Ever noticed these outside the library?

It's that time of the semester again, when assignments are piling up and you have so much to do that you sometimes wish necessities like eating and sleeping wouldn't take so much of your precious time!
But we all deserve a breather, and so the next time you head off to the library to study, why not sit outside on the lush green grass surrounded by these gorgeous flowers?

It's surely one of the most picturesque and serene spots on campus!

Photos: Mehak Siddiqui

A note from CASH

(On Behalf of the Committee Against Sexual Harassment)

Dear All,

University of Hyderabad Committee Against Sexual Harassment proposes to conduct a competition for students and research scholars in designing posters, slogans and cartoons against sexual harassment. This is intended to raise awareness about gender sensitivity and sexual harassment among students and to get inputs from the students. Students can choose any idea/issue related to gender sensitisation or/and sexual harassment for their entries. These entries can be in the form of posters, slogans and cartoons and can include pictures, photographs and information about the related laws. The entries, either soft copies or hard copies can be sent to any of the following on or before 1st October 2012. Please click on the link below for the complete announcement:

http://uohyd.ernet.in/iwc_static/uh-notices/announcement.pdf 

With regards,
Suneetha Rani.
Chairperson, CASH.

Ever run into these on campus?

Contemplating where to fly next?  

Lady Gaga's inspiration?  

Basking in the sun!  

Scary, but cute? 

Slither, slather, slither...

All photos courtesy Kevin Reizyang Panmei

Happiness is a warm puppy, in this case it is two!

Photos taken by: Shruti Singhal

And, it rained!

Poet Laureate Rabindranath Tagore observed, "Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add colour to my sunset sky."

 

Photographer Credits : Shruti Singhal

The mystery of Chemistry

This auto stands parked (or deserted?) amidst the verdure next to the School of Chemistry, along the pathway that leads to the Sarojini Naidu School of Arts and Communication.

Do write back, sharing your ideas on how you think this auto ended up here.

Photographer Credits : Shruti Singhal

Happiness

Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.

-Nathaniel Hawthorne

Photo credits: Shruti Singhal

Happy Birthday Bol

Bol Hyderabad 90.4 FM, University of Hyderabad's campus community radio station completed one year on August 15, 2012. Marking the first anniversary of the station, a short programme was organized at the Department of Communication, Sarojini Naidu School of Arts and Communication. Vice-Chancellor Dr. Ramakrishna Ramaswamy; Dean, SN School, Prof. B. Anandhakrishnan ; Head, Department of Communication, Dr. Usha Raman; Head, UNESCO Chair, Prof. Vinod Pavarala; Station Manager, Bol Hyderabad, Mr. Naveen Sen graced the occasion and shared their ideas about the station and the plans for the future. 

Women and Science

Addressing the first year students of M.A Communication at the Department of Communication, Sarojini Naidu School of Arts and Communication, the Vice-Chancellor Dr. Ramakrishna Ramaswamy said that there have been fewer than five women heading scientific laboratories in our country. Although women are enthusiastic about academic pursuits in the discipline, they frequently disassociate themselves from the practice. He referred to this phenomenon as the leaky pipeline.

Dr. Ramaswamy talked about the books Lilavati's Daughters : The Women Scientists of India and A Girl's Guide to a Life in Science that he edited and put together along with Rohini Godbole. The initiative sought to rediscover the struggle of Indian women pursuing scientific study and practice. He opined that excluding women in the field of science meant excluding a vital point of view, one that would have otherwise helped complete the picture.

The seminar was the first of the talks organized for the first year students as part of their course called Seminar on Media and Society. 

Raindrops

"What a life this if full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare."

-William H Davies

SN School students visit Zee Tv

"Tell me and I'll forget. Teach me and I'll remember. Involve me and I'll learn."

-Author Unknown

It was with this idea that the students of the Department of Communication, University of Hyderabad, paid a field visit to the 24-hour Telugu News Channel in the city, Zee Tv. The visiting students had selected the 'Radio and Television Production' stream for their specialization by the end of this academic year.

Kevin Panmei describes the visit, "We were given a tour to the news gathering teams or the bureau section and saw how beats were assigned to reporters; observed how news production was accomplished, witnessing how coordination between the 'satellite news gathering (SNG)' vans, production room, master control room and transmission room were crucial in order to package the ads, graphics, tickers and live feeds from the SNGs; another studio room where the sports news and entertainment programs were produced; Master Control Room (MCR) where the graphics, ads, promos and logos are created and fed to the Production Control Room (PCR); video library where video from tapes are digitised and stored for news and archive; edit suit where pre-recorded programmes are edited; transmission room where the tickers are inserted and the programme is broadcasted on-air from Noida, Delhi. The downlink signals are analysed for any errors in the content of the programme. It also monitors satellite transmission of SNGs. The students benefited from the exposure to a professional set-up for news production and understood the basic processes involved. The employees were accomodating to the various questions of the students and answered them accordingly. This demystified the processes of tv news production and would hopefully translate to commendable news bulletins when the students start their projects."

Usha Kiran adds, "The visit was very informative,we got to interact with professionals and also see how news goes live and understand its technical aspects. It was a very fruitful experience."

Abhishek Devara concludes, "It helped reduce my confusion about it because i saw it all, but it's still quite a complicated task."

Retrospective

Written by Mehak Siddiqui

The second of August is an important date in my life. Last year, on this day, I moved 1200 kilometers away from my hometown of Ahmedabad to come to the University of Hyderabad for postgraduate studies.

I had never lived away from my family before so was both nervous and excited. On the night of first August, I couldn’t sleep at all in anticipation of my early morning flight out to Hyderabad. Once here, the admission formalities took an agonizingly long time to complete and it was around 4.30 p.m when I finally got a room in the ladies hostel. Sleep deprived and without having had any lunch due to standing in the long queues all
day, all I wanted to do was collapse into bed. But first, I had to lug my heavy suitcases to the hostel room. And then, I was in for a bit of a shock. No, actually, a big shock. I learned that each hostel room – meant for two people – was being allocated to three persons. Hence, I was stuck with two roommates, no bed, and no space to unpack and store my belongings. Plus, when I went to the common bathroom to freshen up, it was in a disgusting state, with leaky taps and muddy footprints all over. I was aghast and appalled and at a complete loss about what to do.

My first thought was to call my dad – who had come to drop me off and was staying at a nearby guesthouse – to come and take me back home. I didn’t want to be in this pathetic hostel, living with two strangers and sleeping on the floor. In retrospect, I guess this extreme reaction was a direct outcome of my fairly cushioned, protected, upper-middle- class upbringing. I wasn’t used to things being uncomfortable. I had never felt so helpless in my life.

But I had yearned so much to come to U of H! I couldn’t just leave now that I was finally here. So I resisted the urge to call Dad and instead called my best friend and burst into tears. An hour later, after venting it all out, I was feeling a bit better.

And now, a year (or rather, eight months, if I minus vacation time) later, I can almost laugh about that fateful first day in hostel. I eventually moved into another room with just one roommate and a bed and closet for myself. The hostel is still the same, with its messy bathrooms and depressing air but I seem to have gotten used to it. I’ve made lots of friends and learned to just accept niggling little irritations like how there are dogs
roaming all over the place or how just one shower works in the bathrooms. I enjoy my studies and the company of my friends so much that the discomforts of being away from home don’t matter so much anymore.

Moreover, I have learned so much. Right from practical things like washing my own clothes and falling asleep even if the lights are on, to emotional adjustments such as not missing home all that much and being more accommodating of other people.

I also began to use public transport alone – something I had done only rarely back home – and became more confident and independent. What I have gained in terms of life experience at hostel and at university in general, far surpasses the little compromises I have had to make with hostel life. And when I look back at my U of H days in the years to come, I know I am going to miss them dearly. In retrospect, my postgraduate stint is proving to be one of the most enriching and rewarding times of my life.

Technorama

The first episode of 'Technorama', a new show to be aired on Bol Hyderabad 90.4 FM, University of Hyderabad's campus community radio station was recorded yesterday.

Download UoH Dispatch E-paper January 2011,Volume 6

Follow the link below

http://myfreefilehosting.com/f/ff12a60d5e_1.41MB

Biggest placements for MBAs

Midhun Raj.U.R.

*Three students recruited to RBI

*School to organise more trainings and workshops

The biggest placements in the history of MBA department have taken place this year. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recruited three students from MBA final semester as middle managers (grade B officer) with a salary of `10.5 lakh per annum.

Visakh V. V, Prachi Gangradre and B.Savitha from MBA finance major achieved this after rounds of group discussions, written exams and an interview. Around 30 students had attended the interview from School of Management Studies.

“We are thankful to the department and all faculties for the various trainings and seminars that helped us perform better,” Visakh.V.V said. Regular reading of newspapers like Business Line and The Hindu helped us get through the group discussion easily, he added.

Apart from RBI, various leading Multi National Companies also recruit students from MBA. Every year the School records 100% placement. Some of the students get multiple placement offers. The prominent banks like Andhra Bank, Axis Bank, SBH, and HSBC are regular recruiters from the School apart from others like PWC, E&Y, Virtusa, Deloitte, Sierra Atlantic, TOI, TIME, Thomson Reuters, Reliance and Colgate Palmolive.

“Ongoing expansion in the banking sector after the recession provided much more opportunities this time. Placement cell of the school is planning to invite more MNC’s this time,” said Dr. Chetan Srivastava, Reader and Placement coordinator of the School of Management Studies.

Based on the feedback of the recruiters, it is learnt that there is a scope for improvement in the communication & soft skills of the students and they need to make serious efforts to improve them, he added.

With the help of leading organisations, the School plans to organise some training programmes and workshops for the benefit of students.

Five-day week schedule implemented

Rahul

University of Hyderabad took the decision to adopt the ‘five-day week time table’ with no alterations in 40 working hours a week in an Executive Council resolution dated November 9, 2010. The decision was taken during the university’s 150th Executive Council meeting, keeping in mind the recommendations of 5th and 6th Central Planning Commission. It has come into effect from January 1, 2011.

The working hours have been changed from 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. to 9 a.m- 5:30 p.m. on weekdays. Although the Administration block will remain closed on Saturdays, essential services like security, health centre, library, computer centre and sports complex will function as before. “Information has been passed on to all departments and services sections. They will make the necessary arrangements and adjustments to implement the new timetable without affecting the students,” says Devesh Nigam, Deputy Registrar, Personnel section II.

The UoH Students’ Union had brought to the notice of the administration, the difficulties students face due to the new decision. Assistant Registrar of Personnel section II, Abhishek Kumar, observes that the initial confusion is obvious. Decisions regarding functioning of services have been given to respective departments. For example, it is left to the librarian to keep the library open till midnight on Saturdays though the working hours would end at 5:30 p.m., Kumar added.

Students’ Union President Mukesh Kumar said, the union was not consulted before the decision was taken. However, the new five-day week schedule is adopted on experimental basis for six months, he added.

Numaish unveils India

Rajita Godasu

Want to shop for Kashmiri jewellery along with Rajasthani bandinis? Would you like to go for a joy ride on Giant Wheel and then satisfy your tummy with yummy Hyderabadi Biryani? Then the perfect adda to fulfill the above wishes would the 71st All India Industrial Exhibition a.k.a Numaish.

Numaish was first started by the Nizams in the year 1938 with only 50 shops. The idea was to introduce different kinds of goods from different states of India to the people of Hyderabad. After a decade, it was renamed as All India Industrial Exhibition.

More than 150 stalls in the exhibition are occupied by cloth merchants from all over the country. One can get colorfully dyed Rajasthani bandinis to delicately crafted Lucknow Chicken veils, from Kashmiri shawls to South Indian silks. Akram Khan of Lucknow who has been participating in the exhibition from last 30 years said “there are nearly 70 varieties of Lucknow veils and we bring them all for sale and one cannot find these unique varieties anywhere in Hyderabad.”

Be it food, clothes, jewellery, accessories, Kashmiri stalls occupy the major share. The jewellery and dry fruits of Kashmir are the major attraction among the visitors. “The speciality about Kashmiri jewellery is that all of them are handmade and mostly by the metal beads” says Abdul Khan of Kashmir Jewellery den.

The food lovers have number of options to satisfy their taste buds with chats, kebabs, biryanis, desserts, ice-creams and lot more. “Whenever I come to the exhibition I can’t resist those cotton candies and can’t go without having at least three” says Anmol a class 8 student of Kendriya Vidyalaya Golconda 1.

All the credit for conducting Numaish from last 70 years goes to the exhibition society. According to Mr. N. Vinay Kumar, honorary secretary of the committee, the money generated from the exhibition goes to the education of the girl children who study in their colleges and schools. The former vice- president of the exhibition committee, Mr. Satish Naik says “the reason behind conducting Numaish is to encourage the entrepreneurship and also to bring the people of Hyderabad to a single place to enjoy themselves”.

The exhibition closes on February 15.

Cricket with a difference

Arnima Rao &

Amanda Tariang

Three visually-challenged cricketers from the University of Hyderabad have secured a place in the Andhra Pradesh State team.

P. Chandar Shekhar, chief coach for the Indian National Cricket team for Blind, proudly announced the selection of Ravi, Madhaalu and Kamrudin.

A two day series of friendly matches for the visually challenged students was held on Jan 18 and 19, 2011 at the UoH cricket ground. The initiative was take by a few students like Amer, MBA student, Anil Reddy, M.Phil scholar and Sridhar (not from UoH).

P. Chandra Shekhar inaugurated the event by batting first. He has been an umpire for almost 17 years and coaches the national team presently.

The UoH and AP state players came together to form two teams among themselves and named them as ‘A’ and ‘B’. There were twelve players from the AP state team with two international players, Ajay Kumar Reddy and Sridhar.

Team ‘A’ clinched a thrilling victory in the first and final match whereas Team ‘B’ won the second. Ajay Kumar Reddy displayed his talent by hitting two 100s and a 50.

The special ball used in the game produces a rattling sound so that it could be easily detected by the players. The bowlers have to ball underarm and pitch it inside a line drawn at the middle of the turf. Rest of the rules remain almost the same.

When asked where the Indian cricket team for the blind stands and how far it could reach, Chandra Shekhar said: “It is a far reach for India, because there’s not much promotion of the game here. It is not impossible but it is not growing either. It becomes tough to sponsor every time without anyone’s support.”

“It is for the fun and not for competition that we are interested in. It was wonderful to experience how everyone was enthusiastic to play when Anil and I first told them about the match,” Amer said.

“The DSW played a key role in the tournament. He made things possible and smooth for the students by looking after the funds for the tournament. This time it only took us three days to get permission and other process for organizing the tournament,” Anil Reddy one of the organizers of the tournament told UoH Dispatch.

In the closing ceremony DSW, Dr. B. Raja Shekhar; Director of physical fitness and sports sciences, Raja Shekhar, and P.Chandra Shekhar were present.

Bonne nouvelle: AFH turns thirty

Nikhil mg

The bonne nouvelle (good news) is that Alliance Française of Hyderabad (AFH) recently turned 30. The Indo-French educational centre plans to celebrate this by hosting events every month for the next one year. The anniversary celebrations that took place in December on the lawns of Taj Deccan, saw a perfect mélange of Indian and French cultures.

The soiree began with school children from Glendale Academy, Chirec Public School and Meridian School singing in French. Well-known sisters Ankna and Ashrita Arockiam, presented popular Opera numbers such as White Christmas, Habanera and Can’t help loving that man, in Italian, French, Spanish and German. The treat of the evening was to watch Western musicians try their hand at Indian melodies and compositions. Jean- Christophe Bonnafous (France), Max Teller (USA), and Rachele Rapisardi (Italy), performed brilliantly.

Jean-Manuel Duhaut, the new director of the Alliance Française of Hyderabad, expressed his delight on the occasion. It was the beginning of many events that are to unfold during the course of this year. AFH is planning to put together more than 50 cultural events this year making itself one of the most active cultural exchange centers in the twin cities.

January witnessed an assortment of events including In Vivo, a Hip Hop dance show by S’Poart Company from France, Western classical music concert by Schulhoff Trio, film screenings and dance workshops. Some of the events scheduled for February include: Poetry competition for which ‘Love forever’ is the chosen theme; screening of the documentary Salaat by Kaz Rahman at the Prasad film lab; Soiree Amis – an evening dedicated to those who want to speak French with friends or know more about France; etc. In addition, the Alliance Française plans to expand the services of it qualified teachers. According to Duhaut, “We plan to begin French for children at several schools. We are also planning to have French classes at more locations in the city.”

Alliance Française, Goethe Zentrum(German language institute) and the Qadir Ali Baig Theatre Foundation’s plans to join forces under one roof at new premises at Masab Tank in March 2011. “This will be the first such affiliation in India”, said Duhaut. He added that “the idea behind collaborating with the Qadir Ali Baig Theatre Foundation is to make it one of the most culturally active locations in the city.”

Indian tradition welcomes all noble thoughts: Pro VC

Arnima rao

The Indian tradition welcomed all noble thoughts and ideas and saw art as a divine source, said Prof.V. Kannan, Pro Vice Chancellor, UoH, in his inaugural speech of the 7th Indian Society for Theatre Research (ISTR) conference held at Sarojini Naidu School of Arts and Communication. The three day conference from January 28 to 30 was organized by Department of Theatre Arts.

In his keynote address, Prof. S. Ramanujam, renowned theatre person and former Professor of Drama in Tamil University, gave emphasis on theatre being an “act of accumulating punya.” He further spoke about the positive impacts on Indian theatre during the colonial era and how the “modern Indian theatre has lost its soil.”

The guest of honor for the event, Prof. Ravi Chaturvedi, President for the Indian Society for Theatre Research, hoped to provide finance for the researchers in the field of theatre and initiate towards bridging the gap between practice and theory. Prof. B. Ananthakrishnan, Head of the Theatre Arts Department, spoke about how the institution of ISTR brought a turning point to research in theatre academics.

The event was presided over by Prof.Vinod Pavarala, Dean of SN School; Prof. Brian Singleton, President of the International Federation for Theatre Research; Associate Prof. Rajiv Velicheti; Dr. Anuradha Kapoor; Prof. B. P. Sanjay; and Prof. H. S. Shivaprakash were also present.