As all institutions in the national capital organized cultural events to celebrate the Rashtriya Ekta Diwas commemorating the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhai Patel, the students of Indraprastha College for Women drowned themselves in patriotic fervor and infectious enthusiasm as they supported the twin causes of women’s empowerment and safety. The crusade began with the celebrations marking Rashtriya Ekta Divas on 31st October 2014 beginning with the ‘Run For Unity’. It was a euphoric sight, and the excitement of all the college students was palpable as they ran for the cause, and in the hope that this act might fructify in binding everyone together. This solidarity was visible when everyone, right from the teaching staff, to students, to non-teaching staff pledged allegiance for the cause of national unity through an oath administered by the college principal, Dr Babli Moitra Saraf. Followed by a march past by the NCC cadets, the crowd broke into an applause as the star mountaineer of the college, Saachi Soni, was flagged off with the National flag and college flag for her next ascend to the highest peak in Australia. The students trained under CISF-DMRC demonstrated their skills in a self-defence drill.
The next day was marked by an elaborate ceremony for the culmination of the self-defence training, which was attended by dignitaries like S. Devdutt Singh, DIG, DMRC unit and other officers at CISF, DMRC unit, along with lady constables. Insightful presentations were also shown explaining the security systems and redressal mechanisms in the metro. Everyone agreed that such trainings help to exude confidence if one needs to retaliate in case of an attack. There was exhibition of books about Sardar Patel outside the conference hall. The celebrations culminated with a soulful rendition of the national anthem and the national song respectively, on both days.
Photo credits: Tarunima Kumar, IP College for Women
After suggesting IIT’s and IIM’s to run separate messes for vegetarian and non-vegetarian food, MHRD has shot a letter to Delhi University instructing it to operate separate canteens for vegetarian and non-vegetarian food in each college. The move comes in after MHRD received a letter from a section of the public declaring consumption of meat and adopting western culture to be malpractices.
While the directive is being widely considered as silly, some students of colleges that do not serve non-veg food in canteens are hoping for the same to be served now in a separate canteen. Reactions have started to pour in, with students taking on to social networks to express:
@sunnydeolfan: This is like drawing an LOC. If I have a non-vegetarian friend, I will not be able to enjoy a meal with him. WTH.
@ieatlegs: So.. will my college serve non-veg now? #confused
@krk: Kick to these #2rsppl who think eating non-veg is bad, if this happens I am leaving this country. Launda ho toh non-veg ho warna na ho. And kiss to my fans.
Some students are also dubbing the sequence of events as the incumbent government’s ‘Veg Bharat Abhiyan’. DU is yet to reply to or ratify the order. DUSU office-bearers are expected to meet with the University authorities soon.
Disclaimer: #Bazinga is DU Beat’s weekly column of almost believable fake news!
The fond memories of that warm cup of coffee in Chaupal, the endless queues for the 10 rupee Coke at the Coke station, NSO practices at the college ground – just one name has such stigma attached to it! Proudly abbreviated by its students and faculty as KNC, Kamala Nehru College, is one of the fastest growing colleges of The University of Delhi.
With its national ranking jumping leaps and bounds every year, the college is now a part of the top 10 arts colleges of The University.
One of the most posh locations in Delhi, KNC is located on the August Kranti Maarg and is a part of the South campus of the University. As you walk into the gates of the college, you will witness lush green lawns welcoming your presence to the campus. On your left, you would see that magnificent auditorium the college boasts of. With a seating capacity of about 700 people, it is one of the most well-designed and well-maintained auditoriums in the entire University.
As a student of the college, you know your teachers would go seamless in helping you clear your concepts; your society president would leave no stone unturned to bring out the perfection in you; and the canteen bhaiya would himself run between the doors to get you your favourite Honey Chilli Potato or Daal Makhani-Lacchha Paratha plate. Makes your mouth watery?
The college canteen has something to cater to the demands of all taste buds. From the incomparable Chinese menu to the Desi north Indian delights, a foodie knows he/she is at the right place.
A student’s day doesn’t end without visiting the impeccably placed amphitheater, Chaupal. It is one place you will witness all sorts of people doing all sorts of activities- from books to cell-phone, you get that all! The fondness for the place is common among the teachers too; yes, they gladly conduct their classes amidst nature’s envelope. KNC is also very aptly located with many food joints and markets placed all over the periphery. Some of them are the food joints such as Mithaas and Diggin, GK1 and Sarojini Market and the evergreen Hauz Khaz village. As a KNC student, one is bound to visit any or all such places at least once in their college life.
Kamala Nehru College believes in intellectual growth and all-round persona development of its students. Believing in the concept of, “A cultural society for everyone”, the college has many societies catering to varied interests of the students. Among the popular ones are Enigma, the western dance society; Zephyr, the western music society; Adagio, the choreography society; Lakshya, the theatre society and Crossfire, the English debating society. The college is a paradise for fitness and sports freaks too – an efficient gym and large sports field adds to the wholesomeness of the college.
KNC is a second home for everyone – there’s a unique pride and loyalty towards the college that KNC students have running in our veins. Rare as it may sound, it makes Kamala Nehru College a home away from home.
Prodigy is a management oriented event organized by Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies for school students, which aims to tap the energies and capture the attention of all creative, innovative and talented minds of the age group 16-18 years by the means of an intriguing order of events taking place. The intentions of the same are in consonance with the SSCBS philosophy of spotting and developing business talent of the youth in the country.
The all India prelim of Prodigy has witnessed enthusiastic participation from over a 100 schools from the entire nation, including the cities of Delhi, Amritsar, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Agra, Vadodara, Lucknow, Dehradun, Hissar, Jaipur, etc. This year, the theme of Prodigy ’14 is “KICKSTART” and will be held on the 15th of November. Prodigy’14 seeks to inspire students to take up new challenges and risks to fulfill their dreams and gives them an opportunity to fulfill their corporate aspirations.
The event is 3 tiered, with online prelims as the first level, where the schools were asked to submit a solution to the case studies provided to them. These case studies, based on the concept of mergers and acquisitions, provided a platform for introducing a new concept to the students. From these, 50 schools have been shortlisted for the second level, where 2 teams from each school will compete, with the first team taking part in ACUMEN-the Business quiz, which will test the knowledge and logical prowess of the students. At the same time, another team from the same school will take part in the Bullseye- the stock simulation game, where the students will be given a virtual amount of cash to invest after carefully analyzing the market news and rumors.
After these grueling competitions, the chosen few will proceed to the arena of gladiators, where only the strongest will survive, and so we come to the final round, Corporate Simulation. This event has been designed from the ground up and promises to give the students a sneak peek in an ever changing environment, risks and challenges of the world of business. The event aims at providing a wholesome learning experience that will leave the students with memories and skills that will stay with them forever.
The defining goal behind Prodigy is to challenge students, inspire them to take chances,
and to provide them with hands-on knowledge that goes above and beyond what is taught in schools. And keeping that in mind, Prodigy has and will enable students to ‘kickstart’ their dreams.
The story, as the name and the cover clearly suggest, is a crime-thriller. Based in Mumbai, it takes the reader through the murky world of tech-savvy miscreants who use social networking sites and the Internet for blackmail and ‘sextortion’. Inspector Virkar is the apparent protagonist, and just like all protagonists, he is supposed to solve the riddles in the plot. In this case, it means finding the connection between a string of gruesome murders, and the activities of a bunch of college students-turned-cyber criminals.
Now, it might seem an exaggeration, but it is not: I read the novel, cherished it and really likened it to the mystery thrillers penned by Satyajit Ray. Inspector Virkar is almost like Feluda in his contemporary incarnation.
This novel, at one level also tells the reader how real the threats of privacy and security are, in this age of internet-addiction, thereby giving us goosebumps. I, for example was scared to use my laptop, webcam and so on for days after reading the novel.
The plot has all possible ingredients of a bestseller- a group of college students gone morally decrepit, a psychologist with multiple roles to play, a police system marred by complacency and a hacker, who retains “ethics” in his activities, and deploys his talent to help Virkar.
A hitherto solid, foolproof expert network shatters on the altar of one woman’s revenge and another man’s incessant pursuit of a way beyond the deadlock. With its arcane description of the repugnant crimes, an insight into the threats posed by the virtual world, and an underlying manifestation of a troubled, frail teenage psychology, this book is totally worth the time and money spent on it. The crisp, accurate narrative which has, to the delight of the reader, no verbosity, is a major puller. A lot of colloquial phrases have been used, and this may be liked by some readers, detested by others. And yes, a character to watch out for, Naina our enigmatic psychologist, sarcasm personified!
In the beginning, until the plot settles into a chase, it might appear as if it is an episode straight out of CID. I implore the reader to keep reading and not assume that it is monotonous, because it is worth it!
What comes first – the nation or the individual self? Well, for patriots, it would be the former. But what about the self-satisfying class that we have now become? What about our own needs? What about our own desires and free will, which the constitution of this nation entrusts us with? Here goes the dilemma – what should come first, the country or self?
Such a concern has recently confronted the lawn tennis players of this country and more categorically, the Sports Ministry of India. So here goes the controversy: the ministry was wary of the fact that some senior national tennis players chose ‘other’ tennis tournaments and not those which would have had made them serve India at the International tournaments, like the Asian Games 2014. The reason given by the players was that they needed to ‘revive’ their rankings. Though, this hasn’t been the first controversy as a matter of fact when it comes to players participating in tournaments where they are recognised as not playing for the country but themselves.
If one goes onto find the reason of why such a thing even takes place, the first thing which comes to mind is ‘money’. De facto, the international tournaments such as the Wimbledon and the US open give more as reward money than other tournaments such as the Asian or the Commonwealth games. But is money the only issue? Sometimes it is pride which instigates players to play for such tournaments rather than those which will propose their national identity. Other times, it is being just horns-locked with the government for not providing enough preparation funds.
Whatever may be the case, the whole controversy certainly demoralises the spirits of the nation as a whole. And for the fans in a country like India, one of the more enthusiastic sporting nations of the world, the feeling gets buried deep inside. But what if tomorrow, you are given a chance to represent your nation and at the same time in a private international tournament which gives you a chance to make more money? Which one would you chose? In a dilemma, are you? Such has been the case with the sporting veterans of India as for what to choose, the country or self.
‘Right to Accommodation’ group organized a seven-day hunger strike for rent regulation at North Campus from 31st October – 6th November 2014. The protest was organised in order to implement the provisions of Rent Control Act, especially receipt for the rent paid and fixation of rent in the private accommodations of Delhi University campus.
Six people including a few students sat on the hunger strike at Christian Colony at Patel Chest, North Campus where over seven days, various tenants of Christian Colony organized themselves to fight for rent regulation. Candle march and torch march was set out in adjoining areas like Mukherjee Nagar and Vijay Nagar where tenants from these areas also joined the protest.
Need for rent regulation
Delhi University’s north campus houses over 2,00,000 students from all over the country but the total number of hostel seats in all the campus colleges are 6000. 1,94,000 students live in private accommodation in the campus, with maximum availing the single room accommodations. Moreover, other students preparing for the competitive exams also reside in the campus.
According to the statistics provided by ‘Right to Accommodation’ team, one single room accommodation with attached bathroom ranges from Rs. 4500/- to Rs. 15000/- in the north campus. However, if the matter of rent regulation goes to the court, the rent will be fixed somewhere around Rs. 1000/-
According to the statement by Right to Accommodation team, students from the North-East form the maximum proportion of the crowd that suffers. The same room will be rented out to a student from the North East for 7000/- which is given to a student from North India for 4000/- only. Reasons like these saw better participation by students from the east to protest.
Demands of the protest
The group on strike demands proper enforcement of Delhi Rent Control Act 1958, which states that the property owner should provide a receipt for the rent received. Praveen Singh, Convenor of Right to Accommodation says, “We want the receipt system to be introduced because that will help us give proofs to the rent controller to fix the rent. Otherwise, all the money is going into owners’ pocket as black money.”
Praveen Singh himself was also on the hunger strike along with Sachin from Manipur, Mukesh, Neil and journalism students from Ambedkar College, Adil and Manish Bhartiya. Adil and Manish were also hospitalised on 4th November as a result of weakness due to hunger strike.
The protest also saw students and leaders of different party factions coming together for the cause of “tenants’ exploitation”. It included Manipur State BJP president, DUTA president Ms. Nandita Narayan and other teachers. Nandita Narayan, expressing her concern over the issue said, “Any central university across the world has proper accommodation facilities arranged for its students. If Delhi University wishes to be called as the central university, it should provide adequate hostel facilities and should have appropriate understanding with the local residents. Landlords prefer students because it is easy to get the property vacated, so in return students deserve the gesture of reasonable rents.”
Results on fixture of rent
The strike ended with an agreement amongst the tenants where the rents have been fixed at Rs. 1500/- for a single room. If the landlord refuses to accept this amount, he/she is liable to issue a receipt.
Kamlesh Kumar Mishra, Advocate and Legal consultant for the matter says, “Fixation of rent at Rs. 1500/- is an interim measure before the judicial processes happen. Meanwhile now, the tenants have organized themselves and they all gather if anyone of them is being harassed by the landlord. Proprietors by now have also tried to negotiate on prices, as they are not keen on giving the receipts.”
Right to Accommodation also plans to file a PIL in the upcoming week requesting the rent controller to look into the matter.
Statistics and figures provided by the team of Right to Accommodation.
Iresh Gupta[email protected]
Student Development Cell of the MBA (Human Resource and Development), Delhi School of Economics (DSE) organized its annual event, HR Symposia 2014 on 30th-31st October 2014. An initiative under The Department of Commerce, D-School, this event was held at The Institute of Life Long Learning, North Campus, University of Delhi. Distinguished speakers, who were primarily HR executives from companies like Samsung, Jindal Steel and Power and Lanco, to name a few, were invited to address an audience of aspiring HR professionals on the theme, “HR and The Workplace Revolution.”
Day 1
On Day 1, Sahil Ramchandani, a member of Student Development Cell delivered the welcome speech. To start with the session, N. Suresh Kumar, Business HR Head and Senior Manager HR of Lanco Power Ltd. spoke on “HR Analytics”. This was followed by a session on “The Rise and Staying Power of Virtual Teams” by Jappreet Sethi, Managing Partner of Idea Katalyst Ventures. The first day ended with Chief People Officer (Zee Media), Geetanjali Pandit Gupta addressing the students. Ms. Gupta’s session revolved around the topic“Talent Mobility: 2020 and Beyond”.
“It was great to see the enthusiasm of all the participants on Day 1. The highly charged atmosphere at the session was stimulating enough to help all the students learn and grow”, said Shailja Singhal, the event Convenor.
Day 2
“Social media is a boon for HR because it helps the future employer gauge the true personality of the prospective employee, by watching her or his footprints on Facebook and Twitter etc.”
– Dr. Deepak Malhotra
Day 2 began with the first lecture being delivered by Dr. Deepak Malhotra, PhD, Vice President HR, IL&FS Environmental Infrastructure and Service Ltd. He spoke at length to the students on ‘Leadership, Social Media & HR and the Road-Ahead for Gen Y’. He highlighted the importance of social media in the HR workspace, the point which all the participants found interesting.
Second lecture by Amulya Sah, Head HR, Samsung R&D Institute was on the topic – ‘Soaring High: How to be successful in life?’ His personality, which according to the audience was vivacious and charming, enraptured them all. His presentation was interactive, with a large dose of humour very cleverly camouflaged into it. He imparted essential life lessons, which, in hindsight, seem universally applicable. Some of these were ‘grow up and be real’, ‘don’t expect a genie for yourself’, ‘set big and scary goals’, and ‘be passionately curious’.
For the final lecture, there was a last minute replacement. Rajeev Bhadauria, Director Group HR, Jindal Steel and Power could not attend the seminar and so, Dr.Prabhu Aggarwal, Chief Learning Officer, Jindal Steel and Power very kindly offered to interact with the students instead. Lack of prior intimation did not permit him to deliver a specific lecture. However, he converted the seminar session into an engaging Q&A session, where he invited questions from the students in the audience. He spoke about the immense opportunities in the United States of America, India’s need to invest in its higher education curriculum and the crucial role that private universities of India can play to improve the quality of workforce.
The event was thoroughly enjoyed by the students of MBA (HRD). Sitanshu Tiwari, a first year student of MBA(HRD) says, “ HR Symposia always provides us with a great learning avenue. This year too, the speakers gave us valuable inputs that we can apply to the career we hope to pursue in the future.”
The event culminated with an address by the Student Development Cell, the organizers for HR Symposia 2014. Divya Gupta, a senior member of the SDC thanked her team for their support and effort and signed off by declaring HR Symposia, 2015 ‘open’.
Feature Image Credits: Student Development Cell, Delhi School of Economics
November is here and it is the Pride month! The Supreme Court judgment last December might have dampened the spirit of both the members and the allies of the Queer community, the Pride March is set to show that the fight is still on. While the NALSA judgment showed us that struggle bears its sweet results in time, the Naz judgment showed us that the path may not always be straight (pun intended). On the 30th of November, the march will start from the crossing of Barakhamba Road-Tolstoy Marg and end at Jantar Mantar. While the DU semester-end exams will be crowding the calendar at that time, some lucky ones just might make it there (and we hope that we all do!). And even if you can’t, then there are a lot of pre-Pride events that you can attend to show your support. And your support matters, because there’s nothing “minuscule” about violation of Human Rights and sitting on the fence just won’t do anymore.
This is the cumulative eventof the Pride month. And it goes without saying that we love it; the energy, the festivity, the colour. The politics of Queer visibility makes it extremely important in the fight towards equal Human Rights. They are also organising pre-Pride events to celebrate the Pride week and an event later in December to mark last year’s infamous Supreme Court judgment on section 377.
8th November: Fundraising Party.
15th November: Placard Making and Picnic.
30th November: Pride March.
11th December: Event on 377 and the legal process.
Fursat Se, the Shahpur Jat café that hosts a book club, art exhibitions, film screenings and slam poetry open mics by Bring Back The Poets amongst others is toasting to the Pride week by organising a weeklong celebration of all things Queer. And as the name suggests, it’s going to be extremely queerious.
Closer to the campus, the film society of Kirori Mal College is organising a two day Queer Film Festival. From complex questions of gender and sexuality to budding teenage romances to dying old loves, the four films cover a lot of ground. People in and around North Campus should drop in to give their exam-stressed heads something else to ponder on.
12th November: Laurence Anyways (10:30 AM), Show Me Love (2:30 PM)
13th November: Shortbus (11 AM), Happy Together (2 PM)
To understand how “mainstream” forms of masculinity work is to know how to subvert them to allow space for different forms of masculinity and other gender identities to survive and thrive. The Men and Boys for Gender Justice Film Festival which is going to be held at the School of Arts & Aesthetics, JNU, is an attempt at just that. The festival will be showcasing 71 films from 23 countries in media as diverse as documentaries, feature and short films, animations and public service advertisements. Check their event page to see the complete schedule.
If you know of other pre-Pride events that you think we should feature here, do let us know.
Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani Campus organized its annual cultural festival, OASIS 2014 from 31st October – 4th November. The carnival saw star performers and personalities visiting the campus during this 96 hour long tribute to the period of 90s. Concerts by Benny Dayal and Raghu Dixit were accompanied by laughter riots from East India Comedy and inspirational speech from Dr. Kiran Bedi. Sunburn Campus with Lost Stories, Anish Sood and Kash Trivedi on the second last day of the festival justified the plethora of such events.
On the competition front for the four days, Oasis attracted over 1500 outstation participants from across the country striving hard to prove their mettle in fields on dance, drama, music, debate and fashion. Delhi University contributed with mammoth participation and emerged winners in most of the events without any surprise. With College of Vocational Studies and Lady Sri Ram College taking the lead, here is how the Winners’ Tally at Oasis looked like.
Mr. & Ms. OASIS 2014
Mr. Oasis – Shivam, College of Vocational Studies
Ms. Oasis – Vidhushi Diwedi, BITS Pilani
LSR Dance Society performing for the Choreo event Image Credits – Shaurya Sahai
Dance
Choreo – The Choreography Dance Competition
Ist – Lady Shri Ram College IInd – Gargi College
Consolation – BITS Pilani
Razzmatazz -The Western Dance Competition
Ist – Miranda House IInd – Lady Shri Ram College
Street Dance Competition
Ist – Trinity College IInd – BITS, Pilani Consolation – PGDAV, VGI
Desert Duel – On the Spot Dance Competition
Ist – Ganesh, PGDAV College
IInd – Yogesh Kumar, PGDAV College
Consolation – Vignesh Kumar, Shiv Nadar University
Fash-P, the fashion show at Oasis’14 | Picture Credits – Shaurya Sahai
Tandav
Ist – Aarhie Kaushik, Lady Sri Ram College IInd – Abhirami Ajith, Bharati College
Fashion Show
Fash- P
Ist – Trinity College
IInd – College of Vocational Studies
IIIrd – NIFT, Delhi Best Wardrobe – NIFT, Delhi
Femina Miss India Contest
Winner – Palak Gupta, Amity University
Street Play Competition | Image Credits: Kashish Madan
Theatre and Movies
The Street Play Competition
Ist – Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce
IInd – Lady Sri Ram College Consolation – IGTDVW
The Stage Play Competition
Ist – Deen Dayal Uphadyaya College IInd – Shri Ram College of Commerce IIIrd – Shaheek Sukhdev College of Business Studies
Mime Act Competition
Ist – Lingaya’s University
IInd – PGDAV College, Delhi University
Metamorphosis – Short Film Making Competition
Ist – CineClub, St. Stephens College
IInd – Effulgence, Sri Venkateswara College
IIIrd – The Half Ticket Shows, BITS Pilani
Ist – Shiv Nadar University
IInd – College of Vocational Studies
Best Vocalist – Kiran, BITS Pilani
Best Guitarist – Aseem, BITS Pilani
Pitch Perfect – Capella Event
Ist- Lady Sri Ram College
IInd – Amity University
Andholika – Eastern Vocals
Ist – Tuhin, Amity University
IInd – Mridul, College of Vocational Studies
Andholika – Western Vocals
Ist – Kabir, Amity University
IInd – SS Shrishti, Pearl Academy
Battle of Bands at Rocktaves 2014 | Picture Credits: Chirag Sharma
Rocktaves – Battle of Bands
Ist – Chronic Legion (Delhi)
IInd – Confuzone (Darjeeling)
Consolation – WireWeed (Shimla)
Rocktave – Unplugged
Ist – IMS (CVSPU)
IInd – College of Vocational Studies
Consolation – SPA Bhopal
Drums Duel
Ist – Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce
IInd – College of Vocational Studies Consolation – SPA Bhopal
Axetacy – Solo Guitar Competition
Ist – Sentiwapang, BITS Pilani
IInd – Kaartik Sharma, Deen Dayal Uphadyaya College Consolation – Ekyum Singh, Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce
Oasis Debate
Ist – Prakriti Roy, Pratheek Shankar, Anubhav Chakraborty (Hindu College)
IInd – Rajat Rai, Pranav Vijay Shah (NIIT University)
Note: This Winners’ tally includes the highlight competitions. For the informal section, visit http://www.bits-oasis.org/ With inputs from Department of Controls, Oasis-BITS Pilani
