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UPSC Essentials brings to you its initiative for the practice of Mains answer writing. It covers essential topics of static and dynamic parts of the UPSC Civil Services syllabus covered under various GS papers. This answer-writing practice is designed to help you as a value addition to your UPSC CSE Mains. Attempt today’s answer writing on questions related to topics of GS-3 to check your progress.
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Discuss the significance of the Raman Effect in modern science and technology. Highlight its applications in various fields, including recent advancements in medical diagnostics.
Critically analyse the impact of India’s export restrictions on agricultural commodities. How do these policies affect domestic agriculture, international trade relations, and the overall economy?
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.
— Underlining keywords gives you an edge over other candidates and enhances presentation of the answer.
— Using flowcharts/tree-diagram in the answers saves much time and boosts your score. However, it should be used logically and only where it is required.
Way forward/ conclusion
— The ending of the answer should be on a positive note and it should have a forward-looking approach. However, if you feel that an important problem must be highlighted, you may add it in your conclusion. Try not to repeat any point from body or introduction.
— You may use the findings of reports or surveys conducted at national and international levels, quotes etc. in your answers.
Self Evaluation
— It is the most important part of our Mains answer writing practice. UPSC Essentials will provide some guiding points or ideas as a thought process that will help you to evaluate your answers.
QUESTION 1: Discuss the significance of the Raman Effect in modern science and technology. Highlight its applications in various fields, including recent advancements in medical diagnostics.
Introduction:
— The Raman Effect is a spectroscopic phenomena discovered by a renowned physicist while working in the laboratory of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science in Kolkata.
— When light strikes a material, it interacts with its molecules, exchanging energy. When this light is scattered by the substance, a piece of it has a different wavelength and therefore a different colour. The blue colour of oceans, caused by the scattering of sunlight by water molecules, is one example of this, as well as the phenomena that led Raman to his discovery. Similarly, the sky’s blue colour results from sunlight being scattered by air molecules.
Body:
Application of the Raman Effect
— It depicts how light is scattered by a substance in a solid, liquid, or gaseous media.
— It also provides information on the structure of the drug without breaking it down for study.
— The Raman effect increased the use of lasers.
— Illegal substances seized at a crime scene can be examined quickly without compromising the evidence seal on the plastic bag.
— Chemists use it to observe paint drying and determine what reactions occur as the paint hardens.
— They can use a fiber-optic probe to assess nuclear waste from a safe distance.
— In clinical settings, Raman spectroscopy can be utilised to differentiate between malignant and potentially malignant lesions of the human oral cavity.
— It can identify analytes in bodily fluids for biomedical diagnostics.
— Raman spectroscopy has been proposed and verified as a method for non-invasive, near-real-time diagnosis of diverse tissue disorders.
Conclusion:
— According to the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM), the National Council for Science and Technology Communication petitioned the Government of India in 1986 to declare February 28 as National Science Day.
— The government agreed, and the inaugural National Science Day was held on February 28, 1987. “The primary goal of National Science Day is to raise public awareness of the value of science and its applications. This year’s National Science Day theme is ‘Empowering Indian Youth for Global Leadership in Science & Innovation for Viksit Bharat.’
(Source: National Science Day: What is Raman Effect, what are some of its uses, http://www.rrcat.gov.in)
Points to Ponder
Read more about National Science Day
C.V Raman and Noble prize in Physics
Related Previous Year Questions
The Nobel Prize in Physics of 2014 was jointly awarded to Akasaki, Amano and Nakamura for the invention of Blue LEDs in the 1990s. How has this invention impacted the everyday life of human beings? (2021)
What do you understand about nanotechnology and how is it helping in the health sector? (2020)
QUESTION 2: Critically analyse the impact of India’s export restrictions on agricultural commodities. How do these policies affect domestic agriculture, international trade relations, and the overall economy?
Introduction:
— India’s agricultural exports increased by 6.5%, from $35.2 billion in April-December 2023 to $37.5 billion in April–December 2024.
— India’s overall goods imports increased 7.4% between April and December 2024 compared to April and December 2023, while farm product imports increased 18.7% (from $24.6 billion to $29.3 billion).
Body:
— India is a net agricultural commodity exporter, with external shipments continuously exceeding imports. However, the trade surplus, which peaked at $27.7 billion in 2013-14, fell to $8.1 billion in 2016-17. It then increased to $20.2 billion in 2020-21, before dropping to $16 billion in 2023-24. This fiscal year is expected to see greater declines.
— The UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) food price index (base period: 2014-16=100) fell from an average of 119.1 to 96.4 points between 2013-14 and 2019-20. Low global prices made India’s agricultural exports less cost competitive, leaving its farmers exposed to cheaper imports.
— Supply problems during the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine resulted in a global price recovery. As the benchmark FAO index reached an average of 133.1 points in 2021-22 and 140.6 points in 2022-23, India’s agricultural exports increased to $50.2 billion and $53.2 billion, respectively. With the index dropping somewhat after that, to 121.5 in 2023-24 and 123.4 in 2024-25 (April-January), exports have also fallen from all-time highs.
— The top export commodity, marine products, has fallen from $7.8 billion in 2021-22 and $8.1 billion in 2022-23 to $7.4 billion in 2023-24. The downward trend has continued throughout the current fiscal year. India’s marine exports, of which frozen prawns account for almost two-thirds, go mostly to the United States (34.5% in 2023-24), China (19.6%), and the European Union (14%).
— Sugar exports have also decreased significantly, falling from $5.8 billion in 2022-23 to $2.8 billion in 2023-24. Its exports, including wheat (from $2.1 billion in 2021-22 and $1.5 billion in 2022-23 to almost nothing since), have been hampered by government regulations in response to worries about domestic availability and food inflation.
— Rice exports have continued to increase. That includes non-basmati rice, for which various restrictions ranging from an outright ban on white rice to a 20% levy on parboiled grain shipments have been gradually abolished. The prohibition on broken rice exports continues in place, although the value of non-basmati shipments is expected to remain near to the $6.1-6.4 billion highs reached in 2021-22 and 2022-23.
— Exports of basmati rice, as well as spices, coffee, and tobacco, are expected to reach new highs in 2024-25. Drought in Brazil and typhoon activity in Vietnam have boosted coffee exports from India. Crop disasters in Brazil and Zimbabwe have also aided Indian tobacco exporters.
— Indian agricultural imports are dominated by two commodities: edible oils and pulses. Pulse imports have decreased significantly — from $3.9 billion in 2015-16 and $4.2 billion in 2016-17 to an average of $1.7 billion during the five years ending 2022-23 — as domestic production grew. In edible oils, the outgo for 2024-25 is predicted to be the largest after 2021-22 ($19 billion) and 2022-23 ($20.8 billion), which was mostly due to the war in Ukraine that drove up global prices.
Conclusion:
— The cultivation of genetically modified hybrids has transformed India into the world’s second largest exporter behind the United States. Cotton exports in 2011-12, 2012-13, and 2013-14 totalled $4.3 billion, $3.7 billion, and $3.6 billion, respectively. That figure has fallen to $781.4 million in 2022-23 and $1.1 billion in 2023-24.
— India exports and imports spices. In 2023-24, India imported 34,028 tonnes of pepper and 9,084 tonnes of cardamom, exceeding its exports of 17,890 tonnes and 7,449 tonnes, respectively.
(Source: India’s agriculture exports by Harish Damodaran)
Points to Ponder
Which commodity is exported and imported by India the most
Read more about Bt cotton
Read about import of edible oil and pulses
Related Previous Year Questions
What are the causes of persistent high food inflation in India? Comment on the effectiveness of the monetary policy of the RBI to control this type of inflation. (2024)
How does e-Technology help farmers in production and marketing of agricultural produce? Explain it. (2023)
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