Pre Note: Download Notes of 35+ Species asked in last 15 years in Prelims here

🚨 3 April 2024 | Monday 🚨

Pre Related News 📄

1. Heat Wave Criteria:

Plains and Hilly Regions:

• Max temp ≥ 40°C (Plains) or ≥ 30°C (Hilly)
• Heat Wave: 4.50°C to 6.40°C departure from normal
• Heat Wave (Actual Max Temp) ≥45°C & Severe Heat Wave (Actual Max Temp) ≥ 47°C
• Criteria met in more than 2 stations in a subdivision for more than 2 consecutive days

Coastal Areas:

• Max temp departure ≥ 4.50°C.
• Actual Max Temp: ≥37°C for Heat Wave.


2. Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)

• u/ Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
• Established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006
• FSSAI is responsible for the Food Certification & carry out food import controls


3. Purchasing Managers Index

• It measures activity at the purchasing or input stage
• Economic indicator, which is derived after monthly surveys of different companies
• The index shows trends in both the manufacturing and services sector, does not capture informal sector


Stats 📈

1. State of the Global Climate by World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

• 2023 was the hottest year in the recorded history of the planet
• Close to breaking the agreed limit of 1.5 °C

Mains Keyword ✍🏻

1. Kalkakkadal: Coastal Flooding during Pre Monsoon, swell surges in Malayalam


PS: Revise weekly current affairs on my blog

Reading Recommendations 🗞

TH

1. India risking demographic dividend
(GS1, Population, Unemployment & Demographic Dividend)

2. The Gaza war needs a smart exit strategy
(GS2, IR, Covered India-Israel in detail here)


IE

1. How Delhi Maps the World
(GS2, IR, Indo-Pacific, SAARC, SCO)

2. Aatmanirbhar in Defence
(GS3, Internal Security, Indigenization of Armed Forces)

3. The Katchatheevu Story
(GS2, IR, India-Sri Lanka, History)

4. The Importance of Hope
(GS1, Population & Associated Challenges, Declining Fertility)

Pre Note: Get 15-Year PYQ Analysis Notes here

🚨 4 April 2024 | Thursday🚨


Mains Keywords ✍🏻

1. Geopolitical Premium: Refers to the additional cost added to commodity prices, such as oil, due to geopolitical factors and uncertainties


Pre Related News 📄

1. Voter verifiable paper audit trial (VVPAT)

• Attached to an EVM, allows the voters to verify that their votes are cast as intended
• Vote cast → Slip printed with candidate info → Slip visible for 7 seconds → Slip automatically cut, falls into sealed box → Printouts available for counting if needed


2. Atomic Minerals

• Thorium: Reserves (IND>BRZ>USA) , derived from minerals like monazite
• Uranium: Reserves(AUS>KZK>CAN), Kazakhstan Leads in Production
• Other Minerals with Atomic Content: Zirconium, Lithium, Ilmenite, Beryllium etc


3. Foreign Contribution Regulation Act

• Revise Key Features in detail from here

4. El Nino & ZImbabwe

• Zimbabwe President declares El Nino drought a national disaster
• Occasional development of warm ocean surface waters along the coast of Ecuador and Peru
• Brings drought to the western Pacific, rains to equatorial coast of South America, storms and hurricanes to the central Pacific.

5. Surrogacy Regulations

• Revise Amendment to Surrogacy Rules from here
• Arrangement where a woman, known as the surrogate, agrees to carry & delivera baby for another couple, known as the intended parents

PS: Revise weekly current affairs on my blog

Reading Recommendations 🗞

TH

1. India risking demographic dividend
(GS1, Population, Unemployment & Demographic Dividend)

2. Should State Governments borrow more?
(GS2, Fiscal Federalism, FRBM Act)


IE

1. An Af-Pak Warning
(GS2, IR, Iran & Pak, Explained in the easiest way possible, click here)

2. The Demographic Window
(GS1, Population & Skilling for Demographic Dividend)

3. Risk from Glacial Lake Floods
(GS1, Geo, GLOFs & Mitigation)

4. Path to Viksit Bharat: Why India should Target Per Capita, Not Aggregate GDP
(GS3, Eco, PCI & National Income, Know the relevant Words)


PS: Need any help? DM me on Twitter here!

Pre note: Revise Bhakti Saints with mnemonics & mapping here

🚨 5 April 2024 | Friday 🚨

Pre Related News 📄

1. Election Symbols

• u/ Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, by the ECI
• EC can decide disputes of a recognized political party staking claim to its name and symbol
• For splits in registered but unrecognised parties, EC usually advises to resolve their differences internally


2. 📍Sudan

• Gedaref city many people displaced from here
• Also known for the Darfur Crisis, Heglig Crisis (B/w Dinka & Nuer Tribe)


3. Essential Medicines

• Essential Medicines are those that satisfy the priority healthcare needs of the population (WHO)
• National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) caps medicine prices, changed only after WPI Inflation increases

4. Agni Prime

• New Gen Nuclear Capable Ballistic Missile
• 2-staged canisterised missile, capable of delivering several warheads at separate locations at a distance of 1,000 - 2,000 km
• Ballistic Missile: uses a projectile motion, Launched till space/orbit & uses Gravitational Force to drop, easy to intercept, uses less Fuel

5. Project Akashdeep + Akashteer

• Bolster India Army's Air Defence Capabilities
• Automated Air Defence Control & Reporting System
• Sarang systems: An Advanced Electronic Support Measure system for helicopters of the Indian Navy, developed indigenously

6. Exchange Traded Currency Derivative

• Derivatives: Financial contracts that derive their values from price fluctuations of their underlying assets
• Exchange Traded Derivatives (ETDs): Subject to standardised T&Cs, hence, traded in the stock exchanges (SEBI regulated)
• Over the Counter (OTC) derivative: It is traded between private parties, in the absence of a formal party & Intermediary

PS: Revise weekly current affairs on my blog

Reading Recommendations 🗞

TH

1. Is the urban water system breaking?
(GS1, Urbanization & Challenges, Climate Change)

2. Universities must budge on college autonomy nudge
(GS2, Education, Autonomy to Colleges)


IE

1. The Healthcare Promise
(GS2, Health, Universal & Primary Healthcare)

2. Charging Up
(GS3, Energy, EV & Globalization)

3. Before SC: Can State Levy excise duty on Industrial Alcohol
(GS2, Fiscal Federalism, Concurrent List)

Friends, I am coming out PYQs course to help you with

a) Video Classes analysing every Q 2009-2023
b) PYQ analysis notes all 15 years [massively updated]

Please fill this form in Just 2 mins if you'd want to be among firsts to get this & crack Prelims2024

Pre-note: Clear Prelims 2024, fill this form to skip the queue for the updated PYQ Course

🚨 6 April 2024 | Saturday 🚨


Quotes 💭

" Inclusion is not a matter of political correctness, it is the key to growth" - Jesse Jackson


Pre Related News 📄

1. Standing Deposit Facility

• Collateral-free liquidity absorption mechanism implemented by the RBI
• SDF will allow banks to store surplus liquidity with the Reserve Bank at their discretion
• SDF Deposits will not be included as balances eligible for the CRR under the RBI Act of 1934 but will be counted as an eligible asset for the SLR under the Banking Regulation Act of 1949


2. 📍Rakhigarhi

• Largest Indus Valley Civilization site; Seen all 3 Phases of IVC
• Located in the Sarasvati river plain, near the seasonal Ghaggar river
• Global Heritage Fund, declared Rakhigarhi one of the 10 most endangered heritage sites in Asia.


3. Human Rights Council

• Seats in Council: Africa(13), Asia-Pacific(13), Latin America(8), West Europe(7), East Europe(6)
• 47 Member States elected directly every year, not eligible for immediate re-election after serving 2 consecutive terms
• Seats are equitably distributed, with 1/3 of the members being renewed each year. Each member serves a 3-year term

4. Green Hydrogen

• Produced through the electrolysis of water using renewable energy sources
• Fuel Cells: Devices that convert the chemical energy of a fuel into electrical energy
• Electrolysis process splits water into hydrogen and oxygen, and the hydrogen produced can be used

5. 📍Gaza

• Erez crossing & Ashdod Port
• Others: Karni Crossing, Rafah Crossing, Kissufim Crossing


PS: Revise weekly current affairs on my blog

Reading Recommendations 🗞

TH

1. Parliaments past, a mirror to changing dynamics
(GS2, Legislative & Executive, Parliament Role in Democracy)

IE

1.1. The Green Hydrogen Push
(GS3, Energy,Climate Change & Green Hydrogen)

2. Waiting for Summer
(GS3, Economy, Inflation & Monsoon)

3. Calling China's Bluff
(GS2, Indo-Pacific & Act East Policy)

Pre-note: Clear Prelims 2024, fill this form to skip the queue for the updated PYQ Course

🚨 7 April 2024 | Sunday 🚨

Pre Related News 📄

1. Chital/Spotted Deer

• IUCN: Least Concern
• State Animal: Telangana
• Habitat: Subtropical grasslands and forests
• Only males have antlers, and their bodies are larger than females, are social animals


2. Citizenship Ammendment Act (CAA)

• All you need to know for CAA - UPSC. Click here to read


3. Green Credit Programme (GCP)

• Revise GCP & Key features from here
• Part of the broader 'LiFE' campaign (Lifestyle for Environment), it encourages & rewards voluntary environmentally-positive actions

4. Influenza VIrus

• Avian influenza (bird flu, subtypes A H5N1 and A H9N2)
• Swine influenza (swine flu, subtypes A H1N1 and AH3N2).
• “H” & “N” stand for hemagglutinin & neuraminidase, 2 proteins on the surface of the virus, it allow it to enter & exit host cells


PS: Revise weekly current affairs on my blog

Reading Recommendations 🗞

TH

1. Translation app helps six Indians escape Russian war
(Essay: Development, SNT & Examples)

2. What is the outlook on women’s employment?
(GS Women & Employment, Low LFPR)

3. Will new solar power rules boost production?
(GS3, Energy, Renewable Sector)

Reminder to fill this (if you have not already)!

Pre note: Did you download Free compilation of my March Tweets here?

🚨 8 April 2024 | Monday 🚨


Stats 📈


1. Election Commission Data

• Women's representation in Parliament rose from 4.5% in 1957 to 14.4% in 2019
• Male candidates grew from 1,474 in 1957 to 7,322 in 2019, a fivefold increase, while women's growth was 16-fold


Pre Related News 📄

1. Gaganshakti - Indian Air Force

• High-octane operations, in a realistic environment
• Tarang Shakti: will be the biggest multi-nation air exercise to be conducted on Indian soil

2. Seven Cities of Delhi

• Compiled them in short for a quick revision. Click here

3. Total Solar Eclipse

• Occurs only once in about 400 years
• Umbra: The middle and the darkest part of the lunar shadow
• When the Moon blocks the Sun entirely, the areas in the center of the Moon's shadow at the time witness a total solar eclipse

PS: Revise weekly current affairs on my blog

Reading Recommendations 🗞

TH

1. Shaping India’s path to inclusive health care
(GS2, Health, Universal & Inclusive Healthcare)

2. Gone too soon — the subject of youth suicide in India
(GS, Health, Mental Health, World Health Day)

3. What is the technology behind manufacturing a semiconductor chip?
(GS3, SnT, Semiconductor & Globalization)

IE

1. Artificial Intelligence & Art
(GS3, Negativities of SnT Developments)

2. How PMLA got its Sharp Teeth
(GS3, Money Laundering, Read from a UPSC POV from here)

Pre note: PYQs video course launching this week. Join the waitlist here

🚨 9 April 2024 | Tuesday 🚨

Pre Related News 📄

1. Cicada flies

• insects; Hemiptera order (tree bugs)
• Rare occurrence, 1 Trillion to appear in USA
• dual emergence event since 1803
• 2 types: Northern & Southern Illinois brood

Revise species in news here

2. Junk DNA & Alu Gene

• Junk DNA: A non functional DNA
• mostly in psuedogenes & transposons and viruses
• Alu gene: type of jumping gene
• non transposable element, only in primates

Quotes 💭

"Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality." Edgar Allan Poe

Reading Recommendations 🗞

IE

1. Quality of growth
(GS3, Economy, inclusive & sustainable growth)

2. Why VVPAT was brought in
(GS2, Polity, Democracy, elections)

3. The citizen's climate rights
(GS3, Environment, climate rights, SC judgement)


TH

1. Indian aviation, case of air safety at a discount
(GS3, Transportation, Aviation sector challenges and way forward)

2. Marching ahead with technology absorption
(GS3, S&T, Indian army's theme, new conditions & way forward)

3. A freak DNA change 25 MYA is why humans lack tails
(GS3, S&T, Junk DNA, Alu Accident)


PS: need any help? Talk to me at whycse@gmail.com