Mangaluru: Dakshina Kannada has emerged as a strong performer in the Karnataka Common Entrance Test (CET) 2026, with four students securing ranks among the top 10 in the engineering stream.Ira Jain of CFAL, The Learning Centre PU College, Mangaluru, secured the 4th rank. Rishon Fernandes of CFAL TLC PU College secured the 5th rank. Chinmay GK of Vidvath PU College, Belthangady, secured the 7th rank, while Abhhi Sannayya of CFAL, TLC PU College secured the 8th rank.Ira Jain from Nanthoor said she decided to pursue engineering in class 10. Besides academics, she actively participates in quiz competitions and enjoys baking, mainly brownies, in her free time. Ira scored 592 marks in the II PUC examinations, secured AIR 6,627 in JEE Main, and AIR 3,527 in JEE Advanced. She has also secured 117 rank in the Manipal Entrance Test and qualified for an interview for IIT Hyderabad through UGEE exam. My goal is to join an IIT, she said.Ira’s father, Dr Animesh Jain, is a doctor at KMC Hospital and hails from Jamshedpur, while her mother, Dr Rashmi Jain is a doctor at Yenepoya Medical college, and is from Indore.Rishon Fernandes, a PCMS student from Derebail, attributed his success to maintaining focus. He is son of Ronald and Shanthi Fernandes. Rishon is also passionate about basketball. He scored 580 marks in PUC, and secured AIR 621 in JEE advanced. He plans to pursue studies in the fields of artificial intelligence or technology and secure admission to an IIT.Chinmay GK, a PCMC student from Belthangady, said he was confident of securing a place among rank holders. He is also into Carnatic music and aspires to join NITK Surathkal and pursue electronics and communication engineering. His father, Ganesh Bhat, is a professor at a govt college, while his mother, Malini Hegde, is a govt high school teacher. He scored 598 in PUC and secured 5,785 rank in JEE mains and 1,100 rank in JEE advanced.Abhhi Sannayya from Bejai, who secured the 8th rank in CET, said that his primary focus had been on JEE rather than CET . Abhhi has already achieved All India Rank 558 in JEE Advanced, and is aiming to secure admission to one of the IITs. Abhhi’s father, Raghavendra Rao Sannayya, is president of Primacy Industries in Baikampady, while his mother, Kanthi R Rao, is an architect. Apart from academics, Abhhi is trained in keyboard music and actively participates in quiz competitions and has appeared at the national level.
