1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

The institute provides seperate 8 booklets (which covers a vast area from where various kinds of very short-answer type questions are put) on : Personalities of Indian History Facts related to Indian Culture Political Terminology and Concepts Facts related to Geography & Environmental Issues Persons & Places in News Economic Terminology, Concepts and Programmes Terms related to Information Technology Facts related to India & the World and International Relations. Class lectures are delivered on various sections like Indian Polity, Indian Economy, Indian Geography, India & the World which will enable the Civil Services Aspirants to answer some of these questions. Special lectures are delivered on Facts, Terminologies and Concepts which need some understanding and which are not the part of the booklets or classroom lectures. Orientation lectures are given as to how to write answers to such questions. List of questions is provided for the writing practice. For broader understanding, some samples of 20-word questions from various sections of both the papers of General Studies are given below. PAPER - I SECTION - MODERN INDIA PAPER - I SECTION - INDIAN POLITY PAPER - I SECTION - INDIAN GEOGRAPHY PAPER - II SECTION - INDIAN ECONOMY PAPER - II SECTION - SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PAPER - II SECTION - INDIA & THE WORLD AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS Jemini Rai A famous painter of Bengal Trained in Calcutta Art School Accepted the elements of folk art against popular Bengali School e.g. Big head, Big eyes etc. Was an Expressionist His painting was a rebellion against delicate drawing and lazy colouring of Bengal School A famous painter of Bengal Minoo Masani Nationalist, Congress leader, socialist and freedom fighter One of the founder members of Congress Socialist Party Colleague of Narendra Dev and Jai Prakash Narain Jamnalal Bajaj Prominent Congress leader and industrialist Founder of Gandhi Seva Sangh Laid interest in the development of rural industries and Handicraft textile Established Gau Seva Sangh Founder of Sasta Sahitya Mandal Made an efforts for upliftment of Harijans Sister Nivedita Born in Ireland Real name - Marget Elizabeth Nobel

a. b. c. d. e. f. a. b. c. a. b. c. d. e. f. a. b.

c. Follower of Swami Vivekanand, First Western lady to be admitted to an Indian monastic order d. Influenced Revolutionary Nationalism Thakkar Bapa a. Prominent social reformer b. Initially associated with Servents of India Society, General Secretary of Harijan Sewak Sangh c. Founded Sewa Sadan for widows and Depressed Class Mission d. Established Gond Sewa Sangh (BanwasiSewa Mandal) in MP e. Gandhian social worker, who worked for the upliftment of Harijans and tribes f. Founded an organisation named Bhil Sewa Mandal Verrier Elwin a. Prominent Anthropologist b. Dedicated his life for the welfare of tribal people especially in central India c. Established a welfare centre and a leper asylum at Mandla (MP) d. Started many schools for tribals e. Appointed as the advisor of tribal affairs in Indian government after independence f. Family Courts g. Established under the Family Courts Act 1987 to promote conciliation in securing speedy settlement of disputes relating to marriage and family affairs and for matters connected therewith. h. Gullotine i. The process which concludes the discussion on demands for grants. On the last day allotted for all the demands, demands, not disposed of so far, are put to vote whether they have been discussed or not. j. Lame-Duck Session k. Session held when a new Parliament has been elected but the old Parliament meets for the last time before it is dissolved. The lameducks are the members of the Parliament who have not got re-elected. l. National Government m. A government formed by all the major political parites to be represented in the council of ministers in proportion to their strength in the Lok Sabha, subscribing to a common minimum programme. n. Principle of Harmonious Construction o. Where two provisions of the constitution appear to be in conflict, the meaning which gives effect to both the provisions and ensures their harmonious operation should be accepted. It has been adopted by the Supreme Court in many of the cases viz. Gopalan Vs state of Madras Case (1950) p. Point of Order q. A point relating to the interpretation on enforcement of the Rules of Procedure or such Articles of the constitution as regulate the business of the House, raised in the House for the decision of the Chair. The decision of the Speaker as to whether a point raised is a point of order is final. r. Snap Vote s. A vote taken unexpectedly without voters having been briefed in advances. t. Shadow Cabinet u. It is usuually described as an official opossition counterpart to the cabinet or the government in waiting. It exists in a parliamentary system of government having a disciplined two party system, e.g., Britain. v. Social Action Litigation w. The litigation type in which petitions are made for the enforcement of specific rights of a determinate class or group of people who are primarily injured by the impugned action. In this case injury suffered by the members of this class is direct. x. Vote of Credit y. During national emergency funds required by the government to meet unexpected demands are granted by the Lok Sabha without receiving detailed estimates for the same through a vote of credit. z. BIOME aa. The major terrestrial ecosystems or distinctive terrestrial areas with their group of plants and associated animals are recognised as biomes. It is the largest terrestrial community. Rainfall, temperature range, nature of soil, barriers, latitude and altitude determine the nature and

extent of the biomes. Principal biomes of the world are (a) Tropical rain forest, (b) Tropical Savannah, (c) Mediterranean Scrub Forest, (d) Deciduous Forests, (e) Grassland, (f) Desert, (g) Taiga and (h) Tundra. bb. COUPLE PROTECTION RATE cc. It is defined as the percentage of eligible couples effectively protected against childbirth by one or the other approved methods of family planning. dd. DRIP IRRIGATION ee. It involves frequent slow application of water at low pressure through a network of pipelines. In it water is released near the plant base with the help of emitters or drips, thus ensuring optional moisture condition in the root zone. It enables more productive and efficient utilisation of the scare water resource, specially in arid and semi-arid areas where these are transformed into fold-mountain mass due to orgenic movements. ff. EL-NINO gg. It is the phenomenon involving abnormal warming of the Pacific ocean off south America i.e., near the Per coast. It causes changes in the atmospheric pressure conditions on either side of the pacific and thus influences monsoon. The monsoon is usually below normal in an El Nino year but exacess links are get to be established. hh.ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT ii. It is a programme which makes it statutory for many categories of developmental projects (under sectors such as power, transport, mining, industries etc.) to get an assessment of Environment impact likely to be caused by the project and to get an environmental clearances. Depending on the location and nature of the project certain safeguards are recommended during approval. jj. GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM (GIS) kk. GIS are integrated computer tools for handling, processing and analysing geographical data. They include self-contained software packages for personal computers and workstations, as well as tools for handling and processing geographic information over high-speed network such as Internet. ll. HOT SPOTS mm. Localities on the Earth's surface where greater than average thermal activity takes place often leading to volcanic outbursts. These are thought to be the crustal expression of the plumes in the underlying mantle and are believed to be closely related to the mechanisms of plate tectonics. nn.SOCIAL FORESTRY oo. It means the management and protection of the forests as well as afforestation of barren lands aimed at helping in environmental, social and rural development as against the traditional objective of securing revenue. The main thrust of social forestry is to reduce pressure on the traditional forests by developing plantations of fuelwood fodder & grasses. pp. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT qq. A development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. rr. CURRENT COMPETITIVENESS INDEX ss. This index aims to identify the factors that under pin high current productivity and hence current economic performance, measured by the level of GDP per person. The index takes into account of a nation's firms operating practices and strategies and the quality of the nation's business environment. tt. GLOBALIZATION INDEX uu. It ranks countries by variables such as openness to trade and investment, creditworthiness and the importance of tourism and transfers from foreign workers. vv. REPLACEMENT RATE ww. This rate indicates the replacement of individuals by others of the same age-group, in the following generation. xx. CAFETARIA APPROACH yy. To adopt various methods of population control such as IUD, sterilization, condoms, oral pills, raising the marriage age, etc. zz. MISERY INDEX aaa. An index combining the unemployment rate and inflation rate. The index is used to measure the political significance of the condition of the economy as well as consumer confidence.

bbb. GREEN GDP ccc. It is guideline given by the report to US to renew development of a green GDP indicator which would track economic output and take environmental issues into account. ddd. SHADOW-ECONOMY eee. It is that part of the economy in which the transactions are deliberately concealed. fff. Badla ggg. A term associated with stock exchange which means postponement of transactions related to sale of shares etc. till next settlement day. In such transactions an amount known as badla charges is payable by one who sells shares to the buyers. hhh. Deemed Exports iii. Deemed Exports are those inputs domestically produced but used in producing export products. With a view to reducing import intensity of export products, deemed exports are being encouraged through various incentives. jjj. Export Promotion Capital Goods Scheme kkk. (EPCGs) It is an export promotion scheme under which capital goods can be imported subject to actual user condition against fulfilment of specified export obligation. Under this scheme two windows are availablezero import duty and duty at a concessional rate of 10 per cent. Industry uses this scheme for modernisation and upgradation purposes. lll. Geographical Indications mmm. The General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (presently replaced by the World Trade Organisation) defines geographical indications as indications which identify a good as originating in the territory, where a given quality reputation or other characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographical origin. Some of the Indian goods on which geographical indications applicable are basmati rice, Darjeeling Tea etc. nnn. Mukherjee Formula ooo. A formula for central plan assistance to the states evolved in the Eighth five Year Plan. Some important criteria to be followed for such assistance under this formula are (a) 60% on the basis of population (b) 20% on the basis of per capita income (Deviation method) and 5% (Distance method) (c) 7.5% on the basis of tax efforts and (d) 7.5% on the basis of special problems. ppp. Quantitative Restriction (QRs) qqq. These are specific limits on the quantity or value of goods that can be imported or exported during a specific time period. WTO article XI generally prohibits the use of quantitative restrictions except under specified exceptional conditions. rrr. CACHE sss. A special area of primary memory (RAM) set aside to be used as a temporary store for programmes, parts of programmes or data. Cache memory is usually quite small and has very high access speeds (often less that 20 ns). ttt. CD-ROM uuu. Abbrevation for Compact Disk- Read Only Memory, this is secondary storage that uses optical laser techniques to read/write data. CD-ROM has a reasonable fast access time and vast storage capability. vvv. COMPUTER VIRUS www. It is a destructive programme which can corrupt and erase computer files, alter data, cause the computer to hang and so on. It is so named because it resembles the behavior of a biological virus that is to copy itself, spread through contact from one computer to another etc. xxx. DIGITAL CAMERA yyy. A digital Camera is basically a camera that produces photographs that can be saved as files on your PC. These cameras do not require a film to be processed. This is an ideal way to get a picture of anything that we need to include in a web page. The alternative is to take an ordinary photograph & use a scanner to scan the image into a file on our PC. zzz. ETHERNET aaaa. The ethernet is a system for connecting computers within a building or premises using hardwares running from machine to machine. It differs from the internet that connects remotely located computers by telephone line, software protocol and some hardware. An ethernet uses some software but the connecting hardware involves newly designed chips and wiring. The patent for ethernet describes it as "a multipoint data communication system with

collision detection". As an international computer industry standard ethernet is the most widely installed Local Area Network or LAN. bbbb. HYBRID COMPUTER cccc. These possess the capabilities of both the analog and digital computers. For example, inside intensive care units the analog computer records the heart rate and temperature while the digital part of the machine gives suggestions for treatment. dddd. INTERNET TELEPHONY eeee. The technology enabling a user to potentially talk in real time to another user on the Internet, with the help of a multimedia-enabled computer and an Internet connection is known as Internet Telephony. It uses Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP). ffff. MODEM gggg. A telecommunications device used to convert digital signals, typically the output from a computer, into a form (analog signals) suitable for transmission over a communications channel (often part of the telephone network). Two modems are required back to digital at the receiving end. The name modem comes from the processes involved, modulation-demodulation. hhhh. MULTIMEDIA iiii. It refers to presentation that integrate text and graphics with audio and visual and which is all controlled by computer. jjjj. ROM kkkk. Abbreviation for Read Only Memory. This is type of integrated circuit, usually mounted on the motherboard, that provide the basic start-up routines and BIOS (Basic Input Output System) of a computer. ROM chips store software (actually firmware) embedded by the manufacturer. llll. Collective Defence mmmm. Collective defence operates outside the ambit of regional International Organisation and within the fold of alliances. nnnn. Doctrine of Deterrence oooo. It theoritically means that the most appropriate way to prevent the enemy employ atomic weapons against it is to put a counter threat by also possessing the atomic bomb. pppp. Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) 1968 qqqq. It prohibits not only transfer to but also acquisition by non-nuclear weapon countries of nuclear weapons; ensures access to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes and commits the nuclear weapons states parties to pursue in good faith negotiations on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race and to nuclear disarmament. rrrr. Peace-keeping ssss. Peace-keeping has been defined as the use of multinational forces, under UN command, to help contain and resolve conflict between hostile states, and sometimes between antagonistic forces within a single state. It is a technique pioneered by the UN the soldier as a catalyst for peace rather than as an instrument of war. tttt. START Talks uuuu. START (Strategic Arms Reduction Talks) which started in 1981, pertained to reduction of strategic arms (range : 5000 km and more). However, no agreement could be arrived at due to a highly asymmetrical nature of the strategic weapons possessed by the two Super Powers. vvvv. TRACK ONE DIPLOMACY wwww. The Government to Government efforts at conflict resolution through peaceful means are termed as Track I diplomacy xxxx. TNCs yyyy. Trans National Corporations. Refer to the corporations having production activities in a large number of countries.