Newspaper reading

I tried to do it for The Hindu. But couldn’t do it properly at www.thehindu.com. I need either the newspaper or epaper, which isn’t available.
Anyways, it doesn’t matter much as 2 examples (ToI and ET) are enough to get an idea. Just apply the same concept to Hindu as well. I will try to get hold of an issue of the paper in the next few days and let you know.
The Economic Times, Tuesday, 29 June 2010, Delhi edition
(available on www.epaper.timesofindia.com)

Page1: Look up terms such as base rate if you don’t know. Also, the G20 article is worth reading. I wouldn’t have cut it. But it gives an idea about how negotiations involve give & take and what is the talk of the town as far as world economy is concerned.
Page 2: I would have cut the article on India- Canada civil nuclear deal. Facts such as it’s the ninth one for India, other 8 are also given, etc are important.
The article on good Taliban is worth a read as it gives a decent idea about the present situation.
Page 3: The article on Centre defending CRPF is worth a read. It gives a very balanced viewpoint on the whole issue. I wouldn’t have cut it. But certainly would have remembered government’s reply as CRPF action is totally justified and is based on logic and reasoning and not emotions.
Page 4 to 10: irrelevant
Page 11: note terms like TDS and look up on the net if you don’t know.
Smart cards for NREGA workers is worth cutting. It can be used as one of the points in answers involving use of smart cards, ways to improve efficiency and effectiveness of government schemes, etc.
The article on FATF is important…know what FATF is…what is money laundering and PMLA…i would have cut the article…
Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development is worth cutting. Government is funding it.
Page 12: A very good article on malnutrition that I would have definitely cut. This is why ET is very good. As most of the edits are written by serving/retired govt servants, it results in a very balanced and fact-based article. NFHS data, correlation between land productivity, women’s education and other factors such as sanitation, safe drinking water, good governance with malnutrition is definitely worth noting. Data on anaemic children and women, protein deficiency among Indians, etc is important.
Other articles which are good but I wouldn’t have cut them: the one on mobile tech, look up terms such as 3G, CDMA, LTE, BWA, Wi-Max, etc on the net.
As I have said many times, my S&T prep was from the newspapers only.
Article on structural reform is worth a read. Look up what structural reforms mean, what is Keynesian economics, stimulus, etc.
Page 13: I would have cut the article ‘Environmental governance & a new authority’ as it gives good info on the proposed NEPA, but noting that nothing concrete has happened as of now.
The article ‘Right climate for energy peg’ is worth a read. It conveys the problem of balancing development and  protecting the environment at the same time.
But I wouldn’t have cut it as it is short on facts.
From the article on aggro business, look up FCI, NCDEX, MCX, if you don’t know.
Pages 14 and 15: irrelevant. But look up BIS if you don’t know what it is.
Page 16: Terms like ULIPs, teaser rates, etc should be known.
Even though today’s ET in the classroom on CTS is not that relevant, but it is one of the few columns I always looked forward to reading. Gives very good info most often.
Pages 17 to 23: irrelevant.
Page 24: ‘Abolish death sentence’: it is a typical Hindu-like article. Strongly opinionated. Yet, I would have noted how many countries have abolished death sentence, how many have retained it, number of executions that have taken place in 2008 and 09, etc. No need to remember what Amnesty International says. But yes, cost factor when not abolished and on the other hand using captured terrorists for better understanding of their psyche, etc are good points to write in an answer on capital punishment.
I hope it was helpful in getting an idea of how to read the newspapers. I will look into Hindu in a couple of days.
earlier:
The Times of India- Thursday, 24^th June, Delhi edition
(available on www.epaper.timesofindia.com)
I will point out the relevant articles and reasons why I would/wouldn’t cut some of the articles.
Page 1:
Cabinet decision on rupee…it’s relevant but it hasn’t been decided yet. I would still cut it as it talks about the whole procedure of selecting the symbol which may not be described again later.
For those with pub ad, the matter of absentee cabinet ministers is worth cutting. In the exam, do not take names in this matter. Just write, some ministers have been absent…it’s alarming as political factors are playing more important role than governance…
In the news digest, the only one relevant and to look forward to is the Canadian PM’s apology on Kanishka…you should know what the matter was and who is the Canadian PM.
Honour killing issue not worth cutting as you are not going to write specific names/incidents in the GS paper. It is a wider issue which needs to be known in its entirety.
Page 3: irrelevant
Page 4: irrelevant
Page 5: irrelevant
Page 6: irrelevant
Page 7: irrelevant
Even though city section rarely has news relevant for the exam, yet I glance through it as sometimes it might have some important news.
Page 8: irrelevant.
Page 9: irrelevant
Page 10: irrelevant
So, 10 pages take around 15 minutes. With practice you would be able to decide whether an article is relevant or not by just reading the heading or 2-3 lines at most.
Page 11: irrelevant
Page 12: You should know what super 30 is…also coz this year the PM invited the teacher for a meeting. No need to read the whole article. Also, the only line I found relevant was “the Internet has grown the fastest in this world. It took 38 years for radio to reach the people, 13 years for television and just 4 years for the Internet.”
Finished the page in less than 5 minutes.
Page 13: irrelevant
Page 14:
Loharinag Pala is important. May be asked for 2 marks.
Kanishka is important. If you don’t know what it was, definitely cut the article.
Page 15: irrelevant
Page 16: The article on China’s support to Pakistan on nuclear plants is important if you haven’t cut an article on this before. This can be used in China-Pak r/s. I would have definitely used it in China’s peaceful rise doctrine had it happened last year.
China’s pudina patent also important. Also, remember terms like bio-piracy and TKDL.
Page 17: For those with pub ad, Karnataka’s Lokayukta resigning is important. Do not take names. Just write recently Lokayukta of Karnataka resigned…giving reasons.
Also, CVC request for tackling corruption important. It’s a government body. So CVC recommendation can be written in the exam straightaway.
Page 18: only the article on Tamil conference is important. But it’s not worth cutting. You should cut some article which presents the facts and not what TN CM has to say. Where the conference is being held, what is a classical language? Which all languages in India have been declared as classical languages, etc should be known.
Page 20:
The only relevant article and a very good one is that by Prakash Singh on Maoists. He has presented some new points such as security forces themselves being one of the biggest arms- providers to the Maoists (as they attack and decamp with weapons). The solutions he provides, local police: CPF ratio, etc and also terms such as ‘irregular war’ are important.
Rest of the articles aren’t good. Indo-Pak is the usual blah blah, nothing new. Honour killings one is just opinion based. No tangible info.
Page 21: only relevant one is the article on LHC. I wouldn’t cut it. Only look up LHC, ‘god particle’(Higgs boson), etc on wikipedia. This was my standard preparation for science and tech.
Page 22: Only know 2 lines about who Nikki Haley is. If she wins, it might be asked (even though probability is low). But if she loses, forget about her. But there is definitely no need of cutting the article.
Page 23: irrelevant.
Page 25: just note down terms like HNI, MF, ULIP, etc if you don’t know them. The article on HNI is useless. In fact, the article today (Sunday, 27^th June) on the increasing concentration of wealth in India is very good, which actually uses the same data.
Page 26: irrelevant
Pages 27 to 30: irrelevant
Page 31: Just know why John Isner and Nicolas Mahut were in the news. But I think probability of being asked in the Mains is very low.
Page 32: Just know Clean Sports India movement. But again, very low probability of being asked.
So, with some practice, it would take 30-35 minutes to finish this issue.
Do ask me questions. If you feel some article I left out was relevant or an article I chose was irrelevant, kindly let me know.

Posted in Uncategorized | 109 Comments

Tips on covering the books

Posted on June 22, 2010 by anaydwivedi

I would like to point out a few things before I start. Firstly, as I have always said, it’s better to read one book 5 times rather than reading 5 books once. Whichever book you have selected on a particular subject, keep reading it again and again till you are so thorough that you can point out what is given where.
The tips which I am suggesting here are entirely based on the way I read a particular book. Your style of reading/studying might be very different. So if you have already adopted a strategy, and it is different from mine, kindly ignore what I have to say. The only goal is to complete the book and revise it, whichever method it might be.
The books I am covering here are the ones I have suggested in my earlier posts. They are:

1. Bipin Chandra’s India’s Struggle for Independence
2. DD Basu’s Constitutional Law of India
3. Statistics by Spectrum
4. India Yearbook, Min of I&B, GoI
5. Civil Services Chronicle (magazine)
6. Economic Survey

Bipin Chandra’s India’s Struggle for Independence
The first time I attempted to read this book, I could reach only the 70^th page before I surrendered. In my opinion, those who do not have the HABIT of reading books (and I am one of them), will find it very difficult to cover it in one go. So the method was to concentrate on one chapter at a time and adopt a strategy to not only understand but gain an insight as to why the events described happened.
After reading 1 or 2 pages at a time, I thought of the questions which might be asked if the examiner happened to focus on those 2 pages. I made a notebook in which I covered this book chapter-wise. I wrote all the questions from a particular chapter I could think of. This way on an average I made 7-8 questions from each chapter.
For example, when I was reading the chapter on Non-cooperation movement, few incidents were described which forced the launch of NCM. Then the incidents during the movement were described and why it was finally called off. The reaction of various leaders and parties was also covered in the book. So I made 3-4 questions from it such as:
Q. Describe the events which led to the launch of NCM.
Q. How was the NCM different from earlier movements?
Q. Why was NCM called off and what was the reaction to Mahatma Gandhi’s decision?
Q. What was the impact of NCM on Indian National Movement?
This way I could link all the different aspects of NCM and every other movement/ incident. This helps in not only gaining an insight but also remembering the points to write in the exam so as to present a complete answer.
After I finished all the chapters (left one or two in the middle which I found were too specific and hence not useful), I had with me around 230 questions. I went through the previous 10 years’ question papers and was happy to find that not even a single question was asked on INM which was not there in my notebook.
The other thing which I did was to note the name of the persons I came across while reading the book, on the last page of my notebook. So if Indulal Yagnik was mentioned on, say page x and again 300 pages later on page y, I noted it down as Indulal Yagnik (x,y…). This way I could remember everything about the person mentioned in the book as well as relate the events in which the said person was involved.
Whether you finish the book in one go or read it in between other things entirely depends on you. The aim should be to cover it well before the exams and be able to revise the questions you made.
But keep in mind that you should not concentrate only on making the questions. Question-making is only to help you remember the content and relate the events. Concentrate on the content and when you have finished reading all the things which were related directly to each other, then only think of the questions. As I said, I made only 230 or so questions, which makes it 1 question/ 3 pages approximately.
DD Basu’s Constitutional Law of India
I must have read this book at least 10 times during my 3 attempts. It is one of the best books I have come across and certainly THE base book for the Civil Services exam, especially when you have public administration as an optional.
There is no need to remember each and everything given in the book and neither do we have to remember the Articles verbatim.
Instead, focus on the outline of an Article and only in the case of important Articles do we need to remember the details. Important Articles would be FRs, DPSPs, election of the President, CoM, office of profit, budget, CAG, EC, UPSC, FC, emergencies, etc
There are 2 versions of DD Basu available. I had the detailed one. There is another one which is concise. Either will do. But I covered the Articles Part-wise, i.e. Article 1, 2, 3…and so on.
Firstly, I mugged up the Parts of the Constitution. The Constitution is divided into 22 Parts. Remembering the Parts helps in recalling the Articles quickly. So I remembered that Part III is FRs (Articles 12 to 35), Part V is The Union (Articles 52 to 151), Part XVIII is Emergency Provisions (Articles 352 to 360), etc
Then I started with the Articles. I covered 20 Articles at a time and continued revising them till I was able to recall all 20 without looking in the book. Then went ahead and after I had finished first 50 Articles, tried to recall all 50 in one go. Then first 100 and so on.
As I said, no need to remember the Articles verbatim. You need to know that Article 72 is regarding the power of the President to grant pardons and roughly in what kind of cases, i.e. court-martials, death sentences and cases to which the executive power of the Union extends.
This way I remembered around 400 of the 440 or so Articles in the Constitution and left the ones I considered not important, especially the ones in the end.
Shortcut: One of them is that many Articles of the Union correspond to Articles of the States. So from Article 72 onwards add 89 to get the corresponding Article at the State level. Keep doing it till Article 111. Article 201 is extra which relates to the President’s powers when a Bill has been reserved for his consideration by the Governor under Article 200. So after this, from Article 112 onwards add 90 to get the corresponding Article at the State level.
I concentrated on the Constitution as many of the questions can be answered through the Articles in the Constitution by directly quoting the Articles in the introduction part of the answer.
No need to go too deeply into the explanations provided in the book. Just read them for understanding what the Article is about. Thereafter, you can leave it out when you revise. Also, there’s no need to remember all the cases relating to various Articles. Only very important ones such as Golak Nath, Keshvananda Bharti, Minerva Mills, etc and the recent IR Coelho, TMA Pai, PA Inamdar, etc need to be remembered.
Also, only the important Amendments such as 42^nd, 44^th, 86^th, etc and the recent ones 91^st, 92^nd, 93^rd and 94^th need to be remembered.
For more on the Constitution, refer http://indiacode.nic.in/coiweb/welcome.html
Statistics by Spectrum
One of the biggest mistakes which many commit is merely “reading” the questions in the book and not practising the statistics questions by attempting them in an exam-like situation.
I remember in XI standard when we had vectors. I just read the questions in R D Sharma and they appeared to be very easy. However, in the test when I attempted the questions, I couldn’t even go beyond the 1^st step. Same is the case with statistics. If you think questions are very easy, most often than not, when you attempt the questions in an exam-like situation, serious doubts are going to emerge.
Keeping the above point in mind, covering the book on statistics by spectrum is more than enough. Statistics was my strength in the 2^nd paper and therefore, first analyze your ability, and then try to execute your plan.
The basic thing to remember is that 80% of the questions asked in a particular year are repeated ones. They might change the numbers, etc but the graph/diagram more or less remains the same.
Statistics in 2009 was the easiest compared to 2007 and 2008 (2008 was the toughest according to me), and the only thing to guard against was the time factor as the graphs and questions were very simple, but at the same time, very lengthy. In such situations, always take a scale such that the bars will be small and shading, etc should be done freehand.
The method which I adopted to cover spectrum was based on the decision that I would practice/ go through statistics thrice-

• In July, I would read as well as practice some of the questions
• In October, I would mostly read yet, solve few of the questions
• On October 23^rd, during the time between the 2 papers, I would revise statistics as I always started GS II with statistics.

July:
I went through the basics given in spectrum, such as the definitions, different types of bar diagrams, area diagrams, ogives, tables, etc. Thereafter, I went through the sample questions and made it a point that I would READ 2 questions and SOLVE the 3^rd question. Always solve the question in an exam-like situation, with pencil, scale, graph paper, etc.
I applied the same rule to all the previous years’ question papers given in the book. Every year, 1 or 2 questions are asked which are different from previous years. I noted such questions on the front page of the book, as page 97- q 6…and so on…
At the end of this exercise, I had a list of around 100 questions which I would again read/solve in October along with revising the basics.
October:
I went through the basics again and went through the 100 questions which I had identified as “different” from previous years’ papers. I again applied the rule of READING 2 questions and SOLVING the 3^rd one. At this point of time, I was comfortable with most of the questions and formulae and ticked the questions which I felt I should revise again just before the exam. So I shortened the revision list to about 30 questions.
October 23^rd:
During the time between the 2 papers, I revised the basics in 10 minutes (I had written all the different types of graphs/diagrams and formulae on a paper) and READ the 30 questions from my list. This way I went into the exam-hall in the statistics “frame of mind” and attempted the questions straightaway.
This is one of the reasons why I said earlier in the importance of mains post that howsoever the earlier papers go: good or bad, always concentrate on the next paper and prepare yourself for it.
India Yearbook, Min of I&B, GoI
Before I begin, I would like to point out that this book should be read thoroughly only for the prelims. For the mains, only government programmes and few chapters need to be covered.
So if you are taking the prelims in 2011, go through the whole book. But if you are going to take the Mains in 2010, no need to cover the whole book at present.
For prelims
GS prelims in 2008 and 2009 had many questions directly asked from the India Yearbook. The only issue was that any line from any page was turned into a question. So a true or false statement such as salt water crocodiles are found in Andaman and Nicobar islands was from the 1^st chapter Land and the People (under Fauna).
Therefore, I covered all the chapters in the book except the one on States and UTs (Chapter 30 in 2010 Yearbook).
I put a lot of emphasis on making notes as it is very difficult to cover a 1000 page book in 3-4 days in the last month or week before the exam. Moreover, 99% (or even more than that) of the India Yearbook remains the same year after year.
So I went through the India Yearbook 2009 and reduced it to 1/10^th of its size by making notes. Special attention needs to be given to the following things:

• Government programmes: write on a paper at the end of the book all the government programmes you come across. Mid-day meal scheme may be described on page x and again 400 pages later on page y. So I noted it as Mid-day meal scheme (x, y…)
• Agricultural data is presented very nicely. I wrote on a paper all the values. So rice: 97 million tonnes, wheat: 74 million tonnes, eggs: 46 billion, banana:1^st, grapes/area: 1^st, etc can be easily mugged up.
• Various government institutes/ bodies are specified such as NSD, ASI, ZSI, National Library, National Museum, NBT, KCCs, etc. I noted the names and page number on a page and their HQ (if any).
• Factual data such as India’s land area, EEZ, land frontier, coastline, energy production, major and minor ports, international airports, teledensity, etc need to be noted.

For mains
If you already read the IYB for prelims, just go through what you underlined and revise your notes. But if you did not, then apart from the GOVERNMENT SCHEMES and agricultural data, read the following chapters from IYB 2010:
Chapters 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 11 (NCES only), 13 (terms like FIPB, FCCB, ECB, ADR/GDR, FDI, etc), 18, 24, 25 and 28.
Note: I have not specified chapters 16, 17, etc as I have assumed that you must have covered all the government schemes such as NRHM, JNNURM, etc irrespective of where they are given in the book.
In Mains 2009 many questions could be answered on the basis of information provided in the IYB, e.g. significance of coastal regions, UMPPs, BSUP, fruit production in India and NNRMS.
But if you don’t have time, newspapers should be preferred over standard books such as the IYB.
Civil Services Chronicle (magazine)
Since I read the Civil Services Chronicle, I am going to give some tips on how to go about it. If you read some other magazine, not a problem. You may apply the same strategy if you want to.
Regarding CSC, it’s important because newspapers are not Civil Services exam oriented. So they are bound to miss a few things which may be important for the exam. Also, it is sometimes possible that you might miss out on an important development, such as an appointment, etc. So reading CSC (or any 1 exam oriented magazine) is beneficial.
I always aimed at finishing the chronicle in a day or two (apart from newspaper reading on that day). If you find it time-consuming, always keep in mind that 3 days is the maximum time you should be spending to go through an issue.
My strategy to go through CSC was as follows:

• While reading it, tick mark the articles which are good as many times articles too specific to a given place or even issues with very little probability of being asked in the exam are covered. While reading, underline the important lines then and there. Concentrate only on the facts and not what should be done, what is good, what might happen, if, but, etc.
• I used to write on a paper all the important issues (just the heading and page number) and on another paper the names of all the important persons mentioned in the issue which could be asked in the exam. For example, winners of Bharat Ratna and Padma Vibhushan are important, but there’s no need to remember about each and every person who has won the Padma Bhushan or Padma Shri. Similarly, winners of Nobel Prize, Magsaysay Award (only if given to an Indian), Jawaharlal Nehru prize for international understanding, etc are important, but not some obscure science award or social service award or Magsaysay award to someone from Malaysia, Thailand or Philippines.

REVISION of the issues just before the exam is very important. Just one reading wouldn’t do any good. So revise only what you have marked and only the articles which you have written on the page. 3 issues of the magazine should be covered in 1 day while revising (apart from newspaper reading/revision) or it’s going to be unmanageable.
Economic Survey
You should aim at finishing the Economic Survey in 4 days (apart from newspaper reading on those days). Only 10-15% of it is useful for the exam.

• If you feel you need to improve your knowledge of economics, take note of the terms you come across. For example, in ES 2009-10, page 2 has terms such as GDP at factor cost, broad money, capital formation, RD, FD, PD, current account balance, etc. If you do not know what they mean, look up on the net. No need to remember their values and advanced estimates etc. for all the years. Just remembering the last year’s actual values would suffice.
• Concentrate on the boxes. But do not pay attention to tables such as the one on page 3. No need for such in-depth knowledge.
• Pay special attention to the steps recommended by various bodies to the government. Example, 13^th FC on page 18, UID on page 26, boxes on pages 30 and 34, measures to control inflation on page 75, etc.
• Terms used in between such as CoP 15 on page 19, Project Arrow on page 57, NHB Residex on page 72, BPLR and FCNR(B) on page 94, etc should not be missed.
• Do not even look into the statistical appendix.
• Most important chapters: 1, 2, 6, 8 and 11.

Do not forget to REVISE what all you have marked at least twice before the exam. Therefore, whichever book you select for any given subject, keep in mind that it should be read at least 3 times.

interview

interview preparation:

the mains result came on 4 th march 2010....n being general candidate from delhi,i expected my interview date to b on first or second day ,when the interview commences...interviews started on 22 march n mine was on 23 rd....(i got to knw exact date around 14 th march)...
so clearly ,i had around 15 days to go....
basically,we cant call it an interview...in right perspective,it should be called PERSONALITY TEST....actually seeing it this way answers lot of queries about intw ,-
WHEN TO START PREPARATION?
-by the time we write this exam,our basic personality would hav been formed...
-so from prepration we can expect only touch-ups...or fine tuning....
-.also,i feel,while reading gs for pre n mains,we form many self opinions simultaneously....these r also part of preparation,informally...
-formally,one can start after mains exam...(actually,jus after mains ,u can take a break of a month or so...coz by this time u will be mentally exhausted...n this time is safe too as prelims is far n u must hav cracked it atleast once by now....n interview preparation can also wait)....basically,focus should be on mains form's details....every entry by you,should be researched well n expected questions prepared(like d meaning of ur name?ur hobbies? ur extracurriculars?ur home state/education etc....)
- last year,vajiram conducted an orientation class for their students ,free of cost around 20 th jan....the problem here is not everyone gets the information when is the class...so b in touch with their administrative staff ,if u r keen to attend it...
-after mains result,within 3-4 days many coaching starts classes...this is time of confusion,esp. if u r delhi based (caution:-just b careful as what u fill as ur address) because it means u hav least time...
-vajiram is gud n so is samkalp....i got to know from my friends that many from vajiram ,also joins samkalp....(there r some classes n mock interviews in both of them)...the time management again becomes crucial here,so hav ur mains form details,hobbies etc worked out on ur own.before mains result is announced ...n approach mock interviews as if it is the real upsc one...infact do get fully dressed up for atleast one of them...as a practice.
(after mains exams is over,focus should be to prepare for both interview n prelims...coz after intw is over ,very less time is left for prelims preparation...thus initial few months like dec,jan ,n feb..should have both being prepared simultaneously)
WHAT TO PREPARE?
again,since its ur personality test....its about ur opinions,ur thinking,ur biodata etc....(yes,factual questions r asked but ur analysis n opinions matters the most.)
basically it is subject matter n interview skills...
subject matter is ur bio-data,background-educational n residential,national issues n international ones,some practical aspects of ur optionals...
interview skills are about speaking with confidence,being brief n crisp in answers,be polite but still taking a stand,having ability to convince,maintaining eye contact...etc...
HOW TO PREPARE?
take few photocopies of mains form..and mark out areas where questions r likely...after collecting material about it...try predicting expected questions...
some people form groups n discuss issues.....after giving mains exam..(though this in no ways is an absolute necessity).
read newspaper n try forming self opinions....
one should know of problems of one's own district.....n also census data of one's district....
personally,i focussed on INTROSPECTION....meaning after any newspaper article reading-i used to ask myself what is my opinion on this?.....like in mains form,if my hobby was poetry writing or playing chess...used to ask why i write poetry? or why i like chess?-this gives true n innovative answers....the most important question in this can be why u want to join this service?

points to be taken care of-

  see,i believe being honest to the board is the best policy...coz they r so experienced that it is almost impossible to out smart them...
-also,interview is about saying what u feel about the question,ur opinions r most important than saying the cooked answers that everyone says...
-intw is about ur personality...
-also,be confident,speak in clear n short sentences...
-listen to question properly,for then only u can answer what has been demanded by interviewer.....
ALL THE BEST...!!

interview preparation:

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UPSC IAS Interview questions 2011

UPSC IAS Interview questions 2011

1, Mr. Harjot Singh's
interview: March 24^th AN.

(He is from Chandigarh;
B.tech(Computers); socio & geography); hobby: 

Football ;Board: Rajni Razdan

interview is in afternoon.. but
by mistake he wished Good morning to Madam and then corrected himself...

Chair(C): your name, your Roll
no..; what is Spoofing, phishing? 

what is the new feature
added to Google search engine? 

what is social networking?
Which is more popular Social networking site you use? 

Harjot(H) said: Twitter

C: why?

1st member(M1): what is
racial profiling? what are its positive outcomes?

H: Gorkhas are given a positive
image in British military. 

M1: what is the race of Gorkha
in British rule?

H: Martial race

M2: you watch Football.
but  i will ask you about Hockey.Why the game 

is not popular in India
now? what steps you suggest for regaining its lost status?

What is Astro Turf(he
used this term while answering), what are the advantages

And disadvantages of Astro Turf
(made Hockey field)?

M3: Coming back to computers,
what is difference between Http and Https?

M3: what is DIGITAL DIVIDE?
What are the causes for Digital divide? How can you bridge the gap?

M4: to what extent Digital
divide is there in Chandigarh? What
steps the Govt took to bridge the gap?

M5: what is the speciality of Chadigarh?

H: it is a well planned city.

M5: what is Urban planning?
What are the subjects that are under urban local govt?

M5: if you are made an
administrator of urban area, what areas you focus upon?

H: transport; I go for MMTS,
etc.

M5: but where do u get funds
for this?

M5: tell me one issue which is
most talked about?

H: Climate change.

M5: what is global warming?
What is ozone layer?

M5: Do you know who is
Hargobind Khurana (he is from Punjab)?

M5: do u follow current
affairs?

H: yes

M5: in which states there will
be elections held?

H;

M5: which is the party ruling
TN, KL, WB?

2. these are the q's asked to my friend Mr. Govind Mantri.(He is a B.tech(computers) from Vijayanagaram(AP); worked for TCS; geography & Public admn are optionals; board is VIJAY SINGH, 23rd March 2011.

here are the questions:

1. You don’t like software that is why you are coming to civil services, isn’t it?

2. Specific problems of your district? And solutions.

3. On farmers suicide

4. MFIs

5. How will you use IT in admn

6. 3 Major problems faced by our country

7. Isn’t communalism also a major problem?

8. More and more enterpreneers from AP? Why?

10. Urban problems and solutions?

11. AP -> is caste a problem?

12. Libiya?

. Have you joined any coaching institute?

Hats of 2 these guys!!

Hats of 2 these guys!!

IAS TOPPERS ANSWERS
Q. How can you drop a raw egg onto a concrete floor without cracking it?A. Concrete floors are very hard to crack! (UPSC Topper)

Q.If it took eight men ten hours to build a wall,how long would it take four men to build it?A. No time at all it is already built. (UPSC 23 Rank Opted for IFS)

Q.If you had three apples and four oranges in one hand and four apples and three oranges in theother hand, what would you have?A. Very large hands.(Good one) (UPSC 11 Rank Opted for IPS)

Q. How can you lift an elephant with one hand?A. It is not a problem, since you will never find an elephant with one hand. (UPSC Rank 14 Opted for IES)

Q. How can a man go eight days without sleep?A. No Probs , He sleeps at night. (UPSC IAS Rank 98)

Q. If you throw a red stone into the blue sea what it will become?A. It will Wet or Sink as simple as that. (UPSC IAS Rank 2)

Q. What looks like half apple ?A : The other half. (UPSC - IAS Topper )

Q. What can you never eat for breakfast ?A : Dinner.

Q. What happened when wheel was invented ?A : It caused a revolution.

Q. Bay of Bengal is in which state?A : Liquid (UPSC 33Rank )

IAS Interviews

IAS Interviews

Don’t read it if you are looking for clues how to give a good interview in civil services. I have given just one and scored a pathetic 150. The worst part is I still feel I gave a good interview. What I wish to do in this blog is to recollect various incidents I came to know while discussing about interviews.

I begin with collection I got from common men who actually never appeared for civil services. I seriously doubt there is any element of truth in these but they present the most interesting lot.

I have heard this incident n number of times from various sources. The chairman of the board drops his pen on ground and asks the candidate to pick it up. When the candidate picks it up, the chairman becomes very angry. He says you are aspiring for the post of IAS, you don’t pick up the pen yourself but push the buzzer, call a peon and ask him to pick up the pen. Well, well, well, is there any wonder why the work in government departments’ move so slowly.

Another is about testing the sharpness of your memory. The board asks questions like how many steps you climbed before entering this room (UPSC interview room has no stairs, so don’t worry, this can never be asked) or what is the color of the wall behind you. I feel that they are more interesting than true.

Now some true incidents. A candidate enters the boardroom and falls flat on ground. The chairman says ‘Mr. what a great fall'. The candidate stands up, smiles and says ‘Sir, it’s a pleasure I have fallen in company of great men like you.’

There is one in which the chairman asks the candidate his favorite color. The candidate says none. The chairman insists on his favorite color but the chairman again says none. Now the chairman turns little angry and says look Mr. you have to give a color, imagine you are giving it to your bride but pick a color. The candidate becomes agitated and says if I have to pick up a color, it will be red, the color of revolution. The candidate is given very poor marks. When the other members ask the chairman how his preference of color determine his personality, he says that he is going to become an IAS, he will have to handle strikes, pulls and pressures from various groups, if he can become agitated in an interview room, one can imagine his behavior in the field.

From this time interviews, I remember questions like what is similarity between Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Abdul Kalam. The candidate answers that Gandhi wanted colonial India believe that independent India is possible and Kalam wants developing India believe that developed India is possible.

A candidate who wrote classical singing as his hobby was asked to sing a song. Then he was asked to sing the same song in different raga. The candidate was able to do that and got 225.

One person was asked to untie his knot and tie it again. Poor candidate did not know how to tie a knot and became nervous. More than not knowing how to tie a knot, nervousness spoiled his interview. The person who was due after this candidate took out his tie outside the interview room when he came to know about this incident. His bad luck was he forgot to open the topmost button of his shirt and the first thing he had to explain was why he was not wearing a tie when he was having his topmost button closed.

There are many more incidents which I will recollect in a later blog. If you know any, do let me know. But yes, do not believe the magazines in which all the candidates say the board was very cordial, they made them very comfortable.

In case you want to read a perfect interview, read vivek’s blog if you have'nt read it till now.

REALLY INSPIRATIONAL!!!!!

REALLY INSPIRATIONAL!!!!!

Muthyala Raju Revu, a farmer’s son who topped the civil services examination, says his sole desire is to serve people in rural areas that lack even basic transportation and medical facilities which led to the death of his sister and others.

Hailing from a remote island village in Andhra Pradesh’s coastal district of Krishna, the 27-year-old made the state proud by emerging all India topper among 474 candidates found eligible in Union Public Services Commission (UPSC) examination, the results of which were declared Monday.

 

Actual Word-to-Word Interview Of Muthyala Raju. Click to read.

 

Death of his sister and six friends in his remote Chinnagollapalem village that lacked basic transportation and medical facilities motivated him to take up the civil services examination so as to be able to do something for his people.

‘My sister and others died because they could not get medical attention in time as my village has no transportation facility and is cut off by Godavari and Krishna rivers. The only way of reaching the village is by small boats,’ said Revu.

‘I am from a coastal village which lacks basic facilities like transport, education and health services. There are some more villages in our country like our village. I wanted to be a part in developing these villages as an IAS officer.’

Revu wants to take up Indian Administrative Service (IAS) job as an Andhra Pradesh cadre officer as he feels that he could better serve the villages like Chinnagollapalem by being a civil servant.

‘There are hundreds of villagers which lack transportation and other basic amenities and I want to serve them,’ said Revu.

The desire to top forced him to appear for the examination for the third time. He had secured 223rd rank in the second attempt in year 2006 and joined as IPS probationer from Rajasthan cadre.

Revu’s father Narasimha Murthy is a farmer and his two elder brothers are also into agriculture. They belong to a caste among Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

A bright student right from his school days, he passed 10th standard from the government school close to his village. Despite all odds, Revu joined a polytechnic college in the same region.

He secured first rank in ECET-1998, did B. Tech from National Institute of Technology, Warangal. Revu secured third place in GATE-2002 and did Masters in Engineering (ME) in Signal Processing from Indian Institute of Sciences, Bangalore. He secured first rank in the Indian Engineering Services-2003 and took up a job as a railway engineer.

‘There is nothing which a man can’t achieve. You have to believe in yourself, be positive and prepare to achieve the goal,’ Revu said sharing the secret of his success.

Interview given by IAS 2007 1st ranker MUTHYALA RAJU…word by word
Interview took place on 17th april in New Delhi for 35 mins

Raju: May I come in Sir?

Chairman: Yes, please.

Raju: Good morning, Sir. Good morning, Madam. Good morning, Sirs.

Chairman: You are Mr…

Raju: (Still in standing position), Matyalaraju Revu Sir.
(Chairman is writing something. Other members are keenly watching the candidate.)

Member 2: Please take your seat.

Raju: Thank you, sir.

Chairman: Mr. Revu, You did B.Tech from REC Warangal, ME from IISc, Bangalore. But why did you do diploma?

Raju: Sir, After completion of my 10th class, based on my financial background, my father joined me in polytechnic. After completion of polytechnic, we do get jobs. Also, since I will get scholarship, the amount of money spent on me is less.

Chairman: That means you will get job after diploma.

Raju: Yes Sir, I got a private job. Company is Cain energy limited.

Chairman: Then, why did you join B.Tech?

Raju: Sir, After completion of my diploma, I wrote ECET and I got state 1st rank. So I convinced my father that I will join REC which is a premier Engineering institute in our state.

Chairman: Then, you joined ME because your father insisted on that?

Raju: No Sir, It is based on my project guide suggestion. Sir, infact there are two streams to enter into B.Tech. One through EAMCET after Intermediate and other is through ECET. After ECET…

Chairman: What question I have asked?

Raju: Sorry Sir, you have asked me why I joined ME after B.Tech.

Chairman: OK. Then stick on to the question.

Raju: Sir, I am explaining it.

Chairman: Be specific.

Raju: OK sir, during my final year I got all India rank 3 in Gate. My guide on knowing this result suggested me to join IISc. He further told that this is the golden opportunity for me. ԉf you miss it you will not get it again! ՠ he told sir. Then, I informed about my career option as civil services. He then convinced me by saying that I can write civil services after M.E. also.

Chairman: That means you are preparing for civil services while you are in IISc?

Raju: I beg to differ with you sir. I started my preparation only after completion of M.E.

Chairman: You have written that you joined Railways in September 2004. That is of which exam?

Raju: Sir, This is based on IES-2003.

Chairman: That means you are in IISc.

Raju: Sir, I completed my second semester at that time.

Chairman: That means you have prepared for IES in IISc.

Raju: Sir, I have given IES in my own background i.e., Electrical Engineering. Hence I need not prepare much for this exam. I just gave the exam.

Chairman: For how many years you are in Railways?

Raju: Sir, I joined Railways on September 2004. Then I took leave for 1 year, i.e., leave on loss of pay.

Chairman: What did you do in that year?

Raju: Sir, I have prepared for this exam.

Chairman: How many months you are in Railways?

Raju: Sir, roughly 5 months.

Chairman: That means you are in Railways till February.

Raju: Sir, I am in Railways till the result of civil services exam 2005 was out. I was given leave for interview preparation in March.

Chairman: Then what did you do after the declaration of the result?

Raju: Sir, Once the result of out, I came to know that I will get IPS. So, I convinced my director for leave to appear civil services again. My director gave me leave.

Chairman: When did you join IPS?

Raju: Sir, I joined IPS on December 18, 2006.

Chairman: Which part of training you missed?

Raju: Sir, I missed foundation training in Mussorie. At SVPNPA, training started on December 18, 2006. So, I haven մ missed any training at Hyderabad.

Chairman: How many days you have taken leave for interview?

Raju: Sir, 4 days.

Member 2: How was your IPS training?

Raju: Sir, training is good and we are enjoying every aspect of training.

Member 2: What are you learning in training?

Raju: Sir, our training is divided into two parts. Indoor and outdoor. In indoor, we have subjects like police in modern India, criminology and law subjects like IE Act, CrPC, IPC and other subjects.

Member 2: You are in IPS for 4 months. So I can ask some questions.

Raju: Yes, sir.

Member 2: Do you aware that the confession admitted to police is not allowed as witness. Why?

Raju: Yes sir. Confession admitted to police is not allowed as witness. Since there is always a possibility of getting the confession in the way the police like, law doesn մ allow it.

Member 2: What is Res gestae?

Raju: Sir, All the circumstances leading to the same transaction are allowable as evidence.

Member 2: You are on the line. Could you explain more?

Raju: (after 2-3 seconds), If some people wanted to commit dacoity and in the process if they theft a vehicle, eventhough theft of vehicle is not connected with dacoity but it is admissible as it forms the circumstance leading to dacoity.

Member 2: Could you tell me the section which deals with Res gestae?

Raju: Sorry sir, I could not remember the exact section.

Member 2: Then how sections you were taught in IE Act?

Raju: Sir, In our academy our sirs are not teaching according to sections. They are teaching the sections which are more useful for the police at first.

Member 2: Do you aware of RTI?

Raju: Yes. Sir. It is Right to Information Act.

Member 2: What are the provisions in RTI?

Raju: Sir, According to provisions of RTI, every government department has to nominate one officer as information commissioner to give information about duties, responsibilities and functions of various officers working in those departments…

Member 2: Then what is the benefit to common man?

Raju: Sir, Common man can know the functions, duties & responsibilities of various officers. They can know the status of their applications. This also increases transparency and accountability of officers. Hence reduces corruption.

Member 2: How can you say that people will get required information?

Raju: Sir, There is a provision in RTI that any one who refuses to give information or delays 30 days for giving information, they are liable for cut in salary.

Member 2: How much salary cut?

Raju: Sir, I think it is 250 Rs./ day.

Member 2: It is not cut from salary. It is separately cut.

Raju: Thank you Sir.

Member 2: Can you tell me what is the maximum limit?

Raju: Sorry sir, I don’t know.

Chairman: Your hobbies are meditation, motivating others and Indian Mythology. Don մ you think that all are inward looking?

Raju: Sir, Whenever possible I play cricket in addition my hobbies, which is a team game.

Member 2: Tell me which countries will reach final in the present world cup?

Raju: Sir, I think Australia and Srilanka.

Member 2: Already two countries reached semifinals i.e., Sri Lanka & Newzealand. What do you think about other two?

Raju: Sir, I beg to differ with you. Actually three countries i.e., Srilanka, New Zealand and Australia reached semifinals. 4th team depends on the outcome of the today ճ match between England & South Africa.

Member 2: Do you know about fly ash?

Raju: Sir, Thermal power stations produce fly ash while generating electrical power.

Member 2: Which state is using it more? Definitely it is not Haryana, My own state.

Raju: Sorry Sir, I don մ know.

Member 3 : (X-A) (X-B) has highest X power of 2. Do you agree?

Raju: Yes, Sir.

Member 3: (X-A) (X-B) (X-C) has highest X power…

Raju: 3, Sir.

Member 3: Then, tell me. What is the answer for (X-A) (X-B)…. (X-Z).

Raju: (after 3-4 seconds), It must be Zero. Sir, because of the presence of the term (X-X).

Member 3: Whom do you think a greatest mathematician of all times?

Raju: Sir, Srinivasa Ramanujan, because even though he lived for only 33 years, he contributed more to mathematics in the areas like Numerical methods, Solution of algebraic equations, number theory like prime numbers etc.

Member 3: Can you tell me the formula for prime numbers?

Raju: Sir, exactly I don մ know but recently IIT, Kanpur professor along with his students wrote a software program which gives whether a number is prime or not within less time.

Member 3: You are an electrical engineer. Tell me where prime numbers are used?

Raju: Sir, they are used in coding.

Member 3: I am asking a question in your engineering only. Tell me how prime numbers are used in coding?

Raju: Sir, exactly I don մ know. But to the best of my knowledge, if the code length is prime, decoding and encoding are easy.

Member 3: You are on the line, but not exact answer.

Member 1: Your hobbies are meditation, motivating others and Indian Mythology. What you do in motivation?

Raju: Madam, many of classmates and Juniors came to me for clearing their doubts in subjects as I am the toper of my class. I usually listen to their problems regarding their understanding of concepts as many have problems either in one or many subjects. I tell them that every subject is easy if knew the concepts clear and we should like the subject what we are studying…

Madam: Do your response same for all?

Raju: Madam, I usually spend more time with those who are very much lagging. I take classes to clear their doubts.

Madam: Then do you call it motivation or strategic learning?

Raju: Madam, strategic learning may be the correct term.

Madam: What is the difference between these two?

Raju: Madam, motivation is a general term which includes not only academic motivation but also others like psychological, etc., Madam, I don մ know exactly the meaning of strategic learning.

Madam: Which books you read in Indian Mythology?

Raju: Madam, I read Ramayana and Mahabharata.

Madam: Since your hobbies are motivating others and Indian Mythology, tell me how Krishna motivated Arjuna?

Raju: Madam, When Arjuna refused to fight with friends, teachers, Krishna told him that it is the duty of the king to protect Dharma and fight wars for protecting it. We should not move away from our duty. Since soul is immortal and of which is born, death is certain, of which death happened, birth is certain. Hence you should not think that you are committing crime. Also he motivated him by saying that we should do our work only. We should not think about the results of our actions. Otherwise, attachment to the results will occur which is a major reason for unhappiness.

Madam: Do you practise it?

Raju: Madam, It is very difficult to practise.

Madam: Why?

Raju: Madam, for example, if we are about to play a cricket match, we will think about the winning of the match which is actually the result of the playing that match.

Madam: One last question. What kind of training our team got during our last year world cup?

Raju: Madam, exactly I am not able to recollect it. But it is like ҷe can do it this time Ӽ /span>

Madam: Sorry, It is not last year world cup but it is 2003 world cup. The team was given psychological training.

Raju: Yes, Madam

Member 4: You studied your B.Tech. from REC Warangal and M.E. from IISc Bangalore. Do you proud of your institutions like IISc?

Raju: Sir, I am proud that I have studied in a great institution like IISc, which according UNESCO survey conducted in 1997 was in 18th place among world universities. Recently a Chinese university conducted a survey in which IISc was placed at around 250th position.

Member 4: Do you think that 250th position is a good position?

Raju: Sir, even though it is not a good position, the position depended on the parameters they have taken into consideration like no. of nobel laureates present, no. of research papers presented, etc.

Member 4: Who are nobel laureate present in IISc?

Raju: Sir, now there is no nobel laureate in IISc. Earlier Sir C.V.Raman worked in IISc. Now, there are two internationally reputed professors working there.

Member 4: Last year government proposed to stop B.Tech entry into IITs. Do you support that?

Raju: Sir, I support it. Sir, due to hectic schedule, the professors of IITs are not able to concentrate much on research. Once the B.Tech entry is stopped, they will get more time for research and quality of research will increase.

Member 4: Don մ you think the quality of B.Tech students will reduce as IITs are known for better professors?

Raju: Sir, those students who are earlier eligible for entry into IITs, they will join NITs. Since they are the core students I don մ think the quality will reduce. But the professors in other institutes should get sufficient training to reach the level of IIT professors.

Member 4: You agree to that proposal. But the government has withdrawn the proposal due to very good argument against it. Can you tell me?

Raju: Sorry sir, I don մ know.

Member 4: What do you think is responsible for reduction in research?

Raju: Sir, IISc is not able to retain those students who completed M.E. and other courses there. One reason is brain drain, Sir. Second one is that research is not attractive in India, Sir. For example, in our batch out of 230 students who completed M.E. only 2 joined for Ph.D. in IISc. At the end of our M.E. we got campus placements. The minimum salary is around 6 lakhs/ annum. It is attracting most of us. Those who are really interested in research, they are going abroad as they will get more money and research is attractive there. Here, a Ph.D. student gets 12,000 - 15,000 Rs per month. Also material considerations have risen these days, sir. We have to include some compulsory courses in morale & ethics to stop this.

Member 4: Instead of choosing job or research, why did you choose services as career option?

Raju: Sir, The incident that took place in my village in November 2000, when I am in 3rd year of B.Tech, has changed my career options. Nearby Engineering college students came to our village for picnic as our village has excellent beach. 7 of them drowned in the Bay of Bengal and all of them has taken sand into their lungs in addition to water. Since our village is an island, there are no transportation, medical & meagre educational facilities, it took 2 hours to reach nearest town which is 16 Km away from my village. By that time, 6 out 7 were died, Sir.

Chairman: You are telling about an incident in your village. In that case who will respond first?

Raju: (3-4 seconds silence)

Chairman: Whether it is Block development officer, Doctor, or Police.

Raju: Sir, It is the police to respond first.

Chairman: Then, you are in IPS. Why did you come?

Raju: Sir, even for police it took 2 hours to reach that place as there is not enough transportation facilities.

Chairman: Thank you.

Raju: Thank you, Sir. Thank you, Madam. Thank you, Sirs.

 

Interview- (Part-II)

Interview- (Part-II)

Heartiest congratulations to those who have made it to the interview. Those who couldn't, please do not lose heart. Work harder this time around with full commitment. You are bound to succeed.

By VENKATESH
_________________________________________________________________



My interview was on March 24, 2009 in the morning session. After a brief wait outside the UPSC gate, we were all taken to the waiting hall, where six of us sat around the table earmarked for us. It took us another 10-15 minutes to complete pre-interview formalities (giving copies of the Board, Degree certificates etc.). I had a small chat with my fellow table mates. I was informed that I had to go first and it was Madam's board. But then we did not know who the madam was? Since there were two lady members then Ms. Praveen Talha and Ms. Shashi Uban Tripathi. Tea had come and even before I could take a sip, I heard my name being called out. I was waiting outside Ms. Tripathy's room thinking of the morning tea that I had so narrowly missed.

I was soon ushered into Ms. Tripathy's room. This was the first time I felt little tensed. The few steps towards my allotted seat felt like a long distance. I went and stood next to my chair and was greeted with a warm smile by the chairperson. That put me at ease at once. I wished her and other members and took my seat.

Chairperson: Tell us something about your prior work experience? How does a law firm function ?

- I told her about Amarchand Mangaldas where I had worked as an Associate with the Capital Markets team. I explained to her the functioning of the law firms. (Large law firms in the country are usually divided into several teams and the work mostly was of transactional in nature and involved lots of negotiations, drafting etc and it usually did not involve arguing in the court.)

Chairperson: Why is it that more often than not one hears law students and lawyers taking law into their hands? Should not they be upholding it? (I think this was asked in the context of some violence at Ambedkar Law College, Chennai.)

- I said one of the reason could be the false sense of empowerment that came with the knowledge of the law and the working of the Indian legal system. The criminal justice system with all its systematic flaws and pathetic rate of conviction has probably failed to act as an effective deterrent and no one knows that better than the legal fraternity. Hence, the false belief in getting away with violence. ( I don't think I spoke very coherently but this was broadly what I said)

Chairperson: What is the problem with the judicial system ? Why so much arrear?

-I said it was an institutional problem. Our expenditure on justice delivery system is less than 1% of GDP. We need more judges, more courts to bring down the arrears. The Judge-Population ratio in India is 13 per million, that pales in comparison to the western countries where it is usually as high as 250 plus per million. Adjournments also lead and add to the mounting arrear. Our lawyers need to be more responsible while asking for the adjournments and judges need to be very strict while granting them. Lastly I said, that we should resort to ADR mechanisms in a big way to bring down the arrears.

Chairperson: You were a member of the disciplinary committee in the college. Tell us something about that.

-I told her how it was a committee that fully comprised of students only and had the mandate of enforcing the discipline in the hostel. So it was a student's body looking after the discipline in the hostel.

Chairperson: Did it work and which college is this? (I think she was quite surprised to hear students at the college level being disciplined by their peers)

-Yes, it did. Most of the people complied with the hostel rules and those found violating were fined which was almost always paid. This was at National Law School, Bangalore.

____________________________________________________________________


M2: How do you think we could tackle left wing extremism in the country?

-I said we need not see the left wing extremism through law and order prism only. It was also an issue of development since the areas affected most were extremely backward and had lots of catching up to do with the rest of the country........(Interrupted Here)

M2: But the government is spending lots of money there.
-I said, I am sure our government has very noble intention but the delivery mechanisms in those areas have not been very efficient. The consequence of which has been corruption, leakages in various govt schemes and very little development on the ground.

M2: Have you heard about PDS and how to make it more efficient?

-I said one of the biggest problem with the PDS was the identification of real beneficiaries and that could be solved to a great extent if there was complete decentralization of the process and panchayats were brought on board.

There were two more questions he asked in quick succession but I can not recall them


___________________________________________________________________


M4: Oh! what a coincidence I share my birthday with him. (I smiled, everyone else smiled too. I was hoping that the coincidence will probably lead to less grilling...:) )

M4: So u r Salil? Do you know a famous musician who had the same name?

-Yes Sir, I am Ashutosh Salil. Salil Chowdhuary was the music director with the same name.

M4: Do you remember any of his songs? (I did not but before I could say no, the chairperson interjected to say something and to my great relief the member moved on to the next question)

M4: You are from Saharsa? Tell me why is it famous?

-I said historically it's famous because of the debate on the religion that took place between Adi Shankracharya and Mandan Mishra, a sanskrit scholar in a place called Mahishi. Mandan Mishra lost the debate and soon thereafter his wife Bharti challenged the Shankracharya for a debate with her and she won the same.

M4: But its famous for something else also? Tell me the name of a famous personality from there?

-I took the name of Mr. B.P.Mandal, the parliamentarian and the chairperson of the very famous Mandal Commission. (Mr. B.P. Mandal was from Madhepura which was recently carved out as a separate district from Saharsa)

M4: No, no there is someone else?

-I ticked my brain hard but could not think of any one so I said, I do not know.

M4: So you have been part of NCC? What is a Horse......(Don't recall the exact word)
-I do not know sir.

M4: You should know. You have been part of NCC.

-Yes sir, I should. I am sorry I Do not know.

M4: Do you like Economics?
-I just follow it from the newspaper.

M4: Which newspaper do you read?
-The Hindu (Later I was told that there were people who said Hindu and they were told it's The Hindu not Hindu. Don't know how much truth was in that?)

M4: Good. So what was the Sensex yesterday?
Sir, I Do not know. (Later i realized that the question was asked because there had been unusual movement in the index. I should have been prepared.)

M4: You should know, you just said you read the newspaper.

There was one more question that he asked (do not recall it now) which I answered. He was not very sure about my answer but fortunately M3 intervened and seconded my answer and the Chairperson nodded too.

I was beginning to get nervous now. Had failed to answer many of M4's questions and he did not look very happy with the ones that I had answered. The thoughts of terrible marks kept crossing my mind.......


____________________________________________________________________

M3: You left your job to write civil services. Do you realize that the amount you were making there would probably be your salary in the services at the time of retirement.

-Yes sir I do. While I recognize the importance of money, it definitely is not the most important thing in my scheme of things. It does not hold great attraction for me.

M3: Why Civil Services?
Sir, the yardstick that I have chosen for myself in respect of a job is:Is this a job where I am able to go to the bed with a sense of satisfaction, that through my work it has been possible to make little difference to someone's life. If the answer is yes, then the job is worth aspiring for. And I believe that the probability of the aforesaid question being answered in affirmative is much higher in civil services than in a corporate law firm job.

M3: Then he asked me few basic legal questions (e.g. What is Res-judicata, About Arbitration, How is the New Arbitration and Conciliation act different from the old one? Difference between Conciliation and Mediation etc.....)

M3: You have said you hobby is reading? What do you read?
-Yes Sir. I usually read non-fiction.

M3: What was the last book you read?
-The White Tiger

At this point, the Chairperson interjected : "But the White tiger is fiction"?

-Yes, Ma'am it is. I said, I usually read non fiction but do read fiction also whenever I find something interesting. (Both Chairperson and M3 smiled after hearing that)

M3: Which is your favourite book?

-Sir, it is difficult to pick one. However, Life of Gandhi by Louis Fischer is a book that I enjoyed reading.

M3: Do you think Gandhi is relevant?

-I said he is. His core values of honesty, truth and non-violence are as relevant as they were in his time and they will continue to be relevant in the future too.

M3: But he was against violence. So what do you do if a country attacks us. Going to war will be violent and against his principles.

-No doubt he believed in non violence but he also abhorred cowardice on the part of people. In fact, during the second world war when the threat of japanese aggression was looming large, he said, he would be the first to pick up arms against the japanese aggression. Thus while non violence was his creed, it was not an absolute concept from which no deviation was possible.

___________________________________________________________________

M1: He asked me something about International Humanitarian Law and Geneva Conventions. (I did not know the answer too well)

M1: Is the process of appointment to the Higher Judiciary alright?
-I argued against judges arrogating to themselves the power of appointing judges and said India was probably the only country where it was being done. I argued for restoring the old system of the executive appointing the judges, with some checks and balances.

There were two more questions that he asked but I am not able to recall them now.

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Chairperson: You said, service was what motivated you to write the exam. But was that the only consideration?

-It was not the only consideration but it was definitely the most important consideration. Social recognition and prestige that came with the services were important considerations too.

Chairperson: Suppose there is a law and order problem, how will you go about it? will you implement the illegal orders that came from the top?

-No I won't. I will go strictly by the letters of the law and will refuse to implement illegal orders.

Chairperson:There will be lots of pulls and pressures in the job. Will you listen to your political masters?

-I will indeed listen to them since they are people's representatives and they must be heard on their suggestions/complaints etc. But I will act on my own, independently of them, as per my own conscience. My loyalty will lie only to the Constitution and to the laws of this country and not to the political bosses.


Chairperson: You may go now. (Did not hear that and when she did not see me rising from my seat, she repeated that again and then I realized that my interview was over.)

Thank you ma'am.

I was in such a great hurry to leave that I picked up the sheet and the pencil that were lying on the table, thinking that they were mine. At this point M4 says, hey where are you going with the sheet and the pencil? They are UPSC's properties. Every one burst into a laughter. I quickly apologized for inadvertently attempting to take away the UPSC property and left the room with a smile on my face.