Awards, Honours and Sports
Bharat Ratna Order — Recipients announced on Republic Day (26 Jan) or Independence Day (15 Aug). Remember: BR = Big Republic days.
Padma Awards Hierarchy — Padma Vibhushan > Padma Bhushan > Padma Shri. Alphabetically reverse: V-B-S descending order of importance.
Nobel Prize Months — Announcements in October, ceremony on December 10 (Alfred Nobel's death anniversary). Medicine→Physics→Chemistry→Literature→Peace→Economics (first week October sequence).
Sports Trophy Trick — Durand Cup = Football; Deodhar Trophy = Cricket; Davis Cup = Tennis. Three D's, three different sports.
Economic News
Repo vs Reverse Repo — Repo = RBI "Re"plenishes banks (lends to banks); Reverse Repo = Banks park money with RBI (reverse flow). Repo always higher than reverse repo.
CPI vs WPI — CPI = Consumer focus (retail inflation, includes services); WPI = Wholesale focus (bulk goods, excludes services). CPI for common man, WPI for producers.
Fiscal Deficit Formula — FD = Total Expenditure Minus Revenue Receipts (excluding borrowings). Remember TEMRR: "Temporary Revenue Requirement."
International Affairs
UNSC Permanent Five (P5) — France, Russia, China, UK, USA. Mnemonic: FRUC-U or think "Five Real Countries with Unique Unanimity power."
BRICS Order by GDP — China, India, Brazil, Russia, South Africa (descending). Remember CIB-R-S sounds like "Ciphers."
National Affairs
Article 370 vs 371 — 370 dealt with J&K (now abrogated); 371 covers Northeast and other Special States. 370 = one state (past), 371 = multiple states (present).
Schedule Trick — 8th Schedule = Languages (8 sounds like "ate"=spoken); 12th Schedule = Municipalities (12=dozen local bodies).
Reports and Indices
HDI Components — Life expectancy, Education, Income. Mnemonic: LEI (like Hawaiian garland - think human development "adorns" nations).
Ease of Doing Business Rank — Published by World Bank (not WEF). Remember: Business=Bank (both B's).
Science and Technology News
Vaccine Types Memory — Inactivated/Killed, Live attenuated, Toxoid, Subunit. Mnemonic: IKLT-S = "I Keep Learning Technology & Science."
ISRO vs NASA Locations — ISRO headquarters = Bangalore (both start with vowels A,E,I,O,U nearby); NASA = Washington DC (both capitals).
Basics of Economy and National Income
GDP Calculation Methods — Three approaches: Production/Output, Income, Expenditure. All give same result. Remember PIE (three slices, same pie).
Direct vs Indirect Tax — Direct = burden cannot shift (Income tax, Corporate tax); Indirect = burden can shift (GST, Customs). Direct hits you directly, no escape.