Dear Aspirants,

Congratulations!
IIM Lucknow family extends a hearty congratulation to all of you for making it this far in the
selection process. To help you prepare for the next leg of your journey and enter the gates of HelL,
Team Ignicion at IIM Lucknow presents to you PI KIT- 2021. This document contains domain-
specific information and past interview experiences that can help you ace the final round of the
admission process.
Reach out to us at
Email: ignicion@iiml.ac.in
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ignicion
Pagal Guy: https://www.pagalguy.com/iim-lucknow-2021-2023-call-getters-official

We wish you all the very best for your interviews and future endeavours!

Regards,
Team Ignicion
IIM Lucknow

Page | 1
 INDEX
Sr. Page
Topics
No. Number
1 How do you plan for the interview? 3
2 HR Questions 6
3 Interview tips 8
4 Consulting 9
5 Marketing 17
6 Economics (Including Budget 2021) 23
7 Finance 52
8 HR 64
9 Entrepreneurship 70
10 Operations 75
11 Product Management and Analytics 82
12 Agribusiness management 93
13 Sustainable Management 98
14 General (Including current affairs) 100
15 Past interview experiences 107

Page | 2
 HOW DO YOU STRATEGISE AND PLAN FOR YOUR INTERVIEW?
Firstly, you need to understand what a Personal Interview is all about.
What is more important than your CAT preparation? Your interview. An institute forms an opinion about
you as a person through a personal interview. It is a channel for the institute to get to know you better as a
person and also to judge if you fit into their institute. Thus, knowing yourself is the most important part of
your preparation.
The panel does not expect you to know all the answers. They are more interested in clarity of thought with
regard to what you have accomplished so far.
The focus of your interview can range from specific questions about academics or job to broader questions
about your life, personality and hobbies. Do your homework well. You should have a well thought and
practiced answer for questions that are commonly asked in any interview.

PILLARS OF INTERVIEW PREPARATION

1. Personality Based Questions

• These questions are asked to understand if you are a good fit in the institute and if your views
and personality matches the institute’s culture. These are general questions about one’s
personality and hence it is not acceptable if you cannot answer these questions. There is no
right or wrong answer when it comes to answering personality-based questions. It is more
about understanding your clarity of thoughts. What is important is to have a consistency
through all your answers and thus it is advisable to be honest with your answers.
• It is important to know yourself to answer questions like strengths and weaknesses, long-term
and short-term goals, Why MBA, etc. Avoid answering ‘I don’t have any weaknesses’ as it
shows lack of self-awareness. Thus, introspection is the key to answering these questions.
• While answering questions about your personality, try supplementing it with an example or a
short incident that justifies a particular trait.

2. Academics

• Academics is something you cannot let go off even if you have been working. You are still
supposed to remember important details from your graduation. As for freshers, this is one
area that your interview will largely be based on. You need not study everything all over
again. The panel also does not expect you to study 4 years in 4 weeks all over again. What
they expect to know is if you have understood the concepts from graduation well. Hence,
ensure that you are thorough with the basics of what you have studied so far. Also, it is
important to understand the practicality of the subjects you have studied so far.
• Tip: Prepare for your favourite subject in depth; Have an explanation ready for why it is your
favourite subject.

Page | 3
3. Work-Experience

• For candidates with work experience, majority of your interview will revolve around what your
role is at work. Work profile, the assignments you have worked on and also a little history and
recent developments in your organisation will form major portion of the questioning in this
bucket. You also need to prepare well for examples showcasing your leadership skills at work
as well as team work.
• Prepare well on the industry and the current market scenario of the industry you are employed
in. An in-depth information of your employer, processes, businesses, structure, financial
figures is important along with the knowledge of your competitors and their strategies.
• Also, highlight any work achievements, how you accomplished it, what it taught you, etc.

4. Extra-Curriculars

• Any institute wants a well-rounded individual. Extra-curriculars show how balanced an

individual is. Show the interviewer that you are interested in things apart from your academics
and work.
• Talk about positions of responsibilities held by you and major learnings, challenges, teamwork
and leadership opportunities.
• When talking about your hobbies, try to show how you have consistently tried to be better at
your hobby. The interviewer will expect in-depth of knowledge about your hobby.
• Let’s evaluate a scenario, say your hobby is swimming. The interviewer will expect you to know
the dimensions of an Olympic swimming pool, the volume of water in it, the number of lanes
in the pool, the number and names of events in the Olympics, top international and national
players.
• Build your answers about your hobby keeping this in mind.

5. General Awareness:

• Static GK - Any institute wants a candidate who is aware. You are expected to have knowledge
about politics, civics, history and geography. Don’t be surprised if the interviewer asks you the
number of seats in Lok Sabha.
• Current affairs - This is the most feared area of most candidates. Try to read as much as you
can. Making summaries of notes is also very important. We have compiled a list of important
current affairs over the past few months. (This is not an exhaustive list; with current affairs it
never is!)

6. Abstract:

• Be prepared for anything, this pillar is for absolutely anything.

Page | 4
 • The interviewer can ask you to solve a puzzle, give you real life situations or test your analytical
skills by giving you a guesstimate.
• You will need to think quickly so be fresh and attentive.

So now that you know about the pillars, create a story linking all the pillars. Keep updating this is as you
give more interviews. Reflect about your life, your goals and your passion as much as you can to create
unique answers.

Page | 5
 HR QUESTIONS
• Tell me something about yourself.
• Tell me something that is not on your CV.
• Introduce yourself in 30 seconds.
• Why MBA?
• Why IIM Lucknow?
• Why do you want to do marketing/finance/consulting/operations?
• What are the 3 most important events of your life?
• What was an experience in your life that you would want to go back and change?
• Which one word would describe you the best?
• Use 3 adjectives to describe yourself.
• What are your short-term/long-term goals?
• How would your friends describe you?
• What do success and failure mean to you?
• Who is your role model (both family and non-family)? Why?
• What are your hobbies?
• What are your reasons to join an MBA program this year?
• Give an example where you had displayed commendable leadership skills.
• Are you a team player? Give an instance.
• What other calls do you have? If you convert X institute, would you still choose our institute over
X?
• Which discipline in MBA interests you the most? Cite some examples why you think you might be
a good fit for that discipline.
• Tell me five unique things about your hometown.
• Are you a hard worker or a smart worker?
• Why do you want to join this institute? What, according to you, makes this institute unique?
• Why should we select you given that there are thousands of similar applicants like you?
• What is the major setback that you have faced so far in your life? What did you learn from it?
• Did you ever face any ethical dilemma while you were working? How did you manage to deal with
it?
• The candidate before you was a national level sportsperson. We believe he/she would bring in more
diversity at our institute. Give us 3 reasons why we should still select you.
• Give us 3 reasons not to select you
• What is your contingency plan if you do not get selected in this interview?
• We do not believe that extracurricular involvement is reason enough to justify your low grades.
What do you have to say?
• How important do you feel is social responsibility nowadays?
• Why did you quit your job?
• Justification for year gap, if any

Page | 6
• Did you hold a significant position of responsibility at your college? What did it teach you?
• State 5 of your strengths and your weaknesses each? Why do you think XYZ (particular
characteristic) to be a strength/weakness? How have you handled it in the past? If not faced, how
will you handle a scenario (based on your weakness) in future?
• Your passion and why?
• International Trends in management domains
• Tell us about your family business, the industry, your contribution? How will MBA help to scale it
further?
• If you have a family business you will not sit for placements or leave the job at an early stage. Why
should we choose you over a student who will sit for the placements and be a future recruiter?
• What do you know about the political conditions of your hometown?
• What are the famous things (food, clothes, monuments, etc) of your village/ city/ state and
Lucknow?
• Last book you read, details about it- author, last line said by the protagonist, other books by the
same author?
• News Headlines
• Describe the roles and responsibilities, and a project that I was working at that time in the firm.
• Work Ex related question - As you are already working as a Consultant at Deloitte, what would you
gain from joining IIM Lucknow. Why PGDM?
• Tell me 3 things that you learned from your job.
• What other calls have you got?
• Mention few things that you should not do in workplace.
• Long term and short-term goal
• Why switch from x to y sector?
• Mention few aspects that you bring to the table if you are selected.
• What value can you add to the class?
• List three things that you like about my home town
• What are the added advantages that a manager with technical background can provide?
• Why IIM Lucknow should take you in PGP program?
• After MBA, job or Entrepreneurship?
• What would you do if you don’t get selected?
• If given a chance what would you do differently in this interview?
• Tell me about an accomplishment that you are proud of?
• Tell me about a time when you made a mistake and what did you learn from it?
• What has been your biggest failure?
• What motivates you?
• How do you handle pressure?
• What makes you uncomfortable?
• What questions do you have for me?

Page | 7
 INTERVIEW TIPS
• Always prepare some good questions to ask the interviewer. These should not be about how your
interview went or placement statistics. Instead, focus on the learning opportunities, electives
available, research possibilities if you are interested etc. Treat it as an opportunity to show your
interest and knowledge about the course to the interviewer.
• Any interview is a conversation, so be as natural as possible. Be confident, smile a bit, speak with
conviction and do not come across as wooden or boring. Don’t be arrogant or overconfident, it
will negate all the good things you do.
• The faculty is interviewing hundreds of candidates. You need to build on your story and
differentiate yourself from them and give the interviewers a reason to pick you.
• Go through the website of IIM Lucknow and try to get an overview of the course structure and
general information about the institute.
• Have a good knowledge about the state/city you hail from and Lucknow, especially the current
affairs.
• Everything you say should be backed up what you say with good relevant examples. Your story
should be complete and cohesive.
• Do not go to the interview with a fixed mindset. Your interview may be nothing like what we have
described above. It is always important for you to keep a cool head and think clearly. Your attitude
and poise in the interview are as important, if not more, than what you know or do not know.
• Get a good sleep before your interview. BEING CALM DURING THE INTERVIEW IS OF
UTMOST IMPORTANCE.
• Know your CV like the back of your hand
• Keep your composure; sometimes interviewers might try to rattle you up by asking uncomfortable
questions just to test your mettle
• If you don’t know the answer, try taking an educated guess or say you don’t know/remember. Do
not try to beat around the bush. Ex) Sir, honestly, I have never heard of this term but when I get
back, I will definitely make sure I read about it.
• Keep a track of the time and don’t make good morning/good afternoon greeting mistakes. It
reflects your presence of mind.

Page | 8
CONSULTING AND STRATEGY CLUB
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrq83R9MiXbuChoqGqGpIWQ
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/consulting-and-strategy-club-iim-
lucknow/posts/?feedView=all
App Link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.csc1.myapplicationi

Page | 9
Consulting - An Introduction:
• Consulting is the branch of management that deals in providing expertise to businesses and
organizations to solve typical problems related to domains such as growth, strategy, operational
excellence, etc. Consulting means “engaged in the business of giving expert advice to people
working in a specific field.” In other words, a consultant is somebody who gives advice to a specific
group of people. The true meaning of consulting is helping people solve problems and move
from their current state to their desired state.
• There are three main reasons people decide to bring in outside advice:
o They are simply unable to figure it out or get to their desired state on their own.
o They have a general idea, but they want to get there faster.
o They want to save time and effort by following an efficient, proven system.
• The three main categories of consulting:
o Management Consulting: It is what most people think of when someone says “consulting.”
This field is dominated by large firms like McKinsey & Co., Bain & Co., and Boston Consulting
Group, which are hired to help enterprise businesses improve strategy and operations or
manage significant business events like mergers and acquisitions.
o Corporate Consulting: Category of corporate consulting covers a massive spectrum of job
descriptions and focuses. This is a catch-all category that includes in-house consulting services,
implementation teams, B2B consulting businesses, and a host of other things.
o Independent Consulting: Done by professionals who have developed expertise in an area, they
choose to build and run their own business around that knowledge rather than continuing as
an employee.

Consulting as a Career: You will develop business acumen over a multitude of industries by solving the
most pressing and complex problems faced by companies. The learning curve is very steep since you work
with the best of the best and interact with top management very often. It helps build a structured thought
process and superior analytic mindset. (Prepare a why consulting answer based on your goals.)

Consulting firms: McKinsey & Co., Boston Consulting Group, Bain & Co, Kearney, Mastercard Advisors,
KPMG, EY, Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers.

What is Strategy:
Strategy is a set of goal-directed actions a firm takes to gain and sustain superior performance relative to
competitors. A good strategy consists of 3 elements:
o A diagnosis of the competitive challenge
o A guiding policy to address the competitive challenge
o A set of coherent actions to implement the firm’s guiding policy.

Page | 10
What is competitive advantage?
• Competitive advantage is always relative, not absolute. To assess competitive advantage, we
compare firm performance to a benchmark — that is, either the performance of other firms in the
same industry or an industry average.
• A firm that achieves superior performance relative to other competitors in the same industry or the
industry average has a competitive advantage.
• Strategy is about creating superior value, while containing the cost to create it. Managers achieve
this combination of value and cost through strategic positioning. That is, they stake out a unique
position within an industry that allows the firm to provide value to customers, while controlling
costs. The greater the difference between value creation and cost, the greater the firm’s economic
contribution and the more likely it will gain competitive advantage.
• Sustainable competitive advantage: A firm that is able to outperform its competitors or the
industry average over a prolonged period of time.
• Competitive disadvantage: Under performance relative to other competitors in the same industry
or the industry average.
• Competitive parity: Situation when two or more firms perform at the same level.

Problems solved by a Consultant

• Guesstimates: Consultants are required to make educated estimates about the size of a problem
or the impact of a strategy, etc. using their logical ability, general knowledge and problem specific
learnings (garnered through extensive research and asking good questions).
• Profitability: Case, wherein, the client is facing an unexpected drop in profits in the recent past.
Frameworks/Techniques
o Identifying revenue sources and cost centres
o Systematic analysis of revenue and cost levers
o Competitor benchmarking
o Value chain analyses
• Market Entry: Case, wherein, the client requires assistance or advice in deciding whether to make
an investment in a new market.
Frameworks/Techniques
o PESTEL analysis
o SWOT analysis
o Porter’s 5 forces
o Quantitative estimation of market attractiveness
• Mergers and Acquisitions: Case, wherein, the client seeks advice on whether to execute a strategic
merger or acquisition.
Frameworks/Techniques
o Estimate standalone value of the firm to be acquired
o Analyse revenue and cost synergies arising due to the merger/acquisition
o Study the capabilities of the acquiring firm to execute the merger/acquisition

Page | 11
PESTEL Framework: The PESTEL model groups the factors in the firm’s general environment into six
segments and provides a way to scan, monitor, and evaluate the important external
factors and trends.
• Political: Focus on how and to what degree a government intervenes in the economy by analysing
government policies, political stability or instability in overseas markets, foreign trade policies, tax
policies, labour laws, environmental laws, trade restrictions and so on.
• Economic: Economic factors in a firm’s external environment are largely macroeconomic,
affecting economy-wide phenomena. Managers need to consider how the following five
macroeconomic factors can affect firm strategy:
• Growth rates. Levels of employment. Interest rates. Price stability (inflation and deflation).
Currency exchange rates.
• Social: Also known as socio-cultural factors, are the areas that involve the shared belief and
attitudes of the population. These factors include – population growth, age distribution, health
consciousness, career attitudes and so on. These factors are of particular interest as they have a
direct effect on how marketers understand customers and what drives them.
• Technological: We all know how fast the technological landscape changes and how this impacts
the way we market our products. Technological factors affect marketing and the management
thereof in three distinct ways:
• New ways of producing goods and services
• New ways of distributing goods and services
• New ways of communicating with target markets

Page | 12
 • Legal: These factors have both external and internal sides. There are certain laws that affect the
business environment in a certain country while there are certain policies that companies maintain
for themselves. Legal analysis takes into account both of these angles and then charts out the
strategies in light of these legislation. For example, consumer laws, safety standards, labour laws,
etc
• Environmental: These factors include all those that influence or are determined by the
surrounding environment. Factors of a business environmental analysis include but are not limited
to climate, weather, geographical location, global changes in climate, environmental offsets, etc.

Industry Structure and Firm Strategy: The Five Forces Model

• Used for industry analysis. It is used to check the lucrativeness and the general trend in the industry.
This is to help managers understand the profit potential of different industries and how they can
position their respective firms to gain and sustain competitive advantage.
• Porter’s model identifies five key competitive forces that managers need to consider when analysing
the industry environment and formulating competitive strategy:
o Threat of entry: The threat of new entrants to the market determines the sustainability of
estimated market share. It is evaluated in terms of market entry barriers which may be in the
form of high fixed cost, product differentiation etc.
o Power of suppliers: A competitive market with limited suppliers brings with its high level of
bargaining power of suppliers.
o Power of buyers: Multiple products of same category gives the buyers an advantage in
bargaining, thus high bargaining power of buyers exists in multi-brand products. Five forces
analysis helps organizations to understand the factors affecting profitability in a specific
industry and can help to inform decisions relating to: whether to enter a specific industry;
whether to increase capacity in a specific industry; and developing competitive strategies
o Threat of substitutes: There is always a threat of substitute products replacing the existing
product(s) of a firm. Substitutes could lead to obsolescence.
o Rivalry among existing competitors: Existing rivalry between firms can take a firm’s profits
to zero and may lead to shut down (ex. During price wars). In a competitive environment,
firm’s decision is highly influenced by what the competitors do.

SWOT Analysis:
• This enables to evaluate a firm’s current situation and future prospects by simultaneously
considering internal and external factors. The SWOT analysis encourages managers to scan the
internal and external environments, looking for any relevant factors that might affect the firm’s
current or future competitive advantage.
• The focus is on internal and external factors that can affect—in a positive or negative way—the
firm’s ability to gain and sustain a competitive advantage. To facilitate a SWOT analysis, managers

Page | 13
 use a set of strategic questions that link the firm’s internal environment to its external environment
to derive strategic implications.

• Strategy requires you to make trade-offs in competing - to choose what not to do. Strategy also
requires creating a “fit” among company activities. Fit has to do with the ways a company’s activities
interact and reinforce one another. The activities of the company should not seem to contradict
with one another.
• The strategic management process helps company leaders assess their company's present situation,
chalk out strategies, deploy them and analyses the effectiveness of the implemented strategies. The
strategic management process involves analysing cross-functional business decisions prior to
implementing them.

BCG Matrix
• The quadrant matrix developed by Boston Consulting Group in the early 1960s is used to plan
market strategies. Growth rate is determined by reference to market research, or it can be estimated.

Page | 14
• “Competitive position” includes an assessment of the firm’s overall market penetration and
profitability compared to the other players in that market. Products are then positioned in the four
cells as shown in the figure.
o Cash Cows: Large Market Share in a mature industry. Requires little investment.
o Star: Larger Market Share in a growing industry. May require investment to maintain the lead.
o Question Marks: Small Market Share in a growing market. Requires focus and resources.
o Dog: Small Market Share in a mature industry. Little prospect for gain.

Page | 15
Page | 16
 PI PREP:
MARKETING

PRiSM: The Marketing Cell

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/prism.iiml
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prism.iimlucknow/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/prismiimlucknow/

Page | 17
SALES V/S MARKETING
MARKETING:
“Marketing is the social process by which individuals and organizations obtain what they need and want
through creating and exchanging value with others.”– Philip Kotler
SALES:
Sales is the act of transfer or exchange of a commodity for money or another commodity and involves a
minimum of two people - buyer and seller.

MARKETING OVER THE YEARS

Until the 1950’s
A firm focused on a production orientation specializes in producing as much as possible of a given product
or service. Thus, this signifies the firm exploiting economies of scale until the minimum efficient scale is
reached.
Until the 1960’s
A firm employed a product orientation chiefly concerned with the quality of its own product. A firm would
also assume that if its product was of a high standard, people would buy and consume the product.

Page | 18
1950’s and 1960’s
A firm used a sales orientation focuses primarily on the selling/promotion of a particular product, and not
determining new consumer desires as such. Consequently, this entailed simply selling an already existing
product, and using promotion techniques to attain the highest sales possible.
1970s to the present day.
The ‘marketing orientation’ is perhaps the most common orientation used in contemporary marketing. It
involves a firm essentially basing its marketing plans around the marketing concept, thus supplying products
to suit new consumer tastes.
Everything matters in marketing
21st century the holistic marketing concept looks at marketing as a complex activity and acknowledges that
everything matters in marketing and a broad and integrated perspective is necessary in developing, designing
and implementing marketing programs and activities

IMPORTANT CONCEPTS OF MARKETING:

STP (Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning)

Segmentation This involves dividing the market into segments. This can be based upon various
criteria upon which we can classify groups of people who can buy the product.
E.g., Market for cars can be classified income wise, i.e., a group of people who can
afford a 1 lakh car, some people can afford a 5-lakh car and some 20 lakhs and so
on.
Targeting This involves deciding which group of the market we are targeting, i.e., for whom
are we creating this product/service?
Positioning This involves positioning the product/service based on the target market. So, with
the positioning per a target segment, the product will attract that set of customers.

Page | 19
MARKETING MIX:

7Ps OF MARKETING:
• Product — This signifies the product or the service the company is bringing to the market, its key
features, its USP’s (Unique Selling propositions).
• Place — This signifies the placement of the product/service. It includes where the product will be
visible to the consumers and where they can buy it.
• Price — This signifies the pricing strategy of the product. It includes at what price point the
product/service will be sold to the target segment.
• Promotion — This involves the strategy with which the company will attract customers and
promote its product in various media (print, TV, social).
• People — The ‘people’ element of the 7Ps involves anyone directly, or indirectly, involved in the
business-side of the enterprise. People who are involved in selling a product or service, designing
it, managing teams, representing customers etc.
• Process — This includes the delivery of your service in front of the customer. It basically talks
about the ‘ease of doing business’ and repeatedly delivering the same standard of service.
• Physical Evidence — Physical evidence often takes two forms: evidence that a service or purchase
took place and proof or confirmation of the existence of your brand. Physical evidence brings a
brand to the forefront of the game, and set it apart from your competitors by showing you as
professional, authentic and informed.

IMPORTANT TERMINOLOGIES:
• B2C marketing
• B2B marketing
Page | 20
 • Digital and Social Media Marketing
• Guerrilla Marketing

PUSH VS PULL MARKET:

PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE

Page | 21
SOME BASIC QUESTIONS ON MARKETING
• What is marketing?
• What is Sales?
• What is the difference between marketing and sales?
• What is the difference between a consumer and a customer?
• What is a brand?
• Define STP?
• Name your favourite brand and its positioning
• What are the 4 Ps of Marketing?
• What are the 7 Ps of Marketing?
• Give an example of the 4 Ps
• What is Porter's 5 Forces?
• What is Porter's 5 Forces used for?
• What is Holistic Marketing?
• What is SEO?
• How does SEO work?
• What is digital marketing?
• How do you measure the performance of digital marketing?
• What is the Product life cycle?
• What was the impact of COVID-19 on marketing?
• What are some emerging trends in Marketing?
• What is the importance of marketing?
• Give examples of how some brands reacted to COVID-19?
• Do you think COVID-19 has changed marketing forever?
• What is the difference between a product and a service?
• What is the difference between B2B and B2C?
• What is the marketing strategy of your company?
• What is your favourite advertisement and why?

Page | 22
 PI PREP:
ECONOMICS

PUBLIC POLICY CLUB

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ppciiml/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ppciiml
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/public-policy-club-iim-lucknow-050898191/

Page | 23
Economics
Economics is the social science which deals with prioritization of options available by individuals, society
and government for using the scarce resources to meet the various needs of life.

Microeconomics
Microeconomics is the branch of economics which deals with decisions made by individuals to use the
resources, interactions between the individuals for utilization and distribution of the scarce resources.

Macroeconomics
Macroeconomics is another branch of economics which deals with the aggregate behaviour of the economy
(regional, national or global) in terms of performance parameters such as inflation, GDP, national income,
price levels etc.

Types of economies:
• Capitalist Economy: It is the economy where the decisions about what to produce, how much to
produce and the price at which to sell is solely taken by the market or the private enterprises in the
system and the state has no economic role. This concept was originated in the famous work of
Adam Smith- The Wealth of Nations (1776).
• State Economy: It is the economy where the decision w.r.t production, distribution, supply and
price is solely taken by the state.
• Mixed Economy: It is the economy where some elements of the economy are controlled by the
state and the rest of the elements are regulated by the market. In other way, it can be said that it is
the combination of capitalist economy and state economy.

The Game of Demand and Supply:

• Demand curve: Relationship between the quantity of a good that consumers are willing to buy
and the price of the good. Influencing factors: Income, price of other goods, tastes and preferences.
• Supply curve: Relationship between the quantity of a good that producers are willing to sell and
the price of the good.

The quantity that producers are willing to sell depends not only on the price they receive but also on their
production costs, including wages, interest charges, and the costs of raw materials.
Aggregate demand is the total demand for goods and services in an economy.
Aggregate supply is the total supply of goods and services in an economy.

Page | 24
Market equilibrium:

Money
Is anything that can perform the following functions that can serve as a medium of exchange, as a store of
value, as a unit of account and a standard of deferred payment.

National income and related terms

• National Income: Income of the Nation can be calculated in four ways: GDP, NDP, GNP, NNP,
which is also a subject in ‘National Income Accounting’.
• GDP: Gross Domestic Product is the value of all the final goods and services produced within the
boundary of the nation during the period of one year. It is the summation of national private
consumption, gross investment, government spending and trade balance.
• NDP: Net Domestic Product (NDP) is the GDP minus the depreciation of the goods and services
produced.
• GNP: Gross National Product is the summation of the GDP of a nation and the income of the
nation from outside of the nation. GNP indicates both the quantitative and qualitative aspect of
the economy.
• NNP: Net National Product (NNP) is the GNP minus the depreciation of the economy. Price
fluctuations and terms:
• Inflation: Inflation is the quantitative measure of the increase in the general price level of goods
and services which results in the decreasing of the purchasing power per unit of a currency.
• Deflation: In economics, deflation is a decrease in the general price level of goods and services.
Deflation occurs when the inflation rate falls below 0%.
• Stagflation: Stagflation is the situation of an economy when inflation and unemployment both are
at higher levels that is opposite to the conventional situation. The conventional belief is that a trade-
off exists between inflation and unemployment rate according to Phillips Curve.

Page | 25
 • GDP Deflator: It is the measure of price behaviour. It is the ratio of GDP at current price and
GDP at a constant price.
• Recession: Is a period during which aggregate output declines. Two consecutive quarters of
decrease in output signal a recession.
• Depression: A prolonged and deep recession becomes a depression.

Types of policies:
• Fiscal Policy: The policy in which the nation’s economy is regulated and monitored by
government’s adjustment in spending and taxation.
• Monetary Policy: The policy in which price stability and money supply and inflation rate
regulation is taken by the central bank of a country to achieve the macroeconomic objectives.
• Growth Policies: These are government policies that focus on stimulating aggregate supply
instead of aggregate demand.

Ratios and rates:

• Cash Reserve Ratio: Cash Reserve Ratio is the mandatory percentage of share a bank has to keep
with the Reserve Bank of India in liquid cash to combat the inflation and keep the liquidity in
check
• Statutory Liquidity Ratio: Statutory Liquidity Ratio is the share of a bank’s deposits kept with
RBI in the form of Liquid assets to ensure bank’s solvency and money flow in the economy.
• Bank Rate: Based on the monetary policies, commercial banks can borrow loans from banks
from the central bank. The interest rate charged by the RBI on these types of loans and advances
to the banks is known as bank rate.
• Repo Rate: Repo rate is the interest rate at which RBI lends money to the banks for short term.
With the help of Repo Rate, RBI can regulate the inflation and liquidity of the economy of the
country.
• Reverse Repo Rate: Reverse Repo Rate is the rate at which commercial banks give loans to the
RBI. Reverse Repo Rate helps to regulate the money supply in the economy.
• Marginal Standing Facility Rate: The rate at which the scheduled banks can borrow funds
overnight from RBI against government securities.

Budget terms:
• Fiscal Deficit: The fiscal deficit is the difference between the total revenue and total expenditure
of the government. When a government’s total expenditure exceeds total revenue, excluding any
external borrowings it is termed as fiscal deficit
• Surcharge: This is an additional tax or charge which is levied on a tax. It is calculated on payable
tax, not on income generated.

Page | 26
 • Revenue deficit: When the government’s net income is less than the projected net income, a
revenue deficit occurs. It is a key indicator to determine whether the government is overspending
from its regular income.
• Capital expenditure: It is the fund used for development, buying or acquiring fixed assets that
may incur gains in the long run.
• Revenue expenditure: This is the expenditure that does not result in the creation of any fixed
assets. Subsidies and interest payments come under the revenue expenditure.
• Direct Taxes: The tax amount levied directly on individual or organization’s income or property
by the imposing body. It is based on the principle of ability-to-pay, which means the entity with
more resources have to pay more amount of tax. Examples of Direct Taxes is income tax, wealth
tax, property tax, corporate tax etc.
• Indirect Taxes: It is the tax collected by an intermediary and paid to the government by passing
the tax burden on the consumer buying that good or service. It is the tax imposed on the goods
and services instead on a person or organization’s income, earning or property. Examples of
Indirect tax: Value Added Tax, Custom Duty, Service Tax.
• Good and Service Tax: It is a destination based indirect tax that is imposed on the value addition
at each stage till final sale to the consumer. It has replaced many indirect taxes in India. The Goods
and Services are divided into five tax slabs for the collection of the tax: 0%, 5%, 12%, 18% and
28%.
• Transfer payments: Payments made by the government to people who do not supply goods,
services, or labour in exchange for these payments.

Exchange rate:
The price of one country’s currency in relation to another country’s currency.
• Floating (or flexible) exchange rate: when two countries agree to let international market forces
of supply and demand determine their exchange rate. It fluctuates depending on exports and
imports of a country.
• Fixed exchange rate: When two countries agree to keep their exchange, rates fixed through use
of monetary policy.

Page | 27
CURRENT AFFAIRS AND ECONOMIC NEWS:

1. RELIGION AS A TOOL OF SOFT POWER DIPLOMACY

Why in news?
A virtual exhibition on the shared Buddhist heritage of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)
countries was launched by India’s Vice-President during the virtual meeting of the SCO Council of Heads
of Government.

More about news

• This online international exhibition is curated by the National Museum, Delhi.
• This exhibition provides an opportunity for visitors to access, appreciate and compare Buddhist art
antiquities from SCO countries on a single platform and from the comfort of their home.

Soft power
• Soft power is the ability to affect others to obtain the outcomes one wants through attraction rather
than coercion or payment. A country's soft power rests on its resources of culture, values, and
policies.
• Soft power as a tool for foreign policy was conceptualized by Joseph Nye in the 1990s.
• Religion, cuisine, music, art, Bollywood etc. are India’s various tools for soft power diplomacy.

Importance of religion in India’s soft power diplomacy

• India's religious diversity is its biggest strength:
o India is fortunate to have all the major religions of the world. Four are homegrown: Hinduism,
Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. Four came from outside: Zoroastrianism, Judaism,
Christianity and Islam.
o Also, unlike any other religion-based countries, people of various sects and religions live
peacefully.
o This adds to the incentives for the religiously minded people living across the globe to have a
positive attitude towards India.
• Role in its policy:
o India’s Look East Policy is being built up by emphasizing India’s historical links with
Buddhism.
o India has sought membership to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on the
grounds that it has the 2nd largest Muslim population in the world.
o Reputation for being a safe haven for Jews at a time of their prosecution in their native lands
provides the foundation to strong India Israel relationship.
• Religious diplomacy has been integral to India’s tradition:

Page | 28
 o The principle of “VASUDHAIVA KUTUMBAKAM ('the whole world is but one family) was
enshrined in Maha Upanishad. Ashoka sent Buddhist Missionaries to far off places such as
Ceylon, Egypt, Macedonia, Tibet, etc.
o The address of Chicago Parliament of Religions in 1893 by Swami Vivekananda brought the
much-needed recognition and respect for India particularly its culture and traditions.
• Religion is a cohesive bond for Indian subcontinent:
Various religions of India help it to connect with all the neighbouring countries. Thus, religions
provide south Asia its unique identity.

What are the challenges being faced by India in projecting itself as a leader in religious soft power
diplomacy?
• China is emerging as a competitor: In recognition of the potential that Buddhism holds in the
area of diplomacy, China has made it a crucial part of its soft power strategy for the continent. The
Chinese state promotes the religion on the grounds of its historical association, and the fact that it
also possesses the largest Buddhist population of any country in the world. It is also working
through different projects (such as the US $ 3 Billion Lumbini project in Nepal) to woo countries
having a significant amount of Buddhist population through its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)
projects.
• Structural loopholes in the efforts to propagate India’s culture: The performance of the Indian
Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), with centres in about 35 countries and aimed at promoting
Indian culture, has been lackadaisical. India has failed to build its brand value abroad. These centres
are still aimed at the diaspora (like Caribbean, South Africa), ignoring strategic and growing
relationships with other countries and regions.
• Strict visa rules: In South Asia, citizens of only Nepal, Bhutan, and Maldives are eligible for visa-
free travel to India. This acts as a hurdle in leveraging India’s enormous cultural assets and religious
heritage by reviving intra-regional tourism flows.

What India should do to make its religious soft power diplomacy effective?
• Needs to have a people centric approach for leveraging religious diversity: Satyagraha based
on non- violence propagated by Mahatma Gandhi reached across the globe without any support of
British Indian government. Similarly, Yoga, Meditation, Indian Classical Music and Indian
spirituality was accepted by youth in western countries during 1960’s Hippie movement without
any active role of the Indian government.
• Soft Power dissemination should be neutral: There should not be any reference to our interests
while propagating our civilization and cultural heritage. This is because using Soft Power to achieve
specific goals is a contradiction in terms and can be counter-productive.
• Economic vibrancy must be maintained and enhanced as soft power assets per se do not translate
into policy gains. For example, despite having strong religious linkages with countries in Indian
Ocean region, (India’s relations with these countries are affected negatively due to the growing clout
of China. A vibrant economy would help India counter China’s development projects under its
BRI.
Page | 29
 • Celebrating values of other countries: One way of winning hearts and minds is to celebrate the
values of others. ICCR’s objective is to not only promote Indian culture abroad but also make
Indians aware of other cultures. Care has to be taken that this is done without even a hint of
condescension or patronizing.

Conclusion: Religious tolerance and secular values provide India an edge in global diplomacy particularly
over China. In the saga of Buddhist soft power diplomacy, China will be struggling because of its treatments
of Tibetan Buddhist during Cultural Revolution and the occupation of the territory. Treatment to Uighur
Muslims will make it difficult for China to win the hearts and minds of Islam followers.

2. BREXIT TRADE DEAL

Why in news?
The United Kingdom and the European Union have agreed to a post-Brexit free trade deal i.e. The EU-UK
Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), sealing the UK's exit from the bloc.
Background
• Brexit - or "British exit" - refers to the process of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the
European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community.
• Following a referendum in 2016, Britain became the first country to leave the EU in January 2020
after which an 11-month transition period was kicked-in in accordance with the withdrawal
agreement.
• The UK and European Union have finally agreed a deal that will define their future relationship.
Major provisions of the deal
• Goods trade: The trade deal does not impose any tariffs or quotas on goods traded between the
EU and UK, however, British exporters will have to contend with new regulatory hurdles which
will make it costlier to do business with Europe.
• Level Playing Field: The EU and UK have both agreed to uphold their environmental, social,
labour and tax transparency standards.
• Disputes: Any disputes on the trade between the two parties are subject to negotiation by both
but EU courts will have no say in the matter.
• Professional services: There will no longer be automatic mutual recognition of professional
qualifications.
• Agriculture: Agricultural products would not be subject to tariffs or quotas; however, shippers
would face new challenges and higher costs as a result of new border requirements.
• Law: There will be cooperation between the EU and the UK, especially in cases of investigating
terrorism and other serious crime. Exchange of DNA, fingerprint and airline passenger information
is allowed under the new deal.

Page | 30
 • Mobility or freedom of movement: UK nationals no longer have the freedom to work, study,
start a business or live in the EU. Visas will be required for stays over 90 days.

Impact on India
• Brexit will create both opportunities and challenges for India. However, India may emerge as a net
gainer from the Brexit deal.
• Services Sector: In sectors such as IT, R&D, architecture and financial services, India may gain in
both the markets but particularly in the UK. For example, in the IT sector, India’s competitor in
the EU, particularly in the lower segment of services, is Poland. Now, because Poland will have
restrictions on the free movement of professionals, that may be to the advantage of India.
• Indian exporters who were catering to the EU and UK markets will not have the challenge of
meeting different standards and registrations for the markets.
• Trade Deals: Brexit also opens the opportunity for India to sign trade deals separately with both
the EU and the UK. Negotiations for a comprehensive Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement
between India and the EU (including the UK) was called off in 2013 after both sides failed to
reconcile differences. A well-negotiated bilateral trade deal between the UK and India has the
potential to increase bilateral trade by 26%.
• Barriers for Indian manufacturers: Indian companies who have based their headquarters either
in the UK or the EU to serve both the markets may face some challenges. These include restrictions
on the movement of professionals, reaching rules of origin thresholds for zero tariffs, ensuring the
correct regulatory approvals for the final products, and potential delays at borders.
India, UK and EU: Trade Relations
• UK is India’s 14th largest trade partner and trade between India and UK touched $15.5 billion with
a $2 billion trade surplus in favour of India. The UK is the third-largest source of foreign direct
investment in India and India is now the second largest investor in the UK economy.
• The EU is India’s 3rd largest regional trading partner while India was the EU’s 9th largest trading
partner in 2018-19. India’s overall bilateral trade with the European Union for the period 2018-19
was 115.64 USD billion. The EU continued to be one of the largest sources of FDI for India and
India is among the few nations in the world that run a surplus in services trade with the EU.
• There are about 800 Indian-owned companies in the UK employing roughly 110,000 people. (E.g.:
Jaguar Land Rover is owned by the Tata group). Many of these firms made investments with the
wider European market in mind.
• Together, the UK and Europe account for over-a-quarter of the country’s IT exports, worth around
$30bn.

Page | 31
 3. 3 CAPITALS FOR ANDHRA PRADESH

Why in News?
As per the Andhra Pradesh Decentralization and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020, Andhra
Pradesh State will have Visakhapatnam, Amaravati and Kurnool respectively as the executive, legislative and
judicial capitals of the State.
Arguments in favour of 3 capitals
• Historically recommended: It was the central theme in recommendations of all major
committees set up to suggest a suitable location for the capital of Andhra Pradesh.
• Distributed development: Different regions gain from a decentralized arrangement as
governmental activities are the fulcrum around which developmental activities spring up and boost
local economy. Justice B N Srikrishna Committee, set up to look into the demand for a Telangana
state, noted “concentration of development efforts in Hyderabad is the key reason for demand of
separate states”.
• Planned Urbanization: It is better to work against a primate city with high population density and
move in favour of mid-sized cities with decent economies.
• Avoiding financial crunch: It is expected that the new arrangement will come at a fraction of the
earlier cost for Amaravati as it would buy into existing infrastructure of Kurnool and
Vishakhapatnam.
• Concerns over food security: KCS Committee raised concerns of food security when taking away
thousands of acres of fertile land for urbanization by developing Amaravati as capital in single
region.
Why it is being criticized?

• Might hamper coordination: Governmental arms, especially the bureaucracy and ministers are
required to do frequent consultations. Separation and distance of the two might hamper
coordination during assembly sessions.
• Lack of proper infrastructure: success of distributed development depends on a well-developed
infrastructural network linking the growth centres. Andhra Pradesh lacks these linkages now.
• Environmental impact of densification: KCS committee warned about the environmental
impact of intensification and densification in cities, with a special reference to Visakhapatnam. Also,
Visakhapatnam region is prone to cyclones.
• Not the only way for decentralization: For decentralized development, the best way possible is
strengthening of the local bodies. This not only results in the development of even remote areas
but also improve governance.
Conclusion:
For the 3 capitals idea to be successful, including technology and frequent use of digital communication to
reduce the delay in decision making, improved coordination between legislature and executive shall be done.
This can also lead to reduction in overall logistics cost for the state. Simultaneously, there is a need to

Page | 32
strengthen local bodies- by providing more funds, delegating more functions and providing better
functionaries- to achieve inclusive and overall decentralized development.

4. REGIONAL COMPREHENSIVE ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP (RCEP) AND INDIA

Why in News?
Recently, 15 Asia-Pacific nations have signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP),
while India chose to opt out of the trade agreement.
About RCEP
• Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that
has been signed between 15 countries including the 10 ASEAN members, China, Japan, South
Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
• It now forms the world’s largest trade bloc, covering over 2.2 billion people and accounting for 30
percent of the world’s economy.
• The RCEP was first proposed at the 19th ASEAN meet in 2011 with an aim to create a consolidated
• market for the ASEAN countries and their trade partners.
• While India was a part of the RCEP’s negotiations, it dropped out in November 2019, citing
significant outstanding issues that remain unresolved. Although India has been given the option of
joining it later.
Why did India pull out of RCEP?
• Trade imbalance with RCEP members: India’s trade deficit with RCEP countries has almost
doubled in the last five-six years – from $54 billion in 2013-14 to $105 billion in 2018- 19, of which
China alone accounts for $53 billion.
• Geopolitical considerations: India wanted RCEP to exclude most-favoured nation (MFN)
obligations from the investment chapter, as it did not want to hand out, especially to countries with
which it has border disputes (China), the benefits it was giving to strategic allies or for geopolitical
reasons.
• Security considerations: Closer economic ties under RCEP have the potential to make the
countries of the region even more vulnerable to China’s economic and political coercion. This could
impact India’s security interests in Southeast Asia.
• Lack of adequate protection for domestic industries: India’s proposals for strict rules of origin
(ROO) (criteria to determine the source country of a product based on which they get tariff
concessions or duties) and an auto-trigger mechanism to impose tariffs when imports crossed a
certain threshold were not accepted. o Losing flexibility to raise tariffs coupled with lack of strong
protection measures and threat of circumvention of ROO through rerouting products from
countries with lower tariffs can endanger growth of domestic industries by flooding Indian markets
with foreign products that have been subsidized and emerge from countries with unfair production
advantages.

Page | 33
 • Lack of Service component: Most developed RCEP countries where India can export services,
have been unwilling to negotiate wide-ranging disciplines in services that can create new market
access for trade in services in this region.
• Impact on local industries: A large number of sectors including dairy, agriculture, steel, plastics,
copper, aluminium, machine tools, paper, automobiles, chemicals and others had expressed serious
apprehensions on RCEP citing dominance of cheap foreign goods would dampen its businesses.
• The impact of earlier FTAs on India’s trade balance has been ambiguous: Several trends in
the existing FTAs that does not favour signing another FTA, include:
o Usually, signing FTAs has required India to significantly cut import duties, since most
partner countries already have low import duties. This has only led to trade diversion
(diversion of trade from non-FTA countries to FTA countries) and has rarely increased
India’s exports.
o A NITI Aayog report had stated that India’s exports to its FTAs partners have not
outperformed exports to the rest of the world and have generally led to greater imports
than exports, giving rise to high trade deficits with FTA partners like South Korea, Japan
and ASEAN.
• Other reasons include:
o Lack of credible assurances on market access and non-tariff barriers.
o Differences over tariff structure with China on goods.
o India already has bilateral FTAs with ASEAN, Korea and Japan and negotiations are
underway with Australia and New Zealand. The e-commerce chapter has some clauses that
affect data localization norms in India.
Possible Implications of not joining RCEP

• Protectionist image: Withdrawal from RCEP along with other recent measures such call for self-
reliance under Atmanirbhar Abhiyan, revised public procurement order giving preference to local
content etc. can be perceived as India taking a protectionist stance in terms of trade policy.
• Impact on India’s export sector: RCEP was envisaged to strengthen Asian supply chains, bring
in investments and boost the member countries’ competitiveness in global markets. Isolation, loss
of potential investments and lack of competition might affect India’s performance in terms of
exports and growth.
• Lost opportunity in securing a position in the post COVID world: RCEP is expected to help
member countries emerge from the economic devastation caused by the pandemic through access
to regional supply chains.
• Effect on bilateral ties with RCEP countries: There are concerns that the decision will hamper
India’s bilateral trade with RCEP member countries as they would be inclined to bolster trade
within the bloc. Also, it could affect India’s relation with Japan and Australia with regards to their
coordinated efforts in the Indo-Pacific.
• Loss for consumers: Some products might become more expensive for Indian consumers,
especially when global trade, investment and supply chains face unprecedented challenges due to
the Covid-19 pandemic.
Page | 34
Way Forward
• Discussing benefits and costs of signing RCEP: Further discussions regarding whether or not
to sign RCEP in the future must take into account facts about India’s trade balance and how its
industries, exports and imports are placed vis-a-vis the trading partners.
• Making India’s export sector globally competitive: Reducing the cost of doing business
through infrastructure investment and improving the business environment holds the key for
improving India’s export prospects.
• Focusing on negotiating bilateral FTAs with countries where trade complementarities and margin
of preference is high for example- European Union, USA.

5. ELECTIONS DURING COVID TIMES

Why in News?
Several countries, including India, have successfully conducted polls during COVID-19 with safety
measures in place.
COVID-19 and elections:
• One of the cascading effects of the COVID-19 pandemic has been its impact on conducting
elections. Some countries have pushed ahead with elections.
• Elections during COVID-19 presents certain challenges. However, postponing elections may not
be the appropriate option as it has following risks: Political risks: disturbing the level playing field
and undermining the incumbent or opposition; Reputational risks, for an organization that makes
decisions, for trust in democratic processes and institutions. Financial risks: budgetary implications,
e.g., money invested that cannot be recovered; Operational risks: alternative dates are not feasible
because of other risks, e.g., extension of term, other events; Legal risks: the decision can be legally
challenged.
Challenges faced in elections during COVID-19:
Campaigning: large rallies can spread the virus. Virtual campaigning through social and print media and
radio will have to suffice. This will raise the cost of campaigning, exclude the poor and indigent, further
favouring those with access to finance and technology.
o Polling stations: These will be impacted as it becomes increasingly more difficult to find workers
to man them and also need to provide protective gear and sanitizer at such a large scale.
o Preparedness of electoral management bodies (EMBs): preparing for elections will be
infinitely more difficult where movement and contact is constrained. Most EMBs will face increased
administrative and logistical work necessary to hold elections during COVID-19.
o Effect on turnout: Elections are characterised by high turnout and equal levels of participation
across different groups in a society. Holding an election during a pandemic could undermine this
aspect by reducing turnout.

Page | 35
 o Impediments on Transparency: Conventionally, elections are monitored by domestic and
international observer groups to ensure the processes are lawful and meet the requirements for an
election conducted with integrity. For COVID-19 elections, the situation could be different.
Key measures announced by Election Commission for Bihar elections:
• COVID-19 patients were also allowed to take part in the democratic exercise by extending voting
time by one hour.
• Number of voters per booth was restricted (to 1000 persons) so that social distancing norms are
followed.
• Postal ballot facility was provided wherever required and requested.
• Nomination forms were made available online, apart from offline.
• There were restrictions on door-to door campaigning. The ECI said only five, including the
candidate, will be allowed for door-to-door campaign
Best Practices on elections during COVID-19:
• New Zealand: Alternative voting arrangements being considered are extending the online service
for voting; extending the telephone dictation voting service; offering proxy voting and postal voting
and expanding the use of mobile ballot boxes.
• South Korea: special polling stations for COVID patients, postal voting and early voting, political
agreements on electoral calendar and procedures etc.

6. INDIA-CENTRAL ASIA DIALOGUE:

Why in News?
The 2nd meeting of the India-Central Asia Dialogue was recently held in the digital video-conference format
with participation of Foreign Ministers of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyz
Republic.
Highlights of the meeting:
The Joint Statement released collectively by the Foreign Ministers highlighted following key points-
• Emphasis on the need to continue close cooperation against COVID-19 pandemic.
• Condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations: All states reaffirmed the
determination of their countries to combat the menace by destroying terrorist safe-havens,
networks, infrastructure and funding channels and also underlined the need for every country to
ensure that its territory is not used to launch terrorist attacks against other countries.
• Extension of support for a united, sovereign and democratic Republic of Afghanistan.
India’s interests in the Central Asia
• Mineral resources: Central Asian countries have abundant mineral resources such as petroleum,
natural gas, antimony, aluminium, gold, silver, coal and uranium which can help ensure energy
security for India. For example- Kazakhstan has the largest uranium reserves in the world.

Page | 36
 • Strengthening India’s role in Peace negotiations in Afghanistan: India has always advocated
for resolution of the Afghan conflict on the principle of Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-
controlled peace process, which can be facilitated by support from Central Asian countries.
• Connectivity: Central Asia lies in the middle of the Eurasian Continent and can help India achieve
connectivity to Europe. The region is important for India to develop its transit and transport
potential through regional and international transport corridors such as the International North-
South Transport Corridor (INSTC).
• Economic opportunities: Central Asia is a huge consumer market for a range of goods and
services, which can be provided by India including IT services, tourism, tea, pharmaceuticals etc.
• Ensuring regional peace and stability: Instability in the region can have wide ranging
implications for India due to regional proximity and effect on India’s overseas projects such as the
TAPI pipeline. Some critical issues faced by the region include Terrorism and radicalization with
existence of terrorist safe- havens, networks, infrastructure and funding channels. Threat of the
proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) as the region remains highly vulnerable to
the smuggling of fissile material for WMD. Illegal Drug trade emanating from ‘Golden Crescent’
of opium production (Iran-Pak-Afghan).

7. POVERTY AND SHARED PROSPERITY

Why in news?
World Bank recently released the report titled “Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2020: Reversals of Fortune”
which examines how the COVID19 crisis, compounding the risks posed by armed conflict and climate
change, is affecting poverty trends, inclusive growth, and the characteristics of the poor around the world.

Key findings
• Reversal of extreme poverty trends: Extreme poverty is defined as living below the international
poverty line of $1.90 or roughly Rs 145-150 per day.
• Global extreme poverty is expected to rise in 2020 for the first time in over 20 years mainly due to
three reasons:
o COVID-19 and its associated economic crisis:
▪ Current projections suggest that, in 2020, between 88 million and 115 million people
could fall back into extreme poverty as a result of the pandemic—returning global
poverty rates to 2017 levels—with even larger numbers in 2021.
▪ South Asia will be the hardest hit region, with 49 million additional people pushed into
extreme poverty followed by South Africa.
o Armed conflicts:
▪ More than 40 percent of the world’s poor now live-in conflict-affected countries, a
number expected to rise further in the coming decade.

Page | 37
 ▪ Conflict destroys assets and livelihoods. In the Middle East and North Africa, for
example, extreme poverty rates nearly doubled between 2015 and 2018, spurred by the
conflicts in the Syria and Yemen.
o Climate change:
• Under present scenarios, the combined effects of climate change could push between
68 million and 132 million more people into poverty by 2030.
• With their livelihoods predominantly based on primary activities, the poorest are least
able to adapt, more vulnerable and less resilient to the impacts of climate change. The
impacts of climate change can also raise food prices, worsen people’s health, and
increase exposure to disasters.
• Shared Prosperity: Shared prosperity is defined as the growth in the income of the poorest 40%
of a country’s population. A high level of shared prosperity is an important indicator of inclusion
and well-being in any country. During 2012-2017, the growth was inclusive and the incomes of the
poorest 40 per cent of the population grew at 2.3% per annum. However, average global shared
prosperity may stagnate or even contract over 2019-2021 due to the reduced growth in average
incomes as a result of COVID crisis. This may lead to an increase in income inequality, resulting in
a world that is less inclusive.
• Changing profile of global poor: The poor remain predominantly rural, young, and
undereducated. However, the current COVID crisis is creating millions of “new poor.” The new
poor” probably will: be more urban than the chronic poor, be more engaged in informal services
and manufacturing and less in agriculture.

Way forward suggested by the report

• Policy responses need to reflect the changing profile of the poor: Safety net programs will in
particular need to reach people in the informal sector in both rural and urban areas
• Poverty action needs to address hot spots of conflict, climate change and COVID-19.
• Learning lessons from emergency actions taken during COVID and long-term development
experiences:
o Closing the gap between policy aspiration and attainment: Much more attention needs
to be given not just to “getting policies right” but to building the capability of the
administrative systems that are tasked with implementing them.
o Enhancing and improving data: Data limitations create doubts among the general public,
obstruct scientific progress, and hinder the implementation of sound, evidence-based
development policies.

Page | 38
 8. INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT:

Why in News?
Recently, US President has authorized economic sanctions against officials of the International Criminal
Court (ICC) for their investigation into alleged war crimes by U.S. forces and the Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA) in Afghanistan since 2003.

About ICC
• ICC is a permanent international court established to investigate, prosecute and try individuals
accused of committing the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a
whole, namely the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of
aggression.
• It was established by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in 1998. Court has
jurisdiction only over crimes committed after July 1, 2002, when the Rome Statute entered into
force.
• There are 123 countries party to the Rome Statute. Countries which never signed the treaty: India,
China, Iraq, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Turkey etc. Countries signed but not ratified the treaty:
includes Egypt, Iran, Israel, Russia, United States etc. Burundi and the Philippines joined the ICC
but later withdrew.
• ICC does not replace national criminal justice systems; rather, it complements them.
• Cases come before the court in following ways:
o a member country can refer a situation within its own territory to the court;
o UN Security Council can refer a situation; prosecutor can launch an investigation into a
member state proprio motu, or “on one’s own initiative.”

9. AFGHAN PEACE PROCESS

Why in news?
Recently, intra-Afghan peace talks held for the first time between Afghan government and Taliban in Qatar.
About Afghan peace process:
• The Afghan peace process comprises the proposals and negotiations in a bid to end the ongoing
war and conflict involving the Taliban in Afghanistan.
• Negotiations and the peace movement intensified in 2018 amid talks between the Taliban and US.
• In February, 2020, US president has struck a peace deal with the Taliban on the issues of
counterterrorism and the withdrawal of U.S. and international troops. The intra-Afghan talks were
part of the deal.
• Though the deal was to be held in march-April 2020, it got delayed due to disagreement on mutual
release of prisoners by both Taliban and Afghan Government.

Page | 39
 10. DATA FREE FLOW WITH TRUST

Why in news?
India recently refused to become a signatory to the Osaka declaration on digital economy which proposes
the concept of Data Free Flow with Trust (DFFT).
About DFFT
• It aims to eliminate restrictions on cross-border transfer of information by electronic means,
including personal information, and storing data in foreign servers, for productivity, innovation and
sustainable development.
• It also stresses on the importance of addressing challenges such as security, data protection and
intellectual property that otherwise mar public trust in digital technologies.
Need for DFFT
• Lack of international framework to resolve cross-border data conflicts: Recent times have
seen a rise in conflicts arising over a myriad of issues related to data flows, such as free speech,
intellectual property, privacy, cybercrime, consumer protection, taxation, commercial regulation,
and others.
• Impact on ease of doing business: Regulatory conditions or requirements on transferring data,
and data localization policies can force exporters to build or lease data centres in every country of
operation. Doing so can impose prohibitively high compliance and entry costs. Emergence of
anticompetitive, trade- distorting actions by digital giants: due to conflicting policies and lack of
comprehensive frameworks for managing data flows.
• Moving towards “Society 5.0”: It underscores how digitalization could tackle today’s social
challenges and usher in broader transformation by optimizing societal and welfare systems. For
example, Data reuse and sharing between government entities can tackle ageing society and public
health challenges with more accurate preventive care, mitigating increasing costs. Efficient and
open access to data is essential for tracking and enabling the delivery of many UN Sustainable
Development Goals.
• Significance for digital economy: Digital economy, supported by data flows, makes up a sizeable
portion of global economic activity. Current data flow restrictions and data localization
requirements of some countries lower their GDP by up to 0.4% and 1.7%, respectively, depending
on the economy and severity of the measure.

11. ARTICLE 370

Why in news?
August marks one year since the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A and the administrative reorganization
of Jammu and Kashmir.

Page | 40
Background
• In 1948, Indian Government signed Treaty of Accession with ruler of Kashmir to provide Kashmir
protection from Pakistan’s aggression. Post signing of Treaty of Accession, Article 370 was inserted
in the part XXI of the Constitution that proclaimed it to be "Temporary, Transitional and Special
Provision" and provided for a special status to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).
• As per the Article, the centre needed the state government's concurrence to apply laws — except
in defence, foreign affairs, finance and communications.
• Also, the state's residents lived under a separate set of laws, such as those related to citizenship,
ownership of property, separate penal code and fundamental rights, as compared to other Indian
citizens. Article 35A of the Indian Constitution gave powers to the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly
to define permanent residents of the state, their special rights and privileges.
• In August 2019, President of India promulgated Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir)
Order, 2019 which stated that provisions of the Indian Constitution were applicable in the State.
• This effectively meant that all the provisions that formed the basis of a separate Constitution for
Jammu and Kashmir stand abrogated. With this, Article 35A was scrapped automatically.
• Also, Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019 was passed by the Parliament, which re-
organized J&K into two Union Territories (UTs)- J&K division with a legislative assembly UT of
Ladakh without a legislative assembly.

12. AGRICULTURE INFRASTRUCTURE FUND (AIF)

Why in News?
Recently, Prime Minister launched a new Central Sector Scheme of a financing facility under Rs. 1 Lakh
Crore Agriculture Infrastructure Fund.
About AIF
• It is a Central Sector Scheme, under Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, to provide medium
- long term debt financing facility through interest subvention and credit guarantee.
• Beneficiaries include farmers, Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), Farmer Producers
Organizations (FPOs), Agri-entrepreneurs, Start-ups, Central/State agency or Local Body
sponsored Public- Private Partnership Projects etc.
• Eligible projects include: Post-Harvest Management Projects like: Supply chain services including
e-marketing platforms, Warehouses, Silos, Sorting &grading units, Cold chains, Logistics facilities
etc. Building community farming assets like Organic inputs production, Infrastructure for smart
and precision agriculture, supply chain infrastructure for clusters of crops including export clusters
etc. Under AIF, Rs. 1 Lakh Crore will be provided by banks and financial institutions as loans with
interest subvention of 3% per annum on loans up to Rs. 2 crores.
• The Scheme will be operational from 2020-21 to 2029-30. Disbursement in four years starting with
sanction of Rs. 10,000 crores in the first year and Rs. 30,000 crore each in next three financial years.
• Moratorium for repayment may vary subject to minimum of 6 months and maximum of 2 years.
Page | 41
 • AIF will be managed and monitored through an online Management Information System (MIS)
platform.
• National, State and District Level Monitoring Committees will ensure real-time monitoring and
effective feedback about the implementation of scheme.

13. AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION

Why in news?
The Prime Minister recently pitched for taking agricultural education to middle school level using reforms
proposed by National Education Policy (NEP), 2020.
What is Agricultural education?
• Agricultural education focuses on, but is not limited to, study in horticulture, forestry, conservation,
natural resources, agricultural products and processing, production of food and fibre, aquaculture
and other agricultural products, mechanics, sales and service, economics, marketing, and leadership
development.
• It encompasses the study of applied sciences (e.g., biology, chemistry, physics), and business
management principles. One of the major purposes of agricultural education is to apply the
knowledge and skills learned in several different disciplines to agriculture.
• Current status in India: Formal agricultural education in India is mostly confined to higher
educational institutions. Currently, there are three central agricultural universities, around 65 State
Agricultural Universities (SAUs) and 4 Deemed-to be-Universities (DUs) in India which focus on
imparting formal education in the field of agriculture.

14. PRIVATE PARTICIPATION IN RAILWAYS

Why in News?
Ministry of Railways has invited private participation for operation of passenger train services over 109
Origin Destination (OD) pairs of routes using 151 modern trains on existing rail infrastructure.
Background
• Indian Railways (IR) is the largest passenger and fourth largest freight transporting railway system
globally.
• Bibek Debroy Committee in 2015 recommended that private entry into running both freight and
passenger trains should be allowed. Idea was to bring in competition with Indian railways via
“liberalisation and not privatisation” in order to allow entry of new operators “to encourage growth
and improve services.” It also noted that passengers were willing to pay more, if they had guaranteed
and better quality of travel and ease of access.

Page | 42
 • Consequently, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC), in which the
government is the majority shareholder, was given pilot Tejas operations which were the first trains
allowed to be run by a ‘non-Railway’ operator.
About the recent step
• It would be the first initiative of private investment for running passenger trains over Indian
Railways network attracting investments of an estimated ₹30,000 crore which is expected to begin
in 2023.
• Objectives: To introduce modern technology rolling stock with reduced maintenance, reduced
transit time, boost job creation, provide enhanced safety, provide world class travel experience to
passengers, reduce demand supply deficit in the passenger transportation sector.
• 109 OD Pairs have been formed into 12 Clusters across the Indian Railway network. Each Train
shall have a minimum of 16 coaches. Trains shall be designed for a maximum speed of 160 kmph.
• The invitation (officially termed as Request for Qualification (RFQ)) had been issued under the
Make in India policy. So, the coaches would have to be manufactured in India and the local
component would be as specified in the policy.
• Responsibility of Private Entity: It shall be responsible for financing, procuring, operation and
maintenance of the trains. The operation of the trains by the private entity shall conform to the key
performance indicators like punctuality, reliability, upkeep of trains etc. Private firms will have the
freedom to decide fares and stoppages, and also the basket of services on offer in these trains.
• Responsibility of IR: The driver and guard of the trains will Railway officials who will operate these
trains, maintain track infrastructure etc. The safety clearance of trains will be done by Railways only.
• Private sector will be allowed to run these trains for a 35-year period in return for a share in the
revenues they earn, apart from payments in the form of fixed haulage charges and energy charges
for using public infrastructure.
Arguments against the move
• Absence of any independent regulator: There are apprehensions that if IR itself plays the role of
regulator (or there is no independent regulator) then it would be detrimental to the competition
and interests of private sector. If same entity is effectively the policy maker, regulator and service
provider, then as Bibek Debroy committee pointed out, it will be a “clear conflict of interest”. It
may also lead to corruption as private operators will try to bribe to solve any problem. Government
has approved to setup Rail Development Authority for promoting competition, efficiency, ensure
consumer welfare but it will be mostly advisory in nature and more powers to decide on operational
issues are needed.
• Railways is a public service: Rakesh Mohan committee report had pointed out that the international
experience on privatising railways showed that it was “exceedingly difficult and controversial”. For
example: When Britain privatized its railways, it offloaded assets including tracks and routes that
led to an underinvestment in infrastructure.
• Unfair competition: Railways also tend to cross-subsidise passenger fares through freight revenue.
This translates to below cost pricing, which will make it difficult for private players to compete.

Page | 43
 • High saturation and over-utilized capacity on popular routes: since passenger and freight traffic
move on same tracks in India, increasing speed or capacity has been difficult. And it remains to be
seen whether the dedicated freight corridors can free up enough capacity. IR’s golden quadrilateral
and its diagonals make up only 15 per cent of the total route of the railways but it transports 52 per
cent of passenger traffic and 58 per cent of total freight load.
Way Forward
• Set up an independent regulator: As recommended by various expert committees like Bibek Debroy
committee, there is a need for such regulator which needs to ensure transparency.
• Better utilization of existing infrastructure to address congestion: Prioritize ongoing projects to
improve capacity utilization. Timely completion of these projects will also generate more revenue.
• Rationalize fare structures and subsidies: Revisit IR’s pricing model to make the passenger and
freight segments sustainable. Focus should shift on improving efficiency and quality at the same
time.
• Ensuring quality and less costs:
o IR can corporatize the entire production-unit assemblage as a first step. It has the potential of
kick-starting public-private partnerships (PPPs) to introduce better technology in
manufacturing of coaches and locomotives.
o Another method of ensuring efficiency is having different operators owning and managing
seamlessly different segments of the railways, such as rolling stock, tracks, stations and
passenger services like catering and cleaning.

15. UNIFIED GAS PRICE SYSTEM

Why in news?
Government is planning to cut down the cost of transportation of natural gas by setting a fixed tariff for
the transportation of natural gas for longer distances to boost gas consumption.

Background
• Currently, tariffs for pipeline usage are divided into zones of 300km, with the tariff increasing for
zones further away from the point where gas is injected.
• Thus, these tariffs increase the cost for buyers of gas further away from the point of injection of
natural gas. All of India’s imported natural gas arrives at terminals on the west coast leading to costs
for buyers increasing, the further east they are located.
• The government is proposing a unified price system with one price for those transporting gas
nearby within 300 km and one price for those transporting gas beyond 300km.
• Also, Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) has published a discussion paper on
moving from a system where buyers of gas are charged for every pipeline, to a single charge across
a pipeline network. Expected benefits of unified gas pricing system

Page | 44
 • Reduced overall cost: Currently, transport cost accounts or as much as 10% of the final cost of gas
to an industry because of low international prices. Usually, it accounts for around 2-3% of the price
of natural gas.
• Reduction in tariffs: Currently, if a buyer needs multiple pipelines even from the same operator,
that transport tariff would increase by adding the tariffs under different zones.
• Single market: It would facilitate in creating a single gas market by attracting investment to complete
the Gas Grid as well as ensuring equitable access to natural gas across the country.
• Gas based economy: It would enable improving the affordability of gas across the country and
attracting investments into the gas infrastructure. This will help achieve government’s aim to
increase the share of natural gas in the country’s energy mix to 15% by 2030, from 6% today.
• Development of new gas markets: Present system causes wide disparity in pipeline tariffs, and thus
it hinders the development of new demand centres in far-flung and remote areas.
Other challenges in gas pricing
• Pricing mechanism: Under Domestic Natural Gas Pricing Guideline 2014 domestically produced
gas is priced at the average rate prevailing in gas exporting countries such as the US, UK, Canada,
and Russia. The formula has no mention about gas actually imported into India, which means the
pricing of domestic gas is not on the lines of market demand and supply. Also, domestic Gas prices
are notified with a lag of one quarter. The time lag of a quarter mean that the domestic gas price
movement is often out of sync with current international prices.
• Multiple pricing mechanisms: There are multiple pricing regimes existing in the country for Natural
gas supplies, with Administered Price Mechanism for subsidized sectors such as fertilizers. This
controlled pricing may result in disincentivizing investments in the sector, especially foreign players.
• Not under GST: As gas prices are not under GST, it has led to varying tax rates on natural gas
production and related value chain, such as pipelines and retailing in different states.
Way forward
• Decontrolling of prices: India has to end central controls on gas pricing as it seeks to attract foreign
investment to lift local output.
• Unbundling of transportation and the marketing of gas is to increase private participation and for
the development of the pipelines network.
• Better regulation: Strengthen and clarify the roles and responsibilities with regard to the regulatory
supervision of natural gas market activities (upstream, midstream and downstream).
• Include under GST: International Energy Agency (IEA) suggested to ensure gas is treated on a
level playing field with other fuels for taxation and is included under the GST.
• Grant infrastructure status to natural gas pipelines, to incentivize investments which are prerequisite
for increasing natural gas demand and thus reducing cost

Page | 45
 16. ONLINE DISPUTE RESOLUTION

Why in news?
Recently, there were calls for advancing Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) in India including by NITI
Aayog CEO.
About Online Dispute Resolution (ODR):
• Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) is form of Alternative dispute redressal mechanism (ADR) that
uses negotiation, mediation and arbitration techniques to resolve disputes with help of the Internet
and ICT.
• ODR uses technology and employ data management tools to ensure predictability, consistency,
transparency and efficiency of the judicial process.
• Models under ODR: Opt-in model, in which option of going into mediation is voluntary.
• Opt-out model, under which it is mandatory to enter into mediation for at least one session, and
then the parties have the liberty to opt out if they feel so.
• ODR focuses on Dispute resolution: Resolving disputes that reach the courts through open,
efficient, transparent process. Dispute containment and avoidance: Facilitate and ensure through
ODR that a problem does not reach the stage of a dispute thus ensures a problem does not become
a dispute.

17. INDIA-AUSTRALIA RELATIONS

Why in news?
Recently, the first ever virtual bilateral summit was held between Prime Ministers of India and Australia.
Key Outcomes of the Summit
• Elevated the bilateral Strategic Partnership to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
• Elevated the “2+2” engagement to the level of Foreign and Defence Ministers (from secretary
level), where strategic discussions will be taking place every two years. India already has such
mechanism with USA and Japan.
• MOU on cooperation in the field of mining and processing of Critical and Strategic minerals.
• Mutual Logistics Support Agreement was signed.
• Joint declaration on shared vision for Maritime Cooperation in the Indo- Pacific region.

18. SUSPENSION OF IBC

Why in News?
Recently, an ordinance was approved to amend the IBC so as to provide relief for corporates as the
pandemic and subsequent lockdown had significantly impacted economic activities.
Page | 46
About the ordinance
• Section 10A has been introduced thereby suspending Sections 7, 9 and 10 of the IBC. It states that
no application shall ever be filed for initiation of corporate insolvency resolution process of a
corporate debtor for any default arising on or after 25th March, 2020 for a period of six months
which could be extended up to a year.
• While sections 7 and 9 provide for initiation of insolvency proceedings by financial creditors and
operational creditors, respectively, section 10 is for initiation of insolvency resolution proceedings
by a corporate applicant.

OTHER NEWS
• India became the second largest producer of Personal Protective Equipment in the world
• PM announced a special economic package worth over 20 lakh crore rupees and 10% of India’s
GDP
• PM launched e-Gram swaraj portal and mobile app as a portal to prepare and plan Gram Panchayat
Development plans.
• The Center has permitted the export of formulations made from Paracetamol.
• India rescinded its band on the export of malaria drug hydroxychloroquine
• Private sector telecom companies Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio paid more than Rs.
6000 crores in spectrum instalments to the Department of Telecommunications.
• Companies Second Amendment Act Bill 2019
• Government imposed a withdrawal limit of Rs 50k for depositors of beleaguered private Yes Bank
for one month
• Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill 2020 has been passed by the Parliament
• ICMR has recommended the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat corona virus
• RBI plans to infuse liquidity and cuts repo rate by 75 basis points to 4.4 per cent to deal with the
hardship caused due to outbreak of Covid-19
• PM-CARES Fund has been started by Narendra Modi.
• RBI leaves policy rate unchanged at 5.15 per cent
• Income-Tax Department launched e-calculator
• Supreme Court dismissed the Union government’s view that women are physiologically weaker
than men as a “stereotype” and declared that women officers are eligible for command posts and
permanent commissions in the Army irrespective of their years of service
• Hindi is the 3rd most spoken language of the world in 2019.
• Indore adjudged cleanest city of India for the fourth time in a row
• Railways renames RPF as Indian Railway Protection Force Service
• RBI launches 'MANI' app to help visually challenged to identify the denomination of notes
• Kerala becomes first state to pass resolution against CAA
• World Braille Day on January 4
• World's 2nd tallest statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel unveiled in Ahmedabad, Gujarat
Page | 47
 • Delhi's first fully automated car park tower unveiled in Green Park
• Bhubaneswar hosts first edition of Khelo India University Games

Topics of interest:
• Covid Pandemic – economic crisis
• Farm Bills
• Labour laws and reforms
• India: the scope for global pharma leader
• The V shaped GDP growth rate
• New education bill
• Epidemic diseases bill
• FDI policy changes
• Agriculture Infrastructure Fund
• Aatma-Nirbhar India
• Vaccine wars
• Reliance Jio – FDIs
• Make in India campaign
• Pandemic: A rise of OTT platforms and online classrooms
• Ram temple

INTERVIEW EXPERIENCES
• https://www.non-engineer.com/post/iim-lucknow-interview-jayant-singhal
• https://www.non-engineer.com/post/iim-kozhikode-stress-interview-experience
• https://www.non-engineer.com/post/iim-indore-interview-2020

Page | 48
 BUDGET 2021
GOVERNMENT FINANCES
• FY21 fiscal deficit at 9.5%
• Government is expected to borrow another Rs. 80,000 crore during the next two months FY21
• For FY22, the fiscal deficit is pegged at 6.8% of GDP. The fiscal deficit is expected to be reduced
to 4.5% by FY26
• A bill to set up DFI providing Rs. 20,000 crores will also be introduced to launch the National
• Asset Monetisation Pipeline to fund new infra projects
• Proposed capital expenditure at Rs. 5.54 lakh crore (34% higher than last year)

DISINVESTMENT
• Disinvestment target for FY2022 at Rs.1.75 lakh crore
• Two PSBs and one general insurance company expected to be divested
• All divestments planned and announced till now to be executed in 2021-22

COVID VACCINE
• India has two COVID-19 vaccines made available and two more will be made accessible soon
• Rs. 35,000 crores more allocated to COVID-19 vaccines in 2021-22; committed to providing more
funds

TAXATION AND ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS

• No change in income tax slabs
• Citizens of age 75 years and above who have only Pension and Interest income – Need not file
Income Tax Returns
• A faceless Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) for providing online resolution
• The 'tax audit limit' under Section 44AB has been increased from Rs.10 crore to Rs. 5 crores where
95% of business transactions are done in digital mode
• The 'advance tax liability' on dividend income shall rise only after the declaration or payment of
dividend
• The deduction - for home loan for affordable housing (under section 80EEA) is to be extended to
loans taken up to 31st March 2022
• The affordable housing projects can avail tax holiday until 31st March 2022
• Advance tax on Dividend income shall be computed post receipt of dividend income
• Vivad Se Viswas Scheme Last Date of filing extended to 28th February, 2021
• To review over 400 old exemptions in indirect taxes; to begin extensive consultation from October
2021
• Delayed contribution to EPF by employers will not be allowed as a deduction to employers
• Tax holiday and exemption on capital gains on investment in start-ups extended by 1 year
• Tax incentives for the IFSC and tax holiday for aircraft leasing and rental companies
• Interest income on annual EPF contribution above Rs. 2.5 lakh to taxed
Page | 49
 • For ULIPs on or after Feb 1, 2021, the maturity proceeds of policies with an annual premium of
more than Rs. 2.5 lakh will be taxable on a par with equity-linked mutual fund schemes. However,
the amount received on death shall continue to remain exempt without any limit on the annual
premium

HEALTHCARE
• India has two COVID-19 vaccines made available and two more will be made accessible soon
• Rs. 35,000 crores more allocated to COVID-19 vaccines in 2021-22; committed to providing more
funds
• PM Atma Nirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojna: Govt. has launched new scheme called PM Atma Nirbhar
Swasth Bharat Yojna, with an outlay of Rs. 64,180 crores over the next 6 years
• This will develop capacities of primary, secondary, and tertiary care Health Systems, strengthen
existing national institutions, and create new institutions, to cater to detection and cure of new and
emerging diseases. This will be in addition to the National Health Mission
• The Budget outlay for Health and Wellbeing is Rs. 2,23,846 crores in BE 2021-22 as against Rs.
94,452 crores with a sharp increase of 137% over previous year. Key allocation the scheme is as
under:
o Govt. has provided Rs. 35,000 crores for Covid-19 vaccine in the budget and committed to
provide further funds if required
o Expenditure on health and family welfare has been increased from Rs. 65,012 crores to Rs.
71,269 crores
o Allocation for drinking water & sanitation has been increased sharply from Rs. 21,518 crores
to Rs. 60,030 crores

AGRICULTURE & WATER

• Govt. has announced the launch of the Jal Jeevan Mission (Urban). It aims at universal water supply
in all 4,378 Urban Local Bodies with 2.86 crore household tap connections, as well as liquid waste
management in 500 AMRUT cities. It will be implemented over 5 years, with an outlay of Rs.
2,87,000 crores.
• To provide adequate credit to farmers, Govt. has enhanced the agricultural credit target to Rs. 16.5
lakh crore in FY22. It will be to increase focus on animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries
• The Micro Irrigation Fund with a corpus of Rs. 5,000 crores have been created under NABARD,
which has been doubled in the current budget
• To benefit farmers Govt. has raised customs duty on cotton from nil to 10% and on raw silk and
silk yarn from 10% to 15%

BANKING AND INSURANCE

• Increasing permissible limit of FDI from current 49% to 74% in Insurance sector
• The FM announced plans to set up a new Asset Reconstruction company (ARC) and Asset
Management company (AMC) as part of a strategy to clean up banks’ balance sheets
• Rs. 20,000 crores have been allocated for PSU Bank recapitalization

Page | 50
 • The government will look to privatise two public sector banks, along with IDBI Bank and one
insurance company

NATIONAL RAIL MISSION

• Aims at developing adequate rail infrastructure by 2030 to cater to the projected traffic requirements
up to 2050
• The objective is to increase the modal share of rail in freight from the current level of 27 percent
to 45 per cent
• 100% electrification of Broad-Gauge Routes by 2023
• Indigenously developed automatic train protection system to be launched

INFRASTRUCTURE
• Professionally managed development financial institution (DFI) will be introduced with an
allocation of Rs. 20,000 crores
• The National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) has expanded to 7,400 projects
• Additional deduction of interest, amounting to Rs.1.5 lakh, for loan taken to purchase an affordable
house.
• Extend the eligibility of this deduction by one more year, to 31st March 2022. This deduction
available for loans taken up till 31st March 2022, for the purchase of an affordable house
• Affordable Rental Housing for migrant workers. Affordable housing projects can avail a tax holiday
for one more year – till 31st March, 2022

RAILWAYS AND LOGISTICS

• Announced Rs. 1,10,055 crores, for Railways of which Rs.1,07,100 crore is for capital expenditure

TEXTILE
• 7 Textile Parks will be established over 3 years
• Announcement of raising customs duty on cotton from nil to 10% and on raw silk and silk yarn
from 10% to 15%

OIL AND GAS

• Announcement to monetize the pipelines of GAIL (India) Ltd, Indian Oil Corp (IOC) and HPCL
• Announces the strategic disinvestment of BPCL in 2021-22
• Decreased Custom duty on Naphtha from 4% to 2.5%
• Government has proposed Agriculture Infra Cess of Rs. 2.5/litre on petrol, Rs. 4 on diesel

Page | 51
 PI PREP:
FINANCE

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP IN FINANCE (SIGFi)

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sigfi-iim-lucknow/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IIML.SIGFI
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sigfi.iimlucknow/

Page | 52
What is Finance?
Finance is a branch of economics that studies the management of funds (money and like assets). Through
financial analysis, decisions and corrective actions can be taken regarding the collection and use of those
funds so as to optimize their use toward the objectives of an organization (states, companies and businesses)
or individual. Finance also encompasses the oversight, creation, and study of money, banking, credit,
investments, assets, and liabilities that make up financial systems.

What is Accounting?
Accounting is the systematic and comprehensive recording of financial transactions pertaining to a business,
as well as the process of summarizing, analysing and reporting these transactions.

What Are Financial Statements?

Financial statements are written records that convey the business activities and the financial performance
of a company. Financial statements are often audited by government agencies, accountants, firms, etc. to
ensure accuracy and for tax, financing, or investing purposes. Financial statements include:
• Balance sheet
• Income statement
• Cash flow statement

Using Financial Statement Information

• Investors and financial analysts rely on financial data to analyse the performance of a company and
make predictions about the future direction of the company's stock price. One of the most
important resources of reliable and audited financial data is the annual report, which contains the
firm's financial statements.
• The financial statements are used by investors, market analysts, and creditors to evaluate a
company's financial health and earnings potential. The three major financial statement reports are
the balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows.

Understanding Balance Sheets

• The balance sheet provides an overview of a company's assets, liabilities, and stockholders' equity
as a snapshot in time. The date at the top of the balance sheet tells you when the snapshot was
taken, which is generally the end of the fiscal year.
• The Balance Sheet Formula--{Assets}= {Liabilities}+ {Owner's Equity}
• The balance sheet total will be calculated already, but here's how you identify them.
o Locate total assets on the balance sheet for the period.
o Total all liabilities, which should be a separate listing on the balance sheet. It may not include
contingent liabilities.
o Locate total shareholder's equity and add the number to total liabilities.
o Total assets should equal the total of liabilities and total equity.
• The balance sheet identifies how assets are funded, either with liabilities, such as debt, or with
stockholders' equity, such as retained earnings and additional paid-in capital. Assets are listed on
the balance sheet in order of liquidity.

Page | 53
 • Liabilities are listed in the order in which they will be paid. Short-term or current liabilities are
expected to be paid within a year, while long-term or non-current liabilities are debts expected to
be paid in over one year.

Items Included in the Balance Sheet

Assets
• Cash and cash equivalents are liquid assets, which may include Treasury bills and certificates of
deposit.
• Accounts receivables are the amount of money owed to the company by its customers for the sale
of its product and service.
• Inventory

Liabilities
• Debt including long-term debt
• Wages payable
• Dividends payable

Shareholders' Equity
• Shareholders' equity is a company's total assets minus its total liabilities. Shareholders' equity
represents the amount of money that would be returned to shareholders if all of the assets were
liquidated and all of the company's debt was paid off.
• Retained earnings are part of shareholders' equity and are the amount of net earnings that were not
paid to shareholders as dividends.

Understanding Income Statements

Unlike the balance sheet, the income statement covers a range of time, which is a year for annual financial
statements and a quarter for quarterly financial statements. The income statement provides an overview of
revenues, expenses, net income and earnings per share. It usually provides two to three years of data for
comparison.
• Income Statement Formula and Calculation
• {Net Income} = {Revenue - Expenses}
• How to calculate?
o Total all revenue or sales for the period.
o Total all expenses and costs of operating the business.
o Subtract total expenses from revenue to achieve net income or the profit for the period.

Data from Income Statements

• An income statement is one of the three important financial statements used for reporting a
company's financial performance over a specific accounting period. Also known as the profit and
loss statement or the statement of revenue and expense, the income statement primarily focuses on
a company’s revenues and expenses during a particular period.

Page | 54
 • Once expenses are subtracted from revenues, the statement produces a company's profit figure
called net income.

Types of Revenue
• Operating revenue is the revenue earned by selling a company's products or services. The operating
revenue for an auto manufacturer would be realized through the production and sale of autos.
Operating revenue is generated from the core business activities of a company.
• Non-operating revenue is the income earned from non-core business activities. These revenues fall
outside the primary function of the business. Some non-operating revenue examples include:
o Interest earned on cash in the bank
o Rental income from a property
o Income from strategic partnerships like royalty receipts
o Income from an advertisement display located on the company's property
Other income is the revenue earned from other activities. Other income could include gains from the sale
of long-term assets such as land, vehicles, or a subsidiary.

Types of Expenses
• Primary expenses are incurred during the process of earning revenue from the primary activity of
the business. Expenses include the cost of goods sold (COGS), selling, general and administrative
expenses (SG&A), depreciation or amortization, and research and development (R&D). Typical
expenses include employee wages, sales commissions, and utilities such as electricity and
transportation.
• Expenses that are linked to secondary activities include interest paid on loans or debt. Losses from
the sale of an asset are also recorded as expenses.
• The main purpose of the income statement is to convey details of profitability and the financial
results of business activities. However, it can be very effective in showing whether sales or revenue
is increasing when compared over multiple periods. Investors can also see how well a company's
management is controlling expenses to determine whether a company's efforts in reducing the cost
of sales might boost profits over time.

The Cash Flow Statement

• The cash flow statement measures how well a company generates cash to pay its debt obligations,
fund its operating expenses, and fund investments. The cash flow statement complements the
balance sheet and income statement.
• The CFS allows investors to understand how a company's operations are running, where its money
is coming from, and how money is being spent. The CFS also provides insight as to whether a
company is on a solid financial footing.
• There is no formula, per se, for calculating a cash flow statement. Instead, it contains three sections
that report cash flow for the various activities for which a company uses its cash. Those three
components of the CFS are listed below.
o Operating Activities: The operating activities on the CFS include any sources and uses of
cash from running the business and selling its products or services. Cash from operations
includes any changes made in cash, accounts receivable, depreciation, inventory, and accounts
Page | 55
 payable. These transactions also include wages, income tax payments, interest payments, rent,
and cash receipts from the sale of a product or service.
o Investing Activities: Investing activities include any sources and uses of cash from a
company's investments into the long-term future of the company. A purchase or sale of an
asset, loans made to vendors or received from customers or any payments related to a merger
or acquisition is included in this category. Also, purchases of fixed assets such as property,
plant, and equipment (PPE) are included in this section. In short, changes in equipment, assets,
or investments relate to cash from investing.
o Financing Activities: Cash from financing activities include the sources of cash from
investors or banks, as well as the uses of cash paid to shareholders. Financing activities include
debt issuance, equity issuance, stock repurchases, loans, dividends paid, and repayments of
debt.
• Financial Statement Limitations: Although financial statements provide a wealth of information
on a company, they do have limitations. The statements are open to interpretation, and as a result,
investors often draw vastly different conclusions about a company's financial performance.

What are the career options within finance domain?

The study of finance is relevant to a wide range of occupations. Finance professionals enjoy a high rate of
employment in leadership positions at all levels of financial management for careers in business, industry,
government, and public or private corporations. Finance majors typically embark on careers in investment
banking, asset management, consulting, corporate finance, risk management, banking, or financial planning,
across industries.

The Basics of Stock Market

• Market Capitalization (Market Cap): It is the total market value of the shares outstanding of a
publicly traded company; it is equal to the share price times the number of shares outstanding.
• NIFTY: The S&P CNX Nifty (also known as NSE Nifty or NSE-50 or 'Nifty') is a stock index in
India. Nifty consists of 50 stocks. The constituents of the index change periodically, depending on
liquidity, availability of floating stock, turnover and volume of transactions.
• SENSEX: Sensex, otherwise known as the S&P BSE Sensex index, is the benchmark index of the
Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in India. Sensex is composed of 30 of the largest and most actively-
traded stocks on the BSE, providing an accurate gauge of India's economy. Initially compiled in
1986, the Sensex is the oldest stock index in India. Analysts and investors use the Sensex to observe
the overall growth, development of particular industries, and booms and busts of the Indian
economy.
• Types of Investors:
o Personal investors- Business owners often rely on family, friends or close acquaintances to
invest in their companies, particularly in the beginning. However, there is a limit to how many
of these individuals can invest in start-ups because of legal limitations.
o Angel investors- Angel investors are usually high net worth individuals with a net worth of
more than $1 million. They are found across all industries and are useful for entrepreneurs
who are beyond the seed stages of financing but are not yet ready to seek out venture capital.
o Venture capitalists- Venture capitalists are used only after a business begins to show a
significant amount of revenue. These investors are notable, as they usually invest a substantial

Page | 56
 amount of money (often around $10 million). They gain most of their returns through “carried
interest,” or a percentage received as compensation from the profits of a hedge fund or private
equity.
• Government Security (G-Sec): A Government Security (G-Sec) is a tradable instrument issued by
the Central Government or the State Governments. It acknowledges the Government’s debt
obligation. Such securities are short term (usually called treasury bills, with original maturities of
less than one year) or long term (usually called Government bonds or dated securities with an
original maturity of one year or more). In India, the Central Government issues both, treasury bills
and bonds or dated securities while the State Governments issue only bonds or dated securities,
which are called the State Development Loans (SDLs). G-Secs carry practically no risk of default
and, hence, are called risk-free instruments.

Corporate Finance: What is Corporate Finance?

The entire corporate finance can be divided into three decisions that company needs to take with the
objective of maximizing the value of the business:
• Investment Decisions: Which assets must company invest in to create value for the firm
• Financing Decisions: How to raise money required to fund those assets
• Dividend Decisions: How much should company pay back to its equity investors and in what
form

Page | 57
A few finance terminology
● Accretive merger: A merger in which the acquiring company’s earnings per share increase.
● Beta: A value that represents the relative volatility of a given investment with respect to the market.
● Bond price: The price the bondholder (the lender) pays the bond issuer (the borrower) to hold the
bond
● Buy-side: The clients of investment banks (mutual funds, pension funds) that buy the stocks,
bonds and securities sold by the investment banks. (The investment banks that sell these products
to investors are known as the “sell-side.”)
● Callable bond: A bond that can be bought back by the issuer so that it is not committed to paying
large coupon payments in the future.
● Call option: An option that gives the holder the right to purchase an asset for a specified price on
or before a specified expiration date.
● Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM): A model used to calculate the discount rate of a
company’s cash flows.
● Commercial paper: Short-term corporate debt, typically maturing in nine months or less.
● Commodities: Assets (usually agricultural products or metals) that are generally interchangeable
with one another and therefore share a common price. For example, corn, wheat, and rubber
generally trade at one price on commodity markets worldwide.
● Convertible preferred stock: A relatively uncommon type of equity issued by a company,
convertible preferred stock is often issued when it cannot successfully sell either straight common
stock or straight debt. Preferred stock pays a dividend, similar to how a bond pays coupon
payments, but ultimately converts to common stock after a period of time. It is essentially a mix of
debt and equity, and most often used as a means for a risky company to obtain capital when neither
debt nor equity works.
● Convertible bonds: Bonds that can be converted into a specified number of shares of stock.
● Cost of Goods Sold: The direct costs of producing merchandise. Includes costs
● of labour, equipment, and materials to create the finished product, for example.
● Coupon payments: The payments of interest that the bond issuer makes to the bondholder.
● Credit ratings: The ratings given to bonds by credit agencies. These ratings indicate the risk of
default.
● Currency appreciation: When a currency’s value is rising relative to other currencies.
● Currency depreciation: When a currency’s value is falling relative to other currencies.
● Currency devaluation: When a currency weakens under fixed exchange rates.
● Currency revaluation: When a currency strengthens under fixed exchange rates.
● Default premium: The difference between the promised yields on a corporate bond and the yield
on an otherwise identical government bond.
● Default risk: The risk that the company issuing a bond may go bankrupt and “default” on its loans.
● Derivatives: An asset whose value is derived from the price of another asset. Examples include
call options, put options, futures, and interest-rate swaps.
● Dilutive merger: A merger in which the acquiring company’s earnings per share decrease.
● Discount rate: A rate that measures the risk of an investment. It can be understood as the expected
return from a project of a certain amount of risk.

Page | 58
● Discounted Cash Flow analysis (DCF): A method of valuation that takes the net present value
of the free cash flows of a company.
● Dividend: A payment by a company to shareholders of its stock, usually as a way to distribute
some or all of the profits to shareholders.
● EBIT: Earnings Before Interest and Taxes
● EBITDA: Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization
● Enterprise Value: Levered value of the company, the Equity Value plus the market value of debt.
● Equity: In short, stock. Equity means ownership in a company that is usually represented by stock.
● Fixed income: Bonds and other securities that earn a fixed rate of return. Bonds are typically
issued by governments, corporations and municipalities.
● Float: The number of shares available for trade in the market times the price. Generally speaking,
the bigger the float, the greater the stock’s liquidity.
● Floating rate: An interest rate that is benchmarked to other, allowing the interest rate to change
as market conditions change.
● Forward contract: A contract that calls for future delivery of an asset at an agreed-upon price.
● Forward exchange rate: The price of currencies at which they can be bought and sold for future
delivery.
● Forward rates (for bonds): The agreed-upon interest rates for a bond to be issued in the future.
● Futures contract: A contract that calls for the delivery of an asset or its cash value at a specified
delivery or maturity date for an agreed upon price. A future is a type of forward contract that is
liquid, standardized, traded on an exchange, and whose prices are settled at the end of each trading
day.
● Goodwill: An account that includes intangible assets a company may have, such as brand image.
● Hedge: To balance a position in the market in order to reduce risk. Hedges work like insurance: a
small position pays off large amounts with a slight move in the market.
● High-yield bonds (a.k.a. junk bonds): Bonds with poor credit ratings that pay a relatively high
rate of interest.
● Holding Period Return: The income earned over a period as a percentage of the bond price at
the start of the period.
● Initial Public Offering (IPO): The dream of every entrepreneur, the IPO is the first time a
company issues stock to the public.
● Investment grade bonds: Bonds with high credit ratings that pay a relatively low rate of interest.
● Leveraged Buyout (LBO): The buyout of a company with borrowed money, often using that
company’s own assets as collateral.
● Money market securities: This term is generally used to represent the market or securities
maturing within one year. These include short-term CDs, Repurchase Agreements, Commercial
Paper (low-risk corporate issues), among others. These are low risk, short-term securities that have
yields similar to Treasuries.
● Mortgage-backed bonds: Bonds collateralized by a pool of mortgages. Interest and principal
payments are based on the individual homeowners making their mortgage payments. The more
diverse the pool of mortgages backing the bond, the less risky they are.
● Multiples method: A method of valuing a company that involves taking a multiple of an indicator
such as price-to-earnings, EBITDA, or revenues.
Page | 59
 ● Net present value (NPV): The present value of a series of cash flows generated by an investment,
minus the initial investment. NPV is calculated because of the important concept that money today
is worth more than the same money tomorrow.
● Par value: The total amount a bond issuer will commit to pay back when the bond expires.
● P/E ratio: The price to earnings ratio. This is the ratio of a company’s stock price to its earnings-
per-share. The higher the P/E ratio, the more “expensive” a stock is (and also the faster investors
believe the company will grow). Stocks in fast growing industries tend to have higher P/E ratios.
● Put option: An option that gives the holder the right to sell an asset for a specified price on or
before a specified expiration date.
● Selling, General & Administrative Expense (SG&A): Costs not directly involved in the
production of revenues. SG&A is subtracted from Gross Profit to get EBIT.
● Spot exchange rate: The price of currencies for immediate delivery.
● Swap: A type of derivative, a swap is an exchange of future cash flows. Popular swaps include
foreign exchange swaps and interest rate swaps.
● Tender offers: A method by which a hostile acquirer renders an offer to the shareholders of a
company in an attempt to gather a controlling interest in the company. Generally, the potential
acquirer will offer to buy stock from shareholders at a much higher value than the market value.
● Underwrite: The function performed by investment banks when they help companies issue
securities to investors. Technically, the investment bank buys the securities from the company and
immediately resells the securities to investors for a slightly higher price, making money on the
spread.
● Yield to call: The yield of a bond calculated up to the period when the bond is called (paid off by
the bond issuer).
● Yield: The annual return on investment. A high-yield bond, for example, pays a high rate of interest.
● Yield to maturity: The measure of the average rate of return that will be earned on a bond if it is
bought now and held to maturity.
● Zero coupon bonds: A bond that offers no coupon or interest payments to the bondholder.

Some Current affairs topics:

• Brexit
• Eurozone
• Economic slowdown - structural and cyclical
• COVID impact on various sectors
• Crisis in the Middle-east and its economic impact in India
• Recent corporate tax rate cuts
• GST reforms
• Budget highlights and its impacts
• Highlights of Economic survey

Key Financial Ratios: Liquidity Ratios, Solvency Ratios, Profitability Ratios

Page | 60
FINANCE FACT SHEET
Sr.
Parameters Values
No.
1 GDP 1,45,65,951 INR crores
2 Growth Rates 2019-20: 4%; 2020-21: -7.7% (estimated)
3 GDP (PPP) $11.326 trillion in 2019
4 GDP per capita (PPP) $8,378 in 2019
5 CPI 4.59% (December 20)
6 WPI 1.22% (December 20)
7 Unemployment Rate 6.4 % (1st Feb, 21)
8 Population 1,380,004,385 (December 2020)
9 Population below poverty line 21.2% ($1.90/ day) 2011-12
10 Repo Rate 4%
11 Reverse Repo Rate 3.35%
12 Loan Growth 5.1 percent (for FY 19-20 till 23rd Oct,2020)
13 Foreign Exchange Reserve $585.334 billion
14 Exports 28,17,660 INR Crores
15 Imports 31,15,388 INR Crores
16 Balance of Trade (Deficit) -2,97,728 INR Crores (Deficit)
17 Current Account Deficit Surplus: $15.5 billion (2.4% of GDP as of December 2020)
18 Total External Debt $556.2 billion (September 2020)
19 Foreign Direct Investment $57 billion
20 IIP -1.9%( November 20)
21 Fiscal Expenditure ~ Rs. 34 lakh crores (FY 2021-22 budgeted)
22 Mutual Funds Asset base
23 Government debt 72.34% (2019); estimated 89.3% in 2020
24 Credit Rating S&P, Fitch : BBB-; Moody: Baa3
25 Manufacturing PMI 57.7 (January 2021)
26 Service PMI 52.3 (December 2021)
27 Ease of doing business 63rd as of Dec 2020
28 Total NPA INR 6.8 trillion (FY 2020 Statista)
No. of branches of scheduled
29
commercial bank 1,22,994 (March 2020)
30 Maximum ATM 2,08,818 (March 2020)
31 Cash Reserve Ratio 3%
Page | 61
 Sr.
Parameters Values
No.
32 Statutory Liquid Ratio 18%
33 Marginal Standing Facility Rate 4.25%
34 Bank Rate 4.25%
35 Corruption Perception Index Rank 80 as of January 20

Questions
● Why Finance? What is the difference between Finance and Accounting? What are the different
branches of Finance?
● What are contents of an Annual Report of a company? What are key numbers or information you
look in an Annual Report?
● What are the key financial ratios do you consider in comparing two companies?
● Describe the broad categories of accounting ratios used in financial analysis.
● Explain Quick Ratio
● What is LBO? How is it different from an MBO? Give hypothetical examples for each
● Differentiate an IPO and FPO
● What is underwriting of shares? What is oversubscription?
● What is PE Ratio? How is it useful?
● What is the purpose of Cash Flow Statements?
● What are the key metrics you consider in comparing two stocks of a given industry? Why do you
use those metrics?
● What is a money market? How is it different from stock market?
● What are the highlights of this year’s budget? Do you think India is on track to become a USD 5
trillion economy? What are the impediments/ challenges?
● What is the budgeted fiscal deficit (in percentage terms) for the year 2021-22? How is the same
being funded?
● Explain the crisis in India’s banking and shadow banking (NBFC) sectors.
● What is currently happening with the Indian economy? Do you think the current slowdown is
cyclical or structural? Justify. Why do you think the stock market has been rising even though the
economy is slowing down?
● Name some unicorns (start-ups) in India. What do you think is their USP?
● Explain the sub-prime crisis of 2008. What was the trigger?
● Explain Brexit. How do you think it would impact the Indian economy? Why?
● Explain the concept of one-person company. Is audit mandatory for a one-person company?
● What has been the effect of the trade wars between US and China? How can this be an opportunity
for India? (especially important for CA’s)
● Recent M&A deals in India. What were the reasons behind that transaction? Recent Reliance
Funding, recent fundings and valuations of start-ups
● What is break-even point? Why does the marginal cost curve rise?
Page | 62
● Crisis in banking sectors: Yes bank, PMC. Steps that must be taken to avoid repeat of these
● What is deferred tax asset and deferred tax liability? Give examples
● What is depreciation? How will depreciation affect bargaining power of a seller? Explain how
depreciation drives bargaining power in real estate sector? (For last part think of factors that might
nudge real estate dealers to sell their property early instead of benefit of land appreciation)

Page | 63
 PI PREP:
HUMAN
RESOURCES

HUMAN ENGAGEMENT AND LEARNING IN

CORPORATE SOCIETY
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TeamHelics/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/helics.iiml/

Page | 64
HR Concepts:

Performance Management:
Performance management is a corporate management tool that helps managers monitor and evaluate
employees' work and overall contribution to the organization.

Management by objective:
Management by Objectives (MBO) is a strategic approach to enhance the performance of an organization.
It is a process where the goals of the organization are defined and conveyed by the management to the
members of the organization with the intention to achieve each objective.

360-degree performance appraisal:

It refers to the employee performance review in which subordinates, co-workers, and managers all
anonymously rate the employee. This information is then incorporated into that person's performance
review. The feedback is often used as a benchmark within the employee's development plan.

Page | 65
HR Theories:
1. Maslow’s Need Hierarchy:

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a motivation theory of psychology explaining human motivation based
on the pursuit of different levels of needs. The theory states that humans are motivated to fulfil their
needs in a hierarchical order. Five main levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs are:
• Physiological Needs: They are the most essential things a person needs to survive. They include
the need for shelter, water, food, warmth, rest, and health.
• Safety Needs: Safety, or security needs, relate to a person’s need to feel safe and secure in their
life and surroundings. This refers to the need for job security, stable income, and savings.
• Love and Belonging Needs: This level of the hierarchy outlines the need for friendship,
intimacy, family, and love.
• Esteem Needs: Maslow broke up esteem needs into two categories: the need for respect from
others and the need for respect from oneself. Respect from others relates to achieving fame,
prestige, and recognition. Respect from oneself relates to dignity, confidence, competence,
independence, and freedom.
• Self-Actualization Needs: Self-actualization relates to the realization of an individual’s full
potential. At this level, people strive to become the best that they possibly can be.

Page | 66
2. McClelland’s Acquired Needs Motivation Theory

Also known as the Expectancy Value Theory of Motivation, it states that humans have a total of three
core types emotional needs, which they acquire as a result of their life journeys. The needs the model
considers are:
• Achievement (getting things done)
• Power (having influence over others)
• Affiliation (having good relationships)

3. Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory:

Herzberg’s Motivation Theory model, or Two Factor Theory, argues that there are two factors that an
organization can adjust to influence motivation in the workplace. These factors are:
• Motivators: Which can encourage employees to work harder.
• Hygiene factors: These won’t encourage employees to work harder but they will cause them to
become unmotivated if they are not present.

4. Big Five Model of Personality:

Page | 67
What is a decision-making process?
In psychology, decision-making is regarded as the cognitive process resulting in the selection of a belief or
a course of action among several alternative possibilities.
Six steps involved in decision-making are as follows:
1. Define the problem
2. Identify the decision criteria
3. Allocate weight to the criteria
4. Develop the alternative
5. Evaluate the alternative
6. Implement the best alternative

We measure the output to check the effectiveness and efficiency of the decision made.

What is emotional intelligence?

Emotional Intelligence is the measure of an individual’s abilities to recognize and manage their emotions,
and the emotions of other people, both individually and in groups.
Attitude:
Attitude reflects how we feel about something. It is evaluative statements- either favourable or
unfavourable—about objects, people, or events. For ex, When Rahul say, “I like my job,” he is expressing
his attitude towards his work.
Personality:
Personality is the characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviours that makes a person unique.
It is the sum total of ways in which an individual reacts and interacts with others and the measurable traits
a person exhibits.

Body Language during interviews

• Enter with a spring in your step and a smile on your face. In case of online interviews join on time.
Have a clean background.
• Greet every panel member.
• Try to make it more of a conversation than a Q&A session.
• Don’t get nervous if things don’t go your way. Remain COMPOSED at ALL Times.
• Most of the interviews begin with the interviewer asking you to introduce yourself. Make sure to
answer with points that initiate a conversation to guide the interview.
• Listen to questions carefully, ask for clarifications if required. Answer to the point. Be clear and
concise. Don’t beat around the bush too much. Don't rush into answering. Take a few seconds to
think if you want to.
• Maintain eye contact, not only when you chat, but even when you are spoken to by the interviewer.
This illustrates that you pay attention.
• First impressions have a significant influence on how you are viewed by interviewers for the
duration of the interview. Making the most of the first impression by genuinely smiling, being
confident, and offering a strong handshake.
Page | 68
 • Make sure to show enthusiasm in the interview: smile, nod your head, etc.
• Do not fidget, touch your face, or shake your legs.
• Look at the hints that are nonverbal. Experts estimate that only 30% to 35% of what people actually
communicate is conveyed through words; facial expressions, body gestures and behaviour convey
the remainder.
• Keep your arms either on your sides or in your lap. Do not fold your arms, it is a sign of rudeness.

Preparing for an Online Interview

With online interviews and video-conferencing platforms like Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams
becoming the new normal, the candidates need to do a little special preparation and keep in mind the
following:
• Looking Presentable: The idea is to treat the online interview just like a regular offline interview
process which begins with dressing up in proper formal attire, being neatly groomed and looking
presentable to make a difference.
• Finding the right Location/Camera Angle: Cleaning up your room and creating a clutter-free
environment which is suitable for an interview process. Also, ensuring a perfect camera angle by
maintaining it at eye level and having sufficient lighting (preferably not in the backside) will help to
maintain a professional setup.
• Checking the Network/Audio connection: In order to save yourself from the last-minute hassle,
logging-in advance and checking your device network & audio connection should be on the top
priority list. It is advisable to have an additional internet connection readily available during the
course of interview.
• Doing a Mock Interview/Dry Run: To calm the nerves and prepare your mind for the all-
important process, recording yourself or having a mock interview with a senior/friend will go a
long way in finding out whether you come across rightly or not.
• Relax: Don’t forget to take deep breaths and have a calm mindset throughout the process. The
golden rule with such interviews is to treat them like face-to-face meetings. Smile, look confident
and enthusiastic, make eye contact and don’t shout but do speak clearly.

Page | 69
 PI PREP:
ENTREPRENEURSHIP

ENTREPRENEURSHIP CELL
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ecelliiml
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ecelliiml/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ecell_iiml/

Page | 70
What is Entrepreneurship?
Entrepreneurship is the ability and readiness to follow a passion along with any uncertainties to make a
difference by developing, organizing and running a business enterprise.
Why Entrepreneurship?
● Willingness and determination to deal with risks to start a new business
● Satisfaction of generating employment and contributing to the society
● High learning through live experiences

Entrepreneurship is one of the resources economists categorize as integral to production, the other three
being land/natural resources, labour and capital. An entrepreneur combines the first three of these to
manufacture goods or provide services. They typically create a business plan, hire labour, acquire resources
and financing, and provide leadership and management for the business.
Entrepreneurs commonly face many obstacles when building their companies. The three that many of them
cite as the most challenging are as follows:
• Overcoming bureaucracy
• Hiring talent
• Obtaining financing

Key steps that most successful entrepreneurs have followed:

• Ensure Financial Stability
• Build a Diverse Skill Set
• Consume Content Across Multiple Channels
• Identify a Problem to Solve
• Solve That Problem
• Passion to Action
• Getting Your Hands Dirty
• Knowing When to Change Course
• Shrewd Money Management

Page | 71
Lean start-up formats are charts that use only a handful of elements to describe your company’s value
proposition, infrastructure, customers, and finances. They’re useful for visualizing trade-offs and
fundamental facts about your company. There are many versions of lean start-up templates, but one of the
oldest and most well-known is the Business Model Canvas, developed by Alex Osterwalder.

Nine components of the Business Model Canvas version here.

• Key partnerships: Note the other businesses or services you’ll work with to run your business.
Think about suppliers, manufacturers, subcontractors and similar strategic partners.
• Key activities: List the ways your business will gain a competitive advantage. Highlight things like
selling direct to consumers, or using technology to tap into the sharing economy.
• Key resources: List any resource you’ll leverage to create value for your customer. Your most
important assets could include staff, capital, or intellectual property. Don’t forget to leverage
business resources that might be available to women, veterans, Native Americans, and HUBZone
businesses.
• Value proposition: Make a clear and compelling statement about the unique value your company
brings to the market.
Page | 72
 • Customer relationships: Describe how customers will interact with your business. Is it automated
or personal? In person or online? Think through the customer experience from start to finish.
• Customer segments: Be specific when you name your target market. Your business won’t be for
everybody, so it’s important to have a clear sense of who your business will serve.
• Channels: List the most important ways you’ll talk to your customers. Most businesses use a mix
of channels and optimize them over time.
• Cost structure: Will your company focus on reducing cost or maximizing value? Define your
strategy, then list the most significant costs you’ll face pursuing it.
• Revenue streams: Explain how your company will actually make money. Some examples are direct
sales, memberships fees, and selling advertising space. If your company has multiple revenue
streams, list them all.

Questions That Delve into External Factors:

• Does my entrepreneurial venture meet local regulations and laws? If not feasible locally, can I and
should I relocate to another region?
• How long does it take to get the necessary license or permissions from concerned authorities? Can
I survive that long?
• Do I have a plan about getting the necessary resources and skilled employees, and have I made cost
considerations for the same?
• What are the tentative timelines for bringing the first prototype to market or for services to be
operational?
• Who are my primary customers?
• Who are the funding sources I may need to approach to make this big? Is my venture good enough
to convince potential stakeholders?
• What technical infrastructure do I need?
• Once the business is established, will I have sufficient funds to get resources and take it to the next
level? Will other big firms copy my model and kill my operation?

Topics for Interview Preparation:

• B-plans
• Angel Investors
• Venture Capitalists
• Startup India
• StartinUp
• Unicorns
• Bootstrapping
• Budget 2021 on startups
• Types of funding (Proof of concept, Seed, First & Second round, Development Capital)
• Business lifecycle stage
• Sources of Funding
• Customer Acquisition Costs
• DAU/MAU

Page | 73
 • Retention Rate

Questions related to starting a Venture:

● What idea of business do you have? Explain your B-Plan (Business Plan)?
● Why do you think your idea is a viable idea? What is the problem that you are trying to solve? How
does it differ from the competition?
● Marketing Perspectives Terms: USP, Target Market, Break-Even Point, Customer Acquisition Cost
● Who is your major target customer and how do you identify them?
● Who are your major competitors?
● What is your business model?
● What is the difference between the Venture Capitalist and Angel Investor?
● Pitch your idea to me assuming I am a potential investor.
● How will you price your product?
● How will you manage your margins?

Generic Questions:
● What are the different types of funding?
● Different ways of idea generation
● What inspires you to start your own venture?
● What is your stand on job situation in India?
● What are the different qualities an entrepreneur should have?
● How will you ensure the team formed is strong enough?
● How do you think startups can contribute in $5 Trillion economy?
● Famous startups name & its founder.
● Role of incubation centers

Page | 74
 PI PREP:
OPERATIONS

OPERATIONS INTEREST GROUP

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oig_iiml/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OIG.IIML/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/oig-iiml/about/

Page | 75
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
Operations Management deals with the design and management of products, processes, services and supply
chains. It considers the acquisition, development, and utilization of resources that firms need to deliver the
goods and services their clients want. Alternately, operations management is an area of management that is
concerned with designing, redesigning and controlling the process of production of goods and services that
provide value addition to the customer. The goal of operations management is to maximize efficiency of
goods production and services that effectively fulfil customer needs.
The Purview of OM ranges from strategic to tactical and operational levels. Strategic issues include
determining the size and location of manufacturing plants, deciding the structure of service or
telecommunications networks, and designing technology supply chains.
Tactical issues include plant layout and structure, project management methods, and equipment selection
and replacement.
Operational issues include production scheduling and control, inventory management, quality control and
inspection, traffic and materials handling, and equipment maintenance policies.

• Product Design — The process of deciding on the unique and specific features of a product.
• Process Selection — Process selection typically goes hand in hand with product design, as we
need to create a process that gives rise to the product design desired. An excellent product design
is worthless if a process for its creation cannot be developed.
• Total quality management (TQM) — A philosophy that seeks to improve quality by eliminating
the causes of product defects and by making quality standards, the responsibility of every individual
in the organization. Practiced by some companies in the 1980s, TQM became pervasive in the 1990s
and is an area of operations management that no competitive company has been able to ignore.
• Value-added — A term used to describe the net increase created during the transformation of
inputs into outputs. The OM function seeks to create value added in the transformation process.
• Quality management — The process used to ensure the quality of a product, including measuring
quality and identifying quality issues.
• Reengineering — The process of redesigning a company’s processes to increase its production
efficiency, improve quality, and reduce costs. In many companies, things are done in a certain way
that has been passed down over the years. Operations management is a key player in a company’s
reengineering efforts.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SUPPLY CHAIN AND OPERATIONS

Supply chain is sourcing and moving both the raw materials and the finished product. Operations
management is the part in the middle where the product is created from the raw materials. Supply chain is
how you get it and get it to customers.

Page | 76
Supply Chain Management: The management of the flow of goods and services involves the movement
and storage of raw materials, work-in-process inventory, and finished goods from point of origin to point
of consumption.

• Logistics: The time-related positioning of resources to meet user requirements.

• Consignment: This term has more than one meaning, most often it means the act of placing your
goods in the care of a third-party warehouse owner (known as the consignee) who maintains them
for a fee. In addition to storing the goods, the consignee may sell or ship them to customers on
your behalf for a fee.
• Inventory: A term used to describe all the goods and materials held by an organization for future
sale or use a list of items held in stock.
• FIFO: First in, first out is a method of cost lot tracking where items are valued and sold in the
order they were purchased.
• Landed Cost: The total cost of ownership of an item. This includes the cost price, shipping
charges, custom duties, taxes and any other charges that were borne by the buyer.
• LIFO: Last in, first out is a method of cost lot tracking where your most recent purchases are sold
first. It works exactly opposite to FIFO.
• Bill of Material: A listing of components, parts, and other items needed to manufacture a product,
showing the quantity of each required to produce each end item.
• Demand Driven Supply Chains: This is where a supply system is in direct response to a single
point of demand. All the components across a supply chain are synchronized to meet the demand
that it is trying to fulfil.
• Transit Time: The time taken to move goods physically between different locations in a supply
chain or laterally to another facility.
• Turn Around Time (TAT): The total time taken to repair a component at the repair location,
including waiting time but excluding transit time.
• Reverse Logistics: The requirement to plan the flow of surplus or unwanted material or
equipment back through the supply chain after meeting customer demand

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SUPPLY CHAIN AND LOGISTICS

Supply Chain:
• Supply chain management encompasses the planning and management of all activities involved in
sourcing and procurement, conversion, and all logistics management activities. Importantly, it also
includes coordination and collaboration with channel partners, which can be suppliers,
intermediaries, third party service providers, and customers. In essence, supply chain management
integrates supply and demand management within and across companies.
• Supply chain management is an integrating function with primary responsibility for linking major
business functions and business processes within and across companies into a cohesive and high-
performing business model. It includes all of the logistics management activities noted above, as

Page | 77
 well as manufacturing operations, and it drives coordination of processes and activities with and
across marketing, sales, product design, finance, and information technology.
Reverse supply chain:
• This is become hot topic in today’s world of ecommerce. Also known as Reverse Logistics,
encompasses all operations involved in the reuse of products and materials from the consumer to
the vendor. Reverse logistics are really inefficient and firms are continuously trying to reduce their
reverse logistics cost.
Logistics:
• Logistics management activities typically include inbound and outbound transportation
management, fleet management, warehousing, materials handling, order fulfilment, logistics
network design, inventory management, supply/demand planning, and management of third-party
logistics services providers. To varying degrees, the logistics function also includes sourcing and
procurement, production planning and scheduling, packaging and assembly, and customer service.
Logistics management is an integrating function, which coordinates and optimizes all logistics
activities, as well as integrates logistics activities with other functions including marketing, sales
manufacturing, finance, and information technology.

INNOVATIONS IN OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

Lean Manufacturing
• The term "lean" was coined to describe Toyota's business during the late 1980s by a research team
headed by Jim Womack, Ph.D., at MIT's International Motor Vehicle Program. Lean is a strategy
for remaining competitive by identifying and eliminating wasteful steps in products and processes.
• Following practices are used in this strategy:
o Improvement of equipment reliability
o Quality at the source;
o Continuous flow production
• The basic goal is to get more done with less by: minimizing inventory at all stages of production;
shortening cycle times from raw materials to finished goods; eliminating all sorts of waste.

SEVEN TYPES OF WASTES (7 DEADLY WASTES)

• Unnecessary Transportation: This waste refers to any unnecessary transportation, such as that
commonly associated with the transit of materials or parts. Transportation is not a value-add activity
as it does not help transform the product into the customer requirement and can add further
problems through delays, damage or items being lost.
• Unnecessary Processing: Over processing is typified by carrying out more work on a product
than is required – this might be using more precision tools than are required through to, in the
example of office activity, bureaucratic approval systems for documents requiring multiple
signatories or reviews. Removing over processing requires careful consideration to ascertain the

Page | 78
 actual requirement and ensuring that the process is engineered to meet this without any further
burden.
• Unnecessary Motion: An effective working environment can help reduce motion for a given
process. This may entail providing tools and equipment at point of use or making material handling
processes more efficient. A common tool used to analyse motion is the spaghetti diagram which
can be very effective at highlighting issues.
• Inventory: Any parts or materials that are not immediately required are considered waste –
Inventory is one of the seven wastes that is most easy to spot in that it is easy to physically see
around the business. Inventory is waste as it ties up resources to manage it for example storage
space, personnel, capital outlay and processing.
• Waiting Time: It is very common – take looks at your business are parts stacked up waiting for
next part of the assembly process? Is office in-tray‘s piled high with documents waiting to be
processed? A number of causes can result in waiting – often with product batch sizes being a
primary trigger.
• Defects: Getting it wrong results in waste – whether that‘s manufacturing faulty parts that require
rework or at worst being scrapped or documents that are incorrectly completed which can result in
confusion or mistakes. Defects have a very real impact on the bottom line of your business and can
be one of the key contributors to inefficiency.
• Overproduction: Producing more of something than is required by the customer is waste – close
attention to batch sizes and change over times can be imperative in not over producing. The impact
of overproducing can be considerable – not only is extra-material consumed but extra processing
and storage requirements add to the problem causing another of the seven wastes– inventory.
Essentially, lean is centred on making obvious what adds value by reducing everything else. Lean
manufacturing is a management philosophy derived mostly from the Toyota Production System
(TPS) and identified as "lean" only in the 1990s. TPS is renowned for its focus on reduction of the
original Toyota seven wastes to improve overall customer value.
Takt Time:
• Takt time, derived from the German word Taktzeit, translated best as meter, is the average unit
production time needed to meet customer demand. For example, if the customer wants to buy 10
units per week, the average time to build a unit must be 4 hours (or less) if the units are built during
a 40-hour work week. Industrial manufacturing lines must have production cycle times at least as
short as the takt time so that production can meet the customer demand. This production 'cycle
time' should be less than or equal to Takt time.
Kaizen:
• The Japanese word "Kaizen" means improvement, improvements without spending much money,
involving everyone from managers to workers, and using much common sense. The Japanese way
encourages small improvements day after day, continuously. The key aspect of Kaizen is that it is
an on-going, never-ending improvement process. It's a soft and gradual method opposed to more
usual western habits to scrap everything and start with new.

Page | 79
Kanban
• It is one of the many methods through which JIT is achieved. It is a scheduling system for lean and
just-in-time (JIT) production that helps determine what to produce, when to produce it, and how
much to produce.

SIX-SIGMA
• Six-Sigma is a business management strategy, originally developed by Motorola that today enjoys
wide-spread application in many sectors of industry. Six Sigma seeks to identify and remove the
causes of defects and errors in manufacturing and/or service delivery and business processes. It
uses a set of management methods, including statistical methods, and creates a dedicated
infrastructure of people within the organization who are experts in these methods.
• Six-Sigma aims to deliver ―Breakthrough Performance Improvement‖ from current levels in
business and customer relevant operational and performance measures.
• Six-Sigma believes that:
o Continuous efforts to achieve stable and predictable process results (i.e., reduce process
variation) are of vital importance to business success.
o Manufacturing and business processes have characteristics that can be measured, analysed,
improved and controlled.
o Achieving sustained performance and quality improvement requires commitment from the
entire organization, particularly from top-level management.
• Features that differentiate Six Sigma apart from previous quality improvement initiatives include –
o A clear focus on achieving measurable and quantifiable financial returns from any Six Sigma
project.
o An increased emphasis on strong and passionate management leadership and support
o A special organization infrastructure of "Champions," "Master Black Belts," "Black Belts‖,
―Green Belts‖ etc. to lead and implement the Six Sigma approach
• Six-Sigma has two key methodologies: DMAIC and DMADV
o DMAIC is used to improve an existing business process;
o DMADV is used to create new product or process designs.

THE FIVE 5'S

The 5S quality tool is derived from five Japanese terms beginning with the letter "S" used to create a
workplace suited for visual control and lean production. The pillars of 5S are simple to learn and important
to implement:
• Seiri: To separate needed tools, parts, and instructions from unneeded materials and to remove the
unneeded ones.
• Seiton: To neatly arrange and identify parts and tools for ease of use.
• Seiso: To conduct a clean-up campaign.
• Seiketsu: To conduct seiri, seiton, and seiso daily to maintain a workplace in perfect condition.

Page | 80
 • Shitsuke: To form the habit of always following the first four S’s.

LEAN 5S PROGRAM BENEFITS

Benefits to be derived from implementing a lean 5S program include:

• Improved safety
• Higher equipment availability
• Lower defect rates
• Reduced costs
• Increased production agility and flexibility
• Improved employee morale
• Better asset utilization
• Enhanced enterprise image to customers, suppliers, employees and management

Useful Links for Extra Reading

• Operations industry weekly news
• Current Challenges for Operations Management
• Five ways to optimize the COVID-19 vaccine supply chain
• Supply chain industry weekly news
• COVID-19: Managing supply chain risk and disruption
• Supply Chain Challenges and Optimization in times of Disruption
• Coronavirus: A lesson in supply chain risk management
• 10 Vaccine Distribution Questions for Supply Chain Leaders

Page | 81
 PI PREP:
PRODUCT
MANAGEMENT
&
ANALYTICS
THE BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY INTEREST GROUP
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/biztech_iim_lucknow/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/biztechiimlucknow/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/biztech-iim-lucknow/about/

Page | 82
What is Product Management?
Engineers and designers are often attributed to have built the most important product/apps of our times
such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Android etc. But how do varied teams come together, how do they
know exactly what to do? Who drives them? Product Manager!
The product manager is often considered the CEO of their product and is responsible for the strategy,
roadmap, and feature definition for that product or product line. Taking the idea to execution and
constantly re-iterating it to build products that customers love. Customer centricity is the core that drives
product management.

Responsibilities of a Product Manager:

There are a few core responsibilities common to most product management roles inside both established
enterprise companies and at startups. Most often a product manager is responsible for understanding
customer requirements, defining and prioritizing them, and working with the engineering team to build
them. Setting strategy and defining the roadmap is often considered to be inbound work and bringing the
product to market is often considered to be "outbound."
Product Strategy and Definition (Inbound)
• Strategy and vision
• Customer interviews
• Defining features and requirements
• Building roadmaps
• Release management
• Go-to-resource for engineering
• Sales and support training
Product Marketing and Go-to-Market (Outbound)
• Competitive differentiation
• Positioning and messaging
• Naming and branding
• Customer communication
• Product launches
• Press and analyst relations

Page | 83
Key Trends in Product Management in the COVID Context

1. UI/UX Changes:
Facebook • It pushed out a number of informational resources within their app to help get
people to COVID-19 information faster
• They have a COVID-19 dedicated page showing data on number of cases,
educating people about facts of COVID-19, Prevention tips, promoting accredited
institutions, showing latest posts from government, civic and health organizations

Instagram • Instead of solely promoting informational resources, Instagram decided to go a

more community-based route in order to foster socializing and togetherness.
• A `Stay Home` story was added to the Story bar, which congregates all stories by
people you follow who have used the `Stay Home` sticker.
• In addition, they’ve added group video chatting. Users can all browse through
Instagram together, looking at whatever content they want.

Microsoft • Collaborative project with CDC – a healthcare symptom checker chatbot (Meant
to corral users to the type of healthcare they may need to pursue. It should be noted
that it is not intended to diagnose or providing information on testing facilities)
• Bing’s COVID-19 data live map tracker for cases globally. There are a lot of tools,
graphs, statistics that can be broken down for accessing information

Google • It has added numerous COVID-19 portals throughout their search pages
• It has been promoting “DO THE FIVE” -5 guidelines to help slow spread of
coronavirus
• Google’s coronavirus information site has compiled news articles and tweets related
to the virus, including health info for those looking for symptoms and treatments
• The map on this page brings out very simplified global case tracking map

Apple • It has created a chatbot style “COVID-19 Symptoms checker” asking questions
step by step to determine if they are aligned with COVID-19.
• Users can also get latest COVID-19 news, learn about preventive techniques and
testing information
(Source- https://masterdesignblog.com/ui-and-ux-changes-in-big-tech-due-to-covid-19/ )

2. Apps witnessing high engagement:

Key Findings:
• Some app industries are seeing a surge in user engagement — some as high as a 177% average
increase in daily active users (DAUs).
Page | 84
 • For struggling industries, app launches are down as much as 60-80%.
• Some app verticals are seeing prolonged spikes in engagement (Content & Media), while others
are experiencing temporary peaks before returning to normal (Grocery)

Grocery Apps • Unlike Food & Delivery apps, Grocery apps have seen a dramatic increase in
DAUs during the month of March as governments around the world issued
lockdown orders.
• App launches were up 177% on March 24 as consumers scrambled to secure
supplies and prepare to shelter in place

Content and • With one-third of the globe confined to their homes, streaming media apps are
Media Apps becoming an essential source of breaking news.
• Content & Media apps are holding steady at a 40% increase in DAUs since early
March.

Gaming Apps • Gaming apps saw a constant increase in app launches throughout the month of
March, signaling that users aren’t experiencing app fatigue and are in fact turning
to mobile games more and more as a way to connect with friends and entertain
themselves as they self-isolate.

Education Apps • Online learning is undergoing a significant transformation as COVID-19 forces

students around the world off-campus and into virtual classrooms.
• Parents are overseeing their children’s home schooling, people are taking the
opportunity to pick up new skills and hobbies, and learners are looking for new
resources and ideas.
• It’s no surprise that Education apps are seeing a significant rise in app launches
— up nearly 20% before seeing a decline at the end of March.

Medical and • Throughout the course of this pandemic, essential services like access to
Medicine delivery healthcare and pharmacies have been in high demand.
Apps • People are both more interested in their overall health and are turning to video
visits and emails rather than go to hospitals for non-urgent care.
• Medical & Medicine Delivery apps have seen spikes in DAUs as high as 40%
before appearing to normalize as the month of March ended.

Health and • With gyms closed, people are turning to their Health & Fitness apps to help
Fitness Apps them stay active indoors (and log all their quarantine snacks).

Page | 85
 • Health and fitness brands finding ways to encourage people to access their
library of digital workouts and connect with the whole community via their
mobile apps.

(Source: https://clevertap.com/blog/q1-data-impact-of-covid-19/ )
Suggested readings to appreciate Product Management:
Books:
● Design of Everyday Things
● Well Designed

Blogs/Articles:
● Interview Tips
https://www.intercom.com/blog/evolving-your-product-management-career-ladder/
● Product Management Frameworks:
○ The 3-Step Startup Marketing Framework We Created to Grow KISSmetrics
(https://hitenism.com/marketing-framework/)
○ 8 essential metrics for measuring product-led growth
(https://www.appcues.com/blog/product-led-growth-metrics)
○ 4 Steps to Defining GREAT Metrics for ANY Product (https://hackernoon.com/metrics-
game-framework-5e3dce1be8ac)
○ The FANG Playbook (https://stratechery.com/2016/the-fang-playbook/)
○ Aggregator Theory (https://stratechery.com/2015/aggregation-theory/)
● Design in Product Management
○ Articulating Your Product Design Principles
(https://www.sachinrekhi.com/articulating-your-product-design-principles)
○ Don Norman's Principles of Interaction Design
(https://www.sachinrekhi.com/don-norman-principles-of-interaction-design)
○ Wireframes Aren’t Just for Designers
(https://www.mindtheproduct.com/wireframes-arent-just-for-designers/)

Introduction to Analytics concepts

What is Analytics?
• Analytics is the science of analyzing raw data to derive actionable insights and conclusions. The
techniques and processes may involve complex algorithms and machine learning concepts. Data
Analytics plays a pivotal role in helping businesses identify patterns, customer trends and
accordingly take decisions.

Page | 86
Types of Analytics:

Descriptive Diagnostic Predictive Prescriptive

Analytics Analytics Analytics Analytics

Answers the Diagnostic analytics Predictive It answers the

question of “What helps answer the Analytics uses question of “What
has happened?”. question of “Why it statistical should happen?”
The objective is to happened?”. It modelling, machine Prescriptive
analyse historical involves techniques learning to predict analytics is used to
trends and figure such as correlation, the probability of a determine the
out relevant drill down, data future event. It most appropriate
patterns and to gain mining. answers the step to be taken
insights. question of “What based on data.
could happen?”

Analytics Lifecycle:

Page | 87
1. Discovery:
• Objective is to understand the business domain and know the available resources (people, time,
technology, data)
• Developing initial hypothesis to test with the data
2. Data preparation:
• Understanding the data in detail
• Performing ETL: Extract → Transform → Load
• Data visualization to understand nuances, trends and overview of the data
3. Model Planning:
• Understand relationships between different variables and select the most appropriate and
relevant variables
• Determining causal relationships between input and output, if it exists
• Shortlisting possible techniques that can be employed: Classification, Clustering, etc.
4. Model Selection:
• Develop and fit models on training data and evaluate on test data
• Determine if the model is robust enough to be scaled to a larger dataset
5. Communicate results:
• Comparing the outcomes with the defined criteria for success and failure
• Checking if the results of the model are statistically significant
6. Operationalize:
• Deploying the model to production environment
• Monitoring of ongoing model deployment

Artificial Intelligence vs Machine Learning vs Deep Learning

Artificial Intelligence
• Succinctly put, AI is the ability of computer program to function like a
human. AI includes algorithms that imitate the intelligence exhibited
by humans, and are able to solve problems in ways that are considered
“smart”. E.g., Amazon’s accurate AI that provides one of the most
accurate of predictions
Machine Learning
• Machine Learning is considered as a subset of AI. This comprises of
algorithms that parse data, “learn” from it and have the ability to apply
what the algorithms have learned to make informed decisions. The
machines are able to learn from the data with the help of statistical
techniques E.g., Email filtering, fraud detection and dynamic pricing

Page | 88
Deep Learning
• Further subset of Machine Learning is Deep Learning. The objective of these techniques is to
achieve a goal or an artificial intelligence power that teaches computers to task and ability to
understand anything. The algorithms permit software to train itself to perform tasks, like speech
and image recognition. E.g., Application of Deep Learning to differentiate between dialects,
autonomous vehicles using deep learning to identify pedestrian
“How vast can Machine Learning really be? I mean isn’t it just a few algori….
Oh okay”

Page | 89
Page | 90
Page | 91
Page | 92
 PI PREP:
AGRIBUSINESS

IGFAB
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IGFAB
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/igfab-iim-lucknow-
8942aa1b4/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iim_lucknow_igfab/

Page | 93
ABOUT AGRIBUSINESS MANAGEMENT
Agribusiness Management is the application of business skills from areas such as marketing, finance,
economics, and management to the agricultural industry. The core concepts of management remain the
same, but the perspective is from the food and agricultural point of view. Agriculture, as a sector, provides
a wide variety of challenges. The dependence on the land, fertility, climate, lack of agricultural infrastructure
and access to capital are but just a few challenges that this industry faces during the production stage. Post-
production, most of the challenges are due to the perishability of the products. The low shelf life of
agricultural products coupled with specific conditions required to store and transport goods pose unique
challenges and can be a supply chain nightmare. Hence, a food company needs to manage and control the
process right from the procurement of raw materials to the delivery of finished goods to the end-user. Thus,
as an Agribusiness professional, you would be required to have strong domain knowledge and be well versed
with management principles to manage the agribusiness value chain effectively.

PGP ABM at IIM Lucknow

• Agribusiness Management is not just about agriculture. It is a management course where one learns
how to manage a firm, which is related to agriculture/livestock/food processing and another similar
domain. It does not require too much technical knowledge. Moreover, there is a foundation course
in agriculture to familiarize you with the basic concepts. So even if one does not have an agriculture
background but is interested in being associated with the Agri based industry, this course would
provide the required learning.
• Apart from the regular PGP subjects, there is one extra course focusing on ABM in each term of
the first year. During the second year, electives for both are different.
• IIM-L has a common placement process for PGP and PGP-ABM. The eligibility for the application
to any company depends on the company’s eligibility criteria. ABM students can hence apply to
almost all the companies not just those specific to the agribusiness sector.
• Each field can contribute to the Agribusiness sector be it engineering or commerce or humanities.
There are students in the current batch as well as the previous batches who did not have a
background in agriculture, yet they are outdoing their peers.
• ABM program also has scope in all sectors, including marketing, finance, etc. related to the agri
domain. You will get immense opportunities in the fields of pharmacy, fertilizers & other agri-based
products or services in case you are inclined towards the field.
• The diversity of students in PGP-ABM batch is similar to that of PGP batch. They have diverse
work experience. Some are from the consulting field, others from the IT industry, Auto Industry
and many students are from the biotech domain. Also, there are a healthy number of freshers in
the batch. You can pursue ABM and you shall get the same enriched experience as the PGP
students.
• The committee selection process offers equal chances to both PGP and ABM students. For
Academic Interest Groups, relaxation is given to ABM students based on the academic criteria. So,
it depends entirely on your capability that whether you can make it into the committees or not.

Page | 94
 • There is even a committee, IGFAB (Interest Group in Food and Agribusiness), which especially
deals with the events related to agri-business. IGFAB is the face of IIM Lucknow in the domains
of agri-business, environment, and rural management. It is the committee that handles all the
agribusiness activities and events in IIML throughout the year. The committee also initiated the
FAB Festival which includes various events like quizzes, article writing, workshop, panel
discussions and case competition related to finance, marketing, strategy, etc. Apart from this, other
events conducted by IGFAB keep on taking place all throughout the year. IGFAB, under the
umbrella of IIM Lucknow, acts to disseminate awareness about agri-business, to carve paths for
conserving the environment and to diffuse subtle prosperity in rural India.
The summer placements of ABM students are almost at par with PGP students. ABM students have also
obtained general management roles, operation roles, marketing roles in firms like Amazon, Flipkart, HUL,
Star, etc.
General tips:
• Apart from the technical knowledge regarding the graduation stream, a basic knowledge of the
agriculture sector is desired. It would benefit you to be abreast with the current news and trends in
the Agriculture sector in India and the rest of the world. The contribution of agriculture to the
Indian economy. You may need to justify your interest in the Agriculture sector.
• Be aware and know thoroughly about the current affairs and agribusiness related news, Agricultural
contribution in India with respect to all aspects like GDP, Export, Import etc.
• Be aware of any special day on the date of your interview. (say environment day, republic day).
• Important topics: Organic farming, GM crops and BT crops, food and organisms; Organisations
like FSSAI, FCI, APEDA, NABARD, FAO etc. Related ministries (MoFPI, Ministry of agriculture
and farmer’s welfare etc.), Agricultural policies, Subsidies, MSPs etc, Business model of companies
like Swiggy etc.
PI Questions
• Introduction: Answer to this question can make or break the interview. Prepare this question well
to take an edge. You can include education, career goals, hobbies etc.
• Why MBA?
• Why ABM?
• PGP or ABM? Why?
• Why not continue the same field as you had in your under-graduation?
• Were any projects undertaken during work? (Work experience-based question)
• How do you think your work experience in _____ would relate to an MBA in Agribusiness?
• What contribution can you make in the agribusiness sector?
• What do you think is the current status of agribusiness in India?
• Major exports and imports of agricultural products.
• What was your favourite subject in under-graduation? What subjects did you study in your under-
graduation?
Page | 95
• What other calls do you have? Why are you interested in IIM Lucknow?
• Name some companies working in the food and agribusiness sector.
• Current affairs-based question and your opinion on the same.
• Do you have any questions for us (interviewer)?
• Why do you prefer ABM over your other calls?
• Do you know why agri-business management got this name or what is the difference between
agriculture and agri-business management?
• Indian firm in agribusiness- examples; what is agribusiness?
• Questions about the companies that you have filled in the application form for PGP ABM? Why
would you like to work for these companies?
• Questions related to agriculture like types of soil, crops etc.
• What is a crop? Examples of Kharif and Rabi crops.
• What is the difference between manure and fertilizer?
• Fertilizer subsidy?
• What is a fodder crop, examples?
• GM food and crops? (BT cotton, BT soybean and BT brinjal in particular)
• Questions on ICAR, APMC, Commodity trading?
• What is NCDEX?
• As a consultant suggest us 5 emerging areas to invest in biotechnology?
• Agriculture sector problems.
• What is Urea? Is it organic or inorganic? Describe its structure?
• How agriculture sector contributes to climate change?
• India GDP, rural population, Panchayati system etc.
• M.S. Swaminathan’s Green evolution?
• Farm mechanization? Green House Impact?
• Nobel Prize in agriculture- Wolf prize.
• What is horticulture, floriculture, olericulture, monoculture, crop rotation, multiple cropping, FAO
headquarters, crop diversity, contract farming etc.?
• Green, yellow revolutions, what other revolutions on similar lines you know- Blue, white etc.?
• Products of companies like Pepsi, Coca Cola, Marico etc.
• Biggest achievement and failure of your life. What did you learn from that experience?
• What are Transgenic Crops? Explain
• What are major agricultural problems in Bihar?
• Tell us about Agricultural Budget?
• What did you do in your Rural Agriculture Work Experience?
• Challenges in Agriculture sector in India?
• Views on Locust attack?

Page | 96
• Why productivity in India is low?
• Which microfinancing units are providing loans to farmers?
• What kind of loans are provided?
• Famous crops in your area?
• What are some of the characteristics looked for wheat as a breeding perspective?
• Is there any problem with cold storage chain for wheat in India?
• Difference between cash and subsistence crops?
• Monsanto operates in which business? What kind of seeds do they deal in? Any specific term?
• What are BT crops and issues related with them?

Page | 97
 PI PREP:
SUSTAINABLE
MANAGEMENT

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pgpsm-iim-lucknow
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iiml_pgpsm/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PGPSMIIMLucknow

Page | 98
PGP- SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT
The programme helps students develop an ethos of the environment and social responsibility of businesses
and equip them with holistic thinking and skills. The well-designed curriculum focuses on developing
capability to recognize the inter-connectedness of economic performance of business with social and
environmental systems. Students would also be able to produce policy-relevant results. It helps you to
• Understand societal development from multiple perspectives
• Acquire knowledge and skills in functional areas of business management
• Actively participate in the growing world-wide debate on the purposes and responsibilities of
business
• Become informed, self-aware and socially and environmentally responsible individuals, contributing
to social change
• Challenge the status quo and suggest new and innovative opportunities for businesses to grow
without compromising social and environmental responsibilities.

RATIONALE FOR CHOOSING SM

Businesses are being driven by sustainability and inclusive development. Various national, multinational,
and international organizations are adopting policies and programmes focusing on accomplishing
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To ensure better compliance with the corporate governance
norms, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has made it mandatory for the top 1,000 listed
companies to prepare annual business responsibility report (BRR). The BRR must cover the activities of the
companies related to environment and stakeholder relationships. The business responsibility reports (BRRs)
are currently mandatory for top 500-listed entities based on market capitalization on the BSE and NSE. To
run a business sustainably, legitimately and successfully there is need of bright minds with knowledge and
skills of management and positive attitude towards social and environmental issues. PGP-SM provides
unique blend of core management courses like finance, marketing, HR, Operations, Strategy, Statistics and
IT and sustainability related courses.

Page | 99
 PI PREP:
GENERAL

Page | 100
The idea behind this section is to show you that the interview day can be very unpredictable. We have picked
some tricky questions which caught students off guard on D-Day. Hope this gives insights on what sort of
questions can be asked. After going through this section spend some time reflecting about the questions
that can be asked to you based on your hobbies/education/work experience and interests.

HOBBY RELATED
• Explain the Drum Setup for Def Leppard's drummer. (Had mentioned drumming as a hobby)
• A few other questions related to drumming in depth.
• A few questions on various instruments like tabla, djembe and some famous instrumentalists and
why do I like them. Why is SAREGAMAPA called SAREGAMAPA and not something else?
• Few questions related to running in depth (Another hobby that I listed).
• Football- favourite team and why, some questions on leagues, players and formations.
• What do you do in the band?
• Why don’t you want to become a full-time musician?
• Even though quality of milk is better in North than in West Bengal, why is WB famous for sweets?
(had mentioned my love for food in hobbies)
• Tell me some qualities about Sachin which you learnt from his career. What is the weight of the
cricket ball? What is the difference between Kookaburra ball and SG balls? What is reverse swing?
• Name your 3 favourite guitarists and state why they are so?
• Different style of painting and mediums?
• What is castling in Chess?
• What is the maximum number of runs a batsman can make in an ODI innings?

QUANTS/ STATISTICS
• Explain probability density function, bell curve with some examples. (I scored less in quants
subjects during my undergrad).
• Exhaustive questioning from correlation, regression and probability with problems given to be
solved on the spot
• Define random variable. Typical question on examples.
• Poisson distribution, normal distribution and binomial distribution.
• Gave examples and asked which type of distribution will they follow.
• Regression and its use in Duckworth Lewis rule in cricket.
• Graph of mod(x)
• What is sampling error?
• Does it change with sample size?
• Can you give an optimal sample size?
• Draw the curve depicting relation between sampling error and sample size
• What is meant by standard deviation?
• Algebraic equations and derivations, Mathematical puzzles

Page | 101
 • Integration of some functions and their graphs
• Differentiation, Global and Local Maxima and Minima
• Statistical terms and real applications in a start-up?
• Rank of matrices
• Base conversion of Number system
• Assumptions of linear regression model

STATIC GENERAL KNOWLEDGE

• Cabinet ministers and their designations
• Governors/Chief minister of different states.
• Subprime crisis
• How many seats are there in Lok and Rajya Sabha?
• What is meant by e-commerce and m- commerce?
• Who is the chief minister, who is home minister, defence minister, external affairs minister?

CURRENT AFFAIRS
• Why the Australian Government wants tech giants Google and Facebook to pay News Outlets for
content.
• Myanmar Military Coup 2021 - What is China's role in the Myanmar coup?
• What is Metro Neo Transport System?
• What is the future of Oil Services Companies?
• What is Green Tax and New Scrappage Policy?
• How can Jarosite discovery in Antarctica unlock mysteries of Mars Climate?
• What is Financial Inclusion? What are the last mile challenges of Financial Inclusion?
• Fighter Jet Tejas Mark 2 to roll out in 2022 announces HAL Chief Madhavan, Facts about Tejas
variant.
• India to ban BITCOIN & other cryptocurrencies - Centre to launch official digital currency of
India. Why?
• What is Antifreeze 11 US soldiers hospitalized because of consuming Antifreeze.
• Explain Nepal Political Crisis, China's growing interference in Nepal's Politics, Impact on India
Nepal ties.
• What is Tibetology? How India can utilise Tibet to checkmate China?
• What is Counter-Cyclical Fiscal Policy mentioned in Economic Survey 2021.
• What is the status of 5G in India?
• Explain the new vehicle Scrappage Policy & Green Tax.
• Explain US Taliban Deal.
• What is Quantum Computing? Elaborate on India's first Quantum Computing Lab by MeitY and
Amazon?
• How will banning Xiaomi in the US impact the US-China Trade war? Why the USA has blacklisted
Xiaomi?
Page | 102
• What is Toycathon 2021 and how will it promote Indian Toy Industry?
• Why did the Dutch Government Resign over Childcare Benefits Scandal and what went wrong in
the Netherlands?
• What is Open Skies Treaty?
• Explain WhatsApp’s new Privacy Policy and why its implementation delayed?
• Elon Musk's Tesla enters India - Tesla sets up its First unit in Bengaluru.
• Why Twitter suspended Donald Trump’s account?
• Opinion on Tampon Tax abolishment by UK Government?
• Explain Farmer’s protest in India and Farm laws?
• Opinion on India's own cloud storage platform, DiGiBOXX launched by Niti Aayog?
• Why the superstar Rajnikanth cancelled his entry into politics?
• What is SolarWinds Hack?
• What is Brand India Mission? How it will promote Made in India Tag?
• What is Israel’s Nation-State Law? Why it is challenged in the Supreme Court of Israel?
• Why Boko Haram is known as ISIS of Africa?
• Why is India Myanmar Thailand Trilateral Highway important?
• Why was Arnab Goswami fined £20000 by UK regulator Ofcom?
• Explain COVID-19 Relief Package of USA.
• Challenges faced by Belt and Road Initiative of China.
• How India is planning the nationwide launch of Public Wi-Fi Network?
• What are FAANG companies? How the world will end the dominance & monopoly of big tech
giants?
• What is Amul Bonus Scam?
• Where is the world's Largest Zoo planning to be built by Reliance Industries?
• Explain Apple iPhone manufacturing plant violence in Karnataka.
• What is Currency Manipulation? Why has the US added India to Currency Manipulation Watchlist?
• What is Sovereign Fund? Impact on India replacing China as a top destination of Sovereign Fund.
• What is South Korea Conscription Rule?
• What is COVID-19 Suraksha Mission?
• Effect of Government of India buying online news, online films, audio-visual programs under
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting?
• Implications of banning Chinese Apps in India?
• Explain ISRO Venus Mission 2025.
• What is SERB Power Scheme?
• What are the scenarios that led up to Iran surgical strike?
• Iran nuclear deal.
• What is the IL&FS crisis?

Page | 103
SOME INDUSTRY SPECIFIC QUESTIONS

• Upstream and downstream operations

• What is Kaizen and Lean Manufacturing and what is the basic difference in
Operations PERT and CPM methods of time study?
• What is Six Sigma?
• CPM and PERT analysis
• Agile methodologies
• Since you are from Automotive industry, please tell me what is differential and
Automobile
its function and what type of differential is used in Trains?
• Is the MD of Mahindra an MBA?
• What is internet of things? And how is cloud used in it?
• Why does the world need IT managers?
IT • How can you use IT in other fields?
• Then subject specific questions - what is a system? What is testing (white box
and black box)? What is modelling and how is it different from simulation?

ENGINEERING
• Do you think there is a lack of entry-level jobs for engineering graduates in their respective fields?
• Specify some measurement instruments in electronics (done BE in EEE).
• Mention some statistical measures while analysing data on population of a state over a decade (had
mentioned my favourite subject as Maths).
• Questions related to Civil Engineering - How would I see if a project is feasible?
• Which all calls do you have?
• Asked some questions about AC machines and transformers. How step-up and step-down
transformers work.
• Tell me all the three laws of thermodynamics.
• Why does a petrol engine need a spark plug while diesel engines don’t? And which type of engine
needs more maintenance and why?
• Why don't you want to pursue a highly lucrative job in oil exploration/refinery? (Chemical
engineering background)
• What equipment can be used to check and control pollution?
• What are the bottom products of a distillation column used for refining crude oil? Difference
between si and ci engines, between external and internal combustion engines, new traits in engines,
role of starter and igniter, spark plug?
• Draw layout of a car.
• Capacity of centrifugal pump.
• India's position in semi-conductors? How India could improve the position against China.
• Software Development process for communication app like zoom/g-meet

Page | 104
ACCOUNTS AND FINANCE
• What is a Balance Sheet?
• Difference between asset and liabilities
• Trail balance sheet, accounting (by writing)
• What is IRR, difference between CPM and PERT
• What is the difference between Cost, Value and Price?
• So, you graduated in finance, tell us why banks take the book value and other market players take
the market value as price when calculating the P/E ratio?
• Tell me something about crypto-currency.
• How is the price of Bitcoin determined?
• How will supply affect the demand for sea side villas?
• What are your views about GST as a whole?
• Buyback of shares
• What is the rate of discount for calculating NPV?
• Which are the only 2 fixed expenses in income statement?

ECONOMICS
• How to measure income inequality?
• What is Game theory?
• What are the assumptions and exception of law of demand?
• What should government do to save retailers from ecommerce?
• Monetary Policy
• Fiscal Policy
• What is fiscal deficit?

MISCELLANEOUS
• Do you think it is appropriate to run vehicles on electricity in a country where most villages are not
having power supply in houses?
• Do you think there's anything wrong with our education system? Is there a need to pay more
attention towards it?
• Okay tell me one example of something which is unethical but legal, and one which is illegal but
ethical?
• You have taken part in a math Olympiad, here take solve this math puzzle.
• Do you feel you are at a disadvantage because you are the last person whom we are interviewing
today?
• Why Ola cabs still getting funding although in losses?
• What is the Power Transmission loss in Andhra Pradesh?
• There are a lot of slums near the Mumbai airport, because of which, the capacity is limited. How
would you relocate those people?

Page | 105
• So, you from Army background. How has that been as a differentiator? Don't you think that
Defence people are a bit attached to themselves, as they prefer Defence Hospitals over Civil
Hospitals for example?
• Why Keralites go to go to middle east while Punjabis and Delhi people go to Canada and Europe?
• How money transferred to India from middle east affects the exchange rate?
• How is a company formed?
• What is the average height of Indian males and females?
• Women are good/bad managers: Comment.
• What is AI, AR and VR? How it can be implemented in travel industry?
• If you go to a venture capitalist, how will you convince them about your business plan?
• Do you think believing is right?
• Terrorists believe in stuff. Do you think they're right?
• What do you know about the agriculture sector in India? Can it be better?
• Sales is an acquired skill. You believe you have it? Sell this glass filled with toffees to us.
• Name the seven chakras of the body and where they are located.
• How has social media has affected our lives.
• One liner for a beer glass at a gift shop.
• Who will you support in a India-Pakistan cricket match and why?
• Types of personalities, what type of person are you?
• How can you make 0+0=2?
• Who are the Bharat Ratna awardee singers of India?
• Calculate the no of planes flying above the interview centre, right now
• Explain how the masculine and feminine aspects of a culture embody themselves in different
ideologies.
• Why alcohol is subsidised for army men?
• Various drug policies in India.
• Electric vehicle future in India and its effect on HPCL?
• Five reasons why females make better managers, five reasons why they do not.
• Opinion on lateral entry in bureaucracy.

Page | 106
 PAST
INTERVIEW
EXPERIENCES

Page | 107
Interview Experience 1
Graduation College Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of Delhi
Graduation Degree B.Com
Graduation Specialisation Commerce
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 0
Work Experience NA
Domain/Industry
Home State Tamil Nadu

Interview Questions
1. Why IIM Lucknow?
2. What are your career objectives?
3. What is IRR?
4. What is NPV?
5. Basic Questions about Demand and Supply
6. Questions about Philip Kotler and basics of marketing

Interview Experience 2
Graduation College Hansraj College, Delhi University
Graduation Degree B.Com
Graduation Specialisation Commerce
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 0
Work Experience NA
Domain/Industry
Home State Delhi

Interview Questions
1. Questions about distant family
2. Tell us about your immediate family
3. You’ll get a lot of diversity points both for being a non-engineer and a female candidate. Do you
think you need them?

Page | 108
 4. Do all matrices have determinants?
5. Interpret a Simplex tableau
6. (Regression) We have two variables: Height(dependent) and Weight(independent). How is it that
two individuals with same weight can have different heights?
7. Name any other section in the income tax act, apart from section 80?
8. NPV vs. IRR?
9. What is SLR and what assets are included in its calculation?
10. Let’s say I make an offer to M1 about ending the Interviews by 5 pm. M1 does not respond. Is it
a contract?

Interview Experience 3
Graduation College Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies
Graduation Degree B.B.A
Graduation Specialisation Finance
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 0
Work Experience NA
Domain/Industry
Home State Delhi

Interview Questions
1. Why MBA?
2. Why are you not joining your father’s business?
3. MBA v/s Placement Offer
4. Detailed questions on econometrics
`
Interview Experience 4
Graduation College Ramjas College
Graduation Degree B.Com
Graduation Specialisation Commerce
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 0
Work Experience NA
Domain/Industry
Home State Chhattisgarh

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
Page | 109
 2. Why MBA
3. What is favourite sport and why?
4. Questions on Statistics

Interview Experience 5
Graduation College Hindu College, Delhi University
Graduation Degree B.Com
Graduation Specialisation Commerce
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 0
Work Experience NA
Domain/Industry
Home State Delhi

Interview Questions
1. Introduce yourself
2. Question on finding income disparity in the country
3. Why should a country not export all surplus and import all superior products from abroad?

Interview Experience 6
Graduation College Mithibai College, Mumbai
Graduation Degree B.M.S.
Graduation Specialisation Marketing
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 11 months - Maru Shirtings Pvt Ltd
Work Experience Sales
Domain/Industry Manufacturing
Home State Maharashtra

Interview Questions
1. Which other calls do you have?
2. Did you convert IIM A?
3. Why couldn't you convert?
4. Why could you not answer questions regarding hypothesis testing?
5. Did you study hypothesis testing after that?
6. Some questions on hypothesis testing
7. What is 6 sigma?
8. Top 2 challenges in rural marketing

Page | 110
Interview Experience 7
Graduation College Hansraj College
Graduation Degree B.Com.
Graduation Specialisation Commerce
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 12 months - Securenow Insurance broker Pvt Ltd
Work Experience Business Development
Domain/Industry Insurance
Home State Haryana

Interview Questions
1. Introduce yourself
2. Why MBA
3. Questions related to Academics
4. Marketing Campaign for Bisleri in Covid Situation
5. How will you motivate politicians?
6. Why IIM Lucknow
7. Questions related to family background

Interview Experience 8
Graduation College Hansraj College
Graduation Degree B.Com.
Graduation Specialisation Commerce
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 32 months – Grail Insights
Work Experience Consulting
Domain/Industry
Home State Uttar Pradesh

Interview Questions
1. What work you did in Grail Insights and KPMG?
2. Why did you leave KPMG?
3. Why consulting?
4. Why MBA now?
5. Talk about a short term and long-term strategic project that you did in Grail Insights?
6. Questions about Rate cuts and impact of Covid

Page | 111
Interview Experience 9
Graduation College Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi
Graduation Degree B.Com.
Graduation Specialisation Commerce
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 23 months – Limetray
Work Experience Marketing
Domain/Industry E-Commerce
Home State Haryana

Interview Questions
1. Do you think it is better to be confident or nervous about an interview?
2. What makes-up holistic interview preparation for a B-School?
3. Give us a brief introduction.
4. You have mentioned Plato in your WAT. Tell us something about him.
5. You have also mentioned deontology in your WAT. How does that philosophy differ from
utilitarianism?
6. You have scored 82.5% in College. What was your rank in class?
7. You already have good communication skills. You also seem to be an avid reader. Why do you
want to do an MBA at all?
8. So you are inviting me to ask questions around your academics. What subject should I ask you
questions on?
9. Marketing is more our world than yours. What concepts have you studied in marketing?
10. Draw the format of a Balance Sheet.
11. Where are fictitious assets presented on a balance sheet?
12. Are you for or against the CAA?
13. As a business executive, would you prioritize social good or business profits? For instance, would
you advocate for democracy in China, knowing it might hurt sales?
14. Would you want to work for a company that considers all stakeholders or a profit centric one?

Interview Experience 10
Graduation College Christ University
Graduation Degree B.Com.
Graduation Specialisation Finance
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 14 months – Mindtree
Work Experience Finance
Domain/Industry IT & ITES
Home State Tamil Nadu
Page | 112
Interview Questions
1. Tell us about yourself
2. What are your plans for the future?
3. Difference between a bond and a debenture
4. Explain the DCF Model
5. What other calls do you have?

Interview Experience 11
Graduation College Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University
Graduation Degree B.Com.
Graduation Specialisation Commerce
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 25 months – EY India
Work Experience Finance
Domain/Industry
Home State Delhi

Interview Questions
1. Why MBA?
2. Why MBA in Finance?
3. What are accounting standards?
4. Why IIM Lucknow?

Interview Experience 12
Graduation College Kirori Mal College
Graduation Degree B.Com.
Graduation Specialisation Commerce
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 24 months – Deloitte USI
Work Experience Finance
Domain/Industry
Home State Uttar Pradesh

Interview Questions
1. What is risk?
2. Can risk be completely eliminated for an organisation?
3. What according to you is the difference between CBSE and ICSE board?
Page | 113
 4. Difference between Balance Sheet and Financial Statements

Interview Experience 13
Graduation College Ahmedabad University
Graduation Degree B.B.A
Graduation Specialisation Finance
Professional Qualification CFA Level 1
Work Experience (In Months) 24 months - Tracom Stock Brokers Pvt Ltd
Work Experience Finance
Domain/Industry Financial Services
Home State Gujarat

Interview Questions
1. Tell us something about yourself
2. Which are the 5 best mutual funds according to you?
3. Stocks that you would pitch in to invest in current time and why these stocks?
4. How do you build and manage a portfolio?
5. Who are your clients?
6. What have been the business challenges currently?
7. What are futures and options?
8. Tell me your top 3 priorities in order of 1,2,3 (being super important, less important and so on)
15 years down the line
9. Questions related to regression. What is it? How do you find it?
10. What does regression help in analysing?
11. Questions related to normal curve. Characteristics and graph of normal curve.

Interview Experience 14
Graduation College St. Xavier's College, Kolkata
Graduation Degree B.Com.
Graduation Specialisation Accountancy and Finance
Professional Qualification CFA
Work Experience (In Months) 23 months – J.P.Morgan
Work Experience Finance
Domain/Industry Financial Services
Home State West Bengal

Page | 114
Interview Questions
1. Describe the chain of events leading up to 2008 financial crisis
2. Draw the graph for x cube
3. Mathematics questions on Integration
4. What are mortgage backed securities? What role did they play in 2008 crisis?
5. What is the LIBOR right now? How would you hedge interest risk for fixed income investors?

Interview Experience 15
Graduation College Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of Delhi
Graduation Degree B.Com.
Graduation Specialisation Accountancy and Finance
Professional Qualification CFA Level 1
Work Experience (In Months) 30 months – Quality Council of India
Work Experience Consulting
Domain/Industry Infrastructure
Home State Karnataka

Interview Questions
1. Brief Introduction about yourself
2. Questions on work experience and highway sector
3. What is the formula for Standard Deviation?
4. Meaning of Standard Deviation

Interview Experience 16
Graduation College Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of Delhi
Graduation Degree B.Com.
Graduation Specialisation Commerce
Professional Qualification CFA Level 2
Work Experience (In Months) 14 months – Indus Valley Partners
Work Experience Finance
Domain/Industry
Home State Delhi

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. What were you doing between leaving your job and now?
3. What are options?
Page | 115
 4. Explain BSM model
5. Explain CAPM
6. Questions on probability of an event
7. NPV vs IRR - which is better?

Interview Experience 17
Graduation College University of Pune
Graduation Degree B.Com.
Graduation Specialisation Accounting and Finance
Professional Qualification CA
Work Experience (In Months) 33 months – Wipro Limited
Work Experience Finance
Domain/Industry IT & ITES
Home State Maharashtra

Interview Questions
1. Questions related to work ex and follow up questions on it
2. What is deferred tax liability? Give examples
3. What is happening in Yes Bank?
4. Reason for losses reported by banks post corporate tax reduction
5. One ethical situation and asked what would you do

Interview Experience 18
Graduation College Osmania University
Graduation Degree B.Com.
Graduation Specialisation Commerce
Professional Qualification CA
CFA Level 1
Work Experience (In Months) 20 months – KPMG
Work Experience Finance
Domain/Industry Financial Services
Home State Telangana

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. Questions on probability
3. Opinion on CAA+NRC

Page | 116
Interview Experience 19
Graduation College Sydenham College, Mumbai
Graduation Degree B.Com.
Graduation Specialisation Accountancy and Finance
Professional Qualification CA
Work Experience (In Months) 30 months – Rohan Wani & Associates, Chartered Accountant
Work Experience Finance
Domain/Industry
Home State Maharashtra

Interview Questions
1. Tell us something about your self
2. Why do you want to do MBA?
3. Why is the PM-Cares fund into controversy?
4. What is Direct Tax and Indirect Tax?
5. What is GST?
6. What is Central Sales Tax. How different from GST?
7. What is cess? Why does the government levy cess? Why can’t they just raise the tax rate?
8. What is MNREGA
9. Is there any such scheme for Urban Employment?
10. Some acts in the law give citizens some rights. Can you name a few?
11. What does Ministry of Finance, Corporate Affairs and Commerce do? Functions

Interview Experience 20
Graduation College Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies
Graduation Degree B.B.A
Graduation Specialisation Finance
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 26 months – Rocsearch India Pvt Ltd
Work Experience Services
Domain/Industry
Home State Maharashtra

Interview Questions
1. Questions related SPSS
2. Hypothesis Testing and various types of distribution
3. Questions related work experience
4. Question related to Private Equity

Page | 117
5. Can you discuss a few big deals that happened in last 2 years?
6. Which newspapers do you read?
7. Who are their editors?
8. COVID-19 scenario in India

Page | 118
Interview Experience 1
Graduation College National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Electrical and Electronics Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 0
Work Experience NA
Domain/Industry
Home State West Bengal

Interview Questions
1. Give us an introduction about yourself
2. Why MBA?
3. Academics based questions (EEE subjects)
4. Statistics problems
5. Discussion on WAT Topic
6. What was the turning point in your life?
7. What are your greatest achievements?

Interview Experience 2
Graduation College Indian Institute of Information Technology, Chennai
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Mechanical Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 0
Work Experience NA
Domain/Industry
Home State Telangana

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. Name a person who got 7 Gold Medals for swimming in an Olympics?
3. What is Einstein's Theory of Relativity?

Page | 119
 4. Where can one find Certified Pearls in Hyderabad?

Interview Experience 3
Graduation College Indian Institute of Information Technology, Chennai
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Computer Science and Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 0
Work Experience Analytics
Domain/Industry
Home State Telangana

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. What is your favourite subject in computer science?
3. Technical questions on core computer science topics
4. Discussions about sports players, tournaments related to my sports

Interview Experience 4
Graduation College Indian Institute of Information Technology, Guwahati
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 0
Work Experience NA
Domain/Industry
Home State Telangana

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. Why MBA after Engineering?
3. What do you know about 4Ps in Marketing?
4. Asked to solve a matrix multiplication problem

Page | 120
Interview Experience 5
Graduation College GL Bajaj Institute of Technology and Management
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Electronics Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 0
Work Experience NA
Domain/Industry
Home State Bihar

Interview Questions
1. Questions around Indian economy
2. Questions related to engineering subjects
3. Tell us something famous about your state and hometown
4. Name a few alums of college
5. What are your hobbies?
6. What’s your favourite music band?

Interview Experience 6
Graduation College PSG College of Technology
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Mechanical Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 0
Work Experience NA
Domain/Industry
Home State Tamil Nadu

Interview Questions
1. Introduce yourself
2. Questions based on probability and linear programming concepts
3. Name the Railway, Finance and other ministers of India

Interview Experience 7
Graduation College Institute of Engineering and Technology, Lucknow
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Mechanical Engineering
Page | 121
 Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 0
Work Experience NA
Domain/Industry
Home State Uttar Pradesh

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. Difference between two stroke and four stroke engines
3. Achievements of Yogi Adityanath’s government

Interview Experience 8
Graduation College National Institute of Technology, Raipur
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 36 months – United Health Group
Work Experience Information Technology
Domain/Industry Healthcare
Home State Uttar Pradesh

Interview Questions
1. Tell us something about your family
2. Why renting apartment is better than owning one?
3. What are your views on maternity leave vs paternity leave vs adoption leave?
4. Asked to explain quite a few finance terminologies

Interview Experience 9
Graduation College Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Aerospace Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 36 months – Global Analytics
Work Experience Analytics
Domain/Industry Financial Services
Home State Uttar Pradesh

Page | 122
Interview Questions
1. Why MBA?
2. You already have a good job, why do you want to do MBA?
3. You can learn everything on the job. Why MBA?
4. Which other calls do you have?
5. What is the future of days science?
6. Tell us about your work? How did you take decisions? How did it impact the business?
7. Asked about Yes Bank moratorium. Why did it happen? Who regulates banks? Could it have
been identified earlier?

Interview Experience 10
Graduation College
Graduation Degree
Graduation Specialisation
Professional Qualification
Work Experience (In Months)
Work Experience
Domain/Industry
Home State
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras
B.E/B.Tech
Chemical Engineering
NA
12 months – Quantiphi
Information Technology
IT & ITES
Andhra Pradesh

Interview Questions
1. Tell us something about yourself
2. What are your long-term goals?
3. Why do you want to take up Project management role and why not choose other methods to do
the same?

Interview Experience 11
Graduation College Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Hyderabad
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Mechanical Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 35 months - Possibillion Software Technology Pvt Ltd
Work Experience Engineering
Domain/Industry Manufacturing
Home State Telangana

Page | 123
Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. Work Experience related questions
3. What is Corrosion
4. What is the difference between different grades of steel?

Interview Experience 12
Graduation College Birla Institute of Technology and Science Goa Campus
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Chemical Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 36 months – Morningstar Inc.
Work Experience Finance
Domain/Industry Financial Services
Home State Maharashtra

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. What is the equation of rectangular hyperbola?
3. What is risk free rate?
4. What are T-bills?
5. Biggest NIFTY 50 company by market capitalisation

Interview Experience 13
Graduation College College of Engineering Guindy (CEG)
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Industrial Engineering and Management
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 22 months – Tata Consultancy Services
Work Experience Information Technology
Domain/Industry IT & ITES
Home State Tamil Nadu

Interview Questions
1. What are your short term and long-term goals?
2. How do you define success?
3. How will you sell yourself?
4. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Page | 124
 5. Questions on Product Life Cycle

Interview Experience 14
Graduation College Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Aerospace Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 24 months – Cognizant
Work Experience Information Technology
Domain/Industry IT & ITES
Home State Tamil Nadu

Interview Questions
1. Net worth of e-commerce in India
2. How many lines of code you have written?
3. Future of e-commerce

Interview Experience 15
Graduation College Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology (NSIT), New Delhi
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Computer Science and Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 24 months – Indus Valley Partners
Work Experience Consulting
Domain/Industry IT & ITES
Home State Delhi

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. Work-ex related questions
3. Difference between futures and forwards
4. Why IIML?
5. Is there anything specific you like about the curriculum?

Page | 125
Interview Experience 16
Graduation College Jadavpur University
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Mechanical Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 27 months – Vedanta Resources
Work Experience Operations
Domain/Industry Metals and Mining
Home State West Bengal

Interview Questions
1. Tell us something about yourself
2. Why do you want to join MBA despite having a handsome job?
3. How can you contribute to the society by an MBA? Isn't joining an NGO a better option for
social work rather than MBA?
4. Is there any role of mechanical engineering in e-vehicle?
5. What is complex number? Why is it complex?

Interview Experience 17
Graduation College Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines),
Dhanbad
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Electrical Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 32 months – Coal India Limited
Work Experience Operations
Domain/Industry Metals and Mining
Home State Maharashtra

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself. Why MBA?
2. Questions on Vizag Chemical Gas Plant Tragedy
3. Questions on Set theory
4. What is the difference between Great Britain and England?
5. Questions related to Electrical Engineering
6. Without using magnet can you determine the direct of electric current while standing under an
overhead line?

Page | 126
Interview Experience 18
Graduation College Malviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Electrical Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 35 months - Cairn Oil & Gas, Vedanta Limited
Work Experience Operations
Domain/Industry Oil and Gas
Home State Uttar Pradesh

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. Questions on Oil Prices & oil industry
3. Work-Ex related questions
4. Narrate an incident where you showcased leadership skills
5. What is your view on the current COVID situation?
6. Why MBA?

Interview Experience 19
Graduation College National Institute of Technology Delhi
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 12 months – Deloitte USI
Work Experience Consulting
Domain/Industry Tourism and Hospitality
Home State Odisha

Interview Questions
1. Why MBA?
2. What developed your interest in mythology?
3. What makes Japanese mythology different from others?
4. Tell me about the best subjects in your undergraduate
5. Questions related to work-ex
6. Why do you want to do MBA this early? Why not after some more work-ex?

Page | 127
Interview Experience 20
Graduation College Yeshwantrao Chavan College of Engineering, Nagpur
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Mechanical Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 21 months – Tata Consultancy Services
Work Experience Information Technology
Domain/Industry Insurance
Home State Maharashtra

Interview Questions
1. Why MBA?
2. Why IIM Lucknow?
3. What other shortlists do you have?
4. Why do you have a gap?
5. Some questions on Operations
6. CAT percentile

Interview Experience 21
Graduation College
Graduation Degree
Graduation Specialisation
Professional Qualification
Work Experience (In Months)
Work Experience
Domain/Industry
Home State
Institute of Engineering and Technology, Lucknow
B.E/B.Tech
Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering
NA
21 months - Freedom Employability Academy AAM Foundation
Community & Social Services
Education and Training
Uttar Pradesh

Interview Questions
1. Historical significance of one famous place from your city?
2. Three words in which you describe yourself
3. Three words in which your friends can describe you
4. Why are mobile phone networks called cellular network?
5. What is the shape of cells in cellular network?
6. What is handshake in mobile communication?
7. What are your strengths and areas of improvement?
8. How can you reduce the situation of poverty in India?
9. Three coloured boxes and labels problem

Page | 128
 10. Your hobby and the latest book you read

Interview Experience 22
Graduation College
Graduation Degree
Graduation Specialisation
Professional Qualification
Work Experience (In Months)
Work Experience
Domain/Industry
Home State
West Bengal University of Technology
B.E/B.Tech
Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering
NA
24 months – Oracle Financial Services
Information Technology
Financial Services
West Bengal

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. What is GDP?
3. What is the relevance of CRR?
4. How are processors getting better every year?
5. Questions about political decisions taken by the current state government of West Bengal
6. Who is your favourite TT player and why?

Interview Experience 23
Graduation College Sardar Patel College of Engineering, Mumbai
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Mechanical Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 35 Months – Tata Motors
Work Experience Operations
Domain/Industry Automobiles
Home State Maharashtra

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. Tesla vs Tata Motors
3. Difference between CPM and PERT

Page | 129
Interview Experience 24
Graduation College Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani, Pilani Campus
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Manufacturing Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 34 Months - Quantum Phinance Consulting
Work Experience Consulting
Domain/Industry Financial Services
Home State Rajasthan

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. Questions on COVID and current affairs
3. Work-ex based questions
4. What's the difference between a Limited, Private and Private Limited company?
5. What is the Yes Bank fiasco? What is the major cause behind its failure?
6. What will you do to control the COVID scenario if you were a dictator?
7. What is your hometown famous for?
8. Do you read books? What was the last book you read?

Interview Experience 25
Graduation College Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines),
Dhanbad
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Chemical Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 35 months – HPCL
Work Experience Engineering
Domain/Industry Oil and Gas
Home State Chhattisgarh

Interview Questions
1. Tell us something about yourself
2. Define operations management
3. Explain various forecasting methods
4. Gave a set of data and asked to plot a graph and which forecasting method will be used
5. What is lean production?
6. What is waste in operations?

Page | 130
 7. Who is Teejan Bai?
8. Who is the author of Discovery of India?
9. What is efficiency?
10. Explain reasons why inefficient companies do better than efficient companies and give any
examples
11. What will you do for development of Chhattisgarh?

Interview Experience 26
Graduation College Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Chemical Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 24 months – Ola Cabs
Work Experience Program & Product Management
Domain/Industry Services
Home State Madhya Pradesh

Interview Questions
1. Questions around my work at Ola
2. What is differentiability?
3. What is continuity?
4. Cities lived in and which was the best
5. Why MBA?

Interview Experience 27
Graduation College DCRUST MURTHAL
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Electronics Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 37 Months – State Bank of India
Work Experience Banking
Domain/Industry
Home State Haryana

Interview Questions
1. Introduce yourself briefly
2. What do you know about third battle of Panipat?

Page | 131
 3. What effects did the third battle of Panipat have on India?
4. Why banking after degree in engineering?
5. Which domain are you looking to pursue in MBA?
6. Do you know anything about market equilibrium?

Interview Experience 28
Graduation College Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology (NSIT)
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 34 months – IQVIA
Work Experience Analytics
Domain/Industry Pharmaceuticals
Home State New Delhi

Interview Questions
1. Questions on Regression Models
2. Questions on Probability
3. Work-ex specific questions
4. What is Data Analytics?
5. What is Big Data?
6. Why MBA?
7. What is your preferred specialization? Why?

Interview Experience 29
Graduation College West Bengal University of Technology
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Computer Science and Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 31 months – Andhra Bank
Work Experience Banking
Domain/Industry
Home State West Bengal

Interview Questions
1. Introduce yourself
2. Why MBA after banking?

Page | 132
 3. What specialization are you interested in and why?
4. Questions related to BI tools (Tableau, R, SAPBO)
5. Favourite author/book and why
6. Basic Marketing concepts
7. Questions related to Maslow and Herzberg
8. Draw graphs of logarithmic and exponential functions.

Interview Experience 30
Graduation College
Graduation Degree
Graduation Specialisation
Professional Qualification
Work Experience (In Months)
Work Experience
Domain/Industry
Home State
Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering, Chennai
B.E/B.Tech
Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering
NA
26 months - AstraZeneca India Private Limited
Information Technology
Pharmaceuticals
Tamil Nadu

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. Compare between US and India GDP
3. Ayodhya case related questions
4. Work ex related questions

Interview Experience 31
Graduation College Global Academy of Technology
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Electronics Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 24 months – DXC Technology
Work Experience Information Technology
Domain/Industry IT & ITES
Home State Karnataka

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. Why MBA?
3. What are your short term and long-term goals?

Page | 133
 4. Roles and responsibilities undertaken during graduation
5. Technical questions on engineering
6. Few scenario-based questions
7. Speak for straight 3 minutes on a topic of your choice

Interview Experience 32
Graduation College Sardar Patel College of Engineering, Mumbai
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Electrical Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 32 months – Siemens: Engineering & Technology
Work Experience Business Development
Domain/Industry Power
Home State Maharashtra

Interview Questions
1. Tell us something about yourself
2. Tell us more about your work experience?
3. After almost 3 years and such a good role at your company, why MBA now?
4. Why IIM Lucknow?
5. Do you have any other shortlists?
6. How are you finding this online mode of interview?
7. What do you think will be the single greatest impact of this pandemic and lockdown?
8. Tell us about your family
9. How do we know it is not your twin sister giving this interview?

Interview Experience 33
Graduation College Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai
Graduation Degree B.Tech - M.Tech. (Dual Degree)
Graduation Specialisation Mechanical Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 32 months - Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India
Private Limited
Work Experience Research
Domain/Industry Automobiles
Home State Gujarat

Page | 134
Interview Questions
1. Tell us something about yourself?
2. Why MBA?
3. What are your views on automobile industry in India?
4. How can we address the issue of global plastic disposal in oceans?

Interview Experience 34
Graduation College Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 40 months – Axis Bank
Work Experience Analytics
Domain/Industry Banking
Home State Rajasthan

Interview Questions
1. Why does a cricket ball swing?
2. What is SENSEX?
3. How will you measure the volume of your room without a measuring tape?
4. Why doesn't the iron pillar rust?
5. Why IIM Lucknow and the preferred domain?
6. What is tiki-taka football and Barcelona's tactical system in the previous year?
7. What is offside rule in Football?
8. Question regarding various projects and level of responsibility as an analyst at Axis Bank?

Interview Experience 35
Graduation College Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University),
Varanasi
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Electronics Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 36 months – Cognizant
Work Experience Information Technology
Domain/Industry IT & ITES
Home State Bihar

Page | 135
Interview Questions
1. Why is manufacturing industry not developed that well?
2. Probability question based on 2-coin toss
3. Questions about Parents college
4. What are the 5 best things about IIM L?

Interview Experience 36
Graduation College
Graduation Degree
Graduation Specialisation
Professional Qualification
Work Experience (In Months)
Work Experience
Domain/Industry
Home State
Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology
B.E/B.Tech
Computer Science and Engineering
NA
12 months – Arista Networks
Information Technology
IT & ITES
Uttar Pradesh

Interview Questions
1. Give a brief introduction about yourself
2. What is product management?
3. What is Software Reliability?

Interview Experience 37
Graduation College
Graduation Degree
Graduation Specialisation
Professional Qualification
Work Experience (In Months)
Work Experience
Domain/Industry
Home State
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee
B.E/B.Tech
Mechanical Engineering
CFA Level 2
23 months – Citi Bank
Information Technology
Banking
Andhra Pradesh

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. Tell us about your work experience. Why did you quit your job?
3. What are your Hobbies? Tell us about your travel experiences
4. Why is there a contrast between Tollywood and Bollywood?
5. Engineering Assembly line types, Uses, Examples

Page | 136
Interview Experience 38
Graduation College Pune Institute of Computer Technology
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Information Technology
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 28 months – FinIQ Consulting
Work Experience Information Technology
Domain/Industry Financial Services
Home State Maharashtra

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. Tell us something about your family
3. What is your daily schedule during lockdown?
4. What is the principle used in swinging a cricket ball?
5. Why is there a gap in your work experience?
6. What types of books do you read?

Interview Experience 39
Graduation College Delhi Technological University (Formerly DCE)
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Mechanical Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 47 months - Boston Consulting Group
Work Experience Consulting
Domain/Industry FMCG
Home State Delhi

Interview Questions
Tell us something about yourself
One thing you learnt from Dramatics and what did you innovate
Details about work experience
Who all are there in family?

Interview Experience 40
Graduation College National Institute of Technology, Trichy
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech

Page | 137
 Graduation Specialisation
Professional Qualification
Work Experience (In Months)
Work Experience
Domain/Industry
Home State
Instrumentation and Control Engineering
NA
13 months – RR Foods and Feeds
Operations
Agriculture and Allied Industries
Telangana

Interview Questions
1. What is the Maxima and Minima of the given function?
2. What are your strengths and weaknesses?
3. What will you bring to IIM Lucknow?
4. Extempore on Personal Interview
5. Which is the best teaching method according to you? Chalk, ppts, videos, cases?

Interview Experience 41
Graduation College Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Electronics Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 22 months – EXL Services
Work Experience Analytics
Domain/Industry IT & ITES
Home State Andhra Pradesh

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. What are your strengths
3. Differentiate between leader and manager
4. Find the value of pi geometrically
5. Calculate the height of Qutub Minar
6. What is data mining
7. Few questions on work profile and type of work

Interview Experience 42
Graduation College Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science

Page | 138
 Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 36 months – MX Player
Work Experience Marketing
Domain/Industry Media and Entertainment
Home State Madhya Pradesh

Interview Questions
1. Tell us something about yourself
2. What is your role in your current organization?
3. Why MBA after studying Metallurgy?
4. Do you read newspaper?
5. Do you know what is ABC?
6. What is your opinion on Jyotiraditya joining BJP? Do you think it is ethical?
7. What are your hobbies? Can you sing a song?
8. Where do you live? Have you been to XYZ place in Mumbai?
9. How do you manage office work, cooking and other household chores (due to lockdown) and
preparing for interviews?
10. Which other calls do you have?

Interview Experience 43
Graduation College Jadavpur University
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Computer Science and Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 37 months – Samsung Research
Work Experience Information Technology
Domain/Industry IT & ITES
Home State West Bengal

Interview Questions
1. Why MBA?
2. What are your future goals?
3. Questions on software development
4. Questions on trends in the smartphone industry
5. Questions on technology and impact of technology

Page | 139
Interview Experience 44
Graduation College National Institute of Engineering, Mysore
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Mechanical Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 36 months – Caterpillar India
Work Experience Operations
Domain/Industry Manufacturing
Home State Karnataka

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. Why MBA
3. Can you explain to me about your start-up?
4. What is the most recent event/incident that happened in Bangalore?
5. What is the CAA/NRC issue?
6. Questions on work experience

Interview Experience 45
Graduation College Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University),
Varanasi
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Electronics
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 24 months – Honeywell
Work Experience Engineering
Domain/Industry IT & ITES
Home State Tripura

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. What is the name of central university in Tripura?
3. What are type 1 and type 2 errors? How this is used in corporate HR?
4. Why you want to pursue MBA?

Interview Experience 46
Graduation College Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur
Page | 140
 Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 30 months - Cognizant Technology Solutions
Work Experience Information Technology
Domain/Industry IT & ITES
Home State Jharkhand

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself?
2. Few questions on interests
3. What do you think of India's response to COVID-19? Give a state wise comparison
4. What do you think of India’s response as against those of other countries?
5. Why MBA
6. Why MBA after a work experience in IT and engineering in Metallurgy?

Interview Experience 47
Graduation College Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University),
Varanasi
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Chemical Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 26 months – Mastercard Advisors
Work Experience Analytics
Domain/Industry Financial Services
Home State Punjab

Interview Questions
1. Why MBA?
2. Integrate log x
3. What is pi?
4. Why is standard deviation positive?
5. Questions related to Chemical Engineering

Interview Experience 48
Graduation College National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech

Page | 141
 Graduation Specialisation
Professional Qualification
Work Experience (In Months)
Work Experience
Domain/Industry
Home State
Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering
NA
36 months – Qualcomm
Information Technology
Telecommunications
Haryana

Interview Questions
1. What kind of project you are working on?
2. What is Taylor series?
3. What is Kepler’s law?
4. In which state does zener diode work?
5. What are the Maxwell equations?
6. What is a PNP transistor and how does it work?
7. What is thyristor?
8. How is the Government allowing calls but blocking SMS and internet in areas where protests are
going on?

Interview Experience 49
Graduation College Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Electrical Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 25 months – Texas Instruments
Work Experience Engineering
Domain/Industry Science and Technology
Home State Rajasthan

Interview Questions
1. Introduce yourself
2. Questions about work experience
3. What are NPAs? Why are they on a rise?
4. Which sectors contribute the most to NPAs?
5. Questions on Vodafone Idea crisis
6. Why MBA after technology?

Page | 142
Interview Experience 50
Graduation College
Graduation Degree
Graduation Specialisation
Professional Qualification
Work Experience (In Months)
Work Experience
Domain/Industry
Home State
Birla Institute of Technology Mesra
B.E/B.Tech
Computer Science and Engineering
NA
37 months – Tata Communications
Information Technology
Telecommunications
Jharkhand

Interview Questions
1. Introduce yourself
2. Discussion about hometown
3. Questions related to experience in UG college & work experience
4. What are the merits and demerits of Jharkhand being separated from Bihar, Chhattisgarh being
separated from Madhya Pradesh?
5. What are your Strengths and weaknesses?
6. Why MBA?
7. What drives women clothing at workplace?
8. Why did you choose to wear what you have worn for the interview?

Interview Experience 51
Graduation College
Graduation Degree
Graduation Specialisation
Professional Qualification
Work Experience (In Months)
Work Experience
Domain/Industry
Home State
Malviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur
B.E/B.Tech
Computer Science and Engineering
NA
30 months – Oracle India Private Limited
Information Technology
IT & ITES
Uttar Pradesh

Interview Questions
1. Introduce yourself
2. Why MBA?
3. What are your views on CAA & NRC?
4. Which is the most recently formed state/UT in India?
5. What are the CAA issues in Assam?
6. What is better - Python or Java?

Page | 143
 7. Who developed Python? Which country was he from?
8. Why is python better than Java?
9. Any questions for us?

Interview Experience 52
Graduation College Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Production and Industrial Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 40 months – Merkle Inc
Work Experience Marketing
Domain/Industry Media and Entertainment
Home State Delhi

Interview Questions
1. Tell us something about yourself
2. What is the difference between branding and sales?
3. What are your views on monetary policy and its impact?
4. Why MBA?
5. What are your long-term career plans?
6. Why is branding so popular among MBA graduates?

Interview Experience 53
Graduation College Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Gandhi Nagar
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Mechanical Engineering
Professional Qualification CFA Level 1
Work Experience (In Months) 31 months – Nikita Meta Chem Private Limited
Work Experience Operations
Domain/Industry Steel Industry
Home State Chhattisgarh

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. Questions regarding taxation in recent budget
3. What is your opinion on budget?
4. What are the applications of calculus?

Page | 144
 5. Puzzle on Chess and Permutations and Combination
6. Why did you switch job?
7. Why MBA now?

Interview Experience 54
Graduation College K J Somaiya College of Engineering
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Information Technology
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 69 months – Sparsh Technologies Limited
Work Experience Information Technology
Domain/Industry IT & ITES
Home State Maharashtra

Interview Questions
1. Give us a brief introduction about yourself
2. Why did you join a start-up after working in an MNC?
3. Questions about public administration
4. How will you manage the academic rigour of IIM L after such a long break from studies?

Interview Experience 55
Graduation College Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication
Technology (Da-IICT)
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Information and Communication Technology
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 37 months – Netsavvies Media Co
Work Experience Marketing
Domain/Industry
Home State Gujarat

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. You already have a good job and package. Why do you want to pursue an MBA?
3. What’s the reason for poor academics in UG?
4. More discussion on work-experience (Political Branding and Andhra Pradesh 2019 elections)
5. Design a branding strategy for the interviewer

Page | 145
 6. What other calls do you have and will you be able to manage the academic rigor at IIM Lucknow?

Interview Experience 56
Graduation College
Graduation Degree
Graduation Specialisation
Professional Qualification
Work Experience (In Months)
Work Experience
Domain/Industry
Home State
Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute
B.E/B.Tech
Electronics Engineering
NA
24 months – Reliance Jio
Information Technology
Telecommunications
Maharashtra

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. Talk about your work experience
3. A train driver has 2 options-1 track with 5 blind people another track with 1 child. The train is
running and cannot stop. Which track will you choose?

Interview Experience 57
Graduation College
Graduation Degree
Graduation Specialisation
Professional Qualification
Work Experience (In Months)
Work Experience
Domain/Industry
Home State
National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal
B.E/B.Tech
Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering
NA
12 months – Qualcomm
Information Technology
Telecommunications
Maharashtra

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. Explain your work at Qualcomm
3. Who are the competitors of Qualcomm?
4. Difference between mobile and laptops chips
5. Different applications of Machine Learning
6. When is unsupervised better than supervised ML?

Page | 146
Interview Experience 58
Graduation College BITS Pilani, Goa Campus
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Chemical Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 33 months – EXL Services
Work Experience Analytics
Domain/Industry Financial Services
Home State Maharashtra

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. Discussion about a book I had read recently
3. Discussion around work done for a credit card client as a consultant at EXL
4. What is the probability of default model?
5. Explain logistic regression
6. What are Type 1 and Type 2 errors?

Interview Experience 59
Graduation College Bhilai Institute of Technology, Durg
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 35 months – Tata Consultancy Services
Work Experience Information Technology
Domain/Industry Services
Home State Chhattisgarh

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. What is probability?
3. What are random variables?
4. What is the probability that this building will fall in the next 2 seconds?
5. Basics of electricals, mechanics and civil engineering
6. What experiments have you performed in these subjects?
7. What are the different types of starters?
8. What is plank constant?
9. You have a ruler and pencil. How will you measure the height of this hotel building?

Page | 147
 10. What was your favourite subject in class 10?
11. Name a few authors of English text book followed by a few famous poets

Interview Experience 60
Graduation College Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology (NSIT), New Delhi
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Computer Science and Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 20 months – Cardekho.com
Work Experience Product Management
Domain/Industry Automobiles
Home State Delhi

Interview Questions
1. What makes you a good candidate for MBA?
2. Why MBA?
3. What did you do in your NGO role?
4. Why is autism called a spectrum disorder?

Interview Experience 61
Graduation College National Institute of Technology, Calicut
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Mechanical Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 36 months – Bosch India Limited
Work Experience Engineering
Domain/Industry Automobiles
Home State Goa

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. What is the difference between Varanasi and Goa?
3. Questions related to work experience
4. What is GDP?
5. Will India surpass China’s GDP? How?

Page | 148
Interview Experience 62
Graduation College Maharashtra Institute of Technology (MIT), Pune
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Petroleum Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 40 months – Jindal Drilling & Industries Limited
Work Experience Business Development
Domain/Industry Oil and Gas
Home State Maharashtra

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. Where are you from? What are some unique things about Thane?
3. If you were the area Corporator, how would you handle spread of COVID-19?
4. Why is oil price falling? What geopolitical events are causing the fall?
5. What will be the cost of a new oil exploration project? Explain all the steps in detail

Interview Experience 63
Graduation College Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 23 months – Deloitte USI
Work Experience Consulting
Domain/Industry IT & ITES
Home State Maharashtra

Interview Questions
1. Without looking around, can you tell me how many chairs are there in this room?
2. How many lights are there in this room?
3. Tell us something about yourself
4. What is the difference between someone who is an engineer and someone who has studied
engineering?
5. What is the difference between the antennas present in FM radio devices, antennas in mobile and
the dish tv umbrella?
6. Why does the glass break when someone sings in high frequency?
7. Apart from work, what do you like to do?
8. How can an activity which is a stress buster for someone be stressful for the other person?

Page | 149
 9. What do you want to do in life?
10. Why should we organize social initiatives to donate money to needy?
11. Do you have any siblings? Is it better to have a sibling than to be a single child?

Interview Experience 64
Graduation College L D College of Engineering, Ahmedabad
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Mechanical Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 59 months – Tata Motors
Work Experience Operations
Domain/Industry Automobiles
Home State Gujarat

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. Why is Tata Motors not performing well? What steps has it taken?
3. What are the effects of COVID on auto sector?
4. What would be your initial response plan and mitigation strategy to tackle Covid?
5. Conditional probability problem
6. Which other calls do you have?

Interview Experience 65
Graduation College Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Goa Campus
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 49 months – KPMG
Work Experience Consulting
Domain/Industry
Home State West Bengal

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. After working for 4 years, why do you want to pursue an MBA?
3. Why IIM Lucknow?
4. What do you think of Mamta Banerjee as a leader? Compare her to Sheila Dixit.

Page | 150
 5. What are the qualities of a good leader?
6. Explain two of your projects during your work experience

Interview Experience 66
Graduation College Osmania University
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Information Technology
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 34 months – Wipro Technologies
Work Experience Engineering
Domain/Industry IT & ITES
Home State Andhra Pradesh

Interview Questions
1. What does your name mean in Tamil?
2. How many employees were working in your organization?
3. What is the amount of tax that you are paying? Are you following the old or new regime?
4. What is the share price of Wipro?
5. Explain the concept of share price to a layman

Interview Experience 67
Graduation College University of Mumbai
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Civil Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 20 months - Kore's Sanitation (Construction)
Work Experience Real Estate
Domain/Industry Infrastructure
Home State Maharashtra

Interview Questions
1. Tell us something about yourself
2. Who is the CJI of India? How is he elected?
3. How many Supreme Court judges are there?
4. Why should we choose you?
5. Tell us about your work-ex
6. Questions on academic subjects - Surveying & Levelling

Page | 151
 7. What is contour?
8. Define Young's Modulus. What is its unit of measurement?
9. What is the difference between stress and strain?

Interview Experience 68
Graduation College
Graduation Degree
Graduation Specialisation
Professional Qualification
Work Experience (In Months)
Work Experience
Domain/Industry
Home State
Gayatri Vidya Parishad, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological
University
B.E/B.Tech
Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering
NA
29 months - Wipro Limited
Information Technology
Financial Services
Andhra Pradesh

Interview Questions
1. Tell us something about yourself
2. What do you think of the new CM’s governance?
3. Explain the reforms and its impact on ease of doing business
4. What are the three capital issues?
5. Explain the operation and applications of Operations Amplifier
6. Types of feedback given to it
7. Relationship between Moore’s law and ‘usage of transistors in electronics’
8. Questions based on work experience

Interview Experience 69
Graduation College
Graduation Degree
Graduation Specialisation
Professional Qualification
Work Experience (In Months)
Work Experience
Domain/Industry
Home State
Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra
B.E/B.Tech
Information Technology
NA
43 months - UBS Business Solutions (India) Pvt Ltd
Information Technology
Financial Services
Bihar

Interview Questions
1. Introduce yourself

Page | 152
 2. Questions on work experience
3. What were your learnings from your work experience?
4. Why did you switch your job just before CAT?
5. What will be your contribution to IIM L if you get selected?
6. Current trends in technology
7. Questions on differentiation, integration and distribution curves

Interview Experience 70
Graduation College
Graduation Degree
Graduation Specialisation
Professional Qualification
Work Experience (In Months)
Work Experience
Domain/Industry
Home State
National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal
B.E/B.Tech
Computer Science and Engineering
NA
24 months – Oracle Corporation
Information Technology
IT & ITES
Andhra Pradesh

Interview Questions
1. Introduce yourself
2. Why IIM Lucknow?
3. You have experience in cloud, how is it important in the current scenario?
4. Hotstar and Netflix vs legacy cable TV
5. Who's the local MP and if you want to campaign for him for the next term, how would you plan
for it?

Interview Experience 71
Graduation College Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Chemical Engineering
Professional Qualification CFA Level 1
Work Experience (In Months) 36 months – Cipla
Work Experience Operations
Domain/Industry Pharmaceuticals
Home State Bihar

Interview Questions
1. Introduce yourself

Page | 153
 2. Basics of chemical engineering
3. Why MBA?
4. Tell us a joke
5. Which was the last book you read?

Interview Experience 72
Graduation College Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology (NIT Bhopal)
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Electrical Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 13 months – Asian Paints
Work Experience Marketing
Domain/Industry FMCG
Home State Uttar Pradesh

Interview Questions
1. Tell us something about yourself
2. Why MBA?
3. Suppose you have a wish and you can ask for anything, what would you wish for?
4. Why IIM Lucknow?
5. What is the importance of MBA in your life?

Interview Experience 73
Graduation College Punjabi University
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Computer Science and Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 36 months – Infosys Limited
Work Experience Information Technology
Domain/Industry IT & ITES
Home State Punjab

Interview Questions
1. Difference between electronic & electrical devices
2. Issues faced by people from tier-3 cities during demonetisation
3. How will you improve sales of kirana stores (especially in tier 3 cities)?

Page | 154
Interview Experience 74
Graduation College National Institute of Technology, Raipur
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 38 months – Samsung
Work Experience Information Technology
Domain/Industry IT & ITES
Home State Chhattisgarh

Interview Questions
1. What is applied mathematics?
2. Questions on Z Transform
3. Questions on Fourier Transform
4. Work experience Related Questions – Neural Network, CNN
5. Share your recent travel experiences
6. Tell us some interesting story about your travel

Interview Experience 75
Graduation College Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 36 months – Royal Bank of Scotland
Work Experience Information Technology
Domain/Industry Banking
Home State Kerala

Interview Questions
1. How is the COVID stimulus budget going to help the different sectors of the economy? What
should the government do in your opinion?
2. Tell me something about yourself
3. What are your favourite books?
4. Who is favourite author?
5. What were your responsibilities working at RBS?
6. What are your long term and short-term goals?
7. How is IIM Lucknow going to help you in achieving these goals?

Page | 155
Interview Experience 76
Graduation College
Graduation Degree
Graduation Specialisation
Professional Qualification
Work Experience (In Months)
Work Experience
Domain/Industry
Home State
Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Noida
B.E/B.Tech
Computer Science and Engineering
NA
42 months – SigFig India
Information Technology
IT & ITES
Uttar Pradesh

Interview Questions
1. Introduce yourself
2. Who is the speaker of Lok Sabha?
3. Who presides over the Rajya Sabha?
4. Which book have you read recently? Can you summarize it for us
5. List few companies in Indian context who went from zero to one
6. Who is your role model and why?

Interview Experience 77
Graduation College
Graduation Degree
Graduation Specialisation
Professional Qualification
Work Experience (In Months)
Work Experience
Domain/Industry
Home State
Indian Institute of Information technology, Kalyani
B.E/B.Tech
Computer Science and Engineering
CFA Level 1
25 months – National Digital Library of India
Information Technology
Bihar

Interview Questions
1. Why MBA after B.Tech?
2. Why do you want to leave NDLI?
3. What do you do at NDLI?
4. Which are the only 2 fixed expenses in income statement?
5. What is the rate of discount for calculating NPV?
6. What is the maximum number of runs a batsman can make in an ODI innings?

Page | 156
Interview Experience 1
Graduation College St. Stephen's College, Delhi University
Graduation Degree B.Sc.
Graduation Specialisation Computer Science and Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 0
Work Experience NA
Domain/Industry
Home State Uttar Pradesh

Interview Questions
1. Introduce yourself
2. Why does politics interest you?
3. Questions on Indian political scenario and global politics
4. What is special about Gorakhpur?
5. Questions on Einstein’s Theory of Relativity
6. Questions on Vector space
7. Questions on Economy
8. If you were the chief minister of state, what would you do?
9. Do you agree with the reservation system in the country?

Interview Experience 2
Graduation College Ashoka University
Graduation Degree B.Sc.
Graduation Specialisation Economics
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 0
Work Experience NA
Domain/Industry
Home State Haryana

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. Do you regret anything you have done during your under graduation?
Page | 157
 3. Why MBA?
4. Questions related to Economics
5. Questions related to Finance and Financial Terms

Interview Experience 3
Graduation College Acharya Narendra Dev College, Delhi University
Graduation Degree B.Sc.
Graduation Specialisation Physics
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 0
Work Experience NA
Domain/Industry
Home State Uttar Pradesh

Interview Questions
1. Where are you from? Has it been raining there?
2. Are you an engineer? Which college are you from? In which year did you graduate?
3. Do you have any work experience? Why is there a gap after your graduation?
4. Is this your first attempt at CAT?
5. Do you have calls from any other IIMs?
6. What will you choose - PGP BA from IIM B or Normal PGP and why?
7. What is theory of relativity?
8. Tell me something about quantum mechanics
9. What does your name mean? Follow up questions related to name
10. You live in NCR. Name the cities in NCR. Why is NCR called so?
11. Do you read? Which was the last book you read?
12. What is animal farm about?
13. Do you know RBI?
14. Does it have branches?
15. Why were these branches needed?

Interview Experience 4
Graduation College Lady Shri Ram College for Women, University of Delhi
Graduation Degree B.A.
Graduation Specialisation Economics
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 0

Page | 158
 Work Experience NA
Domain/Industry
Home State Delhi

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. What is the difference between Indian and Western Classical Music?
3. What is repo rate and reverse repo rate?

Interview Experience 5
Graduation College St Xavier's College, Kolkata
Graduation Degree B.Sc.
Graduation Specialisation Economics
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 0
Work Experience NA
Domain/Industry
Home State West Bengal

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. How will theatre help you in the corporate world?
3. What is method acting?
4. Which was your favourite subject in college?
5. What is the chief driver of growth in the Solow Model?
6. Tell me about the East Asian Miracle

Interview Experience 6
Graduation College Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur
Graduation Degree BS – MS Dual Degree
Graduation Specialisation Economics
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 43 months – Reify Consulting
Work Experience NA
Domain/Industry
Home State Chhattisgarh

Page | 159
Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. Why do you have low grades in Economics? How will you manage it here?
3. What all did you do apart from academics? Will you manage both in IIML?
4. You have work experience in Political Consulting? What exactly was your work?
5. What is the role of Prashant Kishor in this?
6. You have worked on so many campaigns, what do you think worked for AAP or JMR in their
respective elections?
7. Do you see a decline in the Modi Wave?
8. How do you feel about politicians bribing normal public just before an election?
9. What other offers do you have?

Interview Experience 7
Graduation College Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce, University of Delhi
Graduation Degree B.A.
Graduation Specialisation Economics
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 12 months - Optimistic Home Furnishing
Work Experience Textiles
Domain/Industry
Home State Delhi

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. In net effective exchange rate, what does effective signify?
3. Explain the Poisson function
4. What is Cobb Douglas function?
5. What is elasticity? Mention the formula too
6. Under what circumstances does binomial distribution become Poisson distribution?
7. Measures to calculate health of a country
8. What is TFR? What is retaining rate TFR?
9. Who is the VP of India?
10. Who is the Governor of Delhi?
11. Why Delhi has LT governor and not governor?
12. How is governor appointed?
13. How is Vice President appointed?
14. Do you know the 7 sisters? Name them all

Page | 160
Interview Experience 1
Graduation College
Graduation Degree
Graduation Specialisation
Professional Qualification
Work Experience (In Months)
Work Experience
Domain/Industry
Home State
Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology
B.E/B.Tech
Computer Science and Engineering
NA
24 months – Microsoft Corporation
Program & Product Management
IT & ITES
Bihar

Interview Questions
1. Why MBA after having worked in a management role?
2. Questions on computer science
3. Does your current manager know you are planning to pursue higher studies?
4. On a scale of 1-10, how ambitious are you?
5. Technical questions on project management
6. Would you play smart or be plain truthful?
7. What are your other shortlists and what would you choose?

Interview Experience 2
Graduation College Dr. B.R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Civil Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 12 months – Capgemini
Work Experience Information Technology
Domain/Industry IT & ITES
Home State Punjab

Interview Questions
1. Introduce yourself
2. Questions related to work experience
3. Give us a brief introduction about analytics. How did you get into it?
4. How would you use analytics in insurance sector?
Page | 161
 5. Why MBA?

Interview Experience 3
Graduation College Amity University
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Biotechnology
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 12 months - PCL Technologies
Work Experience Sales
Domain/Industry
Home State Haryana

Interview Questions
1. Explain the difference between RNA and DNA to a layman.
2. Why Agribusiness? Any particular field in agribusiness that you're interested in?
3. Is discipline a necessity to succeed? Then How is Salman Khan successful? Do you think he's
disciplined?

Interview Experience 4
Graduation College College of Agriculture - TamilNadu Agricultural University
Graduation Degree B.Sc.
Graduation Specialisation Agriculture
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 0
Work Experience NA
Domain/Industry
Home State Tamil Nadu

Interview Questions
1. Tell me about yourself
2. What's the last film you watched?
3. What did you like the most about Parasite?
4. Questions on Tamil Cinema and Rajnikant
5. What did you learn in ARM 301?
6. What did you learn in AEC 101?
7. What did you learn in PED 102?
8. What would you prefer between PGP and PGP- ABM at IIM L?

Page | 162
 9. What would you prefer between FABM at IIM A and ABM at IIM L?
10. What will be the temperature at 30000 ft above MSL?

Interview Experience 5
Graduation College Agricultural College and Research Institute, Coimbatore
Graduation Degree B.Sc.
Graduation Specialisation Agriculture
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 0
Work Experience NA
Domain/Industry
Home State Tamil Nadu

Interview Questions
1. Tell me about yourself
2. What were you doing for the past one year?
3. Why did you choose agriculture?
4. What is the contribution to GDP of agricultural sector?
5. Why ABM?
6. Why IIM Lucknow?

Interview Experience 6
Graduation College Alagappa Chettiar College of Engineering & Technology,
Karaikudi
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Biotechnology
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 18 months – Accenture
Work Experience Information Technology
Domain/Industry IT & ITES
Home State Tamil Nadu

Interview Questions
1. Prove anything to the power 0 is 1
2. What is a random variable?
3. What are some of the agricultural issues in India?
4. Why ABM?

Page | 163
 5. Name a lady who inspires you

Interview Experience 7
Graduation College College of Sericulture
Graduation Degree B.Sc.
Graduation Specialisation Agriculture
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 5 months – Axis Bank
Work Experience Sales
Domain/Industry Banking
Home State Karnataka

Interview Questions
1. Why do you want to do an MBA?
2. What is a barren land? How do you make it useful?
3. Tell me something about yourself
4. Explain the BT cotton issue
5. What do you think is the future of agriculture?

Interview Experience 8
Graduation College Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Chemical engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 0
Work Experience NA
Domain/Industry
Home State West Bengal

Interview Questions
1. What subjects did you learn in your undergraduate?
2. Mention a recent invention in the field of heat transfer
3. What is the difference between the Indian and USA drug market?

Page | 164
Interview Experience 9
Graduation College R.B.(P.G.) College, Agra
Graduation Degree B.Sc.
Graduation Specialisation Agriculture
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 0
Work Experience NA
Domain/Industry
Home State Bihar

Interview Questions
1. Introduce yourself
2. Question on hobbies
3. Views on Article 370
4. Questions on BT Cotton
5. Do you think organic farming is the future?
6. What are the agricultural constraints in India?
7. Why MBA?
8. MBA or ABM?
9. How will you handle math in MBA, if you don't have a math background?

Interview Experience 10
Graduation College Nagpur University
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Mechanical Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 0
Work Experience NA
Domain/Industry
Home State Bihar

Interview Questions
1. You are the manager of an automotive company and your company launched a new electric car.
Make an advertisement on that.
2. Why did we first use gears?
3. Where do you see yourself after 2 years at IIM Lucknow?
4. Difference between instrument, equipment, machine and device
5. As you are applying for agribusiness, tell me three major rivers of North India and South India.

Page | 165
 6. Have you heard of Kumbh Mela? Name the four places where it takes place
7. You are a fresher and we have many applicants with work experience. Why should we take you?

Interview Experience 11
Graduation College Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Biotechnology
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 22 months – Infosys Limited
Work Experience Information Technology
Domain/Industry IT & ITES
Home State Bihar

Interview Questions
1. Tell me about yourself
2. How would you define Biotechnology?
3. Difference between application of B pharma and biotech in pharmaceutical industry.
4. How many shortlists do you have? What are your priorities?
5. Have you studied anything related to agriculture in undergrad?
6. Question on Next Gen Sequencing

Interview Experience 12
Graduation College National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and
Management
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Food Engineering and Technology
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 2 months – Green Foods Consultancy
Work Experience NA
Domain/Industry
Home State Haryana

Interview Questions
1. Questions on Dairy Technology
2. Why MBA after UPSC preparation?
3. Questions on General Agri Knowledge like e-NAM
4. Government schemes for girl child

Page | 166
Interview Experience 13
Graduation College IMS Engineering College, Ghaziabad
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Electrical and Electronics Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 4 months – Srigee Enterprises Pvt Ltd
Work Experience Operations
Domain/Industry Manufacturing
Home State Uttar Pradesh

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. Which was your graduation college and engineering stream? Where is it?
3. Tell me about fourier transform.
4. What is laplace transform?
5. How will you detect a fault in Delhi Metro?
6. Who is the finance minister of UP?
7. Are you choosing ABM because of the IIM Lucknow tag?

Interview Experience 14
Graduation College Tezpur University
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Food Engineering and Technology
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 46 months – Punjab National Bank
Work Experience Finance
Domain/Industry Banking
Home State Bihar

Interview Questions
1. What is the role of food engineering in agriculture loan processing?
2. Effect of NPAs on the Indian economy
3. What do the following mean: letter of guarantee, bank guarantee and letter of credit?
4. What happened in Nirav Modi scam & how PNB is coping with the loss?
5. Give us a brief about your dream companies
6. Details about FSSAI and role of it in improving food quality in Indian scenario
7. Tell us the history of your town & Bihar
8. How does RBI control liquid flow in Indian economy?

Page | 167
 9. Give us a brief about food preservatives
10. Tell us about north-eastern states and the major crops production

Interview Experience 15
Graduation College Aligarh Muslim University
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Electrical Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 0
Work Experience NA
Domain/Industry
Home State Uttar Pradesh

Interview Questions
1. Tell me something about yourself
2. Why MBA?
3. What motivates you the most?
4. Why not research and academia?
5. Does money equal success?
6. What are some of the newspapers you are following? Why THE HINDU?
7. What is the full form of UPSC? What are the functions of UPSC?
8. Who is the Chairman of NITI Aayog?
9. What is Electricity?
10. Population Income density graph of India
11. Explain Solar power projects and technical working
12. What is the feasibility of solar power in India?

Interview Experience 16
Graduation College Malaviya National Institute of Technology
Graduation Degree B.E/B.Tech
Graduation Specialisation Material Science and Metallurgical Engineering
Professional Qualification NA
Work Experience (In Months) 23 months – Capgemini
Work Experience Information Technology
Domain/Industry IT & ITES
Home State Rajasthan

Page | 168
Interview Questions
1. Introduce yourself focusing on your work experience
2. Sell yourself in a minute
3. Why ABM when you are not related to that field?
4. Why pursue MBA if you liked your job?
5. Name a few ABM companies and your dream company
6. What is APMC Act?
7. Impact of COVID-19 on Agriculture

Page | 169
1. Why Sustainable Management?
2. What is Sustainability?
3. Guesstimate question – Estimate the electricity bill for using this interview room for an hour?
4. Why do you consider yourself a suitable candidate for SM?
5. What are your future plans?
6. You have very high work experience. Will you be able to cooperate with younger batchmates?
7. Difference between Sales and Marketing
8. Why SM when you have better options?
9. What is an impression?
10. Where do you see yourself after 5 years?
11. Why pursue an MBA in SM after working in IT industry? How do you relate your work experience
to Sustainability?
12. SDGs specific activities in India
13. Role of NITI Aayog
14. How are European countries doing in the field of sustainability?
15. What is triple bottom line? Is Sustainability all about the environment?
16. What are the sustainability practices in IT?
17. What are the initiatives followed in your company around sustainability?
18. Why do you think you have to do something for others?
19. What differentiates humans and animals?
20. Why do you want to leave your job and join this course?
21. What do you understand about commerce?
22. What work did you do in Sustainability?
23. Give me reasons why one should not to join PGPSM
24. What is the difference between E-commerce and Commerce?
25. Why get into IT after mechanical?
26. Give an example of SM System
27. How do you help stray animals?
28. In your earlier organisation, what role did you play in CSR? Do you think companies which provide
products/service that have social/environmental impact should be forced to do CSR?
29. What should be done about street animals especially cows looking at the religious stigma attached
to it?
30. How did you come to know about PGPSM?
31. How do Hotstar and Netflix earn?
32. What is the revenue model of WhatsApp?
33. Sustainability vs CSR.

Page | 170
34. Form a punchline for IIM Lucknow.
35. What is triple bottom line?
36. Do you know any indexes related to sustainability?
37. Do you think policies/law play a role in driving sustainability?
38. What is the per unit charge for electricity produced by a solar cell?
39. Why do developed countries set up recycling plants in developing countries?
40. Which is the most polluting country in the world?
41. What is the scope for you to use creativity & innovation?
42. Is ZD (Zero Distance) in Infosys really benefiting?
43. Why is IT in INDIA not able to deliver products?
44. Do you think Google steals data?
45. If a packet of potato chips says the weight is 200 gm, are there exactly 200 grams? If no, as a quality
analyst, will you pass it? Explain.
46. How do oil prices vary?
47. SM requires creative thinking, mention any experiences from your life where you have used
creativity and problem-solving skills?
48. Talk about Paris Climate Deal
49. What is NPS?
50. Why is India called Bharat?
51. Who are the Hindus? Why are they called Hindus?
52. Do you know about Hydraulic fracturing? Why is it controversial? What are its harmful effects?
53. What are the different dimensions of sustainability?
54. Is the recent PNB scam sustainable or not sustainable? Why?
55. What is the relation between Indian history and sustainability?
56. What do you think about US opting out of the Paris Climate deal?
57. What is ISO?
58. What do you know about the Cauvery Dispute?
59. What do you know about clean ganga mission?
60. What is green building? Why is it needed?

Page | 171