A voluntary day long blood donation camp was organized by the National Social Service department of Kamala Nehru College in collaboration with the Indian Red Cross Society on 12
February in the college premises. The whole campus was buzzing with posters and balloons to encourage the students to come forward and donate blood. Some 250 red and white balloons adorned the whole campus. This is an annual exercise conducted by the NSS department of the college for last 15-20 years and has remained a big hit with the students. In this fast paced world where people don’t find time for themselves, blood donation comes last on their list. But such camps organized at their door steps really encourage them to come forward and do their bit of contribution for this noble cause.

Mrs. Mandeep Kaur, the teacher coordinator of the event talked about the importance of such camps in colleges and how the younger generation should be encouraged to engage
themselves in such noble causes. The camp started at 9 in the morning and lasted till 3 in the afternoon. Initially the turnout was not that good but as the day progressed the crowd swelled
in numbers. Around 300 students registered for the event but quite a few got rejected because of low hemoglobin count. Niharika Singh, Journalism Honors, 1 year was left disappointed when she was turned back for having low hemoglobin count. She said ‘I was really looking forward to it. It was going to be my first time. I am really feeling sad and disappointed. Nevertheless I hope I am able to donate blood next year’. The first timers were both enthusiastic and nervous at the same time as they didn’t know what to except. Charu Gupta who was donating blood for the first time said ‘I am both nervous and excited at the same time, nervous because I don’t know what exactly is going to happen, excited because this is going to my first time. She also
added that she always wanted to donate blood but somehow couldn’t find time to do it.

The donors went through a series of medical checkups before donating blood. Throughout the event a high level of hygiene was maintained. The donors were given refreshments consisting
of juice, sandwiches and biscuits after they donated the blood. The experts present in the donation van advised students to follow a healthy life and assured the nervous ones that their
withdrawn volume of blood would be restored within 24 hours. To keep the momentum going and boost the confidence of the donors a nukkad natak by the students of IIT Delhi was also
organized. Their play “har ek boond zarrori hoti hain” was centered on the importance of blood donation in today’s scenario. Their performance was highly appreciated and applauded by all the spectators present there. It even encouraged some of them to overcome their fear of needle and go ahead and donate blood. The event concluded by the organizers taking the handprints of each donor on a chart so as to keep as a memory of the camp. The entire event
was a huge success with large number of people turning up for the noble cause.

- Kirti Sharma
UE Correspondent

Three enthralling sessions. Passionate participants. Concerned volunteers. Renowned scholars and an
amazing atmosphere. That was Psychogenesis 2013, the annual Psychology Department Fest of Kamala Nehru College. Themed around “Body Language and Communication”, the day began with an invocation ceremony followed by the release of their first ever official department magazine “Unhinge”, one of the most important events of the day, the audience sounded exceptionally thrilled as they applauded and cheered for their initiative. Lined up next was an interesting session on Body Language and Communication by Prof. Anand Prakash (Department of Psychology, DU). Later in the day, Ms. Maya Krishna Rao from National School of Drama addressed the keen gathering on the Application of Body Language and Communication in theater. The most talked about session began at 12, as the audience geared up to cheer for the incredible illusions by Karan Singh in his session, Tricks of The Mind. Overwhelmed by the response of the audience, Karan Singh said “This is the loveliest audience ever.”

Psychogenesis co-hosted by the Jibber Jabber society of KNC, had some very engaging competitions to look out for, Quizophrenia, Poster Making, Loud Mouth, Debate and Ad Mad competition were hugely appreciated. Talking about living her dream Manaswita Singh, President, Department of Psychology, KNC quoted, “It is amazing how things have turned up, despite of the little issues that came our way, I’m glad we overcame all of that and managed to put up a great show.” The stalls were crowded and sponsors looked satisfied about the number of students who’d turned up to shop and browse through their stalls.

“More than anything else I loved the sessions today. The competitions were of course added incentives.” Said Mohit Parashar, a Psychology student from Keshav Mahavidyalaya. The participants were happy about the way the entire fest was organized. The registration desk was easy to locate and the volunteers were ever willing to help. Ridhi Murari, Publicity Head, Department of Psychology, KNC was extremely happy with the overwhelming response that the fest received. “We made it BIG! We are all very happy about it. I’d specially like to mention Dr. Mamta Jafa, our professor without whom ‘Unhinge’ would have merely been a dream. Also Manasvita, Sadhvee and Ritika deserve a special mention for the hard work they have put in.”

The psychology department generally releases its newsletter every year but this year they took a brave step and came up with the idea of replacing it with a magazine. It has emerged as a brilliant medium for the budding psychologists to pen down their views on various issues ranging from psychological therapies to social issues, from music to jokes.

Cathy Hopkins quote “Don't wait for your ship to come in, swim out to it", was very well acknowledged by the Psychology Society.

- Kanchan Bisht
UE Correspondent

‘Was it the heartbeats or the shares fluctuating?’

Full of excitement, nail biting moments, long calculations, brain storming sessions, oh-I-didn’t-think-of-that and how-could-I-miss-it, Finwiz 2013 had everything in it, to trigger those heartbeats!





Finwiz 2013 is the brainchild of FinX-The Finance Society Of S.S.C.B.S, which continues to conduct it
successfully year after year. The pure mock-stock game had evolved this year as bigger and better with
three back to back events spread over two days at Vallabhai Patel Chest, North Campus. The event was graced by the presence of the Chief Guest, Mr. D.K. Aggarwal, Chairman and Managing Director-SMC Comtrade Limited, along with Dr. Poonam Verma, Principal of Shaheed Sukhdev College Of Business Studies and Mr. Neeraj Kumar Sehrawat, Head Of Department , B.B.S. , S.S.C.B.S. and teacher coordinator, FinX- The Finance Society Of S.S.C.B.S. Mr. D.K. Aggarwal enlightened the students about the career opportunities in Finance and discussed at length the current trends and future prospects of Financial Markets. Dr. Poonam Verma conveyed her best wishes to each and every participant and applauded the efforts of the Finwiz team in making the event a success.

Finwiz aims at promoting financial literacy amongst the masses through innovative and interesting
competitions year after year, which requires prior financial knowledge as well as analytical and logical
reasoning with quick decision making. On both days, the event saw participants from all the colleges of Delhi University. Day one began with FinQuest, a business-finance based quiz, aimed at boosting financial and business awareness among the youth. Journey from 24 to 60, a mind boggling game on decision-making was next in line. Its prelims were based on personal financial planning and were divided into various rounds depending on different stages of age as a person progressed in his life and the varying needs and requirements at those stages. The teams had to make decisions from a variety of alternatives in order to maximize their net worth. The Finals were based on the concept of oil barons where the teams had to deal in oil fields with auctions conducted through open outcry. This innovative event was highly appreciated by all the participants.

Day 2 had Finwiz’s famous Bulls and Bears- Stock Market Simulation which was conducted through the
entire day. The prelims consisted of a quiz and the Finals were pure mock-stocks divided into two rounds of
predetermined and market determined prices. Along with trading in shares, futures and options were also
introduced this time. Cash prizes worth Rs. 40,000 and T shirts of Prayag were distributed amongst the winners of all events.

- Simran Ahluwalia
Correspondent

“Sirf hungama khada karna mera maksad nahin
Meri Koshish hai ki ye soorat badalni chahiye
Mere sine mein nahin to tere seene mein sahi
Ho kahin bhi aag, lekin aag jalni chahiye”
- Lines from the poem "Aag Jalni Chaiye" by Dushyant Kumar.

‘Look, spring’s here!’ the words that kick started Sugraahi at Sri Venketeswara College. It filled everyone’s heart with hope. The volunteers, the students from different colleges and children from different NGO’s presented annual inter-college society fest- Sugraahi 2013 themed as "Youth Sensitization" Parivartan- Social Service Society of SVC hosted ‘Sugraahi 2013’ that saw several NGOs coming together in an attempt
to spread awareness about their causes. The meet was also accompanied with several exciting competitions and amazing cultural programs that added charm to the events.

Sugraahi 2013 was formally inaugurated by the College Principal, Ms. Hemlata Reddy with ‘Deep Prajwalan’ ceremony. This was followed by a short speech from the Chief Guest of the event, Harsh Mander, a retired IAS officer who while on stage admired the youth for coming out on the streets and empathizing with the recent gang rape victim but did not fail to point out as to how we fail to even recognize the crimes that take place on the same streets every single day. Mr. Mander is also the writer of “Unheard Voices: Stories of Forgotten Lives” and “Fear and Forgiveness-The Aftermath of Massacre” published under Penguin India, a social activist, Director of Center for Equity Studies and Aman Biradari. In accordance with the theme of the event, Mr Mander tried to create a few “Sugraahis” from the crowd there. He urged the youth to be more sensitive about what goes around them each and every day.

Next up was a Kathak performance by Kajol (President of Indian Dance society, Nrityangana) and the sound of her ghungroos brought the crowd to its feet. Performances by the kids from NGO groups, “Dil Se” and Udayan’s Big Friend Little Friend programme were also greeted with applause from the crowd.
The event also hosted street plays; a team of volunteers from Swechha, a youth run and youth focused NGO that is engaged in environmental and social development issues acted on a self written script which focussed on trying to create awareness about growing urban waste production.

Swechha’s  Project coordinator, Deeksha Bhatia, who is a pass out from the Delhi University, talked about the need of a more pro-active society and how it is important for each and every one us to do our bit in safeguarding our planets future. Subhinav Arora one of the main organizers of the event said “The main focus of the event was to sensitize students and yes we are successful in that. As an in charge of blood donation camp, I would like to say that the students did an awesome job by sharing their love with their blood in this season of love. Their blood will directly help poor patients. We had 82 donations which will help in saving 82 multiplied by 3= 246 lives.” The second street play by Raging Streets, the Street play group from IIT Delhi, performed a ‘Nukkad Natak’ on Blood Donation awareness which was much needed as according to the doctors present from Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital at the Blood Donation Camp said that, “the turnout was pretty disappointing as compared to last year’s numbers.”

The NGO Meet not only ended with many smiles but everyone had one idea in their mind after it “Let us be a part of bringing the change we wish to see in our world!”

- Sushant Talwar
Correspondent 

The students filled with joy and vigour, the campus roads painted with posters and invitations, music, dance, art, creativity. Ho! Ho! It’s the month of February and DU’ites have the right to be in a state of
ecstasy and bliss for it’s the month of February- the month of fests. The tradition of holding annual cultural festival by various colleges of Delhi University is already in full bloom which seems nothing less
than a copacetic carnival.

It commenced with Tempest- the annual cultural festival of Miranda House which spanned over a period of three days; 6-8 February, hosting multitude events, exhibitions and competitions with unprecedented display of art, dance, music and much more. Madhumita, the President, Miranda House, said, “The theme for Tempest 2013 was Seher, a new beginning which we interpreted as rebirth of human kind. It was a learning experience for all of us. The fest was a huge success and our hard work paid off.”

Though there was a row of events and performances but what won the hearts of the people was performance by Shilpa Rao which rocked the show and crowd couldn't help shaking a leg to her beautiful
breathtaking numbers. Nimisha Tripathi, a B.Sc.(Mathematics) student reports, ”The fest was more organised as compared to last year. It was great and we look forward to make it bigger and better every year.”

The spirit and zest of the fest never seemed to fade out but grew more and more and students thronged the college to catch a glimpse of the fun and laughter at Miranda House. The fest may have concluded, the students back to their classrooms but the storm which thrilled them, the hangover is here to stay leaving
some cherished memories in their minds and hearts.

Miranda House has been marking its presence in the news for all the right reasons.  It created quite a buzz with the next big thing in north campus i.e. the Youth Entrepreneurship Summit, 2013. All the big shots of the corporate world, online retail to be more specific adorned the occasion with their enlightening discourses.  The majority of the audience consisted of young boys and girls, all suited up in formals, making an attempt to fit into the corporate culture. The summit was a three tier event.  It started with a Panel discussion 1 which was followed up by a half an hour’s lunch break after which Panel discussion 2 took place and the event ended with a workshop.

The first part of the summit saw quite good footfall. The panelists addressed to a very active and enthusiastic audience. Mr. Sanjeev bhikchandnani – co founder of naukri.com, India’s top most online job portal focused his talk on the hot topic of e-commerce that has changed the whole scenario of business all over. After a brief session of inviting queries from the audience he had to cut short his visit. Ms. Shashi Singh Choudhary - founder and chairperson of Consortium of Women Entrepreneurs in India (CWEI), gave a talk on the mounting need of women entrepreneurs in a country like India. She shared some noteworthy facts about the present scenario and the government measures to exploit the untapped potential of this sector.
Shashank Vira – Founder of The Hearth, CEO of international companies who has established a chain of high quality international institutions (K-12 schools and higher education colleges) and founded technology-in-education companies, gave a presentation which was mainly centered on the entrepreneurship issues from the global front. Mr. Vivek Gaur - a well-known face in the online retail sector put forth the importance of good communication skills that is pivotal for growth and success in the present times. The talk by Mr. Rajesh Magow - Co-founder of MakeMyTrip.com was also extremely invigorating. It was good to virtually experience the journey of make my trip since its inception in the year 2000.  The way by which a simple idea was delved into a brilliant venture received quite an applause from the onlookers.

In Panel Discussion 2, the theme for the discussion was success stories of young change makers.  This event commenced post lunch. The audience seemed curious to hear the anecdotes of entrepreneurs who were almost as young as they themselves were.  This part of the summit was highly entertaining and the credit for that goes to an improvised comedy act by Dhruv Sachdeva and his partner who are the co - founders of Humor me (an entertainment consultancy firm). The audience could be seen having a great time, bursting into chuckles of laughter at his hilarious acts. “If an actor can convince a packed hall of audiences about the character he plays, imagine the ease with which he can sell his product to few men across the table” was one of the witty statements he made by him this evening. At such an early stage ‘Humor Me’ has already served big clients like coca cola and McKenzie to name a few. The discussions lasted almost 2 hours wherein Abhinav Prakash -a humble man from Burari discussed the story behind the concept of yatricab.com and how an unfulfilled need ultimately lead to wholesome innovation.
Aakriti bharghava who was once, a commerce student in Sri Ram College Of Commerce also contributed her share by discussing in brief about her experiences of working with the known faces of the corporate world. Aakriti is the founder of ‘Boring brands’ which is quite an appealing name for a brand per se.

The last step to the proceedings was a workshop conducted by TiE Delhi. Mr. Dig Vijay had come to steer the interactive last session. This part of the summit basically dealt with giving a complete picture of how to put your plans into action and the art of setting up a business.
The student participation was at its best wherein two young girls from Lady Sri Ram College came up with a remarkable idea of starting their own mobile pet clinic. Mr. digvijay did a commendable job by helping them find solutions to the glitches they might face before setting their foot into something concrete. The audience was also quite supportive and participative, raising hands when in doubt and screaming out the answers like overjoyed kids. In the end of the workshop the attendees were handed over certificates of participation in the summit and provided with informative computer disks.

Such initiatives are always impactful as they provide a platform for amateurs like us to chase our dreams and to keep faith in our ideas.

The 12th of February saw an eventful day at Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce, when half of the college was busy enjoying ‘Udaan’, the annual fest by Manchatantra, the college dramatics society, while the other half was busy with Monexus 2013 – The first ever Financial festival of the college. The fest marked the formal inauguration of the Finance and Investment Cell. It was divided into 2 competitions, namely – InveStock and Money Villa.

The Finance and Investment Cell proudly proclaimed that InveStock was a ‘next level Mock Stock’, and rightfully so, because the conference room of the college saw participants from all around Delhi University passionately role playing as investors. The competition was specifically designed to test participants on the basis of their investor skills, rather than their information on pointless facts, hence they weren't made to write a written quiz, instead, they were given a model of the stock market in which they were required to invest.
They could purchase shares of companies by analyzing the news and rumors and sell them off in consecutive rounds. The investor with the highest profit at the end of the rounds ultimately won. The gossip monger had it that some of the participants tried to form a cartel during the competition, but the organizers were step ahead of the investors, and because of strategic planning on their end, the cartel went into losses as soon as they started their alliance.

The second competition, Money Villa, was in the spirit of youth empowerment, as participants were made in-charge of designing the union budget, ensuring that it was both profitable and socially beneficial at the same time. They had to keep in mind the never ending scams, the money that can’t be traced, and dodge the blame-game, all while drafting a budget model. “No no, we don’t need to allocate money to that state, their chief minister has her pockets full already..”, grunted one of the participants to her teammates.
Oh, The dark underbelly of policy makers!

It was a completely different scenario in the seminar room of SGGSCC, as it looked more like a Wall Street office than a Delhi University room. Participants from Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies, Hansraj College, Hindu College, Shri Ram College of Commerce, School of Open Learning and the host college- SGGSCC enthusiastically took part in the event.

In their quest to do the unexpected, the 'F&IC' awarded the winners of the competition internships, instead of books or pen drives, which were sensibly & generously provided by SMC Tutorials, one of the sponsors for the event.

University Express Team, looks forward to Monexus 2014!

- Tushar Aggarwal
UE Columnist 

Tarang 2013-the annual college fest of Lady Shri Ram College for Women promised to be a colourful and exciting medley of music, art, dance, drama, debate and lot more.

Spread over three days from February 8th -10th, 2013 and celebrating 100 years of Indian cinema with a special focus on gender empowerment, the fest was packed with events one after the other, culminating into a mega event in the evening. Day 1 started off with a mesmerizing performance by the Sufi rock band, Veda. Day 2 proved to be the highlight of the event as Shakespeare’s 37 plays was performed by The Royal Sheikh's Spear Company, while Day 3 ended with an amazing DJ Night!

Throughout Tarang, LSR was in a constant state of buzz and enthusiasm, and a hub of zealous students. Arguably, the best part of Tarang’13 proved to be ‘Potpourri-the food fest’. The choices of dishes available were grand and lip-smacking as visitors could choose from steaming dosas, creamy pastas, delicious rolls and a wide variety of delicious desserts which included cheese cake and frozen yoghurt. Several stalls with beautiful accessories for sale, products made from recycled material and photography booths could also be seen at the fest. 

The formal events saw active participation from various colleges, to name a few- SRCC, Hindu, Hansraj, Miranda House and Kirori Mal College amongst others. Colleges participated in the Western and Indian music chapters of Battle of the Bands, Solo Singing, Authors Anonymous (the English Creative Writing competition), Tongue-In-Cheek (a fun English quiz with rounds like crosswords and Pictionary), Yavnika (the Stage Play competition), Nukkad (the Street Play competition), Mudra (the Classical Dance competition), Baila (the Western Dance competition), License to Shoot (the Short Film Making competition), the English and Hindi Debates, to name a few. In the spirit of competition, various informal events were also organized such as a Harry Potter themed treasure-hunt, Minute-to-Win-it and a food obstacle race which proved to be quite popular amongst the students. 

An informative session by well-known feminist, Mrs. Kamla Bhasin and a pottery workshop was also held at this event. 

The response to Tarang’13 was immense! The first-year students of LSR were especially sentimental about their first college fest and Tarang’13 definitely lived up to their expectations.
Needless to say, the event left everyone present there wanting for more.

- Shipra Bihani
UE Correspondent

The Annual flagship Sporting Extravaganza ‘Adrenaline’ brought to the sports enthusiasts by THE SPORTS SOCIETY SSCBS - PARISHRAM has over the years leapt leaps and bounds to become the most eagerly anticipated event of the fest calendar.

This event represents the very sporting spirit and attitude of CBS. With the motto, “The Spirit Lies In Sports…!”, the society promises to combine competitive sporting activity along with mainstream academics, which form an integral part of any CBSite’s life. Parishram nourishes talent within Athletics (Sprinting), Cricket, Soccer, Volleyball, Basketball, Chess, Badminton, Table Tennis, Carom etc. by holding various Sports League such as  
CBS CRICKET LEAGUE (CCL), CBS BUNDESLIGA, TOUR DE CBS and CBS GRAND SLAM.

The events lined up for this year are:-

·         W.O.W BUNDESLIGA- the official soccer mania
·         CBS KNOCK IT- the table tennis mania (men and women events to be conducted separately)
·         CBS GRAND SLAM- the shuttle mania(men and women events to be conducted separately)
·         CBS CHECKMATE- mixed chess mania-on the basis of one minute per move
·         CBS VOLBO- The volleyball mania
·         CBS BASKETBALL LEAGUE (men and women events to be conducted separately)
·         TOUR DE CBS CITY

o   Tour de 100-the 100 meter sprint
o   Tour de 200-the 200 meter sprint
o   Tour de 400-the 400 meter sprint
o   Tour de 800-the 800 meter sprint
o   Tour de 1500-the 1500 meter sprint
o   Tour de relay- the 4x100 meter relay

Moreover, the sports extravaganza began with the CBS CRICKET LEAGUE (CCL) that saw prodigious participation from several teams.

The first edition of CCL saw 108 players spread across 18 different teams cutting across all the courses and years while uniting the whole college together like never before. Hosted at the nearby Surajmal Grounds, CCL 1.0 kicked off on 8th Dec 2008 & ended on 22nd Jan 2009. 

This year, the tournament received a thunderous start on 17 Jan 2013 and had evolved due to the addition of some innovative ideas such as:

·         High fives format rather than the knockout semifinals.

·         Wild Card entry was allowed to one of the 4 teams who lost their quarter final games. A bowl out was held to decide the 5th team for the High fives.


CCL '13 saw the victory of Buzkashi Kings over BFIA Boys on 30 Jan 2013, with 16 teams making it to the fixtures :

·         Buzkashi Kings
·         Surajmal Sultans
·         The Vellas
·         BFIA Boys
·         CBS 7
·         Shahdara Shikaris
·         B.Sc Bangers
·         CRM Panthers
·         Keh Ke Lunga
·         The Unbeatables
·         BFIA Daredevils
·         Game Changers
·         Mast Kalandars
·         Jhilmil Gladiators
·         Team Nexus
·         Finance Ke Launde

For the first time ever in the history of CBS, the entire college flooded the BACK LAWNS (aka Lord’s of CBS now) to cheer the FEMALE TEAMS participating as:-

Punjab Di Kudiyaan and Lappad Maare Laundiyaan

CCL’s success is expected to be replicated in the events that are yet to take place.

Being more than just management pros, CBSites take pride in hosting such events which create an unforgettable and riveting charm which lasts until the next season of the event returns.

February, oh what a delightful month! It brings with itself the mesmerizing glimpses of spring. The sun, a winter boon, shines up bright in the sky like a blessing from heaven fighting the morning chills. Such was the air of delight and content at Miranda House, which was in full bloom celebrating its Annual Cultural Festival- Tempest.

Warm and affable backdrops, beautiful faces, some complementary red bulls and a bag full of nostalgia, been there done that, Miranda house sure had a lot to offer on this last day of its three day festival. Here comes the last day where the tempest pacifies only to return with a bang, in the years to come.

This one whirlwind sure remained wild and untamed from the time the day  started  witnessing a row of events, competitions and adrenaline packed crowd which never seemed to cease rejoicing and dancing on its final day.

The Inter College Dance Competition had some breathtaking performances by dancers belonging to different genres. Solo classical, folk group and fusion, you name it and it was there. From Bihu to Gidda, classical to belly dancing with hints of drama and folk stories just added flavors of joy and unabated spirit with continuous cheers by the audience. After six absolutely spell bounding performances, it was Hindu College that charmed the judges enough to secure the first position; the bonny lasses from Miranda House and Lady Shri Ram College shared the second position. The third position was given to Miranda House. As goes the saying, the more the merrier, the group dance performances were incredibly entrancing as well with Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce conquering the dance floor and winning the first prize and Dyal Singh College and Maitreyi College securing the second and third postions respectively.

The battle of the bands-‘ Euphony-2013’,  wasn’t a thing to be overlooked at all. Twelve western vocal groups from across the universities participated in the acoustic band event which got the crowd rolling.

Almost every college and every performing band was amazing to start with. The bands marvelously transformed the cries of complaint about the heat into cheers of encore in a jiffy. But there is only one who gets to eat the whole pie and that my friends, was The Alibi.  Kirori Mal College band-MIRZA was enthralling enough to bag the second prize.

This was followed by the dark and cool evening making way for the star of the night, Shilpa Rao. We know her as the great voice behind hit Bollywood numbers like ISHQ SHAVA and AAHATEIN, but she proved to be a hell of an entertainer making everyone sway and sweat with energy. Forget clicking pictures with that perfect pout or commenting on who was wearing what, it was this singer who got everyone get along and blend in effortlessly. With some of her sentimental tracks, to name one-YAARIYAN, all the memories of college rushed right past in one fleeting minute.

The magic was spelled and the fest came to an end with everyone going back home or after party with some amazing memories.