Believe in yourself

Believe in yourself

How to prepare for the JEE Main-II and Advanced exams during the lockdown

01/06/2020, R. L. TRIKHA

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The Joint Entrance Exams (JEE) are life changing for IIT aspirants. The JEE Main (JEEM) is the first stage to clear for those who aspire to take admission in the IITs. Those who missed the exams in January must appear in the second phase normally conducted in April, which has now been delayed due to COVID-19. Even those who take the exam in January appear for the second phase since the best of the two scores is considered. The JEE Advanced (JEEA) aspirants are also advised to appear in the JEEM second phase to ensure that they qualify to take the JEEA exam. Due to COVID 19, both exams have been delayed, which means an extended preparation time is available to aspirants.

The JEE Main mostly has questions of singular concepts; some are direct formula based. On the other hand, the questions asked in the JEE Advanced require in-depth understanding of concepts and their application and are even multi-conceptual. Such questions not only require a solid foundation in the subject but also clarity in concepts along with high analytical skill, reasoning power and exposure to problem-solving of various types.

Here are a few tips and tricks to help students strengthen their preparation.

Smart planning and time management is key: Firstis a smart revision plan that covers the entire syllabus in available time. Make a study task table that utilises time effectively by dividing the subjects and topics on a daily basis. Allocate equal time to each subject so that due attention is paid to each topic/concept.

Utilise resources efficiently: Mastering the concept is a must, so choose study material that is easy to understand. At this stage, NCERT books and concise study notes and tricks to solve seemingly difficult questions will be the handiest. Do not confuse yourself by referring to multiple authors, as different writers have various methods to solve a problem.

Attempt online mock tests: Methodical planned revision and daily mock tests will help overcome weaknesses, increase speed and accuracy and keep you updated with current trend and exam pattern. Go through past papers, online mock tests, doubt clearing sessions, and get expert opinion from real-time analysis. Learn from your mistakes and avoid repeating them. Attend regular mock tests to understand weaknesses. This provides a comparative as well as progressive analysis that will help plan your preparation.

Ensure clarity of concepts: Solve quality problems covering all types and patterns from past years. Cracking the JEE requires clarity of concept and application and analytical skills.

In the last week: Do intermittent quick revisions from your short notes. Go through formulae and concepts of every chapter in all three subjects. Do not attempt new problems. Focus on polishing your strengths by regular revision, testing, analysis, and corrective action. Believe in yourself, work hard and stay focused with positive energy. Taking time to relax or rest also prepares the brain to recall what you have learnt. Keep calm, as nervousness can adversely affect your performance.

On D-Day: Start with the subject you are most confident about. First, attempt those questions to which you know the correct answer. Do not invite negative marks by attempting questions you do not know anything about.

For JEEA, in addition to the above, attempt questions that do not have negative marks even if you have to guess.

Finally it is the relative performance and not absolute level of difficulty that matters.

The writer is the Director FIITJEE Group and Ex-CMD MECON under MOS

‘Migrant labourers are the most disenfranchised invisible citizens’

‘Migrant labourers are the most disenfranchised invisible citizens’

It is shocking that those who build fantasy cities not only can’t own a home of their own but also can’t vote in elections, says political scientist Ashwani Kumar

01/06/2020, NISTULA HEBBAR

Political scientist Ashwani Kumar, whose forthcoming co-edited book titled Migration and Mobility is to be out soon, speaks on migration, inter-State workers and amendment to the Inter-State Migrant Workers Act, 1979.

The COVID-19 crisis for India has also become a humanitarian one, involving inter-State migrants on return journeys home racked by pain and suffering and no surety of any income going ahead. Could we have an idea about the contours of this migration?

There is a wealth of theoretical and empirical literature on the reasons behind short-term seasonal and circular migratory flows in India. For a majority of migrant labourers, migration is either a livelihood accumulation strategy or survival risk reducing strategy whichever way we define the nature of migration. The migration studies also confirm that the migrant labourers are the most exploited and also disenfranchised invisible citizens of contemporary India. It’s shocking that those who build fantasy cities not only can’t own a home of their own but also can’t vote in elections and treated like almost ‘as second-class citizens’. This double tragedy of migrant life is ironically further exploited by sons of soil politicians in various States of India.

According to the Census of India, 2011, more than 450 million Indians (37%) are internal migrants who change their residence within a country’s national borders. About 30% of the migrants are youth aged 15-29 years and another 15 million are children. Women migrants are less represented in regular jobs and more likely to be self-employed than non-migrant women. Domestic work has emerged as an important occupation for migrant women and girls. Facing relentless bouts of gender discrimination at home, and on the farms as wage workers, these migrant women are forced into various forms of servitude in the domestic spaces of affluent city dwellers.

Is there more granular data on migration?

Prominent migration scholars like Priya Deshingkar suggest that around two-thirds of internal migrants are concentrated in rural areas, while around one-third are concentrated in urban areas in India. Males dominate the inter-State and inter-district streams of migration, while females dominate the intra-district stream of migration. Studies suggest that household members were found to migrate in various combinations — men only, women only, men and women, and men, women and children. Described as ‘footloose workers’ in migration studies, about 100 millions of workers/labourers circulate from place to place never with the intention to settle down, but to return to their native villages and towns once a job is completed or when a working season comes to an end. In between migration and settlement for employment and livelihoods, these footloose army of migrants are often denied welfare rights in their destination place and imposed debilitating transaction costs in case they decided to negotiate their citizenship rights.

What is the distribution in terms of caste and gender deprivation and type of work that migrants move home to do?

Research studies suggest that Scheduled Tribes are several times more likely to migrate compared with upper castes, followed closely by the Scheduled Castes who are more likely to migrate than OBCs, and then by Backward Castes (BCs) who are more likely to migrate. Upper caste households with some assets migrate for better opportunities but not for coping strategy. Short-term migrants are engaged mostly as casual labour and mostly remain invisible and often face exploitative labour practices. Such migrants are often found as construction workers, brick kiln workers, auto drivers, rickshaw pullers, sex workers, private security guards, household help, cab drivers, dabbawalas, presswalas, courier workers, beauty parlour workers, plantation workers etc. Field studies by leading migration scholar R.B. Bhagat indicate that the lead source States of internal migrants are Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Uttarakhand and Tamil Nadu, whereas key destination areas are Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab and Karnataka. According to a UNESCO study, Surat at 58% has the highest percentage of migrant labour population in India, while the percentage of migrant population is 43% for Mumbai and Delhi. Internal migration has become so ubiquitous that Kerala, long known for “Kerala model” of human development and land of expatriates, has embarrassingly become a ‘rainbow country’ of migrants. Pouring mainly from West Bengal, Tripura, Assam and Maharashtra, domestic migrants are now estimated at 25 lakh in Kerala. Micro studies conducted by research institutions and NGOs suggest that around 80 million short-term migrants are working in India, including: 40 million in the construction industry, 20 million domestic workers, 7 million sex workers and around 12 million who work in illegal mines.

There are calls for the Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service), Act, 1979, to be amended to respond to the massive changes since then and to be more effective. What are the amendments you would suggest?

The Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979 is largely a regulatory law failing to incorporate welfare rights of the migrant labourers. The most urgent revision is to introduce a National Migrant Workers Commission at the Central level backed up by State level Migrant Workers Commissions. Also, we need to expand the definition of migrant labourer and include next generation skills like IT, mobile repair, financial services related works. Also, the Act needs to include provisions for State-supported skill training services for migrant labourers. A long pending issue is portability of migrant workers’ voting rights. The Election Commission of India is already working, so time has come to empower migrant workers so that they gather better bargaining power and political voice in the system. Other laws relating to workers must be synergised with the Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act. For instance, the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment And Conditions of Services) Act, 1996 should be integrated into the Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act. And it needs to be implemented by the Secretary of the Migrant Workers Commission. In this digital age, we must stress more digital administrative techniques such as smart cards and leverage Jam — Jandhan/Aadhaar/mobile payment infrastructure for portability of all.

Another urgent issue is portability of the public distribution system (PDS) for migrant labourers and also allowing migrant labourers to use their NREGA job cards in any part of the country. This portability of NREGA will be a great relief, if any migrant labourer is in crisis like the pandemic, he or she can take up NREGA work at the destination site rather than returning home.

Crossed wires at hospital leave family stunned

Crossed wires at hospital leave family stunned

01/06/2020, MAHESH LANGA , ,AHMEDABAD

Negative test results for COVID-19 led to a bizarre incident at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital earlier this week, with the family of a deceased patient informed by hospital authorities that he was alive just hours after they had performed his cremation.

Devrambhai Bhisikar was admitted to the COVID-19 ward of Ahmedabad Civil Hospital on May 28 with fever, cough and breathlessness, all symptoms of COVID-19. He died the following day before the results of his samples arrived. As per protocol for suspected COVID-19 cases, his body was wrapped in PPE and handed over to the family, who cremated him soon after.

“When we returned home [after the cremation], we received calls from the hospital that the results of Devrambhai were negative and he could be shifted to the general ward. We were shocked,” said Nilesh Nikte, Bhisikar’s son-in-law. “When we rushed to the hospital, the doctor said it was a mistake by the control room person, who had called us based on Devrambhai’s negative results without checking on his status,” he added.

Railways set to get back on track

Railways set to get back on track

Over 1.45 lakh are set to travel today

01/06/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,NEW DELHI

About 26 lakh passengers had booked in advance till Sunday morning.

More than 1.45 lakh passengers are booked to travel via trains on Monday as the Railways begins graded restoration of passenger services with 200 new special trains.

As per the data shared by the Railways, till Sunday morning, nearly 26 lakh passengers had booked in advance for the reservation period from June 1 to June 3. These 200 trains will be run in addition to the 30 special passenger trains that started operations on May 12, as well as the Shramik Special trains.

Meanwhile, a Railways spokesperson said that some States, such as Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, have expressed reservations about the running of trains or the number of stoppages as planned. “The matter is being discussed with the States,” the spokesperson added.

As per the new rules for rail travel, passengers will need to reach the station at least 90 minutes in advance and only those with confirmed/RAC (reservation against cancellation) tickets will be allowed to enter the railway station and board the train. Partially wait-listed ticket holders will be allowed (that is, if there are both confirmed as well as wait-listed passengers under a single PNR). All passengers will be compulsorily screened and only asymptomatic people will be allowed to board the train.

Passengers will need to carry their own linen as these items will not be provided on the trains. “All passengers must download and use the Aarogya Setu application,” the Railways said.

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will make provision for limited availability of eatables and packaged drinking water on payment basis only in limited trains.

Home Ministry gave 94 orders in 68 days

Home Ministry gave 94 orders in 68 days

Directions sent under Disaster Management Act; States can frame rules based on these guidelines

01/06/2020, VIJAITA SINGH,NEW DELHI

In the 68 days since the nationwide lockdown was imposed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, the Union Home Ministry on an average, issued 1.3 orders a day.

As on Sunday, as many as 94 orders, guidelines, addenda and letters have been issued by the Ministry to the States pertaining to the lockdown.

2005 Act

The orders were issued under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, invoked for the first time in the country since the legislation was drafted after the tsunami in 2004.

The Act also, for the first time, introduced a legal framework for disaster management in the country, with the Ministry being the nodal Ministry. Under the Act, the States and district authorities can frame their own rules on the basis of broad guidelines issued by the Ministry.

On Saturday, it issued another set of guidelines lifting most of the restrictions imposed since March 24 and restricted strict implementation of lockdown measures till June 30 to containment zones where multiple cases have been reported.

The lockdown first imposed on March 24 was extended four times. The fifth phase has been renamed Unlock 1.0 to open up economic activities even as more than 1.75 lakh cases and around 4,900 deaths were reported till Sunday.

Calls to control rooms

The Ministry had also started three control rooms to monitor the complaints received from States and to resolve the migrant crisis. As all modes of public transport were suspended, thousands of migrants have been walking back several hundred kilometres to reach home.

A senior Ministry official said the helplines in the control room had been getting around 600 calls daily in the initial days but gradually the number had come down. After over 50 days into the extended lockdown, the Railways started running Shramik Special trains for the migrant workers.

Meanwhile, the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) are yet to receive orders from the Ministry on what comprises swadeshi or indigenous products. On May 13, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had announced that CAPF canteens would sell only swadeshi goods from June 1.

A government official said the Commerce Ministry was yet to issue the guidelines defining swadeshi products, though the scheme is to be implemented from June 1. The canteens sell many daily-use products at a subsidised rate to around 10 lakh personnel, their families and those retired.

Stay more vigilant than ever against virus: PM

Stay more vigilant than ever against virus: PM

01/06/2020

“Apart from that, certain decisions taken by the Centre would also contribute to the development of our rural areas as economic centres and contribute to their self-reliance,” Mr. Modi said.

He commended the Railways, which has been under fire for the facilities provided to inter-State workers on Shramik Special trains taking them home. “Indian Railways has been working to get people home. They have worked round-the-clock for it,” he said. He singled out several philanthropic individuals, who on their own contributed to relief work during the lockdown.

“Those who serve are positive, vital and confident, and it was a pleasant discovery for me on how Indians across the country have pitched in to serve,” he said.

The Ayushman Bharat universal health insurance scheme clocked over 1 crore beneficiaries last week, a fact marked by Mr. Modi.

“For our poor, medical help is expensive and a choice has to be made between sinking further into poverty and not getting the required treatment. I am happy that over 1 crore beneficiaries, 80% of whom are from rural areas, and 50% of whom are women, got help under the scheme. Our honest tax payer also needs to be commended as it is through his/ her taxes that all these welfare programmes are funded,” the PM said. Mr. Modi reiterated that the phasing out of the lockdown cannot be seen as an end to COVID-19, but that social distancing and other measures should be followed.

Domestic flights to resume after June 8: CM

Domestic flights to resume after June 8: CM

01/06/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,PUDUCHERRY

Domestic flights from Bengaluru and Hyderabad will be resumed once the new set of lockdown relaxations take effect after June 8, Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy said.

Addressing a press conference, he said entry of people from other States by road would continue to be subject to some regulations and would be relaxed in a phased manner. While places of worship, hotels, shopping malls, the Promenade beach and the Bharathi Park would be opened after implementation of social distancing norms and wearing of masks, theatres, bars, gyms, swimming pools and auditoriums would remain shut. The government will hold consultations representatives of government and private schools to frame guidelines for reopening the institutions, the Chief Minister said.