I've seen the phrase "please provide" a lot. And I agree with you, I've never seen it actually used politely- it is always comes off like a strong demand. Maybe part of the problem is it is a stock phrase on exams.
I suspect that a lot of them might not be native English speakers (e.g. OP's username suggests that he is from India, where a lot of people speak English, but it is relatively few people's native tongue).
Yes, I am from India, And it was my first question on Hacker News.
Apologies if i offended you with my language, I should not have used those combination of words.