Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi, recently concluded its placement season for the batch of 2014-16. All 210 students who appeared for placements were successfully placed, with 80 companies making offers. The highest overseas CTC (Cost to Company/salary package) offered was of rupees 1.02 crores, and the average CTC rose by 20% from 2015.
The largest recruiters at FMS include EY Consulting, Accenture, Star India and ITC. Several other corporate giants including Microsoft, PepsiCo, Deloitte, KPMG and J.P.Morgan recruit from FMS for sales and marketing roles, consulting and finance.
The Corporate Relations & Placements team at FMS suggests certain pointers to placement cells at undergrad colleges:
Leveraging Alumni Base
All the colleges in Delhi University have a very strong alumni base. FMS, with its 61 year old history, has 200+ CXOs in the industry. By having an active Alumni Relations Society, we are able to help the alumni continue to connect with their alma mater, and they in turn, end up hiring from the vast talent pool of the college.
Multiple Touch Points with Companies
Rather than just having companies over for recruitment activities, we involve them more by having Guest Lectures by Senior Professionals, and Workshops and Competitions for the students. This helps the students to get more acquainted with the company, and the company is also able to gauge the talent pool in multiple ways, before making a decision to come down for placements.
Focused Placement Preparation
We have a world class faculty that makes sure that they cover all aspects of academics leading to Placements. Apart from this, we have content societies for every domain (Marketing, Finance, HR, etc.) which are completely student run. Their purpose is two-fold; they act both as an interest group and a preparation medium, focused mostly on essential knowledge for placements. This helps in reinforcing the students’ concepts and hence maximizes the number that a company hires from our campus.
Inputs from the Media Relations Cell and Corporate Relations & Placements, FMS.
Festivities were the theme of the week at Indraprastha College for Women as the college organised its Annual Production, Reshmi Roomal on 10th of March and its annual cultural fest, Shruti 2016 on 11th and 12th of March. Reshmi Roomal, a women-centric play, addressed the roles of housewives and the household through strong characters like Sulakshana, and Foofi, played by Ashwini Thakur and Kanupriya Agarwal. The play was written by Professor Tripurari Shartha, produced by IP College for Women and directed by Asif Ali.
The inauguration ceremony of Shruti 2016 on 11th saw Alaap, the classical music society of the college open the fest. At Rhapsody, the western group acapella competition, Kamala Nehru College stood first, while the 2nd and 3rd positions were bagged by Lady Shri Ram College and Gargi College respectively. Whacky feet was a befitting finale to the competitive events, with Miranda House bagging the 1st prize. SGGSCC and IIT-D followed. Other competitive events included Taboo by Oghma, The English Editorial Society. Women’s Development Cell organised Stagecraft, a creative enactment competition. A team from Satyawati and Maharaja Agrasen won, while the other positions were bagged by teams from the host college. The day ended with Dhruv Sufi Project taking the stage.
Day 2 began with the street play event Chauraha ’16, while the Indian music society hosted their Annual Indian music fest Ninaad.The 1st position in the Indian Classical choir was bagged by Daulat Ram College followed by Institute of Home Economics and Kamala Nehru College. Sri Venkateswara College won the Folk Dance competition, while Gargi came a close second. 3 a side Basketball, was won by Kirori Mal College and VIPS. The Star Night saw students in the college grounds tapping their feet to Bollywood music by Akhil Sachdeva and his band Nasha.
Nukkad Natak is an integral part of Delhi’s art and culture. It is a medium to communicate knowledge, facts and viewpoints on various social issues to the common man in an entertaining manner. Jazba Theatre Group, the theatre society of Ramanujan College Delhi University has been organising their street play theatre festival- Sagar Nagpal Memorial Nukkad Natak Competition for the past 6 years, providing enthusiastic young artists from various colleges within Delhi University and outside with a platform to showcase their talent and creativity. Every year, Jazba organises this event in the memory of Sagar Nagpal, a former member of Jazba Theatre Group who single handedly held the entire fervor of the team and kept everybody around him happy. Unfortunately, due to medical problems the organization lost him to fate in February 2011. Despite the loss, the group sought to enliven his spirit and best honour his memory through this festival.
This year with the organisation completing 10 successful years, the festival was celebrated with more enthusiasm and grandeur. The atmosphere was a blend of intense passion and high emotions, as the top nukkad teams performed amidst an awestruck audience. Jazba stepped away from the mainstream and invited 30 young children from NGO’s like PVR Nest and Sai Sanrachana instead of any famous personalities as the chief guests for the event.
The winners of the competition are as follows: 1st- Institute of Home Economics 2nd- Shivaji College 3rd- Maharaja Agrasen College
Best Script- Gargi College Best actor- Navdeep (Ramjas College) Best actress- Devika (Gargi College) Aman Saxena Memorial Best Music Award – Maharaja Agrasen College
Gamezop co-founders, Yashash and Gaurav Agarwal, have been selected in Forbes Asia’s 30 Under 30 list. The list recognizes the work of 300 individuals (30 in 10 categories) under the age of 30 from the Asia Pacific.
Yashash, at 20, is in the final semester of his Commerce degree at Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University and the youngest amongst 56 Indians on the list. Other Indians on the prestigious list include sportspersons Virat Kohli, Saina Nehwal, and Sania Mirza and entrepreneurs Ritesh Agarwal (Oyo), Ankita Bhati (Olacabs), and Chinmay Malaviya (Foodpanda).
Forbes Asia stated, “Gamezop just closed $350K in seed funding with global investors, making Yashash one of the youngest in Asia to raise institutional investment.” The Delhi-based company aggregates short and addictive games from around the world, which can be played on a single app and removes the friction of constantly installing and uninstalling individual games. Although Android-only at this point, all of the hundreds of games featured on the Gamezop app are device- and OS-agnostic and can be shared as web links for play on any smartphone, tablet, PC, or Smart TV.
Yashash Agarwal has been in the gaming business for two years now. “Content-light platform plays have been most scalable in the digital consumption space. Popular forms of digital entertainment, such as music or videos, already have platforms that serve as one-stop destinations. However, in gaming one only hears of individual titles. We are building a platform to make gaming reach the inflection point that the others have already witnessed,” he said.
Sri Peddu, MD of Powerhouse Ventures has appreciated the careful selection of the target audience. “India isn’t a mature gaming market and most are still non-gamers who haven’t used gaming consoles. Gamezop with its snackable games is a crisp offering and targets those who would use their smartphones as their first gaming device. It’s a segment that is poised to grow and the founders have the requisite product expertise.”
Gamezop has also been selected to represent India this April at the International Business Model Competition at Redmond, co-hosted by Microsoft, Harvard Business School, and Stanford Graduate School of Business. In May, they will travel to Silicon Valley for the global finals of the TiE International Startup Competition.
Upon being asked if being one of the youngest in the country to raise institutional funding was a challenge, Yashash praised the evolving Indian startup ecosystem that no longer demands several years of experience. “Our focus has been to build a robust product that addresses the genuine problems for users and indie game developers alike. The early results are fabulous and we are glad to be backed by veterans who prioritized that over everything else.”
The first day of Montage- The annual cultural festival of Jesus and Mary College was celebrated on 15th March, 2016. Staying true to their theme- ‘Colors of Life’, the entire college was adorned with handmade decorations which further enhanced all the aesthetics of the campus.
The day kicked off with Tarannum, the Indian music society of JMC organising their annual music festival ‘Raag’ which included both solo and choir performances. The solo competitions were categorized into three sections: Classical, Semi Classical and Light. In the classical solo, the first position was bagged by Sarthak Chatterjee while the second position was claimed by Manya Arora.
Gurbind Singh and Madhulika Pande won the first and second place respectively in Semi classical, whereas in the category of Light, Nandini Sharma of Pandit JLL Government College, Faridabad won the first prize and Shruti Mishra of Kamala Nehru College took home the second. In the Eastern Choir, Hansraj College was given the first position along with Miranda House as second. These musical events were judged by renowned radio music artists, Shreya Sharma and Nainy Kaur.
The main field simultaneously hosted signature compositions of collenge bands in Madrigal, The Battle of Bands. A total number of fifteen teams had participated in the preliminary round, out of which five shortlisted bands competed for the ultimate victory. The sole judge of this event was Roshan Roy, who has now successfully established a band of his own, eventually declared the The Hans Raj Projekt as their winner. Their most popular composition, ‘Kya Kahoon’ seemed to do the trick.
Adaa, the Indian Dance festival was organised by Nrityanjali, the Indian Dance Society of JMC, which involved Classical Solo and Folk Dance competitions. In classical solo, a total number of ten teams participated, where Apoorva of Gargi College won the first place, Aishwariya Verma of Maharaja Agrasen College claimed the second position and Suryansh of Maharaja Agrasen College bagged the third place, along with a consolation given to Tejasvini of Hansraj College.
In the vibrant event of Folk Dance reflecting the rich culture of all the different lands of the nation, Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce’s Bhangra emerged as the winner, while the second position was taken by Sri Venkateswara College. Maitreyi College, Gargi College and Sri Guru Nanak Dev Khalsa College’s folk dance performances were also given a special mention.
The judges of the Indian Dance events were Guru Geetanjali Acharya, an eminent Odissi dancer and Pandit Hermant Pande, a proficient Kathak and folk dancer. Before announcing the results, Guru Geetanjali Acharya admitted that, “It felt like we were watching a national festival. All participants performed exceptionally well, so much indeed, that without the provision of judging a third position, we decided to declare and award a third deserving winner for this event.”
On the other hand, Chimera, the western dance festival of JMC organized a Choreography and Western Dance competition. The event of Choreography was judged by Mr. Sehaj Singh, a well acclaimed choreographer and Mr. Govind, a western dance choreographer and instructor at the Urban Dance Academy. The first place was given to Hans Raj College while the second one was claimed by Kirori Mal College. Lady Shri Ram College for Women was also given a special mention. In the western Dance, Sri Venkateswara College’s Verve bagged the first position whereas IIT Delhi’s V – Defyn stood on the second position and Sri Guru Gobind College of Commerce’s Misba came third. The eastern choir was won by Miranda House, while the team from Hans Raj came second. The day ended with Supersonic DJ Mojojojo playing a mix of popular pop tracks.
Lovleen Kaur
Shagun Marwah
Arushi Pathak
Images by Sahil Chauhan, Hitanksha Jain, Gerush Bahal and Vibhana Kanwar for DU Beat
Aadhar, the street theatre society of Motilal Nehru College recently organised their annual street theatre fest Mukaam 2016. The nukkad natak festival took the centre stage, as huge number of students stepped inside the front lawns of the college to catch a glimpse of the participants.
The ten teams which were screened through a preliminary round conducted on 6th, March 2016, participated in the final event on 15th of March 2016, and the venue was themed on the village “Safdarpur”, the imaginary land of Safdar Hashmi.
The judges of the event were Tanay Yadav, who is both, an ex student and an avid street play performer, the other judge was Ms. Shilpi, who is a faculty of the college.
Shunya, the theatre society of Ramjas College bagged the first position for their production “Kaachu”, followed by Verve, The theatre society of SSCBS for their production “The Black Box “. Kaachu is based on the moral that there should always be a society which leaves space for dissent and new ways of thinking.
Navdeep Maggu from Ramjas College also won the title of the best actor (male) along with Tanya Maniktala from Shivaji College who bagged the best actor (female). “Much like last year, the participation was impressive and I’m very happy with the execution of the fest,” Ankit Kumar, the president of Aadhar told us. He also thanked all the participating teams for performing at the festival. Ishaan Sengupta
ishaans@dubeat.com
With long queues and confusion being a regular affair during fee payment and other monetary transactions, colleges now, are slowly going digital with the process. Mobile Commerce platforms and e-wallet services like Paytm are now entering DU colleges and providing various cashless services for mobile recharge, fee payment, online shopping and much more.
While popular DU colleges like Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies, SRCC and KNC, have already adopted means and methods to make the process of fee payment and canteen facilities cashless, institutions like DTU, NIFT, LPU and IIT -D too are acting as a lucrative play-field for such mobile wallet services. Apart from payment of fees, students are also widely using such apps to buy books, order food, book movie tickets and cabs among a number of other facilities.
On trying to explore the larger idea of utility of such apps, according to an HT Report, Kiran Vasireddy, Senior Vice President at Paytm, said, “What we are fighting is cash transactions and that’s our motto,”.
Overall, the idea of going without paper money by means of mobile commerce apps is receiving a positive response from both students and college authorities and is increasingly being vouched as a great area for easing monetary exchanges.
Caucus, the group discussion forum of Hindu College organised Vaktavya 2016 on the 15th and 16th of March. The two day fest commenced with an interactive session with Dr. Suborno Chatterjee on the topic ‘Giving refuge: The Syrian refugee crisis in Europe’ followed by a book discussion on Khaled Hosseini’s renowned novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns.” The discussion, which was moderated by Nemisha Kawatra and Muhammad Daniyal, the President and General Secretary of Caucus respectively, took an interesting trajectory with the plight of women in areas of conflict, artistic freedom and the change from resistance to terrorism being discussed among other things. The first prize at the end of the discussion was awarded to Nimisha Savapandit and the second prize to Mehtab Kamboj.
The second day started off with a group discussion on the topic ‘Is objectification of women indispensable in the comic verse?’ moderated by Adya, the Vice President of the society. Asis Mansingh was declared the best speaker at the end of the event. This was followed by the final event of the two-day extravaganza, a screening of a short movie, Little Terrorist. The movie followed the story of a 10 year old Pakistani boy named Jamal who accidentally crosses the border between India and Pakistan and finds an unlikely ally in a Hindu Brahmin named Bhola. As Indian soldiers search the village for the so-called terrorist who crossed the border, Bhola’s family insist that they cannot harbor a Pakistani under their roof as a result of which Jamal’s only hope is the humanity that is shared between people separated by this artificial barrier. The movie was followed by the final group discussion of the event where Shreya Parmar emerged as the winner. Provided by Caucus, The Discussion Forum of Hindu College
Vimarsh, the Hindi Debating Society of Sri Venkateswara College held its Annual Debating Fest, Manthan, on 14 March 2016 . The event began with lighting of lamps by Professors Dr Ram Kishor Yadav & Dr Mukul Sharma followed by a conventional debate on the topic, ‘English is the only ladder for success ‘ which saw participation from various colleges of Delhi -NCR. Raghav from ARSD College was adjudged as the best speaker as well as the best interjector by the judges Shubhanshu Kumar and Jyoti Kumar. Gopal & Anurag Singh from Delhi University won the best team award.
A talk show on the topic ‘Moral education is the need of hour’ was organised in which views for and against were discussed by the panelists. The panel included Indian political cartoonist and activist Aseem Trivedi, Indian historian & former JNU Professor Mridula Mukherjee and Dr Punita Sharma, professor, Sri Venkateswara College. Panelists differed on major issues and highlighted their views by chanting slokas, giving examples, citing facts etc. Students too put forward their views in the question answer round.
Famous Bhojpuri Actor, singer & M.P. Manoj Tiwari’s visit was the highlight of the event. He was welcomed by Administrative Officer, Mr Virendra Kumar. The actor shared motivational words with students and also sang some Bhojpuri songs. Principal Mrs P. Hemlata Reddy presented Manoj Tiwari with a memento and expressed her good wishes for Vimarsh. President Anchal Bawa thanked every one for the success of this enriching event which finally brought the curtains down.
By Aakash Pawar, Media Head, Vimarsh Pictures by Aishwariya & Aakash Pawar
Cluster Innovation Centre (CIC) celebrated its annual sports on Friday, 18th March, in the University Stadium. Unlike other colleges where sports are majorly a student affair, in CIC the teachers are in fact a major participants in the events. The day started with the inauguration of the sports day by Dr. Madan Mohan Chaturvedi, Director of CIC. He reiterated the need of sports in the overall well being of a student.
The first event of the day was a football match between the students of B. Tech. and B.A (Hons.). The players of both the teams were cheered by teachers and students of the respective courses. The match was won by the B. Tech. team with a score of 4-3. Siddharth Nandan a student of Humanities said “Loss and win are a part of the game. It’s the game in itself which brings us closer.”
The next event that followed was a throw ball match between the female teachers and students’ team. The game was won by teachers with a match point of 2-0. This was followed by the most popular game of the subcontinent- Cricket. The match was played between the team of students and the team of teachers and non-teaching staff and saw a lot of sixes, fours and wickets too. The students won the toss and chose to bat. They put up a huge score of 131 in just 10 overs for the teachers to chase. The teachers tried their best but couldn’t chase the total. The match was won by the students’ team by 51 runs. Kumar Gandharv Mishra, a student of Masters of Mathematical Education (MME) was one of the star players of the event who took 2 wickets in the same over.
The long rally of games then came to a pause when students departed for lunch. After lunch the students, teachers and non-teaching staff gathered for the event of Musical Chair. The event was won by Raja Pandit of MME.
The sports day ended with a group of photograph of teachers, students and non-teaching staff to mark the uniqueness of the day. It was a day when students and teachers came closer to each other breaking the academic hierarchies and fulfilling the tagline of CIC which reads evolving senses, dissolving boundaries.
With only his bike and a tent, Keshav Kumar will travel approximately 6100 kilometres and visit 13 states and 174 cities in 15 days to answer questions about women’s empowerment.
Keshav Kumar is a 3rd year student from Kirori Mal College, Delhi University, studying Geography (H). He is clearly not one of those who are content with reading the topography of the country in textbooks as he has been travelling alone to different parts of the country since two and a half years. He organises trips in his college as well but these are the only trips he takes with a group. He loves to travel alone and when asked why, he gleamingly said, “Because, it gives me peace.”
Very recently, he has taken up a venture which is not only a means to escape the mundane routine of college life but serves a greater purpose. He’ll embark on a journey along the golden quadrilateral where he’ll cover approximately 6100 kilometres and visit 13 states and 174 cities in 15 days. His only companions will be the bike and his make-shift abode, the tent.
Through this trip, he seeks to find answers to questions which are very often avoided or are left unanswered in our society. These questions are mainly about women’s safety and empowerment. Keshav will be visiting 20 different colleges ranging from the various IITs to IIMs where he’ll hold sessions with the youth and raise questions in front of them about how should a woman tackle her harasser, is blocking the oppressor the only solution to telephonic or digital harassment etc. He says, “We often believe that the problem we are going through is limited to us and we then hesitate to share it with anyone else. This means no solution can be arrived at. This has to change. So, with these sessions, a common platform can be forged where the youth can realise that we all go through the same hell and solutions can thought of for the betterment of everyone.” He believes in the power of individual stories and is expecting a positive change to come from these sessions.
Keshav also gives advice to the people who wish to travel alone but don’t know where to start. He says, “It is all about daring, about taking that first step.” He tells us that his first trip was to Rishikesh which was not at all planned and was an impulsive decision. But he knows if he wouldn’t have taken this decision, he’d never be able to do what he is doing presently. So, if you really love travelling, go and make way for yourself.
Confluence’16, the annual cultural festival of Hans Raj College in collaboration with Youth Nexus hosted a few non competitive and competitive events on Day 2.
The day started with a corporate discussion session by KPMG.This was followed by a talent show which was judged by Mr Aditya Dogra from Hindustan Times and Mr Kanchan Tomar. Pushkar Chauhan and Asma from Hans Raj college who won the talent show were declared Rajnigandha Mr and Miss Pearls. Pushkar Chauhan the winner, who had acted out a monologue said, “I am going to start my acting career with the prize money I have won today”.
This was followed Numero Uno Model Hunt. The winners, Shristhi from JDMC , Shubham from Dyal Singh College and Sanjeev from Manav Rachna International University are going to present Numero Uno’s spring summer collection in HTYM Fashion Show and will also get a personal professional photoshoot.
A western solo dance competition was also organised by Oorja, The Western Group Dance Society of Hans Raj College. Manpreet Singh from SOL won and Vidhi Maheshwari from Hansraj College stood second in the competition.
A fashion show, Lava Stoppers was also organised in the competitive category of events. I Vogue, the fashion society of Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce was declared the winner while Dyal Singh College’s fashion society was declared the runner up.
DJ Ajay Nautiyal opened the evening to dance with his music. He was followed by Electro Sufi: Shahid Maliya with DJ ARKANE. Rain tried to interrupt their performance in vain. Rain, in fact added to the evening full of music which ended with DJ Suketu playing remixes of songs like ‘Sooraj Dooba Hai’ ‘Tu Meri’ and ‘Give Me Everything’
Electro Sufi continued the show despite the rain
Tooba Towfiq
Kartikeya Bhatotia
Arindam Goswami
Srivedant kar
Images by Paurush Bhardwaj, Alex Arthur, Jasmine Chahal, Hitanksha Jain and Vegh Daswani for DU Beat
Delhi University Students’ Union President Satender Awana’s name has been mentioned along with that of other family members in an FIR filed by a woman with the Noida police on March 12. The woman has accused the Awana family of harassment over dowry, molestation and attempt to murder and has filed the FIR against her husband, Mohit Awana, and her in laws. Satender Awana has been named in the FIR as one of her brothers-in-law. The accused have not been arrested and the case has been sent for mediation, as is customary in dowry disputes, according to The Hindu.
The complainant has alleged that, the Awana family had harassed and assaulted her over not complying with their additional dowry demands, though their initial demands for money and a car were met by her family.
Satender Awana, a leader of the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarathi Parishad, informed the media that he is not related to the woman who filed the FIR, though he knows the family as members of his village in Noida. The family dispute has been raging since Mohit Awana was married to her in May last year. The police have also been unable to establish Satender as one of the brothers-in-law of the complainant.
Awana has said that he will file a defamation case against the complainant on grounds of trying to tarnish the image and reputation of himself and his family. In a statement to the media, Awana said, “People who know my family and myself are familiar with our character and lifestyle. These allegations are baseless and fictitious, and the truth of the matter will be proved in court.”
Students’ organisations like the All India Students’ Association have raised the demand for Awana’s resignation from the post of DUSU President. In retaliation, Awana questioned such a demand on the grounds that these demands were not raised against Kanhaiya Kumar who faced charges of sedition. However, he agreed to step down if the allegations were proved.
Awana has earlier made controversial statements, such as threatening to “shoot down the traitors in JNU” who allegedly raised anti-India slogans. He was also accused of misbehaving with two journalists who were conducting a survey on sexual consent on Delhi University’s North Campus.
Day 3 of Confluence’16 was a rich synergy of various cultural events. It constituted various events along with those by HT City Youth Nexus and a North Eastern Festival by NE cell of Hans Raj College.
The day started with a western group dance competition organised by Oorja, The Western Group Dance society of Hansraj college. Fifteen teams participated in the competition which was judged by Tanya Suri,a professional jazz dancer, Anmol Jamwal and Mohit Raj Thapa. After an entertaining session of exhilarating performances, Misba The Western Dance society of Sri Guru Gobind College of Commerce won the first place in the competition. Tanz, Miranda House stood second.
Misba from Shri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce won the western dance competition while Tanz from Miranda House emerged as runner ups | Image by Vegh Daswani for DU Beat
A street play competition was also organised by HT City Youth Nexus. It was judged by Ajit Kumar and Ankita Chauhan. Navrang The Hindi Dramatic Society of Institute of Home Economics who won the competition had performed ‘Na Idhar Ka Na Udhar ka’ a play based on the problems of middle class. Ijaad from PGDAV evening performed ‘ Panch sitambar’ and were declared the runners up.
This was followed by a North East Festival organised by the North East Cell of Hans Raj College. The event show cased the culture of not only the North Eastern states of India but included Ladakh and Tibet. Students performed Bihu, Manipuri dance and various group songs such as those by the students from Tibet. A fashion walk was also conducted as a part of the NE festival.
Immediately after the NE fest, fans started pouring in huge numbers for a guest appearance of Honey Singh for the promotions of his upcoming movie, Zorawar which is due to release on 6th May. The humongous crowd went hullabaloo when the singer sung some of his famous songs. Though the crowd created trouble, Hansraj Student’s Union managed the situation well.
Indian ocean, as a part of Coke Studio also performed at Confluence’16 in association with HT Youth Nexus.
They closed the three day eventful festivity with some soulful music. The Students Union of Hansraj College was thanked and praised by the team of HT City Youth Nexus and Indian Ocean.
Rahul Ram plays with his band Indian Ocean to close Confluence’16 | Image by Prateek Singh for DU Beat
Tooba Towfiq
Srivedant Kar
Arindam Goswami
Images by Jasmine Chahal, Vegh Daswani, Prateek Singh and Paurush Bhardwaj for DU Beat
History Department of Bharati College held its annual festival Pravah on 17th and 18th March, 2016 and ca. The festival was declared open by the Prinicpal, Dr. Kanta Bhatia. The inaugural lecture was delivered by Dr. Devesh Vijay, Associate Professor in History at Zakir Hussein College and an ex-fellow, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi. He gave an illustrated talk on the ‘Rise of Democracy in Britain’.
A total of four competitive events took place in the two-day festival. The first one was ‘Words of Wisdom: Enactment of speeches from famous personalities from the past’. Seventeen contestants in this unique event, introduced for the first time by Bharati College, enacted among others the 1945 Rangoon address by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose; 1893 Chicago address by Swami Vivekananda; 30th October, 1984, Bhubaneshwar address by late Smt. Indira Gandhi; 21st September 1995 Beijing address by Hillary Clinton; 28th August 1963 ‘I have a dream’ speech by Martin Luther King; the 1776 American Revolution address by Sir Peter Henry and Rome’s Mark Antony’s speech on Caesar’s death. The first prize went to Ms. Aakanksha from Daulat Ram College who enacted Swami Vivekananda’s Chicago address. Second and third prizes were won by Ms. Harsha and Ms. Khushboo, both from Bharati College.
It was followed by a photo exhibition of pictures received online on the theme of ‘Chatori Dilli’ – the food streets of Delhi. The first prize went to Mr. Nitish from Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies while second and third prize went to Ms. Preeti Jayaswal and Ms. Ayushi of Bharati College.
The third event was a History Quiz on the theme ‘Where it happened: Plassey to Partition’. In this eighteen teams participated and six qualified for the buzzer round. The first prize went to the team comprising Mr. Vishal from Maharaja Agrasen College and Mr. Durgesh from Dayal Singh College. The second prize went to Mr. Sukesh and Mr. Santosh from PGDAV College while the third went to Mr. Abhijeet from Hansaraj College and Mr. Rajat from Ramjas College.
On the second day, the event was ‘Wattan ki Raah Mein’ solo/duet songs devoted to India’s freedom and nation building. Here the first prize went to Ms. Anjani of Bharati College who sang the inspiring song ‘Jawano so chuke jaago, utho taiyyar ho jao. Wattan pe katni marne ke liye taiyyar ho jao’. The second prize went to Ms. Sushila and Ms. Komal of Bharati College who sang a duet while the third prize went to Ms. Aakanksha of Daulat Ram College.
The festival was managed by office-bearers of History Society and volunteers from the department dressed in maroon t-shirts with History departmental logo. The festival concluded with the screening of the film ‘Airlift’. The festival was conducted under the supervision of teacher-in-charge, Dr. Shakti Madhok, with active support of the departmental faculty and technical staff of the college.
In a notice against farmer leaders, actor Deep Sidhu mentioned in FIR that District Magistrate, senior administrative officers and senior police officers have made complete preparations to vacate farmers’ dharna site.
In a major development on Thursday morning, the Delhi Police issued a notice to 20 farmers leaders including Yogendra Yadav, Balbir S Rajewal with regard to the violence that erupted during the tractor rally. The Police have asked these leaders to reply within three days. A handful of farmer leaders have also been named in the 25-plus cases filed by the police since Tuesday evening. The cases will be probed by a special investigation team. Their passports too will be seized to prevent them from travelling abroad. The protesting farmers continue to argue that the erupted violence was a result of ‘anti-social’ elements in the march.
With Delhi and surrounding regions witnessing violence on Republic Day (January 26) during the tractor rally of the farmers who have been protesting against the Centre’s farm laws for over two months, farmer groups said on Wednesday that they cancelled their Budget Day (February 1) march to the parliament. They said that the protests against the laws would go on, adding that hunger strikes and public meetings would be held across India on January 30.
Nineteen people have been arrested in connection with the violence in which 394 police personnel have been injured, according to the Delhi Police. Fifty people have been detained and are being questioned. Action has been taken against 300-odd Twitter accounts since Tuesday. The Delhi Police said they have acted promptly on “intelligence inputs.”
Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava said on Wednesday that 19 people had been arrested so far and more than 25 criminal cases were registered. He also added, “No culprit will be spared. 19 accused have been arrested and 50 people have been detained. They are being questioned.”
Several teams of Delhi Police’s special cell or anti-terror unit are scanning through footage of violence at the iconic fort complex to identify those who hoisted the flag there. Actor-activist Deep Sidhu, whom farmers have accused of being responsible for the unprecedented violence during the Republic Day tractor rally, has been named in a case filed by the Delhi Police, sources told the NDTV.
It has now emerged that earlier this month, the police had registered a case against the banned US-based organisation, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and other sections of the law, including sedition. During farmers’ agitation, the outfit had given a call for hoisting their flag at Red Fort. Sikhs for Justice had also announced a reward for the person who would hoist their flag at Red Fort, the police said.
The Union Minister Mr. Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday denounced the violence in the capital, saying, “Action should be taken against all of those who instigated others. India won’t tolerate the manner in which the Tricolour was insulted at the Red Fort,” also targeting the Congress by stating, “The Congress wants to create a situation of unrest in the country.”
Congress’s Ghulam Nabi Azad said, “a sum total of 16 opposition parties have demanded a probe into the centre’s role the violence. Opposition parties, which tried to block the farm bills in parliament, had requested President Ram Nath Kovind not to sign on the bills. The bills, they had said, were passed in the Rajya Sabha in an undemocratic manner. The President, however, had given his assent to all three bills.”
Meanwhile BKU leader, Rakesh Tikait, against whom an FIR has been filed over the Republic Day tractor rally violence, has been served a legal notice to surrender before the Ghaziabad administration. Earlier today, Tikait probed why the Delhi Police did not open fire to stop protesters from breaking into the Red Fort and hoisting a religious flag there.
On the matter of Deep Sidhu, whom he claims to be the instigator of the chaos, said, “Who was the person who maligned an entire community and organisation?”
#WATCH: Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) spokesperson Rakesh Tikait says that the violence that occurred on 26th January was a conspiracy to malign the farmer unions & distance Punjab from the rest of the country. (27.01.2021) pic.twitter.com/SMJH3hq37j
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation on Thursday specified that the entry and exit gates of Lal Quila and Jama Masjid metro stations had been opened adding that all stations were open and normal services were resumed on all lines. Also, the Delhi Traffic Police announced that the route connecting Delhi and Ghaziabad has been opened.
Delhi: Normal traffic movement seen on NH-24.
"NH-24, route connecting Delhi with Ghaziabad has been opened," said Delhi Traffic Police pic.twitter.com/HmMBJRYA4l
The administration of Haryana extends the suspension of mobile internet and telecom Services in three Districts till Friday 5 P.M; mainly in Sonipat, Jhajjar and Palwal.
The Uttar Pradesh Police said on Wednesday that the post-mortem of the protesting farmer who died during the tractor march in central Delhi on Republic Day showed that he died of injuries sustained when his tractor overturned. Avinash Chandra, Additional Director General of Police (ADG) Bareilly in Rampur, UP, told news agency ANI, “Yesterday night, three senior doctors conducted the post-mortem and it did not show bullet injury. He succumbed to the antemortem injuries which he received after his tractor turned turtle as seen in the viral video. The last rights of the deceased were conducted in a peaceful way at his village.”
With the Dean of Student Welfare issuing a Statement of Purpose for resuming physical practical classes, multiple colleges across the varsity are set to reopen from next week.
Shri Ram College of Commerce announced the commencement of lab/practical classes in the physical mode for first and fourth-semester BCom (Hons.) students from the 1st of February, 2021. Kirori Mal College has also announced the same from the 2nd of February, 2021. This is in line with the University’s Dean of Student Welfare’s Statement of Purpose regarding the modalities of reopening colleges.
The students will be allowed to attend college for Practical/Laboratory work once a week after prior intimation to the respective subject teacher. The theory classes remain online with the same schedule. The students who wish to attend the classes need to wear masks and follow proper social distancing guidelines issued by the Government of India.
As excited as we all are to get back to college, there is a fundamental issue with respect to accommodation in Delhi. Moreover, with the vaccination drive ongoing, there are still apprehensions. Physical practical classes by the next semester make much more sense.
– Uswa Zehra, a second-year B.Com. Hons. student at Shri Ram College of Commerce from Jammu and Kashmir
Even for the students from Delhi, there is still an environment of doubt and uncertainty with respect to offline classes. Given the safety and security net provided by online classes, it seems like the most rational choice at the moment. Colleges have been extremely clear that the practical classes are optional and largely for those who reside in Delhi. Moreover, the system is voluntary and based on the initiative of the students.
We are discussing the modalities. Outstation students are a concern as they may require hostels, and we are currently figuring out how that can be facilitated. We are also planning to arrange for some sort of testing facilities for incoming students to ensure the health and safety of our stakeholders is not at risk. If the [Covid-19] situation is better by April-May, we can begin the next semester in physical mode.
Balaram Pani, Principal of Bhaskaracharya College of Applied Sciences and Official Spokesperson of the University as reported by Hindustan Times
With the start of practical classes, the reopening for theory classes still seems like a far-throw. Only the coming time will tell how the reopening pans out.
AISA, joined by students and professors of DU, called for a ‘University on Streets’ protest demanding the resumption of offline classes.
28th January 2021 witnessed teachers and students in association with the All India Students’ Association (AISA) raising slogans to conduct a ‘University on Streets’ protest at Faculty of Arts, North Campus, University of Delhi. The protest with speakers Dr. Laxman Yadav and Dr. Jitendra Meena is aimed against the digital divide caused due to digital mode of education and demands for immediate reopening of Delhi University campus.
While Dr. Laxman Yadav regrets the inherent inequality as the aftermath of the online system, saying, “this system has been devastating for the Dalits, Adivasis, labourers and women of the country!”, Dr. Jitendra Meena cites what he believes to be the real reason behind closed campuses, saying, “The BJP government is scared of free thought and protest of students and it feels comfortable in keeping our campus closed”. Students also talked about their dreadful experiences with online education. Geetika Bindra and Saumya Sagarika of Sri Aurobindo College and Ramjas College respectively, highlighted the struggles of female students, whereas Jayant Raghav, a visually impaired student of RLA College, spoke of the difficulties being faced by the students belonging to PwD category.
AISA takes a strong stand in the situation and claims that if the Government and the administration keep adamant on the closed campus, students shall come forward to reclaim it themselves. They further issued a press release stating that AISA shall continue the fight for reopening of campuses until education becomes accessible to the last individual of the country.
The government has re-opened everything of leisure ranging from cinemas to bars but still Delhi university is in a state of lockdown , furthermore the university has failed in providing even basic faculties like laptops or e-reading material to the students in need this is nothing but creation of digital divide among students, in response to this AISA organised – university on street and conducted classes outside arts faculty gate to mark our protest against digital divide and to demand immediate re-opening of Delhi University with SOP along with other demands.
– Manik Gupta (VP AISA, DU) from RLA College, University of Delhi
‘University on Streets’ concluded with a poem of Savitri Bai Phule recited by Shreya from IPCW, DU, and a resolution by AISA to struggle for accessible education to all sections of the society.
Physical attendance of teachers required from February 1st; small batches of students allowed for practical related work.
On Friday, January 29th, the Registrar University of Delhi issued an order in reference to the meeting held with the Heads of the Departments of the University and Principals of colleges, in compliance of the corresponding orders with the respective Ministries, notifying that all Colleges, Centres and Departments shall be functional, further implying that all teaching staff of the respective institutions must attend to their workplace with effect from 1st February 2021.
The order also specifies that only final year students, though in small sets, are allowed to visit their respective Centres for laboratory, practical, skill or library-related activities, as per the discretion of their respective Head of the Institution corresponding with the respective UGC guidelines.
The notice also stipulates that the guild lines issued by the respective institutions offering programmes with the endorsement of the Statutory Authorities should be followed in entirety.
Previously, the Shri Ram College of Commerce and the Kirori Mal College announced the commencement of practical related work in physical mode, in line with the University’s Dean of Student Welfare’s Statement of Purpose, apropos the modes of the phased reopening of the colleges.
With the commencement of practical related work in physical mode and the mandatory physical attendance of the respective teaching staff, further strengthens the ‘phased reopening’ theory. There had been a lot of buzz regarding the reopening of colleges and students especially from far-off regions were anxious about this reopening. Permission from parents and guardians still remains an issue for may students in deciding whether or not they will be able to rejoin. However, the impending time and magnitude of the situations would tell how the phased reopening emanates out.
Navreet Singh, a 25-year-old farmer from Uttar Pradesh, unfortunately died during the farmers’ rally in Delhi on 26th January. His death invites a series of fiery debates: did he die due to the overturning of a tractor or was he shot?
Trigger Warning: death
Tens of thousands of farmers have been camped on the outskirts of Delhi for over two months to demand the withdrawal of the three new farm laws. On Tuesday, a tractor parade of farmers, that was to coincide with Republic Day celebrations, turned into a horrendous pandemonium when some farmers diverged from agreed routes, and broke through barricades. The situation escalated when the police responded by using tear gas and batons on the protestors. The Delhi Police claimed 394 of its officers to be injured across the city.
While the count of injured protestors is yet not clear, the death of one farmer has been made certain. On one hand, the Delhi Police claims that the farmer had died in an accident. Yet, the protestors insist that the fellow farmer was shot. The deceased has been identified as Navreet Singh, a 24-year-old from Western Uttar Pradesh. A 2 am autopsy on January 27, from the District Hospital, Rampur, concluded that the protester had died because of “shock and haemorrhage as a result of antemortem head injury” which has also been consistent with the Delhi Police’s explanation.
The report, which a police source read out to The Print, does not mention any bullet injury or any exit wound that would indicate the farmer was shot. An X-ray too did not show any bullet inside the body. According to the report, the deceased sustained a total of six injuries, including lacerated wounds to his right eyebrow and chin, a contusion on his right nipple, abrasions on his left leg and knee joint and injuries on his skull. Lacerated wounds are caused when a person either has an accident or is beaten up by a “blunt object”. Contusions are black and blue bruises that are sustained if a person is hit forcefully. Abrasions are caused when a person is dragged against a hard surface. The lacerated wound and traumatic injury above the left side of his skull is what led to his death, the report concluded.
A video that went viral, and was also shared with reporters by the police, shows Singh’s blue tractor, moving with speed, hit barricades and overturned. Policemen can be seen standing nearby. The police said, “The tractor is at high speed. It rams into the barricades, breaking them and overturns. In fact, policemen who are standing on duty run to see if the driver is safe. The police did not resort to any firing as being claimed by the protestors, which is very clear in this video…Moreover, no tear gas was also lobbed here at this time.”
CCTV footage showing how the farmer who died actually rammed his tractor with the police barricades with force upon which the tractor overturned and got crushed under it. This is so tragic and sad. Who were those leaders provoking tractors to break police cordon by force? (1/2) pic.twitter.com/NGBX11LbIq
However, the eyewitnesses of this event, Harmanjit Singh and Balwinder Singh, both farmers from Uttar Pradesh, spoke to the Caravan. They said that they had come to central Delhi’s ITO area with Navreet Singh from the ongoing sit-in protest at the Ghazipur border. Harmanjit and Balwinder said that Navreet was driving his tractor down Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg in the capital, when the police shot at him, killing him instantly, and causing his tractor to overturn. Pointing to the grills along the boundary wall of the building next to the spot where Navreet died, Balwinder said, “Some policemen came from that side—three or four of them were there—they fired.” Harmanjit, too, accused the police of killing Navreet Singh.
Minutes after the accident, Journalist @priyanktripathi & video-journalist @Himanshu_Delhi captured this video where overturned tractor & driver can be seen clearly. Hope propaganda warriors will end fake narrative around the death. Rest In Peace to the one who sadly died. (2/2) pic.twitter.com/t8P47ISvdU
As recounted by The Caravan in a report, for half an hour or so, the farmers unsuccessfully attempted to see the CCTV footage in front of the police officer. A technician was called, but he could not figure out how to play the footage either. Then, a force of around twenty officials—all dressed in riot gear—entered the AES from the rear entrance. They were led by HSP Singh, the additional commissioner of police for the Tilak Nagar division. The ACP waited outside the building, while the other police officials went down to the basement room. From the outset, this police posse was aggressive in its approach and demeanour. They marched down to the basement and shoved the farmers out of the room, grabbing one of them by the collar and shaking him. One of the policemen removed the hard disk containing the CCTV footage, placed it within his chest shield, and walked out. Everyone else followed him.
Referring to the first injury recorded in the report, the experts told The Caravan said that “margins are inverted when the force is from outside to inside,” so it “could also be the firearm entry wound.” According to the expert, the second injury could also be a bullet wound. “The thing that corresponds is that both the injuries are of the same size, 2x1cm, both have inverted margins, both are bone deep,” the forensic expert explained. “So, this could probably be by the same weapon, or firearm … distant firearm.”
According to a forensic expert, the only possible explanation for the injuries recorded in the post-mortem is that Navreet Singh was shot. (Source: The Caravan Magazine)
The forensic experts offer one more insight as per The Caravan for these injuries. “See, if somebody is hit on the floor or road, or tractor, or trolley, or tire, or anything, it will not be the same,” the expert responded. “It will not have that beautifully explained inverted margins, it would have been a wide wound. They have not recorded grazed abrasions anywhere, which would suggest a sliding fall on the road.” The fourth injury recorded in the report is another lacerated wound “of size 6x3cm over the right ear” whose “margins are irregular and everted.” The report records “ear ossicles and brain matter coming out” of this wound. “Everted means force is from in to out,” the forensic expert said. “The ear ossicles are two to three centimetres below the external circle of the head, towards the brain. It is impossible to drag them out, unless the force is coming from inside to outside. So that could be a projectile thing—it could be a firearm, it could be a bullet.”
The Delhi Police has denied the allegations of the eyewitnesses, the family and other claims. Jasmeet Singh, the deputy commissioner of police for Delhi’s central district, told the media that “no bullet was fired.” Referring to the post-mortem report, the DCP said that it “clearly states the cause of death.” Despite repeated requests, he refused to answer queries pertaining to the details of the incident.
