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 working of GPS jamming and spoofing. Examine their impact on global trade, maritime safety, and strategic security.

Discuss the role of Artificial Intelligence in addressing challenges in Indian agriculture.

👁 answers for upsc mains

QUESTION 1: Discuss the working of GPS jamming and spoofing. Examine their impact on global trade, maritime safety, and strategic security.

Relevance: This question is directly linked to maritime security in chokepoints like the Strait of Hormuz affecting India’s energy imports. It is relevant for understanding emerging non-traditional security threats and disaster risks.

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

Introduction:

— The war waged by the US and its allies against Iran, which began on February 28, has upended shipping and critical supplies of oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz.

— Both sides have seen their navigation systems go haywire, erroneously indicating that ships were located at airports, on land or at nuclear power plants. This has been made possible through electronic interference, such as GPS spoofing or jamming.

Body:

You may incorporate some of the following points in your answer:

— Both ships and aircraft depend on global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) for position, navigation, and timing (PNT) information. Of these, the American Global Positioning System (GPS) is the most popular GNSS, with the terms often used interchangeably. These systems include ground infrastructure and satellite constellations that provide PNT information by determining the position of a GNSS signal receiver. Vessels are equipped with these receivers, and vehicles with navigational aids. While these systems have a high degree of accuracy, satellite navigation signals are weak and, therefore, vulnerable to interference.

— GPS jamming or spoofing are two deliberate types of cyberattacks on GNSS signals to disrupt or trick the navigation systems of vehicles. Despite being used synonymously, they refer to two different things.

— GPS jamming involves the use of a device called a jammer to overpower weaker signals with ‘noise’ on the same frequency. GPS spoofing, on the other hand, mimics the GPS signal and provides the pilot (or captain) with false information about their actual location.

— Of the two, spoofing is the more serious offence, disrupting signals and forcing pilots, for instance, to incorrectly account for factors such as altitude or terrain. Spoofing may tell an aircraft it is in a location it isn’t supposed to be in, and create confusion in the cockpit.

Conclusion:

— The use of GPS or AIS interference is not a new phenomenon. In war zones, electronic interference attempts to disrupt the navigation systems of missiles or drones, which may rely on location data to find and hit their targets.

— GPS interference has been reported in the war between Russia and Ukraine, where large-scale drone-based warfare was observed for the first time. India has also faced electronic interference: Last November, the Indira Gandhi International Airport saw major flight disruptions, with a planned upgrade of airport systems causing the shutdown of IGIA’s instrument landing system. While such systems are unaffected by GPS interference while functional, in its absence, aircraft typically rely on GPS-based Required Navigation Performance (RNP) guidance to land, but the recent GPS spoofing around Delhi has disrupted these signals.

(Source: Why GPS jamming around the Strait of Hormuz has become a major concern)

Points to Ponder

Difference between jamming vs spoofing

Need for alternative navigation systems

Related Previous Year Questions

India aims to become a semiconductor manufacturing hub. What are the challenges faced by the semiconductor industry in India? Mention the salient features of the India Semiconductor Mission. (2025)

Social media and encrypting messaging services pose a serious security challenge. What measures have been adopted at various levels to address the security implications of social media? Also suggest any other remedies to address the problem. (2024)

QUESTION 2: Discuss the role of Artificial Intelligence in addressing challenges in Indian agriculture.

Relevance: It is core GS-3 topic covering agriculture modernization and emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence. It is important for inclusive growth, especially empowerment of women farmers and smallholders.

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

Introduction:

— Maharashtra has announced a dedicated AI strategy for agriculture, and several public-private partnerships are already piloting AI-driven crop advisories, pest diagnostics, and climate-risk prediction models.

— For India’s women farmers, this moment represents a historic opportunity. Women constitute nearly 43 per cent of India’s agricultural labour force. They contribute close to half of crop production and over 70 per cent of livestock-related work. Agriculture remains the single largest employer of working women in India, accounting for nearly 55-60 per cent of female employment in rural areas.

Body:

You may incorporate some of the following points in your answer:

— Yet, women own only about 13-14 per cent of operational landholdings. Their access to institutional credit remains low. Women are also around 15-20 per cent less likely than men to own a smartphone and significantly less likely to use mobile internet. Bridging this digital divide is not just a social goal, it is an economic multiplier.

Role of AI in reshaping agriculture

— Satellite-based remote sensing and computer vision systems now detect crop stress, pest incidence, and nutrient deficiencies with accuracy.

— Machine-learning models integrating IMD weather data, soil health cards, and cropping histories are improving yield forecasts.

— AI-enabled pest surveillance platforms have reduced pesticide use.

— Voice-enabled AI chatbots in regional languages are delivering real-time advisories to millions of farmers.

— These technologies address three chronic constraints: Knowledge management asymmetry, input inefficiency, and climate variability. For women farmers, these efficiencies translate into time savings, reduced drudgery, and improved productivity.

Conclusion:

— Diversified agriculture including millets, pulses, horticulture, small livestock, and backyard enterprises — where women play a larger role — remains understudied, under-digitised and under-modelled. This can cause AI algorithms to be biased towards limited sections of agriculture practices. This imbalance can affect model training.

— India now faces a rising frequency of extreme weather events, directly affecting smallholders. AI-based early warning systems and adaptive cropping advisories can reduce climate-related yield losses.

— If AI strategies integrate gender-smart design, correct data asymmetries, and close digital access gaps, the technology can accelerate not just productivity but equity. In the International Year of the Woman Farmer, we should endeavour to make India’s AI revolution synonymous with inclusive agricultural transformation — one that recognises and multiplies the contribution of the women who feed the nation.

Points to Ponder

Use of Artificial Intelligence for precision farming

Role of FPOs, agri-startups, extension services

Related Previous Year Questions

How does nanotechnology offer significant advancements in the field of agriculture? How can this technology help to uplift the socio-economic status of farmers? (2025)

What are the present challenges before crop diversification? How do emerging technologies provide an opportunity for crop diversification? (2021)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 144)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 145)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 144)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 145)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 144)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 145)

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