Interview Transcripts (CSPT-2025)

UPSC Mock Interview Transcript Name :- *SHADOW MONARCH* Date: [19/03/2025] 🔑 Keywords: maharashtra, Sangli, Solapur,civil engineering, chemistry,police, kabbadi, cricket, tug of war , travelling and hiking, diary writing, 🏢 Board: 1st board 1st to go in afternoon session 👤 Chairman: DGP SHEELWARDHAN SINGH SIR --- Chairman(let's have discussion) 1. Hiking- Longest hike done 2. What is cyber.if any allians comes to earth How do you tell what is cyber to him. 3. What is cyber warfare 4. Name 3 cyber wars 5. You mentioned about cyber warfare on electricity grid. Name international attack 6. What is Cambridge Analytica 7. Give me 3 precautions while using social media account --- Member 2 lady 1. Life learning from tug of war 2. Tell us about Solapur and Sangli city(told about bailgada sharyat and millets of mangalvedha) 3. Do you saw bullock cart race 4. Has millet production increased in Solapur --- Member 3 1. Why millet is important for nutrition security 2. What is difference between cultivation sorghum and millet 3. Where do you have travelled 4. Difference between travelling and tourism --- Member 4 1. You like to play sports and you have played Holi, tell me how do I know that 2. Why Kabaddi is not become the cricket 3. Who is the VK of Kabaddi(chairman sir ) 4. How did diary writing helped you 5. Did it helped in your discipline in your life 6. Diary is private but still few people published it. Did you read any such book. 7.Didn't you read my experiment wirh truth 8. What is the rank of India in Olympics. 9. Why countries like Belgium and NZ above India, where do we lack 10. . Do you consider Olympic as business (Mentioned about infrastructure built up in previous answer) --- Member 5 lady 1. In 12th you studied environmental studies, what you learned in that subject 2. Tell us about India's climate change efforts 3. Solar energy contribution in renewable sector 4. Wind energy viability in renewable energy 6. How will civil engineering help in administration Experience of interview:- mostly DAF based, totally different vibe from mocks Utility of mocks:- gave around 10 . Helped in area on which i should focus, confidence built up . TRANSCRIPT UTILITY: 1.help to touch every area which board ask 2.two question directly repeated (# virat kohli of kabbadi #three cyber wars) # *Discussion with friends and chat gpt use and watching sushasan video helped immensely* SPECIAL THANKS to all mentors (Sumit sir , swapnil sir ,sandesh sir and vivek sir),transcript community, previous toppers for notes

4th March 2nd person to go Board: Lt.Shukla Sir DAF: Graduation in commerce, changed boards in school, singing Chairman 1)Do you think Cold war 2.0 is happening 2)How is it different from cold war 1.0 3)If the cold war is not happening then should we not do anything? 4)Other countries are doing their part to handle issue, their media talking about the issue but India is being seen as more passive. 5)Will China takeover Taiwan 6)Why would USA come to its rescue when it’s seeing its own interests 7)Think about an idea where USA, China, Russia get into an agreement where USA takes control over America, Russia Europe and China over Asia. Member 1: 1)Why do you think govt is appointing bureaucrats as heads of RBI and SEBI 2)Shouldn’t govt appoint technocrats 3)Mid-cap and small cap stocks are being overvalued but SEBI has done nothing to address the issue 3)Indian market has gone into long bearish state while other economies are performing well.What do you think 4)Why not CA after graduation Member 2: 1)You have good knowledge of commerce and accountancy seeing your academic records, how would you feel if you get IRS 2)Asked about some committee which i was not aware of. Ma’am explained about its recommendati for merger of direct and indirect taxes departments and asked my view point. Some counter questions on this. Member 3: 1)Which board do you think is better CBSE or ICSE? 2)Tell me from your personal experience 3)What are the recent changes introduced by CBSE 4)Earlier arrangement of having 1 board exam was working fine, what is the need of having 2 boards in a year. 5)Don’t you think introducing levels in subjects is making life unnecessarily easy for students. 6)Changes in education system is against the motive of teaching life skills to students. Member 4: 1)Which type of songs do you sing light classical or classical 2)Are you classically trained. Tell me some raags which are sung at this time of the day. 3)Singing a song in teen taal is quite difficult and there are only few such songs. Tell me such songs 4)Since you have done commerce and accountancy tell me how will you value this building(UPSC BHAWAN) 5)What about the depreciation, shouldn’t doors and wall be depreciated 6) what are the types of depreciation 7)Which type of depreciation should be applicable to this building The board was quite patient and cordial. Few questions i might have missed.

Arrower Date -20 march Board- Sheelvardhan sir Morning session first to go Chairman sir(with smile welcomed and say let’s start have conversation) Read my daf and say you have botany as one of subject in graduation 1. Tell me what is Bionomial nomenclature ( little bit explained) 2. ⁠scientific name of Neem , banyana tree( help me in second species) 3. ⁠my work related to NGO what kind of work 4. ⁠why people not crowdfund these NGO 5. ⁠what are the specific provision in FCRA( i just said generic points but he help me with two provision) 6. ⁠monologue on US-Russia— who won diplomatically 7. ⁠then some discussion over peace deal 8. ⁠do you believe russia lost anything in this war M.1 lady member 1. Three positive thing happening in bengal 2. ⁠RG Kar do you believe justice is served? 3. ⁠why child marriage is highest in bengal and kolkata 4. ⁠human trafficking 5. ⁠what steps government of bengal has taken to promote women development ( 5 things about women issues) 6. ⁠why there is dichotomy of child marriage and highest literacy rate of women in bengal? 7. ⁠2-3 more question on women Member.2 1. Rajasthan to bengal - importance of marwadi belt in west bengal 2. ⁠who you think more pious raja rammohan roy or ishwar chandra Vidyasagar and why 3. ⁠why so many people are attracted towards UPSC? 4. ⁠human trafficking one of important international threat why? 5. ⁠one more question can’t recall 6. ⁠IF you setup an NGO how you aware people about it 7. ⁠How jai jawan and jai kisna NGO can work for Child marriage when there is no relationship with women? Member -3 lady ma’am 1. History - some study i said sorry ma’am not aware 2. ⁠subaltarn school ? And one case study 3. ⁠India bangladesh issue 4. ⁠legal and illegal immigration 5. ⁠what is government doing? Member-4 (the Botanist 🥲) 1. What is the process of water flowing in plants? 2. ⁠explain little bit but could not get the exact answer 3. ⁠do you think plant’s can be given Unique ID any example? 4. ⁠how plants are named like taxonomical study? 5. What is SMILE 6. ⁠what kind of change happen when we smile 7. ⁠if someone in deep grief what one thing should do( I say Smile sir😅 if we smile immediate relief of grief for aome time)Then everyone smile😃😄 8. ⁠last question from plant physiology The board is very cordial It was one the best experience i have. Mocks- chahal, samkalp, PW, Quantel(special thanks) and Vision IAS (Ankit sir) One to one with Choudhary sir, Bassi sir.

Board - Sheel Vardhan Sir DAF Keywords - Computer Engineering, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Surat, Fitness enthusiast, Sports, Cricket Chairman - You are fitness enthusiast... What would you suggest 62 year old like me to do? What is the way to measure fitness parameters without using device? What is isometric ..? You might have heard about DOGE.. Which Indian department or ministry should be slashed? Sports Ministry? Climate? Coaching system? Member 2 Difference between DOGE and Minimum Government Maximum Governance? Specific? What is Surat most famous for? Member 3 (Lady) You are Computer Engineer...Cyber fraud, financial fraud are on rise... What strategy will you apply to fight this? Specific? Member 4 You are from Jharkhand? I am born in Jharkhand but native of Uttarakhand... Why was Jharkhand separated? Have they achieved their demand? When Uttarakhand was separated, some other place than Dehradun was thought to be the capital... What was that? Member 5 Why have you written following Indian Men's cricket specifically? Men specifically? India specifically ( you're like us as we follow only India - laughter among all) Is underarm bowling allowed in cricket? Where is best sports facility in India?

4 march Daf : medical officer, chess, myhtology (only the questions related to these were asked) Board : Raj shukla sir Chairman: Started with a monolgue on situation in Gaza. 1. What is the situation in Gaza? 2. Why are the talks disrupted? 3. Phase 2 of deal. 4. Why does Trump want real estate development in Gaza. Is he a fool? Now Ukraine 1. What is happening? 2. What is the solution? Not much discussion. Long monolgues after almost every question. M1: Discussion on targets given to doctors for conducting tests of patients. Chess engines and what technological development (he called it revolution) made them better than humans. M2 (lady member) : Why civil services? Mahabharata - why did Pandavas win. Long monolgue on the suffering and learning of Pandavas in 12+1 years. Are we giving too much to youth that they are lacking ambition? How to develop value education? What should be done to promote fundamental duties in schools? M3 : Use of ai in diagnosis. It should replace doctors completely. Gender equality. Use of medical knowledge in iaas. (Does not seem to agree with any argument given for ai question) M4 : Why doctors are not counseling on diet? Corporatisation of healthcare. Should we promote it or not? Some other questions which I'm not able to recall. Remarks : The experience was totally different from mock interviews. It was full of big monologues and members having their own strong views on most of the themes. M4 & M3 did not seem to agree with most of the arguments I gave. Expectations are low. But I've learnt a lot in this process. Thanks to the members of this group who shared their experiences. Mocks : Samkalp, NextIAS, Sriram, Unacademy. Special thanks to MPOA for their support and guidance.

Raj Shukla sir board( last to go ) Date: 3 rd march DAF keywords- red dot campaign, chemistry, cat companionship and care, Olympiad - superlative english, Fergusson college Chairman Long monologue on three language policy, sharing his experiences and opinions.Asked for my opinion Questions and counterquestions for the same topic M1 1.You come from a good college,you are a good student.Why did you do chemistry and not engineering or medical? 2. What better could have been done wrt kumbh? 3.Why it's called mahakumbh? 4.Even if we restricted no of train tickets, people would have travelled without tickets.how to handle such crowd? 5. What more arrangements needed at prayagraj? 6.sangam ghat is considered more auspicious,people prefer to go there only.whats the solution? ( Questions were based on my answers and were in a good flow, conversational) 7.women live more than men.why? M2 1.if I am a poor and there is a person who is super poor. Who will you allot house? 2. No matter how much you convince people ,they prefer sangam ghat only.Its widely known fact. How to avoid mishap then? M3(mam) 1.your CV is really good.What is red dot campaign? 2.good that you are already doing service in society.whats cat companionship and care? 3.what will you do as an administrator to tackle street dogs and cats issues? M4 1.superlative english.whats that? 2.whats the writing style of Shashi tharoor.is it superlative? 3.what we are speaking, is it superlative? Chairman Thank you.your interview is over. Board is very cordial and interested in knowing your personality and opinions. They might dig deeper in the topic,just to check your capacity to think deeply,and conviction for own opinions. It's more like a conversation than question answer round.

Name - MB 231 Board- Honourable Sheel Vardhan sir Date of Interview - 18/03/2025 Mostly DAF related questions (no current qns asked), B.Sc (Chemistry), DU, Sudoku, Meditation & Yogasanas, Psychology (Optional) Chairman 1.You are a student of psychology, what psychological observations did you make during Covid? 2.positives of covid. 3. Moonlighting (said work from home in previous ans) 4. Should bureaucrats be involved in moonlighting? M1( lady member) 1. Why psychology over chemistry 2. Difference between psychologist, Psychiatrist and counsellors. M2 1. How many types of yogasanas? 2. What is the difference between normal breathing and breathing in yogasana 3. How does oxygen reach the brain?( you are a student of chemistry) M3(lady member) 1. What things to be kept in mind ,Common rules for making Powerpoint(daf) (didn't know about rules but explained essentials) 2. Rising mental health issues in youth students, what steps? 3. Suicides rising reasons? M4 1. What learnings u got as an Event organiser? 2. The importance of team building then he interrupted how would you build a good team. 3. 3 psychologists who contributed greatly to psychology. 4. William James ? Do you know about him ? 5. Western psychology focuses on the structure of the mind while yoga focuses on calming it.which approach is better? 6. Westerners taking sleeping pills , is it good? Now tell me which is better approach? Samkalp, Vision ( kind of similar), Vajirao, PWonly ias(similar), Vajiram IAS, one2one- Satyam Jain sir, Sajal Sir, Ravindran Sir, Utkarsh Sir.

Name: phoenixunleashed1708 Date of Interview: 17-03-2025 Board: Sanjay Verma Sir Optional: Anthropology DAF: Football, Irrigation Department job (civil engineer), IIT, Meditation, Anthropology 1. Analyse the current issue of Tamil Nadu over Three Language formula. What can be the way forward? 2. What is the utility of anthropology for administrators? Job: Irrigation Department 1. Tunnel collapse in Srisailam Left Bank canal. What are the reasons for it? What are the learnings from the issue? Is there any government scheme related to these? 2. Why do you think there is corruption in government departments? Is there corruption in Irrigation Department? 3. Output-Outcome framework. What is it? Can you illustrate in your field? 4. Have you heard about the Namami Gange project? What are its features? 5. Why civil services after having been associated for so many years? IIT 1. Do you think opening so many IITs will dilute the brand of IIT? 2. IITs are offering so many other courses like MBA, etc. Do you think it is right, given IITs specialize in technical education? 3. History of IIT Kharagpur - why Kharagpur was chosen as site of IIT? 4. What is Kharagpur famous for apart from IIT? Football? 1. How many referees in football? 2. How much does a player run in football? How much does a referee run? 3. Who is the most famous Indian footballer? Do you know Chunni Goswami? Can you compare the two? 4. You are cricket team captain, not performing well. Team is going for series. Will you step down as captain/player? Meditation 1. You practice meditation. What type of meditation? How does it help you? Overall, the board was cordial. The questions were mostly DAF based.

20th March Forenoon session  Sheel wardhan Sir 5th to go All DAF based Keywords: Taylor Swift, AI, Deep learning, IITD and Alumni, Goldman Sachs, Innovating healthier dishes, Diabetic Retinopathy, River Interlinking, UP, Children Home Chairman Sir You are a technology person you have worked in health sector you also listen to Taylor Swift and she is a great vocalist and a songwriter  What are her sole written album (I said speak now but he said no it is red and fearless but it is true speak now but I said okay sir i will recheck) He asked about what was the controversy about Taylor Swift with respect to record label (i told him about the big red machine labels controversy)  Then he said you have worked in deep learning are you aware of the antibiotic named after a movie character (not able to recall).   M1 (lady)  First asked me about recent news Taylor Swift was for Then about my summer undergraduate project (further sub questions)  You seem to have worked in health but then also working in Goldman Sachs She asked about is India becoming the diabetes capital and then about recent pm speech on obesity  She then asked to give examples of my innovating healthier version (continuation of above)  You also got Rani Jhansi award what is inspiring in her? M2 (sir) Asked why IIT is so low in QS ranking  3 main alumni of IIT Delhi Have you read any book of Chetan Bhagat  Any contribution of non popular IITians  River interlinking which you feel should be done  Any examples from the world (I said no successful yet)  Name of 2 rivers of china  Application of AI in rural area as secretary if education / DM  Best 2 public speakers currently  M3 (Ma’am)  About major conflicts in the world and then elaborate on any one (i elaborated on Ukraine Russia partial ceasefire)  Then about tourism economy of UP  Some more questions on tourism  M4 (Sir) Difference between common retinopathy and Diabetic retinopathy What children want  What nutritions are they lacking in  Further on my sura project (about issues, nanotech) Then further monologue on how Nanotech can be dangerous  Then further details of my project Chairman Sir:  It was nice talking to you, you may leave now  Mocks: 20+ O2O:5+ Best mocks: Vajiram, Next IAS, Unacademy, Nirnay IAS (Quantel ) these mocks were close to my interview All the best to everyone

Date of Interview: 19 March 2025 Board: Suman Sharma Ma’am Keywords: Vedic Maths, Inspire scholarship, NSS. Home: Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh Hobby: Guitar, Gardening. Delhi University, Hans Raj College. Service: IRMS Chairperson: 1. Do you think India should go for Compulsory Military Service? 2. Suggestions to improve Agniveer Scheme. 3. NATO is weakening or strengthening? How? Member 1: 1. There was stampede in New Delhi Railway Station. Reasons and ways to tackle such situation. 2. Which steps Indian Railways has taken to address it in present times. Discussion continued… Member 2: In your district Bulandshahr, there is atomic power centre in Narora. Should we increase or decrease the capacity of that Atomic Plant? What is the benefit of increasing nuclear capacity? Why would you want to increase the nuclear power in the vicinity of your home? (considering the dangers associated with it) Member 3: What is PLI? What was the objective behind implementing it? Has it been beneficial? Give examples. Why centre runs its own schemes and not give the funds directly to the states? Discussion on the same. You are going to be civil servant. Imagine some politician/your senior asks you to do something which is not palatable to you? What will you do? What if the same person tries to pressurise you to go beyond rules or do work which is not legal? Member 4: Continuing the discussion from previous member she asked, Is the governance without politicians possible? If yes then suggest model for the same. Why railway issued excess tickets beyond train capacity? Is there no provision to limit the tickets per train? Now I’ll ask you something different, what is Holocaust? Why do events like holocaust happen? And the interview ends here. Mocks given: Vajiram And Ravi, Samkalp, Vision, Chanakya Mandal, KGS O2O: Ravindran Sir Online Sessions with Shubham Aggarwal Sir (Vidyapeeth IAS) helped in discussion. All the best!!!

What about the scene, where a Secretary rank officer mistook a young officer for a server? (Yes Sir, it’s an important scene. Then a brief discussion on Manekshaw’s witty articulation in that scene) If you were the director of the movie, what would you change? (At first, I said, it is well made and I don’t think I would change anything.) He insisted and asked me again. ( I said that the movie felt like various anecdotes were stitched together. I would do something to ensure that the continuity is more smooth. I got lucky to be able to recall this observation) Who would you choose to act as Sam Manekshaw? ( I said Vicky Kaushal did a fantastic job. I won’t change him) Sir, said Thank you. Then everyone was silent and looking at me. They nodded slightly and I nodded back. The interview was over but Sir didn’t say that explicitly. Then I waited a second and asked, “Should I leave, Sir?”. Sir said Yes. Then I thanked everyone and left. (I may have forgotten a few questions) Assessment: Some discussion. Some standalone questions, with no counter-question. Balanced between DAF topics and other topics. Nothing asked from that day’s newspaper. Very Cordial. No Grilling. I tried smiling throughout; mostly successful in it. Felt that I could have given much better answers at various places. The interview lasted 35 minutes. Special Thanks to Puneet Sir (SOMP) and Shubham Sir (Vidyapeeth IAS), for the One-to-One sessions, and confidence-boosting. SOMP Classes were very helpful. Classes by NextIAS were helpful, especially for Civil Engineering. Thanks to Quantel for organising various sessions, one-to-one and arranging mocks at short notice. Thanks to the Interview Transcripts community for sharing their transcripts. Mocks (gave 10+) : (Mainly for confidence boosting and practice) Gave 2 mocks at Civilsdaily with the same panel; helped me judge my improvement. Thanks to Saket Sir (Civilsdaily) for the guidance and one-to-one session. Chanakya Mandal, Chahal academy, Samkalp, PWOnlyIAS, 3 mocks at NextIAS, Vajirao&Reddy, Vajiram, Sriram IAS, Shankar IAS and some other mocks also. One-to-one: (more beneficial) B. S. Bassi Sir’s session at NextIAS is helpful as it instils confidence; as we can be sure of what he says and not fall for misinformation. IPS Mahesh Bhagwat Sir pointed out some unique points from DAF to prepare. Jalaj Sir, Ravindran sir (Vajiram), Abhinandan Sir (PWOnlyIAS)

What should be the criteria in education: who can afford vs who deserves vs who desires. ( I said affordability should be eliminated as a criteria and we should balance desire and deserving. Gave reasoning.) We are all laymen, explain calculus to us. (I asked for a moment to think. But as I started, almost instantaneously he said, you don’t need to answer it, we can just move on) ( Inside, I was like, not at all) (I said, No Sir, I’d like to try) (started answering instantaneously and gave an explanation, but not a very good one) Some new private universities have come up, which offer great infrastructure and faculty. So if given a choice again, between Shiv Nadar University and IIT, given the fees is same, what would you choose? And Why? (Ofc, I said IIT. Gave 2 points: Faculty that is informed by cutting edge Research, and Culture: both admin-student and student governance culture) (made a point about my learnings from student governance to make them ask a question from that, but they didn’t go for it) (forgot about alumni network) Did you like civil engineering when you choose that as your branch in IITK? ( No Sir, the choice was based on my rank. But, I grew to like it as I studied it) (No counter) Do you think civil engineering has any future in India? (He also rephrased this again) (Yes Sir. A lot is happening and a lot needs to be implemented, especially in India. Gave some general points) What are your qualities that will make you a good civil servant? ( I gave 3 points) (No counter) Who is you favourite standup comedian? (I said Abhishek Upmanyu)(no counter) M5: (Continued the discussion on education) Do you think Indian society is a meritocratic society (I said in the foundation it is, but we have added more provisions, for equity and inclusion) Do you think a totally meritocratic society is possible? ( I said in principle it is possible, but there will always be aberrations) (I think she was going towards the idea of favouritism, but I couldn’t grasp it properly at that point and rather interpreted it to be about merit vs equity) What is the goal of standup comedy? (I said the only goal is to “make the audience laugh”. She was expecting something more elaborate, but I emphasized that many comedians do agree that it is the only goal) But, is it an easy art form? (No Ma’am. Then some discussion on how difficult standup is) Dasa Sir: (Took over the discussion from there) If a comedian from Chandigarh performs in Odisha, will the audience’s response be the same? (I said No, response will differ. And gave example of a common concept of Delhi vs Mumbai comedians) What will be the reason for the difference? Tell me the names of the top 3 male standup comedians of India, according to you. (I told Abhishek Upmanyu, Zakir Khan, Rahul Subramanian. But I knew the actual question was coming next) Now, tell me the top 3 female comedians of India. (I told Prashasti Singh, Shreeja Chaturvedi, Gurleen Pannu ) Do they have other jobs on the side or are they doing it full-time? ( I said that because they are famous, they are now committed to comedy full-time. They had other jobs earlier) Who is your role model? And don’t say some family member or friend, whom we don’t know. Name a public figure. (I said Sam Manekshaw. I got lucky here. Had Dasa Sir not mentioned him at the start, I wasn’t prepared with a name already for this. I might have said that I don’t have a definite person as a role model and then would have picked some inspiring personality ) (Unfortunately, I kept calling him General, whereas he was Field Marshall. But no one seemed to mind it) (I said I was very happy when I came to know of the movie on Sam Manekshaw; to see those anecdotes being enacted) What was your favourite scene? (I couldn’t recall my favourite, so I said two: His conversation with the Defense Minister, and when he got the monicker Sam Bahadur. And a brief explanation of the first one)

Shivansh Tripathi: Name: DR1 Date: 17/03/2025 Board: Dr. Dinesh Dasa (Afternoon, 6th person (last to go)) 2 male members (M2, M4), 2 female Members (M3, M5) (M1= Dasa Sir) DAF (relevant): IIT Kanpur, graduation subject: Civil Engineering, Optional: Mathematics, Hampta Pass Trek, Watching Standup Comedy (Had a few more interesting things in DAF. Tried to nudge the panel, but they wouldn't go for them) I enter. Don't remember whether I said good morning or good afternoon. (Might as well have said good evening, as it started at 4.45 pm) Dasa Sir: How are you? You are from Civil Engineering. Didn't you think of doing MTech, say in Structural Engineering, etc? (No Sir, has already made up my mind to go for civil services; also I consulted some people and they advised that it wouldn't be of much use if you want to go for civil services) Sir, mentioned Ranveer Allahabadia. Then asked: Would you have written “watching standup” in your hobby if the Ranveer Allahabdia controversy had happened before filling of DAF 2? (I said Yes I would have written, and mentioned that Ranveer Allahabadia is not a standup comedian) Then Sir asked about the use of vulgarity in standup comedy, which is especially liked by the young audience. ( I said not all comedians do it. Vulgarity is not funny just as it is, but is used to express emotions. Young people might find it funny as they use similar language in their close circles. But ultimately it differs from audience to audience) (some members seemed to nod in acceptance) Do you know about "Akhand Bharat Diwas"? (No Sir. ) Then he told it's on 14 Aug, as it was last time Bharat was Akhand. Built a context on Akhand Bharat, Trump trying to get Greenland and Canada. Should we also take Bangladesh? It is in a weak state now. (I said Trump is quite unconventional by international standards. Dasa sir and a few members laughed.)( Then, I said No to taking Bangladesh. Talked about it not being right in principle, security concerns, etc. Rather focus must be on greater integration of South Asia) Ok, leave the weakness part. If we do something in Bangladesh, so that the demand for joining India, comes from there? Should we do it? (I said No (hesitatingly). I wanted to talk about similarity to PsyOps, but Dasa Sir said “OK” and moved on) Trump is talking of such things, and people are taking him seriously. (I said, Sir I think they are taking his actions seriously, and not his words) (Sir made an expressionless face and nodded for a second) General Manekahaw said, "We (in the army) are very much politically conscious, but we consciously choose not to indulge in / speak on politics." What do you understand by this? (I gave a short explanation) US changed the name of Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America. Google changed the name to be "Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)". What do we learn from this (a brief discussion on how foreign Big Tech can't be relied on ) He added: Then tomorrow Google might change the name of Indian Ocean as well. ( I said Yes Sir, they might as well do it, if Trump says so and it becomes a policy) M2: (Continuing on Trump) Do you know about DEI? What is the full form? What it means? Why is it being scrapped by Trump? (I said because it had become excessive and was said to often overpower merit as the primary criteria) You are DM in a border area of J&K. What problems do you think will come? How would you tackle them? M3: Tell me about new tech being used to clean sewers instead of manual scavenging. Do you know about the changes made to municipal laws in this regard. (Said No and that I’d read about it.) (Answer was probably using the name “machine-hole” instead of “manhole”) You have Hampta Pass Trek in your DAF. How did it help you/ what did you learn? (gave 3 points) (no counter) Tell me about the steps taken for women's empowerment. (I listed from a few angles, but forgot BBBP) Do you think women's reservation in jobs is OK? (I said it’s fine in the government sector, for inclusive and gender-sensitive policy) (no counter) M4:

UPSC Mock Interview Transcript Name :- *SHADOW MONARCH* Date: [19/03/2025] 🔑 Keywords: maharashtra, Sangli, Solapur,civil engineering, chemistry,police, kabbadi, cricket, tug of war , travelling and hiking, diary writing, 🏢 Board: 1st board 1st to go in afternoon session 👤 Chairman: DGP SHEELWARDHAN SINGH SIR --- Chairman(let's have discussion) 1. Hiking- Longest hike done 2. What is cyber.if any allians comes to earth How do you tell what is cyber to him. 3. What is cyber warfare 4. Name 3 cyber wars 5. You mentioned about cyber warfare on electricity grid. Name international attack 6. What is Cambridge Analytica 7. Give me 3 precautions while using social media account --- Member 2 lady 1. Life learning from tug of war 2. Tell us about Solapur and Sangli city(told about bailgada sharyat and millets of mangalvedha) 3. Do you saw bullock cart race 4. Has millet production increased in Solapur --- Member 3 1. Why millet is important for nutrition security 2. What is difference between cultivation sorghum and millet 3. Where do you have travelled 4. Difference between travelling and tourism --- Member 4 1. You like to play sports and you have played Holi, tell me how do I know that 2. Why Kabaddi is not become the cricket 3. Who is the VK of Kabaddi(chairman sir )       4. How did diary  writing                      helped you       5.  Did it helped in your discipline in your life    6.  Diary is private but still few people published it. Did you read any such book.     7.Didn't you read my experiment wirh truth     8. What is the rank of India in Olympics. 9. Why countries like Belgium and NZ above India, where do we lack 10. . Do you consider Olympic as business (Mentioned about infrastructure built up in previous answer) --- Member 5 lady 1. In 12th you studied environmental studies, what you learned in that subject 2. Tell us about India's climate change efforts 3. Solar energy contribution in renewable sector 4. Wind energy viability in renewable energy 6. How will civil engineering help in administration Experience of interview:-     mostly DAF based, totally different vibe from mocks    Utility of mocks:- gave around 10 . Helped in area on which i should focus, confidence built up . TRANSCRIPT UTILITY: 1.help to touch every area which board ask 2.two question directly repeated (# virat kohli of kabbadi #three cyber wars) # *Discussion with friends and chat gpt use  and watching sushasan video helped immensely*   SPECIAL THANKS to all mentors (Sumit sir , swapnil sir ,sandesh sir and vivek sir),transcript community, previous toppers for notes

Date:18-03-2025 Name: M. Forenoon session, 5th to go Board: Dr. Dinesh Dasa sir Keywords: Kerala, Malayalam Literature, Faculty for Indian Polity, Project in Coastal flood management (rest info from DAF irrelevant) Chairman sir: 1.  How are you today? 2.  Who are the 2 big M's of Malayalam movie industry. Don't you think it's time they should retire? 3.  Why don't you pursue an acting career. Don't you want to be the next big M of Malayalam movie industry? 4.  Communism is going down the drains everywhere except Kerala. What's the cause for that? 5.  How romanticism plays a role in sustaining communism? 6.  In Kerala despite large number of appointments, the state PSC faces protests from candidates even for minor errors. Is that good tendency? 7.  So is there any trust deficit among candidates towards your state PSC? 8.  Do you have any suggestions for reforms in UPSC? 9.  Your state has a significant number of English-speaking population, yet their communication skills are not upto the mark. (He shared an experience then). They are also not comfortable in speaking in Hindi too. Why is that so? 10.  Why speaking even in mother tongue is a challenge? What’s the reason for that? 11.  If you are the Education Secretary of your state what measures would you suggest to resolve this language problem?                                        Member 1: (lady member) 1.  Do you know about DEI? 2.  What is Teach India? 3.  Why do you think Indians give priority to caste even today? Is it just because of the influence of community? 4.  So, if individual choice is playing a factor here, what is the way ahead? 5.  Have you heard about the change in policy of Facebook in replacing the Fact Checking Units with community driven checks? How good is that policy? 6.  Do you think it will be an efficient and effective process? Do you have any suggestions in this regard? 7.  Despite high levels of literacy, your state faces a challenge of higher unemployment as well. What’s the cause for these and what could be done to resolve this issue? Member 2: ( sitting next to my left side) 1.  In the post independent India lots of PSUs were created and those were regarded as the temples of democracy. But since the past few years we see lots of disinvestments of PSUs. What’s your opinion here? 2.  You’re a civil engineer but your optional is Malayalam literature. Is Malayalam a classical language? 3.  How did Malayalam get that status? What is meant by classical language? How do we define it? 4.  How can a language attain that status and at present how many are there? Member 3: (lady member sitting next to my right side) 1.  As you’re a faculty for Indian polity I’ll ask about Uniform Civil Code. I need you to answer if there are any specific constitutional provisions in this regard, if any mention it. And also, what’s your opinion in this matter? 2.  So how do you plan to execute the program? 3.  As you’ve expertise in coastal flood management, if you’re made the District Collector of a coastal district in your state, what all steps would you take in this regard? Member 4: (observing me throughout) 1.  The European nations were outsourcing their security and now they are facing a crisis in that aspect. What’s this crisis? 2.  What opportunities does India have in this situation? After this chairman said the interview is over and thank you. Overall experience: Cordial board which was very much attentive and they encouraged discussion. With Chairman most Q&As were lengthy discussions with back-and-forth questions in between. Chairman encouraged to share personal experiences in most answers. Seating arrangement was in such a way that members 2 and 3 were right next me within my arms reach. Forgot few questions, but tried to add most. Mocks taken: AmritaIAS (twice), KSCSA, NextIAS, Vajiram, Samkalp, Chahal and EkamIAS(online) One to one: AmritaIAS, Samkalp , FortuneIAS , IlearnIAS , Mashvel Sir and Saritha Miss (Jalakam Malayalam Optional) Utility of mocks: Experience in conversing with senior bureaucrats in formal manner.

20/3/2025 Name:Dasa Dasan Chairman: Dinesh dasa sir Forenoon 4th to go DAF key words: Tamil Nadu, Deputy collector(Training), Tamil literature,football, cricket Chairman 1. Good morning, how are u doing 2. What are the developments in last two decades changed the Indian cricket 3. To select a player what will you prioritize current form or legacy of that player 4. Is IPL is reason for decline of test cricket 5. Do we need seperate team for each 3 format 6. Do you know sector wise split up of tamil nadu gdp 7. So secondary sector 33%, is it higher or lower than national level 8. What are the reasons for this 9. Do you aware of Tamil nadu policy for removal of invasive alien species, can you explain it. 10.Is there any man animal conflict related to it. 10. Question about social progression in Tamil Nadu (For some opinion related questions I tried to justify my view, but sir moved to next questions) Member 1( poker face when all other members asking questions) 1. Do you know India's current spending for defence ( I took permission to guess) 2. When we have other development related issues do you think this much spending needed 3. Countries focusing on nuclear weapons, india also has its own what you think about it Member 2 (Lady member always smiling) 1. You are football player, is there any news related to indian football team last two days ( sunil chetri call back to indian team) 2. Do you support this move( I opposed it and gave my opinion) 3. Thirukural translated in many languages, why it's getting so much importance. 4. You play both football and cricket but watching cricket only, why 5. Why Indians playing mostly cricket not football 6. Mam asked about blood donation related crime in Tamil Nadu ( I said sorry I'm not aware of it mam) Member 3 ( male sitting very close to me, Always watching my hand movements) 1. You studied electrical engineering,do you remember what you have studied ( I said I remember some basics only sir) 2. So tell me how electrical engineering can be applied in civil services( i prepared very well for this question - but forgot to tell most important points in interview) 3. You are deputy collector, what you are currently doing now ( Training) 4. Tell what are the issues for the effective administration in Tamil Nadu from your training experience 5. Upsc is functioning very well, on the other hand there is always issues with state public service commissions, what you think about it. 6. You know your state fomer cm karunanidhi himself is a writer, he wrote many books, did you read any of them. 7. Long monologue about skill development, but sir didn't ask any question, after some pause he asked what are the specific schemes related to it.  8. There is a cultural divide between tamilnadu and northern part of India, lack of integration, what your opinion on it. Member 4( Lady member, nodding and smiling always) 1. You know dandi March, why gandhi took salt as a tool, what is the significance of civil disobedience movement 2.  Women empowerment is necessary, what are the schemes you think that are most important for women empowerment 3.  Mam asked about one term related to literature ( I said sorry mam I don't know) 4. You know oral traditions in literature, what is it 5. Why oral tradition came first 6. After oral tradition what came next in Tamil literature. Thank you, your interview is over. You can go now. (Chairman always keenly observing me while answering)

Transcript:- Date:- 20-03-2025 Chairperson - Hon Dinesh Dasa Sir. Keywords:- Samsung, AI, Java, IOS, Music, Mathematics, IIT, Finance Sector(Job) Order:- 2nd Person to go. Chairperson:- (Read my DAF, details about where i worked, studied, place of birth). 1. The District Court of California has passed a judgement in the past which had significance for the tech industry. (Samsung is also affected by it). Do you know? (Sorry sir) 2. Hint. Oracle vs Google.(Use of Java language sir). 3. Then he gave me more details about the judgement, how it was open source earlier now oracle is asking for recognition. What steps google has taken in this regard? (Kotlin sir). 4. Tell me how IOS development is different from Android? 5. Student Elections, in JNU and DU, there are elections held for various posts. He shared his story when he visited JNU during the election and noticed long debates on hillary and trump who should be the president. What is your opinion on student elections? 6. How elections are there in IITs? 7. How is the IIT KGP election different from yours? 8. What are the recommendations of the Lyngdoh Commission? (Sorry Sir) M1:- (Seems form Technical Bkg) 1. One subject from Maths, which is used in Artificial Intelligence? (Linear algebra) 2. Is Artificial Intelligence Accurate? 3. How does it generate results? What is the source? 4. If a dataset is the source then why do we call it intelligent? Any program can do this given input produce an output? Why intelligent? 5. You worked in a capital Management Firm, its a financial company, your background is maths and computing so why did they choose you? How will you justify your appointment? M2(Female):- 1. Are AI able to take care of diversities present in the society when generating results? 2. In government we have two different type of approaches, Saturation and Targetting? What are those? 3. Education is a life long process? What do you concur with this statement? M3:- 1. As a DM of your district what steps will you take for livelihood of people? 2. What is SAAS? 3. India’s Contribution to SAAS? M4(Female):- 1. What is the relation between maths and music? 2. Maths helped you learn music? 3. What is Government and What is Governance? 4. In future, we moving towards less government or more? 5. If we moving towards less government, and more participation of other sectors, given your background, you could have contributed better in private organisation, why you want to join services when government is trying to reduce it in future? Chairperson to M1 sir, Sir you want to ask something else. Thank you. Preparations:- VisionIAS(Ankit Sir), MPOfficersAssociation(MPOA), Dr AR KhanSir(KSG), Sankalp, Nextias(Dipin Sir), HardworkingHumanCommunity, StudyIQIAS, Mahesh Bhagwat Sir. O2O:- NextIAS(Bhavani Sir) (Bassi Sir), Sankalp(Taneja Sir), Vinay Sir(Insights IAS), MPOA. Mocks:- Chahal Academy, MPOA, Sankalp, Vajiram, Vajirao Reddy, Vision, Next.

Messi Date: 20/03/2025 Board: Sheelvardhan Singh Sir DAF Keywords: Agra, Allahabad, Football, Personal Development Books, Automobile, PSIR Afternoon session 2nd to go Chairperson 1. So, you're from Agra - Suppose i am a foreign tourist and you are a guide - tell me all about Taj Mahal 2. Tell me about core features of Mughal Architecture 3. Why Charbagh gardens are built with a depth? Apart from flowers what else is cultivated over there? 4. Was Mumtaz originally placed in Taj Mahal or was she later entombed? 5. Tell me about the foundation on which Taj Mahal is built upon? 6. Since you've done your college from Allahabad, what is the longitude of Allahabad? M1 1. Tell me 5 things about Allahabad that comes to your mind. 2. How is Allahabad after Kumbh? (I asked w.r.t? She said in general) 3. What is this Project Samvesh? (Paper Bag Project) 4. Did you prepare any datasets regarding their livelihood? 5. Is the project still going on? M3 1. Tell me 3 books that you've read recently 2. Which book influenced you the most? 3. What is the meditation technique described in the book? (Book - The Monk who sold his Ferrari) 4. What is the the rank of Indian Football in International FIFA World Rankings? 5. Are we eligible for Football Olympics? 6. When did we thrive in Olympics? ( I said in 1950s and 1960s) 7. What was the best performance? And in what year? 8. What happened then? Why are we in this slump? (I mentioned about that we are still not a sporting nation - then the member countered by talking about cricket and chess) I mentioned that there exists in asymmetry b/w Cricket and other sports and other reasons for lack of performance in football) M4 1. What is the govt policy on automobile sector? 2. No. of cars increasing vs Mass transportation. What is your opinion on it? 3. What is India's Neighbour first policy? 4. Is it a success or failure? 5. Is there any neighbourhood country with which India had good relationship throughout? M5 1. Tell me about this chain-reaction event (mentioned in DAF) 2. Tell me the difference between chain reaction and sequential reaction. 3. How do you empower rural women (taking cue from Project Samavesh) 4. An anecdote about declining trust in society (unlike earlier times, a stranger going into a village will be looked with suspicion) - Asked me why? 5. As an IAS, How will you reduce such suspicion and increase trust? Overall a cordial experience. Mostly on DAF but more towards factual side. Nevertheless, i am thankful to the community for its critical role in interview preparation. I am doing my bit by sharing my experience. All the best Mocks- Vajirao, Vajiram, Next & Vision (Faculty and Bureaucratic), and Officer's IAS O2O - Bassi Sir Next IAS

Anshul: PT2024 Date- 18-03-2025 Name- a beam of sunlight Board- Dr Dinesh Dasa sir  Keywords from DAF- IIT Bombay, electrical engineering, nss, home gardening, teaching associate, Mumbai, Kota, Jhunjhunu, KLA company DD sir How is life? 1.IIT bombay used to give CSE and IT degree as Electrical Engineering degree, do you know about it? 2.Which sectors consume most power, What is the power consumption of railways, Vande bharat vs our other trains (rajdhani) which one consume more power? 3.How far above is International space station located? 4.Sunita Williams de docked around 10am today , how much time would it take to land on earth?   M2 1.Kota coaching industry is declining, what would you do as DM? 2.does Kota have drug problems? 3.What does KLA company do? 4.objectives and challenges to our semiconductor mission? 5.what is OSAT?   M3 1.what do you do in home gardening? 2.what is vertical farming, how did this concept come into being, how do we grow when there is no soil in vertical farming? 3.do you know any startups working in this area? 4.Jhunjhunu lie in which region, what is Shekhawati famous for? 5.why did shekhawati become hub for fersco paintings ?   M4 1.Mumbai has huge landfills, is it solution to problem or concentration of problem? 2.How would you solve landfill issues? 3.is cryptocurrency in circulation in Mumbai, is it banned in India, why are people investing in it? 4.is AI really intelligence or just knowledge, how is it different from google, how does google web search works? 5.which AI tool do you use, which AI tool in news recently, what is difference between grok and chatgpt?   M5 1.you have worked in nss iitbombay, why did you get award for exception contribution, how was your person growth? 2.how did you motivated volunteers for work? 3.you were teaching associate, what did you do and how was your experience?    Mocks- Samkalp, NextIAS, Vajirao, Dharmadhikar Sir one to one(chankya mandal) From my experience, prepare daf thoroughly and finally make a list of 20-25 most important questions from daf and repeatedly prepare them with your unique touch. Thankyou community for providing transcripts

Date - 18th March Name - Lex Fridman Board - IPS Sheel Vardhan Singh Sir Time - 30 minutes - Last to go DAF keywords - Economy, Library, Cricket, Cleanliness drives, Osmanabad, Podcast, Journaling, Wallstreet Chairmen sir Welcome to this intelligent conversation Mr. Lex 1) Do you know there is rise of new leader in South America and he is trying to change nature of Economy? ( I said Argentina and Anarcho Capitalism) 2) Then tell me what is it (anarcho capitalism)? 3) Who is the father of this ideology? 4) What is happening in the world regarding Tarrifs? 5) What do you think, tarrifs should be imposed countrywise, sectorwise or productwise? And why? 6) What would you suggest PM to minimise impact of tarrifs on Indian? 7) Not particular to India but what can be the best solutions to minimise negative impacts of tarrifs? 8) You like listening to Podcast, then tell us about last podcast that you listened and you found it very interesting? ( I talked about Lt Gen Raj Shukla sir's podcast on Ravi Kapoor channel😅) M1 ( Lady member) 1) What did you do in cleanliness drive? 2) How was it's impact? 3) Are people still following the rules and keeping hygiene? 4) What are the different schemes of Govt of India for Startups? 5) Have you ever thought of starting your own startup? M2 1) How do you established library in village? What were the challenges? 2) What is the current attendance in library? 3) Why will people read books from your library when they have lot of work at their farm and other stuff? 4) Don't you think that in the age of Internet, it is wasteful to open library with printed books? You should have given them e-books? 5) What type of books people should read printed or e-books? 6) Tell me something about your district Osmanabad? 7) Why this migration is happening? M3 ( Lady member) 1) Why did you give books to women on spiritual stories, household etc? 2) What are your two favourite books and why? 3) You like playing cricket so which is the most memorable moment for you from Cricket history? 4) what type of Journaling you do? 5) What did you generally write in that? 6) Don't you think that it is better to talk with your friends to make your mind clear instead of Journaling? 7) How frequently you write it? 8) Why do you think startups are failing in India? 9) What suggestion would you give if I have to start a new startup? M4 1) What is Anarcho capitalism? ( Repeated) 2) Do you think it can replace current economic system? 3) Do you know about DOGE? Do you think that such system is also required in India and why? 4) So US has Elon Musk to head DOGE, who do you think will be the best choice for India to head such dept? 5) Who is your favourite captain in cricket? And why? ( I said MSD and talked about one match where he used his leadership skills and calmness to win match which was almost lost by India) 6) Who is your favourite cricket player? ( I said Sachin) 7) Why not MSD then? 8) Do you know that market crash is happening in India and why is it happening? 9) There is one statement by our FM that this market crash is like melody for my ears? Why do you think she said that? 10) What were you doing since your graduation? 11) You were part of wallstreet fest, What is it and what was your role in that? 12) Do you know where this wallstreet is? 13) Why name of fest is wallstreet and not Dalaal street? 14) What would you prefer wallstreet or dalaal street? Chairman sir - Thank you Mr Lex.Your interview is over now Experience - very cordial board. Felt like they want to know me in detail. Everyone had a smiling face. Multiple laughs when questions about cricket were asked. Mocks - Vajiram, Vajirao, Sankalp, Next IAS, SriramIAS, OnlyIAS (Online), Dnyan Prabodhini Pune, Unique Academy Pune, YTF Pune, Karmyogi IAS (Online), One to one with Avinash Dharmadhikari Sir. Thanks to IPS Ketan Patil sir, IPS Mahesh Bhagwat Sir and my discussion group.