Note: If you studied Sociology in last 5 years, please take 2 mins to fill this form

🚨 5 January 2024 | Friday 🚨

Read key takeaways from Architecture of Ram Mandir here

Mains Keywords ✍️🏼

1. Cowboy Legislation

• Legislate first, discuss later


Pre-related 📄

1. Haji Malang Dargah

• Located on lowest plateau of Malanggad, hill fort on Matheran ranges, Maharashtra
• Revered by both Hindus & Muslims
• Site of communal strife


Quote 💭

• Assarva dharma sama bhava: Equal respect for all religions


Reading Recommendations 🗞️

IE

1. Reshaped by AI (GS3, S&T)
2. The right support (GS3, Agri)
3. Kejriwal, Soren refuse ED summonses (Focus on understanding ED's powers)

TH

1. Terror in Iran (GS2, IR)
2. Breaking new ground the Kerala way (GS1, Urbanization)


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

Note: Race to Prelims24 starts! Get Master Prelims Starter Kit here

🚨 6 January 2024 | Saturday 🚨

Mains Keywords ✍🏼

1. Naked Short Selling

• Selling short shares w/o determining their existence or securing the ownership
• Diff from short selling where one first borrows shares before selling them!
• SEBI has banned Naked short selling post-Hindenburg fiasco


Reading Recommendations🗞

IE
1. The revival of the tiger (read carefully)
2. Bangladesh elections & India (pg 15)

TH
1. The need to examine examination system (GS2Policy, make 1 pager note)
2. Bringing back faith in India's politics (GS2 Polity)

PS: Not much in paper today, use time revise this week's CA on my blog here

Note: Did you subscribe to my YouTube yet? Subscribe for for Prelims 2024 here

🚨 7 January 2024 | Sunday 🚨

Revise CA for the week on my blog

Reading Recommendations

TH
1. Child marriage in MH Sugarcane belt (pg4, GS1 Society)
2. How has Red Sea trouble impacted India? (GS2 IR)
3. Why did Islamic state attack Iran? (GS2 Int'l Relations)
4. Why have truck drivers called for a strike? (GS2 Policy)

PS: Traveling today, sorry for the delay! detailed text from tomorrow!

Note: Learn 100+ Articles of Indian constitution here

🚨 8 January 2024 | Monday 🚨

Mains Keyword ✍️🏼

1. Structured Negotiation

• Collaborative & solution driven resolution technique
• Involves impressing benefits of complying with social welfare legislations to default service provider

2. Panspermia

• Hypothesis on origin of life
• 1st posited by Greek philosopher Anaxagoras
• Claims that planets were seeded across space with life brought in by interstellar bodies


Quote 💭

• Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement ~ Hellen Keller


Reading Recommendations 🗞️

IE

1. How AI is being harnessed in the treatment of cancer (GS2, Health; GS3, S&T)
2. Supreme Court Legal Services Committee (GS2, Polity)
3. What the GDP data show (GS3, Economy)

TH

1. Structured negotiation as a boost for disability rights (GS2, Social Justice)
2. Rise in child marriages in West Bengal (GS1, Society)


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

Bhai sunn, darr Matt

Haan, saal naya shuru hogya hai
aas paas kaafi race lagi hui hai

Par yaar tu mehanati hai, kar lega
Time bacha distractions se
Plan bana aur sir jhuka ke padhai kar

Sab hoga. Shuru toh kar!

Note: Watch my interaction with DGP Ashok Kumar about right approach for Pre2024 & more here

🚨 9 January 2024 | Tuesday 🚨

Mains Keyword ✍️🏼

1. Indefeasible Rights

• Rights not capable of being annulled or voided


Mains Key 🗝
(Use as examples in Mains answers)

• Mulya Pravah 2.0: UGC guidelines to inculcate human values & professional ethics in higher education institutions (GS2, Education; GS4 Ethics)


Pre-related 📄

1. GI Tag

• Awarded by DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce & Industry
• GI of Goods (Registration & Protection) Act, 1999
• Every state in India has atleast 1 GI Tag
• Given to an area, not a trader
• Raw materials for such products don't have to come from that region (unless it's an agricultural tag)

2. Meissner Effect

• Expulsion of a magnetic field from interior of a material that is in process of becoming a superconductor


3. Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)

• Revise here


Reading Recommendations 🗞️

IE

1. Rule of law vs right to liberty (Pg9)
2. Diplomacy in the digital public sphere (GS2, IR)
3. Remission quashed, what now? (GS2, Polity & Policy)
4. Seeking a clear view of the Sun (GS3, S&T)

TH

1. Curb the disillusionment with the traditional rule of law (GS2, Polity)
2. Understanding the EU's carbon border tax (GS3, Environment)
3. Debating India's new hit-and-run law (GS2, Policy)
4. How surgical care in India is a neglected part of public health (GS2, Health)


PS: Hit ❤️ to appreciate my consistent efforts!

Note: Get to know high impact areas of Africa to study for Pre2024 here

🚨 10 January 2024 | Wednesday 🚨

Mains Keywords ✍️🏼

1. K shaped recovery

• With strike differences in the way different sectors of economy recovered after pandemic
• Indicates overall economic growth, but growing underlying inequality

2. Momentum Investing

• Wherein investors buy assets with consistently rising prices, while selling assets whose prices are falling
• Philosophy: There can be discenible trends in asset prices which persist over time

3. Ableism

• Discrimination & social prejudice a/g people with physical or mental disabilities


Mains Key 🗝
(Use as examples in Mains answers)

• ECI's advisory for political parties to follow disability-sensitive terminologies (GS2, Social Justice)


Pre-related 📄

1. Sisal Leaves

• Stiff, green sword-like leaves
• Used to make twine, cloth, carpets
• Use in making paper dates back to ancient Aztec & Mayan civilisations
• Potential use: Absorbent in sanitary napkins

2. Revise Sports Awards here


Quote 💭

• History doesn't repeat itself, but often rhymes ~ Mark Twain


Reading Recommendations 🗞️

IE

1. A less ableist politics (GS2, Social Justice)
2. A note to security planners (GS2, Policy)
3. The long running legal dispute over the minority character of AMU (GS2, Polity)
4. India & giant radio telescope (GS3, S&T)

TH

1. Why international law matters (GS2, IR)
2. A look at Project Tiger, 50 years on (GS3, Environment)


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

Note: Learn 100+ Articles of Indian constitution here

🚨 11 January 2024 | Thursday 🚨

Mains Keyword ✍️🏼

1. Caucus System

• Process in US Presidential Election
• Voters select their top choice for party's presidential nomination
• How different from a primary?
a) Overseen by state party, not govt
b) No voting at a polling place

2. Cosmic Rays

• Streams of energetic particles & clusters
• Includes protons & alpha particles
• Only ones w/ low-intensity reach earth surface
• 2 types:
a) Galactic cosmic rays (from beyond our solar system)
b) Solar cosmic rays (mainly protons)


Pre-related 📄

1. Darjeeling Zoo

• Also called Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park
• Has world's largest no (14) of Snow Leopards in captivity
• Conservative breeding programme for snow leopards, red pandas, mountain orals, pheasants

2. Places in News: Ecuador

• Internal Security issues
• Due to drug trafficking gangs

3. Amaterasu

• 2nd highest energy cosmic-ray event (2021)


Quote 💭

• That government is the strongest of which every man feels himself a part ~ Thomas Jefferson


Reading Recommendations 🗞️

IE

1. Missing a maritime doctrine (GS2, IR)
2. Maldives row: 3 key issues (GS2, IR)
3. Income vs price support: price deficiency payment option for MSP (GS3, Agri)

TH

1. The laws around remission policy (GS2, Policy)
2. Why did north India fog heavily in last weeks of 2023? (GS1, Geography)


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

Bhai sunn, Darr Matt

Exam me courage sabse zaruri hai
Answer mark karte hue,
haath shake na karein bass!

Ye confidence lekar aa apne aap me.

Kaise laaega?

Successful athletes aur business people ki stories paddh, movies dekh

Kaam aaega. Darr Matt!

Note: Africa based questions Prelims PYQ analysis coming on YouTube today. Subscribe here

🚨 12 January 2024 | Friday 🚨

Mains Keyword ✍️🏼

1. Bacteriophages

• Viruses that specifically target & annihilate bacteria
• Benefits across human health to animals, agri & food processing


Mains Key 🗝
(Use as examples in Mains answers)

• Pfizer Covid 19 vaccine developed by small German startup BioNTech (Startups in Health)


Pre-related 📄

1. Amalekites

• Descendants of Amalek
• An Ancient biblical nation
• Hebrew Bible: Were first to attack Israeli (Jewish) children after their escape from Egypt to Sinai Peninsula
• Contemporary usage: To refer to nations & groups that allegedly threaten continued existence of Jewish people

2. Atal Setu

• Atal Setu Nhava Sheva Sea Link
• Connecting Sewri, South Mumbai to Nhava Seva, Navi Mumbai
• To be inaugurated on 12 Jan
• Longest sea bridge in India

3. Congo River (Zaire)

• 2nd longest in Africa
• Context: Causing floods across Democratic Republic of Congo & Congo Republic

4. Gangasagar Mela (Kolkata)

• Annual visit by lakhs of pilgrims
• During Makar Sakranti
• For holy dip at confluence of Ganga & Bay of Bengal (Sagar Island)


Quote 💭

• When religion & politics ride in the same cart, the whirlwind follows ~ Frank Herbert


Reading Recommendations 🗞️

IE

1. Sea link & viaducts (Look at the map for visual memory)
2. Open up the playing field (GS2, Policy)


TH

1. Indian Parliament, a promise spurned (GS2, Polity)
2. A Bangladesh 'one party state' & India's options (GS2, IR)
3. Are antibiotics over-prescribed in India? (GS2, Health)
4. Strained ties in India-Maldives relations (GS2, IR)


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

Note: Revise 5 species in news here

🚨 13 January 2024 | Saturday 🚨

Pre-related 📄

1. Kala Ram Temple

• On banks of Godavari
• In Panchavati area, Nashik, Maharashtra (Imp events in Ramayana)
• Built in 1792, with efforts of Sardar Rangarao Odhekar
• Also site of Dalit Satyagraha, led by BR Ambedkar & PS Sane for access of Dalits to Hindu temples

2. Thirty Meter Telescope Project

• Joint collaboration involving US, Japan, China, Canada, India
• Conceived as a 30 m diameter primary-mirror optical & infrared telescope
• Prospective site: Mauna Kea, Hawaii


Reading Recommendations 🗞️

IE

1. A green fiscal blueprint (GS3, Economy)
2. With Hasina, without Hasina (GS2, IR)
3. CPI data (GS3, Economy)
4. Why HPV vaccine push matters (GS2, Health)
5. Taiwan's presidential election (GS2, IR)

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

2022-2023 saw 10 Questions in Africa

Find PYQ Analysis in this PDF

Explained this PDF in detail in a YouTube video here

Note: Did you download Free PDF to revise Bhakti Saints?

🚨 14 January 2024 | Sunday 🚨

Mains Keywords ✍️🏼

1. Egg b/w rocks

• For small countries with big neighbours
• Example: Bhutan (India & China)

2. Economic Pilgrimage

• Journey/quest with primary purpose of seeking economic opportunities/growth


Pre-related 📄

1. India's oldest living city

• Evidence of human settlement
•~ 800 BCE found in Vadnagar, Gujarat
• Contemporary to late Vedic/pre Buddhist Mahajanpadas/oligarchic republics
• Signifies cultural continuity
• About Vadnagar:
- 7 cultural stages
- Multi-cultural & multi-religious (Buddhist, Hindu, Jain & Islamic) Centre
- Coin moulds of Greek King Appollodatus during Indo-Greek rule found
- One of oldest Buddhist Monastries


Reading Recommendations 🗞️

TH

1. What are the complaints about Digi Yatra (GS3, S&T)
2. Why has South Africa dragged Israel to ICJ? (GS2, IR)
3. Justice without power (GS2, IR)


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

Note: Learn 100+ Articles of Indian Constitution here

🚨 15 January 2024 | Monday 🚨

Mains Keyword ✍️🏼

1. Global Surgery

• Focus on equitable access to emergency & essential surgery
• Challenges like inaccessibility, disease burden, economic burden etc


Pre-related 📄

1. Kapil Muni Temple

• Located on Sagar Island, WB
• Holy pilgrimage site for Hindus
• Dip on occasion of Makar Sakranti, during Ganga Sagar Mela
• Context: Rising sea level & coastal erosion affecting celebrations

2. Army Day

• Celebrated on 15 January
• To mark the taking over of General K M Cariappa as the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army
• Theme for 2024: In Service of the Nation

3. Volcanic eruptions

a) Mt Marapi, Sumatra, Indonesia
b) Southwestern Iceland (near Grindavik)

4. Bamuni Lake

• Guwahati, Assam
• Community fishing events
• As part of harvest festival, Bhogali Bihu


Reading Recommendations 🗞️

IE

1. A truth forsaken (Read as per your discretion & prep level)
2. The pirate resurgence (GS2, IR)

TH

1. A Speaker's flawed move to determine the real faction (GS2, Polity)
2. The delusion of eliminating 'the last terrorist' (GS3, Terrorism)
3. Regulating India's online gaming industry (GS3, Economy)


PS: Hit ❤️ to appreciate my efforts :)

UPSC repeats not just themes but questions.

How to use this for 2024?

Learn 👇🏼

https://youtu.be/DKJm_oaDhFA

Note: Repeated questions & themes in Prelims, watch PYQ analysis here

🚨 16 January 2024 | Tuesday 🚨

Mains Keywords ✍️🏼

1. Stakeholder Capitalism

• Form of capitalism
• Companies optimise short term profits for shareholders
• And seek long term value creation
• By taking into a/c needs of all their stakeholders & society at large
• Concept introduced by World Economic Forum

2. Minilateralism

• IR concept that involves small groups of nations collaborating
• To tackle problems/pursue mutual goals


Pre-related 📄

1. World Economic Forum

• Founded by German prof Klaus Schwab
• In 1971 as European Management Forum
• Introduced system of membership after 1973 collapse of Bretton Woods Exchange & Arab Israeli War
• Reports: Global Competitiveness Report, Global Gender Gap Report etc
• Davos Summit: Annual meeting being held in Switzerland


Stats 📈

India's multidimensional poverty rate (NITI Aayog)
• 2013-14: 29.17%
• 2022-23: 11.28%


Reading Recommendations 🗞️

IE

1. What latest inflation data say (GS3, Economy)
2. Darjeeling zoo's snow leopards success (GS3, Environment)
3. A jab in time (GS2, Health)
4. A tectonic shift (GS2, IR)

No TH published today.


PS: Need any help wrt UPSC prep? Talk to me directly at whycse@gmail.com

Art & Culture Prelims 2023 PYQ Analysis

Watch at 1.25x 👇🏼

https://youtu.be/0-wgYvriXHw

Note: Download list of 20 Bhakti saints, Committees, SC Cases etc. here

🚨 17 January 2024 | Wednesday 🚨

Pre-related 📄

1. Diode

• ~5mm wide electric component
• Has 2 points of contact/terminals: anode & cathode
• Primary purpose: Allow flow of current in only 1 direction
• Uses p-n junction
• LED: Diode that emits light through electroluminescence

2. Prior approval to probe officials

• Sec17A u/ Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988
• If public servant commits offence while discharging official duties
• Prior approval from central/state govt or competent authority reqd

3. Places in news: Erbil

• Capital of Kurdistan (Iraq's semi-autonomous region)
• Air strikes by Iran's Revolutionary Guards
• Hitting "Israeli espionage centre"

4. Jaish al-Adl

• Pakistan's Sunni militant group
• Largely operates across border
• Context: Air strikes by Iran on "bases"


Reading Recommendations 🗞

IE

1. Dealing with unruly passengers on flights (read for awareness)
2. Why Kashmir is without snow (GS3, Environment)
3. Defence upgrade roadmap (Page 1)
4. Davos Man & Global South (GS2, IR)

TH
1. Understanding the Tenth Schedule (GS2, Polity)
2. What it will take to make science communication work for India (GS3, S&T)
3. What're LEDs & why are they prized as light sources? (GS3)


PS: Hit ❤️ if you’re reading newspaper daily!

Prelims ke liye shuru kar rahe ho toh ek baar booklist cross check kar lo👇🏼

All the best :)

https://youtu.be/bIaQCZsiyxY

Note: Learn 100+ Articles of Indian Constitution here

🚨 18 January 2024 | Thursday 🚨

Pre-related 📄

1. Pran Pratishtha

• Act to transform an idol into a deity
• Giving it capacity to accept prayers & grant boons
• Mentioned in Vedas, elaborated in Puranas like Matsya/Vaman/Narad Puran etc
• Steps involved: Shobha Yatra, Adhivaas, Ritual Bath, Opening of eyes

2. Human Microbiome

• Community of trillions of microbes
• That reside in our body, esp digestive tract
• Plays pivotal role in regulating our health & diseases


Reading Recommendations 🗞️

IE

1. The genocide question (GS2, IR)
2. Classroom at a click (GS2, Education)
3. Inequality & social mobility (GS3, Economy)
4. Gaps in learning persist, but tech access offers avenues beyond school (GS2, Education)

TH
1. A search for deterrence in the Red Sea (GS2, IR)
2. On delisting some Kuki-Zome tribes (GS2, Polity & Policy)
3. Where do China-Taiwan relations stand? (GS2, IR)


PS: Hit ❤️ to appreciate my efforts!

Places of Conflicts & Rebel groups in news for Prelims 2024👇🏻

Watch at 1.25 or 1.5x to make best use

https://youtu.be/7ENtV8BKov0