Kerala PSC 10th Level cheat sheet

Kerala has 14 districts; the newest, Kasaragod, was carved out in 1984; Alappuzha is the smallest district by area and Malappuram the most populous.

Kerala's Legislative Assembly has 140 seats; the state sends 20 members to the Lok Sabha and 9 to the Rajya Sabha.

National high-water marks: Idukki district holds the largest hydroelectric arch dam in Asia (Idukki Dam, on the Periyar); Vembanad is the longest lake in India.

Space and atomic landmarks: ISRO headquarters is in Bengaluru; Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (Kerala) launched India's first sounding rocket in 1963.

Kerala firsts: first fully literate state (1991), first state to implement a total e-literacy campaign (Akshaya), first baby-friendly state initiative.

Nobel and national honours to remember: Rabindranath Tagore (1913 Literature, first Asian Nobel laureate); C.V. Raman (1930 Physics); Amartya Sen (1998 Economics).

Indian currency and institutions: RBI founded 1935, nationalised 1949; rupee symbol designed by D. Udaya Kumar; SEBI headquarters Mumbai.

Current-affairs anchors: Chandrayaan-3 soft-landed near the lunar south pole on 23 August 2023; G20 summit hosted by India in New Delhi, September 2023.

Kerala geography superlatives: Anamudi (2,695 m) is the highest peak in South India; Periyar is the longest river in Kerala and Silent Valley lies in Palakkad district.

Kerala formed on 1 November 1956 under the States Reorganisation Act by merging Travancore-Cochin with Malabar; first Chief Minister was E.M.S. Namboodiripad (1957).

Social reform sequence: Sree Narayana Guru (SNDP, 1903; Vaikom Satyagraha support; 'one caste, one religion, one God'), Chattampi Swamikal, Ayyankali (Sadhu Jana Paripalana Yogam, 1907), and Poykayil Appachan.

Vaikom Satyagraha (1924-25) opened temple roads; Guruvayur Satyagraha (1931-32) led by K. Kelappan demanded temple entry; Temple Entry Proclamation issued by Chithira Thirunal in 1936.

Kerala's 1865 Malayali memorial-type agitations: Malayali Memorial (1891) and Ezhava Memorial (1896) petitioned the Travancore government for government jobs.

Kerala art forms: Kathakali (dance-drama with mudras and chenda), Mohiniyattam (lasya-dominant solo), Theyyam (ritual art of north Malabar), Chakyarkoothu, and Padayani.

Kerala polity: first Kerala ministry assumed office on 5 April 1957; Kerala was the first state to hold a no-confidence defeat of a ministry (1959); Kerala High Court at Ernakulam, established 1956.

Geography: Western Ghats run along Kerala's eastern edge; Ashtamudi and Vembanad are Ramsar-listed backwaters; Silent Valley National Park is a core of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve.

Kerala festivals and sites: Thrissur Pooram (Vadakkunnathan temple), Attukal Pongala (Thiruvananthapuram), Sabarimala (Pathanamthitta), and Edakkal Caves (Wayanad) with Neolithic petroglyphs.

Indus Valley chronology: mature phase c. 2600-1900 BCE; Harappa and Mohenjo-daro excavated by Daya Ram Sahni (1921) and R.D. Banerji (1922); Lothal was a dockyard in Gujarat.

Mauryan Empire: Chandragupta Maurya (321 BCE) with Chanakya's Arthashastra; Ashoka's Kalinga war (261 BCE) led to the dhamma policy and rock edicts in Prakrit/Brahmi.

Gupta age: Samudragupta's Allahabad pillar inscription by Harisena; Chandragupta II (Vikramaditya) and the Iron Pillar of Delhi; Aryabhata and Kalidasa flourished.

Delhi Sultanate order: Slave (1206) - Khilji - Tughlaq - Sayyid - Lodi; Alauddin Khilji's market reforms; Muhammad bin Tughlaq's token currency and capital shift.

Mughal line: Babur (First Battle of Panipat, 1526) - Humayun - Akbar (Din-i-Ilahi, 1582) - Jahangir - Shah Jahan - Aurangzeb; Sher Shah's Grand Trunk Road and rupiya.

Bhakti-Sufi: Kabir, Guru Nanak (founded Sikhism), Mirabai, Chaitanya; Sufi silsilas (Chishti most influential in India) and the dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer.

Revolt of 1857: began at Meerut on 10 May 1857; leaders include Mangal Pandey, Rani Lakshmibai, Nana Saheb, Tantia Tope; ended Mughal rule and transferred power to the Crown (1858).

Indian National Congress founded 1885 in Bombay; first president W.C. Bonnerjee; the 'safety valve' theory is associated with A.O. Hume.

Partition of Bengal (1905) triggered the Swadeshi Movement; Congress split at Surat (1907) into Moderates and Extremists; reunited at Lucknow (1916) with the Lucknow Pact.

Gandhian movements: Champaran (1917), Kheda and Ahmedabad mill strike (1918), Non-Cooperation (1920-22, withdrawn after Chauri Chaura), Civil Disobedience (1930, Dandi March 12 March-6 April).

Jallianwala Bagh massacre: 13 April 1919, Amritsar, under General Dyer; led to Rabindranath Tagore renouncing his knighthood.

Quit India Movement launched 8 August 1942 in Bombay; slogan 'Do or Die'; leaders arrested; parallel governments formed at Ballia, Tamluk and Satara.

Revolutionary strands: Anushilan Samiti, Jugantar, Hindustan Republican Association (Kakori, 1925), Bhagat Singh and HSRA, Azad Hind Fauj (Subhas Chandra Bose, 1943).

Constitutional road: Cabinet Mission (1946), Constituent Assembly first met 9 December 1946, Mountbatten Plan (3 June 1947), Indian Independence Act passed July 1947.

Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution on 26 November 1949; it came into force 26 January 1950; Dr B.R. Ambedkar chaired the Drafting Committee.

Fundamental Rights (Part III, Articles 12-35) are enforceable via writs under Article 32 (Supreme Court) and Article 226 (High Courts); Right to Education is Article 21A (86th Amendment, 2002).

Directive Principles (Part IV, Articles 36-51) are non-justiciable; Article 44 uniform civil code; Article 40 panchayats; Article 48A environment.

Fundamental Duties (Article 51A) added by the 42nd Amendment (1976); there are now 11 duties after the 86th Amendment.

Union executive: President elected by an electoral college (Article 54); Article 61 impeachment; Article 72 pardoning power; Article 74 Council of Ministers; Article 78 PM's duty to communicate.

Emergency provisions: Article 352 national emergency, Article 356 President's rule, Article 360 financial emergency; proclamation must be approved by Parliament within one month.

Amendments: Article 368 provides procedure; the Kesavananda Bharati case (1973) established the basic structure doctrine; the 42nd Amendment (1976) is called the 'mini-Constitution'.

Judiciary: Supreme Court established 28 January 1950; Article 124 appointment of judges; Article 141 law declared by SC binds all courts; Article 143 advisory jurisdiction.

India's extremes: northernmost Indira Col (Siachen), southernmost Indira Point (Great Nicobar), westernmost Guhar Moti (Gujarat), easternmost Kibithu (Arunachal Pradesh).

Rivers: Ganga rises at Gangotri (Bhagirathi) and is India's longest river; Brahmaputra is called Tsangpo in Tibet and Jamuna in Bangladesh; Godavari is the longest peninsular river.

Soils: alluvial (most extensive, Indo-Gangetic plain), black/regur (cotton, Deccan trap), red (crystalline rocks), laterite (heavy rainfall, Kerala/Karnataka coast).

Monsoon: southwest monsoon arrives over Kerala around 1 June; retreating monsoon brings Tamil Nadu's main rainfall (October-December); Mawsynram/Cherrapunji record the highest rainfall.

World: longest river Nile; largest ocean Pacific; deepest trench Mariana; largest desert Sahara (hot) and Antarctica (cold); highest plateau Tibet.

Latitudes and zones: Tropic of Cancer (23.5 degrees N) passes through 8 Indian states; IST is based on 82.5 degrees E longitude (Mirzapur).

Indian physiography: Himalayas (young fold), Northern Plains, Peninsular Plateau, Coastal Plains, Islands; Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats meet at the Nilgiris.

Climate classification: Koppen's Aw (tropical savanna) in peninsular India, Am (monsoon) on the Malabar coast, BWh (hot desert) in Rajasthan, Cwb (temperate highland) in hill stations.

Units: SI base units are metre, kilogram, second, ampere, kelvin, mole, candela; force in newton, pressure in pascal, power in watt, energy in joule.

Motion formulas: v = u + at; s = ut + 0.5at^2; v^2 = u^2 + 2as; Newton's second law F = ma; weight = mg with g about 9.8 m/s^2.

Light: refraction follows Snell's law (n1 sin i = n2 sin r); convex lens converges and forms real images beyond focal length; myopia corrected by concave lens.

Electricity: Ohm's law V = IR; power P = VI = I^2R; household wiring is parallel; fuse and earth wire protect against short circuits.

Chemistry: pH below 7 acidic, 7 neutral, above 7 basic; common salt NaCl; baking soda NaHCO3; washing soda Na2CO3; lime water Ca(OH)2 tests CO2.

Biology: photosynthesis occurs in chloroplasts using chlorophyll (6CO2 + 6H2O -> C6H12O6 + 6O2); blood groups A, B, AB, O with O as universal donor.

Human body: largest organ skin; longest bone femur; smallest bone stapes; normal blood pressure about 120/80 mm Hg; insulin from pancreas regulates glucose.

Everyday science: pressure cooker raises boiling point by increasing pressure; salt lowers the freezing point of water; dew forms when air cools to dew point.

Percentage: x% of N = (x/100) x N; successive changes of a% then b% give net change a + b + ab/100 percent.

Profit and loss: profit% = (SP - CP)/CP x 100; discount% = (MP - SP)/MP x 100; selling price = CP x (100 + profit%)/100.

Simple and compound interest: SI = PRT/100; CI amount A = P(1 + R/100)^n; for two years CI - SI = P(R/100)^2.

Time-speed-distance: speed = distance/time; 1 km/h = 5/18 m/s; relative speed adds when moving opposite, subtracts when same direction.

Averages: average = sum/count; if each value increases by k, average increases by k; average of first n natural numbers = (n + 1)/2.

Ratio and proportion: if a:b = c:d then ad = bc; partnership shares are proportional to capital x time; mixtures use alligation.

LCM and HCF: product of two numbers = LCM x HCF; HCF divides LCM; use LCM for events repeating together.

Mensuration: area of circle = pi r^2; circumference = 2 pi r; volume of cylinder = pi r^2 h; volume of sphere = (4/3) pi r^3.

Number series and divisibility: a number is divisible by 3 if digit sum is divisible by 3, by 9 if digit sum divisible by 9, by 11 if alternating digit-sum difference is 0 or multiple of 11.

Number series: check differences, then ratios, then squares/cubes (n^2, n^3) and alternating patterns before assuming a rule.

Coding-decoding: identify the letter shift (e.g., +1, +2) or reversal; A=1 ... Z=26 lets you convert positions quickly.

Blood relations: draw a family tree with gender symbols; 'brother of my father' = uncle; 'son of my mother's only child' = son/nephew depending on speaker gender.

Direction sense: use a compass sketch; net displacement uses Pythagoras when turns are at right angles (resultant = square root of sum of squares).

Seating arrangement: for linear arrangements fix the extremes first; for circular arrangements fix one person and note that 'facing centre' reverses left/right.

Syllogism: valid conclusions must hold in every Venn diagram of the premises; 'all A are B' does not imply 'all B are A'.

Clocks and calendars: clock hands coincide 22 times a day; in 100 years there are 24 leap years (unless the century is divisible by 400); odd days determine the day of the week.

Analogy and odd-one-out: test the relation (part-whole, cause-effect, synonym) on both pairs; in odd-one-out, classify by shared property, not by familiarity.

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

Subject-verb agreement: singular subject takes singular verb; 'each, everyone, neither' are singular; 'news, mathematics' take singular verbs.

Tenses: present perfect (has/have + past participle) for past actions with present relevance; past perfect (had + participle) for the earlier of two past actions.

Prepositions: 'since' with a point of time, 'for' with a duration; 'between' for two, 'among' for more than two; 'discuss' takes no preposition.

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

Reported speech: shift tense back one step and change pronouns; 'said to' becomes 'told'; questions use 'asked if/whether' with statement order.

Common confusions: affect (verb) vs effect (noun); lie (recline) vs lay (place); its (possessive) vs it's (it is); fewer (countable) vs less (uncountable).

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

അക്ഷരമാല: സ്വരങ്ങൾ 16 (അ മുതൽ ഔ വരെ), വ്യഞ്ജനങ്ങൾ 36; ചില്ലുകൾ ആറ് (ൺ, ൻ, ർ, ൽ, ൾ, ൿ).

വർഗാക്ഷരങ്ങൾ: ക-ച-ട-ത-പ എന്നീ അഞ്ച് വർഗങ്ങൾ; അനുനാസികങ്ങൾ ങ, ഞ, ണ, ന, മ.

സന്ധി: സ്വരസന്ധി (അ + അ = ആ), വ്യഞ്ജനസന്ധി, വിസർഗസന്ധി; ഉദാ: തിരു + ഓണം = തിരുവോണം.

സമാസം: തത്പുരുഷൻ, ബഹുവ്രീഹി, ദ്വന്ദ്വൻ, അവ്യയീഭാവൻ, കർമ്മധാരയൻ; 'പത്മനാഭൻ' ബഹുവ്രീഹിക്ക് ഉദാഹരണം.

അലങ്കാരങ്ങൾ: ഉപമാലങ്കാരം, രൂപകാലങ്കാരം, ഉത്പ്രേക്ഷ, ശ്ലേഷം; 'മുഖം ചന്ദ്രന് സമം' ഉപമ.

വൃത്തങ്ങൾ: കാകളി, മണികാകളി, ശാർദൂലവിക്രീഡിതം; ഗണങ്ങൾ യ-ര-ത-ഭ-ജ-സ-മ-ന എന്നീ എട്ട്.

പ്രശസ്ത കൃതികൾ: 'ഐതിഹ്യമാല' - കൊട്ടാരത്തിൽ ശങ്കുണ്ണി; 'ആര്യ' - കെ.എം. പണിക്കർ; 'ഉമ്മാച്ചു' - ഉറൂബ്; 'ബാല്യകാലസഖി' - വൈക്കം മുഹമ്മദ് ബഷീർ.

പുരസ്കാരങ്ങൾ: ജ്ഞാനപീഠം ലഭിച്ച മലയാളികൾ - ജി. ശങ്കരക്കുറുപ്പ്, എസ്.കെ. പൊറ്റെക്കാട്ട്, തകഴി, എം.ടി. വാസുദേവൻ നായർ, ഒ.എൻ.വി., അക്കിത്തം; കേരള സാഹിത്യ അക്കാദമി പുരസ്കാരം വാർഷികം.

Kerala has 14 districts; the newest, Kasaragod, was carved out in 1984; Alappuzha is the smallest district by area and Malappuram the most populous.

Kerala's Legislative Assembly has 140 seats; the state sends 20 members to the Lok Sabha and 9 to the Rajya Sabha.

National high-water marks: Idukki district holds the largest hydroelectric arch dam in Asia (Idukki Dam, on the Periyar); Vembanad is the longest lake in India.

Space and atomic landmarks: ISRO headquarters is in Bengaluru; Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (Kerala) launched India's first sounding rocket in 1963.

Kerala firsts: first fully literate state (1991), first state to implement a total e-literacy campaign (Akshaya), first baby-friendly state initiative.

Nobel and national honours to remember: Rabindranath Tagore (1913 Literature, first Asian Nobel laureate); C.V. Raman (1930 Physics); Amartya Sen (1998 Economics).

Indian currency and institutions: RBI founded 1935, nationalised 1949; rupee symbol designed by D. Udaya Kumar; SEBI headquarters Mumbai.

Current-affairs anchors: Chandrayaan-3 soft-landed near the lunar south pole on 23 August 2023; G20 summit hosted by India in New Delhi, September 2023.

Kerala geography superlatives: Anamudi (2,695 m) is the highest peak in South India; Periyar is the longest river in Kerala and Silent Valley lies in Palakkad district.

Kerala formed on 1 November 1956 under the States Reorganisation Act by merging Travancore-Cochin with Malabar; first Chief Minister was E.M.S. Namboodiripad (1957).

Social reform sequence: Sree Narayana Guru (SNDP, 1903; Vaikom Satyagraha support; 'one caste, one religion, one God'), Chattampi Swamikal, Ayyankali (Sadhu Jana Paripalana Yogam, 1907), and Poykayil Appachan.

Vaikom Satyagraha (1924-25) opened temple roads; Guruvayur Satyagraha (1931-32) led by K. Kelappan demanded temple entry; Temple Entry Proclamation issued by Chithira Thirunal in 1936.

Kerala's 1865 Malayali memorial-type agitations: Malayali Memorial (1891) and Ezhava Memorial (1896) petitioned the Travancore government for government jobs.

Kerala art forms: Kathakali (dance-drama with mudras and chenda), Mohiniyattam (lasya-dominant solo), Theyyam (ritual art of north Malabar), Chakyarkoothu, and Padayani.

Kerala polity: first Kerala ministry assumed office on 5 April 1957; Kerala was the first state to hold a no-confidence defeat of a ministry (1959); Kerala High Court at Ernakulam, established 1956.

Geography: Western Ghats run along Kerala's eastern edge; Ashtamudi and Vembanad are Ramsar-listed backwaters; Silent Valley National Park is a core of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve.

Kerala festivals and sites: Thrissur Pooram (Vadakkunnathan temple), Attukal Pongala (Thiruvananthapuram), Sabarimala (Pathanamthitta), and Edakkal Caves (Wayanad) with Neolithic petroglyphs.

Indus Valley chronology: mature phase c. 2600-1900 BCE; Harappa and Mohenjo-daro excavated by Daya Ram Sahni (1921) and R.D. Banerji (1922); Lothal was a dockyard in Gujarat.

Mauryan Empire: Chandragupta Maurya (321 BCE) with Chanakya's Arthashastra; Ashoka's Kalinga war (261 BCE) led to the dhamma policy and rock edicts in Prakrit/Brahmi.

Gupta age: Samudragupta's Allahabad pillar inscription by Harisena; Chandragupta II (Vikramaditya) and the Iron Pillar of Delhi; Aryabhata and Kalidasa flourished.

Delhi Sultanate order: Slave (1206) - Khilji - Tughlaq - Sayyid - Lodi; Alauddin Khilji's market reforms; Muhammad bin Tughlaq's token currency and capital shift.

Mughal line: Babur (First Battle of Panipat, 1526) - Humayun - Akbar (Din-i-Ilahi, 1582) - Jahangir - Shah Jahan - Aurangzeb; Sher Shah's Grand Trunk Road and rupiya.

Bhakti-Sufi: Kabir, Guru Nanak (founded Sikhism), Mirabai, Chaitanya; Sufi silsilas (Chishti most influential in India) and the dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer.

Revolt of 1857: began at Meerut on 10 May 1857; leaders include Mangal Pandey, Rani Lakshmibai, Nana Saheb, Tantia Tope; ended Mughal rule and transferred power to the Crown (1858).

Indian National Congress founded 1885 in Bombay; first president W.C. Bonnerjee; the 'safety valve' theory is associated with A.O. Hume.

Partition of Bengal (1905) triggered the Swadeshi Movement; Congress split at Surat (1907) into Moderates and Extremists; reunited at Lucknow (1916) with the Lucknow Pact.

Gandhian movements: Champaran (1917), Kheda and Ahmedabad mill strike (1918), Non-Cooperation (1920-22, withdrawn after Chauri Chaura), Civil Disobedience (1930, Dandi March 12 March-6 April).

Jallianwala Bagh massacre: 13 April 1919, Amritsar, under General Dyer; led to Rabindranath Tagore renouncing his knighthood.

Quit India Movement launched 8 August 1942 in Bombay; slogan 'Do or Die'; leaders arrested; parallel governments formed at Ballia, Tamluk and Satara.

Revolutionary strands: Anushilan Samiti, Jugantar, Hindustan Republican Association (Kakori, 1925), Bhagat Singh and HSRA, Azad Hind Fauj (Subhas Chandra Bose, 1943).

Constitutional road: Cabinet Mission (1946), Constituent Assembly first met 9 December 1946, Mountbatten Plan (3 June 1947), Indian Independence Act passed July 1947.

Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution on 26 November 1949; it came into force 26 January 1950; Dr B.R. Ambedkar chaired the Drafting Committee.

Fundamental Rights (Part III, Articles 12-35) are enforceable via writs under Article 32 (Supreme Court) and Article 226 (High Courts); Right to Education is Article 21A (86th Amendment, 2002).

Directive Principles (Part IV, Articles 36-51) are non-justiciable; Article 44 uniform civil code; Article 40 panchayats; Article 48A environment.

Fundamental Duties (Article 51A) added by the 42nd Amendment (1976); there are now 11 duties after the 86th Amendment.

Union executive: President elected by an electoral college (Article 54); Article 61 impeachment; Article 72 pardoning power; Article 74 Council of Ministers; Article 78 PM's duty to communicate.

Emergency provisions: Article 352 national emergency, Article 356 President's rule, Article 360 financial emergency; proclamation must be approved by Parliament within one month.

Amendments: Article 368 provides procedure; the Kesavananda Bharati case (1973) established the basic structure doctrine; the 42nd Amendment (1976) is called the 'mini-Constitution'.

Judiciary: Supreme Court established 28 January 1950; Article 124 appointment of judges; Article 141 law declared by SC binds all courts; Article 143 advisory jurisdiction.

India's extremes: northernmost Indira Col (Siachen), southernmost Indira Point (Great Nicobar), westernmost Guhar Moti (Gujarat), easternmost Kibithu (Arunachal Pradesh).

Rivers: Ganga rises at Gangotri (Bhagirathi) and is India's longest river; Brahmaputra is called Tsangpo in Tibet and Jamuna in Bangladesh; Godavari is the longest peninsular river.

Soils: alluvial (most extensive, Indo-Gangetic plain), black/regur (cotton, Deccan trap), red (crystalline rocks), laterite (heavy rainfall, Kerala/Karnataka coast).

Monsoon: southwest monsoon arrives over Kerala around 1 June; retreating monsoon brings Tamil Nadu's main rainfall (October-December); Mawsynram/Cherrapunji record the highest rainfall.

World: longest river Nile; largest ocean Pacific; deepest trench Mariana; largest desert Sahara (hot) and Antarctica (cold); highest plateau Tibet.

Latitudes and zones: Tropic of Cancer (23.5 degrees N) passes through 8 Indian states; IST is based on 82.5 degrees E longitude (Mirzapur).

Indian physiography: Himalayas (young fold), Northern Plains, Peninsular Plateau, Coastal Plains, Islands; Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats meet at the Nilgiris.

Climate classification: Koppen's Aw (tropical savanna) in peninsular India, Am (monsoon) on the Malabar coast, BWh (hot desert) in Rajasthan, Cwb (temperate highland) in hill stations.

Units: SI base units are metre, kilogram, second, ampere, kelvin, mole, candela; force in newton, pressure in pascal, power in watt, energy in joule.

Motion formulas: v = u + at; s = ut + 0.5at^2; v^2 = u^2 + 2as; Newton's second law F = ma; weight = mg with g about 9.8 m/s^2.

Light: refraction follows Snell's law (n1 sin i = n2 sin r); convex lens converges and forms real images beyond focal length; myopia corrected by concave lens.

Electricity: Ohm's law V = IR; power P = VI = I^2R; household wiring is parallel; fuse and earth wire protect against short circuits.

Chemistry: pH below 7 acidic, 7 neutral, above 7 basic; common salt NaCl; baking soda NaHCO3; washing soda Na2CO3; lime water Ca(OH)2 tests CO2.

Biology: photosynthesis occurs in chloroplasts using chlorophyll (6CO2 + 6H2O -> C6H12O6 + 6O2); blood groups A, B, AB, O with O as universal donor.

Human body: largest organ skin; longest bone femur; smallest bone stapes; normal blood pressure about 120/80 mm Hg; insulin from pancreas regulates glucose.

Everyday science: pressure cooker raises boiling point by increasing pressure; salt lowers the freezing point of water; dew forms when air cools to dew point.

Percentage: x% of N = (x/100) x N; successive changes of a% then b% give net change a + b + ab/100 percent.

Profit and loss: profit% = (SP - CP)/CP x 100; discount% = (MP - SP)/MP x 100; selling price = CP x (100 + profit%)/100.

Simple and compound interest: SI = PRT/100; CI amount A = P(1 + R/100)^n; for two years CI - SI = P(R/100)^2.

Time-speed-distance: speed = distance/time; 1 km/h = 5/18 m/s; relative speed adds when moving opposite, subtracts when same direction.

Averages: average = sum/count; if each value increases by k, average increases by k; average of first n natural numbers = (n + 1)/2.

Ratio and proportion: if a:b = c:d then ad = bc; partnership shares are proportional to capital x time; mixtures use alligation.

LCM and HCF: product of two numbers = LCM x HCF; HCF divides LCM; use LCM for events repeating together.

Mensuration: area of circle = pi r^2; circumference = 2 pi r; volume of cylinder = pi r^2 h; volume of sphere = (4/3) pi r^3.

Number series and divisibility: a number is divisible by 3 if digit sum is divisible by 3, by 9 if digit sum divisible by 9, by 11 if alternating digit-sum difference is 0 or multiple of 11.

Number series: check differences, then ratios, then squares/cubes (n^2, n^3) and alternating patterns before assuming a rule.

Coding-decoding: identify the letter shift (e.g., +1, +2) or reversal; A=1 ... Z=26 lets you convert positions quickly.

Blood relations: draw a family tree with gender symbols; 'brother of my father' = uncle; 'son of my mother's only child' = son/nephew depending on speaker gender.

Direction sense: use a compass sketch; net displacement uses Pythagoras when turns are at right angles (resultant = square root of sum of squares).

Seating arrangement: for linear arrangements fix the extremes first; for circular arrangements fix one person and note that 'facing centre' reverses left/right.

Syllogism: valid conclusions must hold in every Venn diagram of the premises; 'all A are B' does not imply 'all B are A'.

Clocks and calendars: clock hands coincide 22 times a day; in 100 years there are 24 leap years (unless the century is divisible by 400); odd days determine the day of the week.

Analogy and odd-one-out: test the relation (part-whole, cause-effect, synonym) on both pairs; in odd-one-out, classify by shared property, not by familiarity.

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

Subject-verb agreement: singular subject takes singular verb; 'each, everyone, neither' are singular; 'news, mathematics' take singular verbs.

Tenses: present perfect (has/have + past participle) for past actions with present relevance; past perfect (had + participle) for the earlier of two past actions.

Prepositions: 'since' with a point of time, 'for' with a duration; 'between' for two, 'among' for more than two; 'discuss' takes no preposition.

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

Reported speech: shift tense back one step and change pronouns; 'said to' becomes 'told'; questions use 'asked if/whether' with statement order.

Common confusions: affect (verb) vs effect (noun); lie (recline) vs lay (place); its (possessive) vs it's (it is); fewer (countable) vs less (uncountable).

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

അക്ഷരമാല: സ്വരങ്ങൾ 16 (അ മുതൽ ഔ വരെ), വ്യഞ്ജനങ്ങൾ 36; ചില്ലുകൾ ആറ് (ൺ, ൻ, ർ, ൽ, ൾ, ൿ).

വർഗാക്ഷരങ്ങൾ: ക-ച-ട-ത-പ എന്നീ അഞ്ച് വർഗങ്ങൾ; അനുനാസികങ്ങൾ ങ, ഞ, ണ, ന, മ.

സന്ധി: സ്വരസന്ധി (അ + അ = ആ), വ്യഞ്ജനസന്ധി, വിസർഗസന്ധി; ഉദാ: തിരു + ഓണം = തിരുവോണം.

സമാസം: തത്പുരുഷൻ, ബഹുവ്രീഹി, ദ്വന്ദ്വൻ, അവ്യയീഭാവൻ, കർമ്മധാരയൻ; 'പത്മനാഭൻ' ബഹുവ്രീഹിക്ക് ഉദാഹരണം.

അലങ്കാരങ്ങൾ: ഉപമാലങ്കാരം, രൂപകാലങ്കാരം, ഉത്പ്രേക്ഷ, ശ്ലേഷം; 'മുഖം ചന്ദ്രന് സമം' ഉപമ.

വൃത്തങ്ങൾ: കാകളി, മണികാകളി, ശാർദൂലവിക്രീഡിതം; ഗണങ്ങൾ യ-ര-ത-ഭ-ജ-സ-മ-ന എന്നീ എട്ട്.

പ്രശസ്ത കൃതികൾ: 'ഐതിഹ്യമാല' - കൊട്ടാരത്തിൽ ശങ്കുണ്ണി; 'ആര്യ' - കെ.എം. പണിക്കർ; 'ഉമ്മാച്ചു' - ഉറൂബ്; 'ബാല്യകാലസഖി' - വൈക്കം മുഹമ്മദ് ബഷീർ.

പുരസ്കാരങ്ങൾ: ജ്ഞാനപീഠം ലഭിച്ച മലയാളികൾ - ജി. ശങ്കരക്കുറുപ്പ്, എസ്.കെ. പൊറ്റെക്കാട്ട്, തകഴി, എം.ടി. വാസുദേവൻ നായർ, ഒ.എൻ.വി., അക്കിത്തം; കേരള സാഹിത്യ അക്കാദമി പുരസ്കാരം വാർഷികം.