February 19, 2017

Old is Gold: The Comeback of Nokia 3310

By Arindam Goswami February 19, 2017

Nokia’s iconic 3310, a model which needs no introduction owing to the reverence and glorification attached to it, is believed to re-enter the market with its modern version!

At a time when The Humma Song and Tamma Tamma are endeavouring to strike chords in hearts as modern renditions of their Bollywood classics, it is only natural that the world of technology shall also put in its nostalgic bit. A phone which is the inexhaustible source of memes, a phone which endorsed the snake game like no other, and a phone which proudly carries the power to emerge victorious in the event of a zombie apocalypse, the Nokia 3310 is the proud Wolverine in the telephonic world. Its speculated return in our lives has sparked excitement and anticipation as a wave of nostalgia hits the hearts!

The tumultuous trajectory of Nokia was rectified with its re-launch in January, with HMD Global acquiring its rights and introducing the Nokia 6 smartphone. According to reports, the Finnish company HMD Global Oy is planning to release a 2017 Nokia 3310 version by the end of this month. The iconic phone has been regarded with admiration owing to its simplified structure, days-long battery life, and the ability to survive anything and everything. Fast forward to today, an age where lives are perturbed by fragile glass-screen phones, the revival of Nokia’s legendary phone would serve the dual purpose of satiating nostalgia and ensuring easy phone management.

Previously discontinued in 2005, the phone has since been glorified in the pages of history as indestructible and inexorable. Priced at USD 62, roughly Rs. 4200, the phone shall be adapted to certain modern features whilst sticking to its core attributes. This will act as a major element of competition in the contemporary market flooded with minimally priced Android smartphones.

Along with the blast from the past, HMD will also be revealing two averagely-priced Android phones – Nokia 5 and Nokia 3 – to continue their project of re-establishment. The former is set to come with a 5.2-inch display, 2GB of RAM, 12 megapixel camera, and Snapdragon 430 chipset, and is rumoured to be valued at around Rs.14,000. Nokia 3, designed along similar lines, will be initially priced at approximately Rs.10,500.

Image Caption: The legendary Nokia 3310 is speculated to be re-launched by HMD this February

Image Credits: Hindustan Times

Saumya Kalia

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University of Delhi to Reward Colleges with Top Fests

By Vineeta Rana February 19, 2017

The University of Delhi recently announced that colleges with the best fests his season will receive grants in the form of financial aid and higher NAAC rankings.

On 20 February 2017, the University Grants Commission (UGC) revealed that DU colleges must put in their best this spring as the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) will now also rank the annual fests of each college. This notice comes in light of University authorities realising that immense effort, both by students and teachers, goes into making the fests grand and entertaining for the student community.

The motivation behind rewarding colleges with the most successful fests is to promote the culture of commitment and hard work amongst students. An official of the UGC, Mr Sankalp Bharti, stated, “The students do excellent work around the year, but they are at their best during the fest season. We want to reward this behaviour. DU fests are just like DU academics – both require months of preparation.” While most students probably disagree with this comparison, it’s no secret that the students’ unions of colleges spend weeks in stress, ensuring the highest level of entertainment possible.

The UGC stated that it will give financial grants to colleges that have the best fests so as to provide the colleges and students with the incentives to conduct similarly successful fests in the future. DU is popular for its fest culture and draws huge traction as a result of star-studded evenings and celebrity performances. To maintain this reputation, the UGC has also added the likelihood of an increased NAAC rating for the colleges that come out on top this fest season. The college authorities often care more about external official rankings such as those of NAAC as opposed to providing the students with a memorable fest. For this reason, the UGC has decided to use NAAC as an incentive for better fests.

According to the notice, fests will be rated across a number of criteria. These include the audience turnout, the number of sponsored stalls, the total amount of cash prizes for all winners of the fest, and the amount paid to the star performers. A holistic analysis of all these parameters will then reveal which colleges qualify to receive their reward. While the details are yet to be finalised, there are already rumours that out of the top three colleges which will receive financial grants, the institution on top will receive an automatic A in the NAAC rankings. With regard to the fests that have already taken place this year, such as Tarang, Reverie, and Montage, the UGC officials reassured that they will take into consideration that these colleges were unaware of the new rule. Mr Sankalp Bharti stated that these fests will not suffer unfairly, and that they will be judged according to more relaxed criteria.

Let’s see whether the new move by the University will increase fest standards. Good luck to the upcoming fests!

Disclaimer: Bazinga is our weekly column of almost believable fake news. It is only to be appreciated and not accepted!

Image Credits: DU Beat

Vineeta Rana

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DU Annual Fest Season

Fests as an Organiser: Of Worries, Whines, and Woes

By Arindam Goswami February 19, 2017

Behind the curtains of the starry shows and the motley of events lined up lies the true endurance of the Organising Committee, for their perseverance makes the fest truly successful!

Perspective is everything. An object of existence can be viewed with a mixed reception by a plethora of people – this is known. Having said that, the grand cultural affair organised every year by colleges which are home to the wanderers also harbour a melange of dreams and dedication. As students of the University of Delhi assimilate and revel in the glory of the fest season, a tiresome and consciously evaded entity of it is often pushed to the sidelines. Behind the brilliance of the spectacle witnessed and the magic created, there is the effort put in by the architects of the show which shan’t and won’t go unnoticed.

Months before the calendar indicates the period of February and March, their mind sets into a prudent mode of brainstorming, planning, and strategising the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ of their idealised cultural fests. Fancy the big fat Indian wedding, with the traditional pomp and clobber of an extravaganza which is delightfully put up for critique by relatives whose relation shall continue to remain a mystery. As viewers of the wedding ceremony, a million suggestions and points of criticism pervade our minds, with ideations of what could have been better. And as a member of the Organising Committee, the fest is their mini-shaadi where they are on the receiving end of these insatiable comments. The worries of what should and shouldn’t be done, of the whys and the hows, seem inescapable and inexhaustible, don’t they?

As the clock churns to move the wheels of time, plans are executed, and the weight of the work adds a tiresome sigh to their conversations. Mornings, days, evenings, and nights are spent in ensuring a successful implementation of what was promised. From team formation and task delegation to scavenging connections for sponsorship of any kind, their groans and despair in this period remain unmatched. A lack of sufficient funds, when combined with the incompatibility with the student union of the college or with another department, might add to the verses of whines narrated by them.

The final product of performances and hard work which grace the stage has a story of memories carved in it. The troubles and struggles endured in the making of an iconic fest are looked back as fond remembrances, for they were all worth it. The woes then fade away into waves of nostalgia, only to be transcended into anticipating a bigger and better fest next season!

Image Credits: DU Beat

Saumya Kalia

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Soap Operas to Reality Shows: The Absurdity of Indian Television

By Arindam Goswami February 19, 2017

From the very first Indian soap ‘Hum Log’ to present day soaps and reality shows, Indian television has grown undoubtedly, but not always for the better.

Indian television witnesses some of the longest running daily soaps with over 2000 episodes of over–hyped rhetorical drama. Their scripts have so far not been successful enough to conjure up a healthy dose of daily entertainment — without sending their audiences the wrong message. As the story of one serial after the other unfolded on screen, to be the “perfect” woman on Indian television, one needed to be a docile housewife and sacrifice everything for the family’s happiness. Drama is when people skip their meals, when someone is reincarnated with the same face, when even after taking leaps of six to ten years, they use the same technology that they used earlier. Mythological and historical series are somewhat information-bound, but paranormal shows are as unconvincing as forced smiles. Stories often drift away from the main plot. Adding to this are the visual effects used in shows like ‘Sasural Simar Ka’ aired on ColorsTV, ‘Baalveer’ on SabTV, and the conventional ghastly figurines in paranormal shows like ‘Aahat’.

With their upward sloping graph of TRP, reality shows are no less. The first reality show on Indian Television was ‘Bournvita Quiz Contest (BQC)’ which gained popularity in the 1980s. Reality shows not only break the monotony of drama series, but also serve as the perfect tool to satisfy voyeurism and, for some others, the irrepressible temptation to get their 60 seconds of fame. Though various shows have various formats, some of them have had their fair share of controversies and their credibility has occasionally been questioned with allegations that they are not as real as they claim to be. Shows like ‘Love School’ and ‘Emotional Atyachar’ are some reality shows that have often reeked of pretension and orchestrated drama. Shows like ‘The Bachelorette India’, ‘Mere Khayalon Ki Mallika’, and ‘Rakhi Ka Swayamvar’ are indubitably bogus.

Indian television entertainment will seemingly never change, or revolt, but it certainly offends. Its limits will be set by the ‘Indian’ morality, which will internalise and proselytise. The smaller screen is constructed in a way that is antithetical to the urban or modern life which has always pandered to what social scientists call ‘the agenda’ – issues of concern to the viewing audience.

Image Caption: While Indian television continues to provide us with a wide array of shows, it fails to be logical and convincing in the least

Image Credits: Youthbuzz.com

Radhika Boruah

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