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A 19-year-old student from the University of Delhi was allegedly stabbed to death outside of Aryabhatta College.

On Sunday, in front of Aryabhatta College in South Campus, a 19-year-old Delhi University student, named Nikhil Chauhan, was allegedly stabbed to death. A week ago, one of the accused had allegedly harassed a woman friend of the victim, to which he had objected, said a senior police officer in conversation with The Hindu.

On Sunday, around 12:30 pm, the key accused and three of his accomplices met with Nikhil outside the College and stabbed him in the chest, the police stated. He was later rushed to the Charak Palika Hospital, where he was declared dead. CCTV footage has surfaced online, which, captured near the college, purportedly showed the accused escaping on scooters and a bike.

While talking to The Hindu, Nikhil’s father had this to say

We deserve justice, this is not what we send our children to school for.” He further stated, “I received a call at 12 p.m. that Nikhil has been injured, I rushed to the hospital, but by the time I reached, he passed away.”

The victim, who has been survived by his two brothers and parents who live in West Delhi’s Paschim Vihar, worked as a part-time model. His parents have said that he loved modelling and acting, taking part in many competitions in the city.

My son was also into modelling. He told me that he also wants to study political science to have vast knowledge about our country. He had a bright future. We don’t know what to do now,”

– said Mr Chauhan.

A case under IPC 302(murder) has been registered and an investigation is ongoing to apprehend the accused-who have been identified, the police have said.

“It is very unfortunate and sad that a young life has been lost and that also just outside the college where students come to learn and make career.” said a Delhi University spokesperson in a statement to The Hindu.

Feature Image Source: DU Beat Archives

Vanshika Ahuja

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Aryabhatta’s Principal: Plagiarism? We Don’t Copy That!

By Shaurya Thapa August 8, 2019

Aryabhatta College Principal accused of plagiarism by a whistle-blower, DUTA demands an independent probe.

The presence of plagiarism in University level publications has been a concern of the academic community for a long time now. The vice has now hit a reputed University of Delhi when in recent turn of events, the Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the University of Delhi (DU) received a complaint through a whistle-blower, accusing the Principal of Aryabhatta College, South Campus, DU, of plagiarising journal papers and books, six months before applying for the post he currently holds.

This series of events started in 2014, when Aryabhatta College principal Manoj Sinha published five books and 11 journal papers, eight of which and four other works are said to be ‘heavily plagiarised’, casting a shadow of doubt over the authenticity of his work and even employment. According to the complainant, six of these claims have been verified. Apart from this, the complainant has also highlighted the publishing of the same material at two independent places in an attempt by Mr Sinha to take credit for it twice. It is imperative to note that Sinha is also the Secretary of the Delhi University Principals’ Association.

The complainant seems to have used the plagiarism checking software ‘Turnitin’ for this investigation. Last year, Union Minister for the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD), Prakash Javadekar, had made this software available to universities to enable them in checking the credibility of texts.

In response to these accusations, the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA), which also received a 243-page dossier detailing the allegations, has made a demand for an independent probe into the matter as of June 25th.

According to the University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations notified in July last year (Promotion of Academic Integrity and Prevention of Plagiarism in Higher Educational Institutions), the penalty for plagiarising above 60% of an academic publication would invite withdrawal of the manuscript, denial of two successive annual increments, a barring from supervising any new master’s or Ph.D scholars for a period of three years, and if benefit has been obtained from plagiarised works but proved on a later date, the benefit would be put in abeyance for a period recommended by the Institutional Academic Integrity Panel.

The UGC has prescribed that the “Academic Performance Indicator” or API of a candidate be looked into critically, for their appointments to the posts of Principal across varsities. These are points allocated to an applicant on the basis of factors such as the number of teaching hours put in, extracurricular activities engaged in and the number of books and research papers published. The system is meant to help incorporate a “transparent, objective and credible methodology of analysis of the merits and credentials of the applicant” read the UGC’s guidelines from 2013. To be eligible for the post of principal, a candidate requires a minimum API of 400 points. Mr Sinha, in an application to the post of Principal to the prestigious Hindu College in 2017, has bagged a score of 660, out of which more than 120 points have been allegedly secured to him by six ‘plagiarised’ texts, reports The Hindu.

A case like this defeats the university’s ideology of innovation and originality.

Under conditions of anonymity, a student of Aryabhatta College said, “Even though there is no decision in the case, I believe if these accusations are proved accurate, it will be very shameful for the college and the university.”

Defending his case, Mr. Sinha, who has been teaching for 29 years and is up for reappointment for another five-year term as principal of the college on November 22, told The Hindu that the plagiarism may have taken place inadvertently given the immense pressure during years of syllabus revisions to churn out textbooks in time for students to have study material.

Another anonymous student of Aryabhatta College told the DU Beat, “The credibility of these accusations is yet to be checked but this sets a very wrong example for the students as well as stains the reputation of the teaching faculty.”

The complaint if proven credible and the accused proven guilty, is deemed to open many Pandora boxes, putting numerous previous appointments under the scanner.

Image Credits: Manoj Sinha (@msinhadu) on Twitter

Chhavi Bahmba

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Aryabhatta College

Resolution to Affiliate with DUSU Fails in Aryabhatta College

By DU Beat September 2, 2017

On 1st September 2017, a referendum titled “Should Aryabhatta College be affiliated to Delhi University Student’s Union (DUSU)?” was held. The students of Aryabhatta College voted for the motion. Out of the 733 votes that were polled, 583 were for the motion, 140 against the motion, and 10 votes were regarded as invalid. The DUSU Constitution requires an absolute majority of the total number of students to support the motion for affiliation. As per clause 6(ii) of the DUSU Constitution, “Students of a College/Institution may become members of the Union by a resolution passed by absolute majority of the total number of students on rolls of the College/Institution concerned on the last working day of July of that year”. So even if most of the students voted in favour of being affiliated with DUSU, since a majority of the collective student body did not turn up for the polling, the resolution failed.

A strong reason for the less-than-ideal turnout could be because the 31st of August was a holiday in most colleges due to the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) elections. The vote was scheduled on the 1st of September, with 2nd September being a Saturday and the 3rd being a Sunday. If students skipped college on 1st, they would end up having a four-day weekend. Some students believe that the college authorities had intentionally scheduled the voting on a date that would result in a low turnout. Yashank Bhutani, a third-year B.Com student from Aryabhatta College, said, “I think that this was a perfect plan made by our college authorities to get rid of DUSU from our college. As per the referendum schedule, 31st was the DUTA elections, 1st was the day of referendum, and the following days were Saturday and Sunday. College authorities knew well that students won’t turn up on this day due to which we got the following results. The main incentive behind not allowing DUSU in our college is that the authorities will form a dictatorship where teachers would rule like in a school.”

Being associated with DUSU for a lot of colleges means being involved with student politics and activism at a greater level. While DUSU does not come without its own baggage, it is undeniable that it plays a highly relevant role in shaping college life for a lot of institutions. DUSU affiliation means access to a platform to air one’s grievances, access to better fests and cultural events, and a the prospect of engaging on a wide platform of student politics.

In response to the failed referendum, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), which is currently in power in DUSU, alleged that the referendum was illegal on the grounds that voting in DUSU elections had been happening in the college when it was Ram Lal Anand Evening College until a few years ago.

Feature Image Credits: Edunuts

Kinjal Pandey
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