UPSC PT Date - 27/01/2025 (1st to go in the Afternoon session)
Chairperson: Mrs. Suman Sharma
DAF Keywords: Gujarat, Mehsana, Unjha, PSIR, Cricket, Weight Training, BBA, Gujarat Youth Parliament
Chairperson:
1. So you are from Gujarat, Mehsana district. Tell me few things for which Mehsana is known for.
2. Your town Unjha, What it is known for?
3. Some years ago, there has been an incident related to contract farming in Gujarat. Are you aware of it? (Potato - Pepsi)
4. What is Contract farming?
5. What are its advantages and disadvantages?
6. In recent times, there has been upsurge in Water contracts. What are Water contracts? What are its implications on Water security?
7. Can water contracts benefit a country like India?
M1:
1. What are the contributions of different sectors in India's GDP?
2. Does the figures you mentioned make up 100%? Doesn't it go beyond 100-150%? (He misunderstood Primary sector as 70-80% instead of 17-18%)
3. What steps would you suggest to boost manufacturing?
4. What Electoral reforms would you suggest in the current election mechanism?
5. Any more?
M2:
1. Asked me to explain some random Management concept (heard it for the first time)
2. What do you think of India's current taxation system?
3. (After 30-40 seconds of answering) No no, I am asking about the Indirect taxation?
4. What is regressive tax?
5. Has Government made any changes in Indirect taxation to provide relief to lower sections? Give me specific examples of the past 3-4 years.
6. How much is the Corporate Tax rate in India?
7. On What income it is applicable?
8. What is MSP?
9. Do MSP falls under subsidy?
M3:
1. Tell me about tenets of Indian Foreign Policy.
2. Tell me some more 'specific' tenets. (I requested her to elaborate more)
M4:
1. What do mean by Critical Infrastructure? Give some examples.
2. Provide some more examples.
3. Recently, AI has gained more traction, however there has been certain concerns. What are those? Firstly, explain What is AI?
4. What can be done to overcome? (I mentioned India's role and the upcoming AI Action summit)
Chairperson again:
1. Recently in Gujarat, there has been a new ancient archaeological site related has been found. Are you aware of it? (I mentioned Vadnagar's new archaeological museum)
2. No no, I am talking about an excavation site. (I couldn't recall)
Thank you, your interview is over.
There were other 8-10 random questions (and counter questions) which I couldn't recall.
Interview was mostly based on Random topics, factual data, minimum focus on current affairs, minimum DAF related and Zero questions on Hobbies and Achievements.
The environment inside the interview room was very serious, no smile on panel members' face.
Duration : 25-30 minutes
Mocks: Vajiram, Samkalp, Chahal, Next IAS, OnlyIAS (All were good in some or the other way)
The experience of Mocks vis-a-vis real interview was very different in my case.
One to One: Vajiram (Ravindran Sir), Chanakya Mandal (Avinash Dharmadhikari Sir) - both were very beneficial