EDUCATION

CAMPUS
Now, landlords are scared of wolves in students’ garb
Gaurav Choudhury

The dastardly terrorist attack on Parliament last week, has sent a shiver of shock among the student community, especially the resident students on the north campus in the Delhi University here. That an alleged key conspirator was rubbing shoulders with the students till the other day, has been one of the most damning revelations.

The security agencies probing the sensational shoot-out case, has arrested one Syed Abdul Rehman Geelani, a lecturer in the Arabic Department of Zakir Hussain College ( Evening). It is alleged that he had conspired with the militants in the strike at the very heart of Indian democracy.

His colleagues in the university said that nothing unusual had been noticed in the behaviour or mannerisms of Geelani, who was engaged in the drafting of his Ph.D. thesis on “Kashmiri Scholars”.

Another disconcerting development has been the arrest of certain students, residing in rented accommodation in the vicinity of the campus in areas such as Mukherjee Nagar, Gandhi Vihar, etc.

With limited hostel seats available on the campus, most outstation students like to stay in these areas on a shared basis. The house-owners also prefer student tenants as they (students) generally pay more than a single family.

However, last week’s events appears to have changed the equilibrium. Property dealers (one of whom have already been detained by the police for questioning), for one, are now a wary lot. “Earlier, it was easy. The house-owners would inform us that there was a vacant room and we would act as the intermediary, ” said one dealer.

Now, the Parliament shooting, and the alleged involvement of students in the incident has thrown open a whole host of questions. “Checking the antecedents of outstation students is not an easy task,” another property dealer said.

For the students, on the other hand, it may mean another ordeal of house hunting with more probing questions from landlords, property dealers and even security agencies.

College Festival

Pop singer Mohini Singh’s heart-warming performance at the three-day cultural extravaganza held last week at Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, on the eve of its Annual Festival.

Shaheed Bhagat Singh College held its annual festival Moments 2001 between December 13 and December 15 last week.

The ball was set rolling by the stage play event, followed by the street play. The English debate took place during the second day of the festival.

The three-day cultural extravaganza had all elements of plays, dramas, street plays, debates and dances. There was a fashion parade divided into three categories: ethnic wear, western formals and casuals. The festival came to an end with a powerhouse performance by pop singer Mohini Singh that also happened to be the first performance of the artist in the national capital. A scintillating rock performance by Black Slade provided the icing on the cake.

Economic Forum

The Wharton India Economic Forum (WIEF) held its sixth annual conference with focus on India’s global strategy.

The conference was held on November 30, 2001. WIEF, under the aegis of Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, is the leading US forum on business and economic issues that affect the India subcontinent. The relevance of the meet was more this year after the Qatar round of WTO discussions in which India has won significant concessions.

Over 30 prominent business leaders, academicians, government officials and professional of South Asian origin participated in the conference as keynote speakers and panellists.

They focussed on economic development, entrepreneurship, media and entertainment, telecommunications, technology and IT-enabled services, finance and capital markets and venture capital.

In recent years, 400 attendees have exchanged ideas with prominent business people, policy-makers and students from the graduate and undergraduate institutes.

Speakers in recent forums included former Indian Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Managing Partner of McKinsey and Company, Rajat Gupta, CEO of Enron International Joe Sutton and co-Founder of Hotmail, Sabeer Bhatia. The First Annual Wharton Indian Alumni Award was also awarded at the forum. The award has been instituted this year as a way to honour the achievements of the University of Pennsylvania alumni of South Asian origin, and increase their awareness of large and growing interest in India at Wharton. The speakers also outlined some counters on the Indian economic scene in the international arena. They also highlighted the squeezy scene in the software market.