August 1, 2014

On July 4 2014, Hindu college in Delhi University released its decision of doing away with its ECA and Sports quota seats reasoning corruption in the selection as the cause. In response, Vishal Maharaj,a student has filed a plea in the High Court against this decision. In reaction the plea, the High Court has now issued a notice to Hindu college under the bench of Justice Manmohan.

According to the University guidelines ,every college mustis required to reserve 5% of its total sanctioned seats in favor of students who excel in sports and other ECA activities.

The idea to scrap out sports and ECA quota seats has not been welcomed by students all over the college. College Society presidents have termed it a ‘hurried and a thoughtless’ decision by the authorities. Mayawi, President of the Western Dance group said, “Getting good artists is not just good for the society or the student,but it is beneficial for the college as well.”

While many believe that the decision to scrap ECA admissions is because of the alleged corruption that had emerged during the trials, the students strongly feel that removing admissions through ECA completely will not act as an antidote to the issue. “There are other ways to handle corrupt activities, that is, if there are any,” says Shashank, president of the photography society, Vivre.

Aspiring dancers, photographers, budding writers, actors, and young sportspersons have often relied on these quota seats to fulfill their dreams. To them their talent is not a frivolous topic of debate that can be started and stopped as and when someone feels like. The principal and the Vice principal of Hindu college were both unavailable for any comments.

Surbhi Sharma
[email protected]

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Interviews

An interview with Archit Kumar of Kochings.com

By Ishaan Gambhir August 1, 2014

In conversation with Archit Kumar of Kochings.com, a portal providing high quality curated information for informed academic decision making.

Q: Briefly explain what Kochings is all about.

Kochings.com, simply put, is a listing and reviewing portal for coaching institutes and home tutors. We’ve made this platform for students to be able to choose the correct institutes and tutors for their private coaching needs. At Kochings.com, we are trying to solve three basic problems –

1. Problem of choice with regard to the number of coaching institutes existing in the market.

2. No structured rating and reviewing platform for coaching institutes, and

3. Dependence of decision making on word-of-mouth and marketing efforts of institutes.

We therefore, are building a web-based student driven solution where coaching institutes and home tutors can showcase their offering and students can search, compare, apply and review the same.

Q: Have you had competition in this field?

No, we have the first-mover’s advantage.

Q: How would you say has your college life fueled this venture?

I’ve had a history of leadership experiences right from school to college. I was the President of SRCC’s Economics Society. For a short while, I even headed The Business Conclave, which is one of India’s biggest undergraduate management festivals. In my final year at college, I went for The Jagriti Yatra, a fifteen day train journey across the country. The motto of the Yatra is to build India through enterprise by turning job-seekers to job-creators. This was quite a boost for me.

Q: Given you do not hail from a tech background, what’s it like to handle a tech-educational start-up?

It is of course a challenge. But I guess that is what entrepreneurship is about –taking on your problems head-on and finding a solution to them. Currently we have outsourced this vertical but very soon we plan to bring it in-house.

Q:What is the most attractive feature of Kochings?

Kochings is a unique and one-of-its kind clutter-free platform. We are trying to provide information which is not easily available but plays an important role in the decision-making of a student i.e the average class size, the facilities, the faculty and the courses offered by the coaching institutes and home-tutors.

Q: What is your opinion on the prevalent compulsory-coaching culture of India?

Blame it on the population! The race towards good colleges has become so tight that a student can’t help but take coaching. I do not personally favor coaching. It’s taking the shape of societal pressure.

Check out the website of Kochings.com by clicking here.

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DUB Speak

Delhi University evening colleges and the stigmas attached

By Ishaan Sengupta August 1, 2014

I still remember the time when I was extremely skeptical about joining an evening college. I scored an 87% in my ISC exams and was aware of the fact that I could only get Economics Honors at one of the evening colleges. Admission into an evening college was as tedious as any other college and I was prepared to believe the words of our Vice Chancellor – ‘All colleges are equally prestigious, it does not matter which college you get admission into’.

The first day was supposed to be an ‘orientation day’, but unfortunately the only orientation we received was a 10 minute lecture from our H.O.D. Our Library, did not look or feel like a library. Not even teachers were allowed to sit in the library to brush up what they would teach. The only thing which I never expected was that our teachers were extremely punctual and helpful. They were the ones who motivated us and helped us go through a normal day at such a college.

I remember, how we were asked to get affidavits from court in exchange for ‘free laptops’ that the University had promised. How we were not given options of taking Maths or Psychology as DC 2 subjects, despite the fact that we had a Psychology Department as well as teachers who had the credentials to teach us Maths.

I remember how no one would sponsor our fests and how forming a society or organizing a blood donation camp would be such a hassle. There were even times when our morning counterparts would take their classes in our class room and we had to accommodate ourselves in the stairway to attend the first class of the day and especially that time when we had to return our laptops and library cards just to get our admit cards for our second semester exams.

Evening college students are no where less than the people studying in the morning colleges. It is all a matter of choices and luck. Even if people don’t believe that to be true, it is, for every cloud has a silver lining, and every person around, has got the spark of talent hidden in them irrespective of college, course, city or anything.

All is not wrong in our college though. My college gave me friends and teachers who are not replaceable. They understood me because they faced the same things I faced. We were happy to wake up at 11 in the morning and reach college at 2 PM.

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Humouroscope

Humouroscope: 1st- 7th Aug, 2014

By DU Beat August 1, 2014

Aries: From the annual system to the semester system and then came the FYUP which was inevitably scrapped. You begin to wonder if you should be worried that the board is playing Russian roulette with the University. No worries chump, by my count, the gun still has two chambers left unfired.

Taurus: When you are caught switching to the wrong lane or travelling in the wrong direction of a ‘one-way’, just quote Robert Frost “I took the road not taken.” I can’t promise it will bail you out but if you are going to get arrested, make it savvy and sophisticated. The ladies dig sophistication.

Gemini: Notoriously infamous for eating until they are stuffed to the ‘gills’, it comes as a little surprise that they are unable to keep their heads above the ‘water’. They are most happy to ‘swim’ with the ‘tide’ no matter how ‘fishy’ things may get. Still don’t get it, Gemini? No worries, puns and ‘sonar’ travel faster ‘underwater’, no wonder you haven’t ‘caught’ it.

Cancer: You may have noticed the severe lack of birthday presents this year. Your friends have assured you that they will at least remember to wish you the next year.Hopefully.

Leo: If you add a whole bunch of letters to your horoscope, it spells ‘Leo-nardo Di Caprio’. Yeah…that’s as close as you are going to get to an achievement this week.

Virgo: Virgo is unique. Take their constellation sign for example. It depicts a woman pouring water, from a pitcher, into the river. A river is, by definition, a large stream of flowing water. Yes you guessed correctly. The word ‘Unique’ was a euphemism.

Libra:. Your smile – contagious. Your voice – melodious. Your achievements – glorious. Your jokes – hilarious. Your defining trait – extremely gullible.

Scorpio: Don’t you just hate modern cliff hangers? I mean those plots in the shows where the hero is just about to learn the truth he has been chasing the entire episode and the plots trails off onto the next season? By the way you just won 10 million dollars. Just collect your cash reward from —(to be contd.)

Sagittarius: See that police man over there? I bet you can outrun that poor guy any day of the week. Just whack his head and run like the wind. It’s going to be so cool. Just remember to burn any trace of this paper before you try anything that I am totally not trying to talk you into.

Capricorn: Capricorns are highly childish and immature and sometimes I honestly wonder why they have not yet officially changed their sun sign to a ‘unicorn’ just because they rhyme.

Aquarius: I have found that Gemini hang on to Aquarius as if their life depended on it. I don’t have any substantial proof but it may be because the word ‘Aquarius’ comes dangerously close to the word ‘Aquarium’.

Pisces: You are bored. I am bored. So just move on to the next piece and make us both happy. Comprendé?

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Kirorimal College

Protests against denial of ECA admission in KMC

By Sidhant R. Seth August 1, 2014

One of the most politically centered institution in Delhi University, Kirori Mal College was witness to a turbulent atmosphere yesterday as students protested outside Principal S P Gupta’s office.

The agenda for the demurral was the denial of admission to the ECA and Sports Quota students, even after the lists for the selected candidates was signed and approved by the authorities of the college.

Achal, who was seeking admission in English (Hons) said, “I was hoping I would seek admission as my name appeared in the first merit list of Photography.” According to the University guideline 5% reservation in admissions is granted to admission through Extra-Curricular and Sports. However, this year Mr. Gupta has denied ECA and sports students their admissions, the reason for which has not been clarified.

According to the admission seekers, the college authorities on 30th July 2014 assured their admissions for 31st July. However, Mr.Gupta was absent from the college on 31st and no student was admitted. The parents as well as the students pleaded with the authorities but theirs appeals were all in vain.

The tussle between the authorities and the students incensed with the presence of members from various political parties who slammed doors and raised slogans, demanding the authorities to speak up.

Earlier, Hindu College had also cancelled its admission through ECA. The college has been recently served a High Court notice. Another protest is expected on 1st August 2014. Although the University admissions have been closed yesterday, the fate of these students remain in doubt.

Photo Credits: Sidhant R Seth and Jagriti – Student Forum KMC

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