Expected Questions in UPSC Interview

Feed by Manisha Cat- UPSC

Personal Questions

Q: What's the meaning of your name?

Q: What's the meaning of your surname?

Q: Tell us about yourself.

Q: How would your friends describe you?

Q: What is your roll number?

Q: Why you want to become a civil servant?

Q: Why should we select you?

Q: Who is your role model?

Q: Who has been the motivating factor for you to opt for the civil services?

Q: What is your aim in the life?

Q: What is your personal goal in the life?

Q: What will you do if you're not selected?

Q: What is your plan B?

Q: How do you look yourself five years from now?

Q: Give us an example of a situation where you acted honestly?

Q: Give us an example of a situation where you acted dishonestly?

Q: Which is your favourite newspaper and why?

Q: Which is your favourite magazine and why?

Q: Which is your favourite news channel and why?

Q: Who is your favourite journalist and why?

Q: Which is your favourite movie and why?

Q: Who is your favourite actor and why?

Q: Which is the latest book you have read?

Q: Who is your favourite author and why?

Q: Are you a religious person?

Q: What is the difference between the religion and the spirituality?

Q: Are you a religious or a spiritual person?

Q: Which games do you play?

Q: What are the sites you generally browse on the Internet?

Q: How can you be an asset for the government?

Q: What is your greatest strength?

Q: What is your greatest weakness?

Q: What is your view regarding your leadership skills?

Q: If you are comfortable, please share a moment where you felt embarrassed.

Q: Have you ever solved a particular problem with some out of box solution?

Q: Do you consider yourself to be a risk taker?

Q: How did you prepare for the Personality Test?

Q: Did you join any coaching institute for the Personality Test?

Q: What motivates you?

Q: Who ls your biggest inspiration?

Q: What is the thing you hate the most?

Q: What is the thing you love the most?

Q: Which is your favourite fruit and why?

Q: If given a chance with whose life would you want to swap your life and please tell us the reasons also.

Q: Do you consider yourself to be an optimist? Why or why not?

Q: If an angel comes to you and asks to make any three wishes, what those would be?

Q: Can you share with us an example where you solved an ethical dilemma.

Q: How do you deal with stress?

Q: Do you consider yourself to be a satisfied person?

Q: What makes you happy?

Q: What's your idea of entertainment?

Q: What do you do in your leisure time?

Q: What's the difference between smart work and hard work? To which category you belong?

Q: What's your definition of success?

Q: Why you have chosen this optional?

Q: How would your optional help you in the administration?

Q: What, in your opinion, are the qualities of a good administrator?

Q: Is honesty a subjective thing?

Q: What are three things that are inevitable for success?

Q: What are the three things to be avoided to avoid failure?

Q: If you can plant one idea into my thought process/mind what would that be?

Q: According to you, who is the luckiest person on this earth?

Q: What are the headlines today?

What is your choice in terms of gender for your first child & Why?

Q: What is your favorite sport?

Q: Who is your favorite sport person?

Hypothetical Questions

Q: What will be your priorities if you are the OM of your district?

Q: What will be your priorities if you are the SP of your district?

Q: What steps will you take as the DM if a communal riot breaks out in your area?

Q: What will be the steps you will take as the DM to improve the administration?

Q: What's your vision for an ideal district and ideal state?

Q: Suggest certain steps to tackle the problem of illiteracy in your district?

Q: Suggest certain steps to eradicate the problem of poverty in your district?

Q: Suggest certain concrete measures to counter the menace of corruption in your district?

Q: What will be your vision as the Prime Minister of India?

Q: What will be your vision as the Chief Minister of your state?

Q: What would be your plan of action if you are made the finance minister of India?

Q: What would be your plan of action if you are made the defence minister of India?

Q: What will you do if you are pressurized by your political superiors or the seniors to take a step which is illegal?

View based questions

Q: Do you favour the idea that no candidate should be given the home cadre if he gets selected for an All India Service?

Q: In the light of the fact that smoking is injurious to health should smoking be banned all together?

Q: Should the sale of liquor be banned and the country be made as dry?

Q: Suggest certain reforms for the civil services examination.

Q: Are you in favour of compulsory voting?

Q: Are you in favour of reservation for women in the legislatures?

Q: Do you think the entire affirmative action paradigm needs to be redesigned?

Q: Has the reservation system been a success or a failure?

Q: Do you think that the concept of creamy layer In tho OBCs is justified?

Q: Do you think the concept of creamy layer should be opplled to the SCs and STs as well?

Q: What are your views on the sting operations?

Q: What are your views on the paid news?

Q: What are your views on the investigative journalism?

Q: What are your views on media activism?

Q: What are your views on the trial by media?

Q: What are your views related to the judicial activism?

Q: Is astrology a science or superstition?

Q: Is vastu a science or superstition?

Q: What are your views on the alternative methods of healing?

Q: Please share with us your vision of harnessing India's demographic dividend?

Q: What's your opinion about interlinking of the rivers?

Q: Of late, there has been an increasing clamour that the laws meant for the protection of the woman , like the anti-dowry law, are often being misused to harass the men and their families. What are your views about this?

Q: Has secularism successful in India?

Q: In your opinion is India a beneficiary or a loser in the context of globalization.

Q: Professionals have a narrow point of view and know more about less, which gives them a disadvantageous position vis-a-vis the genaralists. Comment.

Q: Do you think that if the civil servants are suitably compensated, the corruption would stop?

Questions related to IT

Q: Suggest us some steps to achieve the target of e-governance?

Q: Being an administrator tomorrow, how will you use the Information Technology for the better governance?

Q: What do you understand by digital divide? How can you bridge it?

Q: What are the hurdles in the way of e-governance in India?

Q: Who are netizens? How are they different from the citizens?

Q: What do you understand by Internet browser?

Q: What do you understand by the term social media?

Q: What do you understand by the term micro blogging?

Q: What do you understand by the term IP address and what is its significance?

Q: What do you understand by cloud computing?

Q: Who owns the Internet and all the information on it?

Q: Please comment on the role of Information Technology in the field of medicine.

Q: What's the role of Information Technology in the judiciary?

Q: What do you mean by a search engine? Name a few.

Q: How can we control the obscenity on the internet?

Q: How IT can help in achieving the paperless governance?

Q: State the steps required to start an IT revolution in the government bodies

Questions on polity and Constitution

Q: Speak negatively about the Indian political system for 2 minutes?

Q: Tell us briefly about the various types of motions been used ln the parliament.

Q: Do you think the linguistic criterion of forming the states is a right criterion?

Q: Do you think India needs more states?

Q: What are the benefits and problems of small states?

Q: In your opinion which is the most important amendment done to the constitution of India since independence.

Q: What do you understand by the term minority?

Q: What all minorities are being recognized by the constitution of India?

Q: Do you think that the post of the governor should be abolished?

Q: Do you think that it is the time for India to switch over to the presidential form of government?

Q: What are your views regarding the opinion polls and the exit polls?

Q: Should there be state funding of elections?

Q: What is the meaning of the term delegated legislation?

Q: What is double jeopardy?

Q: What do you mean by Colorable legislation?

Q: What are the different types of majority needed to pass a bill in the parliament?

Q: Is the prime minister of India the head of the government or the head of the state?

Q: What is the national language of India?

Q: Should the maximum age of the civil services be reduced?

Q: Should there be any minimum educational qualification for a person to be a minister?

Q: Should uniform civil code be applied to India?

Q: Briefly tell us to significant recommendations of the second administrative reforms commission.

Q: How can you justify the concept of the Rajya Sabha when its members are not elected by the people?

Q: What are your views regarding section 377 of IPC?

Q: What are your views regarding section 309 of IPC?

Q:What do you mean by the basic features of the constitution?

Q: Should we do away with such a lengthy constitution?

Q: What do you understand by the concept of Lokpal?

Questions related to governance and public administration

Q: What do you mean by the governance?

Q: Please tell us some of the important initiatives taken by the government of India in the field of e-governance.

Q: What is the difference between the government and governance?

Q: Is there any alternative to bureaucracy?

Q: What is the contribution of bureaucracy in the development of this nation?

Q: What has been the impact of liberalisation. privatisation and globalisation on the Indian bureaucracy?

Q: What are the important problems being faced by the Indian bureaucracy?

Q: What do you understand by the term social audit?

Q: What do you understand by the term human resource audit?

Q: How the corruption can be reduced in the bureaucracy?

Q: What do you understand by the term decentralized planning?

Q: What do you understand by the term participatory democracy?

Q: What do you mean by the administrative law? How is it different from the law of the land?

Q: What do you mean by the term public policy?

Q: What do you understand by the term citizen charter?

Q: How the geography affects the public administration of any area?

Q: How is public administration different from the business administration?

Q: What traits of private organizations should be adopted in the public administration?

Q: How the public administration can be made more efficient?

Questions on economy

Q: Speak negatively about the Indian economy for 1 minute?

Q: What do you understand by corporate social responsibility?

Q: What do you understand by repo rate and reverse repo rate?

Q: Do you have an idea about what is the Gandhian economic model?

Q: Do you think that the Gandhian economic model is relevant today?

Q: What do you understand by the term the stock exchange? Why is it called so?

Q: can you name some regulatory authorities of India in the different fields? Please comment on their working.

Q: What do you understand by the security transaction tax?

Q: What is structured unemployment?

Q: What is disguised unemployment?

Please differentiate between the budgetary deficit fiscal deficit and the primary deficit.

Q: What do you mean by balance of payment?

Q: What role does the forex reserve play in the economy of a country? What are the factors on which this is dependent?

Q: What steps should India take to tackle the energy deficit?

Q: Do you support Disinvestment?

Questions based on science

Q: What is biometric identification? How does it work?

Q: What's the principle behind the working of a microwave oven?

Q: What is the basic principle behind the particle accelerator used to find the Higgs Boson?

Q: What is Higgs Boson?

Q: What are the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear energy?

Q: What do you mean by Green House farming?

Q: It is claimed that Indian ancient Science was much a head of the contemporary science. What are your views on this?

Q: What do you mean by a supercomputer? How many super computers do we have?

Q: What is the difference between an LCD and an LED TV?

Q: What is the difference between the GSM and the CDMA technologies?

Q: What do you mean by biotechnology?

Questions on ecology and environment

Q: What do you understand by the Greenhouse Effect?

Q: What do you understand by global warming? What are its main causes?

Q: What are the harmful effects of global warming?

Q: What are the steps been taken by the Indian government to control global warming?

Q: What do you understand by the term carbon footprint?

Q: What are the carbon credits?

Q: What do you understand by the term eco tourism?

Q: What steps can be taken to stop the melting of glaciers?

Q: What is Kyoto protocol?

Q: What is a green building?

Social Issues

Q: Speak negatively for the Indian social system for 2 minutes?

Q: What are the reasons behind the crime against women in India?

Q: Do you think that the problems being faced by the women in the rural and urban areas are different?

Q: What do you understand gender neutrality? How can it be achieved?

Q: Do you think that the men and women have different abilities of handling a particular situation? Who is better in your opinion?

Q: Please tell us certain programs that have been started by the government of India for the upliftment of the women.

Q: What do you mean by universalisation of the elementary education? Critically comment on the role of private sector in the educational system of India.

Q: When it comes to the world class educational institutions, India is still lagging far behind. What are the reasons for this?

Q: What do you mean by the Human Development Index?

Q: Why is India at such a low rank in the HDI?

Q: What do you understand by consumerism? Is it good or bad for the country?

Q: What do you understand by westernization of the society? Is it good for the country?

Q: What is "Happiness Index"? How is it different from HDI?

Questions on foreign policy and India's relations with the world

Q: What are the major challenges the Indian foreign policy faces today?

Q: What should be India's priority areas in terms of foreign relations?

Q: What do you think are the areas where the Indian foreign policy needs to be reviewed?

Q: Do you feel that the current Indian foreign policy has remarkably diverted from the Nehruvian foreign policy? In your opinion is this shift a positive or a negative thing?

Q: Is the NAM relevant today?

Q: Is the SAARC relevant today?

Q: Can you suggest a solution to Kashmir problem?

Q: Should the line of control be transformed to the international boundary?

Q: What do you mean by Track 1 Track 2 and Track 3diplomacy?

Q: What steps should be taken to tackle the recent Chinese excursion at the Sino-Indian border?

Q: What is Look East Policy?

Q: What do you mean by Look West Policy?

Questions on defence and strategic framework

Q: What do you understand by the term geopolitics?

Q: Can you illustrate how the geo politics of the Indian subcontinent has its impact over India's foreign policy?

Q: What are the major challenges to the Indian maritime security?

Q: What steps should be taken to modernize our armed forces?

Q: What do you have to say about the recent accusation of corruption in the armed forces?

Q: Should private companies be included in the production of various defense requirements?

Q: Who is a field marshal?

Questions on Geography

Q: What is the total length of India's border?

Q: What is the total length of India's maritime boundary?

Q: How many islands does India have?

Q: What are the prospects of the wind power energy in India?

Q: How can India realize its complete hydel power potential?

Q: What are the opportunities and challenges provided by the unique climatic conditions in India?

Q: Can India be administered better if the states are based on the geographical divisions?

Questions on the judiciary

Q: What do you think is the primary cause for such a huge pendency of cases in India? Can you suggest some steps to reduce ii?

Q: What do you understand by the concept of the fast-track courts?

Q: What do you understand by the term rule of law?

Q: What do you understand by the term natural justice ?

Q: What do you understand by the term due process of law?

Q: What are the challenges being faced by the Indian judiciary today?

Q: What do you mean by the public interest litigation and who Introduced this concept to the Indian judicial system?

Q: Have the consumer courts been effective?

Q: What do you understand by the quasi judicial powers? In what authorities these powers are entrusted?

Questions on similar words and terms

Q: Can you differentiate between debate, speech, declamation and discussion?

Q: What is the difference between the All India Service and the Central Service?

Q: ls there any difference between the renewable energy and non conventional energy?

Q: Please differentiate between inflation, deflation and stagflation?

Q: What's the difference between recession and the economic slowdown?

Q: What is the difference between an epidemic and endemic?

Q: What is the difference between a militant and a terrorist?

Q; What is the difference between a high commissioner and an ambassador?

Q: What is the difference between the terms geostationary orbit and geosynchronous orbit?

Q: What is the difference between a copyright, a trademark and a patent?

Q: What is the difference between the twins and the clones?

Q: What is the difference between growth and development?

Q: Please differentiate between a biosphere reserve, a national park and wildlife century.

Q: What's the difference between the terms climate and weather?

Q: What is the difference between the rule of law and due process of law?

Q: What is the difference between the human rights and the fundamental rights?

Q: What is the difference between a leader and a manager?

Q: What is the difference between leadership, administration and management?

Q: What's the difference between recession and depression?

Q: What's the difference between FDI and Fll?

Q: What's the difference between cost push inflation and demand pull inflation?

Q: What is the difference between Economy and economics?

Q: What is the difference between Trade and commerce?

Q: What is the difference between Games and sports?

Q: What is the difference between Officer and official?

Q: What is the difference between a woman and a female?

Q: What is the difference between Marriage and wedding?

Q: What is the difference between Polity and politics?

Q: What is the difference between Geography and geology?

Q: What is the difference between Gadgets and Machines?

Q: What is the difference between Fashion and style?

Q: What is the difference between Drugs and Medicine?

Q: What is the difference between Plan, Programme and Policy?

Q: What is the difference between Accountability and Responsibility?

Q: What is the difference between Administration and Management?

Q: What is the difference between Author and Writer?

Q: What is the difference between Anonymous and unknown?

Q: What is the difference between Culture and civilization?

Q: What is the difference between values, morals & ethics?

Q: What is the difference between Leader & Manager?

Q: What is the difference between Government and governance?

Q: What is the difference between decentralization, delegation, devolution, deconcentration?

Q: What is the difference between Race and ethnicity?

Q: What is the difference between the plebiscite and the referendum?

Q: What is the difference between the civil services and public services?

Q: What is the difference between the naxalism and maoism?

Q: What is the difference between communalism and fundamentalism?

Weird questions

Q: What is so good about this morning?

Q: Why you selected a particular color tor your shirt for today?

Q: How many times you cross your tie to make a tie knot?

Q: If one square inch of your head contains1000 hair, then what is the approximate number of hair on your head?

Questions on general awareness

Q: What is the difference between Group 'B' service been recruited by the UPSC and a Group 'B' service being recruited by some other recruiting agency?

Q: What do you mean by meditation?

Q: What do you understand by yoga?

Q: Is there any difference between the yoga and meditation?

Q: What is 'classical' about classical music or classical dance or classical singing?

Q: What do you understand by white revolution, blue revolution, orange revolution, yellow revolution, pink revolution, rainbow revolution?

Q: What do you understand by the term medical tourism?

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