UPSC Essentials | Mains answer practice — GS 3 : Questions on ‘DRISHTI’ AI in Indian Railways and DNA (Week 128)

QUESTION 1

Artificial Intelligence is emerging as a key enabler of smart governance in public transport. Discuss in light of Indian Railways’ deployment of the AI-based ‘DRISHTI’ system for freight security and monitoring.

QUESTION 2

What is DNA? Discuss one of the path breaking discoveries related to DNA that revolutionised biology, medicine and biotechnology.

General points on the structure of the answers for UPSC Mains

Introduction

— The introduction of the answer is essential and should be restricted to 3-5 lines. Remember, a one-liner is not a standard introduction.

— It may consist of basic information by giving some definitions from the trusted source and authentic facts.

Body

— It is the central part of the answer and one should understand the demand of the question to provide rich content.

— The answer must be preferably written as a mix of points and short paragraphs rather than using long paragraphs or just points.

— Using facts from authentic government sources makes your answer more comprehensive. Analysis is important based on the demand of the question, but do not over analyse.

QUESTION 1: Artificial Intelligence is emerging as a key enabler of smart governance in public transport. Discuss in light of Indian Railways’ deployment of the AI-based ‘DRISHTI’ system for freight security and monitoring.

Note: This is not a model answer. It only provides you with thought process which you may incorporate into the answers.

Introduction:

— Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionising public transportation by enabling predictive maintenance, real-time monitoring, and data-driven decision-making. Its adoption marks a shift from reactive governance to intelligent, proactive management of mobility systems.

Body:

— Indian Railways is planning to install Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based technology to enhance the safety of freight trains. The move also aims to address operational challenges in detecting unlocked or tampered doors during the movement of freight stock, which pose significant safety and security concerns.

— This new AI-based Locking Monitoring System ‘DRISHTI’ will reduce the traditionally manual checks which are not only time-consuming but also impractical for long-haul rakes under dynamic conditions. The prototype system has already been developed and has been under successful trial for the past ten months approximately on selected wagons.

— This new technology is being developed through a collaborative initiative between the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) and Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati Technology Innovation and Development Foundation (IITG TIDF).

— It identified the need for an intelligent, real-time monitoring solution that could autonomously detect and alert for anomalies in door locking mechanisms, especially during transit, using advanced computer vision and machine learning algorithms.

— DRISHTI, an AI-based surveillance and locking condition monitoring system, is designed to improve freight security by providing increased transparency, visibility, and technological certainty.

— Such a system can provide real-time status updates on door lock conditions, detect odd occurrences or tampering in transit, and send automated data-driven alarms without interfering with normal train operations. The system intends to improve waggon sealing integrity, reliability, and reduce the need for human intervention by combining advanced analytics and imaging technologies.

— The system uses AI-powered cameras and sensors mounted strategically to capture and assess door positions and locking conditions in real time.

Conclusion:

— Preliminary results have shown encouraging accuracy levels, validating the potential of this indigenous innovation. Further refinements and scalability plans are underway for wider application across the NFR network to strengthen rolling stock safety and operational reliability.

(Source: Indian Railways to install AI-based technology to enhance security in freight trains – Here’s how it will work)

Points to Ponder

Read more about use of AI in Indian Railways

Read about new routes of Indian Railways

Related Previous Year Question

Introduce the concept of Artificial Intelligence (AI). How does AI help clinical diagnosis? Do you perceive any threat to privacy of the individual in the use of AI in healthcare? (2023)

QUESTION 2: What is DNA? Discuss one of the path breaking discoveries related to DNA that revolutionised biology, medicine and biotechnology.

(file image)

Note: This is not a model answer. It only provides you with thought process which you may incorporate into the answers.

This question is relevant because biologist James Watson died at 97 last week.

Introduction:

— DNA is a large molecule containing the genetic information of an individual. This information, encoded in the genes, determines all the individual characteristics of the organism — from physical appearance to internal biology. During reproduction, these genes are replicated and transmitted to the offspring, sometimes with small changes that lead to genetic diversity and drive evolution.

— The discovery of the double helical structure of the DNA molecule in 1953 is considered one of the biggest breakthroughs in Science, which not only enhanced understanding of how life replicates itself, but also profoundly impacted fields ranging from health to agriculture.

— The Nobel Prize-winning discovery revealed how individual traits are passed on from one generation to another, and is often placed alongside the development of quantum theory and the theory of gravitation as the greatest scientific accomplishments of the 20th century.

Body:

— Friedrich Miescher, a Swiss chemist, discovered the chemical presence of DNA in 1869. Decades later, it was discovered that chromosomes, which are composed of DNA and some proteins, were involved with heredity. By the 1940s, scientists had discovered that DNA, not the proteins inside the chromosomes, contained genetic information. Scientists still didn’t understand how DNA could store genetic information or how it was passed along. Thus, its structure had to be decoded.

— In 1952, Watson and Crick experimented with three-dimensional wooden models to fit into a structure that corresponded to the information offered by other scientists.

— Chemical analysis and X-ray crystallography photos provided clues. Under the direction of British chemist Rosalind Franklin, her student Raymond Gosling captured a historic X-ray snapshot (known as Photo 51) that revealed DNA’s double-helix structure. Watson and Crick saw this photograph and some of her unpublished data, which served as the foundation for their DNA model. While Franklin was not awarded the Nobel Prize, Crick stated after her death in 1958 that her contribution was significant.

— The final Watson-Crick wooden model had two long strands, each with a series of four nitrogen-containing compounds — Adenine (A), Thymine (T), Cytosine (C) and Guanine (G) — held in a chain by some sugar and phosphate compounds. The Adenine on one strand is always opposite the Thymine on the other, while the Cytosine is paired opposite Guanine. The two parallel strands were shaped in a twisted ladder of sorts, to account for stability, compactness and other features revealed in earlier experiments.

Conclusion:

— The double helix was a rather unintuitive and unique structure for a molecule, but it made sense with all the evidence.

— The discovery of the DNA structure sparked a flurry of new research, birthing fields like molecular biology, biotechnology, gene modification and editing.

— Scientists have uncovered how changes in the process of copying genetic information result in some diseases and disorders, and have found fixes through tools like CRISPR.

(Source: How James Watson helped unravel the double helix)

Points to Ponder

Read more about DNA

Read about the difference between DNA and RNA

Related Previous Year Questions

What is the basic principle behind vaccine development? How do vaccines work? What approaches were adopted by the Indian vaccine manufacturers to produce COVID-19 vaccines? (2022)

The Nobel Prize in Physics of 2014 was jointly awarded to Akasaki, Amano and Nakamura for the invention of Blue LEDs in 1990s. How has this invention impacted the everyday life of human beings? (2021)

Previous Mains Answer Practice

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 126)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 127)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 126)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 127)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 127)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 126)

Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter and stay updated with the news cues from the past week.