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High Court Directs DU to Extend Admissions Deadlines to 22 June

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Considering difficulties that the applicants might face, Delhi High Court has ordered DU administration to continue with previous year’s admission criteria. The decision comes along with the extension of registration dates.

The last day for registration which was ought to be June 14 has been extended to June 22 by Delhi High Court. The HC order which reprimanded the varsity of its abrupt decision of changing admission criteria has also asked the university to revoke it. The decision was met with criticism by teachers and students alike, as reported by DU Beat earlier. The recent changes involved inclusion of maths in the best of four subjects for admission in B.Com (Hons.) and BA(Hons.) Economics.
While hearing three petitions against Delhi University the bench made it clear that changes in eligibility criteria have to made in accordance with law, which would require a minimum of six months of public notice to the public at large. It also debarred the university from making changes to the eligibility criteria in the forth coming year to its UG courses.
Lawyers representing the varsity told the judges that DU changes its eligibility criteria every year and the Bulletin of Information (BIS) was meant for this specific year and therefore it didn’t qualify as a statutory rule. Lawyers also argued that no student will be deprived of admission due to changes in rules and if anyone is affected then they can approach the grievances committee.
“The High Court order to quash Delhi University’s new admission guidelines is good because the timing of DU’s decisions can be questioned as it can disrupt how people plan their admission. It’s not about questioning the quality of this decision but the timing could have been better.” says Ayaan Kartik, a Journalism undergrad at Delhi University.

On the issue of extension of dates, Kartik Pande, an aspirant says “I believe that this has two sides to it. The positive thing is that the people who accidentally missed the registrations or did some mistake can re register, while the negative thing is that the competition will increase for students. I don’t think I’m inclined towards any side as the decision is alright according to me so yeah that was it.”
Admission to various UG courses that commenced on May 30 has witnessed an entry of 3.31 Lakh applicants. The HC decision might extend the date of first cut off which has not been announced yet. As speculations suggest, the first list might release somewhere around the end of June.

Image Credit- Dainik Jagran

Priyanshu
[email protected]

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Admissions

Protesters Burn Effigy of DU VC

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The effigy burning, along with a rally, organised on 14 June, came as a follow-up to the protests of 11 June.

On the morning of 14 June, student organisations gathered at the Gate No. 4 of the Arts Faculty building to protest against “fee hike and faulty admission process in Delhi University.”

Over ten student organisations – among them, All India Students’ Association (AISA), Bhagat Singh Chhatra Ekta Manch (BSCEM), Collective, Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS), Parivartankami Chhatra Sangathan (Pachhas), Pinjra Tod, Students’ Federation of India (SFI) – organised a protest rally and burnt the effigy of the University Vice-Chancellor to raise their demands.

The rally began from the Arts Faculty building and went around the North Campus of the University. The proceedings ended with a public meeting and the effigy burning. This came as a follow-up to an earlier protest by these organisations, raising the same issues, on 11 June.

The protesting students demanded the following:

1. Decreasing the registration fee for Other Backward Classes (OBC) to Rs. 300 and apologizing for the “inconvenience caused.”
2. Decreasing the fee for unreserved category students from Rs. 750 to Rs. 500.
3. Refunding the “extra fee” collected from students.
4. “Immediately resolving” the technical problems in the online registration form.
5. Giving two days to applicants to make corrections in their form after filling it up.
6. Setting the entrance exam question paper in Hindi as well.
7. Providing “proper facilities” should be at the exam centres.
8. Revoking the fee hike in Ramjas College & Bharati College.
9. An “unconditional apology” from the Dean of Students’ Welfare (DSW) for giving “false information” regarding the eligibility criteria for OBC and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) reservation.

The University had set the registration fee for undergraduate admissions at Rs. 250 and Rs. 100 for OBC and EWS students respectively. The ‘additional registration fee for each entrance-based course’ for the former was Rs. 750 and Rs. 300 for the latter. The same distinction of Rs. 750 and Rs. 300 also applies to the application fee for the postgraduate, MPhil and PhD courses. Even though one of the demands of the protesters was refunding the “extra fee collected from students”, the admission guidelines of the University mention that the registration and entrance exam fees are non-refundable.

The first eight demands had been raised in the previous protests as well. A memorandum had been submitted to the Dean by the protesting organisations, which detailed their position. The protesting students had argued that since the income cut-off limit for both the ‘non-creamy layer’ OBC category and the EWS category was similar; and that the former had been given reservation on three bases – social, economic and educational backwardness – while the EWS was given reservation only owing to their economic backwardness, the fees charged from OBC students should not be higher than that of the EWS ones.

According to some protesters who had met the Dean on 11 June, they were allegedly given wrong information by him about the reservation criteria of the OBC and the EWS categories. Upon discovering the alleged falsehood of the information, the protesters had begun a dharna outside the Dean’s office. Hence, the protesting parties this time demanded an “unconditional apology” from the Dean for the alleged false information as well.

According to Amarjeet Kumar Singh, the DU Law Faculty In-charge of AISA, “The Dean refused to meet today and we were informed that he will response (respond) only on Monday.”

A statement issued by SFI alleged, “Before the rally could even start, the police started manhandling SFI activists and detained several protestors. Seeing pressure mounting from the student community, the police was forced to immediately release the detainees.”

Sumit Kataria, Vice President of SFI Delhi, told DU Beat that he and Ravi Shankar, also an SFI member, were “manhandled” by the police, but didn’t suffer any bruises.

Pachhas also issued a statement which read, “Protest ke dauran police ne apna tanashahi roop dikhate hue Pachhas ke sathi Deepak aur BSCEM ke sathi Ujwal ko maarpeet karte hue giraftar kar liya. Baad mein chhatron ke dabav ke baad unhein chhod diya gaya” – during the protest the police showed their dictatorial nature and arrested Deepak of Pachhas and Ujwal of BSCEM. Later, the police released them due to the pressure of students.

Speaking to DU Beat, Deepak Gupta said that he and Ujjwal were arrested by the police and taken to the Maurice Nagar Police Station. There they were allegedly detained for around half an hour. As the rally approached the police station, the police were brought under pressure to release both of them. He also alleged that he had suffered bruises from the encounter with the police.

We also spoke to Ujwal of BSCEM, the other person who was detained by the police. “SI (sub-inspector) Rohit of Maurice Nagar police station started tussle with a comrade named Deepak who is from PACHAAS (Pachhas). SI was trying to bully him by saying that you don’t have the permission to meet the DSW. I intervened in the conversation and said that we are students of the university and we don’t need police permission to meet the administration officials. I also asked him to show me the notice/permission by the university administration that lead (led) to the entry of police in campus. At this he got ignited and pushed me in the van. He asked another policeman to arrest us. I and Deepak were pushed into the van, we were beaten up by the policeman. Deepak’s slipper also got torn. In a van we were carried to Maurice Nagar police station, the police illegally detained us and ensured that we (do) not join the march. (Afterwards) when the protesting students started approaching the gates of (the) police station they released us,” he said.

The protests are expected to continue in some or the other form if the protesters don’t receive a satisfactory response from the Dean by Monday.

Image credits- Sumit Kataria from SFI

Prateek Pankaj
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Campus Central

Adityanath Agrees to Fund New DU Hostel

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University of Delhi is set to get a new hostel, as a proposal by the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) President Shakti Singh is approved by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to allocate funds of INR 48 crore.

According to a press release by the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister (CM) of Uttar Pradesh is set to provide INR 48 crore for a new University of Delhi’s (DU) Hostel.

A proposal by Shakti Singh dated the 10th of June was approved by CM Yogi Adityanath the same day. The proposal addresses the difficulties faced by DU students while looking for student accommodation. The proposal also highlights that only 1-2% of students from Uttar Pradesh get hostel accommodation.

The new hostel requires approximately 3 acres of land to be built. The hostel is said to have 500 seats, and sports facilities over INR 3 crore. The total cost, including overhead charges amounts to INR 48 crore. The hostel is set to be constructed on the Uttar Pradesh government’s land in Delhi.

DUSU President Shakti Singh said on Twitter, “A big thank you to CM Yogi Adityanath Ji. I am highly thankful to you for the assurance of sanction of (INR) 48 Crore for the budget to build hostels for students of Uttar Pradesh in Delhi-NCR. It would be one major step towards accommodation.”

The promise of a new hostel brings relief to students even though the dates of construction and its unveiling remain unclear.  Finding cheap accommodation on campus, or in Delhi is not easy for the regular DU student. With rising costs of commercial accomodations (Paying Guests), and limited number of seats in the hostel, students are left with no choice but to opt for private accommodation which usually burns a hole in their pocket. In some cases, students are also subjected to harassment by brokers and landlords.

The move sounds promising, as currently, the University hostels lack various facilities, and the number of seats remains low. The University also has a history of protests related to the hostels, with the recent ones being the Hindu College hostel and the Daulat Ram College hostel rows. This move also leaves one wondering if the implementation of the new hostel would mean a revision in the current hostel rules and guidelines.

Feature Image Credits: Shakti Singh on Twitter

Jaishree Kumar

[email protected]

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Admissions

Course Profile: Cluster Innovation Centre

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The Cluster Innovation Centre (CIC) is an institution of University of Delhi, established in 2011. Based on interdisciplinary learning, it has been designed to seek and derive answers to the real world problems in all spheres, and look for innovative solutions for problems of the society.

It is a Meta College as well as a Meta University concept with an innovative curriculum, which is more project-oriented and tailored to the need of the society and industry.

Located in the quaint premises of Rugby Sevens Building, University Stadium in North Campus, it is a promising course for students who wish to seek the connect of research with its practical application.

COURSES OFFERED AT CLUSTER INNOVATION CENTRE:

Currently there are three courses offered at CIC-

  1. B.A. (Honours) Humanities and Social Sciences
  2. B. Tech (IT and Mathematical Innovations)
  3. M.Sc. (Mathematics Education)

SEAT MATRIX FOR B.A. AND B. TECH COURSE:

In 2019 – 20 there will be 44 seats each in both the courses. They are distributed as:

General Category – 20 seats

EWS – 2 seats

OBC Category – 12 seats

SC Category – 7 seats

ST Category – 3 seats

Apart from these there are 6 supernumerary seats distributed as:

PwD Category – 2 seats

CW Category – 2 seats

Foreign Nationals – 2 seats

 

  • B.A.(Honours) Humanities and Social Sciences

This is an off-beat course compared to other regular honours programmes offered by University of Delhi.  It is based on interdisciplinary learning, which presents an opportunity to the student to design his/her own degree.

This course is divided into four streams:

  1. Journalism
  2. Counselling
  3. Historical Tourism
  4. Art & Design

Based on these four streams a student can study a variety of subjects offered in different colleges of University of Delhi in semesters two to five, and study some basic courses at the centre itself in semester one and six. Apart from the core papers, the distinctive aspect of the curriculum is the hands-on research project, which gives the students a grass-root level experience of the functionality of the society.

One can schematically study Political Science at Hindu College in one semester and Economics at SRCC in another! The interdisciplinary nature of the course gives a holistic view in the field of humanities and social sciences.

Commenting on the course, Rishabh Gogoi, a third year student of CIC says, “It’s unlike any other course in the country, and a much needed alternative in an otherwise restrictive education system. We all know the efforts of the University of Delhi to enhance the flexibility of its course structure through the Credit Based Credit System (CBCS). The course at CIC takes the same concept several steps ahead to present its scholars an absolute freedom to design their own degree. Although there are a number of nuances associated with the aforementioned “freedom”, but regardless, the B.A. course at CIC is undoubtedly the best decision any indecisive student can make who wants to study humanities and/or social sciences.”

Niharika Dabral, an outgoing student of CIC reminisces her experience at CIC as, “I would never change my experience at CIC for anything. It’s a college experience like none other. Since I’ve survived the project presentations I think I can survive anything. It has been intense.

There are so many things that have to improve, but that University stadium is comfort. Four colleges in six semesters is bound to make one like a nomad, but today I’m more independent than ever.”

However, a person may feel detached and have a certain sense of instability due to changing colleges in each semester, from semester two to five. It may not be the best fit option for students not willing to feel so.  But this rigorous course would surely develop leadership qualities and improve one’s perspective towards humanities and social sciences.

  • B. Tech (IT & Mathematical Innovations)

Cluster Innovation Centre offers a four-year B.Tech. programme in Information Technology & Mathematical Innovation.

According to the official website of CIC, “The B. Tech course offered is a unique programme, is designed to inculcate an innovation mind-set as part of the curriculum and pedagogy. Building strong analytical skills through Mathematics and application skills of Information Technology (IT), this course encourages students to recognize the connectedness of various disciplines.”

The streams offered in the B. Tech programme are-

  1. Robotics and Embedded Systems
  2. Economics and Management
  3. System Biology

The innovation lab known as the “Engineering Kitchen” is the place where students carry out hands-on projects, experiments and model implementations which are linked to the curriculum.

Yatharth Rai, a third year student from B. Tech. says, “The curriculum, although hectic, is quite flexible. The three minor streams grant a clarity. There is a focus on practical applications, rather than theoretical expertise. Each paper in the semester has an accompanying project. I personally find these projects extremely beneficial as they provide an outlet to the theoretical concepts learnt during the semester paper.”

The B.Tech course offered is comprehensive with a special emphasis given on practical learning. In last semester of the course i.e. 8th semester, the programme is based on industrial internship to give students the necessary work experience.

Unlike other B. Tech courses, a student of Arts or Commerce having Mathematics and English can apply in the B.Tech (IT and Mathematical Innovations) course on the condition that he/she fulfils the eligibility criteria as laid down by the Cluster Innovation Centre.

  • M.Sc. (Mathematics Education)

It is a meta-university concept, which offers a two year post graduate programme jointly offered by University of Delhi and Jamia Milia Islamia. The course is developed to give students theoretical as well as hands-on experience of mathematics education.

There are total 20 seats in the programme distributed as:

University of Delhi: 10

Jamia Millia Islamia: 10

Seat Matrix:

 

IMG-20190612-WA0046

  

Source: www.ducic.ac.in

All the three courses offered at Cluster Innovation Centre are uniquely designed and promote hands-on learning in addition to building theoretical concepts. Therefore, these courses offer a different experience of academics altogether.

Selection to these courses is based on an entrance test which is to be conducted by National Testing Agency (NTA) this year.

The entrances for the Undergraduate and Postgraduate programmes are to be conducted between 30th June, 2019 – 6th July, 2019.

Feature Image Credits: www.ducic.ac.in

Sriya Rane

[email protected]

 

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Admissions 2019

Increase in Number of Seats Under Sports Quota

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University of Delhi (DU) took the decision to increase the number of seats under the sports quota without exceeding the 5 percent limit in the intake. This was only applicable to extra curricular activities (ECA) quota till last year, and now has been extended to the sports quota as well.

In a meeting held last week, the varsity decided to increase the number of seats, in case there was an increase in demand of said quota at the department level.

This gives colleges complete freedom to decide the increase in the number of seats for either sports quota or ECA category. They can allot particular number of seats according to the demands and needs of the college.

An official was quoted by The Asian Age as, “Usually, it is seen that the students in the sports and ECA categories opt for humanities and social sciences programmes, rather than science, since they feel they may not be able to cope with the pressure in the latter. So, in case there are no admissions under the sports and ECA categories in the science department, the vacant seats can be transferred to another department where there is greater demand, but without breaching the total number at the college level.”

In the situation where the seats allotted under the categories in the departments are vacant, then the college can shift these vacant seats to other departments, where the demand is more. Hence ensuring that the students fill all the vacant seats, and the demand for a particular course is also met. This step also ensures that the five percent cap of intake is not breached by the colleges.

According to a circular issued by the authorities, “However, in case of greater demand in a particular course, up to a maximum of double the number of seats sanctioned under the ECA and sports categories in the said course may be admitted by a college, subject to the overall ceiling of five percent.”

Rasal Singh, member of the DU Academic Council, assured that this move would pave way for only the deserving students to get admission in the university.

Lavanya Ratauri, a football sports quota student said, “This move allows more flexibility for authorities to allot the number of seats but also at the same time it should consider the demands of the student. I hope this move gives students more liberty to take only that course which they want.”

Feature Image Credits: Akarsh Mathur for DU Beat

Antriksha Pathania
[email protected]

 

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Admissions

An Extensive Guide to Admissions: St. Stephen’s College

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Presenting a detailed guide to applying to one of the most premier institutes in the country, St. Stephen’s College. 

University of Delhi (DU) admissions have begun and it is important for all DU aspirants to be able to understand the admission procedures. The admissions to all colleges in the university follow a similar pattern. However, this pattern differs in the case of semi-autonomous colleges . One of these colleges includes St. Stephen’s College. This Christian minority college has a slightly different form of admission for taking in students.

Applying to St. Stephen’s College is a double-layered process. The applicant must start by applying to the university, that is, going through the standard procedure of filling the university application. Once that has been completed, the applicant must then apply on St. Stephen’s admission’s portal. This portal can only be accessed with the applicant’s DU form number. After accessing the admission portal, the applicant must register at the portal using their DU form number. This is followed by a verification email sent by the college. Once verified, the applicant can proceed to the next stage. The application procedure is very simple and comprehensive. The admission form has various sections that need to be filled or completed in order to move to the next aspect of the form.

Given below are the various steps for the same:

  1. After the verification is done, the first page begins with the form requesting various kinds of personal informations like the name of the applicant, the father’s name, the mother’s name, their occupations etc. After filling all such details correctly we move on to the next page.
  2. The second page deals with various documents that are to be submitted by the applicant with respect to various kinds of reservations that the college has allotted for non-Christian applicants. These are divided into various categories that include SCs, STs, and OBCs. In case of Christian students, documents that declare their churches and denominations are to be submitted. All Christian students are to submit scanned copies of their baptism certificates along with a declaration from their parish Priest stating the authenticity of the Christian upbringing of the applicant. The applicant can also select multiple categories, if it applies to him or her.
  3. The third page deals with course selection. This page provides details for the various courses that the institution provides, and the subjects that need to be added for the same. After the applicant selects the subject or subjects he or she wishes to apply to, the applicant can proceed to the next page.
  4. The fourth page deals with various aspects of the applicant’s education qualifications. This space is meant for the applicants to put in details like the address of their school, the form of syllabus or the board that they followed, their school etc. The scanned copies of tenth and twelfth class mark sheets are to be uploaded here. Followed by whether their result has been declared or not. If the applicant chooses “Yes”, then four columns appear for the subjects. The applicant can also add more subjects. Based on the subject chosen, the site automatically calculates the best of four. For example: If the student chooses chemistry, then chemistry would be automatically added in the best of four.
  5. The fifth page deals with three questions. This page is a very important step in filling the form. It can also be said to be the most important because it deals with the applicant answering questions posed by the college. The answers play an important role in further selections. The first question deals with the goals, aspirations, and various interests of the applicant.
  6. This question is followed by the statement of purpose (SOP). This basically asks the applicant to state the reasons for choosing the subject they have applied for. The applicant must answer this question carefully. The last question is “Why St. Stephen’s College?”

These three questions are to be written within a word limit of 100 to 300 words.

Applications are filtered from here, based on the answers written by the applicants. Thus, it is important to write carefully with valid reasons for your arguments.

Once the SOPs have been filled, the payment has to be made for the form. The applicant has to pay 200 INR per course. If the applicant wants to apply for the residence facility, then another 350 rupees is to be paid. The residence facility is the hostel facility that the college provides for its students, who do not belong to Delhi or the NCR regions.

This is the basic format that is followed by the college for its admission process. Do not be worried about the SOPs ( Please take a copy of your SOPs as they might be needed for the interview that would follow).

A thorough background of your course and the college would be good pointers for a great SOP. DU Beat wishes good luck to all applicants applying to St. Stephen’s. May the odds be in your favour!

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Archives

Stephen Mathew

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Admissions

Things to Keep in Mind Before Taking Admission in DU

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Dear Aspiring Students,

Here is a list of things I feel you should keep in mind before taking admission into the University of Delhi (DU).

  • ADMISSION PROCESS

The admission process for DU seems tiring, laborious, and everlasting. Trust me, it is. After carefully filling in the forms, wait and have the patience for the cut-offs to come out. Keep in mind your favorable course and calculate the Best of Four (BoF) percentage accordingly. Keep all your documents ready and extra photocopies as well. Upload all essential documents on your Email ID’s and Google Drive for it to be easily accessible in case you forget something. Keep extra passport size photos and Aadhar-card copies of your parents and yourself. Read the UG Bulletin of information available on the website and check if you are applicable for any of the quotas. Keep dates in check (I had marked my calendars), stay in touch with your friends and peers, help each other and support each other.

(Read the DU UG Bulletin 2019-20 here: Click) 

  • EXPLORE

Going for admission procedure to colleges once the cut-offs come out takes time. It might take you a whole day, in the Dilli ki Garmi to get your admission done, and you might have to do this more than once, after subsequent cut-offs come out and you upgrade to different courses and colleges (I did it thrice). You might get tired, but don’t sit in one corner waiting, scared and anxious. The college you go and visit will most probably end up being your home for the next three years. So, explore the canteens, the gardens, the classrooms, the staircases, the markets nearby, the metro stations and bus stands. Familiarise yourself with the environment. It helps in the long run. Take a good company with you, take friends and family, take loads of food and make a picnic out of your admission visit. Make it as fun as you can, as it will be your first experience of being inside the college you will call your own for the next three years.

  • COURSE VS COLLEGE

Many of us don’t score high enough to get our favourite courses and colleges. So, once the cut-off comes out, it becomes a hysterical decision, to chose which course to pursue, and from which college. It will end up in a series of heated discussions between you, your family members, and your well-wishers, and constant visits to websites like collegedunia to read about the ‘scope’ of different courses. Your father will suggest one course, your mother will suggest another college, while you will be at the center of this dilemma, choosing your career just after finishing off with boards (I felt like taking a year-long vacation to decide my college). But in the midst of all this, keep in mind that while making this choice, you might end up losing your preferred course or college or even both, but in the end it won’t matter because once in college, you can helm the journey of your college years to follow the awaited dream you had. You can take your preferred course as an elective and earn a minor degree and participate in different colleges all over the DU circuit to make friends in your favourite college. Although, this decision should be taken with the utmost care, but in the end, you will never regret giving up on one particular thing, because the college life will reward you with so many others that you will be filled up to the brim with happiness and satisfaction.

  • LIFE AT DU

The life at the University is not what you might be envisioning right now, it is not all fun and games, but it is so much more. It is exposure and experience, new friends and families, perspectives and politics, fests and euphoria, academics and attendance, and crowds and metro. It is the flavour of chai that burns at your tongue, and sleepless nights you pull off to finish that one academic paper. It is commuting in an empty metro early in the morning to reach your college on time for an extra class, for it to get cancelled. It is crying, curled up in your bed missing your families, small events and birthday celebrations back home. It is managing the month end with minimal finances asking for udhaar because you are broke. It is also listening to your favourite songs non-stop in the long metro rides, reading your favourite authors or academic papers, it is also celebrating the small festivals you miss back home with your newfound family at college, it is also the breath of relief when you see your parents face to face on a skype call and it is also filling your tummy up with freshly-made Maggi on days you don’t like the PG food. It is a rollercoaster of freshness and it is going to be a beautiful journey!

All the best, students! Make a good choice without any regrets, and enjoy this time to the fullest, you will surely miss it once it is over.

Regards,

Sakshi Arora

 

Feature Image Credits: Saubhagya Saxena for DU Beat

 

Sakshi Arora

s[email protected]

 

 

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Features

Autobiography of a DU plastic straw

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Hey there! How are you? I am plastic. Not plastic like your college friends; I’m the real deal. My breed is straw, and my colour is white, but out here in the plastic world, we don’t judge each other in terms of colour or breed. Who does anyway?

I was last used at PAM, this eating joint at Hindu College. PAM stands for Pizzas and More, but the funny thing is there are no pizzas here. I feel like I should petition to change PAM’s full form to ‘Plastics and More’!

So, I was a fresh new kid ready to be dipped in a nice cup of not-so-nice cold coffee. But then members of this college society told the owner, a grumpy white-haired uncle, that he should stop using plastic straws in his shop. They called me and my plastic family murderers and said that he should play his part in saving the environment by banning us. To this, PAM uncle did what he’s best at: he told the students to bugger off.

I felt offended that those students called me a killer but as I realised later, that’s the sad truth. I could have said this is my autobiography but this is more like a confessional. You see no one is a natural born killer. Killers are made, rather than born. I too was made a killer by my creators, human beings.

You see I look good when you are French kissing the life out of me, sipping on your drink. But then, you dispose me off. And when I am disposed, I wish for a nice, calm death. The purpose of my life has been served. However, it seems that I’m borderline immortal. The problem with being immortal is that you can get extremely…bored.

Now I lay in this pile of garbage to rot but I won’t even rot; the organic things have it easy, I tell you. No one would pick me up and reuse me. And just to add to my concerns, I have unintentionally started destroying and killing things.

This bird was scrounging for some food in the garbage and the dumbo swallowed me down too. The feel inside his body was gross but what felt grosser was when it vomited me out. The poor creature couldn’t ingest me. I told you right, I just can’t die!

The bird kept on choking for some time and to my horror, it just stopped breathing in a few minutes. That was when I became a killer. I imagine how so many members of my family might have become such unintentional murderers. Those ‘woke’ students were right.

I have blown with the wind now to some littered road in Delhi (there are many in the city), waiting for my death. But instead, all I do is just stay in my non-biodegradable state killing Mother Nature slowly (I heard this science kid talk about me like that once; he also said that some of the straws kill marine creatures).

I wish that in the next life, I’m not reborn as a plastic straw. Maybe in the future, humans stop using plastic straws altogether so we’ll never be created and we’ll never be killers. Maybe…

 

Shaurya Singh Thapa

[email protected]

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DUB News

The EWS effect

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The EWS bill was welcomed both in parliament and by the public but without equipping institutions to deal with such a change, it may turn out to be more of a burden than a blessing.

 

The buzzword this admissions season is the freshly passed 124th Constitutional Amendment bill (10% Quota Bill) which is set to be implemented for the first time in the academic year 2019-20. This bill provides for 25% of the total available seats to be reserved for candidates belonging to the economically weaker sections of society as defined by the bill. To lessen the burden of this significant change in numbers, University of Delhi is carrying it out in two phases. This session we will see a reservation of 10% of the seats for the EWS category and the other 15% will be implemented in the next academic session.

This bill has been designed in such a way that it does not carve these seats out of the available seats for the general candidates. The intake of general candidates will still remain the same so to accommodate the bill, the total intake of universities increase. For the university of Delhi, this means that the total increase in seats would be 16,000 but for the academic year 2019-20, we will see an increase in by 6400 seats.

In 2007, a similar legislation was passed creating the 27% reservation for students belonging to other backward categories (OBC). To accommodate this change, additional funds and new teaching positions were sanctioned. However, according to Professor Abha Habib of Miranda House, “The OBC expansion remains incomplete even after a decade as the promised expansion of teaching and non-teaching staff has remained incomplete. DU colleges are largely working with only half the additional posts promised under OBC expansion.”

In light of the above statement, it is evident that the pressures of the change is still being endured by the faculties of various colleges. Instead of completing the 2007 expansion, the faculty will now be additionally burdened as the current government has provided no guarantee that it will help universities by increasing funds or sanctioning additional teaching positions. Ms. Habib also went on to explain that under these circumstances, the decision to pass the EWS bill was rushed as the support required has not been provided.

To accommodate this change, the colleges will require a change in infrastructure to increase classroom sizes, residential facilities and create additional laboratories. Mr. Hansraj Suman, a former member of the University’s academic council mentioned while speaking to the Hindustan Times that 800 to 1000 more teachers will be required to meet the increase in number of students. In this scenario, with no funds being provided, colleges are left in a position to deal with the these problems themselves. This could lead to the creation and division of students into sections as classrooms are designed to accommodate only a fixed number of students. As a consequence of this, college hours would be extended and students could possibly face an increase in gaps between lectures which has been a problem expressed multiple times over the years.

Conversely, the creation of new sections would amplify the pre-existing shortage of teaching staff. However, if colleges choose not to make any such changes, it would result in skewed teacher student ratios and overcrowded classrooms and laboratories.

 

Featured Image Credits- Hindustan Times

 

Pragati Thapa

[email protected]

 

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Campus Central

Looking at Changes in Admission Procedure Introduced by DU

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For this academic session, the University of Delhi has decided to bring in a number of changes in its admission procedure.

The University of Delhi has introduced a number of changes in various aspects of the admission procedure, which begun on 30 May for various undergraduate courses, for the academic session 2019-20.

Seats and separate cut-offs for EWS

Following the Central government’s decision to reserve 10 percent seats in educational institutions and government jobs for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) across caste and religious backgrounds, which came earlier this year, the varsity has decided to reserve 10 percent seats for the EWS category, taking the total tally to 62,000 seats.

The EWS category will also have a separate cut-off list, The Indian Express reported.

12 sports removed from sports quota list, added to ECA

PTI reported that twelve sporting activities have been removed from the sports quota list. These include yoga, archery (Indian round), ball badminton, baseball (women), softball (men), korfball (men), 4×100 m relay race, cross-country running, cycling, fencing, powerlifting and best physique.

On the other hand, “27 sports under the sports quota that are part of Olympics, World Championship, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, Asian Championship and Paralympics have been included.”

Yoga has been added to Extra Curricular Activities (ECA) list instead.

Expansion in list of academic subjects

DU Beat had previously reported about the University’s decision to include all 22 Modern Indian Languages (MIL) – as mentioned in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution – in it’s list of ‘academic subjects’. Along with Hindi, these include Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.

Moreover, some subjects offered by state boards, which were previously considered ‘vocational subjects’ have now been added to the academic list, Hindustan Times reported. Among these subjects are Biochemistry from the Jammu and Kashmir board, Civics from the Uttar Pradesh board and Statistics from the Maharashtra board. The list previously contained only subjects taught in class 12 in schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

Earlier, the inclusion of such subjects and some of these languages in the ‘best of four’ score would have resulted in a 2.5 percent deduction from the aggregate score of an applicant. Now, that provision has been removed.

Apart from this, in its ‘Bulletin of Information’, the University has mentioned that if the title of a subject studied by a student does not match with what has been specified in the varsity’s list of subjects, the applicant is required to provide a “content equivalence certificate from the Principal/Head of the Institution last attended, certifying that the paper’s content is equivalent to NCERT Class XII syllabus for that paper. This equivalence certificate must be accompanied by a copy of the syllabus of the paper attested by the Principal/Head of the Institution.” However, the University’s “decision on the matter will be final and binding”, it read.

Scholarships for students whose parents are deceased or unemployed

A press release made by the University on 29 May read, “The University of Delhi is considering to provide full scholarships to the students whose both parents are deceased/unemployed and half fee waiver to those students whose earning member is deceased in order to cover their college/University fee.”

Higher cancellation fee

The varsity has decided to increase the fee for cancelling a secured admission from ?500 to ?1,000 to “ensure students weigh their options and seek admissions” and “to discourage multiple cancellations”, The Indian Express reported. Only one cancellation per cut-off would be allowed.

Software changes

An online calculator would be available for students to fill their marks, which is being claimed to be mobile-friendly and workable on a 2G network as well.

At an additional price of ?100, students would be able to edit their forms after filling them during the registration process.

The University dashboard will also show the number of seats available and the number of seats taken for a course to which a student is applying so that students “do not end up applying to a college where seats have already been filled”, a report by PTI read.

The University has also tied up with the CBSE to access its database of results from 2014 to 2019, The Indian Express reported.
Image credits – Aakarsh Gupta for DU Beat

Prateek Pankaj
[email protected]

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