Archive

January 2017

Browsing

Today’s tech-savvy world has allowed everything to go digital –right from food to sports to music and even the radio. It is only fitting that we find an alternative to the newspaper our father enjoys every morning with his cup of tea. We present to you a list of digital news apps for the courageous and honourable folks who admit they don’t read the average newspaper afterall!

Inshorts: We’ve all heard of this very popular news app that delivers news in short (quite literally). With crisp and accurate data accompanied by pointers explaining certain terms (yes, they do love us students), this funky app in signature red is a must read.

 

Google News: Yes and they publish news too (remember that old Tata Steel ad-after a wide range of activities, it read “we make steel too”). Let’s face it, nothing Google does is ever average and this is no exception. With a personalized newsfeed covering all possible areas of your interest, this app is perfect for those sloppy Joes.

 

Way2News : This app provides an exceptional reader experience , allowing you to skip the fluff and access the data. Let’s not forget, it operates in 9 Indian languages and has the most adorable monkey as its mascot. Yes, this is definitely worth your phone space.

We sincerely hope that all those who garner secret hatred for that badly formatted, black and white, advertisement ruled TOI will find solace in this article!

Featured image credits: inshorts

Anahita Sahu

[email protected]

What does Karan Johar’s subtle coming out mean for us?

Karan Johar’s newly released “An Unsuitable Boy” has sparked a conversation about sexuality and privacy in India. Our correspondent tells you how the celebrated director’s autobiography has already impacted the LGBTQ, and otherwise mainstream, Indian society.

The widely publicised release of “An Unsuitable Boy”, Karan Johar’s autobiography, has been accompanied by all sections of society weighing in on Johar’s sexuality and his expression of it. In his own words, Johar states, “Everybody knows what my sexual orientation is. I don’t need to scream it out. If I need to spell it out, I won’t only because I live in a country where I could possibly be jailed for saying this. Which is why I Karan Johar will not say the three words that possibly everybody knows about me.”

Here’s what this means – Karan Johar is gay. Karan Johar will not explicitly state that he is gay. The chances are that many of us who have grown up watching Johar in the public light are not surprised by this ‘admission’. However, while we may be appreciative of his candor, many of us are still disappointed by his lack of explicitness. We place an extraordinary amount of responsibility on Johar to use his platform to raise awareness about LGBTQ issues in as oppressive a society as India. His status as a Bollywood veteran even provides some level of protection and support that many of us fail to identify in our daily lives. As such, surely he owes it to his most ardent followers, and perhaps more importantly, to the thousands of closeted citizens of India, to come out more eloquently and remove the stigma around sexual minorities.

The problem with this assumption and expectation lies in the simple fact that despite his fame and prosperity, Johar is only human. Sure, he may have a voice and the ability to give confidence to people in India who are still struggling to come to terms with their sexualities. And while it is understandable, and even acceptable to some extent, to expect him to “say the three words”, he deserves the same level of privacy that we would expect in our daily lives, away from the limelight. At the end of the day, his sexuality and his expression of it are both his choice alone. Pressurising him to be overtly gay is no better than heteronormative society pressuring him to be straight. Perhaps one day he’ll feel safe enough to declare his sexuality without the fear of law. Until then, we can only appreciate what he has chosen to share with us now.

So if you catch yourself judging him while reading his latest, take a step back to think about the courage he mustered to reveal his sexual orientation at all, and then cut him some slack for only being human.

Feature Image Credits: Blog to Bollywood

Vineeta Rana
[email protected]

The ‘Titanium’ and ‘Dangerous’ hit star DJ David Guetta is on his Unity Tour and is going live in India from 12th Jan to 15th Jan 2017.

“The Grandfather of EDM” David Guetta is on his Unity Tour 2017, which includes a four city tour in India, performing live at Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Noida from 12th Jan to 15th Jan 2017. Robin Schulz will be a special guest in the tour. The team is all set to put the Sunburn arena on fire this New Year!

David Guetta, a French dance-pop DJ and producer who has sold over 15 million singles worldwide, has learned and perfected his craft in Paris nightclubs throughout the 1980s and 1990s. DJing professionally from the age of 18, and after spending years on the French club scene wowing crowds and winning fans, he formed Gum Productions in 2001 in partnership with DJ and producer Joachim Garraud. One of the biggest names in dance music has collaborated with a huge string of stars of the past decade to create some momentous world-wide hits. Now the French DJ has collated these into one massive live show where he drops in some of his personal favourite dance/pop records from a variety of eras. People feel David’s charisma when playing to a live crowd, as they describe him visibly enjoying what he does as the more energy the crowd give the more animated he becomes within his DJ box. People abroad have described, “As he drops the likes of ‘Shot Me Down’ and ‘Titanium’ he hypes the crowd further by dancing along with the masses. His sets often feature numerous tracks from a variety of genres. It is fair to say there is something for almost everyone during Guetta’s set and you assured to dance along to at least one piece of music.” So, yes we are expecting an excited and loud crowd in all his concerts in India!

David Guetta has toured all over the world – both on solo stints and alongside Rihanna in 2013. He has literally travelled over a million miles to bring his dance anthems to all four corners of the globe, and is known for releasing the party animal in his fans. With two Grammys already under his belt and a strong legion of fans from across the globe, David Guetta’s fame and success will continue to balloon.

 

Image credits: www.partyowl.in

Radhika Boruah
[email protected]

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
[email protected]

A motley of real and relatable characters unfolds the craziness which resides in every household; explore what makes this show firmly lodged in our memories till date!

The Indian daily soaps often tend to fall back to a formulaic way of narration: larger than life characters, twists as complicated as a jalebi, and a superfluous confluence of emotions and drama. The one show which defied the anticipated trajectory of a sitcom within the realms of Indian television was of a Gujarati family within a family; both often at comic odds with each other, thus forming the crust of the story. With the Instagram announcement that Sarabhai V/s Sarabhai will be returning for a web-series after ten years, our hearts were re-ignited with the incandescent joy one can only experience after obtaining a content dose of the Sarabhais.

The title itself induces the involuntary humming of the theme song, highlighting their quirks and comedic conflicts. From “Sophistication inki surname hai” to “Zuba se oh my-my yeh kitne pyaare hai,” we were roped in to witness the life and times of the Sarabhai clan and their extended family. Interestingly and fortunately, the show’s story became its USP; for it broke away from the traditional portrayal of a fictional family and connected with the mind-set of a real family. The idyllic sanskari parivaar where the blowing off the flame of a diya signified an incoming tragedy (categorically middle class, we tell you!) was left leaps behind to pave the way for some much-needed reality checks.

Breaking away from the norms of the stock characters, the Sarabhais are a bundle of laughter with their baggage of eccentricities. From Maya’s incessant Monisha bashing and middle class comments to Indravadhan’s knack for stirring up trouble in the household which is always on the brim of chaos, their quirks became the source of some brilliant slapstick comedy. Add to this equation the Momma-ness of Rosesh who is determined to ruin the art of poetry with his oh-so-unique kavitas; one is bound to enjoy the laughter that ensues. The latter titular Sarabhai family brings with it a couple who thrives on their polarities. Monisha shines as the scrooge with her lackadaisical attitude to anything and everything, and is the not-so-perfect bahu who is certainly more entertaining than the show, Uska Pati Sirf Mera Hai. Complementing her is the always neutral husband Sahil; a doctor forever caught between striking a balance between his wife and mother. Put together the members of this dysfunctional memory, and one is assured to be presented with a sitcom which provides all shades of amusement!

Until the show returns to laptops near us, here’s a Rosesh Sarabhai poem to illuminate your life:

Sone jaisa rang hai tera, aakhe jaise moti, 
Laash jaisi dikhti hai jab khuli aankh se soti 
Machli bu bu bu bu bu bu bu bu kissi de do choti choti!

 

Feature Image: India West

 

Saumya Kalia

[email protected]

 

Delhi University plans to scrap off the cut-off system to introduce entrance test for admissions into undergraduate courses, beginning from the session 2017-18.

 

In addition to being aimed by students for its reputation and extra-curricular engagement, Delhi University is famous throughout India and perhaps the world for its soaring high cut-offs. Every admission cycle in the varsity presents an inadequate amalgamation of qualified students in excess numbers and limited seats in over eighty colleges; thus pushing the course cut-offs to new heights, and making it difficult for the brightest minds to secure admission in leading colleges. From the academic session 2017-18, the varsity is reportedly planning to bring forward a new admission process by conducting entrance tests for undergraduate courses, thus doing away with the cut-off lists.

 

Every year, the admission process involves releasing a series of cut-offs for a majority of courses, and students who meet the criteria can then proceed to the college of their choice along with the stipulated documents. Entrance examinations were only being conducted for professional (DUJAT) and post-graduate courses until now. There have been speculations regarding the commencing of entrance exams for B.Com and B.A. programme courses from this admission cycle onwards.

 

Khalsa College’s Professor Nachiketa Singh, a member of DU’s academic council, speaking to a national daily said, “Delhi University is planning to scrap the cut-off list system and move to an entrance test for admissions in undergraduate courses from the academic session 2017-18. The test would be objective. The entrance test is likely to be of 80 marks and 20 marks would be kept for assessing the CBSE marks of the particular subject in which the student will appear for the test.” The varsity’s Vice Chancellor Yogesh Tyagi last year commented on the inflation of marks by boards to secure admission in DU as a major hindrance and remarked that a proposal to introduce a single entrance for all colleges is being considered as a solution.

 

In 2016, the highest cut-off went up to 99.25% for B. Com(Hons) by Ramjas College; thus, scaling incessant heights every year. Such stringent requirements for admission into an array of courses and colleges demand aspirants to obtain near-perfect scores, and due to the escalating number of applications every year, the cut-off system would only grow to be more chaotic. A 12th grader who would be appearing for CBSE boards in March this year, commented, “The boards examinations with every year are turning into a redundant cycle of rote-learning and scoring marks by sheer luck. And even those who secure a percentage above 95 have to struggle to gain admission in the course and college of their choice due to the plummeting cut-offs. With the system of entrances, admission would purely be based on knowledge.”

 

While such a move would come as a breath of fresh air for the plethora of applicants who apply every year, it might also pose difficulties at the functional level. Firstly, after having appeared for the extremely daunting Board examinations, to sit for a singular entrance test which would minimise the importance of the former examinations would leave students with high marks disconcerted. Secondly, while previously aspirants could apply for several courses, such an examination would limit their options if the entrance examination dates were to clash. Moreover, the conduction of such exams all across the country would require extensive planning and work, and it would take time to develop a proper structure.

 

 

Feature Image: The Indian Express

 

 

Saumya Kalia

[email protected]

Why run the Rat Race when you can run the CAT Race?

The cat is out of the bag! CAT results for 2016 were declared on 9 January. As per data, the top 20 performers who scored 100 percentile are male engineers. But this hardly comes as a surprise as, for at least the past three years, all 100 percentile scorers have been men from the engineering background, with the exception of one female engineer scoring a centum in one of those years.

However, what is dispiriting is that in spite of recognising the need to promote diversity in Indian B-schools, the trend of male engineers getting admission to premium institutions still remains unbroken.  Earlier last year, the administration redesigned the test pattern to create a level playing field for applicants across all streams. But clearly, either their efforts were insincere or there still exists a lacuna in the entire system.

The disparity that prevails in the process of selection for a management degree in India is so heartbreaking that on becoming aware of it, I quickly abandoned my plans of pursuing MBA in India, and started planning for higher studies abroad.

I am a student of commerce. Like many others from my field, my decision to study economics and commerce at the graduation level was guided by my intention to pursue MBA and eventually find a place for myself in the corporate world. I chose commerce over engineering not because I was incapable of pursuing science, but because at the time, this path seemed only natural.

But at that tender age, how was I to know how paradoxical the Indian formal education system is! At one end, we laud our growth and progress by quoting the decline in the number of students opting for science and engineering, and the parallel increase in the number of students taking up commerce and humanities instead; at the other end, our society still rewards science students in the form of relatively lower cut offs for admission to degree courses and a clear edge in major entrance exams.

Indeed, it is rather ironical that there is nothing ‘common’ about the Common Aptitude Test (CAT). Ideally, it should be a test which gives an equal opportunity to students from all academic backgrounds to secure a seat in a management school. But what it actually does is give the science takers an edge over others and confer them with an opportunity to study in elite B-schools on the basis of past training.

This is extremely problematic at the macro-level, let alone the micro-level, of the individual. Disenchanted, MBA aspirants then choose to pursue their degrees overseas, eventually securing work and settling down there. The brain drain causes a dent to the country’s potential human resource and hurts India’s intentions of achieving supremacy as a global economic powerhouse.

My grouse as a commerce student is simple. Our education is devised to equip us with the knowledge and temperament of a corporate professional. Yet, when it comes to the CAT Race, the science students overtake us. Not because we’re any less; but because we’re running a race to win, but somewhere along the course, the rules change, swinging it in favour of another category of contenders. Patently unfair! Is anybody listening?

Kriti Sharma
[email protected]

Image Credits: DU Beat

The current crisis in the Yadav clan in Uttar Pradesh possesses bigger questions and threats than a mere feud over the symbols. How do we place these political developments on the broader time frame of the illogical dynastic politics in India?

Amidst all the hustle and bustle of the New Year, the aisles of the great Indian political arena have been jam packed with deliberate rumpus in the top leadership of the Samajwadi Party. The approaching election dates further intensify this tussle as random horns are seen locked every other day. The entire controversy which ignited on 14th  September last year when Mulayam Singh Yadav appointed his brother Shivpal Yadav as UP SP chief, replacing  Akhilesh Yadav to which the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister responded by ousting his uncle of three prime portfolios;  has roped in all the major stakeholders of the party. Opposition drools over the entire family drama with timely crocodile tears here and there.  Fittingly, the media houses are leaving no stone unturned to be the first ear to any development at 19, Vikramaditya Marg, Lucknow.

Unfortunately, a myopic picture which the entire crisis depicts is one of the objectification of something as theoretic and communal as a political party. Only time will tell how the general mass of UP respond to this bickering of the father and son over what seems to be something as mundane and personal as family business, further degrading not only the sanctity of the already blasphemous Indian politics but also the reliability of the government.

The inevitable question here is what makes these dynastic rulers take for granted a political party, and hence the social ideology on which it stands or the general mass which supports it? What gives certain families the liberty to defame the reputation of a party which is earned over time through blood, sweat, toil and tears of countless supporters?

The answer lies in the patriarchal hierarchical setup of the Indian culture which the nation has been witnessing ad infinitum. We have ended up being a nation of people who feel that leadership, and hence its charisma,  is a trait which is passed through generations, and hence there is no questioning of the leadership skill of a prodigal progeny of a veteran father however badly they fare or what new lows they lead the party, or the nation, to.

Mr. Nehru, the trendsetter, capitalized on this ardent desire of ours for a monarchical system and taught the nation that nepotism was all right and it was only fair to later reward your siblings, cousins and children with plum posts if you happened to be in power. This formula later worked so well by 1991 that when an utterly inexperienced, disaster orator Sonia Gandhi offered the Prime Minister-ship, no-one batted an eyelid. So dismal is the situation that now when Congress seems to be getting reduced to nothing, the alternative to the appalling leader in Rahul Gandhi is thought to be his sister.

Inder Malhotra, the former editor of The Times of India, in his book ‘Dynasties of India and Beyond’, poignantly  reasons this form of feudalism exercised by these political stakeholders when he writes “the vocal minority’s denunciation of dynasties-particularly loud in India and primarily directed against the Nehru-Gandhis-is indeed out of sync with the basic reflex of the silent majority… To the bulk of the subcontinent’s population, there seems nothing objectionable in political power passing from parent to progeny”.

This resentment of a minority is something which is fatal for a democracy. Keeping in view the changing tides of the mood of the masses in India and globally, a general consensus among the political parties needs to be made to stop taking people for granted and rise above the family lines to salvage their political party in particular and the national politics in general. We do not want to see the rise of our own version of Donald Trump.

 

References-

Dynasties of India and Beyond, Inder Malhotra, Harper Collins, 2004

Sunil Rajguru, Dynastic politics in India.

Image credits: TheIndianExpress.com

Nikhil Kumar
[email protected]

 

Most of us know Veganism to be a new fad that advocates not using animal products for food or lifestyle, including clothing, medication and cosmetics. What most of us don’t know about this new fad is that:

1. It has it’s origins as early as 10,000 B.C. and was the central ethic at the heart of Eastern Tantra and Western Magic, the mother of all modern religions today.

2. Not just that, it is the single thread, the moral lesson, that holds the story of creation together through the cyclic apocalyptic floods that come as Mother Earth detoxifies herself regularly over periods of time called Yugas or eons.

3. That ancient sciences of both Yoga and Alchemy hold veganism as a prerequisite to rise and shine like the Sun and summon our soul mates to satellite around us creating our own spiritual solar system here on Earth.

4. That the nuclear reactions in a star as it matures from its first main sequence of converting hydrogen into helium until its seventh main sequence of producing the heaviest element Iron, is a fractal equivalent of an individual here on Earth raising their Kundalini energy through their seven chakras, which cannot be done without veganism.

5. That as per the Law of Sevens, as we do raise our Kundalini through the seven chakras by practicing Ahimsa or Veganism, we are actually making our way through the seven levels of afterlife we will be sent to, the three lower Hells, the fourth transition level and the three upper Heavens as mentioned in many Vedic and Hermetic scriptures.

6. This law of sevens isn’t just limited to our seven Chakras and our spiritual place in Heaven or Hell, it pervades all of creation from the seven colors of visible light (VIBGYOR), seven sounds of the audible spectrum (Sa,Re,Ga,Ma,Pa,Dha,Ni), seven existential needs, seven levels of consciousness, to the seven main systems and master glands in the human body that make it function as a whole together.

7. That unless we go vegan, we will never experience the full potential of our personal and professional life because as the Kundalini energy moves along our spine it activates our chakras and their associated glands to peak performance one by one.

8. What we refer to as our elusive sense of intuition or sudden spurts of inspiration which account for our most magical experiences of being alive is actually our sixth sense, our ability to communicate with nature working pathetically. As our Kundalini moves up, those states of being guided by nature become more sustainable until we are in constant two-way communication with nature.

9. Normally we only see and hear about 1% of the bandwidth of the visible and audible spectrum. Many other animals see and hear outside of their spectrum and respond to it as well. We are kicked out of this network because of our violence towards other sentient beings, our spiritual siblings. Once we resume loving relationships with them we are welcomed back into this network by Mother Nature.

10. So, if you want to discover all your spiritual soulmates to fulfill your purpose of existence with them, experience the big L love or become the next great inventor or artist, there is only one way to go, and that’s Veganism.

Sukrat Bajaj, the Creative Director of Vegan World Media, a publishing house dedicated to producing cutting-edge vegan content says that – “Whether we know it or not, we are all tantrics, little magicians, doing tantra in our everyday lives, the question remains only of our awareness.”

Vegan World Media is looking forward to working with student activists from every college to help spread the beautiful and magical message of Veganism. They have decided to offer their books to students at 50% of their online prices on Amazon, while helping student activists make money on the side.

Interested students may write to them at [email protected] and leave their name, college, contact information and phone numbers.

DU adopts new policy for recruitment and promotion of teachers; the newly proposed system reduces the previous emphasis on interview performance.

On 31st December 2016, the Executive Council of Delhi University adopted the University Grants Commission’s policies that will regulate the recruitment process and promotion of teachers, which will consequently impact the University in its entirety. In the emergent meeting of the Executive Council, the varsity adopted the fourth amendment of the UGC which will govern the regular recruitment process that will fill roughly half the posts in DU.

According to the new recruitment policy, 50% weightage will be given to academic record and research performance, 30% to assessment of domain knowledge and teaching skills, and the remaining 20% to performance in the interview. The newly proposed system departs from the previous policy which placed more emphasis on the interview performance.

Abha Dev Habib, a member of the Executive Council, says that the new process, still far from perfect, does introduce some measure of “transparency” to the process. In the previous system, a selection committee would select anyone practically for any reason, no questions asked. “Now they’ll have to create a table and fill scores. 4,000 teachers, comprising half the University’s teaching staff, will be recruited through this process and they will be in service for 30 years.” On the other hand, Academics for Action and Development opined that this distribution of weightage will mean that “a majority of the long-serving ad hoc teachers will not be regularised.”

The new system, however, only partially undercuts the arbitrariness for which the previous system was scrutinized. Abha Dev Habib points out that 50% weightage to “academic record and research performance” without proper guidelines of how they are to be assessed means, “it will yet again depend on the selection committee.” She argued that different departments should be allowed to lay down their own parameters, judging the quality of research, making the exercise more objective. Academic Council member Nachiketa Singh, also opined that, “If the qualifications criteria is not spelled out, there’s no difference between the old process and the new.”

While efforts are being made to improve certain aspects of the recruitment process, the issue of the reservation roster remains unresolved. Dev Habib points out that the varsity continues to use “a faulty reservation roster imposed through the emergency powers of the Vice Chancellor in September 2013,” and said that the roster must be corrected so that the posts can be advertised.

 

Image credits: catchnews.com

 

Aditya Narang

[email protected]