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An Unreserved Student Gets Admission in a Reserved Seat at DU’s Law Faculty

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Student Manmeet Kaur Sareen had filed a plea in Delhi High Court questioning the policy of admission into the Law Faculty of Delhi. Even after the last cut-off list as 233-34 for the unreserved category, seats were left vacant. Ms. Sareen had scored 231 in her LLB entrance exam and there were 14 seats left in total at the three Law Centres.

Law Centre 2 had 7 seats for reserved category and one for a foreign national but after filing for an affidavit, the university declared that these seats won’t be carried forward to the next year.

The following is the rule by the University for reserved category students, ‘The seats reserved for SC/ST shall be filled by SC/ST candidates only. However, in case of non-availability of the eligible candidates, the reserved seats may be interchanged between the SC and ST. If still, any seats remain unfilled, the same shall be left vacant’.

In Justice Indermeet Kaur’s own words, “The ends of justice would definitely not be served if available seats in educational institutions are allowed to go waste; this could also not have been the intention of educational legislators…This would be a denial of opportunity to an otherwise meritorious student…”. to which DU argued that there were 67 students before Ms. Sareen.

The court ordered admission only for Ms. Sareen since only she approached the court and nobody else. She has been given admission at the University’s Law Centre 2.

Image credits: dubeat.com

 

Prachi Mehra

[email protected]

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DUB Speak

State of Co-Curricular Activities in Delhi University

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Famed for its performing societies and star alumni, does the University’s ecosystem encourages the growth of co-curricular activities?

If there’s anything that the University of Delhi is famous for besides its headlines-grabbing cut-off percentages each year, it’s the star alumni. Apart from politicians, some of the country’s top artists are also DU graduates, partly stemming from the fact that Delhi in itself is a city that promotes such fields with its various cultural centres that regularly hold performances and workshops by experts.

At the college level, however, the stepping stone for the likes of Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan is the college societies. Upon closer inspection, though, it becomes obvious that enough is not being done to facilitate their workings. Right from the inception stage, it is difficult to find out about the formalities required to start a society. The presence of a faculty advisor is also a condition and it takes a lot of hassle to find a convenor because most of the teachers are already under a lot of workloads, having no incentive to take on additional responsibility. Further, the music, dance, and theatre societies require spaces for their daily practices. In institutions like Jesus and Mary College and Hans Raj College, it’s cumbersome to book the Auditorium for practices as obtaining the administrative permission takes a lot of time, which leaves students without proper practice spaces. Colleges like Miranda House, Kirori Mal College, and Sri Venkateswara College do not have proper auditoriums currently, which results in finding nooks and corners of the college for practices. This becomes tiring, and due to no allotted space for each society, societies secure spaces on a first come first serve basis, leaving other groups in a lurch. As performances and competitions’ season nears, these colleges have a disadvantage since necessary rehearsals are unable to take place.

A good portion of the already meagre society funds has to be devoted to booking external auditoriums during the fests’ season as well. Lack of funds is usually cited as the reason for the delays in construction and repair work, but recurring stories of the collapse of unused funds amounting to crores contradicts that claim. Finally, the members of these societies themselves are often not treated well by the faculty and administration. Professors are often unwilling to co-operate regarding rescheduling of the internals on account of performance events that the members have to attend – which is representative of the disinterested attitude of the University as a whole.

There are a few efforts being made. Miranda House, for one, has developed an app that lets societies book spaces online, cutting scope for bureaucratic work. Such efforts, however, are very rare and should be the norm instead of an exception.  On the whole, a very sorry state of affairs exists and it’s quite saddening to see that basic facilities are unavailable in the country’s premier liberal arts colleges due to administrative roadblocks, sitting on funds, and an ironically uncaring attitude in the world beyond academics.

Image credits: DU Beat

 

Rishika Singh

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DUB Speak

Jingoism Disguised As Patriotism

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A rational approach would suggest that liberalism is directly proportional to the progression in time but in today’s scenario, all means of sound judgment seem to be clouded by the veil of pseudo-patriotism. While patriotism is an emotion that requires inward reflection of our duties as national citizens of the country, pseudo-patriotism necessitates the exhibition of the same, disregarding consensual willingness. As is incessantly debated, the many folds and crevices of patriotism seem to have acquired a false sense of affinity towards jingoism, and in the grand scheme of things, if this ulterior wave persists, the essence of patriotism will soon get drowned in the battle cry for nationalistic fervor.

In a recent case in Madhya Pradesh, School Education Minister, Vijay Shah instructed the government schools in Satna District to answer their roll calls by enunciating, ‘Jai Hind’ from October 1. His insistence stems from the martial chants of ‘Jai Hind’ as a greeting and suggests that repeated intonation of the same will foster the love for the country, in the youth, as is deemed necessary by certain political segments. Another bizarre implication of instilling committed patriotism in the people is the order passed by the Supreme Court to play the national anthem in cinema halls across India before the feature film begins and all present in the hall are mandated to stand up for the same as a part of their “sacred obligation”.

The bench referred to Article 51(A) (a) of the Constitution, which states that “it shall be the duty of every citizen of India to abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem”, in the processing of this order.However, it seems that the lawmakers are conflicted among themselves because until now, the law precisely stated that it has been left “to the good sense of the people” not to indulge in indiscriminate singing or playing of the national anthem. The playing of the national anthem prior to a film is not only unnecessary but also a blatant contravention of an existing law altered and modified to suit the convenient propagation of a flawed nationalistic outlook.

As is popularly preached, there is a time and a place for everything. There is a certain kind of mood that complements the recitation of the national anthem and the unfurling of the national flag. An atmosphere as nonchalant as that of a cinema hall, reveling in the undertones of humour, sarcasm and wit fail terribly at incorporating the anthem and garnering reverence for the same. The theatre audience consists of a majority, who view it solely as a means of entertainment and exercise their involvement as dormant participants. Instilling patriotic sentiments in a crowd that is only casually aligned to the cause and predominantly treats it as an unnecessary precursor, in itself defeats the purpose for which it is so crudely being materialised.

Both, nationalism and patriotism reek of honor and esteem and rise way beyond the modern day construct of ethnocentricity. It is high time that the learned minds are set free to explore and redefine their allegiance.

Image Credits: The Indian Express

 

Lakshita Arora

[email protected] 

 

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Events

Seminar with Zephyr in association with Happiness is Love

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Zephyr-The Film and Photography Society of CVS in association with Happiness is Love (HIL) conducted a seminar on 27th September, 2017 in the Seminar Hall of College of Vocational Studies. The seminar commenced at 11 a.m as the chief guest Ms. Jyotika Bedi the founder of Project Happiness Is Love (HIL) along with her team gave the students an introduction of the projects HIL aims at.
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Ms. Jyotika Bedi also made students aware of some more projects that they work on which includes Emotion Drive Project which focuses on creating a world that needs more happiness and love rather than self centered and selfish people and another Project- Global Women Roof that helps the women entrepreneurs and all other women who require any help from all walks of life.
Apart from these projects, she had a discussion on topics like youth are the future leaders and the game changers and enlightened the students about Kynatic Potential Explorers which has been running since 15 years, helping students to find their paths in life and choosing the right career for them.
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After the talk session, a quick ice-break challenge was performed where in 10 volunteers were supposed to tell one negative life incident and what how they learned one positive aspect of life from it.
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Also, another activity was performed where the students were divided in groups of 10 with one leader each, to decide what happiness means to them and what happiness does not mean to them. The leaders were supposed to go up on stage and share the views of their entire group on the given topic.
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Lastly, the results for the Online Photography Competition were declared and the top 3 winners along with the 12 runner ups were called up on stage to collect their prizes and certificates from the judges.
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In the end Zephyr thanked the team of HIL for this fruitful collaboration and for making this event a huge success.
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News

Students of Bhim Rao Ambedkar College Demand for Safety with Rise in Crime

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According to recent news reports, students of Bhim Rao Ambedkar College, University of Delhi, have placed their demands for a safer campus to a nearby police station after several incidents of harassment faced by the college students.

As reported by The Indian Express, a memorandum with all their demands and over 500 signatories has been submitted to Gokulpuri Police Station in North-east Delhi, on Saturday, the 23rd of September. The students have collectively raised demands for more police vehicles in and around campus, installation of CCTV cameras, and request for prompt action for complaints of teasing and harassment. Female students of the college have cited paucity of security around the area which has resulted in them feeling unsafe while traveling. They have alleged that the school students present outside their campuses often pass lewd remarks at them. Probing further on the matter, DU Beat got in touch with a student of Bhim Rao Ambedkar College who testified to this. He said that this happens on a nearby foot-over bridge, where, around the time of dispersal of a nearby school, the boys from there gather in groups and harass female students of the college by passing lewd remarks at them. Despite there being police on campus, not much has changed, and this ruckus is ongoing for a long time.

Incidents of attacks against students around campuses have been on the rise particularly around these days, with Banaras Hindu University being the prime example. Security breaches have risen, and an alleged case of snatching and subsequent use of blade on a female student has been reported from BRAC as well. Since BRAC and similar off-campus colleges are relatively isolated and secluded, unlike North and South Campus colleges, incidents of such cases tend to be higher here.

 

Feature Image Credits: So Delhi

Vijeata Balani

[email protected]

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DUB Speak

Shaheed-e-Azam – Celebrating Bhagat Singh’s Birth Anniversary

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“They may kill me, but they cannot kill my ideas. They can crush my body, but they will not be able to crush my spirit.” – Shaheed Bhagat Singh

More than a century ago, a true visionary and patriot, Shaheed Bhagat Singh was born. On the occasion of his birth anniversary, Shaheed Bhagat Singh College hosted an event in his memory by inviting Mr. Yogendra Yadav for a guest lecture. The scholar recounted stories from Bhagat Singh’s life with great patriotic fervour and talked about the martyr’s relevance in contemporary India. He said that the best way to honour the patriot would be by taking keen interest in today’s politics and thereby contributing to changing the scenario of this country. With great interest, he listened to the questions of the students and gave his insight and views.

Image Credits: Anukriti Mishra for DU Beat
Image Credits: Anukriti Mishra for DU Beat

A true revolutionary, Bhagat Singh paved the way for the independence of India in more than one way. He could discuss topics ranging from politics to science with a great deal of expertise. He was only 23 years of age when he died but the legacy that he has left behind is going to outlive us all. Bhagat Singh was one of the first socialist thinkers of the country who realised the need to raise the issues of class struggle. He believed in an egalitarian version of society and contributed numerous ideas for the establishment of one. He remains even today as one of the most celebrated freedom fighters. However the question that needs to be raised is: how much of his ideology have we been able to imbibe? At just 23, he left behind a lot of questions to ponder over. We cannot help but wonder whether our disinterested generation has tried to pick up pieces of wisdom from his writings. When most freedom fighters were only working for the decolonisation of the country, Bhagat Singh was trying to look beyond the immediate future. He was trying to create discourses which were required to establish a post-independent India.

In one of his last messages, Bhagat Singh said, “The struggle in India would continue so long as a handful of exploiters go on exploiting the labour of the common people for their own ends. It matters little whether these exploiters are purely British capitalists, or British and Indians in alliance, or even purely Indian.” Had he been alive today, he would have been disheartened to see his worst fears come alive. His vision of an India without the class struggles, poverty, and social injustices still remains a dream. India’s politics today exploit communal, caste, and class conflicts. Everyone manipulates these conflicts according to their convenience. Such a pathetic state of things is certainly a dishonour to the memory of a young man who did not think twice about giving his life for this country.

Hopefully, his cry of “Inquilab Zindabad” instills in today’s youth the same zeal and patriotic fervour that drove him to pave way for India’s freedom. May his ideas and intellectual legacy help us take his struggle and vision of India forward.

 

Feature Image Credits: The Indian Express

Anukriti Mishra
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Campus Central

Delhi School of Journalism begins its classes, VC says the centre will become better than Columbia School of Journalism

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The Delhi School of Journalism (DSJ) kicked off its journey with an orientation programme in seminar hall of Cluster Innovation Centre on 26th September. The event which marked the beginning of DSJ saw Prof. Yogesh Tyagi, Vice-Chancellor of the University; Prof. Devesh Kumar Sinha, Dean of Colleges; Prof J.P Dubey, Dean of Faculty of Social Science as the guests of the occasion.
The celebration began with a customary welcome song which was followed by the ceremonial lighting of the lamp. Dr.Manaswani Tyagi, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) of DSJ paid her tributes to the Chairman of Syllabus Committee, Dr Savita Dutta. This was followed by the address of Prof. J.P Dubey who said, “Resources and the potential available in and around Delhi will be sufficient to nourish the students” and encouraged students to work hard and reach the zenith of their careers. His address was followed by the address of Prof. Devesh Sinha who in his speech urged students to put efforts to achieve their goals. Stating a popular Sanskrit quote he said, “No deer enters the mouth of the Lion who is sleeping”.

This was followed by a speech by Prof. Tarun Das, the registrar of the University who congratulated and welcomed the students and parents to the University of Delhi. Highlighting the auspiciousness of the occasion, he said that it is a holy coincidence that the opening of the occasion is on the same day as Durgasthami.
This was followed by an address of Dr M.K. Pandit, the chairman of the admissions committee who spoke about the  power of the pen and said, “ I wish that students at DSJ write stories that would inspire generations to come.”

This was followed by the much awaited inaugural lecture by Prof. Yogesh Tyagi who started his lecture by paying homage to Dr Savita Dutta.  He said, “ Students sitting here today are making history”. Speaking about his dream project he said that he believes that the new school is going to revolutionize the education of Journalism in the country. ” I want the Delhi School of Journalism to become even a better centre than the famous Columbia School of Journalism” and urged the students to resolute to be best human beings and the best journalists in the world.

The program drew its curtain with everyone singing the National Anthem and distribution of refreshment packets later.

Image Credits: Sandeep Samal and Srivedant Kar for DU Beat
Sandeep Samal
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Reviews

RAREVIEW: A Film Review

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“Kaam karne ke teen tareeke hote hain – seedha, tedha, ulta. Jab aap seedha kaam karna nahi chahte aur tedha aap karke dekh chuke hain, to bachta hai ek – ulta.” Written and directed by Shobhit Bhatia and Arbab Ahmad, Rareview follows the story of three people trying to fix the rear-view mirror of a friend’s car. Arjun, Sood, and Kunal want to make an entrance to a party. However, they cannot do so in the two-wheeler that they own. Therefore, they decide to borrow a car from their friend’s father. Needless to say, the loan comes with a warning – they have to return the car without a scratch. Murphy’s Law states that, ‘Anything that can go wrong will go wrong’. These three friends find themselves in a similar fix when they meet with a small accident and lose the rear-view mirror of the car. In dire need of assistance, they employ Ranjit, an automobile fixer’s help. Upon discovering that Ranjit himself cannot help them, the four of them then decide to steal it from someone else’s car. In a predictable ending, they manage to return the car unscratched only to find that they were not the ones responsible for losing the rear-view mirror in the first place. Navdeep Maggu as Sood manages to get a few laughs with his hilarious portrayal of a friend who says the wrong things at exactly the wrong time. Dewang Mulani as Kunal and Kshitij Mervin as Arjun make their presence felt on the screen. However, the real show stealer is Shivam Pradhan, portraying the character of Ranjit. He leaves the audience gasping with laughter with his to-the-point acting and witty retorts. Shobhit Bhatia and Arbab Ahmad, alumni of Shunya, the theatre society of Ramjas College, do a surprisingly good job in their first production. The initial few scenes are not fully refined and the transitions between the scenes seem abrupt, but the film quickly picks up the pace. The director’s vision to contrast the scenes of simply whiling away time with the intense scenes of the three friends who have met with an accident fail to come across exactly as they are meant to, perhaps due to amateur editing. The direction could undoubtedly be better but considering the tools and the low cost of production, the audience cannot help but appreciate the film. Without a shadow of doubt, the directors in their first venture as amateur filmmakers leave a mark behind. The one thing I found myself appreciating during this thirty-minute film is its background score which throughout provided the intensity that the scene requires. The fact that Shobhit Bhatia and Arbab Ahmad have tried to get the technical aspects of film-making right is evident while watching the film. It is extremely difficult to get a thirty-minute film made at this level and without any resources. However, one does not realise these hardships because the end result is beautiful. For anyone wishing to spend half an hour laughing with their friends, this short film is a must watch! Check out the trailer to the film here. Feature Image Credits: Anukriti Mishra Anukriti Mishra [email protected]]]>

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Events

A Saturday with Strangers: Pop-Up Cafe 2.0

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On a regular Saturday afternoon when one is expected to be catching up on beauty sleep or stuck in droning lectures, DU Beat had the wonderful opportunity to be a part of Project FUEL (Forward the Understanding of Every Life Lesson). Founded in 2009 by Deepak Ramola, Project Fuel organised its second version of the highly successful Pop-Up cafe in The Founders’ Cafe, Delhi. More than 20 strangers formed the wonderful gathering.

The thought behind this idea is to create stimulating conversations and get people from all walks of life to interact and share their life lessons with each other. All participants were placed in different groups such that nobody on one table knew the others. Each group had a moderator who conducted an ice-breaking first introduction and followed it up with similar activities to keep the conversation flowing. Placards with questions were allotted, and all participants were then supposed to answer them immediately. There was another activity which involved putting paints on a sheet of paper, and crushing it subsequently to interpret the myriad of patterns that were formed. After this, everyone shared a life lesson they learnt, which created a trove of lessons for anyone who’s going through the same to refer to. The next activity banked heavily on sociometry, and engaged everyone in a passing-the-parcel game to eventually encourage them to share their deepest worries in solidarity and develop companionship in the process. The event ended with an open-mic session, where participants recited their poetry and shayari and related to each others’ experiences in the process.

The breezy weather coupled with fairy lights adorning the venue complemented the entire experience to develop it into a wholesome, enriching memory. Events of this sort, which promote learning through life lessons, are appreciable when in today’s day everyone is caught up in meaningless shenanigans of their own. With this, another edition of the Pop-Up Cafe was concluded on a successful note.

 

Feature Image Credits: Charu Saxena

Vijeata Balani
[email protected]

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The Auburn Umbrella

AUBURN UMBRELLA: Let’s Switch to Eco-Friendly Clothing

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In a world where every piece of plastic ever produced still lies somewhere in the garbage dumps, the stomachs of unaware animals, or in our oceans, where it  chokes aquatic life, fabrics like polyester and nylon only add to the degradation of the environment. Polyester and nylon, which constitute 60% of the textile fabrics produced, are called micro plastic and add to the non-biodegradable waste. India has taken a step ahead and roads are now being constructed by using plastic waste. So let us do our bit and take a step forward by changing our standards of fashion. Here are the best 5 eco-friendly fabrics to switch to:

Organic Cotton

Unlike normal cotton, organic cotton uses less water and no pesticides during its harvest. Also, since the farmers have to incur less cost due to minimal inputs, it does not cost as much as popular notions would have you believe. It feels the same as normal cotton and also helps us do our bit in contributing to sustainable living. You can find t-shirts, kurtis, dresses, and comfortable airy pants of various brands, both online and offline. Linen Produced from the fibres of flax plant, linen allows your skin to perspire during those warm days and keeps you cool. The clothes last long because the fibre is strong and the fabric is biodegradable. Linen shirts, pants and dresses give you the chic-casual look and gives you the breezy vibe. Just the perfect clothing you need on a long day of work/college.

Hemp

It is one of most environment-friendly fabrics available, which is also resistant to pesticides or chemical fertilisers. It requires very little water for its growth. Save water, save earth; remember? It is also very durable, only demanding a bit more of your time and attention in terms of maintenance. However, it makes up for it with the variety of outfits which you can choose from: those breezy dresses, pants, scarves socks and much more.

Bamboo

Clothes made from bamboo fibre are grown without any pesticides and the bamboo plant takes merely 9 months to grow requiring an all natural environment. Thus, the fibre turns out to be soft and the clothes smooth on your skin. Yoga pants for women, shirts, socks and much more are made from bamboo yarn.

These clothes may be more expensive than your normal jeans and tees, but changing  habits is for the good for the environment and our animals.

All of these fabrics last longer than the cheap clothes which you wear only 4-5 times before throwing them out. Instead, the next time you come across clothes that you no longer require, donate them to the neighbourhood’s underprivileged children, or your maid. You can even donate to your respective colleges’ NSS wings or Enactus as they are constantly in touch with various NGOs. Let us change the way in which we deal with our waste or purchase and save our Earth.

 

Feature Image Credits: Pinterest

Prachi Mehra
[email protected]

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