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Bazinga: Foundation Course Papers to be rechecked!

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Disclaimer: Bazinga is DU Beat’s weekly column of almost-believable fake news!

Almost a month after the declaration of FYUP results, the University of Delhi has decided to revaluate the FC papers. This decision has come amidst numerous protests against the inflation of scores and the shocking disparity in marks from college to college.

Under the new system, a foundation course is for 75 marks, out of which 55 are marked through projects, presentations, class discussions etc and the remaining 20 are allocated to a centrally prepared exam. This test was also evaluated within each college, making the entire process of assessment of Foundation Courses an internal one. Some students have scored from mid 80s to 90s, a feat which seemed impossible for an average college student till just last year, making it clear that DU was now going the CBSE route and inflating scores. The University also cited the obvious inequality in the marks distribution in different colleges as one of the reasons behind this decision.

It’s not just the students who were appalled by the discrepancies, even teachers are empathizing with their students, “Since history is a theoretical paper, I gave my students a maximum of 45 in their projects and presentations and 15 out of 20 in their exam, I was shocked to see that other colleges had given their students as many as 53 in the internals and a full 20 in the exam!” said a teacher from CVS.

As per the notice issued in this regard, the FC answer sheets will now be rechecked like those of the Discipline Courses to ensure an impartial marking. The new results will be out by the end of the month. The University can be seen buckling under the pressure from DUTA, DUSU, and other organizations protesting against the FYUP and demanding a rollback.

Disclaimer: Bazinga is DU Beat’s weekly column of almost-believable fake news!

 

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News

DUSU and ABVP observe ‘bandh’ in Delhi University

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The dissatisfaction against the First Year Undergraduation Programme (FYUP) was recently expressed as a ‘Delhi University Bandh’, organised under the leadership of DUSU and ABVP party members on the 17th of January, 2014. Apart from their major demand for the dissolution of the FYUP, the protest also included some other demands such as a restart to the recently scrapped off re-evaluation system, and an introduction of certain benefits for the economically weaker sections of the ‘general’ class. The dharna was staged in North Campus, propagating their agenda in several colleges, primarily including Kirori Mal, Hans Raj and Hindu.

Through banners and posters, a prior notice about the bandh had been given to the students and teachers of Delhi University. While the classes seemed to go about as usual in several colleges, some colleges including Lady Irwin College saw many classes get cancelled. The attendance drop was low in most colleges, with a 15% drop in KMC. Ramjas College already didn’t have any classes scheduled in lieu of the College Founder’s day. The protests started off from the Faculty Of Arts around 12 p.m., slowly gaining momentum as banners and chants of “Rollback FYUP” caught the attention of interested onlookers. However, as Kirori Mal and S.G.T.B Khalsa college indicate, this action was only restricted to a number of colleges as a tight security arrangement had been arranged for restricting and minimising the acts of hooliganism. Most off campus colleges including Motilal Nehru, Sri Venkateswara College and Lady Shri Ram College for Women were not effected by the bandh with classes continuing in a normal fashion.

The bandh is the part of a series of protests that ABVP is planning for the rollback of the FYUP. They have also followed a black ribbon day distributing fliers and black ribbons to students as a form of protest.

“FYUP has failed to live up to the expectations and the results prove that, it seems like the marks have been distributed to students for no reason other than the promotion of FYUP…like a lollipop being offered to a kid” says an ABVP member, Hindu College.

Akhil Goswami ([email protected]) and Isheeta Sharma ([email protected])

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DUTA conducts 12 hour standing dharna outside Arts Faculty

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On Saturday, 4th January, the Delhi University Teacher’s Association (DUTA) staged a twelve hour ‘standing dharna’ from 12 noon to midnight to protest against the inhuman treatment meted out by the university against the security guards. The dharna was held outside the Arts Faculty gate in North Campus.

Nandita Narain, the DUTA president expressed her views, “The main reason behind this dharna is the ongoing inhumane behavior in some or the other way in the University. There are basically three issues that we raised; Physical torture of guards, restoration of Panditji’s dhaba and  termination of South Campus’s Security Officer and his wife who was a library employee simultaneously without any appropriate reason. We, at DUTA, demand that these services should be restored and enquired upon.”

https://twitter.com/chitranshu09/status/419832520683708416

According to DUTA, no reason has been assigned for the removal of the security officer, but could possibly be linked to the fact that the officer, who had worked for 11 years, had not allowed the exit of a truck carrying illegally felled trees.

Their demands, as per the press release, are restoration of chairs and other facilities so that the guards get basic humane working conditions, reinstatement of the dhaba and return of the fine collected from Panditji, the reinstatement of the security officer and his wife, and also an enquiry into the illegal felling of trees and the officials responsible.

The protest, which involves large numbers of teachers, students and karamcharis, was also joined by the Jana Natya Manch, who staged a street play. The DUTA has also written to the National Human Rights Commission regarding the issue.

By Vani Vivek ([email protected]) and Shaily Sharma ([email protected]).

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Delhi University and Edinburgh College come together to spread digital literacy

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A new project has recently been taken up by UK-India Education Research Initiative (UKIERI) to work with the digital literacy sector of both the countries. Funded by UKIERI, the project is called Digital Literacy and Innovation for Tomorrow’s Education (D-LITE).

The two institutions who have been worthy enough to receive the funding are Edinburgh College, Scotland, UK and University of Delhi, India. D-LITE is working with the objective of engaging employers, teachers and students in both UK and India. The whole project consists of 8 activities that are bound to be completed in 2 years. The collaboratively developed programme will position digital literacy – along with digital life skills and digital inclusion, as an essential skill to drive digital participation.

In India, the project is being led by Dr. Chandra Shekhar Dubey, Director, Campus of Open Learning, University of Delhi and Dean, Faculty of Science, University of Delhi and Dr. Mamta Bhatia, who is the OSD, Campus of Open Learning, Keshav Puram, University of Delhi.

https://twitter.com/DigLiteracy/status/415078732173697025

Under the DU chapter, in the first phase 35 teachers of the University have been trained in digital literacy. The 4 day programme that was conducted at Delhi University’s Campus of Open Learning Centre in Keshav Puram, included training in Microsoft Word and Powerpoint, as well as Web 2.0 tools such as WordPress, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Teachers have also been provided Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) training by providing a familiarity with Moodle, a web-based application. Ms. Bhatia told us that the next step involves students of the University to be trained by the teachers who attended the programme, forming a continuous cycle. As the number of teachers that are trained increase, more and more students will be trained as well.

https://twitter.com/DigLiteracy/status/415074273884385280

Mamta Bhatia, OSD, Campus of Open Learning says, “In the present day, everything is digitalised. Hence, the teaching learning process also needs to be digitalised. Using tools such as Powerpoint, Facebook and Twitter can help in making the teaching learning process easier and more interesting.”

She told us, that out of the 35 teachers that were trained, four teachers will be selected as ‘champions’. These teachers will when undergo further training in Edinburgh College, Scotland.

https://twitter.com/DigLiteracy/status/404097307617943552

The project curriculum is being headed by Mr. David Hiddleston of Edinburgh College. He believes D-LITE is an important forum to enhance scope for employment. He says, “The D-LITE programme will support the expansion of emerging and developed markets; digital skills acquisition is becoming increasingly more important into all aspects of daily life, such as social participation and economic advancement for individuals and employers. It will also provide the opportunity to enhance learning and preparation for future employment.”

The initiative is being partnered by UKIERI, University of Delhi, Edinburgh College, British Council and Microsoft. The next set of activities under the programme have been scheduled for March 2014.

By Brij Pahwa ([email protected]) and Gurman Bhatia ([email protected])

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Features

[SPECIAL] Timeline: Delhi University in 2013

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Journalism is said to be all about story telling. Well, here is a story – the story of all that happened in Delhi University during the previous year. The administration welcomed the FYUP while the community continued the fight against the same. NSUI’s reign over the DUSU cabinet ended with ABVP bagging three seats out of four. Amidst the slew of politics, certain star studded events also managed to squeeze in. Overall, it was quite a year for DU. To list it all, here is what we did – we collated all these events and arranged them in a timeline.

Ready? Just flick through this quick recap. Want to know more about an event? Click on the title of the story.

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NSUI celebrates Lokpal, demands passage of pending anti-corruption bills

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National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) organised an event at Jantar Mantar on Monday, 30th December 2013 to celebrate the passing of the Lokpal Bill. There were a slew of artistes lined up for today’s event that included DJ Sumit Sethi and Traffic Jam, a band from the North-east. It was attended by students and supporters of NSUI across the country from various universities. Students were told as to how the Lokpal Bill will usher in a new era by eradicating corruption and reinstating the administration and the governance. Students also participated in a mass signature campaign and pledged to carry on the initiative until all the pending anti-corruption bills are passed.

Rohit Chaudhary, President, NSUI said, “Today is just the beginning, thousands of students are gathered here to raise their voice that corruption is not tolerable at any cost. We demand immediate passage of The Whistle Blowers Protection Bill, The Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill,  The Right of Citizens for Time Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill, Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, The Public Procurement Bill, The Prevention of Bribery of Foreign Public Officials and Officials of Public International Organizations Bill. We will launch the ‘Student Stand Against Corruption’ movement in all the states and carry on this fight until the pending Bills are passed. On 15th January 2014, we shall gather here again and observe a hunger strike.”

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Features

Procedure to seek information from Delhi University under RTI

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Right to Information Act was passed in the year 2005 to empower the Indian citizen. An act which can penetrate into any government file, any substantial data and take it out into public domain. But after almost 9 years since the act was passed, still not many know how to use it to incur information.

Whether it is any governmental organisation, rules of procedure to file an RTI are the same throughout.

Here are some initial pertinent points one should know before filing an RTI in context to the Delhi University.

  • An application for obtaining information under Right to Information Act, 2005 is required to be made to the Central Public Information Officer of University of Delhi.
  • The prescribed fees for filing an application is Rs. 10/- by way of cash against proper receipt or by way of bank demand draft or banker’s cheque or Indian Postal Order payable to the Registrar, University of Delhi at Delhi.
  • An Appeal can be preferred before a Registrar and 1st Appellate authority agaisnt the decision of Central Public Information Officer of the University.

The application is addressed to:

Public Information Officer

Deputy Registrar (Information), University of Delhi, Delhi (Presently Shri Jay Chanda)

The following steps / points may be noted to make an application under RTI Act:

  •  The person seeking information may apply on a plain paper giving particulars of information being sought and his/her correct address for communication.
  •  Separate applications for seeking information on different subjects are required.
  •  The application has to be accompanied with the prescribed fee (at present a fee of Rs. 10/-). The fee is payable with each application which is towards the cost of processing the request.
  •  The schedule of fees can be obtained from the Public Information Officer of the University of Delhi. For the time being the rates are as follows:-
    • Rs. 2/- per page of A-4 or A-5 size.
    • Actual cost for sizes bigger than A-4 or A-5.
    • In case of printed material, the printed copies could be had from the University sales counter/authorized sales agents on payment.
    • In case of photo copies, the rate would be Rs. 2/- per page.
    • If information is needed on a disk or floppy subject to availability of information in soft form, the fee will be Rs. 50/- per disk/floppy.
    • Admissible records may be allowed to be inspected on payment of Rs.150/- per hour or part thereof, before the date and time of inspection of the same.
  • A major portion of the information will be available from the University Calendars Volumes I & II, and other rules as applicable to the University from time to time and printed syllabi for various courses. Some of these are available on the website of the University.

NOTE: Confidential matters pertaining to examinations, paper setting, evaluation of scripts and consequent procedures, composition and proceedings of the selection committees and minutes of the University Court/EC/AC until these are printed, will remain confidential and not available in the public domain.

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Humouroscope

Humouroscope: 15th-21st December

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Aries Your partner might not approve of your love of smelling petrol.

Taurus If you’re gay, the Supreme Court of India is not compatible with you. It will tend to go yes and no.

Gemini It’s imperative that you attend all the weddings this season.

Cancer If you keep your eyes open, you might just land a job as the tandoor-wala at a wedding.

Leo To win back your girlfriend, you need to out-do Howard Wolowitz’s song for Bernadette in BBT Season 7.

Virgo Wearing a sweatshirt with shorts and bathroom chappals does not make you look like a shareef ghar ka bachcha. Please follow your Mum’s advice and refrain.

Libra Yo Yo Honey Singh was inspired to write Blue Eyez after seeing your drunken eyes at a bar. Congratulations!

Scorpio Having two equally talkative girls sitting on your left and right is not a good idea.

Sagittarius It isn’t socially acceptable to go to Dilli Haat and buy posters from the stall at the gate, and nothing from the inside.

Capricorn If you’re a girl, it’s possible you’ve helped your Mum wear sarees a hundred times already in the last month 

Aquarius Now would be a good time to pour whiskey in your glass and pass it off as Appy if questioned by your parents, quite a reversal from your childhood days when Appy was the coolest thing to drink in a glass.

Pisces  Now that Koffee with  Karan is back, you might just be the new guest.

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