One in five people disliked the video which was viewed by over 20 lakh people as the Prime Minister failed to mention about the conduct of the JEE and NEET exams.  Naturally, most of the people who registered their dislikes were disgruntled candidates and parents who watched this video. The people are protesting against the government on many such issues. They also make use any opportunity to record it. The dislike received for the video of the Prime Minister, who was at the forefront of popularity, is a demonstration of this zeal of protest.

At a time when the country is in deep crisis, the central government has an indifferent attitude. The people want to question the methods of the Central Government which are taking irrational positions in implementing and easing the lockdown. Naturally, protest against the government should turn into support for the opposition. Is that happening on the ground? If the dislikes of the Prime Minister turn into the likes of a prominent leader of the Opposition, it can be assumed that this is happening. But how much popular support do opposition leaders like Rahul Gandhi have on social media, which is considered a reflection of society?

In recent days, Rahul Gandhi has posted four consecutive videos protesting against the deteriorating economic situation in the country. In these videos, Rahul Gandhi points out that the government is to blame for the sharp decline in the country’s GDP in the April-June quarter.

Rahul Gandhi’s third video was critical of the GST, the ‘Gabbar Singh tax’, for stunting the country’s economy. The reality is that the ruling party has no objection to objecting to what Rahul has said. But how much of these facts pointed out by Rahul Gandhi reach the people?

The  Rahul’s video posted three days ago was viewed by 1.58 lakh people. 45,000 people liked the video. The video has not been seen by as many people as ‘dislike’ for Modi’s video. Even one-tenth of those who watch Modi’s video do not watch Rahul’s video. If social media is a crossroads of society, then there is a difference between the popular support for Modi and Rahul.

The Opposition in the country is a group of weak leaders who cannot convert the opposition against the government into support for themselves. Rahul Gandhi is not able to highlight any unpopular issue and gain the support of the people. During the lockdown, he posted several videos. But that also does bring to end his responsibility the Leader of the Opposition. The shortcomings of the government should turn into the gains of the Opposition. But Opposition leaders have not shown the ability to bring about that transformation. It has to be said that it is a blessing for the Modi government that the Opposition has not been able to seize the opportunity to trash the government over the sad plight of those who are enduring unending sufferings due to the lockdown.

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The country witnessed 1,096 Covid-related deaths during the period taking the total death count to 68,472. 30,37,151 patients have recovered from the infection in the country, pushing the recovery rate to 77 per cent. Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh account for 70 per cent of the total COVID-19 deaths, according to the government.

India’s daily COVID-19 testing numbers is one of the highest in the world, Health Ministry has said. From conducting merely 10 tests per day on January 30, the daily average has crossed more than 11 lakh, the ministry said adding this demonstrates an exponential increase in daily COVID-19 testing in the country.

Less than 0.50 per cent or 2,717 patients of the total active cases in the country are on ventilator support, according to the ministry.

After registering a low student turnout on the first day, the JEE (Main), which is underway, witnessed better attendance on Wednesday and Thursday.

According to data released by the National Testing Agency, 81.08 per cent of the registered candidates appeared for the entrance test on Day 2 and 82.14 per cent on Wednesday.

Global coronavirus infections have soared past 2.57 crore as countries tighten restrictions to halt the health crisis that has upended life for most of humanity. Over 8.56 lakh people have died of the infection globally.

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JEE exams are scheduled to be held from September 1 to 6.

Many students have campaigned to delay the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) . Social media has been floated by pleas to delay the test and students have even taken the concern to court.

But the National Testing Agency(NTA) which conducts the exam, has refused to reschedule it. The Supreme Court also dismissed the students’ plea earlier saying that “ultimately life has to go on and the career of the students cannot be put on peril for long and a full academic year cannot be wasted”.

Lucknow: Candidates underwent temperature check at Subash Chandra Bose Institute of Higher Education in Prabandh Nagar, Muburakpur that has been designated as an exam centre for #JEEMain.

Candidates were given fresh masks & gloves before entering the centre.

(Earlier visuals ) pic.twitter.com/qgOd7VsjG4

— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) September 1, 2020

The exam is being conducted with special arrangements, from no shoes with thick soles to mandatory masks at exam hall – several arrangements have been made by the NTA.

Over 10 lakh masks, 10 lakh pairs of gloves, 1,300 infrared thermometer guns, 6,600 litres of hand sanitiser and an equal amount of disinfectant liquid, 6,600 sponges, 3,300 spray bottles and 3,300 cleaning staff have been arranged at an additional cost of almost Rs 13 crore. The exam will be conducted at 660 centres across the country, which was increased from 570.

While the governments of Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have assured students that they will provide transportation to candidates, a group of IIT alumni and students have also launched a portal to provide transport facilities to exam centres for the candidates in need.

Meanwhile, in a major announcement today, the Nagpur Bench of the Bomaby High Court said that students residing in flood-affected areas in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra can approach the National Testing Agency, if they were unable to reach the exam centre or reached late. The court also asked NTA to check the veracity of the claims and decide their representation within 15 days.

Another hugely competitive exam, the NEET (the National Eligibility Entrance Test) will be conducted on September 13.

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The plea was in favour of conducting key entrance examinations only after normalcy is restored post-COVID-19 crisis. Ahead of the hearing, advocate Srivastava exuded confidence in getting justice for young JEE and NEET aspirants. India Wide Parents’ Association chief Anubha Shrivastava Sahai too appeared optimistic ahead of the crucial hearing. “We are quite confident that the honorable Supreme Court will give justice to lakhs of students and government will support them.”

Union Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal has said that the JEE Main Examination for Engineering will be held from September 1 to 6. The JEE Advanced exam is scheduled to be held on September 27. The Central Government announced the dates of NEET and JEE examinations after a series of postponements in the wake of the COVID pandemic.

Solicitor General Thushar Mehta told the Supreme Court that all necessary security precautions would be taken for the examination. Not everything can be closed in during this period. Life needs to move forward. It is imperative to proceed with all security arrangements. Arun Mishra asked the students if they were ready to waste a whole year.

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For admissions to IITs, apart from qualifying the Joint Entrance Examination (Advanced), the eligibility criteria every year also includes either a minimum score of 75 per cent marks in class XII Board exams or rank among the top 20 percentile in their qualifying examinations.

However, the latter condition this year has been removed, Union Human Resources Development Minister Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank said .

“Due to the partial cancellation of class XII exams by several Boards, Joint Admission Board (JAB) has decided to relax the eligibility criterion for JEE (Advanced), 2020 qualified candidates, this time,” he tweeted.

For admissions to #IITs, apart from qualifying the #JEE (Advanced), the eligibility was to secure either minimum score of 75% marks in class XII Board exams or rank among the top 20 percentile in their qualifying examinations. @HRDMinistry @PIB_India @MIB_India @DDNewslive

— Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank (@DrRPNishank) July 17, 2020

“Qualified candidates who have passed class XII examinations will now be eligible for admissions irrespective of marks obtained,” wrote the minister.

This year, examinations for 12 class XII papers could not be held due to Covid 19 pandemic and marks for these papers were assigned to students based on their performance in previous papers.

Earlier this month, the government had announced new dates for Joint Entrance Exam, (JEE Main), the first stage for admission into IITs and entrance for most other engineering colleges in the country, between September 1 and 6.

It had also said that JEE (Advanced), will now be held on September 27.

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