April 29, 2017

Delhi University’s Ad-hoc teachers go on a hunger strike to earn a permanent status

By DU Beat April 29, 2017

Over 200 ad-hoc faculty members of University of Delhi observed a day-long hunger strike on Friday, April, 28^th, 2017. The strike was observed in order to press their demand to be absorbed as permanent faculty by the University.

The hunger-strike was organised at the Delhi University Arts’ Faculty premises where the ad-hoc faculty members from across the University discussed the problems and irregularities they are subject to by the University. According to Himanshu Singh, an Assistant Professor (ad-hoc) at Satyawati College (Evening), these teachers are not being made permanent for a long time, and are forced to enjoy a sub-par status, which does not allow them to enjoy the privileges/facilities the permanent members get. He also added while in conversation with IANS, “Some of us have been teaching us for more than ten years, some even more. Why are we not good enough for permanent status, when the university can trust us with teaching students, their evaluation, and their careers?”

The Assistant Professor also told that the ad-hoc teachers are hired through the same selection process as permanent teachers.

According to another ad-hoc teacher from Satyawati College, they will also march to the Vice-Chancellor’s office and present him with a charter on their demands. The Delhi University Teachers’ Association extended its complete support to the protesting teachers in their bid to earn a permanent faculty status in the University.

Feature Image Credits: indianexpress.com

Priyal Mahtta

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Innovation Project by Ramanujan College on distributional channel strategy

By DU Beat April 29, 2017

A research was conducted by the Innovation Project team of Ramanujan College, titled “Designing Distribution Channel Strategy: Forging Consumer and Product Synchrony” under the Project code “RNC- 302”.

The research conducted by the Innovation Project team of Ramanujan College, University of Delhi, titled “Designing Distribution Channel Strategy: Forging Consumer and Product Synchrony” under the Project code “RNC- 302” dealt with drawing a relationship between consumer preferences and distribution channel preferred (local kirana, malls or online) for a particular type of commodity for a given city, under various parameters. The 3 principal operators of this project were Dr. K. Latha, Ms. Isha Gupta and Mr. Rakesh Singh, accompanied by Mr. Pulkit Garg (Country Head of Operations) Arvind Lifestyle Brands Ltd.) as mentor. The student members were Aakar Mangla, Akshit Kakkar, Aditya Sharma, Bharat Anand, Jamaaluddin, Jyoti Tyagi, Kanak Bohra, Pragya Parashar, Ranjeeta Sharma and Saurabh Singh. The team compiled 4 research papers, out of which 3 were focused on individual cities and the 4^th one was a joint study of all the cities.

The study aimed to understand the quantitative and qualitative horizons of consumer behavior in different tiers of Indian cities like, Delhi- a metropolitan, Panipat- a developing business hub and Mussoorie- a tourist destination. The results of the study were based on primary data collected by conducting a survey of 600 individuals (200 in each city) of diverse ages, in the selected cities. The sample in each city was stratified and random, and components of study considered only Groceries (oil, grains, confectionery, etc.) and Electronics (Mobile handsets, refrigerators, computers, etc.), which were judged on following parameters-seller’s goodwill, price, product quality, availability, convenience, discount, packaging, timely delivery and payment security.

The outcome of the study showed that even with the recent expansion of online portals and malls, local kirana stores remain to be a prominent feature of Indian shopping experience in most cities. The reasons being: convenient, ready availability, product quality, and seller’s goodwill. However, offering discounts, attractive prices, and providing honest reviews proves to be a setback for local kiranas. The outcome was reached upon after an extensive and comprehensive study of these cities. Various innovations and business ideas are given in the research papers compiled by the team which would prove to be of enormous help to new entrepreneurs trying to step into this arena. With online portals growing at this pace, local kiranas and malls are required to undergo a makeover to recapture the customer base they have been losing. Hence, any innovation which could bring this revolution would be more than welcomed.

For more information, watch the short film about their project here.

Feature Image Credits: rediff.com

Joyee Bhattacharya

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DUB News

Three Years at DU Beat: A Purpose, A Family, A Constant – Shubham Kaushik, Editor (2016-17)

By Shubham Kaushik April 29, 2017

Writing has never been difficult for me. I am better with words on paper than I am with words in speech. That was the idiosyncrasy that led me to DU Beat as a disillusioned first year student undergoing an identity crisis. However, as I sat down to write this Farewell note at the end of my time with this platform, I found myself at a loss for words. It’s clearly not easy saying goodbye to something that has been an integral part of my identity for the past three years.

DU Beat has continued to grow by leaps and bounds since its inception ten years ago, and it was an absolute honour to have had the chance to influence this growth during a period that saw great tumult and radical changes in the world, especially in the student community. We were at the forefront of covering important issues around the University throughout the year, including the DUSU elections and the events at Ramjas College earlier this year, and proudly stuck to our motto of ‘Freedom of Expression’.

What makes DU Beat great, apart from the fact that we are the one of the biggest campus publications in the country, is the amount and diversity of the opportunities it has to offer. Some apply looking for an internship experience, others do it for the want of a platform that gives space to their talent which their academic life has no scope for, and yet others – like yours truly – do it in search of a purpose to keep themselves engaged and energised during the course of their otherwise drab college lives. Everyone gets what they are looking for, and more. Working at DU Beat isn’t just writing articles, meeting deadlines and covering events. It is also finding yourself in unexpected situations and learning to adapt in order to come out at the top. It is on-ground, real-world experience that’s hard to come by for 20-year-old students so early in their career. It is finding kaleidoscopic minds coming together for riveting conversations who become teammates to work with and friends to depend on and meet outside of work. It is gruelling, challenging yet rewarding work, and laughter, appreciation and unwinding with a team that starts feeling like family. It was all of that for me for the past three years – a purpose, a family, a constant. By the end of your time here, you don’t realise most of the voids you came with because this place finds a way to fill them.

Out of all the things we achieved this year – from the increases in our readership to experimenting successfully with live platforms – I am the most proud of the team we’ve managed to put together. It is with a heavy heart but immense confidence that I leave this team we built in the capable leadership of Vineeta Rana, as the Editor for the year 2017-18, and Srivedant Kar, as the Associate Editor. With the satisfaction of having seen everyone in the team grow not only as journalists but also as people, I sign off from my duties as the Editor for 2016-17.

Shubham Kaushik

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