First day cut-off is 199, 200

First day cut-off is 199/200

Chennai: Of the 87 students with the maximum possible 200 marks, V. Divya, a student of RSK Higher Secondary School in Tiruchi, secured the first rank in the academic stream of Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions 2011.

It was determined first on the basis of marks obtained in the fourth optional subject: 16 students were tied for the first spot on this basis. Of the 16 with a score of 200 in four subjects, the ranks were decided on the basis of date of birth. As the older candidate is given preference, Ms. Divya came first.

The other top rankers were S. Yogaparasugan of Rasipuram in Namakkal district; M. Suresh Paul Raj of Nanmangalam in Chennai; A. Harinivas of Chinnasalem in Villupuram district; B. Akila of Bhavani in Erode. Of the 87 top rankers, 45 studied computer science and 42 biology, and nine studied in Tamil medium.

R. Vignesh of Bhavani in Erode district was ranked first in the Most Backward Class category, S. Shanaffer of Erode was first in among Backward Class Muslims; M. Selva Prabath of Perambalur, S. Naveena of Tiruchengode and S. Velavan of Kollihills were ranked first in Scheduled Caste, SC Arundathiar and Scheduled Tribe categories respectively.

Releasing the rank list, Higher Education Minister P. Palaniappan said the total number of eligible applications this year was 1,43,109 with 5,246 rejected for various reasons.

Of them, 85,635 were men and 57,474 women. Under the special reservation category, 1,870 eligible applications were received under ex-servicemen category, 313 under differently abled and 3,492 under sports quota.

Asked if the fee for engineering courses will be revised this year, the Minister said the Justice Balasubramanian Committee on fee structure for engineering colleges will hold a meeting on Friday evening. “Once the government receives the committee's report, an official announcement will be made,” he said.

The committee would continue to monitor the functioning of self-financing colleges.

The Chief Minister is very particular that the colleges should collect fees as determined by the government and not collect excess fee and has instructed that immediate action be taken (on receiving complaints), Mr. Palaniappan said.

The general counselling for the TNEA 2011 admissions that begins on July 8 is expected to go on till August 11. On day one, 1,000 students, with a cut-off of above 199 marks, will participate in the counselling. From day two, an average of 3,000 to 3,500 students will sit for counselling each day, said Prof. Mannar Jawahar, Vice-Chancellor, Anna University. This year, the last cut-off mark is 85. There will be a 50 per cent concession on travel expenses as in previous years.

The rank list has been hosted on the university's website www.annauniv.edu. This year, random numbers were used for 17 candidates. Random numbers are used when students have the same marks in maths, physics, optional subject and date of birth. If there is a change in marks after re-totalling / revaluation, candidates should intimate the TNEA secretary immediately.

As the data given in the applications and ranks are available on the website, students are asked to inform the TNEA secretary immediately if corrections are needed.