BENGALURU: Three Karnataka students, including two from Bengaluru, have made it to the top 10 All-India Rankings (AIR) in National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) UG, results of which were announced on Thursday. Nine students from Karnataka are in the top 50 AIR, with Hrishikesh Nagbhushan Gangule, who was also a Common Entrance Test (CET) topper, scoring 715 marks out of 720 and securing AIR 3. “It’s been a very good day for me as this is something I have been working on for the past two years. I was expecting to score more than 700 marks, but after looking at the answer key, I was sure I would get full marks, barring one question which was tricky for most students,” Hrishikesh said.
Rucha Pawashe from Belagavi also scored 715 marks and bagged AIR 4. The top four candidates scored the same marks. “We are not sure why the ranks are like that. Technically, we are all supposed to be given the first rank. During counselling, they would have given us these ranks based on our age, which is what was done in previous years,” Hrishikesh said. Krishna S R, also a CET topper, scored 710, securing AIR 8, alongside nine other students who scored the same marks. Almost 20 per cent of the top 50 ranks have been secured by students from Karnataka.
Grace Marks
Hrishikesh Nagbhushan Gang-ule, who secured rank 3 said that students were expecting grace marks due to a technical glitch on part of the National Testing Agency in the Botany paper. “They gave us five statements and asked us to pick the correct one. However, they were all true. But it was an MCQ and none of the choices allowed us to pick all five statements,” he said. “They have not given any grace marks. If I had not attempted the question, I would have scored 716 marks,” he said.