Karan Takhar comes second in NatGeo Bee

Vivek Ranjan - Televisionpoint.com
Karan Takhar, an Indian American student of Rhode Island, has come second in the 17th annual National Geographic Bee in which nearly five million students from across the US participated. The Bee will be aired on the National Geographic Channel in India too.

The son of Amrita and Gurpartap Takhar, originally from India, he won a $15,000 college scholarship for being the runnerup. Karan, a 14-year-old eighth grader in East Providence, lost to a home schooler from Minnesota, Nathan Cornelius, in an 11-question championship round in the competition held in Washington DC.

Takhar reached the national competition by winning the Geography Bee at the Gordon school and by taking an hourlong written test graded by National Geographic society that won him a lace in the state competition.

The annual competition began with nearly five million fourth through eighth graders in nearly 15,000 schools across the United States. Cornelius won a $25,000 college scholarship and lifetime membership in the National Geographic society.

Karan Takhar defeated nine other finalists during the last round, which included two other Indian American students, Bonny Jain and Tejas Raje. The top 10 finalists are eligible to be chosen for the three-member US team at the National Geographic world championship, held in July in Budapest, Hungary. The Takhar said he was "happy" with his second place finish.