Latest
DU Beat – Delhi University's Independent Student Newspaper
Author

Kartikeya Bhatotia

Browsing
Reviews

Ctrl.Shift.Esc: Escaping the world of the living dead

By

here. The Quarantine Zone While we don’t want to spoil the game for you by telling the plot, the basic setting of the game is a Zombie Apocalypse in which the players are trapped in a quarantine zone, which they have to escape by solving riddles, puzzles, decoding messages and opening locks. The game requires logic, teamwork and communication to solve it in a time of 1 hour. The room and props were quite thematic and fitting giving it the look of virus-infected quarantine zone. 2-6 players are generally recommended for each game but we would personally recommend more than 3 people to play it together, as it can be extremely challenging for a few people. The game will, without a doubt, overwhelm you at many points and trust us, you’ll be impressed by your own ability to solve the mysteries! The game is one of a kind, and a much needed break from the monotony of any other indoor games you’d consider to play with friends. Regardless of the fact whether you’re able to escape it or not, you’ll be perhaps spending the most unique hour with friends. Cost: The cost per person is 600 rupees and unfortunately you can only play a game once (since the game remains unchanged) Location: Ctrl Shift Esc is located in the Hauz Khas Village, just beside Kunzum Café and opposite Kolkatta Rolls.   Kartikeya Bhatotia [email protected]]]>

Keep Reading
By
Admissions 2015

How to ace the BMS/BBA(FIA)/B.A (Hons.) Business Economics entrance

By

University of Delhi will be conducting its Joint Admission Test for BMS/BBA(FIA) and BA(Hons.) Business Economics on Sunday, 20th June 2016.

The exam is only the first stage of the admission process where its weightage is 45% along with 40% weightage given to the 12th Board scores and 7.5% given to both the interview and group discussion round. Read more about the seat breakup and other crucial details from our previous report here.

According to the Admission Brochure given by DU, –

– The exam will have 120 questions to be attempted in 120 minutes
– Each question will be objective type multiple choice based.
– The exam will be take place from 3PM TO 5PM 6th June 2016.
– Each correct answer will get the candidate 3 marks and every incorrect answer will get them 1 negative mark.
– The question paper will be divided into 4 sections.
Here is a detailed section-wise guide I have made based on my experience of giving 2014 JAT –

1. Quantitative Ability

This section will contain questions from the 11th and 12th Maths syllabi. Questions from the 12th class Math syllabus won’t be that challenging, although you might want to brush up on Relations and Functions as many people skip it as it doesn’t have much weightage in the board exams, 5 questions are expected to be coming from Relations and Functions.

3-D Geometry is another unit you might want to prepare as it might contain 4-5 questions.
From the 11th Class syllabus, Sets and Permutations and Combinations are important units to be covered. Probability is a unit which spans both the 11th and 12th syllabi, therefore it is expected to be a major part of the Quantitative Ability section. Questions involving dice and deck of cards are expected to come.

2. Reasoning and Analytical Ability

This section will include reasoning and assertion based questions. It is also expected to contain a subsection of either a bar graph or chart and 8-10 questions based on analysis of that graph. Any data interpretation book will help you to practice questions which might appear in this section.

3. General English

This section’s name might make you think that it will be easy to attempt but it might prove to be the toughest for many people.
It will contain a reading comprehension subsection containing at least 5 questions which is considerably easy to attempt and does not need much preparation. 5 questions are expected to be idiom-based so learning basic English idioms may help. 5 direct vocabulary questions are also expected. For the vocabulary questions, research previous year papers and other exams (for example: CLAT) and identify and learn important words from there, this is the best shot to score in vocabulary as mugging up hundreds of words at this point will not benefit you. Fill in the blanks and one word substitution are also expected to come and are considerably easy and do not require practice.

4. Business and General Awareness

This section will contain direct general knowledge based questions. Since this section does not require much thinking, do not give too much time attempting it.

The main feature of General Awareness is that most of it contains ‘static general knowledge’ based questions. Popular questions in this section are along the lines of product and their companies. Start memorizing what product is produced by which company (your shampoo bottle,your shoes, clothes etc) and taglines of products and companies. Memorize what banks are nationalized and important international days  (Eg: Women’s day, Earth Day, AIDS Awareness Day)
Look up where popular companies’ headquarters are located, memorize important international and national prize winners of the current and previous years (eg: Nobel Prize, Bharat Ratna)

Some other helpful tips-
– Attempt the General Awareness and English section first as they require lesser thinking than the other two sections, this will give you more time to devote to the time consuming math problems. Be careful of the question numbering in the OMR sheet, though.

– I personally recommend you NOT to wild guess. Other exams generally have a 4:1 ratio of positive and negative marking however this exam has a 3:1 ratio so you have more to lose.

– A very repetitive tip but if you’re stuck on a question, leave it. It will be a challenge to attempt 120 questions in 120 minutes, utilize the time carefully.

All the best!

Keep Reading
By
Admissions 2015

Food for thought: All you need to know before getting into DU

By

The Delhi University Admission season is fast approaching with all the recent Class 12th pass-outs already biting their nails for admissions in Universities, which course to be taken and all the crucial decisions that will be taken in the coming weeks. We think everyone in Delhi University has more or less, been through this tough phase. Here are a few essential things to be kept in mind while considering admission in Delhi University:

  1. DU vs other Universities

DU is a premier university of the country and is known for its high standards in teaching and research. However, it does not mean that it seriously lags behind other universities in many other aspects. Although there’s a plethora of courses offered in DU, many desirable courses are still missing which most private universities may offer. Another thing to consider is that most private universities are equipped with infrastructure, latest technology and better campuses which a lot of DU colleges might not match.

However, considering the cost of education at Delhi University, it is much more affordable than any other university and the prestige of being a student of DU is one of a kind. Read why Delhi University should be your top choice.

  1. Infrastructure of colleges

If you’ve made your mind to take an admission in DU, the next step is considering which college to take admission in, and college infrastructure is one of the most important factors. Well functional labs, well stocked libraries will add to the academic experience and college lawns, functional theatre and the location of the campus will influence the much-hyped (but important) ‘DU life’. However don’t be so hasty while judging a college with its infrastructure. A lot of Delhi University colleges deal with a problem of insufficient infrastructure (and some are shifting their campus too). Faculty, quality education and course reputation should not be ignored.

  1. Management during and after admission process

If you’ve decided on your college and met the cutoff, the ordeal is not really over. Students have to navigate to and through the administration offices for formalities and that’s one tiring job. You might witness some slacking and mismanagement too. But that’s something we’ll all have to get used to.

  1. Placements

While a placement after graduation might not be a top priority for all, you may want to consider how good a college’s placement cell is. The placement rate, highest package offered, average package offered, biggest recruiters are just some of the parameters to tell if a college’s placement scene is good.

 

Keep Reading
By
Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies

Highlights of Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies: Round up of academic year 2014-2015

By

With yet another academic session coming to an end at the University of Delhi, it is time to let nostalgia get you over and look back at the year that has gone by, before all of us get busy with semester examination preparation and some of us eventually leave to charter their career paths. Going by the thought, DU Beat brings to you its exclusive series ‘Colleges’ Round Up (2014-15)’, where we present the highlighting incidents of numerous DU colleges that took place over 2014 and 2015.  

So, go with the flow and view all what activities highlighted the near to end session at Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies, in this week’s edition.

From laying the foundation stone of its new campus to Enactus SSCBS winning the Enactus Nationals, Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies, University of Delhi has had quite an eventful year.

Here’s an overview of all what happened at Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies, this session:

Kartikeya Bhatotiya
[email protected] 

Keep Reading
By
Campus Central

CBS graduate Aditi Arya wins Miss India 2015

By

th of March. Aditi bagged the Miss India crown after winning the title of Miss Sudoku and Miss Beautiful Hair at the event. Aditi, who works for Ernst and Young, graduated from CBS in 2014 with a degree in Business Studies. Interestingly, Miss India 2014, Koyal Rana, is another DU alumna with a degree in Business Studies. Hailing from Chandigarh, she did a part of her schooling from Sacred Heart School before shifting to Amity School, Gurgaon. She is also a Young Leader at Indian School of Business. [caption id="attachment_32159" align="aligncenter" width="636"]DE30_PAGE4_MISS_DE_2357479f Aditi Arya crowned as Miss India 2015[/caption] Ibna Sharma, her close friend and roommate, tells us, “She’s a complete dreamer. We have a cabinet in our room which says ‘Dream on till your dreams come true’.” According to her, Aditi’s participation in the pageant came as a surprise. “Last year around September, we were dining out and one of our friends asked her about her future plans to which she replied that she was thinking of participating in Miss India. We had a hearty laugh and left the conversation at our lunch tables, not imagining in our wildest of dreams that this would come true,” she further adds. A very active student in college, Aditi was a member of various societies like Verve, the street play society and Synergy, the corporate society of CBS. She is also a part of the NGO, Protsahan. We congratulate her on her win and wish her good luck for Miss World 2015! Image credits: thehindu.com  ]]>

Keep Reading
By
DUB Speak

Internal Assessments in DU: Comprehensive or just rigid?

By

As the mid-sem break starts, students in DU will be gearing up for the coming internal assessments. Unfortunately, Delhi University, known for its high standards of teaching and research; falls flat when it comes to providing new measures to assess academic performance. Learning by heart and spitting on paper, something which we are well acquainted with from school and are only more familiarized with now here in DU, is all what these internals are about.

The current rules of the University state that there should be 10% overall weightage given to written assignments/project reports/presentations/term papers/seminars with one compulsory assignment for a subject each year and 10% weightage is given to House examinations of respective colleges. These are some pretty lazy standards to put on a plethora of courses, and even so, the number of subjects one will study under a course. To put it in simple words – not every subject should require a written test nor should it necessarily require a term paper to be made.

Term papers are often plagiarized, often shamelessly from free resource websites like Wikipedia. Most of the presentations made for internal assessments are not given suitable research. The topics are often picked or given directly from the syllabus provided, and often the presentations strictly adhere to what will be relevant to the syllabus with any scope of trans-disciplinary topics deliberately removed.

What the University could do to improve the current assessment system is firstly get rid of the mechanical criteria of House examinations. There is virtually no use of holding written exams in the middle of the semester when we already have stringent examination periods twice a year.

The second thing that could be done is get rid of rigid standardization of internal assessment rules for all courses. Instead, assessment standards should be made course-wise and most importantly, subject-wise. More importantly, they should be flexible enough so that the curriculum could follow the teacher’s and students’ own subject interests.

Thirdly, teachers must not have to assign presentations or assignments merely to complete the syllabus. The internal assessments are there for a reason and that reason is providing ways for students to explore their disciplines. If completing the syllabus was the sole reason of the University, we’d just have one hundred percent weighted on written examinations.

Picture credits: youthkiawaaz.com

Kartikeya Bhatotia
[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Small Screen

5 reasons why you should watch How to Get Away with Murder

By

‘How to Get Away with Murder’ is a crime – thriller show which revolves around Annalise Keating (Viola Davis) and her team of associates and law students. In this series, they attempt to find out who murdered a university student, and entangle themselves in yet another murder plot. This show came to an end with a thrilling cliff-hanger. The co-creator of the show, Shonda Rhimes, otherwise known for making hit TV series like Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal once again left us biting our nails in suspense. (Spoiler Alert: It ended with yet another murder!)

The show has gathered immense popularity over a little period of time. But what makes How to Get Away with Murder stand out of all the other shows? Here’s the answer:

 

Diverse and talented cast

From Viola Davis, a twice Oscar nominee to Alfred Enoch, a child artist who starred in the Harry Potter series, the cast is a huge one and extremely talented. Interestingly, Tom Verica, the actor who plays Annalise’s husband, Sam Keating, was one of the directors of Shonda Rhimes’ unarguably most acclaimed series Grey’s Anatomy.

htgawm
How to get away with murder- the incomparable cast

 

Strong characters that break stereotypes

Annalise Keating played by Viola Davis is a strong black woman who owns a legal firm and holds lectures at Middleton University on criminal law, or what she calls “How to get away with murder”. Other strong and unconventional characters are Connor Walsh, an ambitious gay law student with unique ways to get work done and Frank, Annalise’s personal ‘hitman’.

tumblr_ndo4uwAgjY1u01e50o4_250

 

Character deaths

Tired of your favourite characters dying in every other TV show? Unfortunately, this show is no different. However in this show, if your character dies, they don’t really ‘die’. Every episode is centred on thrilling flashbacks so never be disappointed when your favourite character is killed, you’ll see them in the coming episodes anyway!

how-get-away-murder
#WhoKilledSam afterall?

 

Amazing cliffhangers

Finally figured out the mystery of the season/episode? Well, here’s a fun fact –  you’re wrong! Not only do the writers prove the viewer wrong in the ending of each episode, they add a suspense filled reveal in the last 5 minutes which will keep you waiting for the next Thursday for another episode!

how-to-get-away-with-murder-gif
It doesn’t really end at it, does it?

 

Law and crime combination

The title of the show really proves itself. Not only does it tell you how you’d get away with a crime by burying the evidence against you, it teaches you how to discredit the witness and introduce new suspects. Basically, it covers all the legal and investigative stages of a crime.

 

New folder

 

Image (and gif) Credits: Tumblr

Kartikeya Bhatotia

[email protected]

 

Keep Reading
By
Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies

Manthan-India’s largest street play festival is back with its 8th edition

By

Manthan – India’s largest street play festival organized by Verve, the street play society of Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies commenced on 18th of February.

The festival covers more than 30 cities across India and this year it started with a performance at St. Bede’s College in Shimla on the topic ‘Politics’. This was followed by a performance at Mall Road in Solan and Paltan Market in Dehradun. Over the next few days the festival reached the city of Patiala in Punjab followed by the opening of the festival in Delhi by Verve, performing their annual production ‘Finding Shammi’ at the CBS campus.

The festival has already witnessed participation from various colleges of Delhi University. Ramanujan College and Shaheed Bhagat Singh College (Evening) performed at V3S Mall, Laxmi Nagar on 24th February. This year will be the 8th edition of Manthan, a festival which aims to retain the essence of nukkad natak and to spread awareness of various issues across the barriers of languages, states and cultures.

To ensure Manthan spreads to all regions, 80 renowned street play teams from across the country have come together to perform at around 150 locations across the span of 4 weeks. To ensure that this voice is heard by all the stratum of the society, Manthan performances will be held at schools, NGOs, malls, slums, marketplaces, monuments and public places.
This year also brings the Nukkad Ki Awazein, a Manthan Initiative to digitise street play choruses in order to preserve the beautiful art form.

The 30-plus cities to be covered in Manthan include Jaipur, Jodhpur, Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Vellore, Goa, Chennai and Chandigarh. The festival is expected to go on till 22nd March 2015.

 

 

 

Keep Reading
By
Events

Third edition of Josh Talks brings together 20 inspiring stories

By

Josh Talks – a platform to showcase India’s most inspiring stories held its third session on Saturday in the American Excelsior Auditorium, Gurgaon. The event witnessed 20 prolific individuals – entrepreneurs, artists and sportsmen among many more who came together to share their stories, struggles and obstacles they overcame to reach success.

One of the first speakers was Franz Gastler, an American social activist based in Ranchi. His organization called ‘Yuwa’ uses football to combat child marriages and human trafficking and inspires and empowers girls of rural Jharkhand. One such girl is Chanda Kumari who shared the story of how she beat the odds and went on to play football in Spain.

Simran Shaikh – a transgender activist known for being a key member of Alliance India’s Pehchan programme and also interviewed by Aamir Khan for his show Satyamev Jayate also came forward to share the story of her journey from being a sex worker to a bar dancer and to finally being a member of the World Bank. “We need to fight the internalized homophobia and transphobia in our communities and transform our fear of our own gender and sexual identities” she said.

 

Post by JOSH talks.

 

Sonia Chaudhary, a beauty salon owner came forward to share her experiences of recovering from an acid attack that changed her life. “The attacker just ruined my skin, not my courage and determination” she said, as she urged people not to ignore and be insensitive to such incidents.

Among the other prominent speakers was Mr. Arunachalam Muruganthanam, a common man who took up the cause of women’s health to create his company Jayashree which not only has machines in 27 states in India but various chapters worldwide. He also shared humorous stories and mocked the double standards of the corporate world.

During the course of the event, various performances were also lined up like a spoken word poetry act by Mildly Offensive Content and a performance by Hanita Bhambri, a singer and composer from the College of Business Studies in Delhi University.

The third edition of Josh Talks which aimed to move, disrupt, inspire and motivate certainly proved to do so.

Featured Image Credits – Anuj Bansal for Campus Hub

 

Keep Reading
By
Campus Central

Clash of fest dates, an inconvenience for societies in Delhi University

By

If exchanging team slots doesn’t work, the last resort is contacting the event head and begging them to change the performance timings. If this doesn’t work (which in most cases it doesn’t) then deliberate delaying is a mechanism known to many. People involved in theater, music and dance seem to be the most affected by these clashes. Preliminary events at one fest and a performance at another fest on the same day has become a common thing to witness. Others however don’t seem so keen on hurrying from one place to another. “I just choose the best event from a bunch and go and attend it” says Nidhi Panchal, an English student from Dyal Singh College. The best events according to her would be the ones which are ‘executed and presented properly’. Proximity also plays a big factor. “Just choose a place where you have the best shot at winning” she further adds. Despite the numerous difficulties, we hope everyone stays enthusiastic about the fest season and we wish them good luck.]]>

Keep Reading
By