Interview of Utkrisht Prasoon (AIR 101, CSE13)

He scored 215/275 in the interview.

Before the interview - I was calm, confident and nervous at the same time. being in the
UPSC overjoyed me more than anything else. being nervous right before your interview call
comes is inevitable. But you must try not to be overwhelmed by it and maintain a confident
framework nonetheless. Even if you are nervous beyond measure, once you enter the
interview room and begin to answer questions, all your nerves will fade away through the
course of the interview.

Board - Alka Sirohi

Duration - around 30 mins

Marks - 215

Background - BE in IT
hobbies- reading books, mostly fiction
Sports- football
Home state - Bihar

Chairperson

CH - In football, there is a major event coming up?
Ans - the football world cup 2014 is coming up in brazil

CH - why does Brazil produce so many legends in football?
Ans - I believe that football is very much engraved in the culture of Brazil, and has captured
the imagination of the society right at the grassroot level in a developing country.

CH - who is the latest in the line of such footballing greats in Brazil?
Ans - Ma'am , Neymar is said to be the next big thing.

CH - can you tell what is brazils style of football?
Ans - Sorry maam, i am not aware of this.

CH- okay, why do you think is the component of skills lacking in civil services?
Ans - i think that the reason for this is that people are attracted to the civil services largely
because of the prestige associated with it and due to familial pressure. People do not know,
what job specification they will have and they arent abreast with it. Also, the UPSC follows
the negative recruitment method till today.

CH - what is negative recruitment ?
Ans - It is a recruitment process in which the agency associated isnt proactive in recruiting,
but people themselves seek the agency for recruitment.

CH - So, how do you think the skills component in civil services can be improved?
Ans - i think this can be done by being proactive and nurturing the prospective applicants,
about what the civil service really is about and what challenges one faces as a civil servant.
Just like advertising is done these days in case of armed forces; the same should be done
for civil services.

Member 1

M1 - About snowden affair, do you think it was good for the world and bad for the US? explain?
Ans - yes sir, i believe it was so. people must know what limits their freedom, and it has
initiated a debate regarding internet freedoms and recourse against snooping

M1 - which countries opposed snooping?
Ans - Sir Germany and Brazil were very vocal against snooping

M1 - what was india's stand on this ?
Ans- India was quietly critical about the entire issue.

M1 - what recently happened in Afghanistan?
Ans - The presidential elections took Place.

M1 - what are the possible challenges which can be thrown up after the results?
Ans - Afghanistan faces a threat of a possible divide on ethnic lines. Also, extremist groups like taliban
may acquire power, running the constitutional machinery aground.

M1 - name some ethnic groups of Afghanistan.
Ans - Pashtuns, Tajiks, I cant recall more

M1 - how did the taliban come into being?
Ans - It was a result of the US arming and funding various rebel groups in the wake of the Soviet war in
afghanistan.

M1 - Do you know who provided the funding?
Ans - Sorry sir, I do not know

Member 2

M2 - you like to read books. name some of the books you have read.
Ans - Sir i have liked classical fiction books like the catcher in the rye, the great gatsby, the old man and
the sea, crime and punishment, shantaram - which isnt classical fiction, etc.

M2 - what is crime and punishment about?
Ans - Sir it is about an individual who commits an act of murder, believing he is doing a great feat, very
much akin to what a Napolean may do. But this comes to haunt him and he ends up seeking redemption.

M2 - about internet governance, there is said to be a lot of component of US control over this, how should
it be handled?
Ans- There should be a multi- stakeholder body comprising of various civil society, media and technical
entities along with representation from countries. As today, internet has gone beyond mere international
borders.

M2 - most of tech entities are of the US, is there any way out?
Ans - we need to develop an indigenous software base along with developing broadband connectivity to
the last mile.

M2- In bihar, there are a number of private armies? what is your opinion on them? how will you handle
them?
Ans - Sir, private armies like the Ranvir sena have propped up due to disillusionment of the states
efficiency in its counter insurgency operations. These also develop due to a belief that law can be taken in
your own hands. I would initially issue an ultimatum about all such private armies with a time frame of
them to be disbanded. At the same time, I would also assure and demonstrate to the resident/members of
such armies that the state is fully capable of dealing with such public order problems. After the time
frame, I would whatever action is possible in my limited capacity.

Member 3

M3 - you have some achievement in maths,how will you explain what is the radius of the circle in a
village ?
Ans- Sir, I would take them to a well along with a well along with a brass rod marking the two ends of the
circle. Wherever the distance between the two ends is maximum would be the diameter and half of it the
radius.
(he didnt understand initally, the Chairperson intervened and explained it to him)

M3- what is (some inter university football tournament's name)?
Ans- sorry sir, i havent heard of it.

M3 - what is the ratio which represents pi?
Ans - (my mind had gone blank) Sir, unable to recall it has just gone out of my mind

M3- 22/7 !
Ans - yes sir!

M3- Okay tell me, why did hitler hate the jews?
ans- sir i am not sure about this, but it was probably due to the fact that he blamed the jews for the failure
of the first world war and also he considered his own race to be superior
(he wasnt convinced, shook his head)

M3 - why were there protests in Brazil last year?
Ans- Sir, it was protest against holding of such lavish events, the burden of which had to be borne by the
public by increase of user charges.

M3 - Do you think it was justified? Why?
Ans- yes sir it was. Such events do have their value in enhancing the global standing of a nation
worldwide, but this should never be it the cost of basic benefits to citizens being denied. The first duty of
the govt is to fulfill the basic needs of its citizens, not hold such grand events.

Member 4

M4 - what will your priorities be if you are posted in bihar?
Ans - The foremost priority would be that of public order, which needs to be continuously maintained. the
next would be of infrastructure - that of education, health etc.

M4 - give some specific uses of e gov?
Ans- land records, CCTNS, records of birth and death, transparency, etc. (dont remember right now what
i said)

M4 - do you think india has a strong defence? why so?
Ans - India has definitely made a lot of headway in the prospect of defence with defence partnerships,
holding of annual exercises. But there is still a lot of way to go through in the areas of defence
indigenization and transparency in defence procurement.

M4 - why then so many recent submarine accidents?
Ans - they might be due to lack of oversight in induction of such submarines and their spare parts - faults
could have been overlooked amongst other reasons.

M4 - you are from ara, what is the condition of naxalism there?
Ans- the situation has certainly improved over the years as the state police has become proactive in this
regard. also forming a separate state armed unit consisting of retired army personnel has reaped
benefits.

M4- do you think india can emerge as a nuclear powerhouse?
Ans - India definitely has the potential to do so. we have been successful in negotiating nuclear deals with
other countries, we have thorium resources and also we have now an active nuclear submarine.

M4 - why has India not been able to acquire this potential?
Ans - there have been hassles in negotiating the supplier Nuclear liability and also since accidents such
as Fukushima, concerns regarding safety have come up, also springing up local protests.

M4 - what is nuclear fission and fusion?
Ans - Sir nuclear fission is a process in which a nucleus is bombarded by an electron to split into two
nuclei along with the release of more electrons. In Fusion, two nuclei come together at very high
temperature to form a single nucleus wlong with release of energy

Chairperson

CH - what do you think is more important - the journey or the destination? why?
Ans - maam i believe the journey is more important as even if you do not end up to the destination , you
emerge as a more experienced and an enriched person.

CH - okay tell me, do you think ends justify the means? why?
Ans - No maam as if in the means we subvert the ends we are trying to reach, we subvert our very
purpose.

CH - okay, you may go now.