Name – Madhav Aggarwal
Date of interview: 9th January 2024, Morning, Last to go
Interview board: Lt. Gen. Raj Shukla Ji
Optional: Commerce & Accountancy
Professional qualification: CA & CFA
Work Experience: Audit and Taxation at a CA Firm
Home state: Madhya Pradesh (nothing asked)
Daf pointers: Played hockey at states level, Volunteering for organ donation awareness with an NGO, Leadership positions (Treasurer at Student Council in college, Head Boy of School), Fusion cooking
Chairperson (CP)
Where are you from?
He then mentioned that the external affairs minister said that now govt follows Sardar Patel’s ‘realism’ and not Nehru’s ‘idealism’. What is your take on this or where do you see this turn?
Where do you think Nehru was romantic or idealistic? (I said taking issue of Kashmir to UN)
CP said maybe at that time he must be thinking to avoid wars with neighbors and first focusing on developmental needs of the country. Do you think this must be going in his head? (I said yes sir true, only in hindsight we can say this in a post facto analysis)
Nehru chose NAM during cold war. What do you think about this, was he wise here or still idealistic? (I said he was wise here, we made a new 3rd path, strategic autonomy) CP added yes Nehru ji said we will milk both sides!
What about nuclear weapons, do you think its foundation was laid during Nehru ji era?
What are the 2 major contributions of Sardar Patel? (I said consolidation of India and then all India civil services)
Did he coin the term steel frame or just used the term steel frame for civil services? According to you why did he say so?
Meanwhile while smiling, CP asked me to be direct as time is less (maybe cuz the questions were such where context he knew and just wanted my pinpointed opinion)Then CP said I’ll pose you a difficult question, who do you think was a better leader among Nehru and Patel? (I said this is indeed difficult both have been good leaders in their spaces)
He then said but I’ll force you to choose one (Then I said as a leader I think Nehru ji was leading a diverse range of areas compared to Patel ji so according to me Nehruji was an overall better leader) Wait for the next bomb question
Then he said, who is a stronger PM among Indira Gandhi and Narendra Modi? (Again I said both were equally strong PMs in their eras. As of now as I’m more connected to the last decade wrt to events and also considering the condition of the economy/IR today, I think Mr. Modi is a stronger PM)
M1:
Fusion Cooking – what is this? (daf)
Nowadays, we are eating things from outside the region/country which is leading to health challenges. What is your take on this? (daf)
Organ donation status in India? highlight the procedural issues in particular? (daf)
Maybe I’m forgetting a few questions
What steps are being taken by India on Climate Change? (static)
M2 (lady member):
What is CFA level 3? How many levels? How will you use CFA in admin? (daf)
Situation-based question: Suppose you are in a ministry whose related industry is facing debt burden. A proposal has come to you where a cess can be applied to the products whose funds can be used for debt relief. Evaluate the same. (daf derived)
What should we give the fund as – as a grant or as a loan?
How will you apply this cess, and in which fund will it get accumulated? (she wanted to hear Consolidated Fund of India I suppose)?
What are the 3 funds and explain their uses? (static)
Should we increase the size of contingency fund of India? (static)
M3: (only cryptocurrency theme)
What is Cryptocurrency? (static, daf derived as money & commerce)
Procedure? How is it done (mining)?
Pros and cons?
Share market vs Crypto? (as I said volatility in the previous question)
M4:
What is the defense budget of India as a % of GDP? (random/static)
Arrange the Defence budget as % of GDP for India, US, China? (random)
I’ll give you some financial ratios – RoA, ROCE, ROE PE Ratio, Current Ratio, Debt-Equity Ratio. Tell me which one will be used by 1. Investor 2. Banker 3. Supplier (daf)
Have you done any audit? (work exp/daf)
Who is regulating audit profession? (work exp/daf)
Why NFRA was brought? (work exp/daf)
There is court judgment regarding NFRA vs ICAI in NCLT, are you aware? (related but random)
Post this chairperson said your interview is over, Thank you!