Happy Valentine’s Day

(Kuch ni rakha inn baaton me, time se so jao, notification aa rahi hai aaj)

Note: 50+ Questions of CSAT 2023 solved in 50 videos here

🚨 14 February 2024 | Wednesday 🚨

Pre-related 📄

1. World Government Summit 2024

• Major annual conference in Dubai
• Attracts govt leaders, heads of int'l org, industry captains
• Theme for 11th edition: “Shaping Future Governments”
• PM Modi to address as guest of honour

3. Stem cells

• Rare, self-renewing cells in human body
• Some of these can give rise to different tissues
• Highly valued for treatment of damaged tissues, cancer, etc


Quote 💭

• Discipline acts like a lens: it filters out certain phenomena to be able to focus exclusively on others


Reading Recommendations 🗞

IE

1. MSP issue: what govt committee setup in 2022 has done so far (GS3, Agriculture)
2. High in sky, a new gen eye (GS3, S&T)
3. An Arabian Valentine (GS2, IR)

TH

1. Old-fashioned trust & credibility bind India-UAE ties (GS2, IR)
2. Homeward bound (GS2, IR)
3. Why India needs deep industrialization (GS3, Economy)
4. On the rights of forest-dwellers (GS3, Environment)
5. Untapped potential of stem cells in menstrual blood (GS3, S&T)
6. Role of X chromosome in autoimmune diseases (GS3, S&T)


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

UPSC 2024 Notification :)

With notification out & today being the Valentine's day;

I have a small contribution to make!

Just for today, you get 14% OFF on all CSEWhy notes for Prelims 2024

a) PYQs Analysis notes in Hindi/English
b) Prelims 2024 Notes

..and a lot more! [Use Code: ILOVEUPSC]

Head to BalBuddhiVidya.com to gain an edge today for Prelims 2024 till 11:14 pm! :)

Also, recording a video detailing the notification and how to fill the form

There're no extra marks to fill it on Day1

Wait for the right direction, don't fill this form without watching this video :)

Got 5 emails where aspirants filled the form but didn’t read the notification

मत करो भाई ये।

1. I am making detailed video on how to fill the 2024 form based on latest notification

2. If you have any doubts related to form filling/OBC/EWS/SC/ST drop them to whycse@gmail.com

I’ll address them in the video

Will post video tomorrow. Don’t fill the form till you watch it here 👇🏼

YouTube.com/@CSEWhy

This offer ends in an hour

Get your set w/ code ILOVEUPSC😁

Replied to 200+ emails today

Other than form application, CSAT was MOST common question

I have solved 50+ Q of Maths & Reasoning of 2023 CSAT (all in nearly ~1 minute)

Watch every question in this playlist while eating food, on a walk or in the gym👇🏻

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnwddqxjRXfjkL6mMM9CYogffEIEX-Jrd

Asaan hai! 😁😁

🚨 15 February 2024 | Thursday 🚨

Mains Keywords ✍️🏼

1. Types of State

a) Ethnic State
• A state whose territory is occupied by a particular ethnicity that has become a nationality

b) Absolute State
• State with absolute authority
• Ruling power is not subject to any regularized challenge or check by any other agency

c) Opaque State
• Characterised by controlling media, suppressing dissent etc


Mains Key 🗝
(Use as examples in Mains answers)

• Fatehpur Sikri has been made 95% wheelchair accessible: tangible eg of potential of inclusion (GS2, Social Justice)


Pre-related 📄

1. American Horseshoe Crab (aka "living fossil")

• Spine-tailed sea creatures, marine arthropods
• Among oldest living creatures on earth
• Context: U/ threat due to commercial harvests, biomedical use, habitat loss


Reading Recommendations 🗞

Revision

1. Read about policies on Menstrual Leave around the world here

IE

1. The blurring lines b/w makers of GenAI software, hardware (GS3, S&T)
2. Story of consumer sentiments (GS3, Economy)
3. BAPS temple inaugurated by PM Modi in Abu Dhabi (GS1, Culture)

TH

1. Rescuing grace from disgrace (GS2, Polity)
2. Does updating COVID19 vaccines frequently have any benefits? (GS3, S&T)


PS: Have any doubts related to form filling? Talk to me at whycse@gmail.com

UPSC has asked 35+ species in last 15 Year PYQs

I have compiled notes of these Species in PYQs in a PDF

Click here to download this PDF

Friends, here is the link to this video: https://youtu.be/M8Y1QioTVgI

I received 250+ emails across the country with various doubts

Made this video after learning about ALL common problems from Photo, OBC NCL, EWS, Registration EVERYTHING.

Ab koi doubt nahi rahega, ye video 1.5x par dekh lo aur form fill kar do!

Agle 100 din aapke Prelims clear karne ki zimmedaari meri. YouTube channel par itna kuch milega; subscribe kar lena.


26 May, But You will!

Dhyaan se padho last line:

26 May, but YOU WILL!!!

🚨 16 February 2024 | Friday 🚨

Mains Key 🗝
(Use as examples in Mains answers)

• Special officer in rank of Chief Conservator of forest in Kerala's Wayanad to mitigate human-wildlife conflict (GS3, Environment)


Pre-related 📄

1. INSAT-3DS Mission

• GSLV-F14 to place it in geosynchronous transfer orbit
• To be launched on 17 Feb from Sriharikota
• Objectives:
- weather forecasting
- meteorological observations
- satellite-aided search & rescue observations

2. Endometriosis

• Disease in which tissue similar to lining of uterus grows outside uterus
• Causes inflammation & formation of scar tissue in pelvic region
• Can cause severe pain & harder to get pregnant
• Cause unknown, no way to prevent & no cure either

3. Schengen Zone, Europe

• World's largest zone of free movement
• 1985 Agreement allows visa free access for 90 days
• Not mandatory for EU members
• Context: Kosovo recently became last Western Balkan non-EU nation to be admitted

4. Purulia Chhau

• Folk dance from Bengal


Stats 📈

"Closing the women's health gap" Report (McKinsey):

a) Women health gap
• = 75 million years of life lost
• due to poor health/early death per year

b) Women spend 25% more time in poor health


Reading Recommendations 🗞

CSEWhy exclusive

Electoral Bonds: SC verdict, Arguments & way forward

TH
1. An intervention that will help strengthen legal education (GS2, Education)
2. What is behind Ladakh's unrest? (GS2, Polity)


Note: Facing issues while filling form? Watch this video to clarify all your doubts!

Filled the form with wrong photo?

#UPSC has a news for you! 😍

Photo & sign can be edited from 06/03/24 to 12/03/24 on the website

🚨 17 February 2024 | Saturday 🚨

Mains Keywords ✍️🏼

1. Xiaokang (Defence villages)

• Constructed by China along India's border with Tibet
• Including Ladakh & Arunachal Pradesh borders
• Understood to be dual-use infra, for civil & military purposes

2. Democracy Deficit

• when democratic institutions fail to fulfill democracy's principles in their operations/practices

3. People centrism

• Governance model with people as direct stakeholders


Pre-related 📄

1. Sora

• OpenAI's new generative AI model
• Can convert a text prompt into video (upto 1 min long)
• Other examples: Google's Lumiere, Runway & Pika

2. Broom Grass

• Perennial, high value, non-perishable, nontimber forest product (NTFP)
• Grows abundantly in degraded, steep or marginal land
• India's largest producer: Assam

Note: Download CSEWhy compilation of all species in Prelims PYQs from here


Reading Recommendations 🗞

IE

1. China's 'defence villages' along LAC, which it is populating (GS2, IR)
2. What Swaminathan panel said (GS3, Agri)
3. OpenAI's breakthrough Sora (GS3, S&T)
4. Facing the people (Focus on Keywords mentioned from PM Modi's speech)
5. Copper is key to energy transition (Pg21)

TH

1. Brave new world (GS2, Health)


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

🚨 18 February 2024 | Sunday 🚨

Pre-related 📄

1. Coffee

• Word comes from Ethiopia, where it's called qahve
• Coffee plantations introduced by Arabs in South India & Sri Lanka
• Babu Budan, a Sufi, grew it around Chikamagaluru, Karnataka
(Locate Babu Budan Hills on map!)
• 2 coffee plants grown by British in India:
a) Coffee Arabica (high alt)
b) Coffee Robusta (lower alt)
• Chicory: Variety grown in Far Eastern states (India 3rd largest producer)
• Araku Valley, Andhra Pradesh also famous for its pure Arabica

2. Place in News: Avdiivka

• In industrial Donbas region
• North of Russian-occupied city of Donetsk
• Context: Ukraine troops have withdrawn from here

3. Macrophages

• Virus-eating immune cells produced in body
• Go into lungs during flu infections


Reading Recommendations 🗞

• Notes on 8 key policies of Modi Govt challenged in SC

TH

1. Nearly 50% of pregnancies in India are high-risk (GS2, Health)
2. Is Russia testing a new anti-satellite weapon? (GS3, Defence)
3. Can rheumatoid arthritis be prevented? (GS2, Health)


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

🚨 19 February 2024 | Monday 🚨

Pre-related 📄

1. Bubonic Plague

• Caused by zoonotic bacteria Yersinia pestis
• Inculdes cases where bacteria gets into lymph nodes
• Symptoms: Fever, headache, weakness etc
• Septicemic plague: when bacteria enters bloodstream
• Pneumonic plague: when bacteria enters lung (almost always fatal)
• Black Death: Most deadly outbreak till Great Influenza pandemic of 1918-20

2. Ultradian Rhythms

• Physiological patterns all living beings adopt to function properly
• Recur frequently in 24 hours
• Govern processes like heartbeat, breathing, hormonal release etc
• Eg: Sleep cycle - rapid eye movement (dream) & non-REM sleep


3. Place in News: Kinmen & Matsu Islands

• Taiwanese-controlled islands off China coast
• Context: Tensions w/ China rise as Chinese fishermen die

4. M23 Rebels

• DR Congo's rebel group with backers in Rwanda
• Context: Growing violence in eastern DR Congo (Sake)

Note: Learn about Rebel Groups & Conflicted Regions for Pre2024 here


Quote 💭

• India is a country which is non-West (not anti-West) with extremely strong relations with Western countries ~ S Jaishankar

• Quiet diplomacy is far more effective than public posturing ~ Atal Bihari Vajpayee


Reading Recommendations 🗞

IE
1. ISRO latest launch
(GS3, Space & Prelims: Read for names & features of India's launch vehicles)

2. 7 cheetahs born in Kuno
(GS3, Biodiversity: quick read to understand challenges)

3. A variable geometry
(GS2, IR: Throws light on India's foreign policy)

4. Income, not MSP
(GS3, Agri: Read for details of non-MSP crops & legalising MSP implications)

5. Abu Dhabi has a message for Delhi
(GS2, IR: Read to understand changing dynamics in UAE & Saudi Arabia & impact on India)

6. AI in the year of elections (Read to understand challenges posed by AI's use in elections)

TH

1. Ties across the sea
(GS2, IR: India-UAE relations)

2. Recalibrating merit in the age of AI
(GS3, Tech & Sociology: Good pointers on impact of AI on meritocracy)

3. What are IPCC's assessment reports?
(GS3, Environment: Read to know aim & findings of these reports & global stocktake)


PS: Hit ❤️ to appreciate my efforts!

🚨 20 February 2024 | Tuesday 🚨

Mains Keywords ✍️🏼

1. Intelligence Diplomacy

• About sharing information with allied govts & their security agencies
• Example: "Five Eyes" ; gathering of top intelligence officials on margins of Raisina Dialogue


Mains Key 🗝
(Use as examples in Mains answers)

• iOncology AI: Supercomputer + AI being used to identify best cancer therapy for patients in AIIMS Delhi
(GS2, Health; GS3, Tech)


Pre-related 📄

1. Raisina Dialogue

• Hosted by ORF & Ministry of External Affairs annually since 2016
• Brings together ministers, officials, policy researchers across world
• to promote India-centred global agenda

2. Mimas

• Among Saturn's major moons
• Smallest of "big 7"/"inner moons"
• Nicknamed "Death Star"
• Context: NASA's Cassini spacecraft's data suggest it may have ocean under its crust

3. Planck's law

• All hot objects emit radiation in a range of frequencies

4. Milan

• Biennial Multilateral Naval Exercise
• Hosted by India in Bay of Bengal

5. Aspides

• EU's naval mission to protect Red Sea shipping from Houthis


Quote 💭

• "Red tape culture" should be replaced with "rep carpet culture" for investors


PS: Hit ❤️ to appreciate my efforts!