Shubham Kaushik, Author at DU Beat - Delhi University's Independent Student Newspaper

St. Stephen’s College releases cutoffs; touches 99 for English

By Shubham Kaushik June 18, 2016

St. Stephen’s College released its cutoffs for the undergraduate admissions 2016-17. The cutoffs are expectedly sky-high, with 99% being the required percentage for a Commerce student to be able to study English. Economics stands at 96.75% – 98.25% for the general category, which an additional requirement of having scored 90% in Mathematics. The cutoffs have been released amidst a tussle between the DU admissions committee and St. Stephen’s College about the latter not adhering to centralised DU admissions policies. To know what could be the possible repercussions for students, read: DU extends admissions application date.

For a full understanding of St. Stephen’s College’s admissions procedure, read: Guidelines on Admissions Procedure of SSC

Take a look at the course-wise cutoffs below:

To understand the columns, refer to the following key:

NOTE: BFS: Best of Four Subjects Rider: Additional Eligibility Criteria — NOTE: **BFS**: Best of Four Subjects
**Rider**: Additional Eligibility Criteria

1. B.A. (Programme)

2. Economics

3. Mathematics:

$MATH SSC$

4. English

5. History

6. Philosophy

7. Sanskrit

8. Chemistry

9. Physics

10. B.Sc Programme (Maths, Phy, Chem)

11. B. Sc Programme (Maths, Phy, Computer Science)

Understanding the categories:

1. GEN: General (Non – Christian)

2. SC/ST : Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (Non – Christian)

3. CST: General Scheduled Tribe/Dalit

4. CNI: Church of North India

5. CNID: CNI Delhi Diocese

6. COTH: Christian Others

7. PWD: Person with Disabilities

8. CPH: Christian Physically Challenged

9. UR: Urdu Candidate

Shubham Kaushik

Biblio

Book Review: Caught in the web of modern romance with The Last Seen Romantic

By Shubham Kaushik June 17, 2016

Arjun Dutt’s The Last Seen Romantic is a tale of the virtual world, love and distance combining as a recipe for almost – disaster for its protagonist. Exploring being overwhelmed by social media and being caught in the throes of loneliness despite being connected to people on the interweb, the book certainly deals with themes that are very relevant today.

The book begins with a bang as the reader is swept right away in the flow of things without any dawdling. Aryan, a young professional, is enamoured by Tanvi Kapoor after meeting her at the office elevator one Monday morning. The woman in question is portrayed as captivating and having a strong presence about her. This catches Aryan’s eye and makes him fall in love with her despite barely knowing her. To Aryan’s dismay, he discovers that Tanvi is relocating to UK for a year-long project. Despite the odds being stacked against him and his best friend cautioning him about his unrealistic passions, Aryan decides to pursue Tanvi. So begins the tale of constant untimely Friendsview (read: Facebook) messaging, brooding about calls that never come and Aryan’s entire life centering around the ‘Tigress’ that is Tanvi Kapoor and his unnaturally strong feeling towards her. With social media and long-distance phone calls the only way to communicate, will Aryan win over Tanvi? Or will he lose her to the omnipresent men in her life, specifically her roommate and colleague Raghav? Most importantly, will Aryan’s everyday life be able to bear the brunt of him being caught up in the virtual world? These are some of the questions the book deals with as major plot points.

Readers might find Aryan’s lofty and unrealistic ideas of love slightly off-putting, especially since it is written from Aryan’s perspective. Believing in love at first sight, forming his attachments too early and claiming to be ‘the last seen romantic’, his views are somewhat balanced by his best friend, Vikram Nath, who comes across as more sensible. Other characters in the Aryan-Tanvi mix are Aryan’s colleagues and Tanvi’s many male admirers, the latter causing Aryan much chagrin and forming a major plotline in the book. A reader would get worried about the harsh, and frankly unfair, possessiveness that Aryan shows towards Tanvi and his harmful observation, almost stalking, of her every move but this only proves the point of the kind of paranoia some modern relationships come along with. The ending, a tad abrupt, is also quite unexpected.

About the author: An alumnus of Delhi College of Engineering, Arjun Dutt works at a start-up company in the world of technology and finance. The Last Seen Romantic is his first book.

Feature Image: Cover of The Last Romantic Shubham Kaushik [email protected]]]>

DUTA to exempt third years’ papers from evaluation boycott; admission process might suffer

By Shubham Kaushik June 17, 2016

In a move that will come as a relief to thousands of final year students awaiting their semester 6 results for purposes that include VISA applications and Masters’ applications, the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) decided to exempt the evaluation of the answer scripts of the erstwhile FYUP, that is, final year students from its protest action of evaluation boycott. At the same time, it has called for an intensification of protest and movement for the roll back of the API based promotion scheme.

The recent protests by DUTA resulted in the government backing out on the recent policy that would have resulted in an increase in the teaching hours required from each teacher, and would also lead to potential loss of employment for several of them. However, the government decided to continue with the API based promotion scheme, which, according to DUTA has proven to adversely affect teaching and learning. Another reason cited for the intensification of protests is the denial of permanent appointments and promotions of teachers for the last several years.

The intensification of protest will impact the first and the second year students, with the continued boycott of the evaluation of their answer scripts. It will also have serious ramifications for the upcoming admission process, with DUTA vowing to boycott all aspects of it.

Feature Image: The Hindu

Shubham Kaushik

UG Admissions 2016: Colleges offering concession to girls candidates

By Shubham Kaushik June 5, 2016

Several Delhi University colleges grant concessions to girls candidates in the cut-off for admission in certain courses. The amount of concession, the colleges and courses change every year. This year, the admissions committee has permitted 24 colleges to provide 1% concession to girls candidates in the cutoffs in a few courses. The colleges which will be offering this concession are:

1. ARSD College

2. Acharya Narendra Dev College

3. Aryabhatta College

4. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College

5. Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar College

6. Dyal Singh College

7. Maharaja Agrasen College

8. Motilal Nehru College

9. Motilal Nehru College (E)

10. Ram Lal Anand College

11. PGDAV College

12. PGDAV College (E)

13. Ramjas College

14. Rajdhani College

15. Ramanujan College

16. Shivaji College

17. Shaheed Bhagat Singh College (E)

18. Shyam Lal College

19. Shyam Lal College (E)

20. Satyawati College

21. Satyawati College (E)

22. Sri Venkateswara College

23. Zakir Husain Delhi College

24. Zakir Husain Delhi College (E)

Except ARSD College, other colleges don’t offer concession for all courses. The complete college wise list of the courses for which concession is being provided is available in Annexure II of the Information Bulletin released by Delhi University for undergraduate admissions, which is on pages 51 – 55 of the Bulletin.

The Information Bulletin can be accessed here.

Feature Image: Vibhana Kanwar for DU Beat

Open Day 4: Forensic Science not being introduced as a UG course in 2016

By Shubham Kaushik June 4, 2016

With the admissions process for undergraduate courses in Delhi University having begun on June 1 with the start of online applications for merit-based courses, the university has been organising guidance sessions for aspirants and their guardians and as a way to address their various queries. The fourth Open Day session took place at the Conference Centre, North Campus.

Dr. Gurpreet Tuteja, Deputy Dean of Admissions, started off the session in which several noteworthy points were made. Aspirants were informed that on case they are unable to access the DU UG portal due to unavailability of a laptop/computer, they are free to visit colleges and use the college labs but should carry their mode of payment with them. Dr. Tuteja explained the entire application process step-by-step, in which the following important points emerged:

1. For Sports and ECA admissions, aspirants need to upload their highest achievement certificates of the last three years. For more information on Sports and ECA admissions, read DU Admissions ’16: Admission through Sports Quota and DU Admissions ’16: Guidelines for ECA category)

2. If a student doesn’t have the original marksheet because it hasn’t been provided by their schools/board yet, they can download their marksheets from the website of their respective Boards and upload that after self-attesting it.

3. Documents required as mandatory uploads: Passport size photograph (self attested), Signature, Class 10 certificate (for proof of date of birth), required certificates for the quota/category applied for, and an additional income certificate for OBC candidates.

4. Documents required at the time of admissions while visiting colleges: Class 10 certificate, Class 10 marksheet (for CBSE students, the former two are usually combined and that isn’t an issue), Provisional certificate, Character certificate and migration certificate (mandatory for those from outside Delhi) and necessary certificates if applied under a particular quota (for a detailed account of documents required, read Required Documents for Undergraduate Admissions at DU)

5. Caste certificates must be in the applicants’ name

6. For admission to minority colleges (JMC, St. Stephen’s College, Mata Sundri College etc.), the applicants must first fill the common admissions form on the UG portal and then proceed according to respective college’s procedures.

Dr. Tuteja also went into a detailed explanation of the procedure to calculate best of four according to various streams and course combinations. He insisted that for an honours subject, if the subject applied for is not included in the best of four, it would lead to a deduction of 2.5%. Inclusion of physical education (or any subject other than the ones mentioned in the list of electives provided by the university) will also lead to a deduction of 2.5&. For a detailed explanation of how to calculate best of four, read DU Admission ’16: Calculation of Best of Four marks.

He insisted on the importance of the marks for all subjects being in a 70:30 ratio for theory:practical. Any subject whose marks are being included and not in the given ratio must be adjusted accordingly. He informed that including English (elective) would give the applicants a 2% advantage in the best of four. A stream change (for eg: having studied Science in class 12 and applying for B.A) could lead to a deduction of 1-5%, depending on individual colleges’ policy.

Cases of students who have opted for Improvement exams or sent their marks for reevaluation were also discussed. For students taking improvement exams, Dr. Tuteja informed that they need to upload their updated marksheet. For reevaluation, if students haven’t received their final marks, they should upload and submit their current marks but use the updated marks, as and when received before the cutoffs, to calculate their best of four and when they visit colleges.

Students had a number of queries after the session ended, which were all addressed in a question and answer session. In an answer to a student, he informed that Forensic Science wasn’t being introduced as a course in undergraduation in 2016-17. He answered another candidate, who was concerned about the lack of an income certificate for OBC quota, and told him that for families who were self-employed and didn’t have income certificate, they could use their income tax receipts or else just write down their family income and self-attest it, which would be verified later.

Aspirants were seen huddling around the Dean after the session ended too.

Feature image credit: Vibhana Kanwar for DU Beat

Shubham Kaushik

Features

LECIN celebrates one year of educating underprivileged children

By Shubham Kaushik June 4, 2016

LECIN ( Let’s Educate Children In Need ), is an organisation that reaches out to children from the underprivileged sections of society, and provides them with a platform to express their talents in a better manner. Set up in May 2015, the journey began to provide quality education by founder Nupur Bhardwaj from Ramanujan College, later joined by other dedicated students of various DU colleges.

The NGO operates in two slum areas, namely, Indraprastha and Govindpuri. Volunteers and interns visit the slums on weekends to teach and spend time with the kids and understand their growth and improvement. Currently, more than fifty active volunteers are teaching almost fifty students from the age of 4-12 year in both the slum areas.

Other activities undertaken include Kalakriti based on art and craft, Naitikta, relating to moral values and Rubaroo, an interaction activity where children play games and discuss issues concerning them.

The organisation celebrated their first annual day, Unnati 2016, at the Delhi Public Library, Chandini Chowk. The event saw children performing songs and dancing on Bollywood numbers along with poem recitation. Jazba, the dramatics society of Ramanujan College performed a comedy play themed around childhood followed by an interaction session between the team and the children, where the senior members of the team also shared their personal experiences.

LECIN recently reached the Semi-Finals of the Yuva Chetna Awards as a result of the persistent efforts of the team in educating children.

Funds, absenteeism, and reluctance of parents to send the children remain few of the many hurdles faced by the team, but the positive response from the kids and the bond between the volunteers and kids motivates the NGO to work in the face of challenges.

Read more about LECIN’s work and initiatives on their Facebook page.

Inputs from Gagandeep Singh Vaid

Feature image: Harsh Bhatt

Shefali Bharati

From Dates to Docs: Your complete guide to the UG 2016 Admission Process

DU Admissions 2016 : BE/BBA top choice for entrance-based courses

By Shubham Kaushik June 2, 2016

Delhi University had launched online admissions for six undergraduate entrance-based courses on May 13, and started online applications for merit-based courses on June 1. The response to both applications has been overwhelming.

More than 30,900 applicants had successfully registered through DU’s online portal within the first six hours of the launch of the portal on June 1 for merit-based admissions. Of the 30,900 registered, 5600 had completed the entire registration process along with the online payment of the registration fees. This year, the admission fee for colleges will also be paid online, making the admissions process entirely digital for the first time.

Registration for entrance-based undergraduation courses ended on May 31 with a total of more than 54,000 applicants. The female applicants outweighed the applicants of other categories, with more than 30,000 of them, as compared to around 24,000 male applicants and 4 of the ‘Other’ gender. Among the offered courses, B.A (H) Business Economics and BBA emerged as the top choice with nearly 23,000 applications. The second rank course, B.El.Ed, received around 10,800 applications.

For more information on the undergraduate merit-based admissions, read:

Open Day 1: Important things to keep in mind

Shubham Kaushik

Uncategorized

DU undergraduate admissions – Online applications begin

By Shubham Kaushik June 1, 2016

The University of Delhi has opened online admissions for undergraduate courses for the session 2016-17 on the basis of merit (non-entrance based). The online application process begins today and will end on June 19, 2016. The entire undergraduate admission process including declaration of all cutoff lists will end on August 16, 2016. The first cutoff list will be declared on June 27.

The online application is also applicable for students seeking admission under the following:

1. Kashmiri migrants and CW

2. Sports/ECA

3. Students applying to minority colleges (St. Stephen’s, Jesus and Mary College etc.)

4. Candidates from National Capital Territory applying for Non-Collegiate Women’s Education Board for B.A./B.Com.

The online admissions portal can be accessed here: link

In the portal, the mandatory uploads for all applicants are as follows:

a) Passport size photograph of the applicant. The specification of the passport size photo is same as that used in the Indian Passport.

b) Scanned signature of the applicant

c) Self-attested copy of Class X Board Certificate (for the date of birth)

d) Self-attested copy of SC/ST/OBC/PwD/KM/CW Certificate, if applicable

e) Self-attested copy of income certificate (for OBC non-creamy layer) Certificate, if applicable

f) Self-attested copy of Sport Certificate(s) for last three years, if applicable

g) Self-attested copy of Extra Curricular Activities Certificate(s), if applicable

h) Self-attested Class XII mark-sheet, if result is announced. (In case mark-sheet is not issued by the Board then the self-attested copy of the Mark-Sheet downloaded from the respective boards’ website should be uploaded).

For assisting PwD candidates with the filling of the online application form, two centres have been exclusively established by the university, one in the North Campus and the other in the South Campus.

The fees for online registration is non-refundable and as follows:

1. Unrestricted and OBC categories – Rs. 100

2. SC/ST/PwD categories – Rs. 50

3. Sports/ECA categories – Rs. 100 (additional to the above two)

Feature Image: Aditya Rathore

Shubham Kaushik

Uncategorized

CoHo Dorms offer alternatives to Hostel and PG accommodations in DU

By Shubham Kaushik May 26, 2016

With the Class 12 results out, an entire new batch of students is all set to be caught up in the frenzy of Delhi University admissions. While getting into a good college and a course of your choice are the concerns on top of everyone’s lists, another concern that ranks not much far under those is that of accommodation. Delhi University sees a huge number of outstation students – and this year even a higher number of foreign students- applying every year. While hostels, Paying Guest accommodations and independent flats are definitely an option, they all come with their own sets of issues.

Hostels offered by Delhi University and the colleges under it are limited, to say the least. They are also usually not open for students from Delhi, which becomes an issue for students who, while in Delhi, live two hours away from the campus. DU hostels have recently been surrounded by controversies brought up by the lack of availability of necessities like water supply and the Pinjra Tod campaign which has been fighting against discriminatory rules against women. A notice has been issued by the Delhi Commission for Women to all hostels in DU and institutions around Delhi. PGs come with their own sets of restrictions and accompanying high costs too.

Keeping all these issues in mind, CoHo.in has come up with CoHo dorms to bridge this gap of demand-supply for students. CoHo dorms are state-of-the-art rental accommodations. They are fully-furnished and fully-maintained, with a spacious common lounge area suitable for college clubs’ meetings too!

The dorms are vibrant and suit the enthusiasm of starting a new phase of life in college. There are thematic photo-frames on the wall with guitars and drums on the couches and games on the desk. They also offer study areas to all students with a place to keep their books and build up a personal library of sorts. Understanding the situation of most college students, who are tempted to visit the various food joints around the university but are often too broke for it, they have partnered with foodpanda, Pizza Hut, Beer Café and others which will offer CoHo residents exclusive discounts.

The rent, including AC, 24/7 high-speed internet, and wholesome meals, starts from INR 10,000 and isn’t exorbitant!

CoHo will be coming up with dorms around Malka Ganj, Hudson Lane and Kamla Nagar areas, all of which are very near to the North Campus, before the session begins. One of their dorms in Shakti Nagar is available for viewing and will be ready for moving-in in June.

CoHo.in will be hosting a fun Gaming Night on May 28. For more information, visit their Facebook page. Find out more about them here.

Guest post by Chirutha Kalra, Team CoHo