Girls outshone boys in the CBSE Class 12 examinations announced Thursday, with toppers Hansika Shukla from Ghaziabad and Karishma Arora from Muzaffarnagar scoring 499 out of 500 marks.

Neeraj Jindal and Mehak Talwar from Delhi are among 18 students to rank third in the exams.

The (CBSE) results have been announced within 28 days of the last date of the examination.

The Class 12 examination began on February 16, earlier than previous years. The results, which is usually announced by the third week of May, is also being announced earlier than scheduled.

Around 13 lakh students appeared for the examination.

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