Dalit youths thrashed by Bajrang Dal workers while having food at a restaurant

Udupi, Jul 14: Abhijna Rao, a student of Vidyodaya PU College, Udupi, has emerged state topper in the science stream of II PUC. 

Abhijna has secured 596 marks in the II PUC examination-2020, the results of which were announced on Tuesday July 14. She scored a perfect 100 marks in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Computer Science (PCMC). In Sanskrit and English she scored 100 and 96 marks respectively.

She had secured second position in the Karnataka SSLC examinations two years ago.

She is daughter of Asha Rao and Vittal Rao, a retired professor. Her sister Raksha Rao has completed Engineering from NITK Suratkal.

“After securing second rank in the state in SSLC, my target was to score more in PUC examinations. My parents and lecturers have supported me in my studies. All my teachers gave me proper guidance. Vidyodaya College also supported me. I was studying on a daily basis. The exams were easy and I had expected to score above 590. I am very happy to score 596," she said.

Tumkur, Jun 2: Karnataka Agriculture Minister BC Patil on Monday said that state will not be affected due to locust swarm as it has moved to other states.

"There will be no effect as locust insects diverted to other states after they came from Pakistan. We were also worried and were prepared to face it, luckily we will not be affected by insects," he said.

Locust is a type of grasshoppers and moves in large numbers and devastates crops. Several parts of Rajasthan including Ganganagar have reported locust attacks.

There is a prediction of another attack in June this year.

Bengaluru, Jul 1: Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar on Wednesday played down reports about confusion regarding valuation of Second Pre- University and the Secondary School Leaving Certificate exam papers.

"Creating confusion has become a habit. There was confusion before the exam, during the exam and now confusion about the valuation of the exam papers," Kumar told reporters in Ramanagara when asked about the confusion over the valuation of answer sheets.

He had gone there to inspect a few centres where the SSLC or the 10th standard exams are underway.

The minister reminded people not to speak about the abilities of the students with contempt.

"Our students have toiled hard and are enthusiastically appearing for the examination. They are eligible for the marks they will score. So we should not speak about our children with disrespect," Kumar said.

The Education Minister said he had spoken to many leaders including former chief ministers Siddaramaiah and H D Kumaraswamy on conducting the examinations.

"Kumaraswamy had insisted on postponing the examination. I personally spoke to him and apprised him about the steps taken by us. I told him that we will work with more sincerity to ensure the safety of the children," Kumar said.

The SSLC exam was scheduled to take place from March 27 but due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown, it was postponed.

While the CBSE and a few other states either decided to give marks based on the students' performance in the previous examinations such as quarterly and half-yearly exams or gave general promotion to the students, Karnataka went ahead to hold the exam.

According to Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board officials, around 8.5 lakh students have enrolled this year for the SSLC examination.

The exams are being held at 2,879 exam centres across the state.

Prior to the SSLC examination, the last exam of the Second PUC was also conducted on June 18, which was also put on hold due to the lockdown.