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Paying tribute to ‘Nirbhaya’

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The recent uproar on the case where a 23-year-old girl was raped and thrown out of a bus, took a tragic twist with the demise of the rape victim, popularly known as Nirbhaya. The protests held at Raisina hill and India Gate were charged with anger and adrenaline, but her death brought with it an even stronger will to seek justice for and pay tribute to ‘India’s daughter’. After being transferred to Singapore’s Mount Elizabeth hospital on 27th morning, the nation collectively prayed for a speedy recovery. However, the girl succumbed to her injuries just two days later. Her death ignited a flame within the hearts of Indians across the world, and many movements were held across the country to send a message to the Indian law-makers that the war had only just begun. In New Delhi, Jantar Mantar was the prime spot where peaceful gatherings were organised to show solidarity. As Jantar Mantar has been a symbol of non-violent protests even in the past, it seemed to be the perfect spot for the citizens of the capital to gather and pay tribute to the brave girl who fought against the rapists for her life. “The crowd was very peaceful and calm. More than a sense of revenge, there seemed to be a solemn atmosphere. Despite the fact that there was a group of people yelling ‘Hang the rapists!’ at the top of their lungs, most present realised that the point of meeting at Jantar Mantar was to pay tribute to the girl who was raped as well as all the other women who have suffered due to shameless, savage minds,” said Ankita, a student of Lady Shri Ram College. As students continue to organise street plays and people come together to light candles in memory of the 23 year old medical student, the direction of these protests and marches seem to be aimed at a complete overhaul of the existing safety regulations and policies. This might just be the start of a new revolution, spearheaded by the dynamic and powerful youth of a nation infested with outdated laws and run by ageing leaders well beyond their time.]]>

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DUB Speak

Glory of Rajasthan

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I recently took a trip with my college, Indraprastha College for Women, to Jodhpur and Jaisalmer, two popular tourist destinations in Rajasthan. The trip started with the blue city of Jodhpur and a visit to The Umaid Bhawan Palace. It is one of the world’s largest private residences. The Palace is divided into three functional parts – a luxury Taj Palace Hotel, the residence of the erstwhile royal family and a Museum focusing on the 20th century history of the Jodhpur Royal Family. A section of the palace showcases vintage cars owned by the royal family. The palace is picture perfect and the view stunningly beautiful. One can see the whole city from the palace since it is located at the highest point of the city.

The same evening we visited the Mehrangarh fort. It is one of the largest forts in India, situated 400 feet above the city and is enclosed by ramparts. Inside its boundaries there are several palaces known for their intricate carvings and expansive courtyards. A winding road leads to and from the city below. The imprints of cannonball hits by attacking armies of Jaipur can still be seen on the second gate. The fort is massive and every part of it has a story to tell. The carvings are incredibly intricate. The view from this fort gives a glimpse of the blue rooftops of the old city and explains why Jodhpur is called the blue city. They also have a tiny little café providing you with tasty nick nacks. The Mehrangarh Fort is one place not to miss if visiting Jodhpur. It’s a treat to all history lovers and one of the most interesting forts I’ve ever visited.

The other noteworthy place in Jodhpur is the Clock Tower which is the shopaholics’ treat. Its narrow alleyways sell everything from vegetables to sweets to handicrafts to textiles to silverware to jutis. Kachoris and mirch pakodas sold there are a must when visiting Rajasthan and will delight any foodie!

After spending one and a half day in Jodhpur, we departed for Jaisalmer which is 300kms from Jodhpur. we stayed in the camps close to the dessert in the outskirts of the city. The first thing I noticed upon arrival is the stars, millions and millions of stars at every patch in the sky twinkling away to glory. It’s absolutely breathtaking.

Next morning we went for a camel safari to the dessert. For starters, it is nothing like the joy ride you take on camels. When you sit on a camel for over an hour, your thighs will cry in pain and you won’t be able to able to walk properly for days. So be prepared! However, the experience is every bit worth it. The sight of the dessert is spectacular, acres and acres of sand with nothing else in sight. Your feet will sink into the sand which is hot on top and cold beneath. The feeling is amazing.

The look of the dessert at night is a whole other sight. The night safari is the next best thing to do. They take you in an open jeep to see the dessert. The freezing weather, ice cold sand, bonfire and a blanket of stars, it’s all you need to go speechless. It’s a sight so beautiful that will engrave itself into your brain forever.

Next day we went into the city of Jaisalmer. We visited the Gadisagar Lake. Artistically carved Chattris, Temples, Shrines and Ghats surround the banks of Gadisar Lake. The entrance to the Lake is through a magnificent and artistically carved yellow sandstone archway that is known as the Tilon-Ki-Pol.

The USP of Jaisalmer is its fort. The fort stands proudly amidst the golden stretches of the great Thar Desert, on Trikuta Hill, and has been the testimony of many battles. Its massive yellow sandstone walls are a tawny lion color during the day, fading to honey-gold as the sun sets, thereby camouflaging the fort in the yellow desert. For this reason, it is also known as the “Golden Fort”. This fort, popularly known as the ‘Sonar quila’ by the locals, is located in the very heart the city, and is one of the most breathtaking monuments in the locality. It is the only ‘live fort’ in India. The legend goes that the king was cursed to have people live and work in this fort always. One can shop in this fort as there is a full-fledged market inside it.

Few tips for people visiting Jaisalmer and planning to stay in tents are to carry your own bedding. The weather is way too cold and the bedding provided by the hotel is not enough. The food is not up to the mark. Beware of the camel ride, it won’t be pleasant post ten minutes! Travel light because bags cannot be dragged over sand. There won’t be enough water, its rajasthan! There definitely won’t be enough hot water. In spite of all this, it’s an experience of the life time and one must visit these places at least once.

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Features

Delhi Gang Rape – DU Speaks

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Delhi, now christened as the ‘rape capital’ of the country, witnessed the most horrific rape, even by its own standards, last week. For the public records, this was ‘just another rape’, like the numerous in the past and the numerous to follow. But for the citizens of this city, led by its youth, this was the tipping point. Delhi University students made international headlines when they turned Vijay Chowk into their Tahir Square. Hundreds of students gathered, and egged on by their courage, lakhs of supporters poured into Central Delhi to show their solidarity. DU Beat wants to engage all students of the University to share their opinions, experiences, suggestions etc with the world. For those of us not physically sitting there, let us endeavour to start an online revolution which will jolt the political class into action. Make yourself count towards this movement. Comment here with anything and everything relating to this case in particular as well as the issue at large. Let the world know what the youth of this city thinks. Write in your experiences at Vijay Chowk, your views for the future, past experiences of such incidents, your message for victims and their families, etc. You can also send us photographs clicked by you, illustrations, articles or even poems. Whichever way you wish to express yourself and give a message to everyone.
Link for the portal on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/DU-Beat/185088874900840?sk=app_108629702551895
Please tweet with #DUspeaks 

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Campus Central

JMC's Administrative Block

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The administrative block of JMC is unlike any other found in the university colleges. Located within the corridors of the main JMC building, the administrative block has the look of a well-established private office. As you enter the office you will definitely stop to admire the false ceiling, sophisticated wooden cabinets and the working desks. The room temperature, because of the air conditioning, is so comfortable that it makes you want to stay longer in the office. The administrative clerical in JMC is definitely a pampered lot and remarkably this is not accompanied by any slack in work. The proceedings are carried out in a very organised and systematic manner. Chaos and long queues are a rare sight. Most often, happy faces can be seen coming out of the office doors. Students remain contended as their work gets done quickly and efficiently. A third year student, Shinny exclaimed, “The staff is very friendly and helpful, and I have always had a good experience while getting my work done.” The work environment here in JMC is very conducive and healthy. Nevertheless, some students do feel differently and commented, “We admit that our work gets done proficiently, but the clerks have an immense attitude problem, they rebuke us and always bring us down complaining against our casualness”. However, the atmosphere that is very typical of a college administrative office is to a very significant degree absent here. The head clerk sincerely expressed, “It is our duty to ensure the timely completion of accounts and it gives us great satisfaction to resourcefully assist the students”. She further added on by saying, “Our attitude is very straight forward. We tackle different students according to their varied requirements, and we appreciate the fact that everybody’s time is precious”. It is very evident that JMC’S administration block is a composed place where students and officials voluntarily cooperate and co-exist.]]>

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Campus Central

JMC’s Administrative Block

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The administrative block of JMC is unlike any other found in the university colleges. Located within the corridors of the main JMC building, the administrative block has the look of a well-established private office. As you enter the office you will definitely stop to admire the false ceiling, sophisticated wooden cabinets and the working desks. The room temperature, because of the air conditioning, is so comfortable that it makes you want to stay longer in the office.

The administrative clerical in JMC is definitely a pampered lot and remarkably this is not accompanied by any slack in work. The proceedings are carried out in a very organised and systematic manner. Chaos and long queues are a rare sight. Most often, happy faces can be seen coming out of the office doors. Students remain contended as their work gets done quickly and efficiently. A third year student, Shinny exclaimed, “The staff is very friendly and helpful, and I have always had a good experience while getting my work done.”

The work environment here in JMC is very conducive and healthy. Nevertheless, some students do feel differently and commented, “We admit that our work gets done proficiently, but the clerks have an immense attitude problem, they rebuke us and always bring us down complaining against our casualness”. However, the atmosphere that is very typical of a college administrative office is to a very significant degree absent here. The head clerk sincerely expressed, “It is our duty to ensure the timely completion of accounts and it gives us great satisfaction to resourcefully assist the students”. She further added on by saying, “Our attitude is very straight forward. We tackle different students according to their varied requirements, and we appreciate the fact that everybody’s time is precious”.

It is very evident that JMC’S administration block is a composed place where students and officials voluntarily cooperate and co-exist.

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Campus Central

A Step in the Right Direction-Design Innovation Centre

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Taking the concept of innovation further, the Cluster Innovation Centre (CIC) at Delhi University, will now be setting up a Design Innovation Centre after receiving approval from the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

This decision was taken to foster creativity and innovative education among undergraduate students while also focusing on research. As of now, the centres are only available to students who have taken up courses at the CIC, like B.Tech in innovation with mathematics & IT and B.Tech in Humanities. Officials hope to expand accessibility of the same to other DU colleges in the future.

The Centre will provide under graduate and post graduate diplomas in Design Innovation as well as facilities for planning and implementation of various projects. It will cover areas such as Electronics, Communication, Urban Infrastructure, Transport and Education, while laying emphasis on concept generation, image development, prototype development and so on. The labs that will be set up under this system include Media and Graphics Lab, Rapid Prototype Lab, Software Lab, Modelling and Simulation Lab, amongst others.

In the era of growth and cutting edge technology, this step is definitely in the right direction to help provide students with a conducive and well equipped environment for innovation and creativity.

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Campus Central

VC’s First Durbar Evokes Mixed Response

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Many students and teachers marked their presence outside Gandhi Bhavan in the North Campus on Thursday to put forward their complaints and grievances. Delhi University Vice Chancellor, Dinesh Singh, organised a public meeting in the midst of protests by students and teachers against rejection of 32 applications for special chance and evaluation system.

Grievances of students and teachers were heard by the VC and Singh also promised to resolve attendance-related issues of a batch of students from Dyal Singh College who, after being allowed to write three semester exams, were suddenly detained from writing the fourth due to lack of attendance. He also heard another student who was detained from writing her law exam for lack of attendance due to pregnancy

Later DUSU brought the protest to the door of Gandhi Bhawan. “Vice-Chancellor hai, hai,” said a group of students holding black flags. After about half-an-hour of negotiations between the students and the Proctor, the Students Union’s office-bearers were allowed inside. Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) President Arun Hooda argued why they were not informed about the durbar and why they needed to fight to get inside and participate in durbar.

The Union also questioned the decision of denial of special chance to students which allows them to take exams they earlier could not during the time of their graduation due to any emergency, in reply to which Mr. Sigh said that special chance placed a tremendous amount of pressure on the exam branch. He also added that  such a provision could be allowed again if the students could give him in writing that they will have no objections to the results of those currently studying in DU being delayed because of special chance. Singh’s team explained that the provision was withdrawn to give “relief to exam branch”. To accommodate re-testing of students who took admission years ago the university has to dig up years-old syllabus, set question papers and then find people to evaluate them accordingly.

Anger burst out after Academic Council’s standing committee rejected all 25 cases of “special chances” which the Delhi High Court earlier this week had recommended to the panel to be “reconsidered”. The Vice Chancellor later assured that the 25 cases were rejected in their present form as the documents were insufficient and will be reconsidered later.

VC called this meeting a bit of success and said that “this is not a one-off public discussion, but will be happening every Thursday whenever I am in the city.” He further added that everybody was welcome and no prior appointment was needed.

However Saikat Ghosh, a DUTA member said, “Having a cup of tea with us will not make everything alright, we will soften our stand only if he is genuinely interested in sensitively addressing our concerns”.

Image source: The Hindu

Sakshi Gupta
[email protected]

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Campus Central

VC's First Durbar Evokes Mixed Response

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Many students and teachers marked their presence outside Gandhi Bhavan in the North Campus on Thursday to put forward their complaints and grievances. Delhi University Vice Chancellor, Dinesh Singh, organised a public meeting in the midst of protests by students and teachers against rejection of 32 applications for special chance and evaluation system. Grievances of students and teachers were heard by the VC and Singh also promised to resolve attendance-related issues of a batch of students from Dyal Singh College who, after being allowed to write three semester exams, were suddenly detained from writing the fourth due to lack of attendance. He also heard another student who was detained from writing her law exam for lack of attendance due to pregnancy Later DUSU brought the protest to the door of Gandhi Bhawan. “Vice-Chancellor hai, hai,” said a group of students holding black flags. After about half-an-hour of negotiations between the students and the Proctor, the Students Union’s office-bearers were allowed inside. Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) President Arun Hooda argued why they were not informed about the durbar and why they needed to fight to get inside and participate in durbar. The Union also questioned the decision of denial of special chance to students which allows them to take exams they earlier could not during the time of their graduation due to any emergency, in reply to which Mr. Sigh said that special chance placed a tremendous amount of pressure on the exam branch. He also added that  such a provision could be allowed again if the students could give him in writing that they will have no objections to the results of those currently studying in DU being delayed because of special chance. Singh’s team explained that the provision was withdrawn to give “relief to exam branch”. To accommodate re-testing of students who took admission years ago the university has to dig up years-old syllabus, set question papers and then find people to evaluate them accordingly. Anger burst out after Academic Council’s standing committee rejected all 25 cases of “special chances” which the Delhi High Court earlier this week had recommended to the panel to be “reconsidered”. The Vice Chancellor later assured that the 25 cases were rejected in their present form as the documents were insufficient and will be reconsidered later. VC called this meeting a bit of success and said that “this is not a one-off public discussion, but will be happening every Thursday whenever I am in the city.” He further added that everybody was welcome and no prior appointment was needed. However Saikat Ghosh, a DUTA member said, “Having a cup of tea with us will not make everything alright, we will soften our stand only if he is genuinely interested in sensitively addressing our concerns”. Image source: The Hindu Sakshi Gupta [email protected]]]>

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Campus Central

The Central Placement Cell – DU

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The Central placement cell has been one of Delhi universities most successful initiatives. It has been started to bridge the gap between the bright, energetic and aspiring young talent of the University of Delhi and the Industry for meeting their personnel requirement. It is surely a great platform for students of those colleges which don’t have their own placement cell. ”CPC not only helped me to get recruited in a world class bank like Citi bank but also helped me in boosting my confidence and further developing my personality”, exclaims Paras Khanna ,an alumnus of Deshbandhu college.

The main endeavour of CPC is to get students placed in reputed Multinationals, government jobs, NGO’s and the private sector and enable them to reach the top echelons of the society. All registered students with CPC are also entitled to placement assistance, counselling for employment and even self-employment. This year the CPC went online and enabled both students and companies to register online itself. The registration started on29th September and ended on 2nd November.

The placement process mainly comprises of three major steps, the first being the pre placement process where placement presentations and slot allocations would take place, the next major step would be of placements where students would have to go through written tests, group discussions and personal interviews  and this would finally be followed by the job offers and monitoring.

The CPC website also contains the important guidelines and do’s and don’ts for students who are willing to sit for placements. CPC also held workshops to groom the students, brush up their communication and analytical skills.

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Campus Central

Decision to Include Personal Details in Exam Sheets Revoked

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Delhi University has decided to revoke its decision regarding the issue of students being asked to write their personal details on answer sheets. The decision to include this information had come under fire from both students and teachers. It was finally cancelled following protests by the student community and the threat of an agitation by DUSU.

Authorities admitted that a committee of college principals and officials met on the 29th of October to discuss the issue. Following negative reactions of students, it was agreed to go back to the earlier system wherein only an identification code would be visible on the answer booklet.

Teachers also cheered the annulment, feeling that with the earlier decision, there was scope for discrimination. Said Dr. Rekha Dayal, associate professor, Jesus and Mary College, “I’m very happy that the earlier decision’s been revoked. It would have definitely caused unwanted subjectivity otherwise. “

With this semester, DU has also decided on other reforms with respect to exams. This time, instead of one, three teachers would be evaluating different parts of one single answer sheet. DU feels this would lessen the burden of administrative department as there would be less scope for mistakes. In the earlier system, one teacher checked the answer sheet and two others rechecked it. Due to this reform, rechecking will also be scrapped as authorities feel there would be no mistakes.

With these reforms, DU seeks to redeem itself and at least seem more efficient.

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