New Delhi, Apr 19 (PTI) No phone, focused studies, sharp concepts and a plan ‘B’ to avoid stress and anxiety are among the mantras shared by top scorers in engineering entrance exam JEE-Main, the results of which were announced on Saturday.

A total of 24 candidates have bagged a perfect 100 NTA score in the second edition of the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE)-Main.

While seven of them are from Rajasthan, three each are from Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, two each from Delhi, West Bengal and Gujarat, and one each is from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Om Prakash Behera, who hails from Odisha and was enrolled in a coaching institute in Rajasthan’s Kota, said he stayed away from mobile phones to avoid any distraction.

“I chose to stay away from phones and kept myself focused on specific chapters that are top-scoring. My parents always asked me to keep a plan ‘B’ so that I did not get stressed with the curriculum load,” Behera told PTI over the phone.

Rajit Gupta from Rajasthan is also on the list of top scorers.

“I focused on keeping my concepts clear right from Class 9. All complex questions could be solved with sharp concepts,” he told PTI.

Vangala Ajay Reddy from Telangana said he grew up listening that the JEE-Main is one of the toughest exams.

“It would add pressure at times to think that the exam is tough. I always maintained my calm irrespective of the results in the mock tests. I knew I would score well but full marks was not something I had anticipated,” Reddy, who is aiming for a seat in IIT-Bombay, said.

While 21 top-scoring candidates are from the general category, the list includes one candidate each from the Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) categories.

Two of the toppers are women — Devdutta Majhi from West bengal and Sai Manogna Guthikonda from Andhra Pradesh.

The other toppers include M D Anas, Ayush Singhal, Laksya Sharma and Saksham Jindal from Rajasthan, Archisman Nandy (West Bengal), Ayyush Ravi Chaudhari (Maharashtra), Kushagra Gupta (Karnataka), Harshh A Gupta (Telangana), Aadi Prakash Bhagade (Gujarat), Harsh Jha and Daksh from Delhi.

According to National Testing Agency officials, NTA scores are not the same as the percentage of marks obtained but normalised scores.

NTA scores are normalised scores across multi-session papers and are based on the relative performance of all those who appeared in the examination in one session, a senior official explained.

The marks obtained are converted into a scale ranging from 100 to 0 for each session of examinees, the official added.

Based on the results of the JEE (Main) papers 1 and 2, the candidates will be shortlisted to appear in the JEE (Advanced), which is a one-stop exam for admission to the 23 Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).

In the first edition, the NTA scores of 39 candidates were not declared as they were found to have indulged in unfair practices. During the second edition, 110 candidates were found to have been involved in unfair means, including forgery of documents related to the examination, and consequently, their results were not declared.

“Besides these candidates, the results of 23 candidates have been withheld due to discrepancies in their photographs, biometric details or other personal information for identity verification. These candidates have been asked to provide a valid proof of their photographs, duly attested by a gazetted officer, to the NTA within a specified date for their results to be declared,” the senior NTA official said. PTI GJS RC