Srivedant Kar, Author at DU Beat - Delhi University's Independent Student Newspaper

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Delhi University Colleges organise self-defence classes post NYE mass molestation

By Srivedant Kar January 24, 2017

In the wake of mass molestation at Bengaluru which sent shock waves around the nation, colleges in University of Delhi (DU) are going a step ahead by encouraging students to enroll for self-defence classes, and some are even imparting skill development training to empower.

Kirori Mal College (KMC) organised a 15 day long self-defence training camp for girls in collaboration with Delhi Police. “It’s difficult to change the sick mindset in our country. Women empowerment should be more than a slogan. Through this self-defence training, we will enable girls to defend themselves when in need” says Nikhil Agrawal, a third year student of the college. The program which is an initiative of SAHAS – Women Empowerment Cell of the NSS unit of the college started on January 9^th.

Hindu College also started a self-defence and skill development program called Project Veerangana. An initiative of Enactus Hindu, the program imparts basic self-defence training for women and also helps them to turn their self-defence skills into a source of livelihood. “The objective of our project is not to just impart self-defence training to women but also help them become young entrepreneurs so that they can market their skills for a basic livelihood and teach more women how to be safe,” said Vishruti Jain, president of Enactus Hindu College. Under a three-tier process, the first 10 days saw a workshop conducted by the special police unit for women and children in association with Evergreen Public School. The self-defence workshop included 40 school students and 30 women from the slum area. After the training process, these women will in turn impart lessons to the other women under the supervision of colleges and schools. The program plans to impart lessons of entrepreneurship and communications to them, so that they can earn a livelihood by imparting these lessons in schools and colleges.

Satyawati College has also begun its self defence training program for girls which would be of 15 days beginning from 20^th January. This initiative is being taken up by the NSS unit of the college in collaboration with Delhi Police Ashok Vihar police station. Rashi Nimi, the NSS vice president of Satyawati College says, “Crime is increasing day-by-day and so are the numbers of molestation cases. In such times, it is important that women be empowered in whatever way they can be. The students are very happy that such programs are being conducted, and if the response is good, we will organise it again.”

With growing cases of molestation in colleges and DU being a top choice of meritorious girls across the country, the colleges are serious towards ensuring safety of their students.

Srivedant Kar

Image credits: Prithvijeet Singh Thakur, KMC

Arts & Culture

Book Review- The Burning Forest: India’s war in Bastar

By Srivedant Kar January 23, 2017

“The first casualty when a war comes, is truth”, this quote stares straight at times when people sit to discuss wars. History has been the best witness of how often truth has been molded by victors of wars. Across all the wars, it is the common people who bear the brunt of the conflicts.

This book, written by Nandini Sundar- an award winning sociologist at Delhi School of Economics is a firsthand account of facts, stories and happenings that shaped the war between the Indian State and the Maoists. The book largely deals with the lost lives, casualties and stories of large scale violence that was thrust upon the tribal villages in the name of anti-insurgency operations by the Indian State. Starting from her earlier days when she spent time in the area as a PhD student to her field visits and numerous other times spent in Bastar, the author collects shades from the time to tell the reader the tale of how things were, and how they have been made into what they are now.

She tries to bring to light the marginalized stories about large scale human rights violations, mass molestations and almost everything that has been obscured by the dominant narratives and state control. The book makes the reader express the same words that Supreme Court judgement also featured, ‘Its Horror! It’s Horror!’

If you believe that everything is in black and white in the anti-insurgency operations conducted by the security forces in the jungles, this book is a must read for you. The book throws light on one of the worst of state supported killings of civilians in the history of India as well the legal battles that were fought for justice.

War is not just about suffering and death, but also about the complex workings of bureaucracies, militaries, political groups and societies that form its scaffolding. This book is a must read for students to widen their horizon and discover that which is often concealed in the gaps and silences of the popularized or state sanctioned narratives.

It is imperative for us to know, ‘the Horror!’ that happened in our own country.

You can buy the book here: The Burning Forests
Srivedant Kar

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Prof. H.P Singh appointed director of Cluster Innovation Centre

By Srivedant Kar January 15, 2017

In a new development and a major change of guard in an institution of Delhi University after the new vice chancellor took over, Prof. Harinder P. Singh has been appointed the new director of Cluster Innovation Centre (CIC). A professor at department of Physics and Astrophysics, Prof. Singh is also the dean of International Relations of the university. An eminent researcher in the field of astronomy, he has been the vice president of Astronomical society of India. He is also a member of the International Astronomical Union as well as a fellow at Royal Astronomical society, London.

Speaking to DU beat, Prof. Singh outlined various things of importance that would be taken up for development of the institute. CIC was set up as a centre to promote interdisciplinary framework as well as promote innovation in the University. “We would look towards increasing projects which can promote science along with a human face, which would in turn promote interdisciplinarity” said Prof. Singh.

Speaking about his plans for various programmes, he pointed out that the students of B.A (Hons.) Humanities and Social Sciences get a lot of freedom in choosing their course which they should use to engage themselves in various activities that could help create a social impact. He also noted, that projects also need to be more socially engaging and should include students from across programmes. “In order to promote the academic environment more seminars, lectures and discussions will be organised. We should be able to give an education that is above the marks and grades system” said Prof. Singh. He also emphasised on increasing attention towards various extracurricular activities which would help in personality development of students in the institute.

Amongst his various new initiatives planned, he wanted the institute to have its own newspaper. “We do so many things the whole year, but don’t showcase it anywhere. We must have our own newspaper.” CIC which has Design Innovation Centre, Startup Incubation Centre and Centre for Scientific Communication as various organs other than its academic programmes had organised an exhibition of various products designed by its students which drew major attention last year. This initiative if successful, would improve the impact factor the institute’s research profile.
“Every student comes with lots of hopes and dreams when he come to an institute. How much of that he is able to fulfill within his time as a student is what determines the success of the institute as whole. We should try our best to help students achieve their dreams” said Prof. Singh.

Srivedant Kar
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Students of CIC organise ‘Matrix 1.0’ to celebrate the spirit of Mathematics

By Srivedant Kar November 5, 2016

Cluster Innovation Centre (CIC) is known to provide unique and innovative solutions to various problems of the society within the university. It has often known to have worked of problems of gender, disability, history and environment through several of its projects. This time, the mathematics society of CIC- Matrix organised an event ‘Matrix 1.0’ on 5^th October 2016 as a unique initiative to dispel the fear of students for Maths through various interactive activities. The daylong event which featured several games, activities and a film screening saw participation of students from across various colleges and several schools in Delhi.

The event started with mathematics quiz prelims, whose qualifiers were paired up for the final round where questions from mathematical philosophy to jigsaw puzzle chose the winners. This was followed by an open film screening of ‘The man who knew Infinity’, a film based on Ramanujan’s life to inspire students to break their fear of mathematics.

After a brisk break, ‘Mathematical Rangoli’ was started. This competition, which was a team affair, saw the participants being judged on the basis of color combination, design and the mathematical concept of their respective Rangoli. This was followed by ‘chess based games’ where individual participants were pitted against their own self. They were evaluated through several rounds and were judged on the basis of the improvement they showed in subsequent rounds.

Apart from these major competitions, several others were also held throughout the day. Games like Tangram Puzzles which require the players to arrange tans (mathematical shapes) in a given stencil, Magic Polygon Puzzles in which the players had to arrange natural numbers along the sides of given polygons to get a specific sum and many other games ensured that the visitors don’t get bored for even a minute.

The event drew its curtains after prize distribution. “We need more of such events in many other colleges and schools, because it’s in schools where children are most haunted by mathematics.” said one of the participants. This kind of initiative of dispelling notions about a subject is praiseworthy and departments in colleges should organise such events in order to dispel several myths around their own subjects through plays, games, films or other innovative methods.

(With inputs from Priyankesh Dixit)

Srivedant Kar

DUB News

Former Vice Chancellor of Delhi University to launch two new colleges

By Srivedant Kar October 22, 2016

Prof.Singh who is known for his innovative initiatives is all set to open a college of startups and a trans-disciplinary internet college.

Prof. Dinesh Singh, the former vice chancellor of Delhi University who is known for his out of the box thoughts and innovative ideas has disclosed in a public lecture about his plans to start two new colleges. Prof. Singh who is known have started several new initiatives like Gyanodaya, Antardhwani and Cluster Innovation Centre (CIC) during his time, spoke about his ideas of opening a trans-disciplinary internet college and a college of startups to combat the deteriorating standards of higher education at a public lecture on “Redefining Education: Enabling India” at India International Center on 17^th October, 2016 (Monday). These new ventures are expected to be launched this January.

He cited India’s historical excellence in the fields of medicine, metallurgy, economics, trigonometry, and even calculus, but stated that over the years the Indian education system has lost its way.“A lot of students that are coming out of our current education system do not have real-world skills. Only 14% of all engineering graduates are employable. An IIT student once said that the only thing he had learned was how to give exams” he said.

He also proposed trans-disciplinary courses, skill-based learning, and entrepreneurial skills to secure the future of India. At his Internet College, which is expected to have collaborations with multiple international institutions, he hopes to harness the power of technology to allow students to widen their paradigms.

Similarly the College of start-ups will empower students with the skills needed to establish their own entrepreneurial ventures. “At universities, we talk about getting a job. We need to start talking about creating jobs. We need to tie skills and knowledge together.”

“India is in danger, unless we become a knowledge-based economy. It will work in perfect tandem with the ‘Digital India’ initiative,” he explained.

Melba Pria, the Mexican ambassador to India, and Professor Adele Martial, the French Embassy’s attaché for science and technology, also spoke about the education systems in their respective countries, and ways they could learn from each other, on the same occasion.

(Source: Hindustan Times)

Image credits: www.DUBeat.com

Srivedant Kar

CIC hosts a talk on Oral History by Sohail Hashmi

By Srivedant Kar October 16, 2016

Amidst various kinds of literature that we come across, one of the least known is oral literature. This is a rich form of literature which contains stories, histories and traditions that are passed on across generations orally. This literature which is mostly prevalent among natives and tribal communities is dying a slow death in the present era. In an attempt to conserve this form of literature, the students of B.A. (Humanities and Social Sciences) are creating awareness on orality via several projects, workshops and lectures. As part of this initiative, Sohail Hashmi, an eminent historian, academician and film maker delivered a talk on ‘Delhi –Forgotten Histories and Imagined Histories’ in Cluster Innovation Centre (CIC) on 6th October, 2016. This talk was a result of a collaborative effort by two ongoing projects in CIC, ‘Digital Repositories of Oral Stories’ and ‘Invisible Heritage: The historical gardens of Delhi’.

The talk began with Mr. Hashmi asking audience to separate mythology from history. He said, “In China there is a popular tale of a flying monkey. People tell this story to their children, but no one believes it to be real and in India, you all know who the flying monkey is”. He went ahead to dismiss some popular claims that is made by people of the ruling party at the centre and said “A quila in Delhi that is popularly known to be constructed by Prithviraj Chauhan, was actually never constructed by him.” He went ahead to prove his point by providing several evidences, one of them being that the plasters found on the wall did not exist at the time Prithviraj Chauhan ruled. Many other beliefs were dismissed by him among which several were from the book ‘Prithviraj Raso’ written by Chand Bardai, the court poet of Prithviraj Chauhan.

He went ahead to deconstruct several popular beliefs of the Mughal period saying ‘Jodhabai was not the wife of Akbar but his mother.’ He then clarified that the historian who recorded the Mughal history of India confused Akbar’s mother for his wife. Several other references are found which prove that it was Harkha Bae, who was Akbar’s wife and not Jodha Bai.

Shipra, one of the students who attended the talk said “The lecture inspired us to question even some of our own beliefs. There are many things which we all believe blindly. As students we should question everything that we come across.” The talk ended with the audience asking questions about the concept of Charbagh, the legendary history of Saraswati River and the Iron Pillar at Sarnath, all of which were answered by him very eloquently.

Srivedant Kar

Image Credits: Dushyant Yadav

CIC students organise awareness program about breast cancer

By Srivedant Kar October 12, 2016

Every year, October is the celebrated as the month of breast cancer awareness across the world. On this occasion, students of Cluster Innovation Centre (CIC) organized a speaker session to create awareness about breast cancer. The event that was organized on 4th October, 2016 at CIC featured several eminent surgeons from the top hospitals of Delhi. The event was organized by Samanway, the cultural society of CIC, and Womenite, a national award winning NGO which works for various social causes. The event was supported by CIC 306 – Innovation Project: Holistic approach of fighting cancer, from prevention to cure.

The event started with an introduction about breast cancer by Dr. Mahima Kaushik, the project mentor of the Innovation Project. She threw some light on the growing numbers of the monstrous disease in India and around the world. She explained factors responsible for this type of cancer and said that, “unhealthy lifestyle is one of the major factors behind occurrence of cancer”. She ended her presentation by saying that there is still a lot of hope in the field and early detection can be a game changer.

This was followed by a presentation by Dr. Ratna Chopra, the HOD of Surgery, Hindu Rao Hospital. She explained about various stages of breast cancer through several images. She discussed about some of her case studies and also showed a video about how early detection of breast cancer can help in proper treatment of the disease. She ended her presentation by asking everyone to be breast aware.

This was followed by a presentation by Dr. Ashok Arora, CEO of NUTAS. He introduced the new technology of NUTAS which helps to treat Breast Cancer without any surgery or chemotherapy. He explained how this new technology works. He ended his presentation by saying that this technology has a great potential in the field of breast cancer treatment in India.

As a part of the same program, the students also conducted an online creative writing and poster designing competition on the theme of breast cancer awareness. The winners, Apoorva Verma and Awesh Yadav, were awarded on the occasion.

Ashish Yadav, one of the students in the audience said “Many lives are lost in the shadow of shame. The program was an eye opener”. The program drew its curtains with the speakers urging the attendees to ‘Think Pink’- a quote inspired from the wear it pink campaign.

Srivedant Kar

Image Credits: Sugandha Sharma

DU Admissions

An App to make your DU admission’s experience hassle-free

By Srivedant Kar July 3, 2016

Every year, thousands of students join Delhi University to take their dream flight with their courses at various colleges. Most of them face common challenges such as beating the cut off bars, facing admission hassles of cumbersome paperwork and then, hunting for a perfect accommodation in the campus. Some students and alumni of CIC who once faced the same set of problems have come up with a new app which helps to make the entire admission process a lot easier.

The app called ‘Pocket DU’ is an android based app which helps students from keeping a tab on all the cut offs to finding cheap hostel accommodation in a single platform. The app helps students in a number of ways. Starting from finding previous year’s question papers to detailed information about all colleges, centres and departments and latest updates of important results of the university, this app covers all possible information regarding DU. “The star feature of the app is the way it eases out cut-off viewing. Typically when cut-offs are released, students visit the website of university, download the whole PDF document which has the cut offs for all colleges and courses and scan through the document to find a relevant cut-off. Pocket DU eases out this process by providing e-shopping like filters to the cut-off and display the relevant cut-off through just a touch of finger. I feel it’s a must-have app for this admission season.” says Puneet Kumar who is an alumnus of CIC and one of the app developers.

One of the most unique features of this app is that it provides detailed information about all libraries of Delhi University and even provides students the ability to search the books available in the library through this app. The app also provides you with contact details of Administrative officials of the University as well as colleges.

You can download the app on: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.ac.du.delhiuniversity

Srivedant Kar
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CIC alumni builds an app for DU admissions

By Srivedant Kar June 9, 2016

Every year the admission process of Delhi University (DU) gathers national attention due to its sky breaking cut offs. Over the years, the admission process has been made more accessible and easier but it still remains cumbersome. Every year after the cut offs are declared students have to go through various lengthy cut off spreadsheets which requires high attention for finding the intersection of the rows and columns to make sure which college they can get in. Once they get in the college, students want to know about the college surroundings.

After facing the similar problems during their admissions, a bunch of Cluster Innovation Centre (CIC) alumnus came up with an innovative idea to build a platform which could solve these problems. They created a startup called “TNine Infotech” to make apps that can help students. Their recent release is an admission app called ‘DU & U’. Anurag Singh, a member of the startup said, “Streamlining the information flow regarding admissions into DU has been the main motive behind creating DU&U. We want to enhance the experience of studying at DU through some very cool insights of lively places around their favourite colleges”.

The app helps students to know about the location of their college and how to reach it. It even informs students about the colleges and the cut offs with just a few clicks. Students can find their expected colleges based on previous year cut offs. They can access the latest information related to admissions with just single click. The app also helps you to know the hot spots like eateries, parks or monuments around your college.

DU & U can be downloaded on the play store here.: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bmu.tnine.campusfrienddu&hl=en

Srivedant Kar