It was a week where controversies dominated the proceedings. Commonwealth Games were in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons and so was Michael Schumacher, overshadowing the build up to the soccer season and some sober cricket for the gentlemen. Nonetheless, we bring you all the transfer news, the drama, the adrenaline, the obvious and the not so obvious.
During the last week, there have been various stories regarding the irregularities in the orders of QBR Launch Function at London Overlays and association of M/S Sports Marketing and Management (SMAM) in obtaining the Sponsorship for the games. The controversy emerged over charges that a UK-based firm AM Films is being used as a channel for siphoning off crores of rupees that have been sanctioned by the government for the smooth conduct of the games. It is alleged that the money trail leading to UK is key proof of the rampant corruption in the Commonwealth Games 2010.Investigation reports are yet to follow.
Moving on to Formula 1, last week’s Hungarian Grand Prix was clinched by Red Bull’s Mark Webber who also went on top of the standings with 161 points closely followed by Hamilton(157), Vettel (151), Button (147) and Alonso (141). But Michael Schumacher’s comeback season went from bad to worse .He was battling with Barrichello down the main straight when he pushed his former team-mate to within inches of the wall. Barrichello said it was the “most dangerous incident” of his career. Schumacher said he was sorry but will be penalized 10 places on the grid in the next race .Also Ferrari will appear before the FIA World Motor Sport Council next month following their controversial one-two result at the previous German Grand Prix. The Italian team was fined US$100,000 by the Hockenheim race stewards for breaching sporting regulations after Felipe Massa, who had been leading the event, moved aside to allow team mate Fernando Alonso past when such maneuvers are not allowed.
On to cricket, the countdown to the next year’s Cricket World Cup in the subcontinent has already begun with organizers launching the mascot ‘Stumpy’- a baby elephant during the ongoing test match series between India and Sri Lanka. Speaking of which, India drew with Sri Lanka on a dead pitch in the second test match. Also, Pakistan were drubbed by England by 354 runs in the first Test match in the 4 match series being played in England.
In football, transfer rumours are doing the rounds with Cesc Fabregas’s future still undecided. Inter Milan striker, Mario Balotelli is inching closer to a move towards Manchester City. Manchester United are being linked with a move for Villareal and ex-United striker Giuseppe Rossi and Real Madrid midfielder Lassana Diarra. EPL Champions Chelsea expect to complete the signing of Ramires from Benfica before the end of the week, with the fee believed to be £17million. Meanwhile, there is good news for Liverpool fans where Fernando Torres has followed in Gerard’s footsteps by committing himself to the club. Also there has been news of a takeover of the club with Chinese businessman Kenny Huang among the favorites. The EPL season kicks off on August 14. Let’s hope for more action on the field rather than off it.
At this time of the year, cultural societies of various colleges are busy conducting rigorous auditions to select for their society the best-suited freshers. Audition is usually a fun-filled activity involving a lot of healthy interaction between the freshers and the seniors. It not only helps the freshers know their college better but also enables them to become an active part of a cultural activity.
Certain societies like Dramatics, Photography, Choreography, Fashion are typical to every college. But some colleges have certain offbeat societies as well. For instance Hansraj College has LYF i.e. Liberal Youth Forum, which is involved in contributing and addressing various issues they feel strongly about. Gargi College has a PMR society wherein the students basically help in managing all the events that are conducted in the college, the most prominent one being the annual festival.
A basic audition for any society is a 2-3-stage process and usually all colleges follow the same pattern. However some colleges choose to incorporate innovative rounds of their own. For their English Dramatics audition, Hindu college has a round called the sexual inhibition/fantasy round. In Hansraj Dramatics, the student is given a newspaper cutting and has to choose 5 words and prepare a skit based on those 5 words. Vastal, a student of Hansraj Dramatics Society says, “This is to check the creativity of an individual. We want people who can make an actual contribution to the society.”
In the auditions for any choreography or western dance society, the students are usually tested on their flexibility, posture and dance style. The choreographer that is chosen by a society annually plays an active role in the audition process. Usually auditions are conducted separately for choreography and western dance but Venky holds combined auditions where the students are later chosen by either society on the basis of the students’ interest or society requirements.
Colleges also have music societies and usually separate western music and Indian classical. Kirori Mal College, having one of the most active music society in the university with as many as 7 seats from the ECA category. They haven’t selected anybody in the past 2 years in the general audition process. Their audition process has a separate jam session round and numerous rounds to check whether a student has a musical ear. This year they have selected general candidates as well. Anukriti Bishen, the secretary of the music society of KMC says, “The lot this year was extremely enthusiastic and ardent about getting into the society.”
All the colleges hope to put their best foot forward as they have registered a very talented lot of freshers.
Declaration of Bsc.(Hon) Math Part-1 results propelled a huge wave of shock and disappointment amongst the DU students. A shocking 37% of the students pursuing this course failed in the annual exam conducted in the month of April-May 2010. Moreover, another 9% have provisionally been promoted to Part-II on the condition that they would have to clear main course-I papers in a second attempt.
According to valid sources, the new syllabus and changes in course structure last year have been held responsible for the high failure rate. “It had to do with the new course. There are no previous questions or set guidelines for the students. Earlier students used to depend a lot on guides and notes. Last year we had 100% pass percentage and we are very concerned about the 3 students who couldn’t manage to qualify the papers,” said Jyoti Darbari, Mathematics in-charge at LSR.
The colleges which suffered the most with a downfall in results where 97 out of 133 students from Shivaji College, 25 out of 28 students from Satyawati College and 30 out of 55 students from Rajdhani College failed. Amongst other colleges like Deen Dayal Upadhyaya and Zakir Hussain (day) College, 39 out of 60 and 21 out of 56 students failed, respectively.
Even some prestigious colleges of North Campus had dismal results. 16 out of 41 from KMC, 15 out of 39 from SGTB Khalsa and 7 out of 47 students from St Stephen’s couldn’t manage to clear the exams.
This can adversely affect the number of applicants for Bsc. Math for the upcoming year since they too seem to be intimidated by the results. “I still have second thoughts about taking up Bsc. Math instead of any other course in DU. There’s too much uncertainty and pressure regarding the course and results,” said a fresher during her second week in LSR College.
The new course was revised in 2009 after a net time span of 19 years, where both the courses BA Math and Bsc Math were clubbed together into one syllabus in order to upgrade and enhance its application at a higher level. Hence, the new course structure is said to be well revised and the high rate of failure is believed to be the teething trouble which is generated during the transition period of the course structure.
However, the Professors are giving a reassurance of a better pattern and guideline for the upcoming year.
Third Year students of Hansraj College faced quite a shock when the chunks of ceiling of their classroom started falling during the course of a class on Wednesday, the 28th of July. Fortunately, everyone escaped unhurt.
The classroom in question, Room 5, of Hansraj College is located on the first floor, above which a whole new floor is under construction. This is not the usual classroom for Third year Economics students and was allotted to them temporarily as their usual classroom had been given to the new larger batch of first year students. A lecture was in progress when the plaster started falling on the students. An eyewitness said, “We rushed out of the class as soon as we realized that the plaster was falling from the ceiling. Soon after, a large chunk of the ceiling fell where one of our classmates had been sitting”.
Classes were suspended for the day due to the lack of a classroom. The next day, after much chaos and confusion, a new classroom was allotted to the students. However, there were only two fans in the room. Also the warm air from the vent of the auditorium AC flowed directly into this room, making it highly uncomfortable. “The new room given to us was an even bigger nightmare than the previous one. It was very hot which made it very difficult for us to sit inside, let alone concentrate on our lectures”, complained another student.
In collaboration with Delhi Transport Corporation, Delhi University has launched a low floor bus service to and from the Vishwavidyalaya metro station in North Campus.
The bus service began with the new session on 21st July. It charges a flat rate of Rs 5 and plies from Monday to Saturday on three routes. These three routes cover all the colleges in North Campus and have provided the students and teachers an alternate means of travelling to and from the metro station, which until now was the monopoly of the rickshaw puller.
This bus service started just in time as, in keeping with the rising prices, rickshaw pullers have also upped their rates. As opposed to charging Rs 10 for one person till the red light on Chattra Marg, rickshaw pullers now agree to provide their services for Rs 15; that too after some haggling. This might be an opportunistic temporary rise in prices to try to make a better living for a few days at the expense of freshers who are still learning the ropes of campus life and are not very aware of the prevalent rates. Even though some students sympathise with the rickshaw puller, they are glad for the availability of an alternate means of transportation. Says a student of Hindu College, “These rickshaw pullers work very hard in the heat and deserve whatever they are charging. In these inflationary times, it is difficult for them to make ends meet. So a rise in rates seems justified. However, it is difficult for us as well as we have to make do in a fixed amount that we get as pocket money. So the bus service is definitely a blessing”.
The official voice of the students, the DUSU (Delhi University Students’ Union), appears to be a house divided on the issue of the semester system. This emerged after the Delhi High Court had decided that the students’ union needed to be asked for its opinion on the contentious issue.
The Delhi High Court had on July 27 2010 asked both DU and DUTA (Delhi University Teachers’ Association) to consult DUSU and had also asked the two to not “play with the life of the students”.
In response, DUSU president Manoj Choudhary stated that he supported the implementation of the semester system and that he was also concerned about teachers who had refused to take classes over the issue.
The other three office bearers, Kirti Wadhera, Arshdeep Kaur and Anupriya Tyagi, expressed sentiments just the opposite, in a letter asking for a debate on the issue, to the Vice Chancellor. The letter states that they find it “unfortunate that students have not been called for any serious academic discussion” and that the proposed changes do not provide the time and space for extra-curricular activities. The letter also states their objection to the absence of students in the academic council.
With the office-bearers of DUSU airing such glaring contradictions, the question arises if their views will be taken seriously or will the differences result in the students’ opinion being sidelined.
1. DU gets disabled friendly: DU colleges are working proactively to improve differently abled students’ university experience by setting up dedicated buses, parking slots, scanners to convert books into the audio format, special computers, ramps and elevators. St. Stephen’s has installed voice activated computers for visually impaired students while Khalsa is installing elevators for people with motor deficiencies.
2. Supreme Court reserves verdict on Priyadarshini Mattoo murder case: Mattoo was murdered on 23rd Jan 1996 by her classmate Santosh Kumar Singh. Both were students of DU’s Law Faculty at the time. He was acquitted by the trial court in 1999, but the Delhi High Court reversed the order of the trial court and awarded him capital punishment on October 30, 2006.
3. Pakistan plane crash kills 152: All passengers on board were killed when an Airblue passenger jet that officials suspect veered off course in monsoon rains and thick clouds crashed into hills overlooking Pakistan’s capital last Wednesday. The deceased consist of 146 travellers and 6 crew members.
4. 1000 more seats to open up: DU colleges are inviting fresh applications for their unfilled OBC quota seats. The seats will be reopened to students between the 6th and 16th of August.
DU Beat gets you the first impressions of some fachchas from Delhi University.
Step one – Look Straight, Step two – Walk straight, Strep Three – Be confident. Step four – Forget it all and simply enjoy the experience.
Despite my apprehensions, we were not ragged. As boring as it may sound, it was a better way to have ourselves introduced to an entirely new world.
Within few days the misinterpretations and hesitations of an all girls’ college have been dumped out of my mind. Where I thought I’ll witness a world taking care of what they need to wear, all that I’ve seen in the genesis is a world which believes in being themselves. I dare deny that I don’t have inhibitions since I have come across exceptional talent in the very beginning, yet I have also come across highly encouraging teachers who appreciate learning and suggestions.
As for the butterflies in the tummy are concerned, I am already craving the infamous Kathi Rolls served in our Café’.
Vanshika Singh
BA (Hons) English
LSR
‘College is a new beginning, a fresh start, back to zero’.
Agreed.
Though I expected my first day of college to be vastly different from school, I’m glad that I can say that in its essence- it wasn’t. Coming from DPS Mathura Road, I have spent years being fiercely independent and gaining appreciation for the same. I still maintain that it is the hardest school to survive in, one which prepares its students for everything. At LSR, I saw that what the institution expects out of its girls is that they have the courage to change into women. That courage lies within me because of my school but I trust my college life to probe it out and teach me how it is to be used. A short day, but power packed- the twenty first of July 2010 was one day that I know I will remember for years to come. But what the spirit of LSR has really inspired me to do is look back after three years and see how far I’ve come. Because right now, life has just begun.
Shirin Rai Gupta
BA (Hons) English
LSR
Assembly (yes, Assembly, just like school, except without the uniforms) was at 9.05AM precisely and I skidded into the hall four minutes to it. The lights went out just as it started, so I don’t remember much besides gasping for breath and fanning myself with my phone cover. The professor for our first class didn’t show up, so after 20 minutes of waiting for him, a few of us dared to venture out of the building and into the cafe (with an accent, but my keyboard doesn’t allow that. Sorry SSC), where the seniors were. As it turns out, having family in the same college means nothing- she turned me over to the third years as soon as she saw me.
After the last class, a bunch of us History and Philosophy students hung around Kamla Nagar for a while- because as we’ve been told, ‘first years always think they own the place when they get into North Campus’. We were just living up to our reputation. Also, we were hungry. My first day, that.
Esther Anne Victoria Moraes
B.A. (Hons) History
St. Stephens
DU, especially CBS, was always a dream but the clack hole in this big dream of mine was the fear of ragging. My first day at college was all but what I had dreaded it to be. Amicable seniors, concerned teachers and festivity welcomed me. New, unknown faces dressed in their best, stared right into my eyes saying, “Hi, I am XYZ.” Life seemed brand new after 14 years of school. And I thought, “This should be good.”
I am glad where I am today. Because it is showing signs of being absolutely brilliant.
Shubhda Hirawat
BBS
SS College of Business Studies
The twentieth century can best be defined as a century of extremes. Although it witnessed the World Wars, The Holocaust and Apartheid, it was also the century when the path breaking idea of non-violence was espoused, at least on a large scale. It was a century of tremendous churning, as the world shed several age-old practices and beliefs, and moved decisively towards a new global order, based by and large on democracy.
Using violence as a tool of negotiation and conflict resolution has been a practice as old as any. Historically, this has been justified by citing that a human being has a natural tendency towards violence, especially in times of distress. But, it is a trait unique to humans that they’ve never been satisfied with the state that nature has put them in. Humans always try to discover new things and innovatively use available resources to improve their conditions.
One of the earliest human achievements was the discovery of fire. It gave humans a shield against predators and allowed them to gainfully utilise nighttime. The same spirit of discovery has provided a viable and essential alternative to the idea of violence as a means of conflict resolution. That alternative is the philosophy of non-violence.
With technological advancement, inability to control the ‘natural tendency’ towards violence can have grave consequences. This is best illustrated by Einstein’s famous words: “If World War III is fought with nuclear weapons, then World War IV would be fought with sticks and stones. “ Similarly, Dr. Martin Luther King’s prophetic insistence that “the choice is not between non-violence and violence, but between non-violence and non-existence” is gaining in its potency by the day.
Non-violence is not an option for the weak at heart. It requires tremendous courage and strength of character to rebel against the idea of violence – which is so ingrained in our culture. It requires deep sense of compassion to forgive others for the ills that they have committed against oneself or one’s country or people. Traditionally, forgiveness has been praised as a virtue with regard to an individual. But, as the experiment of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission shows, an institutional framework based on forgiveness can also be established. This is a unique and far reaching idea, and can become a powerful force in a non-violent global order.
Historically, all religions make a distinction between “good” and “bad” violence. Violence committed for “sacred” purposes or for revenge has been usually seen as justified. In this context, Mahatma Gandhi’s principal contribution to the progress of humankind was his summary dismissal of all types of violence. He understood the inherent power in the idea of non-violence and showed the world the way to apply it in a larger socio-political context (specifically, the Indian freedom struggle and his anti-colonial activities in South Africa).
History is witness to the fact that violence begets violence. In the 20th century alone, we’ve seen that violent struggles and movements, like in Palestine and the former Yugoslavia, remained unsuccessful while the non-violent movements of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led to the emancipation of the underprivileged and had far reaching socio-political changes.