Ateeq Mentorship for UPSC

Becareful with your social media- your feed,bullies,comparisons,things u follow etc; use it productively and wisely

#CurrentAffair #IR Social Media A New Mexico jury held Meta liable for failing to protect children and for hiding risks of sexual exploitation online. The reported penalty is $375 million, with thousands of violations alleged from undercover solicitations aimed at minors. India scale 1)India has about 253 million adolescents aged 10–19. Smartphone access makes most of them reachable. 2)A NITI Aayog note is cited for heavy early use: about 1.5 hours online at age five, and about 2.5 hours from ages 6–10. 3)By 16, the cited figure is about six hours on social media, chat and games. About 60 per cent already own a phone. 4)About 85 per cent of households have at least one smartphone. Internet users rose from about 25 crore to over 100 crore in a decade. 5)UNICEF is cited for one in three young Indians facing cyberbullying. 6)Suicide is the leading cause of death in ages 15–29. The piece treats social media as a trigger in some cases, not the sole cause. State moves 1)Karnataka has proposed a bar on social media for under-16s, citing harm from rising mobile use. 2)Andhra Pradesh is considering a lower cut-off, under 13.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/russia-planning-denial-gray-zone-operations-why-is-europe-intuitively-spooked/articleshow/134403086.cms Britain has urged its citizens to keep tinned food and water ,while Germany is readying hospitals for mass casualties.Even Switzerland, a country that has avoided military alliances for two centuries, has adopted a security strategy

#CurrentAffair #IR Kaliningrad The Suwałki Gap It makes this even more important. It is a narrow strip of land between Poland and Lithuania and the only land connection between the three Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) and the rest of NATO. The alliance would need to keep this corridor open to move military support into the Baltic states in the event of a conflict. Russia has Kaliningrad on one side of the gap and its ally Belarus on the other. That is why this area is so closely watched by both sides.

#CurrentAffair #IR Kaliningrad It is a Russian exclave; a piece of sovereign Russian territory that is separated from the rest of the country by land. It sits on the Baltic Sea, wedged between Poland and Lithuania, both NATO members. It has no land border with mainland Russia and is roughly the size of the U.S. state of Connecticut, as Reuters describe. It was formerly the German city of Königsberg and the capital of East Prussia. The Soviet Union took control of the territory after the Red Army captured Königsberg in April 1945 and the victorious Allies divided East Prussia at the end of the Second World War. The city was renamed Kaliningrad in 1946, and it was rebuilt as a Soviet military and industrial centre. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and the Baltic states became independent, Kaliningrad became an exclave. Today, around a million people live there.

#Economy #CurrentAffair RBI The Reserve Bank of India raised the key repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.50% from 5.25% during its October 2026 meeting. This is the first repo rate hike since February 2023, signaling a shift to calibrated tightening Reasons for the Increase • Rising Inflation: Retail inflation moved above the central bank's 4% target, reaching 4.82% in August 2026 The sudden re-escalation of the West Asia conflict in September and the consequent hardening and volatility in global crude prices soured global economic sentiment and unsettled financial markets,

#APPSC #Economy INflation food prices The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) benchmark food price index averaged 136 points in September. That was the highest level for the index – a weighted average of the international prices of a basket of food commodities over a base period value Bio diesel Vegetable oils – whether palm, soyabean or rapeseed – can be converted into Fatty Acid Methyl Esters (FAME) through a chemical process called transesterification. It involves reacting triglycerides (which make up 95-98% of the fat content in vegetable oils) with methanol (methyl alcohol) in the presence of a catalyst. FAME is basically vegetable oil-based biodiesel, which can substitute or be blended with regular diesel derived from crude petroleum oil. That is similar to ethanol – produced from sugarcane molasses and juice or rice, maize and other starch-containing cereal grains – that can be blended with petrol.

#Sciencetech Data centres A data centre is a secure hall of servers, storage and network gear that stores data and runs apps, cloud and AI. It needs steady power, cooling, fibre or a subsea cable, and large land with road access. It looks like a warehouse. The load inside is closer to a factory or a small power station. How data centres work Like a hard drive or a CD stores computer files, there are servers that host all there is on the internet and keep it running. A data centre is a building that has rows of racks on which these servers are mounted.

#APPSC #2026 #Notification

#CurrentAffair #Sciencetech PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijlee Yojana It is a Central Scheme that aims to provide free electricity to one crore households in India, who opt to install roof top solar electricity unit. The households will be able to get 300 units of electricity free every month. I

#CurrentAffair #Sciencetech Cabinet Approves Rs 1.86 Trillion Green Energy Corridor 1)With a total outlay of Rs 1,86,405 crore, the scheme is targeted for completion by FY33. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is implementing the Green Energy Corridor in two phases to augment transmission lines and transformation capacity through intra-state transmission (InSTS) and inter-state transmission (ISTS) networks. 2)The Green Energy Corridor Phase-III scheme is aimed strengthen India’s Intra-State Transmission System to enable evacuation of up to 135 Gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy across states/union territories. 3) includes a dedicated battery energy storage component, with provisions for deploying 50 GWh of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS)

#CurrentAffair #Sciencetech Advanced Air Mobility (Air Taxis) 1)It is a new aviation transportation system that uses electric or hybrid aircraft, like electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles and large drones, to move people and cargo in local, urban, and regional areas 2)uses quiet, eco-friendly aircraft like eVTOLs (electric vertical take-off and landing) and heavy-lift delivery drones 3) Requires specialized landing sites called vertiports equipped with charging stations. SRM University-AP unveils student-built air taxi ‘DOXI’ The aircraft is designed for a range of applications, including urban air mobility, air ambulance services, disaster relief, and emergency response operations

#CurrentAffair #Sciencetech CAFE-III (Corporate Average Fuel Economy Phase 3) norms They are India's mandatory fleet-wide fuel efficiency and carbon emission regulations that require automobile manufacturers to lower the sales-weighted average fuel consumption of all passenger cars they sell between April 1, 2027, and March 31, 2032. 2)Regulated under the Energy Conservation Act by the Ministry of Power and the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) 3)aiming for a 16% improvement in overall fleet fuel efficiency. What are CAFE NORMS CAFE norms are statutory regulatory standards that cap the total weighted average of fuel consumption and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions across an automaker’s entire fleet of passenger vehicles sold in a financial year, rather than focusing on individual models. First introduced in 2017, by the Ministry of Power, under the Energy Conservation Act, 2001, they apply to M1 category passenger vehicles (gross vehicle weight under 3,500 kg) powered by petrol, diesel, CNG, LPG, hybrid, or electricity. Note Bharat Stage (BS) standards regulate individual vehicles

#CurrentAffair #Sciencetech Sustainable Aviation Fuel The 41st International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Assembly adopted a long-term aspirational goal (LTAG) for international aviation of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 in support of UNFCCC Paris Agreement’s temperature goals. The aviation sector, contributing to ~2% of global energy related greenhouse gas emissions, is a hard to abate sector. The sector is undertaking a multi-pronged approach to meet the sustainability targets including fuel efficiency, alternative fuels such as hydrogen/ electric and using Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). Amongst these, SAF plays a key role when adopted at scale and could contribute to 55-65% of the reduction needed by aviation to achieve net zero CO2 emissions by 2050.

#Currentaffair Industry 4.0 It is also known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), is the term used to describe the rapid technological advancements in the 21st century. It's a digital transformation that's changing how companies manufacture, distribute, and improve their products. What are the characteristics of Industry 4.0? Cyber-physical systems These systems combine robotics, IoT, and machine learning to automatically control mechanical processes. Cloud computing This scalable infrastructure provides a central platform for storing and unifying data. Internet of Things (IoT) This system connects computing devices, machines, and people to gather data and optimize processes. Big data analytics This process collects, analyzes, and examines large amounts of data to identify patterns and insights.

#IR #CurrentAffair #4F_Crisis The "4F crisis" refers to the compounding global shortages and economic pressures affecting developing nations particularly the Global South across four critical sectors: food, fuel, fertiliser, and finance. EAM S. Jaishankar highlighted it during the UN General Assembly/UN High-Level Week in September 2026.

#APPSC #Geography Rare Earth Corridors Union Budget 2026–27 announces Dedicated Rare Earth Corridors in Odisha, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu for mining, processing, research, and manufacturing of Rare Earth Permanent Magnets (REPMs). Rare Earth Permanent Magnets (REPMs) are among the strongest types of permanent magnets, known for their high magnetic strength and stability. Their compact size and powerful performance make them indispensable for advanced engineering applications such as electric vehicle motors, wind turbine generators, consumer and industrial electronics, aerospace systems, defence equipment, and precision sensors.

#Polity #CurrentAffair Central Water Commission (CWC) CWC is the Union’s main technical body on water. It is an attached office of the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti. Headquarters: New Delhi. It is not a statutory board Main functions 1)Techno-economic appraisal of State irrigation, flood-control and multipurpose project reports ( 2)Water-resource assessment, basin planning and advice on river-basin organisations. 3)Hydrological observation: river flow, level, rainfall, sediment. 4)Flood forecasting and flood management. 5)Dam safety and reservoir monitoring. 6)Inter-State technical meetings when the Union calls them (as in the AP–Telangana committee on Srisailam and the Godavari–Cauvery blueprint).

#Polity #CurrentAffair Election Commission Article 324 of the Constitution vests the “superintendence, direction and control” of elections in the Election Commission of India (ECI). Article 324(2) provides that the President appoints the CEC and other Election Commissioners, subject to any law made by Parliament. For several decades, Parliament had not enacted a law laying down the procedure for these appointments. This led to a challenge before the Supreme Court on the question of how the independence of the ECI could be protected when its members were appointed by the executive. In March 2023, a five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court delivered its judgment in Anoop Baranwal v. Union of India. The Constitution Bench held that until Parliament made a law under Article 324(2), appointments to the Election Commission would be made on the recommendation of a three-member committee comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India. The court said the arrangement would operate only until Parliament enacted a law on the subject. Parliament enacted the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, which came into force in January 2024. The appointment mechanism differed from the one prescribed by the Supreme Court in Anoop Baranwal. Under the 2023 Act, the Selection Committee consists of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the Prime Minister. The President appoints the CEC and ECs on the recommendation of this committee. How can a CEC be removed? The Constitution gives the CEC a high degree of protection against removal. Article 324(5) states that the CEC can be removed from office “in like manner and on the like grounds as a Judge of the Supreme Court.” Under Article 324(5), an Election Commissioner or Regional Commissioner cannot be removed from office except on the recommendation of the CEC. Can a CEC be arrested? This question has come into focus because of calls for the arrest of the incumbent CEC. The relevant provision is Section 16 of the 2023 Act. It provides protection to a person who is or was a CEC or Election Commissioner from civil or criminal proceedings in court for an act, thing or word done or spoken while, or in the course of, acting or purporting to act in the discharge of official duty or function.