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Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology, a leading engineering college in New Delhi and currently a part of Delhi University, has now been granted the status of a university and would be called NSIT University, Delhi. The Cabinet meeting which was presided over by the Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, gave its approval to upgrade NSIT into a university. Dikshit said “NSIT, which has emerged as a premier technological institute for education and research in the area of engineering and technology and has carved a niche for itself nationally and internationally.”

She further added that the upgradation shall improve the standard of education of students and boost up the quality of students. It has been agreed by the Delhi Government as well as the Board of Governors of NSIT that in the process of transformation of NSIT into a State university, the name ‘NSIT’ would remain intact thereby maintaining a brand linkage with the past.

Presently, the institute is affiliated to University of Delhi for its academic programmes. The institute has at present six under-graduate programmes in the areas of technologies and three post-graduate programmes for M-tech degrees along with research programmes for PHD degrees in all engineering disciplines and applied sciences.

At the very foundation of NSIT, which was formally known as Delhi Institute of Technology (DIT) in 1983, it was envisaged that the institute would eventually aim for becoming a university. It was granted administrative autonomy in 1986 with the direction to keep in mind the long-term goal of achieving the status of a university. The institute applied for the grant of Deemed-University status earlier also, However, Delhi Government was at that time not willing to sacrifice 85% reservation of seats for Delhi students and thus the idea was shelved. But in the recent times the Delhi government has granted university status to many institutes like DTU, IIIT, Ambedkar, G.G.S. IP University and IGIT and now NSIT being a new addition to the list, the government is aiming to make Delhi an educational hub.

However students differ with the government’s decision on many fronts. Many students have shown their discontent by writing mails, meeting government and principal.

Kushal Sagar, one of the student of NSIT apprises that NSIT is not ready for such transformation as it lacks infrastructure. It has been said that the funding given to the institute as a state university would improve and hence the for infrastructural growth will increase but in recent past we have had sufficient funds available for the betterment of our infrastructure but they haven’t been put up to any good use till now. He further added that another blow for the students is the loss of brand value of DU, on which they used to bank upon while applying to foreign universities. This transformation will too have a bearing upon the placements as central universities are given more preference over state universities.

The students also fear that with the introduction of Meta courses and four year degree courses in DU, the quality of students shall deteriorate and they will face more stiff competition from the new changes occurring in the field of science in DU.

The students are of the view that they would have welcomed the change if NSIT would have been upgraded to an NIT or IIT, thereby maintaining the central character and retaining the tag of an ?Institute of National Importance while achieving full autonomy or  the complete control could be passed on to Delhi University.

Some people say that this move was initiated by the government just because the government wants to project to the common man that during their tenure, they have established a number of universities and thus, disregarding the quality they are targeting only on the quantity to gain vote bank. The conversion would result in recruitment of faculty, administrative staff and students on the basis of donation and approach. University will be under the influence of local MLAs and MPs which will lead to deterioration in the quality of education.

Colloquium, the fest of NSIT, Dwarka saw on its third day not many spectators, but interesting competitions such as these: Crack the Case was a case-study based competition. First case was uploaded online and out of the thirty entries, ten were selected for the final round. For the final round, ‘The Galilean Canvas’ was given a fictitious case of marketing Galileo’s telescope. The teams were given two hours of prep time during which they had to come up with a high potential but simplistic design and construction. They were to use PPT, bearing in mind the pros and cons and cost effectiveness of the whole process. The winners were:

  1. SSCBS (Rs. 10000)
  2. Delhi School of Economics (Rs. 4000)
The judges were Shruti Jain and Vrinda Aggarwal (both LSR pass-outs), Ministry of Finance. Newshour Debate had a GD as a preliminary round with the topic, Slow and Steady Wins the Race. It was judged by Kunal Singh, an NSIT alumnus. The final round was a Panel Discussion and the topic was, whether Sanjay Dutt’s mercy plea be accepted. The four participants were given the roles of Justice Markandey Katju, Rajkumar Hirani, Subramaniam Swamy and Salman Khusrshid. It was won by:
  1. Anirudh Mittal, SSCBS (Rs.1000)
  2. Anupama Sabu, Gargi College (Rs. 500)
Judgment Day was the last event of the day and was a very interesting one. In the first round, the contestants were given characters such as Mussolini, Hitler, and Mary Antoinette etc. and were briefed about them. The participants were given 3 minutes of preparation time, after which they had to convince the audience as to why shouldn’t they be doomed and sent to hell. Five people went to the second round, which was much better and entertaining because the characters were taken from fiction, like Dolores Umbridge, Bellatrix and Sauron etc. This was also judged by Kunal Singh. The winners were: 1. Anugrah Gopinath (Rs. 1000) 2. Dhruv Sisodia, NSIT (Rs. 500)]]>

Day Two of NSIT Debating Festival, Colloquium 2013, was a silent affair if one goes by the façade of the building, yet the appearance was clearly deceptive because behind those walls lay the ground reality. The day witnessed the simultaneous conduction of NSIT MUN’13 and for the first time at the collegiate level, Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC). Before the start of the sessions, students, attired in formals, were engaged in animated political conversations and last minute doubt clarifications in a smart move to get to know one another. JPC session commenced with a formal welcome to Smt. Sharada Subramaniam, Join Secretary, Rajya Sabha, who presided over the session, following which Ms. Subramaniam introduced JPC to the apprentice leaders. The first agenda on the floor was “Direct Cash Transfer Scheme.” On the agenda, the Executives gave their opening statements that triggered a streak of questions by the members of the legislatures. The deliberations went ceremonially, though now and then, impeded by the temporary break of decorum that could be safely blamed on the intensity of right and not-so-right arguments pouring in from all directions. NSIT MUN Conference comprised of four committees and the agendas ranged from the outstanding dispute between Israel and Palestine to rebuttal of facebook’s niceties. The participants, new to Model United Nations forum, were well guided under the aegis of the executive board. Numerous constructive measures to the problems were proposed, many arguments were refuted, and many statements were followed by banging of hands on tables as appreciation for points well made. By and large, the Secretariat was not wrong when he said that The MUN is going to be “Something they’ll surely remember…” Picture Credits: www.facebook.com Shreya Bhardwaj [email protected]]]>

While reckoning the grandeur displayed by lustrous posters donning the NSIT campus, I seldom pondered upon the impact that a debating fest might have on me. Colloquium, the first ever debating festival organized by NSIT College, kick started its first day with a stimulating panel discussion with eminent guests who had the faith to write the scripts of their own lives. The luminaries included renowned authors, Ashwin Sanghi and Ira Trivedi, the versatile dancer and activist Mallika Sarabhai and the erudite social scientist and political ecologist, Dunu Roy. The event was host to immense motivation that stirred through the air, as each panelist unraveled the story of their dreams and destiny. As rightly worded by the host college, the life stories of these luminaries fit the saying, “square pegs in round holes” as copiously as it could. Each one of the panelists inspired the audience to carve out the best in themselves and have the fortitude and courage to pursue their passion. The panel discussion addressed many questions in the students’ best interest, like whether the Indian education system cripples or enables the youth to follow their dreams, what the role of a mentor is in every individual’s life, why reasoning is essentially important, and how one needs to balance the weights of societal pressure and one’s true passion. It evoked statements like, “Even the greatest equations have unknown variables”, by Ashwin Sanghi, which inspired each in his audience. The next event was a conventional debate on the motion ‘This house is a frozen fire’, exposed to interpretation by the participants. There were in all twelve participating teams which included colleges like Hansraj, LSR, SSTB Khalsa and more. Worthy arguments sprung up during the course of this debate, battling to justify their interpretation of the topic. Some of them drew analogy of this motion to patriarchy and critiqued polarisation of sorts, others drew parallel to human emotions. The best team was awarded to LSR represented by Vanshika and Mayanka. The Best speakers were Parash from Hansraj and Isha from DTU. The best interjector was awarded to Divya from Venkateshwar International School. Poornima Kharbanda [email protected]]]>

They came. They saw. They conquered. And they’re at it again.

Netaji Subhash Institute of Technology or NSIT, one of India’s finest technical institutions and the only engineering college under the DU purview is once again sending a group of proud, talented and thrilled young debaters to the prestigious Harvard National Model United Nations this year. This is the third year in a row that NSIT is sending an entire delegation of budding diplomats to this esteemed platform of world debating.

Model United Nations or MUNs are a simulation of the actual working of the United Nations Organization- students get together in the form of various committees such as the General Assembly or the Economic and Social Council, represent a particular member nation of the UN, and work towards finding diplomatic solutions to some of the critical issues that the world faces today.

After solidifying their place in the MUNing sphere, whether it be by hosting the widely acclaimed and hugely successful first edition of their very own MUN last year or by taking Indian MUNing to new heights by performing spectacularly at a platform as prestigious as Harvard- the ‘techies’ from NSIT have truly done it all. The previous two delegations impressed immeasurably: NSIT was accorded the status of being among the top 20 teams visiting Harvard for the 2011 version of their mammoth event. Stellar performances in the past with students getting recognized for clarity of thought, knowledge of the diplomatic craft and solid preparation have laid the foundation for this team turning from then being India’s only representatives at that platform to now being underdogs no more- they don’t just want to go- they want to win.

“HNMUN is the zenith of competition in this particular form of debating. The opportunity is priceless. The fact that we have a group of people who have been active debaters throughout school as well as college, and having the invaluable guidance from seniors who’ve already been there gives us great confidence for the event”, says Daksh Sharma, a first- year B.E. student who has been chosen to be part of the delegation.

The experience that the previous delegation amassed is being put to definitive, ambitious use: preparations are on at a feverish pace, may it be intensive training sessions, team simulations of how the actual conference will be or the collective hours upon hours of research being carried out, the NSITians are leaving no stones unturned.

The students will be representing Afghanistan at the forum, something that they believe will be of great advantage. ”It’s a nation that has great relevance with respect to a vast range of social issues, whether economic or even military, implying that the delegation will be under great scrutiny throughout the event. This gives us an added advantage as far as the competitive aspect of things is concerned”, says Shifali Gupta, a fourth-year B.E. student also, head delegate for this year.

With an already established MUNing culture in DU which is clearly growing by leaps and bounds, great things are expected from this group of young enthusiasts from NSIT. The experience of two years, the effort of countless hours, the pride of competing at the highest platform- one can almost hear the resounding clarion call-Harvard Ho!