th October, 2016.The last year’s Proctor, Komal Priya, of Geography Honours; was declared the President of the Students’ Union for this year. Unlike last year, none of the posts went uncontested; where the post of the President witnessed four contenders, Vice-President and General Secretary saw three and two contenders respectively.
Ritu Yadav of B.Com (Pass), the Vice-President, has also formerly served in the union as a Proctor in her first year. There was a huge margin of victory for the President, Komal. Prasansha, a second year student, was tagged with the post of the General Secretary; who defeated her opponent by 300 votes. Vandaya from 1st year is the new Treasurer for Kamala Nehru College, who grabbed the maximum margin of victory of 400 votes. The Proctor Team for first, second and third years is headed by Monika, Aayushi Jain and Nidhi Sharma respectively.
This election was preceded by a pre-election debate on 29th September, 2016 and an interview round presided over by college union authorities. Kamala Nehru College’s Union Elections were delayed by a few weeks due to the NAAC visit to college earlier last month. The team is currently preparing for upcoming Diwali celebrations in college.
Arushi Pathak[email protected]Image by Ritu Yadav for Kamala Nehru College]]>
Someone has rightly said, “You don’t need a silver fork to eat good food!” and being a DU student which epitomises the availability of economical lip smacking food, we couldn’t agree more with the statement! Take a look at some of the canteens across DU and their signature dishes loved by the students.
1. Maitreyi College
Fried Rice and Manchurian (Maitreyi)
Maitreyi College has a canteen which provides a great range of lip smacking dishes and nutritious drinks that wouldn’t make you feel the need to step outside to fulfill your appetite. In summers, a chilled glass of freshly squeezed mosambi juice (Rs.20) with a little chaat masala is exactly the kind of refreshment every student needs. A plate of wholesome Rajma Rice (Rs. 40), which finishes within only two hours of its complete preparation has a perfectly balanced, rich sweet and spicy flavor and one that is bound to make you nostalgic about your ghar ka khaana anytime. The second most sought after dish would be our Vegetable Manchurian and Fried Rice (Rs.28). This heavenly combination of its tangy and juicy gravy with soft sticky rice can be proudly chosen over any Chinese restaurant’s dish. If you try the Honey Chilli Potatoes, they will not only leave you thirsty because of the fiery heat from all its spices but also wanting for another plate because of its sweet flavorful veggies and amazing relish.
Rajma Rice (Maitreyi)
-Shagun Marwah, 3rd Year student, Maitreyi College
2. Kamala Nehru College
KNC Canteen
Having a regimented timetable with almost no breaks and early morning classes, the little ‘dabba’ that my mom packs in the morning gets finished within the first hour of college. However, KNC’s canteen becomes the ultimate saviour for mid-class hunger pangs. A plate full of Pav Bhaji (Rs. 30), Macroni (Rs. 20) and a cup of Cold Coffee (Rs. 25) is the most filling meal that the canteen offers. The Rajma Chawal are to die for too!
-Riya Chhibber, 3rd year student, Kamala Nehru College
3. Ramjas College
Chilli Potato (Ramjas)
Ramjas canteen recently changed its catering staff and a few new items like chilli potato (Rs. 50), potato manchurian (Rs. 50), egg and bread combos( Rs. 30 for 2 eggs) and fried rice ( Rs. 40) were added to the menu. Chole Bature (Rs. 30) is a hot seller and is claimed to be the best item. Apart from that juices (Rs. 20), tea/coffee (Rs. 10) and bottled drinks like coke maaza and sodas are also available at MRP. The best things about the canteen are that we can eat in the open and the new amphitheatre being constructed beside it.
-Arindam Goswami, Final Year student, Ramjas College
4. Hindu College
Shahi Paneer (Hindu College)
Facing an avid competition from various eateries in Kamla Nagar and Hudson Lane, the Hindu College Canteen still outshines others. Catering to the college students seeding all around North Campus, here you can munch delicious food at reasonable prices, leaving you not only with a filled in belly but also with satisfied taste buds. The menu lists various delicacies from North Indian, South Indian and Chinese cuisines along with a few anytime snacks. Chhole Bhature, Dosa, Shahi Paneer served with Butter Naan and Pav Bhaji must be tried. So do grab a bite here next time you’re around the campus. Shaahi Paneer with Butter naan ( Rs. 45) and Dosa (Rs. 25) are a delight to the taste buds.
-Hardik Kakar, Hindu College
5. Sri Venkateswara College
Dosa (Sri Venkateswara College)
Sri venkateswara college canteen reminds one of Amma’s canteen in south. With the indistinguishable delicious sambhar and inexpensive south indian dishes it provides a complete package for foodies. ‘Mysore masala dosa’ with the special south indian spicy touch is able to make a mark on the student’s tongue. Its eccentric location and chilled out atmosphere makes it the most popular hangout place for students. The graffiti walls beside the seating arrangements ups the ambience level. Despite being a new canteen students have found their love and reasons to stay at college than preferring Satya lounges.
-Gerush Bahal and Lakshya, DU Students
6. Jesus and Mary College
JMC Canteen
The canteen of Jesus and Mary College is one of the most popular ones of the varsity. With a diverse food menu, consisting of South Indian, North Indian, Italian and Chinese dishes among others, the level of hygiene is also decent. Though the taste of various food items seems average, yet few dishes do attract students of the neighboring colleges to the place. With the price being slightly higher than most of the other colleges, Dishes like Bhel Puri, Sev Puri and Chowmein/Fried Rice captures the hearts (and obviously, the stomach!) of all the JMCites. The favourite dishes – Bhel Puri and Fried Rice, cost 40 rs each.
Fried Rice (JMC)
-Lovleen Kaur, Jesus and Mary College
7. Miranda House
Dosa (Miranda House)
At Miranda House, a satisfactory quality of food is maintained across the menu. From the honey chilli potato (Rs 40) to the chicken manchurian (Rs 50) and masala dosa (Rs 30),the canteen churns out quality food at affordable prices. The fresh juice stand is also a favourite amongst students. To the dismay of many students however, the ‘momo-bhaiya’ has quit his job this year, and chicken momo is no longer on the menu. Come back Bhaiya !
The level of hygiene maintained at the Miranda House canteen sets it apart from other colleges. A committee of faculty members carries out regular inspections to ensure that cleanliness standards are maintained.
In order to empower consumers and make them financially literate Kamala Nehru College (KNC) undertook an Innovative Project entitled KNC-304 “Consumer Evaluation of Financial Services in India”. In the month of December 2015, the project team visited the National Consumer Helpline (NCH) and State Helplines established by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs to understand their complaint handling system in the banking sector.
Team:
Principal Investigators: Dr. Sheetal Kapoor (Associate Professor, Kamala Nehru College), Dr. Azka Kamil (Assistant Professor, Kamala Nehru College), Ms. Vibhuti Vasishth (Assistant Professor, Kamala Nehru College)
Mentor: Prof Sri Ram Khanna and Co Mentor: Mrs Nutan Lugani
To address the nature of problems faced during banking, workshops based on financial literacy were organised by the team at Sagar (Madhya Pradesh), Patna (Bihar) and Rajender Nagar (Delhi). Informative pamphlets in Hindi language were distributed and the problems relating to banks were noted. The attendants were also guided about the mechanism of lodging a complaint with the bank or banking ombudsman. Few workshops especially catered to women in the lower income group.
The framework of the work was based on analysing customer segments in different income groups, each demanding specific types of services and attention from the bank. The results were:
Lower income group customers: Through face to face interviews with 257 respondents, it was found that these customers faced problems while opening a bank account and 23% do not have a nominee for their account. So, after their death the left over amount remains unclaimed. The Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) has also not penetrated deeply into the society, as a lot of people are still unaware of this scheme. Many banking users do not realize that they should keep their PINs and passwords secret, and are unaware of the right place to visit in case they seek redressal.
Middle Income and net savvy customers: They use banking services such as online banking, Credit Card/Debit cards, ATMs and do not physically go to bank branches for doing transactions once they fulfil the Know Your Customer (KYC) norms. A study on 524 respondents found that, users are unaware of the need to keep a strong password and frequently change them while using online banking. Majority of the respondents are unaware of the safety features of their credit cards and are dissatisfied with the charges taken by their banks. Various customers have faced incorrect debits, and this problem was not satisfactorily resolved by their service providers. Customers feel that banks should provide more information while availing their services.
In the current world scenario where warm surface temperatures and worsening climate impacts have become an increasingly common problem to bear, here arises our very own Delhi University’s Innovation Project team of Kamala Nehru College: KNC-301 with an earnest desire to limit all the activities leading to high energy consumption and save the world by teaching everyone to be as energy efficient as possible, in the smallest and yet, most significant of ways.
This young group of student researchers is therefore working on a project entitled- Implementation of a Successful ‘Switch to Energy Efficient Lighting and Home Appliances’ Campaign in Delhi: A Social Marketing Strategy. The team comprises of students such as Aakanksha Gupta, Alisha Allagh, Anushka Agarwal, Diya Mukherjee, Meghna Tripathi, Nitima Jain, Chetna Ahuja, Tanya Gupta, Priyal Kalra and Shubhi Singh; Principal Investigators like Dr. Soma Sen Gupta, Dr. Sona Mandal, and Dr. Pankaj Kumar; and Dr. Anjan Sen, from the Department of Geography, Delhi School of Economics as their Mentor.
Even though our society is fully aware of the benefits gained from the efficiency improvement of home appliances, a large majority becomes apprehensive on buying and using products which promise the same. Some of the major concerns addressed by them are either in the favor of extremely high costs of LEDs and ‘Star-rated’ appliances or safety risks caused due to the fear of the ultraviolet radiation leakage from CFL bulbs. The main aim of their study is to explore how a social marketing approach can be used to eradicate such myths and introduce a behavioral change among the masses so that they switch to energy efficient lighting like CFL/LED bulbs in their homes without any hesitation.
The innovation team of KNC, thus, decided to critically evaluate the measures undertaken by different stakeholders in the promotion of energy efficient home appliances. On 5th March, 2016, an interactive session was organized with the officials of Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), New Delhi. They learnt that Mr. Sanjay Seth (Secretary) and Mr. Saurabh Diddi (Technical Head) had initiated various policy measures like, the Domestic Efficient Lighting Program (DELP) and #iledtheway campaign to promote and distribute four LEDs per household at Rs.93 per bulb, on the production of their electricity bill and aadhar card. They had even issued ‘Star Rating’ labels for as many as 21 products.
The second session was held with Phillips (India), one of the leading lighting companies of the world where Mr. Tapas Roy Chowdhury (Regional Sales Manager) and Varun (Sales Executive) explained that through continuous technological development in the lighting sector, Philips not only envisages energy efficiency, but even a reduction in the prices of LEDs. Moreover, their process of distribution and promotion through celebrity advertising has made LEDs gain popularity as well as acceptability.
Priyal Kalra, a student member of the project is of the view that, “as the youth of the nation, we wish to be more involved with taking care of the environment and persuading others to do so as well. Hence, the project gave us an opportunity to know how a social marketing strategy can help in changing the attitudes and behaviors of people and their perceptions regarding energy efficiency”.
On a field trip to Vishakhapatnam, the first city in India to implement energy efficiency through one hundred percent use of CFLs, the project team organized a survey and witnessed a high level of awareness and cooperation in the adoption of LED technology and high star-rated appliances, not only among the people of households, but even with road side vendors and street lighting. Less materialistic lifestyles, higher levels of education, and a better distribution strategy of the government were found to be the reasons behind this success.
A questionnaire based data was then, collected from 250 households in Delhi and NCR to determine the factors preventing a shift from traditional incandescent bulbs to CFLs/LEDs.An effective campaign will be designed for the acceptance of these energy efficient appliances in Delhi through a social marketing strategy by blending the eight Ps together- product, price, promotion, place, public, policy, partnership, and purse string.
Every year, societies from colleges across the campus compete neck to neck and put up spectacular performances during the fest season. This year too, saw certain teams shine a little brighter than the rest. We bring you a series with college societies that put their heart and soul into their respective fields and took home the top prizes at various cultural fests.
The best college society in each category was selected by creating a tally of the top 3 positions at competitive events held during various cultural fests of this season. Whenever a society won the first prize they were awarded 3 points, for the second position they received 2 points and for the third position, 1 point was added to their tally.
For the Western Music category, Western Music Society of LSR scored the maximum points in the tally. Western Music Society of LSR’s 14 points were followed by Zephyr (Kamala Nehru College) that scored 12 points. Musoc (Kirori Mal College) bagged third spot scoring 10 points.
The society has been a consistent performer in the Western Music category. This year, their production was widely appreciated and applauded wherein they covered a Jazz Gospel number called ‘Come Unto Me’ by Take 6 and their own arrangement of Janelle Monae’s ‘Electric Lady’.
Satwiki Adla, the President of WMS said, “The secret to our success is our dedication. We practice everyday diligently for 4-6 after college hours. Another strength of our society is also the understanding and love that we share for one another and the music that we make which binds us all together into a close-knit family. The ability to be able to work on our strengths while pointing out our weaknesses is something we strive to achieve at LSR WMS .”
Names of performing members:
1) Satwiki Adla – President
2) Sparsh Bajpai – Secretary
3) Sharanya S – Treasurer
4) Pallavi Pervela
5) Kim Biak Hoih
6) R. Lalthansangi
7) Hlingdeikim Changsan
8) Maulshree Kumar
9) Roli D Yeputho
10) Thinley Chodon
11) Megha Lama
12) Sange W. Thungon
13) Imlikokla Kichu
14) Sangey Dolma
15) Lentina Longkumer
16) Tenzin Choezom
17) Ruth Lalrinawmi
18) Bhavya Kulshreshtha
19) Lucy T. Vaiphei
20) Anna Charenamei
21) Faith Kasar
Winners Tally: Western Music
Nine college fests were referred to while evaluating the top societies tally this fest season which were: Tarang, LSR; Ullas, KNC; Tempest, Miranda House; Montage, JMC; Mecca, Hindu College; Reverie, Gargi College; Nexus, Sri Venkateswara College; Shruti, IPCW and Confluence, Hans Raj College. The society emerged victorious at the following fests:
1st Position: Ullas, KNC; Montage, JMC and Mecca, Hindu College
2nd Position: Nexus, Sri Venkateswara College and Shruti, IPCW
3rd Position: Tempest, Miranda House
(Hover on the icons below to know more about their victories)
Day 1: Inauguration, Western Dance and Dance Workshop with Shakti Mohan:
The day one of Kamala Nehru College’s annual cultural festival Ullas began with an inauguration ceremony where eminent dancer Padmashree Madhvi Mudgal performed. Amidst first events was Indian classical solo and Folk Dance event organised by Nupur, the Indian Dance Society of KNC.
The Indian classical solo event saw Raghav from Sri Venkateswara College as the winner. In the Folk Dance competition, the Bhangra Group from SGND Khalsa College emerged as the winners. Maitreyi College and Sri Venkateswara College bagged the second and third prize.
The much awaited dance workshop by ace celebrity dancer Shakti Mohan took place at Day 1 of Ullas, which refreshed the fest comers despite the wave of heat. Performing as a part of MTV driven Nescafe’ Labs-Dance Challenge, the event witnessed the participation of a selected bunch of students from various colleges.
Nrityakriti organized by Adagio, the Choreography society of Kamala Nehru College, was a solo choreography competition which saw Vipin from IGNOU bagging the first position. Post Nrityakriti was hosted ‘Ol That Jazz’, the Western Dance Competition wherein V-Defyn of IIT-Delhi declared as the winner of the event, followed by Misba of Shri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce and Afroza of Indraprastha College for Women as second and third.
Soon after this event, the crowd flocked towards the main ground where the band Astitva had already taken over the stage. They enthralled the audience with popular numbers like ‘Aa Raat Bhar’ and ‘Gulaabo’.
Day 2: Music Events and showdown with Sona Mohapatra
Day 2 of Ullas started with Swaranjali, an Indian music competition organized by Sangeetika, the Indian Music Society. Samranjini of Gargi College took home the first prize in choir followed by Hans Raj college and Sri Venkateswara College at second and third spots.
This event was followed by Sarang, the Instrumental Solo competition. Megha from Miranda House and Aditya tied for the first position. Zephyr- the Western Music Society of KNC organised the Western Solo Vocals competition under the umbrella event ‘Rhythm in Blues’. Despite the cut throat competition, Kishore from Amity University, Noida grabbed the top spot. The society also hosted the illustrious Western Choir and Western Duet competitions. Dhwani of SSCBS stood second, while LSR managed to bag the first position in choir category; Kunal Singh and Anahita Dawar stood first in duets.
A Battle of Bands was also hosted on the college ground where the band Hans Raj Projekt emerged victorious. Thereafter, The Fashion Society of KNC, Glitz, hosted La Vogue. Amity College emerging as the winners for their production ‘Shaitaan’.
The star performer of the day, Sona Mohapatra, took over the stage at dusk and performed songs like ‘O Ri Chiraiya’ and ‘Mujhe kya bechega rupaiya’ presenting the social message of a healthy body image and embracing your sexuality.
The Annual Fest of Kamla Nehru College, Ullas, 2016 stood witness to a handful of exciting and super-entertaining events and competitions. Amongst the lot, Zephyr, The Western Music Society of KNC, hosted the illustrious Western Choir and Western Duet competitions, under the event ‘Rhythm in Blues’.
The participating teams included Musoc (KMC), Orpheus (Miranda), The Western Music Society Of LSR and Dhwani (SSCBS).
Out of these, SSCBS stood second, while LSR managed to bag the first position.
The event, judged by Ms. Sharmila Banerjee Livingston and Ms. Panvi Podder was a fun ride.
Following the Western Choir was Western Duet, wherein there were 8 participants, the names and colleges were whom to remain undeclared.
Kishor Ningthoujan and Rhea Toor from Amity University, Noida stood third, Siddhant Seth and Sparsh Bajpai stood second, and Kunal Singh and Anahita Dawar stood first.
A Battle of Bands was also hosted on the college ground where the band Hans Raj Projekt emerged victorious.
Thereafter, The Fashion Society of KNC, Glitz, hosted La Vogue, wherein Elantra (Bharti College), Amity School of Communication, Ramjas College and Vardhaman Mahaveer Medical College (VMMC) participated. The Fashion event which was judged by a panel of three, which included Mr. Hemant Sood, Ms. Miya Lakra and Mr. Mayank Sharma witnessed Amity College emerging as the winners for their production ‘Shaitaan’ followed by VMMC and Ramjas College on the second position.
The star performer of the day, Sona Mohapatra, took over the stage at dusk and performed songs like ‘O Ri Chiraiya’ and ‘Mujhe kya bechega rupaiya’ presenting the social message of a healthy body image and embracing your sexuality.
She ended the day with a powerful performance of all of her hits including Ambarsariya and Bedardi Raja. The union was ecstatic as Sona drew the curtains to Ullas 2016.
Arushi Pathak
Riya Chibber
Akshara Srivastava
Shreya Srivastava
Shefali Bharti
Images by Aarushi Dhingra, Gerush Bahal, Alex Arthur and Jasmine Chahal for DU Beat
The day one of Kamala Nehru College’s annual cultural festival Ullas began with an inauguration ceremony where eminent dancer Padmashree Madhvi Mudgal performed. The principal of the college declared the two day fest open. The campus was filled with myriad colours adding to the exuberance of the environment.
Amidst first events was Indian classical solo and Folk Dance event organised by Nupur, the Indian Dance Society of KNC.
While Indian classical solo event saw 10 participants from various colleges across DU, the Folk Dance competition on the other hand had 5 teams who enthralled the audience with their performances.
Both the events were adjudicated by a distinguished panel comprising of Ms. Madhumita Rout, an Odissi dancer and teacher, Dr. Nalini Jain, Dance Consultant with Times of India and Mr. Tej Prakash, a famous dancer .
Raghav from Sri Venkateswara College was adjudged as the winner of the Classical Solo dance while Suryaash from Maharaja Agrasen College and Nimisha from Janki Devi Memorial College bagged the second and third spot respectively.
Talking about her experience judging the event, Ms. Madhumita Rout remarked, “India is known for its culture. It is our duty to promote these art and dance forms through such events.”
In the power-packed Folk Dance competition, the Bhangra Group from SGND Khalsa College emerged as the winners. Nrityakriti from Maitreyi College who performed Haryanvi Folk garnered a roaring applause and second prize while Nrityangana from Sri Venkateswara bagged the third prize.
Kamala Nehru College is scheduled to host Shakti Mohan and Astitva Band later today. Stay tuned for more updates!
Without a villain in the story, there is never a hero! Elevating the importance of an antagonist in every story,Lakshya, the theatre society of Kamala Nehru College saw the seventh edition of its annual theatre festival- Concoction, unfold on the theme- ‘Main hoon Khalnayak’ from 17-19th February 2016.
With exuberant performances and energised crowd, Concoction was a non-competitive, three day theatre extravaganza which aimed at promotion of the spirit of theatre and performance above competition and contention.
The day 1 of the festival saw Aaghaz- The street play event, that involved the performance of complex and mostly political issue oriented productions at the college’s chaupal. From street acts based on Kashmir, Israel-Palestine, and religion to productions on mental illness, the event was a success at grabbing student attention. The production by SRCC, based on mental illness called-‘The defective ward’, stood out for the audience the most. The day ended with a dynamic jamming session by the Djembefola United group and also a mesmerizing performance by Mukul & Shenjit, who brought everyone up on their toes.
Mokshika, the President of Lakshya, the theatre society of Kamala Nehru College, speaking to us, shared that, “ We had a non-competitive Concoction this year. Apart from administrative and logistical hassles, for me, the spirit of theatre and performing arts is most important and Concoction was an attempt to promote the same. I hope the teams had as much fun as we did while organising the event.”
Followed by street, Day 2 and 3 saw Archlights- The stage play event, that was thoroughly enjoyed by the audience. Colleges like Dyal Singh, SRCC, Sri Venkateswara, Ramanujan and Hindu shook the stage with their excellent execution, lighting techniques and prop usage. While Hindu’s production called-‘Characters Revolt’ talked about characters of three boys entrapped within the confines of a writer’s story and how they wish to rewrite it, Sri Venkateswara’s play titled-‘Veronica’s Room’ completely took the audience by surprise with its element of unpredictable suspense. Post some mind blowing stage acts, Day 3 witnessed Pratiyug, a sufi pop-rock band that galvanised the gathering with their electrifying renditions.
Alongside the main event, Concoction ’16 had two informal events planned for the day, Treasure Hunt and Quiz that gave the crowd an opportunity to win some prizes for themselves.
On asking people their experience of the festival, we received some great positive responses.“Art cannot be described, one can only experience it by watching, especially incase of theatre. All the performances at the event were such that no words can be appropriate enough to describe the beauty of theatre”, remarked Aakriti Sharma, a student of KNC.
Dilgrace Kaur, a dedicated Lakshya member shared with us her experience of organising the event. “Each day is a new experience. Learning, unlearning, enjoying and working. The 3 most awaited days of the year for any Lakshya member are the days of Concoction where we bring together all the talent in the town”, she remarked.
As the event drew to a closure, the teams took with them special hampers, love, appreciation and the sound of the resounding claps which had no end!
