Latest
DU Beat – Delhi University's Independent Student Newspaper
Archive

2017

Browsing
Admissions 2017

Testing the patience of aspirants, Delhi University further delays the PG admissions process by another week

By

In a shocking move which would surprise many aspirants, University of Delhi has rescheduled the admissions dates for Post Graduate programs. According to the new admissions schedule, the registrations for Masters, M.Phil and Ph.D courses would start from 12th June 2017. In a recent press release by the University it mentioned that the process would be entirely online.

The admission which were to start on 31st of May were delayed and the dates were changed to 7th of June. The University has further delayed the admissions by a week. This move is expected to cause widespread resentment among students.

The move comes as a big setback for students who are eagerly waiting for the entrance exams. With their semester exams over and entrance of other Universities are a cause of anxiety for students who are camping in the city just for Delhi University entrance. Nikhil Agrawal, an aspirant who gave his final year exams this year says, “This move of the University of setting multiple goal posts rather than clearly declaring one single date is going to increase the frustration among aspirants who are already anxious because of the earlier delays. The University should resolve the matter soon, and stop harassing students with such moves every week.”

The Post graduate programs of the University admit students on the basis of merit and entrance exams. The entrance exam for the same would be held in six different cities across India.

Image Credits: www.du.ac.in

Srivedant Kar

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
News

Low pass percentage of BSEB students reflects in DU Undergraduate Registrations

By

The extremely poor and low pass percentage of class XII students studying under the Bihar State Education Board (BSEB) has reflected in this year’s undergraduate courses’ admission registrations in University of Delhi (DU). With around 65% of the total appearing students failing miserably to pass the exam, the overall pass percentage for this year remained abysmally low at 35% in BSEB.

A drastic dip in DU admission registrations from BSEB students has been recorded as compared to the last year, with a mere 1272 registrations coming this year, as compared to last year’s 4317 registrations, forming even less than 50% of year 2016’s total BSEB admission registrations. While the results of Uttar Pradesh Board of High School and Intermediate Education, commonly called the UP Board still remain unannounced, students appearing for XII standard examinations under UP Board  contributed 5145 registrations towards the last week of DU admission registrations. Applications from this Board too, mount up to an extremely small number as compared to a massive 21606 registrations in 2016. However, the highest number of registrations has been received from the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

Interestingly, the registrations from Punjab State Education Board have recorded a hike as compared to the previous year. The number has unexpectedly increased despite the Board not moderating marks this year, contrary to 2016.

The statistics have, every year, proven a direct relation between the efficiency of the Education Boards and the number of students making through the sky rocketing cut-offs of Delhi University colleges. According to students and faculty at DU, it is usually difficult for students studying under state boards, especially those of UP and Bihar, to reserve a seat in DU colleges, as compared to CBSE students. Records and observations continue to prove the falling efficiency of UP and Bihar State Education Boards.

With only a week left for UG admission registrations to close, no surge in the number of applications from BSEB or UP Board is expected according to the faculty at DU.

 

Image Credits: Press Trust of India

Priyal Mahtta

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
DU Annual Fest Season

TOP SOCIETIES IN DU FEST SEASON 2017: I VOGUE, SGGSCC FOR FASHION

By

Every year, societies from colleges across the campus compete neck to neck and put up spectacular performances during the fest season. This year too, saw certain teams shine a little brighter than the rest. We bring you a series with college societies that put their heart and soul into their respective fields and took home the top prizes at various cultural fests.

The best college society in each category was selected by creating a tally of the top 3 positions at competitive events held during various cultural fests of this season. Whenever a society won the first prize, they were awarded 3 points, for the second position they received 2 points and for the third position, 1 point was added to their tally.

For the fashion category, I Vogue, the Fashion Society of Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce scored the maximum points with their tally being at 5 points. Galore, the Fashion Society of Maitreyi College and Glitz, the Fashion Society of Kamla Nehru College followed next with 3 points each and Glamoratti, the Fashion Society of Dyal Singh College placed third with 2 points.

The Winning Society at a Glance

I VOGUE, Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce

Smashing and slamming the doors on the predominant social constructs, I Vogue – The Fashion Society of Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce has defended its position as the best college fashion society, second year in the row. Last year I Vogue wowed the audience with its theme of inclusion of LGTB community in the mainstream society. This year, I Vogue stepped up its game a notch higher wherein their ‘Fashion Army’ bombed the stereotypical notions related to religion, gender, sexuality and shot bullets of change at racist, colorist and body shaming prejudices.

Sarthak Kathuria, President, I Vogue – “I feel so proud maintaining our position at the top. Its two years in a row, woah! My team members and I  have worked really hard to prepare what we have showcased all over the fest season. We focus on taking up fresh and current issues that need to be dealt with in our society and showcase it in a way that the essence of fashion doesn’t get lost while conveying our message to the audience. This time we portrayed a ‘Fashion Army’ who was there to fight against the various stereotypes that prevail in our society related to gender and sexuality, Beauty (Body shaming and Racism) and also religion; it was all showcased in a cohesive manner to reach out to the audience and give them an opportunity to look at the realities of life with a broader mind.  We can proudly say that we have been the trend setters in DU and this time as well we brought ahead fresh ideas in terms of concept, designs, styling, choreography, music, etc. which is all purely done by the team members, without any outside help.We have always believed in following fashion and doing fashion on stage. We stay miles away from fancy dressing and that’s what I believe makes us stand apart. We brought our ideas to life without any funding from anywhere, but it all seems to have paid off well for us.
IVogue is like a family, we have been through the whole journey together and I feel each and every member has played their part very well. So three cheers to my amazing team, without which we couldn’t have had made this a success.”
Active Members

Sarthak Kathuria (President)

Harsh Kapoor (Vice President)

Head Designer and Stylist: Sarthak Kathuria

Choreography: Sarthak Kathuria and Harsh Kapoor

PR Team:
Manpriya Jain
Rishabh Dabas
Chayan Jain

Make Up and Hair:
Kanku Vyas

Other performing members:
Divank Satwani
Yash Tyagi
Jasneet Kaur Bhatia
Kangana Makkar
Harmeet Kaur
Prabhjot Batra
Jugti Bakshi
Harleen Kaur

Winner’s Tally: I Vogue

Eight college fests were referred to while evaluating the top societies tally this fest season which were: Tarang, LSR; Ullas, KNC; Tempest, Miranda House; Montage, JMC; Mecca, Hindu College; Reverie, Gargi College; Nexus, Sri Venkateswara College; and Confluence, Hans Raj College. Only a few of these fests held competitive fashion show events, and the society emerged victorious at the following:

1st Position: Ullas
2nd Position: Mecca

The society also won many accolades at various other colleges like NIFT, College of Vocational Studies and Dyal Singh College.

(Hover over the icons to know more about their victories)

Design by Alex Arthur

Nidhi Panchal

[email protected] 

 

Keep Reading
By
News

NIT Srinagar website hacked, stated ‘Free Kashmir’

By

The world observed an ambivalent irony on June 4th, 2017. The benign platform of cricket induced us to ruminate over a political reflection with the India-Pakistan match in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 taking place in Edgbaston, United Kingdom. Surreal remembrance of divide and rule strategy, yes? But as the Indian team emerged victorious and we could see evidence on the Internet of how cricket continues to bind us in friendship and more, on Monday pro-Kashmiri elements hacked the official website of the premier National Institute of Technology (NIT), Srinagar.

The defeat of Pakistan in the match led the hackers to take control of the website on Sunday evening and post hate messages. In the offline scenario, the nation woke up to a terrorist attack on a CRPF station at Sumbal in the Bandipora district of Kashmir. Interestingly, NIT Srinagar got marked in the political scenario after a clash last year between Kashmiri and non-Kashmiri students in the T20 World Cup match against West Indies.

The posters were uploaded by ‘All Pak Cyber Skullz Members.’ The content was as follows:

“We shall fight till the last breath. What shall a man not pay for living? Everyday 100s of innocent people are abused, raped and even killed in Kashmir by Indian army, a third of the deaths are children. We don’t want war. Take back your guns and go back to where you came from.”

“Giving up is not an option.”

“Go Modi Go.”

To a rhetorical question – “You know why you got hacked” – which the hackers obviously wanted to answer, the poster said:

“Free Kashmir. Freedom is our goal. Kashmir does not want militarised governance. Stop killing children, raping women and imprisoning the men! They just want freedom! Freedom from the evil of the Indian Military!”

Similar attacks were carried out in the month of April this year, with the official websites of over 10 educational institutions being hacked by a pro-Pakistani group. Websites of educational institutions including the University of Delhi, University of Kerala, IIT Delhi, and Aligarh Muslim University were hacked, wherein the group barred public access to them by putting up a page displaying pro-Pakistan slogans. The page also displayed videos showing the alleged brutality of Indian soldiers towards Kashmiri residents.

One of the students, when speaking to a national daily, said, “We saw that the website had been hacked when some students tried to access it to see a few articles of the syllabus. We were shocked to see that the website bore anti-India literature, anti-Indian Armed Force propaganda, and a call to leave Kashmir and give it freedom.”

 

Feature Image Credits: India Today

Saumya Kalia
[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
News

DU research team identifies trees for air purification

By

If the multi-spheres of pollution are humanity’s most significant survival battle today, then the planting of trees is claimed to be the biggest contributor in cleaning the air which serves as the life valve of every species. Daily reports allude to the deteriorating air, aquatic, and land quality owing to a multitude of reasons. Luckily, this World Environment Day, new research about countering air pollution has been discovered.

A team of researchers from the University of Delhi has identified five trees which might be instrumental in tackling the plight of the degraded quality of air. Plants are known to act as air purifiers by sucking up and trapping harmful gases and particulate matter. The team comprises of 16 members – three assistant professors and 13 students – who collected data on air pollution and the dominant tree colonies from five areas – Mandir Marg, Civil Lines, Anand Vihar, RK Puram, and Punjabi Bagh – over a period of a year from September 2015 to September 2016.

According to their research, certain trees with inherent qualities contribute in cleaning the city’s air more than others. Dr. Vijay Thakur, Assistant Professor of Botany at Shivaji College, comments, “But not all plants have the same ability to bring down pollution and clean the air. Our research shows that there are some trees such as peepal, saptaparni, and jamun which help to clean the city’s air more than others.”

“We compared the levels of five pollutants — PM2.5, PM10, NOx, SOx, and ozone — in these areas as measured by the monitoring stations and then studied the dominant tree colonies,” he added, when speaking to a popular national daily. The parameters considered for the study included the tree’s height, canopy size, leaf size, shape and orientation of leaves, leaf characteristics, dust accumulation, and other factors that were studied in the laboratories.

The results found that areas such as Mandir Marg and RK Puram have lower pollution levels as compared to Anand Vihar and Civil Lines, which are highly polluted areas. These findings conformed to their hypothesis wherein areas which were dominated by trees such as peepal, jamun, devdar, champa, and saptaparni registered lower levels of pollution. Civil Lines, which has trees such as Vilayti Kikar, on the other hand, observed high pollution levels.

“We found that these five trees were able to trap more pollutants, including PM2.5 and PM10, than others. Their leaf structures were such that they helped to trap more dust and other pollutants,” said Dr. Kumar.

Concretisation, infrastructural toll, falling groundwater, termites, bugs, and ageing continue to be the biggest threats to the health of trees occupying the Delhi region. According to statistics, 15,000 trees were felled in Delhi in the last three years for development projects, and there is currently 299.77 sq. kms. of green cover in the national capital.

The project, in addition to testing the ability of a tree to absorb pollution, also studied the presence of birds as bio-indicators of a healthy tree. “It was found that some trees, such as the peepal, not just helped to bring down pollution levels but also supported a wide range of bird species. The grey hornbill and brown-headed barbet were found in large numbers in areas which were dominated by trees such as peepal,” said Dr. Virat Jolli, Assistant Professor of Zoology at Shivaji College.

The project titled “Amelioration of Air Quality in Urban Ecosystem of Delhi – Role of Avenue Trees” was mentored by the ecologist and emeritus professor of Centre for Environmental Management of Degraded Ecosystems, CR Babu. Funded by the University of Delhi, the findings will soon be published in a peer-reviewed journal.

 

Feature Image Credits: TheHealthSite

Saumya Kalia
[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
DUB Speak

The Earth will survive, but we won’t

By

5 June 2017 marks the 43rd World Environment Day (WED). Yes, that day when everyone advocates green energy, abhors plastic, and plants trees. First held in 1974, nothing (except the themes) has changed in terms of how this day is celebrated. More or less throughout the years, the same things have been repeated. Yet each year the records of “highest temperature” are being broken and glaciers keep on melting.  I don’t know if it is worth saying what’s been said before, but I do know that there is no other way round it.

As writer Arundhati Roy writes in The End Of Imagination, “There can be nothing more humiliating for a writer of fiction to have to do than restate a case that has, over the years, already been made by other people in other parts of the world, and made passionately, eloquently and knowledgeably. I am prepared to humiliate myself abjectly, because, in the circumstances, silence would be indefensible. So those of you who are willing: let’s pick our parts, put on these discarded costumes and speak our second-hand lines in this sad second-hand play. But let’s not forget that the stakes we’re playing for are huge and our fatigue and our shame could mean the end of us.”

The theme for 2017 is ‘Connecting People to Nature – in the city and on the land, from the poles to the equator’. The host nation this year is Canada. As part of the occasion, Canada has offered free passes for its national parks throughout 2017. In an age when the world is subjected to the crass ignorance of Trump, Canada under Justin Trudeau seems like a reassuring presence. But the rosy words and promises are rendered meaningless if you keep siphoning more and more carbon for people to burn and sadly that’s exactly what Canada is planning to do after they discovered 173 billion barrels of oil in the ground at Alberta’s tar sands in northeastern Alberta. (Yes, Trudeau is indeed charming, and also deceiving.)

These days when the world is either freezing or melting, and with growing acceptance of conspiracy theories that claim that climate change is a hoax, the situation does look bleak, but there is hope. Evidence includes Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement being met with Michael Bloomberg’s offer of up to $15 million to implement the agreement.

capture-20170605-212626

In our own rapidly industrialising country where the cost of development is often the environment, Kerala has planted one crore saplings today. It is important that we do our part by implementing things that we were taught since a young age. It’s important that we  limit driving, conserve energy, reduce the use of packaging material and use environmentally safe products, and educate ourselves, so as to see through the pretense of policies. We can’t really afford any lethargy or indifference because as Neil deGrasse Tyson puts it, “The Earth will survive climate change… we won’t.”

 

Feature Image Credits: Egeturk

Niharika Dabral
[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Sports

Real Madrid emerges victorious at the UEFA Champion’s League final

By

In an epic showdown of the invincible instincts of the Spanish Champions, Cristiano Ronaldo and company  lead Real Madrid to victory yet again consolidating themselves as the greatest team in Europe after a thumping 4-1 win over Juventus in the UEFA Champion’s League final.

The Principality Stadium in Cardiff, bore witness to what was yet another night of sheer Madrid dominance. The match saw Los Blancos no more relying on their Galacticos rubric and the team in its entirety demolished the fabled I Bianconeri defence after the likes of Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini and Dani Alves were reduced to mere dummies against the Modric-Casemiro-Kroos midfield magic.

The first goal of the night came after only 20 minutes of the whistle. Cristiano Ronaldo created a glorious chance for himself, in a quick one-two into the box with Carvajal, as he curled the ball past Buffon from just inside the area. The euphoria was only briefly hindered when Mario Mandzukic, the former Atletico man, scored a stunning scissor equaliser in the 27th minute. The goal spree continued as the second half saw detrimental goals coming from the thundering 27-yard from Casemiro and the tap-in from Ronaldo, with Asensio scoring the ultimate goal in the 90th minute.

view-full-size5

Ronaldo jubilant after the final whistle.

All in all, Madrid did what Madrid does. They demolished the opposition inspite of the statistics and all the emotional strings attached with the retiring Gigi Buffon.

It is almost boring to see a team win repeatedly, but that is also the hardest thing to do. This is something enabled by the perfect game plan of the super-manager Zinedine Zidane and the perennial record-smashes of Cristiano Ronaldo. Their team has made everything achievable. They enjoy unprecedented success by facing different challenges to nearly any other team but overcoming them nonetheless.

This is the beginning of an era. The way Cristiano passes as selflessly as he scores, the way Casemiro demolishes the defence, the way Modric dances with the ball and the way Isco makes the ball move to his symphony. Madrid seems to have no stopping for some years to come. At the Super Cup this August, Manchester United might end up learning this the hard way.

Image Credits- Real Madrid Facebook Page.

Nikhil Kumar
[email protected]

 

Keep Reading
By
Admissions 2017

DU Admissions 2017: Guidelines for NCWEB admissions

By

The University of Delhi, through its policies and activities, acts as a hub of opportunities for all sectors of the society. One such endeavour to facilitate women empowerment is the Non-Collegiate Women’s Education Board (NCWEB), which allows thousands of young women who are unable to join a regular college to obtain an undergraduate and postgraduate degree in the varsity. These students can attend classes during the weekends or academic breaks, and the Board allows them to appear for the DU examinations without attending the regular scheduled classes.

The foundation of NCWEB lies in the vision of enlightening women through academic and skill training. The holistic development offered stems from a desire to enforce social change, and thus presents itself as a platform of women’s education. The Board’s initiative is a significant step in the construction of an egalitarian society. Established in 26 UG courses and one PG centre, NCWEB has cropped up as a significant academic horizon with 23,000 students growing under its umbrella.

The admission in NCWEB is merit-based, and is administered through the declaration of cut-offs in July end. The schedule this year’s admission cycle is as follows:

schedule

Image Credits: UG Bulletin 2017-18

Interested applicants residing in NCT Delhi are automatically considered for NCWEB on selection of programmes, either B.A. (Prog.) or B.Com (Prog.) or both. The Board provides library facilities and financial aid to those candidates who are deprived of these facilities. The candidates are permitted to utilise the infrastructure of educational platforms at a low cost, thus allowing them to overcome their barriers. Through the convergence of cultural and extracurricular activities, NCWEB offers a holistic education arena to the students.

Details of the Programme

  1. Students are expected to attend classes regularly as the minimum 66% attendance has been made mandatory to appear in the University Examinations, which are held annually in the month of May.
  2. The NCWEB UG students are permitted to finish their B.A./B.Com. three-year degree programme within 6 years, of taking admission, i.e. span period for UG is 6 years.
  3. The classes are held either on Saturdays or on Sundays and during the academic breaks of the University of Delhi. There are 50 teaching days in a year.
  4. At the Under-graduate centres, classes are held from 9.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m. There are 5 periods in a day, each of 60 min duration.
  5. Teachers of the University of Delhi and affiliated Colleges are deputed as guest faculty to teach the Non-Collegiate students. The pass percentage of these students is as good as the regular students.

Admission Procedure to B.A. (Prog.)/B.Com Programmes:

  1. Total no. of Seats in B.A. (Prog.) in each of teaching centres: 284

Total no. of Seats in B.Com. in each of teaching centres: 184

Number of seats in B.A. (Prog.) subject combinations are fixed. Reservation for SC/ST/OBC/PwD/CW will apply as per University rules.

  1. The percentage for cut-off will be decided on the basis of marks obtained in the best four subjects in 10+2.
  2. The cut-off list shall be displayed at 9:30 a.m. at all centres and the NCWEB website ncweb.du.ac.in
  3. Any student who takes admission in any one NCWEB centre, will not be allowed to change the centre at any later stage during the admission process
  4. After approval of admission, the applicant has to log on to the undergraduate admission portal to make online admission fee payment. This may be done till 12:00 noon of the next day of the given admission list deadline.

Requirements at the time of admission:

  1. The applicants will have to submit their original certificates at the time of admission.
  2. The annual fee would be approximately around Rs. 3500/-.
  3. No fee will be charged from PwD students.
  4. The Non-Collegiate students are not allowed to pursue any other full-time/degree programme.
  5. It is suggested that the students may take admission in a college near their residence, if possible.
  6. Residence proof of NCT Delhi (i.e. Aadhaar card/ Passport/ voter Id card/ Driving license/ Ration card) in original will have to be submitted.

Feature Image Credits: University of Delhi

Saumya Kalia

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Admissions 2017

In the Midnight Hour, Delhi University uploads its UG admissions Bulletin

By

After days of wait, large crowds of students flooding open days with hundreds of queries, Delhi University has finally uploaded its much sought Admissions Bulletin 2017-18 for Undergraduate Courses. Although the link of the bulletin was provided in the UG admissions page from the morning itself, but link of the PDF file became inactive after some time. Late Saturday night, University uploaded its admissions bulletin.

The bulletin clearly explains the details of how to register for the online admissions, step by step. It even discusses clearly with examples various topics like how to calculate your best of four. Other than the normal information which the University had earlier shared through its open days, some new information like list of colleges providing concession to girl candidates have been added to the information bulletin.

Here is a brief account of which section you should access to clear your doubts.

  • Registration details: Page no. 1 to 2.
  • Admission Procedure: 3-12
  • Programs offered: 13-14
  • Requirements for admissions: 14-17
  • Program specific requirements: 18- 27
  • College wise Course list and their fees: 28 (Annexture I)
  • Reservations rules and procedures: 29-37
  • Sports and ECA quota and guidelines: 38-43
  • Admissions in non-regular courses like NCWEB, SOL: 49
  • How to calculate best of four: Annexture 2(Page no. 89)
  • Cut off list of previous year: 169

The Admissions bulletin is expected to resolve most of the doubts and queries of the aspirants. Students can also check page no. 63 to 68 to get answers of the frequently asked questions. If still, students face any doubts they can contact the grievance offices in colleges or University’s grievance cell in the conference centre.

You can find the entire PDF document of the bulletin in this link.

For any other doubts, you can message us on our FB page.

Do tune in for our FB live which in which we discuss admissions queries and doubts with deputy dean, student welfare of University of Delhi today.

 

Image credits: www.du.ac.in

Srivedant Kar

[email protected]

 

Keep Reading
By
Uncategorized

University of Delhi inaugurates the Wall of Heroes

By

The University of Delhi on Friday inaugurated the Wall of Heroes to honour the warriors who have been conferred with the Param Veer Chakra, aligning with the central government’s Vidya Veerta Abhiyan campaign. Yogesh K Tyagi, Vice-Chancellor of the varsity, along with the Chief Guest Hari Om Panwar, a renowned poet, unveiled 21 photographs of the award winners on the Wall. The Wall has been set up at the varsity’s Conference Centre, with the title ‘Our Heroes.’

The Vidya Veerta Abhiyan is an initiative undertaken by the Ministry of Human Resource Development which directs over 1,000 educational institutions across India to set up walls measuring 15×20 feet, adorned with portraits of 21 soldiers who are the recipients of the highest wartime bravery award. The campaign seeks to embed a nationalistic spirit in the educational arena and pay homage to the gallant martyrs.

The occasion was graced by several veterans, families of many war heroes, faculty, staff, and students. Hari Om Panwar, the Chief Guest, remarked, “Today, we are celebrating Holi, Diwali, and other festivities because our soldiers with guns are guarding the border and paying tribute to them is the biggest festival. If students can discuss and debate peacefully, it is only because of their sacrifices.”

Mr. Panwar believes the wall is synonymous to a temple, as it marvels at the wonders of our nation’s heroes. “Through this initiative, we hope to reflect on somebody’s contributions. Different people can draw different kinds of lessons and inspirations,” said the DU Vice-Chancellor, Yogesh K. Tyagi. The objective of the setting up of the wall also takes into account an awareness-creation model in the younger generations, to acquaint them with the soldiers’ accounts of valour.

The Wall was also inaugurated at the Jawaharlal Nehru University on May 17th.

 

 

Feature Image Credits: The Hindu

 

Saumya Kalia

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By