UPSC Mains 2020 GS Paper 3 with Solutions - 2 | UPSC Previous Year Question Papers and Video Analysis PDF Download

Q.9. Discuss different types of cybercrimes and measures required to be taken to fight the menace. (Answer in 150 words) 10 Marks

According to Defence White Paper 2009, Cyberspace is a virtual domain, different, to the physical domains of air, sea, land and space. Cyberspace refers to the virtual computer world, and more specifically, an electronic medium that is used to facilitate online communication. Cyberspace typically involves a large computer network made up of many worldwide computer subnetworks that employ TCP/IP protocol to aid in communication and data exchange activities.

Cyber Threats:
A cyber or cybersecurity threat is a malicious act that seeks to damage data, steal data, or disrupt digital life in general.

Cyber Crime:
Cybercrime is a crime that involves a computer and a network. The computer may have been used to commit the crime and in many cases, it is also the target. Cybercrime may threaten a person or a nation’s security and financial health.

Types

• Identity theft: Identity theft is defined as theft of personnel information of an individual to avail financial services or steal the financial assets themselves.
• Cyberterrorism: Cyberterrorism is committed with the purpose of causing grievous harm or extortion of any kind subjected towards a person, groups of individuals, or governments.
• Cyberbullying: Cyberbullying is the act of intimidating, harassment, defaming, or any other form of mental degradation through the use of electronic means or modes such as social media.
• Hacking: Access of information through fraudulent or unethical means is known as hacking. This is the most common form of cybercrime know to the general public.
• Defamation: While every individual has his or her right to speech on internet platforms as well, but if their statements cross a line and harm the reputation of any individual or organization, then they can be charged with the Defamation Law.
• Trade Secrets: Internet organization spends a lot of their time and money in developing software, applications, and tools and rely on Cyber Laws to protect their data and trade secrets against theft; doing which is a punishable offense.
• Freedom of Speech: When it comes to the internet, there is a very thin line between freedom of speech and being a cyber-offender. As freedom of speech enables individuals to speak their mind, cyber law refrains obscenity and crassness over the web.
• Harassment and Stalking: Harassment and stalking are prohibited over internet platforms as well. Cyber laws protect the victims and prosecute the offender against this offense.

How to protect organization against cybercrime (general suggestions to private and public organization)

There are three simple steps you can take you increase security and reduce risk of cybercrime:

• Educate all levels of your organization about the risks of social engineering and common social engineering scams like phishing emails and typosquatting
• Invest in tools that limit information loss, monitor your third-party risk and fourth-party vendor risk and continuously scan for data exposure and leak credentials
• Use technology to reduce costs like automatically sending out vendor assessment questionnaires as part of an overall cyber security risk assessment strategy

Companies should no longer be asking why is cybersecurity important, but how can I ensure my organization’s cybersecurity practices are sufficient to comply with GDPR and other regulation and to protect my business against sophisticated cyber-attacks.

Q.10. For effective border area management, discuss the steps required to be taken to deny local support to militants and also suggest ways to manage favourable perception among locals. (Answer in 150 words) 10 Marks

Border management aims at protecting against the hostile interest across the border and institutionalize a system for legitimate trade and commerce by addressing hostile interests. It includes border security, infrastructure creation as well as development of border areas to ensure their support in effective border management.

Steps required to deny local support to militants:
It is essential to cut off local support to militancy as evident in public support outpouring on social media after Burhan Wani’sjilling, role of public support in Pulwama attack, support in public funerals of militants, hiding militants and sensitive information etc. This is set to increase in areas like J&K post-political vacuum after ar7 370 withdrawal. Steps should be:

• Cordon breaking technique needs change in strategy as every time one breaks out of it, he gets more hero worship and support. Focus has to be on intelligence gathering through locals.
• Disrupt large gatherings at funerals: Deployments of forces around the residential areas of a slain militant and installing blockades and security checks after encounters along with enhanced surveillance. Ex- A study done by the J&K Police found that militant funerals were fertile grounds for new recruitments and public support
• Social media regulations and monitoring as this has emerged as biggest source of public support Post-Burhan Wani killing.
• Preventive measures to preven the radicalisation combined with recruitment of local youth.: A strong deterrence by enforcing terror laws are essential and at the same time public need to be given means whereby they can cut-off direct or indirect support without being unduly punished.
• Development: Lack of employment or oppurtunities in border areas in West and eastern part pushes youth towards such anti-state activities. Focus on infrastructure creation with new business oppurtunities can be effective in complementing security strategies.
• Elections to fill the political vacuum in absence of which people is feeling directionless.

Managing favourable perceptions among locals:

• Confidence-building measures (CBMs): Ex- Mumbai police where “they go to the slums inhabited by minorities, interact with them and highlight the evils of terrorism and the need to not support such outfits.
• Positive efforts of armed forces need to be given publicity: EX- Indian army personnel guiding students in Kashmir valley in IITs and other exams.
• Local recruitment in policing and even armed forces deploying one with more local outreach.
• Removing corruption and addressing people’s basic issues promptly which otherwise puts administration in bad light.
• Using social media to counter misinformation campaign. Ex- PIB coming out with fact checking and providing right information.
• Winning heart and mind strategy: Government by focussing on core aspects of governance without undue use of force can help in this regard.
• A path to course correction to youths attracted to militancy through amnesty schemes, counselling sessions.

Security efforts always needs a sound strategy for winning heart and mind to counter any sort of militancy or public dissatisfaction.

Q.11. Explain the meaning of investment in an economy in terms of capital formation. Discuss the factors to be considered while designing a concession agreement between a public entity and private entity. (Answer in 250 words)   15 Marks

High capital is a determinant of high growth and hence high growth. It needs huge investment and leads to increased productivity in economy and necessitated upgradation of skills for its utilization. Ex- Japan during its high growth phase of 1913 to 1939 saw investment rate between 16 to 20%.

Capital investment refers to a company’s acquisition of assets such as real estate, manufacturing plants, machinery, computers, vehicles, and production equipment.

Periods of high economic growth have occurred throughout history; they are usually prompted by discoveries of new natural resources or the invention of new technology. For example, the invention of the Internet in the 1980s paved the way for the invention of many other new technologies, including e-commerce, which revolutionized the way most firms conduct business. In the U.S., in the early 2000s, vast reserves of shale oil were discovered. This discovery led to the U.S. becoming the world’s largest crude-oil producer.

Without capital investment, innovation is not possible, including the discovery of new reserves of natural resources or technological advances. Capital investment occurs when businesses purchase capital goods, which are tangible assets such as buildings, machinery, equipment, vehicles, and tools. These tangible assets are then used to produce goods or services. Capital investment is a means for a company to further its business objectives.

Creation of capital is known as capital formation.

The stages are:

1. Creation of savings: Capital formation depends on savings. Saving is that part of national income which is not spent on consumption goods.
2. Conversion of savings into investment : To accelerate the rate of capital formation it is absolutely essential to convert savings into investible resources. Thus, the second stage of capital formation is concerned with channelizing the savings of the household sector and convert these into loanable funds.
3. The actual production of capital goods : This stage involves the con¬version of money-savings into the making of capital goods, or what is known as investment. The latter, in turn, hinges on the existing technical facilities available in the country, existing capital equipment, entrepreneurial skill and venture, rate of return on investment, rate of interest, govern¬ment policy, etc.

Two reasons why capital formation is important for economic growth are:

1. Capital accumulation is necessary to provide people with tools and implements of production. If the population goes on increasing and no net capital accumulation takes place, then the growing population would not be able to get necessary tools, instruments, machines and other means of production with the result that their capacity to produce would be seriously affected.
2. Another important economic role of capital formation is the creation of employment opportunities in the country. Capital formation creates employment as two stages. First, when the capital is produced, some workers have to be employed to make capital like machinery, factories, dams, irrigation works, etc. Secondly, more men have to be employed when capital has to be used for producing further goods.

Q.12. Explain the rationale behind the Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Act of 2017. How has COVID-19 impacted the GST compensation fund and created new federal tensions? (Answer in 250 words) 15 Marks

The act seeks to guarantee States through compensation for any loss of revenue in the first five years of GST implementation, until 2022, using a cess levied on sin and luxury goods. The Act directs cess revenue into a separate Compensation Fund and all compensation grants to states are required to be paid out of the money available in this Fund.

Rationale behind the GST (Compensation to States) Act, 2017:

• Assure for support in case of loss of revenue: To address states worry for revenue loss as they were letting go many important sources of taxation like sales tax to make them part of tax reform.
• Origin-based to destination-based taxation which worried many manufacturing states like Gujrat, Tamil Nadu about the loss of revenue it will accompany with changed taxation approach.
• For assurance of guarantees to all states of an annual growth rate of 14 percent in their GST revenue during the period July 2017-June 2022.

Impact of Covid-19 on GST compensation fund:

• Shortfall in compensation cess collection: Delay in collection of cesses led to cascading of delay payment of states compensation.
• States failing to get compensation as per act: It was to the extent of Rs 30000 crore.
• Centre not in position to pay: Covid-19 led to double whammy i.e., Increased spending and decreased revenue due to lockdown-imposed closure of economic activities.
• Covid-19 exposed unrealistic growth rate of 14% as mentioned in Act: Ex- In initial meetings it was put 10.5%, but negotiations put it at 14%. The slowdown exposed this gap in tax growth expectation.

Federal tension as a result:
It brought the question of fiscal federalism tensions with both states and Centre hardening their stance.

Though agreement was reached with states accepting debt from special window by finance ministry. Yet, wider issue of fiscal federalism, fiscal credibility of Centre needs to be addressed through building of institutional capacity, and discussion on reforms in GST council with states and Centre having proportionate power.

GST Compensation

The Constitution (One Hundred and First Amendment) Act, 2016, was the law which created the mechanism for levying a nationwide GST. Written into this law was a provision to compensate the States for loss of revenue arising out of implementation of the GST. The adoption of the GST was made possible by the States ceding almost all their powers to impose local-level indirect taxes and agreeing to let the prevailing multiplicity of imposts be subsumed under the GST. While the States would receive the SGST (State GST) component of the GST, and a share of the IGST (Integrated GST), it was agreed that revenue shortfalls arising from the transition to the new indirect taxes regime would be made good from a pooled GST Compensation Fund for a period of five years that is set to end in 2022. This corpus in turn is funded through a compensation cess that is levied on so-called ‘demerit’ goods.

The computation of the shortfall — the mechanism for which is spelt out in Section 7 of the GST (Compensation to States) Act, 2017 — is done annually by projecting a revenue assumption based on 14% compounded growth from the base year’s (2015-2016) revenue and calculating the difference between that figure and the actual GST collections in that year. For the 2020-21 fiscal year, the revenue shortfall has been anticipated at ₹3 lakh crore, with the Compensation Fund expected to have only about ₹65,000 crore through cess accruals and balance to pay the compensation to the States.

The economic slowdown, which has been on for almost three years now, began to impact GST revenue collections in August 2019. The Centre first admitted to problems on compensation payment in the 37th GST Council meeting in Goa last September – it said the amount of cess available in the compensation fund at the end of February “shall fall short for payment of compensation for loss of revenue till the bi-monthly period of December-January

The strain of slowing revenues and pending compensation payments to states under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is reflecting a worsening trend in the reliance on compensation payments as a share of the states’ overall protected GST revenues. The dependence of states on compensation payments as a share of the protected revenues, or the amount they are entitled to get as per the GST (Compensation to States) Act, has shot up to nearly 58 per cent in April-July from 24.2 per cent seen in the previous financial year, government data showed, with states such as Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh among worst affected.

In FY20, 24.2 per cent of protected GST revenues of states on an average was funded by compensation, while 75.8 per cent was from State GST (SGST) and Integrated GST (IGST) revenues accruing to the states, data from the Finance Ministry, presented in Parliament showed. States such as Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were less dependent on GST compensation in the previous financial year, constituting only 13 per cent and 11.3 per cent of its GST revenues, respectively, but for Puducherry and Punjab, compensation formed about 57.3 per cent and 47.8 per cent of their protected GST revenues, respectively.

Data on compensation deficit, when extrapolated for this fiscal, shows the share of dependence on compensation payments has now worsened, rising to over 50 per cent for 26 of the 31 states/UTs.

Q.13. What are the major factors responsible for making rice-wheat system a success? In spite of this success how has this system become bane in India?(Answer in 250 words) 15 Marks

Indian subcontinent has diverse soil profile, topography, climate, weather and divided into 127 agro climatic zones (ACZ) as per ICAR. Cropping pattern is definitely being affected by these factors.

• North India adapted to wheat cultivation
• South India adapted to rice cultivation

Factors responsible for making rice-wheat system a success:

Government Policies: Policies like MSP affects the type of crop chosen by farmer. Due to wide coverage of MSP in wheat and rice, farmer prefer rice and wheat over other crops.

Green Revolution Phase:
With advent of high yielding varieties of crops, development of agriculture infrastructure and announcement of MSP by government encouraged farmers to switch for subsistence farming to intensive farming. Area under Rice and wheat increased owing to better productivity and assured purchase by government by means of MSP. Cereal anxiety led the Centre to offer minimum support prices (MSPs) for the major cereals, which distorted cropping patterns into the “cerealization” of agriculture, as it is called.

Green Revolution also led to changes in the cropping patterns. Rice was introduced to Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh from traditional east and south India.

Feature: Increase in area under rice and wheat, more than one crop a year, reduction in import.

Other features include Open ended Procurement of Wheat and Rice by FCI and Robust PDS system which focussed more on Rice and Wheat.

Issues with rice and wheat Cropping System:

1. Ecological Issues
   • Declining underground water table
   • Ground water pollution: Excessive use of the fertilizers/insecticides pollutes the underground water quality
   • Diverse weed flora
   • Outbreak of disease and insect pest: The green crops with higher dose of N-fertilizers and wet conditions because of frequent irrigations are the paradise for the outbreak of insect-pest and diseases.
2. Agricultural Issues
   • Degrading soil structure
   • Declining soil health
   • Residue management: On farm residue management be the major issue in the prevailing cropping. Among rice and wheat straw residue, wheat residue is used in the animal husbandry sector but the higher silica content in rice straw make it inappropriate to be used in the dairy sector
3. Labour shortage: Rice–wheat cropping system is water-, energy-, capital- and most importantly labour intensive as transplanting, spraying and harvesting of paddy require intense labour. Labour shortage is an emerging issue
4. Multiple nutrient deficiencies
5. Livelihood Issues
   • Decreased land productivity
   • High energy requirement: Intensive cultivation of the rice–wheat sequence leads to decline of underground water levels to a serious concern and as a result submersible pumps replacing the centrifugal pumps which lifts up water from the deeper depths but they required more energy for this purpose
   • Decreased water productivity
   • Decreased efficiency of water use
6. Climatic Issues
   • Environmental pollution: Management of the rice stubble is a major challenge. Smoldering is widely practiced by the farmers being easy and quick method of disposing off of rice residues thereby causing air pollution
   • Global warming: Flaming of farm residues generates ample amount of greenhouse gases and aerosols and other hydrocarbons to the atmosphere affecting the atmospheric composition.
   • India witnessed the shift in area from food grain towards horticulture crops over last five years (from 2012-13 to 2017-18). The production of Horticulture crops have outpaced the production of food grain since 2012-13.

Way Forward:

“MSP has distorted cropping patterns, with excessive focus on the cultivation of wheat, rice and sugarcane in the procurement states at the expense of other crops such as pulses, oilseed and coarse grains,” the NITI Ayog said in its Three Year Action Agenda.There is a need to move towards diversification from cerealization.

With twin focus on Nutritional and Food security, government is now focusing on Horticulture too with schemes like Mission for Integrated development of horticulture (MIDH), Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna (RKVY), Green House Subsidy, promoting processing sector and mega food parks.

Price deficiency payment system will definitely encourage farmers to go for alternative crops instead of rice and wheat.The cropping pattern needs to be balanced keeping in view the rising population, Nutritional needs, food security, ecological balance and doubling farmers income.

Q.14. Suggest measures to improve water storage and irrigation system to make its judicious use under depleting scenario. (Answer in 250 words) 15 Marks

A 2018 Report of the NITI Aayog has observed that currently 600 million Indians face high to extreme water stress and about two lakh people die every year due to inadequate access to safe water. This with Agriculture consuming more than 80% of available fresh water there is need for better Water storage and irrigation system.

Measures to boost storage and irrigation in India:

Need is promoting Practices which helps in conserving water and reducing the demand and on other side increasing the supply by working on efficiency and storage i.e., Overall balancing the cycle of demand and supply of water.

• Decentralised irrigation: Small-scale, storage and distribution of water for agricultural and other needs in rural as well as urban areas. ex- Farm pond, localized irrigation through schemes like PM-KUSUM
• Using technology: Ex- Drip and Sprinkler irrigation
• Participatory irrigation management: Management by irrigation users at all levels of the system and in all aspects of management and regulated at local level by Pani panchayats or Water Users’ Associations (WUAs). Ex- Pani Panchayats Act (2002) has promoted participatory irrigation management and is flourishing in Odisha.
• Watershed development to boost storage and water availability through schemes like MGNREGA. Ex- Rale Gaon Siddi model success or Mexico’s efforts at cooperative management of groundwater through Watershed development
• Laying down infrastructure for efficient use of irrigation: Current canal-based irrigation lacks pipelines network to last farmers. This needs to be taken to all while providing for a farmer cooperative to regulate its use.
• Promote water storage using natural topography and creation of small check dams and DAMs after feasible study of ecosystem. Ex- Meghalaya receives one of the highest rainfalls in India, yet, suffers from water shortfall due to lack of proper storage.
• Rainwater harvesting at all levels (Residential to agriculture) to be made mandatory. Ex- Chennai mage it legally binding in buildings
• India must educate people about the need for dams to store water. The environmentalists and other groups who oppose dams should be engaged in a dialogue to work out alternatives and build a consensus and National Perspective Plan needs for Inter-linking of river needs to be utilized by making suitable dam structure after proper Environment Impact Assessment.

India needs to invest in water use efficiency, irrigation and storage before its water stress turns it into a water crisis as it has to serve around 17% of population with mere 4% of freshwater resources.

Q.15. COVID 19 pandemic has caused unprecedented devastation worldwide. However, technological advancements are being availed readily to win over the crisis? Give an account of how technology was sought to aid management of the pandemic.

Introduction:

COVID-19, an infectious disease caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is a global pandemic. With high transmissibility, a case fatality rate greater than 1%, and no effective antiviral therapy or vaccine, the mainstay of pandemic management has been containment and mitigation. Science and technology sector constituting data science, machine learning and artificial intelligence are contributing towards COVID-19 through medical image processing, disease tracking, prediction outcomes, computational biology and medicines.Countries such as South Korea have integrated digital technology into government-coordinated containment and mitigation processes—including surveillance, testing, contact tracing, and strict quarantine—which could be associated with the early flattening of their incidence curves.

How Technology was sought to aid management of the pandemic worldwide:

• A COVID-19 dashboard by WHO is available providing up to date data from around the world showing the latest information related to COVID-19.
• Leveraging AI to help identify COVID treatments:
  • European biotechnology company Nuritas is using AI to revolutionize the discovery of therapeutic antiviral peptides (short amino acids / small proteins). Nurita’s use of AI/ML to identify key peptides for testing has greatly shortened the research timeline, increased efficacy, and reduced the risk of drug development.
  • An AI-based database of X-ray scans and deep neural networks and is trained to distinguish the chest congestion differences between patients with pneumonia, tuberculosis and COVID-19. According to the researchers, the software can analyze the nature of fluid buildup in the lungs and attribute it to COVID.
  • Researchers can potentially use natural language processing to skim through scientific papers and scholarly articles to help combat information overload. Artificial Intelligence platform that makes it easier for team members to quickly find relevant studies that can potentially lead to new insights or approaches to address the COVID-19 outbreak.
• Blockchain technology can potentially be used to effectively manage medical data, track the supply of virus prevention materials (disinfectants, sanitizers), and consult the public.
• Chatbot tools can provide an online triage in infection diagnostics. The tool is primarily used by healthcare professionals to interact with patients via remote visits. BBDO Guerrero has partnered with the National Union of Journalists and the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility to develop a Facebook chatbot that sniffs out fake news in the Philippines, where 98% of the population uses Facebook as their primary source of information.
• 3D printing can be used to help produce vital hospital supplies amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. A hospital in Italy was able to save the lives of many COVID-19 patients by 3D-printing valves on reanimation devices. It assisted in the production of respirators, valves, masks, etc.
• Drones can be potentially used to carry test kits and medical supplies, cutting delivery time and improving response time for medical authorities. Further, drones are being increasingly used in countries like South Korea and China to spray disinfecting chemicals in public spaces and on epidemic prevention vehicles commuting to the infected areas. Drones equipped with thermal imaging technology are being used in China to detect people with fever/flu symptoms.
• Robotics can be put to great use in checking temperatures and identifying and disinfecting people in public spaces, thus eliminating human contact. In Wuhan, the epicenter of the Corona outbreak, robots are being used to take vital signs, deliver meds and even entertain quarantined patients in a smart field hospital. The use of robots in hospitals can provide much-needed relief for medical staff and other healthcare workers as they continue to provide care for affected patients.
•  From e-commerce to “V-Commerce”: E-commerce took on new importance during the pandemic as shoppers stayed home to fight the virus’ spread. It created a unique opportunity to merge virtual reality technology with online shopping. US-based Lifestyles in 360 partnered with Whole Foods to take grocery shopping online for certain parts of the country. In this emerging “V-Commerce” solution, Whole Foods online stores had robust functionality including dynamic pricing and product selection, making online shopping more appealing for those more comfortable with the in-person experience.
• Technologies like augmented reality/virtual reality can be considered as digital alternatives to address the issue. Companies in the real estate space, such as Beijing-based China Fortune Land Development and Hong Kong-based Greentown China Holdings, have recently launched programs that allow their customers (property buyers) to take VR tours of properties for sale.
• Video conferencing solutions have been the lifeblood of companies and educational institutions. With offices closed and travel being restricted, cloud meetings have kept companies from falling apart and have helped them minimize the business impact according to media reports. Zoom, a prominent cloud conferencing solutions provider, experienced a massive spike in its user base.
• Social media platforms in recent years have been a key medium of communication during a crisis. At a time when the reach of traditional media has been limited due to social distancing measures, social media users have kept the world updated and have played a major role in dissipating credible information. Mediums such as Twitter and Facebook have taken concrete steps to ensure that only helpful and credible content is distributed on their platforms by curbing the spread of fake and misleading content.
• 5G can play an indirect role in the containment of this virus outbreak. Huge bandwidth, high speed, and low latency allow for seamless communication in hospitals and emergency command centers. It could potentially serve as a foundation that enables the implementation of the aforementioned technologies.
• Fitbit, the wearables maker partnered with the Stanford Healthcare Innovation Lab to explore whether data points collected from its devices could help researchers detect COVID-19 even before symptoms emerge.
  • Fitbit collects nearly 250,000 data points per day, including a user’s heart rate, sleep patterns, and skin temperatures. The research aimed to train algorithms to pick up abnormal patterns deviating from a user’s baseline to predict and detect possible infections.

India’s Digital Response to COVID-19:

• AarogyaSetu was designed as a ‘digital contact tracing’ app which can inform users whether they are at risk of COVID-19 infection, to help people self-quarantine and allow them to approach public health authorities.
• Seva Sindhu Portal of Government of Karnataka was used extensively to issue e-Pass for movement of persons into the state during different phases of lockdown and unlock period. The data from the Seva Sindhu app was synced to the Quarantine Watch app to help monitor and implement the isolation and quarantine process. Quarantine Watch application enabled- self-reporting by people in-home quarantine.
• Telcos to spread public health messages:
  • With the world’s second largest population, India’s Department of Telecom asked Telco operators to play coronavirus awareness messages and prevention techniques as a caller tune instead of the normal ringtone.
  • As people made calls, they heard a 30-second message on how to stop the virus’ spread as well as healthcare center contact information. This simple solution helped leverage cheap technology to reach the millions with a phone in their pocket, including the country’s 26% illiterate population.
• Telangana Govt. used AI system of Vehicles Plate No. verification to catch violations during lockdown.
• The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) now allows companies to channel their mandatory Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) spending towards helping fund new innovative technologies that will aid in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The Social Impact Team at Invest India is augmenting the efforts of the MCA by collating a repository of CSR eligible innovations that can help in testing, curing and prevention of COVID-19.

The Path Ahead
The pace of technological innovation in the past 20 years has been mind boggling, and the ubiquity and accessibility of tech are what has kept economies and human lives going. It is difficult to imagine how we could have handled such a pandemic 15-20 years ago when all of the above technologies did not exist. As with every great challenge in human history, this pandemic has and will continue to bring out the best in human ingenuity and innovation.