ragging at IIT Guwahati Is a menace at all! Often, ragging is mentioned in a very hushed-up form in many households across the country. In fact, this you- know-who of college life can put Lord Voldemort to shame! Before their arrival at our campus, the students do a lot of 'underworld' research and familiarize themselves with the worst forms of ragging. Needless to say, there are a lot of colleges in our country where students probably stay up at nights hoping to be able to fill bottles to escape from the other vile acts planned by their seniors. Eventually, the freshers carry forward this paranoia with them while entering our campus. During the official orientation sessionthe fos, cus is on providing the students and parents with a million telephone numbers that they can dial in the event of ragging. Though this is undoubtedly very essential, it also elevates their paranoia and this is the very root of the problem. The first-yearites who have interacted with siblings and friends who study at any of the IITs are already aware of the worst that can happen to them and know that it's a far cry from the beatings that students at certain NITs receive. The other more naïve students however, are not this fortunate. All said and done, the fact remains that we, as IITians, are among the higher section of society (we like to think of ourselves that way) and are very different from the animals that exist in other local colleges and are much more civilized than what the administration often makes us out to be. icture this. Its 2 a.m. and our protagonist, a particularly paranoid first yearite is attempting to Pfall asleep when he hears knocks on the door. Society and the government of the nation has made certain rules regarding the issue framing what is right and what is wrong. What may seem right to us is not exactly right according to society and we must oblige to it. Students argue that what is wrong in a casual interaction and PDP's, instead they are beneficial to freshers. But it must be understood that even that small interaction is serious offence according to the rules framed by government and is punishable. -Gautam Barua, Director, IITG. PSC brings you special insight on institutes LAN. Everything you need to know about your network form where do you get to discussion on issues related are covered. We wish to bring you such insights further. Please let us know topic on which you would like us to dig out. t has been more than two years and I still remember the exact moment when I saw the campus for the Ifirst time through the window of typical local auto rickshaw passing by KV gate. I was not just carrying my luggage but also loads of excitement for the most memorable time I would be spending here. Gymkhana understands what this moment means in life of an IITian and thus had taken every care to make it most cherishing moment for freshers. IIT-Guwahati welcomed all the freshers with great warmth and delight. PSC made fresher's guide and sent it to all the freshmen even before they reached the campus to get them acquainted with the environment. On the day of arrival stalls were set up at railway station and airport to receive and escort parents and students to campus. Buses were arranged at regular intervals after taking note of the train and flight timings. Freshers week in IIT-Guwahati has been exhilarating in the truest sense. An event a day was held for the first week to make them feel home and interact with seniors along with fellow freshmen. Scavenger hunt, Mr and Mrs fresher, Movie screening witnessed heavy participation and enthusiasm from everyone. Soon after the freshers week, freshers were clouded with all sort orientations which included institute orientation, departmental orientations, gymkhana orientation, individual boards orientation, hostel orentations, coffee out sessions and what not. Cultural board had single orientation for all its clubs as compared to individual orientations last year. Freshers were also warmly welcomed by senior students. Although there have been minor cases of ragging, overall environment was healthy and friendly as usual. Welfare board came up with student mentorship program which allotted each group of 8 freshers with one mentor from third year who will clarify countless doubts and guide them on leading life at IITG. Each mentor was carefully chosen. After an interaction session students responded that many of their queries on CPI, classes etc. were beautifully explained. A Facebook page was also created for freshers to interact with junta of IITG. The page on one side was delivering the expected performance but was also filled with lots of fun. Senior boys trying to make new girlfriends, girls calling out boys for playing tennis, complaints of room sharing in subansiri followed by condolences from seniors etc. added masala to the page. Thankfully the page was successful in restricting vulgarity. PG Freshia, a fresher's night for the post graduates of IITG was held on 25th of august. It was a four hour event filled with vibrant and charismatic performances by the PG freshers. The event was specially conducted for interaction of PG freshers with their seniors and also to involve them in cultural activities which they rarely do. This year PG freshia witnessed UG participation, a testimony to the fact that the UG and PG barrier is completely absent when it comes to the cultural events. The effort put in by Ankit Dave and the organizing team was truly commendable. All their toils were complemented by the overwhelming participation by the PGs and the huge turnout of students at the Manas Community Hall. The instrumental music, band show, drama, dance and vocal music performances had really surpassed the usual standards of IITG and have made the night very memorable for the new comers. PSC congratulates all the students and administration for making freshers time so memorable. thegsentinel | November 2012 | Issue 1.1 01 p2 [email protected] · November 2012 · Issue 1.1 Techniche - Perfection pixelated Magical Manthan p3 p4 The new mess'y' system Decree 215 New Internship Policy Excited to buy a new laptop? Ragging: Reality Check or many years now, the students of IIT-G have been very keen on developing the personality of every new batch of freshmen students ever since F they set foot on the campus. Over the years, it has escalated to such a scale that it has unofficially been dubbed as the Personality Development Program (PDP). A few of our more experienced seniors (and freshers!) will undoubtedly scoff at this term. In their opinion, PDP is nothing but a high-class society term for the more lowly 'ragging'. In the pursuit of a well thought of definition, ragging' has been defined as the doing of any act which causes, or is likely to cause any physical, psychological or physiological harm or apprehension or shame or embarrassment to a student, and includes– (a) Teasing or abusing of playing practical joke on, or causing hurt to any student. (b) Asking any student to do any act, or perform any act, which he/she would not, in the ordinary course, be willing to do or perform.” Though the government has India has laid down clear legislations for curbing the menace of ragging, none of the laws are university specific. This article will focus particularly on the scenario at IIT Guwahati (because that's obviously what you want to read!). ver the last few years, (or at least since the author's arrival at the campus 4 years ago) Oall physical forms of ragging have been non-existent. That's not to say that ragging can only be performed via physical means. Mental harassment is perhaps the biggest issue faced by the freshmen students following their arrival at the campus. Name-Calling, Intro sessions, the infamous 'muski', the filling up of a few water bottles, night-outs during Manthan, the usage of a large amount of IIT Guwahati slang and the loaning of ones cycle to the seniors; these acts constitute 95% (unofficial stats) of the acts of ragging that freshmen students are 'required' to perform. Take a second look at the aforementioned acts. Are they really so bad? In response, (as one freshman student conveniently pointed out) one need only look at the definition of ragging which forbids asking any student to do any act, or perform any act, which he/she would not, in the ordinary course, be willing to do or perform. However, the fact remains that there is never a compulsion to indulge in the whims of the seniors and the freshmen are always given a choice to leave at their convenience. Ultimately the bigger picture merely looks like an informal interaction between soon-to-be friends one begins to wonder why He opens the door to find a senior who has never interacted with him before. Not a minute has passed before he dials the number of the warden/faculty member/dean/director. In the matter of hours, the senior is being asked to appear before a disco and is soon made to pack his bags and sent to hostels Dibang or Brahmaputra. (In the administrations eyes, these hostel are equivalent to prisons at our college and despite the issuance of an official apology in this regard, it will be a long time before the sentiments of these hostel-dwellers change.) Take a look at the scenario from the senior's point of view. Never mind the fact that he knocked on a fresher's door at an unearthly hour. The fact remains that he is being made to leave his home and friends is being forced to live in shame in a land that is very new to him. His crime: knocking on a door. This incident appears so lame that it's laughable. Sadly, however, certain seniors have actually been subjected to this form of humiliation. This brings us back to our definition of ragging. Harassment of a student in any form is unacceptable. And that ought to include the harassment of a senior student. Many of the senior students fear the very idea of walking along some of the corridors in their hostel. The amount of power that the first-yearites have is quite unimaginable, and this sets a very bad precedent. With power comes great responsibility; however, the first yearites are surely not responsible enough! nce again we are in a position to ask ourselves if the laws pertaining to ragging Oare valid and necessary in our campus. Every society has laws which upon which its foundations are built. The first year students need to be provided with a comfortable and friendly atmosphere upon their arrival at their campus. Nothing hinders creativity like fear, and a traumatic experience during ones first semester can go a long way in disrupting the student's mental framework. Many senior students argue that ragging is the only means of bringing a first year student out of his shell. This is extremely far from the truth as a friendly and collaborative environment can also lead to a fresher's quick adjustment to campus life. In reality, ragging is merely an excuse for senior students to employ their sadistic desire to torment those weaker and smaller to them and our institute can very well do without these anti-social elements. Nothing on this planet is purely good or evil. Anything in the right amount of moderation can be termed as 'acceptable'. The absence of the laws framed against ragging will only lead to the escalation of the number of more 'vile' acts. However, there is certainly a pressing need to review the nature of the laws, especially in the context of IIT Guwahati in particular. who would be joining the campus as a result of which many married scholars are waiting for their chance to live in quarters. As of much construction work is being done already for new SAC, new girls hostel, boys hostel and other things. So it is little difficult to make new constructions immediately. Next financial year care will be taken to extend the quarters. Q. We are not given a fair chance to present our views about the accusations. Under such circumstances, whom are we supposed to look up to? This can even lead to the toiling of an innocent life. The question was about a specific case where some students of Subansiri were accused of ragging. Students mentioned that even though there was no fault form their side they were held guilty. It was replied that the students were only asked to write the happenings of the incident on the piece of paper and leave. They were not anguished in any way and the enquiry on the matter is yet to complete. The question then dropped down to as why the administrators should make students to stand for more than an hour for written submission just based on some on some deceptive complaint. Director answered that the issue of ragging is so serious that students have to be guilty till proven innocent rather than innocent till proven guilty. Apart from these specific issues related to bus timings, exam timings, permission for participating in competitions etc. were discussed. It is very sad that after repeated mails only a few were present at the auditorium to participate in the discussion. We always grouch upon the administration and when they come to answer us with all their modesty it is our duty to listen to them. It must be understood that if we do not participate in such discussions we lose the right to speak against any issue in the campus. n 7th Nov Interaction club under the welfare board organized a talk show with Director and ODeans to address the issues students have been facing and discuss on possible solutions if any. This is the second of its kind show after the first show on changing JEE format. As addressed by the Dean of Student Affairs the roots for this kind of show were originated from faculty student cricket tournament held last year to increase the interaction between students and faculty. Soon everyone realized that we need a better way to address the students and encourage discussions. Interaction club gathered and compiled some of the important queries that needed answers y students. Here is the brief on some of the major issues discussed. Q. Is there any prescribed list of brands that mess caterers need to use as the quality of the food in mess keeps changing day to day? The proposal has already been kept in gymkhana and will most probably be implemented from next semester Q. What can be done to increase the quality of the mess? The issue of mess is very perplexed that everything is not in the control of administrators. As everyone is working hard to bring in a better system no one should be blamed. It so happens that very strict measures cannot be taken against caterers as they will not be willing to cater anymore. Very much care is being taken to improve quality and students must be co-operative in this respect. We need to assess the caterers based on daily feedback instead of monthly and if the caterer makes the same mistake or provides lower quality food for more than twice for consecutive weeks then action can be taken to increase the quality. Q. Is there a proper justification or calculation as to how much the price of mess has been increased from past few years? It is calculated on the inflation rate of the market prices of goods. The increase in the 5 Rs. Last month was due to the removal of government subsidy on gas. Q. Why don't we encourage foreign placements? The government is investing a lot of money on students and also being Indians it is our duty to serve the nation. The institute allows all the foreign companies that have a presence in India. Since only few foreign companies would be interested to come to Guwahati for placement it is not a very major issue to be concerned about. Already measures have been taken to calculate the number of placements we are losing by restricting the foreign companies and if it seems that we need to allow them they they will be surely allowed for recruitment. Q. We all know that the institute administration is taking strict measures to prevent ragging and make the stay of first years comfortable. This is appreciated But what if the first years take this as an advantage and start troubling the seniors? Government states that raging in form is strictly unacceptable and immediate FIR must be registered on the student in case of any complaint. So the rules are not framed by institute but are a just a reflection of government's decision. It is sarcastic to hear that seniors are being raged by freshers but in that case seniors always have the freedom to approach the administration. Q. Why is the authority not showing any interest regarding the extension of married scholars' hostel to increase the numbers? It was a mistake from institute's side as institute was wrong in estimating the number of married scholars Director’s talk show Merry freshia p3
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Transcript
ragging at IIT Guwahati Is a menace at all!
Often, ragging is mentioned in a very hushed-up form in
many households across the country. In fact, this you-
know-who of college life can put Lord Voldemort to
shame! Before their arrival at our campus, the students
do a lot of 'underworld' research and familiarize
themselves with the worst forms of ragging. Needless
to say, there are a lot of colleges in our country where
students probably stay up at nights hoping to be able to
fill bottles to escape from the other vile acts planned by
their seniors. Eventually, the freshers carry forward this
paranoia with them while entering our campus. During
the official orientation sessionthe fos, cus is on
providing the students and parents with a million
telephone numbers that they can dial in the event of
ragging. Though this is undoubtedly very essential, it
also elevates their paranoia and this is the very root of
the problem. The first-yearites who have interacted with
siblings and friends who study at any of the IITs are
already aware of the worst that can happen to them and
know that it's a far cry from the beatings that students
at certain NITs receive. The other more naïve students
however, are not this fortunate. All said and done, the
fact remains that we, as IITians, are among the higher
section of society (we like to think of ourselves that
way) and are very different from the animals that exist
in other local colleges and are much more civilized than
what the administration often makes us out to be.
icture this. Its 2 a.m. and our protagonist, a
particularly paranoid first yearite is attempting to
Pfall asleep when he hears knocks on the door.
Society and the government of the nation has
made certain rules regarding the issue framing
what is right and what is wrong. What may
seem right to us is not exactly right according
to society and we must oblige to it. Students
argue that what is wrong in a casual interaction
and PDP's, instead they are beneficial to
freshers. But it must be understood that even
that small interaction is serious offence
according to the rules framed by government
and is punishable.
-Gautam Barua, Director, IITG.
PSC brings you special insight on institutes LAN. Everything you need to know about your network
form where do you get to discussion on issues related are covered. We wish to bring you such insights further. Please let us know topic on which you would like us to dig out.
t has been more than two years and I still remember
the exact moment when I saw the campus for the
Ifirst time through the window of typical local auto
rickshaw passing by KV gate. I was not just carrying my
luggage but also loads of excitement for the most
memorable time I would be spending here. Gymkhana
understands what this moment means in life of an
IITian and thus had taken every care to make it most
cherishing moment for freshers.
IIT-Guwahati welcomed all the freshers with great
warmth and delight. PSC made fresher's guide and
sent it to all the freshmen even before they reached the
campus to get them acquainted with the environment.
On the day of arrival stalls were set up at railway station
and airport to receive and escort parents and students
to campus. Buses were arranged at regular intervals
after taking note of the train and flight timings.
Freshers week in IIT-Guwahati has been exhilarating in
the truest sense. An event a day was held for the first
week to make them feel home and interact with seniors
along with fellow freshmen. Scavenger hunt, Mr and
Mrs fresher, Movie screening witnessed heavy
participation and enthusiasm from everyone.
Soon after the freshers week, freshers were clouded
with all sort orientations which included institute
Techniche - Perfection pixelatedMagical Manthan p3 p4The new mess'y' system
Decree 215New Internship PolicyExcited to buy a new laptop?
Ragging: Reality Check
or many years now, the students of IIT-G have
been very keen on developing the personality of
every new batch of freshmen students ever since Fthey set foot on the campus. Over the years, it
has escalated to such a scale that it has unofficially
been dubbed as the Personality Development Program
(PDP). A few of our more experienced seniors (and
freshers!) will undoubtedly scoff at this term. In their
opinion, PDP is nothing but a high-class society term
for the more lowly 'ragging'.
In the pursuit of a well thought of definition, ragging' has
been defined as the doing of any act which causes, or
is likely to cause any physical, psychological or
physiological harm or apprehension or shame or
embarrassment to a student, and includes–
(a) Teasing or abusing of playing practical
joke on, or causing hurt to any student.
(b) Asking any student to do any act, or
perform any act, which he/she would not, in the
ordinary course, be willing to do or perform.”
Though the government has India has laid down
clear legislations for curbing the menace of
ragging, none of the laws are university specific.
This article will focus particularly on the scenario at
IIT Guwahati (because that's obviously what you
want to read!).
ver the last few years, (or at least since the
author's arrival at the campus 4 years ago)
Oall physical forms of ragging have been
non-existent. That's not to say that ragging can
only be performed via physical means. Mental
harassment is perhaps the biggest issue faced by the
freshmen students following their arrival at the campus.
Name-Calling, Intro sessions, the infamous 'muski', the
filling up of a few water bottles, night-outs during
Manthan, the usage of a large amount of IIT Guwahati
slang and the loaning of ones cycle to the seniors;
these acts constitute 95% (unofficial stats) of the acts of
ragging that freshmen students are 'required' to
perform. Take a second look at the aforementioned
acts. Are they really so bad? In response, (as one
freshman student conveniently pointed out) one need
only look at the definition of ragging which forbids
asking any student to do any act, or perform any act,
which he/she would not, in the ordinary course, be
willing to do or perform. However, the fact remains that
there is never a compulsion to indulge in the whims of
the seniors and the freshmen are always given a choice
to leave at their convenience. Ultimately the bigger
picture merely looks like an informal interaction
between soon-to-be friends one begins to wonder why
He opens the door to find a senior who has never
interacted with him before. Not a minute has passed
before he dials the number of the warden/faculty
member/dean/director. In the matter of hours, the senior
is being asked to appear before a disco and is soon
made to pack his bags and sent to hostels Dibang or
Brahmaputra. (In the administrations eyes, these hostel
are equivalent to prisons at our college and despite the
issuance of an official apology in this regard, it will be a
long time before the sentiments of these hostel-dwellers
change.) Take a look at the scenario from the senior's
point of view. Never mind the fact that he knocked on a
fresher's door at an unearthly hour. The fact remains
that he is being made to leave his home and friends is
being forced to live in shame in a land that is very new
to him. His crime: knocking on a door. This incident
appears so lame that it's laughable. Sadly, however,
certain seniors have actually been subjected to this
form of humiliation. This brings us back to our
definition of ragging. Harassment of a student in
any form is unacceptable. And that ought to include
the harassment of a senior student. Many of the
senior students fear the very idea of walking along
some of the corridors in their hostel. The amount of
power that the first-yearites have is quite
unimaginable, and this sets a very bad precedent.
With power comes great responsibility; however,
the first yearites are surely not responsible enough!
nce again we are in a position to ask
ourselves if the laws pertaining to ragging
Oare valid and necessary in our campus.
Every society has laws which upon which its
foundations are built. The first year students need
to be provided with a comfortable and friendly
atmosphere upon their arrival at their campus.
Nothing hinders creativity like fear, and a traumatic
experience during ones first semester can go a long
way in disrupting the student's mental framework. Many
senior students argue that ragging is the only means of
bringing a first year student out of his shell. This is
extremely far from the truth as a friendly and
collaborative environment can also lead to a fresher's
quick adjustment to campus life. In reality, ragging is
merely an excuse for senior students to employ their
sadistic desire to torment those weaker and smaller to
them and our institute can very well do without these
anti-social elements.
Nothing on this planet is purely good or evil. Anything in
the right amount of moderation can be termed as
'acceptable'. The absence of the laws framed against
ragging will only lead to the escalation of the number of
more 'vile' acts. However, there is certainly a pressing
need to review the nature of the laws, especially in the
context of IIT Guwahati in particular.
who would be joining the campus as a result of which
many married scholars are waiting for their chance to
live in quarters. As of much construction work is being
done already for new SAC, new girls hostel, boys hostel
and other things. So it is little difficult to make new
constructions immediately. Next financial year care will
be taken to extend the quarters.
Q. We are not given a fair chance to present our views about the accusations. Under such circumstances, whom are we supposed to look up to? This can even lead to the toiling of an innocent life.The question was about a specific case where some
students of Subansiri were accused of ragging.
Students mentioned that even though there was no
fault form their side they were held guilty. It was replied
that the students were only asked to write the
happenings of the incident on the piece of paper and
leave. They were not anguished in any way and the
enquiry on the matter is yet to complete. The question
then dropped down to as why the administrators should
make students to stand for more than an hour for
written submission just based on some on some
deceptive complaint. Director answered that the issue
of ragging is so serious that students have to be guilty
till proven innocent rather than innocent till proven
guilty.
Apart from these specific issues related to bus timings,
exam timings, permission for participating in
competitions etc. were discussed. It is very sad that
after repeated mails only a few were present at the
auditorium to participate in the discussion. We always
grouch upon the administration and when they come to
answer us with all their modesty it is our duty to listen to
them. It must be understood that if we do not participate
in such discussions we lose the right to speak against
any issue in the campus.
n 7th Nov Interaction club under the welfare
board organized a talk show with Director and
ODeans to address the issues students have
been facing and discuss on possible solutions if any.
This is the second of its kind show after the first show
on changing JEE format. As addressed by the Dean of
Student Affairs the roots for this kind of show were
originated from faculty student cricket tournament held
last year to increase the interaction between students
and faculty. Soon everyone realized that we need a
better way to address the students and encourage
discussions.
Interaction club gathered and compiled some of the
important queries that needed answers y students.
Here is the brief on some of the major issues
discussed.
Q. Is there any prescribed list of brands that mess caterers need to use as the quality of the food in mess keeps changing day to day? The proposal has already been kept in gymkhana and
will most probably be implemented from next semester
Q. What can be done to increase the quality of the mess?The issue of mess is very perplexed that everything is
not in the control of administrators. As everyone is
working hard to bring in a better system no one should
be blamed. It so happens that very strict measures
cannot be taken against caterers as they will not be
willing to cater anymore. Very much care is being taken
to improve quality and students must be co-operative in
this respect. We need to assess the caterers based on
daily feedback instead of monthly and if the caterer
makes the same mistake or provides lower quality food
for more than twice for consecutive weeks then action
can be taken to increase the quality.
Q. Is there a proper justification or calculation as to how much the price of mess has been increased from past few years?It is calculated on the inflation rate of the market prices
of goods. The increase in the 5 Rs. Last month was due
to the removal of government subsidy on gas.
Q. Why don't we encourage foreign placements? The government is investing a lot of money on students
and also being Indians it is our duty to serve the nation.
The institute allows all the foreign companies that have
a presence in India. Since only few foreign companies
would be interested to come to Guwahati for placement
it is not a very major issue to be concerned about.
Already measures have been taken to calculate the
number of placements we are losing by restricting the
foreign companies and if it seems that we need to allow
them they they will be surely allowed for recruitment.
Q. We all know that the institute administration is taking strict measures to prevent ragging and make the stay of first years comfortable. This is appreciated But what if the first years take this as an advantage and start troubling the seniors?Government states that raging in form is strictly
unacceptable and immediate FIR must be registered on
the student in case of any complaint. So the rules are
not framed by institute but are a just a reflection of
government's decision. It is sarcastic to hear that
seniors are being raged by freshers but in that case
seniors always have the freedom to approach the
administration.
Q. Why is the authority not showing any interest regarding the extension of married scholars' hostel to increase the numbers?It was a mistake from institute's side as institute was
wrong in estimating the number of married scholars
Director’s talk show
Merry freshia
p3
reasons. The first reason is the journey that we go
through two weeks before manthan to make it a
worthwhile memory because we know what it means to
each and every one of us. I remember watching a
senior cry after proclaiming that this would be their final
manthan and I swear after watching him and the others
weep with him, it exhilarated and instigated me to work
even more and more, watching my senior's undying
effort and hard work and not giving into sleep and two
minute breather honestly touched me. The other reason
and the most vital reason of all is
that manthan brought all the
seniors and first years to the same
level and composed this spirit of
brotherhood and it created this
sense of bonding between our
seniors and first years, which felt
nothing more than pure love. I will
and I know that every first year will
not be able to find this level of
bonding anytime else in any year
but except during manthan.
Manthan truly is a spiritualistic,
miraculous, extraordinary and
magical event and is 'a must'
experience event which no first
yearite should miss!
We know we will never forget all
the effort and hard work we put in and whether or not
we win Manthan, we will never forget the bonding we
had with each and everyone, we will not forget the early
morning 'chai' breaks, the experience, the fiesta, the
emotions, the drama, the politics, that vibe, and the love
we felt during manthan. That will forever be embedded
in our memories and will forever remain that one true
event which brought and will continue to bring the entire
hostel together for those three enchanted nights for that
magical manthan.
rom fierce competitions to wonderful exhibitions
to inspiring lectures to soothing Nites, the annual
techno management festival of IIT Guwahati, FTechniche 2012, (August 30th to September 2nd)
was indeed a huge success! Techniche organized a
multitude of events ranging from Robotics to Business
Plan Modeling, to Aeromodelling, to Computer Coding
related events. We are sure that none of you could
make it to all the events that were conducted in
Techniche this year, so PSC would
like to help you reminiscing the
captivating memories of
Techniche'12 -Pixelating Perfection.
Lecture Seriese have eminent
personalities giving
Wlectures on exotic topics
which will open the avenues to the
world of knowledge, the world of
Lecture Series. This year, we had
Mr. Walter Bender from MIT media
labs, Dr. R. Chidambaram form
BARC, Mr. Sameul Chand a global
leadership guru, Ms. Rashmi
Bansal a writer, entrepreneur and a youth expert, Mr.
Lars Hoogweg, the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of
Nimbuzz, George Kourounis, a resident of Toronto, is a
world renowned explorer, adventurer, and storm chaser
best known for his television series, “Angry Planet”.
Industrial Conclavet is an initiative of the student community through the
platform of Techniche to strengthen the relationships
Iwith the industry people and eminent personalities,
and also benefit the industry by keeping them abreast
of the latest research works and developments. This
interface and interaction between experts from varied
fields of the industry and budding enthusiastic talent of
the nation will help encourage innovative initiatives and
ideas. A total of 140 participants registered for three day
conclave. Intresting and diversed business magnates
were present to deliver lectures. Mr. Ajay Chaturvedi,
the founder of Harva, Mr. Satish Jha the founder
chairman of One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) India
Foundation, Amit Ranjan, the Cofounder and COO of
SLIDESHARE, Mr. V Raghunathan, the CEO of GMR
Varalakshmi Foundation of the GMR Group, K V
Sridhar a Legend in the Field Of Advertising known as
the 'Ad Guru Of The Indian ad Industry', Mr. Rajesh
Sawhney the President of BIG Reliance Entertainment
and a key member of the Reliance ADAG leadership
team delivered their experiences. From COO of world
famous website to founder of most innovative social
startup conclave had just the right mix of people.
Corporate Module
ith innovation oozing out of every entry which
left the veteran judging panel in awe, the
WCorporate Module put up a remarkably good
show! The Corporate Module, Techniche'12
successfully conducted 'Product Launch' , which had 9
entries from every field of technology. 'Brain Child', the
annual business plan writing competition, besides really
good quality ideas, it had immense participation of 22
entries in the presentation round held at IIT Guwahati,
and 'Stratagem', the marketing strategy writing event,
which was successful in its goal of promoting
Techniche - Perfection Pixelatedentrepreneurship in young minds. Blue Chips and its
online version, the Virtual Stock Market had immense
participation till the very end and were good hits among
the participants. Though not as expected, the Startup
Showcase which was conducted for the very first time
in Techniche this year also made its mark. We had
entries from all parts of the countries, with more than 5
entries from down south, we can proudly say that
Techniche is indeed expanding its wings!
Roboticshis year, we were successful in reaching out to
all the robotic enthusiasts in the nation. Robotics
Twent national with an event called Escalade
which was conducted in 11 major cities across the
nation! Besides Escalade, the module conducted 7
other events like Angry Birds, Segregare, Aeroshot,
Libraria, Pacman, Robocalypse and Shadow.
Predefinedith enough time given to research, discuss
and come up with the best solutions, this
Wmodule let's you have your own experience in
cherishing the process to reaching the best possible
solution. The major events being- Archcraft,a practical
approach for designing constructions of daily use;
Techscribe, the paper presentation contest; App
Development which was conducted in association with
Nimbuzz; Impulsus and finally MegaPixels, an online
photography competition which received immense
participation.
Other eventsush Hour the on-the-spot events spread across
the campus included Twenty19.com Internship
Rcompetition which aimed to identify students for
different paid-internship positions in companies across
the nation, Cryptophobia, Twist to win, the rubik cube
challenge, Quiz on the Move, Code wars, SUDOKU,
CSI, Genesis, Easel and Sci-Fi Éclat. Spin the Web the
entireley online module of Techniche, it has a galaxy of
mind boggling questions, intriguing puzzles and
complex codes, it's the perfect place to hang out with
your talent.Have lots of fun while you learn! In funniche
this year had Tug of War, Experiments, Extreme
Gaming and Live CS.
TECHNOTHLONeedless to mention the most worked event of
Techniche. This year, the prelims were
Nconducted in over 200 cities and 350 centres
across the nation. Technopedia, an online module of
Technothlon, where quizzes are posted monthly,
various interesting topics and queries as well are
discussed with the students at IIT by means of the
forum and data on various technological advancements
occurring across the globe is posted.
The Guwahati Half Marathonhe Marathon's tag line for 2012 was, 'Run to
show your Unity Guwahati!' With Papon (of
T'Jeeyein Kyun' fame), the event served as a step
in our endeavour to inculcate the urgency and
importance of unity in today's youth. It kicked off on
August 26th, 2012 at 6:30 A.M. It had two categories,
the Glory Run (21km) run for
professionals and the Spirit Run
(6km) run for people who just want
to have fun! Participants were
Certifiied by the Assam Athletic
Association!
INITIATIVESechniche in its 14th edition
aimed to touch every sphere
Tof society with its initiatives
Healing hands, Social 360, Minus
One Project and Lighting a Billion
Lives.
Exhibitionsumismatic Society of Calcutta, Delhi philately,
Indian Air Force, Indian Railways, Indian
NMeteorological Society, MetalMate, Indian
Institute of Robotics, CID West Bengal and EMVEE
showcased themselves. Due to lack of awareness, the
workshops did not receive their share of popularity.
Despite the disturbances in city Techniche managed to
pixelate perfection , the standard of a few events scaled
up pretty high when compared to last year. Many new
events were initiated this Techniche which managed to
carve a niche for themselves even among the pre-
existing successful events. On the whole, Techniche'12
was a resonating success.
hat one moment when you dive in the air to stop
a game turning goal, that one moment when your
field of vision reduces to exactly the distance Tbetween your hockey ball and goal post, that one
moment when
you are just
milliseconds
behind the lead
swimmer, that
one moment
when the
basketball is
rolling on the
net and you are
waiting for it to
fall into the
basket, that is the moment when you can hear the
sound of your heart beat and world becomes stationary
and that is the moment just before you win.
SPIRIT 2012, the inter college sports championship
was held by sports board at IITG to bring all those
cherishing moments into the busy lives of students.
SPIRIT has been growing exponentially ever since its
inception and is perfecting itself every time. The three
day extravaganza was held on 5th, 6th and 7th of
October although basketball was held a week before
that due to the National Basketball Meet clashing with
our dates. Also aquatics were held on 26th of
September and our team drubbed the local teams.
The event was inaugurated by Director, Dean of student
Affairs and Chairman of Sports Board. The inaugural
parks, lakes, rivers and so on. Except for the food
which is definitely not Ambrosia, this would certainly
qualify as heaven on earth or the earthly Mount
Olympus. All heavens come at a price. After all we
have to filter suitable mortals and pass judgment as
to whether they fit to this place or hell. Lord Zeus
has passed a decree regarding all immortals on
heaven to confine themselves to their chambers by
the stroke of midnight. Also entry to heaven on
personal motorized chariots is restricted to 21:00
hours. Not many enlightened souls dare to question
the wisdom of their lord. But the Titans refused to
bow down to Zeus's new decree. The Titans
enjoyed their night time adventures. They felt as if
their entire existence in Olympus was defined by
their night life.
Well away from the metaphorical description this is
about the notice that restricts the movements of
hostel boarders during night time. This created a lot
of disturbance in the student community that
institute has been imposing very strict and useless
rules. But students must understand that these
rules are just a reflection of our deeds and institute
takes very much care to introduce any new rule.
The important point here is that no one is following
the rule and no one is being named guilty for
crossing the rule. If so why does the rule have to be
implemented at all? This might have a very bad
consequence on rules to be implemented further.
One will not take any such notice seriously. So the
gymkhana must rethink on this issue and answer
the discontented students.
Many times in history the Titans have joined forces
to fight Zeus and always Zeus's wisdom has stood
the test of faith and time as the all-powerful
guardian of Mt Olympus. It is the unwavering
support and prayers from the lesser gods and other
immortals to Zeus that keeps him all powerful and
as long as it remains that way, there will be no room
for chaos in Mt Olympus.
DECREE: 215
“The internet facility in each room is
something that i had never expected .The
restriction on torrents was shocking but
DC++ healed my wounds. The restriction on
the usage of internet up to 5 improved to be
the most disappointing news. At last i would
like to say the internet facilities here in IITG
are better than i could have ever thought of.”
-Bharat narayan gupta, Fresher
FresherFresher
All LAN users as one large family and
sneaking in their personal matters isn't a
good sign of a family member as per CC
.Whatever we do on intranet and within the
domain of the institute LAN CC is least
concerned about it and they even don't want
to keep trace of it .But when we are using
the internet the textual record of our internet
access is maintained as per rules of the
Government of India due to various security
reasons .
The most visited siteThe adjacent image shows the list of the most visited sites in IITG. It won't
be shock for anyone if Facebook .com tops this list. Atleast 1600 of
the residents have logged in on the site at any time of the day .Google and Youtube are the other favourite
sites that appear in the list
PL conducted during 24-26th August witnessed
D
participation from 28 teams with all sort of funny team
names. Some of them were le derps, teri keh ke lunga,
R.I.P, asli darindey, bondoos etc. The final match was
held between 'Old Monk 7' with Patton as captain and
'R.I.P' headed by Kshitij Swaroop. Finally Old Monk 7
consisting of 7 Ph.D. players took away the pride.
Winners were presented 750 Rs. while runners got 500
Rs.
o savour those wonderful moments after hectic
mid-sems some of the students went for trekking
at Amchang Wildlife Reserve forest. The camp Twas organized by Sai Vatsalya, Secretary of
Mountaineering and Trekking club in association with
Global Adventure Association, a NGO that conducts
such camps for civilians. Every year the club takes
students to Gharbhanga forest. Due to floods the forest
was closed for visitors temporarily and so the club had
to alter its plans.
On 28th of September 84 students consisting of both
UG and PG started their journey early in the morning at
around 5'o clock. They travelled a 45 km distance for
two and half hours to reach the reserve. From there
they took over road and started their trekking. It was a
16km route that passed through Pobitora wildlife
sanctuary. Ironically even though it was a wildlife
reserve trekkers did not discover any animals except a
few birds and an elephant. But they fortunately
encountered tea gardens in journey. Trekking with
friends, recreational games during intervals, thick huge
trees, ponds, local tribes and some birds were the
attractions of the day. Guides and security were
provided by the Global Adventure association while
food was covered in the participant fee of 350 Rs.The
the trip was also eco-friendly. The did not use any sort
of plastic bags etc. and even the brought by some
students unknowingly were properly collected and
thrown in dustbins outside the reserve. Good to see
the environmental awareness among the students. No
good moments last long and so the . Trekkers reached
the campus at around 7'o clock in the evening. They
were very much tired due to long walk with paining legs
but were totally excited to have such an amazing and
memorable day. PSC wishes Mountaineering and
Trekking club to organize more such trips for the junta.
oon will be the time of end semester exams and
then the most awaited time at least for freshmen
S– 'the winter holidays'. By this time most of you
have understood the non-academic life at IITG and
many of you have already started following western
timings. At this juncture of time, freshers are often
puzzled by one plebeian issue: 'whether or not to bring
a laptop in the second semester'. Although this is a
debatable topic which has varied perspectives, PSC
brings you with certain insights to enlighten you the
scenario of having or not having a laptop.
So, let us critically analyze the issue. To start with the
pros, laptops are de facto part of college life. They are
needed almost everywhere : from lecture slides,
presentations, club forms and posters, webmails,
programming, simulation, to the casual late night
Facebooking, movies, soaps and serials, LAN gaming,
file sharing etc. And of course, the DC! Laptops
guarantee portability- so you don't have to be carrying
printed books, notes etc all around. You can access
journals, e-lectures and even enrol in courses from the
world over and read at your own will.
ike every other fraternity, the IIT GUWAHATI junta
too has its share of sports fanatics who amidst
Ltheir jam-packed schedules have ample room for
sports to percolate into their daily routines filling in the
voids. Events such as the Inter-IIT sports meet and
Spardha stand testimony to this but the most trivial
manifestation of their spirit lies in the Inter/Intra hostel
tournaments organized in the hostel lawns. Recently
two such tournaments, MPL (Manas Premier League)
and DPL (DihingPremier League),in Cricket and
Football were held respectively.
MPL, the intra-hostel cricket tournament saw
participation from six teams comprising of seven
members each. The event was held in the same
fashion as most watched IPL. After an interesting
league phase and a couple of nail-biting playoffs, Black
Titans (Manager-Akshay Rathore, Captain-Anikesh
Kumar) and Antiquity Blues (Manager-Dheer Sameer,
Captain-Dinesh Reddy) were the ones who eventually
made it to the finals. Antiquity blues won the toss
putting in the opponent to bat and with a fine bowling
performance from Divyakant restricted the Black Titans
to a score of 89 in 10 overs. When it came to the chase,
Antiquitof 3 overs but then a maiden bowled by Amit
binny changed the course of the game and Black Titans
emerged victorious in the end. Not to forget the
amazing crowd who were cheering all throughout the
matches.
SC is very delighted to present you the first of its kind newsletter at IITG, THE G-SENTINEL. Over the past 8 years PSC has grown immensely to become the print
media of IITG. The new name and the new design with vibrant colors is a result of excogitation of requirement for a sound newsletter to bring you all the insights of
Pissues and events happening around you.Each page is a section of newspaper that conveys certain kind of information. The Page 1 looks after the most interesting and
most awaited articles. Page 2 brings you detail insights of all the major events happening around. Page 3 brings you the info of major issues that concern and affect almost
every one of us living here in the campus. Page 4 along with all other news consists of Shout Back section to resonate your voice for change or requirement of any new policy in
the campus. Do send your article for the shout back section to frame it in the next newsletter. The PSC website launched last year is being redesigned to make it official online
media of IITG student community. I would like to thank all those whose effort made this newsletter possible. With all your support and love PSC wishes to pace forward its
journey.
PSC is 'Taking’To move forward in the awaited journey PSC is gathering in enthusiastic writers, editors, designers and coders (for website). Only a couple of hours a month and your name
might be in the next newsletter. To join the team, mail us with a subject 'PSC team'.
“We need your review”. Mail us to share your opinions and appraisals.