Side-by-side breakdowns of concepts Prelims and Mains repeatedly test — so you eliminate traps, not marks.
Balance of Trade (BoT) = exports − imports of goods only. Balance of Payments (BoP) = Current Account + Capital & Financial Account — includes services, income, transfers, and capital flows.
Key differences
Capital expenditure (capex) creates physical or financial assets or reduces liability (highways, loan repayment). Revenue expenditure is recurring — salaries, subsidies, interest — with no asset creation.
On intra-state supply, equal CGST and SGST are levied (e.g. 9% + 9% = 18%). CGST goes to Centre, SGST to the state. Inter-state supply uses IGST instead.
CPI tracks what households pay (goods + services). WPI tracks bulk prices at the producer level (goods only). RBI inflation targeting uses CPI-Combined.
CRR is cash parked with RBI (no interest). SLR is liquid assets kept by the bank itself (can earn return on G-Secs).
Demand-pull: aggregate demand exceeds supply (“too much money chasing too few goods”). Cost-push: input costs (wages, oil, rupee depreciation) rise, shifting supply curve left.
Depreciation = currency loses value in a floating/managed float system (market forces). Devaluation = government/RBI officially lowers the fixed peg — classic fixed-exchange-rate tool.
Direct taxes (Income Tax, Corporate Tax) are paid by the person on whom they are levied. Indirect taxes (GST, customs) are shifted to consumers through prices — often regressive in impact.
Disinvestment = selling a portion of government equity (minority or majority). Privatization = strategic sale where private entity acquires control (>51% or full exit of govt management).
FDI involves lasting interest and control (typically ≥10% equity) in real assets. FPI buys stocks/bonds without management control — “hot money” that can exit quickly.
Fiscal deficit = Total expenditure − Total receipts excluding borrowings. Revenue deficit = Revenue expenditure − Revenue receipts — when the government borrows even to pay salaries and subsidies.
GDP measures production within territorial borders. GNP = GDP + Net Factor Income from Abroad (NFIA) — income earned by Indian residents globally.
GDP counts all final output produced domestically. NDP = GDP − Depreciation (consumption of fixed capital) — a cleaner measure of sustainable production.
VAT was a state tax on goods with limited inter-state credit. GST is a comprehensive, destination-based tax on goods and services with nationwide Input Tax Credit and a dual Centre–State structure.
IMF (1945): macro stability, short-term BOP support, conditionality, SDRs. World Bank (IBRD/IDA): project loans for development, poverty reduction, infrastructure, human capital.
Monetary policy (RBI) controls money supply and interest rates. Fiscal policy (Union/State governments) uses taxation and expenditure to influence growth and distribution.
Nominal GDP uses today’s prices. Real GDP uses constant base-year prices to show actual growth in production.
Repo = RBI lends to banks (injects liquidity). Reverse repo = banks park funds with RBI (absorbs liquidity). Repo is always higher.
Revenue receipts are recurring (taxes, interest, dividends, fees) with no repayment obligation. Capital receipts create liability (borrowings) or reduce assets (disinvestment) — non-recurring in nature.
SGST applies to intra-state supplies and goes to the state. IGST applies to inter-state supplies (and imports), is collected by the Centre, and is later apportioned to the destination state.
Tax evasion = illegal — hiding income, fake invoices, not filing returns. Tax avoidance = legal but often unethical — structuring affairs to minimize tax within law (GAAR now curbs aggressive avoidance).
Afforestation plants trees on land that was not forest for a long time (e.g. wasteland, grassland). Reforestation restores tree cover on recently deforested or degraded forest land.
Global warming is the long-term increase in Earth’s average surface temperature (mainly from GHGs). Climate change includes warming plus altered precipitation, extreme events, sea-level rise, and ecosystem shifts.
Eutrophication is excessive nutrients (N, P) triggering algal blooms and oxygen depletion. Biomagnification is increasing concentration of persistent toxins (DDT, mercury, PCBs) at higher trophic levels.
In-situ conservation protects ecosystems and species in their natural habitat (e.g. tiger reserves). Ex-situ conservation removes or replicates genetic material outside the wild (zoos, seed banks, cryopreservation).
National Parks = strictest under WPA 1972. Sanctuaries = flexible species protection. Biosphere Reserves = UNESCO MAB zones with core–buffer–transition and human activity in outer zones.
Bhangar = older alluvium on interfluve uplands, often calcareous (kankar), less fertile. Khadar = newer alluvium in active floodplains, renewed each flood, more fertile.
Cyclone (low pressure): air converges, rises, cools, condenses → clouds, rain, storms. Anticyclone (high pressure): air sinks, warms, dries → clear skies, stable weather.
Delta = sediment deposition when river enters calm sea/lake — Ganga-Brahmaputra, Nile. Estuary = drowned river valley or mixed zone with tidal influence — Thames, Narmada mouth, Hooghly lower reaches.
El Niño warms the central-eastern Pacific and weakens trade winds; La Niña cools it and strengthens Walker circulation. For India, El Niño years often correlate with below-normal monsoon; La Niña with better rainfall (with regional exceptions).
Kharif (June–October sowing) depends on southwest monsoon — rice, maize, cotton, soyabean. Rabi (October–March) uses retained soil moisture and irrigation — wheat, barley, mustard, gram.
Weather is day-to-day (hours to weeks): temperature, humidity, rain today. Climate is the 30+ year average of weather — what you expect in Mumbai in June, not what happened yesterday.
Western Ghats: continuous, higher (Anaimudi 2,695 m), orographic rain, biodiversity hotspot, UNESCO WHS. Eastern Ghats: discontinuous, lower, eroded, lie inland from Coromandel coast.
Bhakti (8th–17th c.) emphasised personal devotion to Vishnu/Shiva/Shakti, vernacular poetry, and often attacked caste ritualism. Sufi orders (12th c. onward) pursued mystical union with Allah through love, music, and pir-murid discipleship — influencing Hindus and Muslims alike.
Both rejected Brahmanical ritual and caste hierarchy. Buddhism taught Middle Path, Four Noble Truths, no permanent soul (anatta). Jainism taught absolute ahimsa, triratna, eternal jiva (soul), and extreme asceticism under Mahavira.
Non-Cooperation (1920–22) boycotted titles, courts, councils, foreign cloth — no illegal salt making. Civil Disobedience (1930–34) broke specific laws (Salt Act), filled prisons, and demanded poorna swaraj with wider peasant participation.
Swadeshi arose after Bengal Partition (1905) — boycott foreign goods, promote indigenous industry, national education. Non-Cooperation was all-India, Gandhi-led, linked to Khilafat and included surrender of titles, courts, and councils.
Adjournment pauses work within a session (Speaker/Chairman power). Prorogation ends the session (President/Governor on advice). Prorogation kills pending bills in that session unless saved by rules; adjournment does not end session.
Pardon (and reprieve, respite, remission, commutation) under Art. 72/161 absolves or reduces punishment for identified individuals. Amnesty is a general act of forgiveness for a class of offenders — often political — wiping guilt prospectively or retrospectively.
Council of Ministers includes all ministers (Cabinet, MOS with independent charge, MOS, Deputy Ministers). Cabinet is the smaller inner core — typically ~20–30 senior ministers — that decides policy. All Cabinet members are CoM; not all CoM are Cabinet.
CAG (Art. 148) is the supreme audit institution — financial propriety, performance audits, PAC reports. CVC (statutory, 2003 Act) supervises vigilance administration and advises on corruption cases involving Group A officers.
Courts of record (SC under Art. 129, HC under Art. 215) have authenticated proceedings and inherent contempt power. Tribunals under Arts. 323A–B are specialised adjudicators — subject to HC/SC judicial review, not replacements for constitutional courts.
Finance Commission (Art. 280) recommends tax devolution, grants-in-aid, and fiscal consolidation every five years. GST Council (Art. 279A) decides GST rates, exemptions, and dispute resolution — unique cooperative federalism with weighted voting.
FRs are justiciable (courts can enforce). DPSPs are non-justiciable directions for governance, aimed at social and economic democracy.
Fundamental Rights (Part III) protect individuals against State action and are enforceable via writs. Fundamental Duties (Part IV-A, Art. 51A) were added by the 42nd Amendment (1976) on Swaran Singh Committee recommendations — directed at citizens, not justiciable by themselves.
Governor is constitutional head of state government, appointed by President. CM is real executive, appointed by Governor as leader of majority in Legislative Assembly, aided by Council of Ministers.
Habeas corpus = “produce the body” — fastest shield against unlawful arrest. Mandamus = “we command” — compels performance of a public duty, not private disputes.
Joint sitting (Art. 108) resolves legislative deadlock on ordinary bills — summoned by President, voted by combined LS+RS members. Joint committee is a parliamentary committee with members from both houses to examine bills or inquire — no law-making vote.
Review = courts checking constitutionality (Art. 13, 32, 226). Activism = proactive, reform-oriented use of judicial power to fill governance gaps — not a separate constitutional article.
Lok Adalats are ADR forums — informal, conciliatory, award equals decree if accepted. Gram Nyayalayas are formal rural courts with legally trained judges for speedy trial of specified offences and civil claims at panchayat level.
Lok Sabha is directly elected, can be dissolved, and dominates money bills and confidence. Rajya Sabha is permanent, represents states, and has special federal powers (e.g. Art. 249).
Lokpal (Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013) inquires into corruption allegations against central public servants including the PM (with exclusions). Lokayuktas are state bodies with varying powers — Karnataka and Maharashtra models differ widely.
Money Bills (Art. 110) cover only six specified matters like taxation and Consolidated Fund charges. Finance Bills (Art. 117) are broader; only Finance Bill (I) needs prior recommendation. Speaker’s certificate on a Money Bill is final.
Planning Commission (1950–2014) drafted Five-Year Plans and allocated Plan funds via Gadgil-Mukherjee formula. NITI Aayog (2015) advises policy, promotes competitive federalism, SDGs, and reform monitoring — no power to allocate plan grants.
An ordinance is a temporary law when Parliament is not in session, valid for six weeks from reassembly unless approved. An Act passes full bicameral procedure. Re-promulgation without approval was struck down in D.C. Wadhwa (1987).
Writ petition = formal application for habeas corpus, mandamus, etc. PIL = writ procedure with eased locus standi so any public-spirited person can approach court for the oppressed.
President is Head of State with formal powers (Art. 53) exercised on Cabinet advice (Art. 74). PM is Head of Government, leader of Council of Ministers, real centre of executive power in parliamentary system.
Simple majority = more votes in favour among members present and voting (abstentions excluded). Special majority for constitutional amendments = majority of total membership of each house plus two-thirds of members present and voting (Art. 368).
Constitutional bodies (EC, UPSC, FC, GST Council) derive authority directly from constitutional articles. Statutory bodies (CVC, CIC, NITI Aayog) are established by ordinary legislation and can be altered by Parliament more easily.
Supreme Court = final interpreter, Art. 32 writs for FRs, original Centre–State jurisdiction. High Court = state apex, wider Art. 226 writs, superintends subordinate courts under Art. 227.
DNA stores genetic information (double helix, deoxyribose, thymine). RNA transfers/codes protein synthesis (usually single strand, ribose, uracil instead of thymine).
Vaccines stimulate immunity before or after exposure (preventive/prophylactic). Antibiotics kill or inhibit bacteria during active infection (curative) — not effective against viruses.
Viruses need host cells to replicate (DNA or RNA core + protein coat). Bacteria are living single-celled organisms (cell wall, ribosomes) — many harmless or beneficial, some pathogenic.
