Work and mentally renounce the fruits achieved thereafter. Don’t let the shadow of personal prejudice affect how you perceive work. This is the essence of karma yoga. The wise work for common benefit whereas the ignorant work only for themselves or their near and dear ones. A farmer has control over how he works in his fields, but not over the harvest. Krishna tells Arjuna: “Yoga is karmasu kausalam, doing work skilfully in the first attempt.”
Work is external but our attitude to it is internal. A certain attitude may make us feel work is miserable while another kind of attitude makes it pleasant. By cultivating the right attitude, we will become spiritual. That is meditation.
Once in a village several people were engaged in construction of a temple A wandering sage passing by wants to know what is happing there, so he asks a person cutting stone: “What are you doing?” The labourer replies with frustration: “Don’t you see that i am cutting stone? It’s a hard stone. Look at my hands! They have become red. Work is hell. And to make matters worse, you ask me what I am doing. How i wish i were not doing this!” The sage asks: “I see you are cutting stone, but let me know what is coming up here?” The stonecutter replies that he has no idea; it does not concern him. He is disinterested.
The sage next goes to another man and asks him the same question: “What are you doing?” The man replies: “I’m cutting stone here; that’s my job. For eight hours of work i get paid Rs 100. I have a wife and children to take care of. I’m doing my duty.” The sage asks him: “Do you know what is coming up here?” He says: “Yes, they say they’re making a temple. How does it matter to me, whether what is being constructed is a temple or a jail, as long as i get paid?”
Then the sage goes to a third worker who is also cutting stone and poses the same question. The man replies: “We are building a temple. There is no temple here; every year at festivals we have to trek to the temple in the next village. You know, every time i hit the stone i hear wonderful music. The temple work has put the sleepy village in a festive mood.” The sage asks: “How long do you have to work on this project?” The man says the timeline is not his concern for as soon as he wakes up in the morning, he gets ready for work and begins cutting stone. He tells the sage that he spends the entire day here, taking a break between mealtimes. “When i go home in the night and sleep, in my dream i think of this construction and feel grateful that i enjoy the work i do. I am truly blessed,” he said.
Three men doing the same work have three different attitudes. The first person thinks it’s hell, the second looks upon his work as his duty. However, the third worker thinks what he is able to do is a blessing. If the work itself had the qualities inherently, good or bad, then, these three men might have felt the same. But in reality, it’s not the work itself that is good or bad. It is not the work that disturbs us but something that’s subtler; it’s the attitude we have towards work.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
The US dollar is the biggest financial confidence trick in history
The Regency age dandy, Beau Brummell, who is credited with having invented trousers, also invented an economic model which could be called a debt spiral. When his tailor would present an unpaid bill, Brummell would order another three outfits, also on credit. Eventually, the dandy owed his tailor so much money that he became the tailor’s most valuable customer, whom the tailor couldn’t afford to offend in the slightest way for fear of forfeiting all of Brummell’s IOUs.
The world’s supposedly richest nation, America, has perfected Brummell’s economic model: US debt has spiralled not just through the roof; it has rocketed out of the stratosphere. China alone holds some $895.2 billion of US treasury bonds. All the countries in the world, in some measure or other, perforce have to keep US dollars for the simple reason that almost all international trade – including the oil trade – is conducted in American currency.
This represents the biggest financial confidence trick in the world. For what it means is that – like Beau Brummell – the US is living off the fat of the land on an ever-growing mountain of debt which is being financed by the rest of the world.
The US stopped making things – cars, ballpoint pens, TV sets – years ago. It didn’t have to make anything. Other countries made all the things that America needed and America bought everything from these other countries. Using US dollars of course. What else?
So the only thing that America actually had to produce were US dollars, or US treasury bonds. Whenever America has felt it was running out of cash – as happened in the wake of the subprime crisis, when the Obama government authorised the pumping in of almost a trillion dollars into the economy to avert a total meltdown – all it has to do was print more money. Then it could go on throwing away money like it’s nothing but bits of paper, because that’s exactly what it is: bits of paper, more and more of which can be printed up, as and when need arises.
The so-called Almighty Dollar is not backed by anything of real value. It is not backed by gold. It is not backed by any tangible goods that America produces and sells to the rest of the world, because America doesn’t make any such goods. There is only one thing that imparts value to the dollar: universal gullibility.
America has successfully pulled the wool over the world’s eyes. Like Beau Brummell’s tailor, the international community has been conned into paying to keep the US in the high-spending style to which it has become accustomed.
The more America spends – i.e., the more dollars it prints – the more the world laps up those dollars. The euro was supposed to be a counterbalance to the dollar monopoly. Unfortunately, fiscal indiscipline (an indiscipline learnt from the US) in Greece, Ireland, Spain, Italy and Portugal, has eroded confidence in the euro. The result? International investors are busily buying dollars and US bonds as a hedge against economic uncertainty. That’s not like a drowning man clutching at a straw; it’s like a drowning man clutching at an electrified wire to save himself. The dollar-rush is largely the cause of market volatility in India and other parts of the world. How does this affect India? If foreign investors pull out of India and park their cash in US bonds – as they’re doing – Indian enterprise could be starved for capital, shackling economic growth.
What can the world do to stop the US – like a monstrous Beau Brummell – take the pants off us? Maybe it’s time for the world’s two fastest growing economies, China and India, jointly to come up with a viable alternative to the dollar. They’ll never do it, of course. But it’s something to dream on. A yuan-rupee hybrid. The Sino-Indian yupee, anyone?
The world’s supposedly richest nation, America, has perfected Brummell’s economic model: US debt has spiralled not just through the roof; it has rocketed out of the stratosphere. China alone holds some $895.2 billion of US treasury bonds. All the countries in the world, in some measure or other, perforce have to keep US dollars for the simple reason that almost all international trade – including the oil trade – is conducted in American currency.
This represents the biggest financial confidence trick in the world. For what it means is that – like Beau Brummell – the US is living off the fat of the land on an ever-growing mountain of debt which is being financed by the rest of the world.
The US stopped making things – cars, ballpoint pens, TV sets – years ago. It didn’t have to make anything. Other countries made all the things that America needed and America bought everything from these other countries. Using US dollars of course. What else?
So the only thing that America actually had to produce were US dollars, or US treasury bonds. Whenever America has felt it was running out of cash – as happened in the wake of the subprime crisis, when the Obama government authorised the pumping in of almost a trillion dollars into the economy to avert a total meltdown – all it has to do was print more money. Then it could go on throwing away money like it’s nothing but bits of paper, because that’s exactly what it is: bits of paper, more and more of which can be printed up, as and when need arises.
The so-called Almighty Dollar is not backed by anything of real value. It is not backed by gold. It is not backed by any tangible goods that America produces and sells to the rest of the world, because America doesn’t make any such goods. There is only one thing that imparts value to the dollar: universal gullibility.
America has successfully pulled the wool over the world’s eyes. Like Beau Brummell’s tailor, the international community has been conned into paying to keep the US in the high-spending style to which it has become accustomed.
The more America spends – i.e., the more dollars it prints – the more the world laps up those dollars. The euro was supposed to be a counterbalance to the dollar monopoly. Unfortunately, fiscal indiscipline (an indiscipline learnt from the US) in Greece, Ireland, Spain, Italy and Portugal, has eroded confidence in the euro. The result? International investors are busily buying dollars and US bonds as a hedge against economic uncertainty. That’s not like a drowning man clutching at a straw; it’s like a drowning man clutching at an electrified wire to save himself. The dollar-rush is largely the cause of market volatility in India and other parts of the world. How does this affect India? If foreign investors pull out of India and park their cash in US bonds – as they’re doing – Indian enterprise could be starved for capital, shackling economic growth.
What can the world do to stop the US – like a monstrous Beau Brummell – take the pants off us? Maybe it’s time for the world’s two fastest growing economies, China and India, jointly to come up with a viable alternative to the dollar. They’ll never do it, of course. But it’s something to dream on. A yuan-rupee hybrid. The Sino-Indian yupee, anyone?
J and K issue
No dramatic outcome was expected of the prime minister's two-day visit to Srinagar. The moderates among the Hurriyat Conference, perhaps, expected the PM to announce a political package to inveigle them to rejoin the dialogue process. He didn't, but the PM reaffirmed New Delhi's willingness to talk with representatives of all sections of the J&K society. On Monday, Pakistani premier Yousuf Gilani said a composite dialogue between India and Pakistan could resolve all the outstanding issues between the two countries, including Jammu and Kashmir. Such an initiative is possible only when the trust deficit in bilateral relations is bridged. That said, New Delhi ought to proactively engage different elements of civil and political society in the state. With violence at a low, this is the time for New Delhi to seize the initiative and reach out to separatists and, even, Islamabad.
The call for a dialogue has to be backed with concrete steps to gain the trust of the people in the state. A complete normalisation of the situation in the Valley would depend on a deal being arrived at with Islamabad, leading to the latter's cooperation in curbing infiltration into the Valley. Meanwhile, the heavy presence of army personnel in civilian areas could be reduced and the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act modified, if not repealed. Human rights violations are an outcome of the militarisation of the public space. The prime minister promised in Srinagar that there would be zero tolerance of rights violations. Disciplinary action against two army officers and the arrest of a jawan for staging a fake encounter are tentative steps towards fulfilling the promise. More needs to be done.
The call for a dialogue has to be backed with concrete steps to gain the trust of the people in the state. A complete normalisation of the situation in the Valley would depend on a deal being arrived at with Islamabad, leading to the latter's cooperation in curbing infiltration into the Valley. Meanwhile, the heavy presence of army personnel in civilian areas could be reduced and the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act modified, if not repealed. Human rights violations are an outcome of the militarisation of the public space. The prime minister promised in Srinagar that there would be zero tolerance of rights violations. Disciplinary action against two army officers and the arrest of a jawan for staging a fake encounter are tentative steps towards fulfilling the promise. More needs to be done.
Bhopal verdict shows up official callousness
The facts speak for themselves. Twenty-six years after the country’s worst industrial disaster in the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, which killed around 4,000 people immediately and several thousands over the years, a trial court sentenced seven of the accused to two years in jail. The accused, all former employees of Union Carbide, were out on bail immediately. This is an all-too-familiar story of the Indian state and its law-enforcement agencies failing to deliver justice. Be it the 1984 anti-Sikh riots or the 1992 Ayodhya demolition, the state has been unable to either punish the perpetrators or adequately compensate victims.
The tortuous legal history of the Union Carbide disaster is replete with missteps, collusion and plain inefficiency on the part of different state agencies. A few months after the tragedy, the Indian government had filed a claim of $3.3 billion in US courts against Union Carbide. After a US district court transferred all litigation to India, the government in 1989 settled for a measly $470 million compensation in an out-of-court deal, which worked out to under Rs 75,000 each for death victims and about Rs 25,000 for the injured. Moreover, more than 15 years later the government hadn’t disbursed the entire compensation. The courts were equally lax in trying the perpetrators. The main accused, former Union Carbide chairman Warren Anderson, was declared a fugitive in 1992 and has never appeared in an Indian court. Furthermore, in 1996, the Supreme Court reduced the charges against the accused from culpable homicide not amounting to murder, punishable by a maximum 10-year jail term, to causing death by negligence, which invites a sentence of only two years.
The Bhopal gas tragedy highlights the gap in Indian law regarding industrial and environmental disasters. Provisions of the Indian Penal Code such as Section 304A, which deal with death due to negligence, are too mild for disasters of the scale of the Bhopal gas plant. Law minister Veerappa Moily has said as much. We need better and more stringent laws for environmental disasters and for industries using hazardous substances. This has become even more pressing with the possibility of several nuclear power plants coming up across the country.
The Union Carbide case will continue its tryst with the Indian judicial system with the victims planning to move a higher court. However, the greater tragedy is that there is little attention paid to environmental and safety norms in large industries and factories. Bhopal is a grim reminder of the heavy price ordinary people pay for such callousness.
The tortuous legal history of the Union Carbide disaster is replete with missteps, collusion and plain inefficiency on the part of different state agencies. A few months after the tragedy, the Indian government had filed a claim of $3.3 billion in US courts against Union Carbide. After a US district court transferred all litigation to India, the government in 1989 settled for a measly $470 million compensation in an out-of-court deal, which worked out to under Rs 75,000 each for death victims and about Rs 25,000 for the injured. Moreover, more than 15 years later the government hadn’t disbursed the entire compensation. The courts were equally lax in trying the perpetrators. The main accused, former Union Carbide chairman Warren Anderson, was declared a fugitive in 1992 and has never appeared in an Indian court. Furthermore, in 1996, the Supreme Court reduced the charges against the accused from culpable homicide not amounting to murder, punishable by a maximum 10-year jail term, to causing death by negligence, which invites a sentence of only two years.
The Bhopal gas tragedy highlights the gap in Indian law regarding industrial and environmental disasters. Provisions of the Indian Penal Code such as Section 304A, which deal with death due to negligence, are too mild for disasters of the scale of the Bhopal gas plant. Law minister Veerappa Moily has said as much. We need better and more stringent laws for environmental disasters and for industries using hazardous substances. This has become even more pressing with the possibility of several nuclear power plants coming up across the country.
The Union Carbide case will continue its tryst with the Indian judicial system with the victims planning to move a higher court. However, the greater tragedy is that there is little attention paid to environmental and safety norms in large industries and factories. Bhopal is a grim reminder of the heavy price ordinary people pay for such callousness.
Denial of military history weakens the quality of Indian democracy
The recent controversy over the orders by the armed forces tribunal to rewrite the history of the Kargil war is in many ways ironical. For, this is an army whose official website wishes away its entire post-independence history by saying: “Post-1948 operations are classified, hence not mentioned.” In fact, the military’s entire post-independence history is slave to biographical and selfserving accounts.
Unfortunately, most discussions on this subject focus on Indian military history’s sensationalist aspects like the destruction of files pertaining to the 1971 operations or the Henderson Brookes report and, though these are legitimate aspects in their own right, this allows a greater travesty of justice to lie unaddressed. The state does not have a procedure that allows the stories of important institutions – military, paramilitary, police, diplomacy, among others – to be told. And this denial of history not only weakens the quality of Indian democracy but, alarmingly, has negative consequences on the operational effectiveness of all these institutions. India’s parliamentarians would do well to concentrate on this issue.
That the defence ministry, among other security agencies, lacks a declassification procedure is beyond doubt. There are almost no official records available to scholars interested in this field. Even scholars at India’s “official” and service-affiliated think tanks – consisting of IDSA, CLAWS, CAPS, CENJOWS and NMF – are denied access to data. As a consequence, they mostly churn out papers on every subject but that which analyses processes within the military. On the rare occasion they do so, it is usually an opinion rather than an analysis with empirical data from official records. A decade after the Kargil review committee recommended the creation of some of these think tanks, the hardware and physical infrastructure has been established but the software, in terms of data, is absent. Like many other recommendations of post-crises defence reforms, this idea too has died in its implementation.
Denial of access also prevents the creation of civilian expertise on these matters, weakening the quality of debate and ultimately India’s democracy. As scholars and citizens are denied historical documents, there is little serious study or instruction on these institutions in civilian universities. Discussions on national security issues are monopolised by former officials belonging to these bureaucracies. Hence India’s strategic enclave, unlike in most major democracies, almost exclusively constitutes retired officials. Rare is an enclave member who can challenge the institutional myths and official positions of his parent organisation. In the long run, this is harmful for democracy as different perspectives and counter-arguments are not adequately debated.
Lack of a declassification procedure hampers the operational effectiveness of the Indian military, and other national security agencies. There is little emphasis on teaching military history in professional schools of instruction. Even when taught they rely almost exclusively on biographical accounts of the participants. It makes little sense why this is so, especially since no one comes out second best in their own autobiography and hence, unsurprisingly, many of these accounts are contradictory.
Lack of historiography results in a constant “re-learning of lost lessons” and restricts the officer cadre’s intellectual development. For instance, while there is current talk of developing capabilities for out-of-area operations, there is little study of India’s only expeditionary counter-insurgency operations against the LTTE in Sri Lanka. By not studying the military past, officers are almost condemned to repeat its follies. This is an issue that is perhaps best addressed by the respective service chiefs and especially by the chief of army staff, General V K Singh, if he is serious about improving the military’s “internal health”.
Despite the urgency of the issue, the debate around declassification is not new and has followed a tortuous path. In the early 1990s, the historical section of the defence ministry, relying on certain official documents, wrote its version of the 1962, 1965 and 1971 wars. These accounts were restricted and unavailable to most scholars. Later in 2001, a committee was established under N N Vohra to examine the publication of these volumes but, despite its positive recommendation, no action was taken on its report.
Currently, the issue has hit a dead end. The armed forces maintain that they have no objection to declassification but the final decision has to be the defence ministry’s. Defence ministry officials, in turn, state that only the classifying agency can decide on declassification!
It appears as if politics prevents declassification. There might be fears, at all levels, that declassification may tarnish the elaborate images constructed of our political and military leaders. Ultimately, it is the duty of young politicians to make the case that they are willing to learn not just from the achievements of their forefathers but also from their mistakes. Not doing so reflects an appalling lack of confidence and insecurity.
Perhaps this is a crusade best led by Rahul Gandhi and other young politicians willing to admit that, to prepare for the future, one must know the past. That does not absolve the rest of the political, bureaucratic or military community. It is time to overcome our collective insecurities. There are stories there that must be told – lest we forget.
Unfortunately, most discussions on this subject focus on Indian military history’s sensationalist aspects like the destruction of files pertaining to the 1971 operations or the Henderson Brookes report and, though these are legitimate aspects in their own right, this allows a greater travesty of justice to lie unaddressed. The state does not have a procedure that allows the stories of important institutions – military, paramilitary, police, diplomacy, among others – to be told. And this denial of history not only weakens the quality of Indian democracy but, alarmingly, has negative consequences on the operational effectiveness of all these institutions. India’s parliamentarians would do well to concentrate on this issue.
That the defence ministry, among other security agencies, lacks a declassification procedure is beyond doubt. There are almost no official records available to scholars interested in this field. Even scholars at India’s “official” and service-affiliated think tanks – consisting of IDSA, CLAWS, CAPS, CENJOWS and NMF – are denied access to data. As a consequence, they mostly churn out papers on every subject but that which analyses processes within the military. On the rare occasion they do so, it is usually an opinion rather than an analysis with empirical data from official records. A decade after the Kargil review committee recommended the creation of some of these think tanks, the hardware and physical infrastructure has been established but the software, in terms of data, is absent. Like many other recommendations of post-crises defence reforms, this idea too has died in its implementation.
Denial of access also prevents the creation of civilian expertise on these matters, weakening the quality of debate and ultimately India’s democracy. As scholars and citizens are denied historical documents, there is little serious study or instruction on these institutions in civilian universities. Discussions on national security issues are monopolised by former officials belonging to these bureaucracies. Hence India’s strategic enclave, unlike in most major democracies, almost exclusively constitutes retired officials. Rare is an enclave member who can challenge the institutional myths and official positions of his parent organisation. In the long run, this is harmful for democracy as different perspectives and counter-arguments are not adequately debated.
Lack of a declassification procedure hampers the operational effectiveness of the Indian military, and other national security agencies. There is little emphasis on teaching military history in professional schools of instruction. Even when taught they rely almost exclusively on biographical accounts of the participants. It makes little sense why this is so, especially since no one comes out second best in their own autobiography and hence, unsurprisingly, many of these accounts are contradictory.
Lack of historiography results in a constant “re-learning of lost lessons” and restricts the officer cadre’s intellectual development. For instance, while there is current talk of developing capabilities for out-of-area operations, there is little study of India’s only expeditionary counter-insurgency operations against the LTTE in Sri Lanka. By not studying the military past, officers are almost condemned to repeat its follies. This is an issue that is perhaps best addressed by the respective service chiefs and especially by the chief of army staff, General V K Singh, if he is serious about improving the military’s “internal health”.
Despite the urgency of the issue, the debate around declassification is not new and has followed a tortuous path. In the early 1990s, the historical section of the defence ministry, relying on certain official documents, wrote its version of the 1962, 1965 and 1971 wars. These accounts were restricted and unavailable to most scholars. Later in 2001, a committee was established under N N Vohra to examine the publication of these volumes but, despite its positive recommendation, no action was taken on its report.
Currently, the issue has hit a dead end. The armed forces maintain that they have no objection to declassification but the final decision has to be the defence ministry’s. Defence ministry officials, in turn, state that only the classifying agency can decide on declassification!
It appears as if politics prevents declassification. There might be fears, at all levels, that declassification may tarnish the elaborate images constructed of our political and military leaders. Ultimately, it is the duty of young politicians to make the case that they are willing to learn not just from the achievements of their forefathers but also from their mistakes. Not doing so reflects an appalling lack of confidence and insecurity.
Perhaps this is a crusade best led by Rahul Gandhi and other young politicians willing to admit that, to prepare for the future, one must know the past. That does not absolve the rest of the political, bureaucratic or military community. It is time to overcome our collective insecurities. There are stories there that must be told – lest we forget.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Tips by Safi Rank 55(IAS 2010)
I am Mohammed Y Safirulla (Roll No: 080934) and I have got Rank 55 in Civil Services Exam-2009. I am writing this on the request of Mrunal to describe my preparation strategy. I would be happy if this is of some help to Civil Service aspirants.
About me: I completed my Engineering from ‘PSG College of Technology’ in 2003. I then worked in TCS for 2 years. After writing CAT in 2005 I secured admission in T.A. Pai Management Institute (TAPMI) for PGDM. I completed PGDM in 2007. Since then, I am working with IBM as SAP Consultant.
General Studies
1. How did you deal with general studies + Essay in mains ?
Ans:
News Paper: I referred 'The Hindu' News paper during the last 2 years. I used to take notes for any analysis in this paper. Any center page article which appears to be important I used to cut that and document in a file.
Magazine: Competition Chronicle.
TV: DD News and Lok Sabha Channel (‘Public Form’ – The New Analysis show from 11 to 12 PM every night)
Constitution and Freedom Movement: Referred Prelims Xerox of Brilliant Tutorials
Aptitude: R.S Agarwal
I tried to focus less on data intensive areas and focused on my strengths i.e. Economics, Aptitude and Current affairs. I relied more on Internet to collect data for GS.
Preparation for Options
Sociology
Ans: My Optional for Prelims was Sociology. For Mains it was Sociology and Management. For Sociology I got guidance from Mrs. Ananya Sharma, who had written the Mains earlier. My Friend and I took guidance from her. Further, I analyzed previous 15 years QPs for Prelims and Mains. I made notes after analyzing them. Source was mainly Internet and the book by C/N Shankar Rao.
Management
For Management I referred my Books (from PGDM days). Here too, I prepared notes.
For 2010 Exam (which I did not take) General Studies preparation, I attended the free GS test series conducted by Namma IAS in Bangalore
For both GS and Optionals I prepared lot of notes from Internet. I believe this gave maximum returns. It is possible to revise notes in short duration (Eg: 2 hours gap between Paper 1 and Paper 2 for Optional in Mains). We can also keep adding points to the topics subsequently.
Essay
3. How did you deal with the essay?
Ans:
No special preparation for essay.
Working professional and time Management
4. How did you manage it despite being a working professional? The whole time Management aspect? Because everyone doing some job is confused about this.
Ans:
Few things that I did,
- Motto of studying for at least 4 hours every working day. Sleep only after study of 4 hours is complete. Absolutely no compromise on this.
- The study time does not include the time spent for watching News or Browsing on Internet (for whatever).
- During weekends, study for at least 7 hours each day
- Alternate days in weekdays for Optional and GS. Both Optional and GS during Weekends.
- Maintain a chart which indicates the effort in Hours for Optional/GS. In my calendar I have entries which indicate how many hours I spent each day from Jan 2009 to October 22nd 2009 for Optional and GS
- As far as possible I avoided Social gatherings like Friends get together, Attending Marriages etc… In short, save every possible minute that you can.
- I kept the only few close friends and relatives updated about my Civil Service aspiration and progress in the exam.
Motivation -maintaining the rhythm
5.How did you maintain the motivation, rhythm and pace in studies, because most of us go through mood swings like for 10 days "high motivation and working hard" then for next 10 days "no motivation or mood to study anything" and finally month before the exam doing the fire-fighting, trying to cover everything up in short time.
Ans:
I also experienced this problem. There were days when there was intense self doubt! During those days I tried not to push myself too much. I focused on reading News Papers and economics during those days.
Interview
6. Your interview.
The following are the questions asked in my Interview. The order and words in questions are not the same. I tried to recollect as far as I could.
Chairman:
- You are Mohammed Y Safirulla…. How can I call you. ?
- You are working in SAP. Is it not something that integrates Human resources, Finance etc... Can you explain what the work you do?
- You are already in IT sector which is challenging. Why do you want to get into Civil services?
Member 1:
- You have done a lot of work in corporate sector. There is lot of hierarchy in Public services. You will not get the kind of freedom that you used to get in Private sector. Do you think you will fit in the Government setting?
- There might be no rewards even when you perform well. What is reward for you? Is it Power, Authority, Public Service or Money?
- About the Shoaib and Sania Marriage in
- If you were in the position of Police Commissioner of
- What is the difference between Administration and Management?
- Have you ever got into a fight with your Boss? Explain what happened?
- If your peon takes money (corruption) of Rs. 5 (say), What action would you take against him?
- What were the options available to you after you completed your MBA in Finance? Why you got into IT then?
Member 2:
- Is PDGM and MBA the same?
- Why do you want to get into Civil services from Corporate Sector?
- Based on the explanation of the difference between Administration and Management (which I answered to Member 1) what is the role of a District Collector? Does he perform ‘Administration’ or ‘Management’ role?
- How will your knowledge of Engineering and Management be useful for you in Civil Services?
- Are the same principles of success valid in corporate sector relevant in Government Services as well?
- You have spent a long time in Corporate sector (I have spent 5 years). I think you will not fit in Government Services.
- What are the fundamentals of
- But Panchsheel is also present in UN Charter right? Where is it present? (I explained about Panchsheel in the earlier question).
Member 3:
- What is the famous PSU in
- What is Namakkal famous for ? (It is a district near
- Religious places in Namakkal.
- About
- What are the reasons for development of Software sector in
- Reasons for Financial Crisis in 2008-09. What are your views on it?
- Is Ethics taught in Management Schools? The excess greed of Management graduates is also a reason for Financial Crisis. Your views.
- What is the reason for Cost and Time Overrun in ‘Mega Projects’? How can those be addressed?
Member 4:
- You mentioned about ‘Profit Maximization’ objective of corporate sector? Talking about Derivatives, do you think they should be banned?
- You did your engineering then worked for 2 years. Again you did PGDM and then again into IT sector. Now you want to get into Civil Services. I think you are a confused person.
- You have studied ‘Electronics’ in Engineering. What do you know about ‘Electronics’ Industry in
- You talked about SAP (ERP). Can such models be used to determine unforeseen situations? Eg: Monsoon failures etc... What is the relevance of such models then?
Chairman:
- Assume you are in a foreign country. Now give me a plan to promote tourism in Tamilnadu. (my home state).
- Have you filled for any other service apart from IAS? If selected will you join other services?
Ok. Thank you. Your interview is over.
I would like to convey to aspirants that is it possible to clear Civil Services exam without attending big coaching institutes and while working. Many have cleared in the past and many will continue to do. Please have confidence in your efforts.
http://www.indianofficer.com/forums/new-civil-service/8866-strategy-determination-safi-got-rank-55-without-coaching-leaving-job-his-first-trial.html
. Please do let me know if I can offer assistance in any other aspect.
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