BPSC Non-Cadre Exam cheat sheet

Constitution: adopted 26 Nov 1949, came into force 26 Jan 1950; originally 395 Articles, 22 Parts, 8 Schedules; the Preamble was amended once, by the 42nd Amendment (1976), adding socialist, secular, and integrity.

Fundamental Rights (Part III, Articles 12-35): six categories after the 44th Amendment (1978) deleted the right to property; Article 32 (writs) is itself a fundamental right, Article 21A (education) was added by the 86th Amendment (2002).

Emergency provisions: National (Article 352), State (Article 356), Financial (Article 360); a National Emergency requires written Cabinet recommendation and parliamentary approval within one month by a special majority.

Key dates: Permanent Settlement 1793; Revolt of 1857 began at Meerut on 10 May; Indian National Congress founded 1885; Jallianwala Bagh 13 April 1919; Quit India 8 August 1942; Independence and Partition 15 August 1947.

Geography: Tropic of Cancer crosses India near 23.5 degrees N through eight states; Western Ghats are continuous and higher than the discontinuous Eastern Ghats; the monsoon arrives at Kerala around 1 June and retreats from northwest India from September.

Economy: GDP = C + I + G + (X - M); inflation measured by CPI (retail, base 2012) and WPI (wholesale, base 2011-12); repo rate is the rate at which RBI lends to banks against securities, reverse repo absorbs liquidity.

Science: Newton's second law F = ma; speed of light about 3 x 10^8 m/s; pH below 7 is acidic, above 7 basic; mitochondria are the site of aerobic respiration and the blood's oxygen carrier is haemoglobin containing iron.

Ancient names: Magadha was the core of the first empires; Rajgir (Rajagriha) and Pataliputra (Patna) served as Mauryan capitals; Vaishali is linked to the world's early republics (Vajji confederacy) and to Buddha's last sermon.

Religious sites: Bodh Gaya (Buddha's enlightenment), Nalanda (ancient Mahavihara), Rajgir, Vaishali, and Pawapuri (Mahavira's nirvana) lie in Bihar; Nalanda and Vikramshila were major Buddhist universities.

Geography: Bihar is landlocked and drained by the Ganga, which flows west to east; the Kosi (the 'sorrow of Bihar') shifts course and causes floods; the Chhotanagpur plateau fringes the south; Bihar shares borders with Nepal, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and West Bengal.

Polity: the Bihar Legislative Assembly has 243 elected members and the Legislative Council 75; Bihar sends 40 members to the Lok Sabha and 16 to the Rajya Sabha; Patna High Court was established in 1916.

Culture: Chhath Puja worships the Sun god; Madhubani (Mithila) painting uses natural dyes and geometric patterns; Bhojpuri, Maithili, Magahi, and Angika are major regional languages; Sonepur Mela is a large livestock fair.

Economy: agriculture dominates employment, with rice, wheat, maize, and litchi of Muzaffarpur notable; Bihar is a major producer of makhana (fox nut) in the Mithila region; remittances and small industry are significant.

Modern history: Bihar figured in the Champaran Satyagraha (1917, indigo cultivators) led by Gandhi, and the 1942 Quit India movement saw the Jayaprakash Narayan-led underground resistance.

Percentage change = (new - old)/old x 100; successive changes of a% and b% net to a + b + ab/100 percent.

Simple interest SI = PRT/100; compound interest CI = P(1 + R/100)^T - P; for two years CI - SI = P(R/100)^2.

Speed = distance/time; for equal distances at speeds x and y, average speed = 2xy/(x + y); trains crossing use relative speed (sum for opposite, difference for same direction).

Profit% = (SP - CP)/CP x 100; discount is computed on marked price; successive discount of a% and b% gives net discount a + b - ab/100 percent.

Ratio and mixtures: alligation rule gives ratio of quantities = (mean - cheaper):(dearer - mean); work problems use rate = 1/days and add rates for joint work.

Mensuration: area of circle = pi r^2; volume of cylinder = pi r^2 h; volume of sphere = (4/3) pi r^3; Pythagoras theorem a^2 + b^2 = c^2 for right triangles.

Averages and progressions: average = sum/count; AP nth term = a + (n-1)d, sum = n/2 [2a + (n-1)d]; GP nth term = a r^(n-1).

Number series: check differences, then ratios, then alternating or prime-based patterns; squares and cubes sequences often appear with small additions.

Coding-decoding: map letters to positions (A=1 ... Z=26); shifts are usually constant or reversed alphabetical order; verify with at least two words.

Blood relations: draw a family tree with gender markers; 'brother of my father' is uncle, 'son of my mother's only child' is son or nephew depending on speaker's gender.

Direction sense: use a compass sketch; net displacement uses Pythagoras when turns are at right angles; left/right depends on facing direction.

Syllogism: apply Venn diagrams; a conclusion follows only if true in every possible diagram; 'some' does not imply 'all'.

Seating arrangement: fix one anchor person, then place others clockwise/anticlockwise; for linear rows, note whether all face north or mixed.

Clocks and calendars: clock hands coincide every 65 5/11 minutes; odd days method gives day of week; a leap year repeats the same calendar after 28 years normally.

Subject-verb agreement: singular subjects take singular verbs; 'each', 'every', 'either', 'neither' are singular; collective nouns take singular verbs when acting as a unit.

Articles: 'a' before consonant sounds, 'an' before vowel sounds (an hour, a university); 'the' for unique or previously mentioned nouns.

Tenses: present perfect (has/have + past participle) for past action with present relevance; simple past for finished actions with a definite time.

Voice: active to passive moves object to subject and uses be + past participle; only transitive verbs can be made passive.

Prepositions: 'since' with a point of time, 'for' with duration; 'between' for two, 'among' for more than two; 'in' for months/years, 'on' for days/dates.

Idioms: 'to burn the midnight oil' means to study late; 'a bolt from the blue' means a sudden shock; 'once in a blue moon' means very rarely.

Common errors: avoid double comparatives ('more better'), double negatives, and 'one of the' followed by a plural noun with a singular verb.

संधि: स्वर संधि के भेद दीर्घ, गुण, वृद्धि, यण और अयादि हैं; जैसे विद्या + आलय = विद्यालय (दीर्घ संधि)।

समास: अव्ययीभाव, तत्पुरुष, कर्मधारय, द्विगु, द्वंद्व और बहुव्रीहि - छह प्रमुख भेद; 'चौराहा' द्विगु समास का उदाहरण है।

उपसर्ग और प्रत्यय: उपसर्ग शब्द के आरम्भ में जुड़ता है (प्र + हार = प्रहार); प्रत्यय अंत में जुड़ता है (लड़क + पन = लड़कपन)।

वाक्य शुद्धि: लिंग, वचन, काल और कारक के अनुसार क्रिया का अनुरूपण आवश्यक है; कर्ता के अनुसार क्रिया बदलती है।

अलंकार: अनुप्रास में वर्णों की आवृत्ति, उपमा में 'सा/सम' से तुलना, रूपक में अभेद आरोप, और उत्प्रेक्षा में 'मानो' का प्रयोग होता है।

मुहावरे: 'अंधे की लाठी' का अर्थ है एकमात्र सहारा; 'नौ-दो ग्यारह होना' का अर्थ है भाग जाना; 'आँख का तारा' का अर्थ है अत्यंत प्रिय।

रस: नौ रस माने जाते हैं - शृंगार, हास्य, करुण, रौद्र, वीर, भयानक, बीभत्स, अद्भुत और शांत; शृंगार को रसराज कहा जाता है।