GPSC AE Civil cheat sheet

Fundamental Rights (Articles 12–35): Article 14 equality before law; Article 19 six freedoms including speech, assembly, association, movement, residence, profession; Article 21 protection of life and personal liberty expanded to include privacy (K.S. Puttaswamy, 2017).

Directive Principles of State Policy (Articles 36–51) are non-justiciable but fundamental in governance; Article 44 uniform civil code, Article 48A environment protection, Article 50 separation of judiciary from executive.

Constitutional amendments: under Article 368, a bill needs special majority in each House; federal provisions also require ratification by half the states. The 42nd Amendment (1976) added 'socialist, secular' and 'integrity' to the Preamble.

Indian geography: Tropic of Cancer passes through eight states-Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura, and Mizoram. Western Ghats are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and biodiversity hotspot.

Monsoon mechanism: southwest monsoon (June–September) driven by differential heating and ITCZ shift; withdrawal begins from northwest India in September. El Niño generally correlates with weaker monsoon rainfall.

Indian economy basics: GDP at market prices = C + I + G + (X – M); fiscal deficit = total expenditure – total receipts excluding borrowings; repo rate is the rate at which RBI lends to banks against government securities.

Modern Indian history: Revolt of 1857 began at Meerut on 10 May 1857; Indian National Congress founded 1885 (A.O. Hume); Jallianwala Bagh massacre 13 April 1919; Quit India Movement August 1942.

General science: Newton's second law F = ma; Ohm's law V = IR; pH scale 0–14 with 7 neutral; photosynthesis equation 6CO₂ + 6H₂O → C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6O₂ in presence of light and chlorophyll.

Current affairs and static GK: Gujarat's coastline is the longest among Indian states (about 1,600 km); Gir National Park is the only natural habitat of Asiatic lions; Sardar Sarovar Dam is on the Narmada River.

Concrete mix design (IS 10262): target mean strength f'ck = fck + 1.65 × standard deviation; water-cement ratio selected from IS 456 durability requirements; maximum w/c = 0.50 for moderate exposure, 0.45 for severe.

Structural analysis: for a simply supported beam with central point load W and span L, maximum bending moment = WL/4 and maximum deflection = WL³/(48EI). Fixed-end moment for UDL w over span L is wL²/12.

Soil mechanics: Terzaghi's bearing capacity for strip footing q_u = cN_c + γD_f N_q + 0.5γBN_γ; for square footing replace 0.5γBN_γ with 0.4γBN_γ. Void ratio e = V_v/V_s; degree of saturation S = V_w/V_v.

Fluid mechanics: Bernoulli's equation p/γ + v²/2g + z = constant along a streamline for steady, incompressible, frictionless flow. Reynolds number Re = ρvD/μ; laminar pipe flow if Re < 2000.

Surveying: horizontal distance by tacheometry (stadia method) D = (f/i) × s + (f + d); for an anallatic telescope D = K·s. Bowditch rule adjusts traverse closing error proportional to side length.

Transportation engineering: stopping sight distance SSD = 0.278 V t + V²/(254 f) with V in km/h, t in seconds, f coefficient of longitudinal friction. Superelevation e = V²/(127R) minus friction factor f.

Environmental engineering: BOD₅ = BOD_L (1 – e^(–k·5)); standard BOD test at 20°C, k typically 0.1 per day. Design period for water supply components commonly 30 years for dams and 15–20 years for treatment units.

Construction materials: IS 456 limits for reinforced concrete-minimum grade M20 for reinforced concrete; nominal cover 40 mm for footings, 30 mm for slabs, 25 mm for beams (moderate exposure). Workability measured by slump test (IS 1199).

Geotechnical and foundation: standard penetration test N-value corrected for overburden; allowable bearing pressure from plate load test uses settlement criteria. Pile capacity Q_u = Q_p + Q_s (end bearing + skin friction).