200+ Important Abbreviations — Complete PSC Reference

Abbreviation questions appear in every PSC exam (1-3 questions). This master list covers 200+ abbreviations organized by category.

Banking and Finance

Abbreviation	Full Form
RBI	Reserve Bank of India
SBI	State Bank of India
NABARD	National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development
SEBI	Securities and Exchange Board of India
SIDBI	Small Industries Development Bank of India
IRDA / IRDAI	Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India
PFRDA	Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority
NHB	National Housing Bank
EXIM Bank	Export-Import Bank of India
IDBI	Industrial Development Bank of India
ATM	Automated Teller Machine
NEFT	National Electronic Funds Transfer
RTGS	Real Time Gross Settlement
IMPS	Immediate Payment Service
UPI	Unified Payments Interface
KYC	Know Your Customer
NPA	Non-Performing Asset
CRR	Cash Reserve Ratio
SLR	Statutory Liquidity Ratio
REPO	Repurchase Option (Repurchase Agreement)
GDP	Gross Domestic Product
GNP	Gross National Product
NDP	Net Domestic Product
FDI	Foreign Direct Investment
FII	Foreign Institutional Investor
GST	Goods and Services Tax
PAN	Permanent Account Number
TDS	Tax Deducted at Source
EMI	Equated Monthly Instalment
IPO	Initial Public Offering
SENSEX	Sensitive Index (BSE)
NIFTY	National Stock Exchange Fifty
BSE	Bombay Stock Exchange
NSE	National Stock Exchange
PMJDY	Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana

Government and Administration

Abbreviation	Full Form
IAS	Indian Administrative Service
IPS	Indian Police Service
IFS	Indian Foreign Service / Indian Forest Service
UPSC	Union Public Service Commission
PSC	Public Service Commission
CAG	Comptroller and Auditor General
CBI	Central Bureau of Investigation
NIA	National Investigation Agency
RAW	Research and Analysis Wing
CVC	Central Vigilance Commission
NHRC	National Human Rights Commission
NCW	National Commission for Women
NCSC	National Commission for Scheduled Castes
NCST	National Commission for Scheduled Tribes
NCBC	National Commission for Backward Classes
NITI Aayog	National Institution for Transforming India
RTI	Right to Information
PIL	Public Interest Litigation
FIR	First Information Report
IPC	Indian Penal Code (now BNS — Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita)
CrPC	Code of Criminal Procedure (now BNSS — Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita)
BNS	Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (replaced IPC, 2024)
BNSS	Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (replaced CrPC, 2024)
BSA	Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (replaced Indian Evidence Act, 2024)
MGNREGA	Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
NRC	National Register of Citizens
CAA	Citizenship Amendment Act
AFSPA	Armed Forces Special Powers Act
DoPT	Department of Personnel and Training
PMO	Prime Minister’s Office

Science and Technology

Abbreviation	Full Form
ISRO	Indian Space Research Organisation
NASA	National Aeronautics and Space Administration
DRDO	Defence Research and Development Organisation
BARC	Bhabha Atomic Research Centre
CSIR	Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
ICAR	Indian Council of Agricultural Research
ICMR	Indian Council of Medical Research
DST	Department of Science and Technology
DBT	Department of Biotechnology
VSSC	Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre
HAL	Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
BEL	Bharat Electronics Limited
BHEL	Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited
ONGC	Oil and Natural Gas Corporation
NTPC	National Thermal Power Corporation
NPCIL	Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited
DNA	Deoxyribonucleic Acid
RNA	Ribonucleic Acid
AIDS	Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
HIV	Human Immunodeficiency Virus
CT scan	Computed Tomography scan
MRI	Magnetic Resonance Imaging
ECG	Electrocardiogram
EEG	Electroencephalogram
LED	Light Emitting Diode
LCD	Liquid Crystal Display
GPS	Global Positioning System
AI	Artificial Intelligence
IoT	Internet of Things
IT	Information Technology
URL	Uniform Resource Locator
HTTP	Hypertext Transfer Protocol
HTML	Hypertext Markup Language
RAM	Random Access Memory
ROM	Read Only Memory
CPU	Central Processing Unit
USB	Universal Serial Bus
WiFi	Wireless Fidelity
SIM	Subscriber Identity Module
PDF	Portable Document Format

International Organisations

Abbreviation	Full Form
UN	United Nations
UNESCO	United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
UNICEF	United Nations Children’s Fund
WHO	World Health Organisation
WTO	World Trade Organisation
IMF	International Monetary Fund
IBRD	International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank)
ILO	International Labour Organisation
FAO	Food and Agriculture Organisation
IAEA	International Atomic Energy Agency
ICJ	International Court of Justice
ICC	International Criminal Court
UNHCR	United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
UNDP	United Nations Development Programme
UNEP	United Nations Environment Programme
NATO	North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
ASEAN	Association of Southeast Asian Nations
SAARC	South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
BRICS	Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa
BIMSTEC	Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation
G7	Group of Seven
G20	Group of Twenty
OPEC	Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries
EU	European Union
INTERPOL	International Criminal Police Organisation
NAM	Non-Aligned Movement
APEC	Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
SCO	Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
OECD	Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
ADB	Asian Development Bank
NDB	New Development Bank (BRICS Bank)
AIIB	Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
FIFA	Federation Internationale de Football Association
IOC	International Olympic Committee
ICC	International Cricket Council

Education

Abbreviation	Full Form
UGC	University Grants Commission
AICTE	All India Council for Technical Education
NCERT	National Council of Educational Research and Training
CBSE	Central Board of Secondary Education
ICSE	Indian Certificate of Secondary Education
IIT	Indian Institute of Technology
IIM	Indian Institute of Management
NIT	National Institute of Technology
AIIMS	All India Institute of Medical Sciences
NEP	National Education Policy
NET	National Eligibility Test
NEET	National Eligibility cum Entrance Test
JEE	Joint Entrance Examination
NAAC	National Assessment and Accreditation Council
NBA	National Board of Accreditation

Defence

Abbreviation	Full Form
IAF	Indian Air Force
INS	Indian Naval Ship
NDA	National Defence Academy
IMA	Indian Military Academy
OTA	Officers Training Academy
BSF	Border Security Force
CRPF	Central Reserve Police Force
CISF	Central Industrial Security Force
ITBP	Indo-Tibetan Border Police
SSB	Sashastra Seema Bal
NSG	National Security Guard
RPF	Railway Protection Force

Kerala-Specific

Abbreviation	Full Form
KPSC	Kerala Public Service Commission
KSRTC	Kerala State Road Transport Corporation
KSEB	Kerala State Electricity Board
KWA	Kerala Water Authority
NORKA	Non-Resident Keralites Affairs
KINFRA	Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation
KIIFB	Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board
CIAL	Cochin International Airport Limited
CUSAT	Cochin University of Science and Technology
KILA	Kerala Institute of Local Administration
KSFE	Kerala State Financial Enterprises
FACT	Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore
CPCRI	Central Plantation Crops Research Institute
CMFRI	Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute
IISR	Indian Institute of Spices Research
KITE	Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education
K-FON	Kerala Fibre Optic Network

Environment

Abbreviation	Full Form
UNFCCC	United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
COP	Conference of the Parties
IPCC	Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
WWF	World Wide Fund for Nature
IUCN	International Union for Conservation of Nature
CITES	Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
MoEFCC	Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
CPCB	Central Pollution Control Board
NGT	National Green Tribunal
EIA	Environmental Impact Assessment