EDUCATION

CAMPUS
After the results, the quest starts for the dream college
Gaurav Choudhury

WITH euphoria and disappointment of Class XII results settling down, the larger question of career choice is now dominating the students who, along with their parents, have got down to the more serious business of getting into the right college.

The university authorities have already started an elaborate preparation to make the job easier for the admission-seekers. The forms will be available from June 5, with the last date of submission of forms being June 19. The first admission will be put out on June 26.

All colleges have been instructed by the DU authorities to accept centralised forms, which will be made available at convenient locations besides being sold on the college campuses.

To prevent the rush of applicants to collect forms, the DU authorities this time round will introduce a digital version where forms can be downloaded directly from the website

More forms are expected to be submitted this year as the web- enabled version will save the students the ordeal of running around from one college to another for collecting forms.

Officials said that the university was expecting 16 lakh forms to be submitted this year—much higher than the 13.5 lakh forms submitted last year. The internet platform is primarily expected to be instrumental in increasing the number of submission of forms.

For the record, there was some kind of dry run last year to introduce a web-enabled version. However, technical hiccups, prevented it from being a success story. This year, the DU authorities seem to have overcome the technical problems and are expecting that the website functions effectively.

Extra precautions have been taken to minimise the exertion for the physically challenged, with the university planning to set up a central nodal centre, specifically for the purpose. The centre will operate from the office of the dean of students’ welfare.

Physically challenged students, henceforth, will not be required to hop from one college to another to submit admission forms and instead, can complete the process through a single window in this centre.

For the reserved category students, a special counselling session is being organised by the university. Taking a cue, the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) has also joined the internet bandwagon and is unveiling its own website to facilitate the admission process.

Fashion courses

Delhi-based Pearl Academy of Fashion (PAF) has entered into a tie-up with LDT Nagold of Germany to offer specialised full time courses in retail in India. PAF offers two full time programmes in fashion retail management-a three-year higher diploma programme in Fashion Retail and Merchandise Management (FRMM) for undergraduates and a one and half year diploma in Fashion Retail Management for postgraduate.

Under the terms of the tie-up with the Germany-based institute, students are sponsored every year for one-year training in Germany for the undergraduate programme and six-weeks in case of postgraduate programme.

With the government planning to open up foreign direct investment in the retail sector, organised retailing is expected to witness exponential growth. Currently, the share of the organised retailing in India is less than two per cent within the sector, compared to 80 per cent in USA, 40 per cent in Thailand and 20 per cent in China. Despite a low share of only two per cent, the country’s retail sector is already facing a crunch for skilled manpower. In light of these factors, PAF sees a significant upsurge in demand for trained personnel in the retail segment.

College life is not all beer and skittles!
Tarun Gill

WHAT happens when a student is unleashed from the strict confines of schools? He starts fantasising about the glamorous college life, forgetting the stubborn fact that the college life is not to gather roses only. There are thorns as well.

The fact is that some of the colleges are extremely strict when it comes to following the rules and regulations. For instance, at St. Stephen’s College, the morning assembly is mandatory for all the first year students. Students, who fail to fulfill the attendance quota of the morning assembly prayer, are barred from the university annual examination. And not to forget, the attendance requirement at most of the colleges is 66 per cent.

Even if you happen to be a sportsman, you still can’t get away. Most of the colleges in Delhi University are strict with sportsmen when it comes to showing special favour as far as attendance is concerned. So folks! College life is fun but not the unfettered life that one imagines when leaving the strict confines of the school campus.

Garden of Eden

There was a time when finding a girl friend was such a mammoth task for the students of Delhi University. However, now it is as easy as finding a right book for yourself, thanks to the intrusion of MTV, Channel V, and endless such channels today.

Away from the hustle and bustle of the campus, there is the Wolta Park, a quite place adjoining the university main office, which is quite popular among the lovers on the campus. And if you ask someone on the campus about the location of the Wolta Park, you will get a silly smile, which will embarrass you no end.

Wolta Park is a kind of place where most of the Delhi University students spend their quality times with their loved ones. In other words, it’s a couple’s paradise. Well-known romantic places of the Capital like Nehru Park and Lodhi Garden come way behind this lovers’ point, mainly because of the solitary moments that couples can spend without any disturbance.

“We are sick and tired of watching all the latest movies. We hardly spend time together. Wolta gives us that opportunity where we can talk as much as we want to,’’ says Manoj, a regular at Wolta Park. “It’s so close to our college that we can come here at any time of the day without any restrictions,” he further added.

“We have seen many couples in a very romantic mood here. The flow of romantic students to this park never seems to stop. Technically speaking, it’s not a park, but all bushes, with few places to sit,’’ says the caretaker of Wolta Park.

“This park is 6-km-long, with monkeys all over the place. But I guess, the monkeys have also become used to seeing romantic couples. The park has nine gates but the entry is only through the main gate near the DU office,” says one of the maali of Wolta Park.

There is no dearth of ‘feriwalas’ inside the park. From mineral water to ‘chanas’, everything is available. Resultantly, couples don’t burden themselves to carry foodstuffs. Well, even otherwise, they have better things to do than just waste time in eating and drinking.

YOUNG VOICE
Determined to make a difference

AN aspiring lawyer who is currently doing a course in Buddhist studies and the president of the Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU), Neetu Verma is determined to make a difference.

I never thought of being a politician. It just happened. As I always wanted to serve the people and as a student of Delhi University myself, I knew what should be done to revive the educational system here. Clearly, the problems of Delhi University need immediate attention.

Most of the colleges in Delhi University have a different fee structure. Some of them have even hiked their tuition fee. The university should have uniformity in their fee structure.

Most of the students in the university are confronted with the problem of re-evaluation of test papers. The university takes at least 60 to 90 days to re-examine the test papers. And by the time the results are declared, students have already lost interest in them.

The timings in most of the evening colleges of Delhi University need serious consideration. For instance, the evening classes in Moti Lal Nehru College, are held from 4 pm to 7pm. Obviously, it is difficult for women students to attend the late hour classes.

The U Special bus service is another matter of serious concern. Few U Special busses are available to the evening class students. This makes it very difficult for the students of evening colleges, particularly the girls, to commute.

In comparison to other universities of the country, Delhi University lags behind in the number of courses offered to the students. Even though Delhi University is one of the oldest in the country, few courses have been added over the years. All it needs to do is to break the barriers of conformity and be more flexible.

(As told to Tarun Gill)

COURTS

Courts to have electronic filing system soon
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 29
Registering of cases relating to bouncing of cheques will become easier after electronic filing of complaints is made available in the courts. In six months, the Department of Justice claims, electronic filing system will virtually make the courts accessible to the litigants from home courtesy the internet and improve the delivery of justice by doing away with the earlier cumbersome process of filing of cases in courts.

This, as Additional Secretary in the Department of Justice Surendra Nath says, will become a reality once the ambitious project of linking through internet all the 270 trial and subordinate courts in the Capital is completed by the year-end at a cost of Rs 5 crore. "After the courts were linked, all orders of these sub-ordinate courts will be available to the litigants on a common server," he told media persons on Wednesday.

"Only a few years ago merely two thousand cases relating to this offence punishable under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act were pending in the Delhi courts, but now a whopping 60,000 cheque bouncing cases are pending there," he said.

The Delhi High Court has shown keen interest in implementation of this electronic complaint filing system in which the aggrieved party had to file a copy of the bounced cheque, a statement from the bank concerned that the account did not have sufficient funds and an accompanying affidavit.

The linking of the courts by computer system would help the judges and the litigants, he said adding the litigants would no longer have to depend on their lawyers for getting certified copies of the orders in their cases.

"The litigants could procure a digital certificate by paying the required court fees through credit cards," the additional secretary said and added that the Delhi High Court was all for the implementation of this scheme as well.

Asked whether the Law Ministry had sorted out the matter with the Bar Associations, Nath said: "We had discussed the matter with the advocates and Bar Associations and the Bar seems to be welcoming this."

In fact, the Delhi High Court would soon implement the electronic filing of the petitions relating to cheque bouncing cases and was considering putting in practice electronic filing of petitions relating to intellectual property rights violation cases, he said.

Regarding computerisation of courts, he said ultimately all the 12,000 odd courts would be linked by computer.