Talking point of the nation, should the JEE and NEET exams be held?

The issue of postponement of JEE- Main (Joint Entrance Exam) and NEET-UG (National Eligibility and Entrance Test- Under Graduate) exams merit a serious discussion, and it has also become a political hot topic.

The Ministry of Education has decided not to postpone the JEE-Main and NEET-UG. Recently, the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts these exams, said: The examination is going to be held with due precaution and it is not going to be postponed. The NTA, also said that all most all aspirants of JEE-Main and NEET-UG will be offered their preferred choice of exam centers.

Eligibility criteria has been tremendously relaxed, too. 

The exams have already been postponed twice due to the corona virus pandemic-

JEE- Main (computer based test): Originally was scheduled from April: 7-11, but postponed to July18-23 and now to September: 1-6

NEET-UG (paper and pen based test): Originally was scheduled for May: 3, but postponed to July: 26 and now to September: 13

Chief Ministers of West Bengal, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Puducherry are in favor of postponement of the exams. Along with 7 chief ministers, DMK chief MK Stalin urged the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Odisha to join the other states and approach the Supreme Court to seek deferment of this year’s National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test and the Joint Entrance Examination. 

These states want to postpone the exams as they feel- 

• The corona virus is on the rise in our country, 
• The institutions who are organizing the exams might not able to handle if there is any outbreak, 
• The unprecedented floods in some parts of the country will make it difficult for the students to take the exams and many other things

In Numbers:

• JEE- Main: 9.53 lakh candidates have registered 
• NEET- UG: 15.97 lakh students have registered 
• JEE- Main centers have been raised from 570 to 660
• NEET- UG centers have been increased from 2546 to 3843

My View:

The postponement of exams comes will suffer the loss of a valuable academic year. Does anyone have an idea on how the situation is going to be after three months or five months? Even if the exam is held in September, the colleges won’t be able to start classes before the middle of November. This itself means almost a loss of a semester. Further delay will do nothing other than loss of a year and then next year you will have two first years’ batches and our institutions don’t have the required infrastructure to handle such a situation

The pandemic seems to be here to stay until we find an effective vaccine. Hence, it is important that we keep moving towards our significant individual goals, one step at a time.

Also, medical admissions are time-bound and therefore, it makes no sense to further delay NEET-UG, which will eventually delay the overall admission process as well. 

Keeping in mind the effort put in by students who have prepared, it is critical that the exams are conducted as scheduled. Delay in holding the exams will lead to serious repercussions for the students as well to IIT’s and most of the year 2020 will be washed out”.

Lastly the mental health, anxiety, stress levels have increased in almost every student and parent who are appearing for these exams

However, strict adherence to preventive norms, have to be applied and followed. 

Students and Parents should not entirely leave the situation on the government. It is each and every individual’s responsibility to take care of themselves. A government can maximum do 25% of the job by setting up exam centers, sanitizing etc., and after that it is the responsibility of the candidate who is attending the exam. 

Lastly so important points for the major stakeholders who are involed in the exams-

Students:

• Students should first be aware of how the virus spreads, once they know this they should take their own precautions
• Students should wear a face mask, if necessary a face shield as well, sanitize their hands, maintain social distancing(a minimum of 6feet) and lastly take nutritious food so that they don’t fall sick easily
• Students should be cautious of what is happening around them and they should act accordingly
• As everyone is in the age group of 17-25 and everyone is well aware of the situations in the world from the past 6-8 months each student should be disciplined and follow the protocols set by the authorities so that everything goes in a good way
• Lastly the focus for a student at the moment should be on the exam they are giving rather than the outside noise. It is tough but they should do it!

Parents:

• Parents role is very critical here as they should motivate their children
• Parents should constantly monitor their kids and help them understand the real ground situations
• Create a happy and positive environment in the home
• Parents should distance themselves and their kids from the media. This will help the kids in developing a most positive attitude to the exam

Government:

• Government should create a positive environment for the students
• Authorities should follow strict rules and regulations while conducting the exams
• There should be no room for error on any of the exam days
• Strict adherence and preventive covid-19 norms, have to be applied and followed

For more information,

People can get in touch with me in LinkedIN, Facebook, Instagram

PK,

PK Enterprises.

www.pk-enterprises.com

Is investing in real estate the best bet?

Real estate is the land and any permanent improvements attached to the land, whether natural or man-made it includes water, trees, minerals, buildings, homes, fences and bridges. Real estate is the real property.

Out of all forms of investments-

• Equities
• Commodities
• Mutual Funds
• Gold
• Real Estate

As the world population is increasing day by day and the land available on earth is constant, this form of investment seems to be the best bet in the years to come.

Successful real estate investing starts while buying and not selling. Buying at low prices and Selling at high prices

Real Estate Sector Across India:

Since 2011, while Mumbai and NCR (Delhi) took the top positions in office space investments with over $5 billion and $2.8 billion respectively, Hyderabad took the 3^rd position accounting for 15 per cent of the overall investments in the country, attracting 12 deals, worth $2 billion.

On the retail investments front, while Mumbai, Pune and Chandigarh topped the national charts with $951 million, $434 million and $267 million, respectively, in the last one decade, Hyderabad stood 4^th in the country attracting $197 million.

The land prices have always been on the rise in Hyderabad-

Covid-19 Scenario:

As most of the world goes into lockdown, we can see the impact of the pandemic in the following ways on real estate in decreasing order of impact:

• Hotels: 

The most affected asset class within real estate will be Hotels for all the well-known reasons one can think of. Hotel stocks around the globe have seen significant fall in stock prices in the fear of falling occupancies and room rates.

• Retail Malls: 

Next in line are retail malls. Malls have been the first to be shut down as governments wanted to limit large gatherings. Retailers will be hit hard and kept negotiating rents during those months with landlords. After returning to the normalcy, it takes months of lower rent payments to get them back on their feet.

• Warehouses: 

Industrial activity has reduced significantly in the last 5-6 months. This has led to very low demand for logistics assets like warehouses. E-commerce companies are the only ones holding demand in the segment but that too is bound to slow down.

• Office: 

The last asset class to be affected is Office Space. There are two types of tenants here – front office tenants and back offices tenants. 

Front office tenants, though not affected immediately will see an impact in the medium term as hiring freezes kick-in and a general recessionary mindset sets-in. 

Back-office tenants have proven to be quite recession proof as was the case in the 2008 crisis where office take-up and rents in cities like Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad actually went up as multinationals outsourced more functions. 

• Residential: 

The sales of all the residential units have also drastically come down by more than 80% in all the prime locations in the country. People are spending tightly and are going in a wait and watch approach.

The real estate sentiment remains one of cautious optimism. Even as the current trends look weak in view of Covid-19, much of Hyderabad real estate market’s key stakeholders are hoping for normalcy to return, which will boost growth across all asset classes.

Though the short-term market sentiment indicates that the investors would prefer to wait till the pandemic comes under control and also look to gauge the impact of forecasted recession on office space demand in 2020 before investing, the strong fundamentals of Hyderabad could help in faster recovery.

My Take:

Hyderabad is on the advantage front as it is the capital of a relatively young state and is home for many MNC companies. In the last few years it multiplying its IT/ITES base faster than before. As a result some of the global majors like Amazon, IKEA, Flipkart have come into the warehousing real estate sector by opening their warehouses/fulfillment centers in and around Hyderabad

Coming to the residential sector as the prices on the land have somewhat come down from its peak it is better to invest before it again increases. As in the earlier info graphic we’ve seen that the land prices have always been on the rise until the pandemic has struck us!

All and all it is important for people to be cautious and at the same time optimistic towards the realty sector!

For more information,

www.pk-enterprises.com

People can get in touch with me in LinkedIN, Facebook, Instagram

PK,

PK Enterprises.

If a person succeeds he/she will be happy and if he/she fails they will learn a lesson and move on!

The origin of the word Nepotism comes from Catholic bishops who would pass on wealth, property, and priesthood to their “nephews”. The nephews were usually their illegitimate offspring, and it served as a way for church clergy to both own property and to retain power in their families.

Politics, businesses, mainstream cinema and other occupations where talent is subordinate to lineage are dominated by family cartels, who plant their own over the rest. Everywhere in the world there is a 100 percent reservation for its own genetic material. 

Recently there was this huge debate in India that there is nepotism in the main steam Indian cinema. There was extensive media coverage, outrage on social media and what not, people couldn’t take it and outpoured their opinions and emotions. People were so emotionally disturbed that many were not getting the opportunities when compared with the kith and kin of the biggies in the Bollywood industry

Take it Politics, Business families or anything, nepotism like royalty, is sexually transmitted.

But the point to be understood is that there is nepotism in every walk of life. For example, the head of the family first takes care of his wife, children, parents, siblings, relatives and then if he has still something left in him then he takes care of people outside his family. Be it financially or anything he first looks after his family and then only he comes outside.

People have stopped thinking rationally and they target people who don’t have any power and make themselves happy. People should question themselves before jumping on to someone and passing unacceptable statements. 

My take on Nepotism:

Nepotism starts basically from our home. We simply don’t abandon our kids and go to an orphanage and adopt a kid. We first fulfill our kid’s requirements from education-entertainment-marriage-whatnot and then if there is something else left then we think of somebody else.

Therefore if we are showing favoritism to our family then there is no harm in businesses, politics, main stream cinema showing favoritism to their kith and kin.

Rational Thinking:

Opportunities don’t simply come to us, we should create opportunities. It is upon the individual on how he/she grows their network and relationships with people and then connects them with their personal growth.

Sports: M.S.Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Christiano Ronaldo, Rafael Nadal, P.V. Sindhu etc.,

Cinema: Ram Gopal Varma, Vijay Deverakonda, Samantha, Nani, Shahrukh Khan etc.,

Politics: K.Chandrashekar Rao, ChandraBabu Naidu, Y.S.RajaSekhar Reddy, Narendra Modi, etc.,

Businesses: SunPharma, Divis Laboratories, Flipkart, Paytm, Ola, Oyo etc.,

All the above people, businesses thrived in their respective fields when the so called other people were bragging about nepotism because of lack of opportunities and other stuff.

Therefore it is upon the individual on how, he/she makes the best use of their circumstances and takes the decisions at the right time. 

If a person succeeds he/she will be happy and if he/she fails they will learn a lesson and move on!

Therefore it is very important to take a stand and lead your life on your own terms and do not blame anyone!

For more information,

People can get in touch with me in LinkedIN, Facebook, Instagram

PK,

PK Enterprises.

There is no point in destroying already bought China goods instead a wise one will not buy new ones.

Anti-China sentiment has been on the rise in India since past few months amidst the border tensions.

20 Indian soldiers were killed in fighting at a disputed border site in the Himalayan Galwan Valley.

Normal people, Celebrities, Activists across the country have thrown Chinese TV sets, mobile phones down their balconies. While traders in the capital, Delhi, protested by burning Chinese goods.

The Indian Railways have reportedly cancelled a signaling project that was given to a Chinese company in 2016. The government has also asked e-commerce companies to display the country of origin for the products they sell.

But, easier said than done there is a lot more back stage than what is appearing to our eyes.

Do we really have an alternative? 

China is India’s second-largest trading partner after the US. It accounts for nearly 12% of India’s imports across sectors such as chemicals, automotive components, consumer electronics and pharmaceuticals.

Pharmaceuticals:

At least 70% of India’s drug intermediary needs are fulfilled by China. Although India has announced a new policy to become more self-reliant in drugs, it will definitely take time for our country to become self-reliant. 

Our PM has started a new project- AatmaNirbhar Bharat, which is highly required at this time. But one has to keep in mind that anything requires time and it cannot happen over night

Smartphones:

India’s booming smartphone sector is also heavily dependent on cheap Chinese phones made by Oppo, Xaomi and others with the lion’s share of the local market which is close to 50%

Consumer Electronics

Most consumer electronics makers will be paralyzed if they can’t import crucial intermediate goods from China.

Most players across the globe import key components such as compressors from China, Many industry experts say that it will take a long time to set up local supply chains, and that there are few alternatives for certain kinds of imports.

Chinese Investments fund Indian Unicorns:

India and China have also become increasingly integrated in recent years. Money from China, for instance, has penetrated the India's technology sector. With companies like Alibaba and Tencent strategically pumping in billions of dollars into Indian startups such as Zomato, Paytm, Big Basket and Ola. 

There have been more than 90 Chinese investments in Indian startups, most of them made over the last five years. 18 out of 30 Indian unicorns [tech startups valued at over $1bn] have a Chinese investor

At $6.2bn, direct Chinese investment in India appears relatively small. Restricting the likes of Alibaba from creating monopolies in the Indian market will be the need of the hour.

India has already amended its FDI (foreign direct investment) rules to stave off hostile takeovers of Indian companies.

Ban of 106 Chinese Mobile Applications:

India in total has banned 106 apps which have links with China. The most popular banned apps are TikTok, Helo, Shareit, UC Browser, CamScanner, Baidu Map, Bigo Live Vigo Video, Likee, Mi Video Call - Xiaomi, Clash of Kings as well as e-commerce platforms Club Factory and Shein and others. 

Some reports also said 275 other Chinese apps could also be on the chopping block over similar concerns, including the hugely popular "PUBG Mobile" game owned by tech giant Tencent.

Is self-reliance the answer?

• According to a report India’s domestic manufacturing sector can substitute as much as 25% of total imports from China. This would lead to a reduced import bill of over $8bn in a single year.
• Handicrafts, for instance, is a category where India imported $431m worth of goods from China in the 2020 financial year without any significant reciprocal exports.
• But from India’s standpoint, none of this is likely to play out without grave consequences to the economy, especially during a severe downturn. China, on the other hand, is less concerned since India accounts for only 3% of its exports.

My View:

After deeply studying the Indian economic ties with China and on the global front, we have to now be self-reliant. Today it is China and tomorrow it might be the U.S, Japan or some other European countries. We need to have the following in place for the P.Ms Aatma Nirbhar Bharat to shine-

• MSME sector should be relooked and we should start manufacturing products from minute ones to big giant machinery. China is the export hub because its products are cost effective. The Chinese products are cost effective because it has the manufacturing infrastructure which nobody in the world has. India should also strive for that excellence in manufacturing. 
• Incentives for startups, businesses 
• Subsidies for land-power-water-taxes all these aspects should be relooked  so that entrepreneurship will come to the forefront
• Easy clearances for the basic requirements setting up of an industry
• Policies should be rolled out in such a way that we are first self-reliant in what we want and then go export/import
• We should make use of the 1.38 billion people of India which itself is a huge demand
• Before buying a product, people should make a habit of checking who the manufacturer of the product is and then buy it. It is just like checking from which restaurant we are ordering the FOOD!
• Celebrities, Public figures should stop breaking Chinese products and educate common people on why we should buy Indian products here after(though the price is on the higher side) rather than being emotional and creating ruckus in the Media
• People should here after stop taking emotional decisions and start taking logical decisions. Once they decide on something they should stick to it. In case the government rolls back some of the policies also they should be true to what they decide
• This may take decades of time, but somewhere the thought process and ground work should start so that at least the coming generations will eat the fruits

We should be first self-reliant and then export/import

For more information,

People can get in touch with me in LinkedIN, Facebook, Instagram

PK,

PK Enterprises.