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Indraprastha College for Women

IP College inaugurates Shruti, Sri Venkateswara College wins western dance competition

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Shruti, the annual cultural fest of Indraprastha College for Women was inaugurated with a classical fusion performance by Aalaap, the college’s Indian Music Society. This was followed by Madhumita Raut’s students’ exuberant performance, ‘Devi’ which was a fusion of Odissi dance and ballet after which Dr. Babli Moitra Saraf, the Principal declared Shruti open. The Day 1 of Shruti witnessed several exciting events including a photography and a short film making competition.

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A turncoat debate, Traitor, was organised by the English Debating Society in association with the Gandhi Study Circle. The event saw students debating on several contemporary and relevant topics. Students of the host college took home prizes worth Rs. 5000. The Women’s Development Cell organised Zubaan, the voice of equality, a creative enactment where students performed short plays and narrated self-composed poems.

Later in the afternoon, Whacky Feet competition organised by Afroza, the Western Dance Society of IP College began with a performance of by Afroza itself. 12 teams followed up with their performances on a medley mashup of songs ranging from ‘Mere piya gaye rangoon‘ to ‘I See Fire’ . The teams were applauded and hooted for by an overflowing audience in the Auditorium. The event had  a number of performances by several colleges of Delhi University; the audience’s favourite being Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce (SGGS) and IIT-D. The event concluded with a video presentation by Afroza saluting all the members of the ‘Delhi Dance Circuit’. Sri Venkateshwara College bagged the first prize, while SGGS and IIT-D stood second. Lady Shri Ram College took home the third prize.

 

Surbhi Arora
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Ayesha Sareen
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Image credits: Tarunima Kumar and Alekhya Jayakar
 

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Uncategorized

TERI in collaboration with Tetra Pak launches Network for Nature

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The Educating Youth for Sustainable Development division at TERI in association with Tetra Pak, has proposed an initiative to develop and strengthen the sense of sustainable business approach in the present global scenario. Their aim is to skim potential leaders from across the nation who will further be able to propagate this message amongst the citizens of tomorrow and reach out to the youth. Keeping in mind the success of several popular social media campaigns, they have put together a competition comprising of various online challenges.

LEADearthShip is one such TERI­-Tetra Pak youth initiative catering to all undergraduate and postgraduate students from various colleges, universities and autonomous institutions. It focuses on judicious growth and sustainable development. The aim is to bring together individuals and motivate them to foster sustainability and encourage them to innovate.

They have also launched, Network for Nature,­ across the length and breadth of our country to select India’s Tetra Pak Youth Ambassadors. A total of seven winners will be selected from across the country and will be awarded with a smartphone and  an opportunity for a creative media workshop at an exotic location. The winners will also directly interact with TERI and Tetra Pak’s top management executives. These 7 Youth Ambassadors will also be given a grand opportunity to design social media campaigns for TERI and Tetra Pak for six months.

As part of the screening process interested students need to submit an online registration form.The second stage consists of a six day social marketing campaign where the shortlisted participants will be required to post theme based challenges on Facebook/Twitter/Google+/Instagram every day. Top 25 candidates will then be shortlisted for a personal interview and only seven of them will be able to make it.

 

The interested participants can register on the following link: http://goo.gl/forms/o03Z4zeEj3

The last date to apply is 11th March 2015. You can check out more details here: www.facebook.com/leadearthship

For any queries, you can contact the concerned people at [email protected].

 

Sakshi Agarwal

[email protected]

 

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Shri Ram College of Commerce

SRCC’s Crossroads 2015: Highlights

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Crossroads, Shri Ram College of Commerce’s four-day fest, began on the last day of February with mass attendance since morning. This year’s edition was a star-studded organisation with concerts by singers Amit Trivedi, Atif Aslam and pop group Akcent planned. The fest was also witness to glitches including an erratic entry system.

Day 1: Street dance competition and Amit Trivedi’s performance

The first day of Crossroads commenced with a non-competitive street football event. At the same venue, The Traveller’s Society of SRCC organised Escapades, SRCC’s annual adventure sports festival. There was a wide variety of activities to choose from, the options being body zorbing, zorbing, trampoline volleyball, flying fox, archery, paintball and tug of war that made up for the customary delay of the star night. The sports combined with a DJ playing dance music nearby made for a lively morning.

A street dance competition was organised at noon between teams from Dyal Singh College, Trinity Institue of Professional Studies and Maharaja Surajmal Institute of Technology. After a performance by each of these colleges and a heated face-off between its members, Zest, the street dance society of Dyal Singh College, was adjudged winners of the competition.

At 7:00, Amit Trivedi and Coke Studio took the stage infront of a massive audience, singing popular numbers like Zinda, Shaam, Kinaare, Ha Raham, Gujaria, London Thumakda and Shubharambh, soulfully bringing the first day of Crossroads to an end.

Day 2: Rain wreaks havoc, postponing Atif Aslam’s performance

It rained heavily throughout the day in the city, but the downpour could not stop Atif’s fans from pouring into SRCC’s campus. Even though most events scheduled for the day had been cancelled, Atif Aslam’s concert seemed possible for once when stage set-up was in full swing. The preparations, however, all went down the drain when a very strong spell of rainfall dispersed the crowd and halted
all preparations. The evening was also marked by numerous instances of alleged mismanagement.

Atif Aslam fans gathered at SRCC have come prepared for the rain today! #FestSeason2015

A photo posted by DU Beat (@du_beat) on

Day 3: Atif Aslam and Akcent

The Students’ Union of SRCC made up for a disappointing Day 2 by setting up a tarpaulin-covered stage overnight that undoubtedly brought a smile to the face of every spectator.

After a late morning announcement by the Students’ Union, Atif Aslam performed at Shri Ram College of Commerce’s parking lot at 1300 hours, a day after it was originally scheduled for. The Pakistani singer performed for about 20 minutes, singing his popular numbers like Doorie, Jeena and Ye Meri Kahani before before ending his performance with Gulabi Aankhei.

Later in the evening, Romanian pop act Akcent performed despite light showers of rainfall. The group performed popular songs like That’s My Name and Stay With Me.

Both Atif and Akcent acknowledged SRCC’s splendid audience on their Facebook handles after their performances.

Day 4: Choreo dance competition and EDM night

Crossroads yet again witnessed a thick audience on its last day which was marked by a choreo-dance competition. Verve, the Choreo Dance Society of SRCC, organised a competitive event which witnessed participation of 5 colleges. The event was judged by external judges Mohit and Shefali Narang. The team from Lady Shri Ram College for Women bagged the first prize while there was a tie for the second place between teams from Hindu College and Gargi College.

SRCC’s annual cultural festival, Crossroads, concluded on Tuesday with British singer Amelle Berrabah and Indian DJ Mindrane taking the stage after dark. The duo performed for Random Collisions, Crossroads’ EDM night.

Post by DU Beat.

Featured image credits: Chirag Sharma

Arushi S
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Madhurya Sundar
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Kartikeya Bhanotia
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Ayesha Sareen
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Ishaan Gambhir
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Campus Central

Lakshmi Bai College wraps up Vividha 2015 with a performance by Raftaar

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mudras was Abhinaya, the dance society of LBC who secured first position followed by Satyawati College (Evening). The melody was in the air when the singing competition began. The first prize in group song competition was won by Hamsdhavani, the music society of LBC and the first prize in solo singing was Kriti Bharti of the same college. Apart from this many bands also performed, but the band of Aligarh Muslim University stole the show winning the first prize. The students of LBC walked the ramp for the designers of Apparel Designing and Construction department of LBC. The students had worked on designs creating new fashion and trends to depict the “Beauty of Women” in various looks. The walk showcased three themes- “The Ethnic Beauty”, “The Beauty of elegance” and “The Beauty of Royalty”. The designers opted for creative ideas showcasing dresses made of bangles, newspapers and peacock feathers. Designer Ridhi Bansal’s peacock feather gown was most appreciated. The most anticipated event of evening began with arrival of Shivam and Swar Band. The audience could not stop tapping their feets and clapping their hands to the heart thumping music of Shivam and Swar band. [gallery ids="30810,30811,30812,30813,30814,30815"]   Day two began with cheerful voices of nukkad natak performers. Navrang, the Hindi Dramatics Society of LBC talked about the Naxal incidents on the farmers. The winning society of Shaheed Rajguru College questioned about the need for sex education in Indian society. The college society N.E.S.D.A.L.F (Society of students from north east states Ladakh and Darjeeling and all foreign Countries) also walked the ramp wearing their Traditional outfits. A special dance performance by Urvashi, the winner of “Ab meri bari” Season 1 was applauded by all. In between Urvashi’s performance, Raftaar entered rapping, taking everyone by surprise. The student’s grooved to the tunes of Raftaar and Big Dhillon. The crowd sang along with the rapper to the songs like “Swag Mera Desi”, “Dhup chik” and of course “Happy single”. The crowd went crazy seeing him but to assure that no one gets hurt he stooped the song and restarted once the commotion was over. He gave message of women empowerment with some interesting raps. He mocked at the men who rape women to show their masculinity. He quoted himself “a Poet with a little swag”. The evening ended with the crowd dancing and singing “Dal makhni” his latest Bollywood flick, along with the singer. [gallery ids="30816,30817,30818,30819,30820"] Guest post by Kamakshi Luthra and Swapnil Pareek]]>

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DU Dhaba

Food Review: The Vintage Avenue, Hudson Lane

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With my trusty triad of girl wonders we decided to head to The Vintage Avenue in GTB Nagar for the customary Sunday brunch. It’s located inconspicuously on top of a retail shop, neighbouring a jeweller on the restaurant rich route of Hudson Lane. As you climb the stairs you’re welcomed into the actual dining area with walls covered in 90s music memorabilia, similar to Hard Rock Café. The options for seating are vast and exciting, you can choose to have a meal with a special someone overlooking the street or you can share a friendly meal with your buddies on the floor mattresses covered with funky cushions. The knickknacks all over the place and the interactive wall décor serve as plenty of eye candy before your meal arrives.

Now comes the first and probably only disappointment I had here: the menu. You’d enter expecting something a lot more continental out of a multi-cuisine restaurant but the menu is rather restrictive in terms of choice. However, hunger pangs took over and we ordered the Chilli Mushroom Stir Fry, Barbecue Chicken Wings, Nachos, Aglio Olio Pasta, Spaghetti Bolognese, Chocolate Hazelnut Brownies and Hazelnut frappes to wash everything down with. The brownies were for Rs.100 and all other eatables were priced between Rs.150-200 before taxes.

The food appeared in no time and the staff at Vintage Avenue was incredibly accommodating to our requests to have some portions cancelled and the music as well as heating altered. The nachos were divine and worked flawlessly against the cheese sauce and perfectly spiced beans. The mushrooms were delicious and the plate was not skimped on quantity as there were plenty for all of us yet we were left pining for more. The chicken wasn’t tough but not soft either and the sauce was spot on.

Both the pastas were good but nothing remarkable. The pasta was al dente and the sauces were basic. The brownies and ice cream were perfect as there’s not much wrong you can do with chocolate and ice cream. However, the Hazelnut Frappe deserves a line of its own. The milk was smooth and creamy, the flavours were clean but decadent and the essence of chocolate echoed throughout the concoction of coffee and hazelnut. It is the best frappe I’ve had in my life.

The bill wasn’t too pocket-friendly at Rs.350 per person but I would still recommend the Vintage Avenue for a visit for their ambience, service and food. All in all, I’m waiting to go there again this weekend. I’ll be the girl surrounded by empty frappe glasses, do say hello.

Madhurya Sundar

[email protected]

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Interviews

In conversation with Professor Rajeev Malhotra on Public Policy as a career

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Rajeev Malhotra bridges the world of academics and policy making. He is currently Professor and Executive Director, Centre for Development and Finance, School of Government and Public Policy, O.P. Jindal Global University, Delhi NCR, India. A development economist with over 25 years of experience, he has worked with the Government of India where until August 2012, he was Economic Adviser to the then Union Finance Minister.

Given the opportunities in Public Policy for students as a career path, we recently spoke to him about its prospects and uniqueness.

What makes the discipline of ‘public policy’ different from other academic degree?

Public Policy unlike other post-graduate degrees is truly multidisciplinary. It combines theoretical and conceptual study of relevant subjects with practice. It seeks to provide students with solid grounding in policy making processes and trains them to apply ethics, economics, politics, social theory and public leadership to policy design, programme implementation and evaluation. Public policy as a ‘practice’ means thinking critically about public policy as it is presently manifested, and thinking critically about what public policy could become if it is to be true to its proper purposes. As a discipline public policy is primarily focused on people, recognizing that technical expertise is meant to serve the interests of people, and policy decisions should be made after due deliberation, with ample opportunities afforded to ordinary people to shape those policy decisions.

In India, which are the popular courses in this discipline which can be pursued by interested candidates and where?

Public policy as a taught discipline at the graduate level is new in India. Indeed JSGP -JGU is the first university in the country that has a Master’s programme in public policy. A few others  are now developing a MA programme in public policy. Some other degrees that could be considered by  students interested in public policy programme include  development studies/gender studies, development economics which are being offered by several universities.

What is the reason behind growing popularity among youngsters in participating in policy making with the government in India?

India’s  youth, like youth elsewhere, is restless and seeks opportunities to make a good living. It recognises the shortcomings in India’s policy making and its implementation process. The youth  values  democracy and the right to vote in the country. Furthermore, it has access to several avenues  and platforms, including through the reach offered by social media, to voice its concerns and make a difference to the business-as-usual  approach in the country. All this has encouraged the youth to participate in the policy making process in the country.

Since public policy mainly revolves around government administration, how can one pursue their aims for contributing to public policy in private sector?

India has become the first country in the world that has a law on corporate social responsibility, which makes it mandatory for corporates above a certain threshold to contribute a fixed proportion of their profits for funding CSR activities. On an annual basis, this amounts to a spending of about Rs 30,000 crore by the corporate sector on activities identified for CSR under the act. There is therefore a huge demand emerging for persons who understand public policy and development practice to work in the corporate sector. At the same time, the process of policy making is becoming more transparent and participatory, which provides the scope for people to contribute to the process of policy formulation and its effective implementation.

What kind of skill set and education would you look for in a candidate to excel in this discipline?

A graduate student in any disciple who has an open mind to pursue a multi-disciplinary study at the post -graduate level in public policy. There is a need for good engineers, doctors, social scientists and students trained in science streams to enrich the policy making process in the country. While  some familiarity with quantitative analytical skills  is beneficial, it is not necessary. Above all it is the motivation of the candidate  to make a difference to the society  at large that will help in making her /him a good policy practitioner.

How is a career in ‘public policy’ In India different from a career in developed countries like U.S and U.K?

Public policy in India has been typically associated with the work that the civil servants and politicians do. However, that is not so in the developed countries. It is a much broader process which involves other stakeholders in the society, who are adequately informed and participate in the policy making  process at multiple levels. Also the high level policy makers in developed countries invariably come from academia and business. India is only now opening up to such a model and only gradually so. This will change in the near future as complexities of policy making and governance in a globalised world will make it necessary to get the state-of-the-art expertise into the policy making process.

 
 
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Bazinga

Bazinga: DU comes up with an ‘innovative’ idea to curb ‘Holi hooliganism’

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In the past, Delhi University has come up with many preventive measures to keep a check on ‘Holi Hooliganism‘. It has issued 13-pointer guidelines to all college and department heads. Deployment of mobile patrol squads, setting up of helplines in the North and South campuses and restricting the entry of outsiders into colleges are some of the provisions taken by the university to maintain law and order in all campuses.

But apart from that, the University has also come with up an innovative idea for the same, this year.

In a recent letter to all college heads, the varsity has instructed the heads to give power to the department heads who in turn will empower selected students, in one aspect. They will now have the power to punish those found guilty of eve-teasing or ragging. Those found guilty of harassing or eve teasing will have indelible ink applied on their foreheads as a mark of their bravery.

The ink is similar to that used in elections during voting. On being asked whether this new measure is bit over the top, DU officials replied, “This is really unnecessary. Delhi police officials will be present and teacher-student committees have been formed. The university has even contacted the DTC authorities to check ragging and harassment in buses.”

The student community, however, is very much pleased with the turn of events. On being asked about their opinion on the same, one girl student replied, “This is a great idea! I believe this should be done in all universities and not just DU. Let’s see those (word omitted) commit such acts now”.

From such an enthusiastic response it can be gathered that there is no opposition from students on this issue. Though this move by the university has sparked many opinions on the topic, DU seems very determined to maintain law and order for Holi. Keeping in mind the nature of incidents which occur during the festival this new move seems like a sure-fire way to suppress anti-social activities of any kind.

Happy Holi guys!


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

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Shri Ram College of Commerce

Agnee band performs at Livewire, the musical night of Histrionica 2015

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The largest performing arts festival of Delhi University was brought back this year with Histrionica 2015 by the Dramatics Society of Shri Ram College of Commerce from the 24?thto 26?thof February. The fest was a three day extravaganza consisting of four sub events.

The first day started with the common call wherein all the street play teams participating in the flagship street play competition, ?Aahvaan,?were asked to initiate the festivities by assembling at the event location and bringing out their musical talents with a jam session. This was followed by the actual competition wherein the teams from Gargi College, SGTB Khalsa College, CVS, Indraprastha College, Keshav Mahavidyalaya, Shivaji College, Hindu College, GTBIT and SRCC presented their productions. The crowd favourites were teams from College of Vocational studies with ?Nabbe Second Ki Red Light ?for their strong depiction and SRCC for? Kotwal.

 


The second day had two major events, the first being Charades, which is the flagship stage play event and the other being Just For Laughs which is the standup comedy show. This year, the East India Comedy show was present at Just for Laughs with Sorabh Pant and Sahil Shah, who in a matter of moments had the audience in knots with their quick wit and hilarious impersonations. This was followed by an interactive session with the audience and their views on everything Indian. Charades put up plays by Khalsa College, SRCC and Hans Raj College, out of which SRCC’s ‘Pune Highway’ was the winner.

The third day of the fest brought the second day of Charades and the most anticipated event Livewire, the official music night of Histrionica. Charades had plays by Sri Venkateswara College, SRCC and LSR. ‘The Goat or Who is Sylvia?’ performed by Sri Venkateswara College was a true winner while ‘Rumours’ by SRCC kept the audience hooked throughout the performance.

The day ended with a live performance by ?Agnee?.The band gave out an amazing performance and with Mohan Kannan on vocals. The guitar players did justice to the hour long waiting line and the evening was an exceptional experience. Histrionica 2015 was indeed worth the wait, here’s to everything we love about performing arts!

 

Madhurya Sundar

[email protected]

 Image credits: Ankit Kumar

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Shri Ram College of Commerce

Amit Trivedi draws curtains on Day 1 of Crossroads 2015

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Crossroads, the annual cultural festival of Shri Ram College of Commerce, kicked off on Saturday with a competitive Street Dance competition at noon. Teams from Dyal Singh College, Trinity Institue of Professional Studies and Maharaja Surajmal Institute of Technology performed before judges Nitish Gupta and Ram Pratap. Members of the teams also indulged in a heated faceoff, which is a traditional form of street dance. Zest, Dyal Singh College’s dance society, was adjudged the best team. The winning team danced to Wiggle and Smooth Criminal among other popular tracks.

Post by DU Beat.

The Traveller’s Society of SRCC partnered with the Students Union to bring out Escapades, the annual adventure sports festival of SRCC. There was a wide variety of activities to choose from, the options being body zorbing, zorbing, trampoline volleyball, flying fox, archery, paintball and tug of war that made up for the customary delay of the star night. “The most eventful moment of the day was when a participant of zorbing became unconscious due to the event after which zorbing was held back for some time but reopened for the long crowd undeterred by the event. Escapades was a fresh break from the lines of food stalls,” said Madhurya Sundar from the organisers’ desk.

Adventure sports at Crossroads 2015 | Image Credits: Chirag Sharma
Adventure sports at Crossroads 2015 | Image Credits: Chirag Sharma

Day one at Crossroads 2015 concluded with the performance of Amit Trivedi and MTV Coke Studio for Woodstock, the rock-night of Crossroads. Amit Trivedi, an awardee of the National Film Award and Filmfare Award for music, is best known for his compositions in popular Bollywood movies that include Dev D, Ishaqzaade and Lootera.

Post by DU Beat.

At twilight, Amit Trivedi and fellow artists of his team chanted famous songs ranging from slow, soulful tracks like Zinda, Shaam, Kinaare, Ha Raham to upbeat songs like Gujaria, London Thumakda and Shubharambh. Halfway through, he asked the audience to sing his popular numbers themselves, which they did heartily. “There was just one thing I wanted from this year’s fest season and that was to see Amit Trivedi perform live. So glad I got to do that!” said Priyanka, an enthusiastic attendee of the concert.

Feature Image Credits: Chirag Sharma for DU Beat

Arushi Srivastava
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Madhurya Sundar
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Ishaan Gambhir
[email protected]

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Miranda House

Miranda House’s Tempest wraps up with street play, western dance and Sona Mohapatra’s performance

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The last day of Tempest saw the finals of ‘Halla Bol‘, the street-play competition organised by ‘Anukriti’, the Hindi Dramatics Society of Miranda House. Nine shortlisted teams performed street-plays all through the morning in the lawns of the college. The judge for the event was Vipul Pachoria, a theatre personality and a renowned judge in the DU theatre circuit.

The energetic calls and chants, coupled with the use of musical instruments by the teams attracted a considerable audience to the event. The performances bravely addressed a number of social and cultural issues in the society, not shying away from sensative and controversial subjects. The common issues taken up were of religious fanaticism, the situation of several backward communities in the country and the imposition of Hindutva ideology which has emerged through several recent incidents.

Tarang Jain, the president of Anukriti  was pleased with the productions and was enthusiastic about the progression of theatre as a form of addressing important issues. “It is great to notice the change and progress in the types of productions from year to year. Theatre has become a lot braver and a lot more creative”, she said.

Manchatantra from SGGS won the first prize with their play “Hum ghum ho gaye“. Theatre societies of Gargi College and IP College for Women tied for the second spot. The award for best actor was jointly bagged by Amit Tiwari from Shivaji College and Vidushi Verma from Hindu College.

Verve, the streeet theatre society of CBS performing at the street play competition at Tempest
Verve, the streeet theatre society of CBS performing at the street play competition at Tempest

‘Burlesque’, the western group dance competition at Tempest ’15 hit off with crazy cheering from the audience. As all the participants ended their performances, the judge, Mr. Tarun Sharma was presented with a tough decision to crown the winners. The competition saw participation from colleges such as JMC, Hans Raj College and Maitreyi College. ‘Verve’ from Sri Venkateswara College stood first along with ‘Funk In Motion’ from Maharaja Agrasen College as second.

Despite a few technical glitches initially, the coordinators managed the event well and the auditorium, by the end, was swarming with a huge crowd which brought the event to a successful end.

Sona Mohapatra’s performance on Day 3 of Tempest ’15 was all about ‘celebrating all the female fire flies out there’, as said by the artist and the organisers. This celebration instantly managed to connect with the audience. Songs such as ‘Jugni‘ , ‘Bekauf Azaad Hai‘ were sung to mark a fearless future, and freedom for our generation. Sona, then creating the passion in the hearts of the audience had them singing along ‘Chiraiya‘. Then moving on to the theme of love, she had the crowd swaying to ‘Tum Bin Mora Jia Lage Na‘.

Coming towards the end, the performance was marked by colorful fireworks which pumped up the atmosphere along the powerful track, ‘Mujhpe Daav Laga‘ and ‘Ghoor Ghoor Ke‘. She sung the most awaited ‘Ambarsariya’ while ending her performance.

Shubham Kaushik
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Tarushi Varma
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Images by Tejaswa Gupta and Greta Khawbung

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