UOH DISPATCH A LAB PUBLICATION OF DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION, UNIVERSITY OF HYDERABAD

Volume 8, Issue 12, Pages 8 September 2015, For internal circulation only

Hundreds of freshers have se-cured seats for the academic year 2015 in University of Hyderabad, one of the top universities in In-dia. For them the tedious admis-sion procedure has finally got over and the festivities have be-gun. The freshers celebrations started in August and will go on till September.

While it is a tradition to wel-come the fresh batch of students by organizing various events, there have been concerns about different communities prefering to have their own celebrations in a central university. When asked about this, a PG student said, “I don’t see the need for a commu-nity freshers’ celebration as it is time consuming and increases the expenditure for students and can bring differences”.

On the other hand Arjuna from Bangalore, who is taking the initiative to form a group for Kannadigas and wishes to have a separate freshers’ celebration like other communities argued, “Such community groups are formed not to encourage groupism but rather to stand as moral support and share their culture with others”.

Arunita Tiwari, a PG student

who hails from Uttar Pradesh, said, “Dividing the campus on lines of communities deprives the students of the opportunity to in-teract with the rest of the students. It also forbids them from knowing more about other cultures and ap-preciating the heterogeneity that a university like ours provides”.

Professor Pushpesh Kumar from the Department of Sociolo-

gy shared his perspective on com-munity freshers’ events, “Com-munity is both a strength wherein a sense of belonging binds people but communities have been noto-riously gendered and hierarchical. Difference is all right till it does not degenerate into dominance of one group over the other; we need to celebrate difference while respecting each other. A sensible

articulation of difference should be self reflective and appreciative of others”.

Medemkala, , Executive mem-ber, Northeast Forum, said, “Eve-rything that is done to make the fresher’s event is done for wel-coming the newcomers into ‘the family’. It provides the perfect platform for the existing students and the freshers to get to know

each other and for people who would otherwise never hang out or mingle together to socialize. Freshers are an absolute must, a compulsory rite of initiation for the neophytes”.

Many view freshers celebra-tions, both community and de-partment wise, as a platform to share information and brief the newcomers about the guidelines besides inculcating a sense of re-sponsibility rather than a means of creating differences. “Though we all enjoy community or depart-ment freshers, I think, if you look at it from a different perspective, it is better to have a single com-mon freshers’ so that any sense of difference or exclusion can be avoided. After all, it’s a central university.” says Usman a Ph.D scholar from Theatre department.

All departments and commu-nities have started their prepa-rations, and some communities such as Mizos, Nagas, Keralites and Department of English, Com-munication have already given their juniors a hearty welcome. Other communities and different schools have finalized their pro-grammes for the month of Sep-tember, making the month a fes-tive one for everyone.

Let’s welcome freshers, togetherT Takuangla Jamir

Are you job ready? Ankitha Naishadham

Freshers enjoying during ‘CIS Freshers Party 2k15’ Photo by: Shreyas Joseph

48 companies attended

Rs.7.2 Lakh per annum; highest package, offered by Cavium Networks

172 students got recruited

Job Fair - 2014

More Inside...

FB COMMENTS SPUR TENSION

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BAN WAGON CONTINUES

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THE UNSUNG HERO OF THE CAMPUS

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A TINGE OF NOSTALGIA

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The job fair conducted by the University last year was success-ful. More than half of the students got selected by the top notch companies. Starting with an an-nual package of Rs. 4.5 lakh, the emoluments touched highest at Rs. 7.2 Lakh offered by Cavium Networks. This was a first time in the history of the University when a placement drive was organised.This academic year is also set to experience much more upshot as the placements have already be-gan.

Speaking about the job fair, University PRO Ashish Jacob Thomas said, “The overall re-sponse was positive but it seemed like there was a lack of interest on the part of the students. About 600 students registered for the job fair but only 200 turned up”. He also added that students should im-prove their soft skills as it is first thing the recruiters look for in the candidates.As last year was the first time the University organised the drive, arrangements were de-layed and as a results only a few

companies were able to visit the campus. Keeping in mind last year’s shortcoming, Upendra, placement cell advisor said, “We have already started the process. With full support and co-ordina-tion from the faculty and students we are planning to conduct the job fair in October or November this

year”. On 12th August Tera Data visited the campus and recruited 4 students. HSBC and TCS have al-ready lined up for the placements drive which is scheduled to take place in September.

Detailing on the works done by the placement cell, Mr. Up-endra said the cell will conduct regular meetings with the faculty in-charge and the students’ repre-sentatives from each department. “To bring more companies and better placement opportunities the faculty members and students should work together in coordina-tion with the cell”. Backing this, Ashish Jacob added, “Currently the placement cell is totally un-derstaffed. We have only one per-son to look after the placement related matters for the whole uni-versity. This is reason we request the departments and schools to come forward and work with us wholeheartedly”.

The placement cell this year will invite recruiters offering min-imum package of Rs. 3.5 lakh. Also a minimum of 7.5 CGPA is expected from students.

Sunil Abraham (an Ashoka Fellow) is the executive director of the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), Banglore/New Delhi. CIS is a seven year-old policy and academic research organization that focuses on accessiblity, access to knowledge, internet governance and telecommunications.

He is also the founder Mahiti, a 17 year old social enteroprise that aims to reduce the cost and complexity of ICTs for the voluntary sector by using free software. Starting 2004, for three years, Sunil also managed the International Open Source Network, a project of UNDP’s APDIP, serving 42 countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Sunil currently serves on the advisory boards of OSF- Information Programme, Mahiti, Samvada and ICFOSS.

Students suffer, hostels’ stench The recently earned Visitor’s Award for the Best Central Uni-versity of India by the Univer-sity of Hyderabad (UoH), seems questionable with one look at the state of toilets and washrooms in the campus. In most of the hos-tels, students are facing lack of clean toilets; most of the doors and showers in washrooms are broken and electric wires hang-ing on the walls, while taps and flushes are absent in many toilets.

Students are now running out of patience trying to convince the authorities to fix the problem. Ladies hostel students added that there is intolerable stench ema-nating from many toilets which are mostly located near their rooms. Adding to that, the toilets have inadequate water supply.

The wardens of the hostels, who are tasked to sort such is-sues, have left them in pathetic condition, the students complain. Even after repeated complaints

by students about their misery to authorities, welfare depart-ment officials are maintaining their standard reply of ‘actions will be taken very soon’. Regard-ing the poor sanitation facilities in the hostels both the wardens say that necessary steps will be taken. While Rani Ratnamala, Warden of Ladies hostel said,

“Everything cannot be changed overnight. Yes, there are some sanitation problems with ladies hostels. Being a warden I can-not solve all the problems. I have forwarded many letters to the administration office, it is in process, and it takes some time”. University Registrar said, “Yes! Everybody has to work for the

development of the University, even the sanitation department. I cannot comment anything, as it is still not under my notice”.

Vice Chancellor, Prof R.P. Sharma, said that a committee has been formed, with the Chief Warden and Dean Students’ Wel-fare as members, to solve the problems related to hostels.

A protest bore fruit by way of several electrical, plumbing and carpentry repairs in the Ladies Hostel. The hostel administration also agreed to install incinerators in the washrooms. The members of the Student Federation of India (SFI) organized a protest march on August 5, following the lack of initiative on the part of the hostel administration to check the deteriorating sanitation facilities.

Complaints were also made about washrooms remaining un-cleaned for days with no atten-tion from the maintenance staff. “The hostel amenities are not up to the mark. The washrooms are extremely dirty and rarely cleaned and the hostel corridors are highly unkempt”, explained Donita Jose, a resident of LH-5.

There have been other issues related to accommodation in the Ladies Hostel, with students out numbering the available rooms and being accommodated beyond capacities of a two sharing room.

Most of these issues have arisen due to lack of finances. John Basheer, a member of SFI, said that some maintenance works had started after the pro-test, but there is a need for much more to be done.

Former Vice- Chancel-lor, Prof Ramakrishna Ramas-wamy, had ordered the admin-istration to take quick actions. But as we expected, nothing came out of it.

- Vincent Benny, President, Students’ Union

We do not have ad-equate number of toilets or incinerators for waste disposal. There are few toilets for a large number of students.

- Akshitha, Resident of Ladies Hostel

A new ladies hostel is being constructed and more than six new hostels’ construction is under process.

- Nagaraju, Chief Warden

Protest held Ch. Sandeep Manohar

The University of Hyderabad campus, though not new to politi-cal mudslinging between differ-ent students’ organizations, was witness to the worst political dis-turbance in the campus in a long time.

The trigger was in a comment on Facebook, by Nandanan Su-sheel Kumar, President of ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Pari-shad) on August 3rd, that hurt the sentiments of another major stu-dent’s organization on the campus ASA (Ambedkar Student’s Asso-ciation). The comment read ‘ASA goons talking about hoolgan-ism…Feeling funny’. The com-ment allegedly was a reaction to the protest staged against ABVP by ASA members earlier that day on the issue of ABVP in Delhi University stalling the screening of a documentary ‘Muzzafarna-gar Baaki Hai’ by Nakul Singh Sawhney, on Muzzafarnagar communal riots of 2013.

Later in an interview with Dispatch, a senior ABVP func-tionary Garikipati Gurajada said, “The comment was not about the protest staged by ASA against us on the DU issue; it was a general comment about ongoing chain of events in the campus.”

However, the comment did not

go down well with ASA members and they confronted Susheel Ku-mar. What followed was a con-voluted series of event with each organisation giving drastically conflicting accounts of almost everything.

While ASA members claim the issue was settled amicably and they went to Susheel just for discussion, and he was made to write an apology letter for hurt-ing the sentiments of the people associated with ASA in the pres-ence of duty security officer Dilip Singh, ABVP complained of vio-lence by ASA members.

Tension heightened when police came to the campus next morning and took ASA President, Dontha Prashanth, former ASA President Ashok Kumar and Stu-

dent’s Union President Vincent Benny for questioning and held them in custody for nearly 8 hours at Gachibowli police station.

In the meantime news poured in that Susheel has been admitted to a nearby hospital.

A protest by BJYM and BJP supporters outside main gate and the direct involvement of BJP MLC Ram Chandar Rao into the matter further added to situation.

“The police said that Susheel’s mother has filed a case against us for causing bodily harm to her son and thus we are being taken to the police station for questioning. They completely deceived us and kept us in custody for 8 hours for a fabricated story. We never caused any bodily harm. The chest pain and everything was just a desper-ate attempt to justify their fabri-cated story,” said Prasanth.

He alleged that, “Apart from the police deceiving us, the in-tervention of BJYM and the BJP MLC made the incident far too ugly. There are mechanisms like ‘Proctor Board’ in the university to tackle with disputes like this; the involvement of the outsid-ers gave everything a communal shade. It also upheld the problem of police interfering with issues of the university and gaining far too much easy access into the cam-pus-a worrying phenomenon.”

On August 4, 2015 a commit-tee was also formed to look into the incident, but the failure to get even the statements of the people in question have alreay raised questions on the lethargy of the administration.

There are mecha-nisms like ‘Proctor

Board’ in the university to tackle with disputes like this; the involvement of the outsiders gave every-thing a communal shade”.

- Dontha Prasahnth, ASA President

The University of Hyderabad has become a deadly hunting ground not only with off campus poach-ers but also with the indulgence of non-teaching staff and students in poaching, posing a serious threat to wildlife.

When asked regarding the hand of employees and students in poaching, T.V. Rao, Security Officer, said, “It’s completely cooked up story by media, it’s absolutely false”. Contradicting this, Jillepalli Ravi, Ph.D. scholar from Department of Animal Sci-ences, said, “On March 23, 2012, a male spotted deer was ensnared and killed by two youngsters, whose parents were employed with the university. This news was covered by ‘The Hindu’ and many other media organizations”. He added that they were taken in to custody by the Forest Depart-ment officials under the Wild-life Protection Act 1972, but no clue what happened next. Jerri-

pothula Ashok, an expert animal hunter, was caught more than five times in the university by Ravi. About this, Ravi said “More than 35 poachers were caught in the university but none were arrested. It’s of no use to catch this poacher Ashok, as he easily walks out from the Police station, everytime”. In this matter, Vice-Chancellor R.P Sharma said, “We have a compound wall; it is the outsiders who mutilate the walls. It is not our fault, when the po-lice officials leave the poachers”. Regarding poaching he said that university authorities are taking proper measures to halt such acts. T.V. Rao said, “Our job is to hand over the poacher to the police department and we have no addi-tional powers to question the po-lice or higher officials regarding the situation”. He added that they have complained several times about this matter to Waakif, As-sistant Director of GHMC, Ser-ilingampally, but met with a cold response.

Poachers have a free runFB comments spur tension

Ch. Sandeep Manohar

All the students’ organizations on the campus keep talking about the Right to Freedom of Speech, I don’t know what happened to the Right to Freedom Speech of Susheel Kumar”.

- Garikapati Gurujada, ABVP Cadre

Avipsha Sengupta

3UOH DISPATCH SEPTEMBER 2015 CAMBUZZZ 2

We have received many complaints from students espe-

cially from ladies hostel. We are on it.

-Prof. R.P. Sharma, Vice - Chancellor

‘Students must refrain from being judgemental’Association of Indian Economic and Financial Studies’ (AIEFS) 21st Biennial Conference was held at the School of Economics, University of Hyderabad on Au-gust 3. The two-day conference witnessed participation of vari-ous scholars and researchers from across the globe from Economics and Finance sectors. The focus of the conference was the Indian economy, exchange of useful re-search insights for academicians, professionals and policy makers. The conference included presen-tations on issues concerned with the economy and finance in gen-eral and in areas such as growth,

socio-economic challenges, trade, banking, financial markets and Indian corporate sector.

Former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India Dr. Y.V. Reddy, who inaugurated the confer-ence, shared his views on various macroeco-nomic issues. He also questioned the creation of an independent body for public debt manage-ment. Dr. Reddy ex-pressed his c o n c e r n s over as-

sets bubbles and said that there should be a sense of caution in following such a course. On the

issue of separating public debt management from RBI, he said, “owners should not borrow from their banks on princi-ple”. He also suggested that if the two bodies

are to be separat-ed, it is crucial

that public debt to be managed, and not fixed by the gov-ernment.

In an exclusive interview, UoH Dispatch got a glimpse into the life of the former RBI Gover-nor. During the informal interac-tion, he talked about his current favourite book, ‘Blood Brothers-A Family Saga’ by MJ Akbar and admitted that he has been trying his hand at painting during his free time but has met with little success. On a more serious note, he spoke of the need for good jobs and infrastructure for young Indi-ans to ensure a stable future. He mentioned that he loved meeting students and advised them to re-frain from being judgemental and be focussed and humble in their endeavours.

UOH DISPATCH SEPTEMBER 2015

In aid of ManipurLalrindiki Sailo

A group of students from Ma-nipur organized a fund-raising programme to support the flood and landslide affected victims in Manipur on July 14 at University of Hyderabad. The floods in Ma-

nipur had affected one lakh people and said to be the worst in the last three dec-ades. Around 30 stu-

dents from Manipur gathered at north Shop-com at 6 pm and dispersed to the nooks and corners of the campus to col-lect funds as an aid for the victims of the flood and landslide, collecting a total of approximately Rs. 33,000. Talking about the campaign,

Rucilli of MA Communication said “This has been an ongoing issue for a long time and we be-lieve that we stand with our fami-lies back home and contribute the little we have to support them.”This campaign has brought to

light some of the ongoing issues in North-East India and has gained immense support that it deserves.“This is a central

university and it is a place where unity in diversity is actually put into practice. More than anything it is our duty to extend our hands in sup-port to our com-panions in need.” said Jebin Jessy Thomas from the

Department of Political Science, on such initiatives.

Lalrindiki Sailo

With the ongoing ‘ban’ wagon, on August 3, the country woke up to find that 857 porn websites had been banned. This came as a shock

to many, and triggered debates on how this was yet an-other infringe-ment of “free-dom to privacy” in accordance with current chain of events of banning any-thing and every-thing. People across India

started questioning the very essence of democ-racy in India and as to whether the development plan pertains to only im-posing bans.Keeping with their pen-

chant for raising voice against any political and social issue that violates personal freedom and liberty, students of the University yet again were not found waiting in con-demning this decision of the government.

“This is an issue of moral-policing and what else can we expect from a government that could im-pose a ban on a certain people’s choice of food

(beef). Our rights are be-ing targeted in one way or the other. It is pretty obvi-ous that Government has forgotten that India is a democratic country,” says Harini Shibaraya, a II MA student from the Depart-ment of Communication.

Marginalized indigenous voices echo

Digavalli Pavan

Who are the real patriots of this country? Are they the tribes who rigorously fight for the protec-tion of environment and re-sources? Or, are they the people who are exploiting the resources and polluting the environment? questioned Gaddar, famous Tel-ugu revolutionary balladeer at the International Indigenous Day celebrations at University of Hy-derabad organized by Tribal Stu-

dents’ Forum on August 13. The message the event success-fully drove home, through schol-ars and experts to the mainstream society, was about the indigenous people of the country are being neglected, marginalized, and ex-ploited in the name of develop-ment. Gaddar mesmerized the crowd with his revolutionary songs. Devender Singh, IAS, Zilla Pari-shad, Maharashtra, explained about the government strategy

for the upliftmnet of the indig-enous population of th country. “India has a total of 640 districts in which, 62 districts are having more than 50% of tribal popula-tion, 92 districts are having more than 25-50%”, he said, “Tribal literates are 57% in our country. Dropout rate is 75% among boys, 71% among girls in ST category”, he added.

Others present also expressed concern at the discrimination against the tribals.

HOW ‘HINDUSTAN’ IS BECOMING

‘BANISTAN’ Ban on beef in Maharashtra-

March 4, 2015 Ban on cuss words in Bollywood

– February 2015 Ban on the release of the film

Dirty Politics in Bihar- May 2015 Ban on the release of BBC’s

documentary, India’s Daughter in India- May 2015

Ban on the screening of the film Fifty Shades Of Grey in Indian theatres – May 2015

Ban on parties in Karnataka with foreign invitees unless it’s under police supervision- May 2015

1 lakh affected in

Manipur floods

30 stu-dents

take initiative to raise funds

Rs. 33,000 collected for relief aid

Prof. P. Prakash BabuDean, Students’ WelfareTel: 23132500Prof. Vasanti Srinivasan Chairperson, GSCASHMob: 9440433482Anti-Ragging Squad Help Line no. (040) 23131999/ (040) 23132999Dr.P. RajasreeChief Medical Officer Tel: 23010206 / 2313240224 hours Security Help Line no. 23131000/ 3131001

DIAL FOR HELP

Photo By: Harini Shibaraya

CAMBUZZZ 3

‘Ban’ wagon continues

Shahamat Hussain

A massive protest was organized in the campus on August 31 as students and faculty came out to-gether to raise their voice against the increasing police intervention and violation of privacy in the campus. Vice Chancellor Prof. R.P. Sharma was gheraoed for over three hours demanding a response from the administration regarding the concerns. Students Federation of India (SFI), Ambedkar Students As-sociation (ASA), Tribal Students Forum (TSF) and other student groups were in lead of about 300 students who gathered in front of the administration block shouting slogans. The latest hostel code of conduct was also a major con-cern. The new code of conduct restricts students from using any electronic devices other than mo-biles and laptops and also warns to expel and charge case against those who are caught consum-ing alcohol, smoking or using drugs. Intervention of police in-side the campus and moral polic-ing were fuming issues since the past semester. “The administra-tion should be proactive and they should interact with the police and convince them that the cam-pus is peaceful and democratic where the student’s organizations will move in a democratic way.”

Said Vincent Binny, President, Students’ Union. But things got worse when Dr. Gracious Temsen’s (Associate professor, Centre for Applied Lin-guistics and Translation Studies) residence was arbitrarily raided by the university security person-nel based on a verbal complaint that there were ‘illegal occupants’ in her house, three months back. This lead to the protest initi-ated by the teachers demanding an apology and further actions from the university. “What has happened is a complete travesty of justice where a single woman faculty from the northeast had her house raided. There are strong elements of moral policing in the way that she was treated. In past students also have been harassed by police who are patrolling in the campus. We want the police off campus while the security who are on campus need to be properly trained”, said Karthik Bittu, representing University of Hyderabad Teacher’s Association (UHTA). However VC’s passiveness on the issue despite the vigorous pro-test has provoked both teachers and students. UHTA is planning to hold a meeting soon to decide on their next plan of action, while the student associations are gear-ing up to increase the momentum of the protest.

Protest against ‘policegiri’Keerthana B.

3

he majority of the younger generation today seems to have never picked up the hab-it of reading. Mostly because of the emergence of visual media and the rise of the in-ternet. Readers Digest, once a popular magazine for the common reader,which was sold internationally, is the easiest example to showcase the fall of the number of read-ers over successive genera-tions. It is an indirect victim of our technological progress and is trying very hard to stay relevant. However, the big-gest casualties lie in the do-mains of creative literature. The demise of literary maga-zines is a consequence of this phenomena. As a young child, my friends and I grew up reading the periodic dos-age of stories that came in books like Bal Bharti, Chan-da mama and Parag.

To my surprise, while teaching over the years, I found that a lot of young peo-ple today have hardly had any exposure to literary work of any kind. Usually, to spice my lectures up; at times I draw simple examples from popular literature. But, when-ever I attempt so, I have blank faces stare at me. Once, I was a little astonished when I found out that the students in

my class weren’t aware of the story of Alibaba and the Forty thieves. Similarly, another example was the time I real-ised that students had never read the popular classic‘Alice in Wonderland’ by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll.

I recollect reading a lot of these stories as a child in Chandamama, but the current younger generation, with ac-cess to these stories in every imaginable language in both print and digital form, have never read them. Indian clas-sics like Tenali Rama also fall flat in front of most students, barring a few students from Andhra.

A common argument aris-es, what is the use of reading all these stories, especially since they aren’t part of our course syllabus at any point of our academic journey. Not in school or beyond. Howev-er, I must point out literature is a window to the world. It was for me. Being academi-cally sound is important in one’s professional career, but when it comes to construction of one’s character, literature always has an answer.

Prose compared to poetry, is still better off. The newer generation is extremely fa-miliar with the lyrics of mu-

sic from the newest films, or at most to some extent even a few ghazals. But, how many of these people read work by classical poets? Is exposure to literature in the near future be restricted only to students pursuing language studies? With the dawn of the digital era, and the access to a world of information via the inter-net, too many individuals are losing touch with rich lit-erature both from our diverse culture and that from the west. The internet does pro-vide access to great work in the form of eBooks, but a ma-jority of its user base is usual-ly whiling their time away on social media.A consequence of not reading enough has re-sulted in people having poor writting skill, lack of vocabu-lary and often write incom-prehensible text.

Where are we heading? I think he answer is in a poem by Sri Sri that is written in Telugu with title of ‘Nagar-amloVrushabham’. It is about a bull standing in the middle of street. A familiar scene in almost all Indian villages and towns. It perfectly sum-marizes the direction we’re heading in our future.It show-cases how the modern man has made advances in the world and is always moving towards something, but never stops to reflect on the smaller simpler details of being alive.

-- Prof. R.P. Sharma

Vice Chancellor, UoH

THE TEAMEditors: Avipsha Sengupta, Sunderlal Raja News Editor: Ankitha Naishadham Chief Reporter: Shaima Mansoor Reporters: Shahamat Hussain, Ch. Sandeep Manohar, Pavankanth Sarma, L.Rucilli, Takuangla Jamir, Siddharth Suresh, Lalrindiki Sailo, Shaima Mansoor, Keerthana B, Akbarkhan, Avipsha Sengupta, Ankitha Naishadham, Sunderlal Raja Photographers: Takuangla Jamir, Sidhharth Suresh Designers: Keerthana B, Akbarkhan

WHAT HAPPENED TO READING HABITS?

Printed and published by the Head of the Department, Dept. of Communication, Sarojini Naidu School of Arts and Communication, University of Hyderabad. We appreciate participation from all departments. Mail us at uohdispatch2014@gmail.com

UOH DISPATCHUOH DISPATCH SEPTEMBER 2015 VISIONS 4

T“The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.”

– Abraham Lincoln

The philosophy of a school room is decided by the cu-riculum it follows. And this curriculum needs to be based on tested and proven facts so that the knowledge it preaches has a value. It should be designed in a way that it makes the students to question the validity and factuality of matters presented in front of them, rather than just feed them with data which is either black or white. The evolution of human race occurred mainly because of minds which were not satisfied with the op-tions of just black or white; they wanted to find the other sides of it, to discover the grey side. In other words ‘the rationality to question’ was one of the bases of evolution. And we started questioning everything, which lead to invention and discovery of many matters and it’s an ongoing process. And it is true that everyone views the same matter in a different way and ques-tions it differently. But the common factor here is that we all develop this gift of questioning because of our education. The prime concept behind education is building up minds to un-derstand, question, challenge and re-invent matters. And this will only be possible if the education system is designed for this. The system should be broad minded and based on factual reasoning rather than mythological concepts. And this system needs to be spear headed by those who understand the concept of questioning and not by those who are mere puppets in the hands of people in power. Like any other system, this one will also move in the direction and according to the mentality of those who lead it. And that will be the direction and path which the learners in the system will be travelling. While the selection of path and destiny should be left with the learners to decide, depending upon their own capabilities. So the basic needs are to have a system which promotes the ideology of questioning and leaders with a mind of their own and can channel it for-ward. Then only will we have a generation which is ready to face the challenges and move ahead rather than merely a large group of individuals who are uniform in all aspects.

IT IS NOT FUNNY

Legislation, Check. Awareness campaigns, Check Ad-ministrative actions, Check. With everything being in place, number of ragging incidents remains baffling.

With the recent case of Nagarjuna University student’s suicide as a consequence of mental harassment by seniors, the menace is again raising its ugly head. So what twisted chain of thoughts makes the agony of your fellow student a source of fun? The problem starts with the very definition of what entails the act of ragging. While a little camaraderie is normal between new and old students, it is often not easy to ascertain where it crosses the fine line between healthy humour and rude humiliation. Like sexual harassment, here also it depends on, the persons’ per-ception of whether he or she is being the victim of ragging or not. While one might consider singing or dancing for seniors acceptable, it is possible that another might not feel equally comfortable in doing so. Forcing that person, against his or her will, thus amounts to ragging. Secondly, the portrayal of rag-ging in popular culture also sometimes trivializes this serious issue. Films like 3 Idiots, Munnabhai MBBS and many other shows the horror of ragging in a way which tends to develop a ‘chalta hai’ attitude amongst people about the phenomenon. Many victims of serious ragging keeps hearing things like “Don’t overreact over such a small thing‘, ‘You are being over sensitive’, ‘come on, it was just for fun, it happens with every-body’ and many such reactions. Even if we accept, for the sake of argument, that ‘these small things’ are to be neglected, after all what is wrong in singing or dancing for your seniors, this is the same mindset that further takes the shape of severe mental or physical torture, of which death of the victim becomes the ultimate tragic outcome.

EDUCATION IN DILEMMA

ith the dawn of the new aca-demic year, a fresh stream of new students has come into the university. Fresher’s welcome organized by the administration is thus a very important event to acquaint the new students with the rules and regulations of the university and inspire them to become worthy of the great institution they have joined.

But this year, unfortu-nately it was a rude shock to see the event being hijacked by the police and turned into an opportunity to ‘warn’ the student about the possible consequences of their misde-meanor. They distributed fly-ers that were shameful to say the least. The rules and regu-lations that should have been introduced to the students by the administration came as a sort of threat from the Cy-berabad Police.

The content of the flyer clearly showed the increasing police intervention in almost

all aspects of the campus. Rules like “Do not upload hate post and comment on nation” are an assault to the right to critical reasoning and dissent. A country’s progress would remain stunted if the youth and intelligentsia of the country stop question-ing the State. Going by this mindset, all the great leaders of the country who criticized the country to bring about changes were criminals. To give the new students an idea that academic critique of the country is a crime is down-right disgraceful.

The guests also openly commented on different po-litical groups on campus. In their speech, they spoke against the agitations, pro-tests and group gatherings that political and apolitical groups on the campus organ-izes from time to time on dif-ferent socio political issues. If the youth of the country will not raise their voice in

socio political consciousness, then who will? Actions like this are a direct attack on the campus democracy.

The increasing police in-tervention in campus is now slowly becoming a burning issue. The full fledged per-sonal security that campus maintains surely requires a sizeable chunk of funds. If the university authorities feel that internal mechanism like security personnel and Proc-tor Board is not enough to settle disputes in campus and they have to depend on police for security then why waste the fund on these measures, especially when different demands like reconstruction of North campus hostels are turned down in the name of fund shortage. Critically speaking, this is hardly a standalone incident. Chain of recent events point out po-lice or other external forces attacking the right to critical thinking and right to dissent.

POLICE TO PROTECT, NOT TO INFRINGEW

-- Sannaki Munna Ph.D, Centre for Social

Exclusion and Inclusion Policy , UoH

I am - Ashok E.Age - 15 years.I do - Construction work at Zakir Husain Lecture Hall complex, University Of Hyderabad.

FAMILYI was born and brought up in a poor family at Kondapur. My fa-ther Keshavulu and mother Chin-namma are farmers.Last year, we suffered huge loss in agriculture. We were facing with large amount of debt. We had to repay a lot of money. In order to repay, we searched for some other work. Finally, we migrated from village and got shifted to HCU campus. We’ve been involved in this work since last January.

STUDIESI finished my ninth standard, last year at Kondapur Jilla Parishad High School. Then I had to drop-out for assisting my family, to re-pay the debt. But it doesn’t mean that I have quit my studies. I con-tinue to read my subjects daily. Once the debt amount is repaid, I will continue my studies with specialization in Physical Sci-ence.

WORKMy work usually begins by 8:00 in the morning. I’ve to assist all the main workers. The workload here is hectic. I hardly find time to

take rest. I earn Rs. 250 a day and give the full amount to my father, so that we could clear the debt as quickly as possible. I am the youngest person working here. I enjoy all the works I do here.

HOBBIESI occasionally go for movies with my cousins at a local theatre, once in a month or so. I like reading, especially Books and Magazines, related to Physical Science. I oc-casionally listen to news.

FUTURE PLANSI am not a person who usually ‘plans’ something for future. Life is full of uncertainties; you just can’t pursue all what you dream. My ambitions may sound unnatu-ral to my community. It might be hoping something which is be-yond reach for people like us.Keeping in mind of all this, I in-tend to continue my studies, at least up to intermediate level. Then, I could secure a full time job and take up family responsi-bilities. I grew up watching my parents work tirelessly. They have sacri-ficed a lot in their life. Now, it is my turn to repay them. I have to take care of my sister’s education expense too. I wish to do job at my hometown, so that I can go back home every day and look af-ter my family.

I am...

Nidheesh Kumar P.R.

Indirect tax regime in India is on the verge of reforms that it has ever witnessed. The

proposed reform in the indirect tax regime is the introduction of Goods and Service Tax (GST). In past couple of years, however, introduction of GST had been postponed primarily because the central government has failed to win confidence of the states for its implementation. Although, proponents of GST have claimed a win-win situation for all stake-holders involved in it; the state governments, have feared of loos-ing revenue.

It has been argued that the present indirect tax regime is not business friendly, thereby became hurdle for growth of Indian econ-omy. There are some basic ques-tions regarding GST that need to be addressed before implementa-tion. Why there is need to intro-duce it or why present tax regime is said to be not suitable? And, how the GST regime is going to affect the citizen?

The government of India and the state governments impose tax on production, sale and transpor-tation of goods and services. At level of production, the central imposes tax known as Excise Du-ties (CENVAT); at level of sale, sales tax is levied by states (VAT). For interstate sale the centre lev-ies inter-state sales tax; and on transportation of goods and ser-vices, Octroi or Entry Tax is im-posed by different jurisdictions. Indian tax regime is a complex structure.

This kind of multiple tax rate structure with different agencies involved in collection of taxes has resulted in following major problems. First, it has resulted in higher Compliance Cost, i.e. cost incurred by taxpayers while paying tax. Second, it resulted in Cascading Effect i.e. tax on tax. It occurs when output is produced using inputs which are already taxed. Third, the complex tax re-gime has become hurdle for creat-ing a common market.

GOODS AND SERVICE TAX

Full-fledged VAT or Goods and Service Tax (GST) is a solu-

tion to the issues of present Indi-rect Tax regime in India. GST is expected to expand tax base and include entire chain of production and distribution with very few ex-ceptions for essential commodi-ties like food, education, medi-cal care, and residential housing. Second, GST will include all state level and the central level indirect taxes and thereby reducing com-pliance cost as well as likely cas-cading effect.

STRUCTURE OF GSTThe 2014 legislative bill on

GST proposed dual GST levied by both the centre and the states on a common base. Under it, the central government would levy Central Goods and Service Tax (CGST) and the states would levy State Goods and Service Tax (SGST). The central government also empowered to levy Integrat-ed Goods and Service Tax (IGST) on interstate supply of goods and services and the income will be distributed to the states. The rate of GST will be uniform across the country with some variation within the prescribed band.

AUTONOMY TO STATESThe Constitution of India as-

signs power to levy tax to the state government meaning that the states have autonomy in deciding tax rate. However, the principle of common market requires that the tax rate should be uniforms across the states and therefore a state cannot determine tax rate on its own, once GST is introduced.

REVENUE RATEBoth the centre and the state

governments are expecting that the shift to the GST regime should not result in reduction in their revenues. Therefore, the

GST rate should be such that it ensures same amount of revenue collection in GST regime as it was before GST. The rate that en-sures this is called Revenue Neu-tral Rate (RNR). What will be an appropriate RNR is not yet sorted out.

LOSS TO STATESThe GST is destination based

tax, means GST would be col-lected from state where consump-tion of goods and services takes place. It implies that the consum-ing state would get benefit from GST while producing state will be at disadvantageous position.

CASCADING EFFECTThe GST will certainly re-

duce Cascading Effect, but may not eliminate it completely. To eliminate Cascading Effect, entire chain of production and distribu-tion of goods and services need to be brought under the net of GST. However, in the present GST, pe-troleum, tobacco, and alcohol are not likely to be included in GST. This implies that certain level of cascading will still remain in the proposed GST regime.

IMPACT ON PRICES It is expected that the GST regime will reduce the prices of goods and services by reducing or elimi-nating cascading effects. Howev-er, it is argued that the demand for Revenue Neutrality is not going to reduce prices. This is because tax revenue will not fall in GST regime because of revenue neu-trality. On the other hand, RNR is likely to be higher considering the merging of productive taxes into the GST, implying that prices are likely to be higher.

Overall, the proposed GST re-gime has not properly addressed the issues regarding complex tax regime that India has been facing for long time. Question that still remains is whether to rely more on regressive indirect taxes for government revenue.

Understanding GST

-- Pradeep Kamble, Ph.D. Department of Economics

The Department of English has emerged as one of the best departments across

the globe in comparison with any of the departments from the coun-try.

The students are from all over the country covering most of the states of India in addition to SIP students who opt for our courses regularly. The courses that we of-fer in the department for M.A Stu-dents help them clear all related exams such as UGC JRF, Civil Services, and State Service Com-mission etc. We believe in offer-ing all major traditional courses along with the latest trends in lit-erary studies such as Dalit Litera-ture and Culture Studies among

other courses. The most crucial factor of our research scholars is that they come up with their own viable research topics; the faculty involvement is zero in providing readymade projects.

Funds are pumped to the de-partment, leading to high pro-ductivity. Around Rs. 1.3 crore to be spent for five years (2015-16 to 2019-20) on various proposed projects has been sanctioned. We had spent Rs. 67, 00, 000 lakhs of previous project on building, infrastructure and produced five books as output. As a result, our students are in great demand in such a way that before complet-ing their studies either M.A or M. Phil or Ph. D, they are placed in

schools, colleges, universities, software companies, publishing industry, print and electronic me-dia and so on and so forth.

The department has also been conducting a poetry contest every year in collaboration with The Srinivasa Rayaprol Literary Trust and distributing prizes to the win-ner. It has good infrastructural facilities apart from university assigned rooms and offices.The department is a forerunner in get-ting sanctioned money for extra building and equipment. The de-partment, for last three years, dur-ing my period as Head, has been so cordial and friendly with each other; We are generous in sharing our infrastructure to the sister de-

partments. Despite lack of full faculty

strength, due to eight teaching va-cancies, we have been pulling on with extra responsibilities and not pinching the administration either monetarily or controversially.

The department has been con-ducting cricket match for freshers as well as for outgoing students. The next plan is to have a picnic for students as well as faculty.

Academically and socially the department has been strict and in-formal respectively as students re-quire both when they come from far off places and are trying to achieve the goals they had come with.

As far as research supervision

for M. Phil and Ph. D scholars is concerned, we are the first ones to allot supervisorsof their complete choice. The department never dic-tates or imposes supervisors on them. The research scholars make the choice after interacting with all faculty and assess the speciali-zation and viability of topic. We continue to offer M.Phil. program unlike many other departments.

All students (M.A, M. Phil and Ph.D.) are given single window approach for any of their difficul-ties.

Department of English: A Rising Star

UOH DISPATCH SEPTEMBER 2015 VISIONS 5

GST regime will reduce the prices of goods and services by eliminating cascading effects.

-- Dr. D. Murali ManoharHead and

Associate Professor,Department of English, UoH

Photo by: Pavisankar

After a long struggle of more than 150 years our nation had its first breath of freedom at the stroke of midnight on 15th August 1947. The moment for which millions of

sons and daughters of this land laid down their lives was finally in the frame of history. And this moment was engraved in the book of history in golden letters through the words of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, the man destined to lead the new born nation. And from that day, August 15 is not just a date but an emotion for every Indian.

From its establishment in 1974, University of Hy-derabad celebrates this day with all its glory. This year too, the celebrations were carried out in a grand manner. First the National flag was hoisted at the Golden Threshold, the initial campus of the University, by Vice Chancellor R.P. Sharma at 8.40 am. The main celebrations were held at Gurbaksh Singh Maidan in the University campus at 9.40 am, in the presence of students, faculties and non teach-ing staff.

The Vice Chancellor delivered his Independence Day message following the flag hoisting and na-tional anthem. In his message Prof. R.P. Sharma de-scribed ‘Team UoH’, comprising the students, facul-ties, staff and all the members of University, as the driving force behind the university scaling newer heights. He also pointed out that the cordial relation between each member of this team is most important if we have to move ahead on the path of progress. The VC also presented the ‘Certificates of Merit’ to three campus security personals, G. Victor Kumar, Kammari Bramha Chary and Bhimambau, for car-rying out their duty in the most exemplary manner.

This was followed by the cultural programes by the students of Primary School and the Kendirya Vidy-alaya themed on patriotism. The display of karate moves and stick fight movements by the students was an added attraction to the celebrations. The func-tion concluded with the National Anthem sung by the Primary School teachers.

A tinge of nostalgia

Independence Day celebrations in campus over the years...

UOH DISPATCH SEPTEMBER 2015 JAI HO... 6

Ankitha Naishadham

Special Thanks to University PRO Ashish Jacob Thomas and Estate Department for providing the photographs

Cricket club in memory of ‘Little Don’Siddharth Suresh

Philip Hughes Cricket Club was formed in the Univer-sity of Hyderabad by three

cricket enthusiasts on 28th July in the memory of Australian crick-eter who died after being hit by a ball on field. Mahesh Kumar Golla, Santosh Chintada, Naresh Nandoori laid the foundation of this new cricket club. The club was formed to bring together all cricket enthusiasts to enjoy the Gentleman’s game.

From a three member group, the club has grown into a fifty members within a time span of one month. Mahesh who himself is a cricket player for the Univer-sity says, “there are lots of bud-ding talents in the University but

e v e r y t h i n g gets wasted as there is no interest shown from the Uni-versity author-ities in provid-ing them with basic facilities and there is a overall negli-gence shown t o w a r d s sports”. The sole purpose as he says is to let the authori-ties be aware of this situation and bring about some changes through this new initiative. When asked why not an Indian player’s name but why go for a foreign player,

Mahesh replied that “cricket is not just about a nation, it’s above that and as a cricketer I know it well”. Philip Hughes was not one among the cricket legends,

but still he was a rare talent and he died on the pitch which he loved the most. This prompted them to go forward with the name.

The club has already organised a match for visu-ally challenged students on the 1st and 2nd of August in which two teams took part. This match was organ-

ised with the help and guidance of Prof. Annavaram.N from Sociol-ogy Department. The event was a huge success and the winners were given prizes. A freshers’ cup is also

being organised by the club which started on 8th August, has reached the semi final stage. By organising matches and tournaments the club aims to identify new budding tal-ents and improve the quality of the game in the campus. The fund for organising the events mainly comes from pass-out students and cricket enthusiasts in the campus. Rest of the money comes from members.

In future the club intends to organize more tournaments es-pecially for faculties and hence aiming at an overall upliftment of the game. The club is also very active on social networking sites and regular updates are posted. For the club to strengthen and el-evate the game there is a need for publicity and they are working on those grounds as well.

Power packed eveningsKeerthana B.

The morning of this year’s In-dependence Day saw a group of white uniform clad people mov-ing in perfect unison in the Guru-baksh Singh Maidan. There was an energy and spirit in the air as the karate enthusiasts kicked and punched with passion. The demo performance was the result of a yearlong training where they carefully polished their karate skills.

The coaching was initiated in the campus over a year ago with a small bunch of students and has grown big over the time. Initially two weeks of free coaching was imparted before it became full-fledged regimen. “Karate itself is life” says Sreekanth, the trainer. The training caters to a diverse group irrespective of age. Stu-dents from the campus, the fac-ulty’s children, and students from Kendriya Vidyalaya are all part of it.

The classes are held thrice a week, on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 6.00 to 7.00 in the evening. Coaching is specialized in self-defense, punches, kicks, weapon tackling, stamina build-

ing, kick boxing etc. Ramachan-der, a Ph.D. scholar in the Telugu department explains why he is enthusiastic about the practice sessions, “Regular practice has increased my concentration pow-er, discipline, stamina and body fitness. I feel very healthy and confident.”

For those who are part of the coaching, by now Karate has be-come a part of their lifestyle. “I used to be very depressed before I joined. But the classes have en-

hanced my mental strength and positive energy.” says Ratna of 4th Integrated MSc. Systems Biology. “It is a very energetic three hours every week. I wait for the classes!” adds a very excited Aditi of 4th year, Integrated M.A. Economics.

The fact that the numbers of members have steadily increased over the year with the classes happening regularly, reflects the efficiency of the training and ded-ication of the people who have joined.

Siddharth Suresh

As the Indian cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar once said “En-joy the game and chase dreams. Dreams do come true”. The same goes for G. Rajaram, M.A. Sociology visually challenged student of the University. The game, which he initially taken up as a means of leisure has now ended up with him playing for the Telangana State Visually Im-paired Cricket team.

With cricket being played in the family it was hard for him not to pursue the game. Born and brought up in Chennai, Rajaram got more attached to the game observing his brother, who is visually challenged like him play at school. From 2001 till now he has been playing cricket and still

loves the game with all heart and vigour. All his hard work over the years has paid off with him having played the Na-tional level tour-naments repre-senting the state of Telangana. He played two tou rnamen t s , one in Luc-know and one in Mumbai, both which they lost in the group stages. But that does not stop him from seeking his dreams. He says that “Ignorance from the concerned authorities and non-availability of facilities is one of the main reasons for not

winning matches”. When asked about the University’s attitude towards the upliftment of the game for the visually impaired people, he smiled and responded ;“The attitude towards us from the nation as a whole is evident,

just imagine how the university’s would be then”.

Though a body named Cricket As-sociation for Blind in India (CABI) is there, it is not even registered with the Board of Control for Cricket in In-dia (BCCI). The only possible way to get funds to conduct the game is through their

respective states and through any social or charity organisa-tions. Not every person is lucky enough to get money from their states and this demoralizes them more.

University authorities have

been ignorant of their existence and even after repeated requests and appeals, no action has been taken to improve cricket for the visually impaired. In 2012 University had provided them with cricket kits but since then no further initiatives have been taken. “There are lots of play-ers with good talents around but none come forward due to lack of support”. Unlike the usual in-ter and intra sports tournaments conducted in the University, blind people do not get a chance to showcase their skills and tal-ents.

An ardent fan of cricket and players like Virender Sehwag and A.B. De Villiers, he hopes that cricket for the blind im-proves receives the international recognition it deserves.

Rajaram in action on university playground

The unsung hero of the campus

Sports glitz on campus

Students showcase their martial arts skills on Independence day

Digavalli Pavan

Good news for the sports lov-ers. University of Hyderabad has set its priority high in providing infrastructure for sports. A new b a s k e t b a l l court and two vol-l e y b a l l courts are construct-ing at south cam-pus.

The uni-versity re-leased Rs 35 lakh fund for the construc-tion of thesefacili-ties and taking care in making them at par with international stand-ards and quality which is first of its kind in the state and an amongst the best courts in India.

“These courts are supposed to complete by this month. But, due to intermittent rains, construction work is being delayed. We are been waiting to continue further

works to move on and expecting to complete in two months”, said Dr. K.V.Raj Shekar, Asst.Direc-tor, Physical Education.

“I am so happy for this new basket ball court. We need to practice in a proper place like

this.” says Samuel Anurag, Ph.D. scholar, Captain, UoH basket ball team.

The team beat Anna-malai Uni-versity team

in last year Inter Univer-

sity tourna-ment, South India a huge achievement for theuni-versity bas-

ket ball team.

S o o n , the sports lover in cam-

pus can put this courts to great use for serious training or just unwind and indulge in their favourite sports.The addition of these new state of the art sports facilities is now all set to up the sports quotient of the university.

UOH DISPATCH SEPTEMBER 2015 TIME-OUT 7

A night of cultural spectacle

The University of Hyderabad is the best place where the stu-dents get to watch a number of movies in many languages. The Glauber Rocha film club estab-lished in 2012 attracts film lov-ers by organizing screenings at least once a week in the campus.

Jijin, who is associated with Glauber Rocha Film Club, said “Initially we arranged film screenings at Humanities au-ditorium and CIS (College for Integrat-ed Studies) in South campus but lately we are screen-ing movies at Depart-ment of Com-munication in the University”.

Catching up with the new movies in the mar-ket has become a habit among the youth and this film club encourages students to watch non mainstream movies in dif-ferent languages, including the regional ones. The film club members want to encourage film culture and awareness in the campus by conducting talks and debates on films and the audi-ences are encouraged to voice the critical view through objec-tive criticism during debates.

At present the club arranges movie screenings once in two weeks and requests the Uni-versity authorities to come

forward and allot them a per-manent venue so that they have a fixed place and accord-ingly plan the movie schedules.

The CIS film club in the south campus arranges movie screen-ings at the Center for Integrated Studies Building every weekend. Theme based films are screened

to make the students familiar with the

art aspect of the movie and to cre-ate inter-est among t h e m .

T h e f i l m club also screens re-

gional lan-guage mov-

ies. Some of the regional movies

screened are Assa-mese ‘Long way to the sea’

and Malayalam movie – ‘Shadow kill’. They have also screened ‘Shor in the city’, a Hindi movie.

The film club also had performance by stand-up comedian Prem Kishore.

Jayasree C, who regularly at-tends the film screening, said, “it is a chance to watch a variety of films with different aesthetics and gain a lot knowledge from the debates about the films.”

The film clubs are using so-cial networking sites like Fa-cebook to inform the students about the screenings and posters are pasted all over the university.

Campus Film clubs

Becky Shaju Mathew

Yamini 2015, an overnight classi-cal concert was held on eve of the Independence day at DST audito-rium in University of Hyderabad. ‘Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Among Youth’ (SPIC-MACAY) joined hands with the university for the fifth time to hold the concert, in memory of former President Dr. A.P.J. Ab-dul Kalam, as part of the cultural movement they seek to initiate.

T h e event was inau-gurated by Governor of Tel- angana and Andhra P r a d e s h , E . S . L . N a r a s i m -ham. The g o v e r n o r expressed his hap-p i n e s s that the c o n c e r t w a s dedicated to Dr. Kalam, a music aficionado and a veena player himself. Prof. R.P. Sharma, Vice-Chancellor, University of Hyderabad addressed the gathering and acknowledged the need for the country’s youth to be more proactive in celebrating the priceless cul-tural heritage of our country. He also appreciated the effort of the organizers and student bodies in organizing such an event which helps in portray-

ing the cultural tapestry of India.The concert kicked off with a

stellar performance by renowned Bharatanatyam dancer

Vidushi Rama Vaid-yanatham followed by a mesmerizing recital by interna-tionally acclaimed violinist Vidushi A.

Kanyakumari. Sikkil C.

Gurucha-r a n ,

grandson of Sikkil Kunjumani entranced the audience with his Carnatic vocals. Pt. Nityanand Haldipur’s Bansuri recital and Ustad F .Wasifuddin Dagar’s Dru-pad vocals were magical to listen to in the early morning hours.

The jam packed audito-rium that mainly consisted of the youngsters, even at the wee hours, was a positive sign that the traditions and ancient culture of our country is still inscribed in the minds of the present generation.

SPICMACAY is a volun-tary non-profit youth movement that organizes classical dance and music concerts in schools and educational institutions.

Started in 1977 by Dr. Kiran Seth, SPICMACAY organ-izes more than 7500 pro-grammes every year in In-dia and abroad promoting

the value and significance of traditional Indian art forms.

E.S.L. Narasimhan, Governor, Telangana & Andhra Pradesh, delivering inaugural address

Akbarkhan

L. Rucilli

Women from various depart-ments, schools and administra-tive section of the University of Hyderabad came forward to celebrate Mehendi function as a part of rituals performed in the month of Ashada.

The women’s forum of the University of Hyderabad organised a Mehendi func-tion on 7th August at Women’s Forum hall lo-cated near Administra-tive block. Around 70 to 80 w o m - e n from the Universi-ty partici-pated in the func-tion and a d o r n e d their hand with me-h e n d i . A a s m a B e g u m , a 18 year old mehndi applier, paint-ed the palms of the partici-

pants with the intricate designs.According to Vijaya Reddy,

President of Women’s Forum, UOH, the function has both sci-entific as well as a ritual-istic significance. The

fourth month of the Hindu c a l e n d a r , A s h a d a ,

marks the end of summer

and the be-ginning of the mon-

soon. Ap-plying me-

hendi absorbs the body heat and

thus helps women to cope with this

drastic climatic change. The Women’s Fo-

rum of UoH have been organising the function

since last year. Bedapati, member of Women’s forum

stated that for the next year they are looking forward to organ-izing the event on a larger scale and with more participants.

The Vice Chancellor, Prof RP Sharma, welcomed the fresh batch of students at the Fresh-ers’ Meet at DST auditorium on August 18. He said that a good institution can make a good ca-reer and therefore the main ob-jective of students at the Uni-versity should be ‘learning’.

C.V. Anand, Commissioner of Police, Cyberabad Commis-sionerate, and Mr Shashidhar Reddy, Joint Commissioner of Police, Madhapur Zone, were chief guests for the occasion.

Anand praised the University for being ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the country. He wished to see peace prevail over the campus and hoped that students would

not do anything that would need intervention from his department.

Shashidhar Reddy, who also happens to be a Univer-sity alumnus, turned nostal-gic and reminisced his days on the campus. He asked students to concentrate on their educa-tion and work towards achiev-ing their parents’ aspirations.

Devash Nigam, Joint Regis-trar, Acads & Exams, announced that there were 1968 new students enrolled in 110 courses from 12 schools. Shree Gyanmote, a mem-ber of the 15 member GS-CASH committee, assured students that the board was committed to make the University free of sexual har-assment. She urged them to know their rights, protect themselves and complain about any sort of unwelcome behaviour immedi-ately for the issue to be addressed. Dr T R Anupama Rao, a member of the Anti-smoking Committee, mentioned the adverse effects of smoking and advised students to stay away from it. She mentioned that smoking or sale of tobacco on campus is a serious offence.

Freshers meet & greetShaima Mansoor

UOH DISPATCH SEPTEMBER 2015 JAMBOREE 8

OUR STRENGTH

Illustrator- G. Ramya KrishnaConcept- Y. Abhishek Paul

It was a very different experience, this is the first time I got this done and I really liked it.

-Manjula, UoH staff

Make a good ca-reer and therefore the main objective of stu-dents should be learn-ing.

-Prof. R.P. Sharma, Vice Chancellor, UoH

Students should be careful of the ‘2500 acres of freedom’ given to them and spend their time productively.

- C.V. Anand, IPS

Concentrate on your education and work to-wards achieving your parents’ aspirations.

-Shashidhar Reddy, IPS

1968 new students110 courses enrolled12 schools

4859 total students 1805 Women 3054 Men

Women welcome‘Ashada’

Castemonial