Name: Anshul Singh

Date: 19 Feb 2026 Forenoon (2nd to go)

Key DAF Details: PSIR, Convergent Journalism (Masters), F1, Cricket, Model United Nations, Bihar Caste Survey, Interest in Contemporary Indian Politics, Sports Editor, Delhi (East Delhi-Dilshad Garden)

Board: Sanjay Verma Sir (30 mins)

Chairperson:
1. How many interviews have you given before (Not counting earlier UPSC interviews since this was my first interview and second attempt)?
2. What were the shortest and the longest interviews?
3. Views whether Indian journalism in converging into a black hole?
4. What are the reasons responsible for the same?
5. What are some of the alternative media platforms that are emerging?
6. Why should I follow contemporary Indian politics?
7. Shouldn't I just save myself from all the noise present in Indian politics today?
8. What do you mean by democratic backsliding?
9. What are the two semi-finals you are looking forward to in the ongoing T20 World Cup?
10. Shouldn't India avoid playing Pakistan in the semis or finals as we can lose against them?
11. What is the one change that you would make in the current Indian line up? (Said Kuldeep for Arshdeep)
12. What is his (Kuldeep's) batting strike rate? [Only question I couldn't answer]

M1

1. What would you prefer A good neighbourhood first policy or India's good ties with great powers like USA? [Picked the former and explained why]
2. Don't you think it would cost India's relationship with USA and Russia?
3. What is online trolling?
4. Why is it becoming a huge problem lately and steps to curb it?
5. Do you think dissent is important in a democracy and why?

M2

1. Why do you think East delhi has problems like high crime rate and more crimes against women?
2. What steps do you suggest to improve?
3. We see a wave of cricket nationalism in India. What do you think should be done to promote other sports in India?
4. Ho can private sector role be increased in promoting other sports? [I said from CSR and even the Govt could form a Fund of Funds with collaboration of private sector for the same and he said that is a great suggestion]
5. Gave me a situation where riots have taken place due to a social media post and asked for the short term and long term measures

M3

1. Do you think Delhi's East and North East region could be compared to East of India in general?
2. Do you we should go ahead and do a caste based census when such a thing happens no where in the world?
3. Do you think caste is relevant today?
4. Why do you think no educational qualifications were adopted in the Constitution for the post of MLA and MP?
5. Don't you think we should amend the Constituion and include educational qualifications for MPs and MLAs now in the present scenario?

M4 (lady member)

1. What do you mean by 'Spiral of Silence?'
2. Do you think in India, with emerging issues of majoritarianism, such a trend is being witnessed?
3. What is the utility of conducting MUNs (Model United Nation) in schools and colleges when the UN is losing relevance?
4. Do you watch K-dramas or are aware about them? [I said I don't watch but am aware about some of them]
5. Why do you think GenZ in India watch so many K-dramas even when their reality is so much different than ours?

Board was really cordial and it felt more like a conversation than an interview. Board members were acknowledging my responses and reacting positively on some of the answers.

Mocks: Vajirao, Sankalp, NextIAS, Vajiram, Quantel, Unacademy, Upwise
O2O- Mahesh Bhagwat Sir (Detailed DAF analysis with potential questions), Sunil Oberoi sir (Best one, helping in opinion making), Ayush Sinha Sir (helping to control tempo and pace), Vinay Sir

Board was really cordial and it felt more like a conversation than an interview or a personality test. Board members were acknowledging my responses and reacting positively on some of the answers. Overall a great experience. Now, prayers and hope....

Date:20/02/2026
NAME- BHARAT
Board - Suman mam
DAF- MBBS, ANTHROPOLOGY, GUJARAT

1-Government is increasing heath cess but simultaneously goverment reducing health expenditure AS a percentage (2.4% to now 1.9%)...why ??

-Ahemdabad CWG JOB creation in which sector
-DHOLERA SIR VS SEZ
-Pharmaceuticals industry
-Child epidemic and private hospitals are exploiting what steps will you take
-Mother of All deal ? Why
-One dilemma you have faced -how you have resolved

-River water dispute between India Pak how to resolve pn which platforms.
-Drugs issues among youth but we treat them a criminal one..!
- How to address this
Insurance( ayushman or) vs heath care infra...our Focus should be on?

-Pickle ball vs tennis
-World level river disputess?
-One famous Gujarati has gone to USA..?. hint - swami Vivekanand?....

Name: Gregor Samsa
Date: 16/02/2026
Board: Raj Shukla Sir
3 rd to go
DAF keywords: Police mitra, Chandrapur, TISS, Development, PSIR

Chairman :
1.What did you study in TISS?
2.Do you think the government should spend money on Social spending? (monologue about How europe prioritized social spending, curbed innovation and hence it fell behind- asked me if I will reevaluate my answer)
3.What is the line between social spending and freebies? how to curtail them? Will political parties listen?

Memeber 1:

1. Trump wants to buy greenland, what should be India's stance?
2. You worked as polcie mitra, what was role?
3. If stampede happened there what will you do?
4. Social significance of Ganeshotsav.

Member 2:
1. If you want to bring development to a small place like chandrapur, what aspects of development will you focus and how will you bring development?
2. Bringing MSMEs will be a long process, what other things?
3. What about bottom up?

Member 3.

1. any incident from Shivaji Maharaj that highlighted his role in diplomacy and military tactic.
2. Any incident related to Aurangzeb you remember in above case?
3. Who was Shivaji maharaj working under?
4. What was peculiar relation between Shivaji maharaj and Adilshahi?
5. What is intent of police during the Visarjan rally apart from law and order?

Member 4:

1. You have an ordinance factory in Chandrapur, where is it?
2. Speciality of Tadoba.
3. Why naxalism in Gadchiroli suddenly decreased?
4. Who is famous doctor working there? What's his wife's name?
5. What is his work related to?
6. You studied Science in graduation and now opted for social science in UPSC, is it because there's word science in it? Why shift?
7. You have PSIR, do you think Non alignment is relevnt today?

Experience: I felt questions were subjective and required critical thinking. Distance between Chairman, members and my chair was very large. Very less objective questions. Overall cordial board. Told me to relax. May not remember some questions. Time must be around 25 minutes, didn't check

Special Thanks to:
Avinash Dharmadhikari Sir for guidence and motivation.( Chanakya Mandal Pariwar)
Mahesh Bhagwat Sir- his whatsapp group kept me updated regarding everything PT related.
Vivek Sir and Savita Tai (JP pariwar)
Kohli Sir and Samkalp IAS for all the support.
Bhavana Patole madam (SIAC)
Shubham Sir (Vidyapeeth IAS)
Vidya Prabodhini Kolhapur.

Mocks:
Vision ias, Pwias, studyiq, sreeram ias, shankar IAS, SIAC, quantel etc.

One to one: Shubham Sir (Vidyapeeth ias), Dharmadhikari Sir (CMP), Samkalp IAS

Name: Anshul Singh

Date: 19 Feb 2026 Forenoon (2nd to go)

Key DAF Details: PSIR, Convergent Journalism (Masters), F1, Cricket, Model United Nations, Bihar Caste Survey, Interest in Contemporary Indian Politics, Sports Editor, Delhi (East Delhi-Dilshad Garden)

Board: Sanjay Verma Sir (30 mins)

Chairperson:
1. How many interviews have you given before (Not counting earlier UPSC interviews since this was my first interview and second attempt)?
2. What were the shortest and the longest interviews?
3. Views whether Indian journalism in converging into a black hole?
4. What are the reasons responsible for the same?
5. What are some of the alternative media platforms that are emerging?
6. Why should I follow contemporary Indian politics?
7. Shouldn't I just save myself from all the noise present in Indian politics today?
8. What do you mean by democratic backsliding?
9. What are the two semi-finals you are looking forward to in the ongoing T20 World Cup?
10. Shouldn't India avoid playing Pakistan in the semis or finals as we can lose against them?
11. What is the one change that you would make in the current Indian line up? (Said Kuldeep for Arshdeep)
12. What is his (Kuldeep's) batting strike rate? [Only question I couldn't answer]

M1

1. What would you prefer A good neighbourhood first policy or India's good ties with great powers like USA? [Picked the former and explained why]
2. Don't you think it would cost India's relationship with USA and Russia?
3. What is online trolling?
4. Why is it becoming a huge problem lately and steps to curb it?
5. Do you think dissent is important in a democracy and why?

M2

1. Why do you think East delhi has problems like high crime rate and more crimes against women?
2. What steps do you suggest to improve?
3. We see a wave of cricket nationalism in India. What do you think should be done to promote other sports in India?
4. Ho can private sector role be increased in promoting other sports? [I said from CSR and even the Govt could form a Fund of Funds with collaboration of private sector for the same and he said that is a great suggestion]
5. Gave me a situation where riots have taken place due to a social media post and asked for the short term and long term measures

M3

1. Do you think Delhi's East and North East region could be compared to East of India in general?
2. Do you we should go ahead and do a caste based census when such a thing happens no where in the world?
3. Do you think caste is relevant today?
4. Why do you think no educational qualifications were adopted in the Constitution for the post of MLA and MP?
5. Don't you think we should amend the Constituion and include educational qualifications for MPs and MLAs now in the present scenario?

M4 (lady member)

1. What do you mean by 'Spiral of Silence?'
2. Do you think in India, with emerging issues of majoritarianism, such a trend is being witnessed?
3. What is the utility of conducting MUNs (Model United Nation) in schools and colleges when the UN is losing relevance?
4. Do you watch K-dramas or are aware about them? [I said I don't watch but am aware about some of them]
5. Why do you think GenZ in India watch so many K-dramas even when their reality is so much different than ours?

Board was really cordial and it felt more like a conversation than an interview. Board members were acknowledging my responses and reacting positively on some of the answers.

Mocks: Vajirao, Sankalp, NextIAS, Vajiram, Quantel, Unacademy, Upwise
O2O- Mahesh Bhagwat Sir (Detailed DAF analysis with potential questions), Sunil Oberoi sir (Best one, helping in opinion making), Ayush Sinha Sir (helping to control tempo and pace), Vinay Sir

Board was really cordial and it felt more like a conversation than an interview or a personality test. Board members were acknowledging my responses and reacting positively on some of the answers. Overall a great experience. Now, prayers and hope....

Date:20/02/2026
NAME- BHARAT
Board - Suman mam
DAF- MBBS, ANTHROPOLOGY, GUJARAT

1-Government is increasing heath cess but simultaneously goverment reducing health expenditure AS a percentage (2.4% to now 1.9%)...why ??

-Ahemdabad CWG JOB creation in which sector
-DHOLERA SIR VS SEZ
-Pharmaceuticals industry
-Child epidemic and private hospitals are exploiting what steps will you take
-Mother of All deal ? Why
-One dilemma you have faced -how you have resolved

-River water dispute between India Pak how to resolve pn which platforms.
-Drugs issues among youth but we treat them a criminal one..!
- How to address this
Insurance( ayushman or) vs heath care infra...our Focus should be on?-
-SAHI and BODH AI
-Mother of all deal

-Pickle ball vs tennis
-World level river disputess?
-One famous Gujarati has gone to USA..?. hint - swami Vivekanand?....

Mock and one to one:- Shubham Agarwal sir- vidhyapeeth ias , Mahesh Bhagwat sir , Samkalp, next ias,

Name: OCEAN (INDIAN)
Date: 18th Feb 2026 Afternoon (4th to go)
Key DAF Details: Anthropology, Food processing and food safety, Cooking, Bengaluru, Dharwad, Karnataka
Board: Dinesh Dasa Sir (27 mins)

Chairperson: (introduced me to the board member and started asking questions)
1. What is the debt to GDP ratio of Karnataka?
2. "How do traditional diets serve as a natural defense against lifestyle-induced chronic illnesses?"
3. "Which one of the contemporary governments is providing the most effective governance for its citizens?" (Didn’t even remember what answer I gave)
4. "How do rural and urban populations serve as complementary pillars in the preservation and evolution of cultural heritage?"
Asked two more but not remembering!!!

M1-Male Member (Always had smile on his face. He was the one who asked many questions and also grilled)
Started with –Why did you choose food technology over other engineering streams? Did anyone force you to choose that?
1. What’s your view on regulation of food adulteration in India? Do you feel we are doing well?
2. Why even after knowing that Ultra processed foods are not good for health, why government is not banning them?
3. What is the recent Supreme Court ruling on Front-of –pack labelling?
4. "Are current food labelling regulations sufficiently transparent and accessible for the average consumer to make informed decisions regarding hidden ingredients and synthetic preservatives?"
5. What is the Antimicrobial resistance? What is government doing in this regard? How to curtail it?
6. "Analyze the pathways of pesticide contamination in the food supply chain and the subsequent techniques for residue reduction."
7. "What is the current FSSAI Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) for added sugar consumption in a balanced adult diet?"
He asked some more questions on food safety but not remembering.

M2-Male member
(Poker face, was looking very serious)
1. Do you cook? Tell me how these Chefs get their "Michelin-Starred Chef" Label?
2. Did you work previously? Tell me how ethics is important in administration as well as in workplace?
3. Which car do you like? (I replied- Sir I’m not interested in cars and bikes-don’t know what was running in his mind to ask this question)

M3-Male member
(Long monologues, at the end I was not getting what was his actual question)
1. Which approach do you think is most suitable for tribal administration? (Gave long monologue on present tribal administration and the problems tribal people facing in northwest parts of Pakistan)
2. Which are the developmental measures you take for the welfare of tribal people?
3. Which are the welfare measures even though they are needed but you don’t want to bring them to tribal areas?
4. Analyze the socio-political friction and security challenges arising from the deployment of central armed forces within indigenous tribal territories
5. Gave a long lecture on the India Pakistan border issue.
Given India's status as a formidable military power, what are the strategic complexities and geopolitical implications of a military intervention to reintegrate PoK into the Indian Union?"
M4- Male member
1. What is the naval base present in Karnataka?
No more questions

CHAIRMAN:
1. How many districts are there in Karnataka?
2. Which district in your state do you choose for the development of green field projects?
3. Which district in your state do you choose for the development new IT Hub?
4. Gave long monologue on Bengaluru issues and "Drawing lessons from the infrastructural bottlenecks in Bengaluru, what strategic frameworks should Hyderabad adopt to ensure sustainable growth as a global IT hub?"
Chaiman Sir-Your interview is over, You can go now
Mocks: Quantel, SriRam IAS, PW IAS, Ensure IAS, Vajirao & Reddy, Sankalp
O2O- Ashwini Mam (My degree Professor), Sidhir Sir (Anthro Mentor), Ateeq Sir (ARK Reflections IAS-HYD), Ravi Kapoor Sir

My experience: The board remained cordial. They are very eager to listen. Never interpret in between. More situation and analytical based questions, overall good experience.
(Some mocks were very grilling, overdone, and had more factual and outdated questions,)
Felt Sankalp and Ensure IAS mocks felt very real.
Did my part… Now hoping for the best !!!

Date: 13-02-2026
Session: Afternoon
Board: Sir Sanjay Verma
Duration: Approximately 28 minutes
DAF Keywords: Political Science, PSIR Optional, reading non-fiction, football, Northeast

Chairman
1.  If you would not have been here today in the interview, what would you have been doing?
2.  Rate the northeast states from first to last based on the level of integration, or Indianness. (Chairman smiles and replies that his list is also 80% similar)

Member 1 (Lady)
1.  So, you are a student of political science. What does 2026 look like? (I answered in Indian perspective)
2.  What about the global scenario?
3.  Myanmar recently conducted elections. What is the situation like now, considering the offensives of Arakan Army? What about the Indo-Myanmar border?

Member 2
1.  What makes you happy? What would you call a happy day?
2.  How many days a week do you have happy days? (M1 and M2 smiles at my answer)
3.  What exciting things have happened to you in the recent weeks or months? (I didn’t mention my Mains result day, so he followed up by asking “what about that day?”)
4.  What about today? Isn’t it a happy day? How do you feel?
5.  Then tell me, what makes you depressed? (M1 and M2 smiles at my answer)
6.  You have an interest in non-fiction books, what kind of books do you read?
7.  What are the books you read recently?
8.  What have you learnt from those books?

Member 3
1.  Considering the rapid advancements in AI, what are the challenges and advantages of AI?
2.  Do you think there will come a time when AI takes over the world and overthrow humans?
3.  If the Axis powers had won WWII, what would India have been like today? (Chairman laughs at my answer and I turn to him, he replies saying ‘that is very much a possibility’)
4.  What is happening in our neighbourhood? Why is there strain in ties with India?
5.  What can India do to rectify this?
6.  What would your three priorities be for India if given the opportunity or power?

Member 4
1.  Why is football not as developed in India? What could be the reasons?
2.  You mention infrastructure. But football is the least expensive and accessible sport. Would it be correct to place such emphasis on infrastructure?
3.  You mentioned China (answer to M3). Why is China having so much influence over our neighbours?
4.  You were born in __. Tell me, what is __ famous/known for?
5.  Cannot recall the fifth question. As I was about to complete my answer, Chairman intervenes and says “we’re running out of time.”

Chairman
1.  Tell me, which writer/author/journalist would you say has a reliable and trustworthy opinion on northeast, one who can be trusted? (I mention the name of two journalists who have done excellent reporting on northeast in the past few years)
2.  What about Sanjoy Hazarika? Would you not consider his works as well?
3.  If you were to do PhD or research, what would your research topic/thesis be? Which institutes would you like to do your research in? Who would you choose as your PhD/research guide/supervisor?
4.  What are the think tanks working in Northeast?

I thanked all the members individually and then Chairman last and wished them a good day, then exited the room.

I am unable to recall around 3 questions – particularly by M1, and one by M4.

The interview was a really cordial one. All members, except M4, were smiling or had happy faces throughout. Chairman especially had a happy/enthusiastic face and helped me relax with his smiles and engagement even as I was answering other members. I could smile naturally unlike my mock interviews because the Board was able to make me feel comfortable.  All members listened attentively and never interrupted me, allowing me to give long, descriptive answers for many of the questions. They appeared to be genuinely interested in all my answers, even when I stretched a few by adding dimensions not asked in the question. M3 especially was nodding in a subtle but enthusiastic manner to all my answers to him and M4. Overall, a good experience. God is good.

Name: SKS
Date: 20/2/26
Daf: Mridangam, Music, Telangana, Developmental Activities in my District as a DC, IRS, Worked on Li ion battery technology.
Board: Sheel Vardhan Singh Sir.

Chairperson:

1. Such a long name. What do your friends call you?
2. You're a Mridangam player. How's it different from a Dholak?
3. Explain it to a layman like me in terms of size, shape, dimensions etc.
4. What wood is it majorly made of and where is it sourced from?
5. Sundar Pichai is doing a lot of sweet talk about how India must incentivise locating data centres here. Do you think there is any sinister motive?
6. Why are we talking about 'Planet' in the AI impacts? How will AI systems impact the Planet?
7. Now AI systems are concentrated in the hands of non sovereign MNCs. In this light do you think its alright to give them incentives to set up data centres here and potentially destroy our environment?

Member-1

1. What have family, school and the world taught you or for that matter everyone in the room here?
2. Do you think the world forces you to unlearn and relearn everything that family and school teaches?
3. If the world is not idealistic then should you bend your ideals to navigate through the world?
I said if at all we're put in some kind of a spot our actual character and personality kicks in which shall be the product of our value learnings during our childhood and in schools.
4. Narrated an incident and said what values do you think have kicked in the person in the incident.

Member-2

1. What is happening in and around Iran?
2. Do you expect a war or will diplomacy prevail?
3. What is the name of the Strait that Iran might choke and hamper the global oil supply?
4. Is US vs Iran war in the interest of China? Who will it support?
5. Does Israel have Nuclear weapons?

Member-3

1. What developmental activities have you worked on in your District?
2. How much Cacao do we import?
3. Where else is Cacao Plantation undertaken in India?
4. What was your role in this entire thing?
5. You worked on Lithium ion battery technology.
What are some other battery chemistries?
6. As a chemical engineer What among those you listed would you recommend for Indian energy storage problem?
7. Can we expect a Car with Sodium battery that runs for 2000km on one charge in 2 years from now?

Member 4

1. You are in NADT. How long is your training for? And what all are you taught there?
2. By the time you come out of the Academy will you be as good as CAs?
3. How much is the Direct tax collection this year? Why have personal Income tax collections increased so much of late?
4. How do you expect your work pressure is going to be when on field now that you're saying everything has become digital and faceless?

Chairperson:

Thank you. It was nice talking to you.

Upsc transcript
Name : sanguine Drizzle
10/02/2026 AN 4 th one to go
Board : Lt gen Raj shukla sir
DAF : F1 sociology andhra pradesh

Chairman : Elections in Bangladesh going to be held on February 12 what’s ur opinion on this ?
Follow ups ! Is sheik hasina issue mainly due to lack of transparent elections ? ( chairman insisted to take a stand is it main cause I said added to that but finally I said I have to read more about it sir )
Which party may win in Bangladesh BNP or coalition ( I said coalition may win )
How india can engage with parties which support radicalization and growing influence of Pakistan and china ?
In the view of growing challenges from Bangladesh and myanmmar tell why western borders are fully guarded while eastern boarders don’t have similar gaurded borders ?
Dow we need to do same to eastern borders strictly ?

M1:Lady member ( smiling
n nodding and she was very cordial )
Tell how rural sociology helps in understanding rural society ?
What is flfpr of ur mandal or district ? She encouraged to take a guess
Follow up question what is the reason ?
wheat growing areas have male domination and rice growing areas has female stronghold ? What’s ur opinion on this ?
What is ur assessment of women in ur area ? Are they getting empowered?
Follow up why SHG works well in AP compared to other states ?

M2:
Some question on tribals protest in Srikakulam district
Why drop out rate is low in schools especially females
What solutions u will suggest?
Why ur intrested in F1 ?
What is pit stop and ideal pit stop time ?
Which country u support in f1 ? (I said im not specifically a supporter of any country but I have favourite drivers !) Who is ur favourite driver ?
Do india has any F1 circuit ?
Another question on shg and any specific ap gov act on it ?

M3:
Ur saying grass root multiple times what grassroot schemes u implement as mpdo ?
Give example of any specific scheme (I said about JJM)
question on shg ? Why shg cant develop beyond a certain threshold ? Any scheme in this regard ?
What public expect in youth like you as an administrator?
During your tenure do you think you have fulfilled public expec tations and how do you rate your performance? What challenges remained ? What are ur achievements as per you ?
If you are DM what specific sectors would you focus upon ?
How many PHCs and primary schools are there in your mandal ?
Why you took sociology as an optional despite coming from ece background ?

M4:
A long monologue on digital arrest and asked why educated people professionals got victimized in these scams ( I tried with definition but sir insisted that he need better explanation! )
Then another question on how do you tackle unrealistic expectations from public ? ( I tried to be diplomatic and said classifying expectations as unrealistic is difficult then sir immediately interrupted and said as an administrator u can do that easily🫠 then I said yes sir and gave my answer )


Chairman: thank you your interview is over . all the best
It went for around 26-30 minutes may be didn’t notice time exactly

Name : Naruto Uzumaki
Board : Sanjay Verma sir
Date : 20 Feb 2026, Afternoon, 3 rd to go
DAF Keywords : Moral insights from vintage telugu movies, Anthropology, Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, Scholarship, Electronics and Communication.



1. Tell me the anthropological view of the table in front of you.
2. If you were to do a Ph.D. thesis on moral insights, what would be your conclusion?
3. Aren’t Vintage movies outdated for teaching morals? Don’t new movies represent women’s empowerment and social issues better?
4. Don’t you think the Commonwealth Games represent a colonial past? Do you still want India to be a part of it?
5. What is your biggest strength and your biggest weakness?
6. Tell me about Kurnool. How did it get its name?
7. What is the difference between cloud computing and data centres?
8. What are these Data centers. What do they do? 
9. Does India really need data centres?
10. Tell me about data centres. Why has India been chosen by OpenAI, Microsoft, and other companies for data centres?
11. What do you think about data localisation?
12. Do you think data localisation can be used politically?
13. How is the President of India elected?
14. Do you want to change how India’s President is elected? If yes, how? If no, why not?
15. What is the difference between space communication and satellite communication?
16. What is the difference between morals and ethics?
17. Don’t morals and ethics affect the performance of public servants?
18. What was your reaction when Andhra Pradesh and Telangana bifurcated ?
19. At present, would you be happy if the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were to take place?
20. How Andhra Pradesh and Telangana performing after bifurcation?
21. What have you been doing for the last three years?
22. Which Telugu movie actors have become politicians?
23. What is the clash between QUAD and the Global South, and how is India handling it?
24. What role do women play in nation-building?
25. What is the repo rate? How is it fixed? Why is it needed, and what is its impact?
26. What is Business of aquaculture in Andhra Pradesh?
27. What is the status of aquaculture in Telangana?
28. What is cryptography, how is it done, and in which daily activities do we use it?
29. What is a post-matric scholarship ?
30. Can you name few contemporary Indian anthropologists ?

Mocks : Kerala Samajam IAS academy, MACS institute, La excellence, Samkalp(2), Vajirao and reddy, Kingmakers IAS academy, Ekam Ias institute.

O2O : VK IAS vikas sir, Venkata Mohan sir, Sajal singh sir, Sarat Chandra sir, Bharati Das Madam, Oberoi sir

Special thanks to Mahesh Bhagawat sir, MACS institute, La excellence, Quantel for arranging session with previous board member.
Constant support and discussions with friends helped a lot.

Name- Claude
Date- 20/02/2026 Forenoon
Board- Suman Sharma Ma’am
Daf keywords- Pharma, Chemical, Mumbai, Kolhapur Rest not asked

Chairperson:
Swachh Survekshan Survey
Why smaller cities are much more cleaner than larger cities
Why Climate Change is a big deal?
Incidents Happened in the past as well?
Provisions for Abortion in our country?
Constitutional or legal right(Abortion)? What exactly is the difference between them
Member 1.
Difference between global supply chain and global value chain
What are ways you would increase investment
Provision in Budget for Pharma
Mention Biopharma Shakti( How it helps? How is it different?)
Member 2.
What are issues with poor pharma products?
Who is to be blamed govt or company?
Suppose you are made part of stastics committee of some department, you have a press conference. Government pushes you to release the statistics data which might be incomplete or wrong what would you do?
Why do we need allopathy when we have alternative medicine
Is alternative medicine relevant?
Rest don’t remember
Member 3.
What is Happening in Neighbourhood
What are lessons for India
Issues in Sri Lanka
What learnings from Sl
Freebies and issues
Noble prize in Chemistry
Mentioned Metal Organic Frameworks( Asked Q how AI was used to discover such technology?)
Issues with Customs
Opium and General Issues
Member 4
Manav Framework?
AI loss on job?
Board of peace should India Join?
Mentioned no he gave counter arguments, discussion on the same
Why India deserves UNSC membership?
Atomic Energy Regulation body
Mocks- Hamdard Study Circle, Vision, Sriram, Samkalp, Vajirao& Reddy, Physics Wallah
3rd Interview did not give lot of mocks, peer discussion over mocks
Special thanks to Chetan Sir(IIT Bombay), Abdulla Sir(Accounts Officer) , Bhikan Sir
🙏🙏

Name : Naruto Uzumaki
Board : Sanjay Verma sir
Date : 20 Feb 2026, Afternoon, 3 rd to go
DAF Keywords : Moral insights from vintage telugu movies, Anthropology, Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, Scholarship, Electronics and Communication.



1. Tell me the anthropological view of the table in front of you.
2. If you were to do a Ph.D. thesis on moral insights, what would be your conclusion?
3. Aren’t Vintage movies outdated for teaching morals? Don’t new movies represent women’s empowerment and social issues better?
4. Don’t you think the Commonwealth Games represent a colonial past? Do you still want India to be a part of it?
5. What is your biggest strength and your biggest weakness?
6. Tell me about Kurnool. How did it get its name?
7. What is the difference between cloud computing and data centres?
8. What are these Data centers. What do they do? 
9. Does India really need data centres?
10. Tell me about data centres. Why has India been chosen by OpenAI, Microsoft, and other companies for data centres?
11. What do you think about data localisation?
12. Do you think data localisation can be used politically?
13. How is the President of India elected?
14. Do you want to change how India’s President is elected? If yes, how? If no, why not?
15. What is the difference between space communication and satellite communication?
16. What is the difference between morals and ethics?
17. Don’t morals and ethics affect the performance of public servants?
18. What was your reaction when Andhra Pradesh and Telangana bifurcated ?
19. At present, would you be happy if the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were to take place?
20. How Andhra Pradesh and Telangana performing after bifurcation?
21. What have you been doing for the last three years?
22. Which Telugu movie actors have become politicians?
23. What is the clash between QUAD and the Global South, and how is India handling it?
24. What role do women play in nation-building?
25. What is the repo rate? How is it fixed? Why is it needed, and what is its impact?
26. What is Business of aquaculture in Andhra Pradesh?
27. What is the status of aquaculture in Telangana?
28. What is cryptography, how is it done, and in which daily activities do we use it?
29. What is a post-matric scholarship ?
30. Can you name few contemporary Indian anthropologists ?

Mocks : Kerala Samajam IAS academy, MACS institute, La excellence, Samkalp(2), Vajirao and reddy, Kingmakers IAS academy, Ekam Ias institute.

O2O : VK IAS vikas sir, Venkata Mohan sir, Sajal singh sir, Sarat Chandra sir, Bharati Das Madam, Oberoi sir

Special thanks to Mahesh Bhagawat sir, MACS institute, La excellence, Quantel for arranging session with previous board member.
Constant support and discussions with friends helped a lot.

Name: Antineutrino

Date: 13/02/2026 , Forenoon , 4th one to Go

Key DAF Details: Doctor, Uruli Kanchan, Pune, Rural background, NGO, Flood relief

Board: Dr Dinesh Dasa Sir

Questions asked:
1. Welcomed me and made me comfortable. Directly started from my previous employment. Q. Do You know about BAIF ( it’s in Urulikanchan)
2. ⁠Why is cost of medical education high in India ?
3. ⁠Are private colleges becoming factories of minting money?
4. ⁠Do you know about social audit? Which organisation did it first?
5. ⁠What will you find if you do a social audit of 73rd and 74th Amendment acts??

Member 1 ( this was more of a discussion)
1. Why doctors are not going to rural areas? How to send them?
2. ⁠How can we improve elderly care in Rural Areas ( very specific about it)
3. ⁠How Can CSR be used
4. ⁠Education sector is highly regulated. So how can we ensure the education sector improves with private participation?
5. ⁠(again asked )the role of CSR ? How to include it in education and what can be the procedure?
6. ⁠How to make nursing sector more efficient ?
7. ⁠Why do you want be become a civil servant despite being a doctor?

Member 2
1. Tell me the positives and negatives of not allowing govt doctors to practice in private sector.
2. ⁠Why Marathi people are beating bihari people? Should they learn Marathi language?
3. ⁠You as a Station incharge, how will you stop this?
4. ⁠Health is a state subject. Should health services be devolved to the Panchayats?
5. ⁠how ?

Member 3:
1. You worked in flood relief, what are the reasons of urban flood, what governments are doing, what more should be done?
2. ⁠Case study: About the corruption/ political pressure and related follow ups.

Member 4 : very slow speaking and monologue
1. Gave one monologue about WTO and china. Asked one opinion based question about it.
2. ⁠Asked me if I know something in that field. I didn’t. So I said so. Then he stopped asking.
As it was already past the time as per them, so they stopped the discussion.

Mocks/O20 (If any): Quantel, Chanakya IAS, Sajal sir ( Saarthi IAS), Shankar IAS, Vajiram, Vajirao and reddy.
Most imp : Peer discussion with same people!

language of PT: English
Thank you!

Name: NM

Date: 20/02/2026

Key DAF Details: BTech(Computer), Gujarat, PSIR, AI, Junagadh

Board: Suman Sharma Ma'am
Chairperson
1. Read DAF entries regarding name, educational background.
2. Asked whether went for college placements
3. Mentions my graduation and AI summit. Draws parallel with investment summits where MoUs are signed but not materialised. Asks whether same will happen with AI summit?
4. Asked how AI summit can be successful?
5. Cross question with respect to how India can make AI summit successful
6. Mentions Trump. Do you think his working style is good?
7. Leadership qualities you like about Trump
8. Is it always good to delegate work to young people? (Follow up to last answer)

M1
1. As we see from budget in last few years, focus has been on infrastructure building. Do you think infrastructure has any benefits? What are they?
2. How employment is generated? What different roles?
3. North east is important part of India. Give me a blueprint for development of NE region
4. Would IMT project connecting to South-Asia also lead to betterment of region?
5. Do you know what Global Capability Center is?
6. What are its benefits?
7. Give one example of GCC.

M2
1. Nowadays comedian are famous for abusing comedy. Why do people pay and watch such vulgur comedy? What could be the reason?
2. Do you think Live-in relationships are good? What are the benefits?
3. How will live-in relationships affect society at large?

M3
1. What is plus in LGBTQ+?
2. What is status of Project tiger and Project Cheetah?
3. What is Five eyes alliance? What is its mandate?
4. Recently they were involved wrt India? What was it about?

M4
1. You belong to Gujarat and Gandhiji belonged to Gujarat. Do you know why was he not given Nobel Peace Prize?
2. Did Nobel committee regret/expressed any opinion later on?
3. Tell we how Junagadh, Hyderabad and J&K became part of India during independence time
4. There tension between USA and Iran. If tomorrow a war breaks out between them, what could be its implication on India? (gave hints on energy, diaspora)


Mocks/O20 (If any):
Vivek Sir (SymbiosisIAS), Nikhil Gowda Sir(InsightsIAS), Sriram's, Quantel(3), Upwise(2), MentorAID, Samkalp(2)

Transcript-
Chair - Sheelvardhan sir.

Chair-
1. U r intrested in nutrition. How do you manage ur nutrition with diet.
2. How much protein per kg of body weight required.
3. Is whey protein recommended? What are other plant based proteins ?
4. What is BMI changed with now by doctors?
5. What are anaerobic and aerobic exercise ?
6. Define north east for me briefly.
7. Importance is ok but what it is for India, you may chose to be poetic in ur response.
8. Which fighter from NE fought with Mughals in rivers and defeated them?

M1 lady
1. Scenario- two train tracks, one used and one not used for 10 years. 10 children playing on used track, 1 children in unused one. U r driver- no point of honking braking, tell me ur choice will u continue on the used track or change yr track to disused one.
2. I said bcz unused one wont be safe for train bczof poor maintenance. I will continue on the used one. Counter- Lest say it is perfectly maintained and safe to change the track.
3. Said then I will change the track, honk and try best to slow down to save the child- asked reason ?
4. So u will penalise the 1 doing legal thing and save the 10 children doing illegal thing ?

M2 -
1. Difference between Act east and look east.
2. What are we doing in act east?
3 In defence aspect ?
4 .We are selling whick defence equipment to whom in ASEAN ?
5. Connectivity projects ?
6. Why last year Indonesia president visit to India was in hullabaloo?
7. What is hyphenation ?
8. Were we hyphenated with Pak after Op sindoor?
9. Status now ?

M3-
1. You studied in Xyz, what it is famous for ?
2. It is also famous for naxalism ? What will u do as SP to end Naxalism ?
3. Are tribals paying extortion due to fear or support for naxal cause ?
4. What is Public Adm as per u?
5. Is DM rolemodel of indian pubad ?
6. Who is better administrator trump or xi ?
6. I gave a lecture in stanford abt indias energy landscape, they are critical of our coal usage ? Shd we move away from coal ?
7. What is per capital electricity usage of India. China and usa ?


M4-
1. In what ways China fuel ing insurgency in India via other neighbouring countries?
2. What should be our strategy to promote relations with our neighbours?

Chair - It was nice talking to u. You may go now .

Special mention- Utkarsh sir(mentoraid).
Mocks - 6-7 best samkalp and chanakya mandal pariwar, quantel ones are also good. Avoid PW.

Name: SKS
Date: 20/2/26
Daf: Mridangam, Music, Telangana, Developmental Activities in my District as a DC, IRS, Worked on Li ion battery technology.
Board: Sheel Vardhan Singh Sir.

Chairperson:

1. Such a long name. What do your friends call you?
2. You're a Mridangam player. How's it different from a Dholak?
3. Explain it to a layman like me in terms of size, shape, dimensions etc.
4. What wood is it majorly made of and where is it sourced from?
5. Sundar Pichai is doing a lot of sweet talk about how India must incentivise locating data centres here. Do you think there is any sinister motive?
6. Why are we talking about 'Planet' in the AI impacts? How will AI systems impact the Planet?
7. Now AI systems are concentrated in the hands of non sovereign MNCs. In this light do you think its alright to give them incentives to set up data centres here and potentially destroy our environment?

Member-1

1. What have family, school and the world taught you or for that matter everyone in the room here?
2. Do you think the world forces you to unlearn and relearn everything that family and school teaches?
3. If the world is not idealistic then should you bend your ideals to navigate through the world?
I said if at all we're put in some kind of a spot our actual character and personality kicks in which shall be the product of our value learnings during our childhood and in schools.
4. Narrated an incident and said what values do you think have kicked in the person in the incident.

Member-2

1. What is happening in and around Iran?
2. Do you expect a war or will diplomacy prevail?
3. What is the name of the Strait that Iran might choke and hamper the global oil supply?
4. Is US vs Iran war in the interest of China? Who will it support?
5. Does Israel have Nuclear weapons?

Member-3

1. What developmental activities have you worked on in your District?
2. How much Cacao do we import?
3. Where else is Cacao Plantation undertaken in India?
4. What was your role in this entire thing?
5. You worked on Lithium ion battery technology.
What are some other battery chemistries?
6. As a chemical engineer What among those you listed would you recommend for Indian energy storage problem?
7. Can we expect a Car with Sodium battery that runs for 2000km on one charge in 2 years from now?

Member 4

1. You are in NADT. How long is your training for? And what all are you taught there?
2. By the time you come out of the Academy will you be as good as CAs?
3. How much is the Direct tax collection this year? Why have personal Income tax collections increased so much of late?
4. How do you expect your work pressure is going to be when on field now that you're saying everything has become digital and faceless?

Chairperson:

Thank you. It was nice talking to you.

Name: OCEAN (INDIAN)
Date: 18th Feb 2026 Afternoon (4th to go)
Key DAF Details: Anthropology, Food processing and food safety, Cooking, Bengaluru, Dharwad, Karnataka
Board: Dinesh Dasa Sir (27 mins)

Chairperson: (introduced me to the board member and started asking questions)
1. What is the debt to GDP ratio of Karnataka?
2. "How do traditional diets serve as a natural defense against lifestyle-induced chronic illnesses?"
3. "Which one of the contemporary governments is providing the most effective governance for its citizens?" (Didn’t even remember what answer I gave)
4. "How do rural and urban populations serve as complementary pillars in the preservation and evolution of cultural heritage?"
Asked two more but not remembering!!!

M1-Male Member (Always had smile on his face. He was the one who asked many questions and also grilled)
Started with –Why did you choose food technology over other engineering streams? Did anyone force you to choose that?
1. What’s your view on regulation of food adulteration in India? Do you feel we are doing well?
2. Why even after knowing that Ultra processed foods are not good for health, why government is not banning them?
3. What is the recent Supreme Court ruling on Front-of –pack labelling?
4. "Are current food labelling regulations sufficiently transparent and accessible for the average consumer to make informed decisions regarding hidden ingredients and synthetic preservatives?"
5. What is the Antimicrobial resistance? What is government doing in this regard? How to curtail it?
6. "Analyze the pathways of pesticide contamination in the food supply chain and the subsequent techniques for residue reduction."
7. "What is the current FSSAI Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) for added sugar consumption in a balanced adult diet?"
He asked some more questions on food safety but not remembering.

M2-Male member
(Poker face, was looking very serious)
1. Do you cook? Tell me how these Chefs get their "Michelin-Starred Chef" Label?
2. Did you work previously? Tell me how ethics is important in administration as well as in workplace?
3. Which car do you like? (I replied- Sir I’m not interested in cars and bikes-don’t know what was running in his mind to ask this question)

M3-Male member
(Long monologues, at the end I was not getting what was his actual question)
1. Which approach do you think is most suitable for tribal administration? (Gave long monologue on present tribal administration and the problems tribal people facing in northwest parts of Pakistan)
2. Which are the developmental measures you take for the welfare of tribal people?
3. Which are the welfare measures even though they are needed but you don’t want to bring them to tribal areas?
4. Analyze the socio-political friction and security challenges arising from the deployment of central armed forces within indigenous tribal territories
5. Gave a long lecture on the India Pakistan border issue.
Given India's status as a formidable military power, what are the strategic complexities and geopolitical implications of a military intervention to reintegrate PoK into the Indian Union?"
M4- Male member
1. What is the naval base present in Karnataka?
No more questions

CHAIRMAN:
1. How many districts are there in Karnataka?
2. Which district in your state do you choose for the development of green field projects?
3. Which district in your state do you choose for the development new IT Hub?
4. Gave long monologue on Bengaluru issues and "Drawing lessons from the infrastructural bottlenecks in Bengaluru, what strategic frameworks should Hyderabad adopt to ensure sustainable growth as a global IT hub?"
Chaiman Sir-Your interview is over, You can go now
Mocks: Quantel, SriRam IAS, PW IAS, Ensure IAS, Vajirao & Reddy, Sankalp
O2O- Ashwini Mam (My degree Professor), Sidhir Sir (Anthro Mentor), Ateeq Sir (ARK Reflections IAS-HYD), Ravi Kapoor Sir

My experience: The board remained cordial. They are very eager to listen. Never interpret in between. More situation and analytical based questions, overall good experience.
(Some mocks were very grilling, overdone, and had more factual and outdated questions,)
Felt Sankalp and Ensure IAS mocks felt very real.
Did my part… Now hoping for the best !!!

Name: Steve Rogers
Date:13/2/26
Key DAF Details: ASO, Thrillers, Edutaining Posters, Poetry, Psychology, Tamil Nadu

Board: Honourable Lt. Gen. Raj Shukla sir

PT Language: English

Questions asked:

Chairman
1. You watch thriller movies. What movie did you see recently?
2. Do you know about Agatha Christie?
3. Whom do you know about thriller movies?
4. Then tell me about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle?
5. Then tell me about Rajesh Kumar
6. Can a thriller movie be made with love concept? How?
7. Is edutaining a real word?
8. What is edutaining posters?
8. How do you use it?
9. How can AI and Quantum physics be taught with edutaining posters?
10. Long monologue on how social media like Tik tok are being used by China. Do you think there's a chance of misuse by China?
11. Again monologue on how Trump supporters mostly come from Tik Tok and so the US companies wanted to own Tik Tok but the Chinese parent company put some restrictions on it. Do you think India should also create an app like that?

Lady Member 1
1. Do you know any one psychoanalyst from India?
2. Can you briefly tell us two lines of your poem?
3. (Since I recited two lines of my poem in Tamil) Can you please translate it to the members?
4. What do you know about India's soft power?

Member 2
1. Where are you currently working?
2. What's your role?
3. A short monologue on how files move slowly in government. How can we reduce it?
4. (As I don't digitisation to the earlier qsn) So are you not using eoffice in your office?
5. Then how can we improve this system ?
6. (As I told the nature should be shifted from rule based to role based and outcome based) Then rules not to be followed?
7. Tell me about the edutaining posters you created. How much did you do?
8. What was it's impact on others?

Member 3
1. A short monologue about the discovery of Tamil Brahmi inscriptions in Egypt. (It was on news that day). So how older are the pyramids? Is Tamil older then pyramids?
2. After 30-35 years in service, how you want to be remembered?
3. A short monologue about the recent scorecard systems. The criteria given are only quantitative but not qualitative. Aren't such criteria punishing officers who do qualitative work?
4. (Since I told it's relatively new system) It's an old system and nothing new about it.
5. Since you told love movies can also be made as a thriller tell me which is important - to fall thorough love or rise through love ?
6. Do you know about how the nature of the milk changes when kept at a particular height and length inside the pyramids (When I told idk to this, he insisted me to read a book on pyramids)

Member 4
1. (Continuing on the qsn how I want to be remembered) Don't you want to spend time on your personal life and family too?
2. (Since I told honesty empathy to the last qsn) So honesty and empathy only for work?
3. Being with optional of Psychology you might have judged about us. What was your analysis?
4. You know classical conditioning. Who are its contributors?
5. Do you know about Skinner?
6. How do you use conditioning?

The board was very cordial. Totally different experience from mocks.

Mocks:
Deepak sir (Republic IAS), NEXT IAS, PW Only IAS, Vajirao, Samkalp

O20:
Shubham Aggarwal sir (Vidyapeeth)

Multiple in person daily O2O sessions with Deepak Sir of Republic IAS (most realistic and helpful to approach the questions)

Date : 16th Feb 2026,
Afternoon slot, 4th to go
Keywords: Computer science, NIT, Temple Architecture, Chess, Maharashtra, Nanded, Corporate work experience
Chairman: Suman Sharma Mam
Board was very involved in conversation, actively listening, (They had tea break just before my turn).

Chairman:
Welcomed with smile, Read daf aloud
Good college and good experience
1. So you have interest in temple architecture. We have so much gold lying in temples Should government use it.?
Also mentioned such temple names.. I said Tiruananthpuram but missed the name, she said Padmanabhaswamy temple. I said yes Mam.
Agreed my reasoning but asked me to take stand yes or no. Multiple follow ups and asked me to counter my arguments,
It felt like a good start, as she was smiling at the end of it.
2. What is disruptive technology? Give some examples
3. You know DeepSeek? Was it disruptive
4. In next 5 years what would be the scenario like.. With DeepSeek in market and others also.

M1
1.Temple architecture -asked to compare North vs South temple architecture
2.Difference between Honesty and integrity
3.Why there is surge in chess recently in India
4. Chinas approach to middle east and Africa vs India's approach.. What can India do differently
- I talked about economic angle and diplomacy
5.He followed up with China opening Confuscious Institute, teaching their language, vs soft power of films, diaspora we have.. How can we have academic leverage
- I mentioned about IIT Madras campus opening in Tanzania, etc

M2
1.Why Nanded is important for Sikhs
2. What was the connection to Banda Bahadur and his contribution
3.Why batsman is now being called as batter now(random)
- I didn't know, he said to avoid gender bias now that we have women's cricket team. Everyone was interested in knowing this answer, even Chairman Mam.
4. Study of future what is it called
-couldn't come up with the term Futurology - later googled
5. Explain difference between Apathy sympathy and empathy
6. Morality and Ethics difference
7. Then why we talk about making AI ethical and not just moral.. Ethical AI explain

M3
1. In hindsight, If you had to redesign the 4 year course of btech into 3 years, how would you do it
- I mentioned software tools, frameworks, corporate ethics
2. Learnings from your corporate experience at Company, how will you apply them as an administrator in Sangli district of Maharashtra
-( Sangli is not mentioned anywhere in my daf, so just gave a brief background of Sangli - strong cooperative sector etc) and then application part)
3. Don't remember other question

M4
1.Data centers getting tax holiday till 2047, why it is necessary
2. Do you think India can achieve given our limitations on cooling, energy etc
3. Why infrastructure is important
- Talked about multiplier effect, logistics, socio-economic integration
4. Can we use GIs based system to coordinate projects, find most optimized routes ( I had mentioned this in my answer)
5. Have you heard of PRAGATI, what does it do
6. Importance of Ecommerce for rural women

Chairperson: Thank you, you may go now.

Overall it was a very good experience. Felt like a very normal conversation, no grilling, no factual questions. Panel was very warm and involved in the conversation.

O2O : Mahesh Bhagwat Sir( grateful for his initiatives that keep us updated.) Shubham Agrawal Sir ( A confidence booster just by talking to him)

Mock interviews: Vajirao Reddy, Maharashtra Sadan, Amigos, AKS La excellence and multiple online mocks arranged by upwise, nextIAS, pw etc

Peer groups and connecting with candidates with common daf points was also very helpful.

For future aspirants, just maintain consistency, declutter your mind and keep practicing no matter what.
On the interview day, close your eyes and remember what brings smile to your face, gather that positive energy before entering the room. I'm sure you will nail it!!