UPPSC RO/ARO cheat sheet

Constitution: Constituent Assembly formed under Cabinet Mission Plan 1946; first session 9 December 1946; Drafting Committee chaired by B. R. Ambedkar; Constitution adopted 26 November 1949 and came into force 26 January 1950.

Fundamental Rights (Part III) run from Article 12 to 35; Right to Constitutional Remedies (Art. 32) was called the 'heart and soul of the Constitution' by Ambedkar; Art. 21A (free education ages 6-14) was inserted by the 86th Amendment, 2002.

Directive Principles (Part IV, Art. 36-51) are non-justiciable; the 42nd Amendment (1976) added Art. 51A Fundamental Duties on the Swaran Singh Committee's recommendation.

Uttar Pradesh: formed as United Provinces in 1937, renamed Uttar Pradesh in 1950; capital Lucknow; bicameral legislature (Vidhan Sabha 403 seats, Vidhan Parishad 100 seats); highest point is Amsot Peak in the Rajaji range.

UP geography: Ganga enters the state near Bijnor, Yamuna near Saharanpur; they meet at Prayagraj (Triveni Sangam); the state borders eight states - Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar, plus Nepal.

Indian economy basics: GDP at constant prices measures real growth; repo rate is the rate at which RBI lends to banks against securities, reverse repo absorbs liquidity; CRR and SLR are reserve ratios, not policy lending rates.

Science: SI unit of force is the newton, of pressure the pascal, of power the watt; speed of light in vacuum is about 3 x 10^8 m/s; the pH of a neutral solution at 25 degrees C is 7.

History dates: Harappan civilization Mature phase c. 2600-1900 BCE; Buddha's enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, first sermon at Sarnath; Ashoka's Kalinga war 261 BCE; First Battle of Panipat 1526, Second 1556, Third 1761.

वर्ण के दो भेद: स्वर (11) और व्यंजन (33); स्वर के भेद - ह्रस्व, दीर्घ, प्लुत; व्यंजन के भेद - स्पर्श, अंतःस्थ, ऊष्म।

संधि: स्वर संधि (दीर्घ, गुण, वृद्धि, यण, अयादि), व्यंजन संधि, विसर्ग संधि। उदाहरण - विद्या + आलय = विद्यालय (दीर्घ संधि)।

समास के छह भेद: अव्ययीभाव, तत्पुरुष, कर्मधारय, द्विगु, द्वंद्व, बहुव्रीहि। 'चौराहा' द्विगु समास है, 'दशानन' बहुव्रीहि।

उपसर्ग अर्थ बदलते हैं - 'अनु' का अर्थ पीछे/समान (अनुकरण), 'अप' का अर्थ नीचे/दूर (अपमान), 'प्रति' का अर्थ ओर/विरुद्ध (प्रतिदिन, प्रतिकूल)।

प्रत्यय दो प्रकार: कृत् (क्रिया से - पढ़ाई, लिखावट) और तद्धित (संज्ञा/विशेषण से - मिठास, बुढ़ापा)।

वाक्य शुद्धि के सामान्य दोष: लिंग-वचन असंगति, कारक चिह्न का अनुचित प्रयोग, पुनरुक्ति दोष (जैसे 'सर्वश्रेष्ठतम')।

मुहावरे अर्थ सहित: 'आँख का तारा' - बहुत प्यारा; 'नौ दो ग्यारह होना' - भाग जाना; 'लोहे के चने चबाना' - कठिन कार्य करना।

अलंकार: अनुप्रास (व्यंजन आवृत्ति), यमक (एक शब्द भिन्न अर्थ में दोहराया), उपमा (समानता), रूपक (अभेद आरोप), श्लेष (एक शब्द अनेक अर्थ)।

Subject-verb agreement: a collective noun takes a singular verb when acting as a unit; 'neither...nor' and 'either...or' agree with the nearer subject.

Articles: 'a' before consonant sounds (a university, a one-rupee coin), 'an' before vowel sounds (an hour, an MLA); 'the' with superlatives, rivers, ranges and unique objects.

Tenses: present perfect (has/have + past participle) links past action to present; past perfect marks the earlier of two past actions; 'since' takes a point of time, 'for' a duration.

Prepositions: 'since' with time point, 'for' with duration; 'on' with days and dates, 'in' with months, years and long periods, 'at' with clock time.

Voice: passive = form of 'be' + past participle; only transitive verbs passivise; imperative passives begin 'Let...' (Let the door be closed).

Direct-indirect speech: present tense shifts to past when the reporting verb is past; 'this' becomes 'that', 'tomorrow' becomes 'the next day', 'now' becomes 'then'.

Common confusables: affect (verb) vs effect (noun), principal (head/main) vs principle (rule), stationary (fixed) vs stationery (writing material).

Idioms: 'to let the cat out of the bag' = reveal a secret; 'a bolt from the blue' = a sudden shock; 'to burn the midnight oil' = work late into the night.

Touch typing standard: home row left hand ASDF, right hand JKL; (semicolon); the F and J keys carry raised bumps for index-finger placement without looking.

Hindi typing layouts: Krutidev/DevLys (Remington-based) and Inscript are the two common schemes; UPPSC typing tests are usually taken in Krutidev or Mangal font as specified in the advertisement.

Typing speed is measured in words per minute where one word = 5 characters including spaces; gross speed = total characters/5 per minute, net speed = gross minus penalty for errors.

Accuracy rule: net speed = (total characters typed minus error characters) divided by 5, then divided by minutes elapsed; a single uncorrected error therefore costs more than one word.

Computer fundamentals: 1 byte = 8 bits; 1 KB = 1024 bytes, 1 MB = 1024 KB; ROM is non-volatile, RAM is volatile and loses data on power off.

Shortcut keys: Ctrl+C copy, Ctrl+X cut, Ctrl+V paste, Ctrl+Z undo, Ctrl+Y redo, Ctrl+A select all, Ctrl+S save, Ctrl+P print, Alt+F4 close window.

MS Word: Ctrl+B bold, Ctrl+I italic, Ctrl+U underline, Ctrl+E centre align, Ctrl+F find, F7 spelling and grammar check, Ctrl+Enter page break.

MS Excel: a formula begins with '=' ; $A$1 is an absolute reference, A1 relative; SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT, IF are common functions; F2 edits the active cell.

UPPSC RO/ARO selection: a preliminary screening test, a mains written examination, and a Hindi/English typing test; the typing test is qualifying in nature, not added to the merit total.

Mains paper structure: General Studies, General Hindi, General English, and Hindi/English typing; the written papers carry objective and descriptive components as specified in the annual advertisement.

Negative marking applies to objective papers; the exact penalty per wrong answer is stated in that year's advertisement, so candidates must read the current notification rather than assume.

General Hindi paper commonly tests संधि, समास, उपसर्ग-प्रत्यय, वाक्य शुद्धि, मुहावरे, अलंकार, तत्सम-तद्भव and अपठित गद्यांश.

General English paper commonly tests comprehension, synonyms and antonyms, one-word substitution, idioms, sentence improvement, error spotting and fill in the blanks.

Typing test format: a passage is typed in a fixed time; evaluation counts total words and errors, and only candidates meeting the prescribed minimum speed and accuracy qualify.

Computer Knowledge questions cover hardware, memory units, operating system basics, MS Office, internet and email, and common shortcut keys.