Archive

December 2013

Browsing

2013 has been a turbulent year for Delhi University. While the Vice Chancellor brought about a significant change in the University with the plan of taking a step towards providing holistic education for the students, protests over its implementation followed. Other important changes included merging and scrapping of certain courses and entrance exams and removal of the Revaluation System.

With 2014 a few hours away, we take a look back at some of the biggest events that took place in our University this year.

Introduction of Four Year Undergraduate Program

du-4yup

Hands down the biggest news of the year, Vice Chancellor Dinesh Singh proposed and implemented the FYUP in DU. Along with the introduction of an additional year for all courses across the University, most entrance exams including the CATE and CJET were scrapped off, certain courses like the Programme courses were done away with and some were merged like the Journalism and Mass Communication courses and the three Undergraduate Management courses. The syllabi were redrawn to include Foundation Courses that were to be common across all colleges and courses and exit points for students were also added. All these changes were implemented despite protests from students, parents and teachers.

Second chance for students who failed a year

After a series of drastic changes that raised eyebrows from teachers and students alike, the University finally issued some positive news in July. According to the Notice, students who had failed a year would not have to repeat the entire year and could simply retake the exams of previous subjects along with the new ones instead.

DUSU and DUTA Elections 2013

dusuelec

The DUSU elections took place in September this year and the newly elected Union comprised 3 ABVP members and one representative from NSUI. Aman Awana was elected as the President. The week before the elections saw aggressive campaigning from all parties with flyers strewn across every inch of North Campus.

In Picture: DUTA President Nandita Narain | Image Credit: Abhinav Arora for DU Beat

The DUTA elections, which were held in August saw a large turnout this year. Dr. Nandita Narain from DTF was elected as the body’s President.

BR Ambedkar College’s Principal suspended over sexual assault allegations

gkarora

Bhim Rao Ambedkar College’s Principal, G K Arora was suspended in October after allegations of sexual abuse were made against him. The alleged victim, Pavitra Bhardwaj was a Laboratory Assistant in the college and had filed a case against him four years ago. The suspension was made after a recommendation by the college’s governing body after Bhardwaj immolated herself outside the Chief Minister’s Office.

Removal of Revaluation System

Another notification issued by the University in October declared that revaluation of examination sheets would be discontinued post the Semester Exams held in November-December 2013. The University explained that since the papers would now be jointly examined by multiple professors, there would be no need for revaluation. Though both the DUTA and DUSU cabinet were vocal about their opposition of this move, as is usually the case, their views were ignored by the VC.

National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) organised an event at Jantar Mantar on Monday, 30th December 2013 to celebrate the passing of the Lokpal Bill. There were a slew of artistes lined up for today’s event that included DJ Sumit Sethi and Traffic Jam, a band from the North-east. It was attended by students and supporters of NSUI across the country from various universities. Students were told as to how the Lokpal Bill will usher in a new era by eradicating corruption and reinstating the administration and the governance. Students also participated in a mass signature campaign and pledged to carry on the initiative until all the pending anti-corruption bills are passed.

Rohit Chaudhary, President, NSUI said, “Today is just the beginning, thousands of students are gathered here to raise their voice that corruption is not tolerable at any cost. We demand immediate passage of The Whistle Blowers Protection Bill, The Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill,  The Right of Citizens for Time Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill, Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, The Public Procurement Bill, The Prevention of Bribery of Foreign Public Officials and Officials of Public International Organizations Bill. We will launch the ‘Student Stand Against Corruption’ movement in all the states and carry on this fight until the pending Bills are passed. On 15th January 2014, we shall gather here again and observe a hunger strike.”

If you think that the best part about New Year’s Eve is partying and you are cursing your stars because you have to stay at home this year for some reason or the other, then you gotta check out this list of things which can probably help you in making this New Year’s Eve exciting. Here you go:

1. Meet the old you

If you maintain a diary or a scrapbook, go through it. Realise how stupid you had been when you started writing your diary and note the process of change. Relive the moments which are gone, point out the mistakes that you had committed and speculate about the ways in which you can become a better person. There is no better time to do this but the beginning of a new year. You can also go through your Facebook timeline to see what status updates, links and videos you shared this year!

diary gif

2. Watch special programmes on television

Various channels offer a variety of shows to be watched on New Year’s Eve. Abstaining themselves from the regular melodramas, actors come across the audience in an entirely different form in order to entertain and amuse them. If you are a die hard fan of some television actor, look out for him!

tv gif

3. Talk to your oldest buddies

Apart from just sending out a text wishing your friends a happy new year, take the initiative to actually talk to them. Pick out the people who were once a significant part of your life but you’ve been out of tough with and talk to them asking about their lives and how the year went. Trust me, you will end up reminiscing about the stupid acts you had done together.

become-best-friends

4. Spend time with family

It has not been preordained that you have to spend the time with only your friends. Spend the eve with your parents, have a nice chat with them and reassert the importance of family. You can also cook something for them to make the night special!

someone-crying-2

5. Plug in your earphones

Create a new world for yourself. Get high without alcohol. Plug in your dearest earphones and forget the world.

tumblr_mtcuw5JHRz1qgwqw9o1_500

New Year Eve comes only once in 365 days (well, mostly). Do not forget to make it a memorable occasion!

Image courtesy: tumblr.com, www.ackbbq.com

 

In the last week of November the multi talented Raghu Dixit along with his band the Raghu Dixit Project launched their album Jag Changa. This is their second album following the 2008 release. On this album you can clearly see the singer- songwriter go back to his roots, and if you haven’t caught him live yet, you’re missing out on some soulful music.

We’ve picked out 3 tracks from the album to highlight how this Project is at the top of its game and everything IS changa.

Track 01. Parasiva: The album opens with the song Parasiva (Kannada) that has a rather prominent Indian percussive sound but this soon mellows out when Raghu Dixit chimes in with the vocals and a playful chorus. Things that make this track stand out are the droning violin sound, the rather plastic-y effect on the guitars during the chorus (if you tune in carefully this is easily identifiable) and some brilliant bass work to tie the track up. Enjoy this track while dwelling on its meaning, which acknowledges the many strangers who come to our aid in life when we have our backs against the wall- what else can you call it but an act of God as Raghu Dixit says.

Track 03. Jag Changa: As Raghu Dixit explains while performing live, the album was to an extent inspired by the many Delhi gigs the band performed. He says that they took away the word ‘changa’ and its meaning that everything is fine, beautiful, add to that the word ‘Jag’ and you know it, the world is beautiful. Certainly a world with Raghu Dixit’s music is nothing short of a surreal one. The title track of this album opens with Raghu Dixit strumming a sharp progression and humming to it. Before you know it, a percussive click and a slide of the bass ushers in the banjo and Raghu Dixit harmonizing, before the verse. The lyrics sometimes playful, sometimes satirical however always acknowledging that at the end of it all, the world is beautiful. Navin Iyer chips in on this record with a marvelous flute solo that livens up the track. The satire comes through in probably the most striking lines of this song- ‘Insaan ban gaya hai do pal ka ishtehaar. Sansad se zyaada bhar gaya hai ye Tihar.’- followed by a short violin solo. This song will certainly stay in your head for a long time and has the most repeat value.

Track 04. Yaadon Ki Kyari: This song is literally a garden of the singer’s childhood memories with lyrics as pristine as the waters of the Godavari. It is easily notable that Raghu Dixit pours his heart out while singing this song which ties together snippets of his childhood memories such as the scooter rides with his father, his love for the Rasam Shaadam (Rasam Rice) his father would make and so on. The most striking imagery however is that when he reminisces the long walks along the bank of the Godavari with his mother and how they together lit up several earthen lamps and floated them across the river- all those lamps that ornamented the river are described as the most beautiful sight in the world by Raghu Dixit. So take a peek into the singer’s childhood and maybe re live some moments from your own.

Another track that deserves special mention is Lokada Kalaji. Raghu Dixit can make you sing along and this track is testimony to it. A shame if you miss this track while the band is onstage, since through this song Raghu Dixit is happy to give you a lesson in Kannada and an opportunity to be one with the band.

In its entirety the much awaited album is nothing short of a work of art. To add to that, the album features a rather uncanny but welcome redesign to the conventional CD case format and comes in 3 different colours, so you may choose as you please- but what’s on the inside only gets better with every listen.

Eight days after announcing the results for first year students, Delhi University started rolling out the results of second year students on the 29th of December. The University has declared the third semester results of 24 courses including History, Political Science, Biochemistry, Zoology and Journalism. The results of many popular courses including English, Economics and Commerce, still remain awaited.

Just like the results for first year students, the University has hosted the results on two servers. Only this time they seem to be working just fine.

Update on 1st January: #DelhiUniversity has declared the examination results for 2nd year students of 17 courses today. These courses include Economics, English, Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics and B. Com (Pass). The result of courses such as B. Com (Hons) and Bachelor’s of Business Studies haven’t been declared yet.

(Link to check results)

The University of Delhi is up for bringing out the latent talents of the students through three e-journals, which are, the journal of creative writing, the journal of the Humanities and the Social Sciences and the journal of the Natural Sciences.

While, the journal of creative writing has come forth with its first edition on 13th November, the other two are yet to be launched. DU-Vidha, the title given to the journal of creative writing, signifies literary genres as practised in the university and creative dilemma and deliberation , as experienced by writers in negotiating what to say and just how to say it. Being published twice a year, the online journal welcomes the contributions in both Hindi and English. Poems, short stories, imaginative prose of all kinds, paintings, sketches and photographs for publication are invited from the students, both undergraduate and postgraduate.

The journal of the Humanities and the Social Sciences, proposes to showcase the research being conducted in India and by the young scholars of DU, in particular. The submissions may relate to any area of the Humanities and Social Sciences, between 6,000 and 8,000 words in length and must conform to the ‘Harvard’ system of referencing. The online journal will be published once in a year.

The journal of the Natural Sciences( Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, Geology and Earth Sciences) invites contributions for publication in the inaugural issue of the journal. Again, the submissions may be between 6,000 and 8,000 words and must conform to the ‘Harvard’ system of referencing.

The journals will foreground significant work by students and teachers at DU, will have eminent advisors and peer reviewers, will be free of charge with open access.

The journal of creative writing invites the contributions by post as well as by email while the other two, as soft copies, initially. The soft copies are to be sent as Word attachments.

The journals of creative writing and Humanities and Social Sciences are to be edited by Prof. Harish Trivedi, Advisor, Academic Publications, University of Delhi while that of Natural Sciences is to be edited by Prof. Avinash Khare FNA, department of Physics and Astrophysics, University of Delhi.

A great number of entries for all the three journals have been received via mail till now. Prof. Harish Trivedi says that “I hope that the initiative gets better as the days pass” and is positive about the response from students. Praising the talent of the students, he says, “We come across some outstanding pieces while going through the entries”.

Know more about the three journals here.

When a sea of civilians gathers at Ramlila Maidan, it is the swearing-in ceremony of an ‘Aam Aadmi’.

There is one thing that Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has said over and over again – Pichle do saal se iss desh mein kuch toh adbhut ho raha hai. (Meaning – Since the past two years, there is something extraordinary happening in this nation). And perhaps, if there one word to describe the spirit of such a crowd, it is indeed extraordinary. Right from the metro station, one is immersed in supportive slogans for the new Chief Minister. As you flow in to swarm of people, there is security intact for the leader that refuses to have guards all around him. The people gathered are constantly engrossed in shouts of “Arvind Kejriwal Zindabad!” and “Dilli hui humari hai, ab India ki baari hai”. With every word in the speech that aims to fight corruption, there is a cheering from the crowd. Finally, the everyday Delhite is content. Despite being a huge crowd, it is a disciplined group of people – the right term being self-disciplined here. Working towards the idea of self-responsibility, the people are focussed to help out with tasks of managing people as well as arranging chairs. Overall, there is a spirit of volunteerism. As sounds of “Bharat Mata ki Jai” fill your ears and the national flag is seen flying high, there is also a spirit of nationalism.

While everyone celebrates Arvind Kejriwal and his victory against established brands of Indian politics, for me it is the celebration that was special. For me, it was all about seeing the satisfaction and the enthusiasm in eyes of the common man/woman.

See entire photo gallery here.

Start up- the word sounds so awe-inspiring and cool. Starting up just when one gets out of college is increasingly getting popular as a prospect career. Acquiring college the practicality of business world drives people to attain pinnacle of success early in life.

To support this growing culture, we have the inspiring stories of Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg that have elevated the charm for entrepreneurship. We all are very well familiar with their success stories and these stories has somehow or the other given wings to our entrepreneurial dreams.

No doubt starting up is both speculative and risky but the zeal, the maverick exuberance to reach the corporate zenith makes us strive and overcome all odds.

However, a number of misconceptions float around the idea of starting up your own company that misconstrue the meaning of starting up.Some misbeliefs pertaining to start-ups are as follows:

1)     I am the BOSS

Some of you might believe that to start your own company you are the boss not accountable to anyone. The truth is you will have to answer not only to yourself but to your parents, investors, and partners. You might not have a boss, but you have to childmind everything and everyone.Always remember you might have started the company but you need a co-operated workforce and a cordial environment to work and get good results.You can’t manage things on your own.

images (32)

2)     You can’t share your ideas with others

It is a common belief that one should not share their ideas with others till you are launched as they might be stolen or competition may crush you. On the contrary it is good to talk about your ideas to certain trusted people as many a times people are under the impression that theirs will be the only company in the market to provide the particular service, whereas in most of the cases there are already some companies or start ups following the same project. Thus sharing information helps in knowing more about market conditions.

paranoia

3)     You just need to build a great product

It is misconstrued generally by engineering pupils that you just got to prepare a good product and everything will fall into its place. Other things will simultaneously build up to run an entrepreneurial venture. If you don’t have the idea about the target market, the funds, and workforce then how can you imagine going forth? In such a competitive sphere marketing strategies become absolutely essential.

4)     All work no play

The most widely found misapprehension about start ups is that it requires a person to sacrifice himself totally to his business. While utmost dedication to your job is necessary, this work is like any other work and has it’s fair share of fun

5)     Prosper your venture and then sell off

Many people believe that once the company gains success you should sell it off at a good price and live rest of the life in peace. Companies are not sold, they are bought. If you’re auctioning off your company at any given chance, you might repent later in life.

6)      There is a right time to start business

Often people refrain from starting a business believing that it is not the right time to start. There is no right time to start a business, trade cycles go on and on. The best time to start is when you are passionate about pursuing what you aspire to achieve. As it has been correctly said by Seth Godin, founder Squidoo “waiting for perfect is never as smart as making progress”

images (33)

Don’t get caught in these and countless other delusions that entrepreneurs face. They will  ultimately hold you back. Having an open mind can be a great source of power.

Image credits- www.technologywoman.com, tumblr.com

It is a common practice for Universities across the world to have a song dedicated for them. Delhi University is all set to enter this foray with a song for the University written and composed by a University student, alumnus or a teacher.

As a prelude to Antardhvani 2014, the DU cultural festival, the University has launched an open competition. Under the same, it invites members of the DU community to compose theDelhi U Song and win an opportunity to present the University a song that is “youthful and full of promise”.

“Since 1920’s, the University has never had a common song for any kind of function. This song will bring uniformity in the system.” says Dr. Satish Kumar, UIC in-charge and Member Secretary of Antadhvani. He urges the students to come forward and participate in this competition and produce a song that becomes as popular as ‘Sare jahan se accha‘.

The entries will be judged by a competent jury, which Dr. Satish suggests will definitely consist of experts from the extracurricular and arts department. Whether they would be from the University itself or an external would be decided later.

The proposed song should be of approximately one minute and the lyrics should be in Hindustani. The last date for submission is 20th January 2014 and the results will be declared a week before Antardhvani which is scheduled to be held on 14th- 16th February, 2014. The entire rules and regulations for the competition can be found here.

Love food? Here is how it works- fine dining kept aside, nothing can beat the magic in the street! Words such as Gol Gappas, Pao Bhaji, Kababs and Dahi Vada are enough to get you salivating, right? Be it the snack department or desserts to satisfy the Indian palette, a recent event in Delhi offered it all. The street food festival at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Complex was a three-day extravaganza from 20th-22nd December, 2013. With around 120 stalls from over 20 states, it was surely a paradise for most street food lovers.