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Le Grande Boucle (Le Tour de France) – 101 concludes

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Currently run by the Amaury Sport Organisation, Le Tour de France is amongst the three Grand Tours along with the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana; though it’s the oldest and the most prestigious of all. The first edition of this event was staged in 1903 and won by Maurice Garin of France. This year Vincenzo Nibali from Italy was the winner.

A cancer survivor, Lance Edward Armstrong is one of the persons who are associated with this race. He was classified as having won the Tour for a record seven consecutive times, until he was stripped of all these titles and banned from competitive cycling for life, for doping offences. These sanctions were imposed on him by the Union Cycliste International in 2012, based upon the reports of United States Anti-Doping Agency. There are many such Cyclists who have won this race and also faced such actions.

This event usually is organised in the month of July. It roughly spans over 23 days and has around 21 stages, a distance of around 3,500 kilometres is covered during the race. The race is mostly based in mainland France but may enter other countries as well during its course; the race though always ends on the Champs Elysees in Paris (since 1975).  There are usually 20 to 23 teams every year, with nine members each. The winner is decided by compounding the timings of all the rounds. The one with the lowest aggregate wins the coveted Yellow Jersey (“Maillot Jaune”).

This year’s race started form Leeds, United Kingdom; had nine flat, five hilly, 6 mountain and one individual time-trial stage.  Vincenzo Nibali of Astana Pro team claimed the Yellow Jersey after clocking 89h 59’ 06” at the end of the race. The twenty-one day event was led by him for eighteen days.

The Green Jersey was won by Peter Sagan, for leading in the point’s competition. Whereas the Polka – Dot  Jersey went to Rafal Majka for leading in the mountain events of the tour, the jersey signifies the King of the Mountains title.

 

Rishabh Sharma

[email protected]

 

Image source:  http://www.southperthrouleurs.com.au

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Arts & Culture

TV Show Review: Mom

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Debuting as a full time lead on a television series, the Scary Movie star Anna Faris, as the newly sober Christy Plunkett, is the ideal crazy-lady-charmer of this new sitcom. But Allison Janey as Bonnie Plunkett, Christy Plunkett’s mother, isn’t to be underestimated- she is the Charlie Sheen of MOM!

Mom, the CBS sitcom, follows a sixth month sober Christy Plunkett who ironically settles for a solemn beginning in Napa, a valley in California which is practically the biggest wine hub of the state.

Nonetheless, as soon as Christy ‘mothers-up’ to raise her teenage pregnant daughter and a nine year old son (given that her ex husband was a stoner and basically just another result of a hangover ), her own mother (Allison Janey), who herself is recovering from alcoholism and drug addiction, shows up.

In a time when Hollywood studios are recycling movie ideas to make mediocre TV shows, it merely took some adult puns, witty one-liners and somewhat dark hangover gags to create a refreshing comedy out of a dysfunctional broken family, not to mention how relatable it is for the addicts. The classic ‘wide-eyed/tensed’ Christy regularly rants about her wasted childhood and not only manages to laugh at herself but also manages to tickle some funny bones.

Last, while this show is doing immensely well on the ‘LOL’ charts, it hasn’t succeeded in steering clear of pitfalls. For instance, Christy is able to afford a 3 bedroom apartment though she is the only working member of her family. Perhaps, in her own words- ‘perks of sleeping with her own boss’.

Secondly, since it delves into some serious familial instabilities, there is always a chance the joke falls flat because the situation feels too serious to joke about, as it happens when Baxter, Christy’s ex husband jokes about some ‘fatherly-issues’ with dumb guy-stereotype, Luke, the teenage boyfriend and the father of his unborn grand kid.

From the creators of The Big Bang theory and Two and a half men (Chuck Lorre), Mom is definitely something to look out for. And hence, even if this show makes you cringe, it is sure to make you laugh your way out of it.

 The official trailer of ‘Mom’ created by Chuck Lorre and starring Anna Faris and Allison Janney.


 Priyanka Kapoor for DU Beat.

([email protected])

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Biblio

Rowling Continues To Roll

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3 o’clock in the morning and I was still up, sitting on the bed, my head buried in a book. I could hear footsteps coming from the room above mine. It was gramps’, up for his mid-sleep ritual. Halfway through Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, night after night I dig into it, getting barely enough sleep, yet not having the slightest concern about being caught dozing off in class, yet again.

I was just 10 when I fell in love with Harry Potter for the first time. But it wasn’t until I finished the last book in the series that I started to feel a constant urge for a dose of J.K. Rowling. 1997 saw the release of the first book, which was seven years after she conceived the idea for the Harry Potter series for the first time. Those seven years marked Rowling’s hardest times, tragedies only women of strength can live through. From writing in trains, on paper napkins to making every childhood magical, Rowling is one of the most influential women in Britain. 

Four years after the release of the last Harry Potter book, Rowling’s novel for adult readers, The Casual Vacancy came out. Despite critics’ opinion on it being lousy, the author’s way of making me fall in love with a character that died in the opening chapter of the novel was astonishing.

Rowling quickly followed her previously under received novel with ‘The Cuckoo’s Calling’, a highly acclaimed crime fiction, written under the pseudonym- Robert Galbraith. The second installment to her crime series, ‘The Silkworm’ came out later last month.  She said during a crime-writing festival that she wrote it under a fake name to see if she could “get a book published on the merits of the book”.

And as if my admiration wasn’t enough, she also got my respect.

With her birthday today, why not, give this creator of the-boy-who-lived, the author of the un-put-down-able stories, another tribute.

–Greta Khawbung 

[email protected]

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Top Picks

Volunteering for animal shelters: Because they deserve more than compassion

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Are you an animal lover? Do you get overwhelmed with ‘love’ when you see a puppy and ‘sorrow’ when you see a stray dog roaming the streets hungry? Do you get grief stricken when you read about the plight of animals taken to laboratories for experimentation ?

If yes, then mere compassion doesn’t help save these animals. Sharing posts of animal welfare organizations on Facebook does create awareness to an extent but it is not enough to rescue the animals from their misery.

Here is something a true animal lover can do to help animals in distress on a personal level . There are various animal shelters in the city which provide a home to abandoned and stray animals, or animals rescued from slaughter houses and laboratories. They also provide vaccination, sterilization and free medical treatment to such animals in case of injuries. These shelters take in volunteers who are assigned the task of looking after animals for few hours as per their choice.

It is similar to working in an orphanage, blind school or an old age home. The animals that need the most love and care are the abandoned dogs who are clueless as to why there landed up there from the comfort of their houses. They wait endlessly for their owners. For these dogs, their owners are their family whom they love unconditionally.

Here are some of the animal shelters in Delhi where you can help the needy animals –

1. Sanjay Gandhi Animal Care Centre (SGACC)

  • Address: Near Shivaji College, Raja Garden, New Delhi 110027

  • Contact: 011-25448062, 25447751, 25919163

  • India’s oldest and Delhi’s largest all-animal shelter founded in 1980, inaugurated in 1983.

  • Chairperson: Smt. Maneka Gandhi. Currently run by Ms. Ambika Shukla

  • The centre houses about 2000 dogs, 300 cattle, 60 roosters, 40 ostriches, numerous donkeys, monkeys, peacocks, sheep, etc with separate facilities for puppies and adult dogs, sterilized and non-sterilized ones. Emergency facilities for cattle and dogs are available.

  • Being strict promoters of vegan-ism, SGACC workers refrain from milking mother cows.

  • Services: SGACC organizes numerous pup adoption camps and has a fleet of  Out Patient Department (OPDs), Operation Theatres (OT), ICUs and laboratories equipped with X-ray machine and sophisticated blood testing equipment and ultra-sound facilities. It also provides dental Care,  Gaushala and free treatment for animals brought in by people who cannot afford to pay. The service of animal cemetery is also provided.
  • How the volunteers could help: Volunteers are expected to work any number of hours as per their choice between 10am to 5pm. Tasks include walking the dogs, feeding the animals, ensuring availability of drinking water at all times and organizing fund raising events to foster abused and frightened animals.
  • The interested volunteers may contact Ms. Ambika Shukla at 9810054077 or visit the official website of the shelter group.      ( Click here.)

2. Friendicoes SECA

  • Address: 271 & 273, Flyover Market, Defence Colony, New Delhi 110024

  • Contact: 011 2431 4787

  • Established on 23 April, 1979.

  • Services: The group provides numerous services like Out Patient Departments, shelters , mobile equine clinics. It also runs programs like the Andaman and Nicobar spay neuter program.
  • What volunteers can do:
  1.  Shelter Volunteers: Walking dogs, feeding animals and providing them with water, nursing puppies and helping at the front desk. Shelter is open from 9.30am to 9.30pm. However, volunteers are preferred in the evening for about 2 to 4 hours. All volunteers above 12 years of age are welcome.
  2. Fostering: One of the biggest needs is fostering of healthy Indie puppies and kittens or abandoned dogs. If you are unable to keep a pet at home but would like to take care of one temporarily, you can foster an animal from the shelter for a minimum of 2 weeks and maximum as per choice.
  3. Field Volunteers: You can also help by bringing in injured or sick stray animals from your locality.
  • To volunteer, please contact- Mandie Seth  (+917838585401), Geeta Seshamani (+919810000254) , Tandrali (+919818201987)  or visit the official website of Friendlicoes. (Click here.)

3. PAWS (Pet Animal Welfare Society)

  • Address: C-9/7, Masudpur Market, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi – 70

  • Contact: +91 11 26895737

  • Non-profitable, non-government

  • Founded in 1998

  • Apart from animal welfare, also works towards environmental issues by discouraging use of plastic, encouraging people to plant trees and work towards preservation of wildlife.

  • Creates awareness about animal laws in India.

  • Services: The centre plays a pivot for numerous pup adoption camps, free anti-rabies camps, ABC (Animal Birth Control) and Immunization Program and Save our Strays (SOS).
  • What volunteers can do: The volunteers can involve themselves in numerous activities like bird care-taking, dog walking, kennel hygiene maintenance, pup care taking and wildlife care assistance. They can also work as the web team assistants, photographers for adoption/ rescued animals and animal welfare rights officer etc. The volunteer visiting hours start from 1200 hours to 1700 hours.
  • For the official PAWS website, click here.

Ishani Rajkhowa

[email protected]

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Humouroscope

Humouroscope: June 25th – July 1st, 2014

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Aries: This is the time when you will actually bring about world peace. Go ahead!

Taurus: The stars are conspiring to get you bitten by a dog. He/she may or may not have rabies. We sincerely hope for the best.

Gemini: You will be listening to only cheesy Bollywood songs this week. No “why” and “how”, just will. Be careful you don’t hum ones like Jalebi Bai in front of your crush, that’ll be awkward.

Cancer: Switch off your TV, uninstall Whatsapp and deactivate your Facebook account. Otherwise, you  are likely to get depressed by the FYUP row.

Leo: Your parents will buy you a Malibu beach house. Congratulations!

Virgo: The clouds of misfortune have dispersed. Anything you say or do this week will get you fortune and prosperity.

Libra: For you, the clouds of misfortune have just gathered. However, do not get tensed yet. You can escape them by avoiding World Cup this season.

Scorpio: Mystery intensifies, its hard to say what’ll happen to you. Apologies guys!

Sagittarius: You have still not discovered your potential that could change the world. Hence, somebody else will take the cake now.

Capricorn: Beware of your mother!

Aquarius: You are likely to get famous this summer. Take the first step by  joining the protest against FYUP. Make sure it is ‘aganinst’ if you mean any good for yourself.

Pisces: You share your stars with the legendary Delhi University Vice Chancellor, take care before your life achievements and accomplishments become the memoirs of bygone days, as well.

 

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Admissions 2014

Delhi University VC Prof. Dinesh Singh resigns over FYUP row

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At the height of the Delhi University- University grants Commission face off, the harbinger of FYUP, Prof. Dinesh Singh resigned from his position as Vice Chancellor earlier today.

The resignation came after the Supreme Court dismissed a plea moved by the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) seeking cancellation of the University Grants Commission (UGC) order asking the Delhi University (DU) to scrap its four-year undergraduate programme. Rumors of Mr. Singh resigning if the Four Year Undergraduate Programme was scrapped had already been floating around last week when the UGC order to scrap FYUP came in. On being questioned, DUTA joint secretary, Ms. Anita Ghosh confirmed the resignation, stating the irresponsible and rushed enforcement of FYUP harmful for the future of Delhi University.

‘Yes, in wake of the ongoing proposals, The VC has resigned. The four year plan had so many flaws. A lot of teachers’ opinions were brushed aside. The reckless implementation was spearheaded by the Vice Chancellor alone. It is sad how such so many loop holes were ignored. Even though they extended a year, the course structure was extremely weak and was rather a disservice to the students. With the revoking of the old plan and, hopefully, some improvements, Delhi University will regain it’s lost glory.’

Admission in Delhi University which were supposed to begin on 24th June have been stalled due to the lack of clarity in the admission process.The UGC had issued directions to all 64 colleges under Delhi University to conduct their admissions under the three-year under-graduate programme and not under the four-year UG programme. Colleges were warned of facing ‘consequences’ if they failed to follow the Commission’s directions.

Students who have just complete a year of FYUP are in a state of shock and confusion. The recent occurrences and the decision has left them in a lurch and quite unsure of the state of their degree. Says Vani, a student at Jesus Mary College, ” The resignation of the VC leaves us in a lurch. Our batch has forever been subjected to experiments, but this time the experiment has gone wrong. With our futures now very uncertain, one can’t help but wonder why didn’t the UGC step up all of last year midst the continuous protests. How can any alternative they come up with make up for the one year completely wasted on sub par subjects ?”

Unlike the statements being professed by student political parties , not all students of FYUP want it to be withdrawn. For some the courses in FYUP gave an interesting bend to college studies. Ayesha, a student of DU has lost her faith in the University. She says,” I am in shock. Its like a doomsday in the history of Indian Education. I am not prepared for the monotonous course prevalent in the past. And I am quite saddened at the fact that now I will neither get to study two disciplines and nor will be skilled enough for a job after my graduation.”

Raghav Chopra
Niharika Singh

 

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Humouroscope

Humouroscope: June 18th – June 24th, 2014

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Aries: It’s time to take that trip to the mountains you’ve been saving for. The stars are in your favour now. Go uphills and meditate for some peace.

Taurus: Your parents seem to be in a good mood. Ask them for something and you are likely to get it.

Gemini: People around you are not going to get your sarcasm or idioms in the days to come, so refrain from telling friends you killed two birds with one stone or sh*t hit the fan last night.

Cancer: Happy birthday, except it won’t be so. Nice day to bathe nevertheless. Ciao.

Leo: No time to explain, grab a cactus!

Virgo: Tough time. Tough time.Don’t take your earphones out of your ears this week.

Libra: The bathroom is not a safe place for you to be this summer.

Scorpio: You were the one who wished all the popular teams lose and depart from Brazil! Careful what you wish for, boy. You just might get it all. Beware of the Spain fans, by the way.

Sagittarius: You have the potential to do something that could change the world but you’re not using it, child. Realize what you’re good at and stop procrastinating!

Capricorn:  You’ll go to watch the latest Bollywood release Humshakals somehow. May good lord give you strength. Also, No good selfies for you for some time.

Aquarius: You’ll have bad dreams, take care you don’t roll down the bed. You thought this would be funny? You are wrong, here, no good selfies for you too.

Pisces: You’re going to make a lot of new friends in the coming days! Be yourself. Unless you can be Batman. Then be Batman.

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Humouroscope

Humouroscope: June 11th-17th, 2014

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Aries: This week shows signs of bad luck for you. Avoid it by wearing black sweaters and staying outdoors in the sun. It will help.

Taurus: You should give your friends a shopping trip. Spend as much as you can on the group of people you hang around. It will make the coming time prosperous for you.

Gemini: Folks! You have been bestowed with the power to save the world from this heat wave. Throw a pool party and invite everyone you know and you don’t know. Your name will be remembered as the angel of life.

Cancer: Why are you lazing around this summer? Find some work, make use of your time, earn some money and treat people in Delhi University with free ice-creams.

Leo: You should just relax this week. Try not to do or get involved in anything. You should waste as much of your time as you can. It’s one of your talents, make full use of it.

Virgo: Life is so good for you, isn’t it? Well listen then! Your parents might kick you out of your house. You’ve been hiding fishy stuff from them and this week they will find it all out. Good luck.

Libra: Hmm. I see positive signs in your love life. If you are single, you’ll find ‘that one’. Just don’t refrain from your quest regardless of the blazing sun. Go outdoors. He/she is waiting for you.

Scorpio: Water is going to be a bad element for you this week, child. Avoid showers, cold-drinks and anything that feels relaxing to you.

Sagittarius: Missed Humouroscope editions, all this while?  Yeah, I know we did too.Anyway, so your life is about to take a huge turn. You might get a movie offer or something of that sort. Keep all your fingers crossed.

Capricorn: A trip abroad is on cards. Stars are in your favour this week. Make use of it. And don’t really believe horoscopes.

Aquarius: You’ve been happy all this time. It’s all about to get over. Your boyfriend/ girlfriend is going to dump you, you might suffer from a heat stroke, your hair is going to start falling and you are about to witness a living nightmare. Just wait.

Pisces: You are the luckiest zodiac this week. Just lay back and relax.

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