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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

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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)


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🚨 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!

Reading Recommendations 🗞

IE

1. How MSP
(GS3, Agri: Read to understand price volatility & adv. of PDP as sol)

2. The next step for farmers
(GS3, Agri: Suggestions for boosting horticulture)

3. A wider viewfinder
(GS2, IR: Read to understand widening aspects of Diplomacy)

4. Centre's MSP proposal: Situation in pulses, cotton
(GS3, Agri: Focus on trends of crop prod & need for crop diversification)

5. La Nina-air quality links in new study
(GS3, Environment: Read to understand how La Nina could have caused reversal of wind direction, impacting air quality)


TH

1. Greece's gateway to Aisa, India's gateway to Europe
(GS2, IR: India- Greece Relations)

2. Why are human-wildlife conflicts escalating in Kerala?
(GS3, Biodiversity: Scale, reasons & solutions for human-wildlife conflicts)

3. Hundred years ago, Satyendra Nath Bose changed physics forever
(GS3, S&T: Read to know his journey & contribution)

🚨 21 February 2024 | Wednesday 🚨

Pre-related 📄

1. Global Initiative on Digital Health

• A platform for sharing knowledge & digital products among countries
• Launched by WHO, agreed upon in India's G20 Presidency
• Will be network of networks with 4 main components:
a) country needs tracker
b) country resource portal
c) transformation toolbox ('ll share quality-assured digital tools)
d) knowledge exchange

2. Elihu Yale

• Yale University named after him
• 1672: Arrived in Madras as junior employee of EIC
• 1684-85 & 1687-92: Became Governor-president of Madras
• Involved in trade of spices, textiles & slaves
• Context: Yale varsity has apologised for slavery links

3. Iddat

• A period, usually of 3 months
• A Muslim woman must observe after death of her husband or divorce before remarriage
• Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986: Guarantees maintenance to divorced woman only during iddat
• After its completion, maintenance can be claimed u/ Sec125 of CrPC before remarriage

4. Raman Scattering

• When light of certain frequency is beamed at a group of atoms/molecules,
• latter absorb some of energy in beam & scatter it to different direction

5. International Mother Language Day

• Celebrated on 21 February
• Theme 2024: "Multilingual education is a pillar of intergenerational learning”


Stats 📈

• 17% Indian urban households live in slums (Census 2011)


Quotes 💭

• Lokneeti is about Loksangrah not Lobhsangrah (Policy-making has to be about people's welfare, not self-interest)

• Democratic power is a "trust held upon conditions" to secure inherent rights of the people ~ Harold Laski

• The cacophony of dissent & disagreement is the symphony of a democracy at work


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

Reading Recommendations 🗞

• Read all about Cervical Cancer from UPSC pov here

IE

1. Art 142, why SC quashed Chandigarh Mayor election, why it matters
(GS3, Polity: Read to know the entire case & SC's involvement)

2. Defining forests, saving them
(GS3, Environment: Read to know recent SC direction on definition of forests & arguments involved)

3. Why are we falling ill so often?
(GS2, Health: Read to know types, causes, symptoms, diagnosis, steps takes & needed of seasonal influenza)

4. Loss of a guiding light
(PM Modi's article on contribution of Jain seer Acharya Vidhyasagar)


TH

1. Having panchayats as self-governing institutions
(GS2, PRIs: Read to know the status, causes & potential of own source of revenue of panchayats)

2. Why are farmers protesting again?
(GS3, Agri: Read to know primary demands & govt stance)