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The Mumbai Film Festival, which was hosted from 20th to 27th October, 2016 in Mumbai screened some of the finest movies to be made in the past year, all across the globe.

The Mumbai Film Festival was a week-long celebration of the art of film making and acting. The event was star studded with actors, directors and producers from Hollywood and Bollywood in attendance. With an array of movies being screened at the festival, here is a compilation of 5 must watch films from the Mumbai Film Festival, 2016.

  1. BANDINI (India):

Bandini, is a 1963 Hindi drama film directed by Bimal Roy, the master of realism, who directed classics like Do Bigha Zameen and Devdas. The movie tells the story of a woman prisoner serving life imprisonment for murder- Kalyani, the all suffering, selfless, sacrificing, and strong yet weak Indian woman. She must make a choice between two very different men, Devendra, the loving prison doctor and Bikash, a man from her past. The movie is based on a Bengali novel Tamasi by Jarasandha (Charu Chandra Chakrabarti).

  1. A DEATH IN THE GUNJ (India):

A Death in the Gunj is the directorial debut of critically acclaimed actress Konkona Sen Sharma. The story is set in the colonial town of McCluskieganj in the winters of 1979. What starts as an uneventful family holiday takes a twist when the guests start playing with the spirits. The movie features an ensemble cast of Vikram Massey, Tillotama Shome, Kalki Koechlin, Om Puri, Tanuja, Vikram Shorey and Jim Sarbh.

  1. MOSTLY SUNNY (Canada):

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Directed by Dilip Mehta, the film Mostly Sunny is a documentarian venture into the life of one of the most popular adult actresses, Sunny Leone. This movie charts the actress’ metamorphosis from Karenjit Kaur Vohra of Sarnia, Ontario, into Sunny Leone, the most Googled porn star in the world, who also turns into a bonafide Bollywood actress.

  1. THE LITTLE PRINCE/LE PETIT PRINCE (France and USA):

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Directed by Marc Osborne, the story is an adaptation of Antoine de Saint-de Saint-Exupéry’s, The Little Prince. It revolves around a little girl who lives in a very grown up world with her mother, who maps out every minute of her daughter’s life in order to get her into the finest school. The Little Girl is soon distracted by her strange and ancient neighbour, the Aviator, who introduces the girl to an extraordinary world where anything is possible.

  1. RAILWAY CHILDREN (India):

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Directed by Prithvi Konanur in Kannada, the movie revolves around Raju, a 12-year-old runaway, who steps into an unknown world on the railway platform. Timid, insecure and unsure, he falls into the hands of a gang involved in illegal businesses. Jollu, a gang-member of Raju’s age and a substance addict, teaches Raju the tricks and trades of surviving on the platform. They realize thise while platforms are divided among gangs for selling spurious drinking water. Both Raju and Jollu then, reconcile with an another platform-boy and start selling water on their own, undercutting their boss and inviting danger to their lives.

Feature Image Credits: http://s3.india.com/

Joyee Bhattacharya

[email protected]

Electric rickshaws have garnered huge popularity ever since their inception as cheap, accessible and affordable modes of transport. Though a lot of discussion and debate has been taking place regarding the legality and benefits of this recent innovation, research in this segment is still scant.

University of Delhi facilitates innovation projects where the students from different colleges take up potential topics and conduct extensive research upon them under the guidance of a mentor and teachers. One of the projects undertaken this time is by the students of Daulat Ram College on the topic ‘A Comprehensive Analysis of Electric Rickshaws in Comparison to Conventional Fuel Vehicles’.This Project is brought together by Ms. Ritu Khanna, Ms. Shikha Singh and Ms. Raman Arora and 10 students under the mentorship of Mr. V. Packirisamy. The team of students comprises of Harshiel Chahal, Aleena Khan, Arushi Gupta, Aishna Sharma, Gajal Jain, Aswitha Visvesvaran, Astha Goyal, Garima Goel, Talat Khanam and Muskan Gupta.

DRC innovation project
Primary surveys of e-rickshaw drivers were undertaken

The main objectives of the project were to study the socio-economic impact and environmental effects of e-rickshaws and to make policy recommendations for future action. A primary survey of 220 passenger electric rickshaws was conducted across Delhi with the comprehensive questionnaire designed to include social and economic profile of drivers and the vehicular profile of e-rickshaws. It has also questioned the regulatory and legal ambiguities in the e-rickshaw industry and suggested key improvements in the urban public transit governance for the same. Based on the findings of the survey and methods of calculating carbon emissions accepted globally, electric rickshaws have been found more environmentally sound than other conventional fuel vehicles.

 

The most significant contribution of the project has been the quantification of socio-economic impact to e-rickshaws, which had been an ignored area of study till now. The project could make several conclusions encompassing many socio economic indicators like income, working schedule, education, and living standards among others. These results play a pivotal role in putting together an inclusive report to the grass-root realities and make it possible for policy makers to look beyond a veil of fabricated understanding.

 

DRC innovation project
A comprehensive understanding of the on-ground situation along with the socio-economic conditions of drivers was attempted at.

The project also facilitated a comprehensive understanding of the on-ground situation of e-rickshaw drivers, which pointed towards several loopholes and administrative failures. Along with a pragmatic study of evolution of the regulatory framework, this helped us make necessary policy recommendations, which account for problems faced by the drivers that is often overlooked in the face of need  for rapid development. Thus, it will prove to be an indispensable piece of literature and act as guiding study for future researchers and policy makers                                                                                     .

 

This project has provided the students a first-hand experience of working with the target group along with the academic curriculum.The team has presented papers at prominent conferences including the International Conference on Corporate Finance, Governance and Sustainability, the National Conference on Social Science and Economics (NCSSE) and the National Conference on Emerging Issues of Climate Change: Sustainability and Economic implications, receiving immense appreciation for the research and innovation undertaken. It will also be presenting a paper at the International Conference titled ‘Socio-Economic Justice after Seventy Years of India’s Independence: Domestic and Global Challenges’ organized by Faculty on Law in November, 2016 and International Conference on “Green Chemistry in Environmental Sustainability & Chemical Education” (ICGC-2016).

Come November, gone are the days of shaving, trimming, and styling body hair. The No Shave November campaign is infamous amongst men for being an opportunity to let their beards flow. There is, however, a lot more to the campaign than just unruly facial here:

Spreading Awareness

Yes, the month is not merely about growing lumberjack – like beards. Its aim is to grow awareness by getting people to embrace their body hair, which many cancer patients lose. It’s a yearly regime to raise awareness about various cancers affecting men, including testicular and prostate cancer.

Donate

Another way this campaign aims to help is to get people to donate the money they’d usually spend on shaving or grooming.  These funds are used to educate others about cancer prevention, to save lives and to aid those fighting the battle against the disease.

Not just for men

The main idea is to spread awareness and donate money. However, our patriarchal society stigmatises women for having body hair and thus they are not usually seen as a part of the programme, but women, and non-binary people can also participate and contribute.

More than just growing manly stubble

The campaign isn’t just limited to facial hair. Since cancer patients often lose other body hair as well, the ‘no-shave’ rule extends to beyond your face as well.

It’s important for the success of these campaigns for general masses to be more aware of their motivations.  So, let the game of men and women begin to transform the humanity.

Image credits: Flipkart Stories

With inputs from no-shave.org

You have been running in this epic race for a very long time, almost since the beginning. Your exhaustion knows no bounds. And now, the semester is about to come to its logical end. Besides that truckload of syllabus already parked in your backyard, there are copious, unread notes, essays and diagrams still crowding the room. Even in those few precious moments before the exams, when your finish line is in plain sight, there is a ton of study material to skim through. It is at these moments that an ancient debate (one involving all teachers and parents) spurs back to life—should you get everything photocopied or download the pdf versions on your phone?

The age of the internet and free wi-fi is here, people and it has got all the students and teachers hooked on to its wireless universe. Random study guides can only take you so far in this era. Education at the university level has itself transformed, especially for the social sciences, where it is impossible for many students to ‘learn’ without Google’s help. “In our college library, one can never find a book in its proper place. Who has the time to scan through all those shelves for one book? I’d rather look for material online,” says a source who would prefer to remain unnamed. There are many who choose the easier, quicker path by downloading books, essays and videos in the digital format.

It is a natural human instinct to fall for freebies. Who wouldn’t be attracted to the prospect of downloading a free pdf instead of splurging five hundred bucks on a book? Many see curriculum books as a waste of money.

But joining in the debate from the other side too are scholars and students who still root for the old-school tradition of libraries and hard copies. “Staring at the screen for a long time causes me a headache,” is their primary slogan. They treasure the ‘feel’ of books instead of intangible pdfs. In fact, if bad comes to worse, they would rather get their notes photocopied than strain their eyes over screenshots and countless pictures on the phone.

And thus the endless battle continues. One side argues for moving on with the times, using free internet resources to save up on (already low) student money. The other side believes that books never went out of style. They would rather get their photocopies and mark important lines using pens, highlighters and pencils—something a pdf does not allow. Even as this debate rages on, it must make us ponder why photocopy shops in DU still make profits despite websites offering free material. In fact, can the internet indeed be a better alternative for explanation than study guides? It should make us think, essentially, how a 21st century college student functions today. Time will be a testament to whether that is a good direction to follow or not.

 

Featured Image Credits: http://thefinalchapterblog.wordpress.com/

Deepannita Misra

[email protected]

You’ve played the game. You’ve shared bouts of laughter with friends over drinks, naturally. Now it’s time to give it a desi twist. Welcome to the ‘light’ version of Never Have I Ever! (pun intended)

Glimmering Guidelines (..like those candles)

1. No restriction as to the number of participants. Even if you can’t find anyone, we’ll be there for you.

2. Grab something to drink: water, coke, whatever you like the most!

3. We will state an experience starting with ‘Never Have I ever’ referring to something we’ve never done. If you have done it, be ready to drink.

4. Disclaimer: Being proud Indians, these experiences are not alien to us and we have engaged in the typical Diwali spirits. Don’t take us to be lame!

Get, Set, Diwali!

diwali

Never Have I Ever…checked the calendar to see which date Diwali celebrations fall on

Let’s be honest: part excitement for this radiant festival builds up if it lies on a week day. The lazy weekends complemented by the bonus holidays for Diwali tend to sweeten the festive spirit. Term it as wishful thinking for this year at least, for the D-Day falls on a Sunday!

Never Have I Ever…sworn to not burst crackers but ended up lighting the obligatory Phuljhadi

Gone are the days when a carton full of crackers would have induced excitement, the idea of no crackers has been proudly adopted by everyone above the age of 10 years. However, our infallible plan fails to see a minor shortcoming: the ritualistic phuljhadi which the whole family gathers to light to commemorate the festival of lights!

Never Have I Ever…participated in the mandatory house-cleaning Diwali Special session

Come October and there is a wave of festivities which takes the house by storm. There’s a certain probing factor which prompts you to keep things clean. Decorative ornaments are bought and tactically placed in the house. And do you, my friend, end up taking part in this frenzy?

Never Have I Ever…been ultra-excited for the picking out of lights

Close your eyes. Think about Diwali. What is the first item of interest which pings in your brain? Yes, a sublime picture of the lights illuminating the houses and streets! A major attraction for the event for some is deciding the shapes and types of lights to adorn your residence. Not something you liked to do?

Never Have I Ever…had a potential display picture clicked with a Diwali-centric background

Fact: Yellow flickers of diyas and candles, beautifully lit background and bursting crackers make for some stunning photographical placement. Having established that, if you have endeavoured to persuade someone to click a ‘candid’ picture which could very conveniently be your next Facebook display pictures, drink up!

Never Have I Ever…been dragged off to meet random Uncle-Aunties

Can Harry Potter ever be without magic? Similarly, can you survive the festive season without meeting some long-distance relatives/family friends/strange people you’ve heard never of?

Never Have I Ever…looked forward to Diwali!

The exodus of sweets which arrive intermittently, the ethnic apparels you line up to wear, the customary card games which lead to some very predictable failures, Diwali is so much more than a one-day festivity. It’s the seasonal holiday people enthusiastically prepare for year after year,do you?

Here’s a last drink if you Never Have Ever played a Never Have I Ever Diwali version drinking game. Happy Diwali!

Saumya Kalia
Image credits: ThisIsWhyImBroke, The Ellen Show

Going by its long history and tradition of over 20 years, Comquest- the Annual International Academic Meet of the Department of Commerce, Lady Shri Ram College, had proved its mettle once again with incredible events, prizes and not to forget the much appreciated hospitality from 20th to 22nd October, 2016.

Fin-o-lution, the opening event of the fest marked the participation of 18 teams. A one of a kind event, wherein the participants had to form a hospital using the items listed in the auction. It was an experience that involved the use of strategic planning and intelligence. Judged by Pranav Puliani, Sr. Manager Corporate Finance and Abhay Chandalia, Chartered Accountant, the second round asked the contenders to develop an app based on ‘Fintech’, under which they had to present their business plan. The team from CBS, Japneet Singh and Abhinav Bansal stole the show by grabbing the first prize followed by an LSR team.

An outcry mock stock, Bullion was powered by the BSE Institute. With a massive number of 40 teams participating, the competitors teleported to a time back in history where buyers and sellers used to shout out loud to trade. The two session event involved hustle and bustle with participation reaching out to the company counters to trade. Pulkit and Utkarsh from DTU bagged the first prize followed by Pranjal and Meenal from Xavier’s Jaipur.

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An intriguing and mind-boggling business quiz, Mind-benders attracted students in large numbers. With initial prelims, followed by the main round and a tie-breaker in the last, Ravtej and Harshvardhan from CBS got the first prize to their name. The rounds were direct, bounce and pounce and long connect.

The speaker session presented amazing speakers in front of the audience, one of them being Ashwani Lohani, Chairman & Managing Director of Air India. Sharing his personal experience, he told how he turned around various organizations, due to which he was chosen to work for Air India. Focusing on the role of human capital and specifically the top management, he briefed the way he was able to manage to get the New Delhi Railway Station cleaned before the Common Wealth Games.

Manan Vyas, the co-founder of ‘The Economist’ enlightened the students about Product Management. He explained in detail as to how to start an e-commerce business with the importance of acquiring and giving your best service to the first customer. The other speakers included Rakesh Sharma, Rajani Seshadri, Anuj Agarwal to name a few.

Events spawning over this period, enlivened the campus with a wonderful vibe in the air.

The second day witnessed the flagship event Board v/s CXO Risk Simulation powered by GRMI. Over 30 participants presented a strategic solution to a pre-provided case study in front of renowned judges including Chetan Mathur- Pepsico and Aloke Malik, former MD ESPN Star Sports to name a few. The game grilled the competitors with grueling challenges and finally the team from St. Xavier’s Kolkata bagged the drool worthy first prize.

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Vortrag, the Paper Presentation competition observed contenders from Nepal, Bhutan, Bangalore and of course Delhi. With students trying their best to prove themselves, the riveting event reflected the hard work and intellect they had put in it.

Finally, on the closing day, the events included Monopoly, the board game of buying countries and accumulating wealth that we have all played young. Fun and engaging, a team of Xavier’s again grabbed the first prize. The Committee Simulation came out as one of the most intellectual events deliberating and discussing about the agenda ‘Transitions risk and impacts from deep globalization to de-globalisation.” Somya Sharma from LSR was awarded the title of the Best Delegate.

The three day festivity ended successfully with overwhelmed participants, organizers and yes, the onlookers too. The all put in effort paid off with wider reach, greater number of participants and events and larger rewards. And yes, Comquest definitely was bigger and better this time!

Indian Economy is an unpredictable concept, with intricacies to understand and get an idealistic approach towards it’s nature. The students and teachers shall come together to get a good and deep knowledge of it. With this initiative, ECOSPIRE: The Economics society of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College organized a seminar on ”Budgetary Reforms and the GST: Issues and Options” on 25th October, 2016.

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With the celebration of its Golden Jubilee year, the seminar witnessed eminent speakers like Dr. Sacchidananda Mukherjee and Dr. Laveesh Bhandari who gave their viewpoints on the topic and shared their experiences erstwhile.

The speakers arrived at the venue in the morning from where the guests were escorted along with the principal to the seminar room for the inauguration ceremony. The convener Mr Jayesh Adeshra in the presence of the entire faculty welcomed the speakers. The seminar kickstarted with a speech by Dr. Laveesh Bhandari who currently serves as a Director of Indicus Analytics Pvt Ltd., on the topic “Budgetary Reforms” where he discussed about the basics of a government budget and how it affects the political atmosphere and the public, in general. He talked in detail about the budget deficit and the over and under expenditure done by the government in various sectors of the economy. He talked about the plight of the public sector undertakings (PSUs) in the economy and the effect on the budget deficit due to immense expenditure done by the government to recover the losses of this sector.

His speech was followed by a question hour in which he entertained all the questions asked by students and even teachers in the seminar.

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The next speech was given by our second speaker Dr. Sacchidananda Mukherjee who is currently an Associate Professor at National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), on the topic:”GST: issues and options”. In his speech, he explained in detail about GST and its effect on the household, and the markets. He explained how GST will widen the tax base by expanding the coverage of economic activities and cutting down exemption, achieving better tax compliance through mitigation of tax cascading, double taxation, and lowering the tax burden on the middle class section of the economy by giving numerical examples to prove the same.

After the speech, he responded to the questions asked by students in the question hour which noticed active participation. The seminar concluded with the conveyor presenting the mementos to the speakers. The students left the venue carrying a deep insight on the topic.

“A public outcry usually masks a private obsession.” – Eric Schlosser

The Finance and Investment society of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, University of Delhi, organized a traditional stock market event, ‘The Wolf of Dalal Street’ on 24th October 2016. The event consisted of two rounds- first, a business awareness quiz followed by an open outcry mock stock where participants were able to seize the buzz and thrill of real time trading.

Guided by the hard-work and efforts of the Event Head Shubham Surana of Second year and co-head Devanshu Choudhary of First year, B.com. (Hons) students of the college, the magnificent event had one of the largest turnouts of the year.

A zealous passion for the stock markets drove the registrations to 200+ students out of which 16 teams made it to the second round. Participants were required to apply their dexterity and comprehension to decipher the complex trading game to win the challenge.

Students from Shaheed Bhagat Singh College were the first runner ups who won a cash prize of Rs. 5, 000 and the team that had the best hand at market conditions was from Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce and won a cash prize of Rs. 10, 000.

Other prizes which amounted up to Rs. 30, 000 included Smash Vouchers, T.I.M.E. vouchers, and best-selling novels. The event was sponsored by our Education partner – T.I.M.E., our media partners- DU Beat and University Express and our Gaming Partner- Smash.

A well crafted and modernised crime drama TV series based on the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock is the modern marvel of direction and writing in the world of TV shows. Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss created an extraordinary piece, thrilling its viewers by showcasing insipidness of the private consulting detective by not only giving a modern twist to the age old stories, but also casting Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman and Andrew Scott to ace the roles of Holmes, Watson and Moriarty respectively, to do justice to the modernised version of the most loved British Detective ever.

Read along to get hold of some of the wittiest signature dialogues in the serial by the characters :

1-1

Kill you?

No, don’t be obvious. I mean I’m going to kill you anyway, some day

I don’t wanna rush it, though. I am saving it up for something special.

No, no, no. If you don’t stop prying, I’ll burn you. I’ll burn the heart out of you.

~Professor Jim Moriarty

 

Every fairy-tale needs a good old fashion villain

~Professor Jim Moriarty

4

In the world of locked rooms, the man with the key is king and Honey you should see me in a crown.

~Professor Jim Moriarty

3

Sherlock : what if I shoot you now? Right now?

Moriarty : Then you could cherish the look of surprise on my face.

 

Sherlock: No point of sitting home when there’s something fun going on!

Mrs. Hudson: Look at you, all happy. Its not decent.

Sherlock : Who cares about decent? The game, Mrs Hudson, is on!

 

2-1

Do you know what sherlock, I look at you now and I can read you.. And You.Repel.Me.

~Kitty Riely

The Fall.. But don’t be scared, falling is just like flying except there is one permanent destination.

~Professor Jim Moriarty

 

Gerush Bahal

[email protected]

The political tension between the Student Union parties has reached a new high at a meeting today organized by the All India Students’ Association (AISA). An open meeting was organized at The Arts Faculty, University of Delhi on Thursday, October 27th 2016 to facilitate a productive discussion concerning the idea of ‘Freedom of Expression.’ With a slogan of Don’t Cage our Ideas, Don’t cage our Universities, the Idea of University saw speakers with ideologies of promoting an egalitarian environment, supporting free expression and thought. However, the event took a stark turn with reports chiming in about the chaotic clash between the right and the left wing, turning into a pure he said-she said controversy.

AISA’s take

AISA’s account of what transpired at the Arts Faculty today is diametrically different to what ABVP has conveyed. The event was scheduled for today, 12 pm onwards and the organising entities had already been subjected to the hostile attitude of the administration who created a fuss regarding the payment factor, and moved on to allow the placement of the event with the terms that there will be no usage of mics. It saw a gathering of about 250-300 people and about 2:30 the sloganeering began with slogans like ‘Rapist AISA’, ‘Laal Gulaani Chod ke, bolo Vande Mataram’, ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’. As ABVP was within the premises and holding a parallel event, they reportedly began hurling ‘lux soaps’ at the AISA activists, which AISA presidential candidate, Kawalpreet Kaur, interprets as, “The ‘soap’ meant that I need to clean myself, my mind and my body and passed sexist comments on me. As if a ‘BHARAT MATA’ should be well groomed and tidy.” The first act of violence was then followed by a full-fledged disruption led by the DUSU President, Amit Tanwar who resorted to physical violence against the activists along with members of his community. The left wing members were also assaulted with rape threats and physical aggression, as the Delhi Police consisting of almost 50 people, reportedly failed to control the mob. An AISA activist who was present at the event said, “The ABVP has once again proven its intolerance for a free and uncaged student community. We have been subjected to various hindrances, starting right from the administration with their discriminatory policy to the stark insecurity of the ABVP with the voice of dissent. Showers of stones and anti-national slogans were tossed at us, however, we are yet to be dissuaded from waging a just fight.”

ABVP’s take

In the hours between 1pm to 3pm, ABVP claims to have conducted a human chain protest in the Arts Faculty, North Campus to protest against the increasing communal atmosphere across the university. It is reported that a female activist of ABVP was hurled a stone at by a member of AISA, who then purposely began the scuffle and the consequent attack. AISA members then proceeded to toss casteist smears and abuses on the ABVP members, which was termed as an act of publicity. Three members of the ABVP community, DUSU President Amit Tanwar, Jyoti and Harshita were reportedly attacked and taken to the hospital. There were also reports of a journalist who provoked the ABVP members with slogans and later falsely claimed that he had sustained injuries. The ABVP activists are also said to have borne the brunt of the police who beat them up. ABVP claims that the event organized by AISA, The Idea of University, was illegally executed as it lacked the pre-requisite of a prior permission.

The versions of both the parties share no common ground, and are being circulated across the social media with pictures and videos as evidences for both the sides. The clash has come after rising strains between the two wings; one, condemning the spreading of communist ideas, and the other, lobbying for the freedom of expression and ideas in this vast area of education.

Update: Videos later emerged on AISA’s page, showing ABVP members charging towards the AISA gathering for the Idea of a University event.