BPSC Headmaster flashcards

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

Permanent Settlement

Land revenue system introduced by Lord Cornwallis in 1793 in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, fixing revenue with zamindars permanently in exchange for their collecting revenue from peasants.

Article 21A

Fundamental Right inserted by the 86th Amendment Act, 2002, guaranteeing free and compulsory education to all children aged six to fourteen years; implemented through the RTE Act 2009.

Tropic of Cancer

Latitude 23.5° N passing through eight Indian states including Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura and Mizoram.

CPI inflation target

India's flexible inflation targeting framework sets CPI inflation at 4% with a tolerance band of plus or minus 2%; the RBI's Monetary Policy Committee decides the repo rate to achieve it.

Photosynthesis equation

6CO₂ + 6H₂O + light energy → C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6O₂; occurs in chloroplasts, where chlorophyll absorbs red and blue light and reflects green light.

Universal donor

O negative blood group, because its red cells lack A, B and Rh D antigens, so it can be transfused to recipients of any ABO and Rh type without agglutination.

Ramsar Convention

1971 intergovernmental treaty for conservation and wise use of wetlands; India has 85 Ramsar sites, including Kanwar Lake in Bihar, the state's only listed wetland.

Biomagnification

Progressive increase in concentration of non-biodegradable toxins such as DDT or mercury at successive trophic levels, because energy transfer between levels is only about 10%.

Kosi River

River originating in Tibet and Nepal, joining the Ganga in Bihar; known as the 'Sorrow of Bihar' for its frequent course changes and devastating floods.

Chhath Puja

Bihar's major festival honouring the Sun god, observed over four days with offerings to the setting and rising Sun, usually in Kartik (October–November).

Sonepur Mela

Held at Sonepur in Saran district at Kartik Purnima, it is Asia's largest cattle fair, where livestock, especially elephants and horses, are traded.

Bihar Diwas

Celebrated on 22 March each year to mark the separation of Bihar from Bengal in 1912; the state was later reorganised in 2000 when Jharkhand was carved out.

Mahabodhi Temple

UNESCO World Heritage Site at Bodh Gaya, Bihar, marking the place where Buddha attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree; declared a World Heritage Site in 2002.

Nalanda Mahavihara

Ancient Buddhist monastic university near Rajgir, Bihar, a major centre of learning from the 5th century CE; its ruins became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016.

Arthashastra

Ancient Sanskrit treatise on statecraft, economics and military strategy attributed to Chanakya (Kautilya), the adviser of Chandragupta Maurya, founder of the Mauryan Empire.

Sattriya dance

Classical dance form of Assam, developed in Vaishnava satras (monasteries); one of the eight recognised Indian classical dances, along with Bharatanatyam, Kathak and Odissi.

Compound interest formula

CI = P(1 + R/100)^T − P, where P is principal, R the annual rate and T the time in years; for half-yearly compounding use R/2 and 2T.

Successive percentage change

If a quantity changes by a% and then by b%, the net change is a + b + ab/100 percent; for example, +10% then −10% gives a net loss of 1%.

Time and work formula

If A alone finishes a job in x days and B alone in y days, working together they finish it in xy/(x + y) days, because their one-day work is 1/x + 1/y.

Divisibility by 11

A number is divisible by 11 if the difference between the sum of digits in odd positions and the sum in even positions is 0 or a multiple of 11.

Syllogism conversion rule

From 'All A are B' it follows that 'Some B are A' is not logically valid; but 'Some A are B' converts to 'Some B are A', and 'No A is B' converts to 'No B is A'.

Odd day in calendar

The remainder when total days are divided by 7; an ordinary year has 1 odd day, a leap year 2, 100 years 5, and 400 years 0 odd days.

Circular seating rule

When people face the centre, a person's left is clockwise; when they face outward, left is anticlockwise-useful for resolving arrangement puzzles quickly.

Zone of Proximal Development

Vygotsky's term for the gap between what a learner can do independently and what they can do with adult or peer guidance; scaffolding provides temporary support within this zone.

Piaget's concrete operational stage

Stage from about 7 to 11 years in which children master conservation, classification and seriation, but cannot yet reason about abstract or hypothetical propositions.

Formative assessment

Assessment for learning conducted during teaching to provide feedback and adjust instruction; it contrasts with summative assessment, which evaluates learning at the end of a unit.

Kohlberg's conventional level

Second level of moral development in which children judge right and wrong by social approval ('good boy/girl') and by law and order, rather than by consequences or universal principles.

POSDCORB

Luther Gulick's acronym for administrative functions: Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing, Coordinating, Reporting and Budgeting; widely applied to school administration.

School Management Committee

Body under the RTE Act with 75% parents or guardians, 50% women and proportionate representation of disadvantaged groups; it monitors school functioning and grants.

Clinical supervision cycle

Improvement-oriented supervision sequence: pre-observation conference, classroom observation, data analysis, feedback conference and follow-up, focused on teacher growth rather than fault-finding.

RTE pupil–teacher ratio

The Right to Education Act 2009 requires a pupil–teacher ratio of 30:1 at the primary level and 35:1 at the upper primary level in every school.

NEP 2020 5+3+3+4 structure

Curricular restructuring into foundational (ages 3–8), preparatory (8–11), middle (11–14) and secondary (14–18) stages, replacing the earlier 10+2 system.