January 25, 2015

The concept of MOOCs(Massive Open Online Courses) involves short-term courses, which allow unlimited participation. The concept that has now become ubiquitous was embraced by Delhi University earlier in the week. A notification was issued to the effect that an open online non-credit course, entitled “India in the 21stCentury” has been designed for mass audiences to be delivered through the internet.

This course will be launched with an inaugural session at the Convocation Hall on January 30, 2015 by Prof. Dinesh Singh, Vice Chancellor, University of Delhi. The course which is to be delivered weekly, carries no fees and is open to audiences worldwide. The mode of teaching would be in form of a lecture delivered by Dinesh Singh. Students who successfully complete the course will be issued a certificate.

Delhi University’s press release states, “The course is designed to portray some of the great milestones in the modern history of India with perspectives from the past and indications into the future. The course comprises of ten lectures to be delivered by Professor Dinesh Singh, the DU Vice Chancellor.”

In the initial phase, the interactive facility will be available at four colleges including Aryhabhatta College, Maharaja Agrasen College, IP College for Women and Keshav Mahavidyalya.

Dr. Babli Moitra Saraf, Principal of Indraprastha College for Women addressed the students in a General Body meeting and said, “It is a matter of pride and honor for us at IP College, and a great opportunity for our students that we have been selected in the first phase to be a part of the interactive process.”

The course will be spread over 10 weeks beginning January 30^th 2015.

Feature Image Credits: Official Notification at www.du.ac.in

Kritika Narula [email protected]

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Small Screen

5 reasons to watch Downton Abbey

By Isheeta Sharma January 25, 2015

Downton Abbey, a drama series set in the 20th century revolving around the life of the Crawley family and their servants, is soon to hit Indian televisions on 23rd January 2015 on Star World. If you have been one of the many intrigued by the advertisements, here are 5 reasons from one follower to another to-be-follower on why you should watch Downton Abbey.

Historical significance

No, history doesn’t always need to be boring and that is proved by Downton Abbey. Here is a show where almost every episode has a historical backdrop. Marxism, spread of electricity and technology, women’s rights – you name it and the show has it. The first episode begins in the backdrop of the sinking of Titanic– need I say more?

The real set

When you watch the show you might find yourself in awe of Downton Abbey – The Crawley house. Here is an interesting fact to increase that moment of awe: all the shots in and around the house have been shot at an actual house, and not a set. The real house is Highclere Castle, estate of Earl of Carnarvon.

The discipline

Discipline is the most sought after and the least found quality in a student’s life. The discipline of all the characters on Downton Abbey and the way they have been built with every character having a story of their own will keep you wanting more. The orderliness of the characters might just inspire some order in yours.

British accent

Who doesn’t love a good Brit accent? The pronunciation and sophistication will have you swooning. I bet you will love the way they say simple words like “Papa” and “Mama”.

The ladies

The 20th Century might be a male dominated century but in Downton Abbey the ladies win the show. They have power, vision, compassion, hatred, practicality and emotions mixed all together. Cora, Lady Mary, Edith and Sybil, Isobel Crawley, Anna and other maid servants won’t disappoint you and the cherry on top in two words – Maggie Smith.

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DUB Speak

Here’s why standardising Journalism syllabus might not be the best idea

By Alankrita Anand January 25, 2015

One does not need to be a journalism student to know that the media is referred to as the fourth estate, and that its purpose is to serve the greater good while remaining free from state control. As students of journalism, we are taught through theories and instances, that surveillance and control are dangerous and that one must always be wary of them.

So, when the Modi government recently decided to ‘standardise’ the journalism syllabus across all media schools with the purpose of teaching prospective journalists to ‘serve the nation’, we were left more than a little anxious. The Centre also plans to set up a new Communications University.

Media schools teach their students reporting and editing for the technicalities of the job, they teach media and culture to foster an understanding of the media as part of a larger cultural public sphere and they also teach ethics. The syllabus for these papers is set by the respective universities to whom the schools or faculties belong. The syllabus is currently set by professors drawn from industry and academia. While one cannot say with surety that the syllabi for different courses are set independently (the banning of A Hundred Ramayanas in Delhi University proves otherwise), we do know that there is no outright external control.

The government has supported its case by taking the examples of the Medical Council of India (MCI) and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). The MCI accredits medical colleges and sees to the advancement of medical education in the country, the AICTE plans and coordinates the technical education. Yes, they also oversee the syllabi. The difference- medicine and engineering are standardized scientific fields, media a liberal art.

How does one regulate the syllabus for an institution like the Film & Television Institute of India? Will politically charged documentaries become a thing of the past? Will we never learn to question and digress?

And how does the government decide what serving the nation means? Documentary filmmaker Anand Patwardhan has always invited the government’s ire, yet his films are amongst the most critically acclaimed. Perhaps, his films fall under our concept of serving the nation. Can the government’s proposal accommodate such contradicting opinions?

Let us see beyond the façade of the holier than the phrase of ‘serving the nation’, let us look at this as an attempt to control the freedom of speech and expression.

Featured image credit: newsfirst.lk

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Campus Central

118th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose celebrated at North Campus

By DU Beat January 25, 2015

23rd January 2015 marked the 118th Birth Anniversary of Indian revolutionary and nationalist, Netaji Shubhash Chandra Bose. Integrated Talent Development Mission (ITDM) held its annual event ‘Yeh Desh Hai Veer Jawano Ka’ to commemorate Netaji’s Birth Anniversary and to present the most awaited ‘Yuva Pratibha Samman’ award at Sir Shankar Lal Concert Hall, North Campus, Delhi University.

Minister for Information and Broadcasting (State), Mr. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore was present as the Chief Guest and Commonwealth Games’ gold medalist and Indian boxer Akhil Kumar was the Guest Of Honor. The event was also presided over by Professor Dinesh Singh, Vice Chancellor, Delhi University. Umesh Rai, Director of South Campus and Dr. Malay Neerav, Joint Dean, Student Welfare of Delhi University were present as special guests.

[caption id="attachment_29084" align="aligncenter" width="756"]

Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore[/caption]

The program began with the lamp lighting ceremony by the Vice Chancellor. This was followed by a Saraswati Vandana which was performed by students Maithili Takhur and Rishabh Thakur from the Bal Bharati School, Dwarka. Maithili’s voice and Rishabh’s performance on the tabla was appreciated by the guests.

After the felicitation ceemony, General Saigal, President (ITDM) talked about the mission of the organization and ‘Jhalak Poorvottar’ which is a mega cultural event organized by team ITDM. “This cultural event is organized to create a pool between the people of North East and the rest of India and to spread the message ‘our culture is our identity“, he said.

Following that the ‘Yuva Pratibha Samman‘ award was presented to Assam’s Wrishiraj Kaushik who is currently a visiting professor at IIT Guwahati for his work on ‘Super X’, an operating system he developed in 8th grade. Mr. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore arrived a few minutes into the program just after Vice Chancellor’s and Akhil Kumar’s speech. This was followed by a performance by the students of the Manipur who put up a yoga act on stage. World renowned artist Baba Satyanarayan Maurya also gave a musical and painting presentation.

ITDM was constituted in 2012 by a group of youth to harness the vast potential of our country and bring about positive changes in the society. It is a social organization currently active in 17 states and has been doing work focusing on North-East India since the last few years.

Image Credits: Ankit Kumar Meena

Arindam Goswami [email protected]

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Campus Central

Ecophoria: Formal and informal events at KNC’s Economics Fest

By DU Beat January 25, 2015

Economics Department, Kamala Nehru College organized The Annual Economics Fest, Ecophoria 2015 on 22nd January. The event schedule witnessed competitions in the field of quizzing, business plans and group discussions among other informal competitions and filler events.

Ecophoria commenced with a formal keynote address by Mr. Bibhu Prasad Mohapatra, Director of Indian Development Foundation (IDF) in the college auditorium where the entire department congregated.

Biz Buzz, the business plan competition saw entries with ideas like advertisements on toilet paper and plans for welfare of LGBT community. Anushka Sibal and Aditya Anand from Ramjas College claimed the first position and the business plan of Naman and Agrim Agarwal from Maharaja Agrasen College won them the second position. Quiz Pro Quo, the quizzing competition questioned students about economic policies and business strategies. Umang Gupta and Rahul Bammi from Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies bagged the first position while Soumya Sagar and Althaf Majeed from AIIMS were declared as the runner up team.

BizzBuzz at Ecophoria — Biz Buzz at Ecophoria

War of Words, the Group Discussion event had topics related to general economic affairs in India and across the globe. Competing with 16 other participants, Ankur from Shaheed Bhagat Singh College and Akshansh from Maharaja Agrasen College won the first and second position respectively. The Winning Move saw participants playing Monopoly and indulging in economic decision making by formation and dissolution of partnerships. Hitesh Ghai of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College and Piyush Garg of Delhi College of Arts and Commerce formed the winning team for Game 1. Sanjana Gupta and Shubham Katiyar were declared the winners of Game 2.

Jigsaw Puzzles, Jumbled Words and Joining the Dots were part of Connectonomics where all of these competitions had an economic twist. Sudhakshi Gupta and Vinisha of Dyal Singh College were declared the winners while Shivangi Jain and Neha Gupta of Gargi College secured the second position for Connectonomics.

In the section of informal events, participants for ‘Treasure Hunt’ were seen touring the entire college campus searching for the next clue. Participants of ‘Posterize’, on the other hand were asked to interpret and sketch their ideas about the topic ‘Terrorism’ on paper. Apart from the formal and informal events, handicraft and jewellery stalls also attracted students.

Arushi Pathak
[email protected]

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Campus Central

Ecophoria: Formal and informal events at KNC's Economics Fest

By DU Beat January 25, 2015

Economics Department, Kamala Nehru College organized The Annual Economics Fest, Ecophoria 2015 on 22nd January. The event schedule witnessed competitions in the field of quizzing, business plans and group discussions among other informal competitions and filler events.

Ecophoria commenced with a formal keynote address by Mr. Bibhu Prasad Mohapatra, Director of Indian Development Foundation (IDF) in the college auditorium where the entire department congregated.

Biz Buzz, the business plan competition saw entries with ideas like advertisements on toilet paper and plans for welfare of LGBT community. Anushka Sibal and Aditya Anand from Ramjas College claimed the first position and the business plan of Naman and Agrim Agarwal from Maharaja Agrasen College won them the second position. Quiz Pro Quo, the quizzing competition questioned students about economic policies and business strategies. Umang Gupta and Rahul Bammi from Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies bagged the first position while Soumya Sagar and Althaf Majeed from AIIMS were declared as the runner up team.

[caption id="attachment_29078" align="aligncenter" width="960"]

Biz Buzz at Ecophoria[/caption]

War of Words, the Group Discussion event had topics related to general economic affairs in India and across the globe. Competing with 16 other participants, Ankur from Shaheed Bhagat Singh College and Akshansh from Maharaja Agrasen College won the first and second position respectively. The Winning Move saw participants playing Monopoly and indulging in economic decision making by formation and dissolution of partnerships. Hitesh Ghai of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College and Piyush Garg of Delhi College of Arts and Commerce formed the winning team for Game 1. Sanjana Gupta and Shubham Katiyar were declared the winners of Game 2.

Jigsaw Puzzles, Jumbled Words and Joining the Dots were part of Connectonomics where all of these competitions had an economic twist. Sudhakshi Gupta and Vinisha of Dyal Singh College were declared the winners while Shivangi Jain and Neha Gupta of Gargi College secured the second position for Connectonomics.

In the section of informal events, participants for ‘Treasure Hunt’ were seen touring the entire college campus searching for the next clue. Participants of ‘Posterize’, on the other hand were asked to interpret and sketch their ideas about the topic ‘Terrorism’ on paper. Apart from the formal and informal events, handicraft and jewellery stalls also attracted students.

Arushi Pathak [email protected]

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