CSA Civil Service Exam flashcards

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

Successive percentage change

Two changes of a% then b% combine as a + b + ab/100. Example: 10% then 20% gives 32%, not 30%, because the second change applies to the already increased value.

Contrapositive validity

From 'if P then Q' you may validly infer 'if not Q then not P'. The converse and inverse are not logically equivalent and cannot be concluded from the original conditional.

Pie chart sector angle

Each sector's central angle equals its share of the total multiplied by 360 degrees. A sector covering 25% of the total therefore measures 90 degrees.

Fundamental Rights location

Fundamental Rights appear in Part III of the Indian Constitution, Articles 12 to 35. They are enforceable through writs, unlike Directive Principles in Part IV.

Fewer versus less

Use 'fewer' with countable plural nouns, as in fewer candidates. Use 'less' with uncountable nouns, as in less time or less water.

Work rate addition

If A alone finishes in a days and B alone in b days, together they take ab/(a + b) days. Individual rates add; completion times do not.

Odd-one-out test

Identify a property shared by all but one option, such as all being instruments or all being capitals. The option failing that shared property is the answer.

Rank from both ends

Total number of items equals rank from the top plus rank from the bottom minus one. This holds when the item is counted in both rankings.

Block rule in arrangements

If A must sit immediately before B, treat AB as one fused unit. Arrangements of n items with a k-item block are (n − k + 1)! times k! internal orders.

Percentage increase base

Percentage increase equals the change divided by the original or earlier value, then multiplied by 100. The base is always the starting figure, never the final one.

Article 74 advice

Article 74 requires the President to act on the advice of the Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister. The President is the constitutional, not executive, head.

Present perfect versus past

Present perfect describes a past action linked to the present and takes no definite past time marker. Simple past pairs with finished times such as yesterday or in 2019.

Compound interest formula

Amount equals principal times (1 + r/n) raised to nt, where r is the annual rate as a decimal, n the compounds per year, and t the years.

Syllogism 'some' limit

A conclusion containing 'some' cannot be drawn from premises that are all universal. Two negative premises likewise yield no valid conclusion about the classes.

Facing-direction rotation

Track direction as a signed axis. Turning left or right rotates that axis by 90 degrees, so a left turn while facing south points the person east.

Conditional exclusion rule

A rule 'if X is selected, Y is not' is equivalent to saying X and Y cannot both be selected. Test answer choices that pair them together first.

Average speed unequal legs

For two equal distances covered at speeds x and y, average speed is 2xy/(x + y), the harmonic mean. It is not the simple average of the two speeds.

HCF and LCM product

For any two positive integers, HCF multiplied by LCM equals the product of the two numbers. Use this to recover a missing number from the other three values.

Table unit conversion

Before comparing or dividing figures from a data table, convert all quantities to a single unit. Mixed units such as lakhs and crores otherwise distort every ratio.

NITI Aayog replacement

NITI Aayog replaced the Planning Commission in 2015. The Planning Commission had formulated India's Five-Year Plans since its creation in 1950.

Passive voice formation

In passive voice the object becomes the subject and the verb becomes a form of 'be' plus the past participle. Only transitive verbs can be passivised.

Necessary assumption test

An assumption is what the statement requires to make sense. If negating an option destroys the statement, that option is the necessary assumption.

Neither-nor verb agreement

With 'neither...nor' or 'either...or', the verb agrees with the subject nearer to it. 'Neither the manager nor the clerks were present' takes a plural verb.

Divisibility by 11

A number is divisible by 11 when the difference between the sums of digits in alternating positions is zero or a multiple of 11.

Arrangement counting factorial

The number of ways to arrange n distinct items in a line is n factorial. If k items must stay together, treat them as one unit and multiply by k factorial.

Cause and effect independence

Two events are independent when a common third factor could explain both. Do not label one the cause of the other merely because they occur together.

Profit percentage base

Profit percent is calculated on cost price unless the question states otherwise. Selling price equals cost price multiplied by (100 + profit percent) divided by 100.

Approximation rounding rule

When a data question says approximately, round each input to two significant figures before dividing. This keeps the arithmetic quick while staying within the option range.

Election Commission article

The Election Commission of India is a constitutional body established under Article 324. It supervises elections to Parliament, state legislatures, and the offices of President and Vice-President.

Reading comprehension evidence

The correct answer must be directly supported by the passage. A statement that is true in general but absent from the text is not a valid answer.

Ratio constant substitution

If a:b equals m:n, write a = mk and b = nk for a common multiplier k. Substitute into the given sum or difference to solve for k.

Must-be-true elimination

For a must-be-true question, reject any option for which a single arrangement satisfying all rules makes that option false. Only unavoidable options survive.

Steep slope versus percent

A steeper line segment shows a larger absolute change per period. Its percentage change can still be smaller if the starting value was large.