However, Kolhapur division has the credit of fielding the State topper - Sakhadeo Vedika Rajiv from Vidya Mandir Prashala & Junior College at Miraj, who has scored 587 (97.83%). The other female topper, Bhalla Aditi Praveen from the Shri Shivaji Science Junior College at Nagpur. She has stood second in the State, scoring 585 (97.5%).

The last time around, the topper was from the Amravati division.As far as the gender-wise performance of students is concerned, the highest pass percentage among girl students is in the Pune board, with 83.55%. Nagpur has the lowest pass percentage of 51.99%.

Among boys, Mumbai, with 71.33, has the highest pass percentage while the lowest is again in Nagpur, with 51.99%. Ghuge Dattatraya Dnyandev of JES College at Jalna stood first in the stateamong backward class candidates with 95.50 per cent marks. Among the divisional boards, Pune followed Mumbai with a pass percentage of 75.06%, Kolhapur (73%), Nasik (69.28%), Amravati (60.49%), Latur (60.19%), Aurangabad (59.91%) and Nagpur (55.53%). The pass percentage in the State is 68.14%.

Mumbai has notched up another credit by scoring the best percentage even among the repeaters; the overall figure is 30.85%, followed by Pune (27.61%) and Latur (20.01%). Nagpur recorded a pass percentage of 19.51%, while the overall pass percentage among repeater candidates is 22.79%.

As far as the streamwise divisions are concerned, Nasik has the highest pass percentage in the Science faculty with 80.53% while Nagpur has the lowest 63.63%.

In the Arts faculty, Mumbai has come up trumps again with a pass percentage of 72.30% while Nagpur again has the lowest - 51.92%. Pune has the highest pass percentage in the Commerce faculty with 79.47%, while the Aurangabad division has the lowest passing percentage of59.41%.

For Minimum Competency Vocational Courses (MCVCs), Mumbai has the highest pass percentage of 83.48% and Latur has the lowest -- 46.07%. Amit Bose of Fergusson College topped the Pune division with 573 marks (95.50%).

Haripriya Rajagopal, also from Fergusson, topped among the girls, scoring 572 (95.33%). In the Aurungabad division, Snehal Ramdas Joshi of S B College of Commerce topped the HSC exam, securing 97 per cent. Riteshkumar Kantilal Mandot of JES College at Jalna stood second with 96.83 per cent.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Joshi expressed her desire to be a computer engineer. ``I will be enrolling with the Birla Institute at Pilani, to pursue the course. However, if I get through at the IIT-JEE exam, I don't mind taking any course.'' She credited her success to the support she received from her parents, both of whom are junior college teachers, and the guidance she received at a private coaching classes in the city.

In the Nasik board, Mukund Gopalrao Dhondge of HPT Arts, RYKScience College, topped the merit list. Mukund, who belongs to the science faculty, scored 577 (96.17 per cent). Among the girl students, Shubhashri Ashok Gaonkar, also from HPT, stood first with 567 (94.5 per cent).

HPT College secured the maximum number of ranks, with 26 students figuring in the merit list of 51. Eight students of the Moolji Jetha Junior College and six students of KRT Arts, B H Comerce and A M Science College too figured in the merit list.

(With inputs from our Aurungabad and Nashik correspondents)