Name - Chester Bennington
Board - Sheel Vardhan sir
Duration - 21-22 minutes
DAF Keywords asked - Karnataka, Yelahanka, EEE, Sociology, Work based (AI powered Dashcamera), Nu-metal Music (Linkin Park), Kho-Kho.
80% of the conversation was DAF based.

Chairperson -
Good Afternoon, welcome to the conversation.
You have mentioned follower of Nu-metal music of Linkin Park - Do you know Mike Shinoda?
What does he do? Does he rap/sing/ compose?
Linkin park is coming to Bangalore in January, are you going?
What was the ticket price? What is the highest ticket price?
Nu-metal includes lot of shouting and screaming, do you think it’s good?
So you are working, (gave few seconds of monologue) - who are gig workers?
What do we have to do which they are lacking? ( I answered social security need - he mentioned it’s a wide topic, what inside that? I mentioned PF, contracts etc - he added what about working condition, wage- I agreed to all)
Coming from Yelahanka - he asked about air show (asked if I’ve seen rafale in action (said no, missed this year))
What is the last activity that is performed in air show (couldn’t recollect) - then he said about surya Kiran.

Member 1 (female)
Do you think DBT for women is good?
Don’t you think it has to be conditional?
What needs to be done for women empowerment? (Mentioned POSH in my last point)
What is the main feature of POSH?

Member 2
What does your company do and what is your role?
What are the main features of AI dashcam?
How does the camera alert the driver? (Mentioned edge and cloud here)
What is cloud computing?
Where does the data get stored?
Recently, there was an issue regarding morphing of videos/images from a social media, what is that? (Mentioned grok from twitter)
Do you think AI regulation needs to be there?

Member 3
Where are we in semiconductor?
Do you think India started late in semiconductor? (He said, you can be honest here - I agreed to him and added but we are doing good by keeping up the pace through various initiatives)
What are the initiatives for Semiconductor?
There are 3 places we are setting up fabs where are they? ( mentioned Assam by Tata, couldn’t recollect others, he said no worries and said about Gujarat)
Why does games like Kho Kho is lagging behind?

Member 4
From sociology, who said “man is a social animal?”
Is man really a social animal? Do you think animals can survive in isolation.
(Asked 1 more, not able to recollect)

Chair person again -
“Chester, do you want to ask us anything?
You can ask anything” ( emphasised more on word “anything” here with bit of head movement -encouraging to ask)
“Sir, we can have conversation on international relations”
Sir - there are so many disruptions in the world today, when you wake up from bed, thinking keeping this in mind, what makes you feel anxious about?

Thank you, your interview is over you may leave.

Mocks given - Shankar, La-excellence, Rajkumar and JICE, Grace IAS, Samutkarsh(samkalp)(closest to real interview).

Interview Transcript - 05/01/2026 Afternoon Session

Name - B

Chairperson - Suman Verma Sir

Key DAF Details - Geography optional, Watching and playing Football, Mechanical Engineering, Tamilnadu.

Chairperson -

1) How do your friends and relatives call you? Then throughout the interview he addressed me like my friends used to call me.
2) What are all the Hindi movies were Illayaraja had worked on? (DAF)
3) what's your favourite songs of 2025?
Chairperson himself mentioned about Dhurandhar music. (Had no idea)
4)You play football, so with whom do you play? Answered with young people.
Follow-up question - don't they feel that you're bullying them?
5) If you have absolute power to change the climate of India, what would be your actions? (Geography optional)
6) According to you which state in India has the perfect weather?

Member 1-

7) so you have done mechanical Engineering, What are critical minerals?
8) Currently which country holds the monopoly in critical minerals?
9) Don't you think they are weaponising the monopoly?
10) What would be the implications on India due to supply chain constraint?

Member 2-

11) Asked Questions regarding Job details which was not mentioned in the DAF.
12) eV sector is extremely dependent on Batteries and it is quite expensive, so apart from Govt subsidies how does the price of battery would be reduced in the long run?
13) what is circular economy?
14) Questions regarding Biofuels?
15) what are all the initiatives of government in using Stubbles burnt in Punjab and Haryana for circular economy?


Member 3-

16) What according to you are leadership qualities? Are leaders born or made?

17) Questions regarding recent Indian Football issue related to AIFF and it's implication on Indian football?

Member 4-

18) Situation based question where a subordinate of you (me) who is close with your boss is corrupt. How would you handle this?

19) Is corruption can only be handled with actions and complaints?

20) what is that one quality that you would need to develop to become the best officer?

21) Which service would you like to join and Why?

Chairperson -

22) Evaluate India as a whole - Is India a introvert or Extrovert nation? (Follow-up)
23) When India has never tried to occupy other countries how can India be an Extrovert nation?
24) What is that one historical fact that only you or only few people knows about it?
25) what is the famous dish in Madurai? And some follow up questions regarding that.

That's all. All the best for you all.

Date- 6th January
Board- Sujata Chaturvedi mam
chairperson
( gave details about me to other members)
* You may respond in the language of your choice.
* Why do you want to join the Civil Services?
* Have you been preparing exclusively for the UPSC, or have you also appeared for State Services examinations?
* Where is your farm located?
* Please tell us about your village.
* What crops are cultivated in your village?
* What kind of work do you personally do on the farm?
* What major problems do farmers face in your village?
* Have there been any cases of farmer suicides in your area?
* What are the major issues related to maize at the global level?
* Who is the most educated woman in your village, and are they playing any leadership role?
Member 1
* Opinion on unemployment in India?
* What measures can be taken to address unemployment?
( speaks about skilling)
* Counter questions on skilling
(Chairperson (intervenes):** ask counter questions
  * What are agricultural allied activities?)
* How can agricultural problems be resolved?
*Qualities of leader?
  * What visionary steps would you take for your district if given an opportunity?
  * What do you understand by motivation?
  * Do you consider yourself a source of motivation for others?
Member 3
* How is climate change contributing to water scarcity in india? Are there any other countries facing it?
* What specific problems do island nations face due to climate change?
* Which international forums exist to discuss climate change issues?
* Does India participate in these forums?
* What role does India play in the Conference of Parties (COP)?
* What is meant by climate change adaptation?
*What are sdg, which sdg india has achieved, sdg related to agril
* Do you know about CBD ?
Member 4
* What are plant-based biopesticides?
* What is jeevamruta, its ingredients, which bacteria grows on it? neem based pesticide
* Please explain covered farming, open farming, and hydroponics.
* What is polyhouse farming? What parameters does it control, and what are its benefits?
* What is cluster-based farming?
* How does cluster-based farming benefit farmers?
* What is Cordyceps fungus?
Member 5
* The year 2026 has been declared the International Year of what?
* What is encryption?
* What do you think we should increase the number Of PHC in rural areas or focus on tertiary care?
* What are the major challenges in establishing data centres in India?
* What is the PM SHRI Vidyalaya scheme? Which schools are selected under it?
* As an IPS officer, how would you address the problem of traffic congestion?

Name- Abhi
Board- Dasa sir

Date- 17th dec
Keywords- Bareilly, UP, Public Administration, Electronics(H), Shayaris, Podcasts.

Greeted the board

Chairman Sir- How are you? I said good. I asked how are you sir?
He replied good, aapko dekhkar aur bhi acche ho gaya.
He said Yeh Suit kahan se silwaya bahut accha lag raha?
Pasand kisne kiye color- I said room partner.
He said Yaa gf ne pasand kiya. I said no sir, agar aisa hota toh main khud hi bata deta

Chairman- Say thanks to him from our side

Chairman-
Bataiye apne baare me kuch

1. What is the difference between Public Administration and New public administration?
2.What theme you would suggest for Minnowbrook conference 4th?
3. There is perception about civil servants that neither they are civil nor servant. What is your take on it? And what should be done to improve this image?
4. There is trend that now people are putting IRS(Customs) above IRS(IT). This was not the case few years back. What we should think about their ethics?
5. PM is talking about Minimum govt and Max governance but what is the reality?

Member 2-
1. Which famous song about Bareilly?
2. Why Jhumka gira in Bareilly only, not in any other city?
3. Tell about IVRI and its contributions.
4. What is traditional knowledge?
5. Can we promote education in Indian languages rather than English?

Member3-
1. Encounter killings in UP. Any such provision in law for encounter killings?
2. Rule of law?
3. Is law being implemented uniformly in UP?
4. Developing military infra in Andaman. What is its significance?

Member4-
1. Why Air India doing bad (for long)?
2. Why Railways in loss?
3. Overall why there is problem with PSUs?

Member5-
1. Tell where electronics can be used in defence?
2. Thermal imaging and where we can use it in defence?
3.Where is India in electronics manufacturing?
4. Where Rare earth Minerals used in India?

Chairman Sir- Your interview is over. And again complimented ki Genuinely your suit is looking good. It is different from others. Give our compliments to your friend. Then asked what is his name.

Then I said Thankyou to all and that's it.

PT MARKS -160

Name: hehehe

Date: 6 jan

Key DAF Details: Nagpur , civil engineering, PSIR , autobiography.

Board: Sujata mam

Questions asked

M1 chaiperson
1. ARE YOU NERVOUS ? What were you thinking outside
What have you read in the recent days ?
2. Why PSIR
3. Some infrastructural and social problems of nagpur
4. Do you think infrastructural and social problems are interlinked

M2 :  discussion
1. So you read , What is ISBN number for ?
2. Technological advancements especially for women

M3 : a lot of questions , technical questions , not satisfied in the beginning , happy later .
1. Why gold and silver prices are rising
2. Why copper prices are rising
3. What is narco terrorism
4. What legislations we have for narco terrorism
5. Were you able to ride the silver wave ?
6. Difference in silver paper prices and physical silver , explain  ( I won here )

M4
1. Why India is eyeing the UN security council ( followed by long discussion on UNSC )
2. Other countries for security council
3. Why is it unfair
4. Are we ideologically unique
5. Discussion on Non aligned and multi aligned
6. Were we not following our interest before ?

M5
1. Student of PSIR , tell me about democracy
2. Pillars of democracy
3. Media as 4th pillar
4. Is media free ? Is Indian media good enough ?
5. Is US a true democracy
6. Is the real will of the people reflected, since we have a fixed voting share ?


Mocks/O20 (If any): a lot ! None was close , got grilled for factual information in  Chanakya mandal mock  , 
Quantel gave the best boards : sriram , nirnay .
NEXT IAS  , Forum IAS ( good ones ) .
One on one
Shubham sir ( vidyapeeth IAS) : best balanced answers .
Khan sir ( OG wale ) : best articulation practice and confidence boost .
Mahesh bhagwat sir ( DAF discussion)

No mock was close to the real one.
The real one was like a conversation.

Name: H

Date: 6 jan forenoon

Key DAF Details: terrace gardening,datasecurity,cse,suryanamaskars,school name,go green campaign,ap

Board: Sheelvardhan sir

Questions asked

M1 chaiperson
1. Why terrace gardening?
2. Suryanamaskars mantras and poses
3. Ai vs ml
4. Grok model-regulation

M2 : discussion
1. Go green campaign-what did you do,what is it?
2. do you think delhi is a green city?
3. then why so much pollution
4. steps to reduce plastic pollution
5. why is not reducing as expected

M3 :
1. Research papers-what,on what tech
2. Data security -how to ensure?
3. Suggest some ways to protect upsc from cyberattacks
4. Fire walls- verification,authentication

M4
1. Concept of persistent threat and zero trust architecture
2. Why need them?
3. Again conversation on firewalls and network security layer of osi
4. School name(atkinson)-who is he?
5. should we change its name(colonial legacy)?

M5
1. Venuezuela issue-india stand?
2. President's name?
3. maduro's link with andhra pradesh?
4.meaning of name,city's name origin

Chairman sir:
The interview is over do you want to tell us anything?


Mocks/O20
Quantel,samkalp,vajirao&reddy,NEXT IAS
One on one
Shubham sir ( vidyapeeth IAS) : best balanced answers .
Mahesh bhagwat sir ( DAF discussion very helpful) ,dr vivekanand sir( very helpful personality analysis)
Understand upsc and sarrthi ias

6th January, afternoon session
Name: Butcher of Blaviken
Board: Raj Shukla Sir board
Time: 25-30mins

DAF Keywords: IIT Kanpur, Aerospace, Missiles, Aircraft engines, Airports, cooking

Chairperson
1. Why did you decide so late to join civil services?
2. What are Indias status in terms of aerospace in capacity?
I talked about missiles. India is one of the leading in development of missiles. Sir interrupted and started a long monologue that yes it is developing but India is not able to build a deterrence like China has.
Next I talked about Tejas aircrafts which is still not to our desired production capacity. Sir again started a long monologue on how HAL is paying very less amount to engineers to build AMCA program, brain drain.
3. He was asking what should we do about it? I was saying we need to bring private sectors and we are already doing it. Sir then again gave a monologue on how we have bureaucratic inefficiencies that is creating problem. I agreed with him.
4. How is IIT Kanpur faring in aerospace? I said its one of the leading institutes and have unique facilities like wind tunnel facility.
5. How are the professors? I told that they are very renowned professors, when I was there.
6. Do you have any idea like Elon Musk? I told, I have not thought about it yet. I have decided to be in the civil services. (Everyone was smiling and sir remarked it’s a good thing)

M1 (a lady)
1. What kind of civil servant will you be? I tried answering relating to my technical, managerial and work ex background.
2. Which dish you like? I answered Biriyani
3. As Sir (Chairperson) was mentioning we are unable to transform research to technology. What do you think reforms needed in the education sector? I talked about industry academia partnership and that Indian govt is focusing on R&D more.
4. What qualities do you think is most important in civil services? I told about Emotional intelligence and integrity.
5. How is emotional intelligence related to civil services?

M2
1. You worked on aircraft engines. Tell me about your project. A long discussion there about how is it relevant.
2. You worked on air to air missiles. Tell me about it.
3. Ballistic missiles vs cruise missiles
4. Hypersonic missiles
5. Indian missile arsenals
6. What range do you think we need to have a missile so that we can hit Beijing? I told that we have Agni as the highest range of 5000kms but Russia is building missile which it claims has unlimited range. We are nowhere close to it. We have to develop technologies.
7. Do we import tracking technologies used in missiles? (I am not aware of)

M3
1. Tell me about your project about airports. A discussion on that and how Indian airports revenue differs from global airports.
2. How is communication and marketing strategy important? I started talking about how positioning matters and sir interrupted. He asked me ki how will you use communication strategy in administration? I talked about various channels like social media, print media, media and Word of mouth especially in rural areas. Sir added a few more points on that and I agreed with him.
3. What are your weakness? Any other weakness.
4. 2 qualities in a leader. I replied emotional intelligence and integrity.
5. Do you stay true to your principle? Can you say No when its against the principle? Give me an example from your life.
6. What about communication, dedication, discipline? I told that being emotionally intelligent will also lead to effective communication and integrity leads to dedication, discipline, perseverance.

M4
1. Difference between micro and macroeconomics.
2. What is oligopoly?
3. What change would you bring in civil administration? I talked about increased adoption of technology which will improve transparency and accountability and improve bureaucratic efficiency.



O2O: Shubham Sir (Vidyapeeth IAS), Saloni Ma’am (Sarrthi IAS), Quantel (Shikara IAS)
Mocks: NEXT IAS (highly recommended), Vision IAS, PW, Vajirao, Unacademy, CMP (highly recommended), Samkalp (worst experience). All were helpful in some way.

Name : farhana bhatts doppelganger
Board : dasa sir
Daf :crochet , following saree cultures , created an app
Opt : economics
Grad : hons in eco


Cman : welcome ,this is a conversation. You are wearing red saree , why so ? Told it was my decision and my heart said it . Got asked why are people of hp so fair

He smiled ,I smiled

1. US tariff impact
2. India's failure in neighbourhood
3. Sudan issue explain .
4. States fiscal stress

M1
1. 3 criminal laws provisions
2. Governors exact status of bill
3. World getting divided into sphere
4. Project cheetah , tigers status

M2
1. French Revolution, Arab spring , Color Revolution and discussions
2. History of himachal pradesh , why are people so fair there
3. What my app does for promoting textile industry

M3 mam . I see you have very long hair
1. Indias trade deficit with major Countries
2. Low HDI status and nutritional issue . What would you do as DM
3. OECDs minimum tax rate bill ,
4. dtaa
5.Harrod domar model

M4
1. How many sarees do you have (replied 40+)
2. Then asked me how many FTAs India have
3. Indian vs Chinese model of growth
4. You are 23 ,are u mature for services
5. Asked me gen z terms (I replied labubuster , loco , Gas)
6. Missile tech ,asked about bhargavastra . Ship samudrapratap in news


Mocks : smkalp, CMP , next ,Vision

interview transcripts of CSPT 2025
Name: Socrates

Date: 06-01-2026

Key DAF Details: Mechanical Engineering, Vipassana, GST, Gujarat

Board: Hon. Sheel Vardhan Singh Sir

Questions asked:
(Not asked to introduce youself)
1. How many courses of Vipassana you have attended ?
2. who introduced Vipassana in India ?
3. what is the born place of S.N. Goenkaji ?

4. who was the first home minister of India ?
5. why Sardar Patel is known as iron man ?
6. what is the contribution of sardar Vallabhbhai Patel ?
7. What was Kashmir dispute at time of Independence?

8. why Rajkot is famous for ?
9. where Mahatma Gandhi taken his education ?
10. what is Mahatma museum ?

11. why manufacturing sector was not developed in india?
12. what is steam engine ?
13. what is robotics ?
14. what is 1st industrial revolution ?
15. what is 2, 3, 4th industrial revolution ?
16. when 5th revolution will happen ?

17. when name of country Burma change into Myanmar ?
18. Status. of India's relation with Myanmar ?
19. what are effect of Myanmar's relation on India ?
20. give me three friend and enemy of India except those which are sharing  boundary with India ?

21. who was the father of Indian space program ?
22. what was the business of Ambalal Sarabhai ?
23. is there any business institute regarding textile in Ahmedabad ?
24. what is textile museum in Ahmedabad ?

25. how you create awareness among people regarding GST ?
26. what you have done to create awareness?
27. what is rate rationalization ?
28. how rate rationalization increase consumption of India ?
29. what was tax system before GST ?


Mocks : Sankalp, Anantam IAS, Study IQ, The study, Vajiram and Reddy, Unacademy, Drishti IAS, Shri Ram IAS, Quentel, KSG, Next IAS, Physics wallah.


Overall interview was good. Interview board was very cordial.

Name- Abhi
Board- Dasa sir

Date- 17th dec
Keywords- Bareilly, UP, Public Administration, Electronics(H), Shayaris, Podcasts.

Greeted the board

Chairman Sir- How are you? I said good. I asked how are you sir?
He replied good, aapko dekhkar aur bhi acche ho gaya.
He said Yeh Suit kahan se silwaya bahut accha lag raha?
Pasand kisne kiye color- I said room partner.
He said Yaa gf ne pasand kiya. I said no sir, agar aisa hota toh main khud hi bata deta

Chairman- Say thanks to him from our side

Chairman-
Bataiye apne baare me kuch

1. What is the difference between Public Administration and New public administration?
2.What theme you would suggest for Minnowbrook conference 4th?
3. There is perception about civil servants that neither they are civil nor servant. What is your take on it? And what should be done to improve this image?
4. There is trend that now people are putting IRS(Customs) above IRS(IT). This was not the case few years back. What we should think about their ethics?
5. PM is talking about Minimum govt and Max governance but what is the reality?

Member 2-
1. Which famous song about Bareilly?
2. Why Jhumka gira in Bareilly only, not in any other city?
3. Tell about IVRI and its contributions.
4. What is traditional knowledge?
5. Can we promote education in Indian languages rather than English?

Member3-
1. Encounter killings in UP. Any such provision in law for encounter killings?
2. Rule of law?
3. Is law being implemented uniformly in UP?
4. Developing military infra in Andaman. What is its significance?

Member4-
1. Why Air India doing bad (for long)?
2. Why Railways in loss?
3. Overall why there is problem with PSUs?

Member5-
1. Tell where electronics can be used in defence?
2. Thermal imaging and where we can use it in defence?
3.Where is India in electronics manufacturing?
4. Where Rare earth Minerals used in India?

Chairman Sir- Your interview is over. And again complimented ki Genuinely your suit is looking good. It is different from others. Give our compliments to your friend. Then asked what is his name.

Then I said Thankyou to all and that's it.

Name - Dainam
Date of Interview - 06/01/2026 - FN 3rd to go
Board - Sanjay Verma sir board

DAF Keywords - Food technology, PhD , Sociology, Police , Millets , Folk songs, Cricket

Chairman Sir
1. How many months you have been working?
2. How will be folk songs after 100 years - 2126
3. ⁠ Do you still play cricket? What are your strengths
4. ⁠what is the largest food industry in the country
5. ⁠When did Centre for economic and social studies start?
6. ⁠what’s ur PhD topic?
7. ⁠ what is social exclusion?

M1 (Lady member)
1. How do you raise awareness on millets
2.What should government do
Promote millets
3. What is paradox of plenty
4. How do you measure Malnutrition

M2
1. Do you watch cricket?
2. ⁠ashes 5th test
3. ⁠ why Sociology after food technology
4. ⁠ what’s Sociological analysis of Agniveer
5. ⁠Military Sociology

M3
1. Functioning of state PSCs
2. ⁠case study on - Corruption in policing and how to control it
3. ⁠who is your best teacher in life

M4
1.As a DM what will b ur 3 priorities
2. How to empower children
3. ⁠How will you involve parents
4. ⁠Issues in Renewable energy
5. ⁠Favourite captain in cricket- Why not Tendulkar
6. ⁠How will you involve Citizens in governance

Chairman sir

What are your plans for birthday- Jan 10th is coming.

Your interview is over.

Cordial board

Mocks- TGSC study circle, Macs Society( Both are very helpful n Insightful - Hyderabad ), Sankalp and Chanakya Mandal parivar ( Advised to give in Delhi).
Mahesh Bhagavath sir guidance helped a lot🙏🏻

Dr.P
Board - Raj shukla , 6 January - forenoon
Keywords- Mbbs, audit service, badminton, Vipassana meditation, anthropology, AI in healthcare, Hyderabad

Chairman - Is Hyderabad going in the lines of Bengaluru, Mumbai in terms of development or it has its own path?
How is Hyderabad different from these cities?
What is genome valley ( my prev answer included genome valley)
Why isn’t Hyderabad attracting much investment?
How long will it take for a company to start business in Hyderabad?
And a follow up discussion on GST ( The GST regime is hampering investments in sir’s opinion)
And a monologue on GST

M1- Favourite player in badminton and why?
Differences between PV SINDHU and SAINA NEHWAL’s game
How has Vipassana meditation helped you?
Do you audit GST?
Challenges a you faced as a team lead?

M2- Doctor to audit to civil services- explain how these 3 phases happened to you in life

How do you achieve consensus building as a team lead?
Do women make good administrators?
AI in healthcare and applications
Best practices in India

M3 - Have you ever thought of continuing as a doctor?
What is wrong in joining a family firm?
Doctor patient ratio in india vs prescribed ratio
If you join bureaucracy what is the one thing you would first work on?
What are reasons for existence of red tapism( my answer was red tapism)
Do you think civil servants in the country are still in the British mindset of civil services or are they behaving differently?

M4 - healthcare state in tg and india?
Sex ratio in Telangana ?
As a doctor what will you bring into civil services?


Overall conversational type of interview. Chairman sir was looking at his phone but was paying attention to every answer. Cordial board

Mocks - O2O with Shubham agarwal(Vidyapeeth IAS) very helpful in building confidence and required acumen for interview, Vivek sir, Akhil Buddhi IAS
Panel mocks - vajirao and reddy, vajiram, samkalp, only ias, unacademy and chanakya mandal pariwar

Name - BVD
Date of Interview - 06/01/2026 – AN; 5th to go
Board - Sujatha Chaturvedi

DAF Keywords - Nalgonda, Telangana, Biotechnology, Working as Junior Assistant, PSIR, Chess, Calisthenics

Chairman
1. What were you telling yourself before entering the interview room?
2. When did you come to Delhi?
3. What is the difference you observed between Hyderabad and Delhi?
4. Any other differences? (Earlier, I said it is cold comparatively)
5. How do you identify pollution here?
6. Tell me the physiological ways of identification? (Interlinked to my graduation, like burning of eyes, soot accumulation in the nose, etc.)
7. Situation-based- I'll give utmost power. What will you do to reduce pollution in Delhi? (Elaborate discussion on it with a lot of counter questions, whatever I suggested, she proved me wrong. In the end, she made me quit.)
Member 1
1. Major industries in your district?
2. Have you read the Constitution? Chairman intervened - he must have understood the constitution, here and there, partly read provisions – I said yes.
3. Why is the constitution of India called "the constitution of India", not Const. for India, by India?
4. Tell me about the Kakatiya dynasty and its contribution?
Member 2
1. JC Bose's contribution to plant breeding? (repeated this three times)
2. High-Yielding Varieties? Green Revolution and its negative impact? Bioaccumulation and Biomagnification?
3. Compare Nizam and Kakatiya?
4. Where did Nizam hail from, and where are the current descendants staying?
5. Lineage between Bijapur and the Mughal?
6. What are Calisthenics?
7. Expand BIMSTEC?
Member 3
1. Is the UN relevant?
2. Decline of Multilateralism?
3. Trump's policies and their impact?
4. SAARC and BIMSTEC difference?
Member 4
1. Chess is considered the most intelligent game. Do you consider yourself as one of the most intelligent people?
2. So, India has many intelligent people, but why are we lacking in innovation?
3. Compare China and India in Democracy. Is democracy a hindrance to our development?
4. India-Oman relations? Polity structure in Oman?

Mocks: Two mocks in TGSC Study Circle, one each in MACS, NEXT IAS, and Samkalp.

Anonymous

Date - 06/01/2026, Afternoon. 4th to go
Board - BB Swain sir
Daf - Maharashtra, Anthropology, Chess. Nothing much from daf asked.

Chairman sir -
1. How are you.
2. How you feel right now to be here
3. Tell me tribes from Himachal Pradesh.
4. Now tell me the tribes from Maharashtra and India.
5. Is Warli tribe only in Maharashtra.

M1 -
1. You are from X university, tell about it.
2. Do you know about NEP, 2020.
3. Some provisions for higher education institutes.
4. Credits to students. Useful
5. what is gender biased fertility preferences.
6. the status improving right now, isn't it.

M2 -
1. Tribal issue where development is concerned, should we have development or leave them as it is.
2. But, displacement due to development is there how should it be then.
3. If the tribes are not agreeing, how consultation will work.
4. If an NGO starts to do protests & instigate tribes for the development project what will you do.
5. About NGO funding.
6. Should we completely stop ngo funding.

M3 -
1. What is criminalization of politics.
2. About it, what to do.
3. Defections in the political parties
4. Do you recall any changes made against it.
5. RPA provisions for criminalization of politics.
6. Gave the situation - if I make some documents by giving money & illegally, then another person tries to do the same seeing me but the opposite person is refusing it, so isn't it the case of infringement of right to equality or equal treatment.

M4 -
1. What is the meaning of your name.
2. What qualities has chess added to you to improve yourself.
3. You being the young person & joining civil services also, how do you feel about operation sindoor, and the change in the stance of our government.
4. What is the basis of india-pakistan conflicts - after my answer mentioned which region is the basis.
5. Explained events pakistan does something then india replies now. Do you know about pulwama attack.
6. What India did after it.
7. How long will it continue
8. As the resources arsenal of both pakistan and India depleted after the conflict like operation sindoor, pakistan gets help from others what India is doing.
9. Yes then India doesn't need anyone, being selfsufficient how do you see it.
10. How the Brahmos name derived.
11. How about the look east to act east policy, access through manipur decreased & how to access to SE asia.

Chairman sir -
1. So do you want to say anything?

Okay, your interview is over now.

Time - 32 minutes.

Panel mock - Next ias, Samkalp x2, vajirao & reddy, CMP, Quantel, only ias ×2.

One to one - Arpit sir (@arpitswriting),Avinash dharmadhikari sir at CMP, Mahesh Bhagwat sir(IPS), Satyam jain sir at understand upsc.

Special thankyou to four of my friends <3 with whom I had daily discussions.

Name: Shinchan
Board: Dasa Sir

Keywords: Jalandhar, Punjab, International Relations, Civil Engineering (H), Urdu literature, Documentary filmmaking

--

Chairman: Comfortable?
Candidate: Yes sir, thank you.

Chairman: Tell us something about yourself that is not written in the form.

Mentioned about interest in economy

Chairman:
Q1. You have studied International Relations. Explain the difference between balance of power and balance of threat.

Q2. India talks about strategic autonomy. Is it still relevant in a bipolar or multipolar world?

Q3. Punjab has high per-capita income but declining groundwater. Why did economic growth not translate into ecological sustainability?

Q4. Name the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and state the year each acquired permanent status.


---

Member 1:
Q5. What is the difference between rules-based order and power-based order in global politics?

Q6.What is the length of the India-Pakistan international boundary in kilometers?

Q7. Explain the concept of securitisation of migration with one contemporary example.


---

Member 2:
Q8. You mentioned Urdu literature. Why did Urdu flourish in North India despite Persian being the court language earlier?

Q9. Who wrote Aag ka Dariya and what was the core idea?

Q10. Do you think documentaries influence public policy, or do they only shape public opinion?


---

Member 3:
Q11. Civil engineering background — why do Indian cities struggle with drainage despite adequate rainfall data availability?

Q12. What is the standard gradient recommended by IRC for urban road camber?

Q13. Coastal regulation zones often clash with development needs. How should the state resolve this conflict?


---

Member 4:
Q14. Explain the concept of middle-power diplomacy. Does India qualify?

Q15. Name the four pillars of ASEAN and the year ASEAN was founded.

Q16. Why has SAARC failed while BIMSTEC shows promise?


---

Member 5:
Q17. Documentary filmmaking requires narrative discipline. Should bureaucracy also follow narrative discipline in policymaking?

Q18. What is the exact fiscal deficit target prescribed under the amended FRBM Act for the Union Government?

Q19. Explain the concept of hysteresis in unemployment and cite one empirical episode from Indian economic history.

Q20. Enumerate the five quantitative criteria used by the IMF to assess a country’s external sector vulnerability, and place India on each parameter

---

Chairman:
Q20. India often speaks of civilisational ethos in foreign policy. Is this symbolism or strategy?

Q21. Who was the first Indian to preside over the UN General Assembly and in which session?

Q22. What is the current strength of the Indian Army in active personnel, approximately?

Q23. What is the precise difference between stock and flow variables in national income accounting? Give one Indian example for each.


---

Chairman: Thank you, Shinchan. Your interview is over.

Mocks: Samkalp, Vajirao and Reddy, PW, La excellence, Quantel, Many O2O

Name - knifeHead
Board - Sanjay Verma sir
Date - 6 jan 2026 afternoon
Daf details - B tech mechanical engineering, wildlife crime documentary, sociology, civil aviation, manufacturing, ngo work
Chairman :
- how many languages you speak?
- started with wildlife crime documentary(poacher), they giggled about very specific hobby/interest
- status of social crime( picked crime from wildlife crime and social from sociology)
- crime against women
- marital rape
- about godrej and boyce, it’s invovement in opium trade, history of company
M1:
- atmanirbharta in defence sector
- mfg and defence
- can India be able to be Atmanirbhar in defence sector?
- what you did in Industrial training?
M2:
- why gold prices are surging?
- latest technological advancement
- what technology will prevail after 10 years
M3(lady):
- overall idea about aviation sector
- reasons for duopoly
- what should be done to reduce wildlife crime
- demand side interventions for wildlife crime reduction
- why UPSC after mechanical
- why no employment after graduation, what you did?
M4:
- de dollarisation. What is it? When did it started?
- what is dollarisation?
- how will mfg grow if mechanical engineers are coming to UPSC

Chairman:
- what is the most efficient machine according to you?
- in between Chairman was asking cross questions.
- Then thank you. Your interview is over.

( didn’t ask for intro or anything. Started directly with hobbies and interests. No questions on NGO, no questions on sports and achievements. No questions on personal background, city or state)

It was good experience.

(Prepare your daf well, get the general status about the issues related with your daf like social justice, crime, polices etc. Go early, enter the building as early as possible. It takes time for verification and they might ask some queries. Take at least 2 different id, adhaar and pan, if you have specs then take photo with specs otherwise they will ask to remove specs, so keep both photos)

Name: Ganpati Bappa Morya

Date: 06/01/2026

Key DAF Details: Maharashtra, IDAS, Tourism

Board: BB SWAIN

Questions asked:

Chair
1. Asked about training
2. Why domestic tourism in Maharashtra low than foreign tourist footfall ?

M1
1.Mustafizur Rehman issue
2.How will you act in this situation as foreign minister
3.Has India taken right stand ?

M2
1.How would you react to political pressure
2.Any committee on political nexus issues
3. Infrastructure development in gadchiroli
4. How would you convince population there ?

M3
1.Why this name ?
2.How would you handle protests where there is large scale law and order issue ?

M4
1.What is your view about defence accounts acting as hurdle in defence
2.Should it be merged
3.Why procurement is not as fast as developed nation ?

Review - it was good experience, some poker face reactions were there but overall board was having discussion rather than question answer

Mocks given -
Samkalp > Chanakya > Vajiram and Ravi > Vajirao

Tip from me side:

Be happy throughout interview, very few get chance

Be honest, enjoy the moment

All the very best ❤️

Name- UchihaObito
Date- 6/1/2026 Afternoon (3rd to go)
Board- Sheelvardhan sir
DAF Keywords- Mumbai, Maharashtra, History grad, Parsi community project, Rifle shooting, Rotaract, Event management, Anime, football, Manga, weight training.
Optional- History
Entered with big smile greeted the chairman sir with ‘Very good afternoon sir’ then greeted ma’am and other members
Chairman
1. So mister Uchiha you watch anime, do you watch Dragon ballZ?
2. ⁠so Manga. Is it read from left to right or right to left?
Gave the wrong answer then immediately corrected by saying sorry twice.
3. What is the difference between a script, dialect, & language? Give some example of each.
4. ⁠so which language has 2 scripts? (Told Sanskrit with Brahmi & Devnagari) Sir insisted what else? (Sir said then Nepalese, so I thanked him for the information)
5. ⁠tell me one personality from Indian history and world history you hate the most?
(I said sir from Indian I cannot hate someone, then he said I hate Churchill)
6. Under which ruler you want to live?(I said Ashoka)
7. ⁠why Ashoka?
8. ⁠don’t you think that his rule was full of turmoil and violence?
9. ⁠don’t you think he has made us non-warriors?
10. ⁠one event from history you want to change?
11. ⁠what is subaltern history?
(Asked 2-3 questions more but not remembering)
Member 1 (Ma’am)
1. Why should we study history?
2. ⁠so you have done a project of Parsi community what was it about?
3. ⁠what Parsis are known for?
There were 2 questions more but not remembering
Member 2
1. What is the current status of Employment?
2. ⁠what is India doing to improve skill set?
3. ⁠What more should be done?
4. ⁠Why Rural sector lacking?
5. ⁠what is this new VB-GRAM-G act? What are its key measures?
Member 3
1. So Parsis. Which language do they speak?
2. ⁠why Gujarati?
3. ⁠okay so what are their surnames??
4. ⁠Panipat is known for Battlefields why so?
5. ⁠why Marathas lost?
6. ⁠Who invited Ahemad shah Abdali?
7. ⁠who switched the side last moment?
8. ⁠So you watch football. Which football do you watch?
9. ⁠why your team is struggling?
10. ⁠who is at the top of the league?
There were 3-4 more questions on History from the member sir which I’m not remembering
Member 4
1. So History. There 3 periods in history. Which is your favourite?
2. ⁠In Ancient which era was modern?
3. ⁠tell me the features of Harappans?
4. ⁠positives of British colonialism on India name 5?
5. ⁠Telegram. Do you know it is Telegram day today. Sir gave plenty of Information, so I thanked him.
6. ⁠Name dynasties from Slaves to Mughals.
2 more questions were there but I don’t remember.
Chairman sir said your interview is over.
I thanked everyone and left the room
Time- 20-22 minutes
Sheelvardhan sir was very enthusiastic about history and even curious. Even while replying to other members he was actively noticing and paying attention. Everyone was cordial

Mocks given- Vajirao & Reddy, NextIAS, SamkalpIAS, Unacademy, OnlyIAS, CD(Thane), SIAC, Unique Academy Thane, Quantel, Upwise(Online)

O2O- Almost Daily with my Mentor Ganesh Shetty sir(Unique Academy), Shubham Agarwal sir(Vidyapeeth),Dharmadhikari sir(Chanakya Mandal) & Kaptaan sir

PT MARKS -160

MentorAID Student Interview Transcript


Interview Date - 6th January 26/ Afternoon
Daf Keywords : Vipassana, Strength Training, Digital Governance, Reading Fiction , Tribal Development Department

Board : B.B. Swain (1st to go in the afternoon)
Started with a very jovial and light hearted discussion of naming mismatch of Maharashtra candidates.

Swain sir : You like English literature and fiction. Who is your favourite author?
Have you read his recent book?
What did you like in the books?

Member 1
You are from Mumbai. What is organised crime?
What are the different types of organised crime?
Have you heard about Jamtara?
How is whatever happening in Jamtara an organised crime?
How will you dismantle it?

Member 2
Worked in Ministry of Tribal Affairs.. What are the tribes found in Maharashtra?
Are Bhils found in Maharashtra?
In Nandurbar, are there Bhils found?
Why is their condition so bad?
What are the three most impactful legislations that you think that government bought for Tribals in India?
Have you heard about LARR ACT 2013?
What is it?

Member 3
What is Digital Governance?
What is Digital Divide?
What is Digital Justice?
What do you think in “reasonability”?
So instead of putting reasonability’s burden on a particular person.. can we just say it is adjustable according to the circumstances?

Member 4
What is Vipassana?
What is the difference between Vipassana and mindfulness meditation?
Tell me what do you think about our neighbouring country Bhutan?
Are you aware of the security apparatus there?
How do they manage their internal security?
China has settled its border disputes with many countries.. which two countries do you think have unsettled borders with China?
What was the Doklam Issue?

O20 :
Utkarsh Shukla sir MentorAID (went above his course deliverables)
Ganesh Shetty sir (Unique IAS Academy, Thane)
Ayush Sinha (ForumIAS)
Shubham Sir (Vidyapeeth IAS)
Farees Rehman Sir

Mocks Given
Quantel, CDAC(Thane), SIAC, Samkalp. Unique IAS Academy (Thane)

Interview Transcript
@KindaAlright

Interview Date - 6th January 26/ Afternoon
Daf Keywords : Vipassana, Strength Training, Digital Governance, Reading Fiction , Tribal Development Department

Board : B.B. Swain (1st to go in the afternoon)
Started with a very jovial and light hearted discussion of naming mismatch of Maharashtra candidates.

Swain sir : You like English literature and fiction. Who is your favourite author?
Have you read his recent book?
What did you like in the books?

Member 1
You are from Mumbai. What is organised crime?
What are the different types of organised crime?
Have you heard about Jamtara?
How is whatever happening in Jamtara an organised crime?
How will you dismantle it?

Member 2
Worked in Ministry of Tribal Affairs.. What are the tribes found in Maharashtra?
Are Bhils found in Maharashtra?
In Nandurbar, are there Bhils found?
Why is their condition so bad?
What are the three most impactful legislations that you think that government bought for Tribals in India?
Have you heard about LARR ACT 2013?
What is it?

Member 3
What is Digital Governance?
What is Digital Divide?
What is Digital Justice?
What do you think in “reasonability”?
So instead of putting reasonability’s burden on a particular person.. can we just say it is adjustable according to the circumstances?

Member 4
What is Vipassana?
What is the difference between Vipassana and mindfulness meditation?
Tell me what do you think about our neighbouring country Bhutan?
Are you aware of the security apparatus there?
How do they manage their internal security?
China has settled its border disputes with many countries.. which two countries do you think have unsettled borders with China?
What was the Doklam Issue?

O20 :
Utkarsh Shukla sir (MentorAid)(went above his course deliverables)
Ganesh Shetty sir (Unique IAS Academy, Thane)
Ayush Sinha (ForumIAS)
Shubham Sir (Vidyapeeth IAS)
Farees Rehman Sir

Mocks Given
Quantel, CDAC(Thane), SIAC, Samkalp. Unique IAS Academy (Thane)