2017

Uncategorized

Attack on Indian Diaspora under Trump’s Rule

By DU Beat April 8, 2017

The world community is now at a stage where anti-globalisation sentiments are clearly visible among all sects of people. A major section of the United Kingdom voting in the favour of Brexit is evidence of the same. So is the result of the US presidential election that made Donald Trump, President Trump.

Donald Trump, in his campaign, appealed to the angst and resentment that certain parts of the population had towards the immigrants who got jobs in the United States, making them feel deprived of the opportunities apparently meant for them. He also allegedly synonymised terrorism with the Muslims, making them look like the reason for all terrorism-related problems. Having come to power, his xenophobic feelings got transfused with the state machinery which led to the introduction of laws like the Travel Ban.

Strangely, there has been an increase in the number of attacks on immigrants including people belonging to the Indian diaspora. An Indian-born engineer was shot dead in a Kansas bar on 30 March and witnesses said that the gunman shouted “Go back to your country” before opening fire. This is not the only incident or diaspora that’s under attack. The question that arises here is whether it’s just a coincidence or is there some correlation between these events?

When a person gets voted into a position of authority, his or her opinion gets a huge amount of legitimacy and following. Such persons get recognised as what various social theorists call ‘opinion leaders’. This has the propensity of fetching their narrative legitimacy, making it a hegemonic narrative. Once that happens, sects of people ascribing to that narrative assume a sense of authority and end up imposing their views on others, sometimes violently. This phenomenon is not just prevalent in the United States. It can be seen in our country as well. Yogi Adityanath becoming the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and shutting down meat shops is one such example. All such incidences give rise to a very important question – is it not necessary for people assuming such offices to be careful of the messages they transmit, directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally?

Image Credits: Politusic

Aditya Narang

Uncategorized

Tales of Summer: 5 Ways to Cope Up with the Heat

By Saumya Kalia April 8, 2017

As the weather and newspapers report the sudden wave of summers, a collective sigh envelops the heat-stricken inhabitants of this nation. Reports of woes and whines are being heard in great proportion from the collegiate-section as the temperature continues to rise and temporary respite of rain appears sporadically. Amidst the sudden arrival of the sunny season, here are a few ways to survive the heat.

The Deluge of the Sunscreen

Scientific facts time: Global warming, harmful UV rays, skin cancer. Weather and skin maintain a perpetual caring relationship. While winters cause dryness, summers can cause major skin damage due to the glaring sun rays. Summers call for shorts, skirts, dresses, and sleeveless shirts. Hence, cover every spot of your exposed body with sunscreen.

The Periodic Water Intake

Doctors reiterate a few things during your monthly/annual/contingent visit. Exercise daily, don’t eat an excess of junk food, and most importantly, drink LOTS of water. Besides the obvious health benefits, a sufficient water intake is of monumental importance to keep you sane and active during your eventful days.

The Wardrobe Makeover

The primary reason which leads to shopping is the seasonal transition. Bidding adieu to jackets, mufflers, and sweaters, summertime calls for airy clothes which shall be your sustenance in the heat. This summer complement yourself with shorts, dresses, or skirts, or go wild and buy a skort. The right outfit selection can prove to be your saving grace.

The Strategic Hang-Out Spot Selection

Gone are the days when the whole gang would sit under the sun anywhere and everywhere for cold comfort, for the troublesome heat waves will prevent you from occupying your spots of liking. You shall find yourself constantly in search of restaurants and cafés which offer the luxury of ACs, because that shall be your respite in the coming future.

The Recreational Bonanza

The theory of fun constitutes a direct relationship between rising temperatures and the frequency of plans involving water. Pool parties, Goa trips, and water park plans shall all emerge at once, so ensure your friends don’t bail out on trivial grounds. Are you ready for some fun in the sun?

Image Credits: Brinkley Walser Stoner

Saumya Kalia

Admissions 2017

School of Open Learning of Delhi University to start 10 new courses from this year

By Srivedant Kar April 8, 2017

Delhi University’s School of Open Learning (SOL) which runs various distance learning programmes is going to start ten new courses from the commencing academic year. The new courses will also include vocational courses. The governing board of SOL has already approved these courses which include BSc (honours) mathematics, BA (honours) history, and Bachelor of Vocation in human resource management. The director of SOL, Dr. C.S Dubey said “The course structure and syllabus has been formed and approved by the GB and was sent to DU for consideration. The university gave us a proforma to fill in the details, which we did and sent it to the university.”

The authorities observed that a large number of applicants who applied for these courses in regular colleges last year could not get admitted in these courses due to high cut offs and less number of seats. “When we studied the number of applications received for these courses, we found that many students had applied but only limited number got admission. There is a lot of demand for these courses among students so we are providing a chance for students to study these courses through distance medium,” said Dr. Dubey.

These courses will now require an approval from the university which will then need another approval from distance education board (DEB). The authorities will send the proposal for starting new courses to DEB soon. They are optimistic to start the admissions this year provided they get the approval from DEB.

The courses which have been approved are as follows:

BSc (honours) mathematics
BA (honours) history
BA (honours) economics
BA (honours) Hindi
BA (honours) psychology
BA (honours) Sanskrit
BA (honours) Hindi journalism
BVoc in human resource management
BVoc in office management and secretarial practices
BVoc in marketing management and retail business

SOL admits nearly 1.5 lakh students annually in various Bachelors and Masters Courses under Delhi University.

With inputs from: Hindustan Times

Image credits: DU Beat

Srivedant Kar

Exams

A Guide to Writing the Perfect Assignment

By Saumya Kalia April 7, 2017

Amidst the academic maelstrom, pacify your hearts with our tips and tricks of writing an apt assignment, as they might just be your saving grace.

Between incubating fond remembrances during the months of February and March which are huddled with the fest season and reminiscing back on the months/years gone by in April, the home of the farewells, there comes a brief stretch of time when all that remains are social media feeds full of hyperventilating posts of being stressed with internal submissions. Here’s a list of don’ts to ensure that your assignment is received with satisfactory scores!

Don’t start sentences before knowing where they should end

Start your assignment with a generic thesis about what your essay endeavours to entail. Let the top sentence of a paragraph explain what the next few lines are about. If you still choose to type down random words flowing out of your intellectual space, then may the force be with your teacher.

Don’t end up copying verbatim

If you haven’t been scared off by the ethical advisement against plagiarism, then chances are your attendance marks are zero. The temptation to copy and paste from the online reading material is unparalleled, but in perspective, it’s just a different shade of stealing.

Don’t mistake critical readings for décor

Remember the bunches of photocopies of essays and readings lying somewhere in your bag or between the ruins of your study table? Yes, they are supposed to be transcended into the depths of your mind so that those ideas can be presented in your papers. Unusual concept, is it?

Don’t take deadlines for granted

Dates circled on the calendar or reminders by friends are not frivolous spams which are out to vex you. If you plan to stick by the deadline initially, there’s a good chance you might actually end up submitting on time.

Don’t end up doing the opposite

These are they key ingredients to prepare an almost-perfect assignment. A dash of carelessness and a spoonful of laziness might end up giving you low scores. Tread this path carefully; for the road to writing assignments is dark and full of terror.

Saumya Kalia

Image Credits: All About Comprehension

Arts & Culture

Harry Styles releases his new single: Sign of the Times

By DU Beat April 7, 2017

After a global speculation build-up which can only be termed masterclass, with a flash teaser commercial during the U.K.’s X Factor on March 25 and the title and cover art reveal on March 31, Harry Styles has finally rolled out his debut single Sign of the Times today. Releasing the song on his pal Nick Grimshaw’s radio show only to be followed online, Harry formally ended his music hiatus. And as expected for the half of the world population and unexpectedly for the rest, this is an absolute killer from the One Direction frontman.

Things can be pretty easy if you are Harry Styles. Keep holding to your safe zone, bring out something sweet and cheesy, and you can well expect a chartbuster.

But Harry Styles does not like it easy. With this new ballad, in what can be seen as a major departure from the “boyband culture”, Harry has justifiably taken the musical fraternity on fire.

“If we never learn, we been here before
Why are we always stuck and running from..The bullets?”

A meticulous lyrics, penned down in the span of months by Jeff Bhaskar and Harry himself, combined with an electrifying background piano sequences in the opening seconds, leading to the slow rock crescendo in something similar to the 90’s music, all in a brilliant sync with Harry’s heartthrob of a voice, relatively soft in the opening lines with awe-inspiring thundering high notes progressively; Sign of the Times is easily the best rock ballad we have heard this year.

Later in the day amid music critics related Harry’s latest vocal lament venture to David Bowie, the single debuted #1 on US Billboard.

“Just stop crying

Have the time of your life

Breaking through the atmosphere

And things are pretty good from here

Remember everything will be alright

We can meet again somewhere

Somewhere far away from here”

Nikhil Kumar

Image credits- nme.com

Arts & Culture

Is there any ‘art’ in propaganda posters?

By Abhinaya Harigovind April 7, 2017

From Mao to the Nazis, propaganda posters have been a significant aspect of politics and mobilisation. Merriam-Webster defines propaganda as the spread of ideas, information or rumour for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person. Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda, is often quoted as saying that ‘propaganda’ is used to refer to something inferior and despicable, always leaving a bitter aftertaste. Ironically, much of this ‘bitter aftertaste’ may be attributed to Goebbels himself and his manner of seeking popular support for the policies and decisions of the Nazi regime.

Though broadcast media like the radio and television are increasingly used to garner support for a specific agenda from a large set of people, various forms of art have also been used to reach out to the masses. King Tut’s gold mask, the pyramids of Giza, and the statues and pillars that almost every emperor, from the Romans to Akbar, erected to mark their victories are often seen as methods of propaganda. Visible signs of grandeur and power serve the purpose of bolstering the image of the ruler as an infallible one, in whom the subjects must place their utmost trust and devotion.

Since they can be cheaply reproduced, posters have been an important part of political propaganda. Posters belonging to the period of Mao, Hitler and the Soviet era all reflect a clever use of colours, images and visual symbols to promote an idea. The mass reach of a poster is largely due to the fact that the message it conveys does not hinge on literacy. Further, images have an almost subconscious effect with regard to normalising and internalising certain ideas.

poster-1 — A World War II anti-semitic poster in Russian, which says ‘Who’s winning the war? The Jews are! Nations are fighting and dying for them and Jews make money on their deaths.

Communist propaganda poster from Russia, 1919. It says "Death to capital, or death under the heel of capitalism." The representation of capitalism as a wealthy, obese man is significant. — Communist propaganda poster from Russia, 1919. It says “Death to capital, or death under the heel of capitalism.” The representation of capitalism as a wealthy, obese man is significant.

poster-3 — A smiling Chairman Mao was often represented with children and families on posters in order to portray him as a father and teacher figure.

Whether propaganda posters can be considered ‘art’ is something to consider. ‘Propaganda art’ seems almost like an oxymoron to me. They are two words that appear to contradict themselves. Referring to propaganda as ‘art’ would restrict the meaning of art to merely anything that is visually represented. However, ‘art’ has a deeper implication-that of allowing pluralities and multiple perspectives to exist, while propaganda seeks to eliminate all such multiple views.

Image credits:

Poster 1: iCollector.com

Poster 2: modernworldhistory-levelfive.blogspot.com

Poster 3: maospropaganda.wikispaces.com

Abhinaya Harigovind

Arts & Culture

Beauty & the Beast and the Queer Sex

By DU Beat April 7, 2017

The Beauty and the Beast maybe a ‘tale as old as time, true as it can be.’ However, the reactions of some conservationists over a singular ‘gay moment’ in the movie is perhaps, further behind time.

The Alabama Theatre has banned the screening of Disney’s latest live action adaptation of ‘The Beauty and the Beast’ over the featuring of Disney’s first gay character.

The musical score has also faced a setback in Russia where it has been slapped with a 16+ restriction. Even though the Russian Box Office has agreed to distribute the film’s license without any restriction, the ‘adult only’ viewership has stripped away a large section of the movie’s intended audience.

A Progressive attempt by Team Disney

In what is being hailed as a watershed milestone in the world of entertainment, Disney is finally embracing diversity. In an attempt to educate children on the different forms of love and equal representation in a pluralist society, the character of LeFou has been given a homosexual twist in the Beauty and the Beast.

LeFou, who has been dubbed as Disney’s first ‘unambiguously gay character’ is the chubby sidekick to the villainous Gaston. He is confused about what he wants and is just coming out of the enchanted wardrobe.

‘Just a Little Change, Small to say the Least’

Disney history has its fair share of ‘queer coding’ as villains like Scar from “The Lion King” , Ursula from “The Little Mermaid” and Jafar from “Aladdin” were modelled after drag queens and given effeminate undertones.

Despite several examples of Disney using queer coding to demonize its villains, there are other positive characters that have a large gay following. The iconic Genie from ‘Alladin’ has been adored and admired for his cross dressing tendencies and pop culture references.

The beautiful Elsa from “Frozen” is also speculated to be gay and the Oscar winning song “Let it Go” has been hailed as the ‘coming out anthem’ to break free from the shackles of confinement. A huge Disney fan base is rooting to #GiveElsaaGirlfriend to prove that a princess does not always need a prince to find her happily ever after.

Even though “The Beauty and the Beast” is not a giant leap for LGBT representation, it is however the first time that Disney has acknowledged that a character like LeFou is homosexual and has taken a small step towards inclusiveness.

Anahita Sahu
[email protected]

Image credits: Broadway.com

Bazinga

Bazinga- Patanjali College to be started under DU this year, admissions begin in August

By Riya Chhibber April 6, 2017

Having launched a range of herbal and organic products like Patanjali shampoo, conditioner, face wash, oil and even noodles, the list of Baba Ramdev’s products under Patanjali Ayurved is longer than Shankar Mahadevan’s song, Breathless. Therefore, with his never-ending determination to promote traditional remedies and culturally rooted practices, his new mission now is to provide remedy for the dysfunctional and diluting education system of the country by opening a college under the University of Delhi. Already being touted as an innovative venture, the college will be called YUVA, short for Yoga and Ayurveda Academy and will be located near the newly built DDUC campus area in Dwarka.

From B.A with Yoga Science, B.Sc in Yoga to PG Diploma in Yoga, M.A in Sanskrit Literature, Tourism Management and more, the college promises a variety of off-beat courses for students to enrol in. Speaking to us on a condition of anonymity, an administrative staff member of the soon to be established college said, “Guru ji has started a great social change and bringing that change from Haridwar’s holy city to a metropolitan like Delhi was necessary seeing the social fabric of India diluting day by day. We are going to revolutionise the sphere of education with this college. Here traditions, culture and the ‘Bhartiya sanskriti’ will not only be preserved but also practiced.”

Since sanskriti must begin at home, in order to engage in the ’swadeshikaran’ of the youth’s ‘pehnawa’ boys will have to drape saffron robes while girls will adorn salwar-kameez as uniform., our sources tell us. The canteen will be ‘shuddh shakahari’ and insiders tell us that instead of having a college fest like other DU colleges, YUVA will have an annual ‘Yoga Shivir’ . To compensate for the star night, the yoga exponent’s ardent fan Shilpa Shetty Kundra will grace the stage, showcasing yoga asanas for her fans.

At this crucial hour, when many colleges are wanting to gain autonomy from DU, with this, we sincerely hope that by providing a remedy for anything and everything, Baba doesn’t end up getting a taste of his own medicine.

Image credits: Youth Ki Awaaz

**Disclaimer: Bazinga is our weekly column of almost believable fake news. It is a humorous, light hearted column that should only be appreciated and not accepted.

Riya Chhibber