Hindu Sci & Tech

7/27/2019 Hindu Sci & Tech

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Prologue

New Syllabus: General studies Mains Paper I contains followingtopics on World History

History of the world will include events from 18th century such asindustrial revolution, world wars, redrawal of national boundaries,colonization, decolonization, political philosophies like communism,capitalism, socialism etc.- their forms and effect on the society.

You already have Younger /New NCERTs, if not click on following:

1. India and the Contemporary World I (Class 9)

2. India and the Contemporary World II (Class 10)3. Themes in World History (class 11)

But in terms of depth / coverage /analysis of World History, the older NCERTs were better. Although for someone living in a small town /remote area, it’s impossible to find them. So, I’m uploadingthe summaries one by one for the benefit of such aspirants.

We start with Class 10 (Old NCERT), “Story of civilization volume II”,

Chapter 9, “Imperialism and Colonialism.”

That chapter revolves around subtopics:

1. Meaning of Imperialism2. Conditions that helped growth of Imperialism

3. Conquest of Asia, Africa, Americas and the Pacific.

4. Effects of Imperialism.

This first article deals with first two topics (Meaning and conditions).Future articles will cover the rest. Keep in mind,

1. This is mere base / foundation / starting point to supplementyour readings from IGNOU BA, MA etc.

2. These are “summaries” (and not verbatim paragraphs). I’vetaken liberty to include external sources to elaborate theexplanations.

What is imperialism?

http://www.neerajagarwal.info/ncert-books-for-class-9-India-and-Contemporary-World-1.zip

http://www.neerajagarwal.info/ncert-books-for-class-10-India-and-the-Contemporary-World-2-Social-Science.zip

http://www.neerajagarwal.info/ncert-books-for-class-11-Themes-in-World-History.zip

http://www.egyankosh.ac.in/jspui/handle/123456789/2193


http://www.neerajagarwal.info/ncert-books-for-class-10-India-and-the-Contemporary-World-2-Social-Science.zip

http://www.neerajagarwal.info/ncert-books-for-class-11-Themes-in-World-History.zip



http://www.neerajagarwal.info/ncert-books-for-class-9-India-and-Contemporary-World-1.zip



• The term imperialism means the practice of extending thepower, control or rule by a country over the political andeconomic life of the areas outside its own borders.

• Imperialism refers to the process of capitalist development,

which leads the capitalist countries to conquer and dominatepre-capitalist countries of the world.

• The imperialist country or Metropolis (literal meaning mother country), subordinates another country/ colony for its owneconomic and political interests.

• This may be done through military or other means andparticularly through colonialism.

What is colonialism?

• Colonialism means the practice of acquiring colonies byconquest (or other means) and making them dependent.

• The country which is subjugated by a metropolitan capitalistcountry is described as a colony, and what happens in a colonyis colonialism.

• In other words, Colonialism =the total system of imperialistdomination of a pre-capitalist country.

• Occupation / direct rule over a country by another country=notalways an essential feature of imperialism

• The essential feature= exploitation, with or without directpolitical control.

• Until recent years, most countries of Asia Africa and other partsof the world, where under the control of one or another imperialist country.

Imperialism Colonialism

Imperialism refers, more broadly, tocontrol or influence that is exercisedeither formally or informally, directly or indirectly, politically or economically

Colonialism usually impliesformal political control,involving territorial annexationand loss of sovereignty.

Imperialism is a specifically Europeanphenomenon colonialism is the systemprevalent in the colonies.



When we study imperialism weexamine the impact of empire on themetropolis (home country)

Here we study impact of empireon the colony.

What is Neocolonialism?

• In the present day world, almost all countries are politicallyindependent, however the imperialist control has not come to anend.

• Neocolonialism is the practice of (mainly economic) exploitationand domination of independent but economically backwardcountries, by the powerful countries.

What is New Imperialism?During the initial period of Industrial Revolution, the pursuit of colonieshad slowed down. Why?

• because Between 1775 and 1875, Europeans lost more territorythan they acquired in North America and Latin America, becauseof successful revolution.

• Spanish colonial rule from Mexico to Argentina was overturned.

• There was a widespread feeling in Europe that colonies weremore trouble than they were worth and the sooner or later colonies would revolt and fight for independence.

• Benjamin Disraeli said “These wretched colonies will all beindependent in a few years and are millstones around our necks.”

However, the pursuits and rivalries re-emerged in the last quarter of the 19th century.

• This new face of imperialism (1875-1914) is often described asthe new imperialism.

• New imperialism resulted because of the economic system thathad developed as a result of Industrial Revolution.

• During this phase a few industrialized capitalist countriesestablished their Political and economic control and dominationover the rest of the world.



• The form of domination and control included direct colonial rule,sphere of influence and various types of commercial andeconomic agreements.

Players in New Imperialism:

• New imperialist countries emerged viz. Germany, Italy, Belgium,USA and Japan. While,

• Britain and France continued to be powerful and expand.

• Power of Spain and Portugal declined.

ok so far we know the meaning of Imperialism. But why did it happen?What were the

Conditions/factors that helped the rise of Imperialism

Industrial Revolution and Capitalism

Industrial Revolution created the capitalist system of production. Thecapitalist entrepreneurs used two ways to make big profits:

Method to increase

profit? =>

Consequences?

1. minimum wagesto workers

• low wages = low purchasing power of themajority of the domestic population= lowdemand of products in home country.

1. More and moreproduction

• the production of goods was far in excessof the demand at home

Result?=> Because of the “underconsumption” in domestic market,the capitalist nations had to find new markets and buyers to sell their products.

Marxists: Capitalism = Imperialism

Lenin argued that Imperialism the Highest Stage of Capitalism, andit’d lead to the demise of Capitalism.

In Capitalist system, wealth is concentrated in fewer and fewer hands,

the possibility for investment at home is exhausted, and capitalists





So nations acted accordingly. They setup “trading posts” which wouldlater become “forts”, arm twisted local rulers to gain exclusive marketfor their products and so on. All this was done and justified as theobjectives of mercantilism were fulfilled.

Supply of raw material

As the industries grew in Europe, they needed more and more rawmaterial. For example,

1. Cotton= India and Egypt2. rubber= Congo and East Indies

• They also needed =food grains, tea, coffee, Indigo, tobacco,

sugar, coal, iron, tin, gold, copper and later oil.

Result?=>

• Imperialists forced the colonies to cultivate only one or two cropswhich were needed as raw material for their own industries (e.g.indigo in India, Sugar in Cuba.)

• Smuggling: sometimes, goods produced in one country weresold to another country to pay for the goods from that country.

e.g. The English promoted cultivation of opium in India, thensmuggled into China to pay for the goods they had bought fromChina.

Investment

Towards the end of 19th century, Western countries began to lookupon Asia and Africa is good places to invest their capital. But Why?

• Both Asia and Africa had abundant supply of raw material and

cheap labour= good profit.• As we saw under “Demand” topic, low wages + excessive

production= underconsumption. Therefore, if capital wasinvested in Europe, it would only fetch 3 to 4% profit, because of little purchasing power of local people.

• But if the same amount was invested in Asia or Africa, you couldearn as high as 20% profit.



• Besides, Towards the end of 19th century, financial institutionssuch as banks expanded their influence and power, thus makingFDI(!) easier than earlier.

Result?=>The export of capital for investment in other countriesbegan to become more important in the export of goods.

Infrastructure investment

• The Western powers invested in their colonies to promoteindustries that could produce goods for export e.g. mining andplantation.

• They also invested to strengthen control over colony’s economye.g. Railways, postal network.

• Result?=> political domination became necessary.

Why Political domination necessary?

As the foreign powers invested more and more money in businessand infrastructure in Asia, Africa and Americas, their risk increased:

• what if the weak local prince, Nawab or tribes chief could notcontain an uprising or rebellion?

• What if there was a change in the government?

Such things could lead to reduction in profit or even loss of wholeinvestment.

For the same reasons, French investors in Morocco (N.Africa),appealed to their home government in France, to annex it. ThusMorocco became “French Morocco”.

Slave trade

• The Spanish rule in Americas had resulted large-scaleextermination of original inhabitants/Native-Americans. Because

o they were forced to work in gold/silver mines and weremassacred, if resisted.

o Foreigners brought new diseases, and Native Americanshad no immunity against them.

• Later, the Europeans introduced plantation system in North

America, West Indies and Brazil.



• for the cultivation of sugarcane, cotton and tobacco (to supply asraw material to home industries).

• These plantations needed lot of laborers.

• Hence it became necessary to establish trading posts in thecoastal areas of Africa to keep steady supply of African slaves.

• later, Britain and other powers used “abolition of slavery” as anexcuse to wage war against African chiefs and kings, but their hidden aim was to expand territorial possession. (For timber,ivory, minerals and oil).

Transport and communication

• The Industrial Revolution brought drastic changes in transportand communication.

• Steamship could carry goods much faster than the old sailingvessels.

• The imperialist countries built railroads and inland waterways inthe conquered areas, with the help of cheap local labor.

• Thus could get raw material out of the interiors and send their manufactured products, faster than ever before.

• Thus every area of the world was brought within easy reach of the industrialized countries.

Rise of extreme nationalism

• the later part of 19th century was a period of intense nationalism• Germany and Italy had just succeeded in becoming unified

nations.

• Nationalism in the late 19th century came to be associated withchauvinism.

• Nationalist intellectuals in all European powers argued thatnational greatness meant seizing colonial territory.

• Once the scramble for colonies began, failure to enter the racewas perceived as a sign of weakness, totally unacceptable to anaspiring great power.

• many nations developed myth of their superiority over other people



• Each country felt that she too must have colonies to increaseher own prestige and power

• imperialism became the fashion of the age.

• Writers and speakers in England, France and Germanypromoted the idea of imperialism and took great pride in callingtheir territories as “empires”

• Germany’s expansion under Hitler was also based on the belief that German national culture was inherently superior thanothers.

• by the end of the 19th century colonialism like nationalismdeveloped into a mass cult.

• Colonies were symbols of national greatness and nationalists of every economic class were proud of them.

• Soviet union’s policy to ‘liberate’ the peoples of Eastern Europeand the Third World, and USA’s “protecting Freedom” = alsoexamples of imperialism driven by moral and ideologicalconcerns.

Mind diversion• Colonies helped to ensure social peace and prevented socialist

revolution at home by taking the minds of the working class off their misery.

• He who would avoid civil war must be an imperialist . (CecilRhodes).

Fear and security

• Initially, colonies were acquired to get cheap raw material andmarket to sell finished products.

• But then Imperialist countries started acquiring places for their military or strategic importance also.

• For example, England established naval bases and coalingstations at Port Said, Aden, Hong Kong, Singapore and Cyprus

– not to protect England but to protect its conquered lands andtrade routes to India from her rival nations.

•

The rival nations installed similar bases elsewhere to protecttheir colonies and trade routes from England.



• Thus, if you acquired one colony, you had to acquire other colonies to protect the first colony => leading to a chain reactionand race for grabbing more and more colonies. (And ultimatelyfirst World war).

Civilizing mission

Many European writers and thinkers used to blatantly support and justify Imperilism and colonization.

RudyardKipling

EnglandWrote a poem titled “White man’s burden”. Itgives a rhetorical command to white men tocolonize and rule people of other nations.

JulesFerry

FranceSuperior races have the duty of civilizing theinferior races.

• To many Europeans and Americans, the prospect of savingsouls seemed as important as the prospect of expandingprestige and profit.

• They considered it was their Christian and moral responsibility toeducated ignorant peoples into higher culture and convert themto Christianity.

• Hence for them, imperialism = a noble task, a way of bringingcivilization to do backward people of the world.

Christian Missionaries

• Usually they went alone into an unknown areas in a spirit of dutyand religion.

• But often they were followed by profiteering traders and soldiers.

• Then wars took place to protect the missionaries.

• All these seemed quite natural to most Western people, becausethey considered it their nation’s destiny to civilize andChristianize the people of Asia and Africa

• US President McKinley himself justified the annexation of Philippines in following words:



“ We must help our little brown brothers….there was nothing left to dobut to take them all, and to educate the Filipinos and uplift and civilisethem as our fellow men for whom Christ also died.”

Adventurers and explorers• They had prominent role in Europe’s taking over of Africa.• They first went into unknown or little-known territories and

brought back the reports that often indicated opportunities for trade and development.

• On the basis of such reports, a trading post would be first setup.

• Gradually, the explorer’s home government would take over theprotection of the entire area around the trading Post.

• Then this imperial home government would proceed to claim theentire territory as her own colony.

Favorable conditions in Asia and Africa

Biggest factor was lack of industrialization.

Military strength

• Asian and African state did not have the economic

might of imperialist powers- to fight a long war.• They fought with axes, bows and outdated firearms (if

any), while Europeans had new rifles and a “maxim-gun” (a fast firing machine gun) + the naval artillery topound the coastal cities of their enemies. while Indianand Arab ships didn’t have guns.

• The only exceptions, where Europeans could notsucceed in war = Afghanistan and Ethiopia.

Internalrivalries

• Politically, Asian and African states were not united.

• There were Conflicts between states and withinstates, the ruler vs. chiefs, warlords, merchants etc.

• Hence they often sought the support of Europeansagainst their rivals.

NoEmpires

• In the ancient and mediaeval times, powerful empires

had existed in Asia and Africa.



• But during 19th century their governments becamevery weak. They still followed the old ways of governing, even though they had outlived their usefulness.

• The loyalty of people still rested in local princes or tribal chieftains. They didn’t have the strong feelingsfor “nation-state”, like the Europeans.

NoMachines

• The Westerners admired and desired the fine qualitygoods made by Asian and African craftsmen.

• But these craftsmen relied entirely on handmade

tools= small scale production, could not compete withfactory made products.

Mock Questions

12 marks

1. Explain imperialism and new-imperialism.2. Explain colonialism and neo-colonialism.

3. Explain the role of capitalism and industrial revolution in theemergence of Imperialism.

4. How did nationalism help to make imperialism popular inEurope?

5. “The dominant directive motive behind imperialism was thedemand for markets and for profitable investment.” Comment

6. “All great nations in the fullness of their strength have desired to

set their mark upon barbarian land and those who fail toparticipate in this rivalry will play a pitiable role in time to come.”Comment

7. Write a note on the role of writers, missionaries and explorer inthe spread of colonization.

25 marks

1. Write a note on the economic angle of Imperialism.

2. List the conditions that helped growth of Imperialism andcolonialism.



3. Why were Asian and African countries so easily dominated byWestern Powers?

Space Related

Saturn opposition

• Two celestial bodies (in this case the sun and Saturn) are said tobe in ‘opposition’ when they are on opposite sides of the skywhen viewed from Earth.

• On April 28 2013, Earth was exactly in between the sun andSaturn.

• This day is when Saturn is the closest to Earth in the whole year.

• Saturn was only about ~130 crore km away from Earth. Thefarthest distance between Saturn and Earth =165 crore km.

• Saturn can be seen with the naked eye as a bright non-twinklingstar.

• But if we use a simple telescope we can observe its rings andperhaps even some of its satellites.

Extra-galactic Background Light (EBL)

• EBL is all the electromagnetic energy ever in the universe.• These include energy in the visible, radio, ultraviolet, etc.

wavelengths.

• EBL are mostly produced by stars and galaxies.

• If we can know the distribution of Extra-Galactic backgroundlight, it would give us important clues about how mass isdistributed and how galaxies have formed and evolved + theshape of the early universe.

• Problem: Since Earth is inside a bright Solar System and abright galaxy, it is extremely difficult to distinguish and detect thefaint EBL.



• Furthermore, it is impossible to send an instrument so far way inthe space, to separately detect the EBL.

• Now researchers are working on a different solution =Instead of

directly measuring the EBL, they have measured how much lightfrom other sources is blocked by the EBL.

Microgravity and human survival

• gravity is necessary for all life forms, they undergo variousphysiological changes when exposed to microgravity.

• Since man wants to colonise moon and other planets in future,scientists have been trying to understand the effect of microgravity or zero gravity from organism to molecular levels

• This can help developing strategies to survive in hostileenvironments.

• microgravity is bad for survival of organisms: because it causesosteoporosis, atrophy of muscles, immune dysfunction, sleepdisturbances, cardiovascular de-conditioning, decreases rate of photosynthesis etc.

• CSIR are studying effects of simulated microgravity on E. coli.

Herschel retired

• Europe’s Herschel space observatory — the largest infraredtelescope ever launched

• served for ~4 years.

• It has stopped working after exhausting its supply of liquidhelium coolant

GSLV MK3



Evolution of Launch Vehicles

• Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle.• heaviest satellite launch vehicle of IRSO

• will be launched in 2014

• Can carry satellites weighing between four and five tonnes.

• Can put a four tonne satellite in orbit

• will help Antrix Corporation, ISRO’s commercial arm, to offer cheapest space launches in the niche market.

• This will also be a first time that ISRO scientists would undertakean experimental flight of a launch vehicle which would fall intothe sea after reaching a height of 120 km

Cartosat-3• remote sensing satellite,• capable of taking images of the earth with a resolution of 0.25

metres.

• Currently, GeoEye-1 produces the highest resolution earthimages taken by a commercial satellite.

Antares Rocket



• Sputnik: world’s first artificial satellite, and sent Yuri Gagarin ona journey that made him the first human to venture into space.

• February 1969, five months before Apollo 11

•

U.S. President John F. Kennedy responded by vowing to landmen on the Moon by the end of the 1960s.

• 1969: Apollo 11 was launched, using Saturn V rockets.

• To continue in this space race, USSR needed a powerful rocketlike America’s Saturn V (used in Apollo mission). So theydeveloped N1 rocket.

• Now after 4 decades, American too are using an improvedversion of Russian N1 Rocket. (=

• Orbital Sciences Corporation’s Antares rocket)

• The Antares is intended to take cargo to the International SpaceStation on commercial terms. (recall a similar topic: Dragoncapsule)

by the way, lot of topics related to Space-tech already covered in anearlier article. Click me

Electronics related

Graphene and Harddisk

• Graphene= one-atom thick lattice of graphite• It is a synthetic material with diverse applications ranging from

solar cells to diagnostics.

• Researchers have demonstrated how graphene could facilitatethe formation of a magnetic field under certain conditions.

• application: graphene’s could be used in computers, becausehard drives store information using magnetic fields.

A Boy and His Atom

• It is the tiniest stop-motion movie ever.• made by IBM.

• It is a one-minute video of individual carbon monoxide

molecules repeatedly rearranged to show a boy dancing,throwing a ball and bouncing on a trampoline.

http://mrunal.org/2013/04/space-tech-current-affairs-compilation-2012-13-for-ssc-cgl-upsc-csat.html

http://mrunal.org/2013/04/space-tech-current-affairs-compilation-2012-13-for-ssc-cgl-upsc-csat.html



Quantum computer

• Classical computers use electronic devices called transistors toperform mathematical operations with input electric signals.

• Because of transistors’ technical limitations, classical computerstake exponential amounts of time to solve more complexproblems.

• quantum computer uses the exotic properties of extremely tinyparticles like electrons to perform operations much faster than aclassical computer would.

• femtosecond is a millionth of a billionth of a second)

Hydrogen sensor for breedor reactors• In a breeder reactor, coolant is required for extracting heat from

the extremely hot core (where nuclear fission takes place).• Fast breeder nuclear reactors use of liquid sodium (and not

water) as a coolant.

• because liquid sodium has excellent heat transfer propertiescompared with water.

• However, there is a possibility of tube failure.

• Steam, which is at a higher pressure than sodium, tends to leakinto the coolant when the tube develops a leak.

• On reaction with sodium, hydrogen and sodium hydroxide areformed. Sodium hydroxide, which is a caustic material, further aggravates the problem.

• But now Indian scientists have developed an electrochemicalhydrogen meter (being tested in Kalpakkam, near Chennai.)

Increasing microprocessor speed

• Microprocessor is a small programmable device comprised of smaller devices called transistors

• Transistors are circuits that switch electric signals from ‘on’ to‘off’ and vice versa. They are based on CMOS technology(complementary metal-oxide semiconductor).



• Now researchers are putting a special layer of germanium over silicon in those microprocessors to increase the computingspeed.

Li-ion battery • Lithium ion batteries• Rechargeable.

• Li-ion battery contains several cells. Each cell consists of acathode, an anode and a separator between the two, electrolyteand current collectors.

• The cell generates power due to the motion of Li-ions.

• Li-ion batteries are reliable and their failure rate is 1 in 10 millioncells.

• they’re used in airplanes to start jet engines for two reasons:

o have high energy density

o Occupies less space than Ni-CD batteries to provide sameamount of energy.

•

Li-ion battery is in the news because of two incidents in theBoeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, involving smoke and fire.

Misc

Glass fibre reinforced gypsum (GFRG) panels

• During an earthquake or strong wind, buildings tend to sway andthe walls are subjected to enormous loads exerted laterally.

• GFRG panels reinforced with concrete are capable of resisting

lateral loads caused by earthquakes.• IIT Madras Researchers have developed a technology to make

GFRG panels to be also used as floor/roof, thus eliminating theuse of RCC slabs + Since the panels have a smooth finish, theneed to plaster them (as in the case of brick walls) does notarise. = less cement used= cost reduced.

• This also makes rapid construction of houses possible, becausepanels are prefabricated and cut to desired sizes based on room

sizes with openings for doors and windows.



Blight Fungal infestation in potato

Black widow spider

• Female black widow spider consumes a potential

mate.

• But that also happens in some types of malespider. for example Male spiders of the Micariasociabilis species are more likely to eat thefemales than be eaten.

Black holes

• are exotic space phenomena whose gravitationpulls are so strong that not even light canescape.

• They are formed when heavy stars exhaust alltheir hydrogen and collapse under their ownweight.

Seabirds

• closely related to the penguin, scientistsconfirmed that a wing that is good for flyingcannot also be good for diving and swimming.Penguin’s underwater prowess may have cost it

its flying ability.

Fruit• Any fruit crop is perennial in nature and takes a

minimum of three years after planting to bear thefirst fruits.

Salamander

• amphibian animal salamander is able tocompletely repair its eye parts by itself. Is such amechanism lying dormant in the human eye?

American research want to find out.

CERN

• announced that it had spotted a Higgs boson-likeparticle on July 4, 2012, their flagship LargeHadron Collider (LHC),

• has continued running experiments to gather more data on the elusive particle.

unprocessedraw horse

gram

• possess anti-hyperglycemic properties (antidiabetes)

• and also have qualities to reduce insulin



resistance.

Sun’s heartbeat

• sun’s magnetic field, dubbed its “heartbeat,”evolves in a cycle,

• Most prominent activity takes place every elevenyears, which coincides with the sunspotappearances.

Mock Questions

MCQs for CSAT Preliminary Exam

1. Correct Statement about Polymetalic nodules

a. Can occur only below 6000 meters.b. Indian Ocean doesn’t contain polymetalic Nodues in its

sea bed.

c. Both

d. None

2. Correct Statements

a. H7N9 is a swine flu virus.b. Influenza viruses are inactivated by normal temperatures

used for cooking.

c. Both

d. None

3. correct statements

a. Egg cell is an undifferentiated cell

b. Sperm cell is a differentiated cell

c. Both

d. None

4. 3Nethra is a

a. UAV designed by DRDO

b. Device to carry out LASIK surgery



c. Device to carry out cataract surgery using Laser.

d. None of above

5. E-cigarette

a. Contains tobacco in a very fine power form.

b. Delivers nicotine via aerosol mist.

c. Both correct

d. None correct

6. Correct Statement about Sebum

a. Sebum glands are present on all areas of bodyb. Sebum production decreases during adolescence,

pregnancy and menopause.

c. One of the functions of Sebum is to dehydrate the skin.

d. None of above

7. Correct Statements about Caffeine

a. Tea contains Tannin but Not Caffeine

b. Caffeine protects the plant from herbivores

c. Both

d. None


a. India is self-reliant in the production of Potash fertilizers

b. Citrus greening is a method of improving yield incommercial plantations of oranges.

c. Both

d. None

9. Silage is a

a. biofertilizer

b. biopesticide



c. Animal fodder

d. Weed

10. Correct Statements about Silage

a. It contains Low Moisture content.

b. It can be fed to sheep and goats but not to cattle.

c. It is made up from grass, maize, sorghum or other cerealsusing the entire green plant.

d. None of Above

11. systematic rice intensification method involves

a. Planting seedlings in narrow spacing, to improve per hectre yield.

b. Intensive use of fertilizer and pesticides

c. Taking measures to make the soil anoxic.

d. None of Above

12. High Density planting is a technique primarily meant for

a. cotton

b. wheat

c. rice

d. fruit plantations


a. Arabian sea is less salty than Bay of Bengal.

b. El Nino Modoki is considered to be responsible for supressing cyclone formation in Arabian sea

c. Both

d. None


a. The Descending limb of walker cell promotes cycloneformation



b. The Heating of Tibetan plateu promotes monsoon

c. Both

d. None

15. Incorrect Statement about Insect blood

a. doesn’t makes direct contact with organs and tissues.

b. doesn’t transport oxygen

c. Both

d. None

16. Why are the young leaves in Mango trees are red colored?a. To protect the leaves from herbivores

b. To protect the leaves from UV radiation

c. Both

d. None

17. Incorrect Statements

a. Extra Galactic background light oncludes visible, radio,ultraviolet wavelengths

b. Black Holes are formed when heavy stars exhaust all their hydrogen and collapse under their own weight.

c. During the “Saturn Opposition” phenomenon, the distancebetween earth and Saturn is maximum.

d. None of above

18. Why do Fast breeder reactors use liquid sodium?

a. As Catalyst for the nuclear reaction

b. As Neutron moderator for the nuclear reaction

c. As a coolant to extract hear from the core.

d. None of Above

19. What is CMOS?



a. complementary micro processing operating system

b. Complementary metal-oxide semiconductor

c. Conductor Microprocessor Onboard System

d. None of Above

20. Which of the following can completely repair its eye partsby itself?

a. Male spiders of the Micaria sociabilis species

b. Salamander

c. Black widow spider

d. None of Above

General Studies (Mains) Paper 1

Write a note on following (10 marks)

1. El Nino Modoki2. El Nino-Southern Oscillation

3. Walker cells

4. Polymetalic nodules

General Studies (Mains) Paper 3

Agro

1. Write the benefits of following (5 marks each)I. KMB biofertilizer

II. Farm Ponds

III. Silage

IV. E-Velanmai

V. High Density Planting

2. Explain the Systematic rice intensification method. (10m)

3. Write a note on Ornamental fish farming in India. (10m)



Healthcare

1. Write the benefits of following (5 marks each)1. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC)

2. Bhringaraj-extracted bio-compatible gold nanoparticles

3. 3Nethra

4. Eye-PAC computing technology

5. cholangioscope

6. Double mastectomy

2. 12 marks each

1. Write a note on mechanism and applications of Monoclonal antibodies.

2. What are the applications of Nanotechnology in medicaltreatment?

3. Make a list of preventive measures necessary for aninfluenza pandemic.

3. 15 marks each1. What do you understand by Gene Patenting? Should India

permit or prohibit Gene Patenting? List the points to justifyyour stand.

2. Write a note on the Role of private sector to improvehealthcare in rural India. (btw, this question belongs toPaper II>social sector>health)

Science-tech1. 5 marks each

1. Sagar Nidhi

2. GSLV MK3

3. Antares Rocket

4. Cartosat-3

5. Herschel space observatory



6. Graphene

7. Quantam Computer

8. CMOS

2. Milestone achievements of ISRO during 2012 and 2013. (10marks)

Prologue

• This three part article series contains the Sci-tech related topicsappeared in The Hindu Thursday edition in March, April, May of

2013. (earlier months already covered and availableunder Mrunal.org/snt)• Just because UPSC did not ask much current affairs in prelims

2013, you should not become complacent/lazy in your preparation of current affairs.

• Reason: even prelim 2012 did not have that much current affairs(compared to earlier years) but still GS mains 2012 was jampacked with questions based on current affairs. (Analysis of Mains 2012 given hereclick me)

• so how and where does Hindu Science Tech help? consider thefollowing topics on official syllabus of UPSC

Mains SubtopicSyllabus topics (non

exhaustive)

Example topics

covered in the three

articles

GS

paper

1

Geography 1. Distribution of keynatural resourcesacross the world(including South Asiaand the Indian sub-continent);

2. Important Geophysicalphenomena such as

earthquakes,Tsunami, Volcanic

1. Mining of Polymetallicnodules fromoceans

2. El Nino Modoki

http://www.mrunal.org/snt

http://mrunal.org/2012/10/analysis-general-studies-mains-2012-paper-1-2-topicwise-analysis-future-approach-for-upsc-ias-ips-exam.html

http://www.mrunal.org/snt

http://mrunal.org/2012/10/analysis-general-studies-mains-2012-paper-1-2-topicwise-analysis-future-approach-for-upsc-ias-ips-exam.html



activity, cyclone etc.

3. geographical featuresand their location-

changes in criticalgeographical features(including water-bodies and ice-caps)and in flora and faunaand the effects of such changes.

GS

paper 3

Agro

Major crops cropping

patterns in various parts of

the country ……e-

technology in the aid of

farmers

1. ornamental fish

farming2. e-Velanmai

project

3. High DensityPlanting

Sci-Tech Science and Technology-

developments and their

applications and effects ineveryday life

glass fibre reinforced

gypsum panels etc.

Achievements of Indians

in science & technology;

indigenization of

technology and

developing new

technology.

3Nethra,

cholangioscope

Awareness in the fields of

IT, Space, Computers,

robotics, nano-

technology, bio-

technology and issues

relating to intellectual

BRCA genes

patenting, GSLV mk3

etc.



property rights.

Conservation,

environmental pollutionand degradation,

environmental impact

assessment

Ammonia detectors,gold extraction using

nano-particles.

^this is just an example, syllabus contains lot of topics, where you’llfind utility of sci-tech and allied topics (and other news items).Therefore, I suggest you read the syllabus topics itself for multiple

times- so the name of each topic gets permanently imprinted in your brain and later whenever you read a news-item you can see itsapplication in a particular GS paper. Read the UPSC notification,page 13 onwards for the official syllabus:Click Me

Notes:

1. Just because I’m providing compilation for March-April-May,doesn’t mean “the end” of topics happened in that time-frame.You should do ‘follow-up’ on your own, reading / researching the

topics from other sources. Because nothing prevents UPSCfrom asking anything that is not provided/explained here.

2. I’ve covered only Thursday edition. However newspaper coversScience tech and allied news topics even in the Non-Thursdayeditions. And again, nothing prevents UPSC from askinganything from there. So one should keep habit of maintainingdaily notes from the newspaper on his own.

3. In short, I’m just a supplement and catalyst for the preparation-

not a substitute of TheHindu, Indianexpress, Yojana,Kurukshetra and other standard reference sources. And sameapplies for any other website and coaching. UPSC Successrequires lot of self-study on your own.

Anyways, let’s start the three part article series:

• part 1 of 3= Agro and Enb• part 2 of 3 = healthcare related

• part 3 of 3 = space-research, electronics and mock questions

https://files.secureserver.net/0sUSEXkhwyuaD2

https://files.secureserver.net/0sUSEXkhwyuaD2



Agriculture

Caffeine

How was Coffee and Tea introduced in India?

Coffee Tea

• as per the legend, in late16th century Haji BabaBudan smuggled coffeebeans from Yemen.

• And planted them on the

Chikamagalur hills inKarnataka.

• Then coffee plantationsstarted and coffee becamepopular in South India.

• Was introduced later thancoffee.

• In early 19th Century, thecolonial British who copied it

from the Chinese and plantedit in Assam and Darjeeling.

• Thus Tea become popular inthe northern India.

• Both tea and coffee have caffeine.

• but only tea contains both caffeine and tannin.

• But why do these plants go to the trouble of making themolecule in the first place? two reasons

#1: determine herbivores

• Because of Caffeine, the raw coffee bean or tea-leaf is bitter totaste, hence animals won’t eat it, plant can grow and flourish.

#2: attract bees

• While plant-derived drugs like caffeine (tea, coffee) and nicotine(tobacco) are lethal in high doses, they do generate pleasanteffects when taken in very low doses.

• Caffeine is also found in the nectar of flowers of those plants.

• The caffeine in nectar of flower= gets the bees addicted hencethey keep coming back and help in pollination.

NAA, IAA Plant hormones

• Naphthyl acetic acid (NAA) and Indole acetic acid (IAA) aresynthetic hormones



• NAA is cheaper as compared to IAA.

• they are commonly used for improving rooting in mulberrycuttings.

• Mulberry is commercially cultivated for its foliage to feedsilkworms.

Potash fertilizer

• Potash is one of the major nutrients required by all crops.• India’s entire requirement of potassic fertilizer is met by imports

and distributed to farmers at subsidised price.

• Problem= increases trade deficit, weakens rupee+ adds subsidy

burden.

• Indian soils are naturally rich in potassium and now scientistshave identified a potash mobilizing bacterium to mobilize thisnative potassium for plant absorption.

• Field testing going on for paddy, groundnut and vegetable crops.

• If Potash Mobilizing Bacterial (KMB) biofertilizer andbiopesticides are used, farmers can save upto 50 per cent of

their potassium fertilizer requirement.

e-Velanmai

• Velanmai is a Tamil word meaning agriculture.• it is an IT project for dissemination of agricultural information

Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) directly to farmers ona pilot basis in selected areas of the State.

• Prior to the introduction of e-Velanmai project, many farmers

stated that they had to depend on the shop keepers/dealers intheir area for information.

• But now they are able to access all information related toagriculture at their farm gate itself.

Citrus greening

• disease of citrus which greatly affects the production of the fruitsin several parts of India.

• Infected fruits are small, lopsided with bitter taste.



• Such fruits may fall prematurely; while those that remain on thetree do not colour properly, remaining green on the shaded side.

Membrane transporters

• they’re a class of plant proteins.• The transporter genes in the plant’s seeds. These genes are

usually expressed in the root so that the plant could take innutrients from the soil.

• Now scientists are conducting research on these genesresponsible for transport, so they could improve the efficiencywith which plants take up and use water and nutrients.

benefits?1. greenhouse-grown rice with three- to four-fold higher levels of

iron in polished grain.2. In a similar fashion, zinc content of cereal grains could be

increased

3. The amount of phosphate and nitrate fertilisers used for cultivation could then be substantially reduced.

4. drought tolerance in plants as well as their ability to grow inother adverse conditions, such as in saline or acidic soils.

Silage

• Silage is fermented, high-moisture stored fodder.• It can be fed to cud chewing animals such as cattle, sheep and

goats.

• It is fermented and stored in a process called ensilage, ensiling

or silaging• Usually made from grass, maize, sorghum or other cereals using

the entire green plant (not the grain alone).

Silage Advantages?

• During summer (or when monsoon fails) the green fodder becomes unavail.

• Hence Prolonged preservation of fodder in the form of silage

becomes the key to overcome the increasing constraints ingreen fodder availability.



Traditional methods for Silage production

• Dig a pit in the soil• Place the harvested matter inside and covering it with soil.

Problem in traditional method?

1. Landless farmers cannot go for such pit methods.2. This method makes it difficult to transport the silage from the pit

to the cattle shed

3. Labor intensive and costly.

Farm Ponds

• The farm ponds are constructed at the lower side of the fieldsand the runoff from the higher side of the fields are channelizedinto the pond.

• provides Fodder and drinking water.

• Some farmers have also started cultivating wheat and chickpeausing the pond water successfully.

High density multi species cropping system

• is one of the mixed cropping systems• Here, a number of compatible crops are grown in an area to

meet the diverse needs of the farmers such as food, fuel, timber,fodder and cash.

other benefits?

1. control of weeds,2. soil and water conservation,

3. regulated temperature and favourable microbial activity in thesoil.

4. generation of recyclable biomass for organic manure.

SRI Rice cultivation

• SRI=systematic rice intensification method• It is the universally accepted as a proven method to increase

rice yield.

principles of SRI cultivation



1. transplant seedlings when they’re young2. plant seedlings in 25×25 or wider spacing, to reduce competition

for sunlight and nutrients.

3. Reduce external inputs (water, fertilizer, pesticides)4. Prevent soil from becoming anoxic (without oxygen). For this,

use mechanical weeder regularly.

5. Add in-situ/ex-situ organic matter as much as possible, toincrease the soil organic matter.

6. Use green manure, bio fertilizer, compost.

High Density Planting (HDP)

• It is an advance technique of fruit plantation.• Through HDP technique, 4,000 to 5,000 plants can be planted in

a hectare and the yield improves radically.

• This technique is more useful for perennial crops because itallows efficient use of land and resources,

• In India, HDP technology has been successfully used in banana,pineapple, papaya and mango, guava and citrus where the yield

has increased two to three times.

• also helps in farm mechanization, weed controls.

Ornamental fish farming

• Ornamental fishes are kept in aquarium at home and in offices.• Examples of ornamental fishes: guppies, mollies, sword tails,

angelfishes, goldfishes.

• The global business of Ornamental fish rearing, accessories(tanks, lights, water pipes etc.) and fish feed =is worth ~$14Billion

• In India we have hundreds of exotic and indigenous ornamentalfish varieties but unfortunately, India’s share in internationaltrade of ornamental fish = <1 %.

• The earning potential of this sector neither understood nor exploited in a technology driven manner. otherwise we can give

tough competition to the major exporters such as Singapore,Malaysia etc. (USA is the largest importer).



potential benefits of ornamental fishing

1. substantial employment opportunities,2. side income for the farmer,

3. earning foreign exchange.

Government’s action:

1. NABARD provides finance via Commercial banks, RRB etc.2. Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) under

Ministry of Commerce and industry provides subsidy

Environment and Biodiversity (EnB)

Climate / Geography relatedSalt Pump

• salinity of the oceans that surround India play an important partin the complex interactions between atmosphere and sea

• and thus indirectly determines climate over the subcontinent.

Arabian Sea Bay of Bengal

• got little rain, except off thewest coast of India

• Given the evaporation thattook place, its salt levelswould increase.

• rivers, like the Ganges bringplenty of fresh water,

• + the Bay of Bengal itself receives lot of rain duringmonsoon.

• This excess fresh water would reduce its salinity.

Result: it is more salty than Bay of

Bengal.It is less salty than Arabian sea.

What is Salt pump?

• so far we saw that Arabian sea is more salty than Bay of Bengal.• Summer Monsoon Current, flowing eastward, takes salty water

from the Arabian Sea to the Bay. and thus helps them to help

maintain salinity levels.



• But this saltier water, however, slides under the lighter surfacewater of the Bay.

• Hence Maintaining the salt balance of the Bay therefore

demands upward mixing of this saltier, subsurface water.• Based on 2009 ocean cruise data, scientists found that this

saltier water erupted upward intermittently from its sub-surfaceabode to mix with the fresher surface water. they call it “Saltpump”.

• mechanism driving this ‘salt pump’ was not clear at present

El Nino Modoki

• during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons in the NorthIndian Ocean, more cyclones form in the Bay of Bengal than inthe Arabian Sea

• Scientists have now discovered why in some years morecyclones form in the Arabian Sea than usual.

• This is due to a newly discovered Phenomenon (2007) El NinoModoki

El Nino El Nino Modoki

• suppresses cyclone formation inthe Arabian Sea.

It creates more cyclones in

the Arabian sea.



How does El Nino Modoki work?

It Causes warm moist conditions in the Central Pacific and dry coldconditions in Eastern and western pacific.

Divergence

• Divergence (opposite of convergence) means surface windsmove away from each other and result in low relative vorticity(rotational flow of winds)

• These conditions are not conducive for cyclones.

• El Nino Modoki creates stronger divergence over the westernPacific and Bay of Bengal compared to El Nino.

• This explains why Bay of Bengal region (close to westernPacific) has fewer cyclones during an El Nino Modoki.

• On the other hand, there is large convergence over the ArabianSea during an El Nino Modoki explaining the large number of cyclones in that region

Walker cells



• El Nino Modoki brings only fewer number of cyclones in the Bayof Bengal is because one of the two descending limbs of theWalker Cell is over the western Pacific and Bay of Bengal.

Asending

limbDescending limb

brings rain.causes dry conditions not conducive for cyclone

formation

• Only post-monsoon and pre-monsoon periods were chosen for the study.

• Because Cyclones usually do not form during monsoon season.

Why don’t cyclones form during monsoon?

1. Since the Atmospheric parameters — low-level relative vorticity,mid-tropospheric relative humidity, vertical wind shear — are notat values conducive for cyclone formation during monsoon.

2. Second, during monsoon there is strong zonal (latitudinal) windin the form of a jet at lower levels and this is not conducive for

cyclone formation as the vertical shear between lower and upper troposphere will not be minimum.

3. Finally, the sea surface temperatures are too low for cyclogenesis.

Monsoon: Tibetan Plateu and ENSO

• The heating of the Tibetan plateau correlated well with rainfallover India from May 20 to June 15 when the monsoon was

setting in.• vast Tibetan plateau gets warmed during the summer months,

and it heats the air above.

• The air rises and creates and an area of low pressure.

• That belt of low pressure sucks in moisture from the oceans,thus initiating the monsoon.

• Temperature of the tropical Pacific Ocean’s surface waters near

the international dateline, known as the El Nino-SouthernOscillation (ENSO), also strongly influenced rainfall over central



India and its west coast during the early and late phases of themonsoon.

Ocean Related

Sagar Nidhi

• Oceanographic Research Vessel,• belongs to National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT),

Chennai.

• Sagar Nidhi helps NIOT in technology demonstration work ondeep-sea mining and tsunami studies.

• It is an ice class vessel= can cut through thin ice of 40 cm depth.

• It is the first Indian vessel to have gone to Antarctic waters.

• The ship is the first of its kind in the country and has been usedseveral times for launching and retrieval of remotely operablevehicle (ROV) and the nodule mining system.

Dynamic positioning system (DPS)

• is a computer-controlled system which automatically maintainsthe position of the ship at mid-sea

• sea-state 5 — when the wave height is 4–5 metres

• DPS, even at sea-state 5 — when the wave height is 4–5 metres— the ship’s position can be fixed to within a variation of lessthan 50 metre

• Ships that do not have a DPS can be manoeuvred only manually

so that the position of the ship is fixed up to deviations of 200-300 metres.



• This feature comes in useful when deploying remotely operablevehicles, Tsunami alert systems etc, which require the ship tomaintain a fixed position for a very long time.

Polymetallic nodules

•

also called manganese nodules,• They’re rock concretions, lie on the sea-bottom sediment.

• Why important for India? because they contain cobalt (medicaltreatment) and nickel (making batteries) and India doesn’t haveany terrestrial source of these metals.

• Nodules have been found in all the oceans and even in lakes.However, not all nodule fields are worth mining from commercialpoint of view.

• They can occur at any depth, but the highest concentrationshave been found between 4,000 and 6,000m.

• Three areas have been selected by industrial explorers: thecentre of the north central Pacific Ocean, the Peru Basin in thesouth-east Pacific Ocean and the centre of the north IndianOcean.

challenges

• Nodules on the Indian Ocean bed are found at a depth of about6,000 metres and the closest point of the nodule fields is at adistance of about 2,500 km off the Kanyakumari coast.

• National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) has so far testedtheir machines only up to a depth of 5,000 metres.

• These machines would harvest and crush the nodules beforebringing them to the surface.



• The challenges of developing the technology do appear formidable — the high pressure of 600 bar that exists at thatdepth (6,000 m) is one of them.

International seabed authority • Autonomous international organization established under the

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.• HQ: Kingston, Jamaica

• It grants the exploration rights in Sea.

• U.K. firm, Lockheed Martin, will soon be taking up miningoperations in a 58,000 sq. km area in the Pacific Ocean.

• India will also be able to harvest the nodules from the seabed inabout two years, when the technology is fully developed. Indiahas been a pioneering investor in this research.

Pollution related

Gold Extraction without pollution

• In traditional method, poisonous cyanide is used for dissolvingand extracting the gold locked up in mineral ore

• But the method is polluting and controversial.

• Several spills have been recorded over the years from miningsites that use cyanide leaching — putting human lives and theenvironment at risk.

• While Europe allows the use of cyanide in mining, somecountries like Germany, Czech Republic and Hungary haveoutlawed it and in 2010, the European Parliament called for these national bans to extend to the continent as a whole.

• But despite being banned in several countries, it is still used toextract more than 80 per cent of gold around the world.

• Now an international team of scientists have found a newmethod: to extract gold using a mixed a sugar (alpha-cyclodextrin) derived from cornstarch

• It is inexpensive and pollution free.

• The method could also be used to remove gold from consumer electronic waste.



Nanotech pollution detectors

• Ammonia is an important component of explosives, fertilisers,and industrial coolants.

• Hence ammonia detectors are used to check for pollution in thevicinity of urban settlements, such as in rivers, lakes, buildings,etc.

• Existing Ammonia detectors very expensive, difficult tomanufacture.

• Now scientists have devised a simpler, more portable method todetect ammonia:

• using ferrimagnetic nanofluids as sensors, They reflect bluer light when exposed to ammonia.

Atom Bicycle generator (USB)

• “Atom” is brandname of a lightweight bicycle generator,• It can power your mobile, lights or any electronic device via

USB.

• It comes with a detachable rechargeable battery pack, meaningthe stored energy can be used whenever and wherever youneed it.

• The price point of the Atom [$105] is set for domestic [U.S.] andEuropean markets.

• 9 out of 20 households in India still use bicycles (Census 2011).This offers a great potential to tap vast amount of energy fromthese cycles.

Citizen science projectscommon bird monitoring of India programme

• The aim of the programme is to collect data on common Indianbirds

• headquartered in Nashik, collects data on population anddistribution of common birds with the help of common men /volunteers.

People’s biodiversity register

• important person: Madhav Gadgil



• to usher traditional knowledge systems into mainstream science.

• The study involved catching and releasing back to the river about 1,500 fish through 146 fishing events.

• Along with the scientific names, the local names of the fish werealso recorded.

• Also recorded were the names given to pools and river stretches.

• This really brought the community’s extensive knowledge of theecosystem to the fore.

Flora and Fauna

Insects’ circulatory system

• Do ants, earthworms, cockroaches have blood circulationsystem like vertebrates with hearts and blood vessels?

• In insects, the blood is called haemolymph= containshemocyanin instead of hemoglobin found in human blood.

• Unlike human blood, insect blood does not transport oxygen andhence most insects receive oxygen through the tracheal system.

• Insect blood flows through the body cavity and makes directcontact with organs and tissues.

• The body cavity is divided into three compartments by two thinsheets of muscle to facilitate blood circulation in insects.

• In front of the heart, it is a simple tube without valves thatextends up to the head, and ends near the brain.

Why baby leaves are red?• colour of new leaves of some plants is not green but while

growing after few days they become green. Why?• the tropical countries, during the rainy season or in the growing

season we can notice the appearance of red-coloured youngleaves as we see in mango trees.

• As the leaves age, the red colour disappears and the leavesbecome green.



• Red colouration of these young leaves is due to thedevelopment of anthocyanin pigments.

• development of anthocyanin pigments in young leaves is a kind

of adaptation and helps in following ways:1. Anthocyanins act as a “sunscreen” by protecting cells from UV

or blue-green light and thereby protect the young leaves fromtoo much light.

2. The red colour due to the presence of these pigments may hideleaves from red-colour-blind herbivores (the aphid insects),which would be especially important in young leaves

3. Red colour may signal unpalatability to herbivores, sincephenols are often produced along with the anthocyanins.

4. The anthocyanins may also deter or kill fungus and thereby canprotect the young leaves from fungal attack.

Toe control

• Unlike fingers, why are we unable to individually control our toes?

•

Especially the thumb and the little finger, each has 4 separatemuscles in the hand called the thenar and hypothenar musclesrespectively for finer movements.

• In contrast, the muscles of the toes except the great toe have acommon bulk for their action. Hence when we try to move onetoe, they move together.

• The primary function of the hand is to perform various skills andactivities which are supported by the fine movements in the

various joints and individual movements of the fingers.

• But the primary function of the foot is transmission of the bodyweight and for balancing during various activities. This functiondoesn’t require individual movements of toes.

Why do ants like sugar?

• In an ant colony, food is gathered by the foragers who constituteabout 10 per cent of the colony members.



• The foragers might collect the protein-rich food for the queen,when she is actively laying the eggs. Similarly, protein-rich foodsare preferred when the colony has a high larval population.

•

When the colony has no larvae, the foragers preferably gather the sugar-rich foods, because adult colonies consuming protein-rich food have extremely high mortality due to protein toxicity.

• Even if they find a food which is rich in protein but poor insugars, they extract the sugars and eject the protein as a waste.

• Hence, it is quite normal to see the foragers attracted towardssugary products (carbohydrates), unless there is a demand for protein by the egg-laying queen or the larvae.

Mock Qs at the end of third part.

Viruses

H7N9

• avian flu virus.• currently in some regions in China.

• H7N9, H1N1 and H5N1= All three viruses are influenza A

viruses

• but they are distinct from each other.

• H7N9 and H5N1 are considered animal influenza viruses thatsometimes infect people.

• while H1N1 viruses can be divided into those that normally infectpeople and those that normally infect animals.

•

Influenza viruses are not transmitted through consuming well-cooked food. Because influenza viruses are inactivated bynormal temperatures used for cooking.

• It is safe to eat properly prepared and cooked meat, includingfrom poultry and game birds.

• But Diseased animals and animals that have died of diseasesshould not be eaten.

•

No vaccine for H7N9 available at the moment.



• An animal influenza virus that develops the ability to infectpeople could theoretically carry a risk of causing a pandemic.

• However, whether H7N9 virus could actually cause a pandemic=

still unknown.H3N2

• The H7N9 bird flu virus has been sporadically infecting people inChina, Some experts fear it could gain the ability to spreadeasily among humans, thus setting off another influenzapandemic like H1N1 pandemic of 2009.

• But American researchers have found a possible threat from adifferent direction — H3N2

• H3N2 viruses are currently found in birds and pigs.

• A H3N2 virus caused a pandemic during 1967-68, but nowscientist fear that human immune system might have lost theability to recognize that virus and thus H3N2 could easily jumpback to humans now that immunity to it has dropped

SARS like Coronavirus

•

2002: SARS (‘severe acute respiratory syndrome’) appeared inChina and next year exploded across the world. SARS wascaused by a coronavirus.

• 2012: Another coronavirus (hCoV-EMC), emerged in MiddleEast, causing severe respiratory problems, kidney failure andeven death.

• As with the SARS virus, the new hCoV-EMC coronavirusappears to have originated in bats. However, unlike the former,the latter is still able to infect bat cells.

Drug research

Influenza Vaccine

• Presently, the scientists are ill-equipped to immediately developan effective vaccine when an influenza virus strikes. for e.g.when the H1N1 pandemic struck in 2009.

• Current strategy for vaccine Development = start from scratchbased on the strain causing the epidemic or pandemic = takes

lot of time.



• Now American researchers are using a new strategy for vaccineDevelopment.

• They selected F16 (an antibody to influenza A), and introduced it

into an adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector to deliver theantibody into the body.

• To achieve the best results, the researchers introduced theantibody at the site of infection, in this case, the nasal route.

• This will be equally effective against influenza strains — H5N1and H1N1.

Monoclonal antibody: curing blood cancer

• Leukaemia is largely incurable in adults. Why?• Because the cancer-associated proteins are safely secured

inside cells, and are beyond the reach of currently availabledrugs.

• now scientists are developing a new monoclonal antibody(ESK1) that can target those cancer-associated proteins.

• more on monoclonal antibodies covered here click me

Gold nanoparticles for drug delivery

• gold nanoparticles can be used as carriers for delivering anti-cancer drugs and also for diagnosing the disease, particularlylung and breast cancer

• In Ayurveda. More than 1,000 years ago, gold was used as ananoparticle (swarnabhasma).

• At that time, there were no sophisticated instruments and that iswhy people did not know that it was a gold nanoparticle.

• gold nanoparticle was bio-compatible, easy to synthesize andmultiple cancer drugs could be loaded. It could reduce thetoxicity of the anti-cancer drug,

• Scientists are now using an eco-friendly green chemistryapproach- via leaf extracts of Bhringaraj (a herbal plant) tocreate the biocompatible nanoparticles.

http://mrunal.org/2012/05/monoclonal-antibody.html

http://mrunal.org/2012/05/monoclonal-antibody.html



• Bhringaraj-extracted bio-compatible gold nanoparticle was usedto deliver an anti-cancer drug —Doxorubicin into lung and breastcancer cell lines.

•

If you add fluorescent molecule in these gold nanoparticles, itcould be used to detect the position of the tumor.

ELQ-300 new Antimalarial drug

• nearly 200 million people in the world suffer from malaria everyyear, and the mortality is as high as 1.2 million. To make mattersworse, resistance to currently available drugs is emerging.

• ELQ-300 is a new anti-malarial drug, undergoing trials.

•

capable of treating and preventing malaria infection, target boththe liver and blood stages.

• works against both drug-resistant species (Plasmodiumfalciparum and Plasmodium vivax).

• Schizont is a matured malaria parasite that contains manymerozoites, which is the parasite stage that infects red bloodcells. ELQ-300 was effective against this Schizont.

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC)Stem cell controversy?

• Stem cells can be used in treating variety of diseases.• But they were sourced from human embryos in the beginning.

• Religious organizations consider this as murdering a child andhence oppose stem cell research.

Nobel 2012: solution for stem cell harvesting?

• 2012: Nobel prize for medicine given to John B. Gurdon andShina Yamanaka

• for their discovery that discovery that differentiation of cells isa reversible process.

• In other words, normal cells can be reconverted into stemcells. and then those stem cells could be used for treatmentof various diseases.

•

thus, Gurdon and Yamanaka’s research could settle the stemcell controversy (because we don’t need human embryos for



harvesting stem cells anymore. We can do it by convertingnormal cells into stem cells.)

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC)?

• iPSCs are body (somatic) cells which have been reprogrammedto function like embryonic stem cells

• This is done by introducing four regulatory factors (pieces of DNA) into the cells.

• However, the efficiency of iPSC production is traditionally quitelow. Only about 0.01 per cent of the cells successfully becomeiPSC.

• Chinese researchers are now working to improve thisperformance.

Zebrafish zygote

• Zygote is the initial cell formed when two gamete cells (frommale and female) are joined

• zygote is special because this single cell is capable of developing into an embryo and ultimately an entire organism,unlike an already-differentiated cell like a skin cell which can

only develop into skin tissue. This property of the zygote iscalled ‘totipotency’.

• embryo cell=undifferentiated cell the embryo cell

• egg cell and the sperm cell= differentiated cells

• Diseases like cancer cause cells that get arrested at an earlystage of differentiation, or cells that go backwards and becomeundifferentiated like embryo cells.

• Scientists carried out research on Zebrafish eggs to understandthis mechanism of totipotency.

Equipment/ devices

3Nethra: eye testing device



• The World Health Organization estimates that 39 million people

in the world are blind. Of those, over 15 million are in India.• Most of that blindness can actually be prevented.

• But people do not realise they have an eye disease and thatthey are losing their vision because their better eyecompensates for the loss in one eye.

• solution = conduct regular eye tests.

• Problem= only 15,000 eyedoctors in India and only ~30 per cent

of them practice in the rural areas.

• + conducting mass eye tests in remote locations is difficultbecause the traditional equipment for eye tests are bulky andexpensive.

• here 3Nethra comes to help

What is 3Nethra?

• a portable and less expensive pre-screening device for eyes



• 3nethra can fit into a suitcase and weighs about 15 kg= lighter than traditional equipment.

• costs ~ five lakh rupees = cheaper than traditional equipment.

it takes a picture of the eye and can detect the five major ailments thatlead to 90% of blindness.

1. diabetic retinopathy,2. cataract,

3. glaucoma,

4. cornea problems

5. refractive errors.

• The machine is also non-mydriatic (does not need dilation of thepupil) and can take images in a matter of minutes.

• doesn’t require highly trained ophthalmologist, even a semi-skilled person with a working knowledge of the anatomy of theeye can operate this machine.

Eye-PAC computing technology

• by IIT Madras• It is based on the principle of capturing the image of the eye,

digitising it before transferring the information to a computingsystem.

• The technology teases out specific information from the imagesand provides a computer-assisted screening decision

• technology can process the image obtained without dilating the

eye, thus saving time both for the operator and patient.

• When used as a diagnostic solution, the computer-assisteddecision saves the ophthalmologists’ time

• This technology has been used in the 3Nethra device we sawearlier.

Cholangioscope

•

pancreatic cancer is the third most prevalent gastro-intestinalcancer in India while liver cancer is the most common.



• All these years, most patients used to consult a physician whenthe disease was in an advanced stage.

• cholangioscope is an equipment with a video camera for

detection of cancers of bile duct, liver and pancreas.• jointly developed by by Indian and Japanese healthcare

researchers.

• another latest device, called ‘spycam,’ was now enabling doctorsto look into the liver, which was not possible earlier.

• the two technologies would help in diagnosis and treatment of gall bladder stones, jaundice, pancreatitis and pancreatic pain.Very huge stones could be identified and crushed using laser.

E-cigarette

• Cigarette lighting up and burning leads to smoke. And thesmoke is a health hazard. It produces carbon monoxide (CO), ablood poison, nitrogen oxides (which can destroy molecules inthe body), and the tar produced during incomplete burning (it isthe tar which is the major cancer-culprit).

• Smoke is not only bad for the user, but also for the bystander-

through what is called secondary smoking• In an electronic cigarette, you do not light up and produce

smoke.

• You do not even use tobacco. You take nicotine (the addictive),dissolve it in glycols (which are acceptable to the human body)and using an electronic method, produce an aerosol mist andinhale the vapour.

•

There is no smoke, no Carbon Monoxide, no nitrous mix, no tar,no yellow teeth.

• They are better than the nicotine patch or gum; and they canhelp smokers quit. (atleast that what the companies claim)

LED’s effect on sleep

• Modern light-emitting diodes (LEDs) used in energy-efficientlighting as well as television and computer screens, laptops,

tablets and various handheld devices.



• electric light has had a powerful impact on the body’s clock,known as the circadian rhythm.

• light affects our circadian rhythms more powerfully than any

drug.• eye’s retina also contains light-sensitive cells help synchronise

the body’s circadian rhythm to the natural day and night cycle.

• When artificial light strikes those cells, the body gets misled andresponds by promoting wakefulness and inhibiting sleep.

• many people are still checking e-mail, doing homework or watching TV at midnight, with hardly a clue that it is the middleof the solar night, driving us to go to bed later.

• Children become hyperactive rather than sleepy when they don’tget enough sleep, and have difficulty focusing attention, so sleepdeficiency may be mistaken for attention-deficit hyperactivitydisorder (ADHD), an increasingly common condition nowdiagnosed in American teenagers.

Gene patenting, BRCA, Angelina Jolie

Gene Patenting case• BRCA1 and BRCA2 human genes used for diagnosing breast

and ovarian cancers. (BRCA= BReastCAncer). If a woman hasmutation (fault) in BRCA 1 or 2= higher risk of breast/ovariancancer.

• U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has been awarding patentson genes for about 30 years.

• In the mid-90s, Myriad Genetics ltd. got patents for the BRCA

genes.• Thanks to this patent, Myriad genetics company got monopoly

for selling BRCA gene testing. Each test costs >3000$.

• 2009-10: The American Civil Liberties Union (an NGO)challenged this patent in court. Their point= Nobody can “patent”human genes because genes are products of nature.

• 2013: Matter going in US Supreme Court.

Angelina Jolie’ double mastectomy



• Angelina Jolie had a “faulty” gene, BRCA1=> had higher risk of getting breast cancer.

• Doctors advised her to undergo a surgery known as “preventivedouble mastectomy”, to remove her breasts and hence reduce

the risk of getting Brest cancer in future.

• she got that surgery in 2013, and also wrote an article about her experience in New York Times (click me)

Conspiracy/criticism

• A gene patent holder has the right to prevent anyone fromstudying, testing or even looking at a gene. As a result, scientificresearch and genetic testing has been delayed, limited or even

shut down due to concerns about gene patents.• Only Myriad can sell BRCA gene test, which gives them a

monopoly on a highly profitable business.

• Angelina Jolie’s move was a mere PR/marketing campaign for Myriad genetics, with inflated statistics.

• Now Many women will now take that expensive BRCA testing(for >3000$) undergo the surgery just out of fear and panic,because Jolie opted for it. And thus Myriad Company will make

truckload of cash for holding patents to BRCA genes.

• President’s Obama’s “Affordable Care Act” mandates taxpayersto pay for BRCA1 genetic testing- thus increasing Myriad’s profiteven further.

• BRCA is not the only gene patented, some other companies anduniversities also have patented genes for Tay-Sachs disease,Cystic fibrosis, Colorectal cancer, Hearing loss etc. at this rate,

future medical treatments will become prohibitively expensive.Therefore, the whole idea of Gene Patenting is against theinterest of patients.

Oily Skin

• Why is skin oiliness restricted only to the face?• skin of the face is oily because of the presence of sebum

• Sebum is an oily secretion produced by the sebaceous gland.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/14/opinion/my-medical-choice.html?_r=0

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/14/opinion/my-medical-choice.html?_r=0



• These glands are present throughout the body except the palmsof hand and soles of feet.

• Sebaceous glands are more commonly found in hair-covered

areas, where they are connected to hair follicles.• Hence the maximum concentration of this sebaceous gland is in

the face and scalp.

• Acne and black heads are conditions associated with thesesebaceous glands and they are common in face.

factors

• secretion of the gland is influenced by the sex hormones,

temperature, stress and genetic factors.• Sebum production increased during adolescence, pregnancy

and menopause due to hormonal changes.

Function of Sebum?

• provides anti- bacterial lipids, anti- oxidants,• hydrates the superficial layers of skin, supply of vitamin E

• also has temperature regulation properties.

Hindu Sci & Tech

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