APPSC Group-I flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Tropic of Cancer in India

The 23°30′N latitude passes through eight Indian states, from Gujarat to Mizoram, dividing the country into roughly tropical and sub-tropical climatic zones.

Standard Meridian of India

82°30′E, passing near Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh, is adopted as Indian Standard Time, which is 5 hours 30 minutes ahead of GMT.

Godavari River

The longest peninsular river of India, rising at Trimbakeshwar in Maharashtra and flowing east through Andhra Pradesh into the Bay of Bengal, forming a large delta.

Amaravati School of Art

A Satavahana-period limestone sculpture tradition centred on the Mahachaitya at Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh, known for narrative relief panels and is grouped with Gandhara and Mathura.

Gautamiputra Satakarni

A powerful Satavahana ruler who defeated the Western Kshatrapa Nahapana and restored Satavahana power; his achievements are recorded in the Nashik prashasti of his mother Gautami Balashri.

Ramappa Temple

A Kakatiya-era temple in Palampet, Telangana, noted for its floating bricks and carved brackets; it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2021.

Amuktamalyada

A Telugu epic poem composed by Vijayanagara emperor Krishnadevaraya in the early sixteenth century, narrating the story of Andal and devotion to Vishnu.

Battle of Talikota

Fought in 1565 between Vijayanagara and a coalition of Deccan Sultanates; the defeat led to the sack of Hampi and the decline of the Vijayanagara empire.

Article 32

Grants the right to move the Supreme Court for enforcement of Fundamental Rights; Dr B. R. Ambedkar called it the heart and soul of the Constitution.

Article 356

Allows the President to impose President's rule in a state when constitutional machinery has failed, on the Governor's report, subject to parliamentary approval.

Fundamental Duties

Added by the 42nd Amendment (1976) on the Swaran Singh Committee's recommendation, Article 51A lists duties of citizens; the 86th Amendment added the eleventh duty on education.

Mandal Commission

Appointed in 1979 and reporting in 1980, it recommended 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes in central services, implemented in 1990.

NITI Aayog

The policy think tank created on 1 January 2015, replacing the Planning Commission, with a governing council of Chief Ministers and a focus on cooperative federalism.

Repo Rate

The rate at which the Reserve Bank of India lends short-term funds to commercial banks against securities; raising it is a contractionary monetary measure to curb inflation.

Multidimensional Poverty Index

A measure that counts deprivations in health, education and living standards, replacing income-only poverty lines; NITI Aayog publishes a national MPI for Indian states.

Polavaram Project

A multipurpose irrigation and hydropower project on the Godavari in Andhra Pradesh, declared a national project, providing water to the delta and upland regions.

Visakhapatnam–Chennai Industrial Corridor

A coastal industrial corridor along India's east coast under the East Coast Economic Corridor, aimed at manufacturing clusters, ports and logistics in Andhra Pradesh.

Ohm's Law

States that current through a conductor is directly proportional to potential difference at constant temperature, expressed as V = IR where R is resistance.

Chandrayaan-3

An ISRO lunar mission launched in 2023 whose Vikram lander and Pragyan rover achieved a soft landing near the Moon's south pole, making India the first country to do so.

CRISPR-Cas9

A gene-editing technology derived from bacterial immune systems that uses guide RNA and the Cas9 enzyme to cut and modify specific DNA sequences precisely.

Mitochondria

Double-membraned cell organelles that carry out aerobic respiration and generate ATP, earning them the name powerhouse of the cell; they contain their own DNA.

Sanskritisation

A concept coined by M. N. Srinivas describing the process by which lower castes adopt the rituals, beliefs and practices of higher castes to improve their social status.

MGNREGA

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, guarantees at least 100 days of unskilled wage employment per year to every rural household that demands it.

Census 2011 Sex Ratio

The 2011 Census recorded 943 females per 1000 males nationally, with Kerala highest and Haryana lowest among the major states.

Policy Cycle

The sequence of agenda setting, formulation, adoption, implementation and evaluation through which governments convert public problems into programmes and assess outcomes.

Ecological Energy Pyramid

A graphical representation of energy flow across trophic levels, always upright because only about ten percent of energy passes from one level to the next.

Paris Agreement

A 2015 UNFCCC treaty under which nations pledge to limit global warming to well below 2°C and pursue efforts to keep it within 1.5°C of pre-industrial levels.

NDMA

The National Disaster Management Authority, constituted under the Disaster Management Act 2005 and chaired by the Prime Minister, formulates disaster management policy and guidelines.

Biological Oxygen Demand

The amount of dissolved oxygen consumed by microbes to decompose organic matter in water; a higher BOD indicates greater organic pollution.

Kohlberg's Moral Development

A three-level theory of moral reasoning progressing from pre-conventional (self-interest), to conventional (social approval and law), to post-conventional (universal ethical principles).

Probity in Governance

The adherence of public officials to honesty, integrity and accountability in the use of public resources, supported by transparency laws such as the RTI Act, 2005.

Conflict of Interest

A situation where a public servant's private or financial interest could improperly influence an official decision; it is managed through disclosure and recusal from the decision.