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DRC, KMC, Miranda, Aryabhatta Students Protest High Rise in DU

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Students protested against the construction of a 39-storeyed building near the Vishwavidyalaya Metro Station. The construction of the building has led to the felling of 228 trees, aside from infringing on the University’s space.

 

Delhi University students on Friday staged a protest against the construction of a 39- storey building in North Campus, saying the structure will overlook six girls’ hostels and will be an “invasion of their privacy”. The building is coming up adjacent to the Vishwavidyalaya Metro Station in the campus area.

 

The said construction has been opposed by the University and the Teachers’ Association (DUTA) as well. The students formed a human chain chanting slogans — “Private Building, Down Down” — at the entrance of the metro station.

 

According to a representative of the Miranda House Students’ Union, in conversation with The Hindustan Times, the construction of the building is “an invasion of their privacy.” A student said that the private builder should have held discussions with the Delhi University administration, the teachers’ association or the students’ union before beginning construction.

 

The land on which the construction is to take place, was initially owned by the Ministry of Defence was transferred to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation after which it was handed to a private builder, a university official said. The construction comes after allegations by the DU administration towards the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) of ‘unlawfully’ permitting the construction of the building. Past month, the DUTA had also held protests to object to the construction.

 

“Construction of such a high-rise building in the university enclave area will negatively impact the ambiance of Delhi University. There are heritage buildings in close vicinity of this land. There will be serious issues of safety and privacy for adjoining girls hostels and staff flats. This extremely crowded area can’t burden such an extra infrastructural load. So, the Delhi University community as a whole is opposing it tooth and nail,” said Rasal Singh, Academic Council member, in conversation with The Hindu.

 

Image Caption: Protests against construction of 39-storey high-rise in DU North Campus, organised by student unions

Image Credits: Hindustan Times

 

Bhavya Pandey

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Campus Central

Shattering Stereotypes About Girls’ Colleges

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Women’s colleges are almost always associated with many stereotypes. This article talks about some of the most persistent ones.

The University of Delhi (DU) has around 20 women’s colleges affiliated to it. There are many stereotypes that most of the girls from an all-girl’s college get to hear on an everyday basis. While co-ed colleges are associated with fun and partying, girls’ colleges are called boring. Many of these stereotypes have been known for ages, seemingly. But they are clearly not applicable in the 21st century. Here is a list of some of the common stereotypes.

  • “Oh girls do nothing but back-bitching!”

Girls do not back-bitch but they hold each other’s back. Girls know girls, and this brings them closer. We do not spend hours bitching about others, but we talk about life, philosophy, and politics. College life is known for lifelong bonds and the bond that a group of girls’ share is priceless.

  • Girls’ colleges are boring

The most common stereotype that a lot of us hear is that girls’ colleges are boring because no boys, mean no fun. They are seen as gloomy places where the greatest concern of the students is the lack of men. Nevertheless, whatever your definition of fun may be, the definition of fun for a girl from an all girls’ institution is very different, and they do not need guys to have fun. They eat, dance and party without being dependent on guys. A group of girls is enough for themselves.

  • There’s a long queue of guys outside every girls’ college

‘Girls college hai toh kya, bahar to ladke khade hi rehte hai’. This stereotype leads us to another stereotype that boys do not have any other work and they can stand outside colleges just for stealing glances at girls. The only guys we spot outside the college are ‘rickshaw vale bhaiya’.

  • Girls and gossip are inseparable

We get to hear most of the times that girls live for gossip. They know who’s doing what, who’s seeing who, and everything else. But oh, is it so? As an answer to this, let me say, no, not all girls gossip. We have a lot of other things to do than talking about someone else’s life. Not everyone sitting in the canteen is gossiping about random things. They have a lot more things to do.

  • All girls are interested in girls

A very common and very lame perception is that girls who go to girls’ college are sexually inclined towards other girls or they tend to change their sexual orientation by the end of college. Why can’t people believe that having girls around does not mean that they will be attracted to each other? Girls who are attracted to girls are found everywhere and not just in an all-girls’ college.

  • Are you one of those feminist types?

One question that most people ask girls from a women’s college is if they are a feminist. The answer to this question can be yes or no. But this does not depend on the institution that they go to. The fact that a person is a feminist or not completely depends on their own opinions. Neither are all girls feminists, nor are those from a girls’ college Femi-nazis.

  • Girls are jealous of each other

Having girls all around doesn’t mean that they will just be envious of each other. If a girl checks out clothes, shoes, and bags of others, it does not mean that she is jealous. She might go up to her and tell her that she looks pretty. Neither all girls judge other nor are they involved in catfights.

  • They do not know politics

Girls are apolitical is what a lot of people say. But just the fact that most of the women’s colleges in DU are not affiliated to Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) does not mean that the girls are alien to DU politics. They might be away from the common election atmosphere, but this does not mean that they do not know what is going on outside their colleges. Girls do have their own political opinions and they understand the right and wrong politics.

Stereotyping is so common in our society that at times, we forget to look beyond those stereotypes. All the girls’ colleges affiliated to the University of Delhi are a symbol of strength. They are like safe havens for women. One thing that people do not commonly talk about is that women’s colleges are phenomenal institutions which create fearless and independent women.

Feature Image Credits: DUB Archives

Priya Chauhan

[email protected]

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Arts & Culture

Of Writing and Reading: Ravinder Singh Visits Miranda House

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On Monday, 29th August 2019, a book discussion with the bestselling writer Ravinder Singh was organised by the English Literary Society of Miranda House.

The English Literary Society of Miranda House celebrated the presence of Ravinder Singh, the bestselling romance writer for their first event of the session 2019-20. The writer talked about his latest book: “The Belated Bachelor Party”, in a book discussion which was attended by a great number of students of Miranda House.

The author, most famous for his book I Too Had a Love Story, began the event by introducing himself and his works. He then went on to narrate the real-life incidents that took place, and which inspired him to write The Belated Bachelor Party. From friends that made little sense, to a Europe trip that went wrong in more ways than one, he kept the audience engaged with his little anecdotes. He revealed that the story is about him and his three other friends who went on a Europe trip for their Bachelor’s Party long after their marriage. By saying this, he also justified the title of the book.

“Since I’ve been writing romance for such a long time, I wanted to challenge myself. So, I decided to write a book that makes people laugh, after writing ones that made them cry,” said the author, explaining why he decided to write this book in the genre of humour.

He went on to talk about friendship and advised the audience to hold on to the friends that they have in life, and also said that the only kinds of relationships that we choose in life are: a lover and friends. He said, “Romance is a subset of the larger set called friendship.”

He further added that the book is about friendship and the special bond you have with people you have chosen yourself to let into your life. 

After he finished talking about the books, he took in questions from the audience as well. The audience, eager to participate, asked insightful questions such as- how he dealt with the ups and downs of being a primarily semi-autobiographical writer, and how he integrated social issues in his writing.

On being questioned about the agenda of addressing social issues through his books, he clarified that his book, Your Dreams Are Mine Now, addresses the issue of youth politics and in his another book, Will You Still Love Me talks about road safety.

He further addressed a major issue about the lack of readers in the Indian society. He mentioned that currently there are only a handful of authors in India who work as full-time writers and make a good living out of writing. The problem behind this was, he explained, that the people of our country do not read. Reading is a great task for us and book stores are getting shut. People are going from bad to worse. He made a comparison between India and UK and said that in the UK, people read 10 times more than us.

According to him, “Reading a book is like watching a story getting unfolded in front of your eyes. You live a thousand lives when you read a thousand books.”

The writer further addressed the problems in the publishing market and told the students to focus on their creativity and try the options of self-publishing. He advised the students to try to build up an online audience and then try to approach big publishing houses.  

The event was a complete success buzzing with humour, candor, and a lot of life tips.

 Feature Image Credits: The Literary Society, Miranda House via Instagram

Priya Chauhan

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Satviki Sanjay

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Admissions

Live! DU Releases Fifth Cut-off List

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The University of Delhi has released the fifth cut-off list today on the official website.

The admission under the DU 4th cut-off list ended ended on June 17th. The DU 5th cut-off list will be all about filling the seats in the reserved category in most colleges.

So far, the University has filled 67,419 seats out of the total 62,000. After the release of DU 5th cut-off, the admissions will take place from July 20, which will also be the first day for those who have already completed the admission process.

The candidates should note that this year, the university will notify just five cut-off lists.

Check this space for the latest updates on the fifth cut-off.

Click here to check the fifth cut-off list P.G.D.A.V. (E) College.

Click here to check the fifth cut-off list for Gargi College.

Click here to check the fifth cut-off list for Satyawati College.

Click here to check the fifth cut-off list for Shyam Lal College.

Click below to check the comprehensive fifth cut-off lists:

Arts & Commerce

Science

B.A. Programme

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Campus Central

Complains of Inconvenience during shooting arise at Miranda House

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Recently released amidst debates Kabir Singh had parts of it shot inside Miranda House’s lush green and beautiful campus. Though complaints of inconvenience have arisen. Read on to find out more.

DU Beat posted a poll on its Instagram feed on 11th July 2019, asking students how they felt about a film being shot on campus, the post saw more than a few negative responses which spoke of inconvenience caused during the shoot

comment

Image Credits: Screenshot by Sakshi Arora

Image Caption: A comment by an agitated student which garnered 110 likes.

 

Digging deeper into the issue we found out that girls were made extremely uncomfortable and suffered profusely during these shoots. According to the students they were never informed before any shooting began, and the crew would unannouncedly barge in on their college lives for a few days, making them miserable.

Bala Panchanatha shared “The shooting went on for about 4-5 days. The hostel and the college were both used for filming. The film crew impeded on our routine, they even restricted our movement within our own hostels; we were not allowed to take pictures of ourselves or our friends in the hostel area. The Union did not do anything, but they spoke to the warden – sort of a token gesture. However, due to widespread dissatisfaction and anger, we were told that we would be informed about future shoots. The current Union is more responsive in that sense. The crew was rude, entitled and smoked right outside the hostel gate.”

Aatreyee Tamuly, another student also shared that “First of all, it’s not ethical to interfere with the daily life of college just for some heavy amount. Also, blocking most parts of the corridors without prior notice causes a lot of inconvenience to the students. The safety of students also comes under question. If the college authorities need the money so badly out of these shooting events, it would be in the best interest of everyone to allow it on holidays or on weekends when college isn’t operational.”

In an article by an ex-Miranda History student, Ambica Naithani for the Citizen, she proclaims that The ex-Principal, Dr Pratibha Jolly in her speech on Founders Days said, “When we need to earn a quick buck, we also allow the film industry to shoot our beautiful campus.” referring to a number of films like Kabir Singh and Half Girlfriend shot inside the Miranda House Campus. A student who requested to be anonymous shared that she felt this was the worst part about this whole ordeal that the Principal was willing to compromise their security for capitalising on their beautiful campus.

In the same article, many other students like Tridisha and Apurva Sinha also highlight the hypocrisy of this whole process. The students fought tooth and nail to lift the curfew in hostels which was there for ‘security reasons’ while for monetary benefits the same security was easily put in danger.

DU Beat contacted the Student Union of Miranda House for a comment, they did not respond.

 

Image Credits: Shiksha.com

Sakshi Arora

[email protected]

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Admissions

Course Profile: B.A. (Hons.) Economics

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Read on to get more insight into the course of Economics Honours provided in the University of Delhi.

  • What is the course about?

B.A. (Hons.)  Economics is one of the most sought-after courses, in both exclusively commerce colleges and those that offer other courses as well. It boasts of some of the highest cut-offs each year.

In terms of its syllabus, the course includes various papers on Microeconomics,Macroeconomics, and others like Development Economics, Indian Economy, Introductory Econometrics, Mathematical Methods for Economics.

On the other hand, papers such as Political Economy, Applied Econometrics, Financial Economics, International Economics, Environmental Economics, and others form the diverse range of electives.
The course has a special requirement that applicants must include Mathematics as one of
their best of four subjects.

  • What are some top colleges for this course?

Some of the most prestigious colleges for the course include Shri Ram College of
Commerce, St Stephen’s College, Hansraj College, Lady Shri Ram College for Women,
Hindu College, and Miranda House.

  • What are some good career options?

Many students who opt for B.A. Economics (Hons.) go on to pursue higher studies in Economics or
apply for Masters in Business Administration . Some go into academia. Many students are placed successfully in consultancy firms or public sector undertakings.

A large number of Economics (Hons.) graduates are also hired as statisticians, financial
analysts and in fields of public policy, banking and financial services. Actuarial sciences are
also an emerging field open to Economics students.Other allied fields that students of Economics can pursue include corporate law and financial journalism. Some also appear for civil service examinations.

  • Are there any notable alumni?

The course boasts of a network of highly accomplished and notable alumni. Many of
them have gone on to occupy important positions in a wide range of fields and professions.
Some of these include-
1. Arun Shourie, Economist, Journalist and former Union Minister
2. Gita Gopinath, Economist and Academician
3.  Kaushik Basu, Economist
4. Naina Lal Kidwai, Former Group General Manager of HSBC India and Former
President of FICCI
5. Vinod Rai, Former CAG of India

The 2018 cut-off lists for different colleges can be viewed on http://www.du.ac.in/cut-off.html

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Campus Central

NIRF Ranking 2019: Delhi’s Miranda House and Hindu college ranked as Top colleges

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The Ministry of Human Resource and development released its fourth edition of National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) which was announced by President Ram Nath Kovind.

The Top Institute (overall) position was given to Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) whereas Delhi University’s Miranda House topped the list of colleges and Hindu College was ranked second. This year, six colleges of Delhi University featured in the top 10 which included St. Stephens College, Lady Shri Ram College, Shri Ram College of Commerce, Hansraj College and were respectively ranked as second, fourth, fifth, seventh and ninth.

“The credits for achieving this feat belongs to foremost the Principal of our college, the phenomenal support of the professors and obviously students who played a major role in achieving this position by participating in classes as well as in learning process outside the classes.” Says Prof. R.B. Azad Choudhary of Hindu college.

While Miranda managed a glorious hattrick for itself by taking the first position, Delhi University’s other 22 colleges also managed to get featured in the list of Top 100 colleges of India.

Snimar, the Vice president of Miranda House said, “I think I speak for every Mirandian when I say that we are more than proud to be recognised as the best college in India for the third time in a row. The atmosphere and environment of Miranda House, the inclusivity, the wonderful faculty, our former Principal and our acting Principal have all been a huge part of this success.”

However, as compared to previous year when Delhi University was ranked seventh amongst top universities of India, this year it saw its position dipping to that of 13th .

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) featured at seventh in overall category and bagged second rank in the Top 10 universities of India whereas the first rank in this category went to Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. IIT-Delhi was placed third in the overall category whereas was ranked second in Top 10 engineering institutions. All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) retains its position as Top Medical Institute of India.

Nikita Mohta, a student of Miranda house sums up the excitement in these words, “I am privileged, blessed and grateful to be at an institution with this repute. While I couldn’t be happier, I also know that on other side this is a fraction of the women in the country receiving quality education. The rankings speak of the capabilities of women today and how we need to work for the education of every girl child in the country.”

Image credits: DU Beat archives.

Antriksha Pathania
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Miranda House

Miranda House Appoints New Principal

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Miranda House bids farewell to Principal Pratibha Jolly and welcomes the new Principal.

Miranda House, one of the most reputed colleges of University of Delhi, appointed its new Principal, Dr Bijayalaxmi Nanda. She was previously a professor of Political Science and Gender Studies in the College and holds a Master of Arts (MA) degree from Utkal University, a Master of Philosophy degree from Delhi University and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph. D) from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).

Dr Nanda belongs to the state of Odisha and has written books including Human Rights, Gender and Environment, Sex-Selective Abortion and the State: Policies, Laws and Institutions in India, Discourse on Rights in India: Debates and Dilemmas and several other renowned books.

Articles authored by her include Cinderella Goes to School, Girl-child Education in India, Does the Girl-Child Count? and Census and Other Stories. She also coordinates a self-funded initiative called Campaign Against Pre-birth Elimination of Females from the year 2002.  

Dr Nanda on talking about feminism in a video by Centre for Social Research said, “Feminism to me is personal, is political. It is about an equality consciousness, where we involve men, boys, and anyone around us to bring about an equal world.” She is also a part of feminist research and activism.

Dr Nanda is the awardee of Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) Doctoral Fellowship, given by the Teacher’s Excellence Award by DU in the year 2017. On speaking to Petals in the Dust she remarked, “Even at a very early age I was alert to inequalities perpetrated in terms of class, caste, gender, ethnicity, age and other hierarchies… I dreamt of being a bureaucrat like my father and to be able to bring about changes in the lives of people through creating an enabling policy environment.”

 

Feature Image Credits: Odisha News Tonight

Shivani Dadhwal
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Campus Central

Dr. Pratibha Jolly, Principal, Miranda House Retires

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Dr. Pratibha Jolly, the celebrated Principal of Miranda House, Delhi University, retired on 28th February, 2019. Let’s take a look at her contributions to the college in the past 14 years as the Principal.

Dr. Pratibha Jolly has been the Principal of Miranda House since 2005. She is an alumna of the college, having pursued B.Sc. Honours in Physics and M.Sc. from 1970- 1975. After gaining a Ph.D. in Chemical Physics from the University of Delhi (DU) in 1980, she went on to work in the areas of physics education research and curriculum development at the tertiary level. She was a faculty at Miranda House (1980-1988) before she moved to the Department of Physics and Astrophysics at DU as a UGC Research Scientist (1988-2002). She served as the Principal at Acharya Narendra Dev College (2002-2005) before moving back to Miranda House. Dr. Jolly, in her vibrant tenure, has brought several positive changes to the college.

One of her major contributions is making Miranda a disabled-friendly institution. Through her continuous efforts, Miranda House now has the Amba Dalmia centre within its library for the visually challenged students, and it also has computers that read out the text. There’s also an enabling unit called Lakshita. ‘Digital Vision’ is an app introduced in her tenure, installed in the phones of differently-abled students and is used at the time of admissions.  This app scans QR codes (which can be found outside every room) and gives directions/number of steps to be taken to reach a particular place. There are a number of ramps across the college. Braille books in the library and a Braille notice board are also available. There are scanners, e-book readers, voice recorders, and a Braille embosser that converts printed text to embossed Braille dots for easy reading. All these developments are feathers in Dr. Jolly’s cap for inclusive development of her college. Dr. Pratibha Jolly will surely be missed for all her good work at Miranda House.

Feature Image Credits: Mahamedha Nagar

Sakshi Arora

[email protected]

(With inputs from DU Beat and Miranda House)

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Fest Season

Highlights of Tempest 2019 organised by Miranda House

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The three-day fest of Miranda House, Tempest 2019 presented different events and an amazing line-up of the performance nights.

Tempest 2019- the Annual Cultural Fest of Miranda House- University of Delhi kick-started on 14th February 2019.There were a plethora of events scheduled by the college but most of them got delayed due to unfavourable weather conditions. Nevertheless, the events ran smoothly and the first day of Tempest turned out to be a fulfilling and vibrant experience for the attendees.

The Duet Singing Competition organized by Geetanjali, the Indian Music Society of Miranda House saw various performances that had the audiences captivated. It concluded with Sukriti and Saksham from SGTB Khalsa College in second position, with the winner’s title being claimed by Pranava and Ram of Hansraj College.

Adwitiya, the Fine Arts’ Society, in a stunning display of powerful art, transformed SAC to an exquisite art gallery. From portraits to abstract brushstrokes, all the artwork presented had a story to tell. An art-piece labeled ‘Nirvana’ captured the modern world in a representative manner. A symbolic display promised and delivered aesthetic pleasure.   The day concluded with the performance by PARASHARA- a popular Delhi-based progressive band, with an idea conceived and brought to action in the mountains. The audiences swiveled to the beats as they played their melodies, revolving around the realities of life, with an interesting modern touch to it. This wraps up the Day 1 of the fest and all the festivities stuck true to the theme of the fest: “Future of Fun”.  

Day 2 of Tempest 2019, the annual cultural fest of Miranda House witnessed a refreshing hustle-bustle as the day started with a perfect weather, as opposed to the weather conditions prevailing the first day. The day witnessed different societies conducting their competitions.

Anukriti, the Hindi Dramatics Society of Miranda House organised ‘Izhaar’, a stage play event after four years. Amongst preliminary rounds between 27 competing team, 6 teams made it to the finals. The event kicked off with ‘Three Tall Women’ the annual production of The Ariels, the English Dramatics Society, followed by SRCC’s annual production ‘Anidra’ and Anubhuti, the Hindi Dramatics Society of Sri Venkateswara College’s annual production ‘Kolahal’. After the break, ‘Fourth Wall Productions’, the dramatics society of Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies presented their annual production ‘Bhunde’. The event ended with Leher, the dramatics society of Delhi College of Arts and Commerce’s production ‘Mahua’ and Hansraj dramatics society’s play ‘Word of Mouth’.

The Day 2 of Tempest 2019 came to an end with an exhilarating performance by DJ Mojojojo. He performed some of his famous mixes like ‘Sapne’ and also played the famous track ‘Udd Gaye’ by Ritviz. The audience grooved to the tunes of his enthralling showcase. The crowd then peacefully dispersed.  

Day 3 witnessed four events taking place. Orpheus, the Western music society of Miranda House organized their annual event Euphony 2019. The event had two competitions: Accapella, the group singing competition and the solo singing competition.Echo the western music society of Jesus and Mary College won the first position in group singing.

Mridang, the Indian dance society of Miranda House presented their annual fest Tarangini’19. The solo classical event witnessed a number of participants portraying classical dance performances followed by a montage of peppy group performances by participants ranging from different colleges.

On the last day of Tempest 2019, renowned singer, Jubin Nautiyal, created an enchanting musical aura at Miranda House. He began the night by interacting with the audience, and telling the enthusiastic crowd that he had been excited to meet them and perform for them since the past few weeks. Soft romance was the vibe in the air as he sang popular numbers like Meherbaani, Kaabil, Gazab ka hai din, and Baawra Mann among many others. In a medley that had the audience captivated, Nautiyal sang covers of old favourites such as Gulaabi aankhein, Dheere dheere se, and Roop tera mastana. The singer then moved to songs like Aaj ki raat, Tamma tamma, Ilahi et al, as the audience grooved in delight. On the same climatic note, Nautiyal bid adieu to Miranda House with the joy and rhythm of The Humma Song.

Tempest 2019 was a success with an amazing line-up of performance nights and multiple events organised by the college societies.

 

Feature Image Credits: Saubhagya Saxena for DU Beat.

Sakshi Arora

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Shaurya Thapa

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Kartik Chauhan

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Akshada Shrotriya

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Shivani Dadhwal

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Anushree Joshi

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Jaishree Kumar
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Aman Gupta
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Anoushka Sharma

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