II PUC examinations from march 15

BANGALORE: Over 5.96 lakh candidates will appear for   the II Pre-University Course (PUC) examination scheduled to begin from March 15, the Department of Pre-University Education officials said on Monday.Among them, 4.28 lakh candidates are freshers, 1.3 lakh repeaters and 36,904 private candidates.  Of these, 2.65 lakh students are from Arts stream, 1.72 lakh from Commerce and 1.58 lakh from Science.  About 2.99 lakh candidates will attempt in Kannada medium, while 2.96 lakh will attempt the papers in English, the officials said. There are 3.2 lakh male candidates and 2.75 female candidates this year.Exam Centres There are 923 examination centres across the state. ■ In Bangalore, there are 135 exam centres where 97,218 candidates will write the exams■ In Belgaum, there are 71 centres for 46,420 candidates■ In Gulbarga, 25,898 candidates will write in 40 centres■ In Dakshina Kannada, there are 48 centres for 29,766 candidates■ 43 centres in Mysore for 30,416 candidates ■ In Tumkur, there are 37 centres with 27,417 candidatesThe department has identified 80 exam centres as highly sensitive, while 86 centres have been categorised as sensitive. As much as 2,184 special vigilance squads have been formed, while all the 923 exam centres will have an assistant chief superintendent. Also, photocopy shops near the centres will be asked to remain closed and 200-metre radius of the exam centres will be declared as prohibited areas.