IAS Varun Reddy is a hardworking and passionate officer. Though failing three times, he didn’t let his patience or passion down. He had always the will to do something for society and that’s why after his engineering, he strived for the examination. Though there was a loss of hope after the second or third attempt he was not going to give up. He was mentally fixed, he had to make his dream come true and he achieved it.
Hop into the journey of an inspiring IAS officer and know all about his journey, his strategy, background, biography, wiki, current posting, UPSC marksheet, IAS rank and optional subject. Read the full article to know everything so that you can also get tips which all the other aspirants are looking for.
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IAS Varun Reddy Biography
Karnati Varun Reddy, a Telangana-lad who is pursuing his father’s goal of seeing him as an IAS officer, came in seventh place in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exams and was first in the state. Varun, a native of Miryalaguda, is currently posted as an associate commissioner with the Income Tax Department and is undertaking Indian Revenue Services (IRS) training in Nagpur.
He is the son of P Nagamani, the Agriculture Department’s additional director, and Dr Janardhan Reddy, an ophthalmologist. His older brother is a surgeon at Warangal’s Kakatiya Medical College.
Varun planned to study MBA from one of the top IIMs after getting the 29th rank in JEE and a seat at IIT Bombay, according to his father, Dr Janardhan Reddy.
IAS Varun Reddy Wiki
Karnati Varun Reddy’s father, Dr Janardhan Reddy, spoke about his son’s struggle, saying that Varun failed the exam on his first attempt. In his second attempt, he was ranked 166th in UPSC. “Still unhappy, he attempted a third time and received the 225th position. Finally, he finished seventh in the nation this time.” Dr Reddy stated.
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IAS Varun Reddy’s UPSC Marksheet
Varun scored 324 out of 500 in the examination and his final total was 1067 which made him achieve 7th rank all over India.
| Subjects | Marks |
| Essay (Paper 1) | 113 |
| General Studies 1 (Paper 2) | 097 |
| General Studies 2 (Paper 3) | 113 |
| General Studies 3 (Paper 4) | 117 |
| General Studies 4 (Paper 5) | 121 |
| Optional 1 (Paper 6) (Mathematics) | 178. 324/500 |
| Optional 2 (Paper 7) (Mathematics) | 146 |
| Written Total | 885 |
| Personality Test | 182 |
| Final Total | 1067 |
IAS Varun Reddy’s UPSC Strategy
The very first thing that Varun tells is that one should be very well aware of the nature of the examination. Well, it is very difficult for the aspirants to overcome the unpredictability of the exam. For all the phases and subjects, his manta is:
#Read limited and quality resources which will help you with precise knowledge and revise it as many times as possible.
#Practising MCQs is very important for Prelims, so practice it everyday.
#Practise answer writing for mains and also write five answers everyday.
He had given more time to practise and revision which made him successful in the end. Identifying your weak areas and working for them is the key because in that way you reduce your mistakes.
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Strategy for Preliminary Exam
At the Prelims stage, luck can play a part. There may be times when someone is extraordinarily lucky and guesses correctly on the majority of the questions, allowing them to pass the Preliminary Examination, while on the other hand, a hardworking and brilliant candidate may miss out due to pure bad luck. However, he feels that luck should not overwhelm a more critical and significant aspect, which is one’s own hard work and meticulous preparations.
Around 65-75 questions in the examination come from the static portion, and with thorough preparation, one can comfortably attempt over 50 questions, with the remaining 10-15 questions coming from dynamic questions, resulting in a score of over 110 marks, which is a safe score for the Preliminary Examination.
Role of Optional Subject
Optional has a significant part in determining whose service or cadre one receives.
To emphasise its significance, while the maximum marks to the total score in General Studies average around 45 percent, it can reach 70 percent or more in optional subjects (e.g. 350 out of 500).
On average, rankers’ General Studies scores hover around 400-450, with a decent majority averaging in the 420s. It ranges between 250 and 360 in optional, adding to the difficulty of choosing selection and rank.
So, choose prudently based on your interests, if you have the necessary aptitude to do well in that optional, and the scoring pattern in recent years.
Essay Paper
Essay preparation – while we prepare for General Studies from reference books and newspapers, the content needed to create a decent essay will be developed. What is required is the development of a multi-dimensional approach to an issue that interconnects numerous areas such as political, social, cultural, economic, and so on.
Then being able to explain that thought process in a fluid, well-structured, easy-to-read, illustrative with examples, and solution-oriented write-up. This ability to articulate comes with practice.
Writing on online platforms on a regular basis and reading good essay copy written by peers would help to improve one’s articulation skills. Topper essay copies are a good reference source for improving – try to brainstorm or better yet, compose the essay beforehand before reading toppers copies.
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Interview Test
His interview board was conducted on 12th March 2019 in the forenoon session and was conducted by B.S. Bassi sir’s Board. There were some questions related to the patent which he had on cloud computing. There were questions asked on his background and the Make in India campaigns. There were a couple of questions asked about the current affairs of the day and some questions relating to his hobby which is travelling.
His overall experience in the interview was a stressed one. One should remember that you should maintain your confidence and composure. One should be calm and honest while answering the questions.
Book List for General Studies
Here is the list of books that IAS Varun Reddy used and recommends
Current Affairs – Newspaper (Indian Express), Vision IAS monthly
Polity – Laxmikanth, Lukmann IAS Ansari sir class notes (available in bookstores) for Governance part of the syllabus
Economy – Ramesh Singh (Read selectively), Economic Survey (for Mains)
Geography – 11th, 12th NCERT, Goh Cheng Leong – Climate and Weather chapters
Environment – Shankar IAS book
History – Ancient & Medieval – Old NCERTs, R.S Sharma & Satish Chandra, Modern – Spectrum Publications book
Culture – Nitin Singhania book (Read selectively)
Society – 12th NCERTs, Vision Mains 365 material
Internal Security – TMH publications book by Ashok Kumar, IPS to understand internal security issues and then Vision Mains 365 material for Mains.
Disaster Management – Yojana on Disaster Management, NDMA guidelines on each disaster available in the National Disaster Management Plan document released by the Government.
Conclusion
Hopefully, this article inspired you and kept you motivated. For more articles and courses hop onto UPSC Pathshala so that you can ace the examination. UPSC Pathshala provides all the materials that the aspirants require for the exam and here they provide quality learning through digital interface and articles here will make you stay confident and motivated. All the best for your exam!
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I am grateful to you for sharing this article. It has given me braveness to follow my ambitions like this civil servant. Do you guys get inspired by him?