58520
Prelims info from newspaper articles will be posted here as summary McQ : @Quizhighlights Contact : @vikas_kanukollu between 9:30Pm and 10:00 PM daily for prep related queries
#IR
✅Outcomes of G20 summit
⚜️1.Inclusion of the African Union: For the first time, the African Union was included in the G-20 discussions.
⚜️2.Biofuel Alliance: India proposed a clean energy initiative through a biofuel alliance.
⚜️3.Asia-Africa Aid: A substantial increase in aid for Asia and Africa was announced.
⚜️4.Delhi Declaration: A joint statement that managed to gain consensus despite the absence of key players like China and Russia.
⚜️5. India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor: An ambitious rail-ship route connecting India, West Asia, and Europe, challenging China's Belt and Road Initiative.
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Q) What is G7, E7 and what is the intelligence alliance - Five eye?- is china a part of 5 eye?
Source : G7 and its limitations
#Geography #Placesinnews
✅Liptako-Gourma Charter
🅾️What? - It is a Mutual defense pact
Between Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger
🅾️Focus: To address Security challenges in Sahel Region - See the picture for sahel region
🔰Facts for prelims- about the charter
⚜️1. It Establishes: Alliance of Sahel States (AES)
⚜️2. Aim: Collective defense, mutual assistance
⚜️3. Issues: Jihadist activities, instability
📍Key Provisions
➡️Mutual Assistance: Military support during attacks
➡️Security Restoration: Use of armed force allowed
➡️Rebellion Prevention: Collaboration to resolve armed rebellions
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/channel/sahithya_aladakatti
One of the subscriber has sent me this audio clip from a previous ranker . Ms. Sahitya IAS has actually summed up how to use the channel.
Never met her... or had any interaction. But glad that the work done has benefitted people. Thank you Ms. Sahitya IAS for sharing your thoughts - 🙂 Like I said in the past, this is meant for everyone , and now aims to be a repository for future generations. All it takes is your willingness to unmute and use it🙂
#Environment
✅New Discovery of Gurnards Fish by ZSI
📍Discovering Organization: Zoological Survey of India (ZSI)
📍Species Name: Pterygotrigla intermedica
📍Location: Off the coast of Digha Mohana, West Bengal(V.V Imp)
📍Family: Triglidae, commonly known as gurnards or sea-robins( V. Imp)
📍Significance in Genus: 4th species within the Pterygotrigla genus in India( nt imp)
📍Global Diversity: The Triglidae family has a total of 178 species worldwide.(number not imp)
📍Distinct Characteristics: Exhibits unique features setting it apart from similar species like Pterygotrigla hemisticta
📍Appearance: Striking orange hue( This is imp)
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📍New Batch announced
🔰Register for the course here- You will find the brochure and timetable below
https://courses.vkias.com/course/SamagraSamarthan2024Mentorshipprogram-Batch3-59282
📍Brochure : Click here
📍Contact : @VK_IAS
#GovtScheme #Polity #Economy
✅PM Viswakarma scheme
⚠️Which ministry? = Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprise is the nodal ministry of the PM Vishwakarma Yojana.please note this!- NOT covered in the article!
📍Multiple implementation activities planned under the scheme includes identification & verification of beneficiaries, their mobilization for skill up-gradation training, facilitating credit support, marketing support, etc. to enable them to move up the value-chain.
📍Also note : The Ministry of Tribal Affairs, would provide active support for implementation of the scheme for the wellbeing of the Vishwakarmas.
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✅Gs-3 UPSC Mains 2023 analysis.
➡️How useful was VK IAS Telegram channel?
📍I hope you unmute the channel atleast now and spend time daily. Build habits and discipline- These are somethings that money cannot buy you. 🙂
- VK
(@hinduhighlights)
#GS1-#Art_and_Culture
🔴GS1- Art and culture
🔴GS1- History
✅India club - being closed
📍India Club Location and Inception
⚜️Situated at the Strand Continental Hotel in London.
⚜️Inaugurated in 1951 by the India League.
📍India League's Initial Objective : Advocated for Indian independence and self-rule, known as swaraj.
📍Notable Visitors
⚜️Dr. Rajendra Prasad (First President of independent India).
⚜️Lord Mountbatten (Last Viceroy of India).
⚜️Jawaharlal Nehru (Former Indian Prime Minister).
⚜️VK Krishna Menon (Diplomat and former Indian Defence Minister).
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Solutions : Section A ( not detailed Essays but a framework on how one can approach it)
Mains 2023 candidates- please focus on GS papers.
- Team VK IAS ( @hinduhighlights)
#IR
✅African Union
🅾️After becoming permanent member at G20- Africa will be a new emerging theme in UPSC- especially prelims- Keep a close tab on Diplomatic developments in Africa from now on
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🔴GS1- Art and culture
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✅From Meluha to India: The Journey of Names of India
🅾️Ancient names of India include Meluha, Bharata, Aryavarta, Hindustan.The Constitution retained both India and Bharat as the official names.
🅾️There is a debate about changing the official name to 'Republic of Bharat'.
🅾️The change is seen as a reflection of India's ancient identity and cultural heritage.
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#Environment
✅LED Lights Worsening Light Pollution
🔰Impacts :
🅾️Excessive light at night can disrupt sleep patterns and have negative impacts on human health.
🅾️Light pollution disrupts ecosystems by disorienting insects and birds.
🅾️The Greater Big Bend International Dark Sky Reserve is taking measures to combat light pollution, such as using downward-pointing covers and imposing fines.
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#Geography #Environment
✅Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary
🅾️Where?- Assam-home to the endangered western hoolock gibbon-There are two recognized species of hoolock gibbons found in India: the eastern hoolock gibbon (Hoolock leuconedys) and the western hoolock gibbon (Hoolock hoolock).
🅾️These arboreal creatures are known for their distinctive vocalizations and tree-dwelling behavior.
🅾️The sanctuary covers an area of approximately 20.98 square kilometers. Set aside initially in 1881, its forests used to extend to the foothills of the Patkai mountain range. It contains India’s only gibbons – the hoolock gibbons, and Northeastern India’s only nocturnal primate – the Bengal slow loris.
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#SnT
✅Naming conventions- for sites on moon- Tiranga point, shivashakti, jawahar sthal
🅾️What is IAU?- International Astronomical Union- global authority for naming planetary features in the solar system.
🅾️Previously IAU named an asteroid, discovered in 2006, after Indian classical singer Pandit Jasraj in 2019. ( He is a winner of Padma Vibhushan and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.)
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#IR
✅Five eyes Intelligence network
➡️This is how you should be able to link old news with the new ones
⚜️Most students dont remember that this five eye intelligence network was always in news- But it gained limelight now amidst India- Canada relations.
⚠️UPSC IS NOT INTERESTED in this news alone anymore! - but the complexity involved in its dealings?- For example- You need to have a clarity on this question- Q) What is G7, E7 and what is the intelligence alliance - Five eye?- is china a part of 5 eye? I asked this question almost 3 years ago- Click here
👆Develop interlinkages like this.
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#SnT
✅Technology: Loop-mediated isothermal amplification
➡️Quick points to note for prelims:
⚜️1.Purpose: Quick detection of pathogens
⚜️2.Advantages: No lab required, low-cost, scalable
📍Explainer : A new diagnostic method uses nucleic acids (like DNA) to quickly identify harmful microorganisms, or pathogens, in the field. This technology, called "loop-mediated isothermal amplification," forms tiny balls from the DNA of the pathogens. These nanoballs can be detected through electrical signals. The best part? No need for a lab setup, making it cost-effective and easy to use on a large scale.
➡️New mentorship batch starts : Click here
#GS1-#Art_and_Culture
🔴GS1- Art and culture
🔴GS1- History
✅108-Foot Adi Shankaracharya Statue in Omkareshwar
📍Adi Shankaracharya: Key facts for UPSC Prelims
⚜️Title: Jagatguru
⚜️Birthplace: Kaladi, Ernakulam, Kerala
⚜️Guru: Govinda Bhagavatpada
⚜️Key Texts: Gaudapadiya Karika, Brahmasutra, Vedas, Upanishads
⚜️Philosophies: Advaita Vedanta, Dashanami Sampradaya
⚜️Disciples- They were known for :
📍1. Padmapada: Devotion, Poetry
📍2. Totakacharya: Mission, "Totakashtakam"
📍3. Hasta Malaka: Child Prodigy, Advaita
📍4. Sureshwara: Householder to Disciple
⚜️Mathas:
📍Sri Sringeri Sharada Peetam, Karnataka
📍Jyotir Matha, Uttarakhand
📍Kalika Matha, Dwarka, Gujarat
📍Govardhana Matha, Puri, Odisha
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#Economy
✅Gs-3 : Economy- Mobilization of resources
🅾️If JP Morgan includes India's government bonds in its 'Global Bond Market Index,' it opens up new ways for the Indian government to borrow money from international markets
➡️Benefits- The following points can be asked as consequences in MCQs in the exam. :
⚜️1. Lower Interest Rates: The inclusion of India's government bonds in JP Morgan's Global Bond Market Index will attract a broader range of investors. This increased demand is likely to drive down the interest rates, thereby reducing the government's cost of borrowing.
⚜️2.It can Fund Current Account Deficit( imports more than it exports).
⚜️3. Freeing Up Local Resources( Crowding out ): At present, domestic banks and financial institutions are significant buyers of government bonds( SLR quota).This move will free up domestic financial resources for private sector, leading to more productive uses and stimulating economic growth.
🎖@Economyhighlights for more economy related articles at one place
#SnT
✅Flex-fuel vehicles-FFV
🅾️Modified version of vehicles that could run both on gasoline and doped petrol
🅾️According to the NITI Aayog report, FFVs have compatible engines to run on more than 84 per cent ethanol blended petrol-proposed in view of the rising ethanol percent in petrol- so in a way it is a logical extension of the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programme
🅾️Ethanol is Rs 60-62 per litre while petrol costs more than Rs 100 per litre in many parts of the country, so by using ethanol will save Rs 30-35 per litre.
🅾️Challenge :cost of ownership and running cost are going to be very high compared with 100 per cent petrol vehicles.
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#GovtScheme #Polity #Economy
✅Bima Sugam
🅾️What?- Govt's portal for all insurance schemes
🅾️How to remember what this portal will do?- Visit policy baazar site - It is an insurance aggregator- Govt wants to replicate that for lower costs. Not sure how it will impact the business of Policy Baazar now.
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🔴GS1- Art and culture
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✅Sacred Ensembles of Hoysalas- UNESCO World Heritage sites
🅾️What?- UNESCO added Karnataka’s Sacred Ensembles of Hoysalas(10th and 14th centuries) to its prestigious World Heritage list.
🔰Which temples?
⚜️1. Chennakesava Temple in Belur- constructed by King Vishnuvardhana of the Hoysala dynasty in the 12th century
⚜️2. Kappe Chennigaraya Temple, Veeranarayana Temple, and Ranganayaki Temple
⚜️3. Common architectural features of the Hoysala temples-hyper-real sculptures, stone carvings adorning the entire architectural surface, large-scale sculptural galleries, multi-tiered friezes, and depictions of the Sala legend
➡️Also read about Hoyasala architecture- lakshmi narasimha temple
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#Geography #Placesinnews
✅Derna in Libya
🅾️Context : 2 Dams collapsed+ port city was inundated by Storm Daniel-Floods- led to HUGE devastation- almost 5k killed-12k missing
🅾️Libya has an extremely dry climate and rarely experiences heavy rainfall. The storm dumped a record 16 inches, or 400 millimeters, of rain
🎖Related current affairs
⚛️International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD)- Read about the org
⚛️What is the Rule Curve?- Click here
⚛️Baihetan hydro project- Click here
⚛️Kakhovka Dam- breached in Russia ukraine war
⚛️Renaissance dam - on great nile river-Click here
🔰Join : @Geohighlights- for Geography news seggregated at one place
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✅Hyderabad office location of VK IAS - Click here
✅ Students from Hyderabad can join this group for personal communication at office
/channel/upsc_ashok_nagar_hyderabad
👆👆👆
#Geography
✅Shallow earthquakes
🅾️Context : Morocco Earthquake
✅Why are Shallow Earthquakes Dangerous?
➡️They happen closer to the Earth's surface. Imagine someone hitting a drum very close to the top surface; the sound and impact will be much louder and stronger-Similarly, when an earthquake is shallow, it shakes the ground much more violently because it is closer to the surface, making it more dangerous as it can cause more damage to buildings and can be more harmful to people.
➡️On the other hand, deep earthquakes occur far below the surface. So, deep earthquakes, being farther from the surface, have less force by the time they reach the top, causing less shaking and, therefore, less damage compared to shallow earthquakes.
🅾️Earthquake in Morocco occurred due to the northward convergence of the African plate with respect to the Eurasian plate along a complex plate boundary.
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✅World’s Tallest Nataraja Statue
🅾️Where?- at New Delhi’s Pragati Maidan- to greet G20 leaders-crafted by sculptors from Swamimalai, Tamil Nadu.
🅾️Inspiration-inspiration from Nataraja idols found in Chidambaram, Konerirajapuram, and the Brihadeeswara Temple in Thanjavur, all originally constructed during the Chola dynasty’s zenith in the 9th-11th centuries AD.
🔰In his Nataraja form, Lord Shiva represents both the creator and the destroyer, dancing within a circle of flames. This depiction showcases him as a force of destruction, representing death and time, while also being a guardian offering protection and removing fear.
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#IR
✅Black Sea Grain Initiative
🅾️Ukraine is a significant exporter of food grains and contributes to the UN's food aid programs. Russia remains the top wheat exporter, while Ukraine's grain shipments are projected to decrease.
📍Related news
⚜️1. Snake Island - click here
⚜️2. Mnemonic for countries bordering Black Sea
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#Environment
✅“FUNGA” Campaign
🅾️What?- The UN Biodiversity suggests acknowledging fungi in conversations by using "funga" alongside "flora and fauna" or "animal, plants, and fungi." Language has an impact on conservation efforts as it shapes perceptions and policies.
🅾️What roles do they have?- Fungi have key ecological roles such as decomposition, forest regeneration, mammalian digestion, carbon sequestration, and maintaining the nutrient cycle.
➡️Note : This is why there is a rise in interest on mushrooms- a type of fungus- UPSC is picking this trend- Click here to read more
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#Environment
✅Emperor Penguins
🅾️What?- Emperor Penguins are primarily found in Antarctica. They are the only penguin species that breed during the harsh Antarctic winter.
📍Recent study by British Antarctic Survey shows emperor penguins facing "quasi extinction" due to reduced sea ice
📍Satellite imagery indicates failed breeding attempts and likely mortality of penguin chicks
📍If global warming continues, 90% of emperor penguins could be "quasi extinct" by end of century
📍Emperor penguins rely on stable sea ice for breeding and nurturing their young
📍Loss of sea ice is causing abandonment of breeding sites and disruption to penguin population
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#SnT
✅What is Echolocation?
➡️Possible question- a list of animals using echolocation- and no. of pairs that are correct ( One pair, two pair... etc)
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