National Law School graduate tops state list in civil services exam

NT Correspondent
Bengaluru

A National Law School graduate is the state topper for the UPSC Civil Services 2021, as per the results announced on Monday.
Avinash Rao has secured all India rank of 31 at the first attempt. Hailing from Davangere district, Avinash graduated from National Law School, Bengaluru in 2020 and started taking coaching lessons from Insights IAS in 2021.
“Since my graduation I have put all my time into pursuing UPSC. I would dedicate six to seven hours every day for my preparations,” he said.
He also said that the while he expected to be on the list, the ranking results have come to him as a surprise. Since it is his first attempt, he did not know what to really expect or have any prior experience to refer to in comparison. But he said the results came as a pleasant surprise and he is very happy to see the ranking.
Avinash’s father is a hotelier and his mother a housewife and they are joyous about their son’s achievement. For hobbies, he likes to play tennis and take part in street plays.
Since he studied subjects like international and constitutional law during his graduation, he also chose law as his subject for UPSC prelims. He said the interview section of the exams was the most challenging and that it is a process that genuinely tests one’s skills in terms of perseverance. He added that the written exams were tough too and the topics were a bit unconventional this time around.
As for the future, Avinash said he wants to serve the government and the country to the best of his abilities and is eagerly optimistic about being allotted the foreign service branch, as his personal interests are international affairs and diplomacy.