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CLAT 2018 Under Fire: SC Asks NUALS To Set Up Nodal Committee

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Due to the mismanagement and technical glitches faced by thousands of students during CLAT 2018, petitions demanding re-examination have moved to the SC.

The Common Law Admission test is a centralised test taken by more than 40,000 candidates every year, for admission to 19 National Law Universities and 43 other education institutes of India. Organised for the first time in 2008, the test is conducted by India’s 19 NLUs rotation on a rotational basis.  This year, CLAT was organised by the National University of Advanced Legal Studies (NUALS) on 13th May across 260 centres. Due to complaints of mismanagement, technical glitches, and irregularities CLAT 2018 has been under fire. Petitions demanding a re-examination or granting of additional marks to compensate for the time lost as a result of the glitches have been filed in various HCs, alleging misconduct and negligence on the part of NUALS.

ABVP has asked that the exam must be conducted by an autonomous organisation or the central government. The online exam process attracted criticism from all over the country and according to the petitioners it “suffers from arbitrariness, lack of fairness, lack of transparency, lack of authenticity, and discrimination between similarly placed students”.

The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday stayed the publication of CLAT 2018 results till 25th May. On 24th May, the Supreme Court vacation bench of Justices A. M. Khanwilkar and Navin Sinha heard the writ petitions regarding CLAT-2018 and suggested setting up of a nodal agency to examine the grievances of candidates on a case to case basis and offer redressal. The Bench asked Senior Advocate V. Giri and Advocate Karthik who appeared for NUALS to reply by Friday on this suggestion. The bench also restrained the High Courts seized by similar matters from proceeding therewith.
The bench required the respondents, including NUALS and its CLAT Core Committee to attempt to effect a feasible solution by Friday, failing which the bench “shall accommodate”. It also pointed out the need for an inbuilt mechanism for redressal by some authority or forum and an efficient examination of each case.

It, thus, becomes very important for the CLAT 2018 Core Committee to take appropriate steps, at the earliest, to redress the grievances of the thousands of students whose careers are at stake.

Feature Image Credit: IP Leader
Muskan Sethi
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World Book Day: 10 ways to Preserve your Reading Habits

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This world book day, DU Beat celebrates the art of reading and brings to you 10 ways to cultivate and preserve your reading habits:

No matter how much convenience a Kindle has to offer, you can never get over the smell of new books or the excitement of finding a rose in between the pages of your old high school favourites. The bookmarks, the coffee stains, the little notes in between the chapters, on every page, make reading a book so much more special. This world book day, we celebrate authors, editors, writers, illustrators, publishers, and libraries for preserving the essence of reading, over all these years. Always.

This celebration of books is marked in over 100 countries all over the world. In 1995, UNESCO decided that the World Book Day will be celebrated on 23rd April every year, to commemorate the death of William Shakespeare as well as the birth and death of several other prominent authors!
This World Book Day, DU Beat brings to you a list of ways through which you can preserve your reading habits and your love for stories;

1. Read a little every day

The first step to cultivating and sustaining your reading habits is to make sure that you take out at least 10-15 minutes from your daily schedule to sit and read. Be it during breakfast or before your bedtime, make sure you read. This will unconsciously create a habit of reading for you.

2. Carry a book along wherever you go

A book can prove to be the best company. It’s proven to be therapeutic and also the most productive use of your time. Be it a 10 minute ride or a 10 hour journey, make sure that you have an out to drown yourself in the world of words.

3. Make a list

Create a list of the books that you want to read. It could be in your personal diary, your journal or your phone’s notes folder, make sure that you constantly have at least 10 names on your to-read list. Keep adding recommendations and crossing out the ones that you’ve read. This will serve as a great source of inspiration to you to read more.

4. Fill your book rack

Keep filling your book shelves and racks with books that are close to your heart, books that feel like home. Buy classics, in an effort, to honour the stories that have shaped our history and always have a book on your bedside table.

5. Visit a library at least once a week

Issuing books from a library is a much cheaper alternative to buying them each time. It also keeps you on your toes about the return dates and the overdue fines.

6. Try out used book stores

You can donate boxes full of your old books and get discounts on the old books. There’s something so special about reading a book that’s already been read with all the footnotes and bookmark imprints and coffee stains.

7. Set a goal

Decide the number of books that you want to read in a year. It could be 10 or 50 or 100. Give yourself a target and actively work towards achieving, rather exceeding that target.

8. Create a log

Create a little diary where you write the starting date, the ending date, and approximately the number of hours you spent reading the book. It’ll serve as motivation for you to read the next book in lesser time.

9. Create a board of your favourite quotes

Write down your favourite quotes and lines on a board, without paying attention to the order. Mess it all up a little. Keep the conversation going and read those sentences every day to remind yourself why you read.

10. Don’t give up mid- book

We all have our phase of a reader’s block and of not being able to find the book interesting enough to be completed, but try your best not to give up mid-book and complete what you’ve started. If nothing else, it’ll give you a feeling of an accomplishment.

More than anything, remember that reading is an art in itself and it makes this world a much more beautiful place to live in! Be it the romances or the comedies, books give you a reason to not give up, to laugh, to love, and to live a little more. They take you to a world that is completely their own but also yours. Cheers to books and stories that make you who you are and make this world a lot more beautiful!

 

Feature Image Credits: Popular Science

Muskan Sethi
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10 Things a Graduate Has to Say to The Class of 2018

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Here’s a list of 10 things that graduates want to share with the to-be graduates, the batch of 2018, to help them out with love and life!

It’s that time of the year again when the walls of every college echo of nostalgia and memories worth of the past three years, when there are goodbyes and farewells, a lot of tears, celebrations and dreams for what is yet to come. During this time, it’s natural for any final year student to feel excited, nervous, scared, insecure, unsure, ready and confused. To help them a little and guide them a bit out of college, DU Beat spoke to some graduates and asked them for advice to make it out of college and into the real world. Here’s a list of 10 things that they’d like to say to the graduating class of 2018:

1. It’s okay to be unsure

It’s okay to feel confused and nervous. It’s okay if you feel that you aren’t ready yet and it’s okay to feel lost. This transition from college to a job, or postgraduate college or a different city or country isn’t an easy one. It takes a while to break from the routine you’ve lived in for the past three years but know that it’s okay to not have everything figured out just yet. Take your time, explore yourself, gain knowledge about yourself, get some practical knowledge, write, sketch, create art and go out and experience the actual life. You’ll figure it out, take one day at a time!

2. Think of more personal ways to stay in touch with your college friends

The friendships that you develop in college are the most honest, real, and beautiful friendships. It’s hard to make this transition from the laid-back lifestyle of DU to the real world, but there’s always fun ways to stay in touch. Facebook, Whatsapp, and other social media sites sure are effective ways to stay in touch, but try and think of more personal ways, like sharing a song every week, trading playlists, themed parties, old-school tradition of posting letters. Make sure that you join the alumni network and stay in touch with even those with whom you didn’t interact with much.

3. A diploma doesn’t mean the end of your learning

Even with a diploma in your hand, never stop the process of learning. Make sure that you always have a learning state of mind, even at work. Your growth always depends on your continuous learning, and when you start working, start working as a student, ask questions and work hard. Make sure you continuously challenge yourself and redefine your thinking because this is only the beginning.

4. Don’t let the world decide your career for you

Your career is one of the most important paths that you’ll ever decide and even though you don’t have to make this choice immediately, make sure that whenever you do, it is completely yours. Don’t let the world make this choice for you. Life is too short, don’t waste it on a boring job that you hate or a career path that your parents picked out for you but you don’t want to follow. Find something that you love over money, find your calling, no matter how long it takes and follow it with all your heart.

5. Learn to plan things

Ever since you were a kid, life has been planned for you. You know that you had to complete school and then graduate from college. But the road from here is uncertain and full of rocks. You have to make an itinerary for yourself and plan things in advance. You have to think three steps in advance so that you’re more prepared for what’s coming and that you can tackle every roadblock with courage.

6. Stop fretting over success

It’s okay if you didn’t get the placement you wanted, or the postgraduate college that you wanted to get in or the six figure salary. Everything takes time, and just because it is not happening right now doesn’t mean it never will. But make sure that you do not keep running after this sort of success. Understand success can be as simple and beautiful as the next sunset, if you want it to be. Take one day at a time and follow your heart, do what you want to do and be good at it, success will follow in no time.

7. Find inspiration

Always have something to look up to and take inspiration from, be it a mentor, a book or a story. Challenge yourself, create art, learn a new language, learn an instrument, write, sketch, paint and let yourself be. This transition from college to the real world becomes very taxing and stressful, it’s important for you to spend some time with yourself, understand yourself better and find inspiration to keep yourself going and motivated.

8. Take risks

Do not be afraid to take risks. Even if it is a mistake, go ahead if you feel like you should. This is the time of your life that you wouldn’t get back. You have the rest of your life to play it safe, take a chance right now. Write that book, release that album, work on your band, give that acting gig a shot, model for the runway, and make it to the big leagues. It’s okay even if what you do turns out to be a mistake, the stakes are lower and every experience matters in shaping who you will be. Do not be afraid of facing the world head on.

9. Go on a solo trip

Plan that solo trip you always wanted, explore a city and immerse yourself into the new culture and lifestyle. Interact with new people, click pictures from the trip, stay in shady hotels and click blurry photographs. Carry your camera around or take a trip without any social media. Take a break stepping into this new life and make the most of it, you deserve to.

10. Fall in love with yourself before you fall for someone else

The past three years have shaped who you are today. Be it the course you did, the societies you were in, the trips you took or the people you interacted with. College plays a big role in shaping you up as a person and believe that you’ve done a brilliant job. Before you go looking for love outside, learn to be comfortable in your own skin and be confident as you are. Give yourself the time and space that you need and love every atom of your being.

 

Feature Image Credits: B97

Muskan Sethi

[email protected]

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