Republic | गणतंत्र

The beauty of convention is its absence reminds you of its need

26/01/1950 to 26/01/2024

Small step for a man, giant leap for the mankind 🇮🇳

Happy Republic Day 💪🏻

Note: Revise Rebel Groups & Conflicted Regions for Pre2024 here

🚨 26 January 2024 | Friday 🚨

Quote 💭

• The Constitution is not a mere lawyer's document, it is a vehicle of life, and its spirit is always the spirit of age ~ BR Ambedkar


Reading Recommendations 🗞️

IE
1. The women before us (GS1, History)
2. Bright arc of India-France ties (GS2, IR)
3. From Ram to Buddha, Akbar to Gandhi, the artwork of the Constitution (GS1, Art & Culture)

TH

1. Why is there no snowfall in Kashmir? (GS1, Geography)
2. What is the legal dispute over AMU's minority status? (GS2, Polity)


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

Note: Learn 100+ Articles of Indian Constitution here

🚨 27 January 2024 | Saturday 🚨


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


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

Note: Revise Rivers & Lakes of Africa for Pre2024 here

🚨 28 January 2024 | Sunday 🚨

Pre Related 📄

1. Oil Sands (aka Tar Sands)

• Unconventional petroleum deposit
• Contain a mixture of sand, clay, water, and bitumen
• Athabasca, Canada: one of the largest deposits

2. Rohan Bopanna

• Won men's doubles, Australian Open with Matthew Ebden
• Only 3rd Indian to win men's doubles Grand Slam title (after Leander Paes & Mahesh Bhupathi)
• Became oldest Grand Slam Champion in men's tennis at 43

3. Rare Golden Tiger

• A Bengal tiger with rare color variant due to mutation
• Exceptionally rare in wild
• IUCN Status: Endangered
• Context: Spotted in Kaziranga National Park

4. Western Equine Encephalitis Virus

• Mosquito-borne infection
• Reservoir: Passerine birds
• Intermediate hosts: Equine species
• Mostly asymptomatic, may show neurological symptoms due to brain inflammation
• No specific treatment
• Context: Outbreak in Argentina


Reading Recommendations 🗞

TH
1. Why is Punjab in court over BSF's powers? (GS3, Internal Security)
2. What is Ladakh's demand on Gilgit-Baltistan? (GS3, Internal Security)
3. Can malaria vaccine rollout be scaled up? (GS2, Health)


PS: Hit ❤️ if you’re reading newspaper even on a Sunday!

Har din mushkil hai, mujhe pta hai
Har aaj ki mushkil, mera kal behtar banaegi

Mujhe pta hai 🙏🏼

Note: Watch this video to know tricks to learn FRs for Pre2024!

🚨 29 January 2024 | Monday 🚨

Mains Keywords ✍🏼

1. Sapinda Marriage

• B/w individuals who are related to each other within a certain degree of closeness
• Hindu Marriage Act: Banned, within 3 generations on mother's side & 5 generations on father's
• Sole exception: Allowed if custom permits

2. Wolf Warrior Diplomacy

• China's aggressive & confrontational style of coercive diplomacy
• Involves denouncing of perceived criticism of Chinese government and its policies


Pre Related 📄

1. Melanistic Tigers

• A royal Bengal tiger with unique lineage
• With higher than normal melanin level
• Has black & yellow interspersed stripes
• IUCN Status: Endangered
• Context: Melanistic Tiger Safari near Similipal Tiger Reserve (Only found here)

2. Places in News: Africa

a) Burkina Faso, Mali & Niger

• Context: Have quit ECOWAS (were suspended after coups)
• Military regimes struggling with jihadist violence & poverty
• Joined forces in Alliance of Sahel States through Liptako-Gourma Charter in 2023

b) Kenya

• East African nation
• Context: Protests a/g Femicides


Quote 💭

• Sweat saves blood, blood saves lives, but brains save both


Reading Recommendations 🗞

IE
1. Shaastra & Shastra (GS2, Policy)
2. The burden of malnutrition (GS2, Health)
3. Red lines in neighbourhood (GS2, IR)

TH
1. A closer look at Myanmar's discontent (GS2, IR)
2. Analysing China's ties with Africa (GS2, IR)
3. What is end-to-end encryption & how does it secure information (GS3, S&T)


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

The two parties as seen from lens of H’nble CM Sh. Nitish Kumar 😅

Note: Check out quick solutions of CSAT 2023 questions here on my YouTube channel!

🚨 30 January 2024 | Tuesday 🚨

Mains Keyword ✍️🏼

1. Friendshoring

• Manufacturing/sourcing from geopolitical allies


Pre Related 📄

1. UNRWA

• UN Relief & Works Agency for Palestinians Refugees in Near East
• Founded in 1949 after 1948 Arab-Israeli War
• Operates in Gaza, West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan
• Funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions by donor states like US
• Context: Accused by Israel of involvement in Oct’23 Hamas attack, hence suspension of funds by nations

2. Islamic Resistance of Iraq

• Umbrella term for all Iran-backed militias in Iraq
• Including strikes into Syria during Israel-Hamas Oct'23 conflict
• Context: Claimed responsibility for attack killing US soldiers in Jordan

3. Humboldt's enigma

• Many areas outside tropics (believed to have greater primary productivity due to more insolation) are highly biodiverse, like mountains


Reading Recommendations 🗞

IE
1. The new public-private partnership to grow seafood outside sea (GS3, S&T)

TH
1. Populism does not help public health (GS2, Health)
2. Early nutrition impacts cognitive development (GS2, Health)
3. Pros & cons of simultaneous elections (GS2, Polity)
4. What is Humboldt's enigma and what does it mean for India? (GS3, Environment)


PS: Hit ❤️ to appreciate my efforts!

In election year, release of Economic Survey is unlikely.

Therefore, a review of Indian Economy is released.

Will share summary in coming week :)

Note: Learn 100+ articles of Indian Constitution here

🚨 31 January 2024 | Wednesday 🚨

Mains Keyword ✍️🏼

1. Maternal filicide

• Child murder by mothers


Pre Related 📄

1. Stingless Bees

• Pollinator native to Amazon
• Their honey used by Indigenous Peruvians as natural medicine
• Context: Under threat due to pesticides & climate change

2. Fentanyl

• A powerful synthetic opioid that is similar to morphine but is 50 to 100 times more potent
• A prescription drug that is also made and used illegally
• Context: US, China joint talks a/g fentanyl trafficking

3. Snow Leopard Population Assessment in India (SPAI)

• 1st of its kind, 4-year long exercise's results published
• Total estimated in India: 718
• Highest no in Ladakh, followed by Uttarakhand, HP, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and J&K
• IUCN: Vulnerable

4. Maratha Military Landscapes

• Developed b/w 17th & 19th centuries
• Network of 12 forts in Maharashtra & Tamil Nadu
• Distributed across diverse geographical & physiographic regions
• Context: Nominated by India for UNESCO World Heritage Site


Reading Recommendations 🗞

IE
1. Delhi in Davos (GS3, Economy)
2. Stay calm, build on strengths (GS3, Economy)
3. Issues with EVs, and possible hybrid solution (GS3, Environment)

TH
1. A dark message to Delhi from Kangla fort (GS3, Internal Security)
2. A blurred mapping of internal female migration (GS1, Society)
3. Pakistan and Iran: calm after the storm (GS2, IR)
4. Rain: how vapour becomes water (GS3, Science)


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

Note: Read Budget 2024 Summary with graphics here!

🚨 1 February 2024 | Thursday 🚨

Mains Keyword ✍️🏼

1. Broken Window Fallacy

• Natural & man-made calamities doesn't give economic boost (as believed due to post-calamity reconstruction)
• And cause net loss to society


Pre Related 📄

1. Neuralink

• Computer-brain interface company
• Has designed coin-sized device to be implanted in skull
• Potential application: treating brain disorders, brain injuries etc

2. Computing

a) Neuromorphic Computing: Practice of modelling computers after human brain

b) Biocomputing: Uses biological components to perform computational processes

3. La Baells Reservoir

• North of Barcelona, Spain
• Context: Drying due to drought, affecting Catalonia region

4. Antarctic Penguins

• 7 penguin species that reside in Antarctic region
• Under threat due to climate change, pollution, commercial fishing etc
• Context: Highly lethal bird flu has been detected for the first time
• Read more here

5. Turtles

• Sex of hatchlings determined by surrounding temperature
• 93% of turtles expected to be females by 2100 due to global warming


Reading Recommendations 🗞

IE
1. What to watch in Budget (GS3, Economy)
2. Mind & Matter (GS3, S&T)
3. Anatomy of a Flare-up (GS2, IR)
4. Caste, a western construct (Read as per discretion & prep level)

TH
1. What makes India-France 'strategic partnership' tick (GS2, IR)
2. Finding light in Myanmar's darkness (GS2, IR)
3. Rising tensions in Korean peninsula (GS2, IR)


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

Note: Learn 100+ Articles of Indian Constitution here

🚨 2 February 2024 | Friday 🚨

Mains Keyword ✍️🏼

1. Reshoring

• Returning the production and manufacturing of goods back to the company's original country


Pre Related 📄

1. World Wetlands Day

• Celebrated on annually on 2nd February
• Marks adoption of the Convention on Wetlands in Ramsar, Iran (1971)
• India has 80 Ramsar sites

2. Offshore Wind Projects

• Wind turbines located in middle of sea, rather than at coastline
• Higher conversion rate due to greater wind speeds & lack of obstruction
• But higher construction & maintenance costs
• India has none, potential sites identified off Gujarat & TN's coastline

3. Viability Gap Funding

• Financial incentive to lower entry barriers & make project more attractive for investors


Reading Recommendations 🗞

TH
1. On Israel's obligation to prevent genocide (GS2, IR)
2. A touch of sun: the impact of heat events on children (GS3, Environment)


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

Note: Watch this video to sort out your Pre2024 Resources!

🚨 3 February 2024 | Saturday 🚨

Mains Keyword ✍️🏼

1. Original Sin Problem

• Inability of emerging economies to borrow internationally in their own currencies


Pre-related 📄

1. Surajkund Fair

• International Handicraft Fair (in 37th year)
• Inaugurated in Faridabad, Haryana by Prez
• Tanzania: Partner country for this year's fair
• Gujarat: Partner state for this year's fair
• Surajkund: Shaped like rising sun, built by King Surajpal of Tomar Dynasty, in Roman style


Reading Recommendations 🗞

IE
1. Multidimensional poverty: meaning, numbers (GS3, Economy & Prelims)
2. Pirates of the Arabian Sea, their crime, and how maritime forces respond to it (GS2, IR)
3. Language & learning (GS2, Education)
4. Framing India in the world (GS2, Diplomacy)
5. The future of water (GS3, Environment)

TH
1. Exposing India's financial markets to the vultures (GS3, Economy)
2. Two States (GS2, IR)
3. A rising tide lifts all boats (GS2, Health)


PS: Hit ❤️ to appreciate my consistent efforts!

Note: Read about Cervical Cancer for Pre2024 here!

🚨 4 February 2024 | Sunday 🚨

Mains Keyword ✍️🏼

1. Doom Spending

• Act of spending money to cope with stress about economy or foreign affairs
• Becoming a trend as buying house/retirement savings difficult due to higher living cost & labour market shifts


Pre-related 📄

1. Apollo Butterflies
(11 recorded from HP)

a) Dusted Apollo
• A rare high-altitude butterfly
• Spotted 1st time in Chamba, HP
• Distribution range: Ladakh to west Nepal

b) Regal Apollo
• Another rare species
• Protected u/ WPA1972
• Found at Manimahesh Lake, Chamba

2. Typbar

• A conjugate typhoid (caused by Salmonella Typhi bacteria) toxoid vaccine
• Developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech
• Received WHO pre-qualification in 2017
• Phase 3 trial done in Malawi, Africa (efficacy: 4 years)
• Conjugate Vaccine:
- combines weak antigen with a strong antigen
- for stronger immune system response to weak antigen

3. Interoception

• Perception of sensations from inside the body
• Ex: Arterial pressure pulses link heartbeat & brain rhythmicity

4. Jezero Crater

• Formed by an ancient meteor impact just north of Marian equator
• NASA's Mars Perseverance confirms it once harboured a vast lake & river delta

5. Murmuration

• A swirling, undulating cloud formed by 1000s of Starlings swarming together
• Starling: Passerine (perching) birds
(See TH for pictures)

6. INS Sandhayak

• 1st of 4 survey vessel large ships being built
• Commissioned, will carry out hydrographic surveys

7. Anthropogenic Ammonia Emissions

• ~ 51-60% can be traced to crop cultivation
• Half of these: Rice, wheat & maize

8. Martial Arts Form

• Kalaripayattu: Kerala
• Thang-ta: Manipur

9. World Cancer Day

• 4th February, every year
• 2024 Theme: 'Close the care gap'
(3 year camapign 2022-2024)


Reading Recommendations 🗞

TH
1. Why is fiscal consolidation so important? (GS3, Economy)
2. Why are nations revising rules for foreign students? (GS2, IR)
3. The dispute over Varanasi, Mathura mosques (GS2, Policy)


PS: Hit ❤️ if you’re reading newspaper on Sunday!

Many aspirants are facing issues in downloading HPSC Admit card

A message like this is appearing

If you have any solution to this, pls email to whycse@gmail.com to help 10s of aspirants (who reached out to me seeking help)

Note: Get 3 imp non-fiction book recommendations

🚨 5 February 2024 | Monday 🚨

Pre-related 📄

1. Black Holes

a) Event Horizon
• A sphere around singularity
• Anything can't escape unless it travels faster than light (that's impossible)

b) Ergosphere
• Unique feature of rotating black holes (aka Kerr black holes)
• A region outside their outer event horizon
• Objects can enter & leave if it's moving fast enough (still less than light speed)
• Possible to extract matter & energy from here

2. Places in News: Vina del Mar, Chile

• Densely populated area of central Chile
• Intense forest fire


Reading Recommendations 🗞

IE

1. Crown jewel that was (GS2, IR)
2. How to manage political risk (GS2, IR)
3. Dealing with govt debt (GS2, Policy)


TH
1. Micro-credentials, the next chapter in higher education (GS2, Education)
2. Holding Israel accountable (GS2, IR)
3. On Uttarakhand's uniform civil code (GS2, Policy)
4. The importance of keeping personally identifiable information safe (GS3, S&T)


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

Note: Learn 100+ Articles of Indian Constitution here

🚨 6 February 2024 | Tuesday 🚨

Mains Keyword ✍️🏼

1. Dependency Burden

• No of 15-59 aged people supporting children <15 & elderly >60 years


Pre-related 📄

1. Buffalo & Bulbuli Fighting

• Part of Assamese folk culture
• During Magh Bihu (winter harvest festival, January)
• Buffalo fights: locally called moh juj, Ahatguri biggest centre
• Bulbuli fights: Mainly at Hayagriv Madhab Mandir, Hajo
• Origin haven't been traced, but held by Ahom rulers
• Govt Guidelines:
- Permitted only in places where being conducted for >25 years
- Only b/w 15 & 25 Jan
- w/o deliberate animal torture/cruelty

2. RISC-V

• An instruction set architecture, a computer language
• used to design anything from smartphones chips to advanced processors for AI
• Free to use, energy-efficient chips due to simple outline, framework can be built upon by users
• Context: Being used by China over US & UK controlled Arm & x86 (closed architecture, complex outline)


Reading Recommendations 🗞

IE

1. What's in Bill to stop cheating in job exams (GS2, Policy)
2. Snow leopard count (GS3,Environment)
3. 5 key takeaways from 2021-22 higher education survey (GS2, Education)
4. Demography & destiny (GS1, Society)


TH
1. A critical view of 'sanitation miracle' in rural India (GS2, Health)
2. An Uttar Pradesh model to tackle malnutrition (GS2, Health)
3. The road to a healthy democracy (GS2, Health)
4. Myanmar's civil war & India's interests (GS2, IR)



PS: Hit ❤️ to appreciate my consistent efforts!

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