CIVIL SERVICES INTERVIEW 2011

CIVIL SERVICES INTERVIEW 2011 Experiences:
 Some of the questions that were asked today in Nirbhaya Sharma board were on Libya, Jasmine revolution, Krishna's kidnapping, woman empowerment, wikileaks.

Strange thing was the members kept changing their seats. They were also not sitting in any order. 3 of them were very close and 2 others sitting at some distance, though they appeared to be very cordial.


Panel : Vijay Singh
Q. It seems you have been into the s/w field for the last five years, so why this shift to civils ?

A. It is true that i am having a defined career path settled with a decent salary, fortunately with good education that i was able to get from my society but, if u see, its an individual achievement and when i see myself as a part of my society, it is not an achievement and my society needs and expects me to share my acheivements .. and that is where i have to switch to governemnt services. It is time to put the societal priorities ahead of your own individual prioritiesthere is lot to be done, lots of inefficiecnty everywhere the need of the hour is a bunch of honest and efficient people who can pull the society up. In the end i can say that, the punishment for wise men who refuse to take part in the govt is to suffer under the govt of bad men ..
(there were few laughs and some dialogs went in between the panel members trying to mention that there will be bad men and suffering while you are a part of the govt also ! )

Q. Andhra is called the ricebowl of India, can you tell me any issues with the agriculture in the state?

A. Though it is ricebowl of India, it had grave agri issues even after green revolutions .. the primary being farmer suicides and unequitable distribution of irriagation and other facilities among the different regions of the state. Farmer awareness to use latest trechnologies and details of fertilizers n pesticides is not available, which needs to be improved.

Q. How do u think the pesticide usage should be among the farmers?

A. I said, govt should support and encourage farmers in using pesticides as they cannot afford themseleves. If we can build pest resistant crop varieties it will be much better. Also, if there can be any alternative for pesticides, those areas should be worked out , especially by making some pest resistent varieties of crops/seeds or going into organic farming or other green techniques.

Q. Do u support GM crops?

A. Technology is supposed to help better the lives and when it gets a change, it has to be used. as long as the crop variety is better, any technology usage should not be stopped , given it is properly tested and verified.

Q. He again asked , do u specifically support GM crops?

A. I said, YES. since it will be going to be a human experiement of genetically modified varieties, utmost care must be taken before releasing.

Q. I see you have traveling as one of your hobby, what places have you recently visited ?

A. I have been to Manali and Leh recently on the Manali – Leh highway on my own vehicle.

Q. Did you talk to the local people there ? And did you find any problems during your travel ?

A. Since it is of very high altitude, we had altitude sickness and had to be prepapred for them. yes, we made sure we interacted with the people there, made our trip for 2 weeks for full time, and said their primary educaitonal levels are very good.

Q. Recently, what difference did you observe with the states of Bihar and Gujarat?

A. Bihar , once one of the most backward regions of the country is now going good with its grass root development, especially with the good implementation of NREGA and other central schemes improving the daily wages of the marginal and agricultural labor, reducing the unemployment and a general overall improvement in the living conditions. Bihar is now the highest in Human Development Index in india amongst the states. In Gujarat, with the existing industrial infrastructure, it was able to sustain its growth trajectory.

Q. Can you tell me how e-gov is being implemented?

A. I talked about mission mode projects, national e gov plan (I and II). Explained the different e-gov patterns like G2B, G2G, G2C etc.

Q. Can you explain how G2C works?

A. I will explain this by way of taking an example of e-Seva, a G2C initiative in AP where the customers have a single window addressing of e-gov to pay bills and obtain any information, which has been effective and in good use for sometime already.

Q. Did u work in any govt orgs as a part of ur current job at Adobe (i have this mentioned in the application form for mains)?

A. Yes, as a part of my job at Adobe, we worked at National Informatics Center for two years to have the Annual Budget Session live broadcasted over the internet.

Q. What’s your take on Women Empowerement ?

A. Any discussion of any kind of issues within the society does include in equal regards both men and women. So if men move one step ahead, so must the women, and when it cannot happen due to decades of social deprivation and discrimination, we need to empower them to compete and stand at par with the rest of the society.

Q. How do you think we can empower women ?

A. We can have different kinds of empowerement like political empowerement which can be done through reservation of quota of seats in the legislatures at the district, state and national levels, and educational empowerement by having higher Gender Empowerement ratios and mandatory seats in all the educational institutes for women.

Q. Being from ECE background, why did you chose Pub Ad and Anthro as your optionals ?

A. It was the other way round for me. I got very much interested in going for Civils from reading Public Administration as a subject. I always wondered why even after so much of theory of administration we are still unable to build an efficient system for providing even basic amenities to the public. The interest for Anthropology came after a mix of curiosity over the cultural background as well into the evolution and biological aspects of human evolution.

Q. What makes Anthropology different from other related social sciences ?

A. Anthropology is unique in two of its aspects, one is the holitic perspective of looking at the cultural aspects and the comparitive perspective of human evolution in the present form.

Q. Can you explain the current Telangana Crisis with the help of anthropology?

A. Since the telangana part was for around 400 yrs under the rule of nizams and asaf jahi dynasties, whereas the coastal andhra and other areas are under the british, there is a cultural difference however slight that might be, that might come up to the surface anytime given the other contradictions are more and more, though there are similar factors like language and same overall ancient history.

Q. Can you tell any Anthropologist who worked in Andhra tribal areas?

A. Cannot recall

Q. Do you know abt the today’s resignation of ISB chairman Rajat Gupta ?

A. No idea.
                                                                                                      Source:WorthvieW

My Experience with Dr. K.K Paul's Board:

I was the last one to be interviewed by the board in the afternoon session of 2nd April. Though physically a bit tired, I tried to keep myself motivated.
Chairman:
The chairman started by asking my name, roll no, service preferences and date of birth. Then he moved on to the ARC-2 recommendations and asked me to state the various recommendations related to measures to deal with corruption. He went to ask the recommendations related to public servants and then asked me state article 309 and article 311.

I could answer all the questions asked by the chairman quiet well with a confident tone though I had a sinking feeling initially when I named the chairman of ARC-2 to be Mr. Veerappa(n) Moily. Everybody just burst into laughter and I began to apologize for the unexpected slip of tongue but luckily for me Mr. Paul was quick to state that "it's ok, we understand it was a slip of tongue, you already gave the right answer". This gave me some respite and also charged me up a bit.

Member1:

M1 was a lady member and she asked me questions related to directive principles of state policy and the two world wars.

I answered her questions quiet comfortably.

Member 2:

M2 started by asking why I had taken history as an optional in spite of being an engineer.Then he moved on to questions related to Haldia (the place where I did my engineering from) as it is a major port. He asked me some factual questions like ones related to a delta and an estuary and then moved on to a technical question on "cloud computing". An opinion based was also asked by him on the possibilities of a third world war.

I could answer all of M2's questions quiet well except one in which I admitted I was not sure and was just trying to guess and he allowed me to do that and at the end I could make out from his facial expression that I had been almost correct in guessing the answer. And, yes on the question based on cloud computing I explained him the concept quiet well but couldn't answer the name of the company that started it.


Member 3:

M3 was a bit strict and he started by asking me some concepts of computer science and went on to ask questions related to the United Nations,Libya,Egypt and India's case for a permanent member in the Security Council. Then he asked me choose between 2 individuals and whyne is honest but inefficient and the other one is dishonest but efficient.

I had a shaky start with M3 as my answer on the difference between engineering and technology was not quiet convincing which I could make out by his facial expression. Regarding the other questions, I could answer them quiet well barring a technical question about which I had no idea.

Member 4:

M4 asked me questions related to the various problems of land acquisition and environmental clearances and asked my opinion on solving these issues. Then he moved on to role of the 4th estate and asked me whether the role played by it was always positive or not and what were its remedies.

I answered the questions well but did a terrible mistake which I came to know about only after a day after the interview. I said there is no central legistation on land aquisition(though I said it very confidently, and to be honest at that moment, I thought I was correct) when asked by the member whereas I came to know later that there is legislation, though it dates back to 1894.

Finally the chairman said I could go now and I wished them and left.
It lasted for around 28-30 minutes.

Though I came out smiling but the realization of the mistake on the land aquisition act has again brought in the element of uncertainty...


I had my interview on 30 March in Challam sir's board. Besides him, there were 3 other male members, and 1 female member (FM). The Questions asked were-

CP: So Dr, which subjects did you study in Ayurveda?
CP: What is the difference between Ayurveda and Siddha?
CP: Is there any Haryanavi school of medicine?
M1: I saw your biodata. It is like a flower. I do not find any topic that I can discuss with you. Can you suggest any topic of your choice that we can discuss? (I told meditation which is one of my hobby)
M1: I never got time to meditate. I beg to say we can not discuss it. Can we discuss social issues like govt schemes in social sector?
M1: Tell me about food security bill. Are u aware of that? What is the basic idea?
CP and FM discussing with each other and asking: You are from Ayurveda. Is there any such drug that can help people sleep empty stomach?
M1: Asked MNREGA, and then any institution to curb corruption.
M2: Tell me about Vagabhatta? Which is older Vagabhatta or Charak? Use of metals in Ayurveda. Sources of Ayurvedic medicines? Is 'ayurvedic herbal medicine' term in advertisement correct?
M3: Ayurveda versus Unani. Name 3 Arab scholars who got fame out of Ayurveda. Is meditation your hobby or you do it regularly? Why you do meditation? What is your motivation?
M2: Which songs do you listen? What is ghazal? Which ghazals do you listen? Difference between ghazal and nazm? Name two lyricists? Which is better? Problems faced by women? Is caste not a problem for them?
CP: Mentioned honour killing in Haryana. Asked about Khap panchayats.
FM: Why do you want to be an IAS officer? What will you do after becoming an IAS officer?

The whole interview went for 25 minutes. I could not answer Arab scholars' name, and difference between ghazal and nazm. It was completely based on my biodata details, except 2 or 3 factual questions.



               IMPORTANT TOPICS: CIVIL SERVICES INTERVIEW 2011
                              Prepared by vision IAS Academy 
POLITICAL
How to handle agitations?
• Telengana MP’s fast to drop charges against students
• Gujjar Stir
• Shiv sena protest against removal of Dadoji Konddeo’s statue: 50
buses destroyed
• Loss of public property
• Disturbance to normal life
Corruption and Scams • 2G Scam
• Commonwealth Games scam
• Adarsh Housing
• Allegation on CVC P. J. Thomas
• Allegation on B. S Yedurappa
• Illegal Mining in Karnataka
• S-Band spectrum issue
• Black Money
• Radia tapes controversy
• Demand for JPC
• Karnataka Lokayukta issue
Internal Security
• Kashmir Issue
• Naga issue
• Separatist movement in North Eastern states
• Naxalism
• New initiatives for internal security and Coastal Security
Centre State relations
• Karnataka: Role of governor, anti defection and centre state
relations
Inter state water dispute
• Krishna tribunal award
• Babli project
Babri verdict
• What to prevail: Faith or Reason
• Appreciation and Criticism
Civil liability for nuclear damage bill 2010
• The Act
• CSC
Voting Behavior
• Landslide win of Nithish Kumar
• Return of UPA in power
AFSPA
• Should it be repealed.
Caste census
• Why and why not?
• Merging caste enumeration and head count: pros and cons
Declining Parliamentary behavior
• Disruptions in parliament

Politics of Regionalism
• Telangana issue
• Srikrishna panel report
Freedom of expression
• Book ban and freedom of expression
• Freedom of expression and contempt of court
Women Reservation in India
ADMINISTRATIVE
Aadhar: Unique Identification Scheme
Census 2011
Electoral Reforms
Police reform
• Narco test & supreme court;
Criticism of planning commission
Judicial reform
• Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill
• Centres for Advanced Legal Studies and Research Bill, 2010
• The Prime Minister has recently called for a major overhaul of the
legal education system in the country to bring it in tune with the needs of the current socio-economic scenario.
• Impeachment proceedings against justice Dinakarna and Sukumar Sen
• Uncle Judge syndrome
Educational reform
• Higher education and Research bill
• Educational tribunals bill
• Foreign universities bill
• Privatisation of higher education ©VISION IAS
• FDI in Higher Education
Health Sector reform
• Medical ethics and clinical trial;
• Bachelor of Rural Health Care course
• Medical Courses in IIT
Industrial disasters
• Bhopal Gas Tragedy
• Chitra oil spill
Accidents
• How to reduce accident in IAF;
• Railway Safety
Civil Services Reform
• ARC
• Civil Services Survey
Social
Death penalty
• Philosophical Debate
• Mercy plea
Honor killing
• about 1000 killed every year
Gender equality
• Gender equality and armed forces
Death of RTI activists;
Provisions and programs for
persons with disabilities;
Surrogacy in India
• law and morality superstitions
Socio-Economic
Naxalism
• IAP-LWE(Integrated action plan for left wing extremism affected areas)
Food security
• Food security: Universal or Targeted
• New proposed bill
• Difference between NAC and PM/PC
• Demand for PDS Reform
PDS reform
• Behind the success story of universal PDS in TN
• Inflation & public investment in agriculture ,universal PDS, Future trading
• Maharashtra using GPS to track kerosene tankers of PDS
• PDS and biometric, GPS, SMS
• PDS reforms conferenceInflation
• New WPI
• New CPI
• ESMA
Paid news
• SEBI's direction to PCI(PCI's guidelines) regarding private treaties between media houses and listed or to be listed non media
companies ;
• Corruption in media
• Radia tapes controversy
Environment and Development
• Jaitpur power plant& peoples protest
• Plan to give tribal a share of mining profits
• potential future value of land must be considered for compensation
• Media hype and reality of new India
• Implementation of FRA
• Illegal mining
• Commission to probe illegal mining of coal, iron and manganese;
• New Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Bill, 2010
• action plan to curb illegal mining;
• Climate change and Developing countries.
• POSCO issue
• National Green Tribunal
• GM crops
Decontrol of petrol prices
• Revenue neutral regime for petroleum tax; Population
• Population in the era of globalization: asset or liability
Economic
Need for Super Regulator
• Regulatory bodies : what , why, balance b/w autonomy and accountability
• ULIPs , IRDA and SEBI
• issue of overlapping jurisdiction of regulators
• FSDC
TAX REFORMS:GST&DTC
• benefits and hurdles
FDI in retail
• Discussion paper
Financial inclusion
• launch of ‘Swabhimaan', a special campaign for financial inclusion to bring banking to the masses
• New Banking licenses
• Bank denying Muslim scholarship accounts;
• One rupee bank account;
• Mobile Banking
• Financial inclusion and India post International Issues
Wikileaks :pros and cons
Currency war
Migration, Globalisation etc
MDG
Pro democracy protests in Mediterranean and Arab countries.
• Egypt, Libya, Yemen etc.
Environment issues
• Global warming/Cancun Summit
• Biodiversity/ Nagoya summit
Middle East peace process Bilateral
India's Global Leadership
• P5 heads visited India in 2010
• India's Cancun efforts appreciated
• Global reports predict bright Vibrant Economy
• India in the Security Council
2010 - Scripting a landmark year in Indian diplomacy
Recent Bilateral Updates.
• USA, Russia, France, China, UK, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Malaysia etc.