The one thing that is common in all Delhi University students is their tendency to dream big. Everyone wants a posh car, a big house and of course, a job that pays well and keeps them satisfied too. But some students take it a step further to actually work on their dreams by starting their own enterprises while balancing college life. Here’s presenting a few entrepreneurs of DU.
Mayank Jain of Keshav Mahavidyalya’s venture, SocialBuzzar launched in November, 2011 can be described as ‘The One-Stop Shop for all your Social Media needs!’ The team takes care of every aspect of social media marketing from content creation to campaign strategy development for a firm. With big names like McKinsey & Company and HCL already featuring in their clientele list, this undertaking is all set to take on even bigger projects in the future.
Entrepreneurs Shoury Gupta, Medha Bankhwal and Prateek Handa, students of Shri Ram College of Commerce aim to commercialise theatre and bring together students approaching expertise in finance, acting, directing set management and so on from institutes across Delhi. ‘It started with a random conversation of starting our own business. Then we realized that theatre is what we love. So why not combine theatre and business? The result was Turntable Productions’, said Gupta.Started just in February 2012, this enterprise has already staged 4 shows of a bilingual play ‘Footnotes’ at Alliance Francaise, earning a total profit of over Rs.50, 000.
Madhav Sethi, a second year student from College of Business Studies, is the brain behind Muro, an interior decoration company with a mission ‘To Poster the World’. Launched in June 2012, they can turn any wall into a canvas using themed posters, wall arrangements and single posters, amongst other products. ‘We’ve already finished quite a few individual posters and are currently working on 3 orders for full walls’, said Madhav. They plan to collaborate with interior designers and architects in the near future to expand their operations.
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Wayne Dyer once said, ‘When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change’. This was the fundamental idea behind the organisation of the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College Model United Nations 2012(DDUCMUN 2012). Held on the 1st and 2nd of September, 2012 at the Conference Centre in North Campus, this event saw participation from more than 300 students from 200 schools and colleges in 25 cities.
The MUN committees included the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Human Rights Council and the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries which had their respective agendas as reforms in UN peace keeping missions, impact of climate change on Statehood, security and migration, upholding human rights in prisons and response to new sources of energy while maintaining petroleum energy viability.
The first day kicked off with one round of committee session after registrations followed by the inauguration ceremony. It started off with the lighting of the lamp by the Principal of DDUC, Dr. S K Garg, the Chief Guest for the event Dr. Sanjay Chopra, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, the Guest of Honour, Shri Tom Vadakkan, Secretary of the All India Congress Committee and the Convener of the MUN Club, Dr. Nisha Rana. The proceedings of the ceremony included addresses by Dr. Nisha Rana and the Secretary General Srishti Kapoor who declared the conference open. In the Chief Guest’s speech, Dr Sanjay Chopra spoke about his personal experiences at UN conferences with a pinch of humour while the Shri Tom Vadakkan spoke about the impact of policies formulated by one country on the rest of the world.
After a short refreshments break, the delegates were back at their committees to discuss the thought provoking agendas, through a structure that mirrored the rules followed at actual UN meets. Under the observation of the Executive Board which comprised experienced MUNers, delegates made their points backed up by thorough research and debated with representatives from other countries by raising points of inquiry and information. The committee sessions and moderated caucuses continued for the rest of the day with a lunch break in between.
The second day saw participants looking at effective solutions to address the issues in front of them. This was done through unmoderated caucuses, writing papers, drafting of resolutions and then suggesting amendments, followed by voting by the countries, interspersed with breaks in between. The evening of 2nd September saw the delegates and organising committee gather at the Main Hall for the closing ceremony of the event. To get things started, the band Autumn Home got the audience singing along as they covered popular songs like Yellow by Coldplay. After that the President, Vice President and Rapporteur of each committee announced the Best Delegate, High Commendation and Special Mention awards. “Last year DDUCMUN was a brilliant event, and they have been able to maintain the high standard once again, which is very tough to do. It is my privilege to have been associated with the DDUCMUN Club since its inception”, said Shirin Rai Gupta, a student of LSR and President of the Human Rights Council. The audience cheered for the winners enthusiastically and some even received standing ovations by fellow committee members. The evening came to a close with the Deputy Secretary General, Meenal Narula’s speech and vote of thanks.
DDUCMUN 2012 saw a huge participation of first timers. As Delegate of Netherlands in the General assembly, Akashita Sareen said, ‘DDUCMUN was the first MUN that I attended, and I was surprised at how productive the conference turned out to be. It was well organised which made the experience, for a first timer like me, extremely palpable and fun’. Her thoughts were shared by Vrinda Uppal, Delegate of Slovakia. ‘I thoroughly enjoyed interacting with fellow delegates and engaging in fruitful debating. Looking forward to the next edition!’, she said.]]>
The past few years have seen a huge participation of the youth in Model United nations; so much so that it can even be called a revolutionary trend.
Among the countless MUNs held all year round, the Model United Nations by Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College (DDUCMUN) distinguishes itself from the others. The DDUCMUN 2012, scheduled for the 1st and 2nd September 2012 to be held at the Conference Centre in North Campus will host over 300 students from more than 200 schools and colleges from over 25 cities, as the delegates discuss and debate pertinent geo-politic agendas. After having organized a highly successful international MUN in 2011 which saw participation from over 400 students from 7 countries, the team behind it is back this year to give MUNers an even better experience.
This is an excellent opportunity for participants to discuss and debate over issues and draft resolutions in response to them. The Secretary General, Srishti Kapoor is an experienced MUNer with a passion for youth involvement in global issues, an opinion that is shared by the Convener, Dr. Nisha Rana who says, “In this era, we look towards the youth of the world as global citizens who with their enthusiasm, intelligence and spirit can overcome these obstacles. DDUCMUN 2012 is a step in this direction. ” Undoubtedly, this event promises to be an MUN to watch out for!
Historically, we are all aware of the partition of 1947, the splitting of India and Pakistan, a violent episode that led to the death of millions of people and the displacement of ten million people from their homes. Some of us may have even heard our grandparents talking about the tragic events of that summer.
What Khushwant Singh does in his book, Train to Pakistan, is that he narrates the incident with a story around a small, remote village on the border of India and Pakistan where Muslims and Sikhs resided together in peace for many years. Relatively unaffected by the politic scenario of the country at the time, the villagers had only heard of the gruesome crimes committed on Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs by each other.
Mano Majra is a village were the villagers plan their day’s activities in accordance to the timing of the train that stops at the station nearby. As the reader plods through the novel, this train station turns out to play a crucial role in shaping the climax of the plot. The violence is unleashed early on with the death of the money lender, Lala Ram Lal at the hands of village goons. Shortly afterwards, the badmash Juggut Singh and a social worker from Britain visiting the village, Iqbal are accused of the murder and rounded up by the police. Juggut, or Juggu as he’s referred to, is infamous throughout the village but has been wrongly accused of the crime. Iqbal is a cynical and well educated babu sahib who often voices his thoughts about the flaws in the system and the mentality of the villagers.
While they are still in lock-up, an unscheduled train stops at Mano Majra, full of bodies of dead Sikhs. This train from Pakistan is the first gory event that stems from the Partition that the villagers witness themselves, having hitherto merely heard storied of murder, rape and abduction before. After this incident, mistrust, anger and sorrow divide the otherwise friendly villagers with the Muslims deciding it best to leave for Pakistan. Tension mounts as the Sikhs plan to retaliate by killing off all Muslims in a train to Pakistan, which was also carrying the villagers they’d lived with for many years. Once released, both Iqbal and Juggu are presented with the same opportunity of saving many lives and preventing more bloodshed. Juggu makes for an unlikely hero at the end when he risks all to save the passengers on the train, including Nooran, the girl he loved.
Khushwant Singh narrates the incidents and creates the characters in excruciating detail, thus allowing the reader to visualise. He captures the transition of behaviour and attitude in the characters in a life like manner. The characters, Hukum Chand, the magistrate in particular, are often posed with moral dilemmas and conflicting thoughts. Rather than focusing on the political events, he looks at how they affected common people at the grass root level. He doesn’t condemn any side but rather holds all parties equally responsible for the Partition and the terror it created. Train to Pakistan is a book many have recommended but I had never actually gotten down to reading it. I regret having picked it up so late, for though it is fictional, this book catches human emotions of fear, anger and brutality in a simple yet chilling manner.
Everyone’s favourite prehistoric trio is back this summer with Ice Age: Continental Shift or Ice Age 4, as it is popularly referred to. Having been a fan of the series since the first part released in 2002, I was quite eager to watch this movie as soon as possible. And as I settled down in my seat with my 3D glasses and popcorn, I knew right away that I was not going to be disappointed!
As always, the movie begins with Scrat on his never ending quest to get hold of an acorn. Only this time, it leads to the breaking up of the super continent Pangaea. Thanks to this catastrophic event, Manny the mammoth gets separated from Ellie and Peaches, who’s all grown up now and is facing ‘problems’ many human teenagers can relate to. What follows is whirlwind ride with Manny, along with Diego, Sid and his senile grandmother, trying to get back to his family when they’re cast away on an iceberg.
As the pack drifts farther away their home, a new character, the monstrous monkey pirate Captain Gutt is introduced. He and his funny crew (including prehistoric kangaroos and a female sabre-toothed cat) capture them, but they manage to escape and destroy the pirate ship. Furious, Captain Gutt promises to seek revenge.
Their journey leads them to an island with Hyraxes, who are small, herbivorous animals that take a particular liking to Sid. More encounters with the pirate crew and some sirens later, they finally reach their herd, only to find that Captain Gutt beat them to it and is holding Manny’s family captive. That brings us to the finale of the movie, with a showdown between the pack and the pirate leader and a surprise which suggests that Sid’s granny may not be that senile after all.
Scrat, with his acorn-obsessed antics steals the show once again. The trio is able to keep the magic and their chemistry going throughout the movie. Sid, as usual messes up the plans and Diego finally has a love interest in this movie. The animation is beautiful and 3D technology in the scenes showing the breaking off of the landmass and the huge waves of the ocean is especially breath taking.
Apart from the familiar voices of Ray Romano, Josh Leguizamo and Denis Leary who voice Manny, Sid and Diego respectively, many new actors join the cast along with some stars like Nicki Minaj as teenage mammoth, Jennifer Lopez as Peaches and Kunal Nayyar of the Big Bang Theory fame who plays the Indian pirate badger, Gupta.
Though the script may not be as strong as those of the previous movies, the movie still lives up to expectations. The sub plots are engaging and even the soundtrack is fun. In all, Ice Age 4 makes for a very enjoyable watch.
As the new batch of students started attending college from today, the 23rd of July, Delhi University has gone all out to enforce stringent anti-ragging measures, hoping to continue with the success of last year’s efforts when no ragging incidents were reported.
The DU website already declares its ‘Zero Tolerance to Ragging’ with posters informing students that ragging is strictly prohibited in all college, department and hostel premises. It also includes instructions on the Ragging Complaint Mechanism and the Anti-Ragging Helpline Number. Such posters have also been put up in metro stations. As per the University guidelines all colleges have set up individual Anti Ragging Cells and Squads to control and prevent such activities within the institutions.
The Delhi Police is also doinge their bit. Constables have been appointed outside colleges and specific metro stations to ensure ragging doesn’t take place even outside the campuses. Special attention has also been paid to colleges for girls, near which women cops will be stationed.
These measures are in addition to existing rules such as not allowing guests to stay at the hostels for the initial weeks, permitting students to enter their college only with Identity Cards and displaying anti ragging banners within the campus.
The University Grants Commission’s Regulations on curbing the menace of ragging include a long list of acts that constitute ragging. It includes any form of bullying, trauma, violence, abuse or embarrassment that may affect a student physically, sexually, mentally, emotionally or financially. The penalties for such activities have also clearly been mentioned. They include suspension, expulsion and cancellation of degree. In the year 2009 two students from Kirorimal College were expelled for ragging a junior, and a Mathematics student of Ramjas College was expelled last year.
Hoping to encourage healthy relations between seniors and juniors, many colleges are also organising induction programs during the initial days of the session. It is an opportunity for freshers to talk to their seniors about the college, course and faculty. A lot of freshers feel that such interactions are crucial in college life and most don’t consider ragging a problem unless taken too far. “Unless it’s extreme, ragging is just light hearted fun. If the seniors stay within the limit, I don’t think it’s too serious an issue “, said a fuccha for English Honours at Kamala Nehru College.
As is evident, Delhi University is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that students remain safe and protected and so that they can start their first few days on a happy note.
Many colleges across Delhi University welcomed the new batch of students yesterday, the 2oth of July at the orientation programs organised at the respective campuses. Freshers, mostly accompanied by parents, got their first glimpse of college life and got a chance to interact with their new teachers and classmates.
Most orientations started with the respective college Principals welcoming the students and congratulating them for having gotten admission in DU, which is considered to be one of the most prestigious and established universities in India. What followed was a brief history of the institution and a description of the various courses and extra-curricular activities the college offered. After that, department specific orientations were held where detailed and course specific information was provided to the students.
Unlike most colleges, Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies held its orientation at The Conference Centre, North Campus. “The program was very interesting and well organised. It started off with the lighting of the lamp and a welcome address. Along with the Principal, and faculty members, a few college alumni also spoke to us about the college and its many societies and activities. After refreshments, there was an informal
discussion among the new and current students”, said Vatsal Khullar a fresher pursuing Bachelor of Business Studies at CBS.
Other colleges like Hindu and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya also had their orientation for the new batch of students yesterday. While colleges such as St.Stephen’s , Zakir Hussain and SRCC have scheduled it for this Sunday, Gargi, Kamla Nehru and a few others are set to welcome freshers on Monday, the 23rd of July.