Check out the important occasions, ideas, phrases, quotes, or phenomena day by day and brush up your information. Right here’s your information nugget for at present.
(Relevance: The UPSC has beforehand requested questions on numerous indexes and rising applied sciences. For instance, within the UPSC CSE Prelims 2020, there have been questions associated to blockchain expertise and synthetic intelligence. Due to this fact, it turns into vital to grasp not solely these applied sciences but additionally different frontier applied sciences for the UPSC examination.)
Why within the information?
The 2025 Know-how and Innovation Report, issued by UN Commerce and Growth (UNCTAD), said that India ranked thirty sixth in 2024 on the ‘Readiness for Frontier Applied sciences’ index, bettering its place from forty eighth in 2022.
Key Takeaways :
1. In a world quickly reshaped by AI and different frontier applied sciences, it’s essential for creating international locations to arrange themselves for these new developments. On this context, a helpful measure in assessing nationwide preparedness to make use of, undertake, and adapt frontier applied sciences is the UNCTAD Frontier Applied sciences Readiness Index.
2. The ‘Readiness for Frontier Applied sciences’ index combines indicators for Data and Communications Know-how (ICT) deployment, expertise, analysis and improvement (R&D) exercise, industrial capability, and entry to finance.
3. India ranks 99th for ICT, 113th for expertise, third for R&D, tenth for industrial capability, and seventieth for finance.
4. The US leads the world when it comes to personal funding in AI. The one creating international locations with vital investments have been China in second place and India in tenth place.
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5. The report famous that Brazil, China, India, and the Philippines are creating international locations outperforming in expertise readiness. Bhutan, India, Morocco, the Republic of Moldova, and Timor-Leste improved their positions in human capital attributable to extra years of education and a better share of high-skill employment of their working populations, the report mentioned.
What are Frontier Applied sciences?
Based on the United Nations Local weather Change web site, “Frontier expertise may be outlined as expertise that may reshape trade and communications and supply urgently wanted options to international challenges like local weather change and have the potential to displace current processes.” This sort of expertise encompasses a spread of applied sciences, together with blockchain, Synthetic Intelligence (AI), the Web of Issues (IoT), and Digital Actuality (VR).
After understanding what frontier applied sciences imply, right here’s a short information to such applied sciences:
Blockchain Know-how: Also referred to as Distributed Ledger Know-how (DLT), Blockchain expertise, is an rising expertise that ensures immutability, transparency, and safety of digital belongings by decentralization.
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• It operates on a system of information blocks, the place every block is related to the following utilizing cryptographic strategies, forming a “chain” of blocks. The info inside these blocks, as soon as recorded, can’t be altered or deleted with out consensus from the community. This decentralised and distributed construction makes blockchain immune to hacking, as altering a single block would require simultaneous adjustments throughout all the community.
Augmented Actuality (AR) and Digital Actuality (VR) are among the many quickest evolving applied sciences on this planet owing to the numerous use circumstances they current. VR usually refers to changing actuality with a totally digital surroundings. It creates immersive experiences that have interaction a number of senses, tricking the mind into believing the consumer is definitely there. AR refers to layering digital elements right into a actuality surroundings.
Web of Issues or, extra precisely the web of gadgets, is all about connecting gadgets over the web and letting them ‘speak’ to us, functions and one another. This permits large quantities of information to be collected and transferred, which might then be used for a number of sensible functions. Nevertheless, Web of Issues doesn’t essentially should be related to the web, it may also be a community of issues.
• A standard instance are wristwatches with sensors that may monitor the wearers’ heartbeat and cross on the knowledge to our smartphones by way of bluetooth. The smartphone can retailer that knowledge on cloud after which it may be accessed at any level of time to view a report card of how your coronary heart has been behaving for over a interval of per week or a month.
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Quantum Know-how is usually used as an umbrella time period for the technological developments which are particularly ruled by the ideas of quantum mechanics at its core. It entails creating essential {hardware}, software program, algorithms, and protocols for design and improvement of quantum computing gadgets like quantum computer systems.
• This expertise exploits the ideas of quantum mechanics, which embody superposition, quantum entanglement, and interference to attain better effectivity in large-scale computations.
3D printing, also called additive manufacturing, is a course of that makes use of computer-created design to make three-dimensional objects layer by layer. It’s an additive course of, during which layers of a cloth like plastic, composites or bio-materials are constructed as much as assemble objects that vary in form, measurement, rigidity and color. 3D printing is being utilized in a bunch of various industries like healthcare, vehicle and aerospace.
Synthetic Intelligence (AI) is the flexibility of machines, particularly computer systems, to carry out duties that usually require human intelligence. These duties embody issues like understanding language, recognising patterns, fixing issues, and making choices. AI may be labeled into two varieties: Synthetic Slender Intelligence (ANI) also called weak AI and Synthetic Basic Intelligence (AGI) additionally known as sturdy AI.
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• ANI is designed for particular duties and excels inside a slender area. Examples embody digital assistants like Siri, suggestion methods on platforms like Netflix, and picture recognition software program. ANI methods are extremely specialised and can’t switch their experience to unrelated duties.
• In distinction, AGI goals to duplicate human cognitive skills, enabling it to carry out any mental process a human can do. AGI would possess common reasoning expertise, perceive context, and adapt to new conditions throughout numerous domains. It might be able to autonomous studying and problem-solving with out requiring task-specific programming.
BEYOND THE NUGGET: NITI Aayog’s Frontier Tech Hub (NITI-FTH)
1. Within the context of frontier applied sciences realizing concerning the NITI Aayog’s Frontier Tech Hub (NITI-FTH) is crucial. Notably, to speed up India’s transition right into a frontier tech nation, NITI-FTH has been established as a frontier tech motion tank.
2. The important thing targets of NITI-FTH are:
• Enabling India’s Readiness to advance Frontier Tech Innovation and Use for Accelerated Financial and Societal Growth in the direction of Viksit Bharat.
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• Championing India’s Human-Centric Strategy worldwide by advancing improvement and adoption of rising applied sciences that profit humanity and the surroundings.
3. NITI-FTH will have interaction with specialists throughout Business, Academia and Authorities to create a deeper understanding of the tech traits early and their implications on India. It’ll additionally come out with motion plans and suggestions to drive India’s readiness.
Submit Learn Questions
(1) With the current state of improvement, Synthetic Intelligence can successfully do which of the next? (UPSC CSE 2020)
1. Carry down electrical energy consumption in industrial items
2. Create significant quick tales and songs
3. Illness prognosis
4. Textual content-to-Speech Conversion
5. Wi-fi transmission {of electrical} vitality
Choose the proper reply utilizing the code given beneath:
(a) 1, 2, 3 and 5 solely
(b) 1, 3 and 4 solely
(c) 2, 4 and 5 solely
(d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5
(2) Close to “Blockchain Know-how”, take into account the next statements: (UPSC CSE 2020)
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1. It’s a public ledger that everybody can examine, however which no single consumer controls.
2. The construction and design of blockchain is such that each one the information in it are about cryptocurrency solely.
3. Functions that depend upon primary options of blockchain may be developed with out anyone’s permission.
Which of the statements given above is/are appropriate?
(a) 1 solely
(b) 1 and a couple of solely
(c) 2 solely
(d) 1 and three solely
(3) Which one of many following is the context during which the time period “qubit” is talked about? (UPSC CSE 2022)
(a) Cloud Providers
(b) Quantum Computing
(c) Seen Mild Communication Applied sciences
(d) Wi-fi Communication Applied sciences
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(Sources: blockchain.gov.in, India ranks 36 out of 170 nations on readiness for frontier applied sciences international, Information nugget of the day: Technology Beta)
Click on Right here to learn the UPSC Necessities journal for March 2025. Share your views and strategies within the remark field or at manas.srivastava@indianexpress.com
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