Civil Services Simplified: Decoding the Enigma of UPSC by Dr. CP. Kaushik

**On October 23, 2021, India’s first IVF (in-vitro fertilisation) calf of Banni breed of buffaloes was born at a farmer’s house in Gir Somnath district of Gujarat. Key Facts: *Banni breed of buffalo is found primarily in the Kutch region of Gujarat. *IVC process was carried out in a bid to enhance the number of genetically superior buffaloes for increasing the milk production. *Banni buffalo, belonging to a dairy farmer, from Dhanej village gave birth to IVF male calf. *Banni buffalo are also known as “Kutchi” or “Kundi”. This breed of buffalo is found primarily in Kutch district of Gujarat. *The word ‘Banni’ is specific to not only the buffaloes but pasture grass species as well, that are native to this region of BANNI Grasslands in Kutchh region of Gujarat. *This breed of buffaloes is preserved by a local community of Kutch called the ‘Maldharis’.

**Zika virus is a member of the Flaviviridae virus family. *It is spread by daytime-active called named “Aedes mosquitoes” like A. aegypti and A. albopictus. *The name of the virus comes from “Zika Forest of Uganda” where it was first isolated in 1947. Zika virus shares a genus with dengue, Japanese encephalitis, yellow fever, and West Nile viruses. *The virus is known to present within a narrow equatorial belt from Africa to Asia since 1950s. In between 2007 to 2016, virus spread across the Pacific Ocean to the Americas. Thus, by 2015-2016, Zika virus became epidemic. Zika fever: *Zika fever or Zika virus disease is caused due to Zika virus. It often causes no or some mild symptoms, which are like mild form of dengue fever. The virus can spread from a pregnant woman to her baby, which can result in microcephaly, some birth defects and severe brain malformations.

**Researchers of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru, along with other collaborators, identified potential blood-based biomarkers for predicting disease progression and survival times among people with late-stage brain tumours. *Blood-Based biomarkers: Study of the researchers suggests that two blood-based biomarkers, present on immune cells, can be used for identifying patients who might not perform well with any specific treatment strategies. *Such blood based testing methodology will help clinicians in understanding disease progression in better manner and choose effective treatment regimen.

**WHITE-SPACE: .White Space refers to the unused broadcasting frequencies in the wireless spectrum. Television networks leave gaps between channels for buffering purposes, and this space in the wireless spectrum is similar to what is used for 4G and so it can be used to deliver widespread broadband internet. • Typical home Wi-Fi can travel through two walls. White Space broadband can travel up to 10 kilometers, through vegetation, buildings, and other obstacles. Tablets, phones, and computers can all access this wireless internet using White Space through fixed or portable power stations. • Microsoft is implementing this to deliver cost effective broadband to rural areas.

**EDGE COMPUTING: Nvidia, one of the biggest players in the design and manufacture of graphics and AI acceleration hardware, has just announced its EGX edge computing platform to help telecom operators adopt 5G network capable of supporting edge workloads. • Edge computing is the practice of processing data near the edge of the network, where the data is being generated, instead of centralized data processing warehouses. • It is possible by placing networked computing resources as close as possible to where data is created. I.e. Edge computing brings computing and data storage to the devices where it’s being gathered, rather than relying on central location that can be thousands of miles away. • Recent developments - A) GOOGLE’S CHATBOT – MEENA • MEENA is an open domain chatbot. It is an end-to-end, neural conversational model that learns to respond sensibly to a given conversational. B) NEON- ARTIFICIAL HUMANS BY STAR LABS (SAMSUNG) • Samsung’s STAR (Samsung Technology and Advanced Research) Labs have unveiled a new NEON Project. It is a computationally created virtual being that looks and behaves like a real human, with the ability to show emotions and intelligence. • Basically, NEON makes Video chatbots that looks and act like real people.

**SCIENTIFIC SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (SSR): Department of Science and Technology (DST) released a draft of its proposed Scientific Social Responsibility (SSR) policy. About Scientific Social Responsibility (SSR) • India is going to be possibly the first country in the world to implement a Scientific Social Responsibility (SSR) Policy on the lines of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). • It is the confluence of scientific knowledge with visionary leadership and social conscience. • SSR is about building synergies among all stakeholders in scientific knowledge community and also about developing linkages between science and society. • It aims to encourage science and technology (S&T) institutions and individual scientists in the country to proactively engage in science outreach activities to connect science with the society. • SR policy would involve four different categories of stakeholders: o beneficiaries (students; school/college teachers; local bodies; communities; women’s groups etc.), implementers (institutions, science centers, Central Ministries, State Governments etc.), assessors (Internal assessment cell or external agency) and supporters (government agency, Corporate bodies etc. providing grants/funds). The main objective of SSR policy is to harness the voluntary potential that is latent in the country’s scientific community to strengthen science and society linkages so as to make S&T ecosystem vibrant through • Science-society connect: Facilitating inclusive and sustainable development by transferring the benefits of scientific work to meet existing and emerging societal needs. • Science-science connect: Creating an enabling environment for the sharing of ideas and resources within the knowledge ecosystem. • Society-science connect: Collaborating with communities to identify problems and develop scientific and technological solutions. • Cultural change: Inculcating social responsibility among the individuals and institutions practicing science; creating awareness about SSR within society; and infusing scientific temperament into day-to-day social existence and interaction. . The policy envisages strengthening science-society linkages in an organic manner by building synergy among all the stakeholders so as to usher in a cultural change in the conduct of science for the benefit of society at large in the country.

##LIGHT WATER REACTOR: They use H20 as both moderator and coolant. They require the use of enriched fuel. Depending on the type of technology employed they are further divided into Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) and Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) ##BOILING WATER REACTOR BWR uses boiling water to generate electricity. Fukushima Daichi was the first such BWR. Tarapur Nuclear Power station in India hosts a BWR. ##PRESSURISED WATER REACTOR PWR uses specially built reactor where in the pressure inside the reactor core is greater than atmospheric pressure. This prevents the water from boiling and allows the water to attain greater temperatures. The hot water that leaves the pressure vessel is looped through a steam generator, which in turn heats a secondary loop of water to steam that can run turbines and generator. (BWRs don’t have any steam generator). INS Arihant and Kudankulam Plant in Tamil Nadu use a PWR. ##HEAVY WATER REACTOR: • It is also referred to as CANDU reactor. Use of heavy water (D2O) as both moderator and coolant. Can be used with unenriched uranium fuel. Also known as Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR). • The use of Deuterium instead of Hydrogen gives a neutron to better perform the moderation and also increases the probability of a chain reaction. ##FAST BREEDER REACTORS: • In contrast to most normal nuclear reactors, however, a fast reactor uses a coolant that is not an efficient moderator, such as liquid sodium, so the neutrons remain high-energy. • Although these fast neutrons are not as good at causing fission, they are readily captured by U-238, which then becomes plutonium Pu-239. • These reactors are designed to maximize plutonium production and produce more fuel than they consume (Breed). Pu-239 is formed in every reactor and also fissions as the reactor operate.

WPS Office: Complete office suite with PDF editor Here's the link to the file: https://in.docworkspace.com/d/sIDy4obuNAZWV8IsG Shared from WPS Office: https://kso.page.link/wps1

Hello everyone. Gud mg.. Some students are messaging me regarding a meeting. 1. I am NOT associated with theIAShub now. I won't be taking classes for any current or static modules over there. 2. During office hours, I am available at Rau's IAS, Delhi. 3. There will be NO separate modules for Prelims 2022 or Mains 2021 for the subjects of Science Tech and Environment-Disaster. 4. These channels will be updated on regular basis with core concepts, current developments and applications part also. Regards Dr. CP. Kaushik

Only for Anthropology new comers.👍

Nasa launches #Lucy spacecraft, the first space mission to study the Trojans Asteroids. Lucy will journey for 12 years, observing one main belt asteroid and seven Trojan asteroids. The swarms of Trojan asteroids associated with Jupiter are thought to be remnants of the primordial material that formed the outer planets. These primitive bodies hold vital clues to deciphering the history of the solar system. The Jupiter Trojan asteroids are leftover raw materials from the formation of our Solar System’s giant planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) over 4 .5 billion years ago . They hold a record of the composition and physical conditions in the protoplanetary disk from which all the Sun’s planets, including Earth, formed . At some time in the distant past, the Trojan asteroids became trapped in their current locations, orbiting the Sun approximately at the distance of Jupiter in two broad swarms associated with the L4 and L5 Lagrange points . These are locations where the combined effects of the Sun’s gravity, Jupiter’s gravity, and orbital motion create an equilibrium, such that objects orbiting near these points will stay near them indefinitely . The “L4 swarm” leads, one-sixth of a lap ahead of Jupiter, while the “L5 swarm” trails one-sixth of a lap behind . Current scientific theories indicate that the Trojan asteroids could have been trapped in these stable orbits early in the Solar System’s history, at the end of an era of giant planet “migration” during which the planets’ orbits shifted substantially . The foremost theory for how the Trojan asteroids came to be where they are involves a dynamical instability which caused sudden, large changes in the orbits of the giant planets . In this scenario, small objects from across the outer Solar System were widely scattered, most being ejected to the far reaches of the Solar System or beyond, and a few lucky survivors making their way into Trojan orbits near the Lagrange points or other stable niches like the Kuiper Belt . Lucy will give us insights into the dynamical and physical processes that affected these planetary building blocks and will help us untangle the Solar System’s early history at the time when planet formation was ending, and the planets were moving into the orbital configuration.

Hello everyone.. Very good evening to all f u.. We will begin with updates related to both 2021 mains exam as well as Prelims 2022 in a day or two..👍

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch Indian Space Association (ISpA) at 11 AM today via video conferencing. He will also interact with representatives of the Space Industry on this landmark occasion. Indian Space Association is the Premier Industry Association of Space and Satellite companies, which aspires to be the collective voice of the Indian Space industry. It will undertake policy advocacy and engage with all stakeholders in the Indian Space domain, including the Government and its agencies. Echoing the Prime Minister’s vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat, ISpA will help in making India self-reliant, technologically advanced and a leading player in the space arena. ISpA is represented by leading home grown and global corporations with advanced capabilities in space and satellite technologies. Its founding members include Larson and Toubro, Nelco , OneWeb, Bharti Airtel, Mapmyindia, Walchandnagar Industries and Ananth Technology Limited. Other core members include Godrej, Hughes India, Azista-BST Aerospace Private Limited, BEL, Centum Electronics and Maxar India.

Answers for S and T Qs: Set C 21. Water can dissolve: (A) 22. LEDs: (C) 23. ACE 2: (D) 26. Light year: (D) 35. Recombinant Vector Vaccines: (C) 36. Hereditary Diseases: (A).. U can find different answer for this in many answer keys. But recent researches clearly highlighted about involvement of father's mitochondrial gene characters. 37. Bollgard: (B) 38. Pressure Cooker: (A) or (D).. I will prefer to go with A. 39.Culture medium: (A) 40. Adenovirus: (B)

Biggest Surprise of the Paper, Science and Tech.. 1. No Q's from Space, Defence, ICT, Robotics, Nuclear and Defence technology.. 2. Focus on Biology and Biotechnology as usual.. 3. UPSC is back with Concepts of General Science.. Not a very good sign for maximum aspirants.. 4. A perfect blend of conceptual and factual information and static and current developments.

One request from my side: Pls don't calculate ur score or don't even see the paper again. Have some light food. Relax in the mean time and focus on Paper 2. U can discuss everything after that. Good luck for Paper 2.👍

I will be uploading the answers by evening. All d best for Paper 2.

12 Q's from Sci Tech.. UPSC is back with some basic aspects of General Science.. As expected, Virus and biology of Coronavirus is represented with 2-3 Q's. Again, importance given to Bio-Tech..👍