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Ishaan Sengupta

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Games have turned out to be the most profitable form of business in the software technology field over the years. The specifications have improved over the years and the plot of the game simulates a pinch closer to real life day by day. In this summer heat, it turns out that staying at home is the better option. Hence to utilize your time in the most fun possible way, you should play a tonne of video games.Here are a few games, each of a different type, just so you don’t have to feel bad about not owning a certain console:

  • Dangerous Dave –

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    I remember playing this when I was in my 3rd grade. This game surely surpasses the fun you can ever get from games like Temple Run or Subway Surfer. Dangerous Dave demands the player to control the movements of Dave, the protagonist whose main aim is to collect as many jewels as possible. However what makes his expeditions dangerous are the traps laid down everywhere. The traps range from fire, to dragons to all sort of hurdles. This is a must play. System requirements are extremely low. Runs on MS 2002 to MS 7 operating systems. However you might have to mod it on Windows 7 to allow full screen gameplay.

 

  • Road Rash –

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    Road Rash has always been a life saver for kids who wanted to spend less on configuring their PC’s but wanted a similar gaming experience like an arcade console. The aim of the game is to win races. However it was seen for the first time that players could win races build up money, change their bikes and go up against ‘boss’ racers. It is till date one of the highest selling games in the world. The dearth in graphics is made up by the fantastic gameplay, this piece of art has to offer. A pre – Playstation adaptation of the Twisted Metal Series, with access to melee weapons to bring down your opponent shows how much this game was ahead of its time. System Requirements are low for this game too. It works on OS like – MS 2002 to MS 7.

 

  • Heavy Rain –

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    One of the most successful games of 2014, Heavy Rain is a choice based thriller game, with an intense story line. You have to play as three characters, all from different walks of life trying to find a serial killer named the Origami killer. Your choices in the game determine different outcomes. The game has exceptional graphics, the plot is extreme and the gameplay is smooth. Fulfilling its expectations, heavy Rain is one of the most high selling scenario based game ever to be made. Heavy rain is available on Play station 4 and Xbox.

 

  • Beyond Two Souls –

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    Watch Ellen Page play the protagonist in this Sci-Fi game which will surely make your video gaming experience escalate. The whole game is story based, and you have to control Jodie (Ellen Page) or a spiritual presence connected to her called Aiden. The game also features William Defoe as a scientist who looks after Jodie since her childhood. It has a tremendous storyline and will surely give you a wonderful gaming experience.  The game is available on PS3.

 

  • Witcher 3 –

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    If you are a fan of RPG games, like Final Fantasy, you should definitely play, Witcher 3. The story revolves around Witch-hunters or Witchers who are in pursuit of a witch known for her blasphemy. She unleashes a horde of mutated animals who stand in the Witcher’s path. The story is extremely strong and has been a highly anticipated game. Witcher 3 is available on PS4.These game have turned out to be enjoyed all around the world, and can be the perfect way to utilize your free time during the summers. Make sure you play around with downloadable packages available with the new console (PS4) games.

 

Ishaan Sengupta
[email protected]

Archon – the Leadership Cell of Motilal Nehru College is registered as a unit under Wirtschaft, Economics Society of the college. It was formed with the purpose of developing leadership skills, soft skills and confidence amongst students in the University as a whole. The Leadership Cell recently organised its ‘Activity Series’.

The First Activity day, consisted of three activities, which saw participation of around 50 students from Motilal Nehru College and 2 more participants from two other colleges. The day was kicked off with Activity 1 that demanded every participant to stand by a quote that was used in a video. They were later asked to come up on stage and express their opinions on the quote.

The video was of Steve Jobs’ Stanford commencement speech which is considered to be an extremely motivating video available on YouTube. Many students had a lot to express about their experiences related to the quote.

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The second activity, consisted of students getting chits with numbers on them. Each number had a duplicate and the participants carrying matching numbers were asked to sit with each other. Each team of two, was given 5 minutes to get to know about the person sitting next to them. After the designated time, each member came up on stage to talk about their allotted co – participant. This activity was followed by a mock personal interview session which was received well by all the participants.

The Leadership cell plans to conduct seminars once a month, which shall be presided over by eminent personalities who have achieved a lot in their respective fields of life. There shall be weekly activities to nurture the skills of the students and to provide them with the confidence they require to pursue their goals.

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Pratham Sawant and Mitali Sharma, founders of the cell said, “The need for such a cell is that students these days are completely focused on textual knowledge. However to crack any competitive exam or to start any venture confidence, perseverance and soft skills are a minimum requirement. We intend to eradicate this lacuna through our cell and we are certain that our intent can prove to be useful to a lot of students.”

The cell believes in universal growth and invites students from all across the University are invited to participate. The cell also aims at helping a lot of individuals in the improvement of their social skill.

Image Credits: Archon’s Official Facebook page

Ishaan Sengupta

[email protected]

Archon – the Leadership Cell of Motilal Nehru College is registered as a unit under Wirtschaft, Economics Society of the college. It was formed with the purpose of developing leadership skills, soft skills and confidence amongst students in the University as a whole. The Leadership Cell recently organised its ‘Activity Series’.

The First Activity day, consisted of three activities, which saw participation of around 50 students from Motilal Nehru College and 2 more participants from two other colleges. The day was kicked off with Activity 1 that demanded every participant to stand by a quote that was used in a video. They were later asked to come up on stage and express their opinions on the quote.

The video was of Steve Jobs’ Stanford commencement speech which is considered to be an extremely motivating video available on YouTube. Many students had a lot to express about their experiences related to the quote.

934825_1630511303849483_3932685778319322443_n

The second activity, consisted of students getting chits with numbers on them. Each number had a duplicate and the participants carrying matching numbers were asked to sit with each other. Each team of two, was given 5 minutes to get to know about the person sitting next to them. After the designated time, each member came up on stage to talk about their allotted co – participant. This activity was followed by a mock personal interview session which was received well by all the participants.

The Leadership cell plans to conduct seminars once a month, which shall be presided over by eminent personalities who have achieved a lot in their respective fields of life. There shall be weekly activities to nurture the skills of the students and to provide them with the confidence they require to pursue their goals.

11057253_1630511017182845_1222080686127745535_n

Pratham Sawant and Mitali Sharma, founders of the cell said, “The need for such a cell is that students these days are completely focused on textual knowledge. However to crack any competitive exam or to start any venture confidence, perseverance and soft skills are a minimum requirement. We intend to eradicate this lacuna through our cell and we are certain that our intent can prove to be useful to a lot of students.”

The cell believes in universal growth and invites students from all across the University are invited to participate. The cell also aims at helping a lot of individuals in the improvement of their social skill.

Image Credits: Archon’s Official Facebook page

Ishaan Sengupta

[email protected]

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It is that time of the year again, when the exams are drawing closer, the average student’s studying hours have increased ten – fold and parents are petrified of the fact that their hardworking, sincere and determined children have started skipping their sleep for two – three days consecutively. Alternatively, you are the student who is yet to start the syllabus and your parents are imploring you to. Here are a set of tunes that should keep you motivated and this playlist should give you the necessary boost to tackle the possibility of you turning into a zombie –

Songs to pump you up

Baar Baar Haan – Lagaan – I do not think that there is any other song in the world that is as competitive as this one. This song definitely motivates a person to give it his/her all and teaches them to never back down. What it also ends up doing is that it tells you to cheat in the exams when it says – ‘Toot gayi to ungli uthi, Paancho mili to ban gayi muthi’ – implying that if you are not able to finish your paper by yourself you should always take the help of others because together you are stronger.

 Eye of the Tiger – Survivor – Some rock songs can always make you head bang and get rid of the clog that you sustain in your brain after going through the same text book again and again. You might even end up imagining yourself wearing boxing gloves (the song featured in the Rocky series), pounding every atom out of a question paper. The lyrics – ‘It’s the eye of the tiger it’s the thrill of the fight, rising up to the challenge of our rivals” will surely end up motivating you as well.


 

Songs that calm you down

Yeh Housala – Dor – Let’s assume, that you are more accustomed to semi – classical music and the only way to bring down your stress is by singing along a melodious song such as this one. The lyrics are strong and maybe your particular passion for this genre of music allows you to connect with it. It also gets you in a calm peace of mind. Especially the lyrics – “Manzil mushkil to kya?” can calm you down and make sure you pursue your goal in a calculated and composed manner.

 

Allah Ke Bande – Kailash Kher – This beauty of a song is there to make you feel comfortable whenever you press the play button. It is just the song that calms you down and tells you that tomorrow will come again, but you need to strive harder today, smile today without taking any stress. “Allah ke bande hasde jo bhi ho kal fir aayega”. Let’s assume you are behind in your efforts to complete your syllabus. Calm down, rather than trying to read everything, it is better to understand for the amount you do read.


 

Songs that you can play in the background

Havana – Kenny G – Havana is an instrumental track compiled by legendary clarinet player Kenny G. The song is groovy and will come in handy when you require minimal distraction, but enough melody to keep you awake and charged up to be in sync with your textbooks.  Havana is a Latin American groove that will surely get you in the mood to study.

Something About Us – Daft Punk – This Daft Punk classic is groovy, trippy and has minimum vocals on it. The background fillers used by the sheer mastery of the production skills of the Daft Punk duo, can keep you concentrated on a single thought. If you are thinking about studying, then you’ll end up understanding every bit of information written on your notebooks.

We suggest you don’t listen to catchy music with lyrics while you study theory. It doesn’t help much. Instead you should go for instrumental tracks like the one’s mentioned above.

Songs that you listen to in the moments of desperation

Be Still – The Killers – This song is extremely helpful in the final hours before your exams. The night before the exam is best suited for this song. It is a lyrical treat with poetry like – “May your limits be unknown, may your efforts be your own.” It helps you calm down, even in such a tensed situation.

­­Tera Mera Rishta Puraana – Aawarapan – When it is extremely desperate, and you have no other choice, this song should help you deal with­ the frustration and stress quite efficiently. Remembering the almighty creator the night before the exams is the best option available to you. Funny how you can care less about faith throughout the year (“Tera Yakin Kyun Maine Kiya Nahin”) and just before the exams you end up justifying your ‘eternal bond’ (“Tera Mera Rishta Puraana”) with ‘the creator’.

Pehle To Kabhi Kabhi Gham Tha – Altaf Raja – When all else fails, and there is no other option available to, all you can do is crib about how life was unfair to you. I could have suggested “Give me some sunshine” to you people but then no other song is as sad and melancholic as this one. Although the lyrics are meant for your ex-girlfriend/boyfriend you can use it in another context, one where you narrate this song to your personified subject syllabus.

DU Beat team would like to wish you a happy learning experience, one where you end up finishing your course, and you do so without many hindrances. We hope these songs come to your use in the situations mentioned above.

 

With yet another academic session coming to an end at the University of Delhi, it is time to let nostalgia get you over and look back at the year that has gone by, before all of us get busy with semester examination preparation and some of us eventually leave to charter their career paths. Going by the thought, DU Beat brings to you its exclusive  Enactus Chapter’s Round Up (2014-15)’, where we present the highlighting projects taken under by Enactus at different colleges under Delhi University.

So, go with the flow and view all what activities highlighted the near to end session at Enactus community in DU, in this special edition:

Ishaan Sengupta [email protected]

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Satya Niketan is the peak hangout location for the students of all the South Campus colleges. It is basically known for its themed restaurants. There is almost perfect competition in this area if you open a restaurant, and certainly Hashtag Café’s trendy appetizers and mouth-watering main courses beat the rest of its competitors.

Location and ambiance:

Hashtag café is located on the first floor of a building close to Café Coffee Day in Satya Niketan. As soon as you enter the restaurant, you are overwhelmed by the homely atmosphere. The theme is based on an abstract railway station with a wooden floor. The room is extremely spacious with a view of the main road from the window. You will find a wall that accommodates red t-shirts with customer feedback all over it. The music in the background is assorted and renders to nearly everyone’s taste. You might even be lucky enough to find a live band playing there.

Menu and food:

Coming to the food, I had ordered the chef’s speciality – the #STFU for drinks, #TheFatboy for the main course and #PacmanWaffles for dessert. The #STFU arrived on the table and it was something that told me of what was to come later. It was packed with surprises. The spiciness of the green chillies, the tanginess of the lemon and the punch of the soda complemented each – other perfectly. Following the experimental drink, came the #TheFatboy which was another one of the chef’s specialities. The oversized burger, in addition to the grilled chunk of chicken patty served with a mysterious concoction of sauce with fries made my day completely. The burger was soft, the sauce was perfect. The only thing that could have been better was the fries which seemed a bit under-seasoned.
The final item that reached the table was the #PacmanWaffles. It was in the shape of a Pacman, hence the name. The waffle was tasty and packed with chocolate syrup. The sheer texture of the waffle astounded me.

Food review1

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Final Verdict:

The eating experience was fantastic, and the financial expenses came to be just around Rs. 450 per head. The service was perfect and the ambiance too. It is definitely the place to check out.

Ishaan Sengupta
[email protected]

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This year various colleges in Delhi University came out and managed to make their annual fests a success despite the odds being against their favour. This year, Atma Ram Sanatan Dharm College pooled in Punjabi Rap ‘Badshah’ Bohemia for their annual fest and the college became a talking point all across the University. Here is a candid interview with the college’s Student’s Union President Amit Kumar who is a 3rd year student of Industrial Chemistry at Atma Ram Sanatan Dharm College.

Hello Amit, congratulations on pulling off such a wonderful college fest this year. Can you take us through your journey of becoming the President?

Thank You. The fest was a landmark achievement and we are elated by the fact that it turned out pretty well. Yes, I was up against various panels in the union elections, and I stood won the elections despite being an Independent candidate. All because of the support I received from my friends, closest aides and home. My aspirations came true but I was aware of the responsibilities that I had to bear in the future.

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Your tenure as the President is drawing to a close, what were the issues you saw that had to be solved, and how have you dealt with them?

There were quite a lot of issues. In fact in my election manifesto, I had precisely mentioned each and every problem the students generally faced. There were issues with water coolers, women safety, food in the canteen was deplorable and the Wi – Fi wasn’t the best. I have managed to deal with majority of the problems. The canteen rate list has been updated, food quality has been upgraded. Special notice is being given to women safety. Washrooms have been cleaned. The college website now contains data related to internals. However the Wi – Fi issue is being looked at and I hope it shall be successfully addressed soon. The Central Placement Cell was inactive. That has been revived and a North East Society has been formed.

 

One of your Union Members unfortunately passed away in an accident this year. How did you and the Union deal with this incident?

Harish was extremely close to me. He often used to say, “Amit I am with you. You don’t have to worry” in decisions that needed his attention. His demise hit me hard. 8th December 2014 is a black day. He was an established leader who spoke only for student welfare.

Ishaan Sengupta
[email protected]

Every year, societies from colleges across the campus compete neck to neck and put up spectacular performances during the fest season. This year too, saw certain teams shine a little brighter than the rest. We bring you a series with college societies that put their heart and soul into their respective fields and took home the top prizes at various cultural fests.

The best college society in each category was selected by creating a tally of the top 3 positions at competitive events held during various cultural fests of this season. Whenever a society won the first prize they were award 3 points, for the second position they received 2 points and for the third position, 1 point was added to their tally.

For the Battle of Bands category, with 18 points, The Hans Raj Projekt from Hans Raj College came out on top. Ramjas’s Rangrez followed next with 9 points and St. Stephen’s Paperboat stood third with 5 points.

 

 

The Winning Society at a glance

The Hans Raj Projekt, Hans Raj College

The Hans Raj Projekt is an offshoot of Swaranjali, the music society of Hans Raj College. They perform original compositions – Tipsy which is about having fun in life, Lapse which is about the importance of time and two other unnamed compositions. Vaibhav Ahuja, President of Swaranjali and drummer of Hans Raj Projekt says, “We never perform to win. We perform because we love music.  The general feedback that we have received from judges is that our on-stage chemistry is nice and that our music is good. We always give our hundred percent and make sure that the vibes are good.”

Performing Members: Anirudh Varma – Keyboards,  Vinayak – Sitars, Shivash Chagti – Western Vocals and Acoustic Guitars, Saptak Chattopadhyay – Indian Vocals, Abhishek Mittal – Electric Guitars, Madhur Chaudhary – Bass and Vaibhav Ahuja –Drums.

Winners Tally: The Hans Raj Projekt

13 fests were included in our analysis for this series. Out of the considered fests, only 7 had conducted a competitive Battle of the Bands. Here the list of winning performances by The Hans Raj Projekt.

Ist Position: Nexus 2015 (Sri Venkateswara College), Tarang 2015 (Lady Shri Ram College), Montage 2015 (Jesus and Mary College), Tempest 2015 (Miranda House), Mecca 2015 (Hindu College), Surmanjari 2015 (Kirori Mal College).

(Hover on the icons below to know more about their victories)

In total, the band has won 14 out of 17 competitions that it has participated in. Apart from the list mentioned above, The Hans Raj Projekt has won first prize at AIIMS, IIT DELHI, NIIT, PGDAV, FMS, SSCBS, CVS and Shaheed Bhagat Singh College along with securing second position at NIFT and GGSCC.

It is really remarkable how different colleges react differently to a common discourse. Societies in colleges helps individuals develop their personal and team skills, irrespective of whether it is a cultural society or an academic one. However, starting a brand new society remains a major challenge across Delhi University. This not only hampers the personal development of students, but also demotivates those who take initiative.

After migrating to Moti Lal Nehru College this year, I successfully formed an Enactus Chapter and co– founded a Leadership Cell in my college. However, forming either wasn’t the easiest of tasks. To form a society in my college, even the Principal’s consent isn’t enough. We require a faculty advisor to get the plan disseminated to the upper bodies. We have a separate advisory council comprising of senior teachers who take note of the idea and scrutinise it. After the advisory council accepts it, we are informed of the fact that the college will not provide any funds for the society/project. In the case of the Leadership Cell, it had to be registered under the Economic Subject Society due to ambiguous reasons.

A major problem in this regard is the fact that generally the teachers and the higher authorities are sceptical of new/fresh ideas and most of the times, they deny the permission to form the society. Talking to students from different colleges shows that every college has different relaxations as well as restrictions on the formation of a new society –

Faculty Advisor

Colleges including SGTB Khalsa College, Maitreyi College and Lady Shri Ram College all require faculty advisors to start a society.

Intermediary Body

To form a new society in LSR, the application has to go through Student’s Welfare Body and an application of a non- cultural society in Maitreyi College has to be scrutinised by a teacher’s body, however such is not the case for a cultural society in Maitreyi College and SGTB Khalsa College, where the application has to directly go to the Principal.

Funds

In a college like SGTB Khalsa and a few north campus colleges, each society is eligible for funds up to 1 lakh rupees, be it cultural or non-cultural. However cultural societies in Maitreyi College receive basic funds from the college and lesser funds for non – cultural societies.

 

Societies have proved to be important clusters of human development in artistic and mental ways. There should definitely be a relaxed and a uniform method of forming a society across the University to minimise confusion.

 

 

Delhi University for years has been home to talented and ambitious students from across the country. These students end up reaching the peak in various facets of life and different professions. Hans Raj College, being a premier constituent college of the University, has quite a star studded alumni association of itself –

1) Shah Rukh Khan:

This man hardly needs any introduction. The ‘King of Bollywood’ has won at least 14 Filmfare Awards and is arguably one of the richest movie stars in India. Shah Rukh Khan has been an actor in more than 80 movies. He is one of the alumni of Hans Raj College. He graduated  in the year 1988 with Bachelors in Economics.

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2) Gopal Subramaniam:

He is a former Solicitor General of India, and a lawyer who primarily practices in the Supreme Court and the High court as a senior advocate. He resigned from the post of Solicitor General of India in the year 2011 after serving two years as the same. He has been a part of many important commissions and is an important element in the judicial system of India.
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3) Kiren Rijiju:

He is the Minister of State for Home Affairs of India. He is a grassroots level politician and a two time Lok Sabha Member of Parliament from Arunachal West constituency. He has also served as a Member of Khadi and Village Industries Commission from 2000 to 2005. He graduated from Hans Raj College in the year 1985.

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4) Rannvijay Singh:

He is a Bollywood actor, a television star and a host of MTV Roadies. Rannvijay Singh has been critically acclaimed for his works, and is set to feature in a number of Bollywood movies in the near future. He graduated from Hans Raj College and was set to join the army but ended up doing what he does now.

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5) Ajay Maken:

A versatile politician with a clean image, Ajay Maken was the former Urban Development Minister and former Sports Minister in the UPA Government. He was also the President of Delhi University Student’s Union. He graduated from Hans Raj College with a Chemistry Honours degree.

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6) Anurag Kashyap:

One of the most distinguished directors in Bollywood, Anurag Kashyap has received many accolades for directing films like Black Friday and the Gangs of Wasseypur duology. Anurag Kashyap has also won a few Filmfare awards and an award from Cannes film festival. He graduated from Hans Raj with a zoology degree in 1993.

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7) Lobsang Sangay:

Lobsang Sangay is the current Prime Minister (Sikyong) of Tibet. He graduated from Hans Raj and then went on to do an LLB course from CLC. In 2011 he was elected as the Sikyong after a democratic election where he received 58% votes.

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The list of alumni’s is unending and shows how Hans Raj has not disappointed in producing world leaders in different fields.

 

Image Credits- www.thehindu.com, www.koimoi.com,