© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
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.
Discuss how India’s digital infrastructure can help bridge the gap between primary healthcare and publicly financed health insurance systems. Evaluate how harnessing digital strengths will help achieve the ‘Viksit Bharat’ vision by 2047.
What is the strategic significance of hypersonic weapons? Discuss the development of hypersonic technologies in India.
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 how India’s digital infrastructure can help bridge the gap between primary healthcare and publicly financed health insurance systems. Evaluate how harnessing digital strengths will help achieve the ‘Viksit Bharat’ vision by 2047.
Introduction:
— India is becoming a global leader in digital adoption thanks to a revolutionary evolution of its digital infrastructure in recent years. India’s infrastructure is constantly changing to satisfy the increasing needs of the public and commercial sectors as a result of the country’s rapidly rising digital economy, which is being driven by advancements in cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and digital governance.
— India’s ambition to become an economically prosperous country by 2047 is linked to the objective of having healthy and productive people.
— Primary healthcare-led universal health coverage (UHC) is the motor that will propel our health-care systems into the year 2047. This necessitates increased public funding, including increases in allocations across the national and state budgets.
Body:
— Health promotion and illness prevention must be given high priority at the population level, and individuals’ disordered health must be quickly restored through effective and equitable administration of diagnostic and therapeutic services.
— If such a robust health system is to function with youthful vitality in 2047, it must begin to emerge in 2025. The double helix of financial and human resources must supply the DNA for growth and development.
— To achieve UHC, we must perform well on two sets of indicators: financial protection and service coverage. We must ensure that health services across the country can provide a diverse range of quality-assured health services to address the age-related health needs of all families.
— The Ayushman Bharat goal has the main components required to build a blueprint for a successful, egalitarian, economically efficient, and empathic health system. Improved primary care architecture; health infrastructure; financial protection for healthcare expenses of socioeconomically poor and elderly populations; and a digital health technology push to connect several functional units of the health system.
— The role of the digital health mission is especially crucial in this endeavour, as it ranges from epidemiological intelligence to monitoring the impact of health programs.
— Techniques like wastewater surveillance must become a regular element of our surveillance, both for early detection of developing microbial risks and for monitoring antimicrobial resistance levels (AMR). Climate change is allowing water-borne diseases to spread and vector-borne diseases to thrive.
Conclusion:
— It is critical to leverage India’s digital strengths to bridge the gap between primary care and publicly financed health insurance programmes that cover secondary and tertiary hospital care (such as PMJAY and state health insurance programmes).
— Community participation, whether through crowdsourcing surveillance data during outbreaks or identifying flaws in program execution, can also be digitally facilitated.
(Source: For a Viksit Bharat, focus on health by K. Srinath Reddy)
Points to Ponder
Read more about Ayushman Bharat
What is ‘Viksit Bharat’ vision by 2047?
Read more about healthcare in India
Link between AI and healthcare
Related Previous Year Questions
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)
The increase in life expectancy in the country has led to newer health challenges in the community. What are those challenges and what steps need to be taken to meet them? (2022)
QUESTION 2: What is the strategic significance of hypersonic weapons? Discuss the development of hypersonic technologies in India.
Introduction:
— For the first time in India, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) showed the scramjet combustor in a ground test lasting 120 seconds. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has described it as a critical milestone in the development of next-generation hypersonic weapons.
— Hypersonic missiles are a type of modern weapon that travels at speeds more than ‘Mach 5’, or five times the speed of sound.
Body:
Strategic significance of hypersonic weapons
— Hypersonic weapons have the ability to outperform major military countries’ present air defence systems while delivering rapid, high-impact strikes. Several countries, notably the United States, Russia, India, and China, are actively pursuing hypersonic technology and have reached varying stages of research.
— They can demonstrate superior space capabilities.
— They can improve the military forces’ capacity to negotiate even the most sophisticated missile defence systems and strike targets with little warning.
— The manoeuvrability and high speeds of hypersonic missiles make interception extremely difficult, providing a significant strategic advantage in offensive operations.
Development of hypersonic technologies in India
— For more than two decades, the DRDO, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), and their academic and industrial partners have been developing hypersonic engines and other hypersonic system technologies.
— On August 28, 2016, ISRO’s Air Breathing Propulsion Project made a significant step forward with the successful flight test of its Scramjet. The first experimental flight of ISRO’s Scramjet Engine was successfully launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR in Sriharikota.
— On July 22, 2024, another trial flight will be conducted to demonstrate air breathing propulsion technology. The propulsion units were installed symmetrically on both sides of a Rohini Sounding rocket. ISRO’s current focus is on the Hypersonic Air Breathing Vehicle with Air Integration Systems (HAVA) project and the development of vital technologies.
— ISRO also intends to deploy scramjet technology in future vehicles because scramjet engines do not require oxygen as an oxidiser. Thus, rockets powered by scramjet engines will be able to transport larger satellites.
— The DRDO began developing the hypersonic engine and related equipment in the early 2000s. On September 7, 2020, DRDO successfully demonstrated hypersonic air-breathing scramjet technology with the flight test of the Hypersonic Technology Demonstration Vehicle (HSTDV) from the Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Launch Complex on Wheeler Island, off the coast of Odisha.
Conclusion:
— The DRDO has worked on a variety of hypersonic technology projects, including aeroacoustic studies for hypersonic vehicles, artificial intelligence-based frequency selective surface (FSS) applications, thermal barrier coatings, reaction control systems for hypersonic glide vehicles, and endothermic fuels for high-temperature applications.
(Source: How DRDO’s recent scramjet test puts India firmly in the hypersonic weapons race by Sushant Kulkarni)
Points to Ponder
What is the difference between ramjet and scramjet engines?
Read more about hypersonic missiles
Read about recent projects of DRDO and ISRO
Related Previous Year Questions
How is the S-400 air defence system technically superior to any other system presently available in the world? (2021)
Discuss India’s achievements in the field of Space Science and Technology. How has the application of this technology has helped India in its socio-economic development? (2016)
UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 88)
UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 88)
UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 88)
UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 87)
UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 87)
UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 87)
Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter and stay updated with the news cues from the past week.
Stay updated with the latest UPSC articles by joining our Telegram channel – IndianExpress UPSC Hub, and follow us on Instagram and X.
