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🚨March 26 2023 | Saturday🚨

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Evergreening of patents
A strategy whereby patent-owner continuously extends rights and/or applies multiple patents for the same entity. (Indian Patent Laws disallow evergreening)

Pre Related

1. Anij Khad River bed
- India's first cable-stayed rail bridge on Anij Khad riverbed in Reasi district, JnK
- To connect JnK with rest of India seamlessly


2. Tuberculosis
- An infection of bacterium Mycobacterium TB in lungs (or in other organs)
- Treatment: Strict adherence to a Physician prescribed doses & frequencies
- Deviation can lead to bacteria become drug-resistant (high cost or poor quality of life causes deviation)
- Multi-Drug-Resistant (MDR) TB: Resists treatment by at least 2 drugs- Isoniazid and Rifampicin
- Extensively-Drug-Resisted (XDR) TB: Resists above 2 + Fluoroquinolones + second line injectable drug
- Note: Bedaquiline is used to treat MDR (J&J applied for patent for this drug, now rejected)
- Less harmful
- Available as tablets
- Could be toxic to heart & liver
- Recommended only as treatment of last resort.

3. Nuclear Power and India
- 22 Nuclear Reactors in India serving 3% of Indian electricity needs
- We've 3 stage nuclear program:
a) Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PWHR)
b) Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR)
c) Thorium Based Reactor (TBR)
- Currently, 3% needs are served by PWHR as FBR & TBR are either in test or research stage
- Why did India sign up for PWHR and not Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR)?
a) First Nuclear reactor in India (Set up w/ help of Canada) was PWHR
b) PWHR is safer and cheaper (as it uses Uranium which is available in India whereas PWR needs 'enriched' Uranium)

4. Patent Rules

5. Chip4 Alliance: Alliance for semiconductor chips among countries of JUST (Japan, US, South Korea, Taiwan)

Reading Recommendations

TH
1. Why did India reject J&J's patent on TB drug?
2. Will Mega textile parks help boost the sector?


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🚨March 27 2023 | Monday🚨

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Biotransformation
- Alter state of plastics making them biodegradable
- It ensures plastics that escape refuse streams are processed efficiently and broken down

Pre Related

1. Benefits of Institute of Eminence Tag
- Set fees, admission process and structure programmes
- Admit Int'l students (30%), Int'l faculties (25%) and offer online courses (20%)
- Exempted from govt. approvals for academic collabs with top 500 foreign institutions
- 10 govt owned institutions promised funding upto Rs 1,000 cr

2. Open Credit Enablement Network (OCEN)
- To raise credit penetration by transitioning system to cash flow based lending
- Raise competition among lender banks to give loans to person and thus lowering cost of lending
- It is projected to take Credit to GDP ratio from 57% to 100% by 2031

Stats
1. Cost of internet per GB
2014: Rs. 300
2022: Rs 13.5

2. India produces 3.5 Bn Kg of plastics per annum

Reading Recommendations

IE
1. Lebanon wakes up in two time zones amid clock change row
2. Masking Cruelty
3. Tech at your service (must read from IT Minister)
4. On mode of capital punishment, fresh debate (note how diff countries give capital punishment)
5. In 1975, when a court disqualified Indira Gandhi from Parliament (note sections of RPA and 39/44 Amendment Acts)
6. Tractors and two wheelers (note the trends and develop and understanding)
7. Marburg virus (take a note of the details)


TH
1. Making sense of the disqualification of Lok Sabha
2. Understanding IMF Bailouts (important read, such questions seen in Prelims PYQ)
3. Why has TN govt decided to merge schools? (read just the gist)
4. Biotransformation tech (V. Imp article)


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Friends, I’m compiling important tips and tricks for CSAT in one place on my blog and I update it regularly.

Sharing it here for you to checkout 8 types of questions that are here 👇🏼

https://csewhy.substack.com/p/96-tricks-to-count-triangles-csewhycsat

Pre note: Download t-Vidya for free from Point No. 5 of pinned message 🥰

🚨March 28 2023 | Tuesday🚨

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Reading Recommendations

IE
1. Daylight Saving Time (v. imp concept. learn!)
2. In SC today, disqualification of another MP

TH
1. A shared G20 vision for the ocean commons
2. The disqualification conundrum (read to explore 'solutions')

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Pre note: Friends, I'd tone down reading recommendations as prelims near. Spend least possible time on newspaper now.

🚨March 29 2023 | Wednesday🚨

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Pre related
1. Bucharest Nine
- 2015 estd. in Romanian capital
- A club of the Central European countries
- Formed post Russian annexation of Crimean peninsula in 2014
- Bulgaria, Czech, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Romania

2. Three Seas Initiative
- estd. 2016
- Bucharest Nine + 3 countries (Austria, Croatia & Slovenia)
- To consolidate political and economic cooperation (Baltic, Black and Adriatic Sea)

3. Lublin Triangle
- estd. 2020
- Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine
- To promote political, economic and security cooperation
- These three states share history and cultural commonality


Reading Recommendations

IE
1. The new Warsaw pact
2. In better health
3. Governing for the last citizen (Imp keywords on citizen engagement)

TH
1. The need for sector specific safeguards in 'techade'
2. What Muslim personal law say on inheritance (read just gist)


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Pre note: Friends, I'd tone down reading recommendations as prelims near. Spend least possible time on newspaper now.

🚨March 30 2023 | Thursday🚨

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6 policy intervention suggested by World Bank report for healthier economy
1. cut trade costs
2. improve global cooperation
3. capitalise on service exports
4. Incentivise investments into economy
5. boost labour force participation rates (especially for women)
6. ensure fiscal and monetary policies don't run against each other

Pre related

1. Thanjavur style of painting
- Depicts deities in rich and vivid colors
- Coats of shining golden foil used

Reading Recommendations

IE
1. When two aircraft come too close- and how they are kept safely apart

TH
1. India needs public policy education
2. Understanding Russia-Belarus nexus (imp from pre pov too)
3. How to manage India's solar PV waste problem? (V. Imp looking at PYQs)


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Friends, I have compiled all CSE WHY Flowcharts in one place
You can easily revise following with these flowcharts

- Jainism
- Buddhism
- Philosophy schools
- Vedants sub schools

Link: https://csewhy.substack.com/p/104-cse-why-flowcharts

Pre note: Get your visual notes from my pinned message 🥰

🚨March 31 2023 | Friday🚨

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Bioinformatics
The science of collecting and analysing complex biological data such as genetic codes.

Fly Ash
Combustion of Pulverised coal gives finely divided residue called Fly Ash

Piezoelectric Effect
- A body develops an electric current when it is squeezed.
- Quartz is most famous piezoelectric crystal (used to make analog wristwatches & clocks)

Cultivated Meat
- Cultured or cell based meat (made from animal cells) need not kill livestock to produce it.
- Uses animal DNA to recreate in a lab the taste and texture of meat

Pre Related

1. Tiwa tribe
- in Morigaon district of Assam
- Celebrate Yangli festival (harvest)

2. Meatball from Woolly Mammoth
- Australian startup VOW made meatball in lab from genetic sequence from long extinct woolly mammoth
- Woolly mammoth is a symbol of loss traditionally and died of climate change

3. Global Meat industry
- 14.5% global emissions of GHGs come from livestock farming
- CO2, Methane and Nitrous Oxides are seen from this

4. Rare drugs get customs relief
- Earlier, 10% customs duty
- Full exemption from basic customs duty for personal use in treating rare disease
- Certificate required for individuals to get exemption (from health authorities)
- Many like Pembrolizumab (used in cancer treatment) counted


Reading Recommendations

TH
1. Vaikom, a satyagraha, and the fight for social justice (imp for pre)
2. GPT-4- a shift from 'what it can do' to 'what it augurs' (imp read for SnT Prelims)
3. Issues with quality control orders for fibres (take an idea, pre has such Qs)
4. Piezoelectric effect in liquids (read just gist)


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IPS Rajesh Mohan has scored 140+ in his Prelims.

He shared 7 most important tips for Pre in this video. Watch & learn 👇🏼

https://youtu.be/ySmJhvZLCAI

Pre note: Get your visual notes from my pinned message 🥰

🚨April 1 2023 | Saturday🚨

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Gamosa
- Phulam Gamosa is symbol of Assamese cultural identity
- Deep symbolic value in Assam (religious, social and cultural)
- Socially: gifted to symbolize mutual respect and solidarity
- Finds special place in Vaishnava culture
- GI Tag

In Bengal, Uttariya a long scarf is often used in cultural programmes and to welcome guests in Bengali society.

Reading Recommendations

IE
1. Attention killers of plants: They could be screaming in pain

TH
1. Govt. vows swifter nod for exporters



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Mapped Bhakti saints to their respective states.

Read once just, never forget 😉

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🚨April 2 2023 | Sunday🚨

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Domestic content requirement
- Related to solar power production in India

Genome Sequencing
Technique to find the sequence of the genes (ACGT order of DNA)

Pre related

1. Bastille Day Parade
- Annual military parade of France
- PM Manmohan Singh attended as guest in 2009

2. Wildlife Trust of India
- 1998 estd. NGO
- Aim: to conserve wildlife and habitat to work for animal welfare
Partners with governments and communities

3. Universal Service Obligation Fund
- Created in 2002 u/ Ministry of Communications
- Statutory support under Indian Telegram (Amendment) Act 2003
- Aim: to ensure universal non-discriminatory access to quality ICT services to people in remote and rural areas
- Non lapsable fund

4. Marburg Virus Disease
- Recent outbreak in Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania
- First seen in 1967 in Germany & Serbia
- Symptoms: Severe Haemorrhagic fever (fatal)
- Closely related to Ebola, rated as high risk by WHO
- Spread: Infected animals (fruit bats) + bodily fluids in human to human contact
- Africa worst affected

5. AI chatbots and their companies/countries
- ChatGPT by OpenAI (Microsoft backed)
- Bard by Google, USA
- Ernie by Baidu, China
- ELSA by MIT, USA

6. Asilomar AI Principles
- 2017 conference 'Beneficial AI' by Future of Life Institute (FLI)
- One of earliest sets of AI governing principals

7. UNFCCC (UN Framework Convention on Climate Change)
- estd 1992 at Rio Summit
- 2015 Paris agreement u/ UNFCCC (Parent of COPs)
- Near universal membership (197 countries)
- Objectives: Time framed achievement of GHGs concentrations at safe levels

8. International Court of Justice
- Estd. 1945, based in Hague (Netherlands)
- Settles legal disputes b/w states and offer advisory opinions to UN agencies and others
- Justice Dalveer Bhandari is a judge here (Former CJI, Bombay HC and judge of SC)

9. Israel's proposed reforms
- Curtail Judicial Review
- Override SC judgements with simple majority of 61 in the Knesset (Israel's Parliament)
- Remove 'Reasonability test'
- Seek greater say in the judicial appointments
- Currently, 9 members where 3 are from Court, 2 from Bar council, 2 from Knesset and 2 from Govt.
- Govt. wants to replace bar council representatives with 2 Public representatives thus taking majority to 6/9

10. Great Nicobar
- Home to Shompen and Nicobaris tribes
- Home to Galathea River (v. imp)
- Home to Leatherback turtle world's largest marine turtle, Nicobari Megapode (endemic)
- Lies b/w Andaman sea and Bay of Bengal in a tectonically sensitive zone
- ~8k current population comprising of 2 tribes + ex servicemen

11. Theyyam and Thira Dance
- Theyyam dance participant is considered god
- Thira dance participant is considered to be possessed by god
- Often seen in Kozhikode and other parts of Kerala

Reading Recommendations

TH
1. Can countries be sued over climate change?


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As Promised, I am compiling most news myself under Pre related and have reduced reading recommendations as Prelims near.

Keep studying hard and don't forget PYQs.

Pre note: Get your visual notes from my pinned message 🥰

🚨April 3 2023 | Monday🚨

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Evergreening
- Making slight changes to formulation to extend the patent period and keep monopoly over drug
- Indian patent law disallows evergreening as it bans patents for new form of same substance developed without any significant improvement

Pre related
- Deshabhimani a paper by TK Madhavan (Ezhava leader related to Vaikom Satyagraha)
- Medicines for TB: Streptomycin, Kanamycin, and Bedaquiline
- Eravikulam NP, natural habitat of Nilgiri Tahr (Munnar)

Reading Recommendations

IE
1. Recalling Vaikom, satyagraha that led to opening of temple doors to lower castes
2. KA's new quota regime
3. Why bedaquiline patent decision could hold key to 2025 TB goal (note diff names)

TH
1. Why was month of March in Mumbai relatively cooler? (very imp article)
2. The Bharat 6G vision document: how India plans to lead telecom tech (v. imp article- take notes)

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Easy to find Qs in PYQs from this phenomenon. Develop a visual memory and do remember dates

Pre note: Get your visual notes from my pinned message 🥰

🚨April 4 2023 | Tuesday🚨

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1. Contract terms
Contract for service
When one wants to engage services of a third party as an independent contractor for a specific purpose

Contract of service
When one engages on employment basis

2. How are lawmakers disqualified in India?
Revise it on my blog, only source you need on this topic


Reading Recommendations

TH
1. Time to put a price on carbon emission
2. Why India should cut down on its salt intake (v. imp)
3. The demand for Scottish independence (Read just the gist if you have other things on priority)

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Getting a lot of queries on PYQ notes.

Note: I’m working on bringing comprehensive notes covering every single question in last 15 years.

Will put them for sale by end of this week for all to learn and benefit from!

Keep studying hard! 💪🏻

Pre note: Get your visual notes from my pinned message 🥰

🚨April 5 2023 | Wednesday🚨

Controlled Digital Lending
Understand with an example. Say, a book A has 10 copies in a library. They can lend only 10 at a time.
In CDL, while the digital library can unlimited options to lend, it lends only 5 copies as a part of its CDL policy.

This policy is under question in the US.

Reading Recommendations

IE
1. Securing some, at great cost (excellent must read article)
2. Finland joins NATO, why is Turkey making Sweden wait?
3. RLV (take a rough quick idea)

TH
1. A new economics for a new world (excellent article)
2. What was discussed at UN water conference? (imp read)
3. On Twitter's open source promise (read just the gist)


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An important map for your revision. Can frame many Pre questions from this alone.

It is in today's The Hindu. Shared on Twitter, you can save this image from there

Pre note: Get your visual notes from my pinned message 🥰

🚨April 6 2023 | Thursday🚨

1. North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
- Estd. 1949 w/ HQ in Brussels, Belgium
- Set up post WWII to contain Soviet Union
- 31 Members, Finland latest
- 12 founding members: Belgium, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, UK, US, Canada

2. UN Economic Commission for Europe
- estd. 1947 w/ HQ in Geneva
- One of 5 regional commissions u/ jurisdiction of UNSC
- Aim: to promote economic cooperation and integration among member states
- Has members from both Europe and outside (imp point)
- Force behind UN Water Convention

3. Global Environment Facility:
- Estd. at 1992 earth summit w/ HQ at DC
- Under management of WB, UNDP, UNEP
- Offers Financial mechanism for
- UNCCD
- UNCBD
- UNFCCC
- Stockholm Protocol
- Minamata convention

4. World Resources Institute
- estd. 1982, HQ Washington DC
- Global research organization
- Spans over 50 countries w/ focus on critical issues at intersection of environment & development:
- Climate
- Energy
- Food
- Forests
- Water
- Cities and Transport

5. WHO WASH strategy

6. Prepaid Payment Instruments
- Payment methods that to purchase goods/services and send/receive money using pre stored money value in the wallet
- Can be used only in INR
- Can be in form of mobile wallet, physical smart card, secure token, vouchers etc.
- Amount can be (re)loaded against cash or through debit to bank account or by using credit/debit cards, UPI or other approved payment methods

Reading Recommendations

IE
1. Trading forests for trees

TH
1. A long view of the South Asian drama
2. What's the open source seeds movement?


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