Continue — set own house to order. Kumbha impact/ ISKCON/Swami narayan.
Ok too much spiritual questions .

Time up

Member 4 ( sir from a army background, a towering personality and again a grilling discussion) let us discuss something on ground

1. Who is big brother ? China or India.
2. 5 points China has leverage on India ?
a Tibet , we have to climb then have to glide ? Good said some military terms for this
A.1 what China tells tibet ? TAR
A.2 why captured Tibet?
A.3 what is palm and finger philosophy ?
b. Economic dependence / we have to import from China to export to the world .
B.1 what all ? Batteries API .
B.2 chairman sir what’s API ? Before i say, all panel members answers . Chairman sir said let him speak . What is API ? Again few panel member answered tough i had said the acronym.
C. Army strength ?
D. Super engineering ?
D.1 are we safe due to Indian Ocean ? No
D2. Are we safe due to our
neighbours ? No
D3. What China doing to woe them ?
D4. What is this lone wolf strategy you said ?
E. River control?
E.1 which river ?
E.2 why ?

2. Will Russia help us against China ? No.
3. India’s 2 leverage ? Demography / democracy-EU allies .

4. Will China attack India ? No

Chairman sir Time up
Member sir ok my last question
5. Then what China will do ? Salami slicing .
6. What is salami slicing ?
7. What about treaty can we trust China ?
8. Shall India disengage from northern borders ?

Chairman sir loudly thank you .
I couldn’t understand , i said yes sir.
He sarcastically nodded head and said thank you. Another Member says your interview is over.

Thank you sir chairman sir nodded with a gait to show me the open gate.

And like a kid i was flied out .

Chairman sir was noting on laptop and hearing intently. He passed feedback forms to members and audibly told to write their opinion on it. All were listening the discussion.

Over all experience — no mock can mock it , unpredictable, as if they were prepared to not ask what i must have prepared. Diversity of interest and critical thinking based discussion. One has to be original And unique.

Mocks — Onlyias, forum, vision, levelup,chanakya mandal,KGS,dristi,Shankarias, quantel arranged 2-3 mocks.

Utility of mock - prepares us for
conduct in front of board. Gives us confidence to say i don’t know sorry. Provides diversity to though from DAF .

ShankarIas, Chanakya mandal,level up are were the closest to real discussion mode .

Name- Caesar
Board- Dasa sir; 03/03/25(AN)
IDAS, Uttarakhand, Lucknow, Anthro

CM:
-give your intro
-Shetatkar committee recomm
-How you see Gurkha & Agniveer issue
-measures as DefSec to deepen ties with Nepal
-Which one biological factor led to evolution of culture
-Are we still evolving?
-increased dependency on machines
-areas where machines have become master
-should we use only robots for war? Why men?

M1:
-Taxation is theft. What is your view on this?
-Def expdr vis-a-vis health & edu

M2:
-ghost villages in UK. What 3 things will you do as SDM?(some counter ques)
-GYAN full form

M3:
-Legislature and judiciary tussle
-reforms in judiciary
-3 reforms for legislature

M4:
-Can we trust China?
-3 things India need to counter China
-intl groupings in which India engage to counter China
-26th Jan chief guest: how you see it
-Do you foresee a full blown war b/w India & China-Pak(some counter ques)

CM sir said Thank you beta and intv was over.
Small room(looked like ante room of Member’s chamber). Small table, two members sitting just next to me.
Conversation style, hard to guess what panel members are evaluating on.

Mocks:4-5(all online); Vajirao, Shankar, Unacademy were good

Name:- Yet another engineer
Date:- 4th March
Board :- Honourable Sheel Vardhan sir
Last to go
Daf:- Internship hopping, mental health, startup, packaging industry, drdo, Mathura, sociology, Railways
Chairman:-
What is internship hopping
Any experience
Having entrepreneur background, is civil services a worthy career option
Why Indian startup’s lack innovation
How are they doing overall
Why youth is becoming job seeker
Any changes you recommend for it
Member 1:-
Is Mathura properly managing crowd
What is the real issue of traffic management
Any innovative solutions to it
Why Mathura Vrindavan corridor is not completed
Other problems in Mathura
Tell me about your startup in college
Is it still going on
Member 2:-
India’s successful space mission
Changes made in Chandrayaan 3
Any special mission conducted by nasa recently
Views on space privatisation
Views on mental health problem in India
member 3:-
Project done for drdo
Why nss is not successful
Any solution to it
What changes proposed by drdo
Is Rustom a successful project
Future of drones in India
Member 4:-
What is the motto of your school and college
Is mental health insured in India
Difference in corporate governance and public sector
Any question you want me to ask
Chairman at last said all the best

Mocks:- Vision, Next, Onlyias, samkalp, Vajiram, Vajirao and reddy
O2O :- special mention to Ankit sir ( vision IAS ), Vajiram , Sajal sir
Overall it was mostly based on daf and expecting for solution to existing problems

Name- Sir Humphrey Appleby
Daf keywords- philosophy, punjab university, education department, general election 2024, mechanical engineering
Board- Lt general raj Shukla(rtd) sir

Chairman-1. Quoted pm Modi's Firdous event and asked me who said these lines. What msg did pm want to give.
2. Why not hindi as medium of instruction
3. Vishal Bhardwaj makes good shakespeare adaptation in Hindi even though not taught english;
Intelligence transcends language
4. Why hindi is good for election
5. Why not English be taught from early stages of schooling
Most of questions were statements. He didn't really want an answer. It was more of an intelligent and informed discussion where I was supposed to supplement his opinions
M1- 1. God created human or human created god
2. Jugaad....what is it?
M2- Why not jugaad translate into patents? Give me a method through which jugaads can add up to our innovation ecosystem. Suppose I am to give advice to secretary..
2. What faith teaches us?
3. What Kumbh teaches us?
M3( sceptical and grilling)
1. Status of education? What i am doing as functionary
2. What about gender equality?
3. What about learning outcomes?
4. What project you did in college? Why did you not share project details to your juniors so that they could have taken it to logical conclusion
M4 1. Why mechanical engineering if wanted to come in services?
2. What is your exactly job profile?
3. Engineering is waste of time. Counter me.

Experience- it was very good in the sense that questions were not factual. Board was really good. Gave me time to express. Throughout the interview the chairman sir was attentively listening to what I was saying.
Chairman sir basically sets a tempo for interview. Quite unconventional way of questioning

Further sir was sitting in not his chamber rather someone's else chamber. the usual circular dinner table arrangement was not there. The massivity of the environment was overwhelming. However mock interview sitting format really trains us for that.

Special thanks- all those who shared transcripts. Mocks need to be given as it prepares us to deal with unexpected line of questions and form an informed opinion about things of general interest.
Mocks of reputed coaching given.
One on one session with Mahesh sir( enlite ias) prepared me for job and philosophy questions. It helped tremendously.

Sheel vardhan sir board(Last to go in)
03/03/2025
Keywords - web series, law, PSIR, Kumbh, Pune, AFSPA, Chhava, Badminton.

Chairman sir
1. So have u seen Rocket Boys?
2. Who is it about
3. What was the business in which Vikram Sarabhai's family was involved in?
4. Tell me 3 laws in recent times that have impacted the society at a large scale
5. What 5 skills will you tell girls between the class 5th to 10 th to learn for their empowerment

M2

1. What are the things that come to mind when you think of Pune?
2. Is Pune a smart City?
3. What features does it have of smart City
4. What more steps can be taken?
5. Recent kumbh happened in Prayagraj, next one will be in Nashik, what can we learn from this Kumbh which we can implement in next one to make it better

M3(lady member)

1. What was the problem with Lakshya Sen's performance in his last olympics?
2. How can we improve?
3. How you as district administrator try to reduce the problems which you just mentioned
4. Have you seen Chhava movie?
5. What's your taken on that?
6. There was controversy with respect to that and what is your take on that?

M4

1. Have you read Army act?
2. Take a wild guess as to what rules will not apply to Army
3. Have you heard about AFSPA
4. who declares it?

M5

1. What 3 important international relations events happened in last few months
2. What is your take US deportation and tariffs
3. So whatever you said will you give advice to PM
4. Have you read Motor vehicle act?
5. What more can be done in this?

Name: The Queen
Date: 06/03/2025
Time: 3:18pm to 3:48pm
Board: Sheel Vardhan Sir
DAF: PSIR, TEDx talks on Conflict resolution, Dombivli,

Chairman
1) member 3 on left is Putin, member 2 on right is Zelensky. Present a mediation plan in 1 minute
- M3: I am not convinced, I dont trust your promises.
- M3: how can I trust you, whom do you represent
- M2: Im not convinced, What if Russia attacks again?
- M2: Okay I agree as long as you dont force me to wear a suit.

M1
2) KDMC Smart city mission status and what will you do if appointed as head of SPV for Kalyan-Dombivli
3) KDMC illegal construction based on forged documents, HC order demolition, What will you do?
- a politician is also said to be involved (M1 spoke like he was discussing with the other members)
- whose rights will you uphold - people, HC order, rights of people in your dept.

M2
4) name few festivals which have scientific basis
5) give a 1 minute speech against child marriage if you are appointed as DM and consider me as the community
- M2: But mam Im the community, please speak on my level (I asked permission to speak in Hindi)
- M2: but mam baradari mai log kya kahenge, ladkiya padh lengi toh kaun shadi karega
- M2: but mam kaha padhayenge hum ladkiyo ko humare yaha school nahi hai.

M3
6) NOw again consider me as Putin and yourself as Indian representative - I say we do not trust you, you are signing deals with USA, you are clearly aligning with the west
7) What are semiconductors? Why are they important? what are the challenges? What is India doing?

M4
8) Do you think clothing and dressing is important at workplace?
- One day I wear suit, another day, vest, another day payjama kurta. Is it right, Can I do it?
- You are CEO, will you impose uniform on your staff?
- BUt big tech companies do not have such norms
- You are CEO, the best performer of your team does not dress appropriately for workplace, what will you do?
- If you tell him 1 day to dress formally, and he doesn't, what will you do considering that he is the best performer?
9) Name 1 incidence where you convinced someone purely on your communication skills? WHat 3 things you said?

Chairman
10) USA is withdrawing from West and engaging with China. Do you think US is giving China a free hand?
11) What is the uniqueness of DeepSeek apart from the cost, distillation, AI race?
- So if US decides to you older chips, then Taiwan will lose its importance and like Europe, US will abandon Taiwan also?


Takeaway: the questions were analytical and open ended. In 1 question, Chairman intervened and said "there are no right or wrong answers, we just want to know what you think).

Mock: No mock comes close to the real experience, but mocks gave me a basic primer on areas to prepare which enabled me to deal with questions on the spot. So no direct questions from mock, but based on mock experience, I could deal with real interview.

Samkalp, Chanakya Mandal, Civics daily, OnlyIAS, Unacademy, Vajirao&Reddy, Khan Global studies,

Special Thanks: Saket Jha sir Civilsdaily, IPS Mahesh Bhagwat sir, Deolankar sir SIAC, my peer group

Name : Peech
Date : 06-03-2025
Sheel Vardhan Sir Board
Time : approx 20 minutes, forenoon last to go
Daf : philosophy optional, bhagavad gita, eco-conscious living, Telangana, atmanirbhar, electronics and instrumentation

Chairman
1. What is Stoic philosophy?
2. Can you name any two Stoic philosophers?
3. What is the book of Marcus Aurelius?
4. What is your philosophy of life?
5. How do you apply philosophy to social media?
6. Fasting is often a part of Indian culture. Do you think we need digital detox?
7. Can you name any two Chinese philosophies?
8. What does Taoism say?
9. Do you know Confucianism?

M1
1. Eco-conscious living. What is Life?
2. What is Mission LiFE?
3. Three things you do eco-consciously?
4. Philosophy after electronics? That too from an institute like BITS?
5. What is the philosophy of electronics?
6. Where is instrumentation used? Latest developments?
7. What about semiconductors?
8. What is the Semiconductor Mission?
9. Any new projects approved?

M3 (Lady)
1. What is Feng Shui philosophy? What do you think about it?
2. Some people claim that they have attained nirvana or reached zen mode. What do they mean by this and what is actual enlightenment?
3. What is this NGO you mentioned about? What was your role?
4. What are the hindrances to our vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat?

M4
1. You are from Instrumentation - what is a gyroscope?
2. You are from Telangana. What was the movement for?
3. (Follow-up) Between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh:
• Whose PCI is more?
• Who has more resources?
• Who is more affected by disasters?
4. Now do you see that Telangana was better off? Often even among brothers, it’s always the better brother that wants to part ways.
5. In the context of digital detox, did you hear about the term brain rot?

M5
1. Can you tell any other state that separated?
2. Do you know the SpaceCom policy?
3. Suppose you get into service now. You are posted in a district and have been there only for three days. Now you get the responsibility of introducing a radical change in the district to which there is heavy opposition from the entire district. But you have to get it done. What will you do?
4. (Follow-up) Not a few people, all hundreds of them want to talk to you. What will you do?
5. (Follow-up) So let me understand, you are saying you want to buy time?

Chairman : Thank you ——, your interview is over.

Name - An Odyssean
Interview Date - 20 feb
Board- Shri Sanjay Verma Sir
DAF Keywords-  Big Cats, Remote Controlled Aeroplane, Journalism College Club , Krishna River Crossing , Climate Change.

Chairman Sir

Asked my full name and how to address me
1) Are you a cat person / dog person?
2) Do you have a pet cat? Difference between cats and dogs as pets?
3) You have 2 minutes, convince us to invest in India's aviation sector?
4) Name some Indian airlines?
5) Who are your favourite Indian Journalists? (I could only recall Mrs. Palki sharma in the heat of the moment)
6) Favourite International Journalists?
7) Ok since you don't know the above favourite newspaper journalists?
8) Can i send my kids to river swimming? is it safe?


Member 1:
1) Drone vs UAV?
2) How does Climate Change impact coastal areas?
3) Are big cats in India endangered? Numbers rising or falling?
4) Imagine you are posted in arunachal pradesh. How will you handle a blockade?
5) Status of 5th gen aircraft in India?
6) Should we buy F-35s?

Member 2 (Lady) :
1) Why Not try for lateral entry as Science secretary after pursuing research? (have some physics background)
2) Abhignana Shakuntalam written by?
3) Other works of kalidas?
4) Why is Israel winning all wars?
5) Five things about the missile man of India?
6) His Book?

Member 3 :

1) Why is Machili called machili? (A famous tigress)
2) Name tiger reserves of NE India from West to East?
3) Name the Big cats of India and world?
4) Is Lynx a big cat?
5) Why are Lions found on western coast of India and eastern coast of africa, any connection with sea?
6) Name people associated with tiger conservation in India?
7) Name two brothers famously associated with Tiger photography?

Mem 4 :
1) Impediments to aircraft industry in India?
2) Do you know who is Sanket Upadhyay? (Every one laughed at this, unfortunately Idk the story)
3 ) GDP vs GVA

Chairman said thank you, you may leave now.



One to one :
Gave about 7

Mocks :

Next ias , samkalp  , vision, forum, vajiram, vajirao.

The Real Interview had a different and unique dynamic. While mocks did help me to express myself better , perhaps I should have spent more time self introspecting and thinking about my daf deeply.

Daily discussions with my friends went a long way in keeping my prep intact.

Do your daf in tangential angles (like learning about the aviation industry simply because I mentioned remote controlled aircrafts) is the key take away from my Interview.

Name: 🙏🙏
Date: 7 March Afternoon

Key DAF details: Meerut, UP, Scouts and Guides (others not asked)
Board: Preeti sudan mam
Attempt : first
Questions asked:
A. Chairperson
1. Tell us something about meerut. (I Mentioned Rrts and expressway)
2. How much time it take now from Delhi to Meerut (1hr wow that's good)
3. How will these projects benefit economy.
4. Would there be pollution as well. (I had a slip of tongue corruption 😁, everyone laughing mam pointing to my slip)
5. Have you witnessed corruption.
6. How would you fix it in transport department corruption.
7. How to inculcate ethics
8. What is the motto of scouts and guides.
B. M2 (Lady)
1. Where would you initiate reforms.
2. What about judicial reform.
3. Wider criminal system reforms?
Few more questions.
C. M2
1. Why study anthropology?
2. Heard of shifting cultivation, is it happening nowadays?
3. Tribal face challenges from outsiders, should we isolate them?
4. If no then how would you ensure they are not exploited?
5. Corruption perception index provisions?
There were a few more I can't recall

D. M3
1. Impact of standard deduction in budget on economy?
2. Is merger of banks good?
3. PPP in banking? Pro and cons
4. Are we doing enough in financial literacy?
5. Give a innovative suggestion? (I said children's bank of india😁 member was happy)
E. M5
1. Role of governor in state?
2. Adopt presidential system in india?
3. Difference in US and Indian elections?
4. Do they directly elect?
5. We also elect representatives then how are they direct and us indirect?
Few more were there
Chair :- your interview is over you may go.


Mocks given: samkalp, only ias, vision, next, forum, sriram, Vajirao and reddy total around 12
Remarks : wasn't expecting chairperson to take interview.
Board was very cordial.

Board: Sheelwardhan sir
DAF keywords : Nautical Science, Stargazing, PSIR
Chairman sir:
1. Which is your favorite star?
2. Why it is your favorite!
3. Have you ever faced piracy attack on your ship?
4. What is malacca dilemma?
5. How India can become a part of global supply chain?
6. Transhipment port in Nicobar, do you support it? what are challenges?
7. If china attacks on Himalaya, should we stop their ship in Andaman and Malacca?
8. Who all are benefiting from Piracy?
M1:
1. Tell me the differences which you have noticed in your village since childhood. ( I mentioned migration in answer)
2. Which migration do you support Urban to rural or Rural to urban and why?
3. Why do cities are known as growth engine of the world.
4. Urban migration in Bihar? cities, bit details...
M2:
1. Why you wantf to join civil services, when you were earning quite good salary?
2. How will you maintain your life style if you are posted in Rural and underdeveloped area?
3. Your priorities in being posted there?  Some more questions on tha.
4. What to do in case a new wave of corona erupts? Blanket ban, Hotspot etc.
5. Did you do any coaching for upsc?
M3:
1. What time you maintain on ship? Zulu(GMT) or something else.
2. Details of nautical miles.
3. I have only 6 months remaining, guide me how to prepare for civil services. ( Discussed in depth)
4. will my earlier knowledge help me in civils, how?
5. Few more, cant remember now...

M4:
1. What changes should be brought in Merchant shipping act?
2. Where do india stands in ship building and tonnage capacity?
3. Tell me indian ship owners companies.
4. Some questions on insurance related to ships.
5. Describe yourself in 3 words, (3 traits of your personality).


Few more questions, mainly based on DAF, I can't remember right now.

Mocks 10+ (Quantel to thanked for arranging mocks)
One on one with Shubham sir (Vidyapeeth IAS, quite helpful and motivating) Ankit sir (Smartlabs)

Questions were very new from mocks, however mostly came from identified areas of DAF.
Approx 30 minutes.
All the best 🙏🙏

Pls find the transcript sir

Name - Jai Hanuman
Board - Raj Shukla Sir

DAF - AI, Mathematics optional, electrical engineering, Rubik's cube

Chairman
1) What're you doing?
2) So you've put AI as you hobby... tell me - is AI going to change everything or is it just another technology?
3) Does AI have IQ or EQ? What is IQ? What was Einstein's IQ? Can AI surpass it?
4) When something so phenomenal is coming up...shouldn't India be worried? how many LLMs does china have? USA? We?.... Shouldn't India be worried?... I said no we can come up with our own... I'm optimistic
5) What gives you the hope?

Member 1
1) So you have a guinness world record in some event?! What was it?
2) What's the world record for fastest cube solving by a machine?
3) You're an electrical engineer... so tell me What are cryptocurrencies? What about the recent tax on crypto assets?

Member 2 - Lady
1) Do you know Bermuda triangle? What's it?
2) I see a Bermuda triangle in policy coming up (which is sucking money from the government)... On one side populist schemes are taking away all the money (people don't have any incentive to work) ...then we're giving huge tax breaks for manufacturing to come up...also spending money on skilling people to no avail...there are no funds left for the govt to work... I know you're too young to ask this but could you suggest some innovative measure to get out of this Bermuda triangle?... terribly dissatisfactory answer from my side

Member 3
1) So we have cash transfer schemes for women, should we have them for men also? Like many of them are unemployed (like you) ...so there should be gender equality, right?
2) What among these is the issue - men feeling superior to women or women feeling inferior themselves or some third alternative?
3) if you're made a dc, what'll you do for gender equality?
4) But what's the very basic that you will do? He said won't your work begin at the family level...
5) hundreds of people like you who are some of the best brains are sitting for UPSC or else flying abroad... Who'll do the research work?

Member 4
1) you've done electrical engg from one of the best colleges and then you took mathematics optional which is rare?
2) first attempt? How much did you score in maths in the last attempt?
3) there are some unsolved problems in maths right? Can you tell one?
4) what's the largest prime number which has been ever discovered?
5) Let's say you're DM of a coastal district which suffers from natural disasters like cyclones, tsunami, floods etc..... what measures will you take? Short term, medium term and long term?

Chairman
Your interview is over.

Name: Mohit
Date: 07/03/2025, Afternoon, 1st to go
Board: Sh. Sheel Vardhan Sir
Time: ~30 mins

DAF Keywords: IITR, CSE, PSIR, Risk Analyst, Uttarakhand, Online Chess, Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA), Leadership potential (scholarship)


{Was waiting outside room - stood up & greeted every panel member as they entered the room after Lunch}

Chairperson Sir:
1. So you play chess? you have a good height, why don't you play basketball? (khelta tha sir School clg me)
2. Did you dunk? (never tried)
3. Which chess World champion died recently? (Spassky sir).
4. wasn't it Gary Kasparov? (naah sir, Spassky, 1972, match of the century - he died)
5. Have you watched _? Have you heard about _? (I haven't sir)
6. You're an risk analyst. Do SWOT analysis of India.
7. (I mentioned sth about Global South) Tell me some countries of Global South (couldn't convince him in this. Probably he wanted to hear the keyword "Brandt Line" while I started listing countries. Maybe he asked "the countries" and I heard "some countries". )

M1 (Male):
1. You're from IITR. Tell me about "bifurcation"? (sir are you asking about it in any specific context - yes roorkee context - no sir don't know)
2. crossing of canal over solani river . (ohh sorry sir, I know about it, we called it aqueduct).
3. UBA - share 3 learnings.
4. Should UBA be dropped by Ministry of Education? Isn't it an unnecessary burden on the colleges?
5. Modi ji talked about all weather tourism in UK yesterday. Tell me any other state where this can be promoted (sir other him states - give me one specific example, sorry sir not sure, chalo I'll tell - Thar desert)
6. Now tell how can the need of all-weather tourism be linked to Thar desert (was still thinking when he passed on to the next member)

M2 (Lady):
1. List important qualities of a leader?
2. Hw did you portray leadership potential for Aditya Birla Scholarship? (mam write up likhwaya, interview liya - UBA ki baatein suni aur de dia) - mam smiled.
3. DC asked you to set up a Food processing unit in UK. What all elements will you consider while doing Risk analysis of the project?
4. where will you put up the factory - plains or hills (mam hills me to chhote scale ka hi laga sakte, else lene k dene pad jaenge)
5. ghost village issue in hills - what type of employment can be created there then. (mentioned SHGs, House of Himalayas, etc)

M3 (Male):
1. Learnings for India from Russia-Ukraine war.
2. let's stick to military learnings.
3. How has the Russ-Ukr war affected India's defence. (military spare parts issue, dependence on Russ arms)
4. examples ? (S-400 : wo to mil gaya hame already, Sir sukhoi etc b h, don't know much)

M4 (Male)
1. Something about my role as a risk analyst, (fraud risk team etc)
2. who bears the burden in case of fraud. (USA banking system - banks has to)
3. and banks ka risk? (not sure. he mentioned something like credit risk insurance. I said sir I have heard about it but don't know much)
4. You must have met fellow candidates in the hall. What is the topic of discussion. (sir I was 1st, by the time documents were verified, I was asked to come here, didn't get time to talk)
5. how long you waited outside room (10 mins sir)
6. what was going on in your mind? (sir expected ques like Russ-Ukr, Chess, IITR)
7. (everyone laughed) so we asked what you expected? - yes sir, a lot of it. but there were a few ques which I didn't expect and couldn't answer, will read more on those.

Chairperson: Thank you Mohit.

Overall experience: board was cordial, patiently listening, their body language was positive, the mood was jolly towards the end hence felt good. "Conversation" revolved around the DAF keywords and thus felt very comfortable. No random factual stuff asked.

Mocks: Samkalp, Vajirao Reddy, Chahal, Vajiram, NextIAS
One-to-One: Vinay Sir (Insight), Sri Ram Sir, Ravindran Sir, Shubhra Ranjan Mam, Bassi Sir (Next)

Utility of mocks - My mocks also revolved around the same topics. Helped me take the topics seriously and study in detail.

All the Best!!

NAME : Forrest Gump
Board: Sheel Vardhan Sir
Date: 05/03/2025 (F/N) 1st to go
Keywords: Gujarat, Sociology, Civil Engineering, Competitive Typing, Walking, Stock Trading, Debate.
Chairman Sir:
1.       Who invented Typewriter, also tell some companies of typewriter.
2.       On what Indian products and sectors would you impose tariffs if you were Trump and vice versa for India
Member 1:
1.       What changes were made at State and National level after Bhuj EQ
2.       How Bhuj EQ was boon for the local people
3.       What is Dholavira
Member 2 (Lady):
1.       Let’s do a debate, speak for the stance “There is a method in Trump’s madness”
2.       What are the key takeaways for India
3.       What’s your opinion on DOGE and about Elon Musk in it
4.       If you were the head of DOGE in India, which 3 depts. Would you scrap
Member 3:
1.       What’s the difference between Nifty GIFT and Nifty 50
2.       What is GIFT City
3.       How it is beneficial for Gujarat
4.       What are the timings of Nifty GIFT
5.       What are the types of Options in Stock Market
6.       What are trading strategies in options market
7.       Tell me about COP 29
Member 4:
1.       What are the technological developments in Civil Engineering
2.       Why we aren’t building EQ Resistant buildings like Japan
3.       Are we resilient if another covid comes
Again Chairman Sir:
1.       Do you want to say anything
2.       If there was something , you would had come prepared and we didn’t get the opportunity to ask the same.

Name: Suit UP
Chairman: Suman Sharma mam
key word daf( Mirzapur , EEE , cricket, geography optional)

u r from mirzapur , which character do u like and why??
PIB fact check unit
Facebook issue
why they took back fact check unit
many counter qstn ..
south china issue
agricultural vs manufacturing job employability
issue and possibility
demographic dividend discussed with many follow up qstn
performance based payment in cricket & 3-4 follow up question
question on farming , food processing industry
Public distribution system

only 1 or 2 daf based question mostly random questions.
full on grilling ..
Mocks: next ias(2) samkalp ias (2) unacademy , sriram ias , many more through quantel
studyiq , vajirao and reddy

o2o : Shubham Sir ( Vidyapeeth IAS ) although connected very late but best in evaluation and thought process( highly recommended)
2 arranged by Quantel

Baki sb Mahadev ki kripa :::

Chairman – Lt Gen Raj Shukla Sir
Name – M.Singh
History , Physics , Parallel Cinema, Haryana .

CHM
Asked me about DoGE in US , can we replicate it in India.
Do we need it ? What will be the strategy to do that ? What are the challenges
and how is it feasible or not feasible in India. A small discussion.
Our PSU are struggling with inefficiency , why pvt sector is not investing ,
why is pvt sector not investing in R&D ? A few more questions related to it and then , thank you.
M1
Mostly from current affairs ,
Physics people please cover recent finding and developments , no need to revise the subject in too much detail just go with the recent development. Especially cover : NASA , ISRO , DRDO , etc.
Content of recent Mann ki Baat was asked , if anything is related to your DAF from Mann ki Baat content do read it.
Sir asked a few more questions I am not able to recall.
Question from Polity , and how some subjects were brought to concurrent list in 1976. Why were they brought to concurrent list ?
What was its impact.
The questions here , were a bit on factual side. But no intimidation.
M2
Mostly from my DAF
How parallel cinema declined ? Some discussion on its essential – characteristics of it ?
Haryana , sex ratio , women in sports from Haryana on the one hand while preference for son on the other hand.
What are the 3 lessons from our past ?
Should we not forget our past ? Forgetting the past will allow us to move on ?
This was also a type of discussion.
A few more questions cannot recall.
M3 (From Economy and Polity)
GST , why was it introduced
What was the amendment about ?
It was also slightly fact based ,I am not able to recall. The question type was a mix of
when , what and why
M4 (from IR)
This was a type of discussion on situation in Bangladesh , the recent development?
What challenges India currently face ?
How can BNG resolve its issues , what way forward do you suggest ?
Do you think there was a role of Pakistan in it ?
Sir , was adding few points. We mainly talked about Bangladesh and India.

I am not able to recollect a lots of question , but they were I would say very much personalized
Your interview depends on your answers , every question shapes on what you had answered (in most cases).
Wherever there is a discussion , its your answer that lead the discussion to. Factual questions are moderate , not very difficult
but in interview you may not be able to recall.
All were cordial in the sense that no one was trying to intimidate , you don’t know something , they will ask another question. In my understanding , they want to bring out the best out of you. In case you don’t do well in one question, they will ask another. I think every board member is trying to get something out of you. And they will do it very gently.
In interview take your time , there is no hurry , they will give you ample time to think.
Please don’t judge yourself during the interview, let them do their work and you do yours.
“Don’t answer , lets just talk”

These are the lessons from my mistakes that I made and what I learnt from that day.
Take this day as any other day and you will do great. Take stress for what may come , you may not do well.
In my journey in CSE prep , I was always rewarded for the efforts I had made. So , believe in yourself , you have what
they want.

Preparation ; One to One were more helpful , Sajjal sir(Sarrthi) was very considerate guided me as in how to think and structure the responses ,One to One at Samkalp (mine was not with Shantosh Taneja Sir) helped me fill gaps , Satyam Jain (UnderstandUPSC) and Vijaya D P Singh (VisionIAS) were helpful and encouraging.

Name: Oliver Twist
Date : 04/03/2025
Chairperson: BB Swain
Keywords: Kerala, Philosophy ( optional ) , Kerala flood relief measure volunteer ( rest not asked )
Chairperson
1. Reasons for Kerala flood - discussion on the same
Member 1
1. Measures for addressing recurring disasters in India ( for which I answered some which included the term bioswale )
2. What is bioswale ?
3. What is soft power diplomacy ?

Member 2
1. Why did you choose philosophy as optional despite having graduation in chemistry ?
2. Why is it said that man created God ?
3.difference between agnostic and atheist
4.How does your friends identify you ?
5.what are abrahamic religions ?

Member 3
1.What are the measures for digital arrest ?
2.is ethical hacking ethical ?
3.is it legal or illegal in India ?

Member 4
1.reasons for landslides in Kerala ?
2.why is silent valley called silent ?
3.which is the important species in silent valley ?
4.is there a necessity to change the name of kerala to keralam?
5.what is the procedure for the same ?

Chairperson: do you want us anything more to ask ?
How was the interview ?
Thank you .

Mocks : Nil
O2O: Enlite IAS

Name: padfoot
Interview date: 07/03/2025 (Aft, last to go)
Board: Preeti Sudan Ma’am
DAF keywords: mental health NGO, women safety march, poetry, Uttarakhand

Ques asked:
Chairperson:
You write poetry, would you like to share with us something you have written?
Tomorrow is Women’s day, how is India doing on women issues
What is one stop centres for women
You work for mental health NGO, why we are seeing a rise in these issues among youth. How to handle?

M1- serious
Tell about UCC in Uttarakhand- what is UCC.
Is Live-in registration in line with Constitutional rights?
What is NATO
Wrt Trump- is NATO now dysfunctional
Why Russia Ukraine war took place- why it doesn’t want Ukraine to join NATO?

M2- cordial and smiling
You mentioned Mental health, what exactly is the problem these days youth face?
Is there social pressure alone or is the youth becoming less tough to tackle it?
What about 70 hrs work week- do you favour that
What about skilling- how can we use AI? Its use in education is good or not?

M3- cordial
How do your friends describe you as a person?
What is neutrality in civil servant
Should civil servants join politics- while in service
How to ensure judicial transparency?
What is Nifty and Sensex?

M4- (lady member)poker face, v serious, not happy with any answer

If I establish a company, what NOCs will I have to take from govt
If not environment clearance, what else
If in Urban area the company is, then what NOCs, which officials will visit me to check on my company?
(Chairperson said ask something else)
What is trickle down effect
How in capital intentive industries it can be seen?
Why Sri Lanka faced crisis when it introduced organic farming?

Chairperson said your interview is now over. You may leave and all the best.

Mocks given: Vajirao, Samkalp, NextIAS, one to one- Sajal Sir Sarthhi IAS.
Overall experience- mixed feelings, tried making it conversational, gave personal examples too. Overall board was cordial. They were all listening very attentively, were giving me time to answer. If I did not answer nicely, they did not show it on their face, when I answered well, they were smiling a lot and nodding. Chairperson asked if I would like tea, there was also a light moment in between when everyone laughed at what ma’am said..I joined along. The final M4 member asked ques that were tough for me, so overall impression idk.

Name - Airawat
Board - Sheel Vardhan Sir
DAF - lawn tennis, google/goldman sachs tech scholarships, socio

Time - ~35 mints

Chairman
1. Why socio after science background?
2. ⁠How science has benefitted the society?
3. ⁠How to manage AI fallouts?
4. ⁠Dont u think internet has replaced personal relationship to virtual relationships, no real connection to people, virtual friends and all?
5. ⁠ if I make you the PM of India in 2047, which part of the land in the world will you want to control? ( reference from Trump, claiming Greenland, Panama.)

M1
1. Tell me about the above mentioned scholarships? How did it help u? Why did u get? Some questions on Google’s quantum experiments
2. ⁠Define urbanisation, challenges, how to solve them?
3. ⁠ air pollution, causes, what the government is doing, what more can be done

M2
1. Difference between deuce and advantage.
2. Real life experience where u felt yourself in above two conditions
3. ⁠ recent podcast controversy (Ranveer Allahbadia one)- what was it, Supreme Court judgement, how to regulate this?

M3
1. 2 step to curb air pollution as an individual
2. how would you implement the solutions? (About points mentioned above)
3. ⁠ what is government doing to improve the freight movement in India?
4. ⁠ what is Sagarmala? What is the status of Sagar Mala?

M4
1. Workplace dynamics between boss and subordinate in India
2. ⁠Situation based questions based on workplace dynamics between men and women - role reversal etc

Mocks - Civilsdaily , Chanakya Mandal, vajirao reddy, ONLY IAS, NextIas, Sleepy, a couple of other through quantel


Special thanks to- Saket Jha sir civilsdaily ( 1:1 discussions were very helpful), Mahesh Bhagwat sir, Manoj sir ( sociology related ) , Utkarsh sir , friends and family

Sheel vardhan sir board(Last to go in)
03/03/2025
Keywords - web series, law, PSIR, Kumbh, Pune, AFSPA, Chhava, Badminton.

Chairman sir
1. So have u seen Rocket Boys?
2. Who is it about
3. What was the business in which Vikram Sarabhai's family was involved in?
4. Tell me 3 laws in recent times that have impacted the society at a large scale
5. What 5 skills will you tell girls between the class 5th to 10 th to learn for their empowerment

M2

1. What are the things that come to mind when you think of Pune?
2. Is Pune a smart City?
3. What features does it have of smart City
4. What more steps can be taken?
5. Recent kumbh happened in Prayagraj, next one will be in Nashik, what can we learn from this Kumbh which we can implement in next one to make it better

M3(lady member)

1. What was the problem with Lakshya Sen's performance in his last olympics?
2. How can we improve?
3. How you as district administrator try to reduce the problems which you just mentioned
4. Have you seen Chhava movie?
5. What's your taken on that?
6. There was controversy with respect to that and what is your take on that?

M4

1. Have you read Army act?
2. Take a wild guess as to what rules will not apply to Army
3. Have you heard about AFSPA
4. who declares it?

M5

1. What 3 important international relations events happened in last few months
2. What is your take US deportation and tariffs
3. So whatever you said will you give advice to PM
4. Have you read Motor vehicle act?
5. What more can be done in this?

Cse interview transcript
Name - निमित्तमात्र
Forenoon session
2nd to go @Sheel vardhan sir’s panel
Daf- mantra meditation, diary writing, teaching mentoring, computer engineering, sanskrit in class 10th, rajasthan, psir

Took permission to enter , came closer to chair nd wished chairman first then lady and other members

Chairman sir-

You are interested in diary writing, meditation, badminton, teaching lets start with diary
1.So you write diary what kind of it - reflective , journal or just routine one?
2.Why do you write?
3.What impact does it have on personality?
4.If you have to persuade your younger brother who is naughty how would you convince him?( mentioned that i would say that start with writing naughty ideas …….)
5.So you write personal things in it as well?
Would you ready to make it public if you write private things in it?
6.as evryone is writing on social media in public .Should social media to be used then for private matters as it could be exploited as well?
7.What would you suggest then how to use social media ? What’s the way forward?
8.Ok now you are a PSIR guy tell me 3 friends and 3 adversaries of india beyond neighbourhood.
9.You mentioned Argentina( mentioned it as not adversary but contradictory interests wrt to coffee club vs g4 ),its president javier milei is espousing anacho capitalism what is it?
10.Which ideology it is near to ? Neo liberal or other?

Member1-

1.So you are a technical person interested in meditation, which kind of meditation mantra meditation is?
2.What mantra do you recite?
3.How does it benefit you .can it be beneficial for others?
4.As a public servant would you implement meditation in your office?
5.So you are interested in teaching as well tell me how did you get in it?
6.What is teaching and would you continue to teach while in office?
7.Should civil servants use online platform to teach shouldn’t they focus on performing their duties as public servant ?
8.How you integrate your technical background and teaching experience with public service to improve productivity?
9.Technology in education would it benefit education sector?
10.I feel it will replace teachers what are your views?

Member2-

1.Continue with teaching what role of language has in imparting education?
2.You have studied Sanskrit in school there is some controversy going on around it ? Do you know Stalin not that you studies in PSIR there is one more 😂 do you know him ?
Why he is opposed to Sanskrit?
3.does Sanskrit need protection?
4.What do you think why stalin is opposing Sanskrit?
5.What is the way forward in this regard?
6.Tell me use of AI in governance ?
7.are there any challenges associated with it? What is needed to tackle?
8.you enjoy writing diary do you know Anne frank ? Lesson can be drawn in present time?
9.So you have been to kota as well tell us some initiatives of kota ( asked clarification if it is regarding infra projects)
Further follow uo regarding kota oxygen city park initiative?

Member3

1.How after engineering humanities is useful for you?
2.How would you use your expertise of technology and Psir in administration?
3.what is your views on ONOE?
4.should be be implemented? Benefits of it?
5.what are challenges?how to proceed ahead with it?
6.what are the concerns of regional parties?
1 more question but not able to recall

Member4-

1.why did you choose PSIR after being an engineer?what do you like most in psir?

2.What humanities subjects have taught you how it is different from computer engineering?
3.What is desertification is it expanding?
Why is it expanding factors?
4.How severe it is in Rajasthan? Direction-of its expansion?
5.Where the issue of groundwater over exploitation is more intense ? Region?
6.You said overall Rajasthan is facing water scarcity how?
7.Can you suggest solutions what would you do as DM of your district in this aspect?

Chairman - it was nice talking to you your interview is over .
Thanked everyone

Cordial and encouraging board

Thanks to community and all helped me for pt preparation
Took 4 mocks and 1 O2O