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UPSC Civil Services Exam

Monday, May 17, 2010

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Just Another Gyan

Approach towards Civils Exam

with Google Friend Connect

Before the syllabus of UPSC becomes alien to me & the jargons of

psychology & geography start to baffle, I decided to pen down my
preparation strategy. Hope future aspirants find it useful. Overall I
feel that many unsuccessful aspirants are more competent than the
selected ones but the strategy & approach makes the difference. I
had my own share of pitfalls but I tried to tweak my strategy in every
successive attempt & finally secured AIR-25 in my 3rd attempt in
2009 (Had secured AIR-277 earlier in 2008 attempt & did not clear
mains (score was 930) in first attempt taken in 2006). I did not take
any coaching for Prelims or Mains examination. Not that I was
opposed to it but I was working with Kotak Life Insurance from 2006
to 2009 & resigned from it only after getting IRS (IT) in 2008
attempt. But I joined test series & mock interviews at various places.
As I didnt join any classroom coaching, I got Xeroxed the following
material

Members (783) More

Vajirams

Class

Notes

for

General

Studies

(All

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Blog Archive
2013 (2)
August (1)
Cadre Preferences for

Subjects).

IAS/IPS & Service

Mukul Pathaks Notes for Psychology

Preference...

Directions (Neetu Singh) material & Alok Ranjans

Material for Geography.
Someone once said If I am given twenty hours to chop down a tree,
Ill spend first eighteen hours sharpening the axe. Personally I feel
that to a large extent this is very much true for civil services
examination. Not clearing civils is not a failure of memory or
intellectual competence but probably the efforts dont get
channelized in the right direction (This is purely a personal opinion).

April (1)
2012 (1)
2010 (12)
2009 (1)

About Me

General Studies for Prelims (The Dos)

Focus should be on current affairs as it is the area which gives

Ghanshyam Thori

you the highest return per minute spent.

Try making your own notes especially for information that can
be categorized (E.g. Awards, Committees, PM/President,
Persons in news etc can easily be tabulated). Those who have
cleared prelims in their previous attempts can avoid this & rely
directly on source material (mentioned below).
Source Material which I referred for GS prelims was News &
Events Magazine, Civil Services Chronicle Magazine (Used to

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Hi Everyone. I am Ghanshyam Thori &

I've secured AIR-25 in Civil Services
Examination, 2009. I have got IAS and
have been allocated to Punjab Cadre. I
have done my graduation from Kirori
Mal College, Delhi and MBA from
Narsee Monjee Institute of
Management Studies, Mumbai. I
worked with Kotak Mahindra Old

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take more than 2 weeks to cover them all, provided you give

Mutual Life Insurance Ltd for 3 years

before getting selected into IAS.

8-10 hrs daily). Also I used to go through magazines brought

View my complete profile

make personal notes from these two sources & it does not

out by Vajiram & Ravi (but only after brushing up my personal

notes; in fact once it was done there was only 10-20 % extra
to be found in Vajiram magazines. Moreover the organization
of information in Vajiram magazines leaves a lot to be
desired).
History for Prelims: Focus should be on modern India as it
is in trend (though sometimes medieval India & ancient India
are also asked). Spectrums publishers A brief history of
Modern India is a good source. I referred it both for prelims
as well as mains exam (& spectrum was the only source I
referred for covering history for Mains examination apart from
two markers).
Geography for Prelims: I didnt focus on it as geography
was my first optional. But NCERT XI & XII textbooks are a
good source. Focus should be on Geography of India. Also
refer a good atlas Oxford, TTK, Orient Black swan. I largely
relied on Oxford.
Polity for Prelims: Used to skim through Vajiram Class
notes on Polity. The same source was used for Mains
examination.
Economy for Prelims: No special preparation. Just went
through Vajiram Class notes. Mostly questions in prelims
related to economy are current affairs oriented & covered
under current affairs.
Science for Prelims: This section troubles many. Focus
should be on Biology & especially selected areas like Genetics,
Blood groups, Hormones, Vitamins etc. Just go through
previous year question papers (esp. the one categorized by
subject) & figure out trends. Good source for it is Lucents
General Knowledge (cheap & good book for ready reference).
General Studies for Prelims (The Donts)
Dont study from too many sources. Ive seen a lot of
aspirants getting in love with all sorts of books. They will
study NCERT books from 6th to 12th standard, Bipin Chandra,
Mishra & Puri for economics, Savindra Singh for geography
(that too for GS!!!!), DD Basu & Subhash Kashyap for
Polity..n the list is endless. There is no problem in reading
all this provided one is able to remember which usually not
the case is. Ive seen many aspirants taking up extensive
studies (good enough to do PhD on that subject), but when
prelims is one month away, they panic & get bogged down by
the information that is to be remembered. I just referred

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NCERT of XI & XII (More specifically for Modern India in

History & Geography of India only). Please study less but
study effective.
Many aspirants cover India Year Book from cover to cover. I
never did it. Infact I never read it for Prelims but selectively
referred it for Mains exam only. Selective for me meant I
finished it in one day, skimming some possible two markers.
Economic Survey should also be skimmed. Dont get into
minor details. Just get a feel. That too for Mains exam. I
never referred Eco Survey for Prelims.
General Studies for Mains Examination
I would recommend aspirants to join atleast one test series.
Joining test series in optionals is not that important but in
case of General Studies it is pretty useful (again a personal
opinion). The contribution of test series in improving
performance is less because of improvement in knowledge &
more because of better time management. Many & yes many
(including myself in my first attempt) are not able to complete
GS paper because they mismanage time. Joining test series
will help one time his/her performance & also help one to
write the answers around the word limit range.
I took test series at Shrirams IAS in 2008 attempt & at Expert
Brains (Ajit Sinha) in 2009 attempt. Both are good. The model
answers of Shriram are better as they are crisp. The downside
of Shrirams test series was that it covers usually only one
subject at a time & full length mocks in the end, so one might
loose touch with the subject. Ajit Sinha on the other hand,
covers multiple subjects (history, polity, social issues etc) in a
single mock. But I liked the model answers of Shrirams IAS
more. Take your call but would recommend you join one. Its
almost a must for those writing Mains examination for
the first time.
Focus on Two markers because usually you know or dont
know them. Write 3-4 points in two markers (offcourse if you
know it). You can separate the information bits by semicolons
to pack information.
Write

answers

pointwise.

One

can

provide

more

information by writing the answers pointwise with an

introduction & conclusion of 1-2 lines. Not all answers can be
attempted pointwise though (For e.g. in 2009 attempt G.S.
paper I, the questions from history were based on quotations
& one has to answer them paragraph wise).
Reading Newspaper regularly has become a must with
the changing trend (In 2009 attempt I could answer questions
like Whereabouts clause of WADA, Extra Vehicular Activity,

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Plural Society etc just because I remembered information

from Newspaper). Hindu Newspaper is your best bet followed
by Times of India. I read both.
Try to give multi-dimensional perspective.
History for Mains Exam: Spectrum Publishers A brief
history of modern India. Referred Bipin Chandra for 2-3
topics (the rise of the left wing, Indian capitalists & the
national movement, long term strategy of the national
movementchapters which I couldnt find in Spectrum). Even
if you dont read Bipin Chandra it will do. Spectrum is a good
source.
Polity for Mains Exam: Vajirams Class notes
Geography for Mains Exam: It was my optional so I didnt
focus. NCERT of XI, XII should suffice. Dont know whether
Vajirams Class notes are good in this area or not. Please
check yourself.
National & Social Issues: Vajirams Class Notes
Science & Technology: Vajirams Class Notes. Focus on
Emerging Technologies like Graphene etc. Also make sure
you cover areas which got Nobel Prize (E.g. Spintronics &
question on Green Fluorescent Proteins in the last two years
were asked as Nobel was awarded in that field). Track
technology in News (E.g. Hubble Telescope was asked as 5th
mission went for it in 2009).
Economy for Mains Exam: Vajirams Class Notes. Try
tracking some major indices like Global competitive Index etc
as sometime direct question is asked.
Current & International Issues: Current Affairs Classroom
notes of Vajiram (conducted in September every year).
Statistics: Spectrums Book on Statistics. If you have
Vajirams Yellow book on Statistics (That will also do). But
practice a lot as time management is very important.
Some More Pointers for General Studies in Mains
Examination:
Dont Bluff. If you dont have any clue to any two markers or
long question, just leave it. If you answer it, you are just
satisfying yourself. The examiner will most probably give you
a zero & it also spoils impression. Moreover you might not
have time for later questions which you could have answered
properly.
In Paper II especially dont bluff at all. Last year I left two 10
markers completely & saved time for Stats. I actually saved 45
minutes for stats & managed to attempt for 31 out of 35
marks. Moreover if you complete stats & still have time, you
can always revisit the question you left in the first go.

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In statistics, attempt the numerical question first & the

graphical questions later as it saves time (Provided you are
equally comfortable with both).
Events that have completed silver, golden, platinum jubilee
are important (E.g. Television completed fifty years & was
asked in 2009 attempt. In 2010 mains possible questions
could be on RBI as it celebrates Platinum Jubilee etc & many
more). While studying for prelims mark out such topics for
studying later during mains.
Yojana Magazine is a must. Last year I could answer the
question on Integrated Energy Policy as it was as it is
mentioned in Yojana.
Refer Important National & International Award winners (E.g.
Deep Joshi & Satya Vrat Shastri were asked in 2009 attempt).
I covered two markers from many different sources. Will
post my personally typed two markers soon.
Will be posting details on Geography & Psychology soon.Will also
post some two markers later. If I am not able to post the link of two
markers & other materials then I'll email it to you. Please drop
your email id in the comments section. Ill mail the material to
you. Thanks for bearing me till this point. Godspeed.

Posted by Ghanshyam Thori at 8:55 PM 387 comments:

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Deja Vu...Not Desirable Anymore.
So here I was about to face UPSC interview for the second time. The
board was that of Former Defense Secretary Mr. Vijay Singh, an IAS
Officer of 1970 batch, who was earlier the Chief Secretary of Madhya
Pradesh.
Many candidates who are already in service usually tend to be more
confident (sometimes even cocky) while facing the interview for
second time. I decided otherwise & played low key. This was based
on my observation in the academy that the candidates who have
scored the highest interview marks are not the ones with the best
communication skill or confidence levels. Most of the 200 plus
candidates I met had average communication skill but a humble
approach towards life. May be honesty & humility is very much
needed for getting into the top 5 percentile. Atleast thats what I
thought. In Civil Services exam, you know nothing for sure but keep
on experimenting with strategies till you hit the sweet spot. I would
still call it probability than luck.
My Interview lasted about 30-35 minutes. I was the fourth candidate
to be interviewed so I had enough time to go through newspapers &

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chat around with fellows who were soon be on the gallows!! Heres
what I remember from my tte--tte with the board members.
Chairman: So you are from Rajasthan?
Yes Sir.
You have completed your entire education from DelhiI See
Kirori Mal College? Then he started looking at me.
No Sir. Ive just done my graduation from Delhi. I have completed
my entire schooling in Rajasthan itself.
I see you completed your MBA in 2006. What have you done
during the intervening period?
Sir, after my MBA, I got campus placement. I was working with
Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual life Insurance till last year, when I
cleared civils and got Indian Revenue Service (IT). Then I left the job
& went to the academy. But now I have taken Extra Ordinary Leave
(EOL) from the academy
Where is the academy?
Sir it is in Nagpur..National Academy of Direct Taxes. (I wondered
why it was askedWas it some sort of a deliberate attempt or
whether Mr. Vijay Singh was not aware of it).
He saidyes yes.Nagpur. NADT is a very famous place.
How long is this EOL?
Sir, it is for one year period. Ill be joining my training in December
this year.
The Chairman then signals to the member sitting to my immediate
left to ask question.
Why have you taken EOL?
Sir, I had to take EOL as I wanted to improve upon my service. Our
Course Director said that if you join the academy, you will not be
allowed to take Civil Services Exam again. Those who want to
reappear, have to take EOL.
Is this EOL, leave without pay?
Yes sir it is.
So you dont know much about Taxation. Did you go to the
academy?
Yes sir, I dont know much. I went to the academy just for one week
and came back.
What is your service preference order.
Sir IAS, IPS, IFS (Now IFS I knew was ruled out but still I mentioned
to avoid any possible bouncers on foreign policy or any related issue
like why not IFS)

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Why do you want to leave Indian Revenue Service & join

IAS? Dont you appreciate the contribution of Indian
Revenue Service to countrys development?
Sir, I very much appreciate the contribution of Revenue Services.
Infact because of the massive Direct Tax Collections & Indirect Tax
Collections, the Government has been able to significantly increase
its funding for the social sector schemes. We have reached a point
where we are collecting Rs. 1000 crore per day. The Direct tax
collections for last year were around 3.4 lakh crore & this year we
are targeting a collection of 4 lakh crores this year.
As far as my preference for IAS, IPS goes, I would say that my
preference order was the same last year. I prefer IAS because of its
profile. You get exposure in various domains like Education,
Healthcare, implementing social schemes etc. Moreover there is
people to people contact which adds to job satisfaction.
So you want to become DM?
Yes Sir
What will be your top priorities as a DM.
Sir my top priorities would include making myself accessible to the
public at large. Currently the public perception is that the District
Collector is out of bounds for the common man. Next my full focus
would be on implementing various social sector schemes like NREGA
among others efficiently. For this Ill conduct regular meetings and
track the progress on papers as well as on ground. Moreover Ill try
my level best to minimize corruption in implementation of various
schemes.
Why is Tax Collection going up? Is it the assessment by the
officer or the booming economy?
Sir the tax collections are going up because of both the factors. After
liberalization of the economy the private sector has done extremely
well. Corporate incomes have gone up & also the salary of the
employees. Moreover the income tax department has introduced
various measures to facilitate tax collections like increased
transparency, e-filing of returns etc.
What is the date of filing tax returns.
Sir the date of filing advanced tax is 15 days prior to every quarter
end.
NoNoIm asking what is the last date of filing returns.
Sir, If I remember it right the last date of filing income tax returns for
an individual is upto 30th June.
What about the filing of return.Lets say period of April to
December.Blah Blah Blah
I couldnt understand his question & said Sorry Sir. (Sorry is the
panaceathe Elixir without which nobody can manage).
Although you have not joined the academy, you must be

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aware of Direct Tax Code as part of your Civil Services

Preparation. What are the provisions & your views.
Sir, the Direct Tax Code (DTC) is a positive step in reforming the tax
laws. Under DTC the tax slabs have been given a very liberal
upwards revision. Under it 30 % tax will be charged only on incomes
exceeding 25 lakhs. So its a significant revision in the slab. Another
major change is that the savings limit has been increased to 3 lakhs
from 1 lakh at present. This will help us boost the Savings to GDP
ratio which is very necessary for us to sustain high growth rate. Third
important provision is that we will be moving from EEE (ExemptExempt-Exempt) regime to EET (Exempt-Exempt-Tax) regime.
The member interrupted and asked me that why is the EET
regime being opposed.
Sir the opposition to EET regime has logical grounds. Today if I as a
tax saver want to save money through ELSS (Equity Linked Saving
Scheme) or any other instrument, I dont have to pay taxes during
withdrawal. Once the EET regime sets in, Ill be taxed at withdrawal
stage. This will reduce my effective return on investment. Hence it is
being opposed.
The member elaborated that in EET even the Provident Fund
savingsEPF, PPF will be taxed which is not good (It seemed he
personally was against this proposition though globally income tax
savings are taxed atleast at one stage be it TEE, ETE or EET regime).
He signaled the Lady Member to continue
You seemed to have specialized in Finance.I can see from
your summary sheet.
No Madam. I have specialized in Marketing, though I have studied
finance to as part of my MBA curriculum
So you are more comfortable with marketing.
Yes Madam
Neways Ill ask you a finance question. Have you heard to
technical analysis?
Yes madam, I have heard to technical analysis, it is used in analysis
of stock prices & index movement.
YesBut it is used elsewhere too. How will you use it in a
scheme?
Madam as far as my knowledge goes; we can use technical analysis
for figuring out the past trends & projecting for the future. Critical
ratios can be calculated to see how the scheme is functioning.
What is fundamental analysis?
(I had definitely heard the term but had not expected even in my
dreams that such terms would be thrown at me.Still the financial
analyst in me, tried to bluff my way through)Madam fundamental
analysis with respect to analyzing a companys performance rests on

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checking out the key figures like Turnover, operating profit etc to
figure out how the company is performing.
If given a choice will you prefer technical analysis or
fundamental analysis?
Madam If I am to choose between the two then Ill choose
fundamental analysis (I was hardly sure but here I was speaking with
the confidence of a CFO or Market Analyst) because technical
analysis is based on previous projections & it might not hold true for
future. The reason is that a change in operating environment could
result in technical analysis going wrong, while fundamental analysis
can be a better predictor in such cases.
Why does the stock market index does not react to
environmental changes or policy changes the way it should?
(At last a more tangible & direct question.A Civil Services aspirant
can speak for hours on government policies on various issues but
what one studied during MBA or Engineering is mostly a spoiler).
Madam there are various factors at play which determine indexs
value. The FII can pull in & pull out resulting in a change. Moreover
sometimes the change expected out of recent policy shift is already
built in. Like the recent hike in Repo & Reverse repo rates by RBI did
not impact the sensex as probably the market forces were already
anticipating such a policy announcement, so it was already
accounted for. Moreover index also depends on Psychology of
Investor which always does not work on rational considerations. (I
felt like stating RBI Governors Mr Subbaraos quote - You cant
define financial stability. Its like pornography, you cant define it but
when you see, you know itBut I sacrificed my instincts in
anticipation of service upgradation)
It is said that Direct Taxes are progressive & Indirect Taxes
hit the poor most. How do you explain this.
Madam, as direct taxes are progressive it leads to rich people paying
up more taxes. On the other hand in case of indirect taxes people
pay the same tax irrespective of their income levels. For e.g. If today
I go to buy a sachet of Shampoo, I pay the same indirect tax as a
poor person would do if he or she buys the same product. So
Indirect taxes hit the poor most.
She signals next member to take lead.
I see you have worked in insurance industry. Have you hear
of agricultural insurance. Presently what crops are being
covered?
Sir Agricultural insurance was introduced in India in 1985 when the
Comprehensive Crop Insurance Scheme was started but it was a loss
making venture & government replaced it with National Agricultural
Insurance Scheme. Under it various forms of agricultural insurance
scheme is provided like Rain bases insurance which covers incase of
monsoon failure.weather based insurance which cover the losses
incurred due to temperature fluctuating beyond a particular range

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As far as the issue of crops covered goes, a total of 27 crops are

being covered if I remember it right. (Actually it is 35 crops during
Kharif & 30 crops during Rabi.But pretty close)
Why are farmers not buying Agricultural Insurance? What is
the actual issue.
Sir the reason is that most of the farmers who are buying agricultural
insurance at present are being forced by the bank from where they
take loan to buy it.
The member intervened and said Yes that I know.It is
being done for safety cover of loans if the crop fails but what
are the other reasons.
Sir the other reasons remain very low level of awareness among the
farmers about agricultural insurance. Also the premium rates are
high in certain cases.
How are premium rates determined?
Sir the premium rates are determined on the basis of Claims ratio.
The historical claim ratio is studied & on the basis of that the
premium is determined.
There are issues of claims being repudiated or there is a
considerable time taken in Claims settlement. What is the
reason?
Yes sir.we have considerable time lag in settling claims. The major
reason for this is that the agricultural insurance market in not of
perfect market in terms of information. The farmer always has a
better knowledge of the possible risks. So when insurance companies
operate in such an environment either the premiums are high or the
claims settlement is low. Worldwide wherever government has gone
into the business of agricultural insurance it has suffered losses
because of the imperfect information available. Even in India the
government is relying on Indian Meteorological Department (IMD)
data for fixing premiums. There is no customized data available for
regional areas to customize the premium rates.
The country is facing numerous law & order problems. There
are riots, communal disturbances & this new problem of
naxalism is spreading across many states? What will you do
to curb Naxalism.
Sir do you want me to answer on all issues or just naxalism.
He said only Naxalism.
I replied that for tackling naxalism a two pronged strategy should be
adopted. One should be action by armed forces against the naxal
rebels who have taken up arms against the state & are blowing
schools, railway tracks etcOn the other hand the government
should implement all the social sector schemes properly. The
politicians should better understand regional aspirations & be
sensitive to the problems of the people. If proper development takes
place the naxals will not be able to sustain support among the

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masses.
But this is already done by the government. What is lacking
then.
Yes sir the government is following this approach. As far as tackling
the naxals through the armed forces is concerned we are on track
but as far as delivering development & inclusive growth to the
people, we are way off the target. There is a wide gap between what
is desired & what is being delivered by the government on
development & social sector schemes implementation.
Still, What exact steps will you take as the administrator.
Sir, a lot of initiative on personal front can be taken. For E.g. there
was a DM in my district by the name Mr. Rajiv Thakur. He took a lot
of innovative steps like
Organizing numerous camps in tehsils & villages, solving the issues
of the masses.
Making his mobile number available to public at large through local
dailies.
Installing a Postal Box outside his Office so that if any person
comes with a complaint to his office while he is on tour, the same
can be taken up later.
Introducing a Slip System, whereby every person would be meeting
the DC in particular order according to slip number. This was done to
ensure that influential person do not bypass the poor people while
meeting the DM.
Like this a lot of reforms can be taken at personal level to improve
efficiency in administration.
Next member is asked to continue
What is the status on Tax Arrears?
(I invoked the Brahmastra once more).Sorry sir, I am not aware
of it.
You talked about tackling corruption. How is tackling
corruption different in Revenue Service & Administrative
service?
Sir in Revenue Service, Ill be dealing with corporates & big
businessmen who maintain their accounts on computers with
sophisticated softwares. To unravel accounting fraud in such places
you need to be expert at Digital Forensics which is a new field as
well as understand the operation of the accounting software as
accounts are no longer maintained through ledger books.
In administration, Ill try to curb corruption through periodical
inspection of work done on the field to ensure that the projects are
actually being implemented & not just progressing on papers.
There is a lot of political pressure in Civil Services.esp. on
IAS, IPS. Why dont you prefer Revenue Service then in

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which there is little or no political interference.

Sir there is political pressure & that makes these services even more
challenging (He nodded & looked satisfied making it redundant for
me to elaborate)
Back to the Chairman.
A lot of divide in the name of class, caste, region is taking
place. How will you control this? He elaborated by citing the
examples of Maharashtra where Shiv Sena is threatening
Shah Rukh khan or in M.P where the CM does not want
Biharis to secure jobs. How will you prevent this.
(I understood the issue but was unsure as to how I can prevent it in
my capacity as DM or Police CommissionerSo I expressed my
predicament) Sir how can I as the DM or SP prevent the political
parties from playing petty politics by dividing people on caste/class
/region basis.
The Chairman explained that as implementer of laws you can
provide protection to the affected parties. For e.g. providing
adequate security cover to cinemas operator in case a movie
is involved in controversy.
I said I agree with you sir. Dividing people on various lines like
class, caste, region for gaining political mileage is bad. If I am in
control of the area, then Ill try my level best to provide security to
the concerned party. Moreover under Article 311 of the Indian
Constitution a Civil Servant is totally secured & he or she can only be
transferred if any action is taken against the interest of the political
party.
Godhra.Lets not talk about it but it seems that the
administrative machinery has crumbled under political
pressure. The machinery of IAS/IPS has failed to deliver
justice to the common person. Increased political
interference has blunted the efficiency of administrative
mechanism. How do we prevent this?
Yes sir I agree that political interference has caused a lot of
interference n the functioning of administrative setup. We need
reforms in these areas so that politics does not come in the way of a
civil servant performing his or her duty. There are a lot of examples
of upright IAS, IPS officers who are carrying out their duty with
utmost honesty & integrity.
The recent Police reforms which talk about fixed tenure of two years
for Police Head in the state is a positive step in this regard. Fixed
tenure will ensure that the police does not play into the hands of
politicians. We need more reforms on these lines to limit the
influence of Politicians on Civil Servants.
With this the interview was over.
The Chairman said Thank you Ghanshyam, it was a pleasure talking

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to you. I thanked the members & walked out. Overall the board was
extremely cordial & discussion went on a very constructive note. Lets
see whats in store.

Posted by Ghanshyam Thori at 12:47 PM 4 comments:

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

My UPSC interview with Mr. KK Paul's Board
on 26th March 2009.
KK Pauls Board
(IPS, Retd Commissioner Delhi Police)
Chairman
Your date of birth is 02-December-1984. What disaster
occurred on the same date?
Sir, it was the Bhopal gas tragedy that occurred in the Union Carbide
factory. The reason was the leakage of water into the container
holding Methly Isocyanate. This increased the temperature of the
tank enormously & there was an explosion leaking the dangerous gas
in which thousands of people died.
What is the status on the Bhopal gas tragedy now?
Sir, now & then the tragedy in news because the victims of the
Bhopal gas tragedy have not received their due compensation.
What should have been done or what was done?
Sir, the recommendations of the commission which goes into enquiry
should be implemented with full spirit. The commission should
identify the entire list of people & those people should get their
rightful share of compensation.
You are a student of Psychology. From a psychological point
of view it is said that the North Indian Males are more
aggressive than their south Indian counterparts. He
substantiated this by citing more number of eve teasing
cases in north Indian cities like Delhi. What reasons do you
see behind this.
Sir I see low level of literacy levels in North India compared to south

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India behind this. Both the male & female literacy rates are higher in
South India than North India. Higher literacy helps to empower
females in South India. Therefore in my opinion the male aggression
has got to do with lower literacy rates in North India.
What about Urban Areas in north India where there is high
literacy rate? Still Urban areas like delhi see a higher number
of eve teasing cases?
Sir, Delhi has a lot of migrants coming from surrounding states like
Haryana, Rajasthan & U.P which have low literacy rates (lower than
the national average). This is the reason. Apart from these states are
traditionally male dominated. The condition of female is bad as seen
from low female literacy rates, high IMR, high MMR. Even you see
isolated cases of Sati in these states. Therefore in my opinion these
are the reasons.
You work with Kotak Life Insurance? What is your job
profile?
Blah blah blah..
What is the turnover of your company?
1000 Crore.
Is your company listed on the stock market?
Sir, kotak life insurance is not listed but Kotak Mahindra Bank which
has 74 % controlling stake in Kotak Life Insurance is listed.

MEMBER 2
You are an MBA? What is supply chain management?
Sir SCM is basically the management of vendors on the raw material
side & managing the buyers on the finished products side. An
organization typically sources a lot of material from different vendors
& supplies the finished goods to various buyers. Therefore it is linked
to managing the vendors & the buyers smoothly.
How does the organization maintain optimum levels of
inventory through supply chain management?
Sir, an organization uses various SCM softwares to keep a real time
track of inventory. Lets take up the example of Shoppers Stop
Shopper Stop keeps a track of daily sales of various apparels
including jeans. At the end of the day it will order Jeans which are
low in stock though Levis (taking it as an example). Now Levis
would then order fabric from fabric mill like Arvind Mills. Therefore
tracking the stock in real time helps in better inventory management.
Why did the Indian Stock markets fell?
The Indian stock market fell because of demand crunch following the
global financial crisis as well as the huge withdrawal of funds by FIIs.
The crisis started with the Subprime housing market going bust. The

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FIIs had purchased securitized instruments from the banks for

higher interest rates but when the default started happening the FIIs
were forced to withdraw money from emerging stock markets to
make up for their losses in US.
Which is better FDI or FII?
Sir, FDI is better as it is not volatile like FII. FII is hot money which
can move in or out of any country anytime. FDI is more stable.
The member intervened as asked but Dont you think we are
commiting a lot by allowing FDI in India? If FII is hot money
it is good as there is no commitment by the Govt side?
Sir FDI has a lot of benefits as it generates a lot of employment &
brings in new technology to the country. Also if see the historical
trend since the liberalization of economy since 1990 (the member
intervened & said 1991 to which I said Yes sir in 1991) we have seen
a surplus on the forex reserve & a booming GDP growth along with
increased employment.
But China has been growing faster than India?
Sir China started the economic reforms way back in 1979 when Den
Xiaoping led the country to market reforms. Therefore they have an
edge as they started early. India might see double digit growth rate
in the coming decade.
The member said the starting early was not the early reason
as it has also got to do with Chinese policies also?
Yes Sir, the Chinese government has laid a lot of emphasis on
building up core infrastructure to boost economic production.

What is Greenfield Investment & Brownfield Investment?

Sir Greenfield Investment is investing in a project from starting. It
is like building from scratch. Brown Field Investment is adding to an
existing project.
What is the difference between Merger & Acquisition?
Sir, in case of merger two entities join to form a third entity but in
case of acquisition the new entity is the same as the acquiring
company. Compensation might happen either wholly in cash or in
cash plus stock deal.

MEMBER 3:
You have defined Supply Chain Management for business?
What is SCM in education?
Sir SCM in education would mean that an institute should try to
source better students, train them with the best possible inputs so
that the product (which is the student) contributes to the society in
the best possible manner.
SCM in education by which the Schools act as raw material

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sources for college & the college students act as raw

material or inputs for Higher Institutes? What is the problem
with higher education in India?
Sir the problem with higher education in India is that we dont have
sufficient number of quality institutes offering higher education.
Therefore to tackle this the government has taken the decision to
expand the number of IITs, IIMs, NITs etc.
But for quality higher education we should also have quality
students?
Sir, we do have quality students for higher education. The problem
basically stems from the large population of India. Because of the
large base we have very high number of students who deserve
quality higher education.
What is the enrollment rate at primary level in India?
Sir I dont know the exact figure.
What is the enrollment rate at the higher education level?
Sir I dont know but I have read that for every 100 females enrolled
at the primary level only one reaches the post graduation level.
What is the National Literacy rate?
Sir it is 65 % overall 53.7 % for females & 75 % for males.
What is birth rate of India?
Sir it is 26 births per 1000
Give %?
Sir it is 2.6 %.
You have studied at a lot of places. Which place do you
consider best for education?
Sir I did my schooling till 10th from my Tehsil (Raisinghnagar), XI &
XII from my district & graduation from Delhi. I would consider Delhi
as best because when I came to Delhi I could not speak English
Properly & whatever communications skill I have today I picked up
during my graduation at Kirori Mal College. Moreover I stayed in
hostel & got to learn a lot of things from my peers while staying at
the residential facility.
Any problems apart from Communication that you faced in
Delhi?
Sir I had my own apprehensions at the initial stage but I was
accepted well & did not face any problem.

What suggestions do you have to improve schooling in your

tehsil?

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Sir though my school was affliated to CBSE & the medium of

instruction was English but most of the teachers used to teach in
Hindi. Therefore I would like the Education Standard to be improved.
Moreover they emphasize only on getting into engineering or medical
field as there is lack of awareness about other domains like MBA,
Actuaries, Aviation etc. Therefore the awareness part needs to be
addressed.
Ill give you the number. The number of people enrolling in
higher education is 13 million. Now calculate the percentage.
I said it would be approximately 1.3 % (as population is 1027
million).
Then he said that it was low as the eligible population for higher
education is 11 %.
MEMBER 4
What is Micro Finance?
Madam Micro Finance is basically lending money to the low income
section of the society at liberal interest rates to meet their needs. It
is basically a step towards financial inclusion.
Have you heard of Mohd Yunus?
Yes Madam, he is from Bangladesh & he started the Micro Finance
movement there trough grameen banks. For this he also won the
Nobel Peace Prize.
What Micro Insurance policy would you recommend for the
poorest of the poor?
Basically madam, I would recommend a term plan as it is designed
for covering the risk only & the premium rate is the lowest. For eg. if
today you buy a term plan for Rs. 25 Lakh cover the premium would
come close to Rs. 5000. Now if you want to ensure the poorest of
the poor with a 2.5 Lakh cover the premium would come down to Rs.
500. If you take out the profit it would further come down to Rs.
400. Now this premium can be borne by the Central Govt & State
Govt combined & the policy could be offered to the poor family.
Is there any existing scheme which is doing this.
Yes madam, the Aaam Aadmi Bima Yojana is covering the poor
family under this.
What is your view on initiative on Health Insurance
Madam the govt has launced Rasthriya Swasthya Bima Yojana
under which it provides health insurance cover to the poor families.
The problem which I see in it is the high claims ratio because of
which the premium is high & the government cannot provide high
cover. To facilitate further the government has also planned to issue
identity cards to the poor families for cashless transaction at the

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hospitals.
MEMBER 5
You are from Sriganganagar which is a border district? What
challenges to National Security do you see from border (not
just Rajasthan but the entire Indian border)?
Sir there are various challenges to National Security because of the
long international border of India.
The border with Bangladesh is highly porous which leads to a lot of
illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. Many illegal Bangladeshis have also
been apprehended by the police in bomb blast cases.
There is increase of terrorism originating from Pakistan & Bangladesh
in India in the form of increasing bomb blasts as well as recent
attacks like the one witnessed in Bombay.
The problem of counterfeit currency.
The problem of illicit drug trafficking.
What problem does counterfeit currency create?
Sir, the presence of counterfeit currency creates a parallel black
economy. The black economy does not contribute to the taxes of the
government. Moreover counterfeit currency is also being used to
finance terrorist activities in India.
What step has the government taken to curb this?
I started with Money Laundering Act but the member intervened and
said To tackle the overall security situation & not just the problem of
counterfeit currency. Then I said that the government of India is
taking various steps like fencing the international border (esp
Bangladesh border), it has legislated National Investigation Agency
Act, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

Your hobby is Internet Surfing I presume as you have

mentioned Computers & Internet in your form? Can you
explain.
Sir, Im a bit deeper into my hobby. I wanted to learn how to build a
website
&
therefore
started
my
own
portal
http://www.iasguru.com/. Basically it is a knowledge sharing
platform where I have posted my own notes for free sharing. I got
inspired by wikipedia for taking up this initiative. A couple of my
friends have also joined me in this initiative & are helping me in
digitizing & posting the notes. Apart from this I suggested the use of
file sharing platforms like rapidshare in my company for sending
large files (greater than 10 MB as you cannot attach such big files on
email) instead of burning CDs & sending it across to the branches. It
leads to saving of cost as well as time.
I dont see you having any professional degree in computers.
How do you do all this?
Sir I dont have any professional degree. I have learned this totally
out of my interest.

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Do you use You Tube?

Yes sir I do use it.
It was in news recently.Any idea on that.
Yes sir. Youtube was in news a couple of days back (the member
intervened & saidnot a couple of days back..it is as recent as
yesterday& might be in papers today)
I said I dont know sir.
The member explained that China has banned youtube
because a video showing police atrocities on Tibetans was
posted on it. What is the Tibetan problem?
Sir, Tibetans are demanding greater Autonomy which is the Chinese
government is unwilling to yield. Moreover the Chinese government
has settled ethnic Chinese population in Urban areas of Tibet which
the Tibetans are resenting. The Chinese government is unwilling to
relocate the ethnic Chinese population from Tibet
How do you see the Tibet issue vis--vis India?
Sir the Tibet issue cropped up between India & China when in 1958
India gave political asylum to Dalai Lama & his followers in
Dharmshala. Being a country which cherishes democratic values,
India had to give political asylum. But China saw this move as
meddling with the internal affairs of the country. The Chinese side
went to the extent of thinking that It was a plan by the then Prime
Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru to attack & sieze Tibet with the local
support. Inspite of the Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai slogan & the Panchseel
Principle a war could not be avoided between India & China.
Now we have moved four decades since then? Has India
recognized Tibet?
Yes Sir India has recognized Tibet.
What was the Quid Pro Quo if you want to term it as one.
Sir in return China recognized Sikkim as Indian territory on its official
map.

Posted by Ghanshyam Thori at 7:27 AM 19 comments:

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