DU Beat, Author at DU Beat - Delhi University's Independent Student Newspaper

Manthan’17, India’s Largest Street Play Festival.

By DU Beat April 4, 2017

Philanthropy and social change work are at their best when they are driven by your values and connected to what you care about most. With the urge to bring change in the society and love in the hearts of theatre artists, Manthan – India’s largest street play festival organised by Verve – The street play society of Shaheed Sukhdev college of business studies finally completed its 10th edition.

This year Manthan reached 45+ cities including Bhopal, Chandigarh, Solan, Manesar, Jammu, Raipur, Vellore, Amarkantak, Coimbatore etc. crossing 21 states of India, with around 15 performing for Manthan. Being the 10th edition we celebrated Manthan Mahotsav under the concept of “Manthan Mahotsav” which was introduced last year, encompassed performances by 40+ teams in 10 cities of the country at the same time, i.e. between 2-6 PM on March 4, 2017. Running after ultimate excellence in theatre, Manthan reached out to international locations of Kaduna in Nigeria, Kathmandu in Nepal and Bèlum in Brazil. Summed up with 2500+ artists performing for Manthan on the streets only for a motive of resolution of change.

The closing ceremony of Manthan was celebrated on 1^st April, 2017 and it was incredibly beautiful, chaired by the salient, the founder of Manthan Ms. Aparajita Bharti. She shared her idea and the howling journey of Manthan. All the Delhi University Theatre teams amassed to celebrate the essence of street theatre. The ceremony started with a slam poetry event, artists from the theatre teams showcased their talent and shared their thoughts and feelings by the medium of poetry, the poetry was really awesome. They thanked Manthan for giving them opportunity to share their feelings and thoughts. The poetry was followed by a Qawwali by Sultani Brothers of Nizam Chishti fame, who engaged the teams and everybody in beautiful sufi music and set the stage on volcano, everyone was enjoying the Qawwali, the claps didn’t stop till the Qawwali ended. That night was unforgettable, all present there enjoyed a lot. Manthan’17 ended in utmost prosperity and the organising team, Verve, is overwhelmed with the entire national response.
“We are very sad that it had to come to an end but it’s time that we part our ways. But before that we want to thank all the Manthan Leaders and teams for their help and support, it would not have been possible without them. The closing ceremony had been a great success.” Said Vipul Babbar (member of the organising team )

Manthan’17 ended but the struggle never ends, stab in changing the society will be constant.

Our website link is: www.manthancbs.in
Manthan on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Manthan.cbs
Manthan on Instagram: Manthan.cbs

Join in our voices!

-The Manthan Team

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DUB Speak

TISS orders shut down three of Centres, later grants one year extension

By DU Beat April 3, 2017

On 26^th of March, the Director of Tata Institute for Social Sciences (TISS) S Parasuraman announced that the institute might be closing down three of its centers as the University Grants Commission has failed to release funds sanctioned for the operation of these centers.

The UGC had sanctioned as PLAN projects and funded the three centers, namely Center for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policies, Advanced Centre for Women’s Studies and the Nodal Centre for Excellence under the Scheme of Human Rights Education – on a plan to plan basis which was renewed every 5 years.

“Though these Centers had been sanctioned and funding approved, the institute has not yet received grants for payment of salaries and other operating costs of the Centers” said the official message.

He also said that these centers have been doing a remarkable job in the fields of teaching, research and extension services since their inception and that their progress has been well documented and submitted to the UGC from time to time.

The message also said that the institute has been regularly following up with the UGC for the release of 511.25 lakh, spent by the Institute upfront to manage these three centers.However pending a decision to be taken by the UGC, the natural course of the action for the institute would be to inform the faculty and staff that their appointments shall lapse by the 31^st of march, 2017.

All of this happens in the backdrop of various newspapers and online news portals carrying reports of University Grants Commission (UGC) having decided to cut funding for research Centers at several universities across the country that study social discrimination.This news however was refuted by the UGC calling this news be based on a hoax letter which was never issued by the commission.

Later UGC sent another letter to TISS authorities stating that the centres have been granted one year extension. However, it did not mention anything about the fate of the teachers who lost their jobs due to its earlier notices.

Aditya Narang

[email protected]

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DU Dhaba

DU canteens running without valid licenses

By DU Beat April 3, 2017

DU canteens have been found to be running without valid licenses and are flouting safety norms.

An RTI query has revealed that most of the canteens in University of Delhi run without a valid license from the regulating authority, food safety and standard authority of India (FSSAI)

The RTI in question was filed by a law faculty student, Mohit Kumar Gupta. The reply from the assistant registrar (estate) stated that DU has not made any rules and regulations for the food safety and precaution. Also, other contents regarding food safety and precaution are mentioned in the cafeteria services tender inviting notice.

In October 2016, the UGC had made it mandatory for all messes and canteen operating in varsities and universities to get a license from FSSAI, in accordance with the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

The FSSAI guidelines state that all canteens and workers should have adequate cleaning, disinfecting facility for equipment and utensils, proper facilities for washing of raw material and utensils, workers should be provided with clean aprons, head wear, hand gloves and foot wear.

“Any statutory authority or DU has never issued any guidelines/rules which prescribe bearing of FSSAI license as mandatory condition for grant of contract for food operating canteen.”, says Mr Gupta, administrative officer, SRCC. Moreover, food is cooked in domestic LPG cylinders instead of the standard blue cylinders supposed to be used for commercial purposes.

The canteens still go through the routine checks and inspections by a regulating university body. “We have to check our papers to see if the canteens fall under the UGC guidelines as they were established a long time back”, said the general sectary of DU canteens.

Source: The Asian Age and the New Indian Express.

Arindam Goswami

[email protected]

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Placement Cell Shri Ram College of Commerce Annual Report (2016-17)

By DU Beat March 29, 2017

The Placement Season for Shri Ram College of Commerce this year began in the month of August, open to a variety of job profiles like Investment Banking, Consultancy, Finance, Audit, Marketing, Sales, etc. The Placement Cell was successful in bringing the biggest names in the industry on campus. Be it the consulting giant McKinsey & Company or the highest paymasters Parthenon-EY and Barclays Capital, every company that has visited the college so far has been impressed by the caliber of the students.

This year turned out to be a success with a placement of 340 students, the highest package being 30 Lakhs per annum. Over 50 companies have visited the campus such as Deutsche Bank, Citi Bank, JP Morgan, Barclays Capital, McKinsey & Company, A.T. Kearney, etc. First-time recruiters included JP Morgan, Facebook, etc. The college saw the advent of many internship companies such as DSP BlackRock too.

Companies from the finance sector worked out to be 20% of the companies on campus whereas consulting and banking companies had a share of 29%and 10% respectively. The average package increased from Rs. 6 Lakhs per annum to Rs, 6.5 Lakhs per annum for the year 2016-17.

Figure 1: Diagram represents the sector-wise distribution of recruiters.

– The Placement Cell, Shri Ram College of Commerce.

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Miranda House

The Storm is Back – Day one at Tempest, 2017.

By DU Beat March 23, 2017

The annual cultural festival of Miranda House, Tempest 2017, being held on 23^nd and 24^th March, began on an energetic and colourful note as the beautiful college campus was filled with attendees from all across the University of Delhi. Excitement, hustle-bustle, and charm were sewn into an atmosphere of celebration.

The fest began with a power packed dose of energy provided by various theater societies of Delhi University, who went all across the college campus, filling the air with calls of ‘Aao aao, naatak dekho!’ The non-competitive nukkad naatak event, ‘Halla Bol,’ was attended by the prestigious theater mentor, Ms. Shilpi Marwah of Asmita Theatre Group. The participating colleges included Shaheed Bhagat Singh College (Morning), Kamala Nehru College, Guru Tegh Bahadur Institute of Technology, Lady Shri Ram College, Deshbandhu College and Daulat Ram College. The plays were based on social issues which are of contemporary relevance like human trafficking, child sexual abuse, gender discrimination, mistreatment of service providers, hyper-nationalism and poor conditions of refugees and internally displaced people. These plays aimed at addressing these issues and bringing them before the eyes of the society.

With heart pumping beats and rhythmic moves, ‘Burlesque,’ the Western Dance Competition at Tempest 2017 quickly became a crowd pleaser at Miranda House. A total of 15 dance societies from across Delhi University performed at the event that was organized by Tanz, the western dance Society of Miranda House. The energetic dance performance by ‘Verve’, the Western Dance Society of Sri Venkateshwara College won them the first position while ‘Misba’, the western dance society of Shri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce were declared the runner-up by the judges, Sonu Sharma and Sarthak Chaudhary. The home team, ‘Tanz’, also put up a show for the crowd with an exhilarating extravaganza of a dance.

Unique to Tempest 2017, was an event organised by the Foreign Society of Miranda House, which brought together foreign students from different Delhi University colleges to showcase their culture and share the varied experiences that they’ve garnered while studying in India. Ranging from power presentations to various songs sung in Afghani, Nepali and native languages of Africa, the event was truly a special one.

After a plethora of exciting events including quiz competitions, an art exhibition, debates, and many more, the first day of Tempest’17 ended on a musical high with performances by DJ Ankit, DJ Carnivore, and DJ VanMoon, who made the crowds dance to the beats and renditions of some the biggest Bollywood, Punjabi, and English hits and left them in high spirits.

After a great first day, we are definitely looking forward to an even better second day at Miranda House!

Photo Credits- Jasmine Chahal for DU Beat

Joyee Bhattacharya ([email protected])
Anagha Rakta ([email protected])
Akshara Srivastava ([email protected])
Swareena Gurung ([email protected])

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DU Annual Fest Season

Jubin Nautiyal draws the curtains to Ullas 2017!

By DU Beat March 23, 2017

The second day of the annual cultural fest of Kamala Nehru College, Ullas’17, started off with the incredible performances of the Western Music Choirs of various colleges in the event Rhythm and Blues hosted by Zephyr, the Western Music Society of Kamala Nehru College. Western Music Society of Lady Shri Ram College gave their award winning piece, adjudged by Yeashu Yuvraj. Echo of Jesus and Mary College was the first runner’s up followed by Swaranjali of Hans Raj College.

Inquizitive, a general trivia organised by Kaleidoscope, the Quiz society of Kamala Nehru College saw cut-throat competition for securing the lavish cash prizes as well as the grand vouchers from Mypicbook. Abhisek Paliwal and Akash Verma from Dyal Singh College took home the cash prize worth Rupees 8,000, while Manas Dimri of Campus law Centre bagged second position and cash prize of rupees 5,000. The third prize worth rupees 3,000 went to Ashish Kumar Gupta and Arsalan Ahmed of Jamia Milia Islamia.

Nrityakriti, a choreography competition curated by Adagio, the choreography society of Kamala Nehru College saw the participation of University of Delhi’s most exuberant dance creations which revolved around socially charged themes. The competition was adjudged by Mr. Nanda Kumar who is an internationally acclaimed choreographer and Miss. Ritika Chandra, a professional ballet dancer. Sensation, the Dance society of Kirori Mal College secured the first position for their mesmerising retelling of Lord Buddha’s life. Second position was awarded to the choreography society of Lady Shri Ram College for their latest production- Exodus.

In the Western solo competition, Shivash Chagti of Hans Raj College won the first prize, Kishore Ningthoujam of Amity University won the second and Ria Arora of College of Vocational Studies won the third prize. Kishore Ninghthoujam and Rhea Toor from Amity University bagged first position in the western Duet singing competition followed by Anurag and Vinayak from DTU. The warm afternoon witnessed excited spirits with the electrifying performances exhibited at the Bass Camp, the band competition. The event saw motley of genres entertaining the crowd. Common Threads of Shaheed Bhagat Singh conquered this battle of bands, followed by Tantrik Steve of Hans Raj College.

LaVogue, a fashion show competition organised by Glitz, the Fashion society of Kamala Nehru College saw glamour, poise and style of the best kind. The competition was judged by Mr. Hemant Sood, Mr. Akash Das, and Mr. Sahil Bhatia. I-vogue, the Fashion society of Shri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce maintained their track record and won the first position. Glamoratti, the Fashion society of Dyal Singh College secured the second position. Maintaining their monopoly on the awards, Shubham Ahlawat of Dyal Singh College and Prabhjot Singh from SGGSCC were declared the best male models. Subsequently, Bhavna Monga from Dyal Singh College was crowned Best Female Model. The awe-inspiring wardrobe of I-Vogue was bestowed with the title of the Best Collection and the prize of the Best Team was conferred upon Glamoratti for their theme ‘Shiva.’

The musical high was carried forward by DJ Mash and Monkey Junk with the EDM evening. With groovy renditions, the contemporary hits mixed with adrenaline pumping beats were thoroughly enjoyed by the audience. The two-day extravaganza pulled its curtains with the charged crowd dancing to the much-anticipated Star Night with the famous singer, Jubin Nautiyal, of ‘Humma Humma Again’ fame. As Ullas 2017 came to a close, the crowd exuberantly grooved towards the culmination of an enthralling fest.

Radhika Boruah

Niharika Dabral

Saumya Kalia

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RANGARANG’17, the Holi Festival of Ramanujan College.

By DU Beat March 21, 2017

Thank you, people, for the immense love and support!
Because of you all, the Eco-Friendly Holi Festival RANGARANG’17 organized by TATVA: ECO CLUB, the Mathematics Society: RamanuGEN and the Philosophy Society: Yatharth of the Ramanujan College, was a big success. The unending hard work and efforts of all the three societies working together came to recognition.

With an attempt to bring smile on every face without colors, RANGARANG’17, the Holi Festival was organised with an objective of promoting eco-friendly holi celebrations by using no colours and no water by three active societies for the first time in Delhi University and proved to be a grand success!!! The fest saw participation from more than 20 colleges of the University!

Started at 10 am, RANGARANG began with lamp lighting ceremony by our respectable principal Dr. S.P.Aggarwal and our Chief Guest, Dr. B. C. Sabata, head of Environment Clubs in Delhi Secretariat, on 3rd March, 2017. This was followed by the melodious performance by Shivaranjani, the music society of our college. Even the dance society & theatre society showed their amazing performances. Various competitions were held like Mathematical Rangoli, KBC, AdMad, Mock CID, Dance competition, Photography, etc. Prizes for the winners and participation certificate were provided to all. There were various food stalls which included Domino’s, Sagar Ratna, Chinese Chat Corner and more.

The one day fest was closed at 6 pm by the performance of three talented Rappers from the town!

Also, we took the opportunity to thank the three NGOs LECIN, LEFT and KHUSHI for their benign presence at our event with their little children who added colours of joy and smiles.

This could not have been possible without the support of our all the Media Partners (Du Beat, DU Express, Natkhatt, Campus Drift), Student internship partner (Twenty19), Education Partner (The Education tree), Hospitality Partner (Nearbuy), Snacks Food and Beverages Partner (Giani’s, Sagar Ratna, Dominoz, Cornitos), Student App Partner (Frapp), Online Media Partners (College Desk, Carrer 360, fuccha) & the Photography Partner (DCOP) and all the students and teachers involved.

This first ever Holi fest with the objective of ”no colour no water wastage” in Delhi University fulfilled its purpose.

With this, we will be working even harder for bringing you all together again for another unique and interesting events to be a part of.

Thank you all for huge participation!
Congratulations to the team!

Deep Gratitude to Principal Sir, Dr. S.P. Aggarwal and the entire faculty of the college.

Missed the grand no colour no water holi celebrations?

Check out the highlights of RANGARANG’17 at www.fb.com/Tatva.rcdu/
#Rangarang’17 #ramanujancollege

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DUB News

Why the Iron Lady lost the Manipur Elections.

By DU Beat March 21, 2017

Having broken her 16-year-old fast on 9^th August 2016, Irom Sharmila set out to contest the Manipur Assembly Elections this year. Her loss is a sad one, let’s review why the ultimate Iron Lady who symbolized resistance and freedom of action failed to win the faith of her people.

Having won a mere 90 votes in comparison to the 18,649 polled in the favour of three-time chief minister, Obobi, Irom Sharmila obtained a meager 0.33% of the votes in Thoubal, her very own constituency. For those who opted for NOTA (none of the above), she didn’t even pose as a viable option. For someone who dedicated her entire life fighting against the oppression of the people by draconian acts like the AFSPA ( Armed Forces Special Powers Act), this comes as a shattering defeat.

There are basically three factors behind her defeat. She lost mass support by ending her fast and contesting elections. In a State that has some 1,500 cases of extra-judicial killings, she was the face of the movement against AFSPA. So, when she ended her fast, people perceived it as the end of the movement.

Her popularity also fell after her plans to get married to Goa-born British national Desmond Coutinho, whom her supporters have always accused of diverting her fight against AFSPA. She had plans to tie the nuptial knot after the polls but Desmond recently said the marriage would not take place before 2019 (Lok Sabha) elections.

The third was her inexperience in electoral politics. Ibobi is a seasoned politician and given his influence over voters, Sharmila’s defeat was a foregone conclusion. The chief minister had guided his party to power for three terms on the trot. Another reason is the PRJA’s low-key poll campaign. The party, which fielded just three candidates, fought the polls with less than Rs.3 lakh. There was a perception among people in Manipur that she would not even be able to give Ibobi a fight, let alone win.

As accurately put by Huffington Post, “Sharmila’s loss is not a reflection on her popularity in the state, but on her shortcomings as a political leader.”

Anahita Sahu

[email protected]

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5 Reasons for every college student to get YUP card

By DU Beat March 20, 2017

If you haven’t been saving for a while and you don’t care, you probably don’t know what YUP Card is about. But for those who are broke, and wish to have just a little more money, its time you found out the ultimate way to save regularly.
That being said, lets take a closer look at what YUP Card has in store for all the college peeps in Delhi NCR, and Kolkata too.

YUP Card is a loyalty card, exclusive to college students, tailor-made for all their needs. This card is the ticket to flat discounts and steal deals across everything – from restaurants to salons. If there is something missing, worry not, they’re working to get you those too.

Here are five reasons which not only make YUP Card the tip of the iceberg but at the same time this is arguably the most lucrative deal college students, who are basically living on pocket allowances, can avail.

Flat out deals at the best of brands

A major chunk of the deals and offers present in the market nowadays rely on the over-usage of “conditions applied” YUP doesn’t function in the same way. YUP gives flat discounts on your total bill. This way, you don’t have to end up sacrificing on what you really enjoy.

View all their deals here.
http://www.yupcard.com/offers/all

No Minimum Billing

It happens quite frequently that you can’t avail a certain benefit or discount simply because you have to spend a particular amount to claim the offer.
YUP Card on the other hand, literally makes this trouble go away. Take what you want, pay for what you take, and save on what you need. Your discount will stand good for both a bill of Rs 20 or Rs 2000.

365 Day Validity and 24×7 Claims

Do you often wish if the desirable offer was valid beyond happy hours and on weekends too?
With a YUP Card, you don’t have to worry about any of it. The benefits of your YUP Card is all for yours to take, throughout the year and at all times the outlet is open!

Easy to use

It’s alright to get offers, but what you have to do to claim them is a pain. With YUP Card, all you have to do is go to the outlet, show your YUP Card and receive your offer. And voila! The work is done.

Only a One Time Payment of Rs. 499

You don’t have to go through ridiculous processes to get a YUP Card. Pay up for your YUP Card once, right at the beginning and enjoy the benefits for an entire year!
Awesome right. In case you’re wondering where to get one à www.yupcard.com/registration

P.S: They also have additional benefits for their members, like the #MidWeekMadness event at Café 27, Kailash Colony. Head over there with your YUP Card on 22^nd March 2017 and enjoy an exclusive acoustic night and food on the house. No entry fee.
View event details here: http://www.yupcard.com/pages/mwm-acousticnight

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The Battle of State Thrones: The case of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa and others

By DU Beat March 20, 2017

On 11th March, the results of the state assemblies in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur were declared. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be forming a government in 4 out 5 states, as they celebrated a massive ride to victory in Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand.

The BJP rode a Modi super-wave to a massive victory in Uttar Pradesh, winning 312 of the state’s 403 seats, whereas its allies have won 13 seats for a grand total of 325. The Samajwadi Party and Indian National Congress’ great loss was a shock to the whole nation as the Samajwadi Party, under the leadership of Akhilesh Yadav maintained a strong foothold over the masses in UP. Most people have remarked that the UP elections is an indication towards the death of electoral politics in the state, however it may also be seen as a resurgence wherein the electorate has finally moved away from casteist party politics.

In Manipur, amid the BJP claiming support of 32 MLAs in the 60-member Manipur Assembly, outgoing Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam on Sunday said: the Congress, being the single largest party, must be allowed first to form the government. Flanked by NPP and LJP leaders and their winning candidates, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav told a press conference in Imphal, “We have been able to come to an understanding with the NPP and the Lok Janshakti Party in our bid to form the government in Manipur.”

The Congress has its big win in Punjab, as they won 77 of 117 seats. This win is a breath of fresh air for Congress which has been coping with a drop in their credibility, as they have performed rather poorly in other state elections.

The Goa election results that were declared threw up a hung assembly in the state with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) winning 13 seats and the Congress 17 in the 40-member assembly. The BJP however pulled off a coup by enlisting the support of the Goa Forward Party (GFP), Maharastrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and two Independents, to reach the figure of 21 in the 40-member house. A government led by Manohar Parrikar, former Defense Minister, is now leading Goa.

Featured image Credits: NDTV

Joyee Bhattacharya

([email protected])

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