Kerala PSC 10th Level flashcards

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

Anamudi

Highest peak in South India, located in Idukki district, Kerala, at 2,695 metres. It lies within Eravikulam National Park and is a popular trekking destination.

Vaikom Satyagraha

Temple-road entry agitation in Vaikom, Travancore, from 1924 to 1925. Led by T.K. Madhavan and supported by Gandhi, it opened public roads near temples to all castes.

Sree Narayana Guru

Kerala social reformer born in 1856 at Chempazhanthy. Founded the SNDP in 1903, preached 'one caste, one religion, one God', and consecrated the Aruvippuram Shiva idol in 1888.

Kerala Formation Day

1 November 1956, when Travancore-Cochin merged with Malabar under the States Reorganisation Act. E.M.S. Namboodiripad became the first Chief Minister in 1957.

Theyyam

Ritual dance of north Malabar in which performers embody deities through elaborate costume and make-up. It is performed in kavus (sacred groves) and is distinct from Kathakali.

Lothal

Indus Valley site in Gujarat, excavated by S.R. Rao, known for its dockyard and bead workshop. It lay near the Bhogavo river and shows evidence of maritime trade with Mesopotamia.

Arthashastra

Ancient Sanskrit treatise on statecraft, economics and military strategy attributed to Chanakya (Kautilya), adviser to Chandragupta Maurya. It discusses taxation, espionage and diplomacy.

Din-i-Ilahi

Religious order promulgated by Mughal emperor Akbar in 1582. It combined elements of several faiths and was intended to foster tolerance, though it attracted very few followers.

Revolt of 1857

Uprising beginning at Meerut on 10 May 1857 over greased cartridges and wider grievances. It led to the end of East India Company rule and direct Crown administration in 1858.

Dandi March

Gandhi's 1930 march from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi to make salt in defiance of the salt law. It launched the Civil Disobedience Movement and began on 12 March.

Quit India Movement

Movement launched by Gandhi at Bombay on 8 August 1942 with the slogan 'Do or Die'. The Congress leadership was arrested and parallel governments emerged in several places.

Azad Hind Fauj

Indian National Army reorganised by Subhas Chandra Bose in 1943 in Southeast Asia. It fought alongside Japanese forces and set up the Azad Hind provisional government.

Article 32

Constitutional right to move the Supreme Court for enforcement of Fundamental Rights, called the 'heart and soul of the Constitution' by Dr Ambedkar. It empowers five writs.

Basic Structure Doctrine

Principle from Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala (1973) that Parliament cannot amend the Constitution so as to destroy its essential features. It limits Article 368 amending power.

Article 356

Provision allowing President's rule in a state when constitutional machinery fails. The proclamation needs parliamentary approval within two months and can extend up to three years.

Fundamental Duties

Eleven duties listed in Article 51A, added by the 42nd Amendment in 1976 on Swaran Singh Committee advice. They are non-justiciable moral obligations of citizens.

Tropic of Cancer

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

Regur soil

Black cotton soil formed from Deccan trap lava, rich in iron and lime but poor in nitrogen. It retains moisture well and is suited to cotton cultivation.

Indira Point

Southernmost point of India, on Great Nicobar Island in the Andaman and Nicobar group. It was formerly called Pygmalion Point and was submerged partly by the 2004 tsunami.

Ohm's Law

At constant temperature, current through a conductor is directly proportional to potential difference, giving V = IR. Resistance R is measured in ohms.

Photosynthesis

Process by which green plants use chlorophyll, sunlight, carbon dioxide and water to produce glucose and oxygen. It occurs mainly in chloroplasts of leaf cells.

pH scale

Scale from 0 to 14 measuring hydrogen ion concentration. Values below 7 are acidic, 7 is neutral, and above 7 is basic; litmus and pH paper indicate the range.

Compound interest formula

Amount A = P(1 + R/100)^n, where P is principal, R the annual rate and n the number of years. Compound interest equals A minus P.

Speed conversion

To convert kilometres per hour to metres per second, multiply by 5/18. To convert metres per second to kilometres per hour, multiply by 18/5.

LCM and HCF relation

For two positive integers, the product of the numbers equals the product of their LCM and HCF. This helps find one value when the other three are known.

Alligation

Method of finding the ratio in which two ingredients of different prices or strengths must be mixed to obtain a desired mean value, using differences crosswise.

Syllogism validity

A conclusion is valid only if it follows from every possible Venn diagram of the given premises. A conclusion true in one diagram alone is not valid.

Odd days in calendar

Remainder when total days are divided by seven, used to find the day of the week. A normal year has one odd day and a leap year has two.

Clock hands coincidence

The hour and minute hands coincide 11 times in 12 hours, that is 22 times in a day. They are opposite 11 times in 12 hours and at right angles 22 times.

Subject-verb agreement

A verb must agree with its subject in number and person. Collective nouns, 'news', 'mathematics' and indefinite pronouns like 'each' usually take singular verbs.

Reported speech change

When converting direct to indirect speech, shift tense one step back, adjust pronouns and time words, and change 'said to' into 'told'. Questions use 'asked if'.

ചില്ലുകൾ

മലയാളത്തിലെ ആറ് ചില്ലക്ഷരങ്ങൾ: ൺ, ൻ, ർ, ൽ, ൾ, ൿ. ചന്ദ്രക്കലയോടു കൂടിയ രൂപങ്ങളാണ് ഇവ; വ്യഞ്ജനങ്ങളുടെ അവസാന രൂപമായി ഇവ എഴുതുന്നു.