SOMP STUDENT TRANSCRIPT

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Name : -
Date : 28th March 2023, Afternoon, Fourth to go
Board : Hon’ble Smita Nagraj ma’am
Background : Electronics and Communications engineering
Optional : Geography
Work Ex : Semiconductor verification @Intel | BPSC
Home state : Bihar
DAF keywords : South Asia’s best speaker, Best outgoing student, Model UN, Madhubani painting, Badminton, Intel woman leader in silicon verification

Chairwoman ma’am :
1. What are you doing these days?
2. (Follow up) Should we congratulate you, are you happy?
3. What were the criteria for the ‘Best outgoing student’ award?
4. (Follow up) Should these criteria be conveyed to the students or not?
5.  A scenario where some part of students’ fees goes in a prize award, should the criteria’s of awards be conveyed then? [some discussions]
6. Subjectivity on code of conduct, what does it mean?
7. How would you judge a person’s conduct?
8. Should the convention of addressing seniors as sir or ma’am be removed? If not, why?
9. Did you address your seniors in Intel as ma’am/sir or with their names? (some discussion around this)

M1
1. Why did you leave such a well paying job for civil services?
2. You are from Bihar. Can you tell the name of a Chairman of the  Finance commission who hails from Bihar?
3. (Follow up )Tell some of his recommendations which differed from previous ones.
4. Follow up from previous question on Disaster management : Adaptation vs mitigation.
5. As the District magistrate of a district in Bihar, how will you address the issue of Disasters?
6. What can be done to ensure that the dependency on funds from centre be reduced for disaster mitigation and response?

M2
1. What is insurgency?
2. How does elements from inside and outside the country impact it? Give examples
3. Can it be removed completely? Steps taken till now? 
4. What is the Great Wall of steel?
5. (Follow up) How does it impact India?
6. In case of a war with China, can India hold its grounds?
7. (some more follow ups on this)

Chairwoman ma’am:
1. About this Great wall of steel, according to you, is it offensive or defensive?
2. What was the significance of Great wall of China?
3. Why did President Xi choose to call it the Great wall of steel only?

M3
1. Asked about the MUN mentioned in DAF.
2. What is the significance of MUNs?
3. What about the UN? Does it need reforms?
4.  (follow up ) What is complementarity of UNGA and UNSC?
5. Stand of UN on the Russia - Ukraine war.

M4
1. You have a technical background. Don’t you think you are wasting your talent and resources  by switching to civil services?
2. You have played football in University. How many years did you play for and what did you learn?
(Politely corrected him that I played Badminton)
3. Why is Badminton gaining popularity in the country?
4. Don’t you think the players doing well is the most important reason?
5. (Follow up ) Is this role modelling approach helpful in socio-economic context in any way?

Chairwoman ma’am:
1. Can you give an example where models have been replicated from one state to another, tell wrt Bihar.
2. Where was the implementation done first?
Thank you, your interview is over.

Overall experience: Very cordial and attentive board. Real interview is different from mocks. It is an enriching experience of a discussion on your own interest with an extremely dignified panel.
Utility of mocks : Helpful in understanding the formal setting of an interview, content structuring based on your background and DAF, gives room for self analysis.
Good ones: Vajirao and Reddy, Chanakya Mandal Pariwar, Unacademy.
O2O : Extremely helpful.
- Vinay sir for discussions and his continued guidance| Ravindran sir’s O2O was the closest | Special mention to Utkarsh sir from SOMP for his constant support |Ayush sir for multiple discussions | Deepak sir from IAS PCS factory for his help on certain DAF related prep

Discussions with my friends and seniors helped the most. Also thankful to the community for the transcripts.
Hoping for the best. Good luck everyone!

SOMP STUDENT TRANSCRIPT

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Date and session of interview - 29/03/2023, forenoon session,2nd last to go
Board-  Smitha Nagaraj Ma'am
Optional- PSIR
College- NIT PATNA
Profession- 2Yr work ex at Godrej &Boyce
Hobbies- Budget travelling, Following Indian foreign policy
Experience in interview - board is very cordial, although there were cross questions based on previous answers. Chairman remained stoic .
Utility of mocks or O2O- help you in acclimatising to environment of personality test and helps to cover important areas of DAF.

Chairperson

1. Why people have more expectations from public servants but don't demand similar attention from CXOs of companies they buy products from.

1a. How to improve public services based on your experience in private sector.

2. Isnt  it unethical on part of private companies to ask public to buy Indian products while they import products from China and brand it as their own product ?

3. What was scenario in your company?

3a.How does it impact Indian economy?

4.Since 1947, what are the major achievements of Indian foreign policy.

Member 1
1. Where all have you travelled in your state ?

1a. What are other major tourist centres in your state.

2. How do you compare tourist facilities in your state and other states.

3. What is status of tourism sector in your state and How to boost tourism in your state.



Member 2
1. What is budget travelling and what's your approach to it

2. Don't you think travelling in budget will not help local economies

3. What should government promote budget travelling or leisure travelling

4. If you've to device a policy , what will be your approach.

5. What are government's objectives when they are formulating policies for tourism

Member3

1. What happened in 1998 in India .

2. What advantages do G 20 presidency bring to India.

3. Challenges to G20.

4. What were outcomes of foreign minister's summit. Was it a success or a failure

Member 4

1. Is USA a declining power

2. What will be impact on India of changed approach of USA

Chairperson

Thank you , your interview is over.

Thought 3 of 60D30T:

Current affairs ( CA) saga : The only exceptional year in last 10 PT for CA was 2016 where a large number of questions were asked from CA . Apart from that year the weightage of CA as compare to static part was less in pre is less . In the recent years it was seen that there was drastic decrease in the number of questions from CA .

My view on CA is that you should cover it from one single standard source. It could be yearly compilation or if you have done monthly magazine then go for it . Then whatever is left can be covered from the test series . Do not add new material for the same otherwise you will end up doing CA only and in the end the static part will suffer . Do not do CA at the cost of static part. Most important thing is covering from a standard (good )source .
Market is full of CA material and everyone now a days CA expert. Do not fall in this trap , go for good institutes material only .


I know many students who are doing CA only for the whole year in the name of preparation . For them prep means only CA. If you are one among them then god help you.

I am not at all saying that CA is not important. What if 2023 pre will turn out to be like 2016 . My simple point is do not multiply sources and don’t over do CA . One standard source along with multiple FLTs(will cover this aspect in the next post) is more than enough.

SOMP STUDENT TRANSCRIPT

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CM (Soni Sir)
1. General discussion about my name, work ex etc.
2. provisions in NEP about distance learning
3. current status of implementation of NEP
4. regulator under NEP

Mem 1-
1. What do I understand by nationalism?
2. Is it a force for good or not?
3. when can nationalism be harmful.
4. Role of CAG
5. should the office of CAG be disbanded? what reforms needed

Mem 2-
1. why development deficit in south CG vis-a-vis north and Central CG
2. how has it led to naxalism
3. which startegy is more suitable to tackle it - mowing down the grass root altogether or targeting the top brass
4. armed forces or police - which is more suitable to tackle lwe

Mem 3
1. Yes Bank AT1 Bond issue
2. credit rating of Indian G-secs ; why low?
3. export scenario in India

Mem 4
1. few provisions from the budget
2. Provisions affecting investors


Mem 4 also asked a few other questions, but I do not remember those



Mocks- Samkalp, chanakya mandal and VisionIAS
One to one- Ravindran Sir, Vinay Sir and you ( utkarsh at SOMP).

All of these were very helpful sir

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Why this course can benefit you immensely?
1. Complete Coverage of all PYQs from 1995-2022 in PDF format
2. Explanation of the logics techniques based on those logics. ( Not mere Blind Elimination Techniques)
3. Supporting content for topics not covered in regular books.


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Thought 4 of 60D30T: Importance and practical side of prelims Mock test.

Some of the posts now will be dedicated for the Mock Tests . This one aspect if you will understand well and start following then your chances of clearing prelims will be very high. There are two aspects to the mock test one is Quality and another is Quantity. Those who fail in prelims consistently focus solely on Quantity part not on Quality. Even their doubts are regarding no of mock not on how to utilise mock tests .
Every year I hear the same stories from students . Sir my friend didn’t solve a single mock and cleared prelims . Sir that XYZ topper said that solve 100+ mock test and easily clear prelims . Then they ask sir how many tests should I solve ?
Before coming to the ideal number of mock tests should be solved ( Quantity) , let me tell you about the importance of mock tests. ( Quality)

Importance of mock tests: ( Quality)

A) Filling the knowledge gap : This is the first area where students make the biggest mistake . For them mock test is all about getting good score but that is not the aim of solving mock tests .
Solving mock means applying your acquired knowledge. you can read a book for 100 times and still won’t be able to mark basic questions correctly. Why is that so ? Because there will always be knowledge gap in your preparation. Unless you fill this gap , you won’t be able to mark right option in the real exam . What is knowledge gap? It means difference between acquired knowledge and required knowledge. Mock helps in filling this gap.
For Ex : In the BoP chapter in the economy , there are effects of BOP of a country on many economic indicators. Understanding BoP is part of knowledge but unless you understand the effects of BoP on economic indicators that is application part your topic is not finished . By solving some questions on BoP you will be able to apply your knowledge and fill the knowledge gap.

Now a days as everyone is aware that solving mock is important so they try to do the same . But once they see that they are not getting good score in the mock , they go back to studying and studying and don’t come back to solve test . They end up having only acquired knowledge not required one.

B) Developing attitude : Treat prelims preparation as Mathematics . You can keep on mugging up formulas and concepts but unless you solve numerical your mathematical attitude won’t be developed. The same applies to the prelims . You can keep on reading but unless you solve mock your prelims attitude won’t be developed.
This attitude includes how to solve mcqs, how to eliminate wrong options, how to see right options etc .
By solving mocks you will develop your own techniques and methods to mark correct options.

C ) Gaining new knowledge : Books have a limit to what you can learn. Mock tests provide you new set of knowledge and information. This new knowledge will help you to cover many new topics .

D ) Handling the unexpected : Then the last part is another important area because despite of reading all the books and learning new facts there will be questions where you will not be having any clue . So solving mock helps in getting used to some of these questions in every mock .

Number of mock tests to be solved : ( Quantity)
Things you can’t revise don’t do . Means the number of tests one can revise is the ideal range for an individual candidate. But don’t say that I can revise only 2 tests so will solve only 2.
Ideally one should solve one full test series of any good institute which should consists around 20 static subject wise tests and 7-10 full length tests then solve 5-10 Full length tests . Solving FLTs of other institutes is equally important as you will become habitual of eliminating options by solving one coaching tests so that habit must be tested by solving other coaching tests.
You can check out SOMP prelims test series, test quality is really good and only relevant questions are included. Click here for more information….

Prelims 2023 PYQ Course

PYQs is the core of UPSC exam, be it in understanding the content, context or conduct of the questions.

Why this course can benefit you immensely?
1. Complete Coverage of all PYQs from 1995-2022 in PDF format
2. Explanation of the logics techniques based on those logics. ( Not mere Blind Elimination Techniques)
3. Supporting content for topics not covered in regular books.


👉👉Sample Files

Fees - 2800/-

To enroll, contact at @somp_enquiries.

Prelims 2023 PYQ Course

PYQs is the core of UPSC exam, be it in understanding the content, context or conduct of the questions.

Why this course can benefit you immensely?
1. Complete Coverage of all PYQs from 1995-2022 in PDF format
2. Explanation of the logics techniques based on those logics. ( Not mere Blind Elimination Techniques)
3. Supporting content for topics not covered in regular books.


👉👉Sample Files

Fees - 2800/-

To enroll, contact at @somp_enquiries.

The sprint of 50 days now begins. Anxiety will start gripping you. Very frequently, you'll feel you haven't done enough. At times it's just an emotion due to stress, at times a reminder to push yourself.

In these last 50 days, among other things, there are some absolute essentials for you to do for Prelims 2023, like PYQs, decent preparation of Current Affairs, mock tests, CSAT etc


To help you in this regard, below are some of our courses which can definitely benefit you, if you are uncomfortable in any of these aspects. However, if you have these aspects sorted, you are advised to stick to your plan rather than changing your strategy and sources in these last 50 days.

Programs which can help you in these last 50 days

1. Thematic Current Affairs.
2. Outcome Oriented Revision Program.
3. PYQ Analysis Program.
4. Test Series.
5. CSAT.

For enquiry or enrollment, contact at @somp_enquiries

Prelims 2023 PYQ Course

PYQs is the core of UPSC exam, be it in understanding the content, context or conduct of the questions.

Why this course can benefit you immensely?
1. Complete Coverage of all PYQs from 1995-2022 in PDF format
2. Explanation of the logics techniques based on those logics. ( Not mere Blind Elimination Techniques)
3. Supporting content for topics not covered in regular books.


👉👉Sample Files

👉👉 Sample Video1, Video 2

Fees - 2800/-

To enroll, contact at @somp_enquiries.