RBSE Praveshika Social Science flashcards

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

Indus Valley script

Writing found on Harappan seals and pottery, with about 400 distinct signs; it remains undeciphered, so the language and meaning are still unknown.

Kalinga War

Fought around 261 BCE between Ashoka and Kalinga; the massive bloodshed led Ashoka to embrace Buddhism and spread Dhamma through edicts.

Din-i-Ilahi

A syncretic religion promulgated by Mughal emperor Akbar in 1582; it combined elements of several faiths and attracted very few followers.

Dandi March

Gandhi's 1930 march from Sabarmati to Dandi to make salt, launching the Civil Disobedience Movement against the British salt law.

Doctrine of Lapse

Policy of Governor-General Dalhousie annexing Indian states where a ruler died without a natural heir; applied to Satara and Jhansi.

Permanent Settlement

1793 land revenue system of Cornwallis in Bengal; zamindars received a permanent revenue demand and became landowners, while peasants faced fixed rents.

Regur soil

Black cotton soil formed from Deccan trap lava; rich in clay and moisture-retentive, good for cotton, but poor in nitrogen and phosphorus.

Tropic of Cancer

Latitude 23°30′N that passes through eight Indian states from Gujarat to Mizoram, dividing India into roughly equal northern and southern halves.

Southwest monsoon

Seasonal winds from June to September bringing most of India's rainfall; the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal branches converge over northern India.

Kharif season

Summer cropping season from June to October, sown with the monsoon; main crops are rice, maize, jowar, bajra, cotton and jute.

Laterite soil

Soil formed in high-rainfall areas by intense leaching of silica; rich in iron and aluminium, acidic and low in fertility, used for cashew and tea.

Peninsular Plateau

Old, stable landmass of crystalline rocks south of the Northern Plains; includes the Deccan trap, Chota Nagpur and Malwa, and is rich in minerals.

Article 32

Fundamental right to constitutional remedies; allows a person to move the Supreme Court to enforce rights through five writs; called the heart and soul of the Constitution.

Directive Principles

Guidelines in Part IV, Articles 36–51, for state policy aiming at social and economic democracy; not enforceable in courts but fundamental in governance.

73rd Amendment

Constitutional amendment of 1992 that gave panchayati raj institutions constitutional status, mandating a three-tier structure, elections every five years and reservation for women.

Money Bill

Bill dealing only with taxation, borrowing or expenditure from the Consolidated Fund; introduced only in the Lok Sabha on the President's recommendation; the Rajya Sabha can only delay it.

Fundamental Duties

Eleven moral obligations of citizens listed in Article 51A, Part IVA; added by the 42nd Amendment 1976 on the Swaran Singh Committee's recommendation; they are non-justiciable.

Repo rate

Rate at which the RBI lends short-term funds to commercial banks against securities; raising it tightens liquidity and helps control inflation.

MGNREGA

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005; guarantees 100 days of wage employment per rural household per year, with at least one-third for women.

Primary sector

Part of the economy that directly uses natural resources: agriculture, forestry, fishing and mining; it employs the largest share of India's workforce.

Poverty line

Income or consumption threshold used to identify the poor; India's official line is based on calorie norms of 2,400 kcal rural and 2,100 kcal urban.

Sustainable development

Development that meets present needs without compromising future generations' ability to meet theirs, defined by the Brundtland Report 1987; balances economic, social and environmental goals.

Guru Shikhar

Highest peak of the Aravalli range at 1,722 metres, located on Mount Abu in Sirohi district, Rajasthan; a popular tourist viewpoint.

Indira Gandhi Canal

Longest canal in India, starting at the Harike barrage in Punjab and carrying Sutlej–Beas water to western Rajasthan for irrigation and drinking water.

Luni River

River of inland drainage in Rajasthan, rising in the Aravallis near Ajmer and flowing southwest into the Rann of Kachchh; it becomes saline downstream.

Haldighati battle

Fought in 1576 between Maharana Pratap of Mewar and Mughal forces led by Man Singh; tactically inconclusive but symbolically important for Rajput resistance.

Keoladeo National Park

Wetland at Bharatpur, Rajasthan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Ramsar site; famous as a bird sanctuary, especially for migratory Siberian cranes.

Disaster risk formula

Risk is often expressed as (hazard × vulnerability) ÷ capacity; reducing vulnerability and increasing capacity lowers the chance of a hazard becoming a disaster.

NDMA

National Disaster Management Authority, created by the Disaster Management Act 2005 and chaired by the Prime Minister; it lays down policies and guidelines for disaster management.

Seismic Zone V

Highest earthquake-risk zone in India's zoning map, covering the Himalayan belt, northeast and Kachchh; it expects intensity VIII or more on the MSK scale.

Contour lines

Lines on a topographic map joining points of equal elevation; closely spaced lines indicate steep slopes, while widely spaced lines indicate gentle slopes.

Sendai Framework

UN disaster risk reduction framework for 2015–2030 with four priorities and seven targets, succeeding the Hyogo Framework; it aims to reduce disaster losses.