PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS: HRUDAYA VEENA Yet another year has come and gone. Though this year shall be remembered in India for Sachin’s re- tirement, we at Communicando have had a lot of reasons to cheer about. Exactly one year ago, Transcendent officially launched its first edition. What you’re holding in your hand now is the fourth edition. The editorial team under the leader- ship of Kirtana Bavanaka has been working hard in bringing out edition after edition and maintaining high standards while doing so. A year ago, when we started the newspaper, we were skeptical as to how it would be received. But you welcomed us with open hands and loved our newspapers. So to each and every one of you out there, thank you for being a part of the success of Tran- scendent. It is our newspaper and it shall remain so as long as CBIT sur- vives. CBIT Model United Na- tions was held in the month of Sep- tember 2013 and it was widely appreciated for upholding the qual- ity of its predecessors and delivering better debate. Sreekar Reddy and his team worked for over four months to pull off this international event. Now they are gearing up for CBIT MUN 2014 and as a part of this, CBIT ICC will be held in our college soon. Sign up if you wish to be a part of the MUN family. The club is also conduct- ing LITERATI 4.O this year. Every year the fest tried to bring in new va- riety to our events and this year, we have outdone ourselves. Apart from the formal events, a photography workshop by Lona Logan is being conducted. Lona is an acclaimed photographer and having her on board has been an awesome experi- ence for all of us. Register now if you wish to be a part of the work- shop. You don’t have to own a DSLR or an SLR to be a photogra- pher. All it takes is passion and an eye for detail. Attend the workshop and awaken that photographer in you. Ever played treasure hunt in our college? I vividly remember people running around in circles around the college looking for ran- dom stuff and taking photos. We took that idea, played around with it and we created The Amazing Race. This race will start with a clue being handed over to the participants. Solve the clue and reach your next clue. You keep solving clues and move slowly towards the grand jackpot prize of 10,000 bucks! Reg- ister quickly because there is a limit on registrations. On a personal note, the last four years with the club has been a ride. We would like to take this op- portunity to thank two people who have been instrumental in this club’s success. Dr. A. Sandhya Reddy and Mrs. A Vijayalakshmi. They have been the pillars of this club for the last six years and have nurtured many students like us. This is our final year in college and we will miss the club a lot. I speak for all the fourth year members of the club – Thank you CBIT for giving us a chance to express ourselves through Literati, MUN and Transcendent. You have been very kind to us. See you at the next Communicando event. Communicando This Year BY Y ASWANT ADIRAJU AND THANMAY KRISHNA Chaitanya Bharathi Insti- tute of Technology gained au- tonomous status last year, making it into the list of few prestigious insti- tutions deemed with the honor. The college had already been accredited twice in 1998 and once again in 2004 by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA). CBIT also prides itself in being the first ISO 9001-2000 certified Engineering Institute of the state. And now the college also adds another accolade to its long list of achievements by get- ting awarded with the autonomous status by the University Grants Com- mission (UGC) in 2013. With the college attaining this status, a lot of changes have taken place in the cur- riculum of the students; priority isn’t just being given to studies but also extracurricular activities. Going along the lines of the quote, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”, a new sports complex with state of the art facilities is under con- struction and will be fully functional by the beginning of the new aca- demic year. CBIT is home to a large number of students not only from across the country but also from many Asian and African countries. Keeping in mind the changing times and with the advances in modern sci- ences and mathematics, the college has been able to update the syllabi completely and from the first year it- self, along with basic Physical Sci- ences, Math and Biology (For Biotechnology students), core sub- jects are being introduced so as to make it easier for the students to compete with their foreign counter- parts if and when they go abroad for Post-Graduation. Previously, almost all branches shared the same course subjects in the first year but now a se- lect few subjects have been added to the respective branches. The college year was previously divided into 6 semesters and the first year was kept as is, but starting from the 2013-2017 batches onwards, the UG course has been divided into a total of 8 semes- ters, with the intent of easing the bur- den of studies on the students. So as to find out what the freshmen think of these new progres- sive changes that have been brought about in the college, 2 first years from Biotechnology; Gudivada Jayanthlal and Rithika Pathi were asked a few questions. CBIT goes Autonomous New Changes, Fresh Challenges BY IQRA LODHI Extracts from the interview: Q: With CBIT having gained the au- tonomous status, can you share with our readers your journey here up till now and what more are you expecting in the coming years? Student 1: I am glad to be a CBITian. Frankly, when I heard that the college is becoming autonomous, I was tensed and a bit skeptical about the changes that we would have to face but as time went on I realized that it’s the best thing that hap- pened. In the future, I expect activities and ideas that would make our student lives more interesting and result in extracting all our hidden talents. A college radio would be really excellent! Student 2: Life here has been awesome. I am happy to get a seat in CBIT as it matches all my personal interests like fun, freedom plus studies. It’s not a boring col- lege and apart from studies we get a lot of opportunities to discover and prove our- selves. Q: The first year has now been divided into two semesters with core subjects being included in the syllabi unlike the pre- vious years, your views on this. Student 1: All the courses have been re- structured in a new way and that’s the se- mester system. Initially, the schedule was a bit hectic for us, but we realized later that the new system is actually really good. The pressure on the students has reduced to a certain extent and hopefully this will lead to better results too. Studetnt 2: I believe in the concept of learning with understanding, not caring about marks. Rote learning and gaining marks holds no value for me. With the in- troduction of core subjects in the first year itself, we are getting upgraded with latest developments in our respective fields and the more we study, the more knowledge we gain. I am not sure about the semester sys- tem and I am not experienced enough to judge either, I think I require a bit more time to understand it. Q: From your batch onwards extracurric- ular activities will be treated on par with academics, any changes you’ve experi- enced that make you glad? Student 1: This is something which has made me very happy. After our schooling, two years in a corporate college suppressed and almost killed all our talents. Seeing this new flavor of CBIT giving equal im- portance to studies and extracurricular ac- tivities made me feel very awesome, now my passion for singing and writing quotes will get a lot of opportunities and I am pretty sure not just me but the majority of the students must be ecstatic about this new change. Student 2: Extra-curriculars are one of the reasons why CBIT has become famous and it’s obvious that we get all these great breaks. I am participating in as many events as possible to become an all- rounder and somethings need to be done for recognition rather than only academics and I am on it! Q: In terms of placements, a handful of our students have always bagged positions in top companies. Do you think these changes in the college would lead to a large flux of students getting offers unlike the previous years? Student 1: Students from our college, it’s well known, get recruited in some of the top companies in town; multinational as well as international tech giants, hence adding lots of brownie points to their fu- tures. Now, with the current changes in the system, it’s quite expected that by the end of the 4 th year, our students will be able to attract the best companies in town, IT sec- tor being the majority’s personal prefer- ence, including mine. Student 2: One of the best parts of being a student of CBIT is getting a job as soon as you pass out of college. We have a lot of great IT companies coming up to our college and recruiting the best of the best. As a biotechnology student I hope more pharmaceutical agencies and research labs come for recruiting us. With the amount of training and the hard work that the Place- ment Cell coordinators put in, the students of CBIT are definitely a force to reckon with. TEAM COMMUNINCANDO
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Transcript
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS: HRUDAYA VEENA
Yet another year has come
and gone. Though this year shall be
remembered in India for Sachin’s re-
tirement, we at Communicando have
had a lot of reasons to cheer about.
Exactly one year ago,
Transcendent officially launched its
first edition. What you’re holding in
your hand now is the fourth edition.
The editorial team under the leader-
ship of Kirtana Bavanaka has been
working hard in bringing out edition
after edition and maintaining high
standards while doing so. A year
ago, when we started the newspaper,
we were skeptical as to how it would
be received. But you welcomed us
with open hands and loved our
newspapers. So to each and every
one of you out there, thank you for
being a part of the success of Tran-
scendent. It is our newspaper and it
shall remain so as long as CBIT sur-
vives.
CBIT Model United Na-
tions was held in the month of Sep-
tember 2013 and it was widely
appreciated for upholding the qual-
ity of its predecessors and delivering
better debate. Sreekar Reddy and his
team worked for over four months to
pull off this international event. Now
they are gearing up for CBIT MUN
2014 and as a part of this, CBIT ICC
will be held in our college soon.
Sign up if you wish to be a part of
the MUN family.
The club is also conduct-
ing LITERATI 4.O this year. Every
year the fest tried to bring in new va-
riety to our events and this year, we
have outdone ourselves. Apart from
the formal events, a photography
workshop by Lona Logan is being
conducted. Lona is an acclaimed
photographer and having her on
board has been an awesome experi-
ence for all of us. Register now if
you wish to be a part of the work-
shop. You don’t have to own a
DSLR or an SLR to be a photogra-
pher. All it takes is passion and an
eye for detail. Attend the workshop
and awaken that photographer in
you.
Ever played treasure hunt
in our college? I vividly remember
people running around in circles
around the college looking for ran-
dom stuff and taking photos. We
took that idea, played around with it
and we created The Amazing Race.
This race will start with a clue being
handed over to the participants.
Solve the clue and reach your next
clue. You keep solving clues and
move slowly towards the grand
jackpot prize of 10,000 bucks! Reg-
ister quickly because there is a limit
on registrations.
On a personal note, the
last four years with the club has been
a ride. We would like to take this op-
portunity to thank two people who
have been instrumental in this club’s
success. Dr. A. Sandhya Reddy and
Mrs. A Vijayalakshmi. They have
been the pillars of this club for the
last six years and have nurtured
many students like us. This is our
final year in college and we will
miss the club a lot. I speak for all the
fourth year members of the club –
Thank you CBIT for giving us a
chance to express ourselves through
Literati, MUN and Transcendent.
You have been very kind to us. See
you at the next Communicando
event.
Communicando This YearBY YASWANT ADIRAJU AND THANMAY KRISHNA
ConvEnor:dr. a. Sandhya rEddyaSSoCiatE ProfESSor,dEPartmEnt of mathS
and humanitiES
Staff Coordinator:a. viJaya lakShmiaSSiStant ProfESSor, dEPartmEnt of mathS
and humanitiES
Editor- in-ChiEf:
kirtana Bavanaka
dEPuty
EditorS- in-ChiEf:
S.a. kruthi mohan
akShay kulkarni
EditorialS Editor:
PraSanna voruganti
nEwS Editor:
Sumalika addagarla
SPortS Editor:
anand guPta
EntErtainmEnt Editor:
harShal kuSuma
tEChnology Editor:
tEJa mariyada
PhotograPhy managEr:
niShitha malur
viJaylakShmi k.
layout tEam:
lalitha dakShayani
Pratik m. vEmuri
anu radha
Priyanka rEddy
Sai Chaitanya
JournaliStS:
Priyanka J.k.
Swathi Patnaik
nikhil gopal krishna
Sridula moduga
meghna vadapalli
nagaraju Poshaveni
krishna harsha
PPAAGGEE 22
EDITORIAL BOARD
Letter from the Editor
The
Photo CrEditS: niShank rEddy and SandEEP undi
- kirtana Bavanaka, Editor-in-ChiEf
As my final year of college is
coming to end, waves of nostalgia pass
over me while at the same time, nervous
anticipation for life after college continues
to grow. Without realizing it, time has
flown by and we have all grown im-
mensely from the people we were when
we entered CBIT as freshmen. The multi-
tude of expereinces that we have had are
what shaped us into who we are today,
and perhaps the most important ones are
the experiences we’ve had in college.
From sitting in class to writing
exams, from last minute assignments to
participating in college fests, from playing
sports to hogging in the canteen, from
hanging out in campus to bunking classes
with friends, from running to catch the
bus to dealing with attendance, from mak-
ing new friends to dealing with lost
friendships, from learning to fail to real-
izing that’s what it takes to succeed, from
preparing for higher studies to place-
ments, and many more, we’ve done it all.
They say the journey is more important
than the destination, and I agree. I want to
thank CBIT for giving us a memorable
journey and for all the experiences that
have only taught us to learn, grow, and
come out wiser than we entered. And to
cherish. College has taught me to cherish
the time that we have right now. We hold
on to the past or stress about the future too
much. So for all you juniors out there,
please recognize the value of the present
moment. Most importanly, be open-
minded. We all come in with precon-
ceived notions and tend to make fast
judgments. Yet one of the most important
aspects of college, interacting with people
from diverse backgrounds, soon teaches
you to acknowledge that everyone has
their own story and accept people and sit-
uations as they are. We are only in control
of our story and sometimes it’s good to re-
member that it’s us who hold the pen.
Coming to the Transcendent, I
am extremely pleased and proud to say
that what started off as a mere idea, a
dream per se, has turned out to become a
succesful reality. Transcendent began
with nothing but raw passion and deter-
mination to create a voice among students
and a way for us to represent ourselves
and our college. This being my last edi-
tion, I can safely say that this newspaper
has indeed broke through barriers and is
entering a whole new level of excellence
under a new team of dedicated, capable,
and talented students whose passion
matches that of ours, the founding mem-
bers. I sincerely hope you take it to new
heights.
Last but not least, I would like
to thank Communicando for giving us the
platform to express ourselves and for
adding a new dimension to an already
good education. I wholeheartedly believe
that a well-rounded education will take
you to far and great places in your career
and life ahead. That is something I hope
all students will take that into considera-
tion in their coming years.
Finally, to all my fellow sen-
iors, the time has come for us to make the
most of our last days here in college and
leave our juniors with a legacy to look
after and memories of us to look up to.
I wish everyone the very best of luck and
good spirit for your lives ahead!
MESSAGEFROMTHE
PRINCIPAL
I would like to congratulateCommunicando and its EditorialBoard on releasing the fourth editionof the Transcendent, CBIT’s very owncollege newspaper. The newspaperplays an important role in sheddinglight on the events happening aroundus both in college and across theworld, covering major news like ourcollege becoming autonomous. It isvery important for students to haveknowledge about the events happen-ing around the globe as this plays acrucial role in the holistic develop-ment of a student. Also I am happy tosee the Transcendent publishing arti-cles on Internships and campus place-ments to educate everyone about thesecrucial aspects.
I am also pleased to an-nounce that starting this edition, therewill be a technology section included,which will help in educating the stu-dents of this college about the varioustechnological innovations around theworld. As CBIT is a technical institutethis knowledge is of paramount im-portance to the students and will playan important role in improving theircareer prospects.
Finally I would like to con-gratulate the passing out Batch of2014 and wish them luck for their fu-ture.
-Dr B. Chennakesava Rao,Principal, CBIT
From the Convenor’s DeskTranscendent has grown by
leaps and bounds since it started a year
ago and I would like to congratulate Kir-
tana and the entire editorial team for their
remarkable job. It makes me really
happy to see how Communicando, MUN
and Transcendent provide an opportunity
to students to hone their skills in the
fields of writing, speaking and also in or-
ganizational aspects. These skills are
very important as they help a person in
all aspects of their life and are very im-
portant in this modern age.
However, this doesn’t mean
to undermine academics as it is equally
important. It made me really happy to
find out that Aaditya Pai, Suraj Peri and
Shravya Varma got into Carnegie Mellon
University, Kirtana Bavanaka got into
Columbia University and Sreekar Reddy
got into Dartmouth College. This serves
as an example as to how such skills only
add on and help our students get into Ivy
Leagues. I hope that students take this as
an inspiration and work on mastering
their soft skills.
In addition, I would like to
commend all the Communicando coordi-
nators for the amount of work that has
gone into organizing Literati this year
and I am sure this year Literati will reach
greater heights. Finally as the year is
coming to an end, I congratulate all the
senior members of Communicando and
the entire Batch of 2014 for all that they
have achieved and contributed to our col-
lege. I wish them the best of luck in their
future endeavours.
Meanwhile, for the rest of the
college, another year is soon passing by.
With the college becoming autonomous,
observing the achievements of seniors,
and the increase of student involvement
everywhere, things are looking as bright
as ever for CBIT and I can’t wait to see
what the next year has in store for us.
-Dr A. Sandhya Reddy
Convenor, Communicando
In the previous edition of Transcendent,
major summer internships have been
covered. The internships which have
been announced more recently are listed
below.
1) Charpak Scholarships - The Internship
Program:
If we were asked about the ways of get-
ting an internship, then we would answer
that they are at least two ways of apply-
ing: one is the conventional way that is
applying through the various internship
programs like Mitacs Globalink, SURGE
IIT Kanpur, Indian Academy of Sciences
etc. And the second and the more tricky
one is contacting the professors/HRs by
email. Both have their pros and cons
and we would suggest you to try both.
Charpak Scholarships are different from
the normal internship programs as they
fund your research at a French institute.
Before applying, you need to contact the
professor by email and get his ap-
proval. Only then you can apply for
these scholarships.
To apply, visit the site :
http://www.inde.campusfrance.org/charp
ak-internship-program
Who can apply? This program is applica-
ble for students pursuing their 2nd year or
above in all branches.
2) IISER Thiruvananthapuram Summer
Visiting Students Program:
IISER Thiruvananthapuram offers a two
month visiting students program during
summer 2014 to enable motivated stu-
dents to work with IISER faculty.
To apply visit the link : http://www.iis-
ertvm.in/svp/
Who can apply? This program is applica-
ble for students pursuing their 2nd year or
above in all branches.
3) IISc Bangalore Summer Fellowships
in Science and Engineering:
To apply visit : http://www.iisc.ernet.in
Who can apply? This program is applica
ble for students pursuing their 2nd year or
above in all branches.
4) Summer Program 2014 - Centre for
Nano Science and Engineering, IISc
Bangalore:
To apply: http://www.cense.iisc.ernet.in
Who can apply? This program is applica-
ble for students pursuing their 2nd year or
above in ECE or EEE.
5) Summer Training at CSIR - Institute
Of Minerals And Materials Technology
(CSIR-IMMT):
To apply : http://www.immt.res.in
Who can apply? This program is applica-
ble for students pursuing their 2nd year or
above in Civil, Chemical, Production,
Mechanical or Biotech.
6) Summer Internships 2014 at Central
Mechanical Engineering Research Insti-
tute (CMERI), Durgapur:
To apply: http://www.cmeri.res.in/Sum-
mer_Internship_Notice.pdf
Who can apply? This program is applica-
ble for students pursuing their 2nd year or
above in MECHANICAL or PRODUC-
TION.
7) Summer Internships at School of
Chemistry, University of Hyderabad:
This is meant for only highly motivated
students of CHEMICAL department who
want to persue research.
To apply visit
http://chemistry.uohyd.ernet.in
8) You just want to learn something new
and not really research on a particular
topic, then this would be the best choice!
Internshala Online Summer Training
Program 2014 on Web Development,
Hacking, ASP.Net with C#, Java, Python,
Robotics, VLSI Design, Windows 8 App
Development etc.
To apply visit: intershala.com
To get more details of the internships
which were offered in IITM, IITD, IITB,
IITH, etc refer to our previous edition. It
also covers details of competitions like
Google Code of Jam, Google School of
Code, Applits App Idea Competition, etc.
Some other websites for reference:
1. www.internshala.com
2. www.letsintern.com
3. www.hellointern.com
Internships On the GO! Part 2By Swathi Patnaik, JournaliSt
A difference in thinking. An
inspiration from a victim. A hopeful
change in the minds of a society. A so-
ciety comes with all kinds of people.
Adaptive. Adamant. Bizarre. Human-
istic. And every single person has their
own story. Starting from the way they
were brought up to what their ideolo-
gies have led to.
"Through this show we un-
derstand the problem of the people"
was Aamir Khan’s message about the
television show when it started in
2012.
Many people in our country
go through dreadful and mediocre sit-
uations. Due to fear, people keep a lot
of thoughts to themselves, and so their
feelings are hidden from family and
society.Satyameva Jayate has come
forward in support and is here to give
tremendous courage. That's really at
the heart of Satyamev Jayate's appeal
and popularity.
Highlighting social issues
prevalent in India such as female feti-
cides, abuse, dowry, medical malprac-
tice, honor killings, insensitivity
towards the physically disabled, do-
mestic violence, alcoholism, untouch-
ability, plight of senior citizens and
water-crisis, etc. are the main topics
this show covers. Such topics are ones
every single person should be pro-
foundly aware about.
Understanding emotions.
Listening intently. Sharing boldly.
Showing integrity .Along with a proac-
tive and responsive audience. What
other platform would have been better?
Sai Prasad Vishwanathan, an ex-
CBIT’ian appeared on the show and
motivated disabled people.
Satyamev Jayate received
an overwhelming positive response
and feedback from both the critics as
well as the public. The show was
widely appreciated by several film and
television personalities, politicians and
social activists for its research, format,
presentation and content.
So let’s all continue to be a
part of Satyameva jayete by support-
ing, understanding different perspec-
tives and most importantly being more
socially aware. Because no matter
what,
The truth alone prevails
Jai Hind!
PPAAGGEE 33
A college newspaper is an
integral part of campus life, provid-
ing breaking news, student spot-
lights and also a unique perspective
on local and global news. It gives an
opportunity for students to begin le-
gitimate Journalism. There are col-
lege newspapers for many
universities around the world like
The Lantern Newspaper of The
Ohio state university, The Oxford
Student by University of Oxford.
On the same lines, Our
College Newspaper “Transcendent”
has started its journey with an En-
thusiastic Team of editors and writ-
ers a year ago, till now 3 editions
have been published with an in-
creasingly positive response every
edition.
Our campus life is more
enhancing and enriching with The
Transcendent, as it improves com-
munication between various depart-
ments and clubs. It also helps in
Career guidance, giving an outlook
on various on and off campus issues
and cultivating the reading habit.
Recently our college
newspaper was digitalized, first on-
line issue released on February 28th
2014 creating more impact and with
a greater response.Come be a part of
Transcendent as writers, readers and
experience the flavor of the literary
feast.
MOOCS : REVOLUTIONISING THE EDUCATION SECTORBy heMAnth AnD AKShAy KulKArni, Deputy eDitor-in-Chief
Last year saw the invention of
a new four letter word, MOOC. MOOC
stands for Massive Open Online Courses.
Many organisations are offering online
courses to students for free. These courses
are from great universities like MIT, Har-
vard, UC Berkley, Stanford and many
more. These courses can be taken for free
by almost anyone in the world. All that is
needed is an internet connection and you
are good to go. You could also earn certi-
fications for these courses if you managed
to submit all the assignments and clear the
tests with a minimum percentage.
We should observe that our ed-
ucation system has pretty much remained
the same for the last 500 years and the last
biggest revolution this sector saw was that
of printing press which led to introduction
of textbooks. A need for innovation and
advancement in the field of education was
felt by students and educational institu-
tions all across the world. Institutions re-
alized that they could widen the outreach
of their courses by embracing modern
technologies and making use of the inter-
net. The idea was to let the student work
at his own time, in a place he felt most cre-
ative and at his own pace rather than forc-
ing everyone to stack up, like crops, in a
room at 10 in the morning. So a student
could sit where he is most comfortable, in
his bed or on a couch, at a suitable time
and watch the lectures online.
Last year MIT and Harvard
came together to start an organisation
called edx which is a MOOC platform.
Courses where offered in many fields
ranging from computer science to human-
ities, from the top universities of the
world. Another major MOOC organisa-
tion is coursera.
Coursera is a cornucopia of
courses that range from simple Computer
courses to professional courses. All the
courses are framed in a manner that each
and every aspect involved in it is demon-
strated as video lesson/tutorials. The
Courses are offered by Professors from re-
puted Universities all over the world, like
Stanford, Duke and Princeton etc.
One of the biggest discoveries during the
early phases of these educational experi-
ments was that of peer learning. Students
all across the world where teaching each
other, were learning from each other with-
out any help from any professor.
So to what extent could this
grow? Well the answer is it could pretty
much change the entire education sce-
nario. More and more universities around
the world are shifting to online courses.
We might reach a point where the idea of
attending a college and sitting in class-
rooms might become obsolete and there
are already institutes offering professional
degrees completely online for a very low
fee. A completely online university offer-
ing degrees for free is about to be
launched this year.
MOOCs have already revolu-
tionised the education sector by providing
quality education to millions of people
without any restrictions to country, race or
financial capability and many believe that
we have only begun to understand the im-
pact this could have on the education sys-
tem around the world.
"Satyameva Jayete!"-An impact on India, one step at a time...
By prASAnnA vorugAnti, eDitor
Don’t Let The Little Things Take Over Your Life
Why is a College Newspaper anintegral part of Campus Life?
By J.K.priyAnKA, JournAliSt
We often allow ourselves
to get all worked up about things
that, upon closer observation
aren’t really that big of a deal. We
focus on little problems and con-
cerns and blow it up to bigger pro-
portions,instead of keeping them
small.
For example, A rash, ir-
responsible driver may cut right in
front of us when we are following
the rules of the road. We imagine
a confrontation in our mind,
telling him that his way of driving
is wrong. We sometimes go on
and on telling people about the in-
cident, instead of letting it go. But
having compassion for the person
and reminding yourself that
maybe he was in a hurry or emer-
gency is what makes us feel bet-
ter, and so we can maintain our
own sense of well-being.
There are many similar
“little things” that occur everyday
in our lives. Whether we have to
wait in line, listen to unfair criti-
cism or do the lions share of
work,it gives a large amount of
calmness if we learn not to take
such situations seriously. When
you commit to working towards a
goal you will see that you will end
up being more kinder and gentler,
if such little things are left
out.Question yourself “Will this
matter a year from now?”
Think of yourself to be
in circumstance and imagine that
whatever you are dealing with
isn’t happening now but a year
from now. Then, simply ask your-
self “Is this situation really as im-
portant as it is?” Whether it’s an
argument with a friend, a mis-
take,a sprained ankle. While this
simple way of questioning might
not solve all your problems, it can
give you a different perspective.
Instead of taking things seriously
and being overwhelmed, you can
just ask yourself the question and
laugh away.
We need to understand
that small things which happen in
our daily life do not require such
emotional feelings, they require
patience and peace. Focusing on a
long term goal and putting one
hundred percent of commitment
and focus, shows us what our real-
time achievement is going to be.
So, just be yourself. Stay open-
minded. And remember that its
the overall big picture that counts,
and not the small smudges that
you might have made on the way!
By prASAnnA vorugAnti, eDitor
On the morning of February
4th the entire nation was proud; proud
to know that one of our own proceeded
to take over the biggest tech giant of the
21st century. Satya Nadella went down
in history as the first Indian origin CEO
of Microsoft. Newspapers were over the
moon to cover this story, countless Indi-
ans updated their Facebook statuses
congratulating Mr. Nadella on how he
brought glory to our nation. But the
more important question to be asked
here is, what does it really mean for
India? Sure it is a great deal for an In-
dian to fill the shoes of Bill Gates, but
does it represent a victory for India?
Nadella proceeds to join the
likes of Indira Nooyi and Shantanu
Narayen, both Indian born CEO’s of
global companies, Pepsi Co and Adobe
Systems. But why do most of India’s
tech geniuses find glory in the Silicon
Valley of US? They evolve to take over
companies while most of us are left be-
hind only to work mediocre jobs in
MNC’s. Wouldn’t India’s tech map be
shaped differently had they pursued
their careers here? But this doesn’t even
begin to cover the issue. Almost every
Indian origin Nobel Prize winner is not
an Indian Citizen anymore. Neither is
Rakesh Khurana who is supposed to be-
come the Dean of Harvard University,
effective July 1st , 2014 nor is Anshu-
man Jain, the co- CEO of Deutsche
Bank. Yet we still portray the achieve-
ment as a win for our country without
asking ourselves why our system
doesn’t encourage talent while the US
helps even ordinary citizens rise to
iconic levels.
There have been
too many an ar-
ticle criticizing
our system, how
it is unfair and
how there is
only an illusion
of equal oppor-
tunities when in
reality we are
light years away
from realizing
that goal. Com-
pletely clichéd, isn’t it? But that doesn’t
change that fact that it is one of major
contributing factors for this win (read
loss) for India. Statistically speaking, it
is easier to get an admission into an Ivy
league University than an IIT or IIM.
This is ironic seeing how none of the
IIT’s made it in the world’s 100 top col-
leges this time. Not even the top 200.
IIT- Delhi thankfully made it to 222nd
position atleast. Their true value lies in
their filtering expertise and not the cur-
riculum. When the best of the best are
admitted into the college, they will shine
no matter what. But even the IIT grads
prefer a position in Facebook, Google,
Apple or Microsoft, simply put, foreign
firms rather than staying behind because
they know very well that there are better
prospects there, better chances of find-
ing success. Because staying behind ul-
timately means settling for a mediocre
job. Our system encourages us to earn
fat paychecks and follow the boss’ or-
ders instead of taking charge and being
a leader. We are taught to play safe and
avoid risks. We are taught to follow, not
lead.
Had Satya Nadella stayed in
India he wouldn’t have made CEO.
Chances are he wouldn’t even be close.
He would most likely be coding in one
of the Indian companies receiving his fat
paycheck, no doubt, but not leading it,
that’s for sure. By all means congratu-
late Mr. Nadella on his achievement but
make no mistake, this is not a win for
India. It is a win for the surrogate coun-
try that managed to draw our talent
away by offering way better opportuni-
ties.
Satya Nadella- A wake up
call for IndiaBy S. A. Kruthi MohAn, Deputy eDitor-in-Chief
Rationalism, the word
which is hidden in its true sense.
However not all but few of you
might be aware of this word. We
are living in this world without un-
derstanding the meaning of our
life. What I exactly want to convey
is that reasons or proofs should be
known for the things that you do
in your life. Don’t live your life
just because you have to live it.
Let me be more vivid by
quoting an example. Many people
believe that there are demons,
when they observe flames in the
grave yard. No one wants to know
the reason. Just like any other tra-
dition in our country, they follow
it blindly. What is the actual sce-
nario? The phosphorous in the
bones react with air to give flames.
So there is science involved be-
hind every occurrence. Just be-
cause we are ignorant, we can’t
conclude that science is not in-
volved. I just quoted one example,
but there are many more.
Even the educated, are
believing things blindly without
knowing their facts. So, imagine
the illiterates then? Specifically
the practice of superstitious beliefs
are more in villages. And remem-
ber a significant amount of Indians
live in villages. So how is our
country going to develop? The
dream of our ex-president DR.
A.P.J ABDUL KALAM will never
be fulfilled. Remember his
dream?? “LEAD INDIA 2020”.
Many of our politicians during
their rallies, students during na-
tional festivals give their speeches
saying that India is a “developing”
country. But when? Pose a ques-
tion to yourself. If this is the case,
the transformation of the word
from “developing” to “developed”
will always be a dream. It is
never going to happen. It is pity to
say that the rationalistic ardent
supporter Narendra Dabholkar
from Mumbai was shot because he
was a rationalistic person and
wanted to pass the anti-supersti-
tious bill. Should we feel proud for
what they have done or feel shame
because he had tried to bring some
change and was killed. I am still
shocked that in our country Babas
are given more priority than scien-
tists.
The Recent recipient of
Bharat Ratna in chemistry D.R.
CNR RAO wants people to wake
up from their dreams and realize
themselves on how far they are
following their heart instead doing
everything blindly with no reason.
There is no proper support to sci-
entists either financially or moral
encouragement, but with no reason
Babas are given higher priorities.
Don’t believe the things blindly.
Make sure you have a supporting
statement for any question. Once
everyone attains this, then for sure
India will rise in its place breaking
all the shackles that are obstructing
its path.
PPAAGGEE 44
Privatization is considerate
to a particular level, I’d say. It im-
proves the quality of education which
is much needed for the society of
India. It would mean an additional in-
ternational standard incorporated in
to our system of education. It would
mean more quality knowledge, qual-
ity learning environment, quality
teachers. Let us also not forget it
would mean deprivation of education
for more than half of the student pop-
ulation of India.
It is very convenient to talk
about privatization of the education
sector in India, sitting in an AC room,
having our fathers shell out money
from their pockets for our high-priced
education simply because we are in a
state to afford it. But, I know for a
fact that if India was privatized before
my father graduated, I wouldn’t be in
an AC room talking about privatiza-
tion of the education sector of India.
I would’ve succumbed to poverty just
like more than 50% of India, if it
weren’t for my father’s education,
thanks to the government. Now, how
many people are there in India, who
are just like my father? Poor yet have
the determination to improve their
standard of living; do we have any
rights to turn those dreams into disas-
ters?
Privatization would not
only reduce the scope for educating
the youth of the future, it also would
eliminate any possibility for the poor
to overcome poverty through educa-
tion. We are literally dragging the
process of development in our nation,
which is already in a developing
state. We are setting back the devel-
opment process.
If there is anything that
needs to be done, it should be setting
up of more government schools for
free primary education. I do agree,
the quality of education might not be
up to the mark, but it’s better than not
getting education at all, also better be-
cause it would provide the youngsters
the basic education for them to think
about how to go on about their future.
There are enough funds for the gov-
ernment to set up a decent number of
schools but we are still facing a prob-
lem with the figure of schools be-
cause of the organization of the
government.
The funds are lost in the
process of organizing the government
schooling system, that’s what is dete-
riorating its quality. The funds should
be used in introducing new technol-
ogy, like maybe learning through
recorded lectures in CDs given by
eminent teachers across the world. It
is cost effective and the quality of ed-
ucation can be increased this way.
Also, the government schools should
provide a platform for the old stu-
dents associations of that particular
school in funding for its develop-
ment. Maybe
there can be a law implemented that
a government school must be collab-
orated with a private one, where the
teachers can be shuffled between the
two schools. Just because the govern-
ment is slow in providing quality ed-
ucation, doesn’t mean we need to
speed things up by introducing pri-
vate educational institutions for all.
The future of the India lies in the
hands of youth, for a fact we all know
that most the families in India are
struggling for basic necessities such
as food and clothing, should educa-
tion too be a burden for them? It’s the
only mode by which they can help
themselves overcome their living dif-
ficulties, the only hope for a brighter
future for their kids and so forth, the
ones who will develop India further.
If not for the government, how else
would people get education, privati-
zation of the education sector? Would
any parent with less income, which
will barely suffice for their basic
needs be willing to send their kids to
a lavish private school? Very few.
Plus there would be an increase in the
amount of dropouts too.
Education is a serious
issue; it should NOT be made into a
business. It is a right, just like how it
is our right to live. That doesn’t mean
education doesn’t have to be private
at all, up to a certain level there
should be free education for the un-
derprivileged. The degree level
should be strictly privatized under the
supervision of the government.
I would like to conclude by
saying that there are more cons than
pros in privatizing the education sec-
tor in India. If there is anything we
should do about the education sector,
it should be by supporting free edu-
cation for all. I don’t mean we should
let our kids join the government
schools but let’s not be against it. Let
affordable education in India be the
epitome for all the other nations to
follow.
Privatization of the Education Sector BY TEJASWINI MARIYADA, EDITOR
RATIONALISMBY NAGARAJU POSHAVENI, JOURNALIST
All of us have our own pri-
orities and everyday we plan the day
accordingly. But, most of us end up
doing the same thing at 9 in the night,
i.e. we watch ‘The news hour debate’
on Times Now. To be precise, we
watch Arnab on Times Now, who is
now a talking point everywhere.
He does inquiry into mat-
ters, analyses news & info. , breaks
scams, questions the wrong policies.
In short, he represents the common
man’s views, wishes, issues, etc in a
very dynamic way. He is indeed a ray
of hope for India to progress in the
right direction choosing the right man-
ner. Each interview or a discussion is
just another beginning, such are his
focus levels and such is his concern
for India’s future. He has certainly
made a mark for himself. Just like a
body dissection, he dissects the matter,
analyses very well and a lot of think-
ing goes into his mind on how to get
hold of the truth.
It takes guts to instruct the
person at the other end to give apt an-
swers to the straight forward questions
posed to him. And never does a ques-
tion seem silly or inappropriate. The
stand out quality is that he never raises
a point unless he has the complete
proof. He holds a discussion on every
aspect keeping in mind the compre-
hensive growth which shows his flex-
ibility in dealing with all kinds of is-
sues. Thereby, he is able to relate one
aspect to another very well if and
when necessary.
His way of dealing with
things has opened up the doors for
young aspirants in this field. He
knows exactly when to interrupt a
speaker, how to bring a speaker back
on to the track, when to showcase his
sense of humor to keep the discussion
lively. In addition, he takes the role of
a patient listener when the discussion
is making sense. With his serene ap-
proach, he wrecks havoc and creates
panic at the other end. He has gained
the respect of everyone as he is never
partial to anyone.
Thanks to the way he deals,
people now have no other option than
to attend his debate, otherwise they are
found guilty of doing something
wrong. He frames his questions in
such an intense way that one could
easily identify if the person is trying
to cover up. Some had almost given
up and wanted the interview to be put
off fearing their true shade would be
exposed. Many are thinking twice
now to indulge in a scam, as the truth
is prevailing more often than not.
He is an absolute go-getter
and has a very good questioning atti-
tude,. He has directly inspired many to
look forward and do something good
for the country’s good. The youngsters
are now more aware of everything
happening around them and same is
the case with people of all ages. Many
can look to pursue a career in Journal-
ism to take India forward and Journal-
ism to a new level. His clarity in
thought can be taken as the best exam-
ple to succeed not just in journalism,
but in any field.
Arnab Goswami BY NIKHIL GOPAL KRISHNA, JOURNALIST
Sexual assaults on
women, over population, politics,
illiteracy, gender inequalities, cor-
ruption, scams, hypocrisy are what
we tell when we’re asked about
India today. Culture, heritage,
democracy, motherland, freedom,
safe, history were the answers
until years ago but not anymore.
What happened to the
India that everyone praises? What
happened to the selfless people
and their great mindset? What hap-
pened to the freedom of every in-
dividual? 66 years have passed
since India got freedom but are we
really free? Do we really have the
freedom of expression? Do we
care for our own country? What
happened to that society where
women were treated as goddesses?
Why does a girl always have her
phone in her hand with her family
on the speed dial when she steps
out of the home; is it how secure
she is in our country? What hap-
pened to the great Indian customs?
Being selfish is what we call mod-
ernization? Are we so busy with
our lives that we don’t have time
to see what’s happening around
us? Are we so blinded by hunger
for money and power?
We go to foreign coun-
tries for vacations; have fun, enjoy
the beauty and praise their ad-
vancements in technology, their
government policies and what not.
But do we feel the same way about
our own country? We always tell
‘I am proud to be an Indian’, but
are we really playing our role in
developing our country? We Indi-
ans are known for our intelligence;
is that making us better humans?
Is there something we are lacking
in? Are we helping in the develop-
ment of our country? Blaming the
government for the current situa-
tion in the country is all we can
do?
The answer will be a
clear NO. We as individuals and
proud citizens of our country play
a key role in its development; all
these problems are longing since
the past but are brought into the
spotlight by the media today.
Media indeed plays a very impor-
tant role in a country’s develop-
ment as people believe whatever
the media tells, not bothering if
that’s true or not. But is the media
really being the face of the country
or are the news channels and pa-
pers just exaggerating everything?
Making a peanut seem like a
pumpkin? Is TRP all they need?
What about them being unbiased
and spilling the truth no matter
how bitter it is.
We blame everyone ex-
cept ourselves for India still being
a developing country and live in a
box telling ‘I am doing my part
and you’re not’ where in we really
are not. We have to take small
steps in the positive direction be-
cause every small thing matters
and IS the building block for any-
thing and everything. So let’s all
start it from the most simplest and
important thing; the government is
entirely in our hands; since we are
in a democratic country, it’s us
who rule the country indirectly
choosing representatives who lay
down a path for the development
of our country.
So let’s VOTE in this
general elections and do our part
for the development and advance-
ment of our own country. Let’s
bring a change in the system; let’s
take this first step which is going
to help us in everything. Our coun-
try’s development is all in our
hands, so let’s for a moment stop
being consumed and take out some
time from our busy lives and
VOTE. VOTE WISE AND HELP
THE COUNTRY RISE.
Vote towards a better futureBY AMULYA MIRIYALA
PPAAGGEE 55
CBIT is a college known for
its wide range of extracurricular activi-
ties being on par with the academics of
the students. A number of clubs and or-
ganisations within the college make this
possible. Chaitanya Smruthi, (the stu-
dent body organisation of CBIT ) is one
of the most proactive organisations
among these. Here is a jist of what we
are up to this semester.
Chaitanya Smruthi gives a
great opportunity to the students of
CBIT to be able to interact with those
many children who are not getting
enough. These specially-abled kids and
the underprivileged who cannot be part
of very good schools have a right to
enjoy just as much.
Tarang is one such event that
has been happening every year since
2009 to help provide a platform for these
children to showcase their hidden talents
in dance, art, music and many more.
Also, the kids are given kits which con-
tain the stationary items like sketches,
pencils, etc.
This provides us with an op-
portunity of actively participating in the
organization of the events, and gathering
as many people as we can to encourage
these kids. This would not only make
them very happy but also be a good
learning experience as they communi-
cate with our students.
Every time, we invite a chief
guest who is well known in his walk of
life. Last year, it was young hero Varun
Sandesh who interacted with the kids
and helped with the cause. Tarang, this
year headed by Satyajit Reddy, along
with Meghna and Vineela as Vice Presi-
dent and Head of Events respectively, is
expected to be bigger and better than
never before. A fun filled evening with
CBITians performing for them promises
to be a treat to all who come and is ex-
pected to take place towards the ending
of March. Reaching out to over 200 kids
by encouraging, supporting and teaching
them, to add to their journey of being a
better citizen of our nation is our goal.
So let us put in our best and be a bless-
ing!
Men rubbing their bodies against
women, trying to touch them inappro-
priately or simply passing dirty com-
ments. Be it trains, buses, autos or
shopping malls, every girl reading this
would have experienced at least one of
these and if not, they would have at
least been a witness to such an incident
at some or the other point in their lives.
The society has become so
oblivious to the fact that women are
being harassed on a daily basis that we
have stopped questioning such disgust-
ing behaviour from a few men of our
very own society. So this International
Women’s Day, we came up with a sim-
ple solution. Why not we women do
the same to men? Why not show them
how demoralised and disgusted men
make women feel by harassing them
just for fun? ‘Hyderabad for Feminism
‘came up with this wonderful
idea of “Mirror Mob”. The Mir-
ror Mob, is a combination of
street play and a freeze mob,
where men and women have a
role reversal, i.e., women would
try harassing men just to show
the society how women actually
feel. As many as almost 30 actors
turned up. The idea was simple,
the actors divided themselves
into groups of few and enacted
various different means and ways
in which women are harassed. If
one group enacted the passing of vul-
gar comments, another showed touch-
ing inappropriately, and so on. And
then, they froze. This short play was
enacted at almost 8 different public
places in the city including Mahatma
Gandhi Bus Station and Nampally
Railway Station along with many bus
stops en route.
The prime objective of the Mirror
Mob, according to the organisers, was
to shock the spectators, and get them
to think. Get them to think hard. When
women are harassed every day, we do
nothing to save them from this misery.
But voila! When its men, we stop and
stare. Was the objective of the Mirror
Mob achieved? You bet! Spectators not
only understood the trauma that
women are made to go through, but
also came and interacted with us, and
few even shared their own experiences.
On a closing note, all that I
want to say is, let’s make the world a
safer and a more comfortable place for
women. Give her the respect she de-
serves, because after all, the days are
not far when men would be at the re-
ceiving end! ;)
Chaitanya Smruthi presentsTarangBY PRAGNYA REDDY
A great first job can help a stu-
dent shape his/her career in the right di-
rection. The Placements season in CBIT
brings joy to several people in their final
years. This placement season has turned
out to be a very good one for the batch of
2013-14.The number of placements in our
college has always been the highest com-
pared to any other private college in the
state. The number of companies that have
visited so far is more than 50 and this
number is bound to increase with compa-
nies still visiting the campus. The credit
goes to the placement office and espe-
cially our placement officer, Dr. NLN
Reddy. This placement season, top
firms have hired in bulk. The number of
opportunities that CBIT offered was
aplenty and those who utilized them got
placed in reputed organizations. Microsoft
hired 8 students for a package of 11 lakh
per annum which is an all time record.
Several top organizations like Wells
Fargo, Deloitte, Pega and Oracle have re-
cruited in good numbers. Additionally
there have been companies visiting the
campus for hiring interns.
The reviews given by big cor-
porates about the quality of students at
CBIT were positive and this drives these
companies to visit us again for recruiting.
However, they stressed that the students
must work on their communication skills.
Our students actively participated in many
‘Campus Connect’ programmes which
were held by certain reputed companies
so as to build a mutually rewarding rela-
tionship with CBIT. JPMorgan had con-
ducted a programming contest before
visiting our campus for recruitment. A few
of our students belonging to Information
Technology department had won this con-
test and in turn were offered jobs at JP-
Morgan without undergoing the usual re-
cruitment process on the campus.
CBIT placement cell along
with the support of the college manage-
ment has organized industry interaction
meets during the placement season to
keep students updated about the recent re-
quirements of the recruiters in terms of
student capabilities.
The three big companies that
recruit heavily every year, namely Cog-
nizant, Infosys and Wipro have offered
jobs to a large number of people this year
as well. Infosys has offered 242 jobs this
year, which is the highest number of jobs
offered by a single company. Where one
placement season ends another has al-
ready begun. The new set of Placement
Coordinators has already started conduct-
ing seminars and workshops for the stu-
dents. Just recently, the Coordinators
along with the MARCNS group organized
seminars and mock placements for the
Class of 2015 batch.
Summarizing 2013-2014 Placement Season in CBIT
A ROLEREVERSALLIKENEVERBEFOREBY JYOTHIRMAYI KATRAPALLI
Even with all the moderniza-
tion and development of today’s soci-
ety, many working women are still
subjected to immense pressure to
shoulder the dual responsibility of a
housewife and a working woman si-
multaneously with little or no help
from their husbands. They are also
subjected to violence in one form or
the other. One of the main reasons for
violence against women is the men-
tality which deems women inferior to
men and limits their importance
merely to the maintenance of the
household, the upbringing of children
and pleasing their husbands. It is the
same mentality which, some genera-
tions ago, used to think of women as
mere objects of attaining sexual
pleasure and a servant of the husband.
Times have changed but the mentality
still prevails in the mindsets of sev-
eral narrow minded Indians.
The actual need of the hour is
a revolutionary change in the mindsets
and conscience of Indian men so that they
stop seeing women as inferior objects.
The Constitution of India not only grants
equality to women but also empowers the
State to adopt measures of positive dis-
crimination in favour of women for neu-
tralizing the cumulative socio economic
disadvantages faced by them.
EMAIL TO THE RESCUEAccording to the guidelines is-
sued by the Delhi Police, a woman has
the privilege of lodging a complaint via
email or registered post. If, for some rea-
son a woman can’t go to the police sta-
tion, she can send a written complaint
through an email or registered post ad-
dressed to a senior police officer of the
level of Deputy Commissioner or Com-
missioner of Police. The complaint is ver-
ified and an FIR is lodged. The police can
then come over to the residence of the
victim to take her statement.
COPS CAN’T SAY NOA rape victim can register her
police complaint from any police station
irrespective of area of occurrence of the
incident under the Zero FIR ruling by
Supreme Court. Sometimes, the police,
in order to keep clear of responsibility, try
sending the victim to another police sta-
tion. In such cases, the woman can cite
her right.
YOU CAN’T BE CALLED TO THEPOLICE STATION
Women cannot be called to the
police station for interrogation under Sec-
tion 160 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
This law provides Indian women the right
of not being physically present at the po-
lice station for interrogation. The police
can interrogate a woman at her residence
in the presence of a woman constable and
family members or friends.
YOU CANNOT BE STALKEDIt is a punishable offense to
follow a woman and contact, or attempt
to contact a woman via internet, email or
any other form of electronic communica-
tion to foster personal interaction repeat-
edly despite a clear indication of
disinterest by the woman. The accused
can be liable to imprisonment for up to 5
years.
FREE LEGAL AIDOften, women go to the po-
lice station unaccompanied by a lawyer
to get their statement recorded, and they
stand the risk of being misquoted or
their statement being tampered with.
The police may also treat the entire
episode lightly and not lodge an FIR.
So, it is necessary to have a lawyer with
you while you lodge the FIR. According
to a Delhi High Court ruling, whenever
a rape is reported, Delhi Legal Services
Authority has to be informed about it.
The legal body then arranges for a
lawyer for the victim.
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SUCCUMBTO ANY CRUDE BEHAVIOR
Any activity which harms or
injures or endangers the health, safety,
life, or well-being, whether mental or
physical, of a woman or tends to do so is
considered a crime. The instances consid-
ered to be guilty include physical, sexual,
verbal or emotional abuses. Repeated
threats to harm any individual related to
the aggrieved person are also considered
an offense.
SHELTER HOMESThere are government funded
shelter homes in every district of India. If
an aggrieved person requests the person
in charge of a shelter home to ensconce
her, the person in charge of the shelter
home shall accede to her wish.
KNOW YOUR LAWS WOMAN!BY AKSHADHA BIRADER
BY RAVI TEJA GAMINI AND BHAVANA YALLA, SENIOR PLACEMENT COORDINATORS
The Jallianwala Bagh lies in
the heart of Amritsar and at the heart of
our struggle for independence. In a nar-
row, congested street surrounded by crum-
bling buildings is a signboard-
‘Jallianwala Bagh Memorial- a landmark
in our struggle for inde-
pendence’. Greeting the
visitors at the entrance is a
plaque that reads, “People
were fired at from here.”
It was here in the holiest
city of the Sikhs, on April
13,1919, that a massacre
involving the killing of
hundreds of unarmed, de-
fenceless Indians was or-
dered by
Brigadier-General R E H Dyer.
On that black day, a peaceful
public meeting held in the Bagh turned
into a bloodbath. Just after the meeting
began, Dyer marched in at the head of 50
soldiers, and without any warning, fire
was opened on the helpless people assem-
bled there. The stampede that ensued
killed many and many more killed them-
selves by jumping into the well there. A
total of 1650 bullets were fired. Hundreds
of innocent Indians were killed. Though
we learn of this incident at quite a young
age, we understand the full significance
and tragedy of that day’s events only at a
later time. A time when we are mature
enough to handle the much stronger reac-
tions we feel in response to it. Anger, re-
sentment, sadness, indignation, and more
anger. As one walks through the now well-
maintained garden and reads the various
plaques describing the events of that day,
it is hard to not feel an overwhelming
sense of sadness. The usually boisterous
tourists maintain a much more respectful
silence within the Bagh.
A memorial was constructed in
the Bagh to perpetuate the memory of the
martyrs. The monument, befittingly
named the Flame of Liberty, was inaugu-
rated in 1961. The central 30 foot high
pylon, a four sided tapering structure of
red stone stands tall and majestic in the
garden. It has the words ‘ In memory of
martyrs, 13 april,1919’ inscribed in Hindi,
Punjabi, Urdu and English. Bullet holes
are carefully preserved under the thick
glass frames. The well, now enclosed
holds no water, only coins tossed by those
who come to pay homage.
This diabolical event described
by Winston Churchill as ‘an extraordinary
event, a monstrous event, an event which
stands in singular and sinister isolation’
faced widespread condemnation and af-
fected the direction of our freedom strug-
gle as well. It prompted legendary Indian
literary figure Rabindranath Tagore to re-
nounce his Knighthood in protest of the
mass killing.
It is hard to imagine the des-
peration and chaos the hapless people
there must have experienced or the agony
of those who lost their loved ones that day.
The incident at Jallianwala
Bagh will undoubtedly remain one of the
darkest and bloodiest chapters in the his-
tory of India. We can only hope that we
shall never again have to witness such a
barbaric act.
BY SUMALIKA ADDAGARLA, EDITOR
Jalian Wala Bagh: Remembering the Martyrs
How many timeshave we been guilty ofshunning away from dis-abled human beings? I’msure that many of us are leftwith a guilty consciencewhen it comes to answeringthat question. For the 40-60million people with mentaland physical disabilities inIndia, discrimination andstigma are daily occur-rences. In a country wheresocial standing – includingin regards to marriage – iscrucial, having a disabilityoften means being relegatedto the bottom of the pile.
Up until now the In-dian government haslooked at disability from avery medical approach, thatis to provide a certain typeof disability with X,Y,Z fa-cilities instead of makingthe environment more in-clusive for persons withdisabilities.Attitudes to-wards disabled people areentrenched, particularly
where families are strug-gling to make ends meetand social services are few.Their misery cannot be ex-plained in mere words.
A long-awaited billintroduced into parliamentaims to give more disabledpeople equal rights – in-cluding access to education,employment and legal re-dress against discrimina-tion. Sonia Gandhi, head ofthe ruling Congress party,has promised disabledgroups the historic legisla-tion will be passed, sevenyears after India signed theUN convention on therights of persons with dis-abilities(UN CRPD).
The fact that the billhas been classified as a‘game changer’ is becauseit seeks to cover a plethoraof newly-included disabili-ties, thereby expanding thedefinition of disability fromthe current seven categoriesto nineteen.Millions of peo-
ple are classified as dis-abled under the bill, includ-ing those with autism,multiple sclerosis, sicklecell disease, thalassemia,muscular dystrophy, blind-ness and cerebral palsy,which entitles them to gov-ernment benefits. Much tothe relief of the deaf, thebill also includes makingcaptions or sign-languageinterpreters available forelectronic media. Thesegroups can also use the billto fight discriminationacross all areas.
Campaigners hadhoped the bill would bepassed in the previous ses-sion of parliament, but itfailed to do so. Now it isunclear how long they willhave to wait.
Many fear that thewell-meaning bill, even if itis passed, will make no dif-ference to the way in whichdisabled people are treated,especially in a country
where many existing lawsare poorly enforced andoften flouted.In order tocorrect the injustice of ex-clusion, let us not create anequality of oppression.
CHANGES in our COLLEGE
One need not lookany further than our owncollege CBIT when itcomes to seeing that thedisabled and elderly areprovided with proper facil-ities. The elevator facility atthe training and placementcell stands as a testimony tothis. There are also plentyof ramps to be foundaround the campus. Apartfrom this brand new eleva-tors are all set to creep up inevery block of our campusthereby removing a signifi-cant burden. Facilitieslikean adjustable slidingramp for entry into the col-lege buses would also bewelcome in the future.
PPAAGGEE 66
India's Disability Bill Raises Hopesof an End to Discrimination
BY MUKUND KS1.Birth of Telangana : Creation of Telan-
gana as India's 29th state was approved
by Parliament on 2nd June. So 29 states
in India. General knowledge people!
2. India ended their Asia Cup campaign
with a facile eight-wicket win over the
bottom-ranked side of the tournament.
3.Yet again Leonardo DiCaprio may
have been denied an Oscar statuette, but
his reaction to losing the prize is still
making waves on social media.FTW
Leo!
4. Facebook stunned the technology in-
dustry by buying Whatsapp for
$19B.The very next day Whatsapp suf-
fered an outage for more than three
hours. The famous meme doing rounds
is that Mark Zuckerberg’s wife blocked
him on Whatsapp, so he blocks What-
sapp! Funny much?
5. ‘2 States’, a movie based on the 2009
novel ‘Two states : The story of my Mar-
riage’ written by Chetan Bhagat coming
up in April. Teasers going viral on social
networking sites.
6. Ellen DeGeneres Oscar Selfie: Pre-
planned Product Placement Plug For
Samsung! Haha!
7. Father-Daughter workout video : This
is a new workout craze that is going viral
on YouTube. However, this one doesn't
involve a 90-day routine or a six-month
payment plan.
8. Flappy Bird is 'gone forever': Game
creator pulled app because it is 'an addic-
tive product'.
In the year 2012, India
had witnessed a large-scale ex-
odus of North Eastern people
from Bangalore. They are mi-
grating to other places in India
because of being racially
abused.
There have been multiple cases
of suspicious deaths, brutal
murders, rapes and Northeast
Indians being flogged in public
around the country. Often being
referred to as 'chinki', 'chini'
and 'momos', some say there
have been instances where the
local police never took their
pleas seriously.
The people of North-
east India living in and around
Delhi feel insecure as they
think this issue doesn't show up
in the news unless one of them
is murdered or raped. There
was a massive protest by the
North Eastern commnuity
against the murder of Nido.
NidoTaniam was a 20 year old
student from Arunachal
Pradesh who died of his in-
juries the day after he was
beaten up by eight people in
Delhi on January 28, 2014.
During the month of Nido's
death, two women from Ma-
nipur were beaten up and
thrashed publicly in Delhi.
This bleak scenario
that people from the Northeast
have to live with is not limited
a few places only. It is far more
widespread and common than
we would like to believe. They
are apprehensive about trusting
politicians as they wouldn't
take a stand on the issue.
How will this issue be
resolved? The first step to elim-
inate this issue is to bring about
the change in ourselves. You
might crack a joke on a friend
for fun, but do know when
you're taking it too far. Most of
us might feel we aren't being
racist at all, but ask yourself the
same question when you try to
differentiate two 'Rohits' or
'Sanjanas' to your friend.
In the end, the real
question is, will racism ever
end?
We hear about earth-
quakes destroying thousands
of homes, cyclones disrupt-
ing the livelihood of people
and tornadoes twisting
around wildly, condemning
everything in their path to
face utter desolation. Be-
cause of the frequency of
such headlines, we have be-
come somewhat immune to
the fact that millions of peo-
ple are dying every year due
to such natural disasters.
Weather experts
from around the world agree
that climate changes have
been more drastic than ever
in the past decade. This can
be attributed to the rising of
the Earth’s temperature,
commonly referred to as
global warming.
Global warming and
climate change go hand in
hand, with the terms some-
times being in-
terchanged, as
the distinction
between both
becomes less
significant with
each passing
year. Although
natural disasters
are a product of
Mother Nature,
we cannot deny
the fact that human develop-
ment has adversely affected
the Earth’s climate.
Over the past few
months, the world has seen
the strongest tropical storm
with unprecedented wind
speeds make landfall-Ty-
phoon Haiyan. The intensity
and the damage caused by
this have been linked to cli-
mate change. Heat waves in
Australia and Argentina,
floods caused by heavy rain-
fall in Brazil and the wettest
winter the UK has ever faced
are alarming signs that the
climate is changing more
rapidly than naturally possi-
ble.
It is interesting to
note that, although alarming,
abrupt climate change is a
normal state of affairs. It has
occurred in the past and will
most definitely occur in the
future. However, global
warming is increasing the
rate at which the climate is
changing. If we keep releas-
ing carbon dioxide and other
greenhouse gases into the at-
mosphere, the human species
as a whole may not be able to
survive for much longer. Sci-
entists believe that half the
human population, along
with many other species of
plants and animals will be
wiped out in the near future
unless we come up with a
way to prevent anthro-
pogenic climate change.
Even in Hyderabad,
all of us have noticed how
the day starts off all cloudy
and cold, which then be-
comes sunny and warm by
midday. In the evenings, we
have a continuous downpour
of rain which goes on
throughout the night. The
days which are supposed to
be hot and sunny are sud-
denly turning into those cold
winter evenings where we
want to do nothing but hud-
dle up in a warm blanket
with hot coffee.
Climate change is
not an issue of the future, it
is happening now, and it re-
quires our immediate and un-
divided attention.
HighlightsBY NISHITHA MALUR, JOURNALIST
AT THE WEATHER’S MERCYBY ALEKHYA AKKUNURI
Indians from the Northeast standup against racial discriminationBY NAGARJUN REDLA
PPAAGGEE 77
The history of Chaitanya
Bharathi Institute of Technology
(CBIT) traces back to 1979.It was es-
tablished by the Chaitanya Bharathi
Educational Society(CBES) consist-
ing of 13 allied board members under
the chief patron-ship of Dr. M.
Channa Reddy, the then Chief Min-
ister of Andhra Pradesh. It was the
exact time when there was a strong
opposition against establishing pri-
vate engineering colleges in the state.
Against all odds, the institute began
with a humble intake of 200 students
into three departments of Civil
Engg., Mechanical Engg. under the
guidance of Dr.V. Malakonda Reddy
as Principal and Secretary during
1979-80. The institute was first setup
at A.V. college campus.
Later the society acquired
120 acres of land near Hyderabad
and shifted the campus to its present
location in 1981. In the following
years, there was an expansion of var-
ious undergraduate and post graduate
courses including CSE, MCA, MBA,
EEE, Chemical Engg., after which
the college was accredited for the
first time by the NBA AICTE. The
institute was awarded ‘A’ grades to
the department of CSE and ECE and
Civil Engg. and ‘B’ to the depart-
ments of Mechanical Engg. and Pro-
duction Engg. The second accredita-
tion by NBA AICTE was done in
2004 and the college was awarded
superior grades in all the branches. It
is indeed a matter of pride for us that
CBIT was the first and only engi-
neering college to be accredited by
AICTE’s National Board of Accred-
itation twice—in 1998 and 2004.
Later in the year 2005,
the institute celebrated its Silver Ju-
bilee on 15th and 16th of September
with great enthusiasm and pomp to
commemorate the completion of 25
successful years since its inception.
The occasion was no less than any
big festival and was celebrated on a
grand scale with widespread and
eager participation from all. The
chief guests of the celebrations in-
cluded the late Chief Minister of
Andhra Pradesh Dr.Y.S. Rajasekhara
Reddy, Dr. V. Malakonda Reddy, Dr.
B. N. Reddy and other distinguished
personalities. From the year 2006,
under the stewardship of Dr. B.
Chennakeshava Rao as Principal, the
institute has achieved great accom-
plishments between the years 2006
and 2013 including a number of suc-
cessful accreditations and the more
recent autonomous status.
BY SHIVANIREDDY
With its keen commitment
to offer quality education, CBIT has
grown by leaps and bounds over the
past 34 years and today it has emerged
as the leading higher education
provider in A.P with an intake of 960
regular and 156 lateral entry students
into 9 Under Graduate (UG) streams
and a total of 374 students into 11
Post Graduation (PG) courses. The
total strength of students at present is
approximately 4638. The institute
provides a highly conducive environ-
ment with the best possible facilities
made available to the students includ-
ing excellent infrastructure and effi-
cient labs which is quiet evident from
the excellent performance of the stu-
dents.
Around 258 well qualified,
highly committed and dedicated fac-
ulty members are employed, 73 of
which are doctorate degree holders
and 76 are pursuing the same. Apart
from this, the institute also provides
234 experienced and supportive tech-
nical staff. The institute is well
known for its placements credited to
the placement cell, established in
1996. Under the guidance of Mr. NLN
Reddy, our extremely capable Place-
ment Officer, CBIT has successfully
ensured that the future of a majority
of its students is secured. It is consid-
ered one of the top placed colleges
and boasts of amazing placement sta-
tistics, placing 918 students this year.
It was indeed a proud mo-
ment when CBIT was:
-Ranked 31st in the country and 1st in
the state for placements among the
top 100 engineering colleges.
by Outlook, 2006.
-Ranked 43rd in the top engineering
colleges in country
by Outlook, 2011
-Ranked 47th in top engineering col-
leges in country
by The Week, 2012
In line with its motto
“SWAYAM TEJASWIN BHAVA”,
CBIT trains its students to become
self-enlightened entrepreneurs in their
respective walks of life.
In the year 2013, CBIT
had been granted autonomous status
for a period of 6 years from the aca-
demic year 2013-2014 to 2018-2019.
Adding to its excellence, an AU-
TONOMOUS CBIT today stands out
as an institute of great repute in its
selfless pursuit of offering academic
excellence and of moulding profes-
sionals to face the challenges ahead.
Though CBIT has long
since proved itself to be a dream
destination for aspiring engineering
students in the state, the institute
strives for further excellence in all
departments and harbors a vision to
do the same.
-The prime objective of the insti-
tute is to attain Deemed to be Uni-
versity Status or Private
University.Establishment of elec-
tronic classrooms.
-Increase in the number of Distinc-
tions and First Classes.
-Construction of an auditorium
with a seating capacity of 1500 at
an estimated cost of ‘1.5 Cr.
-Construction of an Outdoor Sta-
dium with a seating capacity of
30,000 at an estimated cost of ‘5
Cr.
-Improvement in research activity,
consultancy, Industry-Institute ac-
tivity, etc.
-Construction of more Staff Quar-
ters, Girls Hostels, and some more
boys hostels etc.
HISTORY PRESENT VISION
THE HISTORY, PROGRESS & VISION OF CBIT
For any country to stay pro-
tected, it is of utmost importance that the
people entrusted with the job of doing so
are in a position to carry out their duties
as meticulously possible. In our country,
defence forces are synonymous with the
Army. But in a country with as consid-
erable a coastline as ours, it becomes im-
perative that we are capable of
protecting ourselves from enemies lurk-
ing around on the high seas as well. It is
thus obvious that the Indian Navy plays
a crucial role in ensuring our safety.
However in recent times, a
series of accidents involving our vessels
has left everyone wondering if we are
equipped and capable enough to defend
ourselves should the need ever arise.
Over the last two years, as many as 11
mishaps involving a variety of vessels
have taken place. There has been exten-
sive loss to property and life and defi-
nitely to morale as well. Inquiries have
been ordered. People have been blamed.
Excuses have been made. Yet, the acci-
dents couldn’t be stopped. Most re-
cently, only a few days ago, a gas leak
on board an under construction de-
stroyer, INS Kolkata, resulted in the
death of a naval officer and hospitalised
others. This is not an isolated incident.
On Feb 26th, 2014, a fire incident in the
submerged INS Sindhuratna, a Russian-
origin submarine commissioned in
1988, ended in the death of two officers
and an emergency airlift of seven af-
fected sailors. A day later, the navy chief
Admiral D.K.Joshi resigned from his
post taking moral responsibility for the
incident.
Taking a look at the accidents that have
happened over the past year, it can be
observed that a variety of reasons have
been cited for them. On January 30,
2014 amphibious ship INS Airavat suf-
fered damages when its propellers hit
the ground while returning to the har-
bour in Visakhapatnam. This apparently
occurred on account of the dredging
work going on in the channel. In the
same month, INS Sindhughosh, Kilo-
class submarine ran aground and in a
separate incident, INS Vipul, a missile
boat was detected with a hole in its pillar
compartment while it was on an opera-
tional deployment off Mumbai. Just a
few days before this, INS Betwa, an in-
digenously built friagate, reported a
crack in its sonar dome, the bottom-most
part of the ship. The year 2013 had its
share of accidents and near-misses. In
December, 3 incidents were reported.
INS Konakan caught fire, destroying
most of its interiors. A frigate, INS Tal-
war, collided with a fishing trawler, re-
sulted in its sinking and also injured
those on board the trawler. INS Taraksh
damaged its hull when it hit the jetty
while docking. In September, INS Viraat
also experienced a fire accident. Among
them all, possibly the most disastrous
accident occurred in August, 2013. INS
Sindhurakshak, a Kilo-class submarine,
exploded inside the Mumbai naval
dockyard killing all 18 on board and
later sank.
It would not be wrong to say
that a lot of these accidents could have
been avoided, had a little care been
taken. Considering the recent spate of
accidents witnessed by the Indian navy,
there has been a lot of unrest, especially
among the retired naval officers. What
they have to say is that the government
is lethargic in responding to their re-
quests to upgrade the fleet and mod-
ernise them.
Whoever maybe blamed for
this, the fact remains that the state of the
Indian Navy is in disarray. Steps need to
be taken to ensure the proper function-
ing of the vessels and the safety of those
on board. Only when these accidents are
curbed can we again believe in the abil-
ity of our Navy to operate its warships
effectively and ensure our country’s
safety.
INDIAN NAVY - BARELY STAYING AFLOATBY SUMALIKA ADDAGARLA, EDITOR
Who hasn’t heard of the
Ukrainian crisis? It’s in the newspapers ,
it’s on CNN ,it’s everywhere. To those
who haven’t heard of it, simply put,
Ukraine is facing a crisis which has led to
dozens of civilians being beaten to death
and could result in much worse.
Understanding the unrest in
Ukraine begins with an understanding of
Russia’s past. Our story begins at the
bloody aftermath of several wars which
claimed more than a million Ukrainian
lives. This was a little after the World War
1 in 1922, when Ukraine officially became
a part of the Soviet Union, which was a
massive Eurasian state governed as a sin-
gle party state, i.e, the Communist party.
This state existed between 1922 and 1991.
We now jump to 1944 during which
Joseph Stalin was in charge. It was at this
time that mass deportation of an ethnic
group called the Tatar’s occurred where
the indigenous populace of Crimea was
deported to Mid-Asia and Ethnic Russians
inhabited Crimea.
Let us now flash forward to
December of 1991 when a nation-wide
referendum was held in Ukraine regarding
the question of independence from Russia
in which 90% voted “yes”. In 2004, the
first elections were held in Ukraine
wherein Pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovych
ousted Viktor Yuschenko and was elected
President. However, the elections were
reported fraudulent by domestic and inter-
national observers and were claimed to be
rigged. This led to The Orange Revolution
, a series of protests and civil disobedience
primarily in the capital of Ukraine, Kiev,
which in turn led to a second election re-
sulting in President Viktor Yuschenko
emerging as the Head. Ironically, Viktor
Yuschenko, despite being an economist
did not contribute much to growth, and in-
creasing ties with European countries in-
furiated Russia resulting in cutting off of
gas supply which was disastrous for
Ukraine. These events lead to the election
of Viktor Yanukovych as the President
once again in an election that was fair and
free as per international observers.So what
could possibly be the problem?
To answer this, we have to go
to November 2013, when president
Yanukovych decided to cut ties with the
European Union and strengthen ties with
Russia. This marks the beginning of a se-
ries of protests which began at the Inde-
pendence Square in Kiev. These protests
grew exponentially eventually leading to
the killings of February 20, 2014 where
peaceful protesters were beaten to death
by the riot police following which Presi-
dent Yanukovych fled Ukraine. The pro-
testors had won, a temporary government
was being set up and Ukraine was gearing
up for presidential elections, yet again. So
I guess that’s that. Then again, maybe not.
Recall that Ethnic Russians
had inhabited Crimea in 1944. Russia, ob-
ligated by the responsibility of protecting
its ethnic population, has around 30,000
Russian soldiers in the Crimean region
readily stationed. This violation of
Ukraine’s territorial integrity is in diplo-
matic circles a very grave and serious mat-
ter.
So the question that arises is
what does Crimea want? Does it want to
be a part of Russia? Each of these solu-
tions has its own setbacks and especially
considering the immense legal issues with
both of the solutions, would any of these
be practically viable? This is a question
which only time will tell.
UNDERSTANDINGUKRAINE
BY MANAF ALI
There is no need of any proofto support the fact that CBIT is an evergrowing institution. The way it never tiresin the pursuit of excellence in the field ofeducation speaks volumes about it. It be-lieves that learning experience in a cam-pus, and campus environment with goodinfrastructure are interrelated and it is fo-cused on enhancing both. CBIT’s commit-ment to the same is obvious even to anuntrained eye, as the regular technologicalupdates of the equipment and ongoingconstruction of new facilities and build-ings stand as live examples. For instance,construction of new block for ECE depart-ment is on the verge of completion.
The new block of ECE cer-tainly has the latest features and facilities.The design of the building is unique witha cellar and three floors; ground, first and
second. It has spacious corridors and goodventilation. The flooring in the entirebuilding is exceptional with smooth gran-ite. The cellar is allotted for a new bookbank facility which offers academic booksof the department to the students of BC,SC and ST category. The new blockboasts of tinted glass windows used for allthe rooms which controls the luminancefactor thereby improving the visual expe-rience of a student when a projector isused. The new seminar halls are upgradedand have already been used without anyglitches for the ECE fest, Synapse. Theyare big enough to accommodate two sec-tions at a time with a seating of chairs withflip pads. They have perforated false ceil-ing which suppresses the reverberation ofsound, thus improving the listening expe-rience. In addition to that, an advanced
audio system has been set up in the hallfor an overall satisfying experience. Un-like the other seminar halls, the availabil-ity of projector connections near podiumadds to the convenience of the presenter.The rest of the rooms are allotted forclasses, labs and the staff. The ECE de-partment uses about 140 computers. Thenew departmental building is expected tobe equipped with all new systems.
The new ECE departmentalbuilding is getting ready with the finishingtouches happening at good pace and is ex-pected to be inaugurated next semester.Following the custom of CBIT, this newblock is already being addressed as Nblock going by the alphabetical order. Butcould we maybe have an inspiring title tothis new block?
NEW BLOCKS AROUND THE CORNERBY KRISHNA HARSHA, JOURNALIST
PPAAGGEE 88
IPL PREVIEW
World number one Rafael
Nadal will be in Mumbai! You heard
it right folks, Nadal will be finally
coming down here and to display his
wide arsenal of shots, and thankfully
not for some cameo in an overhyped
Bollywood film (I’m sure they can
get a stunt double for that).
That’s not all, plenty of for-
mer tennis greats and other top play-
ers are to follow suit.The dream of
seeing these top players continue
their everlasting rivalry on Indian soil
has finally become a reality thanks to
our very own (and no doubt a modern
tennis great in his own right) Mahesh
Bhupathi, the impresario behind the
launch of the International Premier
Tennis League (ITPL).
So naturally there must be
lot of cash involved right? You can be
rest assured that almost every single
player who has made himself/herself
available for this glitzy tournament
will be getting paid a top dollar.
Leading the payroll pack is
Nadal himself who will reportedly
get close to $2 million, while Murray
and Djokovic can each expect to
pocket a seven-figure sum for playing
three matches in as many days.
How high will the event
fly? The sky literally is the limit here
and the signs are positive, yet there
are also significant gaps in the infor-
mation coming out of the auction in
Dubai – notably the identity of the
four team owners who have report-
edly bid a total of $24 million (well as
things go these days we may know
details of the Indo-US nuclear deal,
but not the identity of the owners).
The possibility of continu-
ing the legendary rivalry between
Sampras and Agassi, followed by a
matchup between Nadal and Murray
is sure to attract sponsors, broadcast-
ers (and hopefully not bookmakers)
to the multi-million dollar event.
How the tournament works
The International Premier
Tennis League has now come down
to four teams in its first year, based in
Mumbai, Bangkok, Singapore and
Dubai-each of these four cities are
favoured international destinations
and do have a huge population of up-
wardly mobile youth. The chances
are that Kuala Lumpur will also join
if stadiums are available in Decem-
ber. That means each team will play
six matches, and the season will run
from Nov 28 to Dec 13.
The format of each match
involves five sets, each set played by
a different combination of players, so
that you can claim a point each in
men’s singles, women’s singles,
men’s doubles, mixed doubles and
“legend’s” singles (which should ar-
guably be the most exiting set!)
WHERE THE STARS WILL LINE UP
Team Singapore:
Playing November 28, 29, 30
Tomas Berdych, Andre Agassi, Lley-
ton Hewitt, Serena Williams, Bruno
Soares, Patrick Rafter, Daniela Han-
tuchova, Nick Krygios.
Team Bangkok: December 2, 3, 4
Andy Murray, Jo Wilfred Tsonga,
Victoria Azarenka, Daniel Nestor,
Carlos Moya, Kirsten Flipkens.
Team Mumbai: December 7, 8, 9
Rafael Nadal, Gael Monfils, Pete
Sampras. Rohan Bopanna, Ana
Ivanovic, SaniaMirza, Fabrice San-
toro.
Team Dubai: December 11, 12, 13
Novak Djokovic, Caroline Wozni-
acki, Goran Ivanisevic, JankoTipsare-
vic, NenadZimonic, MalekJaziri,
Martina Hingis.
The league, valued at over
Rs 250 crores, is expected to add to
the appeal of tennis in Asia and the
Middle East. Against the backdrop of
Asians doing better in Grand Slams,
the talent pool for tennis in the conti-
nent is expected to expand.
TOP STARS CASH IN ON
TENNIS PREMIER LEAGUEBY MUKUND KS
Cricket is the gameliked and enjoyed by billions, asevery aspect related to it in-volves brilliance. It has enor-mous potential which unifiesthe entire nation, by which peo-ple of all kinds and ages followit with great passion.The game has seen,isseeing,and needs many qualityplayers by its side, who are hardworking, skillful, selfless, al-ways playing for pride. Playersare not only mentally and phys-ically tested in all the matches,but are also constantly exam-ined under wide-varying condi-tions and pitches.
Domestic tourneyshave given proper directionsand shown right paths, and theirunending support has enabledcricket’s future in very good
hands. Women crickteters areto be credited and recognisedfor their crucial decision, andtheir hardwork is being paid offnow and are able to do thingswith precision.
Leagues like Ipl andBig Bash have been responsiblefor the game’s modernisation,and have tasted instant successdue to greater levels of innova-tion and improvisation.
Cricket has inspiredmany film makers in making afew classic films like Lagaan,and has now acquired cine starsinto it who are fielding like ac-robats even at the crucial long-on! All the enthusiastic loversof the game keep expecting alot and hope, that this wonder-ful entity has a great future andan unimaginable scope.
CRICKET at a GLANCE!BY NIKHIL GOPAL KRISHNA, JOURNALIST
BY SREEKAR REDDY
So the IPL auctions were
the big story last month. Telling
you which team got which player
wouldn’t really help since most of
you would know that already, in-
stead here’s my opinion on how
the teams have shaped up.
The Sunrisers Hyderabad- Had
to start with my (our) team. The
notable entrants into the Sunrisers’
fold this year would have to be the
Australian opening duo of Aaron
finch and David Warner. Since
Shikhar Dhawan is a permanent
fixture at the opening slot, one of
the two Aussies will have to come
in at number 3. The first thing that
hits you about the Hyderabad team
is that the batting is top heavy.
With no other notable Indian bats-
man apart from Dhawan , the Sun-
risers will have to rely greatly on
the explosive Darren Sammy or
Brendon Taylor who could prove
to be a surprise package. However
if Venugopal rao and KL Rahul
come good then this Sunrisers Side
could be a favourite for the title.
Irfan Pathan and Rasool would
certainly be an asset with bat and
ball. Naman Ojha should don the
gloves and the bowling looks
pretty settled. With Dale Steyn and
Amit mishra the Sunrisers are all
but assured of 8 good overs. How-
ever how Bhuvaneshwar Kumar,
Ishant , Irfan and Karn Sharma
step up could determine the suc-
cess of this side. Jason Holder un-
fortunately could find himself on
the bench more often than not.
Analysis- fantastic top order, the
middle order is brittle but a well
rounded bowling attack means
the Sunrisers are better placed
this year to bid for the title. Per-
haps missed out on Badrinath.
Chennai Superkings- Chennai re-
tained Dhoni, Raina, Ashwin,
Jadeja (perhaps the best Indian
T20 players) and Dwayne bravo.
This ensured that Chennai had a
strong core even before the bid-
ding began. With Faf Du’Plessis,
Dwayne Smith and Brendon Mc
Cullum in the mix Chennai has
fearsome power in the batting de-
partment. Decent Indian players
like Baba Aparitjith and the vet-
eran Mithun Manhas add a little
solidity to the line up so no prob-
lems there. Perhaps however
Chennai realised they were short
on bowlers and hence went for the
incomprehensible and ridiculous
bid of Rs 2 crore for the injury
prone, over the hill Ashish Nehra.
That bid however didn’t do much
to help as the Superkings will be
heavily reliant on Hilfenhaus ,
Ashwin and Jadeja. Ishwar Pandey
and Mohit Sharma are promising
but could certainly be sent to the
stands against quality opposition.
Analyisis-look well rounded but
the lack of a match winning
bowler could cost them. The bat-
ting might make up for it though
and hence they are strong con-
tenders for the title as usual.
Mumbai Indians- The first ques-
tion to Mumbai would be – What
were you thinking when you let
Mitchell Johnson go??. They re-
tained Malinga, Rohit Sharma,
Ambati Rayudu, Harbhajan Singh
and Kieron Pollard hence retaining
their entire allowed quota. Mum-
bai went after Michael Hussey and
the new sensation Corey Ander-
son. The batting looks good (per-
haps not as good as last year) with
a good Indian presence . The bowl-
ing is a worry since Malinga does-
n’t seem like the lethal bowler he
was and an ageing Zaheer Khan
will not threaten too many bats-
man. Ojha and Harbhajan are qual-
ity spinners but there could be too
much of a burden on them. Mum-
bai certainly seem like a weaker
side from last year. Analysis-
Should have retained Johnson
and let go of Malinga. It will be
tough for the defending champs
to claim the title again.
Kings XI Punjab - The Punjab
outfit have Virender Sehwag who
looks way past his prime at this
stage. Manan Vohra and David
Miller were retained by them. The
batting is too dependant on for-
eigners Shaun Marsh, Glenn
Maxwell and George Bailey.
Along with Miller that doesn’t
leave space for a foreign bowler
and this is where Punjab could re-
ally suffer since one of the three
new recruits will have to be
dropped to accommodate Mitchell
Johnson. Pujara, Wriddhiman
Saha and Sehwag as the Indian
batsman wont cause too many
alarms in the opposition ranks. The
bowling will rely on Johnson and
Murali Karthik( got him with a last
minute effort) with Parwinder
Awana and Balaji for support. I
can’t figure out how Thisara Per-
era will fit into this side. Analysis-
Could beat anyone on their day
since they have match winners
but won’t have the consistency to
see them win the title.
Rajasthan Royals- By far the
smartest franchise in the league
and their reputation stands thanks
to some great retentions. Watson,
Binny, Samson, Rahane and
Faulkner form a very good core.
The batting is in good hands with
Watson, Hodge, Rahane, Samson,
Binny , Abhishek Nayar and Un-
mukt Chand. Add to it the explo-
siveness of Faulkner down the
order and we find a great mix of
Indian and foreign players. Rajat
Bhatia is a very underrated all-
rounder and him along with Iqbal
Abdullah could send down some
quiet overs. Pravin Tambe ,
Faulkner and Dhawal Kulkarni
complete a well rounded bowling
unit as well. It will be interesting
to see how they shuffle Tim
southee and Kevon Cooper into
the team. Also look out for Ben
Cutting, he can hit the ball a long
long way. Analysis- Their vision
and a cricketing mind like Dravid
working with them could lead to
glory for this side.
Kolkata Knight Riders- Retained
Gambhir and Sunil Narine. The
batting looks good at the top with
Utthappa, Kallis , Gambhir and
Manvinder Bisla. If Yusuf Pathan
and Manish Pandey succeed then
Kolkata will have decent fire
power in their ranks. Ryan Ten
Doeschate and Shakib Al Hasan
are quality allrounders and will
add depth in both departments.
The bowling is a worry with
Umesh Yadav and Vinay Kumar
having been sent to the stands
more often than not and Piyush
Chawla will have to partner Narine
well. It will be an interesting toss
up between Andre Russell Chris
Lynn and pat Cummins to see who
makes it to the 11.Look out for
Kuldeep Yadav, our own Indian
Chinaman. Analysis- Look to be a
side with a decent chance of mak-
ing it to the playoffs. The bowling
looks weak apart from Narine.
Delhi Daredevils- Didn’t retain
any player and the Delhi franchise
has used their funds well. Interna-
tional batsmen like Quinton De
Kock, Kevin Pietersen and Ross
Taylor along with Indian Stars
Murali Vijay, Dinesh Karthik ,
Manoj Tiwary, Saurabh Tiwary
and Lakshmi rathan Shulka make
sure Delhi has the flexibility to
play more than one International
bowler. In Mohammad Shami and
Rahul Sharma Delhi have good In-
dian bowlers since Shami is per-
haps the best Indian pacer right
now and Rahul Sharma has proven
to be successful in T20. Wayne
Parnell and Coulter-Nile will form
an effective new ball pairing if the
tournament is played in South
Africa. Analysis- A much better
side than last time around and
could have a change of fortune
with a playoff appearance.
Royal Challengers Bangalore-
The big spenders, the superstars,
they possess the most fearsome
batting quartet in the world. Chris
Gayle, AB Devilliers, Virat Kohli
and Yuvraj Singh will send a
shiver down the spine of many op-
position bowlers. Parthiv Patel,
Vijay Zol and Albie Morkel should
complete what is the best batting
line up in the IPL. The bowling
however is a different issue with
Ravi Rampaul and Mitchell Starc
being the international stars who
wouldn’t cause sleepless nights to
the batsmen. Varun Aaron and
Ashok Dinda don’t inspire too
much confidence. Shadab Jakati
may be a surprise package. Analy-
sis- Dream batting with 5 of the
best T20 batsmen in the world.
The bowling could fall apart from
the pressure and could cost RCB
dearly. But surely with the Bats-
men they have betting against
them going to the playoffs and be-
yond would be foolish.
PPAAGGEE 99
Come 12th June and Brazil
will play host to arguably the
sporting worlds’ largest spec-
tacle- The FIFA World Cup
2014. Though country foot-
ball may not garner as much
(to put it mildly, excessive)
enthusiasm as club football, it
cannot be denied that the fans
wait with bated breaths for top
players to kick off in their na-
tional jerseys. Be it Lionel
Messi for Argentina, Cristiano
Ronaldo for Portugal or Ney-
mar and Kaka for Brazil, the
line ups are a true spectacle.
A total of 32 nations-divided
into 8 groups of 4 teams each-
are presently gearing up to
face off in the land of samba
and carnivals, on the foot-
balling worlds’ greatest stage.
There are the clichéd groups
of death-Group G (Portugal,
Germany, Ghana and USA),
Group B(Spain, Netherlands,
Chile and Australia) and
Group D (Uruguay, Costa
Rica, England and Italy) -
there are nations like Ar-
gentina and Brazil almost
guaranteed to go through and
then there is also the debu-
tante nation of Bosnia-Herze-
govina.
There’s a lot to be said for the
fans of the game. Never be-
fore have play-offs and friend-
lies caught so much interest.
Football is all about loyalties,
and the fans are absolutely
fierce and they are ready to
get behind and cheer their
champions for the win. Never
mind the brawls and abuses
that are almost certain to be
hurled. They make the game
what it is, and the players
have a show to offer.
The statisticians and the as-
trologers have all begun to
gather, to predict who would
emerge on top (Remember
Paul, the octopus?). Will it be
the defending, world-beating
champions Spain, or the
perennial favourites Brazil? Is
it France’s chance for a repe-
tition of history, or will Ger-
many walk away with the
cake? Will the temperamental
Balotelli inspire Italy or can
the World Footballer of the
year just turn the tide in his
country’s favour? Or will it be
someone else entirely? Your
guess is as good as mine.
All said and done, there’s his-
tory to be made at Manaus,
Brazil. So buckle down. The
countdown begins.
...And Goaaaal! FIFA WORLD CUP 2014BY SHREYA ANANTHARAMAN
Our college, CBIT, is
one of the best engineering col-
leges in the state. And it is so due
to various reasons. One of them
being, the tremendous amount of
talent that many CBITians pos-
sess in the field of sports. And in
this edition, we get up and per-
sonal with one such personality:
Sachin Sanil. He is one of the best
soccer players that CBIT has ever
seen. Now, let’s get straight into
the interview that we had with
him.
Q: What inspired you to play soc-
cer?
A: The game and everything
about it has been my inspiration,
the very fact that “what you can
do with a football completely de-
pends upon your own creativity
and intelligence’’, makes me
want to get back to it every day.
Q: Where did you learn to play
soccer?
A: Most of my football today is
thanks to hours and hours of “best
friend ball” times, and also thanks
to everyone I have always trained
and played with.
Q: What is your biggest achieve-
ment as a footballer?
A: My biggest achievement is
something that’s yet to come.
Each time you achieve something
there is still room to get better in
football.
Q: Tell us how does it feel to be
part of the CBIT soccer team?
A: CBIT football has been fun up
until now, and I’m sure it’s only
going to get better.
Q: Was there a time when you
were completely out of form and
felt soccer is not for you?
A: Everybody has their bad days.
If you don’t have them, then you
just need to get a check for your
weaknesses because you aren’t
noticing them.
Q: How do you come out of such
situations?
A: I brush it off and start each
game as a new one.
Q: Who is your favourite soccer
player?
A: Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Enough
said.
Q: According to you what should
be done to increase the popularity
of soccer in India?
A: Promoting Indian football will
find its own way, especially once
“talent” becomes the number one
priority in the selection criteria.
ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT:
Sachin SanilBY ANAND GUPTA, EDITOR
One could not have asked
for a better opening to the 5th edition
of T20 WC to be held at Bangladesh,
a mammoth cricket loving country. It
is going to be a clash between two
arch-rivals when India vies up with
Pakistan, on the 21st of March for the
tournament to kick off.
For the first time the tour-
nament will have 16 teams including
all ten full members and six associate
members who qualified through the
2013 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier.
The top eight (full member) teams in
the ICC T20I Championship rankings
on 8 October 2012 enter the Super 10
stage. The remaining eight teams
compete in the group stage, from
which two teams advance to the
Super 10 stage
No team will have a clear
advantage coming into a match, no
matter which team they would be fac-
ing. This is why the number of sup-
porters are increasing for this format.
It is all about performing to your
strengths and not letting your nerves
get the better of you in order to cross
the line.
The West Indies will step in
as the defending champions with a
whole lot of T20 stars, and is un-
doubtedly one of the teams to beat.
Australia too are on course with the
right mix of youth and veterans ide-
ally suited to this version.
Teams like New Zealand
and South Africa will look to show
their dominance to set the records
straight. Sri Lanka being the current
no.1 ranked T20I side will be itching
to show why they are placed at the
top. Former champions: India, Pak-
istan and England have their set of
game changers ready and will hope to
be the 1st team to win the cup twice.
The nail-biting finishes,
head-to-head battles, unbelievable
hitting, unorthodox shots, variations
in bowling, super-over, bring beauty
and add life even to a dead rubber
match, just in case.
Some phrases like ‘Is there
any twist in the tale?’, ‘Couldn’t have
written the script better’ are the ones
each one of us would like to hear in-
numerable number of times till the
tourney ends on the 6th of April.
T20 is surely an exciting
prospect and a WC in this format is
like icing on a cake. However, all the
enthusiastic followers will have to be
patient for a few more weeks (very
long indeed for an ardent fan) to
enjoy the thrills and spills, this short
& sweet format offers!
A Preview of T20 WC
Can India Regain Its Position Once Again?
BY NAGARAJU POSHAVENI, JOURNALIST AND ANAND GUPTA, EDITOR
The world cup which was a
dream for crores of Indians has come
true and from there on its glory has
reached its peak. We were very proud of
our Indian team, until the series with
West Indies came to an end. There is a
vacancy for the number 4 position in the
team, and that position is yet to be done
justice to. India had been at an advan-
tage with several of its worshipped leg-
ends being a part of the team, however
their time has come to bid adieu to our
team. It’s very hard to imagine as to
what will become of our team, but it’s a
reality we must face.
If we take a walk down mem-
ory lane, and look into the series that
have gone by, we will note that it is us
who are responsible for the sword hang-
ing atop our head. Our rankings have
dropped swiftly. Our rankings in the
ODI’s have dropped from the first posi-
tion to the second, while in the case of
test matches, we have dropped to the
third position. But the main question is,
what is the reason behind the fall in our
performance? What caused our empire,
which we so carefully built, to come
crumbling down? How did we – the
kings of cricket – become the paupers?
I have many distinct ideas in my head,
but none good enough to form a proper
theory! Is the cause for this change the
departure of Sachin Tendulkar from our
team? Is it the over confidence ruling
them? Are they not at the top of their
game? There are countless questions.
All these questions, are asked
not only by me, but by people all around
India. The game mainly depends on the
mindset of the players. The mindset is
the game changer, it’s what decides
which team takes the trophy home. I
agree that skills and sportsmanship are
key factors but mindset does play a
major role in this. The player needs to
be strong, so that he can face the oppos-
ing team, not only physically, but also
emotionally. When entering the field,
the player has to put aside all his worries
and stride in as though he is the king of
the place, and the ball abides by his
rules. Maybe that is what has changed,
that is what has led to our downfall – the
change in our mindset. If we can go
back to being positive, without arro-
gance, ego and personal problems com-
ing in the way, we will be all set to win
the ICC World Cup 2015!
Who is the present captain
of the Indian hockey team? To be hon-
est, I couldn’t promptly answer when
one of my friend’s posed the same
question. As a matter of fact a large
number of people may not recollect a
hockey captain as quickly as they
could, with ease, in the case of cricket.
Irony though is that hockey is our na-
tional game.
A national game, Flag or an-
them are the national symbols which
infuse a sense of pride and patriotism
in every citizen’s heart. Contrary to
common belief, unlike other national
symbols, Hockey was not declared as a
national game by the Indian Govern-
ment, though it is generally addressed
as such. Indian Hockey was at its best
in the years from 1928 to 1956 when
India won six Olympic gold medals in
a row. In this span India had played 24
Olympic matches and won all of them
scoring 178 goals while conceding only
7 goals. Hockey had become a matter
of pride to every Indian, stirring up pa-
triotism in the country and eventually it
became our national game.
The astounding saga of a
ball game that has become a sport of
honour to our country can’t be sepa-
rated from the life of a person who has
become a legend for the same reason
.He is Major Dhyan Chand, a star
player who scored goals like runs in
cricket. He scored goals as if he was
performing magic on the field and was
famously called as a black magician
with a hockey stick in hand. He was a
wizard on the field and an epitome of
patriotism who preferred to be a lance
Nayak in Indian army to a field marshal
in Germany, when he was offered the
latter post by Adolf Hitler who came to
know about his magic on the field. In
1934, in a tour of 48 matches in New
Zealand, India won all the matches
scoring 584 goals of which Dhyan
Chand alone scored 201 goals. That
was the level of expertise he had in
playing the game and that was the level
of dominance India had in the world in
that Golden period.
We can’t be content with
past glory. Our national game has lost
its charm. The reason is not just the de-
grading standards of Indian Hockey,
but also the transformation of hockey
into a power game by Europeans out of
vested interests. Physically strong Eu-
ropean players are at an advantage on
the fast paced artificial turfs. And arti-
ficial turfs are still very scarce in India.
Lack of financial support is another rea-
son, as issues regarding, dues in pay-
ments to players were exposed several
times. Also unlike BCCI, Hockey fed-
erations are inactive. Misuse of power
and frequent disputes between federa-
tions worsens the problem. Minimal
coverage by media is also one of the
reasons for lack of public support and
interest whereas inconsistent perform-
ance of the team remains as the main
factor deciding public interest. In the
recent times people are showing up in
stadiums in support of the team but the
Zeal to win is still missing in our play-
ers. Major Dhyan Chand said, “You
need not have really great players in
team but you need to have a team ready
to do or die.”
CHAK DE INDIA!BY KRISHNA HARSHA, JOURNALIST
BY NIKHIL GOPAL KRISHNA , JOURNALIST
PPAAGGEE 1100
This mighty couch has
never failed to create gossip or
make it to the headlines. Wait,
you know what I’m talking
about! The show that is every
celebrity’s dream-Koffee with
Karan. After completing three
amazingly rocking seasons, full
of witty chitchat and fun, the
show is now back with a bang
for a fourth season, more sensa-
tional than ever. The best
celebrities getting tangibly can-
did and showing their amusing
side on a talk show with the man
who rules Bollywood - how en-
tertaining can that get!
Well, the fourth season
which is still airing has till date
provided us with some of the
most hilarious moments of
celebrities being quizzed by
Karan about all the random
things one can actually think of!
From the fiery Rapid Fire round
to the celebs spilling the beans;
from the introduced newly Kof-
fee Quiz to the exclusive celeb
signed mugs-this season, I say,
is brewing with a whole new fun
load of confessions and gossip.
Here we get to you, few of the
best moments of this season.
We had Kareena
Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor on
the show together and yes, it all
came out! Kareena couldn’t stop
pulling Ranbir’s leg about his
rumored relationship with Kat-
rina Kaif and that’s where the
entire buzz started! And we got
a glimpse of Kiran Rao showing
her possessive side about Aamir
Khan in their episode, which
made the occasion quite humor-
ous for the show lovers!
Then they came, the
Gunday on the couch-Ranveer
Singh and Arjun Kapoor who,
by the means, literally show-
cased their singing talent. When
they talk, it is possible to silence
even the usually loquacious
Karan! And yeah, we had to see
them breaking into duets at ran-
dom moments and they are un-
doubtedly one of the funniest
pairs we’ve seen on the show!
We definitely cannot
forget the lively little riot that the
Students of the Year- Sidharth
Malhotra, Alia Bhatt, and Varun
Dhawan, created on the show.
The trio literally had the viewers
cracking up in every single mo-
ment. The best being the an-
swers they gave when asked
who the President of Indiais?
Well, Alia unmistakably an-
swered Prithviraj Chavan while
Varun said it is Manmohan
Singh. And it was all done in a
fraction of second. Quite im-
pressive I say!
Priyanka Chopra and
Deepika Padukone talking about
the fact that “Actresses can
never be friends”, laughing
every single moment they spent
on the show, was one of the most
entertaining episodes. We then
had Nargis Fakhri and Freida
Pinto open up about their con-
nection to the fact they work in
an industry away from their
homeland. The duo jovially
played around with Karan’s ref-
erences, so much that they actu-
ally beat him at his own game
making him go speechless.
With all this entertain-
ment and so much more, KWK
is unquestionably one of the
most loved talk shows we have
seen. On that note, we take a
break and yes, look forward to
more reloaded seasons of the
show-where it goes more than
just BEHIND THE SCENES!
All the diehard fans will
unanimously agree - This time The Os-
cars were not a disappointment. With
mostly high moments and barely any
flaws, it was one of the best Oscar cere-
monies we’ve seen in ages! Hollywood’s
most awaited and biggest night, The 86th
Academy Awards took place on 3rd
March, 2014 at the Dolby Theatre in Hol-
lywood, Los Angeles.
Second time host Ellen De-
Generes returned with more humor and
wit, keeping the audience well enter-
tained. Her celebrity-studded selfie was
a stroke of genius which within no time
became the most retweeted picture in
twitter history. After mentioning The
Hunger Games in her monologue,Ellen
ordered pizza and handed it around
among the audience. FYI, a real pizza,
delivered by a real pizza delivery guy.She
then passed around Pharell William’s hat
and coughed up money from the stars!
All poor Lupita had was a lip balm,
which she gladly contributed. DeGeneres
was scintillating as she wandered through
the crowd, tapped ‘Marty’ (Martin Scors-
ese) and ‘Brad’ (Brad Pitt) on the shoul-
der and gifted Bradley Cooper lottery
scratchers as a consolation prize.
The musical performances
were one of the many moments that made
the night so magical.Pharell Williams
performed his hit single ‘Happy’ and
went into the audience tobreak a leg with
stars like LupitaNyong’o, Meryl Streep
and Amy Adams. A few memorable
speeches were delivered as well. First
time winner Jared Leto, took home the
Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his
performance in Dallas Buyers Club. Leto
thanked his mother,brother and dedicated
his award to the victims of AIDS. Leto’s
female counterpart,LupitaNyong’o, de-
livered a sentimental speech by address-
ing the dreamers out there while
accepting the award for her moving per-
formance in ‘12 Years a Slave’. As
widely predicted, Matthew Mc-
Conaughey and Cate Blanchett won Best
Actor and Best Actress in a Leading Role
respectively. Gravity took the lead, win-
ning seven awards, including Best Direc-
tor (Alfonso Cuaron), Best
Cinematography and Best Visual Effects
followed by 12 Years a Slave which won
three awards including the top trophy of
Best Picture. Although it ran a little long,
the Oscars featured Hollywood glamour,
moving tributes, magical musical per-
formances, memorable speeches and en-
thusiasm for young talent. Let’s take a
look at few of the top awards and their
winners…
Best Picture -12 Years a Slave
Best Actor in a Leading Role-
Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers
Club)
Best Actress in a Leading Role - Cate
Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
Best Actor in a Supporting Role -
Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)
Best Actress in a Supporting Role -
LupitaNyong'o (12 Years a Slave)
Best Director - Alfonso Cuarón (Grav-
ity)
She was my best friend, despite
what her status was. Her mother was work-
ing as a maid for us, long before I was
born, or her daughter, Jasmine was born.
Jasmine and I were the same age and were
inseparable since the start. I never really
mingled with anyone because I had a seri-
ous stammering problem, people always
made fun of me and I decided to stay away
from everyone. The only person whom I’d
talk to without any hesitation was her.
Her school used to get over by
the time I came home and she’d always
wait near my bus stop for me. She’d al-
ways say, “Meera, I have been waiting here
since forever.” To this, I’d always laugh,
grab her hand and walk back home. I even
remember once, she had fallen totally sick
but she insisted on waiting for me at the
bus stop that day because I once told her
that seeing her waiting for me at the bus
stop was my favorite and exciting part of
my day. Sometimes she used to skip eating
her lunch for me at school and save her
mother’s special tamarind rice for me be-
cause I loved it so much.
Despite my stammering prob-
lem, I loved to talk. The only one who took
my talking seriously and never laughed at
it was Jasmine. Whenever I had a bad day
at school because of this problem of mine,
she’d tell me I have a power which nobody
had. She told me that my brain works so
fast that my speech couldn’t keep up with
it.
The best part was, she was self-
less and very modest. I always tried to give
her clothes or my toys to take home but she
wouldn’t accept. She was happy with
whatever little she had. She would get me
bangles from her side of the city and I had
to take them, or she’d get mad. She was
unfair like that and it made me love her
more.
Whenever I fell sick, which
was quite often, she’d for sure stay back at
my house and take care of me. She would
never let me do the same for her and it was
annoying. She’d say you will catch my
fever and I’d have to take care of you again
and it would be a cycle. I could’ve said the
same thing to her but I loved her company
when I was especially sick, so I let her win.
At the age of 14, Jasmine
dropped out of school. I found that very
ridiculous because she told me that she
wasn’t fond of going to school at all. As far
as I knew she loved learning and she
wanted to be a doctor someday, she was so
smart that I knew for a fact that she could
top in my class. She spoke way better Eng-
lish than I; she used to do my homework
almost always. I remember having a huge
fight with her that day about this and she
got really mad at me too. We almost didn’t
talk for a week.
After a week, she came home,
bawling helplessly. She said it was her dad.
He didn’t want her to study any further. I
was so enraged that I could’ve erupted like
a volcano. I told mom about it and my
mother was equally enraged about it. My
mother told Jasmine’s mom that she would
support Jasmine’s studies but both Jasmine
and her mother refused profusely.
Her mother quit working for us
the next day, and I got to see Jasmine very
rarely. There was no more Jasmine waiting
for me at my bus stop, I felt rejected. I
spoke to her normally like I did whenever
she used to come visit me at times.
I could see she wasn’t the same
old Jasmine I once knew, she looked de-
pressed and lost. I regret not asking her
why now. I regret it so much now that I
feel I am responsible for whatever hap-
pened, even though it isn’t. The least I
could’ve done was to be there for her.
After I turned 16, Jasmine
never visited. I went to her house and it
was occupied by someone else. Nobody
had a clue where they went. I literally had
no “best friend” to talk to anymore. I
started to maintain a diary, and then I real-
ized every page read the same thing in the
end,” I miss Jasmine.”
A week ago, Jasmine’s mother
paid us a visit. Her mother made my fa-
vorite tamarind rice and it tasted just as
scrumptious. She showed me a picture of
Jasmine, with her own family. She had two
kids now already; I couldn’t stop my tears
looking at the picture. I stared at in disbe-
lief for quite some amount of time, lost. I
kept the picture and gave her mother my
diary for Jasmine to read.
Jasmine didn’t have to stop her
education, get married and have two kids
at the age of twenty, all these kept repeat-
ing in my head that day forth. It’s just so
unfair that I get to have the luxury to do
whatever I want to because I was born with
a silver spoon in my mouth and my parents
knew better than to get me married at a
very early age while she’s probably suc-
cumbed to the pressure of being a perfect
wife, mother and a daughter-in-law. I only
hope the best for her now for she will al-
ways be conspicuous part of my life.
12 YEARS A SLAVE, GRAVITY WIN BIG, 12 YEARS A SLAVE, GRAVITY WIN BIG,
OSCAR ‘SELFIE’ BREAKS TWITTEROSCAR ‘SELFIE’ BREAKS TWITTER
RECORDRECORDBy aditi PunEtHa
Two Different WorldsTwo Different Worlds
The Best of Koffee with Karan
By tEja mariyada, Editor
“You haven’t made it if youhaven’t been on Karan’s couch”
By HarsHal Kusuma, Editor
Viraat and Aparna Reddywith his two dogs, Hoshi(Left) and Caramel (Right)
Anuhya Koduri withher dog, Google
Pooja Reddy with herdog, Bruno
Pet Spotlight
PPAAGGEE 1111
Once in a while a book
comes along that is so soul stir-
ring that it gives you goose
bumps. Such is the case with
Marcus Zusak’s phenomenal
literary creation-The Book
Thief. From the very first title
page, you know you're in for
something very special indeed.
With The Book Thief, Markus
Zusak has shown he's a writer
of genius and a literary marvel.
This is a book about the power
of words and language, and it
is fitting that Marcus Zusak
managed to write it in just this
way.
One of the many
things I love most about this
book is Zusak’s brilliant choice
of a narrator. By allowing
Death to narrate the story and
giving him the ability to won-
der at his connection to Liesel,
a young girl whose passion for
books sustains her while death
and war rage around her, Zusak
brings to his story a haunting
and heartbreaking quality.
Death, as the narrator, becomes
a being capable of emotion and
who seems to know that we,
the readers, need to become fa-
miliar with Liesel’s story.
Death is rendered vividly, a
lonely, haunted being that is
drawn to children, who has had
a lot of time to contemplate
human nature and wonder at it.
Liesel is very real, a child liv-
ing a child's life of soccer in
the street, stolen pleasures,
sudden passions and a full
heart.
Death and Liesel cross
each others path thrice. .First,
when he (death) comes to
claim her younger brother
Werner on a train taking them
to meet their foster parents.
Second, when he comes to
claim souls after a bomb is
dropped on her town, and fi-
nally, he visits Liesel as an
older woman. Death finds the
book Liesel was writing during
the bomb raid and uses it to tell
us her story. In 1939 Liesel ar-
rives in the town of Molching
Germany and is taken to the
home of her foster parents, an
elderly German couple named
Hans and Rosa Hubermann.
Hans Huberman finds Liesel's
first stolen book and teaches
her to read and write. Liesel's
passion for books leads her to
steal one book from the
mayor’s wife and another one
from a book burning.
An emotional turning
point in the book occurs when
the Hubermanns take in Max,
a Jew, and the son of the man
who saved Han’s life during
the Great War. Hiding Max in
their basement is a dangerous
undertaking for the Huber-
manns.
Already in danger of
hiding a Jew, Hans Hubermann
risks punishment when he of-
fers bread to a Jew. Now under
suspicion, the Nazi police want
to search the Hubermann home
forcing Max to flee and Hans
to join the German army. With
both men, gone Liesel brings
comfort to her neighbors by
reading to them. She is in the
basement of her home writing
the story The Book Thief when
the bombs begin to drop.
Altogether the pages
are full of lively humor, and
the richness of the descriptions
as well as the richness of the
characters' hearts cannot fail to
lift you up. It’s a beautiful story
that lingers with you long after
the final page is read. Every
word, every character is cre-
ated with purpose and there is
nothing to spare.
I’d say that if you want
a fast read, this book is not for
you. If you only like happy
endings this book is not for
you. If you don't like experi-
mental fiction, this book is not
for you. But, if you love to
read, care about the characters
involved, use words like
they're ice cream and have
your heart broken and mended
on the same page, this book is
definitely for you! It is a book
to treasure, a new classic. If I
were to make a list of books to
read before you die, this book
would make the top 5! Many
books I like, a few I love and a
very few I cry over. I ab-
solutely loved ‘The Book
Thief’ and yes, it did make me
cry.
Book Review- The Book ThiefBY G. HAMSIKA
How you doin’?For most of us, this
would be a reminiscence of our
favorite, Joey-the innocent and
caring food-lover, from the
timeless multi-camera comedy
show, F.R.I.E.N.D.S!
Popularly known as
Sitcoms, situational comedies
are shows which, unlike stand-
up comedy, generally involve a
storyline plotted around a par-
ticular group of characters,
with various situations of their
lives. This popular genre of
comedy dates back way earlier
than we imagine and as years
have passed, Sitcoms have
come to be perceived as the
most popular and celebrated
shows of all time.
We have the best ever-
green sitcom, which everyone
loves to watch even today-
F.R.I.E.N.D.S! This show re-
volves around the lives of a
circle of friends-Joey, Rachel,
Monica, Chandler, Ross and
Phoebe. It premiered in 1994
and aired ten rocking seasons,
the last one being aired in 2004.
Though the show came to an
end, it was a huge hit among all
those who had become sitcom
freaks by then! Being a more re-
alistic depiction of twenty-some-
thing life, it still holds up as the
quintessential favorite for all of
us, even 20 years after its debut.
It lacks any of the things which
are usually a part of twenties life
today, but I’d say it holds up as
a sparkling story-of working
hard, take a shot at success, hav-
ing fun dinners with the people
we love and care for no matter
what, without having an overly
dramatic blowout.
Just when people were
convinced that there would
never be another show like this,
where the actors were so in sync
that the show seemed like a re-
ality, How I Met Your Mother
was born. In 2005, the new sit-
com How I Met Your Mother
was introduced. It did not cap-
ture the hearts of many right
away as there were many who
weren’t ready to give it a chance
because they did not want to
cheat on their F.R.I.E.N.D.S!
This sitcom, also set in New
York, has its storyline around a
dynamic group of people to-
gether.
Though many com-
pared the show to F.R.I.E.N.D.S.
and the characters were corre-
lated along with the storyline, I
think that HIMYM has its own
essence of spirit in its story. Bar-
ney Stinson’s and Joey Trib-
ianni’s characters are considered
close cousins-both men charm-
ing, handsome and have one
strong desire when it comes to
women. But there is a striking
difference-Barney’s demeanor is
very Suit and Tie while Joey’s is
more of jeans and t-shirt. And
then we have Marshall and
Chandler, both of them use hu-
morous sarcasm and awkward
stories to relieve a situation. In
spite of such similarities, both
the shows were greatly loved
and watched, with HIMYM still
going strong.
And since then, we
have had a gush of similar sit-
coms based on friendship. An-
other sitcom The Big Bang
Theory began in 2007 with its
main plot again revolving
around a similar concept. But it
has different characters- Shel-
don, Leonard, Penny, Amy, Raj
and Howard. Each one of the
have their own interesting flaws
which the people loved. The
show has different settings and
also embraces the geek culture
in a whole new different style.
Sheldon Cooper’s personality is
taken in a totally different direc-
tion-him being afraid of dirt and
germs with a desperate need to
be saved from them! Raj’s in-
ability to talk to women, Shel-
don and Amy’s strange
relationship, Leonard and
Penny’s on-again-off-again rela-
tion-all these interesting flaws
and the fact that they are geeky
geniuses make the show so good
in spite of being based on the
same base concept. We haven’t
really seen characters like them
before, so we’re all keen to
watch out for all the hilarious
situations their crazy personali-
ties land them in!
Though more number
of sitcoms have come up, the
classic ones are still being aired.
Few of the new sitcoms cur-
rently being aired are New Girl,
Two Broke Girls, etc. They all
deliver great jokes and are fan-
tastic shows to watch but I think
there can’t be a more realistic
portrayal of fun and life as in the
all time favorite show,
F.R.I.E.N.D.S. . Well folks, there
you have it-Amazing shows, re-
latable concepts and fabulous
casts. And they’re all Legen-
wait for it-dary!
“Those who deny freedom
to others deserve it not for
themselves.”
–Abraham Lincoln
Slavery is indeed a
heinous crime against hu-
manity that existed in the
United States in the past.
Directed by the British artist
and filmmaker Steve Mc-
Queen, ‘12 Years a Slave’
takes an unflinching look at
the shameful chapter in
American History. This is
slavery examined with sear-
ing honesty, far removed
from the normal sugarcoat-
ing of ‘Gone with the Wind’
or ‘Django Unchained’.
The interesting de-
tails which were new were
those that depicted the ab-
duction of free Northern
Afro-Americans to be
forced into slavery in the
South. It was also terrible to
see the slave selling scenes
featuring a sinister cameo
by Paul Giamatti. But these
happen within the first hour
of the film. The rest of the
film already felt squea-
mishly familiar, but harder
to watch because the flog-
ging tended to approach
high levels. It is never an
easy watch. McQueen re-
fuses to cut away as men
and women are lashed till
the skin is peeled off their
backs.
If you are expecting
anything lighter than
Django Unchained, I’m
sorry; you’d be highly dis-
appointed since this is
grave. Nicely shot and
paced, this flick works be-
cause it whiffs with reality
and the cumulative emo-
tional effect is devastating.
This movie has won
the Academy Award for
Best Picture and many other
top categories; and is defi-
nitely something that cannot
to be missed by serious
movie-buffs and the ones
who love parallel cinema.
MOVIE REVIEW:DE YEARS A SLAVEBY RIYAZ SUNDRANI
Bazinga! Could this BE any
more Legen-wait for it-dary?BY HARSHAL KUSUMA, EDITOR
PPAAGGEE 1122
Apple began selling the
iPhone 5s in october 2013.Google fol-
lowed the same in the following
month, selling the Nexus 5, manufac-
tured by LG Electronics. Both the
smart phones are extremely popular.
Conventional wisdom holds
that the iPhone has a cleaner, more
easy to use interface, with a more pre-
mium hardware than its competitors.
The same consider Android, a more
complex yet easily customizable in-
vention; while Apple more strict in
protecting its user experience, Google
allows the users to change the way its
OS works by installing apps like
Skype, without having to “jailbreak”
the device. Google also allows hard-
ware manufacturers to install their
own user experience, or UX, which
works in tandem with Android to
stand out from their competitors or in
other words to make the phone better.
One of the most interesting
hardware differences between these
two flagships is the amount of random
access memory, or RAM, allocated to
each. While the iPhone 5S is surely
the expensive of the two, it has half
the RAM of the Nexus 5, which is one
gigabyte versus two. The iPhone 5S is
a capable device for multi-tasking in
its own way, but the Nexus 5 has a
distinct edge with double the RAM if
you are a serial multi-tasker or a
power-user.
For smartphone photogra-
phers, the iPhone 5S may have the
edge. Apple has included a dual-LED
flash to the iPhone 5S, adding an
amber bulb to the standard white in
addition to a light sensor. This greatly
improves low-light shots and offers
more balanced, natural skin tones. In
properly lit settings, the Nexus 5 and
iPhone 5S are extremely comparable.
Both offer 8-megapixel shots. The
Nexus 5 offers true optical image sta-
bilization or OIS, whereas the iPhone
5S has an inferior, digital counterpart,
the results are hardly noticeable.
The iPhone 5S also features
an exclusive fingerprint sensor, Touch
ID. Touch ID offers a convenient way
to unlock a smartphone that the Nexus
5 lacks.
The Nexus 5, thanks to its
plastic case, includes wireless charg-
ing, while the iPhone 5S does not con-
tain the necessary hardware. This is
not because Apple intentionally left
the feature out — the iPhone’s alu-
minum body makes wireless charging
impossible without an external case.
Display:
With a Full HD resolution
of 1920 x 1080 pixels, which trans-
lates to 445ppi, the Nexus 5 display
looks crisp and accurate. It has an im-
peccable IPS display. On the surface
and in the specs, the iPhone 5s screen
has not changed. It is still using the
same 1136×640 pixels (727,040 pix-
els) resolution, while most of the
smartphones in that price range have
moved to 1080p:1920×1080
(2,073,600 pixels).
This means that the com-
peting devices have nearly 3X more
pixels than the iPhone, but in terms of
visual sharpness we have to take into
account the pixel density (PPI or
points per inch), and because the
iPhone display is relatively small (4”),
the overall iPhone 5s pixel density is
pretty decent at 326ppi, but competi-
tors still get higher PPI: 468ppi/HTC
One (Feb 2013), 441ppi/Galaxy S4
(Apr 2013) and 423ppi/LG G2 (Aug
2013).
Software:
If you’ve ever heard com-
plaints about Android phones’ soft-
ware updates being inferior to those of
iPhones, then remember that it doesn’t
apply to Nexus phones. The Nexus 5
ships with the newest version of An-
droid, 4.4 KitKat, and it should also
receive future updates very soon after
Google releases them. That’s the
Nexus family: it’s Google’s vision of
Android, unhindered by OEM or car-
rier “improvements.”
OS naturally gives you all
of Apple’s popular services, like
iMessage, FaceTime, iCloud, Siri,
iWork, iTunes Radio, and so on.
Apple’s services are designed by
Apple, made by Apple, and they re-
flect Apple’s standards(simplicity, el-
egant design, “it just works,” etc.).
They’re the company’s way of con-
trolling your experience, presenting it
the way they think it should be pre-
sented. Once you’re invested in the
Apple ecosystem, the odds of keeping
you there are pretty high.
Hands-on experience:
The Nexus 5 is one of the
most comfortable phones I’ve ever
used. It is comparably slow to heat up,
so there are no issues holding it while
watching movies or during extended
gaming sessions but the battery drains
out quickly which is 2300mAH com-
parably less for a 5”inch display de-
vice. The soft-touch finish, contrasts
perfectly with the ceramic buttons,
which makes them very easy to find
and use without looking.
At this price, the Nexus 5 is worthy of
its price. -Sanit
It’s fair to say that the
iPhone 5S didn’t have any significant
improvements over iPhone 5 in terms
of quality, because its predecessor was
so well made. In fact, it’s hard to see
where Apple could improve. In our
opinion, the iPhone 5S is still the best
looking smartphone out there. Its pre-
cision cut aluminium rear sits ab-
solutely flush with the glass panels
covering the top and bottom. Overall,
it gives a pleasant experience to own
this phone. iOS is a pretty stable op-
erating system and the apps for iOS
have rarely crashed. The phone feels
great in the hand, it feels solid. And
the phone runs really smooth with
barely any lag.
-Karthik
Hello, my lovelies!
This is what the blog “The Vigil
Idiot” greets you with. With its
mission to make its writer filthy
rich and famous, as the blog’s
page on facebook says, The
Vigil idiot is basically a Bolly-
wood film review blog written in
the form of a comic strip with
stick figures depicting the char-
acters and the different scenes in
a film.”Just like any other blog,
what is the difference anyway?”
you may ask. Well, if the hilari-
ous depiction of each character
in the film doesn’t give you
a laughing fit, then the dripping-
with-pure-sarcasm review of
every senseless scene in the film
that insults everybody’s sane
sense of imagination surely
should.
The brainchild of Sahil
Rizwan-a sub-editor at the Amar
Chitra Katha Studio, this blog is
purely meant, according to the
creator himself, for a few cheap
laughs, and aims at World Peace,
as the write says, but mostly the
former stated mission! And un-
doubtedly, it gives you a lot
more than that. Questioning
every one of the director’s mo-
tives to give you your money’s
worth with pointless storylines
far fetched, idealistic characters
and sometimes deliriously ob-
scene and funny comical pic-
tures, every review ends up
being a mini laugh riot.
The reviews are, in al-
most all cases, of films that
aren’t worth a watch, or simply
put, bad films. Of course, just
like any other review, the comic
strip follows the story line as it
is, and pops in a simple, yet sub-
tly straight and logical question
every now and then. To add to
the irony, the senseless explana-
tions are quoted as they are by
the stick figure personalization
of the characters, making the sit-
uation look extremely stupid,
and in the process, outrageously
funny.
So, the next time you sit
in a theatre and start cribbing
about how bad the film is or how
it isn’t worth a single penny
spent on it, The Vigil Idiot gives
you an incentive to somehow
survive through the ordeal and
make it out in one piece, cause
rest assured, what awaits you at
your home is a hotly served re-
view, with all elements included
to make sure you roll on the
floor laughing.
And basically, the title
has nothing to do with the pur-
pose. It was, by the writer’s ad-
mission, supposed to be The
Village Idiot, but since the do-
main name wasn’t available, The
Vigil Idiot was the closest he
could come to pulling off the
title. Quite interesting, isn’t it?
So there you go, you have a blog
to look out for, every time you
watch a movie and start wonder-
ing why you even tried to watch
it!
Nexus 5 vs iPhone 5S
BITCOIN: The New Digital Currency
URL:https://www.thevigilidiot.com
https://www.facebook.com/thevigilidiot
The Vigil idiot
Ever imagined what would
happen if all the electronic gadgets we
use today stopped working for a day?
It would be a greater disaster than the
Hiroshima and Nagasaki isn’t it? We
live in an era where almost every teen
is affected with the technology bug.
Studies show that 50% of the teens
own a mobile phone but hardly 21
minutes is being spent making a real
conversation. A post on the Facebook
wall or a tiny tweet makes things real
easy.
Why teens? Even kids as
tender as seven, are approaching
Google to complete their assignment
and Grand Theft Auto’s as refresh-
ment rather than playing out in the
sun. How many of us read the news-
paper in the “newspaper”? The Screen
based technology has taken over it
too! We know all the features of the
latest Samsung smart phone released
in the market but have no clue what
was the first incarnation of Lord
Vishnu out of the ten. If it is true that
the advancement in technology is
binding people around the world to-
gether with so called social media, it
is also true that the same technology
is creating barriers in the real world.
If technological advance-
ment is one aspect dominating today’s
kids with those back then, the next
one is peer pressure. In the tough race
of getting a glittering life, today’s gen-
eration is under the pressure of their
parents, teachers, and friends com-
pelling their still tender minds. This
pressure ultimately leads to bad habits
like drugs and alcohol consumption.
In the competition for a better life
compared to our peers, we tend to go
on the wrong track, deviating away
from our own goals and passions. The
people back then gave value to their
passions and dreams than anything
else which is why they are really
happy today even if they aren’t con-
nected to the world socially as much
as we are.
From Religion to relation-
ships, the gen next has their very own
‘modernized version’. We are letting
every tiny feeling within us to be
liked, commented and shared upon
not realizing the impact it will have up
on us in the long run. From polluting
the nature to polluting our mindsets in
the most important phase of our life,
today’s teen and kids are misleading
themselves in every way possible
curbing their abilities and creativity.
Technological advancement
is good when it is not ruining our tra-
ditional values. When we connect
technology with nature and give more
importance to real time world and
move forward in achieving our goals
we can be a motivation for the future
kids because it is ultimately WE who
build or break the nation!
Kids Then & Now- TECH TEENSBY S. K. ANAGHA
BY SATWIKBY KARTHIK VARMA AND SANIT REDDY
We live in the age of inter-
net. Almost every aspect of our life has
been shifted to e-spaces, from socializ-
ing with friends to shopping for some-
thing, everything happens online. So it
was almost imperative for us to have a
form of digital currency for purpose of
online trading. Credit card processing
gateways was a major breakthrough in
this field but it came with its security
concerns. What if someone hijacked
my session and got access to my credit
card numbers? This is a fear that is
faced by many users, even today.
Another important aspect
that needed to be addressed was that of
online money transfer. Traditional ap-
proaches included making a request to
your bank to transfer the money, either
through Demand Drafts or Cheques.
One of the main problems with this ap-
proach was, firstly, it took a lot of time,
especially if the sender and receiver
were in geographically distant loca-
tions, plus the logistics involved was
not reliable every time. Also for inter-
national transfers customers were
forced to pay pretty exorbitant process-
ing fee percentages.
This created opportunity for
companies like PayPal and WePay,
which greatly reduced the time re-
quired for international transfer but
there was still a considerable process-
ing fee and the processing had to still
be done by a middle organization
which creates a delay in the transfer. In
general PayPal charges around 19% as
processing fees and it takes around 7-
10 days for a transfer to complete. Bit-
coin changes all that.
So, what is Bitcoin, any-
way? As I see it, it’s a cross between a
stock and a form of payment. It’s a
form of payment because you can use
Bitcoins to pay for things. You can buy
computers on Tigerdirect.com, you can
buy pretty much anything on Over-
stock.com, and apparently, some enter-
prising young California girls are
letting you buy cookies with them. You
can also send small amounts of cur-
rency to people in other countries,
without worrying about exchange rates
or currency conversion fees. And
lastly, the most important part is that
there are no currency conversion or ex-
change rates.
It’s a stock because there’s a
fixed number of “Bitcoins” in the uni-
verse. The value of each Bitcoin fluc-
tuates based on the law of supply and
demand. The more people that want to
use them, the higher their value. One
user anecdotally reported Bitcoins
bought in 2009-2010 for $1 (USD)
each were recently sold for $1,200.
That’s a lot of appreciation. But it’s not
what Bitcoin’s evangelists focus on.
The technology behind Bitcoin is open
source, so developers from all over the
world can contribute to the project but
this also means that the potential hack-
ers could exploit the vulnerabilities in
the system. Nevertheless Bitcoin has
definitely revolutionised online money
trading and is definitely the new digital
currency.
BY AKSHAY KULKARNI, DEPUTY EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
BC-AD
In the present android era
there are a myriad of apps that are freely
available for users throughout the
world. This is indeed a needle in the hay
stack situation when it comes to choos-
ing the most appropriate app pertaining
to the needs of an individual. Below is a
list of apps which could prove extremely
useful for everyone from casual users to
developers.
Dialer+ (Dialer app)Well-designed dialer app with an inter-
face built upon tabs. It features integrated
phone book and messages list as well as
swipe gestures for easy and intuitive nav-
igation.
Dialer + can download contacts pictures
from Facebook and Google+ as well as
remind you about birthdays and other im-
portant events. Other features include
built-in T9 for dynamic search predic-
tions, two themes (dark and light), and a
handy home screen widget.
GoBackup (data restoration)Backup and restore tool to help backup
and restore user data, system settings, apk
files, app data, etc. Professional, stable,
and easy to use - GO Backup & Restore
is always ready to help you from any dan-
gers due to the loss of app and data from
your phone! It is your best choice for re-
covering SMS messages from backups.
Dumpster (Recycle app)Dumpster is the first-ever recycle bin for
your Android smartphone and tablet de-
vice!
Analogous to the one on your desktop.
Dumpster gives you the ability to change
your mind in case you accidentally delete
the wrong file. No need to backup your
data. No need to root your device. Inter-
net connection absolutely not required!
QuickOffice (Productivity )There are quite a few powerful office
suites for Android and the Google-
Owned QuickOffice is among the best.
The app allows you to create and edit
Word, Excel and PowerPoint files as well
as view PDF documents. Thanks to tight
integration with Google services, Quick
Office can also access files stored in the
cloud to open them or share via Google
Drive or e-mail message.
All that is wrapped in a well-made inter-
face that follows Android’s design lan-
guage and is pretty smooth. What’s more,
the app is completely free.
MXPlayer (Video Player)MX Player allows you to play video files
in almost any format. Thanks to a number
of codecs available for download in the
Play Store, it supports all phones and
tablets. It is the first player to support
multi-core decoding and hardware accel-
eration to deliver the best performance
and experience.
Additionally, MX Player allows you to
load various kinds of subtitles, pinch the
screen to zoom the picture in, and control
playback with swipes
Themer (Customization App )Themer is a customisation app by Mycol-
orscreen, a site dedicated to customising
Android devices. Themer is essentially a
launcher that replaces your default
launcher, you browse for themes, hit
apply and they’re ready to go straight
away.
It’s been designed to help you customise
your Android device as easily as possible.
No having to mess around
with system files, no having
to spend time and effort set-
ting up a homescreen – it does
it all for you in one tap.
QuickPic (Gallery app)Arguably the best gallery app
for Android. In addition to a
price tag of free, it offers a
good-looking user interface packed with
smooth animations and a number of use-
ful features. You can browse photos by
folders and display them in three differ-
ent ways: as a stack, grid or list. There’s
also a built-in explorer view for direct ac-
cess to files. Moreover, QuickPic allows
you to hide or exclude folders you do not
want to see, create new and rename ex-
isting folders, sort and move pictures as
well put a shortcut to your favourite
album on the home screen.
Loopr (Multitasking Enhancement)Multitasking is one of Android’s greatest
features and can really boost one’s pro-
ductivity. In addition to the default imple-
mentation, there are several great
applications available on the platform
that provide simple and fluid app switch-
ing experience. One of the latest and the
best of them is Loopr.
The app uses a hotspot to display a half-
circle switcher with icons and names of
apps running in the background. In order
to launch it, all you need to do is hold
your finger for a couple of seconds on ei-
ther side of the screen. The position of the
hotspot and hold delay can be configured
to make sure you won’t activate Loopr by
accident.
CardCloud (Business e-cards)
[im not sure wether to include this not so
useful to students so check out
the 3 optional replacements in the end ]
With everything becoming digital, busi-
ness cards are way last decade right?
CardCloud is a utility which lets you cre-
ate business e-cards in a professional and
easy manner. You can create the e-cards
on your phone or on their website, adding
all sorts of information, such as where
you work, Twitter and Facebook ac-
counts, address, contact info, websites
and more. It also lets you create an infi-
nite amount of multiple e-cards so you
can have one for every business you run
or every place you work.
Action Launcher (Launcher App)Action Launcher is one of the best
launchers available on the platform. Just
like the others, it allows you to put icons
and widgets on the home screen, but its
functionality doesn’t end there. Action
Launcher combines gorgeous visuals
with a gesture-based user interface. In-
stead of a traditional drawer, there’s a list
of all installed applications that slides out
from the left side of the screen. If you
swipe from right to left, a Quickpage ap-
pears. It is basically an additional page of
the home screen, which remains conve-
niently hidden. You can place there your
most favourite widgets or app shortcuts.
BC-AD is a conversation between two individu-
als from either side of the digital fence, one from