Hello here is my transcript. Thank you very much

Board : Sujata Chaturvedi Ma’am
Date : 21 January - last one to go in afternoon session
Daf keywords : Surat, Gujarat, geography optional, stock market, diamonds, tourism, rest not asked.

Chairperson: Ma’am greeted me and read my DAF aloud.
1. What is the meaning of your name?
2. Why UPSC? what motivates you to pursue a career in civil services
3. Tell me which are the regulatory bodies of India ?
4. Why they are needed?
5. Should Capitalist policies after 1991 reforms requires regulation ?
6. What is the full form of SEBI ? Where it is located in India?
7. Tell me about various reforms sebi has undertaken
8. Have you read today’s newspaper? tell me three news which are pressing domestic issues ?

Member 1
1. Tell me how to analyse a diamond?
2. How clarity is determined in a diamond? What are different types of it?
3. Factors affecting diamond industry in surat?
4. What type of diamond will you suggest me to buy?
5. Tell me how can I allocate my portfolio to different asset classes in terms of equity, debt, mutual funds, gold etc

Member 2 (lady member)
1. What is technical and fundamental analysis?
2. Which is better investment between gold and diamonds?
3. What do you mean by letter z in Gen z?
4. Tell me about the issue of diego garcia ?
5. History of diego garcia?
6. Why Trump wants it?
7. What is the stand of India?

Member 3
1. Which tourist places will you suggest me to visit in Gujarat?
2. Which is the oldest mosque in India?
3. What challenges does Gujarat faces in social sectors ? How to improve them
4. What is the cause of terrorism in India ?
5. What is the progress in red fort blast case? Which organisations were involved in it?
6. Tell me about kashmir issue?
7. History of POK and treat of accession? Present status.

Member 4
1. What is the role of RBI?
2. Tell me about the competition commission of India? Why it is needed in free market economy?
3. Progress of Insolvency and Bankruptcy code of India?
4. What is the working of it ?
5. Appellate courts related to it?
6. Compare with SARFAESI act.
7. What are tribunals? Any Law related to it?
8. How many tribunals are there in India?
9. Benefits of Tribunals.

Mocks given : AlS Ias, Samkalp, Chanakya mandal, Quantel, Sriram IAS, Career will, Samarthya Ias, one to one with Mahesh bhagwat sir

Hello here is my transcript. Thank you very much

Board : Sujata Chaturvedi Ma’am
Date : 21 January - last one to go in afternoon session
Daf keywords : Surat, Gujarat, geography optional, stock market, diamonds, tourism, rest not asked.

Chairperson: Ma’am greeted me and read my DAF aloud.
1. What is the meaning of your name?
2. Why UPSC? what motivates you to pursue a career in civil services
3. Tell me which are the regulatory bodies of India ?
4. Why they are needed?
5. Should Capitalist policies after 1991 reforms requires regulation ?
6. What is the full form of SEBI ? Where it is located in India?
7. Tell me about various reforms sebi has undertaken
8. Have you read today’s newspaper? tell me three news which are pressing domestic issues ?

Member 1
1. Tell me how to analyse a diamond?
2. How clarity is determined in a diamond? What are different types of it?
3. Factors affecting diamond industry in surat?
4. What type of diamond will you suggest me to buy?
5. Tell me how can I allocate my portfolio to different asset classes in terms of equity, debt, mutual funds, gold etc

Member 2 (lady member)
1. What is technical and fundamental analysis?
2. Which is better investment between gold and diamonds?
3. What do you mean by letter z in Gen z?
4. Tell me about the issue of diego garcia ?
5. History of diego garcia?
6. Why Trump wants it?
7. What is the stand of India?

Member 3
1. Which tourist places will you suggest me to visit in Gujarat?
2. Which is the oldest mosque in India?
3. What challenges does Gujarat faces in social sectors ? How to improve them
4. What is the cause of terrorism in India ?
5. What is the progress in red fort blast case? Which organisations were involved in it?
6. Tell me about kashmir issue?
7. History of POK and treat of accession? Present status.

Member 4
1. What is the role of RBI?
2. Tell me about the competition commission of India? Why it is needed in free market economy?
3. Progress of Insolvency and Bankruptcy code of India?
4. What is the working of it ?
5. Appellate courts related to it?
6. Compare with SARFAESI act.
7. What are tribunals? Any Law related to it?
8. How many tribunals are there in India?
9. Benefits of Tribunals.

Mocks given : AlS Ias, Samkalp, Chanakya mandal, Quantel, Sriram IAS, Career will, Samarthya Ias, one to one with Mahesh bhagwat sir

Name: Yash Dodani
Interview Date: 03/02/2026 – 3rd to go.
Board: Shri Sanjay Verma Sir
Key DAF Details: B.A.LL.B (Hons.), Law Optional, Refugees, Climate Change Refugees, Disability Law, Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities, Bollywood Songs
Interview Duration: 32 Minutes

Chair:
1. Which is the oldest Bollywood song that you know and can sing and which one is the latest?
2. Who apart from the singer is involved in a Bollywood song?
3. Do you think that the actors have a role to play in a Bollywood song?
4. You have done law, tell me which personality you have gained after becoming an advocate which was not present when you joined the law school and which part of personality you have lost because of you becoming an advocate? There was a long discussion on this around my answer.
This lasted for around 5-6 minutes overall.

Member 1 (Female):
1. Who are refugees?
2. What are the objectives that you will keep in mind while framing a policy around refugees and what will be your approach as a civil servant in such situation?
3. Who are climate change refugees?
4. are they given international recognition through any convention?
5. Should India have a national policy for climate change refugees?
6. What is your opinion on the morality of death sentence?

Member 2 (Male):
1. You are a lawyer, tell me how to become a judge?
2. What is your opinion on the three year practice norm that the Supreme Court has given for anyone who wants to be a judge?
3. How much minimum experience will I need to climb up from district judiciary to the High Court? You may take a guess.
4. Is there any role of the collegium system in appointments?
5. What is your opinion on the collegium system?
6. Do you use JAWS while reading or using computer?
7. What is the basic difference between JAWS and NVDA?

Member 3 (Male):
1. Why do other countries especially the western ones have compliance of disability law but in India we have seen a different story. What could be the reasons?
2. What are the major legislations that deal with disability in India?
3. Do you think that the public places are accessible for persons with disabilities?
4. What was the Rajive Raturi ruling?
5. What would be your approach to make places accessible as a civil servant?

Member 4 (male):
1. Who were the farmers who protested the most against the farm laws?
2. What were the names of three farm laws and what were they trying to do?
3. Punjab farmers grow a lot of paddy, why?
4. For irrigation, do they use ground water or river water?
5. What is your opinion on the Supreme Court orders on the stray dogs? Do you think that the state will be able to spend money on making shelters for the dogs?

Overall, the board was good. I gave around 10 mocks to practice. Samkalp was the best among all of them in terms of experience with the actual interview.

Name : Aim
to
succeed
_
_
Date- 02/02/2026 (Forenoon)
Board: Sujata Chaturvedi Ma'am (22 minutes, 4th to go)
DAF details relevant to interview : GITAM – Visakhapatnam , MA in Environmental sciences
, Andhra Pradesh ( rest not asked)
Chair Person :
1. 2. 3. 4. What are the services in your daf ?
What is the difference between All India vs group A & B services ?
Who appoints the candidate for All India, central group A & B service ?
Situational based : consider me (chairperson) as your friend's father. Your friend's father
is very rich (having enough bank balance), but not educated. Your friend is well educated
and wants to work as a teacher. How can you convince me ?( Follow up questions on it)
M1
5. 6. 7. 8. What is the current status of India-us freetrade agreement?
Do you think India is doing anything wrong with the US-India trade deal ?
Why did the US suddenly drop the thought of purchasing Greenland ?
Why do you think India should stay away from joining the Gaza peace deal ?
M2
9. You're working as the DM, your senior asked you to do that work which is under your
jurisdiction, but you are not willing to do that work, what would be your approach towards
this ?
10. Unable to recollect another question asked by M2 ?
M3 :
11. AP post bifurcation got huge revenue loss, then how AP is getting the funds for
reconstruction of state ?
12. Why did google choose Vishakhapatnam rather than the nearby IT hub-banglore ?
13. Unable to recollect another question asked by M3 ?
M4:
14. AP was facing the LWE very high. What are the initiatives taken by the AP govt. to
mitigate the LWE ?
15. What are the ideals of Gandhiji that are relevant in the present context ? ( I have studied
at GITAM university. So asked this question )
16. How do you promote Khadi usage in the domestic market ?
17. What is meant by NGT ?
18. On what principle, NGT works ?
19. What is meant by the Polluter pace principle ? Give an example ? (DAF based from MA
in Environmental sciences)Sujata Ma'am stopped him here and said thank you, you can go now.
Mocks given - ARK reflections, RCReddy, MACS society, UPwise, Quantle, PW, Samkalp etc.
Special thanks to Madhusudhan Reddy sir (ARK reflections – Hyd), who supported me on my
DAF and geography very regularly.
The overall board was very cordial and very attentively listening to my words. All the best

Name- Arthur morgan
Date- 10 feb
Board- BB Swain sir
DAF Keywords- Delhi, DU, Commerce, Crypto, Stock mkt, Student Union, Badminton, Western classical music

Chairman
1. Tell me about the article you wrote about crypto
2. What were the negatives you talked about in it

Member 1
1. What musical pieces do you listen to
2. What are the composers you listen to
3. Tell me a fact about Beethoven
4. Do you know about Fur Elise
5. Can you read musical notes
6. Which violinist is he who tours the world for concerts? What is your fav composition of him
7. What's the growth in tax collections and tax-gdp ratio?
8. If I give you powers to decide Union Budget, how will you use them?
9. If there's a pre-existing cooperatives and it doesn't have books of accounts, and i Am made head of it, how can I present financial statements to shareholders?
10. How are financial accounts managed?
11. Why do you want to join Civil services given you could have MBA as your options?

Member 2
1. Who's at fault in Indigo crisis?
2. What was the trigger in Indigo crisis?
3. What steps should be taken to prevent such crises?
4. You talked about PNB Fraud. Tell me what steps are taken after the fraud to prevent such cases
5. You have done graduation in commerce. Tell what jobs it has prepared you for, and what it hasn't prepared you for

Member 3
1. Should finance commission's 41% recommendation be increased?
2. Currently, more is the population, more is the representation of states in Parliament. Should this model be changed because some backward states like North eastern ones have less MPs in Parliament
3. Which badminton player is also an actress
4. How much do you play badminton
5. Who's your fav player in badminton? She could be female too
6. What's the biggest strength of yours which could be hurdle for you as a Civil Servant? What are you doing to counter it
7. What's your Plan B?
8. Should there be law for migrant labourers
9. What will you do for migrant labourers
10. Do you know about ilayraja's symphony?

Member 4
1. What are AIFs?
2. What are REITs and InvITs?
3. Some few ques I am not Able to remember

Chairman at last- do you want to ask something
Member 1 - do you wish to learn piano in future? I am also learning it


Mocks given (offline)- vajirao, onlyias (2), vajiram, vision faculty mock, nextias, samkalp (2), chanakya mandal

O2O- saloni mam, vishwajit sir (Sarrthi), rahul sharma sir (Sarrthi), suyash sir (Sarrthi), onlyias, OSN Academy (spl thanks), vikas Ahlawat sir (onlyias), diademy ias, rankers ias

05/02/26
3rd to go FN
Keywords :Agri,  Sociology, Kerala, Badminton, Painting, Progressive curriculum, SHG ,Missionary School

Board :Suman Sharma maam


Chairwoman
Read my Daf
1.Can u think any correlation  between Population and Economy
Some discussion on that
2.U play badminton,  recently a player stated that sports is an arena where rich dominate, while it's unaffordable to poor .What's ur take
I gave an example, ma'am asked further about it
3.Can u describe in brief about India's neighbourhood, it's political structure
4.How could India sustain its democracy successfully even though our neighbours were not
She smiled and added role of Indian Army

M1
1.Indian agriculture has poor productivity,  how to increase it
2.Do U know about hydroponics, what's it
3.Do u think these technologies are widespread in agriculture , what to do to ensure it


M2
1.Role of missionary in Education system
2.Why missionary run institutions are better
3.Should we ban Social media
Like X,
Is it polarising
4.How we will be able to regulate Social media
5.Compare Kerala and Bihar
He said some parameters
6.Keralas youth migration
Why contradictions in Kerala that youth are migrating outside but kerala too witness migration from state like Bihar

M3
1.Asked in Hindi but question was not clear,  Suman ma'am intervened and clarified me what the member actually asked
Then shifted to English
2.Role of monsoon in Indian agriculture
3.How to ensure water use efficiency in Indian agriculture


M4
1.Why Kerala tourism not developing at par with Countries like Thailand, Indonesia
2.What initiatives undertaken by govt of Kerala in tourism
2.Why poor industrialization In Kerala
3.Is trade unionism bad
4.Do u know about recent labour codes

Cannot recall some questions

1:1 sessions with Anuroop Sir, Ajay sir (Lead IAS), Shahad Sir, Muni sir (Fortune IAS), Shinas sir (Ilearn ias) that really helped me . Special thanks to LEAD IAS academy Trivandrum  for a structured interview guidance program .


Around 14mocks (offline +online)

Name:
Date : 2/2 /26
Board: Anuradha Prasad mam
DAF key words: AIR-7 in ICAR PG exam, Belagavi, Apiary, volunteer in Tiger census-22 and Elephant census - 23, Forestry, Geology optional, Certified NSS Volunteer
Chairperson:
1.Asked about ICAR pg exam and why didn't join MSc and asked whether I can join now
2.Appreciated unique interests specially in wildlife. Asked about Apiary (Bee keeping) , whether India is the largest exporter of honey, challenges in apiary, and what measures can be taken to boost production.
3.Scientific lab method to check quality of honey and adulteration.
4.Border Belagavi dispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra. Was is it wrong decision to reorganize states on linguistic basis? Any other factor that can be used instead of language
Member 1( looks very knowledgeable about wildlife)
1. Asked about Certified NSS volunteer, was it voluntary? I said it was satisfactory course in graduation.
2. Asked who was the man behind project tiger - I said Indira Gandhi, he not PM but who designed it, I said M K Ranjithsinha
3. How much food (gazelle sized /deer sized animals does a tiger consume in 365 days? I said a tiger requires 52-55 deer sized animals.
4. In order to produce that much surplus prey what should be the prey base
5. Methodology of tiger estimation?
3 stage: 1. Herbivore- carnivore sign survey. 2. Line transact survey. 3. Camera traps
4. How will you differentiate individual tiger? I said based on stripe patterns as they are unique like our fingerprints
5.Elephant corridors : Bandipura TR, trijunction of protected areas in karnataka Kerala and TN?
Member 3
While granting blocks for mining government itself decides to grant mining lease. After that Environmental Cleareance is sought from MoEFCC. Isn't EC just a namesake requirement.? I said for any non forestry activities Central government permission is required under FCA -1980 . A thoroughly done Environmental Impact Assessment under EPA- 1986 to come up with a "management plan "
2.What activities need to be done to mitigate damage from surface and underground mining
3.What is Human wildlife conflict? How can we solve this?
Member 3 :(female)
1.Asked about Data centres and AI and tax holiday upto 2047. India's investment in health, education is very low . We have high poverty . Do we need to invest in such technology?
2.What are environmental impacts of such data centres? I said water requirement, Power requirement. Mam said infrastructure and construction materials
3.Mentioned one geological report that was related to Seismicity in Himalayas. Asked whether I read it or not.,? I said No".she said read about it.
Member:4
1.Asked about hybrid engines, electrical vehicles. Aren't we slow? How long will it take? Some discussion on it
2.What are Bitcoins? In what form they exist?
3.What are paramilitary forces in India? I asked may I take a guess as I was unsure. Two members wholeheartedly said yes yes you can! I said CISF, ITBP and BSF. (I said BISF by mistake and 3rd member corrected me)
Chairperson mam said your interview is over. You can leave.
Overall the board was cordial, encouraging

Name: NM

Date: 05.02.2026
Forenoon session. Last to go. ~27 minutes.

Key DAF Details: MUN, non state actors , Cooperatives, CSIR, IFS(2nd pref), pub ad optional.

Board: Sujata Chaturvedi ma'am.
Language - English.

Questions asked: Chair---Why not science related field?(Masters degree in chemistry)
U know fomo?
Do you get fomo?
Tell personal experience..
What if poor people get fomo and create social unrest? Solutions?
What are genz, millenials, gen alpha?
Use of this classification for government?
M1- Nepal genz protests..
Internal security threats due to Bangladesh issue,
Greenwashing?
Examples and ways of greenwashing?
Carbon credits and its use?
M2- chief secretary vs principal secretary? Why PS getting more powers.. reasons for ind bangladesh relationship sour... lessons for india... relevance of United Nations... reasons for un loosing relevance...
M3- why cooperatives successful in Maharashtra and Gujarat...what to do to make it successful in other states.. why people are inherently political in nature(from my answer) ...
Role of CSIR in nation building any success story?
M4- iran nuclear disarmament issue? What should india do?
Non state actors? Should they have voice and vote in United Nations..


Mocks/O20 (If any): Samkalp( 2 mocks), vajirao, vajiram, next ( not good), upscprep, studyiq. O2O- sarrthi(saloni ma'am), Satyam Jain.

Daily peer mocks with friends is more helpful than mocks.. special thanks to my friends for guiding me through..

Name: Saul Goodman
Date: 03/02/2026 (Forenoon, First to go)
Duration: Around 30 minutes
Key DAF Details: NAME, BELAGAVI,JAWAHAR NAVODAYA VIDYALAYA, KARNATKA, CRICKET, MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, ANTHROPOLOGY (nothing was asked from other keywords)

Board: Shri B B SWAIN sir

Questions asked:
Entered room and greeted everyone.
Chairperson:
1) How are you? Is it very cold outside? ( It was very much cold outside that morning)
2) (while looking at my DAF) So you're from NAVODAYA school?
3) How are these schools? Have they benefitted rural areas?
4) What are the things you like in NAVODAYA schools?
(While I was answering, he too added points about Migration policy of these schools)
5) Have you been part of migration policy of Navodaya schools?
6) Do they give coaching for exams like NEET or competitive exams?

M1:
1) You're Mechanical Engineer by background, why you chose Anthropology?
2) you chose it because it's scoring(Though I didn't mention anything about scores in previous question)? How much is average score?
3) How will anthropology help you in civil services?
4) Tell me few drawbacks or areas of improvement Navodaya schools?
5) what are the extra curricular activities they teach you in NAVODAYA?

M2:
1) What is the meaning of your name? ( When I began answering, he too added about NANDI, GOD SHIVA relating to my name)
2) You watch cricket then tell me, between watching cricket and playing cricket, which one is better?
3) How many teams are playing in this T20 worldcup?
4) How has this preparation journey shaped your personality?
5)What keeps you engaged apart from this preparation?


M3: ( It was lengthy conversation)
1) Read my name and asked what your friends call you?
2) what reforms do you suggest for UPSC? (Interrupted my answer when I said about attempts)
3) Don't you think Indian Youths are wasting their prime time in these exams? Over 10lakh sit for this exam.. what about them? They could have contributed elsewhere.
He also mentioned about Pratibha Setu.
4) What should we do to engage youth apart from preparation?
4) should we limit number of attempts and reduce age?
5)How about conducting one single exam for all the the posts and selecting people from that pool?
6) You're from Belagavi, tell me what's the status of Belagavi Dispute with Maharashtra?
I told about Mahajan commission..he then asked about what are the names of villages that commission told to swap with Maharashtra.
7) Tell me why your Talluk is famous for?
8) Since you are Mechanical Engineer, tell me the difference between Clearance and Tolerance?
9) How these both are important in public service?
It was very long conversation, sir was still asking then chairman sir interrupted and told other member to continue.

M4: ( Female member)
1)( asked question about my answer to member1) are Navodaya in rural areas a blessing or negative thing?
2) How do they help rural areass?
3) Have you read today's newspaper? What was most important headline? ( US india deal was announced last night)
4) I told about the deal...she asked is it a deal or declaration?
5) Tell me about Board of Peace.
6) Is UN Dead? Should we scrap it?
7)UN Reforms

After this, Chairman sir told your interview is over and anything you would ask? ..
Then he said, All The Best.

Board was cordial. It was very much different from what I experienced in mocks.
Overall a good experience.
Daily discussion with peers helped a lot.
Mocks/O20 (If any): La Excellence (special thanks to them for helping in early stages of interview prep), Sankalp,Vajiram, Vajirao,NEXT IAS, SRIRAM IAS, QUANTEL.
O2O- Ram Babu SIR, Venkat mohan sir, kalyan sir and Vinayak sir (La excellence), SRIRAM SIR (SRIRAM IAS) , Mahesh Bhagwat Sir (Detailed DAF Discussion), Shubham Sir -Vidyapeeth IAS ( for Structuring answers) .

Name: Lenin Siddartha Reddy
Date: 02.02.2026
Session: Morning Session, Second to Go


---

Key DAF Details

Writing fictional stories

Watching travel vlogs

BA LL.B., Gujarat National Law University

PSIR

Person with Disability

Warangal, Telangana

(Rest of the keywords were not asked)



---

Board: Sanjay Verma Sir


---

Questions Asked

Chairman / Board Member 1

1. What do your friends call you?


2. Do your friends know who Lenin is?


3. What is the full name of Lenin?


4. You have studied Political Science. Tell me, are institutions becoming more powerful than states in the 21st century?



My Answer:
a. I answered, No, Sir. I do not think institutions are becoming more powerful than states. States continue to retain their sovereignty even in the 21st century due to power politics.
b. Multilateral institutions have limited relevance and do not possess more power than sovereign states.

Follow-up:
You are right regarding multilateral institutions, but institutions that hold power influence countries like Mauritius, the Somali Islands, etc.

My Response:
Yes, Sir. Multinational corporations (MNCs) are becoming more powerful than states.


---

5. You mentioned that you write short fictional stories. Why have you specifically mentioned “fictional”? Stories are generally fictional.



My Answer:
a. I write using my imagination based on observations from newspapers and my surroundings.
b. I also write courtroom dramas.


---

6. Which fictional story has moved you recently?



My Answer:
a. The Last Girl by Nadia Murad, Sir.

7. Where did it take place?



My Answer:
Sir, in Syria.

Chairman:
It is not a short story; it is a very long narrative.

My Response:
a. Sir, recently I also read 3000 Stitches by Sudha Murthy.
b. I mentioned how ma’am contributed to the welfare of sex workers.


---

8. Should prostitution be legalized in India?



My Answer:
a. Sir, I believe it should be based on consent and aligned with the recent Supreme Court judgment.

9. Which country has legalized it?



My Answer:
c. Sir, most European countries, for example, Germany.


---

10. Name other short story writers from India.



My Response:
I paused for a few seconds and said that I was unable to recall at the moment.

11. Which award is given for short stories?



My Answer:
Sir, the Booker Prize.

Chairman:
Specifically for short stories.

My Response:
Sorry, Sir. I am not aware.


---

Second Member

1. What problems are faced by persons with disabilities in education?



My Answer:
Denial of admission, inaccessibility in educational institutions, lack of assistive technologies, etc.

2. What is the government doing recently for the welfare of persons with disabilities?



My Answer:
I mentioned multiple government schemes and initiatives announced in the Union Budget 2026.

3. You watch travel vlogs. Should we bring a law to curtail misinformation and wrong portrayal of places in such videos?



My Answer:
Sir, introducing a law may curtail freedom of speech and expression. Instead, we should focus on the personal responsibility of travel bloggers.
However, if content is against the state or public policy, action should be taken as per existing laws.

4. How do the Metaverse and latest AI technologies help improve the travel vlogging experience?



My Answer:
a. Sir, they significantly enhance user experience. Through augmented reality, people can virtually access places across the world.

(Board moved to Member 3)


---

Board Member 3 (Lady Member)

1. How can we encourage reading habits among children, as very few focus on reading today?



My Answer:
a. We should encourage creativity by motivating children to write stories using their imagination and innovative ideas.

2. Follow-up questions.


3. Who is your role model and why?


4. How is AI hindering the creative abilities of children?




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Board Member 4

1. What are the twin cities of Warangal?


2. Post-bifurcation, which state benefited more?


3. Development in your state is centralized in Hyderabad. How will Telangana solve this problem?


4. You are a BA LL.B. st

udent from Gujarat National Law University. Why do you want to join civil services when you can earn lakhs in corporate law or litigation?


5. Why do people from your state mostly migrate to the United States, while people from Kerala migrate to West Asia?




---

Board Member 5

1. What reforms would you suggest for the present education system?


2. Explain the integrated education system approach.




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Chairman (Final Questions)

1. Lenin and Siddhartha represent two ends of a spectrum. Which one would you choose?



My Answer:
I chose the balanced middle path.

2. Will you drop “Lenin” from your name?



My Response:
Sir, it is part of my official certificates.

3. Why are there so many Lenins in India, but not in Russia?




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Overall Interview Duration

Approximately 32 minutes



---

Mocks / O2O
Mahesh Bhagwat sir: thankful for his contribution towards my prep. Gave very insightful guidance. he talked to me for 40 minutes to help me prepare questions based on my DAF.
Nikhil sir from insights: spent a lot of time over the call in guiding about PSIR optional.
Attended 11 mock interviews, mainly for practice and confidence-building.



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Name-mahadev jane
Sujata Chaturvedi maam
2nd one to go,forenoon session, time around 25 mins
Keywords=Madhubani painting, Electrical engineering, Bihar state, machine learning(only these asked)

1. Chair introduced to board , last word she read from daf is Madhubani painting and started asking about it.
2. Asked can u draw? Pl describe some features , how is this diff
3. Can u remember any other paintings
4. Ok , pichwadi painting if u had to make guess which state it is?[ I guessed wrong, she said ok]
5. Do u know some news from north east? What is tha?
6. Elaborate it's history
7. Do u think it will solve issue?
8. Any other happening from north east?[I said no maam I don't know]

M1
1. Do u think 100% renewable grid would solve problems or be problematic
2. Ok so what is ur opinion?
3. What is solar pumped hydro ? Give 2 benefits
4. Why u said it is technology? Really it is?
5. Ok so is this larger or nascent?
6. Any project u name ?
7. What is grid stability? How to achieve it?
8. How does solar hydro power useful here? Ok so u say opinion
M3
1. U said on grid stability, then tell me any outside India grid connect?
2. Don't u think India should support usa in us Iran nuclear issue as we support the cause of peace? [No cross q]
3. What is utility of solar? We can do by thermal? No Why?
4. since u worked on machine learning, describe me any project u would like to work in health sector
5. what is drug resistance tb, how ml worl here[mentioned above so cross q]
M3
[I will ask only relevant stuff]
1. Ok tell me about discom?
2. Why r they in losses, interrupted in between said Ok ok
3. Ok social issue of urbanization is there so much crowd how would u solve Name 2 solution, didn't let me finish second asked cross q
4. Ok so about discom tell me also how as admn u would solve fiscal issues, from where u would fund it.
5. Ok lastly tell me why there is inequality? [ after 2 reasons said Ok ok ]
[ member was very much hurried but smiling]

M4
1. Name social issues of bihar u would have wished not there
2. Why isn't there caste also?
3. Ok how will u solve then?
4. Ok any administration issue u faced
5. Now as u come from Bihar and Nepal is there n our neighbourhood is not happy with us. How should India bridge gap of trust with Nepal.
6. Ok really does it got Allocation this budget?[ was in my answer before]

Chair
Ok thankyou u can go now.

Maam was very strict, serious, not just poker but very serious look, but cordial board overall rest members were smiling looking Nodding sometimes and maam too was Willing to listen unlike mocks.

Mocks given = 10(online), only 1 offline ( samkalp- highly over rated, but team is helpful)
One to one
Mahesh Sir IPS 🙏 ( detailed analysis n even daf filling, so helpful n highly inspirational )

Shubham Aggarwal sir Vidyapeeth ias ( Supportive, helpful , overall one man army)

Special thanks to all respected mentors and faculty who helped- team of Next ias, Sleepy classes, Upscprep, Samkalp, vision ias, ias gurukul🙏🏻
Thankyou
Har har mahadev 🙏🏻🙏🏻

Name: NyayaVardhan
Sanjay Verma IFS Board
Date: 12.02.26 — 1st to Go (Forenoon)

Chairperson:
1. So NyayaVardhan, You are in interested in constitution and also collect books. Have you had the opportunity to collect any unique edition of the constitution?
2. Which are some books adapted into movies? Can you give an example? (Mentioned Fault in the Stars and Julian Barnes’ Sense of an Ending)
3. Can you think of a book that still not made into movie, which you think can be turned into a movie?
4. Who wrote Fault in the Stars book that you mentioned earlier? (Replied John Green)
5. There’s a new movie called Haq. (I mentioned i watched it on NF). Sir, got excited and asked you watched it? Very good. So in the end credits there’s a mentioned of a person who was important in the research of the movie, whats the name? (Sorry sir, i have not paid attention) he said you should. Its important (I acknowledged the fact that end credits have some interesting trivia/facts etc)
6. How was the movie depicted according to you wrt the actual caselaw?
7. How did the Shah Bano case influence the society? (I mentioned women rights, maintenance and later influenced other judgements like Shayara Bano too)
8. Is our constitution Male or Female Centric. (I mentioned Female oriented)
9. Why female centric? (Special provisions under Art 15(3)/16(3). Sir added art 326 voting rights for women since inception of constitution unlike other democracies


M1:
10. Arbitration is one ADR. What are some other modes of ADR? (Mentioned Negotiation, Mediation and Conciliation)
11. What is mediation. How is it different from Arbitration
12. If courts were to intervene on the arbitral awards, then whats the use of ADR? (So, i mentioned recent case Gayatri Balasamy where SC reduced the scope for intervention in arbitral awards and section 34 of A&C Act which also bars courts intervention)
13. What if Britishers had not colonised India? First tell me good things that they have brought?
14. If they hadn’t colonised, would still india develop like it has today? (I said yes it would still develop. Gave a comparison on GDP held by India before and After British colonisation)
15. Minister of education yesterday said he will deploy AI in school education. How will you as DM implement it? (Mentioned Personalised learning, visual tools created by AI to make learning more fun. Ultimately use it for improving Learning Outcomes)
16. Do you used AI ? I mentioned ChatGPT and Gemini.
17. Chairperson intervened and asked for what purpose do you employ AI. (Mentioned summarising Long YT videos and reading summaries of books)

M3:
17. Your surname is familiar in both Karnataka and Maharashtra right? You are kannadiga or Maratha?
18. What is the Belagavi Dispute about? Explain to me. (Mentioned Mahajan Committee 1962)
19. What is the status today? (Petition before SC by MH govt under art 131)
20. Has the mahajan committee not settled it? What did it recommend ? Only on the basis of Language? (Not just language but other criteria as well)
21. What other criteria ? (Administrative convenience, History and manuscripts, British documents, economic connectivity)
22. What is happening in the world today? One important event? (Mentioned Bangladesh Election)
23. In india? Any major event happening? He was hinting at ICC T20 WC but i was talking about AI summit in the coming week, Indo-US trade deal etc
24. Its related to your DAF. Make a guess now. Finally i said T20 WC. (All members had a good laugh at this moment)
25. What the difference between t20 and 50 over cricket? (Mentioned 2 differences, he also added the slow overrate penalty rule as well)
26. What is unique about this year T20 WC (mentioned that 20 teams including good number Associate Nations also playing)
27. What is one pattern you see among the matches played till now? Do you see any pattern? (mentioned that associate nations are playing competitive cricket against Major Teams, like Canada, USA etc)

M3:
28. What is one rule you find funny in cricket? (Mentioned Obstructing the field)
29.

Would you change it or retain. (I’ll retain it sir)
30. One rule in cricket you’d change of given a chance? (In case of tie in super over, bowl out should be next tie breaker instead of one more superover, to make game more fun and bowler friendly)
31. Since you are already working, tell me How is increasing Technology impacting workplace?
32. What are its effects on Workplace relations among colleagues?
33. Is technology leading to too much stress? (I mentioned increased screentime both in private life and worklife)
34. You like collecting books. You walk around the city and you see Pirated books being sold. Do you support it? (I said no as the author has put lots of hardwork, labour and research into publishing it and also its an offence under Copyright Act)
35. But it also increases the spread among public, more people will read it. Its good right? (Said less cost doesn’t justify the wrong. If cost is the criteria, we can get original titles at low prices. Mentioned Blossoms bookhouse in Bangalore)
36. One final time i ask you: do you support it or not? (I stuck to not supporting)

M4: (Female)
37. Without Gandhiji, the independence could have been achieved earlier or it would have been delayed further? (I said delayed. Asked for reasons for it)
38. Mention four important Stalwarts instrumental in Freedom Struggle. (Mentioned Gandhi, Bose, Sarojini Naidu and Azad)
39. Pick one. I said i have followed BR ambedkar (i wanted to avoid History Questions)
40. Ambedkar was involved more towards Constitution making, so pick only among the four you mentioned. (I chose SC Bose)
41. Why was SC Bose isolated during the freedom movement?
42. What would have happened if Bose had survived longer? how would it impact Freedom Movement?
43. What is one constitutional provision that protects the Civil Servants? (I couldn’t remember art 311, she said its alright, just tell me what it says. So described it)
44. Article related to UPSC (article 315 to 323)


Chairman intervened and said Thank you, your interview is over.
Thanked the chairperson and members and wished them a nice day!

Mocks: VisionIAS Samkalp NEXTIAS (best ones), Unacademy VajiramRavi (decent), Vajirao and PWOnlyIAS (okayish)
(Yet the actual interview coverage of Qs were totally different, no overlap of any question except Belagavi Dispute)

Overall i felt the Questions were very on-the-spot kind, more commonsensical and rapidfire type. History questions were a bit difficult for me to answer. Overall decent experience.
The environment was very relaxed. I had a smile throughout. Members were very jolly and good mood. (One member mentioned they played cricket in the morning, thats why more cricket based Qs).

Interview Transcript for Community ✅

Name: monk_mishra
Date: 11 Feb, 2026 (1st to go)
Board: Hon. BB Swain Sir

DAF Keywords: Deputy Collector (WB), Jadavpur University, Football, Civil Engg, History Optional, Work Ex- Data Science

Chair: What is this designation: Deputy Magistrate and Deputy Collector?
Are you involved in SIR? What is it? Are we using some software?

M1: What is meditative writing?
-Explain ML in one line?
-What did you do in job as Biz Analyst?
-What is US Deal?
-At which stage is it? (couldn’t answer)
-Who is at loss?
-What is pulses clause?
-Why Civil Services and why not go to USA for MNC? specifically asked me to not to quote coaching wala Answer 🙂

M2: Name a famous alumni of JU? (Said couple of names, but he was not satisfied…….Finallly Sir said Satyajit Ray)
-Asked me about 2-3 bengali poems but I could not answer.
-What makes Bengal Great?
-When was JU founded? Role in independence.
-Pre Engineered and pre fabricated structure difference?
-why are we not using it?
-why still on site construction?
-what is AI Summit? Did you read newspaper today? What is recent SC verdict on that?

M3: Why Football so backward in India?
-What are the reasons? (I kept answering he was not satisfied)
-bridge failure reasons?
-Energy is commodity or weapon? Give an example

M4: Why cities are so congested?
-why are not able to solve them?
-do you know Chinese history? American History? SE Asia? (Said maam to some extent)
-What is Chip War?
-Which country has 90% Renewable Energy?
-Which countries are invinsible in Chip War?
-Can we localize data? Can Google be forced to localize data?

M2 Again- Recent SGI Ruling on AI Content (30 minute takedown)

Lastly Swain Sir said, should we ask you something more? What had you prepared for this interview?

Mocks Verdict:
SNTCSSC of WB Govt (Best)
NextIAS (Good)
PWOnlyIAS (Bad)
Apti Plus (Average)

O2O:
Bassi Sir (confidence booster)
B Singh Sir (must for Civil Engg)
Sriram Sir (average)

Most important: Help and Guidance from Seniors and Friends in service

Some DAF Questions from Edge IAS and Apti Plus.

Date 12-2-26
Name- XYZ
Board ,BB SWAIN
FIRST TO GO IN
Keywords -sociology, mechanical engineering,palghar ,

CHAIRPERSON (ONLY one question) tell me something about palghar

All members- 1)infra growth in Maharastra any 5 recent
2)mumbai new coastal city project something related to song( don't know)
3)caste inequality reasons and what will u do

4) what will u do for development of palghar

5) ur view on ews reservation

6)marathi literature and films
7)do u think crisis makes people come together and stability creates tensions give example(couldn't answer accurate)

8) is europenisatio failing in near future

9)shld dhoni retire ,

10) who is better vk or sachin as a role

11)ur views on weakning social bonds in urban areas

12)why sociology after engineering

13)what steps have been taken to reduce caste inequality

14) ur views on maratha pride initiatives of Balasaheb Thackeray,how will u define

15)will u justify his action of violence

16)why male from upper caste rape female from lower caste

17 ) any recent honour killing incident

18)where do flamigos come in Maharashtra (i couldn't answer)

19)ur views on jobless growth and what could be done(ok answer

20) whats ur plan b what if u fail

21) ur view on vadhavan port and why protest was carried out.

22)what are wetlands and ramsar convention






2-3 more ques were there
Couldn't remember more 😅
Only one question was repeated from mocks

Overall board was very cordial and was interview was DAF based

Total 14 mocks
Ekam(ver poor)
Next ias(good
Vision ias (good
Sankalp ias (good
Vajiram (good
Sriramias ,career will, quantel ,vision IAS
SIAC
No mock is comparable to real interview
O2o- sriram sir ,upwise ,pw only ias
Special thanks for Mahesh bhagwat sir whatsapp group for helping in ca, and providing platform

Date - 12/2/26

Board - Dasa sir

Keywords - Sociology, madhya pradesh

Chairperson
- You must have sacrificed a lot to come at this stage in terms of social media, movies, etc. isn’t it?
- since you have selected socio, tell me what interesting things you found in Indian society and western society that you were unaware of.
- What are the social institutions in the indian society
- What are changes faced by them due to globalisation and colonisation
- Have you heard about SIR. Tell me how you as a DM would have helped people who don’t have any documents with them
- Choose one district that you would like to serve (he insisted to pick one)

M1
- Talked about bhopal gas tragedy, its causes, its impact on the society. Who should be held responsible? (Connected to state choice in previous question)
- Indore water crisis, how you as a DM would act in that situation
- Name one institution responsible for that tragedy

M2
- talked about goa being an important tourist destination, reasons for that, what are the famous tourist spots there (Randomly asked)
- Why there has been a decline of tourist arrivals in goa
- What are the 3 steps you would take to weed out corruption at the local level?

M3
- recently china had complained against India at WTO (PLI)
- Talked on what was the concern, India’s response
- Recently a social group turned 150 years, do you know about it? (arya samaj)
- Tell some contributions of arya samaj
- Tell me some other social groups present in the society which provide welfare services (said RSS)

M4
- What will be the trends in old age that will seen as we move towards viksit bharat (urban and rural)
- For whom are we making viksit bharat?
- Have you heard of agniveer scheme? Should such scheme be brought into civil services where efficiency determines your career? Will it increase or decrease the craze of upsc among gen z?

Chairperson
- How will socio help you as an administrator
- Is there any topic that you think we haven’t covered?

Not able to recall remaining questions. Sir said he hasn’t even seen my DAF so the questions were generic.

Overall a great experience (no grilling).

O2O - saloni ma’am, upwise, vidyapeeth, IAS gurukul with pranay sir(extremely helpful for sociology), Ayush sir (forum IAS)

Mocks- Upwise (2-3), quantel, OnlyIAS (2), SPIPA, Next IAS (2), Vajirao, Vajiram, Sriram, Shankar, Samkalp, Vision (2), StudyIQ, etc.

Name: Mukzyy

Date: 12/02/26 (AN / 1st to go)

Key DAF Details: Delhi, ECE Engineer, Sociology, CAG, Photography, Cloud Computing, Waste Segregation, Oratory & Public Speaking.

Board: BB Swain Sir

Questions asked:
Chairperson (Swain Sir)
Welcome, how are you doing ?
So, you wrote an essay on CAG, what was it was all about ?
So, what do you think about the controversies regarding the scams ?

M1 (Female)
So, you are from Delhi, How is Delhi faced pressure due to migrants ?
How do we need to handle such pressure on Delhi due to migration ?
So, you mentioned about CAG, does CAG have a federal or unitary feature ?

M2 (Male)
So, you worked for waste segregation, how we treat the landfills in Delhi ?
How do we need to treat it ?
Major issue of Delhi ?
Major causes of Air pollution ?
How do we tackle Air pollution ?
Any country who tackled Air pollution effectively ?

M3 (Male)
So, you do photography ? Is it pro level or just for hobby ?
You do it with professional camera or with phone ?
Earlier kodak films were clear or DSLR one ?
Who is your favourite photographer ?
Which mobile camera is the best ?
What about Oppo or vivo phones ?
They have higher megapixel, don't you think they are better ?
Apart from iphone, which other phone you would suggest for mobile photography ?
So, do you love food being a delhiite ?
So, you are from Delhi, there is a restaurent which was placed in Top 100 restaurents of the world, do you know which one was it ?
So, you should go to Kareem's for their mughlai delicacy (All members started discussion to have a get together at Kareem's with laughters)
So, you might have been to Indian Accent restaurent, it is good too.
You are also into oratory and public speaking, have you heard of Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish speech ?
Facets of Steve Jobs speech ?

M4 (Male)
So, you have preparing for Civil Services for a long time ? What have you been doing since so many years ?
What if you do not make it into it ?
So, tell me about Cloud Computing ? Can it replace Quantum Technology ?
With advent of AI, is cloud computing taking a back seat ?

BB Swain Sir - So, your interview is over ! Its been a long interview of 35 minutes. Do you want to ask us something ? And yes, do have that chaat from backside of UPSC. All the very best to you.

Overall the board was very cordial and actively listening to my answers and having burst of laughters. It was more like a conversation rather than an interview.

Panel Mocks given - 16 (Vision, Forum, Vajiram, Samkalp(Closest), NextIAS, Vajirao, PW, Unacademy, UPSCPrep, Chanakya Mandal, StudyIQ, Aptiplus, KGS, SriramIAS, GSScore, RathodIAS) + 1:1 given - 6 ( Mahesh Bhagwat Sir, Pranay Aggrawal Sir, Ayush Sir, BS Solanki Sir, Jalaj Sir, Saloni Mam, Shubham sir for the support)

Name: OGGY
Date of interview: 06/02/26 forenoon 2nd to go
Board: B B Swain Sir
DAF Details: Geography optional, Chemistry grad, Narrative photography, Soundscape recording, Varanasi, Disaster Management

CHAIRMAN
Please come in, Aiye
1. I see that you have 2 very unique hobbies, one I can understand (narrative photography) what is the other (Soundscape rec)?
2. Device used?
3. What do you do with it?

LADY MEMBER 1
1. Which kind of economy will this hobby of yours (Soundscape rec) fall in - asked if she meant gig economy? - No, Orange economy - I said yes mam creative economy
2. What is happening in Iran? - Great bazaar, US intervention
3. Anything else? - I started thinking then she moved on
4. Are there any remnant of erstwhile leadership in Iran claiming power?
5. Should a country (US) intervene in domestic issues?
6. Arabian countries are not democratic, why?
7. What about the status of Afghanistan?
8. Is Iran the only Shia country?
9. Is its Shia identity a factor of instability in West Asia?

MEMBER 2
1. What is the relevance of BRICS grouping as of today?
2. Where is its secreteriat?
3. Why no permanent secreteriat? Shouldn't it have a permanent one for stability?
4. What do you make out of the future of an organisation where India and China are members?
5. Disaster Management - what did you do? 6. Floods in Delhi man made or natural?
7. Why isn't govt doing if it is mostly man-made

MEMBER 3
1. Why is the USA interested in Iran?
2. How to increase investments in India?
3. EoDB can also be one of the factors? (Missed in previous answer)
4. Cyber frauds, what to do apart from creating awareness?

MEMBER 4
1. Honors is usually in one subject, how did you study 2?
2. Link between chem and geo
3. You're from UP, How long have you lived there? 2 good and bad things in UP
(Counters)
4. There are considerably less explorations in North Pole Arctic region, what are the resources in Arctic?

Chairman asked Aur kuch? Said thankyou ...
Chaliye theek hai, all the best

O2O: quantel
Mocks: Vajirao & Reddy, Sankalp, Unacademy, Chanakya MP (almost lol, they cancelled last minute xD), PWOnlyIAS

Chairman sir was in a bit of hurry (the board was running behind their schedule) but all of the members listened to each and every word of mine very carefully. Intv lasted around 25 min. M4 sir was keen to share his own experiences 😅.

Date - 12/2/26

Board - Dasa sir

Keywords - Sociology, madhya pradesh

Chairperson
- You must have sacrificed a lot to come at this stage in terms of social media, movies, etc. isn’t it?
- since you have selected socio, tell me what interesting things you found in Indian society and western society that you were unaware of.
- What are the social institutions in the indian society
- What are changes faced by them due to globalisation and colonisation
- Have you heard about SIR. Tell me how you as a DM would have helped people who don’t have any documents with them
- Choose one district that you would like to serve (he insisted to pick one)

M1
- Talked about bhopal gas tragedy, its causes, its impact on the society. Who should be held responsible? (Connected to state choice in previous question)
- Indore water crisis, how you as a DM would act in that situation
- Name one institution responsible for that tragedy

M2
- talked about goa being an important tourist destination, reasons for that, what are the famous tourist spots there (Randomly asked)
- Why there has been a decline of tourist arrivals in goa
- What are the 3 steps you would take to weed out corruption at the local level?

M3
- recently china had complained against India at WTO (PLI)
- Talked on what was the concern, India’s response
- Recently a social group turned 150 years, do you know about it? (arya samaj)
- Tell some contributions of arya samaj
- Tell me some other social groups present in the society which provide welfare services (said RSS)

M4
- What will be the trends in old age that will seen as we move towards viksit bharat (urban and rural)
- For whom are we making viksit bharat?
- Have you heard of agniveer scheme? Should such scheme be brought into civil services where efficiency determines your career? Will it increase or decrease the craze of upsc among gen z?

Chairperson
- How will socio help you as an administrator
- Is there any topic that you think we haven’t covered?

Not able to recall remaining questions. Sir said he hasn’t even seen my DAF so the questions were generic.

Overall a great experience (no grilling).

O2O - saloni ma’am, upwise, vidyapeeth, IAS gurukul with pranay sir(extremely helpful for sociology), Ayush sir (forum IAS)

Mocks- Upwise (2-3), quantel, OnlyIAS (2), SPIPA, Next IAS (2), Vajirao, Vajiram, Sriram, Shankar, Samkalp, Vision (2), StudyIQ, etc.

Date: 11/02/2026
Morning shift, 1st to go
Board: Hon. Sanjay Verma Sir
DAF: Gorakhpur, cycling event, sketching, PSIR

Chairman:
Say something about flowers
Tell me about flowers from multi dimensional view like politics, social, economic, etc
Do they have any defense mechanism? How do they protect against threats?
Do they also have thorns?
Do humans also have mechanism like pheromones? (I mentioned pheromone in previous answer)
So this week they must be in danger. What must be reason for that?
Which particular flower would be most vulnerable this week?
How are you going to spend this valentine? With whom? Have you found your valentine yet?
What did you had in your breakfast?
How much calories it must have been?
Which type of bread you ate? (Brown or milk or something else)
Which company was it of?

M1 (female board member)
Did you notice the Mahatma gandhi statue while coming inside? What was written beneath it?
What did he meant by that?
What was the most important message of gandhiji?
What is different about Gandhiji's non violence?
You have mentioned interested in sketching, what does it mean?

M2
Tell me 5 conflicts going on in the world in order of severity
If you have to choose one country from our neighbourhood to focus maximum efforts on which will be most beneficial for us, which would it be? Why?
But we are seeing the people of Bangladesh are having anti India sentiment, so what is your say on that? Is it possible?
Have you heard of recent news about vande mataram?
Are you aware of the stock market?
What factors decide the bullish and bearish moves?
What is market sentiment?
What are recent evaluation issues in Ed tech sector?
Do you know any Ed tech company which is doing good recently?
What are FIIs?

M3
Tell me 2 most important technology emerging in current times?
How can AI help a common man?
Do you use AI?
How do you use it?
Which AI app do use?
Data is the new oil. What does it mean?
Give example how the data is used by companies?
Tell me about current US india relations?
What do you think, the current agreement signed between India and US is good or bad for India?
What about tariffs, is it justified?
How much India imposed tariff on US?
Trump is claiming to be peace paker, what is your view on that?
But he has made board of peace for Gaza, so he is bringing peace, what will you say then?
Recently he has also taken Nobel Peace Prize, do you think it is justified?
Has he really been given the peace Prize or it was given by someone else?
What is the significance of this peace Prize then?

M4.
Will you give your gold medal to someone else if he asks for it?
Who conducted the cycling event? (DAF achievement)
What was your approach to win that race?
What was the distance you covered?
In which year was it conducted?
What was the deciding factor to judge the winner?
Do you know the bicycle man of India?
Gorakhpur is famous for what?
When was geeta press established?
What is it's significance?
Does CM belonging to your city, helped the city?
What developments have you seen under him?

Chairman: thank you, your interview is over.

Time: around 28 minutes