Stories that weave together the struggle and hard work hitting across our country’s length and breadth and making their families proud have been announced yet again. Kanishak Kataria has topped the IAS exam by scoring the 1st rank in the year 2018.
It is interesting to note that Kataria is an engineering graduate from IIT, Bombay, with an honours degree in Computer Science and Engineering. His high CGPA of 9.07 explains his outstanding academic achievements. Earlier, he had managed to grab top spots in the many entrance exams he took up to get enrolled for his BE program.
Mr. Kataria has also undergone a summer internship program under the guidance of Mr. Chetan Parulekar at Microsoft India Development Centre, Hyderabad. He is currently working as a software engineer with Samsung Electronics in South Korea.
Kanishak Kataria Wiki
| Personal Information (Biography) | |
| Full Name | Kanishak Kataria |
| Profession | IAS Officer |
| Date of Birth | 26th September 1992 |
| Birth Place | Jaipur, Rajasthan, India |
| Age (as of 2020) | 28 Years |
| Caste | Scheduled Caste (SC – Balai) |
| School | St. Paul’s Senior. Sec. School, Kota, Rajasthan |
| College | IIT Bombay |
| Qualification | B.Tech (Computer Science & Engineering) |
| Physical Stats | |
| Height | 5.9 ft |
| Weight | 75 Kg |
| Family Background | |
| Father | Sanwar Mal Verma |
| Mother | Not Known |
| Sister | Tanmaya Kataria (Elder Sister) |
| Brother | None |
| Key Points | |
| Girlfriend | Sonal Chouhan |
| Optional Subject | Mathematics |
| Current Posting | Kanishak Kataria posted as IAS Officer in Rajasthan |
| Official Social Handles | |
| instagram.com/kanishak_kataria | |
| twitter.com/kanishakkataria | |
| linkedin.com/in/kanishakkataria | |
| Blog | None |
Mr. Kataria is an expert in his field and has worked on key academic projects such as ‘Electrical circuit analyzer’ and ‘Virtual memory implementation’ amongst many others. He has successfully developed social search engines in Yahoo and has written a random sentence generator. Kanishak has all relevant technical skills and expertise, and the amazing number of projects he has worked on is proof enough of this.
Kanishak Kataria IASKanishak Kataria Marksheet
| Paper | Total Marks | Marks Obtained |
| Essay Paper | 250 | 133 |
| General Studies I | 250 | 98 |
| General Studies II | 250 | 117 |
| General Studies III | 250 | 117 |
| General Studies IV | 250 | 116 |
| Optional Paper I (Mathematics) | 250 | 170 |
| Optional Paper II (Mathematics) | 250 | 191 |
| Total (Written Exam) | 1750 | 942 |
| Interview | 275 | 179 |
| Total Marks | 2025 | 1121 (55.36%) |
Preparation Strategy by Kanishak Kataria
The success path to IAS is not an easy one, and it takes a tremendous amount of dedication, commitment, hardship and smart work to fly with success in the exams. Any IAS aspirant would surely know that the UPSC exam consists of both the preliminary and the mains exam, followed by the interview. Hence placing a balanced amount of pressure and equal weightage on all three sections is the first and foremost step towards an excellent preparation start.
- A positive and straight forward approach towards the exam is necessary to step into the world of preparation.
- Create an achievable and strategic time table that will help you realistically complete your studies on time and preparation well in advance.
- Set a goal to clear your studies and set time aside for revision. Hold peer discussions and clear your doubts well in advance. Keep in place crisp and referable notes that you can completely rely on.
- Do not depend too much on what others have to tell you. Your preparation should go with your ability and reflect your mindset.
- It’s a good idea to take up coaching classes, but that shouldn’t be on a priority basis. Make sure it isn’t eating up too much study time and giving you time to focus on your studies and power breaks as well.
- If you aren’t going for coaching, don’t fret. Many depend on themselves and get the best results. Attempt as many mock tests as possible. Study the exam pattern well. Analyse your core strengths and which area in the question paper gets the best out of you.
- Keeping track of time is the most crucial aspect, be it with the exam paper preparation. Do not postpone easy questions till the end.
- It would be best if you were attempting them first in the least time duration possible. Beware of wrong choices that could lead to negative marking.
- Avoid unnecessary piling up of material and overdoing studies without taking power breaks to revise already learnt stuff.
It is wise to refer to stories of successful candidates like Kanishak Kataria and try to know what aspect of their preparation helped them. It’ll surely help to learn from them how they solved papers and what strategies they applied.
Recommend Book List for IAS Preparation
- Indian Polity – M Laxmikanth
- India’s Struggle for Independence – Bipan Chandra
- Indian Art and Culture – Nitin Singhania
- Economic Development & Policies in India – Jain & Ohri
- Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning – RS Aggarwal
- World Atlas (Orient Black Swan)
- Geography of India by Majid Husain
- Introduction to the Constitution of India by DD Basu
- Challenges to Internal Security of India – Ashok Kumar
- NCERT Books