Why the Hurry to Conduct JEE-NEET?
For India, it is the season of examinations. The country has been reeling under an economic slowdown and the Coronavirus pandemic. During this time, the Centre has failed in all tests so much so that it is looking at God to resolve its problems. Despite being on the brink of helplessness and frustration, the Centre is being stubborn over conducting Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) examinations for admission to engineering and medical colleges respectively. It is all set to conduct the examinations as though the country’s future is dependent on these examinations.
As the number of incidents of the Coronavirus is increasing alarmingly on a daily basis, students, parents, and leaders of several political parties all over the country are demanding that JEE, NEET, and other entrance examinations for professional courses be postponed. Regardless of the opposition, the Centre has taken a firm decision to conduct the JEE-NEET examinations. But, the campaign for postponing JEE-NEET for admission to medical colleges is gathering steam.
The concept of examination by itself creates a lot of stress. There is no doubt that conducting these examinations amidst so much of pressure can lead to disastrous consequences. Having spread fear among the people about the Coronavirus and having imposed a nation-wide lockdown for two months and thereby destroying the lives of people, it is ironical that the Centre is now treating the Coronavirus lightly and wants to conduct the examinations. The Centre does not seem to care about the impact that the conduct of such public examinations could have on the health of the students and has completely failed to address students concerns.
The likelihood of the Coronavirus infecting students who write the examinations for several hours sitting together in the same room is very high. The future of students would certainly be endangered if examinations on such a massive scale are conducted in countries such as India that are struggling in the face of lack of adequate basic infrastructure to fight the pandemic. According to an estimate, close to 25 lakh students are expected to write the JEE-NEET examinations. It is possible that these students can get infected during the examinations. Even if these students are asymptomatic, the infection could spread through them to their parents and their grand parents and the impact of such a spread cannot even be imagined. The Centre that has failed completely to tackle the spread of the virus will, by conducting the examinations, only be creating a way to increase the number of the infected.
Besides, the transportation facilities all over the country have been skeletal after Covid-19 and this could create problems for students who have to reach the examination centres in time. Also, questions arise over how far the government can succeed in implementing its decision to establish isolation wards in all examination centres for students who are symptomatic. Moreover, forcing symptomatic students to travel outside their homes is like inviting them to get infected. Amidst such an imminent health threat and the high level of anxieties, the Narendra Modi government has stuck to its decision to conduct these examinations. The Supreme Court has also justified the Centre’s stand by stating that students would be losing out a precious year if the examinations are to be postponed.
The decision of the Centre to conduct the examinations by completely ignoring the concerns of students and parents is diametrically opposite to its stand of imposing a nation-wide lockdown in March. The Modi government had imposed on March 24 a nation-wide lockdown to stop the spread of the Coronavirus. The lockdown was so stringent that the transportation facilities all over the country came to a complete standstill and lakhs of migrant workers lost their jobs, hunger and poverty staring at them. The police went to the extent of wielding their lathis on people who ventured out to buy food and other essentials. In the absence of any alternative, many migrants left on foot to reach their villages hundreds of miles away. The situation became so grave that hundreds of people lost their lives due to the lockdown. In a hurry to reach their villages, many migrants lost their lives en route because of sheer exhaustion, hunger, and health problems. Several others lost their lives in accidents. People are now wondering why the Centre is so stubborn in conducting these examinations in this background and when it had imposed a lockdown across the country to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus in the first place.
In the midst of the pandemic, parliament sessions are taking place in various countries. But, in India, there is a reluctance to convene parliament. The Centre is hesitating to gather MPs who number a few hundreds and conduct proceedings. It is possible for the government to ensure the safety of the members of parliament during the session as their number is small, but the government is not ready to take any risk in the case of MPs. With this being the case, the government should answer the question as to how far the government can succeed in protecting lakhs of students who will appear for the JEE-NEET examinations. Politicians who take so much care about their health should adopt the same attitude towards the youth of the country. The Centre should immediately heed the demand of the youth.
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Prabhsimran fifty, Jitesh cameo lift Punjab Kings to 214/5 against SRH
Hyderabad, May 19: Prabhsimran Singh set the tone with a quickfire fifty before skipper Jitesh Sharma finished it off in style to lift Punjab Kings to an imposing 214/5 against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL, here on Sunday.
The new look opening pair of Prabhsimran and Vidarbha's Atharva Taide put on 97 runs from 55 balls as PBKS did well to see through the power play without losing a wicket after opting to bat.
Prabhsimran smashed seven fours and four sixes for his 45-ball 71, while Taide will regret missing out on a fifty after being dismissed for a well-made 46 off just 27 balls.
Taide smashed five fours and two sixes and after his departure, Prabhsimran got the company of Rilee Rossouw as the duo put together 54 off 32 balls to keep the momentum going in the middle overs.
It looked a one-way traffic at 151/1 in 14 overs when leg-spinner Vijayakanth Viyaskanth dismissed the set batter Prabhsimran off a quicker delivery that took a faint edge and Heinrich Klaasen did well to take a one-handed catch behind the stumps.
Cummins (1/36) ended his spell taking the wicket Rossouw one run shy of a half-century in the 18th over that left two new batters at the crease -- Jitesh Sharma and Ashutosh Sharma.
T Natarajan (2/33) then did well to remove the inform Ashutosh Sharma in the penultimate over.
PBKS went on to lose four wickets for 44 runs in five overs before the stand-in skipper Jitesh's last over assault took them to a fighting total.
Jitesh (32 not out from 15 balls; 2x4, 2x6) finished with two sixes against Nitish Kumar Reddy in a 20-run final over.
It was a fearless batting display by the Punjab Kings who had nothing to lose and playing the last match of the season.
There was no Jonny Bairstow or Liam Livingstone -- the English duo who have left home for national duty -- but PBKS batters never felt their absence after they opted to bat.
Following a tidy start by Pat Cummins and Bhuvneshwar Kumar where the duo conceded just 12 runs, Prabhsimran took on the veteran Indian seamer slamming him for consecutive boundaries.
The lefthander Taide then got into the act in Natarajan's opening over, when he dragged one from outside off to through mid-on and followed it up with a mighty pull.
The diminutive Punjab batter Prabhsimran added to their misery, hammering a 145kph delivery from Cummins over deep square leg with sheer timing.
Taide also matched his senior partner Prabhsimran and took on Bhuvneshwar with a six and four, as PBKS cruised to 61 for no loss in the power play and the home side looked desperate in search of a breakthrough.
Natarajan finally broke the opening partnership in the 10th over with a short and widish delivery to dismiss a well set Taide.
But Prabhsimran continued his belligerent batting in the company of Rossouw and raced to a 34-ball fifty, his second this season in the 11th over.
His big assault came in Nitish Reddy's next over when the duo spanked him for 20 runs two sixes and one four as there was no stopping PBKS.
