MentorAID Student

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Board - sheel vardhan sir
Pointers - GST, Basketball, Strength training , Economics

chairman sir - what is strength training ?
what is power lifting ?
what is your workout routine ?
what is intermittent fasting ?
Why Basketball ?

M1- Impact of gst ?
Customs reforms needed ?

M2- tourism potential in my district ?
Challenges and reforms needed

M3- ethical hacking
Input tax credit
USA's national security strategy
USA venezuela crisis

M4- compare pol sc and economics ?
3 areas you would like to work on

Mocks - vajiram , vajirao and reddy , nextIAS
one on one with Utkarsh sir (mentorID) - a must for everyone .

Name: Minal Negi
Date:16 Dec 2025 forenoon (second last to go )
Key DAF : Uttarakhand, PSIR, physics(nothing else asked)
Board : Dinesh Dasa sir

Chaiperson:
In Hindi: Kaise hain ap....nervous to nhi hain( "sir little bit" ). Koi baat nahi...we as a board will assist you through this interview
You are 2003 born. People of your age dont even knoe what they want to do in life..How did you get here. describe your journey in 30 seconds
You have come from dehradun. Is the Delhi- Dehradun expressway operational
what were the challenges faced in its construction?
then how was the government still able to construct it?
M1:
1. difference between real will and general will
2. smart city mission(rest cant recall)
M2:
1. UCC in uttarakhand(discussion)-its effect on women safety
2. Women in uttarakhand have higher decision making power. What makes your state different from other north indian societies
M3:
1. Jal jeevan mission
2. which law of physics facsinates you the most and why
M4:
what are the investment options for common public in india
Why land is not a commonly sought option
why Municipality does not remove illegal encroachments inspite of knowing about it
Mocks- samkalp, vajirao, quantel, onlyias, shubhra ranjan

Name : Aryan
Board : Dinesh Dasa sir
Date : 16/12/25 , forenoon session (last one to go)
DAF : Uttarakhand, Haridwar, Mumbai, Public administration (rest keywords not asked)

Chairman sir : Have a seat, How are you feeling today?
1. What impact does high Tourist footfall have on Haridwar?
2. Chief information commission appointment committee members?
3. Role of dissent in democracy
4. SC cases where earlier it was dissent and later approved ( I gave one example then he said to give another, I gave again then sir gave his own example)
Member 1 -
1. What do you make of large infrastructural projects going on in Uttarakhand?
2. What Reforms would you make in tourism policy of Uttarakhand ?
3. How to balance large infrastructural projects ?
4. Is EIA conducted properly?
5. If minister wants to go for large mountainous highway neglecting reports of EIA, what would you do?
6. Why rupee is depreciating despite GDP increasing ?
7. Do you see this as a concern?
8. Exports are increasing but our capital account and forex reserves decreasing?

Member 2 -
1. Plan vs non plan expenditure
2. Suppose you are DM having limited funds, would you improve the condition of existing public hospital or create an entirely new one?
3. Again if minister says he wants to create a new hospital despite limited funds how would you tackle that situation?

Member 3 -
1. What steps would you recommend to reduce the impact of global warming ?
2. Have you heard about cafe norms ?

Member 4 -
1. Are we still using five year plans? If not, what has changed then?
2. Can you give me an example of the same?
3. Tell me what you know about rajabai clock tower? Who made it ? Why? When ? Anything special about it?
4. Why there was a need to abrogate article 370 and what has been the impact of the same?
5. Tell me key Contributions of Dr BR Ambedkar

Chairman sir : Thankyou your interview is over, you may go now!
Overall the board was really cordial, helped me in few questions which I could not answer , 1-2 more questions were there but can’t recall them now

Mocks given - Panel mocks with PW, Vajirao and reddy , Tathastu, UPSC prep, study IQ, Samkalp

One to one with Satyam sir(Understand UPSC) , Vishwajeet sir(saarthi) , Ankit sir (smart works lab) , Abhishek sir (study IQ)

PT MARKS -188

Name: Venus 6

Date: 15/12/2025 , Afternoon Session.


Key DAF Details: psephology, rural women empowerment, cultural gastronomy, debating, UP (nothing asked).

teaching underprivileged children, PSIR.

Board: Mrs. Sujata Chaturvedi Ma'am.

CP:
1. Tell about your city
2. key infra issues in your city.
3. reforms done in higher education and challenges persisting.
4. HECI BILL details
5. should there be private sector participation in higher education.

M1:
1. Tell about the trial procedure in court of law.
2. Which agencies you will contact first as a collector during fire incident in a hospital.
3. prepare a road map for women development in a backward district.

M2:
1. Why do you teach students
2. why do they come to you and not other place.
3. what exactly you teach.
4. Tell about sex education for children.

M3:
1. why low women LFPR in your area, and suggest creative measures to improve it.
2. Norman borlough contribution in India and what would've happened without green revolution.
3. Tell about the consequences of fertiliser usage.
4. Tell chemical process and formula for transfer of NPK in plants. Tell about actions of ions in this process.
5. protection during detention under fundamental rights.
6. schemes by GOI for women empowerment.

M4:
1. Relation with Pakistan, China, Nepal.
2. Should India come out of QUAD.
3. what is greyzone warfare.

Interview over. Duration: 22 minutes.

Name- Mr. X (16/12)
Key words of DAF - Trekking, Running, Cricket, Electrical Engineering, Economics, Executive Engineer, Power Distribution, Energy Conservation, ASO, Ministry of external affairs, IRMS , Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi.

Board - Anuradha Ma'am

Chairwoman

Guidance in rural area? ... How opportunities differ in urban and rural?
Satellite internet.. What is it
Indian company in this
What are issues and why we are going towards it.
Connectivity projects in India
Bharanet ka status

M1

Why do you play cricket
What we learn from sports in general
200m famous Indian runner old
You do treking
Treks done
Village on the route to Dodital
How you managed stay?
Any wildlife conflict?
Then what did you see there on treks
Trekking Gear you have
What govt doing for vendors
Why it is being done?

M2

Differnce you noticed in
himachal and Rajasthan
Socio economic differnce
Why economics
What did you learn in eco
Econometrics??

M3
How rbi stabilize rupee
Why it's depreciating
Why left network analyst
Why civil services
Then why ASO MEA in between
Your experience in south block?
What kind of communication system used in MEA?
Asked some details.. I refused to tell due to xyz rule
issues due to solar energy in Rajasthan?
Environmental issues in news?
What's supreme court order and what can be done?

M4
Wealth of nation
Terminologies by Adam smith
Invisible hand, laissez Faire..
Noble prize of economics and what it explains..
What is creative destruction
Which economic term was introduced during great recession?... I could not hear what she told.
Could govt be only about economics?

Mock - Shubham sir one2 one.
PW, Quantel.

PT MARKS -173

Interview Transcript :

Name : Har Har Mahadev !!
Shift : 8th Dec - Afternoon session.
(2nd one to go @2:38-3 PM.
Duration : 22 mins.

*One on One and Group Discussions with Ankit Sir of Smartworks Labs helped a lot !

1. Home district/state: Jhajjar /Haryana.
2. Graduation stream/college: B.A in History and Pol Sci -(DU).

3. Optional subject: PSIR.

4. Hobbies/passions/medals:
Cricket/ Podcasts/ Taking care of stray Animals .

5. CSE Attempt no: 4th Attempt -1st Mains -1st Interview.


Interview Board Name : Dr. Dinesh Dasa Sir .

Chairman : Dinesh Sir .

1. Just after greetings , and where do you come from , your edu qualifications only he asked not full intro. He was quite crisp in his questions.
2. ⁠Sir , Asked I see you have Pol sci in your graduation and Post Grad. Asked me about yesterday a bill was presented (proposal) to Remove Whip from Anti defection law (something like that) , so should whip based voting be there or not ?

I said a balanced answer . And he was like ki in interruption, yeh coaching vale methods mat batao please aap, vahan sikhate hai yeh balance and all, aap stand lo .
Fir maine balanced stance hi rakha and vahi practical tha.

3. One nation one election : good for politicians or not ? Personal level why will they support unka loss hai . Tell me. Convince me.

4. Podcasts and Interview mein difference.

5. Aap kiska future mein popular culture spread dekhte ho interview ya podcasts ?

* A couple of more questions i am not exactly remembering.

Member 2 : Sir (Looked like Military Background ).

1. Sir, Gave me a long monologue on First WW , Second WW, Cold war and asked ab kya chal raha hai reasons and etc.

2. Which two or three poles in world do you see ?

3. Do you see economic nationalism good for Globalisation ?

I started about india slighlty. He said in world general you speak .

Member 3 :

1. Difference between Polity and Political Science.
2. ⁠Can USA president appooint Cab secy there ? Or any other procedure is there and if yes what?
3. ⁠What is US Congress ?

Member 4 : Lady Member .

1. What is culture ?
2. ⁠It’s impact on Tech .
3. ⁠”What is in the Name ? “ complete this phrase. (Maybe she got confused that i had Eng as a major subject ).
4. ⁠Mam, Gave me a quote of Bernard Shaw "Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself”.
Now explain it.

And some same counter questions.

Member 5 :

1. Ethics related questions basic one or two was asked.


That’s it.

I am unable to recollect few ques , if will remember, will add more to it.

Thankyou !
Regards !!🧿😇

Name: Asmita
Date: 15/12/2025, forenoon session, 1st to go
Board- Anuradha Prasad Ma'am

M1

Good morning Asmita. Please have a seat. How are you?
-Im good, ma'am. Thank you. How are you?
"I'm doing good too."

1. So 9.8 cgpa in masters, that's a very impressive score. You did this Playful Ethnography in magh mela with Queens University, what is Playful Ethnography?
2. Kumbh Mela/magh mela difference?
3. Where is the next kumbh mela going to be held?
4. Census going to happen? Why do you think census is important? (had a long discussion on it and the rationale of 10 years gap)
5. What's going to be one unique feature about census 2027? (conversation on digital census and digital divide, exclusion, need on building digital architecture for better inclusion)
6. Does govt also conduct surveys? Can you name any two?

M2

1. You're wearing a very beautiful cotton saree. Which country has the highest cotton production?
2. why so many suicides by cotton farmers?
3. Can you tell the productivity of cotton in india?( I said I'm not sure of the exact figure but it's low)
4. steps taken by govt in this regard? any brand india is promoting for cotton? (discussion on kasturi cotton since I mentioned it above and how branding will help in exports)
5. You talked about msp, what is it?

M3

1. Why is bangladesh faring better than india in terms of textile exports?
2. You've mentioned UGC net jrf, do you know about nep 2020? Disussion on how beneficial it is for primary education.
3. Suppose you become an IAS officer, and you're done with your field posting, what are the areas where you'll want to work at policy level?
4. Why are we integrating health with education? (since I mentioned poshan abhiyan in one of the answers)
5. Any major change that will help in children's cognitive development and better grasping of concepts? (discussion on early education in mother tongue)

M4

1. What is SIR? Do you think eci is competent authority to undertake such a process?
2. you've mentioned women centric literature, any personal reason to get interested in this?
3. You're from Prayagraj, we've seen many famous authors from the city. Can you name some?
4. Have you read anything by Mahadevi Verma?(since I mentioned her name in the previous answer)
5. Do you write yourself?

M5

1. You've mentioned reflective journalling, how is it different from diary writing?
2. Any president of india famous for reflective journalling? (I said Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, he said maybe he did too, Dr Pranab Mukherjee also does it, I said okay sir.)
3. You've mentioned a project with queens univ Belfast. How many irelands are there? North Ireland issue, brexit and eu tarriff issue.
4. Do you know when was irish republican army established?
5. You've mentioned indradhanush community service group, what did you do in that?
6. Steps you would take for homeless widows on the roads?

Chair: Thank you, your interview is over. Have a nice day.
Duration: around 30 mins
A great experience, very cordial board. They were genuinely interested in listening to what I had to say. Asked follow up questions from my answers, very conversational.

Mocks: Vajirao and reddy, sankalp, forum, next IAS. O2O with Shubham sir (vidyapeeth IAS)- all were great, gave me an idea of my strengths and helped me be comfortable in holding conversations. That's all there is in your control, I believe. All the very best to everyone!

Name: John Wick
Date: 17 December Afternoon(3rd Interview)
Board: Sujata Chaturvedi ma’am (Chairperson read the DAF for all the members)

Keywords from DAF:
Calisthenics, 10 m Air Pistol, CISF Assistant Commandant, PSIR, XYZ Charitable Foundation (Coordinator)

Others: Not relevant


Chairperson
1. About CISF — Why did you resign? (Which service you got in CSE 2023)
2. What is calisthenics?
3. How did you learn about it?
4. Do you practice it daily? Did you do it before coming here?
5. You are into fitness — what are lifestyle diseases?
6. Role of a balanced diet.
7. How can lifestyle diseases be prevented?
8. Should we have no stress at all?
9. Are you stressed right now?
10. How do you manage stress?
11. Are you happy? When do you feel happy?



Member 1
1. Your view on IPS officers being posted in CAPFs.
2. You lead XYZ Charitable Foundation — what work did you do there?

(1–2 more questions; unable to recall)

⸻

Member 2 (Lady Member)
1. Name the agreements signed with Pakistan.
2. Why are relations not cordial even after so many agreements?
3. Defend the statement: “We should have gun rights.”
(Smiled after the answer)

⸻

Member 3
1. Role model apart from personal life.
2. Political leader you admire.
3. Discussion on Modi and Nehru.
→ Chairperson intervened and stopped further ideological/political questioning.
4. What is motivation?
5. Hygiene factors in motivation.
6. Are promotions and perks motivating factors for you?
7. IPS officers meeting with Maoist members who surrendered, is it right?



Member 4
1. You mentioned personal diplomacy of PM Modi — explain it.
2. US tariffs imposed by Trump on India — failure of personal diplomacy?
3. Why were tariffs imposed on India?
4. India buying oil from Russia — isn’t it funding the war?
5. Are the tariffs justified?
6. Should the UN be abolished?
7. What UN is even doing?

Thanks a lot sir for your guidance. Very grateful for your time and words of wisdom. board, poker face by chairperson, more of a cross questioning and discussion based rather factual, members smiled at lot of instances

Name - Jason Bourne
Date - 08/12/2025
Session - Forenoon
Board - Sheelvardhan Sir, 2nd to go
DAF - New Delhi, Patna, Nalanda, Bihar, ECE Engineer, Software Developer at bigbasket, Recreating oil paintings of famous indian painters, Geography Optional, Strength Training

Chairman:
1. Welcome Shubhankar, let’s have a discussion.
2. What Kind of strength training do you usually engage in?
3. And what about nutrition? what is the importance of nutrition in building strength, emphasis on “strength” and not muscle.
4. Opinion on protein Powders?
5. What do Indian diet lack? elaborate
6. What according to you should be done for protein deficiency in Indian Diet
7. Do you know about autophagy
8. okay, you paint, can you tell me about the Contributions of Raja Ravi Verma in oil painting

Member 1:
9. What is Moore’s law?
10. Does it still hold up?
11. What is quantum tunnelling? (A follow up)
12. Okay, you’re an ECE engineer, can you differentiate between an amplifier and oscillator?
13. How does current travel in a wire? Can you tell about the movement of electron?
14. What is the use of ECE in governance right now, how can you contribute with your knowledge?

Member 2 (Lady):
15. Tell me about your engineering role in bigbasket
16. Okay, Now tell me how will you utilise ECE knowledge in a heavily remote area, how will you integrate it
17. You have scored 9.75 GPA in your engineering, how did you manage so many other activities alongside
18. Why geography as an optional after being so good in ECE.
19. Can you tell me the geopolitical importance of Indian Ocean?

Member 3:
20. Have you heard about Public Finance Management System?
21. What is the efficacy of DBT, do you have an Idea?
22. What is your opinion on AI, will it impact the job market adversely?
23. You have worked in the private sector for a while, what two qualities will you like the government sector to adopt from the private sector?

Member 4 (Lady):
24. You have studied in Delhi and Rajasthan, can you give me contrast between the two, talk about the social, cultural and administrative contrast
25. Okay coming to Painting, can you tell me what oil paintings you have recreated?
26. Which is your most recent favourite painting.

Chairman:
27. One last question, can you tell me what is cubism?
28. Thankyou, your interview is over, you may go now

Mocks-
29. Quantel - Raj Malhotra IAS
30. Unacademy
31. PWOnlyIAS
32. Civils Daily

O2O-
1. THE GOAT - Shubham Sir Vidyapeeth IAS, sir has always held my hand through thick and thin and he is the loveliest teacher I know, always making me laugh through the gruesome prep
• 2. Saket Sir - Civils Daily, always responsive and super helpful
3. O2O with OG Kaptaan

Name- Oreki Hotarou
Date- 17/12/2025 (Afternoon- 3rd to go)
Board- Sheel Vardhan Sir
DAF keywords- Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, Mathematics optional, Minsitry of I&B, Prasar Bharati, ASO, Fiction writing, anime, manga (rest ones not asked)
Time- about 21 minutes, almost wholly DAF centered

Chairman:
1. Your are from Lucknow, what is Ganga Jamuna Tehzib?
2. How it manifests in there? (told common sense of belonging, shared cultural practices, mutual respect to traditions.....and some other thing)
3. How it manifests through architecture, give some example. (gave example of bada imambada and explained Indian and Islamic feature synthesis.....)
4. Are you aware of Kathak?
5. Last Nawab of Awadh?
6. His pen name? (didn't know) then some other question not able to recall
7. Tell the difference between Lucknow gharana and Jaipur Gharana. (not able to recall more than one point)

Member 1:
1. You optional is mathematics, do you know machine learning? (explained)
2. Is it can be used in crop related estimation? (told yes, concrete set of feeding data about productivity analysis.......expalined 3-4 facets)
3. Give examples of crops where it can be used?
4. Is it can be used in mango. (told yes then he asked are we doing it? told not on large scale)
5. Then asked why? (told usual less R&D, funds, tech then he interrupted something and asked but don't we have ample  tech?) replied yes but lacking feeding data as limited mango variety in India and something more  but not able to recall)

Member 2:
1. What is Prasar Bharati doing new these days? (mandate, WAVES OTT, MOU for global cooperation.......)
2.  So you are from UP, heard about ODOP?
3. Do you think it has benefitted in real sense? (told rural entrepreneurship, cultural revival........)
4. Has it is been studied anywhere, he was asking for concrete evidence.
5. Difference between ODOP and GI tag?
6. GI tag under which ministry?
7. Relevance of GI, why now?
8. Then asked some GI products.
9. A monologue on how big UP is, then went for opinion of bifurcation. (told not in favour as excess spending on civic infra, underdevelopment of Purvanchal, mafia culture...... so situation might worsen if neglected.....then highlighted govt's effort)

Member 3:

1. Your name is..... how do you pronounce it? Because in Telugu it is ......Meaning of your name?
2. What do you write in fiction?
3. What's manga?
4. Picked up from Purvanchal discussion, why mafia culture in Purvanchal? (told criminalization of politics, less edu, disparity and a local sense of legitimacy which reveres them because they solve issues like land when governance slow)
5.Efforts of govt to contain it?
6. Compare  this govt initiative with the efforts of last one (he specifically mentioned name of political party I tried to answer then he interrupted and reiterated the name of political party again).....told every government has done their ample share and efforts and it is matter of optics.........
7. What is UCC? Need in UP? (told UCC is needed but implementation has to be gradual.........with concensus taking all together.
8. Issues in UK one and how will you ensure it in UP? (community concensus, religious leaders, awareness edu..... don't remember much what said then)

Member 4 (Lady member):
1. Picked up from bifurcation, so about the bifurcation of Bundelkhand. (told Bundelkhand has separate issues low fertile land, groundwater issue, flood drought like geographical issues......so instead of bifurcation inclusive development)
2. Asked then Rajasthan also has water issues then why not it? (other resources there, separate geograophy.....)
3. Why UK bifurcation successful? (green revolution, geography, already developed unlike Bundelkhand, culture........)
Then a couple of questions which I'm not able to recall.

Chairman- your interview is over, it was nice talking to you.
Very cordial board.

O2O- Vision IAS (very helpful, mentor there spent almost 1.5 hr on my DAF), Only IAS

Panel Mocks- total 5 Only IAS (okayish, a bit of grilling), Vajirao and reddy, Next IAS (good) , 2 at Samkalp (good)

PT MARKS--176

MentorAID Student Transcript

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Board: sanjay verma sir
5 members
Keywords: mechanical, cross country, haryana, epfo, history

Chairman:
1.do you go for run.
2. what do you mean by cross country
I said that it is related to country side/ across country.
So he asked - what actoss country, like India that is Bharat.
I said no sir, what i mean is it is run across fields and countryside, there is no particular track for this race.
3. Tell me different types of bread in India
I said that i know of only two types: wheat and multigrain.
Chairman: But india has so many different types, even rice breads.
So i clarified that i was thinking of packed breads and explained other type of roti/bread in india: wheat, rice, bajra, jawar, makka.
Chairman: anything else like bread used in festivals, i said kuttu bread as well.
He again asked, any other bread, i apologised for not knowing.

Another member: why are you sweating? Are you nervous?
I said: yes, a little bit.
Member: don’t be. Treat us as your elders. And treat this interview as conversation.
I said ok.
4. Chairman: Tell me, how long a person can survive without water and without food.
I said i do not know.
Chairman: take a guess.
I said : without water, 3 days and without food 10 days.
Chairman: only 3 days.
I: yes sir.
Chairman: what if env. Is highly humid, how long a person will surivive.
I: less than 3 days
Chairman: suppose, you are in such a situation and a person puts pistol on your forehead and forces you to survive for more than 3 days. What will you do.
I: i will firstly go for shade.
Chairman: and then
I: sir, in worst case scenario, i will collect my urine and drink it.
Chairman: that’s the word i wanted to hear.
Upto to you sir.

Member 2: you are from haryana, tell me about social issues of haryana.
I said: poor child sex ratio, high crime rate.
M2: anything else
I: i am able to recall only these 2 issues at the moment.
If you have full power, how will you address these issues.
M2: compare mauryans and ottomans
I: i have limited knowledge of ottomans.
Do you know geographical area covered by ottomans.
I: it was centred around turkey. Wrt to spread, ottoman was trans continental, mauryans were sub continental, relious spread, mauryans buddhism, ottomans, islam ( success of spread i dont know).
Ok.

M3 (madam):
1. Tell me about contribution of savtribai phule.
2. ⁠nutrition issue of haryana
I: i don’t know data,

3 . How to improve nutrition of children in mid day meal.
I: by diversifying diet. Some states provide milk, some egg…

M3: no no, tell me about haryana schools
I: i am sorry maam, i do not know composition of mid day meal in haryana schools.
I: i dont know.
M3: did you not go to school in Haryana.
I: ma’am, i attended a private school, which didn’t have mid day meal concept.
Ok.

M4: tell me about corpus handeled by epfo.
I: I don’t know.
M4: tell me why there is difference in what farmers get and what cystomers pay for farm goods.
M4: how to increase farmers share.

M5: you worked as accounts officer at epfo so tell me, how foes epfo do accounting .
I told her about accounts of members managed by epfo.
She said not that, but tell me about accounting of epfo.
I; i don’t know.

M5: what is accrual accounting.
I: i don’t know.

M5: what is NPA. (I answered)
M5: does epfo has npa.
M5 : what is recovery rate of epfo.
M5: how to increase recovery rate (apart from legal measures)
M5: do you know about section 144
I: of ipc?
M5: of crpc
I: sorry sorry crpc
M5: what is it
I: related to curfew
M5: related to riots, social unrest etc.
I: ok. Thankyou for the knowledge.

M5: who imposes it.
I: can i take a guess
M5: no
I: then i dont know
Ok.

Chairman : ok . Thank you. Your interview is over. You may go.

Anonymous
Sanjay Verma
Keywords-Computer Science engineering,Anthropology,Heritage walks ,OTT,Science olympiad ,Elderly Care-NGO

Chairperson-How are you feeling?
1.Your hobby is going on Heritage walks ,what is anthropological inference you have observed from going to heritage walks?
2.What type of ott genre do yo watch?
3.Do horror movies promote divinity or evil ?
4.Gave a quote on above and asked what do you understand by it ?

Member 1(lady)
1.What are the reasons of air pollution in Delhi?
2.Why we have not been able to correct it?
3.Being a resident a Delhi what problems do you have observed wrt Air pollution?
4.Tell me short term measures how you can correct air pollution?

Member 2
1.Gave a short monologue on how USA is a bully in geopolitical affairs-do you think India is a bully?
2.Do you think India should prioritise Core National Interest or Emotion in its foreign policy?
3.Does Indias foreign policy shows emotional overtone?

Member 3(female)
1.You have worked in an NGO -what did you do ?
2.What problems have you observed that elderly face?
3.What is silver economy?
4.Are we utilising it?
5.What measures we can take to realise the potential of silver economy?
6.Name one personality you appreciate and what qualities you want to emulate?

Member 4
1.You have won science olympiad ?what other science subjects you are interested in other than computer science (mentioned space)
2.What is singularity ?
3.What is event horizon?
4.Is there something other than what we have discussed you want to talk about?

Chairperson-You have mentioned a IPS officer as a personality you want to emulate,why have you not opted for ips as your first preference?

Panel Mock -Unacademy ,Vajirao and reddy

Multiple One to one sessions with -Vaibhav sir, Ashish sir & Gourav sir(Anantam Ias)
Helped a lot with filling daf, preparing questionnaire from daf and overall interview preparation in such a short duration.

Sheelvardhan sir- 16/12
about- daf themes- finance, eco, india hindi spy series- nothing else from DAF

Chairman
• Welcome to this conversation with us.
• You are a strong finance professional.
• You still have economics in your DAF. Do you have any views on cryptocurrency?
• What is the difference between a stablecoin and Bitcoin?
• Gold-backed and dollar-backed—anything you know about that?
• There is this spy, Eli Cohen—have you heard about him?
• He is associated with Mossad and Israel. Read up about him.
• Can you recommend some movies?
• Do you know about an AI bubble? What are your views on it—do you think there is a bubble?
• It is a bubble, right?
• It is a bubble, right?

⸻

Member 1
• In the spy network, can you tell us about India’s internal security agencies?
• What about NIA?
• Anything related to the Red Fort?
• What about social-media-related security threats?
• What is the difference between sanitary and phytosanitary measures under WTO? (followed by explanation by the member)

M2
• You had science till Class 12—why did you shift to economics?
• Does science not contribute to society?
• When was the UN set up?
• What is the UN Charter?
• Is the UN suffering from problems today?
• Should we completely do away with the UN?
• Why was MGNREGA in the news recently?

⸻

Member 3
• So you are from a finance background?
• What do you understand by budgeting in government?
• What is performance-based budgeting?
• What is the difference between the revenue account and the capital account?
• How is budgeting in developed countries different from budgeting in India?

⸻

Member 4
• What would India look like today if the British had never colonised it?
• Don’t you think Indian revenue systems were stronger before the British?
• Didn’t zamindars exist earlier as well?
• How would India have evolved politically (ignoring geography)?
• Would elites have resisted democracy?
• If the British were not present, how would Indians have travelled abroad?
• Do you think we still need the idea of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas?
• Was Indian society more inclusive before the British?
• What do you mean by “not completely inclusive”? (Chuckling)

⸻

Chairperson (Closing)
• Your interview is over. It was nice talking to you.

Date - 16/12/2025 forenoon 2nd to go.
Board - Sujata Mam
Daf key word- geography (BA, MA ,UGC , optional), homeopathy, up, Moradabad, chess, science fiction 

Chairman Mam
Are you all right? Sit comfortably 
1- why did you choose geography subject?
2- what is human geography?
3- What is planning in geography?
4- Do we really plan accordingly?(She was emphasising that we don't plan our cities)
5-civic sense what is it? What are the things that make you unhappy in public?
6- why do people litter?(I said one is littering)
7- How will you bring behavioural change?
(I gave one case study of my district itself so one more question followed over does rewarding really works)
8- What is the role of education in this?

Member1
1- What are the alternative medicinal system in india?
2- How homeopathic system works, key principle and idea ?
3- How it is different from allopathic?
4- What is autoimmune disease?
5- if you have to dismiss one of your employees what would you consider about him?
6- What is natural justice, and some more questions followed on those principles itself.
 Member 2 
1- What is Indus Water Treaty? What is it's current status?
2- She asked me to tell in details , wanted all geographical aspects. So I kept on speaking on this. Some questions followed like what infrastructure we are developing, geographical limitations etc.

Member 3
1- What are the opportunity available to the students who have done there pg in geography?

2- Why didn't you choose any of these since 2022?
3- What are the recent discoveries In our solar system or beyond that can change the way of our understanding universe?( This was asked because when chairman Mam asked me about why I choose geography so at one place I used this term interest in solar system in childhood)

Member 4
1- What is remote sensing?
2- As your second preference is IPS what policing will you do if you are appointed in Goa, Punjab and Chhattisgarh?
3- what is maoism?( It was asked when I started telling about chattisgarh)

Chairman Mam- Your interview is over Manish , now you can go.

My experience - maximum interview was around geography but in a different way, they were more interested in asking follow up questions rather than specific geography question and in each question they were requiring to bring geographical dimensions, like that ips case study, indus water treaty.
No question from hobby, district etc.

One more thing that I noticed whenever I was giving any suggestions or solutions they were making altogether Saying this is very normal, oh  this is on books not in reality.. wanted me to prove my point.
Overall I was satisfied because there was no factual question so conversation went well.

MentorAID Student Transcript

👇👇👇👇👇👇

DAF: history, research, asiatic society, Kanpur
Chairperson: Sheel vardhan sir's

Chairperson: Good afternoon, welcome to the conversation, please take your seat.
*Started questioning*
1) 2 events you could change, one from modern one from world
2) tell me the conversation that Oppenheimer had with Us President. You should read it it's interesting
3) relate history and geography for me
4) what is subaltern history
5) is there a social dynamic in jungles? Can I write the history of marginalized animals ?
6) who was lachit borphukan?
(Follow ups)
Which battle, year, against whom, land or sea

M1: you're from kanpur, what was its original name. I mean it was part of which kingdom
- why it has been in the news
- tell me about namami gange progress in kanpur and which ministry
- leather ? Why it has declined
- (one or two history questions I can't recall)

M2: are you on social media ? Instagram or Facebook? WhatsApp or telegram?
- how to counter the history narratives on whatsapp?
- your views on this happening?
- okay tell me about one nation one election (the chairperson helped me in the negative part although the member seemed satisfied)
- one more ques, I can't recall

M3: tell me about yoginis ?
- what was their origin story ?
- so you've done a course with asiatic society
- tell me about its purpose for being established and all the verticals working at present
- recent history book you read ? Have you read romila thappar's early india ? AL basham ?

M4: (lady member, grilling mode, poker face)
- what were your papers in history ? (I told) Okay, then I will not ask you from this
- tell me about (named 3 random battles) - i said sorry
- why were Indians fighting for the Britishers in the WW1 ? Okay leave it, tell me would you have fought for the INA or for the Britishers ? In WW 2
- okay so, you are saying germany did holocaust and you're favouring INA? Because INA belived Germany would win ? I said I'm for the cause of independence, there was no guaranteed promise as such by the British Raj to grant immediate powers after the war, moreover the Germans help was limited - explained how, japan was a threat etc etc
- okay now tell me, you are in a district and then I give funds which you can either invest in social indicators or infrastructure. Which one you'll pick
( Asked if the allocation could be 50-50, she said there's always a cost benefit, it's up to you)
- so you're saying infra is more important? People are sick and you'll invest in infrastructure
( Explained to her that infrastructure includes hospitals, accessibility, better facilities even in the PHC and if not then would increase the refferal rate and by that automatically the health indicators would go up, in building the infra, employment would be generated for the skilled as well as the unskilled would translate into wage increase would lead to better standard of living, digitise the public school classrooms etc etc - would lead to holistic development)
- she said are you sure you will stick to your decision ?
- I said, yes ma'am, I will.
- she finally smiled and said thank you

Chairperson: thank you, your interview is over. It was very nice interacting with you.

(Said thank you, walked out, while closing the door, the chairperson kept looking, peripheral vision se I could see)

- felt the time pass by very quickl, but checked and realised that it went on for 30-32 minutes.
- i did say sorry, 2 times to lady member, once to chairperson and once to member 1.
- chairperson was giving a lot of expressions - cannot decode them, he did try to help me twice in answering.
- it was an average interview for me, more like ques ans and viva, board was asking back to back ques without giving a lot of time to answer as compared to mocks.
- *lastly, my only source of preparation was with UTKARSH SHUKLA SIR- MentorAID, and the daily discussion group of 4 people at the end, learned a lot from selected candidates and seniors*.


All in God's hand now.

 
Date- 16/12/2025 Afternoon
Name- R 
Board- Sujata Chaturvedi Ma'am
Duration- 27 mins
 
 
Chairperson ma'am:
So, you entered smiling, are you confident?
Is this your first interview?
Have you given your 100%? What do you think?
Briefed members about my DAF. Acknowledged city(she said Bareilly ki Barfi), college(read NIT Allahabad as MNREC, the old name), engineering branch, optional, Work ex(asked duration)
Why did you leave your job?
NCC(DAF) long form?
Why do we have it?
What is the one quality that you learned there? I answered 'not running from my responsibilities', narrated a lived experience from NCC camp.
Which god is considered contrary to this particular quality, what is that term?
I answered, everyone giggled and affirmed.
Why didn't you go for armed forces?
What is conscription?
Where do we have it?
Do we have it in India?
In your opinion, shall we have it in India?
 
M1(male):
All citizens are police officials in mufti and all police officials are citizens. What do you think of this?
Can a citizen arrest a criminal under law?
Are you sure? Have you read CrPC? (No relation with DAF)
Name the new codes.
Why no GST on petrol? Rationale? Who earns more through tax and duties on it, states or centre?
Division of powers setup. Article.
What is the rationale of having a concurrent list?
 
M2(female):
Nukkad Natak(DAF) is an effective way to address social issues. Enumerate 5 arguments in favour of this statement.
How did you minimise food wastage as Mess Secretary(DAF)?-
You are a police officer, a lady wants to complaint u/ Domestic Violence act, but nobody is confessing for her, what will you do? Too many back and forth on this
 
M3(male):
Hindu rate of growth, what is it? Who called it so?
What would you call the current scenario? How is it?
China outpaced India in eco growth after 1960s, why?
Shall we adopt authoritarian centralised leadership like China, it helped in growth?
What is more imp, right to choose your leader or having basics like food and clothing?
If given a chance, will you change India's setup to China like setup?
 
M4(male):
Shall we continue an honourific practice like guard of honour(DAF)? Why to give all this?
Method acting?
Intellectual property rights? What is it, what is the term?
 
Chairperson- Thanks, your interview is over, you can leave.
 
Analysis- Just one ques linked to current affairs, rest either section 21 of DAF or static knowledge rationale. No ques on home district, state, graduation, optional, service preferences etc. Chairperson kept interrupting members whenever I took time to think, said ‘arey nahi pata hoga, aage badhiye.’
 
Mocks-
Helped in pin pointing issues related to answer length, eye contact, carrying a smile.
Panel Mocks-
Samkalp- was good
Vajirao & Reddy - formal, nice panel, some questions helped
Vision Panel- cordial board, good experience
NextIAS- good in pointing out a couple of negatives, but unnecessary arrogance in few members.
PW- bad experience with board, shattered morale, had to wait, but mentor was good, team gave old DAF to the board
One to One
Sarrthi- Good for confidence, depends on who takes
Anantam IAS- Really good, boosted morale, reminded of strengths, very approachable
Understand upsc- helpful for DAF based practice and gaining confidence
Mahesh Bhagwat sir- very good for DAF based ques
BS Bassi sir- good insights, helped in busting myths
 
Ultimate analysis
Most of the the people will tell you similar things. Mocks will help only to a limit. With time you’ll get to know what to do and how to do. Post that, confidence will help.
 

Hello people,
You are requested to share your interview transcripts of CSPT 2025 for common good (in following format)

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Team @csetranscripts

Name: The Beast
Interview date: 18/12/2025 Afternoon (23-24 minutes)
Daf keywords : Bits Pilani , Trekking , Fitness (Gym), Ngo,  Uttarakhand , Physics wallah (1-2 Q asked from Daf)
Board: Sujata mam


Greeted the board
The chairman read my name and said ok you're from Uttarakhand.
Is this your first interview. I told her that is my 2nd interview
She said I see you're working in work from home also (I acknowledged it but she started to talk so I did not shared what I do exactly)

How was your experience last time ? Are you better prepared this year
Gave a monologue for a minute about how she keeps on hearing about the same repetitive motives of everyone about joining the civil services
Tell me other reasons apart from the ones like diverse work , impact, challenging role etc

Then asked about altruism. Do you understand it

Then asked to choose between the quality of being generous and competitive.
After I choose generous and explained the reason
She said but competitive people will be more successful ahead by using tactics etc etc
Had a brief conversation about success and why I felt generous would be successful in the entirety of life

Asked about one shortcomings. (Told her that I tend to analyse more which delays decision)
Brief conversation on it for a minute

Member 1(Lady): What will you do if you're made Pm for a week
And brief discussion on my responses
You seem to be a fitness oriented individual. (But didn't asked ahead)
Just said so you also worked in an Ngo
What's the role of Ngo (told her about the brief history and role)
What did you do (Told her about my project of guidance and counseling)

Member 2:
So you're an Army Brat. Are you aware about the term (I said yes sir )
After that he directly asked a question about who is the general which also stays a general in other army of a country (what's the name of that country) - question was not clear . So he rephrased it once (had no idea so accepted )
He himself told that it's Nepal

Then a brief discussion on should gorkhas be included in Indian army (they have been excluded now)

Is Physicswallah doing something abroad (Told them as far as i know it is currently working in domestic areas mainly)
Is there a future plan to go abroad (Told him I'm not aware about any such strategy or news)

Member 3: (Serious look)
What's your take on Capital punishment? Do you think we should have death penalty.
(Chairman mam also was involved in the discussion - acknowledged my points too)
Where can a person approach for capital punishment (Told him about Judiciary but wanted more so told about President pardon .. but wanted more so accepted that I'm aware of these provisions at present will read more)
Criteria for appointment of judges of Sc
Have you heard Paretos principle ( I said I'm not able to recall it )
Similarly asked Parkinson's law and Parkinson's disease(similar answer as above)
Mplads scheme what is it (told him about it then asked its full form - told that). Then asked what's the corpus. Is it 100 crore (I said I'm not sure about the data as of now sir)

Member 4:
Difference between Murder and Culpable homicide (but said wrong himself at start , later rephrased it to say murder and intent term )
Gave a very complex sentence (from what I can recall it was about what's the situation where one commits crime but cannot be punished (Even Chairman mam said hein? Ye kya complex chiz h sir)
I said I'm not aware about such provisions
Started throwing random terms of legal importance:
Do you understand this -
Means rea , Prima facie , Double jeopardy, And a few others as well (unable to recall other terms . Answered where I was confident)

Overall :Nothing asked from mocks or one to one (0 questions repeated 🥲)

Mocks : Pwonlyias (good panel and experience) , Samkalp (Similar environment) , Vajirao and Reddy , Vajiram , Nextias

One to one : Satyam Jain sir (very supportive and helpful. Even for Prelims and Mains) , Shubham Aggarwal (Vidyapeeth) - Insightful analysis on temperament and mannerism. Ayush sir (forum)- Helped in boosting confidence.

Name-DT

Date-17/12/25(Forenoon-last to go)

DAF keywords-Uttarkhand,Doctor,
Murder mystery,scavenger hunts,Child development

Board-Suman Sharma ma’am

Chairperson
1)Welcome Dhruv why did u leave your earlier job?Also why fascination with murder mystery -Follow up on indian adaptation of Sherlock holmes
2)Investor summit was held in your state and even taking into account other states ,what is your opinion about such summits?
3)Is this not wasted resources?
4)If u were the organiser then what all would u have showcased?
5)What about the recent UCC
6)Do you support live-in relationships?
7)Why does a smart young man like you not in support of live in?Dont u think u are too conservative ?
8)What is the point of live in if it as stringent as marriage in registration,I think the law is very bad but then that is my opinion

Member 1
1)Welcome doctor “conservative “did u see the room number when u were entering?
2)There is no free lunch what do u understand by this statement?
3) Give a real life event where u felt this?
4)People often die due to bad medication what will u prescribe as punishment for such individuals- 3 years ,life imprisonment,death penalty?
5)Why do u think life imprisonment and not death penalty?
6) As a DM 3 things to improve health of young children
7)What is your perception of NGOs?
8)Politicians are bad and wile creatures don’t u think?

Member 2
1) Doctor since child development is mentioned what is impact of social media on child health
2) Should it be banned and how to ban
3) Why some exemptions u want to give to certain players
4)So current child safety lock is failing?
5) U studied in Mumbai tell me about RBI what main functions does it do?
6)What is the issue of IPR and patent in phraa industry
7)How has recent FT with Australia and UK improved working conditions of doctors?

Member 3(Grilled me just on border with CHINA)
1)Which LAC sectors in Uttarkhand are disputed
2) Why do we have a build up based on my answer said that u think we provoked the Chinese by building infra?
3)Which party is the aggressor and which is the peace loving power?
4)Can we expect chinese military intervention in Taiwan?
5)Why are the Chinese doing this renaming then?
6)What should be our policy?
7)In next 10 years which party do u think will be compelled for peace?

Member 4
1)Medicine is the best profession and u have exceptional scores from one of the best colleges of country u why waste it and become like us ?Do an MD or MS instead?
2)What is your take on Generic medication?-Why are u in favour give reasons
3)What challenges does healthcare face?
4)On followup asked don’t u think infra is the biggest challenge

Mocks: Next Ias(holistic coverage),Samkalp

O2O(recommended):MK Yadav sir the IAShub,Sajal sir Sarthi Ias,Shubham Sir Vidyapeeth IAS