GIVING UP all forms of entertainment and hobbies in the last two years has paid off for 17-year-old Pranav Goyal who secured All India Rank (AIR) 4 in the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main 2018, the results of which were declared by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Monday. An avid reader of Indian mythology, Pranav has studied from Bhavan Vidyalaya, Sector 15, Panchkula. The son of a city-based electronic engineer, who began a pharma start-up three years ago, Pranav scored 350 out of 360 in the exam. He has topped the Tricity where over 14,000 candidates took the exam. Two more students from Tricity, Vishav Vig and Kartikeya Rai, have also made it to the top 100. This year, too, the list did not feature any girl student. Pranav, who has already started preparing for his JEE Advanced exam, which will be held on May 20, was not available for comment. His father Pankaj told Chandigarh Newsline, “My son has always been a topper and has worked very hard for the past two years to achieve this rank. We are very happy with his performance.” Read | CBSE declares JEE Main results 2018, Bhogi Suraj Krishna is topper; check cut-off here Pranav has also cleared the Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KVPY), National Talent Search Examination (NTSE), Indian National Physics Olympiad (InPhO) and Indian National Astronomy Olympiad (INAO) along with International Maths Olympiad for which he represented India in Brazil. His father said Pranav would be attending the national camp for physics from May 23. After this, he will represent India at the international level. “While he hasn’t said anything specific about which IIT he wants to go to, he wants to study computer science engineering,” added his father. His mother, Mamta Goyal, has also joined her husband in their pharma company, Albia Biocare. Read | JEE Mains 2018: These are the top 4 rank holders This year, the top six students have scored 350 out of 360 and have been ranked according to subject-wise distribution of marks. Vishav, a student of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Collegiate Public School, Sector 26, scored 329 out 360 tand secured AIR 45. Son of city-based industrialist couple, Manju and Rakesh Vig, he credits football for his success in the JEE Main and wants to study computer science engineering at IIT Bombay and then, get into Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US. “I am focused on the advanced now and preparations are good. My teachers told me it doesn’t matter what rank I get in the Main. Advanced is more analytical and I have to study even harder because there are 44 people ahead of me,” said Vishav. Lauding the IITs decision to reserve more seats for girls, he said, “Girls in India are mostly encouraged to become doctors. But it’s for the greater good that girls now have a bigger chance of realising their dream of becoming engineers. This will encourage more girls to take up science and engineering.” Shy of the social media for the past two years, Kartikeya scored 318 out of 360 and secured AIR 90. A student of Bhavan Vidyalaya School, Sector 27, he is the son of IAS officer Vatsala Vasudeva, posted in Gujarat, and IPS officer Rajnish Rai, posted in Telangana. His mother took child care leave for the past two years to help him prepare for JEE. “I studied for 8 to 10 hours daily. I believe we should follow what our teachers say and that played a major role in my success. I don’t have a Facebook account and I also stayed away from movies,” said Kartikeya. His dream is to study computer science engineering in IIT Bombay or the Indian Institute of Sciences. In 2017, four candidates made it to the top 100 in JEE Main from Tricity. JEE is held in two stages. Main, conducted by CBSE, and Advanced, conducted by IITs.
