JEE-Advanced 2021: Mridul Agarwal from Delhi zone bags top rank; Kavya Chopra topper among females
New Delhi, Oct 15: Mridul Agarwal from Delhi zone has topped the JEE-Advanced this year by scoring the highest marks ever in the IIT entrance exam, results for which were announced on Friday.
The 17-year-old Agarwal, who plans to pursue B.Tech in Computer Science from IIT Bombay, has scored 348 out of 360 marks in the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE)-Advanced.
Agarwal, who hails from Rajasthan, had also scored 100 percentile in JEE-Main exam and shared the top rank with 17 others.
Kavya Chopra, also from Delhi zone, who became the first female to top the JEE-Main exam, has emerged as the topper in JEE-Advanced among females. She has scored 286 marks out of 360 with her overall rank being 98.
A total of 41,862 candidates have qualified in JEE-Advanced this year, of whom 6,452 are female candidates, according to officials.
This year, IIT-Kharagpur conducted the exam, which is the qualifying test for admission to the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). A total of 1,41,699 candidates had appeared in both paper 1 and 2 of JEE-Advanced.
"While 97 foreign candidates had registered for the exam only 42 of them appeared out of which seven have qualified," a senior official said.
While the JEE-Mains is conducted for admission to engineering colleges across the country, it is considered as a qualifying test for JEE-Advanced.
Starting this year, JEE-Main was conducted four times a year to offer flexibility to students and a chance to improve their scores. The first phase was held in February and the second in March.
The next phases were scheduled for April and May but those were postponed in view of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic that raged through the country affecting lakhs. The third edition was held from July 20-25, while the fourth edition was conducted from August 26 to September 2.
The ranks of the candidates were released taking into consideration the best of the four NTA scores in accordance with the policy already made.
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UDF leaders see local body poll trends as pointer to 2026 Assembly elections in Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Buoyed by the strong performance of the Congress-led UDF in the local body polls, KPCC president Sunny Joseph said on Saturday that the front's results indicated the people had rejected the LDF government.
According to early trends, the UDF was leading in more grama panchayats, block panchayats, municipalities and corporations than the LDF.
The local body polls were held in two phases in the state earlier this week.
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Speaking to reporters here, Joseph said the people of Kerala had extended their support to the UDF.
"We could expose the LDF government’s anti-people stance and the people understood it. The LDF’s fake propaganda was rejected by the people. The UDF is moving towards a historic victory," he said.
He said a united effort, proper preparations, good candidate selection and hard work had resulted in the Congress and the UDF’s victory in the elections.
Asked about the prospects in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, Joseph said the party was studying the matter and would comment later.
LDF convenor T P Ramakrishnan said the results would be closely examined.
According to him, the government had done everything possible for the people.
"Why such a verdict happened will be examined at the micro level. People’s opinion will be considered and further steps will be taken," he said.
He added that decisions would be taken after analysing the results. "If any corrective measures are required, we will initiate them and move forward," he said.
AICC leader K C Venugopal said the results showed that people had begun ousting those who, he alleged, were responsible for the loss of gold at Lord Ayyappa’s temple.
"This trend will continue in the Assembly elections as well. It is an indication that the people are ready to bring down the LDF government," he said.
Venugopal said the UDF had registered victories even in CPI(M) and LDF strongholds.
"I congratulate all UDF workers for their hard work. Congress workers and leaders worked unitedly," he said.
Referring to remarks made by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan against the Congress on polling day, Venugopal said the voters had responded through the verdict.
"I do not know whether the chief minister understands that the people are against him. Otherwise, he does not know the sentiment of the people. The state government cannot move an inch further," he said.
He said the results indicated a strong comeback for the UDF in Kerala.
Asked whether the Sabarimala gold loss issue had affected the LDF in the local polls, Venugopal said the CM and the CPI(M) state secretary did not take the issue seriously.
"We took a strong stand on the matter. The BJP played a foul game in it," he alleged.
On the BJP's role in the local body elections, Venugopal alleged that the party operated with the CPI(M) 's tacit support.
"The CPI(M) supported the central government on issues such as PM-SHRI, labour codes and corruption in national highway construction. The CPI(M) is facing ideological decline, and the state government’s policies are against the party’s own decisions," he said.
Meanwhile, LDF ally Kerala Congress (M) leader Jose K Mani said the party could not win all the wards it had expected in the elections.
He congratulated winners from all parties and said the party would closely examine the losses and identify shortcomings. "Later, we will take corrective measures," he added.
Senior Congress leader and MP Rajmohan Unnithan said the trends in the local body elections indicated that the UDF would return to power in the 2026 Assembly elections.
"We will win 111 seats as in 1977 and return to power in 2026. The anti-government sentiment of the people is reflected in the elections," he said.
Unnithan said the people were disturbed and unhappy with the present government.
"The trend indicates the end of the LDF government," he added.
CPI(M) MLA M M Mani said the people had shown ingratitude towards the LDF despite benefiting from welfare schemes.
"After receiving all welfare schemes and living comfortably, people voted against us due to some temporary sentiments. Is that not ingratitude," he asked.
Mani said no such welfare initiatives had taken place in Kerala earlier.
"People are receiving pensions and have enough to eat. Even after getting all this, they voted against us. This is what can be called ingratitude," he said.
Muslim League state president Panakkad Sayyid Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal said the results were beyond expectations.
"The outcome points towards the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram, indicating that a change of government is imminent. We are going to win the Assembly election," he said.
