Note: Last date to apply for HPSC today! Apply here

🚨 21 December 2023 | Thursday 🚨

Mains Keywords ✍️🏼

1. Shifting Baseline Syndrome

• When conditions of the natural environment gradually degrade over time, yet people falsely perceive less change
• due to constraints of memory, community knowledge & language

2. Greenwashing

• Revise here

3. Sovereign AI

• Revise here


Pre-related 📄

1. Inflation

a) Demand driven: When unexpected changes in prices & quantities of goods aligns in same direction

b) Supply driven: When unexpected changes in prices & quantities of goods move in opposite directions

c) Disflation: Slowing in the rate of inflation


2. Public & Private Investment

a) Crowding out: Rising public sector spending drives down pvt investment due to higher interest rates

b) Crowding in: Rising public sector spending leads to an increase in pvt investment due to higher aggregate demand


Reading Recommendations 🗞️

IE

1. Beyond app & coaching (Ed-tech & India)
2. The nature of growth (read for current macroeconomics)
3. Centre to step up compute capacity, offer free services to startups (pg1)

TH
1. A security breach that must lead to sweeping changes (GS3, Internal Security)
2. India's defece budgeting and the point of deterrence (Defence budgeting)
3. Outcomws of the COP-28 climate summit (GS3, Environment)


PS: Hit ❤️ for yourself if you're reading newspaper daily! :)

Every word you utter
Every phrase you write
Every action you perform

Everything has a cost

Aspirant life kills this knack of time for you

Comfort kicks in!

Life in ORN like places become stagnant

You don’t know but you’re detached from real world

Anything beyond Karol Bagh metro station feels alien,

You wait.

Year after year,
To step into this alien world..

..after you crack THE exam

It never happens!

“You are left alone, always”

You murmur

But truth is, you didn’t make an effort

You chose to become a prisoner of sunk cost fallacy

You sit back, waiting for magic
Life goes on, magically.

Bottom line: recognise your opportunity cost.

You’re young
You’re promising
You’re creative but..

..not enough!

How to be enough?

• Put yourself out there
• Experiment with ‘alien’ life
• Make new friends away from UPSC

It’s okay. You’re okay.
You’ll be okay. You’re okay.

Don’t settle, refuse to be stagnant

You’re enough. You got this!

Note: Download my 100+ articles handwritten list to revise here

🚨 22 December 2023 | Friday 🚨

Mains Keywords ✍️🏼

1. Salwa Judum

• Militia of tribal persons mobilised for resistance against outlawed armed CPI (Maoist)


Pre-related 📄

1. Places in News: Ennore Creek

• Chennai, Tamil Nadu
• Cafeterias (feeding stations) to be set up for oil-spill hit birds

2. UNESCO's 2023 Prix Versailles

• Focuses on intelligent sustainability as a cultural driver
• Context: Has awarded T2 of Bengaluru's Kempegowda Int'l Airport with special prize for interiors

3. Namdapha Flying Squirrel

• A nocturnal, arboreal mammal
• Context: Resurfaces in Namdapha Tiger Reserve, Arunachal Pradesh after 42 years


Stats 📈

• 35% of subordinate court judges are women (India Justice Report 2022)


Reading Recommendations 🗞️

IE

1. IMF's message (GS3, Economy)
2. What are volacnoes - and why do they keep erupting in Iceland? (GS1, Geography)
3. IPC to BNS, what has changed? (GS2, Polity & Policy)

TH
1. Questionable searches under Money Laundering Act (GS3, Internal Security)
2. Should an All-India Judicial Service be created? (GS2, Polity)
3. Analysing the Post Office Bill, 2023 (GS2, Policy)


PS: Hit ❤️ if you know what & when Winter Solstice is! :)

Note: Wind up Ethics in Last weekend of December with these simple tips

🚨 23 December 2023 | Saturday 🚨

Nothing much in newspaper today. Use time to revise current affairs on blog.csewhy.com


Reading Recommendations 🗞️

IE

1. Grand gesture, small details (GS2, IR)
2. In Charan Singh's footsteps (GS3, Agri)
3. How India chooses Chief Guest for Republic Day (read for awareness)
4. Credit ratings: the Govt view (GS3, Economy)
5. A product of wartime: Evolution of modern passport (read for awareness)


PS: Facing any issues regarding UPSC Prep? Talk to me directly at whycse@gmail.com

Note: Pre 2023 had 10 Envt questions. Analysis here!

🚨 24 December 2023 | Sunday 🚨


Mains Keys 🗝
(Use as examples in Mains Answers)

• Lakshmir Bhandar : Flagship schemes of WB Govt - cash incentives for women (GS2, Social Justice)


Pre-related 📄

1. Aerogels

• Polar bear fur inspired fibre suited for advanced textiles
• Mechanically robust with insulation properties
• Knittable, washable, dyeable, durable

2. Places in News: Sierra Leone

• West African country
• Alleged coup attempt


Reading Recommendations 🗞️

TH
1. Predicting extreme rainfall using probabilistic forecasts (GS1, Geography)
2. How is the UK cracking down on immigration? (GS2, Diaspora)
3. What's the latest blip in India-Maldives ties? (GS2, IR)
4. India's $60 bn man-made textile sector reels from Chinese imports glut (Pg17)


PS: Hit ❤️ for yourself if you're reading newspaper on a Sunday! :)

Note: Telecom Bill 2023: One stop resource here

🚨 25 December 2023 | Monday 🚨

Revise ransomware & cyber security from UPSC perspective here

Mains Keywords ✍️🏼

1. Kaldor-Verdoorn coefficient

• Reflects extent to which labour productivity growth rate responds to o/p growth rate
• Considered higher than avg for India's non-agricultural sector
• Accounts for jobless growth in India


Pre-related 📄

1. Nematocyst

• Specialised cell, consists of a capsule with coiled, thread-like tubule & bulbous structure w/ toxins
• Crucial role in feeding & defence strategies of esp cnidarians like jellyfish, corals, hydras etc

2. Revise Lingayatism here


Reading Recommendations 🗞️

IE

1. Last mile delivery is key (By former VP V Naidu)
2. The changing Indian village (GS1, Society)

TH
1. India's jobs crisis, the macroeconomic reasons (GS3, Economy)
2. The evolving role of the Colombo Security Conclave (GS2, IR)
3. Unpacking the first ever COP 'Health Day' (Climate Change & Health)
4. India's revised criminal law proposals (GS2, Polity & Policy)
5. Why ransomware attacks on Indian IT firms are a cause for concern? (GS3, Cyber Security)


PS: Hit ❤️ to appreciate my consistent efforts! :)

Bhai 2023 ka last week hai 🥰

Many average people postpone everything to first week of January

You are not one of them

You know value of time

You know how much everyday value

While others will go in relax mode,

It is your time to get things going for 2024!

If you start on Jan 1, 8-10 days will further go in ‘planning’

If you start now, you start new year with a plan in hand

Are you that weak that you’ll procrastinate?

Or will you act and make a plan of what you’ll study everyday till May 26?

Tu decide kar yaar apne liye

Tu best jaanta hai khud ko

Teri marzi 😉

Koi help chaihye toh mail kar de mujhe whycse@gmail.com 💪🏻

Note: Chance to win ₹101/- Paytm in this contest

🚨 26 December 2023 | Tuesday 🚨

Mains Keywords ✍️🏼

1. Competitive Welfarism

• Benefits to citizens to gain in competitive electoral politics
• Freebies, cash transfers, guarantees, promises

2. Cultural Nationalism

• Nationalism centred around preservation of cultural identities

3. The Great Silence

• No interceptions in more than 6 decades of search for extraterrestrial intelligence


Pre-related 📄

1. Neutrinos

• 2nd most abundant particles in universe
• Interact very weakly with matter
• Can move relatively untouched thru media within which EM waves'd diffuse
• Potential Application: Communication with extraterrestrial intelligence

2. Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act

• Sec 42: Govt to ensure all content is available in formats accessible to persons with disabilities
• Read more about it here

3. Veer Baal Divas (26 Dec)

Marks martyrdom of 'Sahibzades' - Guru Gobind Singh's sons


Quote 💭

• "Terrorism is like water, it takes the path of least resistance"


Reading Recommendations 🗞️

IE

1. A promise to keep (GS3, Internal Security)
2. The Pir Panjal Challenge (GS3, Terrorism)
3. Safety & cybersecurity (GS3, Cyber Security)
4. Look beyond headline numbers (GS3, Economy)
5. Passing of the G20 baton (GS3, Economy)


TH
1. Article 370 closed, but terror victims need closure (GS3, Internal Security)
2. Global Goal on Adaptation & road from Dubai (GS3, Environment)
3. A dive into sanitation solutions (GS3, Environment)


PS: Hit ❤️ for yourself if you're reading newspaper daily!

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🚨 27 December 2023 | Wednesday 🚨

Pre-related 📄

1. Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant

• India's largest, being built in TN w/ Russian assistance since 2002
• 1st unit operating since 2016, to function at full capacity in 2027


Stats📈

Unemployment Rate (PLFS):
• 2017-18: 6.1%
• 2022-23: 3.2%


Quote 💭

• "Democracy is not merely a form of Government.. It is essentially an attitude of respect and reverence towards fellow men" ~ BR Ambedkar


Reading Recommendations 🗞️

IE

1. A missing industrial policy (GS3, Economy)
2. Red Sea turbulence (read for awareness)
3. Seeing the new South Asia (GS2, IR)
4. Sunny forecast, some clouds of concern (GS3, Economy)
5. INS Imphal inducted into Navy (Defence Tech)


TH
1. A new economics for inclusive growth (GS3, Inclusive Growth)
2. Are graduates facing unemployment? (GS3, Economy)


PS: Hit ❤️ to appreciate my consistent efforts! :)

As Kudnakulam is in news, time to revise all major Nuclear Power Plants in India

Save this map as image here 👇🏼

https://x.com/csewhy/status/1734585996501553360?s=46&t=9sA42S8ayGCzzKyFIJII0g

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🚨 28 December 2023 | Thursday 🚨

Mains Key 🗝
(Use as examples in Mains answers)

1. Grow local, eat local: Indigenous Seed festival for Bengal farmers to build discourse b/w climate change & organic farming (GS3, Agri & Climate Change)


Pre-related 📄

1. Huntington's disease

• Genetic, mutated gene encodes abnormal Htt protein
• Destruction of neurons that regulate movement, thinking, memory
• Symptoms: forgetfulness, loss of balance, clumsiness (begin b/w ages of 30 to 50)
• No cure as of now, Common fruit fly being used as test platform

2. Operation Prosperity Guardian

• US-led coalition to protect maritime traffic in Red Sea
• In response to attacks by Iran-backed Houthis


Stats📈

• Invisible Numbers (WHO): 2/3rd of 2019 deaths in India due to non-communicable diseases


Reading Recommendations 🗞️

IE

1. Taking on the drone (GS2, Maritime Policy)
2. Doing it like Vietnam (GS1, World History)
3. Dealing with strategic realities, looking at new opportunities (GS2, IR)

TH

1. Growth charts - WHO standards vs India crafted (GS2, Health Policy)
2. The quest for 'happiness' in the Viksit Bharat odyssey (GS3, Economic Development)
3. Making health our top priority in 2024 (GS2, Health)
4. Significant climate milestones of 2023 (GS3, Environment)


PS: Hit ❤️ for yourself if you're reading newspaper daily!

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Note: Last weekend of 2023; get set going for Pre 2024 with PYQ Analysis notes here

🚨 29 December 2023 | Friday 🚨

Mains Keywords ✍️🏼

1. Zionism & Anti-Semetism

• Zionism (occupation): Movement to establish a Jewish state in Eretz-Israel
• Anti-Semetism: Negative perception/hatred towards Jews

2. Zero-click exploit

• Malicious software that allows spyware installation on a device without owner's consent or any actions


Pre-related 📄

1. Mudiyettu

• Kerala's traditional temple ritual theatre
• Offshoot of Bhadrakali cult
• Based on tale of battle b/w Goddess Kali & demon Darika

2. Danube

• 2nd longest river in Europe
• Context: flood in Budapest


Reading Recommendations 🗞️

IE

1. Not zero sum (GS2, IR)
2. When real gets the power of artificial (GS3, AI)

TH

1. Despair in distress (read for awareness)
2. Old and strong (GS2, IR)
3. Decriminalising medical negligence (GS2, Policy)
4. Happy hours in Gurugram (GS1, Society)


PS: Hit ❤️ to appreciate my efforts! :)

Danube River Basin 👆🏼

Note: Revise Qatar crisis from UPSC perspective here

🚨 30 December 2023 | Saturday 🚨

Mains Keywords ✍️🏼

1. Dummy Firm

• Entity created to serve as a front/cover for 1 or more companies
• Not capable of functioning independently
• Just to hide identities of real corporations

2. Choke Points

• Narrow passages that constrict shipping traffic
• Vulnerable to interdiction by states and pirates/terrorists
• Examples: Malacca Strait, Bab al Mandab Strait

3. Flag State

• State chosen by merchant ships to be registered in
• Has primary responsibility for maintenance of security & law enforcement on ships in int'l waters


Mains Key 🗝
(Use as examples in Mains answers)

• Delhi Govt's Streetscaping Project: Redesigning Delhi roads to boost them to European standards (GS1, Urbanization)


Pre-related 📄

1. XPoSAT

• X-ray Polarimeter Satellite
• To be launched in ISRO's PSLV-C58 Mission
• ISRO's 1st dedicated scientific satellite for research in space based polarization measurements of X-ray emission from celestial sources
• 2 payloads: POLIX & XSPECT

2. Places in News: Varuna

• Village in Mysuru
• Context: Three 11th century Jain sculptures discovered


Reading Recommendations 🗞️

IE

1. First, don't panic (GS3, S&T)
2. Order at sea (GS2, IR & Maritime Policy)
3. A patchy climate report (GS3, Environment)
4. ULFA peace accord (GS3, Internal Security)

TH

1. A call for disability inclusion that must be heeded (GS2, Health policy)
2. Rift over relief (GS3, Disaster Management)


PS: Hit ❤️ for yourself if you're reading newspaper daily!

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Note: Kickstart your prep for Pre24, get PYQ Analysis notes here

🚨 31 December 2023 | Sunday 🚨

Mains Keyword ✍️🏼

1. Volcano Tourism

• Niche segment attracting 'lava chasers' to sites from Mexico & Guatemala, to Sicily, Indonesia & New Zealand
• To witness lava flows beneath molten red skies

2. Sin tax

• Imposed on goods & services which are perceived as harmful to society


Pre-related 📄

1. Magnificent 7 Group

• Indian women who have won individual Olympic medals
• Wrestler: Sakshi Malik
• Shutlers: Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu
• Boxers: MC May Kom, Lovlina Borgohain
• Weightlifters: K. Malleswari, S. Mirabai Chanu

2. Sec35 of UAPA

• Union Home Ministry can designate an "individual terrorist"

3. Places in News: Serbia

• A european nation
• Context: Political instability

4. INS Imphal

• Revise here


Quote 💭

• Jalmev Yasya, Balmev Tasya: One who controls the sea is all powerful


Reading Recommendations 🗞️

TH

1. Levy 20-30% health tax on food high in sugar, salt, fat (GS2, Health Policy)
2. What is the global fallout of two warfronts? (GS2, IR)
3. What may 2024 hold for the economy? (GS3, Economy)
4. Textile sector faces ESG challenges (Pg13)


PS: 2023 is ending with a Sunday! Ease yourself with a break :)