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Role of Science & Technology in development of India | UPSC – IAS

Shikher GoyalFebruary 1, 2021July 19, 2020

role of science and technology in development of india upsc

India’s development in the fields of science and technology

Science and technology are widely acknowledged to be essential components of social and economic development. Scientific knowledge and new technologies can help tackle many of the problems that affect countries. Some of the global challenges science and technology could solve are as follows:-

Providing Safe drinking-water and food supplies
Grid-scale energy storage
Energy-efficient desalination
Cleaning up of Ocean
Embodied Artificial Intelligence
Universal flu vaccine
Earthquake prediction
Carbon sequestration

The World Bank’s World Development Report states that “Today’s most technologically advanced economics are truly knowledge – based creating millions of knowledge related jobs in an array of disciplines that have emerged overnight,” and also says that ” the need for developing countries to increase their capacity to use knowledge cannot be overstated.”

Scientific and technological knowledge,
Physical capital,
Human capital,
Technological progress,
Increase in labour force,
Foreign investment and foreign trade.

Of these – Scientific and technological knowledge is the most important factor in economic development. And also considered as a critical determinant of economic growth. It is in this perspective that improving this capacity has become a prerequisite for sustained economic growth and improved quality of life. In the present context, the most important aspect of knowledge, of course is scientific and technological knowledge.

Developed vs Developing countries in science and technology | UPSC – IAS

While it is clear that the ability of a society to produce, select, adapt, and commercialise knowledge is critical for sustained economic growth and improved quality of life, in this respect the developing countries are in a disadvantageous situation.

Today, a handful of the world’s richest countries produce the overwhelming majority of new scientific and technological knowledge, and they derive great benefit from its use.
Countries in this exclusive group enjoy the fruits or a virtuous circle, in which the concrete benefits or research help produce the wealth and public support needed to continue the investigation of science’s “endless frontiers.”
Their technological edge is the key to the continued dominance of the developed countries in the world economy. Whether it is Nobel Prizes in scientific areas or patents and new products, it is the developed countries that are dominant.

Meanwhile most other nations struggle with varying degrees of success, to establish scientific and technological research systems that can invigorate their economies and provide solutions to their social needs.

Unfortunately for developing countries the logic of S&T research system favours the scientifically strong to become stronger. Countries that want to improve their S&T capacity have lo make extra efforts to gain and maintain the “critical mass” beyond which benefits can start to accrue. Another difficulty is that this process is long term and full of uncertainty, and scarce resources arc under pressure from a variety of competing needs.

There are other problem as well. Within developed countries, there is a widespread consensus that government policies should support R&D activities, whether in the public or the private sector. In many developing countries, however, doubts remain over whether such policies are needed. Several countries feel that they can’t afford to fritter away scarce resources on exotic research.

Nature of technological knowledge base needed for development

Role of science and technology in development of a country needs two types of knowledge; These knowledge Considered critical for development of countries.

Firstly, knowledge about technology, which we also call technical knowledge or simply know-how. Examples are nutrition, agriculture,chemical or software engineering, and medicine.
- Typically developing countries have less of this know-bow than industrial countries, and within developing countries the poor have less than the non-poor. These unequal distributions across and within countries are called knowledge gaps.
Secondly, knowledge about attributes, such as the quality of a product, the diligence of a worker, or the credit-worthiness of a firm-all crucial to effective markets.
- We call the difficulties posed by incomplete knowledge of attributes as information problems. Mechanisms to alleviate infonnation problems, such as product standards, training certificates, and credit reports, are fewer and weaker in developing countries. Information problems and the resulting market failures especially hurt the poor.

Despite the difficulties that we have mentioned earlier, there are some reasons to hope that aspiring countries can make progress in closing the gaps that separate them from scientifically-advanced countries.

First, new information and communications technologies are providing unprecedented access to existing knowledge, and are virtually erasing the disadvantages of physical distance as a factor for research collaboration.
Second, more is being learned about the process of innovation, and the policies and practices that make investments in S&T effective.
Third, the international scientific community is by nature open, and marked by a culture of freely sharing basic knowledge. Within the community, tremendous goodwill exists to help strengthen science throughout the world. Among the developing countries, India with its tremendous manpower and institutional resources is in a good position to close the technological gap and emerge as a S&T power with a developed economy.

Significance of domestic technology base | UPSC – IAS

On another level, domestic technology recognizes the use of applied science to construct homes to achieve a particular goal, such as energy efficiency or self-sufficiency.

Technological know-how can to some extent be bought or transferred from the developed countries. But this is not always either feasible or even desirable.
Countries also need to develop their own technological base especially if they are large countries like India. At the same time, it also has to be appreciated that the most important technological breakthroughs occur because scientists are investigating nature-not because they are looking for applications of their research [e.g., Faraday’s and Maxwell’s work was pure science, but it facilitated Marconi’s and others’ work on wireless communication].
However, because it is increasingly true that new technologies often give rise to new sciences and disciplines [e.g., chemical engineering]. it is most accurate to view science and technology as intertwined. According to many experts, this intertwining is the principal reason why technology is advanced through the work of academic researchers.
It is also the principal reason why, in many fields, university research is an important contributor to technological advance, and universities as well as corporate labs are essential parts of the innovation system. Thus the problems that originate in industry are not explored only by industrial scientists. They feed into, and stimulate, the entire scientific community.”
This provides the rationale for developing countries like india to emphasise basic science along with technology. India is too big a country to absent itself from any field of Science and Technology.
Recognising that basic research is the foundation on which all technologies stand, that basic research is also a cultural necessity in any civilised country and that scientists must have the freedom to work on important problems of their choice, support to basic research needs to be substantially stepped up.

Role of Science and Technology in India | UPSC – IAS

Science and technology (S&T) is widely recognised as an important tool for fostering and strengthening the economic and social development of the country. India has made significant progress in various spheres of science and technology over the years and now has a strong network of S&T institutions, trained manpower and-an innovative knowledge base. The twenty first century marks the beginning of the knowledge era.

Given the rapid pace of globalization, fast-depleting material resources, increasing competition among nations and the growing need to protect intellectual property, the importance of strengthening the knowledge base is an important issue that has been recognised in India.
Major scientific discoveries in quick succession, new technologies arising out of these discoveries, a range of products and services based on these technologies. A technology driven economy across the world, all characterise this knowledge era.
Scientific knowledge and expertise, high technology industrial infrastructure and skilled work force are the strengths of a country in the knowledge era. Following sustained efforts over period since independence and a more focused thrust during the recent period in higher education, scientific research, and technology development, the country has now attained a recognised potential lo emerge as a Global player in the knowledge era.
At the same time modem technology development is increasingly becoming dependent on research inputs from a large number of disciplines. A seamless and multi-sectoral now of technologies and inputs from scientists and engineers from various disciplines is essential for making a visible societal impact and economic prosperity.

Efforts are being made to identify those S&T area, cutting across the traditional divides of sciences, engineering and medicine, where investments can pay rich dividends.

One of the areas of weakness of Indian science in the past has been the lack of effective technology transfer mechanisms. Although we have a few success stories in Atomic Energy, Space, CSIR, etc. where there was successful interaction between academia (including both the university system and the national laboratory system) and industry, in general this has been lacking. Even in these cases the driving force for these interactions came from mission-oriented agencies.
Globalisation and liberalisation have thrown up immense opportunities as well as some new challenges for S&T. ln an increasingly competitive world, Indian industry needs the support of indigenous S&T in a big way. Technology transfer to domestic companies from abroad is becoming more difficult because foreign companies can set up industries here and are, therefore, less willing to share technologies.
Even in joint ventures, foreign companies are often trying to buy out the Indian partners. Secondly, Indian companies are becoming more and more globally competitive.
Indian industry in the future will, therefore, have no option but to invest more and more in Indian R&D for new technology development.
lt is against this background that it is being increasingly recognised that greater coordination and cooperation between industry on the one hand and the R&D/academic institutions on the other, is necessary for facing emerging challenges and taking advantage of the opportunities offered.
If industry begins to interact actively with academia, it can also play a greater role in guiding academic activities in the direction of industry interests, be it human resource development, R&D prioritisation, or the choice of areas of international cooperation.

S&T Role at the macro level

S&T management should focus on meeting the needs of the nation (including industry) and encompass a wide spectrum of activities, namely:-

Basic research,
Applied research,
Technology transfer,
design, development, fabrication, tests and trials,
Manufacturing, marketing, maintenance and product support during tile life cycle.

S&T Role at the micro level

R&D institutions and the academia must move to couple R&D and Engineering so that the indigenous technology can meet the specific requirements of the Indian industry. In order to strengthen the interface between industry, R&D and academia and to enhance the level of industry participation, appropriate steps need to be taken at various levels by all concerned – Government, industry associations, R&D institutions and universities.

Given the range of problems involved with the development of S&T in the nation, it is important to take stock of the situation and develop strategies and plan to address them.
It is important to find ways and means of strengthening the S&T system and also make efforts to provide synergy between S&T infrastructure and industry to tackle key issues affecting S&T including the education and research systems.

Society aspects of science & technology in india

Science and technology (S&T) is widely recognised as an important tool for fostering and strengthening the economic and social development of the country. There is an urgent need to make efforts to ensure that appropriate research outputs, which can be pot to use for the benefit of society, are generated and reach the people. It is, therefore, essential to evolve a mechanism and identify programmes for application of Science & Technology for .

Improving the quality of life of the people (particularly the weaker sections and women).
For the development of rural areas to reduce regional imbalances and
For inculcating scientific awareness among the masses.

CSIR Milestones and Key Achievements | UPSC – IAS

CSIR was established by the Government of India in September 1942 as an autonomous body that has emerged as the largest research and development organisation in India . The research and development activities of CSIR include:- Aerospace engineering, Structural engineering, Environmental science, Ocean sciences, Life sciences, Metallurgy, Petroleum, Chemicals, Leather, Food and Mining.

Developed India’s first synthetic drug, methaqualone in 1950.
Developed Optical Glass at CGCRI for defence purposes.
Developed first Indian tractor Swaraj in 1967 completely based on indigenous know-how.
Achieved the first breakthrough of flowering of Bamboo within weeks as against twenty years in nature.
First to analyse genetic diversity of the indigenous Andamanese tribes and to establish their origin out of Africa 60,000 years ago.
Developed the first transgenic Drosophila model for drug screening for cancer in humans.
Invented, once a week non-steroidal family planning pill Saheli and non-steroidal herbal pill for asthma called Asmon.
Designed India’s first ever parallel processing computer, Flosolver.

Rejuvenated India’s one-hundred-year-old refinery at Digboi using the most modern molecular distillation technology.
With TCS, developed a versatile portable PC-based software ‘Bio-Suite’ for bioinformatics.
Design of 14 seater plane ‘SARAS‘.
Established first ever in the world ‘Traditional Knowledge Digital Library’ accessible in five international languages, English, German, French, Japanese and Spanish.
Successfully challenged the grant of patent in the US for use of haldi (turmeric) for wound healing and neem as insecticide.
In 2007, under the NMITLI program, began the study of Sepsivac, a drug for gram-negative sepsis.
In 2009, completed the sequencing of the Human Genome.
In 2011, successfully tested India’s 1st indigenous civilian aircraft, NAL NM5 made in association with National Aerospace Laboratories and Mahindra Aerospace.
In 2020, initiated clinical trials to evaluate Sepsivac’s efficacy to reduce mortality rate in COVID–19 patients.

Conclusion and A Way forward | UPSC – IAS

India must try to become “Global innovation Leader” across the board in all S&T areas. India will certainly become a ”Developed Country” sooner or later, but we can achieve this much faster if we use ‘technology foresight’ to make the right technology choices and introduce ‘coherent synergy’ in our S&T efforts. Technology Foresight helps in the selection of critical technologies for development at any point of time. india is a large country and its technology requirements also correspondingly span a wide range from nuclear to rural. It has to continue to develop strategic technologies- in nuclear, space and defence related areas.

The sustained efforts over years since independence and a more focused thrust during the recent period in higher education, scientific research, and technology development, India has now attained a recognised potential to emerge as a Global player in the knowledge era.
We now need to focus on enlarging the pool of scientific manpower and strengthening the S&T infrastructure and converting our potential into reality, pushing india into the knowledge era as a global player and raising the Indian economy to the level of developed nations.

Technologies related to energy security, food and nutritional security, health and water security, environmental security, advanced manufacturing and processing, advanced materials, etc., are all important for us. So are the so-called “knowledge based” technologies (Information Technology, particularly hardware, Nanotechnology. particularly Nanoelectronics; Biotechnology; and convergence of these technologies like Nanobiotechnology for drug delivery.

Scientific knowledge and expertise,
High technology industrial infrastructure and
A technically skilled workforce are the currencies of the knowledge era.

Mission Chandrayaan 2 | ISRO | UPSC – IAS | Pib

Shikher GoyalSeptember 10, 2020June 3, 2019

Chandrayaan-2 (moon 2.0) mission by ISRO UPSC - IAS

Chandrayaan-2 mission by ISRO | UPSC – IAS

ISRO is planning to launch Chandrayaan-2 mission by mid-July 2019. Chandrayaan-2 is India’s second lunar exploration mission after Chandrayaan-1. Developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation, the mission is planned to be launched to the Moon by a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III. Chandrayaan-2 is a completely indigenous mission comprising of an Orbiter, Lander (called Vikram) and Rover (called Pragyan). It includes a lunar orbiter, lander and rover, all developed indigenously.

More About Chandrayaan-2 mission by ISRO | UPSC – IAS

It will be launched by Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk III (GSLV-F10).
It will be ISRO’s first interplanetary mission to land a rover on any celestial body.
The mission will attempt to soft land a rover 600 km from the lunar south pole.
- Only three countries have ever soft-landed on the moon— the United States, the U.S.S.R. and China.
Primary Objective: To demonstrate the ability to soft-land on the lunar surface and operate a robotic rover on the surface.
Scientific Goals include studies of lunar topography, mineralogy, elemental abundance, the lunar exosphere, and signatures of hydroxyl and water ice.
Scientific Payload: It comprises a visible terrain mapping camera, a neutral mass spectrometer, a synthetic aperture radar, a near infrared spectrometer, a radio occultation experiment, a soft X-ray spectrometer and solar X-ray monitor.
- The lander will carry a camera, seismometer, thermal profiler, and Langmuir probe, while the rover will hold cameras, alpha-proton X-ray spectrometer, and a laser-induced ablation spectroscopy experiment to analyse the lunar soil.
- It will also carry NASA-owned laser retroreflector arrays that allow scientists to make precise measurements of the distance to the Moon.

Significant Components of Chandrayaan – 2 | UPSC – IAS

Chandrayaan-2 consists of an Orbiter, Lander and Rover, all equipped with scientific instruments to study the moon.

Orbiter

The Orbiter will 100 km away from the moon, which will observe lunar surface and relay communication between Earth and the Lander.
The orbiter is equipped with different kinds of camera to take create high-resolution three-dimensional maps of the surface, would remain in orbit for a year.

Vikram Lander

The mission’s lander is called Vikram named after Vikram Sarabhai (1919-1971) who is widely regarded as the father of the Indian space programme.

It is the first time that ISRO is attempting to soft-land a module in extra-terrestrial space.
The main challenge is in controlling its speed as it approaches the surface.
Once the Lander and the Rover, enter the Moon’s gravity, they would be in a state of free fall.
To enable a smooth landing, the speed of the Lander just ahead of touchdown should be 1 m/s (3.6 km/h) or less.
The Lander will mainly study the moon’s atmosphere and look out for seismic activity.

Pragyaan Rover

The mission’s rover is called Pragyan (Wisdom). The rover’s mass will be about 27 kg (60 lb) and will operate on solar power.

The 6-wheeled, AI Solar powered rover was designed, developed and build indigenously by ISRO.
The rover will be landed in be landed closer to the Moon’s equator to receive more sunlight.
Its primary objective will be to study the composition of the surface near the lunar landing site, and determine its abundance of various elements.
Both the Lander and Rover are designed to work for only 14 days (1 lunar day).

Square Kilometre Array Radio Telescope Project | UPSC – IAS

Shikher GoyalSeptember 10, 2020May 16, 2019

Square Kilometre Array Radio Telescope Project | UPSC – IAS

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is a radio telescope project proposed to be built in Australia and South Africa. If built, it would have a total collecting area of approximately one square kilometre. It would operate over a wide range of frequencies and its size would make it 50 times more sensitive than any other radio instrument. It would require very high performance central computing engines and long-haul links with a capacity greater than the global Internet traffic as of 2013. It should be able to survey the sky more than ten thousand times faster than before.

On 12 March 2019, the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) was founded in Rome by seven initial member countries, with several other expected to join in the future. This international organisation is tasked with building and operating the facility, with the first construction contracts scheduled to be awarded in late 2020

Location: – South Africa’s Karoo region and Western Australia’s Murchison Shire were chosen as co-hosting locations for this project.; Built Year: – 2024 – 2030.

Square Kilometre Array India UPSC - IAS Countries that participated in the preparatory phase of SKA — **Countries that participated in the preparatory phase of Square Kilometre Array**

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is a global project with eleven member countries that aims to answer fundamental questions about the origin and evolution of the Universe. In the early days of planning, China vied to host the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), proposing to build several large dishes in the natural limestone depressions (karst) that dimple its southwestern provinces; China called their proposal Kilometer-square Area Radio Synthesis Telescope (KARST). In April 2011, Jodrell Bank Observatory of the University of Manchester, in Cheshire, England was announced as the location for the project headquarters.

More About Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Project | UPSC – IAS

Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project is an international effort to build the world’s largest radio telescope, with eventually over a square kilometre (one million square metres) of collecting area.
It will use 1000s of dishes and up to a million low-frequency antennas that will enable astronomers to monitor the sky in unprecedented detail and survey the entire sky much faster than any system currently in existence.
Karoo will host the core of the high and mid frequency dishes and Murchison will host the low-frequency antennas.
Recent Developments – MeerLITCH is the world’s first optical telescope linked to a radio telescope launched in South Africa.
The device forms part of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project and will be linked to MeerKAT, a radio telescope located 200km away.
Scientists at Cambridge have finished designing the data processor of SKA’s telescopes.

Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) mission | NASA | UPSC – IAS

Shikher GoyalSeptember 10, 2020April 26, 2019

Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) NASA UPSC - IAS The Hindu

Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) mission| NASA | UPSC – IAS

The NASA has selected a new mission Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) and is expected to be launched in August 2022, attached to the exterior of the Earth-orbiting International Space Station.

Atmospheric waves are motions of air in the Earth’s atmosphere which have different spatial (meters to thousands of kilometers) and temporal scales (minutes to weeks). They can impact the wind, density, pressure or temperature fields and can be identified as fluctuations of these parameters.

Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) mission will help scientists understand and, ultimately, forecast the vast space weather system around our planet. Space weather is important because it can have profound impacts – affecting-

- Technology and astronauts in space,
- Disrupting radio communications and,
- At its most severe, overwhelming power grids.

About Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE)

It will investigate how waves in the lower atmosphere, caused by variations in the densities of different packets of air, impact the upper atmosphere.
Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) will focus will focus on colourful bands of light in Earth’s atmosphere, called airglow, to determine what combination of forces drive space weather in the upper atmosphere.
Earlier it was thought that only Sun’s constant outflow of ultraviolet (UV) light and particles, solar wind, could affect airglow region. However, now researchers have learned that Earth’s weather also have effect on it.
AWE was one of two finalists selected by NASA in 2017 as a heliophysics mission of opportunity for NASA’s Explorers program of small missions. The other finalist was the Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment (SunRISE), a constellation of cubesats that would act as a synthetic aperture radio telescope to study the formation of solar storms.

What is Heliophysics ?

It is the study of the effects of the Sun on the Solar System; it addresses problems that span a number of existing disciplines – solar and heliospheric physics, and magnetospheric and ionospheric physics for the Earth and other planets.
The discipline is closely related to the study of Space Weather, which can affect the technology on which we all depend, however heliophysics is more generalised covering all parts of the Solar System rather than just the Sun-Earth connection.

Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Mission | UPSC – IAS

Shikher GoyalSeptember 11, 2020April 17, 2019

Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Mission | UPSC – IAS

The first-ever mission to demonstrate the capability to deflect an asteroid by colliding a spacecraft with it at high speed – a technique known as a kinetic impactor. Nasa’s dart mission will test our planetary defense capabilities against asteroids.

What is kinetic impactor ? – Kinetic impaction involves sending one or more large, high-speed spacecraft into the path of an approaching near-earth object. This could deflect the asteroid into a different trajectory, steering it away from the Earth’s orbital path.

About the DART Mission | UPSC – IAS

Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) is a planned space probe that will demonstrate the kinetic effects of crashing an impactor spacecraft into an asteroid moon for planetary defense purposes. The mission is intended to test whether a spacecraft impact could successfully deflect an asteroid on a collision course with Earth.

To make its demonstration, DART will go in the direction of an asteroid named Didymos. Another asteroid, Didymoon, orbits around Didymos.
It is Didymoon who will receive the impact of DART. With only 170 meters wingspan, Didymoon is indeed small enough that we can hope to measure the results. Didymos, for its part, will be able to provide a reference point for accurately measuring orbital changes

Rationale behind the DART Mission | UPSC – IAS

The threat of asteroid impacts on Earth is statistically low, but the potential threat may be large. Recognizing this potential, in 2016, NASA formalized the Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO). The office is managed in the Planetary Science Division of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. DART will demonstrate a kinetic impact, one of several techniques NASA is exploring for planetary defense.

Objective of the DART Mission | UPSC – IAS

Earth orbit is a dangerous neighborhood. Astronomers estimate there are about 1,000 near-Earth asteroids larger than 1 kilometer – big enough to cause a global disaster.
About 90 percent of them have been identified. Far less is known about smaller asteroids. All told, about 100 tons of extraterrestrial matter falls onto Earth every day, mostly in the form of harmless dust and an occasional meteorite.

Why do we need to test the impact of an asteroid in space? Primarily, scale. An asteroid impact is not easy to replicate on Earth in a laboratory experiment. While we understand some of how craters develop, we have not observed a crater created on an asteroid. The impacts to not only the asteroid’s surface structure and geology but also the orbital mechanics are key to understanding the potential success of the kinetic impact technique.

The technology goals of NASA’s DART include:

Measure asteroid deflection to within 10%
Return high resolution images of target prior to impact
Autonomous guidance with proportional navigation to hit the center of 150 meter target body

Why Didymos? | UPSC – IAS

Observing the change in a single asteroid’s orbit is very difficult. However, a binary system like Didymos offers two points of reference: Didymos and Didymos B, thus providing more information about the effect of the DART impact on that system.

Didymos will pass close by Earth in 2022 and observations of the DART impact and its aftermath by ground- and space-based assets will provide additional data. Scientists also understand Didymos system;
It was observed as a radar target in 2003 and there are several observation opportunities before the DART impact in 2022. Didymos has been spectrally classified as an S-type asteroid, suggesting that its composition is similar to very common ordinary chondrite meteorites and that its physical properties are shared by a large fraction of objects classified as Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHA).

Mission Shakti – India’s Anti-Satellite Missile | ISRO | DRDO | UPSC – IAS

Shikher GoyalSeptember 11, 2020April 2, 2019

Mission Shakti - India's Anti-Satellite Missile | ISRO | DRDO | UPSC - IAS

About Mission Shakti| ISRO and DRDO | UPSC – IAS

On March 27, India carried out an anti satellite (ASAT) test using an interceptor missile (as a kinetic kill vehicle) to neutralise a target satellite (possibly the Microsat-R launched in January this year) in a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at an altitude of around 300 km. While India is the fourth country (after the U.S., Russia/USSR and China) to acquire this capability.

Test Conducted – from the Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Island (earlier, known as Wheeler Island) in Odisha launch complex. Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully carried out the test of an anti-satellite missile by bringing down one of its satellites in the low earth orbit 300 kilometers from the Earth’s surface.

This was a technological mission carried out by DRDO. The satellite used in the mission was one of India’s existing satellites operating in lower orbit DRDO’s (Ballistic Missile Defence interceptor was used in this mission).
The mission was fully successful and achieved all parameters as per plans. The test required an extremely high degree of precision and technical capability.
The interceptor missile was a three-stage missile with two solid rocket boosters. Tracking data from range sensors has confirmed that the mission met all its objectives.

Significance of Mission Shakti – India’s Anti-Satellite Missile

With this India joins a select group of nations, India joins an exclusive group of space faring nations consisting of USA, Russia and China. which have such capability. The test has once again proven the capability of indigenous weapon systems.

An ASAT capability is normally a part of a Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) programme. While a BMD targets an incoming ballistic missile, an ASAT interceptor targets a hostile satellite. Since a satellite moves in a precise orbit which is tracked, it gives greater time for target acquisition though satellites in higher orbits pose greater challenges for the kill vehicle.

The capability achieved through the Anti-Satellite missile test provides credible deterrence against threats to our growing space-based assets from long range missiles, and proliferation in the types and numbers of missiles.
The display of technological prowess through the test accentuates the military dimension and brings into play an overwhelming assurance of what the Ministry of External Affairs describes as a ‘credible deterrence’ against attacks on India’s growing number of space assets.
The test has demonstrated the Nation’s capability to defend its assets in outer space.
It is a vindication of the strength and robust nature of DRDO’s programmes.
India has tested and successfully demonstrated its capability to interdict and intercept a satellite in outer space based on complete indigenous technology.
India’s space programme is a critical backbone of India’s security, economic and social infrastructure.
International efforts to reinforce the safety and security of space based assets.
This is a technology where we have developed capability. Space technologies are constantly evolving. We have used the technology that is appropriate to achieve the objectives set out in this mission.

Does the test create space debris? | ISRO | DRDO | UPSC – IAS

Satellites in the Space – Since the Sputnik was launched in 1957, more than 8,000 satellites/man-made orbiting objects have been launched, of which about 5,000 remain in orbit; more than half are nonfunctional. Currently, more than 50 countries own/operate the nearly 2,000 functional satellites in orbit.

The U.S. accounts for more than 800 of these, followed by China (approximately 280), Russia (approximately 150). India has an estimated 50 satellites. Of these 2,000 satellites, over 300 are dedicated military satellites.

The Mission Shakti test was done in the lower atmosphere to ensure that there is no space debris. Whatever debris that is generated will decay and fall back onto the earth within weeks.
The debris created by the Mission Shakti test , which was undertaken at a low altitude, is expected to dissipate much faster.

Violation of International treaty

To prevent the militarisation of space so that it is preserved “as the common heritage of mankind”. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty followed by the 1979 Moon Treaty laid the foundations of the legal regime for space i.e:-

Rule of law,
Refraining from appropriating territory,
Non placement of any weapons of mass destruction in space, and
Prohibition of military activities on the moon and other celestial bodies.

India’s test (Mission Shakti) has not violated any norm as there is no international treaty prohibiting the testing or the development of ASATs.

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Mains Questions for practice | UPSC – IAS

Topic – Mission Shakti – India’s Anti-Satellite Missile

Question 1 – In the absence of a credible threat to India’s space assets from China or any other country with Anti Satellite missile capabilities, whether the ‘deterrence’ sought to be achieved by this test would lead to a more stable strategic security environment ?

Question 2 – Will the Mission Shakti test spur space weaponization ?

Question 3 – Is India entering into an arms race in outer space ?

Question 4 – What is the international law on weapons in outer space?

Param Shivay Supercomputer and its Specification | UPSC – IAS

Shikher GoyalSeptember 11, 2020March 26, 2019

Param Shivay Supercomputer India and its specifications UPSC - IAS

About Param Shivay Supercomputer

Param Shivay the first super computer designed & built under the National Supercomputing Mission by C-DAC (Center for Development of Advanced Computing) at IIT-BHU (Varanasi). Although India’s first supercomputer called PARAM 8000 was launched in 1991 was built by CDAC..

Param Shivay Supercomputer Specification

Param Shivay Supercomputer will Include the following specifications:-

833 teraflop capacity built at the cost of Rs 32.5 crore.
1 petabyte secondary storage,
Open source system,
223 processor nodes,
384 GB per node DDR4 RAM,
Parallel file system,
and have CPU and GPU.

Other Supercomputers in India

At present, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology has Pratyush,
National Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting has Mihir and
Indian Institute of Science has SERC-Cray as supercomputers in India

Significance of Param Shivay Supercomputer

The National Supercomputer Mission (NSM) is an important initiative from the Government of India. This initiative supports the vision of the government’s ‘Digital India’ and ‘Make in India‘ and it will also play an important role in keeping India in the forefront of the world’s supercomputing map. The research that takes months would be completed in hours or minutes with the help of this supercomputer.”

The problems of common man related to relevant social issues such as irrigation schemes, traffic management, health, an affordable drug will also be taken care of with this supercomputer centre, claims the institute. (IIT-BHU)

About National Supercomputing Mission

The Mission, launched in 2015, envisages empowering our 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 Mission would be implemented jointly by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) for over a period of seven years, through the C-DAC and Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.
The Mission also includes development of highly professional High Performance Computing (HPC) aware human resource for meeting challenges of development of these applications.
- o PARAM Shavak is one such machine that has been deployed to provide training.
Application areas: Climate Modelling, Computational Biology, Atomic Energy Simulations, National Security/ Defence Applications, Disaster Simulations and Management, Computational Material Science and Nanomaterials, Cyber Physical Systems, Big Data Analytics etc.

Top-500 Project in the World (List)

Started in 1993, it ranks the 500 most powerful non-distributed computers in the world.
It publishes an updated list of the supercomputers twice a year.
Currently, China dominates the list with 229 supercomputers, leading the second place (United States) by a record margin of 121.
Since June 2018, the American “Summit” is the world’s most powerful supercomputer, based on the LINPACK benchmarks.
LINPACK benchmark are a measure of a system’s floating point computer power. It measures how far a computer solves a nxn system of linear equations.
India has 4 supercomputers in the Top-500 list of the world’s top 500 supercomputers with Pratyush and Mihir being the fastest supercomputers in India.

About C-DAC

It is the premier R&D organization of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) for carrying out R&D in IT, Electronics and associated areas.

Removedebris Satellite Mission | UPSC – IAS

Shikher GoyalSeptember 11, 2020March 24, 2019

Removedebris satellite Mission | UPSC – IAS

RemoveDEBRIS was launched aboard the SpaceX Dragon refill spacecraft on 2 April 2018 as part of the CRS-14 (Commercial Resupply Service mission), arriving at the International Space Station on 4 April. Deployment of the satellite from the station’s Kibo module via robotic Canadarm-2 took place on 20 June 2018. At approximately 100 kg, RemoveDEBRIS is the largest satellite to have ever been deployed from the International Space Station.

About RemoveDebris Satellite Mission

RemoveDEBRIS is a satellite research project intending to demonstrate various space debris removal technologies. The satellite’s platform was manufactured by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) and is a variant of the SSTL X50 series.

Rather than engaging in active debris removal (ADR) of real space debris, the RemoveDEBRIS mission plan is to test the efficacy of several ADR technologies on mock targets in LEO (low Earth orbit). In order to complete its planned experiments the platform is equipped with:-

A net,
A harpoon,
A laser ranging instrument,
A dragsail, and
Two CubeSats (miniature research satellites)

Space debris encompasses both natural (meteoroid) and artificial (man-made) particles. Meteoroids are in orbit about the sun, while most artificial debris is in orbit about the Earth. Hence, the latter is more commonly referred to as orbital debris.

The term Kessler syndrome is associated with Space Debris, which is used to describe a self-sustaining cascading collision of space debris in LEO (Low Earth Orbit).

The RemoveDebris satellite platform will showcase four methods for release, capture and deorbit two space debris targets, called DebriSATs:

Net capture: It involves a net that will be deployed at the target CubeSat.
Harpoon Capture: Which will be launched at a target plate made of “representative satellite panel materials”
Vision-based navigation: Using cameras and LiDAR (light detection and ranging), the platform will send data about the debris back to the ground for processing.
De-orbiting process: As it enters Earth’s atmosphere, the spacecraft will burn up, leaving no debris behind. The mission will demonstrate key Active Debris Removal (ADR) technologies in orbit, which will have significance for future missions as well.

As part of the space junk cleanup, a new device named space harpoon that captures junk has been tested successfully. It is part of the RemoveDEBRIS satellite project, a multi-organization European effort to create and test methods of reducing space debris

Space Harpoon

The harpoon is meant for larger targets, for example full-size satellites that have malfunctioned and are drifting from their orbit. A simple mass driver could knock them toward the Earth, but capturing them and controlling descent is a more controlled technique.

About Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee

It is an international governmental forum for the worldwide coordination of activities related to the issues of man-made and natural debris in space.
It aims to exchange information on space debris research activities between member space agencies, to facilitate opportunities for cooperation in space debris research, to review the progress of ongoing cooperative activities, and to identify debris mitigation options.
ISRO is also a member of this committee.

Why Space Debris is a concern?

Increase the cost of missions- Various space agencies have to manoeuvre their space programme in light of increasing space debris thus adding to extra economic and human resource on space programme.
Debris is bound to increase– Space-scientists concern about the inexpensive, tiny satellites called CubeSats, which are going to add space junk around 15% in next 10 years.

Obstruction to various space endeavors

NASA estimates that there are about 500,000 pieces of debris larger than half an inch across in low orbit, posing a potential danger to the 780-odd satellites operating in the area.
Space junk travels at speeds up to 30,000 km an hour, which turns tiny pieces of orbital debris into deadly shrapnel that can damage satellites, space shuttles, space stations and spacecraft with humans aboard.

Role of Space Technology in Border Management | UPSC

Shikher GoyalSeptember 11, 2020March 3, 2019

Role of Space Technology in Border Management | UPSC IAS

Sealing the entire border is a significant challenge mainly due to variations in the terrain and topography like mountain ranges, sea, tropical forest or climate factors, including desert or thinly populated regions. Space technology provides one of the more effective means to overcome it.

Significance of Space Technology

Timely Information: The information received through various satellites are used by various agencies including the security establishment. For instance, weather satellites can provide timely information about topographic features and weather conditions, which are critical to military and para-military operations.
Intelligence inputs and Surveillance: through Remote sensing satellites, radar satellites and satellites with synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors which are capable of providing day and night all-terrain and all-weather inputs.
Checking infiltration: by using low earth orbit surveillance satellites, which would in turn enable the blocking of infiltrators through suitable force deployment. In this regard, the active deployment of Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) UAVs will improve India’s surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities.
Defending the invisible: Earth observation satellites provide detailed images of hot spots where border crossings peak. India uses the RISAT and Cartosat spacecraft to capture still images as well as high-resolution video of the nation’s disputed borders.
Coordination between agencies: While defence forces already use space technology, border forces depend on intelligence shared by central agencies like IB, RAW and National Technical Research Organisation. They also face poor communication issues in areas like Ladakh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Kashmir Valley. With satellite technology border security authorities can exchange information or access critical data from headquarters, border checkpoints or on the-move border patrol units.
Deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) in remote areas will be also coordinated through satellite communications. Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS)-based GPS will provide navigation facilities for operational parties in high altitude, remote and difficult borders, and Maoist-affected areas.

Military Satellites in India

GSAT 7 is the first dedicated military communication satellite built by ISRO that provide services to the Indian defence forces with the main user being the Indian Navy.
GSAT-7A is an advanced military communications satellite meant primarily for the Indian Air Force with Indian Army using 30% of capacity.
Other military satellites are -Microsat-R, Cartosat 1 and 2 series, Risat-1 and Risat 2.

India’s Space Diplomacy UPSC – IAS | NASA

Shikher GoyalSeptember 11, 2020February 21, 2019

India's Space Diplomacy UPSC - IAS NASA Gk Today The Hindu

What is Space Diplomacy ? | UPSC – IAS | NASA

Space Diplomacy is the art and practice of using space to conduct International Relations and furthering National Interest. Space has emerged as new arena for competition and cooperation for global powers to compete and establish supremacy. Space technology being highly complex gives any nation international recognition, status and projects its soft-power.

As part of its space diplomacy, India will set up five ground stations and more than 500 terminals in five neighboring countries –

Bhutan,
Nepal,
Maldives,
Bangladesh and
Sri Lanka.

The infrastructure is being created as an extension of the South Asia Satellite launched in 2017. It will help put in place applications ranging from television broadcasting to telephony and internet, disaster management and telemedicine. This move also helps India in putting our strategic assets in the neighborhood.

Indian initiatives in Space Diplomacy | UPSC – IAS | NASA

India has also allowed SAARC countries to use its regional positioning system NAVIC.
India has also collaborated with other countries, example- NISAR.
India collaborated with NASA during its Chandrayan Mission which found water on the moon.
Data from Indian satellites is frequently shared with friendly countries for astronomical research which furthers goodwill and enhances relations.
The ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) operates three international stations in Brunei, Indonesia and Mauritius.
The ISRO also established the India-Myanmar Friendship Centre for Remote Sensing in 2001
South Asia Satellite or GSAT-9 is a Geostationary Communication satellite launched by ISRO to provide various communication applications over South Asian countries. Some other applications include: Tele-medicine, Disaster Management, Banking, e-governance etc.

Concerns associated with space diplomacy|UPSC – IAS | NASA

Lack of legal agreements: Space is one of the areas where few or no International treaties exist for its peaceful use. United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs works to promote peaceful use of outer space but there are no binding agreements like NPT or CTBT to prevent weaponization of space.
Perpetuates Global inequality between Nations: Because only a few nations have space technology, it makes other underdeveloped and developing nations dependent on developed nations to make use of space.
Misuse of resources: There is also a concern that developing countries might overspend on space programs rather than addressing basic needs of its citizens. For example – North Korean has a space program too while its citizen suffers from famine and starvation.
Lack of uniform definition of Space boundary: There is no international agreement on the vertical extent of sovereign airspace.
Space-weaponization: Weaponization of space may become a new tool in the hands of nations in the future as a part of their space diplomacy. The space-weapons could be hundred times more lethal than current weapons and have a potential to wipe-out humanity.

Space as a tool in Indian foreign policy |UPSC – IAS | NASA

Furthering Neighborhood First Policy: The South Asian satellite is in line with India’s neighborhood first policy.
Enhancing Soft-Power of India: it will also enhance and project India’s soft-power and goodwill among foreign countries as we share the fruits of advancements in space technology with neighbors. India’s ISRO provides a cheaper alternative to developing nations to launch satellites compared to the American or European counterparts, thus bringing them closer to India.
Countering China: China has advanced satellite tacking center in Tibet which can not only track Indian satellites but also blind them. Ground Stations in the neighborhood will help India counter growing Chinese influence.
New Area of Cooperation: Space opens up new area of cooperation between India and other states which would further enhance bilateral relations with those countries.

Related International Bodies ( Space Diplomacy ) | UPSC – IAS | NASA

The United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS)

United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) is the forum for the development of international space law. The Committee has concluded five international treaties:-

• The “Outer Space Treaty” which regulates activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space.
• The “Rescue Agreement”: on the Rescue of Astronauts, the Return of Astronauts and the Return of Objects Launched into Outer Space.
• The “Liability Convention“: Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects.
• The “Registration Convention”: Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space.
• The “Moon Agreement”: which governs the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies. United

Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)

It serves as the secretariat for Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS).
It is also responsible for implementing the Secretary-General’s responsibilities under international space law and maintaining the United Nations Register of Objects Launched into Outer Space.

Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO)

It is an intergovernmental organization operated as a non-profit independent body with full international legal status.
It is headquartered in Beijing, China.
Members include space agencies from: Bangladesh, China, Iran, Mongolia, Pakistan, Peru and Thailand, and Turkey.
Indonesia is a signatory state and Mexico as observer state
It includes sharing data, establishing a space communication network, and tracking space objects.
India should consider forming an organization like this.

Sunspot Cycle – Help Understanding Aditya L1 Mission | UPSC IAS

Shikher GoyalSeptember 11, 2020January 15, 2019

Sunspot Cycle UPSC IAS PCS the Hindu Gk today

These two images of the Sun show how the number of sunspots varies over the course of a sunspot cycle. The image on the left, with many sunspots, was taken near solar max in March 2001. The right hand image, in which no spots are evident, was taken near solar min in January 2005.
Images courtesy SOHO (NASA/ESA).

Recently, scientists from Indian Institute of Science Education and Research have developed a way of predicting the intensity of activity in the next solar cycle (from 2020 to 2031).

What is Sunspot Cycle?

The amount of magnetic flux that rises up to the Sun’s surface varies with time in a cycle called the solar cycle. This cycle lasts 11 years on average. This cycle is referred to as the sunspot cycle.
They are darker, magnetically strong, cooler areas on the surface of the sun in a region called the photosphere.

What is the Significance of this ?

It will help in understanding of the long-term variations of the Sun and its impact on earth climate which is one of the objectives of India’s first solar probe – ‘Aditya L1 Mission’.
The forecast will be also useful for scientific operational planning of the Aditya mission

How does Sunspot Cycle affect the Earth?

An important reason to understand sunspots is that they affect space weather.
During extreme events, space weather can affect electronics-driven satellite controls, communications systems, air traffic over polar routes and even power grids.
Some believe that they are correlated with climate on earth. For instance, during past periods of low sunspot activity, some parts of Europe and North America experienced lower-than-average temperatures.

BullSequana XH200 – National Supercomputing Mission | UPSC IAS

Shikher GoyalSeptember 11, 2020January 15, 2019

National Supercomputing Mission The Hindu PIB Gk today UPPSC SSC

France-based company Atos signed agreement with Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) for designing, building and installing Bull Sequana – the supercomputer in India.

About BullSequana

Atos will supply Bull Sequana XH200 supercomputer to India to create a network of over 70 high-performance supercomputing facilities with a cumulative computing power of more than 10 petaflops, for various academic and research institutions across India.
BullSequana will be set up in India under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM).

Challenges to Supercomputing in India:

Limited funding: Limited investments and delayed release of funds have held India back. Even after launching NSM, only 10 percent of its total budget has been released at the end of three years.
Hardware development: India’s stronghold is in software development, it has to depend on imports to procure the hardware components required for building supercomputers. Cutting edge technology in hardware components is difficult to procure as supercomputing is a niche field. Even a large part of Bull Sequana will only be assembled in India.
Brain Drain: Large Multinational Corporations (like Google) have also entered the supercomputing field. Competing with such MNCs to retain talent for developing and maintaining supercomputers proves difficult for Government.
Actual chip design and manufacturing is difficult to achieve (due to many factors like high initial investment needed, limited availability of rare earth metals).
However, India has software skills and personnel base which can be effectively leveraged to propel innovation on the software components of supercomputer technology. Also, Exascale system, which is now used in supercomputers, may reach its speed barrier soon. Thus, India could focus its research on new approaches like Quantum Computing and Optical Computing.

Some facts about supercomputing in the World

China is global leader in supercomputing with more than 225 out of top 500 supercomputers in world.
Currently India’s fastest and 39th fastest supercomputer in the world, Pratyush is installed in Pune’s Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology. It is used for simulating and predicting ocean and atmospheric systems.
India has become the only country worldwide to have an Ensemble Prediction System (EPS), running weather models at a 12-km resolution due to Pratyush.

What is C-DAC ?

C-DAC was setup in 1988 under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, for indigenous development of Supercomputers.
C-DAC developed India’s first supercomputer – Param 8000.
It was established after denial of import of Cray Supercomputer (dual use technology which could be used for nuclear weapon simulation), due to arms embargo.

About National Supercomputing Mission – National Supercomputing Mission was launched in 2015 with following objectives:

To make India one of the world leaders in Supercomputing capability.
To empower our scientists and researchers with state-of-the-art supercomputing facilities.
To minimize redundancies and duplication of efforts, and optimize investments in supercomputing
To attain global competitiveness and ensure self-reliance in supercomputing technology
It is spearheaded by Department of S&T and Department of Electronics and IT.

Under NSM, 70 supercomputers will be installed in India. These machines will be part of the National Supercomputing grid over the National Knowledge Network, aimed at establishing a strong network for secured & reliable connectivity between institutions.

National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems | UPSC – IAS

Shikher GoyalSeptember 11, 2020January 15, 2019

National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems UPSC - IAS The Hindu science and technology ias s&t

About National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (CSP)

It is a comprehensive mission which would address technology development, application development, human resource development, skill enhancement, entrepreneurship and start-up development in Cyber-Physical Systems and associated technologies.

Implementation | UPSC – IAS | PIB

It aims at establishment of 15 numbers of Technology Innovation Hubs, six numbers of Application Innovation Hubs and four numbers of Technology Translation Research Parks (TTRP).
These Hubs & TTRPs will connect to Academics, Industry, Central Ministries and State Government in developing solutions at reputed academic, R&D and other organizations across the country in a hub and spoke model.
They mainly focus on four areas:
- Technology Development,
- HRD & Skill Development,
- Innovation,
- Entrepreneurship & Start-ups Ecosystem Development and International Collaborations.

Significance of Mission | UPSC – IAS | PIB

It will support other missions of the government, provide industrial and economic competitiveness.
It would act as an engine of growth that would benefit national initiatives in health, education, energy, environment, agriculture, strategic cum security, and industrial sectors, Industry 4.0, SMART Cities, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) etc.
It will bring a paradigm shift in entire skill sets requirement and job opportunities.
It is aimed to give impetus to advanced research in Cyber-Physical Systems , technology development and higher education in science, technology and engineering disciplines, and place India at par with other advanced countries and derive several direct and indirect benefits.

Recently cabinet approved the launching of National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS) which is to be implemented by Department of Science &Technology for a period of five years.

What is Cyber-physical system (CPS) ? | UPSC – IAS | PIB

Cyber-Physical Systems is an interdisciplinary field that deals with the deployment of computer-based systems that do things in the physical world. It integrates sensing, computation, control and networking into physical objects and infrastructure, connecting them to the Internet and to each other.
Examples of cyber physical systems are Smart Grid Networks, Smart Transportation System, Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure, Utility Service Infrastructure for Smart Cities, etc.

Cyber-physical system and its associated technologies, like:-

Artificial Intelligence (Al),
Internet of Things (loT),
Machine Learning (ML),
Deep Learning (DP),
Big Data Analytics,
Robotics,
Quantum Computing,
Quantum Communication,
Quantum encryption (Quantum Key Distribution),
Data Science & Predictive analytics,
Cyber Security for physical infrastructure and

**Other infrastructure plays a transformative role in almost every field of human endeavor in all sectors.

Advantages of Cyber-physical system technologies | UPSC – IAS | PIB

Enhanced security capabilities: It can play role in expediting design and delivery of trustworthy, adaptable and affordable systems, operations in cyberspace and autonomous systems to augment security operations.
Disaster Management: Cyber-Physical Systems technologies including next generation public safety communications, sensor networks, and response robotics can dramatically increase the situational awareness of emergency responders and enable optimized response through all phases of disaster events.
Energy: They are essential for the creation of energy infrastructure, optimization and management of resources and facilities and allowing consumers to control and manage their energy consumption patterns like smart meters.
Healthcare: Cyber-Physical Systems correct-by-construction design methodologies are needed to design cost-effective, easy-to-certify, and safe products.
Transportation: They can (potentially) eliminate accidents caused by human error, Congestion control, traffic-based grid jams.
Agriculture: They will play a key role in helping to increase efficiency throughout the value chain, improving environmental footprint and creating opportunities for a skilled and semi-skilled workforce.

Challenges in Cyber-physical system (CPS) | UPSC – IAS | PIB

Privacy issues: Cyber-Physical Systems technologies that enhance privacy and enable the appropriate use of sensitive and personal information while protecting personal privacy are needed.
Computational Abstractions: Physical properties such as laws of physics and chemistry, safety, resources, real time power constrained etc. must be captured by programming abstractions.
Collaborations, Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Addressing the R&D gaps will require close collaborations between industry, R&D systems/Academics/ University and Government.
Data related challenges: It allows flexible control and resource use; provides conduits for information leakage; prone to mis-configurations and deliberate attacks by outsiders and insiders.
Infrastructural bottlenecks: This system requires a Sensor and mobile networks hence essential requirement to increase system autonomy in practice requires self-organization of mobile and Adhoc Cyber-Physical Systems networks.
Human Interaction: Human interaction with Cyber-Physical Systems often encounter a critical challenge when interpreting the human-machine behavior and designing appropriate models that consider the current situational measurements and environmental changes which are crucial in the decision-making processes, particularly in systems such as air traffic systems and military systems.
Technical barrier: One of the biggest problems that such integrations face is the lack of consistent language and terminology that need to exist to describe cyber-physical interactions.
Consistency: There are challenges in maintaining the same required level of accuracy, reliability, and performance of all system parts.

Cyber physical system (CPS) vs Internet of things (IoT)

Cyber Physical system (CPS)

They are physical and engineered systems whose operations are monitored, coordinated, controlled and integrated by a computing and communication core.
CPS engineering has a strong emphasis on the relationship between computation and the physical world.
They are not necessarily connected with internet.
Ex: It may be individual system which integrates the physical and cyber technology like
smart electricity meters.

Internet of things (IoT)

It is the network of devices such as vehicles, and home appliances that contain electronics, software, actuators, and connectivity which allows these things to connect, interact and exchange data.
IoT has a strong emphasis on uniquely identifiable and internet-connected
devices and embedded systems.
They are connected to internet.
The Internet of Things (IoT) forms a foundation for this cyber- physical systems revolution.
Ex: Smart Home in which all appliances are connected to each other through internet like TV is connected to mobile, lights are connected to mobile etc.

Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite | UPSC – IAS | Pib and ISRO

Shikher GoyalSeptember 11, 2020January 6, 2019

Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite UPSC IAS Pib and ISRO

Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite | UPSC – IAS | ISRO

ISRO’s PSLV C43 launched India’s first Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite (HysIS) along with 30 foreign satellites from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite (Hysis) is an earth observation satellite built around ISRO’s Mini Satellite-2 (IMS-2) bus.

About the Hyperspectral Imaging Technology | UPSC – IAS

It combines the power of digital imaging and spectroscopy to attain both spatial and spectral information from an object.
This result can be then used to identify, measure and locate different materials and their chemical and physical properties. Every pixel in the image contains a continuous spectrum (in radiance or reflectance) and can be used to characterize the objects in the scene with great precision and detail.
Hyperspectral images provide much more detailed information about the scene by dividing the spectrum into many more bands than a normal color camera, which only acquires three different spectral channels corresponding to the visual primary colors red, green and blue.
It was first tried by ISRO in an experimental satellite in May 2008 and later on Chandrayaan-1 mission for mapping lunar mineral resources, this is the first time a full-fledged hyperspectral imaging satellite (Hysis) has been launched.

Application of Hyperspectral Remote Sensing Isro | UPSC – IAS

Hyperspectral remote sensing is used for a range of applications like agriculture, forestry, soil survey, geology, coastal zones, inland water studies, environmental studies, detection of pollution from industries and the military for surveillance or anti-terror operations.
Other utilities include online industrial monitoring/sorting/classification to laboratory measurements, clinical instruments for medical diagnostic and airborne and satellite based remote sensing tools.

Challenges: This technology is accompanied with high cost and complexity. There is a need for fast processing of data (fast computers), sensitive detectors and large data storage capacities for hyperspectral imaging data.

Key – Terms | related to Hyperspectral imaging satellite (Hysis) (UPSC – IAS)

Polar Sun-Synchronous orbit

It is a nearly polar orbit around a planet, in which the satellite passes over any given point of the planet’s surface at the same local mean solar time.

Geosynchronous orbit

It is an orbit around Earth of a satellite with an orbital period that matches Earth’s rotation on its axis, which takes one sidereal day.

Geostationary orbit

It is a circular geosynchronous orbit 35,786 km (22,236 mi) above Earth’s equator and following the direction of Earth’s rotation.

What is Spectral Imaging ? (Isro)

It is imaging that uses multiple bands across the electromagnetic spectrum like using infrared, the visible spectrum, the ultraviolet, x-rays, or some combination of the above.
hyperspectral imaging vs multi spectral imaging
The main difference between multispectral and hyperspectral is the number of bands and how narrow the bands are.
Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) uses continuous and contiguous ranges of wavelengths (e.g. 400 – 1100 nm in steps of 0.1 nm) whilst multispectral imaging (MSI) uses a subset of targeted wavelengths at chosen locations (e.g. 400 – 1100 nm in steps of 20 nm).
Hyperspectral imagery consists of much narrower bands (10-20 nm). A hyperspectral image could have hundreds or thousands of bands. In general, it comes from an imaging spectrometer.

Keywords – Isro, The Hindu, Pib, UPSC – IAS, hysis isro