclear energy can be used to create electricity, but it must first be released from the atom. In the
process of nuclear fission, atoms are split to release that energy.

A nuclear reactor, or power plant, is a series of machines that can control nuclear fission to produce
electricity. The fuel that nuclear reactors use to produce nuclear fission is pellets of the element
uranium. In a nuclear reactor, atoms of uranium are forced to break apart. As they split, the atoms
release tiny particles called fission products. Fission products cause other uranium atoms to split,
starting a chain reaction. The energy released from this chain reaction creates heat.

The heat created by nuclear fission warms the reactor’s cooling agent. A cooling agent is usually
water, but some nuclear reactors use liquid metal or molten salt. The cooling agent, heated by
nuclear fission, produces steam. The steam turns turbines, or wheels turned by a flowing current.
The turbines drive generators, or engines that create electricity.

Rods of material called nuclear poison can adjust how much electricity is produced. Nuclear
poisons are materials, such as a type of the element xenon, that absorb some of the fission
products created by nuclear fission. The more rods of nuclear poison that are present during the
chain reaction, the slower and more controlled the reaction will be. Removing the rods will allow
a stronger chain reaction and create more electricity.

Benefits of Nuclear Energy

• Nuclear energy offers many advantages as the emissions -free workhorse of our
energy grid. Its unique value cannot be found in any other energy source.
• Nuclear protects national security. U.S. leadership in nuclear energy maintains
safety and nonproliferation standards globally, supports a resilient electrical grid at
home, and fuels a strong navy.
• Nuclear fights climate change. Nuclear energy provides large amounts of 24/7
carbon-free electricity now, which is irreplaceable in protecting the environment.
• Nuclear ensures U.S. leadership in technology. The United States pioneered nuclear
energy for the world and, with continued leadership, can respond to growing clean
energy demand worldwide with advanced reactors.
• Nuclear produces electricity reliably. Around-the-clock electricity is a must for our
nation to prosper in the 21st century. Clean, reliable nuclear energy is a critical part
of U.S. infrastructure because it runs nonstop for 18 -24 months at a time.

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• Nuclear generates jobs. Nuclear energy provides more than 100,000 well -paid, long-
term jobs and supports local economies with millions of dollars in state and local tax
revenues.
• Nuclear protects our air. Nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter and
mercury: all things you don’t want in the air you breathe. Nuclear energy provides
power 24/7 without a trace of those pollutants.
• Nuclear boosts international development. Nuclear energy helps developing nations
meet sustainable development goals.
• Nuclear power electric vehicles. Electrified transportation promises to reduce
carbon emissions. When powered by carbon-free nuclear energy, electric vehicles
can reach their full potential.

Nuclear Energy in India

Introduction
Nuclear power is the fourth-largest source of electricity in India after thermal, hydroelectric and
renewable sources of electricity.As of 2016, India has 22 nuclear reactors in operation in 8 nuclear
power plants, having an installed capacity of 6780 MW.

Arguments for Nuclear Energy

• Nuclear power remains an important part of our strategy to minimise carbon
emissions in the long run.
• As a clean energy source, nuclear is best suited to gradually replace coal
• Lack of cheaper storage options for solar and wind energy
• This is essential to fulfil the Paris climate agreement as well as maintain high rates
of economic growth.
• From a long-term perspective India needs nuclear power. This is because we are
short of oil, gas and even coal. More than 70 per cent of petroleum products, 40
percent of gas and 20 percent of Coal consumption is based on imports.
• From a long-term perspective, renewable energy is inevitable and nuclear option
should be retained as an insurance.
• India’s potential for hydro power is unevenly distributed across months. The
generation from runoff-the river plants during the lean month may be as low as 10
percent of generation during the peak month.
• Having some nuclear power helps diversify the system and adds to energy security.
• If we can install the nuclear plants without delay and within budget, they are
economically attractive.

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• If India has to grow at 7 to 8 percent, energy security plays an important role and
nuclear energy adds to it.

Arguments against Nuclear Energy

• Nuclear energy as a preferable option is changing and the global mood is against it.
• Comparative costs of nuclear production are high. As solar energy costs are
decreasing, this difference is increasing further.
• Capital investment for job generation is very high for nuclear energy.
• If cost benefit analysis is announced, Non conventional sources like solar energy
have less capital requirement and capital becomes productive quite soon. It is not
the case with nuclear energy.
• Delays make costs escalate further.
• Disposal of radioactive material and danger of nuclear accidents makes it further
prohibitive.
• Risks and costs of nuclear energy are overwhelmingly borne by the poor. There is
always a lot of resistance from local communities against reactors.
• Beyond the risks associated with radioactive wastes, the threat of nuclear weapons
looms large.
• Nuclear energy uses Uranium which is a scarce resource and is not found in many
countries. Once all extracted, the nuclear plants will not be of any use

Components of a nuclear power plant

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There are several components common to most types of reactor:

Fuel
Uranium is the basic fuel. Usually pellets of uranium oxide (UO2) are arranged in tubes to form
fuel rods. The rods are arranged into fuel assemblies in the reactor core.* In a 1000 MWe class
PWR there might be 51,000 fuel rods with over 18 million pellets.

Moderator
Material in the core which slows down the neutrons released from fission so that they cause more
fission. It is usually water, but may be heavy water or graphite.

Control rods or blades

These are made with neutron-absorbing material such as cadmium, hafnium or boron, and are
inserted or withdrawn from the core to control the rate of reaction, or to halt it.

Coolant
A fluid circulating through the core so as to transfer the heat from it. In light water reactors the
water moderator functions also as primary coolant

Pressure vessel or pressure tubes

Usually a robust steel vessel containing the reactor core and moderator/coolant, but it may be a
series of tubes holding the fuel and conveying the coolant through the surrounding moderator.

Steam generator
Part of the cooling system of pressurised water reactors (PWR & PHWR) where the high-pressure
primary coolant bringing heat from the reactor is used to make steam for the turbine, in a
secondary circuit.

Types of Reactors
Light-water reactors
Light-water reactors (LWRs) are power reactors that are cooled and moderated with ordinary
water. There are two basic types: the pressurized-water reactor (PWR) and the boiling-water
reactor (BWR).

In the PWR, water at high pressure and temperature removes heat from the core and is
transported to a steam generator. There the heat from the primary loop is transferred to a lower-
pressure secondary loop also containing water. The water in the secondary loop enters the steam

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generator at a pressure and temperature slightly below that required to initiate boiling. Upon
absorbing heat from the primary loop, however, it becomes saturated and ultimately slightly
superheated. The steam thus generated ultimately serves as the working fluid in a steam-turbine
cycle.

Pros:

• Strong negative void coefficient — reactor cools down if water starts bubbling
because the coolant is the moderator, which is required to sustain the chain
reaction
• Secondary loop keeps radioactive stuff away from turbines, making maintenance
easy.
• Very much operating experience has been accumulated and the designs and
procedures have been largely optimized.

Cons:

• Pressurized coolant escapes rapidly if a pipe breaks, necessitating lots of back -

up cooling systems.
• Can’t breed new fuel — susceptible to “uranium shortage”

Pressurized-water reactor

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A BWR operates on the principle of a direct power cycle. Water passing through the core is
allowed to boil at an intermediate pressure level. The saturated steam that exits the core region is
transported through a series of separators and dryers located within the reactor vessel that
promote a superheated state. The superheated water vapour is then used as the working fluid to
turn the steam turbine.

Pros:

• Simpler plumbing reduces costs

• Power levels can be increased simply by speeding up the jet pumps, giving less
boiled water and more moderation. Thus, load-following is simple and easy.
• Very much operating experience has been accumulated and the designs and
procedures have been largely optimized.

Cons:

• With liquid and gaseous water in the system, many weird transients are possible,
making safety analysis difficult
• Primary coolant is in direct contact with turbines, so if a fuel rod had a leak,
radioactive material could be placed on the turbine. This complicates maintenance
as the staff must be dressed for radioactive environments.
• Can’t breed new fuel — susceptible to “uranium shortage”
• Does not typically perform well in station blackout events, as in Fukushima.

CANDU reactors (pressurized heavy water reactor)

It uses un enriched Uranium as its fuel while Heavy water serves as coolant and neutron
moderator. The heavy water is kept under high pressure, allowing it to be heated to higher
temperatures without boiling, like in pressurised water reactor

Pros:

• Requires very little uranium enrichment.

• Can be refueled while operating, keeping capacity factors high (as long as the
fuel handling machines don’t break).
• Are very flexible, and can use any type of fuel.

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Cons

• Some variants have positive coolant temperature coefficients, leading to safety

concerns.
• Neutron absorption in deuterium leads to tritium production, which is
radioactive and often leaks in small quantities.
• Can theoretically be modified to produce weapons-grade plutonium slightly
faster than conventional reactors could be.

Sodium Cooled Fast Reactor

These reactors are cooled by liquid sodium metal. Sodium is heavier than hydrogen, a fact that leads to
the neutrons moving around at higher speeds (hence fast). These can use metal or oxide fuel, and burn
a wide variety of fuels.

Pros:

• Can breed its own fuel, effectively eliminating any concerns about uranium
shortages (see what is a fast reactor?)
• Can burn its own waste
• Metallic fuel and excellent thermal properties of sodium allow for passively safe
operation — the reactor will shut itself down safely without any backup -systems
working (or people around), only relying on physics.

Cons:

• Sodium coolant is reactive with air and water. Thus, leaks in the pipes results in
sodium fires. These can be engineered around but are a major setback for these
reactors.
• To fully burn waste, these require reprocessing facilities which can also be used
for nuclear proliferation.
• The excess neutrons used to give the reactor its resource -utilization capabilities
could clandestinely be used to make plutonium for weapons.

Fast reactors
Fast reactors are a class of advanced nuclear reactors that have some key advantages over
traditional reactors in safety, sustainability, and waste. While traditional reactors contain
moderators to slow down neutrons after they’re emitted, fast reactors keep their neutrons moving
quickly (hence the name). Fast neutrons can unlock the energy in the dominant isotope of uranium

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(U238) and thus extend known fuel resources by around 200x. Your average thermal neutron
moves around at about 2200 m/s while a fast neutron might be cruising well above 9 million m/s,
which is about 3% of the speed of light.

Pros

• Fast reactors get more neutrons out of their primary fuel than thermal reactors, so
many can be used to breed new fuel, vastly enhancing the sustainability of nuclear
power.
• Fast reactors are capable of destroying the longest -lived nuclear waste,
transforming it to waste that decays to harmlessness in centuries rather than
hundreds of millennia.
• Fast reactors typically use liquid metal coolants rather than water. These have
superior heat-transfer properties and allow natural circulation to remove the heat
in even severe accident scenarios. The result: if something goes very wrong at the
plant, and none of the operators are awake, AND none of the control rods work, the
reactor can just naturally shut itself down. This comes with a con (see cons).
• Fast reactors can employ metallic fuel rather than oxides (thanks to chemical
compatibility with the liquid metal coolant). Since metal has very high thermal
conductivity, the reactor can shut itself down without surpassing temperature
limits. This enhances the safety of these reactors significantly.

Cons

• While fast reactors are up to 200x more resource efficient, they require 3x or more
fissile atoms to start up initially. This is the main reason why thermal reactors were
developed first.
• Time scales in fast reactors are typically faster than those in thermal reactors
(mostly because there are fewer delayed neutrons in fast reactors). Thus they can go
through unpredicted changes faster than thermal reactors.
• Bubbles in fast reactor coolant can cause the reactor to heat up rather than cool
down, as in a traditional reactor. Higher heat makes more bubbles, which make more
heat, and so on. This positive feedback is scary (but manageable, thanks to
overpowering negative feedback).
• To keep the neutrons moving quickly, fast reactors require exotic coolants derived
from heavy atoms. The most common coolant is liquid sodium, which is well known
but highly reactive with air and water. Another is liquid lead -bismuth eutectic, which
isn’t the most pleasant material either. These bizarre materials require extra c are
and lower tolerance in many systems (such as piping), possibly bringing costs up.

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India three stage nuclear programme

The critical shortage of fissile material has prevented the large-scale deployment of thorium-
fuelled reactors in India. Due to this, the construction of the advanced heavy-water reactor
(AHWR) has also been put off several times since it was first announced in 2004.

India has very modest deposits of uranium and some of the world’s largest sources of thorium.
Keeping this in mind, in 1954 Homi Bhabha envisioned India’s nuclear power programme in three
stages to suit the country’s resource profile.

India’s three stage nuclear power programme:

The Indian nuclear power programme, launched in 1954, envisaged a three-stage development of
nuclear power generation from the country’s uranium and thorium resources.

1. In the first stage, heavy water reactors fuelled by natural uranium would produce
plutonium.
2. The second stage would initially be fuelled by a mix of the plutonium from the first
stage and natural uranium [It contains 0.7% uranium-235, 99.3% uranium-238, and a
trace of uranium-234 by weight (0.0055%)]. This uranium would transmute
(Transmutation is the conversion of an atom of one element to an atom of another
through nuclear reactions. Induced nuclear transmutation is transmutation which is
induced by scientists by striking the nuclei with high volume particles ) into more
plutonium and once sufficient stocks have been built up, thorium would be
introduced into the fuel cycle to convert it into uranium 233 for the third stage.

In the final stage, a mix of thorium and uranium fuels the reactors. The thorium transmutes to U-
233 as in the second stage, which powers the reactor. Fresh thorium can replace the depleted

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thorium in the reactor core, making it essentially a thorium-fuelled reactor even though it is the U-
233 that is undergoing fission to produce electricity.

With 500 MW Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam, India is finally ready to start
the second stage. However, experts estimate that it would take India many more Fast Breeder
Reactors and at least another four decades before it has built up a sufficient fissile material
inventory to launch the third stage.

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How to overcome the shortage of fissile material (plutonium)?
India can overcome the shortage of fissile material by procuring it from the international market.

Are there any hurdles in procuring plutonium?

• There is also no law that expressly forbids the procurement of this fissile material.
Most nuclear treaties such as the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear
Material address only U-235 and U-233, presumably because plutonium has so far
not been considered a material suited for peaceful purposes.
• Even the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) merely mandates that special fissionable
material — which includes plutonium — if transferred, be done so under safeguards.
• Thus, the legal rubric for safeguarded sale of plutonium already exists. The physical
and safety procedures for moving radioactive spent fuel and plutonium also already
exists.

How this procurement would help other countries?

If India were to start purchasing plutonium and/or spent fuel, it would immediately alleviate the
pressure on countries like Japan and the U.K. who are looking to reduce their stockpile of
plutonium.

Why there is an emphasis on thorium technology:

• Thorium reactors produce far less waste than present -day reactors.
• They have the ability to burn up most of the highly radioactive and long -lasting
minor actinides that makes nuclear waste from Light Water Reactors a nuisance to
deal with.
• The minuscule waste that is generated from these reactors is toxic for only three or
four hundred years rather than thousands of years.
• Thorium reactors are cheaper because they have higher burnup.
• Thorium reactors are significantly more proliferation -resistant than present
reactors. This is because the U-233 produced by transmuting thorium also contains
U-232, a strong source of gamma radiation that makes it difficult to work with. Its
daughter product, thallium-208, is equally difficult to handle and easy to detect.

Nuclear power is the fourth-largest source of electricity in India after thermal, hydroelectric and
renewable sources of electricity. However, recent incidents like the Fukushima incident have

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raised concerns over the safety of nuclear reactors. Concerns are also being raised over the nuclear
waste which the plant generates. Hence, before the government proceeds further, it is necessary
to address all these concerns.

Evolution of India’s nuclear policy

India’s first successful nuclear weapon test was in 1974. Due to this test conducted by India, the
nuclear suppliers group (NSG) was formed in 1974 to prevent nuclear proliferation and to curb
export of materials and technology that could be used to build nuclear weapons. In 1998, India
further conducted a series of 5 nuclear tests and after its successful completion it declared itself a
de facto nuclear weapon state.

Eventually, in the year 1999, India adopted a draft nuclear doctrine based on “NO FIRST USE”
(NFU) policy. Certain key aspects of the draft were:

India would not initiate a nuclear attack on any country.India would not use nuclear weapons on
non-nuclear states.

India’s nuclear arsenal was for the sole purpose of defence and would serve as a deterrent against
external nuclear attacks.

India would adopt the nuclear triad model. As per this model a nuclear weapon state should have
capability of launching nuclear attacks on 3 fronts i.e. land, air, and water. In this model the
Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles (SLBM) would act as the ace in the hole if the other two
were to fail

However, this draft did not receive official recognition.

In 2003, India officially accepted a Nuclear Doctrine based on NFU policy. Certain key features
of this are:

Nuclear weapons will only be kept as a credible minimum deterrence against nuclear attacks.

NFU policy would be followed and India would use nuclear attack only as retaliation against a
nuclear attack on India or on Indian forces anywhere.

India would not launch a nuclear weapon attack against any non-nuclear state. However, in the
event of a major attack on India or on Indian forces anywhere by chemical or biological weapon,
India will have the option of retaliating with nuclear weapons.

The retaliatory 2nd strike to a first nuclear attack would be massive and would inflict unacceptable
damage on opponent

Presently India follows the 2003 Nuclear Doctrine. India’s policy is based on nuclear deterrence
and 2nd strike ability plays a vital role in deterrent policy.

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Do we need a change in Doctrine?
No change is necessary:

• India’s current doctrine has helped India secure crucial international deals, such the
Nuclear Supplier Group (NSG) waiver as part of the Indo -U.S. nuclear deal in 2008.
• More recently, India signed a nuclear cooperation agreement with Japan, which is
quite surprising as Japan is known for its staunch anti -nuclear stance and India is
not a signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
• India is currently also seeking to join the NSG as a permanent member which is a
doctrinal shift and is only going to give China more reason to delay India’s entry.
This posture would also play into the hands of Pakistan, which has long accused
India of duplicity over its no first use policy and called India’s expanding arsenal a
threat to the region’s stability.
• No First Use works well:
• It builds stability into deterrence by credibly promising nuclear retaliation in the
face of extreme provocation of a nuclear first strike by one’s adversary.

Change instance will create issues:

• All the gains enjoyed by India in the international community by the restraint of
India nuclear posture would be frittered away if there is change in stance of nuclear
doctrine
• It would enormously complicate and increase the expenditure incurred by us in
regard to our command and control mechanisms which would have to be
reconfigured to engage in calibrated nuclear war fighting.
• It would weaken the possibility of our engaging in conventional warfare insulated
from the nuclear overhang.
• It would encourage the use of tactical nuclear weapons under the illusion of no
massive response.
• It would facilitate the painting of South Asia as a nuclear flashpoint and thereby
encourage foreign meddling.

Change is needed
No first use :-

Such an approach unnecessarily kept India on the back foot and on the defensive and made it
axiomatic that India would have to face the consequences of a first strike before being able to
respond. Moreover, it prevented India from keeping a potential adversary off balance.

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Despite being party to formulating the no-first use policy in 2003, the time has come to re-examine
it. It has been 15 years since we adopted the doctrine, a lot has changed since then

There is increasing evidence of Pakistan’s proclivity to use tactical nuclear weapons against India.

Emphasising this change in India’s strategic environment, the proponents of doctrinal review argue
that India’s existing doctrine is ill-suited to deter Pakistan from using TNWs against India

China:
China is also witnessing a debate between traditional advocates of a “minimum deterrence” and
new arguments for a more flexible “limited deterrence”.

The latter envisages counterforce operations and supports building nuclear war-fighting
capabilities, including a greater and diverse arsenal.

Advocates of a change in India’s NFU policy would like its nuclear doctrine mimic those of most of
the established Nuclear Weapon States which contemplate the use of nuclear weapons even in
sub nuclear conflicts.

Way forward:
Periodic statements about the nurturing and upgradation of India’s nuclear arsenal and systems
including alternate command structure.

An indication that India’s nuclear arsenal will be large enough to take care of all adversaries and
will have to be in the mid triple digits.

Appointment of a Chief of Defence Staff and upgradation of the NTRO as a capable apex technical
organization which would in a fool proof manner provide indicators of any attack on us and ensure
swift and massive nuclear retaliation inflicting unacceptable damage.

Nuclear testing:
Two things need to be done to configure and laboratory-test sophisticated thermonuclear
weapons designs.

The laser inertial confinement fusion facility at the Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore, needs
to be refurbished on a war-footing, and a dual-axis radiographic hydrodynamic test facility
constructed.

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IAEA
Set up as the world’s “Atoms for Peace” organization in 1957 within the United Nations family.

Reports to both the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council. Headquarters in
Vienna, Austria.

Functions:
Works with its Member States and multiple partners worldwide to promote the safe, secure and
peaceful use of nuclear technologies.

Seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and to inhibit its use for any military purpose,
including nuclear weapons.

Board of Governors:22 member states (must represent a stipulated geographic diversity) — elected
by the General Conference (11 members every year) – 2 year term.

At least 10 member states — nominated by the outgoing Board.Board members each receive one
vote.

Functions:
Recommendations to the General Conference on IAEA activities and budget.

Responsible for publishing IAEA standards.

Responsible for making most of the policy of the IAEA.

Appoints the Director General subject to General Conference approval.

Programs:
Program of Action for Cancer Therapy (PACT).

Human Health Program.

Water Availability Enhancement Project.

International Project on Innovative Nuclear Reactors and Fuel Cycles, 2000.

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Civil Nuclear Liability Act
• The Bill fixes no-fault liability on operators and gives them a right of recourse
against certain persons. It caps the liability of the operator at Rs 500 crore. For
damage exceeding this amount, and up to 300 million SDR, the central government
will be liable.
• All operators (except the central government) need to take insurance or provide
financial security to cover their liability.
• For facilities owned by the government, the entire liability up to 300 million SDR
will be borne by the government.
• The Bill specifies who can claim compensation and the authorities who will assess
and award compensation for nuclear damage.
• Those not complying with the provisions of the Bill can be penalised.

Key Issues and Analysis

• The liability cap on the operator (a) may be inadequate to compensate victims in the
event of a major nuclear disaster; (b) may block India’s access to an international
pool of funds; (c) is low compared to some other countries.
• The cap on the operator’s liability is not required if all plants are owned by the
government. It is not clear if the government intends to allow private operators to
operate nuclear power plants.
• The extent of environmental damage and consequent economic loss will be notified
by the government. This might create a conflict of interest in cases where the
government is also the party liable to pay compensation.
• The right of recourse against the supplier provided in the Bill is not compliant with
international agreements India may wish to sign.
• The time-limit of ten years for claiming compensation may be inadequate for those
suffering from nuclear damage.
• Though the Bill allows operators and suppliers to be liable under other laws, it is not
clear which other laws will be applicable. Different interpretations by courts may
constrict or unduly expand the scope of such a provision.

Conclusion
India has attempted to allay the concerns of suppliers by limiting their liability under the CLND
Rules and creating the nuclear insurance pool. However, as aforesaid: (i) the limitation of supplier
liability would not apply to situations covered under Section 17(b) and Section 17(c) of the CLNDA

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Act; (ii) there is no specific prohibition in CLNDA on claims against suppliers under the general law
of torts; (iii) nuclear insurance pool covers liability up to only Rs. 1500 crore which may not be an
adequate cover especially for tortious liability; and (iv) petitions challenging various provisions of
the CLNDA Act and CLND Rules diluting / limiting supplier liability are pending before the Indian
courts.

We would require more certainty in the legal regime (which would be possible only after the
petitions pending before the Supreme Court are decided), a larger insurance pool and further
legislative steps to boost the confidence of the suppliers.

The Convention on Supplementary Compensation (CSC) aims at establishing a minimum national

compensation amount and at further increasing the amount of compensation through public funds
to be made available by the Contracting Parties should the national amount be insufficient to
compensate for the damage caused by a nuclear incident. The Convention is open not only to
States that are party to either the Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage or the
Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy (including any amendments
to either), but also to other States provided that their national legislation is consistent with uniform
rules on civil liability laid down in the Annex to the Convention.

Section 17b-talks about supplier liability,if they provide substandard devices to Operator

Section 46b-talks about absolute liability on Supplier in some cases

Because of these provisions,there were no nuclear technology investment in India so India Ratified
CSC and tried to pass amendments lo law which did not take place

Applications
1) Medical professionals use diagnostic techniques such as radiopharmaceuticals, scans or
radioisotopes, and apply radiotherapy treatments that include X rays as well as radiation from
radioactive elements or radiation-producing equipment such as accelerators.

Beyond diagnostics and the treatment of diseases, nuclear technology is used to sterilize medical
equipment, learn about biological processes with the use of tracers or study the properties of
tumorous cells

2) Isotope hydrology is a nuclear technique that uses both stable and radioactive isotopes to
follow the movements of the water in the hydrologic cycle. These isotopes can be used to research
subterraneous fresh water sources and determine their origin, their type of charge, whether there
is a risk of intrusion or contamination by salt water and whether it is possible to use them in a
sustainable manner.

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3) In the field of agriculture, radioisotope and radiation techniques are applied to improve the
quality of food by inducing mutations in plants and seeds to obtain the desired crop varieties
without having to wait out the long process of natural mutation. Nuclear technology is also very
useful in pest control, increasing food production and reducing the amount of necessary fertilizers.

4) The use of isotopes and radiation in modern industry is highly important to the development
and improvement of processes, measurement, automatization and quality control. Currently,
almost all branches of science use them in different ways.

5) ART: The use of isotopes and radiations in modern industry is highly important to the
development and improvement of processes, measurement, automatization and quality control.
Currently, almost all branches of science use them in different ways.

6) SPACE: One of the main applications of nuclear batteries is space navigation. It involves feeding
the instrumentation of terrestrial satellites and planetary probes with more powerful generators
so that they can reach nearby planets and send information to Earth.

NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty)

Introduction

• The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as

the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty whose objective is
to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote
cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and to further the goal of
achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament
• Between 1965 and 1968, the treaty was negotiated by the Eighteen Nation
Committee on Disarmament, a United Nations-sponsored organization based in
Geneva, Switzerland
o But, the treaty entered into force in 1970.
• More countries are parties to the NPT than any other arms limitation and
disarmament agreement, a testament to the treaty’s significance
• Four UN member states have never accepted the NPT, three of which possess or
are thought to possess nuclear weapons: India, Israel, and Pakistan. In addition,
South Sudan, founded in 2011, has not joined.

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Chapter-3 Nuclear Technology
Important Treaty Articles

Articles Provision

The nuclear-weapon states (NWS) agree not to help non-nuclear-weapon

Articles
states(NNWS), develop or acquire nuclear weapons, and the NNWS permanently
I and II
forswear the pursuit of such weapons

Article This article tasks the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with the inspection
III of the non-nuclear-weapon states’ nuclear facilities

It acknowledges the “inalienable right” of states-parties to research, develop, and use

Article nuclear energy for non-weapons purposes. It also supports the “fullest possible
IV exchange” of such nuclear-related information and technology between NWS and
NNWS

It commits states-parties to “pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures

Article relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear
VI disarmament, and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and
effective international control

Treaty structure

• The treaty is interpreted as a three-pillar system, the details of which are as follows:

1. Non-proliferation

▪ The five NWS agree not to transfer “nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive
devices” and “not in any way to assist, encourage, or induce” a non -nuclear
weapon state (NNWS) to acquire nuclear weapons (Article I)
▪ Further, NNWS parties to the NPT agree not to “receive”, “manufacture”, or
“acquire” nuclear weapons or to “seek or receive any assistance in the
manufacture of nuclear weapons” (Article II)

2. Disarmament

▪ Under this, all Parties undertake to pursue good -faith negotiations on effective
measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race, to nuclear disarmament,
and to general and complete disarmament

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3. Peaceful use of nuclear energy

▪ This provides for the transfer of nuclear technology and materials to NPT Parties
for peaceful purposes in the development of civilian nuclear energy programs in
those countries, subject to IAEA safeguards to demonstrate that their nuclear
programs are not being used for the development of nuclear weapons

India and the NPT

• Before the Treaty Decision

o Even when initial disarmament negotiations in the early years of the 1960s
veered around issues like ‘non-spread’ and ‘non-dissemination’ of nuclear
weapons, the Indian quest was largely for a comprehensive disarmament
instrument that could also address issues like nuclear test-ban, ending
production of fissile materials as well as delivery systems, reducing stockpiles
and facilitating their total elimination
▪ However, the Indian approach began to change on the eve of the
impending Chinese nuclear test in 1964
o So, India’s position on the NPT was probably set in concrete when it became
clear that the treaty would recognise NWS only those countries that had
exploded a nuclear device prior to January 1, 1967.
▪ That meant China would be included and India excluded; and this
would be discriminatory on India’s part who had contributed so much
to Nuclear development earlier

• Why India hasn’t signed the treaty yet?

o India argues that the NPT creates a club of “nuclear haves” and a larger
group of “nuclear have-nots” by restricting the legal possession of nuclear
weapons to those states that tested them before 1967, but the treaty never
explains on what ethical grounds such a distinction is valid
o India considers NPT as a flawed treaty and it did not recognize the need for
universal, non-discriminatory verification and treatment
o Further, the demonstration of a nuclear weapons capability in the 1974
explosion guaranteed India the ability to effectively hedge in an asymmetric
international system
▪ India’s assertion to maintain a degree of Political Autonomy has
shaped better foreign policy choices as well

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Has not signing NPT, cost India?

• Reduced accessibility to Nuclear Energy

o If India had signed the Treaty, it would probably have had ten times more than
the 6,780 MW of nuclear power that it has today.
o Nuclear power, if one goes strictly by the book, is safe and also clean and cheap;
and this could have had a multiplier effect on economy as well
o Good example is the 500 MW Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor that India began
building in 2004, at Kalpakkam and is yet to complete apparently, because of the
fear of handling the tricky coolant, liquid sodium

• Despite India testing its Nuclear bomb first, it has lost its superiority with
Pakistan
o In 1998, Pakistan first tested it Nuclear weapon
▪ Now, India and Pakistan both are nuclear weapon owners, but this
rendered India’s conventional military superiority irrelevant
o Had India signed NPT after its first Nuclear test in 1974, it would be difficult to
see Pakistan being assisted by China; which would retain the military edge with
India

Concessions, India has secured in Nuclear perspective

• India despite being a non-signatory to NPT has secured the following concession
form nuclear perspective:
o In 2006, India and the United States finalized an agreement, in the face of
criticism in both countries, to restart cooperation on civilian nuclear
technology. Under the deal India has committed to classify 14 of its 22
nuclear power plants as being for civilian use and to place them under IAEA
safeguards
o In 2006, United States Congress approved the United States-India Peaceful
Atomic Energy Cooperation Act, endorsing a deal, which allows for the
transfer of civilian nuclear material to India
o In 2011, Australia announced to allow Uranium exports to India, with strict
safeguards to ensure it would only be used for civilian purposes, and not end
up in nuclear weapons

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Criticism against NPT

• Over the years the NPT has come to be seen by many Third World states as
“a conspiracy of the nuclear ‘haves’ to keep the nuclear ‘have-nots’ in their place”
• India has criticized the NPT, because it “discriminated against states not possessing
nuclear weapons on 1 January 1967
• The “NPT has one giant loophole“:
o Article IV gives each non-nuclear weapon state the “inalienable right” to
pursue nuclear energy for the generation of power.
o The United Nations has argued that they can do little to stop states using
nuclear reactors to produce nuclear weapons
• Further, the NPT has been explicitly weakened by a number of bilateral deals made
by NPT signatories, notably the United States

Should India join NPT now?

• Yes, why?
o Being the non-signers of the NPT, several trade sanctions were imposed on
India, straining several international relations.
o One of the biggest reasons for India to join the NPT was the access to
“peaceful nuclear technology” from the nuclear countries to the non -nuclear
countries so the latter could develop their programs.
o The restricted international trade prevented India from obtaining nuclear
resources to develop their nuclear program, leading to a temporary dead end.
o Also, India wishes to be on a member of the UNSC (United Nations Security
Council). And all the members of the UNSC are members of the NPT, it is
speculated that this might be the source of some friction for India.

• No, why?
o The spirit of the NPT creates a divide, between countries that did develop
nuclear power before 1967 and those that didn’t develop nuclear power
before 1967. It only gives the ‘Permanent 5’ the right to hold weapons.
o Although it permits the use of nuclear energy for constructive purposes, it
puts all the other nations at risk.
o India, despite being a nuclear weapons state, would have had to sign the
treaty as a non-nuclear weapons state, and in addition has to
undergo inspections. The NPT, in India’s opinion doesn’t explain the need for
this distinction and loss of national sovereignty
o So, India should rather keep up with its ”no first use” treaty, going ahead

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Chapter-3 Nuclear Technology

Nuclear Suppliers Group

What is NSG?

• Brought in 1974– in response to the Indian nuclear test (smiling Buddha).

• It is a Multilateral export control regime.
• It is a Group of nuclear supplier countries that seek to prevent nuclear proliferation
by controlling the export of materials, equipment and technology that can be used
to manufacture nuclear weapons.
• The NSG first met in November 1975 in London, and is thus popularly referred to
as the “London Club”.
• It is Not a formal organization, and its guidelines are not binding. Decisions,
including on membership, are made by consensus.
• Membership: 48 supplier states.

Criteria for membership:

• The ability to supply items (including items in transit) covered by the annexes to
Parts 1 and 2 of the NSG Guidelines;
• Adherence to the Guidelines and action in accordance with them;

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• Enforcement of a legally based domestic export control system which gives effect
to the commitment to act in accordance with the Guidelines;
• Full compliance with the obligations of one or more of nuclear non -proliferation
agreements.
• Support of international efforts towards non-proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction and of their delivery vehicle.

Why is membership important for India?

Membership will increase India’s access to state-of-the-art technology from the other members of
the Group.

Access to technology and being allowed to produce nuclear equipment will give a boost to the
Make in India program. That will, in turn, boost the economic growth of our country.

As per India’s INDC under the Paris Climate agreement, we have committed to reducing
dependence on fossil fuels and ensuring that 40% of its energy is sourced from renewable and
clean sources. In order to achieve this target, we need to scale up nuclear power production. This
can only happen if India gains access to the NSG.

Namibia is the fourth-largest producer of uranium and it agreed to sell the nuclear fuel to India in
2009. However, that hasn’t happened, as Namibia has signed the Pelindaba Treaty, which
essentially controls the supply of uranium from Africa to the rest of the world. If India joins the
NSG, such reservations from Namibia are expected to melt away.

India will get an opportunity to voice it’s concern if in case of change in the provision of the NSG
guidelines.

Other Benefits associated with NSG membership- Once admitted, an NSG

member state gets:

• Timely information on nuclear matters.

• Contributes by way of information.
• Has confirmed credentials.
• Can act as an instrument of harmonization and coordination.
• Is part of a very transparent process.

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Chapter-4 Defence Technology
The defence industry of India is a strategically important sector in India.[1] India has one of the
world’s largest military forces with a strength of over 14.4 lakh (1.44 million) active personnel. It
has the world’s largest volunteer military of over 51 lakh (5.1 million) personnel.[2] The total
budget sanctioned for the Indian military for the financial year 2021 is ₹4.78 lakh crore (US$67
billion).It has the third largest annual defence budget behind USA (US$732 b) and China (US$261
b). It is the second largest defence importer behind Saudi Arabia making up 9.2% of global arms
import. India has a domestic defence industry of which 80% is government owned. The public
sector includes DRDO and its 50 labs, 4 defence shipyards, 5 defence PSUs and 41 ordnance
factories. India has a new defence procurement, acquisition and manufacturing policy to reduce
imports and enhance domestic manufacturing.[5]

Post-independence, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was formed in
1958 for the military’s research and development under the control of the Ministry of Defence.

The Integrated Guided Missile Development

Programme
The Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) was launched in 1982-83 by
the Indian Government which saw the projects of:

• Prithvi (Short range surface to surface missile)

• Trishul (short range surface to air missile)
• Aakash (Medium range surface to air missile)
• Nag (Third generation anti-tank missile)
• Agni-I (Agni missile was later separated from the IGMDP due to its strategic
importance)

The Prithvi-I is an Indian short-range ballistic missile with a range of 150 km. It is the first in a
lineage of indigenous land and sea-based missiles which includes the Prithvi-II, the ship-launched
Dhanush, and the Prithvi Air Defense interceptor. The Indian Army has withdrawn the Prithvi-I
from service and replaced it with the Prahaar missile.

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Chapter-4 Defence Technology
Prithvi II class is also a single-stage liquid-fueled missile having a maximum warhead mounting
capability of 500 kg, but with an extended range of 250 km (160 mi). It was developed with the
Indian Air Force being the primary user. It was first test-fired on 27 January 1996 and the
development stages were completed in 2004. This variant has been inducted into the army as well.
In a test, the missile was launched with an extended range of 350 km (220 mi) and had improved
navigation due to an inertial navigation system. The missile features measures to deceive anti-
ballistic missiles.

According to news sources the range is now increased to 350 km (220 mi) and the payload capacity
now ranges between 500 – 1000 kg. On June 2, India successfully test-fired its indigenous nuclear-
capable Prithvi-II missile

Prithvi III class is a two-stage SURFACE-to-SURFACE missile. The first stage is solid fueled with a
16 metric ton force (157 kN) thrust motor. The second stage is liquid-fueled. The missile can carry
a 1,000 kg warhead to a distance of 350 km (220 mi) and a 500 kg warhead to a distance of 600
km (370 mi) and a 250 kg warhead up to a distance of 750 km

Dhanush is a variant of the surface-to-surface or ship-to-ship Prithvi III missile, which has been
developed for the Indian Navy. It is capable of carrying both conventional as well as nuclear
warheads with pay-load capacity of 500 kg-1000 kg and can strike targets in the range of 350 km.

Range- 350km, naval variant of the Prithvi II

Trishul is the name of a short range surface-to-air missile developed by India as a part of the
Integrated Guided Missile Development Program. It has a range of 12 km and is fitted with a 5.5
kg warhead. Designed to be used against low-level (sea skimming) targets at short range, the
system has been developed to defend naval vessels against missiles and also as a short-range
surface-to-air missile on land.

Akash is a medium-range surface-to-air missile with an intercept range of 30 km.

Agni-I was developed under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGMDP) and
tested in 1989. After its success, Agni missile program was separated from the IGMDP upon
realizing its strategic importance. It was designated as a special program in India’s defence budget
and provided adequate funds for subsequent development. As of November 2019, the missiles in
the Agni series are being inducted into service.The family comprises the following

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 Agni -VI Agni -P Agni -V Agni -IV Agni -III Agni-II Agni -I Missile

Agni-VI Agni-1 Agni-V Agni-IV IGMDP IGMDP IGMDP Project

Prime

Strategic Strategic Strategic Strategic Strategic Strategic Strategic Type

Conventional Conventional
high high explosive-
Chapter-4

Conventi Conventi explosive- unitary,

Convention
onal, onal, unitary, penetration,
al,
Strategic Strategic thermoba thermoba penetration, cluster
thermobari
nuclear nuclear ric, ric, sub- munition, Warhead
c, strategic
weapon weapon strategic strategic munitions, incendiary,
nuclear
nuclear nuclear incendiary, thermobaric,
weapon
weapon weapon thermobaric, strategic
strategic nuclear
nuclear weapon
weapon
3,000 (10 Unknown 1,500 800– 2,500 820–2,000 1,000 Payload
MIRV) 1,000 (kg)

5,000-
11,000- 1,000– 3,500– 3,000– Range
8,000 2,000–3,500 700– 1200
12,000 2,000 4,000 5,000 (km)
(Speculated)

40X1.1 Unknown 17X2 20X1 17X2 20X1 15X1 Dimension

(m)

Four Two stage Three Two stage Two stage Two and half Single stage Fuel/
Stage solid Stage solid solid stage solid solid Stages
solid solid

Weight
Defence Technology

55,000 Unknown 50,000 17,000 44,000 26,000 22,000

(kg)

Under In trial 2019 2014 2011 2006 2009 In service

develop-

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pment 10 >10 – <80 10 40 30-40 25 CEP (m)
Chapter-4 Defence Technology
Nuclear Command Authority
The Nuclear Command Authority (NCA) of India is the authority responsible for command, control
and operational decisions regarding India’s nuclear weapons programme.

On 4 January 2003, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) constituted the Political Council and
the Executive Council of the NCA. The Executive Council gives its opinion to the Political Council,
which authorises a nuclear attack when deemed necessary. While the Executive Council is chaired
by the National Security Advisor (NSA), the Political Council is chaired by the Prime Minister. This
mechanism was implemented to ensure that Indian nukes remain firmly in civilian control and that
there exists a sophisticated Command and Control (C2) mechanism to prevent their accidental or
unauthorised use.

The Strategic Forces Command (SFC), sometimes called Strategic Nuclear Command, forms part
of India’s Nuclear Command Authority (NCA). It is responsible for the management and
administration of the country’s tactical and strategic nuclear weapons stockpile.[

The directives of the NCA are to be operationalised by the Strategic Forces Command under the
control of a Commander-in-Chief of the rank of Air Marshal (or its equivalent) in charge of the
management and administration of the tactical and strategic nuclear forces.

The Defence Planning Committee was notified by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in April 2018,
the National Security Adviser (NSA) was appointed as the chairperson of the committee, with the
chairperson, Foreign Secretary, Defence Secretary, Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of the Army Staff,
Chief of the Air Staff, Chief of the Naval Staff, and expenditure secretaries of Ministry of Finance
being its members and the chief of the Integrated Defence Staff (CIDS) being its member-
secretary,[2][3][4] the NSA was also given the mandate to co-opt members as they see fit.

According to the notification issued by Indian Government the DPC will have several mandates
namely to

1. Prepare a draft National Security Strategy.

2. Develop a capability development plan.
3. Work on defence diplomacy issues.
4. Improving defence manufacturing ecosystem in India

Defence Space Agency The Defence Space Agency (DSA) is a tri-service agency of the Indian
Armed Forces. Headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. The agency is tasked with operating

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Chapter-4 Defence Technology
the space-warfare and Satellite Intelligence[6] assets of India. The DSA draws personnel from all
three branches of the Armed Forces.

The Chief of Defence Staff of the Indian Armed Forces (CDS) is the head of the military staff of
the Indian Armed Forces and the chief executive of the Department of Military Affairs. As the
highest-ranking serving officer in the Indian Armed Forces, the CDS is the commanding officer and
chairperson of the Joint Commanders and Staff Committee – making him the chief military adviser
to the government of India and the Ministry of Defence. As the professional head of the armed
forces, the Chief of Defence Staff is also aided by the newly formed office of Vice Chief of Defence
Staff, the nation’s second highest ranking military officer, and the three chiefs of staff of the army,
navy and air force, who are the leaders of each respective branch. The first and current CDS is
General Bipin Rawat, who took office on 1 January 2020

The CDS is a four-star officer selected from among the serving officers of the Indian Armed Forces.
While being “first among equals” among the service chiefs, the CDS is a single-point military
advisor to the defence minister.[4].The CDS is assisted by a deputy, the Vice Chief of the Defence
Staff. The CDS heads the Department of Military Affairs under the Ministry of Defence, as its
secretary. Apart from heading the DMA, the CDS is the Permanent Chairperson of the Chiefs of
Staff Committee

Chief of Defence Staff is a critical position in today’s era of hybrid warfare, and will help increase
coordination, tri-service effectiveness and integrate overall combat capabilities of Indian armed
forces.[6] The Defence Secretary, a civil servant, remains as the main defence adviser, whilst the
CDS has been sanctioned the role of being the main military adviser, acting as the single-point
military adviser to the government and Defence Minister.[a][7] India was the only large democracy
which did not have a single point military advisor; with all P5 countries having one.

Nuclear Command Authority

The Nuclear Command Authority (NCA) of India is the authority responsible for command, control
and operational decisions regarding India’s nuclear weapons programme.

On 4 January 2003, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) constituted the Political Council and
the Executive Council of the NCA. The Executive Council gives its opinion to the Political Council,
which authorises a nuclear attack when deemed necessary. While the Executive Council is chaired
by the National Security Advisor (NSA), the Political Council is chaired by the Prime Minister. This
mechanism was implemented to ensure that Indian nukes remain firmly in civilian control and that
there exists a sophisticated Command and Control (C2) mechanism to prevent their accidental or
unauthorised use.

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Chapter-4 Defence Technology
The Strategic Forces Command (SFC), sometimes called Strategic Nuclear Command, forms part
of India’s Nuclear Command Authority (NCA). It is responsible for the management and
administration of the country’s tactical and strategic nuclear weapons stockpile.[

The directives of the NCA are to be operationalised by the Strategic Forces Command under the
control of a Commander-in-Chief of the rank of Air Marshal (or its equivalent) in charge of the
management and administration of the tactical and strategic nuclear forces.

The Defence Planning Committee was notified by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in April 2018,
the National Security Adviser (NSA) was appointed as the chairperson of the committee, with the
chairperson, Foreign Secretary, Defence Secretary, Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of the Army Staff,
Chief of the Air Staff, Chief of the Naval Staff, and expenditure secretaries of Ministry of Finance
being its members and the chief of the Integrated Defence Staff (CIDS) being its member-
secretary,[2][3][4] the NSA was also given the mandate to co-opt members as they see fit.

According to the notification issued by Indian Government the DPC will have several mandates
namely to

1. Prepare a draft National Security Strategy.

2. Develop a capability development plan.
3. Work on defence diplomacy issues.
4. Improving defence manufacturing ecosystem in India

Defence Space Agency The Defence Space Agency (DSA) is a tri-service agency of the Indian
Armed Forces. Headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. The agency is tasked with operating
the space-warfare and Satellite Intelligence[6] assets of India. The DSA draws personnel from all
three branches of the Armed Forces.

The Chief of Defence Staff of the Indian Armed Forces (CDS) is the head of the military staff of
the Indian Armed Forces and the chief executive of the Department of Military Affairs. As the
highest-ranking serving officer in the Indian Armed Forces, the CDS is the commanding officer and
chairperson of the Joint Commanders and Staff Committee – making him the chief military adviser
to the government of India and the Ministry of Defence. As the professional head of the armed
forces, the Chief of Defence Staff is also aided by the newly formed office of Vice Chief of Defence
Staff, the nation’s second highest ranking military officer, and the three chiefs of staff of the army,
navy and air force, who are the leaders of each respective branch. The first and current CDS is
General Bipin Rawat, who took office on 1 January 2020

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Chapter-4 Defence Technology
The CDS is a four-star officer selected from among the serving officers of the Indian Armed Forces.
While being “first among equals” among the service chiefs, the CDS is a single-point military
advisor to the defence minister.[4].The CDS is assisted by a deputy, the Vice Chief of the Defence
Staff. The CDS heads the Department of Military Affairs under the Ministry of Defence, as its
secretary. Apart from heading the DMA, the CDS is the Permanent Chairperson of the Chiefs of
Staff Committee

Chief of Defence Staff is a critical position in today’s era of hybrid warfare, and will help increase
coordination, tri-service effectiveness and integrate overall combat capabilities of Indian armed
forces.[6] The Defence Secretary, a civil servant, remains as the main defence adviser, whilst the
CDS has been sanctioned the role of being the main military adviser, acting as the single-point
military adviser to the government and Defence Minister.[a][7] India was the only large democracy
which did not have a single point military advisor; with all P5 countries having one.

Cruise missiles vs Ballistic missiles

A cruise missile either locates its target or has a preset target. It navigates using a guidance system
— such as inertial or beyond visual range satellite GPS guidance — and comprises a payload and
aircraft propulsion system.Cruise missiles can be launched from land, sea or air for land attacks
and anti-shipping purposes, and can travel at subsonic, supersonic and hypersonic speeds.Since
they stay relatively close to the surface of the earth, they cannot be detected easily by anti-missile
systems, and are designed to carry large payloads with high precision.

Ballistic missiles, meanwhile, are launched directly into the upper layers of the earth’s
atmosphere.They travel outside the atmosphere, where the warhead detaches from the missile
and falls towards a predetermined target.They are rocket-propelled self-guided weapons systems
which can carry conventional or nuclear munitions. They can be launched from aircraft, ships and
submarines, and land.

India’s Nuclear Triad

• Nuclear Triad means the capability of delivering nuclear weapons by aircraft, land
based ballistic missiles and submarine launched missiles.
• India declared that its nuclear triad is operational after indigenous Ship Submersible
Ballistic
• Nuclear (SSBN) INS Arihant achieved a milestone by conducting its first deterrence
patrol.

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Chapter-4 Defence Technology
• India has put in place a robust nuclear command and control structure, effective
safety assurance architecture and strict political control, under its Nuclear
Command Authority.

Significance

• INS Arihant, which is equipped with nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles completed a

nearly month-long nuclear deterrence patrol.
• INS Arihant will enable India to assert its rights on water, besides land and air.
• It now joins a small group of countries — the United States, Russia, China, France
and the United Kingdom — that have this capability.
• Arihant’s successful nuclear deterrence patrol signifies India’s attainment of
complete mastery over all the highly complex systems and procedures.
• India’s nuclear deterrence 20 years after the country went nuclear is now secure as
it rests on a triad of land, air and undersea vectors.
• The success of INS Arihant enhances India’s security needs. Given India’s ‘No -First-
Use’ (NFU) in launching nuclear weapons, the SSBN is the most dependable platform
for a second-strike.
• SSBNs are designed to prowl the deep ocean waters and carry nuclear weapons.
• Because they are powered by nuclear reactors, these submarines can stay
underwater indefinitely without the adversary detecting it.
• The other two platforms — land-based and air-launched are far easier to detect.

Landmark Development

• It demonstrates that India, apart from its capability to deliver nuclear weapons both
from land and
• from air, can now also do so from under water.
• It provides the ultimate credibility to nuclear deterrence.
• It sends out an unambiguous message that nuclear blackmail will not work.
• The nuclear deterrence patrol signifies India having come off age as a mature
nuclear-armed state.
• This exercise is testimony to India’s technological prowess.
• It shows a high degree of engineering skill and workmanship with substantial
indigenous component

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Chapter-4 Defence Technology
INS Arihant

• The Arihant is the lead ship of India’s Arihant class of nuclear-powered ballistic
missile submarines.
• These will form a potent and formidable weapons system which will ensure national
security.
• Arihant is India’s first indigenously designed and built nuclear -powered submarine.
• Arihant is armed with K-15 Sagarika missiles with a range of 750 km.
• It will carry the longer 3,500 km range K-4 missiles being developed by the Defence
Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
• This is the longest in the Navy’s fleet of submarines.
• The second submarine in the series, Arighat is now undergoing sea trials after which
it will be inducted into service.

INS Arighat is an upgraded variant of the Arihant-class submarine.It is the second nuclear-powered
ballistic missile submarine being built by India. under the Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV)
project to build nuclear submarines at the Ship Building Centre in Visakhapatnam.

In March 2019, India and Russia signed a deal for the lease of another Akula-class nuclear
submarine to India for 10 years. The new vessel, called the Chakra-III, will be delivered to the
Indian Navy by 2025.

The Arihant-class (Sanskrit, for Slayer of Enemies) is a class of nuclear-powered ballistic missile
submarines being built for the Indian Navy. They were developed under the ₹90,000 crore (US$13
billion) Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) project to design and build nuclear-powered
submarines.[1] These vessels are classified as ‘strategic strike nuclear submarines’ by India

The Indian Navy currently operates fourteen diesel powered submarines and two nuclear powered
submarines. India’s submarine fleet is based at two locations: Visakhapatnam on the east coast and
Mumbai on the west coast. [1]

Capabilities at a Glance

• Total Submarines in Fleet: 16

• Ballistic Missile Submarine (SSBNs): 1
• Nuclear-Powered attack submarines (SSNs): 1
• Diesel-electric attack submarines (SSKs): 14
• Air-independent propulsion (AIP) enabled: 0

History
While India discussed the potential of nuclear-powered submarines as early as the 1960s, it didn’t
begin the development of its Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) submarine program until 1983.

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(source) The ATV is a part of India’s sea-based nuclear deterrent, which is one of the three legs of
India’s triad of airborne, naval, and land-based platforms as a minimum nuclear deterrent (MND).
IModernization and Current Capabilities

India’s nuclear-powered submarine program is under the management and operations (M&O) of
the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the Department of Atomic Energy
(DAE), and the Indian Navy at Visakhapatnam.India took steps to operationalize its nuclear triad
by commissioning its first ATV submarine, the INS Arihant, in August 2016.

India is currently constructing two new submarine bases. The first is Karwar, located 500
kilometers south of Mumbai. [18] The second is a secret naval base called the INS Varsha. This
base is on the east coast near Kakinada and will have underground pens for the submarines. [19]

Ship Biographies
Sindhughosh-Class (Type 877EM)
India possesses nine Sindhughosh-class diesel-electric attack submarines. These Kilo-class units
act as the mainstay of India’s submarine fleet. They can remain submerged for about 45 days
without surfacing. Their weapons systems are capable of firing torpedoes and anti-ship missiles.

Shishumar-Class (Type 209/1500)

India operates four Shishumar-class vessels designed by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW)
in Germany.. They can remain submerged for about 50 days without surfacing. Their weapons
systems are capable of firing torpedoes. All four of the Shishumar-class vessels have undergone
refits since they were commissioned. [21]

Chakra-Class
INS Chakra II is a Russian Akula-class nuclear-powered attack submarine. It is operated by Indian
Navy on a lease for 10 years. It was formally commissioned into service in India in April 2012 and
is expected to be returned to Russia in 2022.

Arihant-Class
India is expected to build between three to six nuclear powered ballistic missile submarines
(SSBNs) under its ATV Program. They can remain submerged for about 50 days without surfacing.
Their weapons systems are capable of firing torpedoes and submarine-launched ballistic missiles.
However, the next ships in the class, after INS Arihant are expected to be larger and more powerful
in terms of both firepower and nuclear power.

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Kalvari-Class
India is expected to build six Kalvari-class diesel-electric attack submarines under its Project-75
program. The first vessel in this class was commissioned in 2017. The Kalvari class is based on the
French Scorpène-class submarines. Their weapons systems are capable of firing torpedoes and
anti-ship missiles.

About Project 75I:

Under Project 75I India will purchase 6 next generation diesel submarines with Air Independent
Propulsion System (AIP) technology for the Indian Navy by 2022.

Conventional diesel-electric submarines have to surface every few days to get oxygen to recharge
their batteries. With AIP systems, they can stay submerged for much longer periods.Project 75-I
will have both vertical launched BrahMos for the sea & land targets and tube-launched torpedoes
for anti-submarine warfare

INS Vikrant
• INS Vikrant (IAC-I) is the first aircraft carrier built in India and the first Vikrant-class
aircraft carrier built by Cochin Shipyard (CSL) in Kochi, Kerala for the Indian Navy.
The motto of the ship is Jayema Sam Yudhi Sprdhah which is taken from Rig Ved a
and is translated as “I defeat those who fight against me”.
• The carrier is 262 m long, 62 m at the widest part and with a depth of 30 m minus
the superstructure. There are 14 decks in all, including five in the superstructure.
• It features a Short Take-Off But Arrested Recovery(STOBAR) configuration with a
ski-jump. The deck is designed to enable aircraft such as the MiG -29K to operate
from the carrier. It is expected to carry an air group of up to thirty aircraft, which
will include up to 24–26 fixed-wing combat aircraft, primarily the Mikoyan MiG-29K
.
• The naval variant of the HAL Tejas was rejected by the navy on Dec 2, 2016 for
being overweight. Besides carrying 10 Kamov Ka-31 or Westland Sea King The Ka-
31 will fulfill the airborne early warning (AEW) role and the Sea King will provide
anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capability.
• Vikrant is powered by four General Electric LM2500+gas turbines on two shafts,
generating over 80 megawatts (110,000 hp) of power. The gearboxes for the carriers
were designed and supplied by Elecon Engineering.
• Once operational, Vikrant is going to sport a gender -sensitive living environment
and infrastructure, with provision to accommodate eight women officers. The ship
will then accommodate 1,645 personnel in all, including 196 officers.

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• For now the Navy has only one carrier, INS Vikramaditya , contracted from Russia
under a $2.3-billion deal and inducted into service in November 2013.INS Viraat
was recently retired from service after cumulatively serving the British and Indian
Navies for over 50 years. In that line, when the new INS Vikrant joins the Navy
sometime after 2020, it would be the fourth aircraft carrier to defend India’s shores.
Each of these carriers has grown in size, capability and sophistication adding more
teeth to Navy’s power projection.
• The first Vikrant displaced 20,000 tonnes and operated a mix of Westland Sea Kings,
HAL Chetak and Sea Harrier jets. Viraat displaced 28,500 tonnes andVikramaditya
displaces 45,400 tonnes. The new Vikrant will displace 40,000 tonnes.

Significance for India

An aircraft carrier is a command platform epitomising ‘dominance’ over a large area, ‘control’ over
vast expanses of the ocean and all aspects of maritime strength. It makes India only the fifth
country after the US, Russia, Britain and France to have such capabilities of developing indigenous
aircraft carriers.

• In support of Land Battles

During the 1971 operations for liberation of Bangladesh, the aircraft onboard INS Vikrant was
employed very successfully to strike strategic targets deep inside the erstwhile East Pakistan. It is
important to note that as long as much of India’s land boundary (stretching from north-west to
north-east) remains disputed, the potential of a border conflict, and thereby the likelihood of such
a need, will persist. Thus the new Aircraft carrier would give strategic advantage to India in case
of future conflicts.

• Security of Sea-Lines of Communication

In the event of a military conflict, a carrier is the only naval asset that can provide a comprehensive
protection to merchant shipping carrying strategic commodities to India. The Indian naval chief
recently expressed apprehensions on the future vulnerability of energy imports through the Strait
of Hormuz due to China’s strategic “foothold” in Pakistan’s Gwadar port.

Like Gwadar, many other locations (“pearls”) in the Indian Ocean littoral dispersed along the arterial
shipping routes bear a similar potential. Owing to the ongoing diversification of energy sources
away from the Persian Gulf area, these distant Security of Sea-Lines of Communication (SLOCs)
and thereby Aircraft carriers are also assuming strategic significance for India.

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• Maintaining Influence in IOR:

India’s security is directly linked to and closely enmeshed with that of the Indian Ocean and the
adjoining littoral region (IOR)—the area of its primary strategic interest. The Chinese “pearls” in the
Indian Ocean, besides addressing Beijing’s strategic vulnerability in terms of its energy imports, is
likely to be aimed at “displacing” India’s influence in the IOR.

A possible Chinese politico-military intervention in the region will seriously impinge on India’s
security. In that sense, an aircraft carrier like Vikrant can bestow on India a capability to maintain
its influence in these waters and achieve a strategic “dissuasion” against any inimical extra-regional
power.

• Safeguarding Vital Interests Overseas:

Carrier aviation will enable India to safeguard its strategic interests overseas, not only in the IOR
but also beyond. India’s economic/ strategic stakes are conspicuously increasing in Afro-Asian
states, many of which are plagued by political, socio-economic and ethnic instabilities.

Besides, many Indian citizens are working in these countries, and past events have amply
demonstrated how their lives and property can be jeopardised. New Delhi will need to safeguard
these interests in conjunction with the host nations. When the operational situation warrants, it
may be preferable to carry out precision air-strikes to “soften” the target before inserting ground
forces, since to do otherwise may lead to avoidable casualties.

• Security of Island Territories:

Integral naval aviation is essential for defence of India’s far-flung island territories, particularly the
Andaman and Nicobar Islands (A&N) that lie more than 1,000 km from the Indian mainland. These
islands are also extremely vulnerable due to their geographical spread, and the fact that most of
these are uninhabited.

The possibility of foreign military occupation or claim may be unlikely in the foreseeable future,
but cannot be ruled out altogether. The take-over of the Falklands Islands by Argentina was also
considered a remote possibility until it actually occurred in 1982. By all indicators, high-value
naval/air assets are unlikely to be based in the A&N Islands. This makes the aircraft carrier
indispensable, even as a deterrent.

• Non-military Missions:

Although the concept of a carrier is essentially centered on its military role, such a platform would
substantially increase India’s operational options to respond to a natural disaster in the regional
seas or littoral. While it has begun inducting large sealift platforms with integral helicopters like

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the INS Jalashwa Landing Platform Dock (LPD), a disaster of a large magnitude may necessitate
the employment of a carrier.

Akin to a floating city, a carrier like Vikrant can provide virtually unlimited sealift, substantial airlift
and all conceivable essential services ranging from freshwater to electric supply, and medical to
engineering expertise. There is an effort to further enhance the usefulness of a carrier for such
roles, such as by incorporating a modular concept. It incorporates modular spaces/containers
carrying specialized personnel, engineering equipment, medical facilities, etc., which can be rapidly
deployed for specific missions.

INS Vikramaditya
• Vikramaditya was acquired from Russia for $2.3 billion.
• It was commissioned into the Navy in November 2013 without the crucial air -
defence systems. They are now being installed during the “guaranteed refit”, in
addition to scheduled maintenance, by the original equipment manufacturer.
• It is a modified Kiev-class aircraft carrier. She has been renamed in honour of
Vikramaditya, a legendary 1st century BCE emperor of Ujjain, India.
• The Israeli-supplied Barak-1 point defence missile system and the Russian-origin
AK-630 close-in weapon system, borrowed from a to-be-decommissioned Godavari-
class ship, are installed on Vikramaditya.

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The carrier was originally scheduled to receive a long-range surface-to-air missile system under
joint development with Israel. But delay in its development resulted in the carrier being inducted
without its own air-defence cover.

Anti Ballistic Missile Defence System

India’s ballistic missile defence (BMD) program, which began development two decades ago, is
reported to be ready for deployment in a configuration for India’s national capital territory, with
future phases to fine-tune and expand capabilities. At present, the BMD system includes the endo-
atmospheric Advanced Air Defence (AAD) interceptor and the exo-atmospheric Prithvi Air
Defence (PAD) systems.

Key facts

• The AAD is part of the two-layered Ballistic Missile Defence system developed by
the DRDO, the research and development wing of the Defence Ministry, with the
Hyderabad-based Research Centre Imarat (RCI).
• The endo-atmospheric missile is capable of intercepting incoming targets at an
altitude of 15 to 25 kms.

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• The interceptor is a 7.5-metre long single stage solid rocket propelled guided missile
equipped with a navigation system, a hi-tech computer and an electro-mechanical
activator.
• The second level of the system is the endo-atmosphere AAD missile.
• The interceptor missile has its own mobile launcher, secure data link for
interception, independent tracking and homing capabilities and sophisticated radars.

NASAMS
NASAMS-II is an air defence system designed to target aircraft and cruise missiles, the BMD
system targets incoming ballistic missiles.

NASAMS-II based ‘Integrated Air Defence Weapon System’ for the Delhi region, even though it
isn’t strictly an anti-missile system. A steep dollar price tag — nearly double the $1 billion budgeted
by India for the procurement — has slowed progress.

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S400
It is a modern long-range surface-to-air missile (MLRSAM) system developed by Russia which will
be delivered to India by 2025

• Missile system integrates a multifunction radar, autonomous detection and

targeting systems, anti- aircraft missile systems, launchers, and command and
control centre. It can provide a layered defence as it is capable of firing three types
of missiles
• S-400 Trimuf can engage all types of aerial targets such as aircraft, ballistic and
cruise missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), which are within the range of
400km, at an altitude of up to 30km

THAAD
• The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or simply abbreviated as THAAD, is a
missile defence system that is designed to intercept and destroy short and medium -
range ballistic missiles in their final flight phase.
• First proposed in 1987 and then finally deployed in 2008, the THAAD cannot be
used as a form of attack against an enemy.
• Its role, by use of a powerful radar, is to simply track and destroy missiles before
they are launched.

Iron Dome

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What is Iron Dome?

Deployed in 2011, it is a short-range, ground-to-air, air defence system that includes a radar and
Tamir interceptor missiles that track and neutralise any rockets or missiles aimed at Israeli targets.

It is used for countering rockets, artillery & mortars (C-RAM) as well as aircraft, helicopters and
unmanned aerial vehicles.Its success rate is over 90%.

How does it work, and what makes it so effective?

The Iron Dome has three main systems that work together to provide a shield over the area where
it is deployed, handling multiple threats.

It has a detection and tracking radar to spot any incoming threats, a battle management and
weapon control system (BMC), and a missile firing unit.

It is capable of being used in all weather conditions, including during the day and night

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Bilateral and Multilateral Military Exercises

Indian Armed Forces conducts/participates in various bilateral and multilateral military exercises with
foreign countries. The details of such exercise include the following:

Sl.
Country Exercise
No.

1 Australia Ex AUSTRA HIND, Ex AUSINDEX, EX PITCH BLACK

Ex SAMPRITI, IN-BN CORPAT, IN-BN BILAT, IN-BN SF

2 Bangladesh
EXERCISE, TABLE TOP EX, SAMVEDNA

Brazil &
3 South IBSAMAR
Africa

4 China Ex HAND IN HAND

5 Egypt Ex CYCLONE

6 France Ex SHAKTI, Ex VARUNA, GARUDA

Ex GARUDA SHAKTI, IND-INDO CORPAT

7 Indonesia IND-INDO BILAT

8 Israel Ex BLUE FLAG

9 Japan Ex DHARMA GUARDIAN, Ex JIMEX

10 Kazakhstan Ex KAZIND

11 Kyrgyzstan Ex KHANJAR

12 Malaysia Ex HARIMAU SHAKTI, Ex IN-RMN BILAT, HOP EX

13 Maldives Ex EKUVERIN, EX EKATHA

14 Mongolia Ex NOMADIC ELEPHANT

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15 Myanmar Ex IMBEX, IMCOR, IN-MN BILAT, TABLE TOP EX

16 Nepal Ex SURYA KIRAN

17 Oman Ex AL NAGAH, NASEEM-AL-BAHR, Ex EASTERN BRIDGE

18 Qatar ZA’IR AL BAHR

19 Russia EX INDRA, EX AVIAINDRA

20 Seychelles Ex LAMITIYE

21 Singapore SIMBEX, JOINT MILITARY TRAINING

22 Sri Lanka Ex MITRA SHAKTI, SLINEX, IN-SLN SF Ex, SAMVEDNA

23 Thailand Ex MAITREE, INDO-THAI CORPAT, Ex SIAM BHARAT

24 UAE DESERT EAGLE

25 UK Ex AJEY WARRIOR, KONKAN, INDRADHANUSH

Ex YUDHABHAYAS, Ex VAJRA PRAHAR, SPITTING

26 USA COBRA, SANGAM (IN-USN EOD Ex), RED FLAG, Ex COPE
INDIA

27 Uzbekistan Ex DUSTLIK

28 Vietnam VINBAX, IN-VPN BILAT

29 Multilateral BIMSTEC

30 Multilateral AFINDEX

31 Multilateral MEDEX

31 Multilateral SCO – PEACE MISSION

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Defence Indigenization
NEED FOR DEFENCE INDIGENISATION
1. For self reliance

2.To reduce dependency on foreign player and ensure security of nation

3.To conserve or reduce Balance of Payment deficit

4.To promote employment and also exports

5.To reduce cost of production to India and thereby reduce fiscal deficit. According to the
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), in 2019, India became the third-largest
defence spender in the world

Challenges
1.Lack of Defence Manufacturing base in India

2.Primarily driven by Government ordnance factories and poor private participation

The public sector (DPSUs/OFs) by far has enjoyed the preferred categorization, particularly for big
ticket purchases, when considering the Indian route, despite its poor track record as regards time
and cost overruns, inefficiencies and poor financial performance. The defence industry per-se
being a capital intensive industry with high risks on investments leaves very few private players in
the arena. DPSUs, on the other hand, have not done much to promote proficient business practices
by involving the industry and Micro, Small,and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). The report of the
33rd StandingCommittee on Defence – Indigenization of Defence Production: PublicPrivate
Partnership was highly critical of the steps taken by the government to promote indigenisation

3.High costs and involved and lack of assured market

4.Poor technological transfer by foreign companies

5.Lack of Data

Assessment of Degree of Indigenisation: As of today, no scientific system is in place to assess the

extent/ level of indigenisation achieved by defence production entities in the country. As a matter
of fact, statistical information on the extent of indigenisation available in the open domain fails to
reflect the true picture as some of the data does not include the quantum of import content utilised
in products manufactured by DPSUs/OFs

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6.Bureaucratic delay and licensing issues:there is still no eas of doing business in defence industry.:
Investment in the defence sector is subject to compliance with the licensing requirements
stipulated by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP)

MEASURES TAKEN:
1. FDI increased to 74%

2. Strategic partnership model

3. Defence procurement policy and New defence Acquisition Procedure

4. Import ban on 101 defence items

5. Institutional reforms like Defence Acquisition council to counter corruption and Chief of
Defence Staff to bring harmony in needs of defence, Defence planning committee etc which can
look at procurement suggestions

6. Defence Innovation hubs-for innovation and Defence Industrial Corridors-to link defence
investment zones

New Defence Acquisition Procedure of 2020

The aim of the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP), erstwhile Defence Procurement Procedure
(DPP), is to ensure timely acquisition of military equipment, systems and platforms as required by
the Armed Forces in terms of performance, capabilities and quality standards, through optimum
utilisation of allocated budgetary resources. While enabling the same, DAP will provide for the
highest degree of probity, public accountability, transparency, fair competition and level-playing
field.

Highlights of the new policy:

1) Reservations for Indigenous firms:

The policy reserves several procurement categories for indigenous firms.DAP 2020 defines an
“Indian vendor” as a company that is owned and controlled by resident Indian citizens, with foreign
direct investment (FDI) not more than 49 per cent.

2) New Buy (Global–Manufacture in India) category:

This stipulates indigenisation of at least 50 per cent of the overall contract value of a foreign
purchase bought with the intention of subsequently building it in India with technology transfer.

3) Greater indigenous content:

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It promotes greater indigenous content in arms and equipment of the military procures, including
equipment manufactured in India under licence. In most acquisition categories, DAP-2020
stipulates 10 per cent higher indigenisation than DPP 2016.

4) Import embargo list:

The “import embargo list” of 101 items that the government promulgated last month has been
specifically incorporated into DAP 2020. (An embargo is a government order that restricts
commerce with a specified country or the exchange of specific goods.)

5) Offset liability:

The government has decided not to have an offset clause in procurement of defence equipment
if the deal is done through inter-government agreement (IGA), government-to-government or an
ab initio single vendor.The offset clause requires a foreign vendor to invest a part of the contract
value in India.

6) In decreasing order of priority, the priority of categories will be as follows: –

(a) Buy (Indian – Indigenously Designed Developed and Manufactured) i.e. Buy (Indian-IDDM).

(b) Buy (Indian).

(c) Buy and Make (Indian).

(d) Buy (Global – Manufacture in India).

(e) Buy (Global).

7) Allows leasing of military platforms

Conclusion
One of the key focus areas of the DAP 2020 was to implement ‘Ease of Doing Business’ with
emphasis on simplification, delegation and making the procurement process industry friendly.

The Indian Government has also announced plans to spend USD 130 billion on military
modernization in the next 5 years. Changes to the FDI Policy and the DAP 2020 will provide the
necessary impetus to the Foreign OEMs to include Indian companies into their global supply chain
which is expected to further boost exports.

INDIAN AIR FORCE

History of Indian Air Force

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• IAF was effective right from the first campaign which was in 1948 where Pakistan
intruded into J&K. The IAF played a very critical role.
• In 1962 Indo-China war air power was not used. So the loss was ours.
• In 1965 Indo-Pakistan war air power was used with little less coordination, but they
played an effective role.
• In 1971 India had complete air superiority because we have 12 to 14 F 86
Sabre’s which made a difference. In East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) there are many
tributaries of small rivers. Crossing these rivers was a problematic area. This was
overcome by the IAF, providing a huge amount of helicopter support.
• In 1999 Kargil war, there was effective use of air power. This was first time in the
history of air power that weaponry was delivered from high altitudes and with
accuracy. No other air force in the world had done before which was a tremendous
achievement for IAF.

The importance of Air Force

• Air power today is the most lethal component of the 3 services. The flexibility and
mobility, the precision of striking the targets which are 1000s of miles away very
accurately.
• From 1999 to 2016, new technologies have emerged, evolved and changed. It is not
the air force but the air space we are looking at.
• We always discuss about the number of squadrons saying we must have 42 or 44
squadrons. The fact is we have 33 at present. We are going to retire about 11
squadrons of MIG-21 and MIG-27 by 2022. These aircraft have to be replaced. The
36 Rafale air craft takes 70 months to come in. Engineers, pilots, and technicians
have to be trained for it. Considering all these we need to think of a balance force.

Need to modernize:

• To derivate from threat perception in future days.

• Doctrine which has now become two front war policy.
• Net centric warfare.
• Aerospace kind of IAF to handle space assets in a required manner.
• Force multipliers that is air to air refuelers.
• To protect the airspace in a high manner.

Concerns:

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• The induction rate in the air force has been slow.
• MIG 21 is accident prone as mentioned.
• Cost of making aircrafts indigenously has proved to be costly.
• The concern for the military in general, for the country and for the political
leadership is to manage the two fronts. The immediate threat is from the western
front i.e., Pakistan. The medium or the long term would be china. It is very important
to make the threat assessment and based on that is to counter the threat.
• There is a lack of collaboration between PSUs and the private sector wrt airforce.
• For Pakistan it will have to be complete air superiority which means the IAF must
be prepared to carry counter air operations and effective air defence operations.
• The expenditure diverted is not enough and is a concern.
• For the Chinese threat, it should be the missiles. It will not be platform based like
fighter aircraft, because they have the technology. For this the force levels have to
be different. We need an integrated air and missile defence system, ballistic missile
defence system. It will be a different formulation of the threat assessment for the
two neighbours.
• Today technology is power. We should have a smaller number but high technology
which is very effective for its objectives rather than having quantities. Certainly we
need quantities, but the overwhelming factor should be technology.
• Order outflow is a concern.
• CAG’s Audit Report of2019 on ‘Capital Acquisition in Indian Air Force’ revealed the
following findings:
o Volume I consisting of seven chapters discusses the systematic issues in the
acquisition process. It includes details of ten acquisition contracts.
o Volume-II consists of audit findings relating to the acquisition of Medium
Multi Role Combat Aircraft through an Inter Government Agreement (IGA)
with the Government of France. This includes examination of the pricing.
o To acquire the right product at the right price, it is essential that
the qualitative requirements (Air Staff Qualitative Requirements in the IAF-
ASQRs) truly reflect the users functional need. This helps in generation of
maximum possible competition and technical and price evaluation is done
objectively.
o Audit noted that IAF did not define the ASQRs properly. As a result none of
the vendors could fully meet the ASQRs. ASQRs were changed repeatedly
during the procurement process.
o Audit noted that the vendor response to solicitation of offers was low, which
restricted competition. Number of vendors who responded to the Request
For Proposal (RFP) was far less than the number of vendors who were invited
to bid.

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o Defence Ministry faced difficulties in realistically estimating the Benchmark
price, making it difficult to establish the reasonability of price. This also
caused delay in price evaluation and contract negotiations.
o There were severe delays at various stages of the acquisition process.
Against three years envisaged in Defence Procurement Process, four cases
took more than three years and seven cases took more than five years to
reach the contract conclusion stage.
o Delays in acquisition were essentially due to a complex and multi -level
approval process, where objections could be raised at any stage.

The issues being faced by IAF with respect to maintaining numerical

adequacy are:

• Even if the Air Force gets the sanctioned 42 squadrons, India’s strength would be
“less than the combined strength of our two adversaries.
• IAF fleet strength has been plagued by poor decision-making, poor acquisition
strategy and shoddy quality control and contract delivery.
• It is stymied by serious constraints on India’s defence budget, the meagre
achievements of the country’s domestic development organisations and India’s
inability to reconcile the need for self-sufficiency in defence production with the
necessity of maintaining technological superiority over rivals
• The IAF had also ordered 43 Tejas jet fighters with another 83 planned for the Mark
1A version. However, though there is a value in procuring them to encourage
domestic R&D, these aircraft are simply not capable of combat flying. The present
version of the Tejas is an excellent aircraft as a Lead-in fighter trainer (LIFT), but
the IAF doesn’t set much store by this concept, unlike most advanced air forces.
• For example it has yet to get 25 Su-30MKI that were to be delivered by 2017
by HAL. Upgrades, such as that of 47 Mirage 2000s have also been delayed.
Likewise none of the 61 Jaguars which were to have been upgraded have yet joined
service.
• The LCA, is, of course, a story of its own marked by delays and performance
problems. In addition, in the last 10 years, 90 combat aircraft have crashed.

Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas

• Tejas is a single-engine lightweight multirole fighter jet. It is the smallest and

lightest in its class of contemporary supersonic combat aircraft.

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• It will replace the country’s aging MiG-21 fighters.
• It is manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
• LCA Tejas has a limited reach of a little over 400-km. It will be mainly used
for close air-to-ground operations.
• The first squadron of indigenously designed and manufactured Light Combat
Aircraft (LCA) Tejas was inducted into Indian Air Force (IAF). The first
squadron of LCA Tejas has been named as ‘Flying Daggers’
• LCA Tejas is not the first indigenous fighter to be inducted into the IAF. In
1967, IAF had formed the first operational squadron with the indigenous
HF24 Marut fighter

The HAL Tejas Mark 2, or Medium Weight Fighter (MWF),[2] is an Indian single-engine, canard
delta wing, Multirole combat aircraft designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) in
collaboration with Aircraft Research and Design Centre (ARDC)[3] of Hindustan Aeronautics
Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force (IAF).

It is a further development of the HAL Tejas, with an elongated airframe, close coupled canards,
new sensors, and a more powerful engine. The Tejas Mark 2 is being designed and developed to
replace multiple strike fighters of IAF viz, SEPECAT Jaguar, Dassault Mirage 2000 and MiG-29.]
The first flight of Tejas Mark 2 is expected to be in 2023 with series production to begin by 2026

RAFALE Aircraft
The Rafale is a twin-jet fighter aircraft able to operate from both an aircraft carrier and a shore
base. The fully versatile Rafale is able to carry out all combat aviation missions: air superiority and
air defense, close air support, in-depth strikes, reconnaissance, anti-ship strikes and nuclear
deterrence.

The controversy of the Rafale deal

• Lack of Transparency:
o The present deal as direct government-to-government agreement, as against
the earlier open tender, is criticised.
o Cost breakdown of Rafale in the original bid under UPA and in the 36 aircraft
in the government-to-government deal under NDA are not in the public
domain.
o The Government’s refusal to share the price details which was ‘Classified
information’, citing the Security Agreement provisions.

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o This was as per the Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) between the
Governments of India and France.
• Accountability to Parliament:
o The government is duty-bound to share the full pricing details with the
Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and the Public Accounts Committee
(PAC) of Parliament.
• Pricing Issues:
o The price for 126 aircraft that was quoted nearly a decade ago, was never
finalised, and no contract was signed or executed.
o The basic price of each Rafale aircraft was said to be around Rs 670 crore.
o At the time of its signing, the 36-aircraft deal was said to be worth around
Rs 59,000 crore (€ 7.878 billion).
o Breakup given by Top defence officials: the basic cost of the 36 aircraft was
€ 3.402 billion (approximately Rs 670 crore per aircraft), the weaponry was
for € 710 million, spare parts for € 1,800 million, weather and terrain
compatibility fits for € 1,700 million, and performance based logistics
support for € 353 million.

• Transfer of Technology:
o The offset proposal supports the ‘Make In India’ initiative of the Indian
Government through Article 12 of the IGA.
o The current deal states that Dassault will facilitate the implementation of
‘Make In India’ by the industrial supplier notably through offsets for 50%
value of the supply protocol.
o The absence of transfer of technology (ToT) component is raised as an issue.
o Also, no role is guaranteed for any Indian public sector company, including
HAL.
o Some India-specific enhancements that were part of the earlier deal do not
figure in the 2016 deal
• Conflict of Interest:
o The bypassing of procedures, the excessive interest of the Prime Minister’s
Office in the deal and the changes made by the government in the terms of
the deal and even in the Defence Procurement Policy itself cannot be
explained without reference to the offset factor.
o The offset deal granted to private MNC without any competition has raised
eyebrows about lack of transparent bidding.
o This has increased the suspection of possible chances of Nepotism.

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CAG’s report on Rafale deal:
The CAG report concludes that the 2016 agreement is slightly better in terms of both pricing and
delivery than the 2007 deal.

The concerns of the CAG’s findings:

• The 2.86% gain in the aircraft price claimed by the CAG is at variance with the taller
claims made by the government.
• The question of 50% offsets in the deal, which has been at the centre of a major
controversy due to involvement of Indian MNC, has not been dealt by the CAG in
this report.
• The CAG report is unhappy about the defence ministry’s repeated demand not to
discuss specific prices in the Rafale deal, as not disclosing price was presented as
part of the agreement between India and France on the planes.
• The original issue of bringing down the total acquisition from 126 to 36 aircraft was
not given much attention.
• There is also no answer to the question why the offer of a lower price made by the
manufacturers of another shortlisted aircraft, the Eurofighter, was neither
considered nor used to bargain for a better price.

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• The CAG’s assessment of savings in India Specific Enhancements (ISE) to be around
17% is also not properly documented and needs deeper examinations.
• The CAG report makes it clear that the Air Force’s inability to specify its
requirements clearly was to blame, in large part, for the delay.
• It stresses on the fact that the defence acquisition processes in India require reforms
and streamlining.

Conclusion:
The report comes amidst varied revelations about possible lapses and deviations in the Rafale deal.
The CAG report is less likely to bring closure to the controversy over the deal as it does not clarify
all the doubts about the deal. There is a need to deliberate the report in the Parliament in its
forthcoming sessions and bring in the required transparency about the deal.

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Digital Signature Certificate

What is a Digital Signature Certificate?

• Digital Signature Certificates (DSC) are the digital equivalent (that is electronic
format) of physical or paper certificates. Few Examples of physical certificates are
drivers’ licenses, passports or membership cards.
• Certificates serve as proof of identity of an individual for a certain purpose; for
example, a driver’s license identifies someone who can legally drive in a particular
country. Likewise, a digital certificate can be presented electronically to prove one’s
identity, to access information or services on the Internet or to sign certain
documents digitally.
• A licensed Certifying Authority (CA) issues the digital signature. Certifying Authority
(CA) means a person who has been granted a license to issue a digital signature
certificate under Section 24 of the Indian IT-Act 2000.

Digital Signature
A digital signature is a mathematical technique used to validate the authenticity and integrity of a
message, software or digital document. It’s the digital equivalent of a handwritten signature or
stamped seal, but it offers far more inherent security. A digital signature is intended to solve the
problem of tampering and impersonation in digital communications.
Digital signatures can provide evidence of origin, identity and status of electronic documents,
transactions or digital messages. Signers can also use them to acknowledge informed consent.

How do digital signatures work?

Digital signatures, like handwritten signatures, are unique to each signer. Digital signature solution
providers, such as DocuSign, follow a specific protocol, called PKI. PKI requires the provider to use
a mathematical algorithm to generate two long numbers, called keys. One key is public, and one
key is private.
When a signer electronically signs a document, the signature is created using the signer’s private
key, which is always securely kept by the signer. The mathematical algorithm acts like a cipher,
creating data matching the signed document, called a hash, and encrypting that data. The resulting
encrypted data is the digital signature. The signature is also marked with the time that the
document was signed. If the document changes after signing, the digital signature is invalidated.

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Uses for digital signatures

1.Industries use digital signature technology to streamline processes and improve document
integrity.
2.Government – Digital signatures are used by governments worldwide for a variety of reasons,
including processing tax returns, verifying business-to-government (B2G) transactions, ratifying
laws and managing contracts. \s.
3.Healthcare-Digital signatures are used in the healthcare industry to improve the efficiency of
treatment and administrative processes, to strengthen data security, for e-prescribing and hospital
admissions.
4.Manufacturing- Manufacturing companies use digital signatures to speed up processes,
including product design, quality assurance (QA), manufacturing enhancements, marketing and
sales. T
5.Financial services –The U.S. financial sector uses digital signatures for contracts, paperless
banking, loan processing, insurance documentation, mortgages and more.
6. Cryptocurrencies – Digital signatures are also used in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to
authenticate the blockchain. They are also used to manage transaction data associated with
cryptocurrency and as a way for users to show ownership of currency or their participation in a
transaction.

Encryption
In simpler terms, encryption takes readable data and alters it so that it appears random. Encryption
requires the use of a cryptographic key: a set of mathematical values that both the sender and the
recipient of an encrypted message agree on.

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What are the different types of encryption?
The two main kinds of encryption are symmetric encryption and asymmetric encryption.
Asymmetric encryption is also known as public key encryption.
In symmetric encryption, there is only one key, and all communicating parties use the same (secret)
key for both encryption and decryption. In asymmetric, or public key, encryption, there are two
keys: one key is used for encryption, and a different key is used for decryption. The decryption
key is kept private (hence the “private key” name), while the encryption key is shared publicly, for
anyone to use (hence the “public key” name).

Why is data encryption necessary?

Privacy: Encryption ensures that no one can read communications or data at rest except the
intended recipient or the rightful data owner. This prevents attackers, ad networks, Internet
service providers, and in some cases governments from intercepting and reading sensitive data.
Security: Encryption helps prevent data breaches, whether the data is in transit or at rest. If a
corporate device is lost or stolen and its hard drive is properly encrypted, the data on that device
will still be secure. Similarly, encrypted communications enable the communicating parties to
exchange sensitive data without leaking the data.
Data integrity: Encryption also helps prevent malicious behavior such as on-path attacks. When
data is transmitted across the Internet, encryption (along with other integrity protections) ensures
that what the recipient receives has not been tampered with on the way.
Authentication: Public key encryption, among other things, can be used to establish that a
website’s owner owns the private key listed in the website’s TLS certificate. This allows users of
the website to be sure that they are connected to the real website (see What is public key
encryption? to learn more).
Regulations: For all these reasons, many industry and government regulations require companies
that handle user data to keep that data encrypted. Examples of regulatory and compliance
standards that require encryption include HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and the GDPR.

CHALLENGES
1. Security of nation-Encrypted messages can be used by terrorists and other non state elements
that can threaten sovereignty and integrity of nation
2. Vulnerable communities: social media trolling,hate messages, child pornography gets difficult to
restrict
3. Data authenticity and fake messages on social media
4. Difficulty in differentiating whether act was by state actor or non state actor

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New IT rules
New IT rules to regulate digital content, featuring a code of ethics and a three-tier grievance
redressal framework, have come into force.
On February 25, the Centre framed the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and
Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021, in the exercise of powers under section 87 (2) of the
Information Technology Act, 2000 and in supersession of the earlier Information Technology
(Intermediary Guidelines) Rules 2011, which will come into effect from May 26.

Overview of the new rules:

It mandates a grievance redressal system for over the top (OTT) and digital portals in the country.
This is necessary for the users of social media to raise their grievance against the misuse of social
media.
Significant social media firms have to appoint a chief compliance officer and have a nodal contact
person who can be in touch with law enforcement agencies 24/7.
A grievance officer: Social media platforms will also have to name a grievance officer who shall
register the grievance within 24 hours and dispose of it in 15 days.
Removal of content: If there are complaints against the dignity of users, particularly women –
about exposed private parts of individuals or nudity or sexual act or impersonation etc – social
media platforms will be required to remove that within 24 hours after a complaint is made.
A monthly report: They also will have to publish a monthly report about the number of complaints
received and the status of redressal.
There will be three levels of regulation for news publishers — self-regulation, a self-regulatory
body, headed by a retired judge or an eminent person, and oversight from the Information and
Broadcasting Ministry, including codes of practices and a grievance committee.

What is a significant social media intermediary and benefits obtained under it?
Social media companies with more than 50 lakh registered users will be considered ‘significant
social media intermediaries’, as per the new norms.

What happens in case of non compliance?

Social media giants such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp messenger could face a
ban if they do not comply with the new Information Technology rules.
They also run the risk of losing their status as “intermediaries” and may become liable for criminal
action if they do not comply with the revised regulations.

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What are the Concerns being raised?
Various industry bodies have written to the government for up to a one-year compliance window,
particularly in view of the pandemic.
Concerns have also been expressed over potential unavailability of ‘safe harbour’ protection given
to intermediaries under Section 79 of the IT Act, under the new rules.
They have requested a re-think over a clause in the new rules which can lead to imposition of
criminal liability upon the employees for non-compliance by intermediaries, asking for it to be
dropped in the interest of ease of doing business.
Originator traceability mandate in end-to-end encrypted platforms could end up weakening the
security architecture of the platform. This could render the entire citizenry susceptible to
cyberattacks by hostile actors.
Additionally, the extant data retention mandate entailed risking privacy of users in India and
abroad in addition to security risks and technical complexities which requires a lot of time for
development and testing before integration with the existing ecosystem.

QUANTUM Cryptography
Unlike mathematical encryption, quantum cryptography uses the principles of quantum mechanics
to encrypt data and make it virtually unhackable.
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully demonstrated
communication between its two labs using Quantum Key Distribution technology.The Defence
Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) and The Research Centre Imarat (RCI) were the
two labs that participated in this demonstration.

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What you need to know about this technology?
Typical encryption relies on traditional mathematics and while for now it is more or less adequate
and safe from hacking, the development of quantum computing threatens that Quantum
computing refers to a new era of faster and more powerful computers, and the theory goes that
they would be able to break current levels of encryption.
QKD works by using photons — the particles which transmit light — to transfer data.
QKD allows two distant users, who do not share a long secret key initially, to produce a common,
random string of secret bits, called a secret key.
Using the one-time pad encryption this key is proven to be secure to encrypt and decrypt a
message, which can then be transmitted over a standard communication channel.

Significance of this technology:

The encryption is “unbreakable” and that’s mainly because of the way data is carried via the
photon. A photon cannot be perfectly copied and any attempt to measure it will disturb it. This
means that a person trying to intercept the data will leave a trace.
The implications could be huge for cybersecurity, making businesses safer, but also making it more
difficult for governments to hack into communication.

Cryptocurrency
A cryptocurrency is a digital asset designed to work as a medium of exchange wherein individual
coin ownership records are stored in a ledger existing in a form of a computerized database.
It uses strong cryptography to secure transaction records, to control the creation of additional
coins, and to verify the transfer of coin ownership. It typically does not exist in physical form (like
paper money) and is typically not issued by a central authority.
Cryptocurrencies typically use decentralized control as opposed to centralized digital currency and
central banking systems.

Why is it in demand?

1. Funds transfer between two parties will be easy without the need of third party like
credit/debit cards or banks.
2. It is a cheaper alternative compared to other online transactions.
3. Payments are safe and secured and offer an unprecedented level of anonymity.
4. Modern cryptocurrency systems come with a user “wallet” or account address which
is accessible only by a public key and pirate key.
5. The private key is only known to the owner of the wallet.
6. Funds transfers are completed with minimal processing fees.

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Significance of Cryptocurrencies
1. Corruption Check: As blocks run on a peer-to-peer network, it helps keep corruption
in check by tracking the flow of funds and transactions.
2. Time Effective: Cryptocurrencies can help save money and substantial time for the
remitter and the receiver, as it is conducted entirely on the Internet, runs on a
mechanism that involves very less transaction fees and is almost instantaneous.
3. Cost Effective: Intermediaries such as banks, credit card and payment gateways
draw almost 3% from the total global economic output of over $100 trillion, as fees
for their services.
4. Integrating blockchain into these sectors could result in hundreds of billions of
dollars in savings.

Concerns over Cryptocurrencies

1. Sovereign guarantee: Cryptocurrencies pose risks to consumers. They do not have
any sovereign guarantee and hence are not legal tender.
2. Market volatility: Their speculative nature also makes them highly volatile. For
instance, the value of Bitcoin fell from USD 20,000 in December 2017 to USD 3,800
in November 2018.
3. Risk in security: A user loses access to their cryptocurrency if they lose their private
key (unlike traditional digital banking accounts, this password cannot be reset).
4. Malware threats: In some cases, these private keys are stored by technical service
providers (cryptocurrency exchanges or wallets), which are prone to malware or
hacking.
5. Money laundering: Cryptocurrencies are more vulnerable to criminal activity and
money laundering. They provide greater anonymity than other payment methods
since the public keys engaging in a transaction cannot be directly linked to an
individual.
6. Regulatory bypass: A central bank cannot regulate the supply of cryptocurrencies
in the economy. This could pose a risk to the financial stability of the country if
their use becomes widespread.
7. Power consumption: Since validating transactions is energy-intensive, it may have
adverse consequences for the country’s energy security (the total electricity use of
bitcoin mining, in 2018, was equivalent to that of mid -sized economies such as
Switzerland).

Cryptocurrencies in India:
1. In 2018, The RBI issued a circular preventing all banks from dealing in
cryptocurrencies. This circular was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court
in May 2020. Recently, the government has announced to introduce a bill;

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Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021, to create a
sovereign digital currency and simultaneously ban all private cryptocurrencies.
2. In India, the funds that have gone into the Indian blockchain start -ups account for
less than 0.2% of the amount raised by the sector globally. The current approach
towards cryptocurrencies makes it near-impossible for blockchain entrepreneurs
and investors to acquire much economic benefit.

Issues Associated with Banning Decentralised Cryptocurrencies

• Blanket Ban: The intended ban is the essence of the Cryptocurrency and Regulation
of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021. It seeks to prohibit all private
cryptocurrencies in India.
▪ However, categorising the cryptocurrencies as public (government -backed) or
private (owned by an individual) is inaccurate as the cryptocurrencies are
decentralised but not private.
▪ Decentralised cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin aren’t or rather, can’t be
controlled by any entity, private or public.
▪ Brain-Drain: Ban of cryptocurrencies is most likely to result in an exodus of both
talent and business from India, similar to what happened after the RBI’s 2018
ban.
▪ Back then, blockchain experts moved to countries where crypto was regulated,
such as Switzerland, Singapore, Estonia and the US.With a blanket ban,
blockchain innovation, which has uses in governance, data economy and energy,
will come to a halt in India.
• Deprivation of Transformative Technology:A ban will deprive India, its
entrepreneurs and citizens of a transformative technology that is being rapidly
adopted across the world, including by some of the largest enterprises such as Tesla
and MasterCard.
• An Unproductive Effort:Banning as opposed to regulating will only create a parallel
economy, encouraging illegitimate use, defeating the very purpose of the ban.
▪ A ban is infeasible as any person can purchase cryptocurrency over the internet.
• Contradictory Policies:Banning cryptocurrency is inconsistent with the Draft
National Strategy on Blockchain, 2021 of the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY),
which hailed blockchain technology as transparent, secure and efficient technology
that puts a layer of trust over the internet.

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Way Forward
1. Regulation is the Solution: Regulation is needed to prevent serious problems, to
ensure that cryptocurrencies are not misused, and to protect unsuspecting investors
from excessive market volatility and possible scams The regulation needs to be
clear, transparent, coherent and animated by a vision of what it seeks to achieve.
2. Clarity on Crypto-currency definition: A legal and regulatory framework must first
define crypto-currencies as securities or other financial instruments under the
relevant national laws and identify the regulatory authority in charge.
3. Strong KYC Norms: Instead of a complete prohibition on cryptocurrencies, the
government shall rather regulate the trading of cryptocurrencies by including
stringent KYC norms, reporting and taxability.
4. Ensuring Transparency: Record keeping, inspections, independent audits, investor
grievance redressal and dispute resolution may also be considered to address
concerns around transparency, information availability and consumer protection.
5. Igniting the Entrepreneurial Wave: Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain technology
can reignite the entrepreneurial wave in India’s start up ecosystem and create job
opportunities across different levels, from blockchain developers to designers,
project managers, business analysts, promoters an d marketers.

Conclusion
India is currently on the cusp of the next phase of digital revolution and has the potential to
channel its human capital, expertise and resources into this revolution, and emerge as one of the
winners of this wave. All that is needed to do is to get the policymaking right.
Blockchain and crypto assets will be an integral part of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Indians
shouldn’t be made to simply bypass it.

Central bank digital currency (CBDC)

Context:
The Reserve Bank of India is likely to soon kick off pilot projects to assess the viability of using
digital currency to make wholesale and retail payments to help calibrate its strategy for
introducing a full-scale central bank digital currency (CBDC).

Need for:

1. An official digital currency would reduce the cost of currency management while
enabling real-time payments without any inter-bank settlement.

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2. India’s fairly high currency-to-GDP ratio holds out another benefit of CBDC — to
the extent large cash usage can be replaced by CBDC, the cost of printing,
transporting and storing paper currency can be substantially reduced.
3. The need for inter-bank settlement would disappear as it would be a central bank
liability handed over from one person to another.

What is the CBDC or National Digital currency?

A Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), or national digital currency, is simply the digital form of
a country’s fiat currency. Instead of printing paper currency or minting coins, the central bank
issues electronic tokens. This token value is backed by the full faith and credit of the government.

SC Garg Committee recommendations (2019):

1. Ban anybody who mines, hold, transact or deal with cryptocurrencies in any form.
2. It recommend a jail term of one to 10 years for exchange or trading in digital
currency.
3. It proposed a monetary penalty of up to three times the loss caused to the
exchequer or gains made by the cryptocurrency user whichever is higher.
4. However, the panel said that the government should keep an open mind on the
potential issuance of cryptocurrencies by the Reserve Bank of India.

Challenges in rolling out National Digital Currency:

1. Potential cybersecurity threat.
2. Lack of digital literacy of population.
3. Introduction of digital currency also creates various associated challenges in
regulation, tracking investment and purchase, taxing individuals, etc.
4. Threat to Privacy: The digital currency must collect certain basic information of an
individual so that the person can prove that he’s the holder of that digital currency.

Libra
What is Libra?
Facebook says Libra is a “global currency and financial infrastructure”. In other words, it is a digital
asset built by Facebook and powered by a new Facebook-created version of blockchain, the
encrypted technology used by bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

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Why is it called Libra?
The name Libra comes from the basic Roman measurement of weight. The abbreviation lb for
pound is derived from Libra, and the £ symbol originally comes from an ornate L in Libra.

Who is in charge of Libra?

The currency will be serviced by a collective of companies called the “Libra Association”. It
functions as what is known as a “stablecoin”, pegged to existing assets like the dollar or euro, in
the aim of making it less subject to the volatility that many cryptocurrencies experience.
The Libra Association is described by Facebook as an independent, not-for-profit
organisation based in Switzerland. It serves two main functions: to validate transactions on the
Libra blockchain and to manage the reserve Libra is tied to and allocate funds to social causes.

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Blockchain Technology

What are Blockchains?

They are a new data structure that is secure, cryptography-based, and distributed across a
network. The technology supports cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, and the transfer of any data
or digital asset.
Spearheaded by Bitcoin, blockchains achieve consensus among distributed nodes, allowing the
transfer of digital goods without the need for centralized authorization of transactions.

How does it operate?

1. The technology allows transactions to be simultaneously anonymous and secure,
peer-to-peer, instant and frictionless.
2. It does this by distributing trust from powerful intermediaries to a large global
network, which through mass collaboration, clever code and cryptography, enables

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a tamper-proof public ledger of every transaction that’s ever happened on the
network.
3. A block is the “current” part of a blockchain which records some or all of the recent
transactions, and once completed, goes into the blockchain as permanent database.
4. Each time a block gets completed, a new block is generated. Blocks are linked to
each other (like a chain) in proper linear, chronological order with every block
containing a hash of the previous block.

Prospects:

• Bitcoin is just one of the applications for the technology, whose use is being tested
across industries.
• Healthcare, banking, education, agriculture, electricity distribution and land records
are sectors that could benefit.

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• Blockchain-powered smart contracts, where every piece of information is recorded
can enhance ease of doing business.
• It will augment the credibility, accuracy and efficiency of a contract while reducing
the risk of frauds, substantially.
• Blockchain could play a crucial part in health insurance claims management by
reducing the risk of insurance claim frauds.
• The technology can also be used to prevent the sale of spurious drugs in the country
by tracking every step of the supply chain network.
• Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things (IoT) can gain immensely from
blockchain applications.
• In an IoT world, thousands of devices would need to rapidly and seamlessly transact
with each other in real time.
• The adoption of blockchain by India’s banks could help avert frauds such as the one
at Punjab National Bank as the technology updates information across all users
simultaneously.
• It could be used to further strengthen our national institutions, including the
judiciary and the Election Commission.
• Critical citizen information like land records, census data, birth and death records,
business licenses, criminal records, intellectual property registry, electoral rolls
could all be maintained as blockchain-powered, tamper-proof public ledgers.

Challenges:

• Blockchain technology is expensive to initially put it in place.

• The massive usage of energy for the functioning of blockchain.
• Safeguarding the privacy of individuals and companies as blockchains are usually
open ledgers for everyone to see.
• Knowledge of the benefits of distributed ledger technology is still limited.
• If automated risk management, smart contracts, and similar tools are deployed
across a network, cascades of rapid and hard -to-control obligations and liquidity
flows could propagate across a network.
• This interdependence will likely call for creative organizational thinking to address
the need for governance and strong risk management

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Blockchain in Social sectors:

• Personal Identification: Governments manage vast amounts of personal data from

birth and death records to marriage certificates, passports and census data.
Blockchain technology offers a streamlined solution for managing all of it securely.
• Fight corruption: Registering government transactions in the blockchain helps
create a trusted history for any transaction and significantly eases the auditing
process. This would contribute to making public procurement more transparent
• Cut red tapism: As government agencies currently store data in autonomous
centralized databases, they tend not to interoperate in an optimal way. This results
in duplication, overlap and contradiction in the information held. Blockchain
eliminates this lack of interoperability which generates unnecessary red tape in
obtaining relevant information from a user, and makes the process for sharing data
between agencies clear and inexpensive.
• Identity and Land rights: The World Identity Network and Humanized Internet
project can store identifiers such as birth certificates and university degrees on a
blockchain, in the form of distributed digital lockboxes. Users can keep their
information private and secure, but also give permission for anyone to access it
anywhere in the world. Several governments, including those in Dubai, Estonia,
Georgia, and Sweden are making early forays into blockchain-based approaches to
securing property rights.
• Agriculture: First of all, it can reduce contamination and food fraud. This can happen
with the help of blockchain efficiency and transparency. Blockchain’s role is to
improve the third party involvement by ensuring that they are tracking, collecting
and managing data in the best possible way. With blockchain, farmers and
distributors are going to get their payments faster than ever -improving their ability
to work on their next set of projects faster.
• Health: The health sector is one of those sectors that have tons of initiatives by
both for-profit and nonprofit organizations. With blockchain, healthcare can
improve digital healthcare records. It also improves pharmaceutical supply chain
management. As usual, blockchain offers a decentralized, efficient and secure
solution.
• Governance and democracy: Government and civil society can also leverage
blockchain technology to strengthen democratic processes and participation.

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Blockchain systems such as Ballot Chain can manage online elections with secure
and anonymous voting that participants can verify at any time.
• Environmental protection: In the environmental arena, new blockchain-supported
supply chain management systems, which are transparent but cannot be tampered
with, can track products from the farm to the table, and show whether or not a food
product is organic or Fair Trade.
• Philanthropy and Aid: Billions of dollars are invested in helping the needy. However,
these aids are mostly misused due to a lack of transparency. In fact, most of the aid
never reaches the intended people. This has also led people to not contribute to
these non-profit organizations. Blockchain can solve all of these problems and help
elevate the confidence in non-profit in utilizing the funds.
• Crowdfunding: As with traditional crowdfunding, a blockchain powered
crowdfunding campaign seeks to secure investment for a new project from an
interested community. But in this instance, funding is most likely to come in the
form of bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies.

Way Forward:

• Blockchain, with all its possibilities, needs a serious look at its vulnerabilities and
commerciality.
• Before introducing blockchain into the public sector data -handling system, we need
a robust and informative data repository.
• Linking IndiaChain with Aadhar, thus creating a secure personal identity for all
Indians.
• Proper regulations for the use of blockchain technology in the country.
• Identifying and resolving key issues and challenges in implementing this technology,
the prime amongst those being data privacy.
• India should effectively channel its technical human capital surplus to position itself
as one of the pioneers during this upcoming wave of innovation.

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Cellular Networks

1G Technology
1G refers to the first generation of wireless mobile communication where analog signals were used
to transmit data. It was introduced in the US in the early 1980s and designed exclusively for voice
communication. Some characteristics of 1G communication are −

• Speeds up to 2.4 kbps

• Poor voice quality
• Large phones with limited battery life
• No data security

2G Technology
2G refers to the second generation of mobile telephony which used digital signals for the first time.
It was launched in Finland in 1991 and used GSM technology. Some prominent characteristics of
2G communication are −

• Data speeds up to 64 kbps

• Text and multimedia messaging possible
• Better quality than 1G

When GPRS technology was introduced, it enabled web browsing, e-mail services and fast
upload/download speeds. 2G with GPRS is also referred to as 2.5G, a step short of the next mobile
generation.

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3G Technology
Third generation (3G) of mobile telephony began with the start of the new millennium and offered
major advancement over previous generations. Some of the characteristics of this generation are
−

• Data speeds of 144 kbps to 2 Mbps

• High speed web browsing
• Running web based applications like video conferencing, multimedia e -mails, etc.
• Fast and easy transfer of audio and video files
• 3D gaming

Every coin has two sides. Here are some downsides of 3G technology −

• Expensive mobile phones

• High infrastructure costs like licensing fees and mobile towers
• Trained personnel required for infrastructure set up

The intermediate generation, 3.5G grouped together dissimilar mobile telephony and data
technologies and paved way for the next generation of mobile communication.

4G Technology
Keeping up the trend of a new mobile generation every decade, fourth generation (4G) of mobile
communication was introduced in 2011. Its major characteristics are −

• Speeds of 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps

• Mobile web access
• High definition mobile TV
• Cloud computing
• IP telephony

Technologies of 4G
LTE
WIMAX
HSPA

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While all the previous technologies are for voice transfers ,4g technologies are efficient in data
transfer and so voice calls are also transferred using same data inform of packets called VOLTE
thus making data more efficient and faster.This technology is used by Reliance jio while other
networks switch to 3g for voice communication

Advantages of VOLTE
1.Efficient use of spectrum
2.Better voice clarity
3.Less battery usage
4.Simultaneous use of data and voice calls
But we need compatible smartphones for this

5G Technology

5G is the fifth generation mobile network. It is the next generation cellular technology that will
provide faster and more reliable communication with ultra-low latency. A government panel report
points out that with 5G, the peak network data speeds are expected to be in the range of 2-20
Gigabit per second (Gbps). This is in contrast to 4G link speeds averaging 6-7 Megabit per second
(Mbps) in India as compared to 25 Mbps in advanced countries.The standards for the usage of 5G
are defined and driven by 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).

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Benefits of 5G for communication sector:

• 5G is expected to create a cumulative economic impact of $1 trillion in India by

2035, according to a report by a government -appointed panel.
• According to a separate report by telecom gear maker Ericsson, 5G -enabled
digitalization revenue potential in India will be above $27 billion by 2026.
• Additionally, global telecom industry GSMA has forecast that India will have about
70 million 5G connections by 2025.
• 5G is expected to form the backbone of emerging technologies such as the Internet
of Things (IoT) and machine to machine communications.
• It would be supporting a much larger range of applications and services, including
driverless vehicles, tele-surgery and real time data analytics.
• One of the primary applications of 5G will be implementation of sensor -embedded
network that will allow real time relay of information across fields such as
manufacturing, consumer durables and agriculture.
• 5G can also help make transport infrastructure more efficient by making it smart.
• 5G will enable vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication,
making driverless cars, among other things, a reality.
• The ultra-low latency offered by 5G makes the technology desirable for such use
cases. Latency is the amount of time data takes to travel between its source and
destination.
• Government has repeatedly spoken of India’s aspirations to deploy 5G and be a
significant player in its development and growth. A high -level forum was appointed
in 2016 to recommend a 5G strategy for India.
• National Digital Communications Policy, 2018, highlighted its potential and TRAI
has recommended a reserve price for the auction of 5G spectrum in the 3.3 -3.4 GHz
and 3.4-3.5 GHz bands.

Challenges of Economies of Scale:

• Frequency allocation: Indian operators have far less spectrum in comparison to

international operators. The high investment cost which makes telecom companies
unsure about Return on Investment.
• Network investment: In India, the telecom sector is facing capital augmentation
issues which need to be resolved. Non-availability of funds for investment: Many of
the Indian operators are also weighed down by debt.

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• Telecom operators seem reluctant to participate in the auction citing the reserve
price of ₹490 crore per MHz as high and the amount of spectrum on offer being
insufficient.
• Regulatory restrictions: Faster rounds of new technology introduction when prior
technology investments have not been recouped add further complexity.
• Technical Challenges: Designing IT architecture that can be deployed globally, while
still allowing for localized technology to cater for different regions is a challenge.
• Lack of Government incentives: Government has little incentive to forgo revenues,
given the increasing pressure on its revenues, especially after the covid -19 induced
slowdown.
• Discouraging Taxes: Current flat rate of 6% of adjusted gross revenue for licence
fees and 3% for spectrum usage charges has dissuaded telecom providers from
investing in new technologies.
• Poor auction design is ensuring that valuable spectrum is idle. This includes precious
5G spectrum in 700 MHz and 3.5 GHz, and the much sought -after E and B bands.

Way Forward:

• Need to align Digital India with 5G technology.

• Incentivize design and manufacture of 5G technologies, products and solutions in
India.
• Idle spectrum must be freed up, at least till it generates significant revenues.
Allocate funds and incentivise local technology and telecom firms to develop their
internal capacities which would in turn help 5G technology succeed in the country.
• Promote 5G start-ups that enable this design and manufacturing capabilities.
• Promote generation of IPR backing the above designs.
• Reward efficient use of spectrum,
• Upgrade of narrow-band networks
• Development of markets.
• Manufacture of 5G chipsets, this may require massive investments.
• Appropriate test-beds and technology platforms to enable and help Indian technical
ecosystem to have an edge in 5G.
• Accelerated deployment of next generation ubiquitous ultra -high broadband
infrastructure with 100% coverage of 10 Gbps across urban India and 1 Gbps across
Rural India.

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Coverage, reliability, and scalability must be optimized and seamless mobile
networks will require a unified management policy to ensure consistent standards.

Conclusion:
The World Economic Forum predicts that by 2023 there will be a staggering 9.1 billion mobile
subscriptions. 5G will act as the catalyst for Digital India—a watershed moment in digital
transformation. India is at the cusp of a next generation of wireless technology 5G. It provides an
opportunity for industry to reach out to global markets, and consumers to gain with the economies
of scale. It can help in better service delivery, faster access to services and deeper penetration of
digital services.

Li-Fi
Li-Fi, or light fidelity, invented by German physicist and professor Harald Haas, is a wireless
technology that makes use of visible light in place of radio waves to transmit data at terabits per
second speeds—more than 100 times the speed of Wi-Fi.

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• Though it was discovered in the last decade, proofs of concept to test commercial
utilization started emerging only in 2015.

How does it work?

Li-Fi is a Visible Light Communications (VLC) system. This means that it accommodates a photo-
detector to receive light signals and a signal processing element to convert the data into ‘stream-
able’ content. Unlike Wi-Fi, which uses radio waves, Li-Fi runs on visible light.

• Here, data is fed into an LED light bulb (with signal processing technology), it then
sends data (embedded in its beam) at rapid speeds to the photo -detector
(photodiode).
• The tiny changes in the rapid dimming of LED bulbs is then converted by the
‘receiver’ into electrical signal.
• The signal is then converted back into a binary data stream that the user would
recognise as web, video and audio applications that run on internet enables devices.

An LED light bulb is a semiconductor light source meaning that the constant current of electricity
supplied to an LED light bulb can be dipped and dimmed, up and down at extremely high speeds, without
being visible to the human eye.

Advantages:

• Li-Fi could make a huge impact on the internet of things too, with data transferred
at much higher levels with even more devices able to connect to one another.
• Li-Fi offers great promise to overcome the existing limitations of Wi -Fi by providing
for data-heavy communication in short ranges.
• Due to its shorter range, Li-Fi is more secure than Wi-Fi.
• Since it does not pollute, it can be called a green technology for device -to-device
communication in the Internet of Things (IoT).
• Li-Fi systems consume less power.

Limitations of Li-Fi:

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• As visual light can’t pass through opaque objects and needs line of sight for
communication, its range will remain very restricted to start with. In order to enjoy
full connectivity, more capable LED bulbs will need to be placed at various places.
• Li-Fi requires the lightbulb is on at all times to provide connectivity, meaning that
the lights will need to be on during the day.
• Li-Fi is likely to face interference from external light sources, such as sunlight and
bulbs, and obstructions in the path of transmission, and hence may cause
interruptions in communication.
• Also, initially, there will be high installation costs of visual light communication
systems as an add-on to lighting systems.

Challenges:
The main challenge is to create a Li-Fi ecosystem, which will need the conversion of existing
smartphones into Li-Fi enabled ones by the use of a converter/adapter.

Also, an integrated chip that has both light-to-electrical conversion and data-processing capability
(Wi-Fi/Bluetooth) combined into one needs to be developed and manufactured in the millions.

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Potential applications:

• Li-Fi can be used in street and traffic lights. Traffic lights can communicate to the
vehicles and with each other. Through the use of Li-Fi, traffic control can be made
intelligent and real-time adaptable. And each traffic and street light post can be
converted into access points to convert roadsides into wireless hot spots.
• Vehicles having LED-based headlights and tail lamps can communicate with each
other and prevent accidents by exchanging information.
• Visible light being safer, they can also be used in places where radio waves can’t be
used such as petrochemical and nuclear plants and hospitals.
• They can also be used in aircraft, where most of the control communication is
performed through radio waves.
• Li-Fi can also easily work underwater, where Wi-Fi fails completely, thereby
throwing open endless opportunities for military and navigational operations.
• Also, it presents another unique possibility: transmitting power wirelessly, wherein
the smartphone will not only receive data through Li-Fi, but will also receive power
to charge itself.

Challenges and opportunity in India:

The lack of ubiquitous broadband access, which thereby restricts data access, and chaotic traffic
management leading to traffic jams and pollution are just two of the many problems in India. Li-Fi
has scope to help with both.

• By converting traffic lights into LED-based access points, traffic management can
be made intelligent, adaptive and real-time—and so, more efficient and effective.
• In the same way, street lights can also be converted into Li-Fi access points, making
them broadband access transmitters to mobile Li-Fi enabled smartphones,
converting areas into seamless hot spots.

Conclusion:
If Li-Fi can be put into practical use, every LED lamp (indoor as well as outdoor) can be converted
into something like a hot spot to transmit data to every mobile device to achieve universal
broadband communication

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Cloud Computing
It is the delivery of computing services—including servers, storage, databases, networking,
software, analytics, and intelligence—over the Internet (“the cloud”) to offer faster innovation,
flexible resources, and economies of scale.

The Government of India is embracing cloud computing technology for expanding its e-
governance initiatives throughout the country. In India, the focus of e-governance is to reduce
corruption and ensure the government schemes are reaching people living in rural areas of the
country. Further, e-governance services ensure quicker service delivery and eliminate the
involvement of middlemen who tend to capitalize on loopholes for quick money by means of
exploiting people.
In order to utilise and harness the benefits of Cloud Computing, Government of India has
embarked upon an ambitious initiative – “GI Cloud” which has been named as ‘MeghRaj’. This
initiative is to implement various components including governance mechanisms to ensure
proliferation of Cloud in the government. The focus of this initiative is to accelerate delivery of e-
services in the country while optimizing ICT spending of the Government.
MeghRaj will ensure optimum utilization of the infrastructure and speed up the development and
deployment of eGov applications. The architectural vision of GI Cloud encompasses a set of
discrete cloud computing environments spread across multiple locations, built on existing or new
(augmented) infrastructure, following a set of common protocols, guidelines and standards issued
by the Government of India.

Advantages:

• Seamless Connectivity: Cloud-based software offers companies from all sectors a

number of benefits, including the ability to use software from any device either via
a native app or a browser. As a result, users can carry their files and settings over
to other devices in a completely seamless manner.
• Higher Accessibility: Cloud computing is far more than just accessing files on
multiple devices. Thanks to cloud computing services, users can check their email
on any computer and even store files using services such as Dropbox and Google
Drive.
• Improved Disaster Recovery: Cloud computing services also make it possible for
users to back up their music, files, and photos, ensuring those files are immediately
available in the event of a hard drive crash.

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• Cost-Saving: It also offers big businesses huge cost-saving potential. Before the
cloud became a viable alternative, companies were required to purchase, construct,
and maintain costly information management technology and infrastructure.
• Scalability: can be improvised to cater to increased demand, say in SMART city
mission
• Companies can swap costly server centers and IT departments for fast Internet
connections, where employees interact with the cloud online to complete their
tasks.
• The cloud structure allows individuals to save storage space on their desktops or
laptops.
• Increased Collaboration and flexibility: It also lets users upgrade software more
quickly because software companies can offer their products via the web rather
than through more traditional, tangible methods involving discs or flash drives.
• For example, Adobe customers can access applications in its Creative Suite through
an Internet-based subscription. This allows users to download new versions and
fixes to their programs easily.
• Environmentally friendly: Cloud computing reduces a company’s carbon footprint
by minimizing energy consumption and carbon emissions by more than 30%. For
small businesses, the decreased energy usage can reach up to 90% = A huge money
saver.

Cloud computing in Indian Governance:

• E-Gram Panchayat
o The majority of the Indian population lives in villages, and the
Panchayats represent the face of governance for these villagers. To improve
the quality of governance, the Indian government initiated an e -governance
scheme known as ePanchayat to simplify and enhance internal government
operations. The module was constructed in 4 phases of e-governance.
• Indian Railways on Cloud
o Governed by the Central Railway Ministry of India, the Indian railway
network is the largest rail network in Asia and second -largest rail network in
the world. A research carried by the railway ministry says out of 17 million
passengers every day, only 1 million passengers carry confirmed rail tickets.

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This results in substantial monetary loss. To avoid loss, the Indian
government decided to implement cloud technology for Indian railways.
Today, the central government maintains the railway data on the cloud.
• Kisan Suvidha
o The Indian government came up with the portal Kisan Suvidha to help
farmers with the relevant information instantly. It delivers farmers with
detailed knowledge on weather, market prices, seeds, fertilizers, pesticides,
agriculture machinery, dealers, agro advisories, plant protection and IPM
practices. It notifies them with extreme weather conditions and the changing
market price.
• DigiLocker
o DigiLocker is the public cloud-based storage introduced by the Indian
government for the citizens of India. It is much more than an online drive
where you upload your documents to be accessed depending on your
convenience. The documents are digitally verified and signed by the
government of India in a few seconds with an authentic DigiLocker
verification seal. With more than 57.13 million users and 4.27 billion issued
documents, DigiLocker has proved to be one of the biggest success stories
of cloud in the government.
• eHospital
o Hospital is the cloud-based healthcare projected implemented by the
government of India to ease the process of healthcare management. The
system was designed to speed up services like online registration, payment
of fees and appointment, online diagnostic reports, checking on the
availability of blood online, etc. This hospital model assigns a unique
identification number to every patient at the time of registration. The medical
history of a particular patient can be accessed using the number.
• In India, cloud computing has ensured the success of national initiatives and
schemes such as Swachh Bharat Mission, e-Hospital, National Scholarship, My-Gov
and e-Transport.
• One of India’s most landmark initiatives, the Government e-Marketplace
(GeM) uses a multi-cloud architecture to ensure scalability. Today, the GeM serves
over 50,000 buyer organisations and has a listing of over 19 lakh products and more
than 80,000 services.

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• NIC’s SaaS-based service, S3WaaS, has empowered district administrators to
create, configure and deploy scalable and accessible websites without much effort
and technical knowledge.
• The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), announced last year that it had
gone fully digital with the launch of a unique cloud -based and AI-powered big
analytics platform. All project documents and correspondences related to NHAI will
be stored in a cloud-based data lake, which is linked with GIS tagging and a unique
project ID, so that project data can be retrieved easily from any location.
• The Indian Railways has given the responsibility of deploying open source Hospital
Management Information System (HMIS), an integrated clinical information system,
for its 125 health facilities and 650 polyclinics across the country for improved
hospital administration and patient healthcare, using a cloud platform.

Limitations:

• With all of the speed, efficiencies, and innovations that come with cloud computing,
there are naturally risks.
• Security has always been a big concern with the cloud especially when it comes to
sensitive medical records and financial information.
• While regulations force cloud computing services to shore up their security and
compliance measures, it remains an ongoing issue. Encryption protects vital
information, but if that encryption key is lost, the data disappears.
• Servers maintained by cloud computing companies may fall victim to natural
disasters, internal bugs, and power outages, too.
• The geographical reach of cloud computing cuts both ways: A blackout in California
could paralyze users in New York, and a firm in Texas could lose its data if something
causes its Maine-based provider to crash.
• As with any technology, there is a learning curve for both employees and managers.
But with many individuals accessing and manipulating information through single
portal, inadvertent mistakes can transfer across an entire system.
• Maintenance costs: While the upfront or capital cost for the cloud-based server is
very low compared to traditional hosting, the cloud server requires the same amount
to be paid each month to maintain both servers as well as data.

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• Internet connectivity: For cloud-based services, consistent internet connection is
important because if any one of the cloud-based service providers loses
connectivity, then the company will be out of business until that internet connection
returns.
• A common argument from critics is that cloud computing cannot succeed because
it means that organizations must lose control of their data, such as an email provider
that stores data in multiple locations around the world. A large regulated company,
like a bank, might be required to store data in the United States.

Conclusion:
Cloud computing can further the motive of e-governance (service delivery, transparency, citizen
awareness and grievance redressal) by providing a faster, easier and cost-effective platform that
can be used by multiple government agencies. Way ahead lies in taking due care of security,
interoperability and licensing.

IOT – Internet Of Things

• Internet of things is an integrated system in which devices are connected in a
network of information in such a way that they can communicate with each other
without any human intervention.
• It creates an intelligent system of systems which can manage multiple activities of
human concern like traffic control, health management, optimal use of electricity
and inventory management etc.
• IoT requires data to work. This data is then turned into meaningful information for
processing. Accessibility to data is indispensable for the working of IoT and this is
being facilitated by digitization.
• Digitization is a process which interconnects the world into an integrated network
enabling sharing of data and information across systems. Thus, IoT connects devices
but this connectivity is provided by digitization of information. In brief, digitization
is an enabler of IoT.

HOW DIGITIZATION WILL HELP IoT:

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• Data provision – Internet of things bringing the physical, digital, cyber and virtual
worlds together requires extensive information processing capabilities provided by
digitization.
• Connectivity – With complete and proper digitization more and more people will be
connected with the internet that make people aware about the internet of things
and its uses.
• Digitization is increasing in India under the Digital India mission and the market of
IoT too is growing day by day. Both are useful in the following ways –
• Standardize the economy- usage of them would modernize our business practices,
banking structure and trade market. They develop a hedge against adversity and
soothe the process of a landmark transformation.
• Easier mode of payment – Anyone can make transactions very easily without any
physical contact between consumer and producer.
• Reduce tax theft – By promoting digitization one cannot hide its expenditure and
gain so that will come under the eye of the government.
• Facilitating and enabling the environment- IoT would ease the process of work by
managing areas like insurance, bills, regulation of energy usages, loan installment
and other periodical liabilities. It would save man hours and would increase their
economic productivity ultimately boosting the growth of Indian economy.
• Easier lives – Example : Healthcare system- better tracking of cholesterol level,
blood pressure level and sugar level would enable early tracking of health changes
and would make India a country of healthy people with reduced health expenditures.

CHALLENGES OF IOT
1.Lack of easy and cheaper access to smartphones
2.Cyber frauds and cyber crimes
3.Digital Divide
4.large amount of data can be tracked for surveillance and also for intrusion into personal matters
5.Privacy issues
6.Use by non state actors to create security threat
7.Bing MNC companies has more access to resources and thus can bare inequality

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Internet
Internet, a system architecture that has revolutionized communications and methods of commerce
by allowing various computer networks around the world to interconnect. Sometimes referred to
as a “network of networks,”
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in a meeting at Marrakesh
(Morocco) decided that the ICANN will now be governed by a “multi-stakeholder”
(multistakeholder ICANN community) model, including businesses, individual users and members
of governments across the world. Since this group elects ICANN’s board of directors in the first
place, it can be said that ICANN will now be an independent organization, with no external
oversight.

ICANN and its present governance architecture

• It is a non-profit body founded in 1998 that administrates domain names and

Internet protocol addresses (IPs) globally.
• ICANN has been assigned the task to manage Internet by the US Commerce
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• Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) under a contract, which
expires on September 30.
• IANA (the Internet Assigned Names Authority, the part of ICANN that handles
country codes, Internet
• numbers and protocols) then went on being part of ICANN, despite concerns raised
by a number of countries over the US’s stranglehold over the Internet.
• ICANN’s architecture renders it answerable only to U.S. law and courts.
• The main issue that non-U.S. actors have with the U.S. control over ICANN is that
it can unilaterally interfere with the ICANN’s policy process, and the Internet’s root
server

Why the debate:

• Controversial US practices such as snooping on foreign leaders, as revealed in

Wikileaks
• Allegations that ICANN, though a transnational body functions under the
supervision of Department of Commerce with which it has contract
• A broader debate on internet governance touches the topics of cyber security, trade
secrecy, freedom of expression and sovereignty

What is Internet Governance

In 2005, UN sponsored World Summit on Information Society defined Internet Governance as –
“development and application of rules, norms, principles, practices by govt, civil society, business,
each within its own respective role, to enable the evolution and use of internet”.
It encompasses

• Technical aspects such as control over DNS servers etc

• Civil aspects such as privacy, freedom of expression etc
• Political aspects such as maintenance of sovereignty
• Security aspects such as data security, cyber security etc

Problem with ICANN’s role currently:

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• It is transnational but not global in its current avtar
• It is dominated by non state actors which is hugely problematic for countries like
China, Russia etc which are trying to maintain state control over the internet
• It is one of the few centralized points of control over the internet
• It is overseen by US

Internet Governance
What is Internet Governance
In 2005, UN sponsored World Summit on Information Society defined Internet Governance as –
“development and application of rules, norms, principles, practices by govt, civil society, business,
each within its own respective role, to enable the evolution and use of internet”.
It encompasses

• Technical aspects such as control over DNS servers etc

• Civil aspects such as privacy, freedom of expression etc
• Political aspects such as maintenance of sovereignty
• Security aspects such as data security, cyber security etc

Problem with ICANN’s role currently:

• It is transnational but not global in its current avtar

• It is dominated by non state actors which is hugely problematic for countries like
China, Russia etc which are trying to maintain state control over the internet
• It is one of the few centralized points of control over the internet
• It is overseen by US

Assessment of various models for Internet Governance:

Model 1 – Oversight by an intergovernmental organization (proposed by International
Telecommunication Union). It replaces US control over IANA with an organization composed of
the nation state representatives from countries around the world. This is supported by China,
Russia etc

o Pros

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▪ Democratizes the oversight mechanism as all countries would be
represented in the policy formulation
▪ Gives nation state the power to enforce public policy
▪ Curtails the power of non state actors to influence policy decisions
thereby curbing misuse by vested private interests
▪ Making use of international law to produce accountability. Currently US
laws apply over ICANN . Replacing oversight over ICANN by
intergovernmental organization would enable international law duly
formulated to extend control
o Cons
▪ Erosion of the bottom up process on which the internet has been built
and flourished so far. In international arena, states are more guided by
maintaining security and sovereignty as opposed to protection of the
interests of the citizens
▪ All nation states are not democratically elected
▪ International law would also give primacy to national security and
sovereignty as opposed to interests of the people
▪ Involvement of nation states would mean involvement of bureaucracy
thereby slowing down the decision making process which is dangerous
for the growth of flexible, fast changing contours of the net
▪ Promotion of vested business interests by nation states. Eg. Ethiopia had
banned VoIP services to maintain monopoly of state owner telecom
company
▪ Fragmentation of global internet in accordance with national interests

Model 2 – Hierarchical Multi Stakeholder Organization.

In this model, there will be involvement of all stakeholders as identified by the Tunis Agenda such
as Civil Society, Private Sector, Intergovernmental and International Organization & Technical and
Advisory groups in policy discussions. The recommendations will be included in policy formulation
by committee of nation states which are geographically representative

▪ Pros
▪ Strengthens bottom up process of internet agenda by giving voice to multiple
stakeholders

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▪ Control on unlimited power exercised by nation states
▪ Most practical form
▪ Helpful for flourishing of business etc
▪ Cons
▪ Problem in recognition of stakeholders
▪ Involvement of multiple stakeholders in policy discussion but not decision
making would still lead to control of nation states

Model 3 – This is the alternative by Internet Governance Forum . It holds that multi-
stakeholderism to be there not just in policy discussions but also in decision making.

▪ Pros
▪ True multi-stakeholderism
▪ Effective check on nation state’s power
▪ Cons
▪ Unelected representatives would be involved in decision making
▪ It would be difficult to develop consensus
▪ For nation state the principle of assisgning votes can one state, one vote.
But assigning votes to civil society, private players would be difficult

India’s Stand:

• India’s proposal is that the Internet should be managed through the multi -
stakeholder approach (state centred multistakeholderism and not true
multistakeholderism) and the governments should have “supreme right and control”
on matters relating to international security.
• India has described the role of the government as “an important stakeholder” and “a
custodian of security” for the global Internet infrastructure
• India in its submission has said that under the new transition, the body managing
the Internet should have “accountability towards governments” in areas where
“governments have primary responsibility, such as security and similar public policy
concerns”

Assessment of India’s stand:

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India’s stand primarily emanates from the concern that control of the internet would be hijacked
by multinational corporations, especially US based corporations. India fears that with an
independent status, ICANN may promote its narrow self interest and commercial pursuits
disregarding public good.
However, India’s stand has disappointed the Indian private sector that has led the nation’s rapid
advances in IT sector and the civil society groups which are wary of excessive state control. C. Raja
Mohan writes that India is still some steps away from nuancing its position on Internet Governance
that is in tune with India’s political values and the aspirations of its flourishing IT sector and concern
of civil society groups

Digital Divide
Digital divide is any uneven distribution in the access to, use of, or impact of information and
communications technologies between any number of distinct groups, which can be defined based
on social, geographical, or geopolitical criteria, or otherwise.

Impacts of digital divide:

• In the Lokniti-CSDS National Election Study 2019, only 1 in every 3 were found to
be using smartphones (approximately 90% of the smartphone users had Internet in
their phones), and merely 16% and 10% households had access to a
computer/laptop and an Internet connection at home, respectively.
• According to the Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicator Report - the
percentage of rural population that subscribes the internet is 34.60%. It even
conflicts with the early stage learnings from CoWin’s own dashboard.
• There is the issue of mandatory Co-Win registration as part of the new decentralised
distribution strategy, which potentially adds to an entry barrier that could be
tougher to navigate for users in the hinterland, both in terms of access to the
platform and an English-only interface for users so far.
• In the absence of the internet and without knowledge of how the portal functions,
the majority of India’s rural population is being discriminated against and a form of
technical rationing is being implemented by CoWin based on broadband
connectivity and digital literacy.
• Mandatory online registration introduces a skew in favour of urban centres, given
that a little over half of India’s population has access to broadband Internet, while
rural tele-density is under 60%. States including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,
Jharkhand, and Madhya Pradesh having among the country’s lowest tele -density.

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• It is more difficult for those with less access and greater unfamiliarity with
technology, including access to a smartphone or computer.
• Online registration for the jab bars up to half of India’s population, mainly in poor
and rural areas, who do not have smartphones or internet access.

Solutions:

• Infrastructure: The promotion of indigenous ICT development under Atmanirbhar

Abhiyan can play a significant role.
• Digital literacy: Digital literacy needs special attention at the school / college level.
The National Digital Literacy Mission should focus on introducing digital literacy at
the primary school level in all government schools for basic content and in high er
classes and colleges for advanced content.
• Role of regulators: Regulators should minimize entry barriers by reforming licensing,
taxation, spectrum allocation norms. TRAI should consider putting in place a credible
system. This system will track call drops, weak signals, and outages. It ensures the
quality and reliability of telecom services.
• Cyber security: MeitY will need to evolve a comprehensive cyber security
framework for data security, safe digital transactions, and complaint redressal.
• Telecom ombudsman: The government should also set up telecom ombudsman for
the redress of grievances.

Conclusion
Efficacious and safe vaccines, regardless of their origin, need to be critically but quickly examined
and added to the pool. India’s Covid-19 vaccine drive will be a monumental mission, not just in
terms of vaccinating its own population, but also vaccinating a large part of the world thanks to its
position as the world’s leading vaccine producer. Addressing the issues associated with the
development and distribution of vaccines will augment the effort to efficiently get vaccines to
hundreds of millions in the shortest period of time.

Space Internet
SpaceX, the world’s leading private company in space technology, has launched 60 satellites into
low earth orbit, under the Starlink network project.

What is it?

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The Starlink network is one of several ongoing efforts to start beaming data signals from
space.Under the project, the company intends to evolve into a constellation of nearly 12,000
satellites.
The aim is to provide low-cost and reliable space-based Internet services to the world.
The project, announced in 2015, has 122 satellites in orbit.

Significance of the project:

The project ensures that reliable and uninterrupted Internet services are universally available in
every part of the globe.

• Currently, about 4 billion people, more than half the world’s population, do not have
access to reliable Internet networks.
• And that is because the traditional ways to deliver the Internet — fibre-optic cables or
wireless networks — cannot take it everywhere on Earth.
• In many remote areas, or places with difficult terrain, it is not feasible or viable to
set up cables or mobile towers.

Signals from satellites in space can overcome this obstacle easily.

Why use low earth orbit instead of geostationary?

Geostationary orbit is located at a height of 35,786 km over the Earth’s surface, directly above the
Equator. Satellites in this orbit move at speeds of about 11,000 km per hour, and complete one
revolution of the Earth in the same time that the earth rotates once on its axis. To the observer on
the ground, therefore, a satellite in geostationary orbit appears stationary.
Advantages: Signals from geostationary orbit can cover a very large part of the Earth. Signals from
one satellite can cover roughly a third of the planet — and three to four satellites would be enough
to cover the entire Earth. Also, because they appear to be stationary, it is easier to link to them.
Then what’s the issue?
There is a time lag — called latency — between a user seeking data, and the server sending that
data.
And because data transfers cannot happen faster than the speed of light (in reality, they take place
at significantly lower speeds), the longer the distance that needs to be covered the greater is the
time lag, or latency.
A transmission from a satellite in geostationary orbit has a latency of about 600 milliseconds.

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How does low earth orbit seek to solve this issue?
A satellite in the lower orbit, 200-2,000 km from the Earth’s surface, can bring the lag down to 20-
30 milliseconds, roughly the time it takes for terrestrial systems to transfer data.

Concerns over LEOs:

Owing to their lower height, their signals cover a relatively small area. As a result, many more
satellites are needed in order to reach signals to every part of the planet.
Other issues include: Increased space debris, increased risk of collisions, and the concern of
astronomers that these constellations of space Internet satellites will make it difficult to observe
other space objects, and to detect their signals.

BHARATNET
BharatNet is a project of national importance to establish, by 2017, a highly scalable network
infrastructure accessible on a non-discriminatory basis, to provide on demand, affordable
broadband connectivity of 2 Mbps to 20 Mbps for all households and on demand capacity to all
institutions, to realise the vision of Digital India, in partnership with States and the private sector.
The objective is to facilitate the delivery of e-governance, e-health, e-education, e-banking,
Internet and other services to the rural India.
The Union Cabinet recently approved a revised implementation strategy for the BharatNet
project by opting for public-private partnership mode in 16 states to cover around 3,60,000
villages at a total cost of Rs 29,430 crore. Of this, the government will provide Rs 19,041 crore as
viability gap funding.

BharatNet Project:

• National Optical Fibre Network (NoFN) which is now renamed as BharatNet project
was launched in 2012.
• The project aims to provide affordable broadband services to citizens and
institutions in rural and remote areas, in partnership with States and the private
sector.
• It involves connecting all the 2,50,000 Gram Panchayats in the country to the block
headquarters for provision of both bandwidth and dark fibre on a universal and non -
discriminatory basis.
• The network is capable of providing scalable bandwidth of up to 1 GBPS.

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• The entire project is being funded by Universal Service Obligation Fund
(USOF), which was set up for improving telecom services in rural and remote areas
of the country.
• Bharat Broadband Nigam Ltd(BBNL) was created as the special purpose vehicle
created to execute the project.
• BharatNet will now extend up to all inhabited villages beyond the gram panchayats
(GPs) in the said states.
• Over 3.6 lakh villages over 16 states of the country will be covered under the
expanded BharatNet programme.
• The revised strategy includes creation, upgradation, operation, maintenance and
utilisation of BharatNet by the concessionaire who will be selected by a competitive
international bidding process.
• The states to be covered under the revised plan are Kerala, Karnataka, Rajasthan,
Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal,
Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.

Challenges:
BharatNet is a mega project, widely dispersed to the remotest corners of the country. Among the various
challenges faced in its execution are:

• The scheme has failed to deliver on its objective of triggering a broadband

revolution across the country.
• The project has been marred with delays and multiple extensions.
• The quality of connectivity and the range of services provided at the last mile
remains the key.
• Till date, 1.56 lakh out of the 2.5 lakh village panchayats have been connected with
broadband. BharatNet has achieved little in terms of actual connectivity and
utilisation.
• Maintaining coordination among multiple stakeholders including CPSUs, state
governments, state implementation agencies, project implementation agencies and
suppliers;
• Working in remote and difficult terrain, especially hilly areas, rocky terrain and left -
wing extremism-affected regions;

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• Limited availability of experienced executing agencies/resources to take up
simultaneous work throughout the country;
• Delays in right-of-way permissions, especially for defence, forest areas and
highways;
• Unavailability of suitable government buildings or custodians for equipment
installation in GPs;
• Change of government/bureaucracy in states, affecting continuity;
• BSNL’s stressed financials, affecting progress;
• Delay in the finalisation of tenders by the state and implementing agencies;
• Frequent lockdowns amidst the Covid-19 crisis.

Measures needed:

• The solution here could be to reshape the mandate of BBNL and review the role
that the State should play in infrastructure creation for BharatNet. BBNL should
function as a coordinating authority, rather than performing full implementation
functions.
• State governments must be brought on board to ensure that the project gets
adequate support at the district and panchayat levels.
• All resources and energies would have to be mobilised so that all gram panchayats
are reached in the shortest possible time.
• A thorough inquiry into the effectiveness and outcomes of the money already spent
is also needed.
• The need of the hour is to get the support of private players through investments
to take the vision of BharatNet forward, providing broadband connectivity on a non -
discriminatory basis universally to the entire rural population and institutions, as per
demand and at an affordable price.
• In terms of implementation, we can look at some models which have been adopted
in other countries. In Australia, the Australian Broadband Guarantee (ABG) program
was started in 2007, in response to data which showed that internet services were
not available for rural and remote areas. A one-time incentive payment was offered
to internet service providers to supply broadband services in eligible areas.
• Estonia follows a model where communications undertakings, are invited to provide
universal service in a designated area. The price for the service is to be fixed by the

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State, and there is a provision to compensate the undertaking for any losses incurred
in providing universal service.
• In India, we can perhaps look at the model of how when there was a need to expand
access to banking services for people in rural areas, the State had stepped in by
imposing a specific mandate for banks to open a specified number of new branches
in rural and underserved areas if they want to expand.

Conclusion
Bharat’s need for internet connectivity is extremely urgent, both for accessing State services and
information as well as for personal consumption. As the government announces a National
Broadband Mission, one hopes that the name change is not merely cosmetic, and also carries with
it an updated strategy and implementation design which can create the infrastructure needed for
people to have access to a better quality of life.

NET NEUTRALITY
The Internet has spread all over the world, so widely that many believe it is now an essential good.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has come out in strong support of Net
neutrality.TRAI said, internet service providers should not engage in any discriminatory treatment
of content.The regulator seeks to bar any practice where selected content is blocked, degraded,
slowed down or granted preferential speeds.

What does Net Neutrality mean?

Net neutrality is “The principle that Internet service providers should enable access to all content
and applications without favouring or blocking particular websites. Basically, the ethos of net
neutrality state that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) should not give preference to certain content
over the other.

Background
Last year, the TRAI had ruled for Net Neutrality thus banning Facebook’s Free Basics and Airtel
Zero.Both Free Basics and Airtel Zero let users access certain apps and websites for free.

TRAI’s Recommendations
Prohibits Discrimination:

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Keeping Internet open and prohibits any ISPs from discrimination on basis of content.
Protection of rights of citizens
The internet use should be facilitated by ensuring plurality and diversity of views, opinions and
ideas.
Exemptions
It excludes specialized services and content delivery networks (CDNs) from scope of any rules on
net neutrality.
Setting up Multi-stakeholder body
Setting up a multi-stakeholder body to monitor and investigate whether ISPs are adhering to rules.

Significance of TRAI’s Recommendations

• The telecom regulator’s support for Net neutrality fulfils constitutional promises
Preserving the democracy of the internet and users’ right to freedom of speech and
expression
• It will ensure a level playing field for services providers to innovate and customize
in India
• It will help build the Internet as a public platform with open access to all
• It will effectively address the problem of anti-competitive practices adopted by
certain providers.
• Judicious and transparent use of national resources for greater public benefit.
• The decision based on wide public consultation affirms the government’s stand for
people’s participation in decision making.

Arguments supporting Net Neutrality

• Services on the internet must be equally accessible to all and telecom operators
cannot discriminate between services.
• It will end discrimination against innovative internet platforms and application
service providers who do not have the financial wherewithal
• Without Net neutrality, the new start-ups would be at a disadvantage vis a vis
established players.

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• Without Net neutrality it would impact both the right to speak and the ability to
receive knowledge,hence impacting our right to freedom of speech and expression.
• It would be detrimental from the consumer point of view as their usage pattern will
be controlled by the telecom companies.
• While voice revenues have shown a decline, data revenues have shown significant
growth for telecom companies.

Arguments against Net Neutrality

• Applications which use the voice over internet protocol (VoIP), have led to reduction
in voice-based traffic, putting inordiate pressure on telcos’
• Differential pricing recognises the economic principle of paying differently for
different levels of service and experience.
• ISPs say differential pricing based on differential levels of service will enable them
to recover the massive investment made.
• If net neutrality is enforced, then future investments in telecommunications
infrastructure will be curtailed, thereby impacting user experience.
• It will impact the government’s ambitious Digital India initiative

Way Forward

• A proper mechanism needs to be instituted to make sure that the exceptions are
not used as loopholes by the big Internet players.
• To make the digital economy a reality telcos’ must make adequate investments to
cater to the explosion of data traffic.

Public Wi-Fi plan ‘PM Wani’

• The move is aimed at helping accelerate the uptake of broadband Internet services.
• It was first recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in
2017 .

Key features of the project:

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1. This will allow setting up of public WiFi hotspots across the country via public data
offices or public data offices (PDOs).
2. It will not require the PDOs to get a license or pay a fee.
3. This will involve multiple players, including PDOs, Public Data Office Aggregators
(PDOA), app providers, and a central registry.

Implementation:
1. PDOs will be “facilitators” between service providers and users.
2. A PDOA will be an aggregator of PDOs that will oversee functions relating to
authorization and accounting of Wi-Fi connections.
3. A person, who wants to use public Wi-Fi, can do so via an app and will make
payments as per usage.
4. The project will also have an app developer who will build a platform to register
users and discover Wani-compliant Wi-Fi hotspots in an area and display them on
the app.
5. A central registry, which will be maintained by the Centre for Development of
Telematics, will record the details of app providers, PDOAs and PDOs.

Significance of the project:

Public Wi-Fi networks will ‘democratize’ content distribution and broadband access to millions at
affordable rates. This will be the UPI (unified payments interface) of connectivity services.

Supercomputer
Supercomputers are the physical embodiment of high-performance computing (HPC), allowing
organizations to solve problems that would be impossible with regular computers and to better
assess associated revenue streams

FEATURES

• Supercomputers have certain distinguishing features. Unlike conventional

computers, they usually have more than one CPU (central processing unit), which
contains circuits for interpreting program instructions and executing arithmetic and
logic operations in proper sequence.
• The use of several CPUs to achieve high computational rates is necessitated by the
physical limits of circuit technology.

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• Electronic signals cannot travel faster than the speed of light, which thus constitutes
a fundamental speed limit for signal transmission and circuit switching.
• This limit has almost been reached, owing to miniaturization of circuit components,
dramatic reduction in the length of wires connecting circuit boards, and innovation
in cooling techniques (e.g., in various supercomputer systems, processor and
memory circuits are immersed in a cryogenic fluid to achieve the low temperatures
at which they operate fastest).
• Rapid retrieval of stored data and instructions is required to support the extremely
high computational speed of CPUs. Therefore, most supercomputers have a very
large storage capacity, as well as a very fast input/output capability.

National Supercomputing Mission (NSM):

The Mission envisages empowering national academic and R&D institutions spread over the
country by installing a vast supercomputing grid comprising of more than 70 high-performance
computing facilities.

• These supercomputers will also be networked on the National Supercomputing grid

over the National Knowledge Network (NKN).
• The NKN is another programme of the government which connects academic
institutions and R&D labs over a high speed network.
• The Mission includes development of highly professional High Performance
Computing (HPC) aware human resource for meeting challenges of development of
these applications.
• India looks forward to create a cluster of machines for weather forecasting, drug
discovery and data mining.

Characteristics of Supercomputer

• These types of computers are able to solve large amounts of calculations, and
complicated calculations as well.
• Multiple users are capable of accessing the supercomputer at same time.
• It Is more expensive so ordinary users can not purchase that computer.
• Use for special areas where there is a high amount and complicated calculations.

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• Having huge storage capacity.

There are many application areas where to use of supercomputer such as

• Biology Areas:

Mostly, supercomputers are used to diagnose various diseases, and provide the assistance for
producing good results in strokes, brain injuries and other blood flow issues in your body.

• Military and Defense Missions:

Supercomputing helps to provide virtual testing for nuclear explosion and weapon ballistics.

• Climate Patterns:

Supercomputer applications are able to study and understand climate patterns.

• Airlines Industry:

With the help of a supercomputer, designed flight simulators for newbie pilots and this simulator
helped to train new pilots.

• Weather Forecasting:

To gather the information related to weather forecasting, supercomputers run in the NOAA’s
system, which means National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The NOAA system is able
to execute all types of simple and logical instructions.

• Scientific Research areas:

In the weather and science research areas depend on the supercomputer for analyzing data from
the exploring solar system, satellites that round earth, and other areas such as nuclear research.

• Advance database :(Data Mining)

Some large scale companies need the supercomputer for extracting useful information from data
storage houses or in the cloud system. Such as insurance companies.

• Financial Market Place:

Supercomputers play a vital role in real financial success in the emerging online currency world
such as bitcoin and the stock market.

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• Simulated Environment in Automobile:

Supercomputers provide the help to people for buying vehicles because before purchasing the
vehicle, customers can test through simulation environments that are created by supercomputers.

• Smog Control System:

Scientists use supercomputers in their own laboratory for predicting the fog and other pollution
levels in particular areas, and then take final steps to prevent them.

DISADVANTAGES

• More Expensive
• Need more space for setup
• Not useful for broad applications
• Not able to replace physical testing
• Need well trained staff
• Required more maintenance
• Need massive external storage for huge data
• High power requirements
• Need water cooling in addition to an A/C system, because a supercomputer
produces more heat during processing time.

In the 12th five-year plan, the government of India (GOI) had committed that $2.5bn would be
sanctioned for the research in the supercomputing field.
In 2015, GOI approved a 7-year supercomputing program known as National Supercomputing
Mission which aims to create a cluster of 73 supercomputers connecting various academic and
research institutions across India with $730mn investment.

As of June 2021 there are 3 systems based in India on the TOP500 supercomputer list.

Rank Site Name

89 Centre for Development of Advanced Computing PARAM Siddhi-AI

107 Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology Pratyush (Cray XC40)

187 National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting Mihir (Cray XC40)

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Quantum Computing
• Quantum computing takes advantage of the strange ability of subatomic particles
to exist in more than one state at any time. Due to the way the tiniest of particles
behave, operations can be done much more quickly and use less energy than
classical computers.
• In classical computing, a bit is a single piece of information that can exist in two
states – 1 or 0. Quantum computing uses quantum bits, or ‘qubits’ instead. These
are quantum systems with two states. However, unlike a usual bit, they can store
much more information than just 1 or 0, because they can exist in any superposition
of these values.

How quantum computers revolutionize computing:-

• While today’s computers struggle or are unable to solve some problems, these same
problems are expected to be solved in seconds through the power of quantum
computing.
• It’s predicted that artificial intelligence, and in particular machine learning, can
benefit from advances in quantum computing technology
o Quantum computing algorithms allow us to enhance what’s already possible
with machine learning.
• Quantum computers are better equipped to solve sequential problems
efficiently. The power they give businesses and even consumers to make better
decisions might just be what’s needed to convince companies to invest in the new
technology when it becomes available.
• Quantum computers will allow for quick analysis and integration of our enormous
data sets which will improve and transform our machine learning and artificial
intelligence capabilities.
• Quantum computers operate on completely different principles to existing
computers, which makes them really well suited to solving particular mathematical
problems, like finding very large prime numbers.
o Since prime numbers are so important in cryptography, it’s likely that
quantum computers would quickly be able to crack many of the systems that
keep our online information secure.

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• In quantum computing qubit is the conventional superposition state and so there is
an advantage of exponential speedup which is resulted by handle number of
calculations.
• The other advantage of quantum computing is even classical algorithm calculations
are also performed easily which is similar to the classical computer.

Disadvantages:-

• The main disadvantage of computing is the technology required to implement a

quantum computer is not available at present. The reason for this is the consistent
electron is damaged as soon as it is affected by its environment and that electron is
very much essential for the functioning of quantum computers.
• This is due to the fact that the coherent state, fundamental to a quantum computer’s
operation, is destroyed as soon as it is measurably affected by its environment.
Attempts at combating this problem have had little success,
• The research for this problem is still continuing and the effort applied to identify a
solution for this problem has no positive progress.

Quantum computers are machines that use the properties of quantum physics to store data and
perform computations. This can be extremely advantageous for certain tasks where they could
vastly outperform even our best supercomputers
Classical computers, which include smartphones and laptops, encode information in binary “bits”
that can either be 0s or 1s. In a quantum computer, the basic unit of memory is a quantum bit or
qubit.
Qubits are made using physical systems, such as the spin of an electron or the orientation of a
photon. These systems can be in many different arrangements all at once, a property known as
quantum superposition. Qubits can also be inextricably linked together using a phenomenon
called quantum entanglement. The result is that a series of qubits can represent different things
simultaneously.

What is quantum supremacy?

It means only that researchers have been able to use a quantum computer to perform a single
calculation that no conventional computer, even the biggest supercomputer, can perform in a
reasonable amount of time.

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Chapter-6 Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is science and engineering at the scale of atoms and molecules. It is the
manipulation and use of materials and devices so tiny that nothing can be built any smaller.

How small is small?

Nanomaterials are typically between 0.1 and 100 nanometres (nm) in size – with 1 nm being
equivalent to one billionth of a metre (10-9 m).

Generations of Nanotechnology

Types of Nanotechnology
The different types of nanotechnology are classified according to how they proceed (top-down or
bottom-up) and the medium in which they work (dry or wet):

• Descending (top-down):Mechanisms and structures are miniaturised at the

nanometric scale — from one to 100 nanometres in size —. It is the most frequent
to date, especially in electronics.
• Ascending (bottom-up):You start with a nanometric structure — a molecule, for
example — and through a mounting or self-assembly process you create a larger
mechanism than the one you started with.

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• Dry nanotechnolgy :It is used to manufacture structures in coal, silicon,
inorganic materials, metals and semiconductors that do not work with humidity.
• Wet nanotechnology:It is based on biological systems present in an aqueous
environment — including genetic material, membranes, enzymes and other
cellular components

Examples and Applications of Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology and nanomaterials can be applied in all kinds of industrial sectors. They are
usually found in these areas:

Electronics
Carbon nanotubes are close to replacing silicon as a material for making smaller, faster and more
efficient microchips and devices, as well as lighter, more conductive and stronger quantum
nanowires. Graphene’s properties make it an ideal candidate for the development of flexible
touchscreens.

Energy
A new semiconductor developed by Kyoto University makes it possible to manufacture solar
panels that double the amount of sunlight converted into electricity. Nanotechnology also lowers
costs, produces stronger and lighter wind turbines, improves fuel efficiency and, thanks to the
thermal insulation of some nanocomponents, can save energy.

Biomedicine
The properties of some nanomaterials make them ideal for improving early diagnosis and
treatment of neurodegenerative diseases or cancer. They are able to attack cancer cells selectively
without harming other healthy cells. Some nanoparticles have also been used to enhance
pharmaceutical products such as sunscreen.

Environment
Air purification with ions, wastewater purification with nanobubbles or nanofiltration systems for
heavy metals are some of its environmentally-friendly applications. Nanocatalysts are also
available to make chemical reactions more efficient and less polluting.

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Food
In this field, nanobiosensors could be used to detect the presence of pathogens in food or
nanocomposites to improve food production by increasing mechanical and thermal resistance and
decreasing oxygen transfer in packaged products

Textile
Nanotechnology makes it possible to develop smart fabrics that don’t stain or wrinkle, as well as
stronger, lighter and more durable materials to make motorcycle helmets or sports equipment.

Nanotechnology in healthcare
Here are the four major ways in which nanotechnology is changing the future of healthcare:

1. Nanomedicine
Nanomedicine applies nanotechnology in healthcare applications such as treatment and
diagnostics of various diseases using nanoparticles in medical devices, as well as nanoelectronic
biosensors and molecular nanotechnology. Nanomedicine is currently being used to develop smart
pills and for treating cancer.

Smart pills

The term ‘smart pills’ refers to nano-level electronic devices that are shaped and designed like
pharmaceutical pills but perform more advanced functions such as sensing, imaging, and drug
delivery.

Cancer detection and treatment

A key problem with regular chemotherapy and radiation is the damage caused to the body’s
healthy cells during the treatment. New nanomedicine approaches are being used in the treatment
of skin cancer, which enables efficient delivery of drugs and other therapeutic treatments to
specific tumor sites and target cells with low toxic side-effects.

2. Nanobots
Nanobots are micro-scale robots, which essentially serve as miniature surgeons. They can be
inserted into the body to repair and replace intracellular structures. They can also replicate
themselves to correct a deficiency in genetics or even eradicate diseases by replacing DNA
molecules. This property is still under development.

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Nanobots are currently being tested to perform eye surgery, through a microscopic needle
inserted into the retina. Surgeons can direct this needle using a specialized magnetic field.

Nanobots can also be used to clear artery blockages by drilling through them. Scientists at
Michigan State University and Stanford University have partnered to develop nanobots which
contain carbon nanotubes, loaded with a drug that can eat away arterial plaque. This can reduce
the risk of heart attacks.

3. Nanofibers
Nanofibers are being used in wound dressings and surgical textiles, as well as in implants, tissue
engineering, and artificial organ components.

Scientists are working on developing ‘smart bandages’, which when left on the site, will absorb
itself into the tissue once the wound heals. Embedded nanofibres in these smart bandages can
contain clotting agents, antibiotics, and even sensors to detect signs of infection.

4. Nanotech-based wearables
The use of cloth-based nanotechnology in healthcare is a new yet popular form of remote patient
monitoring. Such wearables have embedded nanosensors in the cloth that record medical data
such as heartbeat, sweat components, and blood pressure. It helps save lives by alerting the wearer
and medical professionals of any adverse changes faced by the body

Carbon Nanotubes
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are cylindrical molecules that consist of rolled-up sheets of single-layer
carbon atoms (graphene). They can be single-walled (SWCNT) with a diameter of less than 1
nanometer (nm) or multi-walled (MWCNT), consisting of several concentrically interlinked
nanotubes, with diameters reaching more than 100 nm. Their length can reach several
micrometers or even millimeters.

Like their building block graphene, CNTs are chemically bonded with sp2 bonds, an extremely
strong form of molecular interaction

Applications:

• Used in electric wires to reduce losses

• It can replace silicon made transistors as they are small and emit less heat and it
can revolutionise electronics
• Can be used in solar cell

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Graphene
Graphene is a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb-like pattern.
Graphene is considered to be the world’s thinnest, strongest and most conductive material – of
both electricity and heat. All of these properties are exciting researchers and businesses around
the world – as graphene has the potential to revolutionize entire industries – in the fields of
electricity, conductivity, energy generation, batteries, sensors and more.

Mechanical strength
Graphene is the world’s strongest material, and can be used to enhance the strength of other materials.
Dozens of researchers have demonstrated that adding even a trace amount of graphene to plastics,
metals or other materials can make these materials much stronger – or lighter (as you can use a smaller
amount of material to achieve the same strength).

Thermal applications
Graphene is the most heat conductive found to date. As graphene is also strong and light, it means that
it is a great material for making heat-spreading solutions, such as heat sinks or heat dissipation films.
This could be useful in both microelectronics (for example to make LED lighting more efficient and
longer lasting) and also in larger applications – for example thermal foils for mobile devices. Huawei’s
latest smartphones, for example, have adopted graphene-based thermal films.

Energy storage
Since graphene is the world’s thinnest material, it also extremely high surface-area to volume ratio. This
makes graphene a very promising material for use in batteries and supercapacitors. Graphene may
enable batteries and supercapacitors (and even fuel-cells) that can store more energy – and charge
faster, too.

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Coatings ,sensors, electronics and more
Graphene has a lot of promise for additional applications: anti-corrosion coatings and paints, efficient
and precise sensors, faster and efficient electronics, flexible displays, efficient solar panels, faster DNA
sequencing, drug delivery, and more.

Issues in Nanotechnology
• Environment: Being very small these particles can create environment pollution
• Security: nano particles can be used in devices to capture videos or use as
drones to launch offensive attack
• Equity: developing countries have less access to funds to create nanotechnology
products
• Ethical:Using nano technology and devices in human beings can create a more
powerful human being with enhanced human capabilities..should we pursue
them?
• Technical barriers

Issues in India

• No single regulatory body in INDIA

• Insufficient studies on toxicological studies of nanoparticles
• Facilities required for research are less and outdates

Government Measures
• Nanotechnology regulatory board to regulate industrial nano products
• Nano technology institutes like Indian Institute of Nano sciences at
Bangalore,Mumbai,kolkata
• Nano technology initiatives program by Department of Information technology and
for nano electronic products
• Nano science and technology initiative to promote nano technology which led to
Nano mission
• Nano mission:1000 crore allotted for 5 years for development of nano technology

Mission on Nano Science and Technology (Nano Mission):

• Launched in 2007.

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• It is as an “umbrella capacity-building programme”.
• The Mission’s programmes will target all scientists, institutions and industry in the
country.
• It will also strengthen activities in nano science and technology by promoting basic
research, human resource development, research infrastructure development,
international collaborations, among others.
• It will be anchored in the Department of Science and Technology and steered by
a Nano Mission Council chaired by an eminent scientist.

Outcomes and significance of the mission:

• As a result of the efforts led by the Nano Mission, today, India is amongst the top
five nations in the world in terms of scientific publications in nano science and
technology (moving from 4th to the 3rd position).
• The Nano Mission itself has resulted in about 5000 research papers and about 900
Ph.Ds and also some useful products like nano hydrogel based eye drops, pesticide
removal technology for drinking water, water filters for arsenic and fluoride
removal, nanosilver based antimicrobial textile coating, etc.

The Nano Mission has thus helped establish a good eco-system in the country to pursue front-
ranking basic research and also to seed and nurture application-oriented R&D, focused on useful
technologies and products.

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Chapter-7 Robotics
Robotics is the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, structural
depositions, manufacture and application of robots Today Robotics is the rapidly growing field and
it is continue in research, design, and build new robots that serve various practical purposes

Laws of Robotics
The Laws of Robotics are a set of laws, rules, or principles, which are intended as a fundamental
framework to underpin the behavior of robots designed to have a degree of autonomy. Robots of
this degree of complexity do not yet exist, but they have been widely anticipated in science fiction,
films and are a topic of active research and development in the fields of robotics and artificial
intelligence.

Three Laws are:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to
come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders
would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict
with the First or Second Laws

Applications of Robotics
• Military robots.
• Industrial robots: Robots are increasingly used in manufacturing (since the 1960s).
According to the Robotic Industries Association US data, in 2016 the automotive
industry was the main customer of industrial robots with 52% of total sales. In the
auto industry, they can account for more than half of the “labor”. There are even
“lights off” factories such as an IBM keyboard manufacturing factory in Texas that
was fully automated as early as 2003.
• Cobots (collaborative robots).
• Construction robots : Construction robots can be separated into three types:
traditional robots, robotic arm, and robotic exoskeleton.
• Agricultural robots (AgRobots): The use of robots in agriculture is closely linked to
the concept of AI-assisted precision agriculture and drone usage.[29] 1996 -1998
research also proved that robots can perform a herding task.[30]
• Medical robots of various types (such as da Vinci Surgical System and Hospi).
• Kitchen automation. Commercial examples of kitchen automation are Flippy
(burgers), Zume Pizza (pizza), Cafe X (coffee), Makr Shakr (cocktails), Frobot (frozen

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yogurts) and Sally (salads).[31] Home examples are Rotimatic (flatbreads baking)[32]
and Boris (dishwasher loading).[33]
• Robot combat for sport – hobby or sport event where two or more robots fight in
an arena to disable each other. This has developed from a hobby in the 1990s to
several TV series worldwide.
• Cleanup of contaminated areas, such as toxic waste or nuclear facilities.
• Domestic robots
• Swarm robotics
• Autonomous drones
• Sports field line marking

Components of Robots
1.End effectors-hands of robots

2.Manipulators-arms of robot

3.Actuators-robots muscles and joints

4.Controller-brain of Robot

5.Sensors

Robotic process automation (RPA)

Robotic process automation (RPA) is the use of software with artificial intelligence (AI) and
machine learning capabilities to handle high-volume, repeatable tasks that previously required
humans to perform. These tasks can include queries, calculations and maintenance of records and
transactions.

RPA technology consists of software robots (bots) that can mimic a human worker. RPA bots can
log into applications, enter data, calculate and complete tasks and then log out. Currently,
practitioners divide RPA technologies into three broad categories: probots, knowbots and
chatbots.

• Probots are bots that follow simple, repeatable rules to process data.
• Knowbots are bots that search the internet to gather and store user -specified
information.
• Chatbots are virtual agents who can respond to customer queries in real time.

RPA software is not part of an organization’s IT infrastructure. Instead, it sits on top of it, enabling
a company to implement the technology quickly and efficiently — all without changing the existing

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infrastructure and systems. What distinguishes RPA from traditional IT automation is the ability of
the RPA software to be aware and adapt to changing circumstances, exceptions and new
situations. Once RPA software has been trained to capture and interpret the actions of specific
processes in existing software applications, it can then manipulate data, trigger responses, initiate
new actions and communicate with other systems autonomously.

The evolution of RPA

Although the term “robotic process automation” can be traced to the early 2000s, it had been
developing for a number of years previously. RPA evolved from three key technologies: screen
scraping, workflow automation and artificial intelligence. Screen scraping is the process of
collecting screen display data from a legacy application so that the data can be displayed by a more
modern user interface. The advantages of workflow automation software, which eliminates the
need for manual data entry and increases order fulfillment rates, include increased speed,
efficiency and accuracy. Lastly, artificial intelligence involves the ability of computer systems to
perform tasks that normally require human intervention and intelligence.

Today, RPA software is particularly useful for organizations that have many different and
complicated systems that need to interact together fluidly. For instance, if an electronic form from
a human resource system is missing a zip code, traditional automation software would flag the
form as having an exception and an employee would handle the exception by looking up the
correct zip code and entering it on the form. Once the form is complete, the employee might send
it on to payroll so the information can be entered into the organization’s payroll system. With RPA
technology, however, software that has the ability to adapt, self-learn and self-correct would
handle the exception and interact with the payroll system without human assistance.

Benefits:

• Decreased costs:Cost savings of approximately 80-90% can be achieved when a

business process performed by an FTE is replaced by a software robot.
• Freeing up staff for higher value tasks:Automation of repetitive and time-
consuming processes frees up your staff to make a more value-add contribution.
For example, when assessing an insurance claim more time can be spent in the
assessment as opposed to populating the same data into 5 various systems.
• Increased employee engagement:When staff can focus on high-value tasks they
often feel more invested in the work they are completing. When implementing RPA
projects, we often see staff engaging in repetitive activities e.g. copying data
between 10 different systems while completing a singl e customer request, with RPA
they can serve an additional 3 clients instead.

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• Reduced operational risk: RPA reduces the rate of errors because robots make less
mistakes. Avoiding purely human mistakes, such as those made while tired, or by
deviating from the process, means a lower level of operational risk.
• Reduced output variability: Robots are great at duplicating tasks consistently with
little to no distinguishable variability. It ensures that similar tasks are handled in the
same way e.g. underwriting for insurance policies is consistent across the same risk
groups.
• Reduced paper use: RPA forces digitization as it requires that companies have the
data and files being manipulated by software robots in a digital form. Work that in
the past may have been done partly or in full on paper, by an FTE, can now be purely
electronic.
• Driving process improvement: In an automation project you often first analyze and
then simplify (where possible) the processes to be automated, creating more
manageable processes (for both people and machines). For example, if you have 10
different ways to set up a new client in your system, it would make sense to
streamline this process first and then automate it.
• Increased output: Automation allows for work to be done 24/7/365 without people
fatigue, or quality variance. Often, customers want to interact with service providers
outside of a 9-5 timeframe—on evenings and weekends—automation allows you to
offer this level of service.
• Higher speed and throughput: Customers receive expedited service as machines are
able to process requests in real time. e.g. credit checks, etc.
• Improved customer experience: By deploying RPA you free up expensive and high -
value resources, FTEs, from more menial and repetitive tasks and put them back on
the front line assisting your customers.
• Improved internal service levels: With RPA things like internal reports can be
delivered faster and without mistakes, new employees can be set -up very quickly,
and even IT issues can be enormously accelerated.
• Defined governance structures: RPA forces companies to define clear governance
structures around IT applications by forcing organizations to agree on who owns
each application. Leading to a clearer definition of access rights for each application,
since robots, like humans, will need to use the same access.
• An RPA virtual workforce uses all the same systems your FTEs use. This is one of
greatest advantages of RPA in comparison to other automation solutions. In the
past, Business Process Management solutions and workflow management tools had
to be integrated with each application they interacted with. RPA simply uses the
existing systems in the way your FTEs would.
• Being able to easily scale up or down your operations as needed ensures that
companies can make adjustments based on seasonality. In the insurance sector, for
example, a virtual workforce can be ramped up in order to process snow/hail claims
in the winter, flooding in the summer, etc.

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• Virtual workforces are highly secure: Managing IT security for RPA robots is very
simple as they do not change roles, leave the company, or retire. They also don’t
hack your data.
• Increased expertise in core domains: By automating simple tasks, your company can
develop increased expertise in your core domains, such as developing more
sophisticated fraud analysis, and/or creating more accurate underwriting
algorithms.
• RPA eliminates customer pain points: A successfully implemented virtual workforce
can enhance your customer’s experience and eliminate common customer pain
points. For example, traditionally when processing a loan the customer has to fill
out several forms, submit required documents. These ar e then sent for processing,
review and approvals. The overall process can take several weeks, with multiple
human touch-points, after which the customer gets a feedback on the status of their
loan application. With RPA, a robot can take over the complete process, reducing
turnaround time to a few days or less.
• Impact is delivered quickly: From the moment when robots are in place – a matter
of weeks – organizations start seeing benefits. The Burnie Group’s typical
implementation timeline for RPA projects is approximately 8 weeks.
• RPA solutions allow management to know the progress of SLAs in real time.
Dashboards tracking the output of your virtual workforce address a frequent
problem of operations and back-office managers – understanding where his/her
team stands and how volumes are evolving.
• High-quality processes and output: Similar to a recipe being created by a five-star
cook, a robot’s decision making logic is designed by your best SMEs, ensuring high -
quality output. Your SME transfer knowledge of best practices with the RPA team
ensuring your virtual workforce is performin g at the highest standard.
• Better record keeping: Robots always document what they’ve done, not only
leaving a clear audit and control track, but also allowing for easy recovery after
unexpected shutdowns.
• Being an innovator: RPA is a cutting edge technology that is dramatically changing
back-office operations enabling greater innovation by freeing up human labour to
focus on idea-generating.

Applications of RPA
Some of the top applications of RPA include:

• Customer service: RPA can help companies offer better customer service by
automating contact center tasks, including verifying e -signatures, uploading
scanned documents and verifying information for automatic approvals or rejections.

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• Accounting: Organizations can use RPA for general accounting, operational
accounting, transactional reporting and budgeting.
• Financial services: Companies in the financial services industry can use RPA for
foreign exchange payments, automating account openings and closings, managing
audit requests and processing insurance claims.
• Healthcare: Medical organizations can use RPA for handling patient records, claims,
customer support, account management, billing, reporting and analytics.
• Human resources: RPA can automate HR tasks, including onboarding and
offboarding, updating employee information and timesheet submission processes.
• Supply chain management: RPA can be used for procurement, automating order
processing and payments, monitoring inventory levels and tracking shipments.

Application of Robotics for Old Age

Over the coming decades globally labor forces will age substantially. Population ageing will result
in a decline in the potential labor force causing a negative labor supply. Widening the use of robots
may be a welcome solution to the consequences of global ageing.

Adopting technology Technological intervention can improve the lives of elderly who has less
physical strength to work. Increasing adoption of technologies (for instance, robots) perform tasks
previously undertaken by labor.

As the working population shrinks rapidly, technology can compensate for the loss. Technology
improves productivity by allowing countries to do the same work using a smaller workforce, thus
overcoming the effects of ageing. Technology can effectively improve healthcare quality, delivery
and results. Technology can support the possible mobility for old people.

Benefits : For people living with memory loss, robots can remind them about things they often
forget, like prompting them to take medication, eat meals etc. Robots can also provide
companionship and entertainment

They help reduce negative behavioral and psychological symptoms. They can also support human
caregivers by providing watchful eyes and helping hands. Robots do not experience stress and
burnout and there are other practical benefits, too. They assist older people with disabilities to
remain independent and to monitor their safety and social connectedness.

Robots for dementia care Japan is a “super-ageing” society, with the population getting older
faster. As populations age, there will be fewer health care workers to care for a larger group of

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patients. The country is producing robots for people with dementia – to provide companionship,
improve safety in the home, and help with therapy.

People with daily conversations are able to enjoy a more stable mind and improve cognitive
functions. Robots can help with physical caregiving tasks and monitor behaviour and symptoms.

Concerns/Challenges As India’s population ages, the nation will face a shrinking pool of working-
age people to support the elderly population. Once they retire, elderly people often feel loss of
status, worthlessness and loneliness. Declining family support and severely limited old-age income
security

Replacing human caregiving with technology can deprive people of social interaction and worsen
the problems of loneliness and isolation. Consent and privacy issues arise if a person is unable to
turn off monitoring and data tracking features. High cost of robots makes it unaffordable to middle
and lower income groups. Technology developers are sometimes criticised for a mismatch
between their enthusiasm for robots and the preferences of older people. They can commit
mistakes because of hardware or software faults. If not corrected, these mistakes can lead to grave
consequences and massive loss.

Robotics in Agriculture
The most popular applications of Robots in agriculture appear to fall into four major categories:

• Crop and Soil Monitoring: Companies are leveraging sensors and various IoT-based
technologies to monitor crop and soil health.
• Predictive Agricultural Analytics: Various AI and machine learning tools are being
used to predict the optimal time to sow seeds, get alerts on risks from pest attacks,
and more.
• Supply Chain Efficiencies: Companies are using real-time data analytics on data-
streams coming from multiple sources to build an efficient and smart supply chain.
• Agricultural Robots: Companies are developing and programming autonomous
robots to handle essential agricultural tasks such as harvesting crops at a higher
volume and faster pace than human labourers.

Some examples of Agricultural Robots:

• Green seeker sensor: This smart machine reads a plant’s needs and then applies
precisely the amount of fertilizer of herbicides needed. Green Seeker is a machine
which uses the sensors to let the plant tell us that what it needs.

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• Robot drone tractors: A new generation of robot drones is revolutionizing the way
we farm, with manufacturing of different robots, announcing the first ever robot
drone tractor becomes part of the agricultural mainstream. Robot will decide where
to plant, when to harvest and how to choose the best route for crisscrossing the
farmland.
• Flying Robots To Spread Fertilizer: A flying robot monitors the growing condition
of the crops over farmlands in Ili a Kazak autonomous prefecture in Northwest
China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous With camera equipment and an automatic
fertilizing system in the front, the robot can fly autonomously and apply fertilizer
independently
• Fruit Picking Robots: The research is still in full progress, especially as the robots
need to be carefully designed so that they do not bruise the fruit while picking. One
solution is the use of suction grippers, used on automated fruit picking machines
manufactured, for example, by
• Robot Cattle Grazing and Automatic Milking: Is the milking of dairy animals,
especially of dairy cattle, without human labour. Automatic milking systems (AMS),
also called voluntary milking systems (VMS), were developed in the late 20th
century They are commercially available since the early 1990s.

Scope of farm robots in India:

• Our farm equipment companies and researchers have developed a lot of small and
heavy farm equipment for traditional farming needs but some kind of robotic and
pneumatic mechanism are required in precision
• If the robots are being used for weed control, that will help to reduce the herbicides
usage and the produces will turn into an organic, the same way robots can be used
for transplanting the seedlings to avoid intensive
• A few impressive innovative technologies by rural inventors electric motors can be
operated remotely by cell phones, it’s very helpful to farmers in summer time since
the power supply is irregular.
• Advanced intelligent machines in farming, Sensors or readers and hand held PDAs
are going to be great helpful in computation and accuracy in
• There are lot of hurdles taken in the agriculture sector in all countries but specially
in
• Farmers are decreasing in India. Many are leaving the farming profession by telling
some repeated common sentences that it is no longer profitable and non wants to
get losses and it is becoming risky day by day.
• The disadvantages make the youngsters also disinterested in that.

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Conclusion:
Robotics will definitely bring the agricultural revolution. Although the road ahead is not very
smooth. We have to calculate the feasibility, sustainability and efficiency of meeting the world’s
food needs. However, it would be interesting to see how the farmers, agri-businessmen and the
consumers will utilize the power of Robotics and digital-mechanization to shape the future of this
industry.

Challenges in Robotics
• Loss of job as robots may be efficient in doing repetitive tasks
• Security threats like recent drone attacks of Kashmir
• Existential threat to humanity if these Robots through Machine learning become
much intelligent than human beings
• Ethical: lack of clarity on rights of Robots
• Social: Human beings might get attached to Robots and it might weaken our family
systems

Artificial Intelligence and Robotics

Artificial intelligence is the branch of computer science concerned with making computers behave
like humans.

AI refers to the ability of machines to perform cognitive tasks like thinking, perceiving, learning,
problem solving and decision making.

Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to the ability of machines to perform cognitive tasks like thinking,
perceiving, learning, problem solving and decision making. Initially conceived as a technology that
could mimic human intelligence.

AI has evolved in ways that far exceed its original conception. With incredible advances made
in data collection, processing and computation power, intelligent systems can now be deployed
to take over a variety of tasks, enable connectivity and enhance productivity.

As AI’s capabilities have dramatically expanded, so have its utility in a growing number of fields.

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Artificial Intelligence’s exponential growth in recent decade:

1. It is embedded in the recommendations we get on our favourite streaming or

shopping site; in GPS mapping technology; in the predictive text that completes our
sentences when we try to send an email or complete a web search.
2. It promises to be even more transformative than the harnessing of electricity. And
the more we use AI, the more data we generate, the smarter it gets.
3. In just the last decade, AI has evolved with unprecedented velocity from beating
human champions at Jeopardy.
4. Automation, big data and algorithms will continue to sweep into new corners of our
lives until we no longer remember how things were “before”.
5. Just as electricity allowed us to tame time, enabling us to radically alter virtually
every aspect of existence, AI can leapfrog us toward eradicating hunger, poverty
and disease opening up new and hitherto unimaginable pathways for climate
change mitigation, education and scientific discovery.

Artificial Intelligence usage can be for better or for worse:

Already, AI has helped increase crop yields, raised business productivity, improved access to credit
and made cancer detection faster and more precise.

It could contribute more than $15 trillion to the world economy by 2030, adding 14% to global
GDP. Google has identified over 2,600 use cases of “AI for good” worldwide.

A study published in Nature reviewing the impact of AI on the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) finds that AI may act as an enabler on 134 or 79% of all SDG targets.

We are on the cusp of unprecedented technological breakthroughs that promise to positively

transform our world in ways deeper and more profound than anything that has come before.

Challenges of Artificial Intelligence (AI):

1. Artificial intelligence is poised to be one of the biggest things to hit the technology
industry (and many other industries) in the coming years.
2. But just because it holds enormous potential does not mean it does not also have
its challenges.
3. And artificial intelligence challenges and possibilities are not small, which is why
recognizing and working towards resolutions to problems can help further propel
artificial intelligence’s rapid growth.

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4. According to studies, around 40 % of the total energy that data centres consume
goes to cooling IT equipment. Now, to reduce energy consumption, companies are
moving their data centres into cooler climates such as Siberia.
5. The environmental impact caused by data centres doesn’t stop at electrical
consumption.
6. Coolants are often made of hazardous chemicals, and battery backups at data
centres – needed for when there are power shortages – cause an environmental
impact both due to mining for battery components and the disposal of the toxic
batteries afterward.
7. Countries are passing stricter legislations on data security that require citizen data
to be stored on servers located domestically, picking colder climates beyond their
borders is becoming a difficult option.
8. Robotics and AI companies are building intelligent machines that perform tasks
typically carried out by low-income workers: self-service kiosks to replace cashiers,
fruit-picking robots to replace field workers, etc.
9. Algorithms based on our past digital searches creates and provides us probable
solutions or alternatives which we are looking for.

Hence, based on our digital footprints, AI is trying to mimic our preferences and even thought
perceptions.

Privacy issues worries:

1. AI also presents serious data privacy concerns. The algorithm’s never-ending quest
for data has led to our digital footprints being harvested and sold without our
knowledge or informed consent.
2. We are constantly being profiled in service of customisation, putting us into echo
chambers of like-mindedness, diminishing exposure to varied viewpoints and
eroding common ground.
3. Today, it is no exaggeration to say that with all the discrete bytes of information
floating about us online, the algorithms know us better than we know
ourselves. They can nudge our behaviour without our noticing.
4. Our level of addiction to our devices, the inability to resist looking at our phones,
and the chilling case of Cambridge Analytica in which such algorithms and big data
were used to alter voting decisions should serve as a potent warning of the
individual and societal concerns resulting from current AI business models.
5. In a world where the algorithm is king, it behoves us to remember that it is still
humans with all our biases and prejudices, conscious and unconscious who are
responsible for it. We shape the algorithms and it is our data they operate on.

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Artificial Intelligence usage can be double edged sword:

1. The study in Nature also finds that AI can actively hinder 59 — or 35% — of SDG
targets.
2. For starters, AI requires massive computational capacity, which means more power-
hungry data centres and a big carbon footprint.
3. Then, AI could compound digital exclusion. Robotics and AI companies are building
intelligent machines that perform tasks typically carried out by low-income workers:
self-service kiosks to replace cashiers, fruit -picking robots to replace field workers,
etc.
4. Without clear policies on reskilling workers, the promise of new opportunities will
in fact create serious new inequalities.
5. Investment is likely to shift to countries where AI -related work is already
established, widening gaps among and within countries.
6. Together, Big Tech’s big four Alphabet/Google, Amazon, Apple and Facebook are
worth a staggering $5 trillion, more than the GDPs of just about every nation on
earth.
7. In 2020, when the world was reeling from the impact of the COVID -19 pandemic,
they added more than $2 trillion to their value.
8. The fact is, just as AI has the potential to improve billions of lives, it can also
replicate and exacerbate existing problems, and create new ones.

Measures to avoid misusing of Artificial Intelligence:

• Without ethical guard rails, AI will widen social and economic schisms, amplifying
any innate biases at an irreversible scale and rate and lead to discriminatory
outcomes.
• It is neither enough nor is it fair to expect AI tech companies to solve all these
challenges through self-regulation.
•
o First, they are not alone in developing and deploying AI; governments also
do so.
o Second, only a “whole of society” approach to AI governance will enable us
to develop broad-based ethical principles, cultures and codes of conduct, to
ensure the needed harm-mitigating measures, reviews and audits during
design, development and deployment phases.
• To inculcate the transparency, accountability, inclusion and societal trust for AI to
flourish and bring about the extraordinary breakthroughs it promises.

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• Given the global reach of AI, such a “whole of society” approach must rest on
a “whole of world” approach.
• Many countries, including India, are cognisant of the opportunities and the risks,
and are striving to strike the right balance between AI promotion and AI
governance both for the greater public good.
• NITI Aayog’s Responsible AI for All strategy, the culmination of a year -long
consultative process, is a case in point.
• It recognises that our digital future cannot be optimised for good without multi-
stakeholder governance structures that ensure the dividends are fair, inclusive, and
just.

Conclusion:
The UN Secretary-General’s Roadmap on Digital Cooperation is a good starting point: it lays out
the need for multi-stakeholder efforts on global cooperation so AI is used in a manner that is
“trustworthy, human rights-based, safe and sustainable, and promotes peace”.

And UNESCO has developed a global, comprehensive standard-setting draft Recommendation on

the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence to Member States for deliberation and adoption.

Agreeing on common guiding principles is an important first step, but it is not the most challenging
part.

It is in the application of the principles that the rubber hits the road. It is where principles meet
reality that the ethical issues and conundrums arise in practice, and for which we must be
prepared for deep, difficult, multi-stakeholder ethical reflection, analyses and resolve. Only then
will AI provide humanity its full promise.

Artificial Intelligence in Pandemics

• Disease surveillance: Human activity -especially migration- has been responsible for
the spread of the virus around the world.
o In the near and distant future, technology like this may be used to predict
zoonotic infection risk to humans considering variables such as climate
change and human activity.
o The combined analysis of personal, clinical, travel and social data including
family history and lifestyle habits obtained from sources like social media
would enable more accurate and precise predictions of individual risk profiles
and healthcare results.

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• Predicting Outbreaks: On December 30, an artificial-intelligence company called
BlueDot, which uses machine learning to monitor outbreaks of infectious diseases
around the world, alerted clients—including various governments, hospitals , and
businesses—to an unusual bump in pneumonia cases in Wuhan, China.
o An automated service called HealthMap at Boston Children’s Hospital also
caught those first signs. As did a model run by Metabiota, based in San
Francisco. That AI could spot an outbreak on the other side of the world is
significant, and early warnings save lives.
o It would be another nine days before the World Health Organization officially
flagged what we’ve all come to know as Covid -19.
• Early Diagnosis: AI has a proven track record here. Machine-learning models for
examining medical images can catch early signs of disease that human doctors miss,
from eye disease to heart conditions to cancer. But these models typically require a
lot of data to learn from.
• Automatic temperature measurement: Automated camera systems used in
conjunction with thermal sensors and vision algorithms on autonomous or remotely
operated robots could be used to monitor temperatures of patients in hospitals.
o Example: In the United States, a surveillance company announced that its AI-
enhanced thermal cameras can detect fevers, while in Thailand, border
officers at airports are already piloting a biometric screening system using
fever-detecting cameras.
• Virtual healthcare assistants: The number of COVID-19 cases has shown that
healthcare systems and response measures can be overwhelmed. Canada -based
Stallion.
o AI has leveraged its natural language processing capabilities to build a multi -
lingual virtual healthcare agent that can answer questions related to COVID -
19, provide reliable information and clear guidelines, recommend protection
measures, check and monitor symptoms, and advise individuals whether they
need hospital screening or self-isolation at their homes.
• Intelligent drones and robots: The public deployment of drones and robots has been
accelerated due to the strict social distancing measures required to contain the
virus’ spread.
o To ensure compliance, some drones are used to track individuals not using
facemasks in public, while others are used to broadcast information to larger
audiences and also disinfect public spaces.
• Curative reasearch: Part of what has troubled the scientific community is the
absence of a definitive cure for the virus.
o AI can lead the charge for the development of antibodies and vaccines for
the novel coronavirus, either entirely designed from scratch or through drug
repurposing.

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o For instance, using its AlphaFold system, Google’s AI company, DeepMind,
is creating structure models of proteins that have been linked with the virus
in a bid to aid the science world’s comprehension of the virus.
o Although the results have not been experimentally verified, it represents a
step in the right direction.

Robotics in Pandemics
• Disinfecting surfaces: Large and small autonomous or remote-controlled robots
could be developed to locate and constantly sterilize frequently touched surfaces
with ultraviolet light.
• Contract Tracing: The roboticists say combining existing security systems with facial
recognition software could allow authorities to retrace the steps of patients who
tested positive for COVID-19 and contact others who might be at risk, which is
known as contact tracing.
• Nasal swabs: Testing for coronavirus involves inserting a swab fairly deep into a
patient’s nasal cavity.
o There are parts of the process that puts humans at risk of contracting the
virus, including collecting the sample, handling the sample, transferring the
sample to the test location and the test itself.
o Automated or robot-assisted nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal
swabbing may speed up the process, reduce the risk of infection, and free up
staff for other tasks.
• Medicine Delivery: Autonomous drones and ground robots can be used to deliver
medicine to patients who have the coronavirus.
o In the field hospital in Wuhan, China, CloudMinds robots were used to
deliver food, drink and medicine to patients.

Social Robots: In the time of isolation and quarantine, social robots can help people provide social
stimulation and interactions, in addition to providing reminders to follow treatment regimens (to
the elderly).

4th Industrial revolution and Robotics

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0) is a term that describes present technological age. It is
the fourth industrial era since the inception of the initial Industrial Revolution of the 18th century.
The key elements of the fourth revolution are the fusion of technologies ranging from the physical,

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digital to biological spheres. Prime Minister gave an institutional shape to the expression by
launching the Centre for Fourth Industrial Revolution in India.

As described by the founder and executive chairman of World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab,
“the fourth industrial revolution is a technological revolution that will fundamentally alter the way
we live, work and relate to one another”.

Characteristics of IR 4.0:

• It is characterized by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the

physical, digital, and biological spheres.
• It brings together digital technology and the physical world to create a new range
of products and services.
• The possibilities of billions of people connected by mobile devices, with
unprecedented processing power, storage capacity, and access to knowledge, are
unlimited.
• And these possibilities will be multiplied by emerging technology breakthroughs in
fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics, the Internet of Things, autonomous
vehicles, 3-D printing, nanotechnology, biotechnology, materials science, energy
storage, and quantum computing.
• The revolution is evolving at an exponential rather than a linear pace and it is
disrupting almost every industry in every country.

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Agriculture Sector:

• AI can be used to predict advisories for sowing, pest control, input control can help
in ensuring increased income and providing stability for the agricultural community.
• Precision agriculture uses AI technology to aid in detecting diseases in plants, pests,
and poor plant nutrition on farms.
• AI sensors can detect and target weeds and then decide which herbicides to apply
within the right buffer zone.
• Climate pattern and effects on different crops can be analysed using AI software
which will help in prediction of the best crop for the season and the possible
outcomes.
• Image classification tools combined with remote and local sensed data can bring a
revolutionary change in utilization and efficiency of farm machinery, in areas of
weed removal, early disease identification, produce harvesting and grading.

Manufacturing sector:

• Robots are being used for manufacturing since a long time now; however, more
advanced exponential technologies have emerged such as additive manufacturing
(3D Printing) which with the help of AI can revolutionize the entire manufacturing
supply chain ecosystem.
• The predictive maintenance of machineries would lead to reduced operational cost
• IR technologies would be helpful in minimizing deterioration in the quality of the
machinery
• By having a repository of data regarding machines and equipment’s will aid in
managing them well.
• Robots can perform the tasks given by a human because of sensors to detect
physical data from the real world such as light, heat, temperature, movement, sound,
bump, and pressure.
• Moreover, they have efficient processors, multiple sensors and huge memory, to
exhibit intelligence.
• Further, they are capable of learning from their errors and therefore can adapt to
the new environment.

Way forward:

• Governments, businesses and civil society organisations should put together an

ecosystem for massive upskilling of the workforce.

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• India needs to prepare itself for a period of information and digital abundance, adapt
itself to the scorching pace of innovation and learn to collaborate on scale, quickly
transform the idea into a breakthrough innovation, shift from a system of time -
bound education to a mode of continuous learning and create more employment
opportunities than what new and disruptive technologies take away.
• There is a need for good quality education to make India’s youth a productive asset.
• Access to finance commensurate with maturity of the business model and beginning
stage of the start-up lifecycle is extremely important to scale innovations.
• Corporates will have a key role in championing this on-going movement, leveraging
the ART Model – Alliances, Relationships enabled through Technology.

Conclusion:
Industrial Revolution that first began in Great Britain and later in United States (after end of Civil
War) has helped nations in developing faster and easier means of mass production. It has
transformed lives of people in many ways over about 250 years. India is also catching up with
focussing on Industrial Revolution 4.0. Development of new technologies in this era can help the
nations in many ways if these technologies are used effectively for the welfare of mankind.

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Chapter-8 Intellectual Property and Issues
Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic works;
designs; and symbols, names and images used in commerce.

IP is protected in law by, for example, patents, copyright and trademarks, which enable people to earn
recognition or financial benefit from what they invent or create. By striking the right balance between
the interests of innovators and the wider public interest, the IP system aims to foster an environment
in which creativity and innovation can flourish.

Types of IPR

Copyright
What is copyright?
Copyright (or author’s right) is a legal term used to describe the rights that creators have over their
literary and artistic works. Works covered by copyright range from books, music, paintings,
sculpture, and films, to computer programs, databases, advertisements, maps, and technical
drawings

What can be protected using copyright?

Exhaustive lists of works covered by copyright are usually not to be found in legislation.
Nonetheless, broadly speaking, works commonly protected by copyright throughout the world
include:

• literary works such as novels, poems, plays, reference works, newspaper articles;
• computer programs, databases;
• films, musical compositions, and choreography;
• artistic works such as paintings, drawings, photographs, and sculpture;

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• architecture; and
• advertisements, maps, and technical drawings.

Copyright protection extends only to expressions, and not to ideas, procedures, methods of
operation or mathematical concepts as such. Copyright may or may not be available for a number
of objects such as titles, slogans, or logos, depending on whether they contain sufficient
authorship.

What rights does copyright give me? What are my rights as author of a work?
There are two types of rights under copyright:

• economic rights, which allow the rights owner to derive financial reward from
the use of their works by others; and
• moral rights, which protect the non-economic interests of the author.

Most copyright laws state that the rights owner has the economic right to authorize or prevent
certain uses in relation to a work or, in some cases, to receive remuneration for the use of their
work (such as through collective management). The economic rights owner of a work can prohibit
or authorize:

• its reproduction in various forms, such as printed publication or sound recording;

• its public performance, such as in a play or musical work;
• its recording, for example, in the form of compact discs or DVDs;
• its broadcasting, by radio, cable or satellite;
• its translation into other languages; and
• its adaptation, such as a novel into a film screenplay.

Examples of widely recognized moral rights include the right to claim authorship of a work and the
right to oppose changes to a work that could harm the creator’s reputation.

Can I register copyright?

In the majority of countries, and according to the Berne Convention, copyright protection is
obtained automatically without the need for registration or other formalities.

Most countries nonetheless have a system in place to allow for the voluntary registration of works.
Such voluntary registration systems can help solve disputes over ownership or creation, as well as
facilitate financial transactions, sales, and the assignment and/or transfer of rights.

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Geographical Indication
A geographical indication (GI) is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin
and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin. In order to function as a GI, a sign
must identify a product as originating in a given place. In addition, the qualities, characteristics or
reputation of the product should be essentially due to the place of origin. Since the qualities
depend on the geographical place of production, there is a clear link between the product and its
original place of production.

Trade Secrets
Trade secrets are intellectual property (IP) rights on confidential information which may be sold or
licensed.

In general, to qualify as a trade secret, the information must be:

• commercially valuable because it is secret,

• be known only to a limited group of persons, and
• be subject to reasonable steps taken by the rightful holder of the information
to keep it secret, including the use of confidentiality agreements for business
partners and employees.

The unauthorized acquisition, use or disclosure of such secret information in a manner contrary to
honest commercial practices by others is regarded as an unfair practice and a violation of the trade
secret protection.

What kind of information is protected by trade secrets?

In general, any confidential business information which provides an enterprise a competitive edge
and is unknown to others may be protected as a trade secret. Trade secrets encompass
both technical information, such as information concerning manufacturing processes,
pharmaceutical test data, designs and drawings of computer programs, and commercial
information, such as distribution methods, list of suppliers and clients, and advertising strategies.

A trade secret may be also made up of a combination of elements, each of which by itself is in the
public domain, but where the combination, which is kept secret, provides a competitive advantage.

Other examples of information that may be protected by trade secrets include financial
information, formulas and recipes and source codes.

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Patents
A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention, which is a product or a process that
provides, in general, a new way of doing something, or offers a new technical solution to a problem.
To get a patent, technical information about the invention must be disclosed to the public in a
patent application.

What kind of protection does a patent offer?

In principle, the patent owner has the exclusive right to prevent or stop others from commercially
exploiting the patented invention. In other words, patent protection means that the invention
cannot be commercially made, used, distributed, imported or sold by others without the patent
owner’s consent.

Is a patent valid in every country?

Patents are territorial rights. In general, the exclusive rights are only applicable in the country or
region in which a patent has been filed and granted, in accordance with the law of that country or
region.

How long does a patent last?

The protection is granted for a limited period, generally 20 years from the filing date of the
application.

Industrial Designs
In a legal sense, an industrial design constitutes the ornamental aspect of an article.

An industrial design may consist of three dimensional features, such as the shape of an article, or
two dimensional features, such as patterns, lines or color.

International Treaties on IPR

There are different subject matters of intellectual property like Patents, Copyright, Trademarks,
Industrial design, Plant Varieties etc. Need for protection in these different subjects arose in
different periods. These are reflected in different treaties. Agreement on TRIPS, under the aegis
of WTO, remains the most influential, comprehensive and inclusive of all. Other treaties are
covered here for background information.

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There are two main bodies – World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) under UN which
administers 1-7 treaties mentioned below. the 8th treaty is independent of any organization.
Another relevant body is the World Trading Organization. 9th (or TRIPS) is administered by the
WTO. the 10th treaty comes under UNESCO.

1. Paris Convention for Industrial Property, 1883 – Since it deals only with Industrial
property, it covered only Patents and Trademarks. It was among the first treaties to
recognize various principles of international trade like National Treatment, Right of
Priority, Common rules etc.
2. Bern convention for literary and artistic works, 1886 – It provided for a copyright
system. It doesn’t provide for any formality to claim protection. Protection is
automatically accorded to any creation, provided work is original and other
conditions under the treaty are fulfilled. It means that your work, if original, is
already protected. You can claim that you have copyright.
3. Madrid Agreement, 1881 – Governs the international recognition of trademarks.
Made international fillings easy and cheap.
4. Patent cooperation treaty, 1970 – It was earlier not possible for an entity to claim
protection in different countries by single application. This was made possible as it
aimed for co-operation and it was open for all parties to the Paris convention.
5. Budapest Treaty of 1980 – It made possible patenting for microorganisms. Claimant
is required to deposit his invention on micro-organisms with an Authority –
‘International depository of Micro-Organisms’ under WIPO. He shall make all the
adequate disclosures.
6. Trademark Law Treaty, 1994–Harmonized administrative procedures and
introduced ‘service marks’ in ambit of trade marks. Earlier trademarks were
accorded only to goods.
7. The Hague agreement concerning the International Deposit of ‘Industrial Design’
1925 – It created the International Design Bureau of WIPO.
8. International Union for protection of new varieties of plants, 1961 – This
provides breeders and farmers the right to new plant varieties.
9. Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property – It is a landmark and
most comprehensive treaty on Intellectual property. While earlier treaties’ subject
matters were specific, TRIPS deal with 8 kinds of property rights – Patents,
Trademarks, trade dress, Copyrights, Industrial Designs, Plant Varieties, Int egrated
Circuits and layouts, and Geographical Indication. Further, almost all countries are
party to TRIP. In earlier treaties only limited countries participated. It also provides
an enforcement mechanism which was not available in WIPO treaties. It mandated
all member countries to make their domestic laws compliant to TRIPS. India passed
certain laws and amended others. India’s IPR regime now stands fully compliant to
TRIPS. For E.g. India amended patent law in 2005 to provide ‘product’ patent
protection. Earlier protection was available only to ‘processes’.

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TRIPS were the results of discussions held in the Uruguay round which led to the formation of
WTO. This treaty is an offshoot of the General Agreement on Trade in Goods (GATT). This treaty
provided a robust Dispute Resolution Mechanism and stringent penal provisions under auspices
of WTO.

Further, every treaty under WTO is based some principle which are –

1. National Treatment – No foreign products, once they enter domestic territories,

shall be discriminated against in any manner. This also applies to intellectual
property. Members must accord similar treatment to foreign creations, as they do
to domestic ones.
2. Most Favored Nation – If a member provides some privilege, favorable treatment
or exemption to another country or group, then other members must get similar
favorable treatment.
3. Right to priority treatment – If a similar patent application has been filed in two
different countries, then the prior applicant has the right to the patent.
4. Concept of Minimum Standards – This treaty provides for a minimum level of
protection that every member should provide to intellectual property. Members
have discretion to provide more protection than minimum standards.
5. Universal Copyright Convention, 1952 – This convention is administered by
UNESCO. This exists simultaneously with the Bern Convention. This treaty provides
for procedural formalities for filing and recognition of copyright. As Bern convention
provides for an automatic route to copyright, this treaty has lost its relevance.

Various subject matters of Intellectual Property

in India
Copyrights
Law – Copyrights Act 1957, amended in 2012
Ministry – Copyright Office, Ministry of Human Recourse Development
Copyright is a bundle of rights given by the law to the creators of literary, dramatic, musical and
artistic works and the producers of cinematograph films and sound recordings. The rights provided
under Copyright law include the rights of reproduction of the work, communication of the work
to the public, adaptation of the work and translation of the work.

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Copyrights of works of the countries mentioned in the International Copyright Order are protected
in India, as if such works are Indian works. The term of copyright in a work shall not exceed that
which is enjoyed by it in its country of origin.

Acquisition of copyright is automatic and it does not require any formality. Copyright comes into
existence as soon as a work is created and no formality is required to be completed for acquiring
copyright. However, certificate of registration of copyright and the entries made therein serve as
prima facie evidence in a court of law with reference to dispute relating to ownership of copyright.
Application for copyright can be filed in Copyright office.

Computer Software or programme can also be registered as a ‘literary work’. As per Copyright Act,
1957 “literary work” includes computer programmes, tables and compilations, including computer
databases. ‘Source Code’ has also to be supplied along with the application for registration of
copyright for software products.

The 2012 amendments make Indian Copyright Law compliant with the Internet Treaties – the
WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT).

• Literary
Lifetime of the author + sixty years
• Dramatic
from the beginning of the calendar
• Musical and
year next following the year in which
• Artistic works
the author dies.

• Anonymous and pseudonymous works

• Posthumous work
• Cinematograph films
Until sixty years from the beginning of
• Sound records
the calendar years next following the
• Government work
year in which the work is first
• Public undertakings
published
• International Agencies
• photographs

India has a very large copyright-based creative industry. The Copyright Act is comprehensive and
with the recent amendments, the rights of creators have been strengthened. India was the first
country to ratify the Marrakesh Treaty 2013 for Access to copyright works for visually impaired
persons. Enforcement in copyright has been significant and will be further reinforced. Judgments
of Indian courts have adequately balanced the rights of copyright owners with the rights of the
public. Moral rights are fully recognized.

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The challenge in the future is the enforcement of copyright in digital platforms for which the statute has
adequate provisions. Indian copyright owners are also victims of copyright violations and piracy. Apart
from Copyrights Act, Information Technology Act, 2000 too has certain relevant provisions for copyright
in electronics and digital field.

There have been disagreements over the question whether Softwares are eligible for copyrights or for
patents. The Copyright Office recently held that softwares, if not in conjunction with novel hardware
should be protected by copyright. This is a relief for the software industry as Copyrights are cheap,
automatically recognised and protected for 60 years while patents are only for 20 years.

Patents
Law – Patents Act, 1970, amended in 2006
Ministry – DIPP, Ministry of Commerce and industry
The object of patent law is to encourage scientific research, new technology and industrial
progress. The price of the grant of the monopoly is the disclosure of the invention at the Patent
Office, which, after the expiry of the fixed period (20 years) of the monopoly, passes into the public
domain. The fundamental principle of Patent law is that a patent is granted only for an invention
which must have novelty and utility. It is essential for the validity of a patent that it must be the
inventor’s own discovery as opposed to mere verification of what was already known before the
date of the patent. A patentable invention, apart from being a new manufacture, must also be
useful.

Evergreening of patents is not allowed: In order to be patentable, an improvement on something

known before or a combination of different matters already known, should be something more
than a mere workshop improvement, and must independently satisfy the test of invention or an
inventive step. It must produce a new result, or a new article or a better or cheaper article than
before. The new subject matter must involve “invention” over what is old.

It allows Compulsory Licensing: This strikes a balance between two objectives – Rewarding
patentees for innovation and to make sure that patented products, particularly Pharmaceutical
ones, are available to public in developing and underdeveloped countries at affordable prices.

In March 2012, India granted its first compulsory license ever. The license was granted to Indian
generic drug manufacturer Natco Pharma Ltd for Sorafenib tosylate, a cancer drug patented by
Bayer. Non-governmental groups reportedly welcomed the decision.

TRIPS also allows for compulsory licensing under certain circumstances. The principal requirement
for the issue of a compulsory license is that attempts to obtain a license under reasonable
commercial terms must have failed over a reasonable period of time. Specific situations in which
compulsory licenses may be issued are set out in the legislation of each patent system and vary
between systems. Some examples are – Unaffordable prices of particular drug for masses or

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inability of patentee to fulfill demand in markets. Further, TRIPs also provides that the
requirements for a compulsory license may be waived in certain situations, in particular cases of
national emergency or extreme urgency or in cases of public non-commercial use.

It allows both Product and Process patent: Prior to the 2006 amendment, only processes was
allowed to be patented. It means that if the same product is manufactured using some process
different than that which was patented, there shall be no infringement.

System of pre-grant and post-grant oppositions: Introduced in 2005, ensures that only deserving
patents are granted. It is now possible to raise objections both before and after the patent has
been granted.

Data exclusivity: Indian Patent Act doesn’t specifically provide for data exclusivity. Companies
spend significant time, energy and money on research and clinical trials. During all this they gather
a large amount of useful data. While obtaining permission for launch of product in markets or while
applying for patents, these companies have to provide data to authorities. By provision of data
exclusivity, companies want authorities to not to share such data with any third party for a certain
period.

Article 39(3) of the TRIPS states that that “Members when requiring, as a condition of approving
the marketing of pharmaceutical or of agricultural chemical products which utilize new chemical
entities, the submission of undisclosed test or data, the origination of which involves a
considerable effort, shall protect such data against unfair commercial use. In addition, Members
shall protect such data against disclosure, except where necessary to protect the public, or unless
steps are taken to ensure that data are protected against unfair commercial use“

But it should be remembered that Article 39(3) does not talk about “Data Exclusivity” but only
about “unfair commercial use” and it is this phrase that is interpreted by Multinational companies
as containing “Data Exclusivity” provision and thus demanding data exclusivity law.

Data exclusivity however, is opposed on following grounds –

1. If generic drugs manufacturers are denied access to such data then they will
have to do separate clinical trials which will increase costs.
2. Further, there are ethical issues with clinical trials as it involves experimentation
on animals or humans.
3. TRIPS agreement not at all mentions ‘data exclusivity’. It is just creative
interpretation of MNCs.
4. It can become an alternative to patentability and can be used for evergreening.
Data exclusivity concept is different from patent. If a company manages to
protect data, then it may continue to maintain its monopoly by incremental
improvement in products and generation of new data.

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There is no need of a “further protection” to pharmaceuticals in the form of “Data Exclusivity” as
the protection under the Patents Act, 1970 is not only sufficient but also in conformity with the
TRIPS Agreement. The protection in the form of “Data Exclusivity” is a “TRIPS plus” provision to
which Indian does not owe any obligation.

The Health Ministry has said that India already has necessary legal provisions to protect data and
hence there is no need for any further protection, while Satwant Reddy committee was of the
view that there is no legal provision to protect test data. It is alleged by the Health and Human
right activist that government is under pressure from Multi-National Companies and western
countries to enact law on data exclusivity.

India has adopted a balanced approach towards patent law. It is committed to protect innovation while
promoting the larger goal of welfare of its citizens. Courts and tribunals have upheld key provisions of
India’s patent law by their authoritative pronouncements. The system of pre-grant and post-grant
oppositions introduced in 2005 ensures that only deserving patents are granted.

It is expected that there would be a steady evolution of patent jurisprudence in India. Patent filings too
have gone up by 10.56% from 2008-2009 to 2013-2014. Over 75% of patent filings are by foreign
entities and so there is a need for concerted action to be taken to increase filings by Indians.

Trademarks
Law – Trademark Act 1999
Ministry – DIPP, Ministry of Commerce and industry
A trademark is typically a name, word, phrase, logo, symbol, design, image, or a combination of
these elements. There is also a range of non-conventional trademarks comprising marks which do
not fall into these standard categories, such as those based on color, smell, or sound (like jingles).
A trademark cannot be offensive

India joins Madrid Protocol, 2013

The Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks offers trademark owners a cost
effective, user friendly and streamlined means of protecting and managing their trademark
portfolio internationally.

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Designs
Law – Designs Act, 2000
Ministry – DIPP, Ministry of Commerce and industry
Apple iPhones are manufactured in China. But, China is able to capture paltry 2-5% of its value
while overwhelming part is cornered by USA. This is mainly attributed to value added by Designing
and Research, which is based in USA. Thus, importance of design protection can’t be overstressed.

As per WIPO – ‘In a legal sense, an industrial design constitutes the ornamental or aesthetic aspect
of an article.’

‘An industrial design may consist of three dimensional features, such as the shape of an article, or
two dimensional features, such as patterns, lines or color.’

Industrial designs refer to creative activity which results in the ornamental or formal appearance
of a product and ‘design right’ refers to a novel or original design that is accorded to the proprietor
of a validly registered design. Industrial designs are an element of intellectual property.

In principle, the owner of a registered industrial design or of a design patent has the right to
prevent third parties from making, selling or importing articles bearing or embodying a design
which is a copy, or substantially a copy, of the protected design, when such acts are undertaken
for commercial purposes. Such rights are perpetual.

Under the TRIPS Agreement, minimum standards of protection of industrial designs have been
provided for. As a developing country, India has already amended its national legislation to provide
for these minimal standards.

The existing legislation on industrial designs in India is contained in the New Designs Act, 2000
and this Act will serve its purpose well in the rapid changes in technology and international
developments. India has also achieved a mature status in the field of industrial designs and in view
of globalization of the economy, the present legislation is aligned with the changed technical and
commercial scenario and made to conform to international trends in design administration.

Overall, the law of industrial designs and enforcement thereof has been quite positive. At present,
approximately 8000 applications are filed annually. This is much below India’s potential and there is
scope for considerable improvement. Concerted steps shall be taken particularly to increase
sensitization to this law especially in the MSMEs and the informal sector.

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Geographical Indications
Law – Geographical Indications of Goods Act, 1999
Ministry – DIPP, Ministry of Commerce and industry
A geographical indication (GI) is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin
and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin. In order to function as a GI, a sign
must identify a product as originating in a given place. In addition, the qualities, characteristics or
reputation of the product should be essentially due to the place of origin. Since the qualities
depend on the geographical place of production, there is a clear link between the product and its
original place of production.

A geographical indication right enables those who have the right to use the indication to prevent
its use by a third party whose product does not conform to the applicable standards. For example,
in the jurisdictions in which the Darjeeling geographical indication is protected, producers of
Darjeeling tea can exclude use of the term “Darjeeling” for tea not grown in their tea gardens or
not produced according to the standards set out in the code of practice for the geographical
indication.

However, a protected geographical indication does not enable the holder to prevent someone
from making a product using the same techniques as those set out in the standards for that
indication. Protection for a geographical indication is usually obtained by acquiring a right over the
sign that constitutes the indication.

Geographical indications are typically used for agricultural products, foodstuffs, wine and spirit
drinks, handicrafts, and industrial products.

How are geographical indications protected?

Broadly speaking geographical indications are protected in different countries and regional
systems through a wide variety of approaches and often using a combination of two or more of
the approaches outlined above. These approaches have been developed in accordance with
different legal traditions and within a framework of individual historical and economic conditions.

There are three main ways to protect a geographical indication:

• so-called sui generis systems (i.e. special regimes of protection);

• using collective or certification marks; and
• methods focusing on business practices, including administrative product
approval schemes.

These approaches involve differences with respect to important questions, such as the conditions
for protection or the scope of protection. On the other hand, two of the modes of protection —
namely sui generis systems and collective or certification mark systems — share some common

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features, such as the fact that they set up rights for collective use by those who comply with
defined standards.

Plant Varieties
Law – Protection of Plant varieties and farmers’ right Act, 2001
Ministry – Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture
With the advent of hybrid and genetically modified plants, it is possible to create different quality
plants of same genus or species. There have been unending quest of developing plant varieties
that are more productive, more fortified with nutrients, more resistant to vagaries of nature and
are reasonably priced. Such development demands lot of expenditure and time just like any other
patentable invention. TRIPS agreement says that either a member should cover plant variety in
domestic patent law or it should be provided a sui- generis protection. Accordingly, India’s patent
law doesn’t cover plant varieties and POPVFR act provides a sui-generis protection.

“In order to provide for the establishment of an effective system for the protection of plant
varieties, the rights of farmers and plant breeders and to encourage the development of new
varieties of plants it has been considered necessary to recognize and to protect the rights of the
farmers in respect of their contributions made at any time in conserving, improving and making
available plant genetic resources for the development of new plant varieties. The Govt. of India
enacted “The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights (PPV&FR) Act, 2001” adopting sui
generis system. Indian legislation is not only in conformity with International Union for the
Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), 1978, but also has sufficient provisions to protect
the interests of public/private sector breeding institutions and the farmers. The legislation
recognizes the contributions of both commercial plant breeders and farmers in plant breeding
activity and also provides to implement TRIPs in a way that supports the specific socio-economic
interests of all the stakeholders including private, public sectors and research institutions, as well as
resource-constrained farmers.”

‘Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Right Authority’ has been created under the act.
Application can be made (by farmer, breeders) to authority to claim protection on a particular plant
variety.

Indian law not only provides for the rights of breeders’ and researchers’, but it also provides the
right to seed to farmers and village communities. Registering the variety under the authority offers
certain protection to its growers under the law. Notable among them is that if any breeder,
including seed companies, use this variety for producing hybrid varieties, its growers are entitled
for a royalty from the breeder.

As such, plant varieties present in wilderness cannot be registered under PPV&FR Authority.
However, any traditionally cultivated plant variety which has undergone the process of

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domestication /improvement through human interventions can be registered and protected and
subjected to fulfilment of the eligible criteria.

The Central Government has notified 57 crops with their genera and species eligible for
registration as new varieties.

Semi-conductors and integrated layouts

Law – Semi-conductors and integrated Layout design Act, 2000
Ministry – Department of Electronics and I.T, Ministry of Communication and I.T.
A semiconductor layout design means a layout of transistors and other circuitry elements and
includes lead wires connecting such elements and expressed in any manner in semiconductor
integrated circuits.

The first registration under the Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design Act, 2000 was
granted in October 2014. It is expected that the industry will make increased use of this right to
protect integrated circuit layout designs.

Under this, a SICLD registry has been created where layout designs of integrated circuit chips can
be registered. The Registrar will determine the originality of the design based on the information
available with him as also through the mechanism of advertisement of the application for
registration of the layout-design and or any input he may receive. On registration, protection is
granted for 10 years.

Traditional Knowledge
A collaboration–between the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the
Department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (Dept. of
AYUSH), Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India.

There is considerable unexplored potential for developing, promoting and utilizing traditional
knowledge, which is a unique endowment of India. Create a sui generis system for protection of
traditional knowledge which will safeguard misappropriation of traditional knowledge as well as
promote further research and development in products and services based on traditional
knowledge.

The creation of the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) has been a major achievement
for India which has a vast pool of traditional knowledge. India has been able to thwart attempts to
misappropriate its traditional knowledge. The next challenge is to use India’s strength in traditional
knowledge for its effective promotion, development and utilization.

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It manages a database of knowledge that exists in various local languages such as Sanskrit, Urdu,
Arabic, Persian and Tamil. TKDL has also converted the database into five international languages
in patent application formats.

So far, over 2 lakh medicinal formulations have been transcribed and the database is present in 30
million A4-size pages.

It has been observed that in the past years patents have been wrongly granted to traditional
knowledge related inventions which do not fulfill the requirement of novelty and inventive step,
particularly due to existence of relevant prior art. For instance, this has happened in the case of
Turmeric, Neem, Basmati etc.

The practical obstacle underlying the issue was that patent examiners could not search relevant
traditional knowledge as prior art, because they did not have access to traditional knowledge
information in their classified non-patent literature. The reasons for this non-accessibility were
that the Indian traditional knowledge exists in local languages such as Sanskrit, Urdu, Arabic,
Persian, Tamil, etc. which either was not available or not understood by patent examiners. TKDL
breaks the language and format barrier and makes available this information in English, French,
Spanish, German and Japanese in patent application format, which is easily understandable by
patent examiners. TKDL is thus a tool providing defensive protection to the rich traditional
knowledge of India

A research council of AYUSH ministry has been implementing a Tribal Health Care Research
Programme (THCRP) which aims at collecting information on folk medicines / traditional practices
prevalent in different parts of the country besides extending health care services to tribal
population.

Some success stories of TKDL –

India Foils Colgate-Palmolive Bid to Patent Nutmeg Mouthwash
In 2010, a Patent application was filed by Colgate-Palmolive Company titled “Oral compositions
containing extracts of myristica fragrans and related methods”. The company claimed an oral
composition comprising a combination of extracts including an extract from Myristica fragrans and
a natural extract other than the extract from Myristica fragrans.

The prime issue with this application by Colgate-Palmolive is that Myristica fragrans (nutmeg) has
been traditionally used in the Indian system of medicines and is used almost every single day by
an average Indian, especially those residing in the country side. The Patent application by Colgate-
Palmolive itself describes that Myristica fragrans (nutmeg) is known as a headache cure and a
gastrointestinal drug in the Indian ancient Ayurveda, and has been used in the treatment of
dyspepsia, bellyache, diarrhea and vomiting in the traditional Chinese medicine. Myristica

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fragrans has reportedly been used as a fruit paste and applied to teeth. An important claim of this
application is “A composition according to any preceding claim, wherein the composition is a
dentifrice in a form selected from the group consisting of: powder; toothpaste or dental gel; a
periodontal gel; a liquid suitable for painting a dental surface; a chewing gum; a dissolvable,
partially dissolvable or non-dissolvable film or strip; a bead, a wafer; a wipe or towelette; an
implant; a mouthrinse, a foam, and dental floss.”

CSIR-TKDL submitted proof in the form of references from an ancient book, which said that the
herb and its extracts were used for oral diseases in Indian systems of medicine. In addition, other
third party observations also made submissions against the claims and the Patent application was
shot down. The status of the application EP2689806 now stands cancelled.

India wins Patent war on hair loss formula

Pangaea Laboratories Limited, a UK based company had filed a Patent application in February,
2011 titled “Hair building solid agent” (EP2361602). On a close reading of the application, they
come across two important pieces of information viz, the description section of the application
which reads:

“The hair building solid spray agent may include one or more pharmacologically active ingredient
for treating one or more of hair loss, thinning hair and skin conditions.

The pharmacologically active ingredient may be one or more of finasteride, dutasteride,

spironolactone, minoxidil, nitric oxide donators, Beta-glucan, saw palmetto, resveratrol, curcumin,
marine extracts, polycyanidins, superoxide dismutase, superoxide dismutase mimetics, taurine,
plant sterols, pine bark extract, melatonin, green tea, caffeine, copper peptides, copper PCA, EUK-
134, copper(II) 3,5-dispropylsalicylate, dimethoxy chromanol, catalase, catalase mimetics and
hydrolysed lupine protein.”

As can be observed from a reading of the paragraph, there is clearly a mention of use of curcumin,
pine bark and green tea among others as a pharmacologically active ingredient in the preparation
of the hair loss formula.

Thus CSIR filed an objection to the application by providing the EPO with evidence from the TKDL
citing the traditionla use of curcumin, pine bark and green tea in the treatment of hair loss. The
third party observations submitted by CSIR can be accessed here.

Based on India’s evidence, the Patent application was finally “deemed to be withdrawn” by the
applicant on 29 June 2015.

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“Over 1500 yoga asanas shortlisted to thwart patenting by foreign parties”
Another news piece making rounds these days is that TKDL is in the process of documenting over
1500 yoga postures in order to stop patenting of these postures by foreign parties. TKDL is said
to believe that as many as 2,000 applications were being made internationally every year for
patents on Indian systems of medicine including yoga postures, which was nothing but
misappropriation of traditional Indian knowledge. But with India providing evidence to the
contrary, Patent applications have had to be withdrawn in countries as varied as USA, Japan, UK,
Italy, Germany, Australia, China, Cyprus, Kenya, Spain, South Korea, Bulgaria, the Netherlands and
New Zealand.

It is estimated that up to 300 million people practice yoga across the globe, with the US being the
world’s largest yoga industry worth over $27 billion. Yet more than half of global yoga enthusts
are Indians, in a country that until now lacked any organizational approach to the $80bn global
industry. Lacking brand names, yoga training in India is mainly run through small independent
businesses.

News sources indicate that a mind-boggling 249 patents were taken on yoga in 2004 and 2,300
in 2005 at various international Patent offices, thus implying the urgent need to incorporate these
yoga aasanas into TKDL.

The above three instances are only some of the success stories of TKDL. As published by the Press
Information Bureau of India, CSIR-TKDL unit till date has achieved success in about 200 cases and
more, like the ones listed here, without any cost.

Besides major companies like Colgate-Palmolive and Pangaea, the other big players who have been
hit by the TKDL include Nestle, L’Oreal, Avasthagen, Ranbaxy, BASF and Unilever.

Biological Diversity
Law –Biological Diversity Act, 2002 in pursuance of Convention on Biological Diversity, 1993

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is a legally binding multilateral environmental

agreement that has 194 contracting Parties (Countries) as its members with three objectives –

1. Conservation of biological diversity,

2. Sustainable use of the diversity and
3. Ensuring fair and equitable sharing of benefits of such use.

It has entered into force on 29th December 1993.

3rd point is particularly relevant here. To check misappropriation of Indian biological resources or
bio-piracy, the Act provides that access to Indian biological resources and associated knowledge

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are subject to terms and conditions, which secure equitable sharing of benefits. Further, it would
be required to obtain the approval of the National Biodiversity Authority before seeking any IPR
based on biological material and associated knowledge obtained from India.

It is a bit similar to PPVFR Act we just read. What PPVFR Act protects in plant varieties, Biological
Diversity Act, 2002 aims to accord similar protection to general biodiversity. There is no overlap
between Biological Diversity Act and Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmer’s Rights Act
(PPV&FRA). The scope and objectives of these two legislations are different. In order to harmonise
both the legislations, an exemption has been provided under Section 6 (3) of the Biodiversity Act
for applicants seeking protection under the PPV&FRA.

The purport of Section 6(3) is to ensure that before grant of IPRs, it becomes possible to realize
equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of biological resources and knowledge. As the
PPV&FRA also has a provision for benefit sharing, an exemption has been provided in the
Biological Diversity Act for applicants seeking protection under the PPV&FRA.

The patent applicant should disclose the source and geographical origin of the biological material
when used in an invention. Further, non-disclosure or wrongful disclosure of source of biological
material and any associated knowledge will result in opposition to the grant of patent or revocation
of the patent.

Section 6(1) provides that prior approval of NBA is necessary before applying for any kind of IPRs
in India and outside based on any research or information on a biological resource obtained from
India. However, in case of patents, permission of the NBA may be obtained after application is
made but before sealing of the patent.

Indo-US IPR problem

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce in its International Intellectual Property Index has placed India
at 37th position out of 38 countries. This report comes at a time when the government is close to
finalizing a National Intellectual Property policy to improve the IP regime, increase IP awareness
and strengthen enforcement of rules.

The list is topped by the US, which is followed by the UK, Germany, France and Sweden. India’s
peers in the BRICS grouping were all ranked ahead with Russia ranked 20th, China (22nd), South
Africa (26th) and Brazil (29th). Venezuela occupies the last position in the index.

Main complaint is that Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, and Russia introduced or maintained policies
that tie market access to sharing of IP and technology. Such forced-localization policies tend to
undermine the overall innovation ecosystem and deter investment from foreign IP-intensive
entities. U.S and allies want laws which protect intellectual property even when lack of market
access in such innovations is against public interest.

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India remains at the bottom of the Index for the fourth year in a row. The report notes that India’s
score would have increased if the government had not suspended implementation of Final
Guidelines for Computer Related Inventions (CRI). The report notes the following reasons for
India’s low rank:

• Patent protection in India remains outside of international best practices.

• Indian law does not provide adequate enforcement mechanisms to effectively
combat online piracy.
• Among India’s key areas of weakness was the use of compulsory licensing (CL) for
commercial and non-emergency situations, and the expanded use of CL being
considered by the Indian government.
• Another area of weakness was poor application and enforcement of civil remedies
and criminal penalties.
• The fact that India was not party to major international treaties, like the Trans -
Pacific Partnership agreement, was also a consideration.

In the backdrop of these concerns India has been placed under ‘Priority watch list’ in USA. If India
is put under ‘priority nations list’ then the US will impose trade sanctions on INDIA. But this is
unlikely because India, so far, has not violated any of the clauses of TRIPS. That’s why the US has
negotiated ‘Trans – Pacific/Atlantic’ trade partnerships, which are expected to be ‘WTO+’. It will
include stringent provisions guarding intellectual property by diluting flexibilities allowed by
current TRIPS agreement, among other things.

Conclusion
As said earlier, India’s IPR regime stands fully compliant to the Agreement on TRIPS. However,
implementation of various laws has been lax. Patent or copyright infringement and piracy in India
is not uncommon. It is also the fact that India has poor performance in R&D, where it accounts for
a meagre 2.7% of global expenditure. Poor IPR protection regime plays some part in this.
Government is about to launch a New IPR policy. It is expected that it will reassert its commitment
to TRIPS and promise that measures like compulsory licence will be resorted to in rarest of rare
cases. It will also consider the need and measures to ramp up implementation by building
infrastructural and human resource capacities. It is likely to give a significant impetus to expansion
of copyright and patent offices all over India.

As we have seen that various subject matters in IPR are dealt with by different departments and
ministries, there needs to be some integration among these arms. This integration is a prerequisite
for formulating an integral IPR policy and taking stand at various international forums. Having said
this, legal setup in India nicely tries to balance Public rights with Private rights. This system
provides adequate incentives for entrepreneurs to innovate. We just need strict implementation.
This way we will able to make innovation a change agent of Indian economy

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National IPR Policy
According to the government, the National IPR Policy is a vision document that aims to create and
exploit synergies between all forms of intellectual property (IP), concerned statutes and agencies.

• It sets in place an institutional mechanism for implementation, monitoring and

review.
• It aims to incorporate and adapt global best practices to the Indian scenario.

Seven objectives of IPR Policy:

1. IPR Awareness: To create public awareness about the economic, social and cultural
benefits of IPRs among all sections of society.
2. Generation of IPRs: To stimulate the generation of IPRs.
3. Legal and Legislative Framework: To have strong and effective IPR laws, which
balance the interests of rights owners with larger public interest.
4. Administration and Management: To modernize and strengthen service -oriented
IPR administration.
5. Commercialization of IPRs: Get value for IPRs through commercialization.
6. Enforcement and Adjudication: To strengthen the enforcement and adjudicatory
mechanisms for combating IPR infringements.
7. Human Capital Development: To strengthen and expand human resources,
institutions and capacities for teaching, training, research and skill building in IPRs.

Highlights of the policy:

• The new policy calls for providing financial support to the less empowered groups
of IP owners or creators such as farmers, weavers and artisans through financial
institutions like rural banks or co-operative banks offering IP-friendly loans.
• The work done by various ministries and departments will be monitored by the
Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), which will be the nodal
department to coordinate, guide and oversee implementation and future
development of IPRs in India.
• The policy, with a tagline of Creative India: Innovative India, also calls for updating
various intellectual property laws, including the Indian Cinematography Act, to
remove anomalies and inconsistencies in consultation with stakeholders.
• For supporting financial aspects of IPR commercialization, it asks for financial
support to develop IP assets through links with financial institutions, including
banks, VC funds, angel funds and crowd-funding mechanisms.

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• To achieve the objective of strengthening enforcement and adjudicatory
mechanisms to combat IPR infringements, it called for taking actions against
attempts to treat generic drugs as spurious or counterfeit and undertake stringent
measures to curb manufacture and sale of misbranded, adulterated and spurious
drugs.
• The policy will be reviewed after every five years to keep pace with further
developments in the sector.

Why is this policy the need of the hour?

• Global drug brands led by US companies have been pushing for changes to India’s
intellectual property rules for quite some time now. They have often complained
about India’s price controls and marketing restrictions.
• Also, an IPR policy is important for the government to formulate incentives in the
form of tax concessions to encourage research and development (R&D). It is also
critical to strengthen the Make In India, Startup and Digital India schemes.
• The IPR policy comes at a time when India and other emerging countries faces fresh
challenges from the developed world and mega regional trade agreements such as
the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

Issues associated with this policy:

• According to the policy, India will retain the right to issue so -called compulsory
licenses to its drug firms, under “emergency” conditions. Also, the government has
indicated that there is no urgent need to change patent laws that are already fully
World Trade Organization-compliant. So India has resisted pressure from the US
and other Western countries to amend its patent laws.
• The policy also specifically does not open up Section 3(d) of the Patents Act, which
sets the standard for what is considered an invention in India, for reinterpretation.

Benefits of this policy:

• The new policy will try to safeguard the interests of rights owners with the wider
public interest, while combating infringements of intellectual property rights.
• By 2017, the window for trademark registration will be brought down to one month.
This will help in clearing over 237,000 pending applications in India’s four patent
offices.
• It also seeks to promote R&D through tax benefits available under various laws and
simplification of procedures for availing direct and indirect tax benefits.

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• Unlike earlier where copyright was accorded to only books and publications, the
recast regime will cover films, music and industrial drawings. A host of laws will also
be streamlined — on semiconductors, designs, geographical indications, trademarks
and patents.
• The policy also puts a premium on enhancing access to healthcare, food security
and environmental protection.
• Policy will provide both domestic and foreign investors a stable IPR framework in
the country. This will promote a holistic and conducive ecosystem to catalyse the
full potential of intellectual property for India’s growth and socio -cultural
development while protecting public interest.
• It is expected to lay the future roadmap for intellectual property in India, besides
putting in place an institutional mechanism for implementation, monitoring and
review. The idea is to incorporate global best practices in the Indian context and
adapt to the same.

Why the US would not be happy with this policy?

Last month, the US Trade Representative kept India, China and Russia on its “Priority Watch List”
for inadequate improvement in IPR protection. However, brushing aside concerns of the US on
India’s IPR regime, the government said its intellectual property rights laws are legal-equitable and
WTO-compliant. Thus, the government has not yielded to pressure from the United States to
amend India’s patent laws.

Issues of Vaccination During COVID

• Issue of patent vs public health
• India does not have enough production capacities which led to rise of second wave
• Compulsory licensing,even if its issued there is no necessary capability to develop
same vaccine by other companies
• Data exclusivity: Even if vaccine waiver is provided but it does not lead to provision
of research related information which can delay production of vaccine
• Reduces private investment and innovation in future in case of Vaccine waiver
• Lack of uniform vaccine pricing across all states causing Federal disputes
• Issue of vaccine hesitancy
• Vaccine diplomacy and scarcity of vaccines in India

Suggestions:
India should increase its production capabilities
Global pooling of resources and compensation of private players for innovation and improve
vaccine availability to all nation

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The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’
Rights (PPV&FR) Act, 2001
• Enacted by India in 2001 adopting the sui generis system.
• It is in conformity with the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of
Plants (UPOV), 1978.
• The legislation recognizes the contributions of both commercial plant breeders and
farmers in plant breeding activity and also provides to implement TRIPs in a way that
supports the specific socio-economic interests of all the stakeholders including
private, public sectors and research institutions, as well as resource -constrained
farmers.

Objectives of the PPV & FR Act, 2001:

• To establish an effective system for the protection of plant varieties, the rights of
farmers and plant breeders and to encourage the development of new varieties of
plants.
• To recognize and protect the rights of farmers in respect of their contributions made
at any time in conserving, improving and making available plant genetic resources
for the development of new plant varieties.
• To accelerate agricultural development in the country, protect plant breeders’
rights; stimulate investment for research and development both in the public &
private sector for the development of new plant varieties.
• Facilitate the growth of the seed industry in the country which will ensure the
availability of high quality seeds and planting material to the farmers.

Rights under the Act:

Breeders’ Rights : Breeders will have exclusive rights to produce, sell, market, distribute, import or
export the protected variety. Breeders can appoint agents/ licensee and may exercise for civil
remedy in case of infringement of rights.

Researchers’ Rights: Researcher can use any of the registered varieties under the Act for
conducting experiment or research. This includes the use of a variety as an initial source of variety
for the purpose of developing another variety but repeated use needs prior permission of the
registered breeder.

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Farmers’ Rights:

• A farmer who has evolved or developed a new variety is entitled for registration and
protection in like manner as a breeder of a variety;
• Farmers variety can also be registered as an extant variety;
• A farmer can save, use, sow, re-sow, exchange, share or sell his farm produce
including seed of a variety protected under the PPV&FR Act, 2001 in the same
manner as he was entitled before the coming into force of this Act provided farmer
shall not be entitled to sell branded seed of a variety protected under the PPV&FR
Act, 2001;
• Farmers are eligible for recognition and rewards for the conservation of Plant
Genetic Resources of land races and wild relatives of economic plants;
• There is also a provision for compensation to the farmers for non -performance of
variety under Section 39 (2) of the Act, 2001 and
• Farmer shall not be liable to pay any fee in any proceeding before the Authority or
Registrar or the Tribunal or the High Court under the Act

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& Technology

APJ Abdul Kalam

Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was a man of many parts. Best known for the good nature he brought to
the office of the president, he was also an author and inspirational speaker, a poet in Tamil, an
amateur musician and polymath. Most of all, however, he was a scientist with a flair for
inventiveness, adaptation and administration – qualities that propelled him to the frontlines of the
national imagination when the rocketry that he devoted most of his professional life to helped
India reach for the skies. Kalam was 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007.

• Contributions to DRDO:
o Dr Kalam started his career at DRDO after graduating from the Madras Institute
of Technology.
o He joined the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) of the Defence
Research and Development Organisation as a scientist after becoming a member
of the Defence Research and Development Service (DRDS).
o Kalam apparently started his career by designing a small hovercraft at DRDO.
o In 1965, Kalam independently started work on an expandable rocket project at
the institution, and in 1969 he received the government’s approval and
expanded the programme to include more engineers.
o During his tenure at DRDO, Kalam directed two projects namely Project Devil
and Project Valiant, which aimed at developing ballistic missiles from the
technology of SLV programme.
o Kalam also played an instrumental role in developing missiles like Agni and
Prithvi under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme
(IGMDP) of which he was the chief executive.
o Kalam is also credited with playing a major role in the Pokhran-II nuclear tests,
which were carried out during his stint as the Chief Scientific Adviser to the
Prime Minister and Secretary of the Defence Research and Development
Organisation from July 1992 to December 1999.

• Contributions to ISRO:
o Dr Kalam was part of the Indian National Committee for Space Research
(INCOSPAR), which was set up by Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, father of Indian space
programme.
o INCOSPAR, the team of rocket engineers of which Kalam was a part, set up the
Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) that is used by ISRO to
launch sounding rockets even today.

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o Kalam was also the project director of India’s first Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV -
III) which successfully deployed the Rohini satellite in near -earth orbit. Kalam
has also played a contributory role in the development of Polar Satellite Launch
Vehicle (PSLV).

• An Inspiration to The Youth of New India:

o Kalam had always tried to inspire the younger generation through the medium
of his powerful speeches.
o In fact, some of his decisions have also been the result of his own youthful
passion.
o For example, his decision to no longer live a comfortable life as the President of
India and take up the very ambitious venture of teaching and imparting his
knowledge to students, the younger generation, was clearly a youthful act.

• Other interests:
o A vegetarian, Dr. Kalam had the prowess of reciting the holy book Quran and
the Bhagavad Gita with equal ease.
o Through a third person’s view, Dr. Kalam was a man of peace. He loved classical
music and used to play the Veena with utmost poise. He used to write Tamil
poems which were famed to move the reader.
o As if it wasn’t already enough, Dr. Kalam was a voracious reader as well. He even
authored many books like India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium, Wings
of Fire, Ignited Minds: Unleashing the Power within India, Transcendence: My
Spiritual Experiences with Pramukh Swamiji, A Manifesto for Change: A Sequel
to India 2020.

Whether it was his advocacy of nuclear weapons, his conversion – but only after leaving
Rashtrapati Bhavan – to the cause of the abolition of the death penalty, his occasionally indifferent
poetry, and his embarrassing fondness for getting audiences to repeat his homilies in unison, there
was always a side of Kalam even his admirers may not have found appealing. But it was impossible
to remain unmoved in his presence, his face often set to a stern expression like a schoolteacher
who has struck upon an epiphany, his neatly partitioned mane of silver hair staying obediently out
of the way. The success of the SLV-3 fetched him a Padma Bhushan in 1981; excellence at the
DRDO, the Padma Vibhushan in 1990; and ultimately the Bharat Ratna in 1997.

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CV Raman
What is Raman Spectroscopy?
Raman Spectroscopy is a non-destructive chemical analysis technique which provides detailed
information about chemical structure, phase and polymorphy, crystallinity and molecular
interactions. It is based upon the interaction of light with the chemical bonds within a material.

Raman Scatter:
It is a light scattering technique, whereby a molecule scatters incident light from a high intensity
laser light source.

• Most of the scattered light is at the same wavelength (or color) as the laser source
and does not provide useful information – this is called Rayleigh Scatter.
• However a small amount of light (typically 0.0000001%) is scattered at different
wavelengths (or colors), which depend on the chemical structure of the analyte –
this is called Raman Scatter.

Why in News?
Researchers have turned to Raman Spectroscopy to detect RNA viruses present in saliva samples.

• It has been reported that novel coronavirus is found in sufficient numbers in human
saliva.

How was it carried out?

For the study, the researchers spiked saliva samples with non-infectious RNA viruses and analysed
it with Raman Spectroscopy. They analysed the raw Raman Spectroscopy data and compared the
signals with both viral positive and negative samples.

• Statistical analysis of all the 1,400 spectra obtained for each sample, showed a set
of 65 Raman spectral features was adequate to identify the viral positive signal.

Significance:
This conceptual framework to detect RNA viruses in saliva could form the basis for field application
of Raman Spectroscopy in managing viral outbreaks, such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

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• However, in case of COVID19 pandemic, it can be used only for screening. Because,
the RNA virus detected could be a common cold virus as well or any other RNA virus
such as HIV. It doesn’t look for COVID-19 viral-specific signature.
• But, the main benefit here is that this whole process of data acquisition and analysis can
be performed within a minute. Since no additional reagent is needed there is no recurring
cost.

• A portable (benchtop or handheld) Raman spectrophotometer installed at the port

of entry such as airports or any point of care (in the field) can quickly screen
passengers within minutes.

Satyendranath Bose
What is a matter, an atom and molecule?
Matter is the “stuff” that makes up the universe — everything that takes up space and has mass is
matter.

All matter is made up of atoms, which are in turn made up of protons, neutrons and electrons.

Atoms come together to form molecules, which are the building blocks for all types of matter.

Both atoms and molecules are held together by a form of potential energy called chemical energy.

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Five states of matter:
There are four natural states of matter: Solids, liquids, gases and plasma.

The fifth state is the man-made Bose-Einstein condensates.

About Bose-Einstein condensate:

A Bose-Einstein condensate is so named because its existence was posited almost a century ago
by Albert Einstein and Indian mathematician Satyendra Nath Bose.

This exotic material only exists when atoms of certain elements are cooled to temperatures near
absolute zero.

At that point, clusters of atoms begin functioning as a single quantum object with both wave and
particle properties.

When was it first created?

BEC was created by scientists in 1995. Using a combination of lasers and magnets, scientists
cooled a sample of rubidium to within a few degrees of absolute zero.At this extremely low
temperature, molecular motion comes very close to stopping.Since there is almost no kinetic
energy being transferred from one atom to another, the atoms begin to clump together. There are
no longer thousands of separate atoms, just one “super atom.”

Why study BEC?

A BEC is used to study quantum mechanics on a macroscopic level. Light appears to slow down
as it passes through a BEC, allowing scientists to study the particle/wave paradox.

A BEC also has many of the properties of a superfluid, or a fluid that flows without friction.BECs
are also used to simulate conditions that might exist in black holes.

Why is it easy to create BEC in space?

BECs have been produced in a variety of experiments on Earth since 1995, but these are hindered
by gravity, which collapses the clouds in a split second.

To make a BEC, scientists must first corral and then supercool atoms.

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• In the near-zero gravity in space, they can mix the ingredients in a much smaller
catchment “trap.” On Earth’s surface, the atoms begin to repel each other and fly
apart almost instantaneously.
• On Earth, laboratories can only maintain Bose-Einstein condensates for a matter of
milliseconds. However, research aboard the ISS has created a Bose -Einstein
condensate that persisted for more than a second.

Vikram Sarabhai
Vikram Sarabhai was born on August 12, 1919.Sarabhai was instrumental in forming India’s future
in astronomy and setting up the country’s space research facilities.

Key contributions:

1. Based on his persuasion, the Indian government agreed to set up the Indian National
Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR)in 1962. He was the first chairman of
the committee.
2. The INCOSPAR was restructured and renamed as Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) in 1969.
3. Sarabhai founded the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad in 1947. The
laboratory started its operation from RETREAT, Sarabhai’s residence in Ahmedabad.
Its first topic of research was cosmic rays.
4. He also set up India’s first rocket launch site in Thumba, a small village near the
Thiruvananthapuram airport in Kerala.
5. Vikram Sarabhai was also responsible for bringing cable television to India. His
constant contact with NASA paved a way for the establishment of Satellite
Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) in 1975.
6. Sarabhai was the mastermind behind building India’s first satellite, Aryabhata.
7. He was one of the founding members of the Indian Institute of Management,
Ahmedabad (IIMA).
8. Vikram Sarabhai received the Padma Bhushan in 1966for his contribution to India’s
progress. He was also awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 1972, posthumously.

Homi J. Bhabha
Homi Jehangir Bhabha (30 October 1909 – 24 January 1966) was an Indian nuclear physicist,
founding director, and professor of physics at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
(TIFR).[2] Colloquially known as “Father of the Indian nuclear programme”,[3] Bhabha was also the
founding director of the Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay (AEET) which is now named the

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Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in his honor. TIFR and AEET were the cornerstone of Indian
development of nuclear weapons which Bhabha also supervised as director.

Bhabha was awarded the Adams Prize (1942) and Padma Bhushan (1954). He was also nominated
for the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1951 and 1953–1956.[4]

Starting his nuclear physics career in Britain, Bhabha had returned to India for his annual vacation
before the start of World War II in September 1939. War prompted him to remain in India and he
accepted a post of reader in physics at the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru, headed by
Nobel laureate C.V. Raman.

During this time, Bhabha played a key role in convincing the Congress Party’s senior leaders, most
notably Jawaharlal Nehru who later served as India’s first Prime Minister, to start the ambitious
nuclear programme. As part of this vision, Bhabha established the Cosmic Ray Research Unit at
the Institute, began to work on the theory of point particles movement, while independently
conducting research on nuclear weapons in 1944.

In 1945, he established the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Bombay, and the Atomic
Energy Commission in 1948, serving as its first chairman.[3] In 1948, Nehru led the appointment
of Bhabha as the director of the nuclear program and tasked Bhabha to develop the nuclear
weapons soon after.

Bhabha is generally acknowledged as the father of Indian nuclear power. Moreover, he is credited
with formulating a strategy of focusing on extracting power from the country’s vast thorium
reserves rather than its meagre uranium reserves.[12][13] This thorium focused strategy was in
marked contrast to all other countries in the world. The approach proposed by Bhabha to achieve
this strategic objective became India’s three stage nuclear power programme.

JC BOSE
Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose was a biologist, physicist, botanist and an early writer of science fiction.
He pioneered the investigation of radio and microwave optics, made significant contributions to
plant science, and laid the foundations of experimental science in the Indian subcontinent. IEEE
named him one of the fathers of radio science.

Bose is considered the father of Bengali science fiction, and also invented the Cresco graph, a
device for measuring the growth of plants. A crater on the moon has been named in his honour.
He founded Bose Institute, a premier research institute of India and also one of its oldest.
Established in 1917, the Institute was the first interdisciplinary research centre in Asia. He served
as the Director of Bose Institute from its inception until his death

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Bose subsequently made a number of pioneering discoveries in plant physiology. He used his own
invention, the Crescograph, to measure plant response to various stimuli, and thereby scientifically
proved parallelism between animal and plant tissues. Although Bose filed for a patent for one of
his inventions because of peer pressure, his objection to any form of patenting was well known.
To facilitate his research, he constructed automatic recorders capable of registering extremely
slight movements; these instruments produced some striking results, such as quivering of injured
plants, which Bose interpreted as a power of feeling in plants.

Contributions made by Ancient Indians to the

world of Science and Technology
The Idea of Zero

• Mathematician Aryabhata was the first person to create a symbol for zero and it
was through his efforts that mathematical operations like addition and subtraction
started using the digit, zero.
• The concept of zero and its integration into the place-value system also enabled
one to write numbers, no matter how large, by using only ten symbols.

The Decimal System

• India gave the ingenious method of expressing all numbers by means of ten
symbols – the decimal system.
• In this system, each symbol received a value of position as well as an absolute
value.
• Due to the simplicity of the decimal notation, which facilitated calculation, this
system made the uses of arithmetic in practical inventions much faster and easier.

Numeral Notations

• Indians, as early as 500 BCE, had devised a system of different symbols for every
number from one to nine.
• This notation system was adopted by the Arabs who called it the hind numerals.
• Centuries later, this notation system was adopted by the western world who called
them the Arabic numerals as it reached them through the Arab traders

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Fibonacci Numbers

• The Fibonacci numbers and their sequence first appear in Indian mathematics as
mātrāmeru, mentioned by Pingala in connection with the Sanskrit tradition of
prosody.
• Later on, the methods for the formation of these numbers were given by
mathematicians Virahanka, Gopala and Hemacandra , much before the Italian
mathematician Fibonacci introduced the fascinating sequence to Western
European mathematics.

Binary Numbers

• Binary numbers are the basic language in which computer programs are written.
• Binary basically refers to a set of two numbers, 1 and 0, the combinations of which
are called bits and bytes.
• The binary number system was first described by the Vedic scholar Pingala, in his
book Chandahśāstra, which is the earliest known Sanskrit treatise on prosody ( the
study of poetic metres and verse)

Ruler Measurements

• Excavations at Harappans sites have yielded rulers or linear measures made from
ivory and shell.
• Marked out in minute subdivisions with amazing accuracy, the calibrations
correspond closely with the hasta increments of 1 3/8 inches, traditionally used in
the ancient architecture of South India.
• Ancient bricks found at the excavation sites have dimensions that correspond to
the units on these rulers.

A Theory of Atom

• One of the notable scientists of the ancient India was Kanad who is said to have
devised the atomic theory centuries before John Dalton was born.

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• He speculated the existence of anu or a small indestructible particles, much like an
atom. He also stated that anu can have two states — absolute rest and a state of
motion.
• He further held that atoms of same substance combined with each other in a
specific and synchronized manner to produce dvyanuka (diatomic molecules) and
tryanuka (triatomic molecules).

The Heliocentric Theory

• Mathematicians of ancient India often applied their mathematical knowledge to

make accurate astronomical predictions.
• The most significant among them was Aryabhatta whose book, Aryabhatiya,
represented the pinnacle of astronomical knowledge at the time.
• He correctly propounded that the Earth is round, rotates on its own axis and
revolves around the Sun i.e the heliocentric theory.
• He also made predictions about the solar and lunar eclipses, duration of the day as
well as the distance between the Earth and the Moon.

Wootz Steel

• A pioneering steel alloy matrix developed in India, Wootz steel is a crucible steel
characterized by a pattern of bands that was known in the ancient world by many
different names such as Ukku, Hindwani and Seric Iron.
• Produced by the Tamils of the Chera Dynasty, the finest steel of the ancient world
was made by heating black magnetite ore in the presence of carbon in a sealed
clay crucible kept inside a charcoal furnace.

Smelting of Zinc

• India was the first to smelt zinc by the distillation process, an advanced technique
derived from a long experience of ancient alchemy.
• Zawar in the Tiri valley of Rajasthan is the world’s first known ancient zinc
smelting site.
• The distillation technique of zinc production goes back to the 12th Century AD and
is an important contribution of India to the world of science.

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Plastic Surgery

• Written by Sushruta in 6th Century BC, Sushruta Samhita is considered to be one

of the most comprehensive textbooks on ancient surgery.
• The text mentions various illnesses, plants, preparations and cures along with
complex techniques of plastic surgery.
• The Sushruta Samhita ’s most well-known contribution to plastic surgery is the
reconstruction of the nose, known also as rhinoplasty.

Ayurveda

• Long before the birth of Hippocrates, Charaka authored a foundational text,

Charakasamhita, on the ancient science of Ayurveda.
• Referred to as the Father of Indian Medicine, Charaka was the first physician to
present the concept of digestion, metabolism and immunity in his book.
• Charaka’s ancient manual on preventive medicine remained a standard work on the
subject for two millennia and was translated into many foreign languages, including
Arabic and Latin.

Iron-Cased Rockets

• The first iron-cased rockets were developed in the 1780s by Tipu Sultan of
Mysore who successfully used these rockets against the larger forces of the British
East India Company during the Anglo-Mysore Wars.
• He crafted long iron tubes, filled them with gunpowder and fastened them to
bamboo poles to create the predecessor of the modern rocket.
• With a range of about 2 km, these rockets were the best in the world at that time
and caused as much fear and confusion as damage.
• Due to them, the British suffered one of their worst ever defeats in India at the
hands of Tipu.

Indian heritage is one of the richest and oldest among the world. From the time of ancient India,
scientific and technological developments were done. Many famous mathematicians from India
contributed a lot in the development of theories that we still use and applied in the majority of
fields. Indian civilization has a long recorded history of scientific culture that goes back to more

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than 5000 years. Indian heritage has been known for its various developments like gemstone
therapy, ayurvedic medicine, physics, farming, literature and many more.

Contributions made by Indians to Space

Technology
It has been hailed as one the most successful programmes. From India’s first satellite Aryabhatta
(1975) to the development of indigenous cryogenic engine India has made significant advances
with little help and no technology sharing from developed countries. With the multi dimensional
applications space technology ensures, India is moving in the right direction.

Over the last few years, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) took giant leaps forward,
one success after the other.

• Chandrayaan 2: India successfully launched its second lunar mission Chandrayaan -

2 a week after it halted the scheduled blast-off due to a technical snag. India hopes
the $145m (£116m) mission will be the first to land on the Moon’s South Pole.
• INSAT: The system is a network of satellites that facilitates communication and
broadcasting across the south Asian region. It ushered in a revolution in India’s
television and radio broadcasting, telecommunications and meteorological sector.
• Created Polarized Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) to make cost effective launch
system. This has also increased international space collaboration by launching
satellites of other nations at low costs.
• Chandrayaan 1: It has launched Chandrayaan 1 lunar probe mission in 2008.
• Mangalyan: ISRO has launched Mars Orbiter Mission in 2013 and created history
by launching Mangalyan (mission spacecraft) into the Mars orbit in maiden attempt.
• ASTROSAT: It has launched first space observatory in 2015 to become fourth
agency to do so after NASA, Roscosmos and ESA.
• Scramjet: Supersonic Combusting Ramjet has been launched by ISRO. This system
works on Air-breathing Propulsion System which uses atmospheric oxygen to burn
the fuel in the rocket.
• RLV-TD: ISRO demonstrated its Reusable Launch vehicle space shuttle RLV -TD to
launch satellites around earth orbit and re-enter into the atmosphere.
• 104 satellites: ISRO has created history by launching 104 satellites in one go.
• Crew Escape module: ISRO has test-launched Crew Escape Module paving the way
for manned space mission Gaganyaan.

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Besides, NAVIC (Indian Regional navigation satellites system) and South Asia Satellite are other
missions which are a remarkable example of international coordination in the space arena. ISRO is
preparing for its missions of Aditya (Solar Mission) and Gaganyaan (Manned Space Mission).

Contribution to Socio-economic Development

• Acreage and production estimates for the principal crops such as wheat, rice,
sorghum, cotton, mustard, and groundnut using Forecasting Agriculture Output
using Space Agrometeorology and land based observations (FASAL ). Precision
farming using IRNSS. Agro Metrological (AGROMET) Towers to measure soil
temperature, soil moisture, soil heat and net radiation, wind speed, wind direction,
pressure and humidity.
• Wasteland mapping, watershed development and monitoring as well as help in
fisheries sector for augmentation of income.
• Survey of various mineral and natural resources have been made possible through
remote sensing.
• Management of these resources, their development conservation and formulation
of various policies are affectively done with the use of information derived through
remote sensing.
• It plays a vital role in delivering cyclone warnings and is used in search and rescue
operations. Various meteorological services including information about monsoon,
climate flood, cyclonic activities etc are provided through the technologies.
• It has developed communication technology in India.
• They have proved very useful in spread of education. Even in remote areas,
expertise education has been made possible through the talk back channels of
INSAT-3D satellite.
• They have helped in environment conservation programmes estimation of
agricultural production and water resources information’s.
• Introducing telemedicine via satellite for making speciality treatment accessible to
people in remote areas of India. Places around Bangalore, Kolkata and Tripura are
networked with a hub using VSAT terminals.
• The concept of “Gramsat” satellites have emerged to provide the basic requirements
of villages.
• Village Resource Centers located at coastal tracts are being provided with near real
time information on satellite derived Potential Fishing Zones (PFZ). Information
pertaining to inland fisheries, aquaculture, etc., is also provided through VRCs as
relevant.

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• Another application of satellite communication is Satellite Aided Search and Rescue
(SAS&R), as a part of India’s commitment to the International COSPAS- SARSAT
programme for providing alerts and position location services for aircraft and ships
in distress.
• Commercialization of space launching technologies by ANTRIX has resulted into
economic gain.
• Apart from these various uses, the space programme has helped in social cultural
and scientific consolidation and harmony.

Conclusion:
Over the last four and half decades, the Indian space programme has made impressive progress
through well integrated, self-reliant programs. Through its space technology programme, India is
promoting a knowledge-based society which has led to social, economic and political
transformation.

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