Terms & Explanation

Geographical Terms

ANTIPODES A region or place on the opposite side of a point on the earth.
ANTICYCLONES Winds which blow outward from the center.
APHELION Position of the earth in its orbit when is at the maximum distance from the sun.
ARCHIPELAGO A cluster of islands, e.g., Pearl Islands in the Gulf of Panama.
ATOLL Coral reef resembling a horse shoe, enclosing a lagoon.
AXIS An imaginary line joining north and south poles.
AVALANCHE A vast mass of snow mixed with earth or stones.
BIOSPHERE Animate or inanimate organic kingdom on earth.
CANYON A deep valley cut by a river through a mountain region, e,g., the Grand Canyon of the Colarado river in the USA.
CONTINENTAL SHELF Land adjoining a continent submerged in the sea.
CYCLONES A low pressure system area in which the wind blows spirally inward.
CROP ROTATION Growing different crops needing different minerals for their growth in the same piece of land in order to get more yield.
DATE LINE An imaginary line pointing north-south approximating to the Meridian 180 (east or west) where the date changes by one day the moment it is crossed.
DELTA Alluvial deposit shaped like Greek letter, formed at the mouth of the river, where it falls into the sea, e.g., the Sunderban delta.
DEW Condensed atmospheric water vapours due to the cooling of the air.
DRY FARMING Growing of crops in low rainfall areas by moisture conservation, crop rotation but without irrigation.
EQUATOR An imaginary line dividing the earth into two equal parts.
EQUINOXES The day on which nights and days are of equal duration, e.g., March 22 and September 23.
EROSION Wearing away of the earth's land surface by rain, wind, water, etc. rendering the land infertile.
ECLIPSE When one earthly body obscures another one partially or completely.
FOG When the atmospheric moisture touches cold earth and condenses on dust particles.
FROST When the atmospheric moisture deposits in the shape of icy flakes on the exposed objects or near the ground due to below freezing point temperature.
HIGH SEAS The parts of the sea which do not come under the territorial jurisdiction of the nations.
ICEBERG Huge mass of ice separated from glacier in the polar regions. These masses of ice float in the oceans with 9 parts submerged in the ocean and one part visible.
ISOBARS Lines on the map connecting the places of the same pressure.
ISOTHERMS Lines on the map joining the places of the same temperature.
ISTHMUS Narrow neck of land joining two land areas.
KUNDAN Anew variety of wheat which gives high yields in both rained and irrigated tracts and responds well to low dose of water and fertiliser.
LAGOON A shallow stream of water at the mouth of a river enclosed bu dunes of river silt.
LIGHT YEAR The distance traveled by light in one year. It is equal to 9.4*10612 km.
LOCAL TIME Time calculated from the sun at noon at any place of earth.
MERIDIAN Imaginary line joining north and south poles and cutting the equator at right angles.
MIST It is just like fog but contain more moisture.
OASIS A part of the desert where water and vegetation are found.
ORBIT The path of the heavenly bodies.
PYGMALLION POINT The southernmost point of India, 700 km away from mainland India.
PRAIRIES Smooth, treeless, green plain of Central and North America.
REEF Jutting of rock or shingle or sand at just above or below sea level.
SAVANNA Land covered with natural grass.
SIDEREAL DAY Time taken by the earth to rotate once round its axis.
SNOW LINE Altitudinal line along which the area remains snow clad.
SPRING TIDES Higher tides in the ocean caused by the sun and the moon together. When the sun, the earth and the moon are positioned in a straight line.
NEAP TIDES Tides caused by the differences of the forces exerted by the moon and the sun when both are at right angles to each other.
TORNADO A brisk and violent storm generally having rotator motion.
TUNDRAS Peripheral area of Arctic ocean.
TYCOON Violent hurricane in China Sea.
WEATHER SATELLITE Artificial satellite designed to forecast weather.
WESTERLIES Constant winds blowing from south-west in the northern hemisphere and north-west in south hemisphere.


POLITICAL AND SOCIAL TERMS

APARTHEID Policy of racial segregation practiced by the South African Government.
ADJOURNMENT A motion moved by a member of a legislature to adjourn consideration of the issues in hand for discussing a matter of urgent public importance.
AMNESTY Grant of pardon or exemption from prosecution to political importance.
ARMISTICE Temporary cessation of hostilities pending formal negotiations for peace.
APPEASEMENT The policy of gratifying one's enemy with concession and special grants by sacrificing even principles.
AUTONOMY Power to control internal affairs.
BILATERAL AGREEMENT An agreement between two countries.
BLOCKADES Imposing closure of ports and waterways to prevent ships from reaching or leaving it.
BOLSHEVISM The doctrine of Proletarian Dictatorship as propounded by Lenin.
BOURGEOISE Capitalist class in Marxian terminology.
BUFFER STATE A small neutral state between two big states.
BY-ELECTION A mid term election to fill a seat rendered vacant.
CASTING VOTE A vote casting of which decides the tie.
CAUCUS A powerful group of party.
CHARGED AFFAIRS The senior most diplomat after the head of the mission, officiating in his absence.
COALITION Combination of two or more parties with the purpose of forming a composite government.
CONFEDERATION Alliance of nations for some specific purpose our retaining the respective individual nation sovereignty.
COLD WAR The state of ideological or wordy warfare between two countries or blocks.
ENVOY A diplomatic emissary accredited to the country and holding position below that of an ambassador.
FIFTH COLUMN An anti-national clique of spies and saboteurs.
FLOOR CROSSING The act of changing political loyalty by a person or a group.
FRANCHISE Right to cast vote in the public elections.
GALLUP POLL An opinion poll-may be with the help of interview.
GENOCIDE Intention to destroy wholly or in part a religious, ethnic or political group.
GHERAO Encircling a person and rending him incapable of doing anything till he/she concedes demands.
GLOSNOST Means openness. Term used for reforms introduced in Russian society by M.Gorbachov.
HABEAS CORPUS A type of a writ issued by a High Court or Supreme court against illegal detention of a person.
HOT LINE A direct telephone link between the White House and Kremlin established in 1963.
IMPEACHMENT Trial by the Parliament.
LOBBYING Exercising influence or pressure on members of the legislative bodies in the lobby for supporting or opposing an issue in the House.
LOK PAL An official appointed by the President to investigate public complaints against ministers and high officials.
MANIFESTO A declaration of political party about its policies and programmes given at the time of elections.
NATIONALISATION The act of taking business undertakings an institutions by the state and controlling them.
NAXALITE A movement violent in character believing in Maoism: the term was first used for the peasants of Naxalbari (West Bengal) who rose against the landlords demanding land for the landless.
NEW DEAL The name given to the policy of Franklin D.Roosevelt to revive and boost American economy .
ORDINANCE An Act or decree promulgated by the Head of State in an emergency or when the legislative body is not in session.
PERESTROIKA Used for Gorbachov's move to restructure political and economical structure of the Russian society.
PLEBISCITE Voting on regional or national issue.
PERSONALITY CULT Too much adulation for a ruler or a political figure.
PRIVY PURSE Yearly allowances granted to the princes of Indian states after the merger of their states with the Indian Union. (New these purses are abolished).
PRIVILEGE MOTION A motion moved by a legislator drawing attention of the House towards a matter involving breach of privilege of the House or any of its members.
REFERENDUM People's verdict on some constitutional amendment and some other legislative issue of controversial nature.
SECULARISM Affirmation in all the faiths, showing no official patronage to any religions or religions.
SANCTIONS Penalty or reward imposed for disobedience or obedience attached to the law.
SOCIALISM Control of production and means of distribution in the hands of the State.
STATUTE Law made by the Parliament, enshrined in the statue book, which are binding on al subjects, of a particular country.
SUFFRAGE Right of voting in political elections.
SELF-DETERMINATION Right of a nation deciding its own form of government, its political destiny or independence.
TERRITORIAL WATERS Areas of the sea up to 12 km measured from the low water mark of the coast and within the executive control of an adjacent State.
UNICAMERAL A legislature having only one House.
VETO Right to reject any resolution or enactment passed by the legislature.


Economic , Commercial and Trade Terms

ARBITRATION Referring dispute to disinterested party called arbitrator for decision, which will be binding.
ANNUITY Payment of a fixed amount periodically for a limited time. It is an investment on which the owner receives not only interest on his money but also return of his capital.
BALANCE OF TRADE The difference between the value of imports and exports. It is favourable when the value of exported goods exceeds the value of imported goods. If it is reverse balance is unfavourable.
BALANCE SHEET Statements of accounts, generally os a business house prepared at the end of a year, showing debits and credits under broad heads, in order to find out the profit and loss positions in the outgoing year.
BARTER Exchange of commodity with other commodities without the interface of any form of currency.
BOND Document by which a government, a company or a person agrees to pay a sum of money in a certain time.
BUDGET Annual estimate of expenditure and revenue of a country or a subordinate authority like a corporation.
BILL OF EXCHANGE Written order by a drawer to pay sum on given date ot named payee.
BUYER'S MARKET An economic phenomenon where there are more goods in market than demanded and so the buyers can dictate the prices of goods.
CLEARING HOUSE Place where officials of the banks meet daily to exchange cheques drawn on the respective banks and settle the account by the payment of balances only.
COOPERATIVE FARMING Joint farming wherein farmers pool their land, capital and resources and divide the produce at the end of the harvest in proportion to their land put in the pool. The farmers retain their proprietary rights.
CEILING ON LAND AND HOLDING Imposition of a maximum limit of the land which an individual should have. Its purpose is rational distribution of land.
DEATH DUTY (ESTATE DUTY) A sort of tax imposed on the property inherited at death of its previous owner.
DEVALUATION Government's step to reduce the value of its own currency relatively to a foreign currency. It aims to increase exports and reduce imports.
DEFLATION A monetary state characterised by decrease in the supply of money and bank deposits and falling profits, wages, incomes and employment accompanied by unemployment and falling prices.
DEMONETISATION The governmental measure of depriving metallic coins or paper currency od specified denominations of its status money. It is meant to unearth the hidden money which is unaccounted for purpose of income tax assessment.
EXCISE DUTY Duty levied on goods manufactured within the country.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE Transfer of money of one country to another.
INFLATION Increase in the quality of money in circulation without any corresponding increase in goods; so, it leads to rising prices spiral.
LAISSEZ FAIRE An individualistic theory advocating private initiative in trade and non-interference by State in commercial or business ventures.
LOCKOUT Closure of a factory by owners to force the workers to accept the imposed terms.
MALTHUSIAN THEORY OF POPULATION It states that the food supply increase in arithmetical progression while population increase by geometrical progression resulting in over-population.
OCTROI Tax imposed on articles coming inside a city.
PUBLIC SECTOR Applies to State enterprises or undertaking.
RECESSION An economic phenomenon characterised by excessive production, less demand, tight money market.
SOFT CURRENCY Currency of a country with which we have favourable balance of trade.
STERLING AREA Group of countries of Commonwealth (except Canada) keeping their reserves in sterling and not gold or dollars.
TARIFFS Measures undertaking by one country to protect industry against trade competition from outside.


Legal Terms

AFFIDAVIT A statement on oath for use as evidence in legal proceedings.
CONTEMPT OF COURT Any disobedience of the court verdict.
COPYRIGHT Exclusive right of an author in his works,
COVENANT An agreement under seal between two or more persons.
DECREE Judgement or decision having the force of law.
DETENU Persons who dies without making any will.
INTESTATE A person who dies without making any will.
LIBEL A published statement damaging to a person's reputation or business.
MANDAMUS A writ issued by a higher court to a lower court directing it to perform a specified act pertaining to its office.
PLAINTIFF A person who, as complainant, brings a suit in a court of law.
SUMMONS A directive from a court of law ordering a person to appear before it at a specified date, time and place.
WRIT A written order by a Supreme Court or High Court directing the State or a lowest court to act or abstain from acting in a particular case.