💥UPSC 2026, 2027, 2028 UAP Mentorship (March Batch) + Access XFactor Notes & Microthemes PDF

Type: Prelims Only

  • Nobel and other Prizes

    Pulitzer Prize and the Indians who have won it

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Pulitzer Prize

    Mains level: NA

    A team of four Indian photographers have won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography for their coverage of the Covid-19 crisis in India.

    About Pulitzer Prize

    • The Pulitzer is the most coveted award for journalists from across the world.
    • It is announced by America’s Columbia University and bestowed on the recommendation of the Pulitzer Prize Board.

    Who was Joseph Pulitzer, after whom the awards are named?

    • Born to a wealthy family of Magyar-Jewish origin in Mako, Hungary, in 1847, Joseph Pulitzer had a stint in the military before he built a reputation of being a “tireless journalist”.
    • In the late 1860s he joined the German-language daily newspaper Westliche Post, and by 25 he had become a publisher.
    • In 1884, he was elected to the US House of Representatives from New York’s ninth district as a Democrat.

    When were the Pulitzer awards instituted?

    • The awards were instituted according to Pulitzer’s will, framed in 1904, where he made a provision for the establishment of the Pulitzer Prizes as an incentive to excellence.
    • Pulitzer specified solely four awards in journalism, four in letters and drama, one for education, and five travelling scholarships.
    • After his death in 1911, the first Pulitzer Prizes were awarded in June, 1917.

    Indians who have won the Pulitzer

    • A member of the Ghadar Party in America, journalist Gobind Behari Lal, was the first from India to win the Prize in 1937.
    • In 2000, London-born Indian-American writer Jhumpa Lahiri won the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction for her debut short story collection Interpreter of Maladies.
    • In 2003, Mumbai-born Geeta Anand was part of the team at Wall Street Journal that won a Pulitzer Prize for reporting on corporate corruption.
    • In 2016, Indian-American Sanghamitra Kalita, then managing editor of Los Angeles Times, won the Pulitzer.

    The list goes on to date ….

     

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  • Global Geological And Climatic Events

    In news: Tropical Cyclone Asani

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Tropical cyclones

    Mains level: Frequent recurrence of Cyclones in India

    Severe cyclonic storm ‘Asani’, packing winds above 105 kmph and setting off heavy rain, is likely to make landfall on the eastern coast of India.

    What are tropical Cyclones?

    • A tropical cyclone is an intense circular storm that originates over warm tropical oceans and is characterized by low atmospheric pressure, high winds, and heavy rain.
    • Cyclones are formed over slightly warm ocean waters. The temperature of the top layer of the sea, up to a depth of about 60 meters, need to be at least 28°C to support the formation of a cyclone.
    • This explains why the April-May and October-December periods are conducive for cyclones.
    • Then, the low level of air above the waters needs to have an ‘anticlockwise’ rotation (in the northern hemisphere; clockwise in the southern hemisphere).
    • During these periods, there is an ITCZ in the Bay of Bengal whose southern boundary experiences winds from west to east, while the northern boundary has winds flowing east to west.
    • Once formed, cyclones in this area usually move northwest. As it travels over the sea, the cyclone gathers more moist air from the warm sea which adds to its heft.

    Requirements for a Cyclone to form

    There are six main requirements for tropical cyclogenesis:

    • Sufficiently warm sea surface temperatures
    • Atmospheric instability
    • High humidity in the lower to middle levels of the troposphere
    • Enough Coriolis force to develop a low-pressure centre
    • A pre-existing low-level focus or disturbance
    • Low vertical wind shear

    How are the cyclones named?

    • In 2000, a group of nations called WMO/ESCAP (World Meteorological Organisation/United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) decided to name cyclones.
    • It comprised Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand, decided to start naming cyclones in the region.
    • After each country sent in suggestions, the WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones (PTC) finalised the list.
    • The WMO/ESCAP expanded to include five more countries in 2018 — Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

    Why is it important to name cyclones?

    • Adopting names for cyclones makes it easier for people to remember, as opposed to numbers and technical terms.
    • It’s easier and less confusing to say “Cyclone Titli” than remember the storm’s number or its longitude and latitude.
    • Apart from the general public, it also helps the scientific community, the media, disaster managers etc.
    • With a name, it is also easy to identify individual cyclones, create awareness of its development, rapidly disseminate warnings to increase community preparedness etc.

     

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  • Health Sector – UHC, National Health Policy, Family Planning, Health Insurance, etc.

    What is Monkeypox?

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Monkey Pox

    Mains level: Zoonotic Diseases

    The UK health authorities have confirmed a case of Monkeypox, which is a virus passed from infected animals such as rodents to humans, in someone with a recent travel history to Nigeria where they are believed to have caught it.

    What is Monkeypox?

    • The monkeypox virus is an orthopoxvirus, which is a genus of viruses that also includes the variola virus, which causes smallpox, and vaccinia virus, which was used in the smallpox vaccine.
    • It causes symptoms similar to smallpox, although they are less severe.
    • While vaccination eradicated smallpox worldwide in 1980, monkeypox continues to occur in a swathe of countries in Central and West Africa, and has on occasion showed up elsewhere.
    • According to the WHO, two distinct clade are identified: the West African clade and the Congo Basin clade, also known as the Central African clade.

    Its origin

    • Monkeypox is a zoonosis, that is, a disease that is transmitted from infected animals to humans.
    • Monkeypox virus infection has been detected in squirrels, Gambian poached rats, dormice, and some species of monkeys.
    • According to the WHO, cases occur close to tropical rainforests inhabited by animals that carry the virus.

    Symptoms and treatment

    • Monkeypox begins with a fever, headache, muscle aches, back ache, and exhaustion.
    • It also causes the lymph nodes to swell (lymphadenopathy), which smallpox does not.
    • The WHO underlines that it is important to not confuse monkeypox with chickenpox, measles, bacterial skin infections, scabies, syphilis and medication-associated allergies.
    • The incubation period (time from infection to symptoms) for monkeypox is usually 7-14 days but can range from 5-21 days.
    • There is no safe, proven treatment for monkeypox yet.

     

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  • Climate Change Impact on India and World – International Reports, Key Observations, etc.

    Is La Nina a fair weather friend of our country?

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: El-Nino, La-Nina

    Mains level: ENSO impact on Indian Monsson

    This year the La Nina is being blamed for worsening the longest spell of heatwaves from March to April in north, west and Central India.

    In most years, meteorologists considered the La Nina to be a friend of India.

    What is El Nino and La Nina?

    • While El Niño (Spanish for ‘little boy’), the more common expression, is the abnormal surface warming observed along the eastern and central regions of the Pacific Ocean (the region between Peru and Papua New Guinea).
    • The La Niña (Spanish for ‘little girl’) is an abnormal cooling of these surface waters.
    • Together, the El Niño (Warm Phase) and La Niña (Cool Phase) phenomena are termed as El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO).
    • These are large-scale ocean phenomena which influence the global weather — winds, temperature and rainfall. They have the ability to trigger extreme weather events like droughts, floods, hot and cold conditions, globally.
    • Each cycle can last anywhere between 9 to 12 months, at times extendable to 18 months — and re-occur after every three to five years.
    • Meteorologists record the sea surface temperatures for four different regions, known as Niño regions, along this equatorial belt.
    • Depending on the temperatures, they forecast either as an El Niño, an ENSO neutral phase, or a La Niña.

    Impact on India

    • El Nino during winter causes warm conditions over the Indian subcontinent and during summer, it leads to dry conditions and deficient monsoon.
    • Whereas La Nina results in better than normal monsoon in India.
    • It has been established that Indian summer monsoon is a fully coupled land-atmosphere-ocean system and that it is linked to ocean temperature variability.
    • In an agricultural country like India, the extreme departure from normal seasonal rainfall seriously affects the agricultural output and thus the economy of the country.

    Try this PYQ:

    La Nina is suspected to have caused recent floods in Australia. How is La Nina different from El Nino?

    1. La Nina is characterized by unusually cold ocean temperature in equatorial Indian Ocean whereas El Nino is characterized by unusually warm ocean temperature in the equatorial Pacific Ocean.
    2. El Nino has an adverse effect on south-west monsoon of India, but La Nina has no effect on monsoon climate.

    Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

    (a) Only 1

    (b) Only 2

    (c) Both 1 and 2

    (d) Neither 1 nor 2

     

    Post your answers here.

     

     

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  • Historical and Archaeological Findings in News

    Rakhigarhi skeletons’ DNA samples sent for analysis

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Indus valley civilization and its decline

    Mains level: Not Much

    DNA samples collected from two human skeletons unearthed at a necropolis of a Harappan-era city site in Rakhigarhi, Haryana have been sent for scientific examination.

    Why in news?

    • DNA analysis might tell about the ancestry and food habits of people who lived in the Rakhigarhi region thousands of years ago.

    About Rakhi Garhi

    • The ancient site of Rakhi-Khas and Rakhi-Shahpur are collectively known as Rakhigarhi, located on the right bank of the now dried up Palaeo-channel of Drishadvati.
    • It is located in the Ghaggar-Hakra river plain in the Hissar district of Haryana.
    • Seven mounds are located here.
    • The site has yielded various stages of Harappan culture and is by far one of the largest Harappan sites in India.
    • The site shows the sequential development of the Indus culture in the now dried up Saraswati basin.

    Major findings at Rakhi Garhi

    • Findings confirm both early and mature Harappan phases and include 4,600-year-old human skeletons, fortification and bricks.
    • Digging so far reveals a well-planned city with 1.92 m wide roads, a bit wider than in Kalibangan.
    • The pottery is similar to Kalibangan and Banawali.
    • Pits surrounded by walls have been found, which are thought to be for sacrificial or some religious ceremonies.
    • There are brick-lined drains to handle sewage from the houses.
    • Terracotta statues, weights, bronze artefacts, comb, copper fish hooks, needles and terracotta seals have also been found.
    • A bronze vessel has been found which is decorated with gold and silver.
    • A granary belonging to the mature Harappan phase has been found here.
    • Fire altars structures were revealed in Rakhigarhi.

     

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  • ISRO Missions and Discoveries

    ISRO’s goal for Venus Mission

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Shukrayan Mission

    Mains level: Interplanetary missions

    India’s Venus mission has been conceived. The project report for ‘Shukrayaan-I’ – the name given to ISRO’s Venus mission

    About Venus

    • Venus is the second planet from the Sun and is Earth’s closest planetary neighbor.
    • It’s one of the four inner, terrestrial (or rocky) planets, and it’s often called Earth’s twin because it’s similar in size and density.
    • Venus has a thick, toxic atmosphere filled with carbon dioxide and it’s perpetually shrouded in thick, yellowish clouds of sulphuric acid that trap heat, causing a runaway greenhouse effect.
    • It’s the hottest planet in our solar system, even though Mercury is closer to the Sun.
    • Surface temperatures on Venus are about 900 degrees Fahrenheit (475 degrees Celsius) – hot enough to melt lead.
    • Venus has crushing air pressure at its surface – more than 90 times that of Earth – similar to the pressure you’d encounter a mile below the ocean on Earth.

    Do you know?

    Venus rotates on its axis backward, compared to most of the other planets in the solar system. This means that, on Venus, the Sun rises in the west and sets in the east, opposite to what we experience on Earth. (It’s not the only planet in our solar system with such an oddball rotation – Uranus spins on its side.)

    What is Shukrayaan-I Mission?

    • Shukrayaan will be India’s first orbiter mission to Venus after sending similar missions to the Moon and Mars.
    • The mission aims to study the surface of the hottest planet in our solar system and unravel the mysteries under the Sulphuric Acid clouds enveloping it.
    • The orbiter is the third mission announced to the inferno world of Venus after NASA announced two probes followed by a spacecraft by the European Space Agency.
    • The probes will investigate the world looking for clues to understand the destructive past of Earth’s mysterious twin, which scientists believe once had vast reserves of water similar to our planet.

    Stated objectives

    • Investigation of the surface processes and shallow sub-surface stratigraphy, including active volcanic hotspots and lava flows
    • Studying the structure, composition, and dynamics of the atmosphere
    • Investigation of solar wind interaction with the Venusian Ionosphere

    Delay with the launch

    • The ISRO is eyeing the December 2024 window for launch with orbital maneuvers planned for the following year.
    • This is when earth and Venus would be so aligned that the spacecraft could be put in the neighboring planet’s orbit using a minimum amount of propellant.
    • The next similar window would be available in 2031.

     

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  • Cyber Security – CERTs, Policy, etc

    How India’s new VPN rules change the Status Quo?

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: VPN, Cert-In

    Mains level: Read the attached story

    Recently, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (Cert-In) issued new directives that require Virtual Private Network (VPN) providers to store user data for five years.

    What is VPN?

    • VPN describes the opportunity to establish a protected network connection when using public networks.
    • It encrypts internet traffic and disguise a user’s online identity.
    • This makes it more difficult for third parties to track your activities online and steal data.
    • The encryption takes place in real time.

    How does a VPN work?

    • A VPN hides your IP address by letting the network redirect it through a specially configured remote server run by a VPN host.
    • This means that if you surf online with a VPN, the VPN server becomes the source of your data.
    • This means your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and other third parties cannot see which websites you visit or what data you send and receive online.
    • A VPN works like a filter that turns all your data into “gibberish”. Even if someone were to get their hands on your data, it would be useless.

    Why do people use VPN?

    • Secure encryption: A VPN connection disguises your data traffic online and protects it from external access. Unencrypted data can be viewed by anyone who has network access and wants to see it. With a VPN, hackers and cyber criminals can’t decipher this data.
    • Disguising whereabouts: VPN servers essentially act as your proxies on the internet. Because the demographic location data comes from a server in another country, your actual location cannot be determined.
    • Data privacy is held: Most VPN services do not store logs of your activities. Some providers, on the other hand, record your behaviour, but do not pass this information on to third parties. This means that any potential record of your user behaviour remains permanently hidden.
    • Access to regional content: Regional web content is not always accessible from everywhere. Services and websites often contain content that can only be accessed from certain parts of the world.
    • Secure data transfer: If you work remotely, you may need to access important files on your company’s network. For security reasons, this kind of information requires a secure connection. To gain access to the network, a VPN connection is often required.

    What does the new CERT-IN directive say?

    • VPN providers will need to store validated customer names, their physical addresses, email ids, phone numbers, and the reason they are using the service, along with the dates they use it and their “ownership pattern”.
    • In addition, Cert is also asking VPN providers to keep a record of the IP and email addresses that the customer uses to register the service, along with the timestamp of registration.
    • Most importantly, however, VPN providers will have to store all IP addresses issued to a customer and a list of IP addresses that its customers generally use.

    What does this mean for VPN providers?

    • VPN services are in violation of Cert’s rules by simply operating in India.
    • That said, it is worth noting that ‘no logs’ does not mean zero logs.
    • VPN services still need to maintain some logs to run their service efficiently.

    Does this mean VPNs will become useless?

    • The Indian government has not banned VPNs yet, so they can still be used to access content that is blocked in an area, which is the most common usage of these services.
    • However, journalists, activists, and others who use such services to hide their internet footprint will have to think twice about them.

    Why such move?

    • Crime control: For law enforcement agencies, a move like this will make it easier to track criminals who use VPNs to hide their internet footprint.
    • Curbing dark-net activities: Users these days are shifting towards the dark and deep web, which are much tougher to police than VPN services.

    Back2Basics: Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN)

    • CERT-IN is an office within the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
    • It is the nodal agency to deal with cyber security threats like hacking and phishing. It strengthens the security-related defense of the Indian Internet domain.
    • It was formed in 2004 by the Government of India under the Information Technology Act, 2000 Section (70B) under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

     

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  • Russian Invasion of Ukraine: Global Implications

    Russia officially quits the International Space Station (ISS)

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: ISS

    Mains level: Not Much

    Russia is responding to the Western sanctions. It has decided to walk out of the International Space Station.

    International Space Station

    • The ISS was launched in 1998 as part of joint efforts by the U.S., Russia, Japan, Canada and Europe.
    • The idea of a space station originated in the 1984 State of the Union address by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
    • The space station was assembled over many years, and it operates in low-earth orbit.
    • Since its inception, it has served as a laboratory suspended in space and has aided multiple scientific and technological developments.
    • The ISS was originally built to operate for 15 years.

    Why was ISS launched?

    • A space station permits quantum leaps in research in science, communications, and in metals and lifesaving medicines which could be manufactured only in space.
    • ISS has consistently maintained human presence for the past 21 years, providing astronauts with sophisticated technologies for scientific research.

    What is Russia’s role in maintaining the ISS?

    • The ISS is built with the co-operation of scientists from five international space agencies — NASA of the U.S., Roscosmos of Russia, JAXA of Japan, Canadian Space Agency and the European Space Agency.
    • Each agency has a role to play and a share in the upkeep of the ISS.
    • Both in terms of expense and effort, it is not a feat that a single country can support.
    • Russia’s part in the collaboration is the module responsible for making course corrections to the orbit of the ISS.
    • They also ferry astronauts to the ISS from the Earth and back.
    • Until SpaceX’s dragon spacecraft came into the picture the Russian spacecrafts were the only way of reaching the ISS and returning.

     

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  • Indian Army Updates

    Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) passes validation trials

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: ATAGS

    Mains level: India's artillery arsenal

    The indigenous Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully completed the validation trials.

    Why in news?

    • The ATAGS has demonstrated a range of over 45 km, making it the “most consistent and accurate gun in the world”.

    ATAG System

    • The ATAGS is a 155-mm, 52-calibre artillery gun jointly developed by the DRDO in partnership with Bharat Forge of the Kalyani Group and the Tata Power SED.
    • ATAGS has greater than 95% of indigenous content. It set a world record for the longest unassisted projectile range of 48 kilometres.

    Its features

    • The gun consists of a barrel, breech mechanism, muzzle brake and recoil mechanism to fire 155 mm calibre ammunition with a firing range of 48 km.
    • It has an all-electric drive to ensure reliability and minimum maintenance over a long period of time.
    • It has advanced features like high mobility, quick deployability, auxiliary power mode, advanced communication system, automatic command and control system with night capability in direct fire mode.

     

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  • Health Sector – UHC, National Health Policy, Family Planning, Health Insurance, etc.

    Autism Support Network to give Specialised Care in Rural India

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Autism

    Mains level: Mental healthcare in India

    The Centre for Autism and Other Disabilities Rehabilitation Research and Education (CADRRE), a not-for-profit organization will launch “Pay Autention — a different mind is a gifted mind”, India’s first bridgital autism support network.

    Pay ‘Autention’

    • The initiative shall pave the way for small towns and rural India to access specialised care and support and help create an auxiliary network of champions for the differently-abled.
    • This platform shall also enable mentoring, skilling and meaningful livelihoods for people with autism.
    • In the first phase, the initiative will primarily focus on supporting children with autism, and subsequently, in the second stage, it will focus on young adults, empowering them with life skills and career readiness.
    • The content is designed and delivered in collaboration with specialists from CADRRE who have expertise in training children with autism.
    • The project aims to create a network of grassroots champions, enable early identification, first-level care, teach social skills, ways to ease activities of daily living, hold workshops for sensory and motor development.
    • It also focuses on art and craft, dance, music therapy, physical and mental fitness, communication skills and enable support for academics.

    What is Autism?

    • Autism, also called autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a complicated condition that includes problems with communication and behaviour.
    • It can involve a wide range of symptoms and skills.
    • ASD can be a minor problem or a disability that needs full-time care in a special facility.
    • People with autism have trouble with communication. They have trouble understanding what other people think and feel.
    • This makes it hard for them to express themselves, either with words or through gestures, facial expressions, and touch.
    • People with autism might have problems with learning. Their skills might develop unevenly.
    • For example, they could have trouble communicating but be unusually good at art, music, math, or memory.

    What are the signs of Autism?

    Symptoms of autism usually appear before a child turns 3. Some people show signs from birth. Common symptoms of autism include:

    • A lack of eye contact
    • A narrow range of interests or intense interest in certain topics
    • Doing something over and over, like repeating words or phrases, rocking back and forth, or flipping a lever
    • High sensitivity to sounds, touches, smells, or sights that seem ordinary to other people
    • Not looking at or listening to other people
    • Not looking at things when another person points at them
    • Not wanting to be held or cuddled
    • Problems understanding or using speech, gestures, facial expressions, or tone of voice
    • Talking in a sing-song, flat, or robotic voice
    • Trouble adapting to changes in routine

    What causes Autism?

    • Exactly why autism happens isn’t clear. It could stem from problems in parts of your brain that interpret sensory input and process language.
    • Autism is four times more common in boys than in girls. It can happen in people of any race, ethnicity, or social background.
    • Family income, lifestyle, or educational level doesn’t affect a child’s risk of autism. But there are some risk factors:
    1. Autism runs in families, so certain combinations of genes may increase a child’s risk.
    2. A child with an older parent has a higher risk of autism.
    3. Pregnant women who are exposed to certain drugs or chemicals, like alcohol or anti-seizure medications, are more likely to have autistic children
    4. Other risk factors include maternal metabolic conditions such as diabetes and obesity.

    Prevalence of Autism in India

    • Prevalence and incidence statistics about autism in India is 1 in 500 or 0.20% or more than 2,160,000 people.
    • According to a study, an estimated three million people live with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) on the Indian subcontinent.

     

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