– You have done Bsc. agri and ur hobby is seed collection it’s very interesting ..,
– How many seeds u have collected,? Which seeds?
– How do u store bajra seeds?
– How long can the seeds be viable?
– what are orchids? Where are they found? Are they found in western Ghat? Are they epiphytic? Parasitic?
– What is tissue culture? What are its advantages?
M1
– What is contribution of M. S. Swaminathan in indian agricultur?
– Why farmers suicides are happening? And give solutions?
– How digitalisation can help to overcome security?
M2
– Tell about BT cotton issue. What are ur views on GM crops
– In which country GM food is grown?
– What happened to gm mustard and gm brinjal
M3
– Interlinking of rivers and its technical problems
– How role of farmers can be increased in markets chain?
– How can food adulteration can be controlled?
M4
– What is emotional intelligence? Example of how it can be used in administration.
– How u will motivate yourself and ur team
– Many people do well in the studies but not in life.. Why does it happen??
Background: B-tech metallurgical and material sciences engineer + MBA
Hobbies : football, reading and writing answers on Quora
Chairman
– If I were to tell you that there is a plant and its parts are made of gold, what would your reaction be?
– Who is your favourite footballer?
– Do you know the signature move of Pele?
M1
– Amongst all the sources of energy other than coal, which all have the most potential in the next ten years?
– Why?
– What is iso4 (dnk)
– How is material sciences used in mining.
M2
– How is material science influencing human life?
– What is the geography of Bahrain? (I grew up there, schooling as well)
– How does India have to behave in the Maldivian crisis?
– Dont remember two more
M3
– What are the problems faced by Indian workers in the gulf region?
– How does the Indian community help them?
– What steps has the government taken to aid these workers?
– Does the srilankan issue still exist?
– What is the opinion of the government of India on it?
– Doesnt the state government have another opinion?
M4
– You are a management graduate, what kind of advice can you give to a company which wants to invest in another country?
– We have improved our ease of doing business, what are some of the parameters on which it is judged?
– Salient features of India-Bahrain ties?
– Present to me a holistic description of the country you grew up in, I don’t have any knowledge about it.
Chairman
– Is the latte irrelevant today?
– Is this your photo?
– what do you think of encounters in UP.
– Should human rights agencies have a role in encounters.
– what should be the way out
M1
– India’s performance in south Africa tour DAF
– Which country PM visited lastly.
– Strategic significance of visit.
M2
– Status of Lok pal bill
– Issues with appointment
– What the govt is doing with Lok pal right now
M3
– Performance of ISRO
– One biggest achievement of ISRO
– Why ISRO is performing well.
– Comparison with DRDO
M4
– If you are made DM of Bundelkhand region what will be your priorities.
– PNB issue
– Media..is it biased
– Why media is giving some news and ignoring the others.
Chairman
– just carrying forward the argument. Should there be govt ownership of media.
– Why is unbiased news.
– Tell about urself
– What r u doing right now
– Why army was used in Elphinstone bridge reconstruction
– Why not private sector
– We could have doubled the price to private and work would have finished in half time
– Why we stick with L1 quotes only
– How to resolve it
– Why no one trust anyone in India ?
M1
– Judicial intervention
– How to infuse credibility in judiciary
– Why judiciary don’t want any interference
M2
– U know Mike Tyson ?
– How to infuse transparency in judiciary ?
– How technology can be used ?
– Is it right to have cctv recording of court proceedings
– What is family court .
– Why they have rule of video recording
– Should we remove institution of DM as no developed country have it
– What America have inherited from British .
– What kind of laws are there in USA
M3
– What is autonomous robotics
– Should India have them ?
– There impacts ?
– Is I right to name any institution on basis of some individual ?
– What are the parameter to decide that ?
– What are the stakeholders in your college ?
– Alumni ?
– Why alumni connect is low ?
– Any example in India where alumni have contributed much ?
M4
– Why u left IRS for IPS
– Why now IAS
– Why going back from revenue to revenue
– What is think India ?
– What were it’s benefits
Chairman
Ok
What else you have in mind which should have been discussed ?
– Do you know any tribe which still lives in almost complete isolation?(I explained her about Jarawa tribe of Andaman)
– How to deal with such types of tribes if they are not even allow people to land on there island?
– How to achieve right balance between protecting their identity & addressing their developmental needs?
– If they become hostile how to deal with them?
– What should be threshold to use the force?
– What should be the guiding principles to use the force?
– Then…she explained me about Naxalites problem…how to address this?
– Do you know any successful attempt by any state to address the issue?
– Is there any need to audit security forces?(context…human rights violations)
– Is there any existing mechanism present for this?
M1
– Why people generally dont want to enroll their children in government schools?
– What are problems of gov schools?
– What you would do to address these problems?
– What government is doing in this respect?
M2
– Tell me about big announcement regarding agriculture in recent budget.
– How to achieve MSP 1.5 times higher than cost of production?
– What formula gov have proposed?(he is asking about A2 + FL formula)
– According to you which national park is better managed in your state?….What should be parameters to assess management of national parks?
– Tell me about core, buffer & transision zones.
– Do you know about JFM? (Joint Forest Management)
– How much it is successful in your state?…What should be criterias to assess success?
M3
– What is this social awareness group of engineers? (DAF)…he explained about issue of irregular water supply…how awareness will help to solve the problem?
– He explained about problems of rural…semi urban areas…how to solve these?…what gov is doing?
– Why you want to join administration?
– Do you think accountability and transparency will help to solve all problems?
Chairman
– Have you filed RTI?
– Tell me about positives & negatives of RTI.
– Do you see any change in psyche of administrators after RTI? Then why still cases of corruption?
– Long term effects of RTI.
– Introduce yourself
– What are you doing since 2016?
– Why graduation in agri. engg.?
– Your favourite subject in agriculture
– Ground water contamination problem in india
– Is it a good option to use ground water as primary source in agriculture?
M1
– Explain role of agri. in india economy
– How would you use tribals knowledge in forest management?
– Scope of wildlife tourism in india
– What are provisions of indian forest mgt.bill, 2017?
– What is forest inventory?
M2
– What are soil colloidal properties?
– What is natural binding capacity?
– As a lady officer,how would you tackle challenges in this service?
– What is crop infestation?
– Difference in agri. practices in China and India
M3
– What do you mean by entrepreneurship?
– Horticulture production In Kolhapur
– Regions of pomegranate production In Maharashtra
– What is the difference between agri. engg and horti. engg?
– What is ex-situ and in- situ conservation?
– Opinion on rehabilitation of tribals from protected areas
– Mangrove cover of Maharashtra
– Threats to mangroves
– What is green army?
– What is Parli-vaijnath, is it town or village or city?
– Is it named after any personality?
– Why you left the job?
– So can I consider that civil services is your priority?
– Explain in brief the whole process of paper manufacturing? Have you seen yourself?
– Tell me ten names of trees commonly found in India?
M1
– You are specialist in mechanical engg?
– How would you use your knowledge?
– Explain to me how would you use that processing industry, with example?
– How to reach to tribal to ensure their participation?
– What are the challenges in tribal development? Should all IFS officer learn all the tribal languages?
M2
– What is annual Raw material requirement of your industry?
– Have your company taken any initiative to increase Raw material supply?
– But there is criticism that these industries give low price to the farmers?
– As IFS officer what would you do to ensure farmers get better price for their produce?
– Is there any govt regulation to control the prices offered by these industries?
– What is PESA? What sectors have been deregulated?
M3
– You cook vegetarian ,is it only because you eat only veg or something else?
(Some light moments)
– In what dishes you are good at?
– Have you offered these to your mother,sister? What was response?out of love and care??? (Again Light moments)
– Latur is recent district, earlier it was part of which district?
– Any improvement since then?
– Do you mean these developments occured due to it was made a district? (interrupted in my Ans and started a question)
– Latur is in news due some notorious reasons, what are they?
– If a sudden earthquake in your division then what would you do? Do you think apart from Police and Revenue administration the Forest need to be concerned ?
– Pronounciation and meaning of the name
– Tell about yourself
– Wild life of jaisalmer
– Camels, schemes about them, numbers, now what is the use
– Have u seen GIB
– Why IFS
– What does DFO do in jsm
– Given choice which part of natural india would u like to visit
– Have u been to Ranthambhore/sariska
– Give suggestions to address dvpt vs env issue
– Balance b/w dvpt & env in india if no then which region of india balanced both
M1
– Manganiar music (my hobby) what, where, how
– Yoga what, basics why
– Which kind of movies
– Electonics uses in forest
– have u design electronic device of that sort which can be used in forests M2:-
– Kota, Engg.(I took coaching from kota)
– Civil and forest as option
– Artistic freedom(film ban, protests) scenerio going to worse or better
M3
– Goal of life
– Non-forest wood
– Biodiversity, CBD, EArth summit and subsequent actions, National biodiversity law
– Managing tribals, mining, forests, wildlife
– Social forestry
Chairman
– Tribals vs forest
– Naxalite vs IFS
– Why naxalite in tribal belt
– Do u want to ask something to board
– Tell me about your educational background
– What we’re you doing at CARE
– Why did you decided to leave CARE
– Tell me about JFM in India
-What were the challenges in JFM
– What was the role of IIFM in your career and how did it help you
M1
– When did the environmental movement start in India
– Do you think awareness in environmental domain is necessary ? How would you promote awareness on Forest fire issues
– What are true colors? Why they are called so?
-What GIS layers you would used for Forest coverage estimation
M2
– Interesting combination of subjects , tell me what were your favourite subjects
– Bhubaneswar zoo was in news some time back ? Why?
– What are White tigers?
– What is plant succession?
– What are the challenges faced by zoos today?
– What is agroforestry ?
– current challenges in agroforestry? Area under agroforestry?
– what is IR… Some law of agriculture ..never heard
M3 (lady)
– What is Jhoom?
– how would you control it
– issues faced by Forest today
– which tree is called Flame of Forest
Background – Pune, Maharashtra
Optional- Agriculture and Botany
Chairman
1.Is this is you? (photograph)
2.Tell me about your educational qualification?
3.when you completed your graduation? (2015)
4.What you are doing since 2015?
5.Western ghats-illegal felling of trees-what is your opinion on development vs conservation?
6.How your Agriculture knowledge helps in Forest service?
7.Is there any contadiction between Agriculture and Forest?
M1 (Lady member)
1.What are cash crops?
2.What is soil erosion? How we can control it?
3.What are the problems faced by farmers?
4.differnce between Reserve and protected forest?
5.Modern techniques in Agriculture?
M2
1.Wht is precision Agriculture.? (Detail explanation)
2.How will you convert desert area into Agriculture land?
3.what are buttress??
4.soil collidal properties
5.types of soils?what is podzol?
M3
1.difference between Intensive Agriculture and intensive Forestry?
2.Seed act?Is forest seeds comes under this?
3.Domestication of NFTP?
4.How seed varieties are released?Certification ?
Chairman
You want to share something with us other than whatever we already discussed??
I told about recent initiatives of Maharashtra government in Forest Management like Green Army and Forest helpline.
– Tell me about your educational background
– What after graduation
– Explain product design
– What parameters do you check while designing a product
– How do you explain the evolution of mobiles until Apple smartphone
– How do you incorporate the ease of use in mobiles
– How do you explain sustainable development
– Do we need polluting industries like a ship breaking in India
– How will balance environmental protection with employment generation in this regard
M1
– What is environment performance index
– What parameters are included in it
– Why is Vishakapatnam projected as a future hub for investment
– Impact of 2004 tsunami on Vizag
– Forest types in eastern ghats
– Explain Biodiversity Act 2002
M2
– Why is China blocking India’s entry into NSG
– States with the highest forest area
– Role of customs in wildlife and forest conservation
– Name an endangered species
M3
– Name the national park adjacent to your campus (IIT Madras)
– What’s the area of the park
– What’s the smallest national park in India
– What are the environmental issues in your campus
– Fauna in the campus
– Type of vegetation in the campus
– Impact of MGNREGA in Telangana
– How MGNREGA is related to forestry
– What are SDGs
– SDGs associated with environment
– How success of achieving SDG 1 and 2 are related with SDGs related to an environment
– Forest cover in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh
– Forest types in Telangana
– Red Sanders
– Green trading
Chairman
– How do you promote environmental awareness in rural areas
– Is there anything you want to ask to the panel
– so kasturi seeing your daf its so varied…we saw you do so many things. So why DON’T u tell us about yourself in your own words.
– apart from your nature trekking and bird watching what interests you to join the ifos
– OK, so the people have attracted you to it. But DON’T you think the people itself are sometimes at conflict with forest dept. Where do you think can the people be at conflict ?
– what are the reasons of such conflicts( she sighted many like attitude , land etc and then came back to original question) ..what do u think is point of conflict ?
– so what steps do u think can be taken ?
M1
M1- you said that colonial mentality is there, do you think it can be changed ?
M1- indigenous people only harm forest then how forest can be conserved
M1- u think u can change the mentality of people n forest dept? To get cordination
U will have to face lot of opposition and pressure from up..do u have conviction?
M1- if you have to do urban forestry then what steps you will take ?
M1- so first thing you shud do is xompre with best practices world wide. OK?
One last question- why u did pub ad after engg
M1- ok have h qualified for civil mains.
M1- what new u learnt through pub ad?
M3
M3- you did lot of trekking. What are eight thousanders?
M3- any peaks in India?
M3- which rare bird that you saw and you felt very great after seeing it?
M3 so do u Cary binocs?
M3- so you play keyboard n guitar. U sing n play or only play
M3- keyboard is easy or guitar
M3- what music you play lead or chord?
M3- in keyboard what music you play?
M4
M4- what is in situ and ex situ conservation
M4- what is community reserve then
M4- wat is climax vegetation?
Machhindra (PSIR optional, Hindi medium) is a candidate who is an absolute inspiration for anyone and everyone. This young lad from Maharashtra comes from the most humble of all backgrounds – farming. Much of his preparation has happened in his village.
His replies are crisp, unambiguous and balanced even when faced with a stern interviewer on controversial topics. This interview is for everyone. Machhindra proves that despite modest credentials, in the end, all that matters is one’s attitude.
This energetic mechanical engineer from IIT Guwahati has a DAF that can fill anyone with awe. The diversity of his extra-curriculars are equivalent to his academic feats. But, nothing attracts the inquisitiveness of the interview board more than a rich DAF. Watch this electrifying session for life-changing tips on interview prep.
After a successful Round 1, we are delighted to announce that we are conducting the 2nd round of Mock Interviews on the 21st Feb – Coming Thursday.
Our previous session was very well appreciated by all candidates facing the interviews.
Venue – Statesman House, Barakhamba Road near Connaught Place. (This we believe is convenient for everyone).
Students who are available in Delhi should confirm their availability on the 21st by dropping an email to hello@civilsdaily.com
We are assuming that all of you have already emailed us your DAFs. In case you haven’t please do so. We have to spend time on it to ensure better quality.
*Slots will be handed over on a first come first serve basis*.
Besides our beloved VP Sir who has been mentoring candidates for years, we have roped in Dr. Makhan Saikia, Mr. Rohit Pande and Mr. Rakesh Dalal.
The details of the panelists are as follows –
Virendra Pratap Singh did is B.Tech from IIT Kharagpur in 2003. He joined the services with immense experience in the Private Sector working across domains in high profile companies like Tata Steel, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, and Tata Motors. He has consistently scored very high marks in interviews. His 2009 score of 213/300 was among the toppers.
His insights have proved to be very helpful to aspirants appearing for exams year after year.
Dr. Saikia is an Author & Expert on International Affairs and Foreign Policy. He has an MA & M. Phil (Pol. Sc.) JNU, New Delhi and Ph.D (Globalization and Governance). His schedule is packed with Conferences and Talks at various national and international forums. At present is he working on a book on major conflicts worldwide. Very rarely he can be seen expressing his opinion for The Pioneer
We believe his immense knowledge on critical contemporary issues will benefit the students and help them face the actual interview with confidence. He will be holding an informal round-table session with all the candidates present on high probable topics.
Mr. Pande, Consultant Tata Trust and understands India’s social sector in great depth. He has a B.Tech from IIT Guwahati with certification in Public Policy. He has interacted with almost every big NGO in our country and has traveled far and wide working with governments and startups trying to upgrade services for the needy and poor.
His ground-level insights will help students enrich their answers wrt social problems faced by India.
Rakesh Sir is a popular figure with Civilsdaily Junta.Man of many degrees – MA, MBA and Political Analyst with a passion for books. Takes out time to read a minimum of 4 books/month on various issues. He knows the interviews in and out and has been instrumental in pinpointing the issues with candidates.
All the panelists are up to date with the latest trends in UPSC interview. They have been associated with UPSC candidates and have kept a tab on the changing format of the exam and the interviews.
This will be an enriching experience with a lot of learning.
Another important point. We want your support to help this interview program evolve into something phenomenal.
While we wish all of you are selected, the hard truth is some of you will be giving the interviews next year. We want to put a system in place where we record your performance in the mocks this year, then get details from you on how your actual interview went. Next year, we assess how your responses have matured.
This might sound bleh at this point and you’d think who cares about next year. But its only by maintaining continuity can we create real value for you.
Hence, we will encourage informal questions, suggestions to our team (not the panelists).
This script would be of great help to everyone having PSIR as optional.
It gives a glimpse of a good probing interview/conversation. All of you are requested to understand the pattern of interview clearly depicted here.
Board – Sujatha Mehta Mam
Background – Sonipat, Haryana
– Education – B.Tech, Comp Sci, IIT Hyderabad
– Job – 3 years as Software Developer at Goldman Sachs
– Hobbies – Cooking, Watching TV Shows
Chairman
– Can you introduce yourself focussing on your education and job?
– When did you leave your job?
– What did you do in your job?
– Were you developing software for in-house clients or outside?
– What is that you were working on?
– Have you read the article on medical implants?
– tell me about it
M1
– Why does Haryana have high economic growth but low social development?
– I answered but he seemed unconvinced
– How is Bangladesh developing? Why it has better social parameters than India?
M2
– Why are there so many vacancies in engineering colleges?
– Why do people move to other fields?
– Why the majority are not working in technical fields?
– “We can not innovate” – do you agree? what do you think about it?
– B.Tech can not innovate but M.Tech can?
M3
– Means and Ends discussion
– Are means important?
– Isn’t that the case that sometimes consequences are very important?
– Have you heard the word critical thinking? With thinking we attach many prefixes like lateral thinking, innovative thinking. Tell me what is innovative thinking?
– Then, what is lateral thinking?
– What is ignorance?
– What is the difference between ignorance and ignoring?
M4
– How did you get the inspiration to join civil services from a good job?
– What do you look forward to in civil services?
– So, let’s give you a challenge. Suppose there is an encroachment on the middle of a road. You have to demolish it but the elected representative does’t want it to be demolished?
– He has a personal stake, won’t allow. Then?
– He has business there. Then?
– Do you think India’s Pakistan policy is a failure?
– Has the army been able to tackle it?
– Then, what do you think of yesterday’s event (attack on CRPF convoy)? Should we talk to Pakistan?
– What should we do with Pakistan?
M2 – Tell me your one strength. Then, he confirmed are you sure? Then, tell me one weakness as well. Tried to probe on how and why? Chairman passed intervened and asked the next member.
We are starting to release the mock interview videos. The playlist is being maintained here.
It is well known that the interview is the third and final stage of the CSE. But, the importance of this stage is often underestimated. Despite being a fraction of the total marks in the exam, its weightage is tremendous when it comes to the final rank a candidate gets. Many times it is the interview that makes or breaks your dream of joining the elite clique of civil servants.
It is vital to realise that cracking the interview is an ‘art’ as well as a ‘science’, both of which are intrinsically connected. In order to understand this enigma, Civils Daily studied the interview to the bone and the findings were shared with the student community through the free lectures of Sh. V.P. Singh (IRTS, 2009).
We went one step further and conducted mock interviews based on the findings of our research. The mocks were taken by a distinguished panel of experts including Dr. Makhan Saikia (published author and faculty of Pol. Sc.), Sh. V.P. Singh (IRTS, 2009) and Mr. Rakesh Dalal (Core Faculty and Mentor, CD). The comprehensive assessment has been done on parameters like:
Integrity
Leadership
Critical power of assimilation
Openness to new ideas
A clear and logical expression
Balance of judgement
Mental alertness
Emotional stability
Body language
The mocks not just corroborated the strengths of the candidates, but, and more importantly; revealed hidden shortcomings which could have proved deadly in the actual interview.
The following are the links of the mock interviews taken on 8th January 2019 for your reference:
Personifying a ‘never-say-die attitude’, Kunal is a charismatic young man whose passion for civil services is equated by his calm composure and balanced replies in this ‘stress interview’. After his B.Tech (Computer Sc. and Engineering) from IIT, Hyderabad; Kunal had been working in a reputed MNC for 3 yrs until his decision to take on the UPSC. This mock interview will be most beneficial to those having PSIR optional and to those dejected with multiple attempts at CSE.
With a passion for teaching and serving the underprivileged, this electronics and communication engineer from NSIT, Delhi has balanced his job with social service. With PSIR as his optional subject and an intriguing social service profile, Rohit made a classic interview candidate. His replies further kindled the interview panel’s curiosity. Watch this session to find out what could be those obscure contradictions in your DAF that could cost you your dream job.
VISHAL SINGH – MOCK INTERVIEW
This energetic mechanical engineer from IIT Guwahati has a DAF that can fill anyone with awe. The diversity of his extracurriculars are equivalent to his academic feats. But, nothing attracts the inquisitiveness of the interview board more than a rich DAF. Watch this electrifying session for life-changing tips on interview prep.
CD has done its part in making this ordeal of a stage more intelligible and less daunting. It is now your turn to roll the ball further with your valuable feedback and active cooperation.
Many aspirants did not understand DAF fully and thus faced unexpected questions in the interview. This lecture is to address that issue.
Analyze the DAF and understand the Do’s and Don’ts in DAF Filling.
About VP Singh, IRPS
Virendra Pratap Singh did is B.Tech from IIT Kharagpur in 2003. He joined the services with immense experience in the Private Sector working across domains in high profile companies like Tata Steel, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, and Tata Motors. He has consistently scored very high marks in interviews. His 2009 score of 213/300 was among the toppers.
His insights have proved to be very helpful to aspirants appearing for exams year after year.
Students are requested to email their DAF to hello@civilsdaily.com to enrol in the program. Complete details can be accessed by clicking on the link below –
