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September 2012

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SAFE Delhi is a movement aimed at refining the current state of women’s safety in the National Capital through awareness, action and communication. It started out in March and a subsequent online campaign really got people talking about it. Today it is quite a rage on Facebook with its page having upwards of two thousand likes. SAFE Delhi has been inspired by initiatives such as change.org.

Rape and molestation cases have been on the rise for quite sometime now. These problems can’t be addressed and resolved over a cup of coffee. They demand action and SAFE Delhi are looking to do just that. They already have a plan but they need your support (moral and in the form of any connections that you might have). If you feel that a united youth front demanding concrete actions towards making Delhi a safer place stands a chance at success, join SAFE.

SAFE Delhi deems the following as absolutely necessary for ensuring the safety of women:
1. Monthly review of police complaints regarding harassment, molestation and stalking from each locality’s police post. 2. Monthly reviews to be made public. 3. Mandatory presence of female constables in all PCRs patrolling at night. 4. Rape trials to be fast-tracked with a special bench in charge of these cases. (Similar to consumer cases) 5. ‘Community Service’ to be a form of punishment for offenders of harassment, eve-teasing and molestation.

SAFE Delhi are open to ideas and suggestions on this issue. Further, SAFE have proposed the following course of action to be taken by the movement:
1. Getting local support through RWAs. 2. Target DU. Unite North Campus and South Campus on the issue. 3. Get the NSS and WSDCs to support SAFE.?4. Contact youth forums like MAD, AISEC, YP Foundation etc. SAFE needs to be a popular campaign with massive public support before it can attract the media.?5. The ultimate aim is to serve the concerned authorities with a petition which will be backed by SAFE Delhi members.

You could visit their Facebook page for more details, http://www.facebook.com/SAFE3DELHI

As of Friday, Kapil Sibal has specially requested the St. Stephen’s College Principal and the Delhi University Vice Chancellor to exercise their discretionary powers to allow the U-19 World Cup cricket captain Unmukt Chand to sit for exams.  The university rules mandate that a student needs to have at least 33.3% attendance after all exemptions, but Chand was unable to fulfill this criterion due to his cricketing engagements.

While not lauding or criticizing this exemption, it is important to discuss the precedent this directive from Sibal sets for all future cases, as well as the possible superficiality of such a move. It is often forgotten that these rules are also present with a rationale behind them.

Most sports heroes/artists may achieve a great deal in their fields but the degrees they are enrolled in are often very different from the field of their achievements. These academic degrees require time with that subject, and often, attending classes. To exempt someone from this may not necessarily be an honor of their achievement, but detrimental to any education their degree claims them to possess. So, a hard-working student receives the same degree as someone who exists only on the attendance roll.

The other factor that has to be considered here is the fact that this situation is faced by multiple national-level artists and athletes every year. Hundreds of Delhi University students participate in theatre, dance, drama or various sports at the national level.

This case received attention from the media and the people due to a mixture of the Indian fandom regarding cricket, winning and cricket. Not specifically, a sudden respect for extra-curricular achievements.

There are various alternative systems that could exist here to laud or support national achievers. That could be time, a different course structure/adapted courses or allowing them to repeat a semester.  This may be a better idea than just an exemption which removes the responsibility of education from the college on the basis of achievement in a completely disconnected field. The paradox of this Sibal-intervention is the focus-shift from education to examination. Something which he has vehemently opposed till now.

In the light of all this, is this move then just for the degree-holders, extra-curricular or otherwise? I leave that judgement to you.

The Kuzart Lane is an art cafe, combining the nuances of an art gallery and a young, vibrant café situated at Hauz Khas. After lending support and getting unparalleled recognition to more than 50 of the most talented artists, photographers and designers through their own art exhibitions, Kuzart Lane gives all you photographers an opportunity to savour! The Kuzart Lane is organising a Street Photography Weekend from 7th September to 9th September, the main objective of which is to give a chance to amateur artists and designers of different fields such as photography, oil painting, canvas painting, and designing to showcase their work. The theme for the same is, “Street Photography – The Faces of Delhi.”

The once-upon-a-time-dingy alley which leads to the cafe has been turned into a gallery to be used for the purpose of displaying these art pieces. The latter four walls shall be given out to different artists to exhibit their work on a fortnightly basis. Says Aashima Khosla Brand Representative at Kuzart Lane, “We reign in all our support to this talented bunch of young artists and their art by making sure that we give a platform to students who do not have the finances to rent an art gallery but do have the talent to do amazing work.” Alongside of course, they promise you the most sumptuous servings of shakes, sandwiches, burgers, cool drinks and healthy snacks.

Here’s more about the event:
# Get to feature your work on the walls of the cafe through the weekend festival.
# Get covered by the most happening magazines, blogs and newspapers from across town.
# Connect with some of the most talented photographers from across the city.
# Get voted by the guests at the cafe, to be announced as the best among all!

Registration Fee: Rs. 480/- (Full cover for food and drinks at Kuzart Lane)

Requirements:
# Two original photographs
# Photos should not be measuring more than 12″ X12″
# Photos should be framed

 

To register, write in your contact details to [email protected]
OR
Get in touch with any of our team members or brand representatives.

Latest cricket sensation Unmukt Chand, captain of the Under-19 Indian cricket team, might have garnered heaps of appreciation for his striking innings in the Under-19 Cricket World Cup, but barely had he the slightest of idea that it would also trigger off a countrywide debate.

Apart from being an incredible cricket player, Chand is also a student of B.A. (Programme) in St. Stephen’s College. However, his association with the college has been rather hostile. Earlier this year, following the denial by the college authorities to issue him the admit card for final exams on the grounds of inadequate attendance, he decided to approach the High Court and filed a petition in May stating that since he had got admission under the sports category, a certain relaxation in attendance criteria should be given. Although, with the involvement of the court Unmukt was able to seek permission to appear for exams; he didn’t approach the court on time and consequently could appear in only two exams out of four thus failing to clear the same.

However, in what appeared to be a favourable turn of events for this talented youngster well-known sports personalities decided to pour in support and speak in the matter. From the former national-level cricket player Kirti Azad, also a Stephanian, to current captain of the Indian national cricket team Mahendra Singh Dhoni, lot of people raised questions about the harsh treatment meted out to Unmukt. The Principal on his part was caught in a no win situation as he would receive flak both for abiding by the rules and subverting them.

Apparently, Union HRD minister Kapil Sibal and sports minister Ajay Maken also stepped in and spoke to the Vice Chancellor Dinesh Singh who assured them to resolve the matter on priority basis. While responding to the letter written by Maken in this regard, VC said that they have asked the St Stephen’s College Principal to forward them all the necessary papers so that they could help Chand, who led India to U-19 World Cup win.

In his letter to the VC, Maken wrote, “You would agree that fostering and development of a vibrant sports culture in the country which would ultimately lead to our better performances at the international arena is hurt precisely because of such systemic bottlenecks that only discourage young people from taking up sports but also stifles their career mid-way.”

Finally, after much hullaballoo, with the intervention of the Vice Chancellor, Unmukt Chand has been promoted to second year at his college but he will have to simultaneously clear his first year exams as well.

Moreover, Dinesh Singh also indicated that under the proposed structure — that is expected to be placed before the Academic Council in a couple of months — participation in sports activities will be accorded credit towards regular Daily Programmes and the students will have the choice of replacing some of the academic courses with a structured recognition of participation towards his/her degree.

 

Vatsal Verma
[email protected] 


An exuberant Indian under 19 cricket team recently conquered the World Cup under the leadership of Unmukt Chand but the debate that followed did not centre on Unmukt’s potential as a cricketer. Instead it was the controversy regarding his promotion (orinitially detainment) in college that monopolized the media space.

But surely Unmukt deserves a little leniency after having made the nation proud in such emphatic fashion. Add to that the rigours of cricket practise and one can understand his predicament. On the other hand, the very object of exams is to gauge the progress made by students in their chosen field of study and Unmukt has equivocally made none. Is it then not fair that he be made to repeat the semester?

This week Juxtapose poses the simple question whether a world cup can buy a promotion?

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.]]>

Amma,
My boyfriend and I have been dating each other for 8 months now. We are very open to each other when we talk about physical things like sex and all. However he knows more about sex, foreplay, positions and other things. Sometimes i feel i don’t know how to have sex. What a girl should know about sex, protection, foreplay, types of kisses, making out  etc. Sometimes i don’t even know what a girlfriend should do except the emotional part like talking to your boyfriend,  please give me some advice on this so i don’t feel lost when i have sex in the future even if it after marriage.
Thank you

 

My poorest macchhi why be so hard on yourself? So what if your partner knows how to steam the idlies right? Most girls, unlike you would be overjoyed by this fact! But Amma must compliment you on the fact that you two are open with each other. And this should help you be honest with him. Also there will come a point when he runs out of this knowledge- I hope not though!!

But then there are those days when you want to climb to the top of the conversation coconut tree, for those times Amma suggests you research the internet. Look for specific topics such as foreplay or casual making out. Cause if Amma starts writing about each of those topics, she could go on and on like the backwaters of Alleppey!

Unlike the word Malayalam that sounds right no matter how you read it, your problem is not much of a problem as it is somewhat of a complex you have, which can easily be overcome once you talk it out with your partner. Till then yenjoii your partners knowledge stash of naughty tricks!

 

You could mail Amma your queries on the ‘hush hush’ topic a[email protected].

Picture source: sify.com

On 26th November 2008, Ajmal Kasab and his accomplice Abu Dera Ismail Khan carried out an attack at the excessively crowded Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai. Following this, they moved on to attack a police vehicle at Cama Hospital, where senior police officers Hemant Karkare, Vijay Salaskar and Ashok Kamte were killed in a shootout. The terrorists then reached Metro Cinema and Vidhan Bhavan where they continued with their shootings. A wounded Kasab was finally arrested when found trying to escape in a car at Girgaum Chowpatty.

The trial has been dragged for the past four years, during which an enraged India was forced to listen to Kasab’s whimsical desires that included being served Biryani. This prolonged sentence of justice finally reached its conclusion on 29th August 2012, when the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for Kasab. However, this chapter is far from closed. The verdict for clemency still needs to be placed in front of the president before any action is taken.

“Well, it’s about time!” was one phrase chanted by most DU students when asked for their opinion. “I think this brings peace to a lot of people, especially the ones who have lost their loved ones. But this definitely doesn’t solve the question of security in India. Measures need to be taken to ensure that an incident like this doesn’t happen again,” said Madhurima, a student of Lady Shri Ram College. Others were not too satisfied. “It’s good to know that justice has been served, but it has been too long. If this had been declared four years ago, it would have meant a lot more,” stated Jay from Kirori Mal College. Lisha, a second year student from Hindu voiced an opinion on similar lines, “There’s still a long way to go. The appeal hasn’t been sent to the President yet, so only half the goal has been achieved. The Indian judicial system needs to be more efficient.”

Kasab belongs to a poor family in Faridkot, Pakistan. He got involved in petty crimes until he was finally taken in by the terrorist organisation, Lashkar-E-Taiba, at a very young age. For youth like him being brainwashed into the world of bloodshed at such an influenceable age, death sentence doesn’t seem like the best punishment to some. “I don’t think any human being or institution should have the right to command when someone else’s life ends. Kasab definitely deserves severe punishment for the pain he has caused, but I wish we could think of a better way of making him learn his lesson,” said Adita, a student of St. Stephen’s college.

While an impatient India waits for justice to be served in one way or the other, the verdict against our country’ most hated terrorist carries on at snail’s pace.

 

What happens when you put together the Internet (in a time when browsing it is at the top of people’s everyday ‘To Do’ lists. Scratch that. They probably make their lists online) and MUNing (a most sought after activity by a large number of youngsters today) and create a virtual platform for MUN lovers? The Brainwiz MUN network has done exactly that. By creating a website for the country’s most experienced as well as potential MUNers, it enables one to socialize, create a profile featuring one’s academic and MUN related information, and track upcoming MUNs. If your college or school has an MUN society, there is a feature to register that as well.

The possibilities are endless. For newcomers who have always hesitated to start MUNing due to lack of information, resources or plain lack of confidence- Brainwiz MUN network provides ample opportunity to get acquainted with the process, to interact with the seasoned MUNers on a shared forum and start MUNing. For brilliant minds, there will always be room everywhere they go; this is especially true for an MUN where talentless experience can only get you so far.For people who have already MUNed before, the sitepromises a systemized way of keeping in touch with future MUN events, thus enabling them to continue the love affair.

The website also has an “Applications” tab to facilitate one to apply online for BrainwizMUN ’12. Brainwiz MUN is a simulation of the most powerful body in the most enigmatic way organized by the Brainwiz Organization, featuring on the 6th-7th October at a location as splendid as the campus of TERI University. Applications for the conference are rolling in at a thundering speed, and why wouldn’t they, with an application process as convenient, accessible and user-friendly. In a crisp manner are introduced the various committees to be simulated in the conference, along with the background guides. The server even recognizes you as having “applied” after you done so- making the entire process very quick and efficient.

So if you want it easy (and why shouldn’t you?), BrainwizMUN is the place to be!

 

-Menka Ahlawat

Words just don’t do justice to the colourful and vivacious spectacle of the youth carnival, which saw visitors arrive in droves to join the cultural extravaganza organised by AIESEC in collaboration with RC Cola on September 1st.

The pinnacle of the event was the GLOBAL VILLAGE; an international carnival where Foreign graduates and post graduates from the AIESEC fraternity of about 110 countries and 2100 Universities expressed themselves.

“This kind of interaction and cultural exchange is be a step in the right direction. AIESEC should be congratulated on organising this and I would also like the interns who have come to our country to experience the diversity of our culture”, said a fresher.

The carnival kicked off with some really innovative and fun filled activities like battle of bands, AIESEC artist’s day, hog-athon and floor canvas. The fashion parade was all glam and glitter for onlookers with participants donning costumes from across the world. Budding artists who consider graffiti a powerful tool of expression, spray-painted to their hearts’ content in the graffiti wall session. The street play was received with much enthusiasm by the audience as the artists splendidly put forth a social message through their sharp dialogues and brilliant acting. Following this, Jasleen Royal’s impromptu performance made everyone sing along with her.

They had definitely saved the best for the last as Parikrama brought the house down with its vibrant signature music. It was truly a carnival that celebrated youth.

-Sakshi Gupta