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“Xpressions’17”, the flagship Management-Cultural fest of Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar, concluded successfully on the 12th of November. Spread over three days from 10th to 12th of November, the fest witnessed a huge number of participants from several reputed institutions across India. Around 3000 students participated in various events such as Gladiator, Helios, Goonj, Skill City, Aaghaz etc, and the final night, which had Farhan Akhtar performing, saw a footfall of over 25,000 people.

The festival witnessed several rounds of business simulation games taking place. These mega-events were organized by Gladiator, Kurukshetra, Skill City and Helios- XIMB’s various gaming committees. Gladiator finals saw A. Vignesh as the first prize winner and Akash Jain as the runner-up. The winners of Skill City were “Glamsters” and the runners-up were “Lightning Boltz”. In addition, there was an MUN conference organized by Speak Up, XIMB’s oratory club. “‘Case In Point”, the case study competition organised by HR Association judged the HR skills of participants.”Nirnay”, an in-house business simulation game conducted by X-Ops, XIMB’s operations committee, attracted several participants. Goonj, the marquee singing competition lifted the spirits of the crowd. Paint@XIMB, conducted by Spicmacay chapter of XIMB showcased the students’ expertise in painting. Flights of Fancy, a literary society event witnessed enthusiastic participation. Parikrama, an online treasure hunt organized by XSys, the Systems association of XIMB, kept the participants on their toes. Paint It Up, organized by XIMB’s International Relations Committee, was particularly well-received: its final round was a ‘Paintball’ round, something that XIMB hadn’t been seen before, in which “X-Vrak” won. The inaugural edition of Vakritva, conducted by Social Responsibility Cell and Speak Up committees, emphasized on how management skills are utilised for the betterment of the society. HR Express also saw participation in huge numbers by HR management students. On the evening of 10th November, “Carnival De Vogue”, XIMB’s fashion competition went underway. The day was closed out with an enthralling performance by Lost Stories and Paranox as a part of EDM night.

Some of XIMB’s flagship case-study competitions, namely Maven and Case Connect were held amidst great enthusiasm.  Urbaniac, a business model competition was conducted by the Urban Management functional committee, HabituX. Inquizzitive, the flagship event of the quiz committee of XIMB, XQuizzite saw huge participation. Xpress on Air, an RJ hunt competition organized in association with Sarthak FM was one of the highlights of the second day of Xpressions. A CSR plan competition, Vriddhi along with Ascend, a case study presentation competition was organized on the day hours. Pratibimb, a face painting competition organized by Spicmacay chapter of XIMB, presented a means to the students to unwind from the daily curricular activities. The second day of the festival concluded with MTV Beats Decibelz, which is the band hunt competition of Xpressions.

Spardha, a social entrepreneurship competition was won by “Team Cityzens” and the runners-up were “The Misfits”. Mpower, the marketing case study competition was won by “Kotler Mafia” whereas the team,“A Team Has No Name” bagged the first prize in Trade Wars, the online trading simulation event. Aaghaz, the nukkad-natak competition witnessed huge participation from several colleges. Informal games such as Baal Baal Bachey and Chakna Hai Kya provided a different view to the day’s events. Viraasat, organized by Spimacay chapter of XIMB; provided a platform to compete in various Indian performance arts such as classical dance, classical singing, and instrumentals. Thirkan, the dance competition of Xpressions finished with several laudable performances.
XIMB

The curtains came down on Xpressions ’17 with Celeblitz, the celebrity night, held outdoors. XIMB was honoured to host the magical Bollywood star, Farhan Akhtar, who enthralled the crowd with a night they will cherish for years to come. His set-list was a combination of his compositions, which were deliriously lapped up by the enthusiastic crowd. His performance was a fitting coda to Xpressions ’17, and left everybody who was there begging for more.

Queer collectives are still a new idea within the colleges of University of Delhi. While there is an overall need for collectives of other kinds of minorities as well, let’s explore the case for queer collectives in colleges.

Queer collectives are basically groups that lie somewhere in between the spectrum of support groups/forums and representative organisations. Their purpose is to provide a space for the LGBTQ+ community, which is still very much marginalised in a country like India.

Even around the world, the focus on recognising queer identities has increased in the past few years with increased visibility in the media, increased protections through legislation, and greater focus in general. Of course, a lot of focus was never put on the community to begin with, hence the levels we are currently operating at our abysmally low. In India, along with the legal hurdles faced by the community, there is the added issue of how the society views the community. It’s not just the fact that queer folks are mostly treated with an utter lack of basic respect, bullied or mocked for who they are, and treated as punch lines for jokes in movies that show a stereotypical representation; there is also a bigger issue of people simply not understanding them. The idea that sexual orientations are naturally, biologically determined and that ‘gender’ and ‘sex’ are two different concepts, where ‘gender’ is a social construct that involves personal choice, is alien to most of the population. This is not surprising, considering the absolute lack of proper sex/gender related education imparted at school levels.

In such a scenario, it is imperative to have an organisation that can bridge this information gap, and provide a space for queer people to tell their stories, voice out their fears and confusions, and find others like them for support. They can also organise events in the college, helping to normalise the attitudes of the administration regarding them. For people who have struggled to find those like them or non-queer folk who would support them (called ‘allies’ by the movement), such collectives can be great agents of change and bring much needed comfort. It is high time we take this initiative.

 

Feature Image Credits: Hindustan Times

Rishika Singh
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Every second of the minute, every minute of the hour, every hour of the day, Southeast Asia runs the threat of a full-fledged war between the two nuclear-enabled countries, India and Pakistan. If the grave possibility of a nuclear (the N word is to Southeast Asia what Voldemort is to Hogwarts) threat wasn’t bad enough, now we have Pakistani websites adding fuel to the ignited tension between the two neighbours.

The Pakistan Defense Forum (PDF), which is famous within the Indian and Pakistani defence enthusiasts circles, as a forum for debate and deliberation on Pakistani defence, strategic and security issues, has drawn flak internationally. Their move to upload a morphed picture of Indian student activist Kawalpreet Kaur had led Twitter to suspend the verified account of this unofficial forum on Saturday.
In the original photograph, Delhi University student Kawalpreet is standing infront of the Jama Masjid, holding up a sheet of paper that bears the message: “I am a citizen of India and I stand with secular values of our Constitution. I will write against communal mob lynching of Muslims in our country #CitizensAgainstMobLynching.”

But in the image the Pakistan Defence Forum tweeted, the text had changed: “I am an Indian, but I hate India, because India is a colonial nation that has occupied nations such as Nagas, Kashmiris, Manipuris, Hyderabad, Junagard, Sikkim, Mizoram, Goa.” Attached to the image, Pakistan Defence Forum tweeted, “Indians are finally realizing the truth; their country is actually a colonialist entity.” It deleted the tweet later. Having both retired and serving military personnel among it’s members, this is not the first time the PDF has attempted to perpetuate hate propaganda against India.

With almost 308,500 followers, Pakistan Defence Forum’s Twitter handle interestingly had more threads about India than Pakistan. But what is more interesting is the element of choice exercised by PDF’s social media team. Kawalpreet, a senior member of the All India Student’s Association, has been active in DU politics for long and is a well-known face in the student politics of Delhi. A crucial question to be asked at this point of time is, why her? For all that PDF’s social media expertise is worth, it could have morphed any photograph to communicate their hate propaganda against India, but it chose to target a student’s union leader studying in the premier institution of the country. In this context, is a controversy afoot to deliberately target a high-flying student activist, or can it simply be considered a PJ by the PDF? Using a morphed picture on such a sensitive issue not only has the possibility of fuelling greater tension between the two neighbours but could also put this girl’s life in danger. To this effect has been outrage expressed by the student community of DU and other institutions. The issue of Kaur’s photo being doctored was also flagged by Shehla Rashid, the former vice president of JNU Students Union, who contended that forum should not use such images in the name of the Kashmir issue.

Considering its legacy, PDF must have strategised their actions and policies more carefully if they wish to remain relevant in their chosen crusade of helping Pakistan’s image. Food (read: feud) for Thought: Substance will win over image any time, all the time.
What is astoundingly outrageous is the instance of a senior member of the Pakistan Defense Forum retorting back to the criticism in the official page of PDF in the words, “The amount of shameless fake propaganda Indians do against us, there is-nothing wrong in us doing the same against India. Well done PDF.” If offense is the best defense that PDF could muster, they could have atleast recruited better photoshop experts.

 

Feature Image Credits: Times of India 

Vaibhavi Sharma Pathak

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A comparison between those hectic days before the prep leave and the sudden tranquility of prep leave when you find yourself not always studying.

The last two weeks or so before the preparatory leave are very hectic for students as well as teachers. It is the time when everything has to be wrapped up on the teachers’ part while the students gear up to face the semester examinations again.

Some teachers take extra classes which go on for four-five hours at a stretch and the students brave through them. With a break or two in between these continuous classes, teachers as well as students grab a bite and get the crisp fresh air of winters, rejuvenating the mind; and then you are back to the same text or book.

During these long days, students often neglect their health. Burdened under the pile of assignments, normal studying hours have to be stretched and if you are somebody living in a PG, you don’t have your mother forcefully feeding you those dry fruits, fruits and snacks. Assignments and tests have coinciding deadlines or dates and the students have to deal with it and try to excel in them. In a way, it prepares us for the future when we have to manage multiple things simultaneously.
With all these deadlines comes the exam admit card work. The ID card work does not take long but too many students jamming the office in the last days can be vexing and exhausting.
On the last day or two, internals’ sheets are signed and you get a reality check of your attendance and your marks. The instant calculation of percentages and wondering whether you’ll be called for signing the undertaking are the first thoughts during signing the internals.
Then come the last day goodbyes, hugs and photographs. It dawns on the last day of the semester that the entire semester went by. For the first years, its feels like the orientation day was only yesterday or it was only yesterday that they were auditioning for those cultural societies.

We leave from college absolutely determined to study diligently in the prep leave and score good grades in the semester exams. But the first day of the prep leave begins and you find yourself binge-watching that episode or some new web series. Subsequently, you find yourself constantly on Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat.
The health freaks get back to their exercising routines and many outstation students go back home. Most of the outstation students may just want to relish the home-coming for a few days before they kick start their studies. Whatever situation of passing time you may find yourself in, I hope reality kicks in before it’s too late. DU Beat team wishes you all the very best for your exams.

 

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Archives

Prachi Mehra
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As Indian universities and schools continue to suffer due to the lack of freedom of expression and the absence of student safety norms, students need to be at the forefront of the movement of change. This International Students’ Day, we, the students, should understand the significance of student activism in everyday issues.  

The 17th of November is the International Students’ Day, an international observance of student activism. The date commemorates the anniversary of the 1939 Nazi attack on the University of Prague after demonstrations against the killing of Jan Opletal, the occupation of Czechoslovakia, the execution of nine student leaders, the transfer of over 1200 students to concentration camps, and the closing of all Czech universities and colleges. The day was first observed in 1941 in London by the International Students’ Council (which had many refugee members) in accord with the Allies, and the tradition has been kept up by the International Union of Students, which has been pressing with National Unions of Students in Europe and other groups to make the day an official United Nations observance.

The Athens Polytechnic uprising against the Greek military junta of 1973 came to a climax on November 17, with a violent crackdown and a tank crushing the gates of the university. The Day of the Greek Students is today among the official student holidays in Greece. The 1989 Prague demonstrations for International Students Day helped spark the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia. Struggle for Freedom and Democracy Day is now marked as the official holiday in both the Czech Republic (since 2000, thanks to the efforts of the Czech Student Chamber of the Council of Higher Education Institutions) and  Slovakia.

How is all of the above relevant to the present day? After Jawahar Lal University starting the nationalism debate, Rohit Vemula’s Death in Hyderabad Central University, Ramjas College stone pelting at University of Delhi, call for freedom in Banaras Hindu University,  pro-azaadi slogans being raised in Jadavpur University, Ryan International School killings raising apprehensions about school safety norms, distortion of state board’s school history syllabi in Rajasthan and Maharashtra, saying ‘Vande Mataram’ for the roll call in a school in Madhya Pradesh and many more similar incidents, I have a question to ask – in the wave of polarisation, are we safe? Do we actually have the freedom to express ourselves in any manner as we want without offending the cultural notions of nationalism in our country? Or will all of us be subject to trolls and rape threats if we put forward our opinion?

Debate, dissent, and dialogue are non-negotiable in places of education. Antonio Gramsci accorded the highest value to critical thinking of students more than their employability, knowledge, and skills. Amidst the culture of commercialisation of education, are students losing their right to ask questions and  to move freely in and across campuses? Enlightened students have to be the torchbearers of change and their courageous voice of dissent plays a crucial role in a healthy democracy. The big squeeze on civil society and on cultures of protest needs to be freed and we have to make sure that the state respects not only the articulation of politics of ‘vote’ but also the politics of ‘voice’.

Once in 1975, student movements in Bihar led by J.P. Narayan opposed the autocratic emergency regime and restored democracy in India. We have ample examples from India’s independence struggle to show us what aware students and citizens can achieve. To embark on the spirit of enlightenment, this International Students’ Day, all of us should take examples from the world as well as national history and believe in the power of student activism to bring a change.

 

Feature Image Credits: The Atlantic

Oorja Tapan

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Dr. Raziuddin Aquil, a renowned name in Medieval Indian History, delivered a talk on the topic- “A day in the life of a Sufi- Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya and his Chishti tradition.”

The Department of History, Daulat Ram College organised a talk on the topic “A day in the life of a Sufi; Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya and his Chishti tradition” on the 10th of November, 2017. The guest speaker was Dr. Raziuddin Aquil, Associate Professor, Department of History, University of Delhi. Dr. Aquil, a product of renowned institutes like Jamia Millia Islamia and Jawaharlal Nehru University is an authority on the history of Medieval India. His specialises in Medieval Indian History, Islamic tradition and literary cultures. The talk was attended by a large number of students and senior members of the academia and generated immense buzz due to the unique topic on which it was held.

The talk detailed about the life of the famous Sufi saint Aulia, also called Mahmud Illahi or lover of God from medieval India. His work and impact on society especially taking recent tension and debates on intolerance were described as particularly relevant. Aulia was a true secular, with followers both in Hinduism and Islam and his teachings were described to be as relevant today, as they were more than 600 years ago. The dynamic lecture was addressed to a jam packed hall, full of eager students wishing to know more about history, Sufism and the renowned teachings of Aulia. An interactive Q and A session proved to be the most engaging part of the event, apart from the lecture itself.
The lecture which was extremely well-organised was a part of a series of lectures that the history department frequently holds in order to generate conversation and create interest amongst students on such issues. It was convened by Dr. Md Haider Ali, Department of History, Daulat Ram College.

 

Image Credits: Dr. Md Haidar Ali

Kinjal Pandey
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No-Shave November has become increasingly popular in the last couple of years. However, many are still unaware of the reason that led to the creation of this campaign. Here’s the story behind this unique concept.

No-Shave November appears to be a trend to grow a beard and compete with friends to see who has a larger beard. Naturally, the ones who aren’t able to grow one suffer a lot of insults and become the subject of jokes among friends. However, No-Shave November stands for something much bigger and purposeful. Let’s know what it is actually about.

It is an awareness campaign for different types of cancers, including prostate cancer. The basic idea behind the campaign is that men who support the cause won’t shave or clip their hair or beard for the entire month. The money they save from not using it up in shaving their hair should be donated to cancer patients instead. Call it bizarre or call it unique, it is definitely a creative idea to support a noble cause.

No-Shave November started in 2009 after a father in Chicago passed away due to colon cancer. He had eight sons and daughters in total who started this campaign. Over the past eight years, the campaign has gained a lot of popularity, but the real significance is lost somewhere. This campaign has a couple of unique health benefits as well. As per various reports, a beard is a natural toxin filter which keeps dust from getting into our lungs. Beards can also help in preventing blemishes.

Many people confuse this campaign with another similar campaign called “Movember”. Movember is another awareness campaign which started in Australia in 2003. However, this campaign deals with not clipping off the moustache only. It has nothing to do with the sideburns.

It is a pity that such a great cause has lost its meaning and has ended up becoming a trend of hashtags and memes. People don’t even know why they do it. The apparently “trendy” population over the internet just sees this campaign as an opportunity to look cool and stay updated with the latest style. This highlights the dumbing down of people that the internet has caused. It is important that the internet users understand what they see so that great campaigns like No-Shave November don’t fall prey to the “cooler” side of the internet.

Karan Singhania

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Feature Image Credits: Dreams Time

While in school, we all had wished to become a class monitor at some point in time. But the same desire gets largely skewed at college level. Responsibilities revolving around a Class Representative are very different from that of a class monitor. In the anticipation of having the same kind of authority like they did while in school being a class monitor, some students fall into this vicious trap of becoming a class representative.

A Class Representative (CR) is the middleman between professors and students who gets dodged from side to side. From running errands for the professors to voicing students’ issues, CRs do it all.

While organising any event, it is mandatory for the class representative to go to each student to ask for the monetary contribution. There will always be a bunch of rebellious students who would not comply with the CR’s request for contribution easily and would wait till the CR has to resort to begging.

It is the CR’s legal obligation to ensure that every student of the class gets the notes provided by the seniors or else the CR is doomed to get backlashes. Some students take the notes and never bother to return them in the same condition as it was given. It always comes back to the Class representative with stains of oil and torn corners of the pages. The communication link between the professors and the students, all information regarding lectures by professors would first be passed to the Class representative. He has to go through the ordeal of ensuring that every single student is well informed about the new developments and hence always updated.

It is also the CR’s allegiance to strategise a fail-proof plan for mass bunk for the entire class.  If the plan fails, the poor soul has to tackle with an undeclared war waged against him by the students, and if it succeeds, he has to face the wrath of the professor.

However, a class representative inevitably acquires many skills while executing his/her duty which includes leadership and management. The ability to combat stress flourishes in the student in full bloom. There are also several other incentives of being a class representative. The views and actions of a class representative are very imperative. Besides seasonal criticism, a Class representative earns truckloads of love from his classmates and professors. Professors are generally very generous while rewarding internal marks to this industrious fellow.  A Class representative is that industrious creature of our college life who is very underrated and needs to be duly acknowledged.

Feature Image Credits: Funk You

Sandeep Samal

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With air pollution reaching galloping levels in Delhi, the authorities are finally awake from their slumber and the Odd-Even rule will be implemented again from November 13, 2017.

The Arvind Kejriwal Government announced on Thursday to bring back the Odd-Even car rationing scheme for five days from November 13 to November 17, 2017 as part of a graded response plan to tackle the hazardous levels of air pollution in the Capital, with air quality worsening for the third straight day. This is the third time that Delhi will try the radical road-rationing scheme during which private cars with even and odd-numbered plates ply on alternate days.

Top officials of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), however, questioned the timing of the plan, suggesting the emergency measure may not be required any longer because weather conditions would improve from Friday, clearing the toxic haze that has engulfed Delhi since Monday night. The scheme will be in place from 8.00 a.m. to 8.00 p.m., beginning Monday. Women drivers, two-wheelers and vehicles carrying children in school uniform, in addition to VVIPs, would be exempted from its provisions, Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said. “The exemptions will be similar to last year and there is no need for people to panic,” he told reporters, adding that CNG vehicles having valid stickers would be exempt. The Minister also added that the Delhi government would not allow cab aggregators such as Uber and Ola to resort to surge pricing during the period in Delhi. Motorists will have to pay ?2,000 if they violate provisions of the scheme, which will be enforced by teams of the Delhi police, the transport department and sub-divisional magistrates.

According to the government, vehicles of the President, the Vice-President, the Prime Minister, Governors, the Chief Justice of India, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Union Ministers, Leaders of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, and SPG protectees, among others, will be exempt. Embassy vehicles do not come under odd-even rules and neither do commercial vehicles bearing yellow number plates. However, the Delhi government has not given any exemption to its Ministers, including the Chief Minister. Women only vehicles, including children of age up to 12 years, travelling with them will be exempted. Vehicles driven or occupied by handicapped persons will also be exempt. Two wheelers will be exempted from the scheme like the last two phases of the odd-even rationing scheme. CNG-driven vehicles, battery or electric-operated vehicles and hybrid vehicles will not be under the ambit of this scheme. The Delhi government has directed DTC to hire 500 buses from private contractors to tackle the rush of commuters during the odd-even implementation week. Delhi Metro will also provide 100 small buses during the period.

A study by atmospheric scientists of Indian Institute of Technology Delhi and Kanpur and Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology Pune had found that 15-day road-rationing in January 2016 brought down pollution levels by just 2-3%. The Delhi government’s own assessment of the next round, in April of the same year, said the drive did little to reduce pollution or congestion.

 

Feature Image Credits: The Indian Express

Oorja Tapan
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The Finance and Investment Society of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College hosted a new edition of the decades-old mock-stock titled ”House of Traders”. The hype of the event was such that there were 200+ registrations from various colleges. The event had both online and offline preliminary rounds with the final round held on the college campus on 26th October.

The offline prelims consisted of an exciting quiz where participants had to bet on the answers and the teams with the highest closing balance moved on to the next round. The final round had three sub-rounds where all the teams had to trade with a given capital in a mock stock and form policies as the Parliament of different countries. Gurmehar Sethi and Bhavya Mathur emerged as the stars of the event with the highest amount of capital at the end of third round.
The event was successfully conducted by the event heads Prasoon Aggarwal and Anuj Sharma with the help of FIS members and guidance of core team and convener Mr. Rajkumar Aggarwal.
As is always said, productivity is never an accident, it is rather a result of the commitment to excellence, intelligent planning and focused efforts. These efforts led led to a successful event with an overwhelming response and feedback.