UPSSSC PET · Tricks & mnemonics

UPSSSC PET tricks & mnemonics — save minutes on exam day

Subject-wise short tricks and memory hacks for UPSSSC Preliminary Eligibility Test (PET). Each one is meant to be used in the exam hall — read it, then lock it in with a quick practice question.

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Indian History

  • IVC MASTERED — Indus Valley sites: Mohenjo-daro, Amri, Sutkagendor, Taxila (near), Edith Shahr, Ropar, Edgeware (Kalibangan), Dholavira. Four major: Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, Lothal, Kalibangan.
  • VLC Divides — Vedic literature: Vedas (4), Literature (Brahmanas, Aranyakas), Concluders (Upanishads). Rig (oldest) → Yajur/Sama/Atharva. Early Vedic = Rig only; Later = all four.
  • Buddha's 4 Noble = DSEPDukkha (suffering exists), Samudaya (cause=desire), Extinction (Nirvana possible), Path (Eightfold way). Mahavira's 5 vows: Truth, Non-violence, Non-stealing, Celibacy, Non-possession.
  • Mauryan CAB — Three emperors: Chandragupta (founder, 322 BCE), Ashoka (Kalinga war, Buddhism), Bindusar (middle). Ashoka's Kalinga war = turning point to Dhamma.
  • Gupta CCSK GoldenChandragupta I (founder, 320 CE), Chandragupta II (Vikramaditya, peak), Samudragupta (Napoleon of India), Kumaragupta. Aryabhata, Kalidasa flourished now.
  • Delhi Sultanate SKLTL — Five dynasties: Slave (Qutb-ud-din), Khilji (Alauddin reforms), Lodi (Ibrahim, last), Tughlaq (Delhi-Daulatabad shift), L (Sayyid, weak). Remember Lodis ended at Panipat-I (1526).
  • Mughal ABAJASHAkbar (Din-i-Ilahi), Babur (founder, 1526), Aurangzeb (last great), Jahangir (Nur Jahan), Akbar, Shah Jahan (Taj), Humayun. Chronology: Babur-Humayun-Akbar-Jahangir-Shah Jahan-Aurangzeb.
  • Maratha SAR TrioShahu (regent), Aurangzeb's nemesis Shivaji (founder, 1674), Rajaram. Peshwas: Baji Rao I (greatest general), Balaji Vishwanath (first Peshwa). Panipat-III (1761) = decline.
  • 1857 Revolt LAMB — Four main centers: Lucknow (Begum Hazrat Mahal), Allahabad, Meerut (start, 10 May), Bareilly (Khan Bahadur Khan). Delhi: Bahadur Shah Zafar proclaimed emperor. Immediate cause: greased cartridges.

Indian National Movement

  • Gandhi's 3 C-MovementsChamparan (1917, indigo), Chauri Chaura (1922, halted NCM), Civil Disobedience (1930, salt). Non-Cooperation (1920-22) = first mass movement.
  • Quit India 842 — Launched 8 August 1942. Slogan: "Do or Die." All leaders arrested immediately; spontaneous mass uprising followed. Parallel governments in Satara, Ballia.
  • Revolutionary R-L-B-ChandrashekharRam Prasad Bismil (Kakori), Lala Lajpat Rai (death sparked Lahore Conspiracy), Bhagat Singh/Sukhdev/Rajguru (hanged 1931), Chandrashekhar Azad (Allahabad, 1931). Chittagong: Surya Sen.
  • Azad Hind FAJ = 1943Forward Bloc (Bose founded 1939), Andaman (INA control), Japan support. INA trials (Red Fort, 1945) sparked naval mutiny (1946). Rani of Jhansi Regiment = women's wing.
  • GAINS of Early PhaseGokhale (moderates), Aurobindo (extremists), Indian Councils Act 1909 (Morley-Minto), National Congress 1885 (Hume), Surat Split 1907 (Moderates vs Extremists).
  • Gov India Act 1935 FAPFederation (never implemented), Autonomy (provinces got self-rule), Provincial elections (1937, Congress won 8/11). Reserved subjects: Defense, Foreign Affairs still British.

Geography

  • VIBGYOR for Soil — Violet=Vertical (black soil, Deccan). Indigo=Indo-Gangetic (alluvial). Blue=Bada (laterite, high rainfall). Green=Green Revolution areas. Yellow=Yellow (arid soils). Orange=Oxidized (red soil). Red=Red-laterite.
  • Western Ghats NKWT — Four states: Narcondam (Andaman; actually No—correct: Nilgiri-Kerala-Western Ghat-Tamil). Actually: Karnataka, Kerala, Goa, Maharashtra (KKGM). Higher than Eastern; causes orographic rain on windward (west).
  • River Right-Bank Tributaries = North Bank — For south-flowing rivers (Ganga, Yamuna), right-bank tributaries join from north/northeast. Ganga right: Yamuna, Son. Left: Gomti, Ghaghra. Remember: face downstream for "right."
  • Indian Standard Time = 82.5°E — IST is 5.5 hours ahead of GMT. Passes through Mirzapur (UP). India spans ~30° longitude but one time zone (unlike Russia/USA with multiple zones).
  • Climate 4 Seasons WMWSWinter (Dec-Feb), Monsoon (Jun-Sep, SW monsoon), Withdrawing Monsoon (Oct-Nov, NE), Summer (Mar-May). Kerala gets first monsoon rain (~1 June).

Indian Economy

  • LPG 1991 = MMSLiberalisation, Privatisation, Globalisation. Finance Minister: ManMohan Singh. PM: Narasimha Rao. Triggered by BoP crisis (foreign reserves = 2 weeks' imports).
  • Green Revolution HYV-IPFHYV seeds (High Yielding Variety), Yield focus (wheat/rice), Verghese Kurien (White, not Green!). Wait: Irrigation, Pesticides, Fertilizers. MS Swaminathan = father. Started mid-1960s, Punjab/Haryana leaders.
  • White Revolution = Anand PatternOperation Flood (1970, Verghese Kurien). Made India largest milk producer. Amul cooperative model. Three phases (1970-96). "Milkman of India."
  • Bank Nationalisation 14-6-1969 — **

AI-curated from widely-used exam techniques — always sanity-check a trick on a practice question before relying on it in the hall.

Tricks stick when you USE them

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