Stray thoughts of an intellect ( the BUT I WONDER guy )

Yesterday we were discussing about how tough is the IAS(UPSC) exam. In general the trend is shifting from preparing for IAS to CAT. What can be the reason. People spend years preparing for the ;exam some of them even touch the interview stage but most of them fail. Coaching institutes are doing assembly line production of IAS aspirants raising their hopes. The syllabus to be prepared is vast or rather i should invent a new word to describe its spread. But i wonder if any of the UPSC ( IAS + IPS + IFS et al ) officers ever use any of this knowledge. For example if you have chosen electrical as one of the subjects after clearing the exam i believe that even iota of that knowledge is not required in future. There is a colossus need to change the syllabus of these exams. Why should one keep on mugging up the names and length of all the rivers in the world or the names of all the viceroy of India if he has to be posted as an IAS officer in (say) Assam.