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

Volume 8, Issue 13, Pages 8 October 2015, For internal circulation only

Students’ Union Election 2015 in University of Hyderabad reached its finale with the panel com-prising Students Federation of India (SFI), Dalit Students’ Un-ion (DSU), Telangana Students’ Front (TSF) and Telangana Vid-yarthi Vedika (TVV) coming to power. The alliance swept all the positions in the Students’ Union.

With a margin of 339 votes Zuhail K.P. emerged victorious to the post of the President while Raju Kumar Sahu won the post of General Secretary with a lead of 190 votes. Others in the panel are M. Venkatesh (Vice President) N. Siva Durga Rao (Joint Secretary) Chiluka Srilatha (Cultural Sec-retary) and P. Sandeep Kumar (Sports Secretary). Aleena Se-bastian (Ph.D) and Sana Fatima (CIS) were elected to the Gen-der Sensitisation – Committee

Against Sexual Harassment (GS-CASH). Aritraa Saha was elected unopposed as the Masters repre-sentative in GS-CASH. Majority of councillors were also elected from the winning alliance. In the overall outcome ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad) came second and UDA (United Democratic Alliance) third.

The polling was held on the 8th of October with booths set up in the different departments. The process went smoothly and peacefully. The polling precent-age was 79% with 3825 of 4800. Counting took place at Ambedkar Auditorium and the results were announced around 7:30 pm on 9th October. Jubilant celebrations carried out by the students of the winning organizations marked the conclusion of the polls. The Telangana State SFI unit congrat-ulated the winners. The UDA was the winner last year.

“The destiny of India will be scripted by transformed minds which have to break free from the old molds and charter new, trial blazing courses,” asserted E.S.L. Narasimhan, Hon’ble Governor of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and Chief Rector of the Universi-ty, in his address at the XVII Con-vocation Ceremony of University of Hyderabad at Shilpakala Ve-dika on 1st October.

Narasimhan, who was the chief guest, gave away the gold medals to the meritorious students while Dr. C. Rangarajan, Chancellor of the University, administered the oath to the 1491 new graduates.

Governor in his address, stressed on the role of the edu-cational istitutions in harvesting and encouraging young minds

to be productive and innovative. Professor Appa Rao Podile, Vice-Chancellor, UoH, added that the

University is now among the top 3.8% institutions providing high-er education worldwide as per a

study done by Centre for World University Rankings (CWUR). He urged the out going batch to

keep up to the standard and repu-tation of this premier institution.

In spite of the controversy over a rigid dress code which was later withdrawn, students came mostly dressed in traditional attires. Ac-companied by their friends and family the young faces gleamed with joy and pride.

One of the estatic graduates, Sandeep Sahu, a gold medallist from the Department of Theatre Arts shared his feelings. “Com-ing from an inartistic background, I still find it hard to believe that I could be part of this University and its theatre department. I am grateful to my parents, professors and friends who have supported me throughout.” he said.

The convocation proceedings were webcast live for the third successive year on the university website.

Ready to take on the worldShaima Mansoor

Campus turns red fortress

More Inside...

KHADI ON REVIVAL PATH - Page 2

NO DIGNITY EVEN AFTER DEATH - Page 3

KABADDI BACK IN ACTION -Page 7

GADDAR UP CLOSE

-Page 5

Keerthana B.

Photo credit: Sudha Singh

Students’ Union: 2015 - ’16

ZUHAIL KPPresident

MUDAVATH VENKATESHVice President

RAJU KUMAR SAHU

GeneralSecretary

N SIVA DURGA RAO

Joint Secretary

CHILUKA SRILATHA

Cultural Secretary

P SANDEEP KUMAR

Sport Secretary

SANA FATHIMAGs-Cash

(CIS)

ALEENA SEBASTIAN

Gs-Cash(Ph.D)

ARITRAA SAHA

Gs-Cash(Masters)

Shared economy is one of the ideas that is changing the world. Shared economy is also known as peer economy which can be un-derstood as a set of practices that allow individuals and companies to share access to products, ser-vices and experiences through technology and innovations. It is a class of economic arrange-ments; participants share access to products and services, instead of individual ownership.

In a coun-try like India, where internet enabled smart phone users are growing, shared econo-my will open doors for new opportunities. Looking at the kind of devel-opers behind this kind of a business model, the primary progress is the changing technology, which, with new in-novative technology allows us to connect with people and discover things to share. Secondly, the shift in paradigm which is character-ized by openness, humanness and the need to stay connected. Third is the economic reality which brought home environmental pressures like the population growth, limited natural resources and growing awareness of the ef-fects of climate change after the 2008 financial breakdown.

Sharing brings two changes; a reduction of resource consump-tion and it allows access to re-sources. The first experience of sharing economy in India started with business models like Uber,

the San Francisco-headquartered mobile app based transportation system, launched in 2013.The most recent entry into shared economy was in March 2015, when Ola (previously Ola cabs), launched its app for personal transportation and is now India’s second biggest taxi cab aggrega-tor. Sharingdais.com is another online platform for peer-to-peer sharing. The company has been conceptualized and promoted by

a group of IIM graduates with a dream of con-necting every household through sharing economy. Launched in July 2014, the website has four catego-ries- book sharing, food sharing, and skill sharing and peer-to-peer ser-

vices. The platform gives an op-portunity to become either a pro-vider or a seeker of goods, skills & services.

The benefits of being part of this economy saves money, en-vironment as it supports sustain-ability and the access to goods and services that are not available otherwise in consumer culture. There is criticism about shared economy especially in India. Broadly, digital trust or online reputation, growing private own-ership in India due to increase in income, taxes, licensing, geo-graphical restriction, protection of consumers’ interests. India is now concentrating on online websites and this makes e-com-merce players give awesome of-fers to bring in more buyers.

The month of harmony and festivities

The city celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi last month. Hussain Sagar became a scene of awe

when the gigantic Khairatabad Ganesh idol was immersed in the presence of innumerable devo-tees. The entire city was decorated with Ganesha idols and colourful lightings, giving the air an energy of festivity. The 11 day long festival came to a finale with vibrant processions from various parts of the city to the lakes for immersion.

The Annual Feast of Mother Mary took place at The Church of our Lady of Health, Khaira-

tabad, last month. The nine-day long Special No-vena Prayers, which began with the hoisting of the flag of Mother Mary on 29th August, came to a grand conclusion with a huge feast and car procession carrying the beautiful statue of Moth-er Mary. The State RTC operated special buses from all major terminals to the shrine.

Eid al-Adha was celebrated on 25th Sep-tember with great fervour to commemorate

the willingness of Prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his son for Allah. Muslims from around the city poured into mosques and eid gahs to attend the sermon and prayers. Families got together to share sacrificial meat and also distributed it among the poor to ensure that even those with limited means enjoyed the festivities.

The wave of handloom and kha-di promotion in the country this year has taken a different course from past years. The first Nation-al Handloom Day was observed on 7th August. Khadi sales have doubled and there is a lot of en-thusiasm seen in its promotion across the country.

National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Hyderabad, which has always worked on han-dloom and khadi promotion have put in more efforts this time. “We are happy that National Hand-loom day is observed. We hope that big companies would join in its promotion as ‘Fabindia’ stands alone for now” says A. Ra-

jyalakshmi, Assistant Professor, and Student Development Activ-ity Coordinator NIFT. She adds that Khadi, as a fabric is natural and definitely gives a positive aura when one wears it. The de-sign students have cluster pro-grammes as part of their academ-ics. The students go, identify and code the cluster. They have vis-ited places in the states of Andhra & Telangana like Mangalagiri, Venkatagiri and Warangal Dhuri, which are known for their han-dloom work. The students are encouraged by the institution to work on handlooms as a strategy to promote it. As part of their graduation it is compulsory for

the students to organize a hand loom fashion show to showcase and promote their innovations. The board is currently planning on encouraging students to wear Khadi once a week and take oath to promote Khadi. The students are encouraged by the institution to work on handloom as a strat-egy to promote it. They also con-duct various kinds of shows and competitions to showcase their handloom innovations. NIFT Hy-derabad, in collaboration with the Weavers Service Centre celebrat-ed the National Handloom Day, where Textile Minister Santosh Gangawar inaugurated the event.

Around 650 weavers from dif-ferent regions participated and displayed their work. This step to promote Khadi is not only a revival of handloom, but also a relief for the handloom work-ers community, which was at the point of stagnation.

T. Takuangla Jamir

Khadi on a revival path

UOH DISPATCH OCTOBER 2015

Start ups: making an impact

CITY ROUND-UP 2

Shahamat Hussain

Photo credit: Google images

Khadi, as a fabric is natural and definitely gives a positive aura when one wears it.”

- A. RajyalakshmiAssistant Professor, NIFT

In a country like India, where inter-net enabled smart phone users are growing, shared economy will open doors for new opportunities.

Festivity concerns come to the fore

IT sector shows the way with ‘Car-Free Thursdays’

The BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand) level in Hussian Sagar has gone up from 34 mg/l to 57 mg/l. BOD is a measure of quan-tity of oxygen used by organ-isms to decompose matter. This number goes to prove that the pollution has gone from bad to worse in Hussain Sagar. This year around 21,600 idols of more than one meter length, width, hieght were immersed in Hussain Sa-gar alone when compared to last year’s figure of 40,000. The big idols of Kahairtabad , Balapur only add to the chaos. To facilitate distribution of idols which come for immersion, the officials have identified 23 other lakes in the surrounding areas of Hyderabad. Countering this move, ecologists in the city predict that in the com-ing five years, these identified lakes will also turn into another Hussain Sagar.

Teams from Greater Hy-derabad Municipal Corporation and Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority depart-ments extricate idols debris every year after the ‘ Maha Ganpati’ of Khairtabad is immersed. This year, the authorities removed 4,990 tonnes of idol debris and cleared as many as 20,000 me-

dium sized idols from the lake. Specialised equipment had to be pressed into service for this pur-pose; besides 2,000 workers of HMDA and GHMC along with NGO volunteers were engaged.

Telangana State Pollution

Control Board (TSPCB) Sen-ior Environmental Scientist, N. Raveendhar said, “Kaolin which is also called white clay along with paper and gum is used to make 5ft Ganesh idol. When these idols are immersed in the water they break open and increase the alkalinity of water which alters the pH value adding carbonates, bicarbonates and sulphates dis-turbing the ecology of the lake.” Removing these small idols from Hussain Sagar becomes a tedious task for the GHMC officials.

However N.Raveendhar said,

“The large idols are removed from Hussain Sagar soon after the im-mersion but the heavy metals pre-sent in the pigments used in the paints harm the quality of water”. Chemicals such as lead, copper, manganese, nickel, cobalt, chro-mium mercury, cadmium are used in the paints. Over a period of time these metal particles getdis-integrated and accumulate in the water. These sediments disturb the quality and ecology of the lake.To promote traditional practices and make available clay idols several voluntary organisations

came forward to distribute free clay idols across the city this year. Speaking on this, N.Raveendhar said, “TSPCB believes in our traditional use of clay idol. We initially thought of distributing 20,000 idols but raised our num-bers to 1.7 lakh due to the good response from public.” Similarly several NGOs distributed lakhs of clay idols and Society for Aware-ness and Vision, SAVE an NGO which has been working for this cause since 16 years distributed five lakh idols at their premises in Indira Park.

UOH DISPATCH OCTOBER 2015CITY ROUND-UP 3

Ankitha Naishadham

GREEN INITIATIVE

As a solution to the increasing traffic and its adverse effects on the atmosphere, Hyderabad Soft-ware Enterprises Association (HYSEA), on 6th August, started ‘Car-Free-Thursday’ initiative in the IT hub of the city, compris-ing Hitech City, Madhapur and Gachibowli. In six weeks, the in-itiative has started showing very impressive results. The number of public transport patrons has gone up and the rate of traffic and air pollution has come down.

As per the latest figures, al- most 10,000 vehicles are off the road every Thursday. This has not only resulted in a low traf-

fic during the peak times but also helped in saving one lakh litres of fuel. Another highlight of this initiative is that the emis-sion of greenhouse gases has been reduced by around 273 tonnes. Even though it began as a voluntary initiative, the par-ticipation has been overwhelm-ing. “I have been avoiding my car for the past six Thursdays. I thought that it will take me more time to reach office, it was not the case… well by be-ing part of this I am able to do at least something to decrease the pollution,” says Anand C.P, who is working in Hitech City.

He also added that he and some of his friends have decided to avail public transport or car pooling whenever possible.

The‘Car-Free-Thursday’ ini-tiative has been supported by the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC), which has added additional 50 to 70 buses to the IT Hub area dur-ing 8 am to 11 am and 5pm to 8pm. This move by TSRTC has resulted in increase in the num-ber of commuters on Thursdays by 11,000. Though it seemed as an impossible task at first, the figures prove that changes can be brought if citizens come to-

gether. “We now have concrete evidence that such an initiative is immensely doable, brings enor-mous benefits, and, in the end, is a cool and fun thing to be a part of.” said Jayesh Ranjan, Secre-tary, Department of Information & Technology, Electronics and Communication (ITE&C), Gov-ernment of Telangana.

HYSEA has the support of over 1000 firms in the sector and also the assistance of vari-ous NGOs. Other than public transport, the organizers advice the participants in the initiative to use MMTS services and share auto for those coming from dis-

tant places and propose the use of cycles for those who reside nearby.

Organizers have joined hands with ‘Cykul’, a group that pro-vides cycles for riding, as part of this initiative. They also en-courage pooling of car and bike by the employees in the IT hub. World Car Free day on 22nd September was also observed by the members of ‘Car-Free-Thursdays’. Following the huge success of this initiative, Gur-gaon and Bengaluru, the other IT hubs of the nation, are also planning to observe ‘Car-Free-Thursdays’ to promote the idea.

Sunderlal Raja

Photo credit: Google images

The large idols are removed from Hussain Sagar soon after the immersion but the pigments present in

the paints harm the quality of water.”- N. Raveendhar,

Environmental Scientist

Though Hyderabad is a city of dreams for the youth it’s not only about fun and frolic. They have raised their voice against dif-

ferent socio-political malfunctions. The dynamic student politics in some of the most eminent in-stitutions located in the city, like the English and Foreign Language University, Osmania Universi-ty and University of Hyderabad reflects the same spirit.While it is usual for student political organi-zations to fight for their rights coming under the premises of their own university, raising voice against the unethical practices happening outside the boundaries of the campus is what gives their politics a touch of activism. The activities carried out in solidarity of FTII protest is an example of this. The recent protest against police intervention that happened in University of Hyderabad where they successfully minimized the interference in the campus and compelled the administration to drop the idea of having a police station in the cam-pus also exemplifies this. The fact that they were able to identify the issue and channelize it into a proper protest shows their heightened conscious-ness and social sensitivity. The series of agitation that were carried on by the students in EFLU like Occupy library and Cross dressing campaigning against the gender biased decisions taken by the administration also stands out as a representation of strong ethical awareness. The historical role played by the students of Osmania University in the Telangana movement remains a milestone in the involvement and passion the students’ politi-cal organizations has ever shown.There is another side of the story as well. The history of students’ political in Hyderabad, like rest of the country is marked with instances of corruption, severe vio-lence and even bloodshed. But it is slowly emerg-ing out from this violent past and is converging to an activist mode where their intellect and sensitiv-ity are polished. In order to have a strong opin-ion on issues pertaining to different aspects of the country the young minds need to involve them-selves in healthy political thinking and imbibe the right spirit.

UOH DISPATCH

ore than 35 percent of India lives in urban areas, not counting the floating population, and the fig-ure is expected to increase dras-tically in the near future. Social scientists argue that the country desperately needs new cities to curb urban growth. Prime Min-ister Narendra Modi promised in the runup to the 2014 elections pomised that he will initiate steps to solve urban problems by building 100 smart cities in India. In a recent note, the Ministry of Urban Development stressed that the scheme will promote not only satellite towns but also modernise existing cities. It will support a broad range of projects related to education, healthcare, and enter-tainment, facilities for the poor, governance and institutional modification. In a way, the smart (intelligent) city idea guarantees employment opportunities and an unparallel high quality of life to urban inhabitants. At least on pa-per, it is a great relief to the urban poor as they are denied access to basic amenities such as electric-ity, safe health and water.

Modi hopes that after the government intervention, private companies will invest in the smart revolution. Chief Ministers of many states, particularly of Tel-angana and Andhra Pradesh, have started rolling out red carpets for corporate players to invest and develop infrastructure and create employment opportunities. How-ever, critics are of the opinion that the idea of ‘smart cities’ in reality exclude the marginalised sections as they are governed by corporate entities that would min-

imise or undermine the local laws and governments.

Structural adjustment pro-grammes and neoliberal policy minimised state control over mar-ket economy in India. The neo-liberal policy encouraged public-private partnership towards urban India. As an intended conse-quence, there has been pumping of heavy capital in urban India

and created “Gated Communi-ties”, “SEZs” (Special Economic Zones) and now the idea of smart city is just to bourgeoisie the ur-ban middle class.

Since India’s rural economy is weakened with the implica-tions of LPG (Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization), particularly in the neo-liberal era, the poor people from rural areas have started migrating to cities in search of livelihood oppor-tunities. There has been uneven growth of urbanization and slums in cities with no basic amenities. There is a need to develop infra-structure facilitates in all corners of the city, particularly slums.

There is a need to rethink and revise the idea of smart city con-cept in Indian context. The Modi government is aiming to build smart cities in select areas on a similar pattern. It is a dangerous thing to universalise smart cities! The policy making should not ho-mogenise aspects of social life by imposing hegemony of the ruling class, including spatial environs, in a country as diverse as India.

Apart from economy there is a need to study the smart cities concept through social and eco-logical concerns. Just pumping money without people’s involve-ment will not yield any results. The government should focus on strengthening local councils, by allowing them in decision mak-ing and giving them powers to reduce corruption.

When everybody gets an ad-equate shelter, a toilet in every home, a footpath on every street, a bus route on major road, a proper sanitation with drinking water facility, an uninterrupted supply of electricity and employ-ment opportunities for skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled labour force, then one would feel that’s a smart city.

Without addressing these con-cerns the expensive pipe dream of smart city would lead to another real estate ventures. It further per-petuates unequal distribution of resources between rich and poor. major centres needing an over-haul in India.

he beautiful and serene Ameenpur lakes, known for their rich flora and fauna is on the brink of extinction due to reasons such as littering of plastic, pollution, encroach-ment, destruction of its catchment, etc. The Telangana State Special Protec-tion Force (TSSPF) along with some members of the Hyderabad Birding Pals and Friends of Flora and Fauna Society cleaned the Peddacheruvu, Kothacheruvu and Bandam Kommu Cheruvu, over the last two months with the objective to enhance their beauty and attract more fauna.

The inauguration of the Tree Plantation scheme to launch the Manohara Ameenpur programme by the Telangana Irrigation Minister Mr. T. Harish Rao at the Peddacheruvu, Ameenpur on September 6, 2015, was a major step in the protection and conservation of Lake System comprising 13 lakes.

The ecological conservation initiative has been taken to rejuvenate the lake system. Five clean up drives mounted by the TSSPF and the two volunteer groups has transformed into a massive campaign with

local residents evincing interest in protecting the wa-ter bodies.

The Ameenpur Lake and the surrounding small lakes have the potential to be transformed into a Her-itage Biodiversity Park, through conservation and rejuvenation. While the Ameenpur Lake is near the TSSPF Training Academy in the Patencheru Mandal of Medak district the vast lake system is spread wider, it consists of many other water bodies like Bandam-kommu, Kummari Kunta etc. All these water-bodies are linked to each other. The primary purpose of these water bodies are to serve as sources of irrigation and drinking. Other uses include fisheries and washing of clothes. The TSSPF, following the clean up drives,

permitted the District Collectors of Medak and Ranga Reddy dis-tricts to adopt the lakes for the ecological conservation of the lake system . Volunteers of the TSSPF were supported by the GHMC, Collector and District Magistrate, Medak, District Police, Medak and the Gram Panchayat, Ameen-pur during the cleanup drive. The Ameenpur lakes are among the few water bodies left in the State of Telangana and is known as Birding Paradise of Telangana. They are home to around 171 species like Desert Wheatear, Greater Flamin-gos, White Wagtail. The lake also has wide variety of fishes, amphib-

ians and reptiles such as Checkered Keelbacks, Rus-sell Viper and some species of fishes and snakes in the water sheet and the trees and shrubs in its environs spread over 100 acres. Besides birds, there are around eight species of snakes that include Cobras and the Rat Snake. The biodiversity of the lake also includes a wide variety of insects, butterflies and other reptiles such as Oriental Garden Lizard. The Telangana State Biodiversity Board is taking all necessary steps for declaring it as a Biological Heritage Site.

‘MODI’-FIED SMART CITIES

There is a need to de-velop infrastructure facilitates in all cor-ners of the city, par-ticularly slums. Also we have to rethink and revise the idea of smart city concept in Indian context.

‘POLITI-VISM’

UOH DISPATCH OCTOBER 2015PERSPECTIVES 4

M

-- P.Raghavendra, Ph.D.Department of SociologyUniversity of Hyderabad

INFUSING LIFE BACK INTO WATER BODIEST

THE TEAM: Editors: Keerthana B, Shahamat Hussain Chief of Bureau: Digavalli Pavan News Editor: Ch.Sandeep Manohar Chief Reporter: T. Takuangla Jamir Design Editor: Sunderlal Raja

Reporters: Shaima Mansoor, Lalrindiki Sailo, L. Rucilli, Akbarkhan, Siddharth Suresh, Ankitha Naishadham, Avipsha Sengupta

-- Tejdeep Kaur Menon IPSDirector General,

Telangana State Special Protection Force

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

Physical education and sports are two distinct things in their concept and approach. Physi-cal education envisages the all-round devel-

opment of an individual whereas sports is a general way to achieve the same with more of recreation. It aims to bring constructive changes in humans through physical exercises and activities. Hence, it may be developmental, adaptive, cor-rective etc. Government bodies, which make rules, need to bring esteem and prestige to the physical education and sports to make these professions at-tractive for bright individuals and this is the need of the hour for India, which is plagued by diseases. Policy makers should first try to understand the curricular contents of physi-cal education before taking decisions on the issues relating to it. Students should be given opportunity to know what is true physical education and sports, instead of just participation. Sports competitions like Olympics etc. are started with the noble aim of making changes in human beings and not simply as competitions.

There must be see-saw change in the attitude of governments and people, and should move towards mass participation of sports. Sports in Indian uni-versity system are viewed as an appendix and not as an essential organ. Most of the universities do

not provide reservations in admissions for sports persons. It is also astonishing to know that some universities believe that the entry of sports persons may spoil the academic environment. How whim-sical does this argument seems?

If we look at Harvard University, which has world famous scientists to its credit, also regularly sends top sportsper-sons for the Olympics. There are Olympic medallist teachers in that university. The US sports culture is mainly built on the University sports of that country, whereas the university sports in India are very feeble. We cannot even think of winning Olympic medals regu-

larly especially in some sports like Athletics. In India, a physical educationists and a sports

coaches are unable to say with dignity that they belong to the profession of physical education and sports. Such is the pathetic state and during Olym-pics, we curse ourselves and try to pre-empt with very effective measures to enhance the status of physical education and sports which would never happen. And the result is very conspicuous; India is at the pinnacle of degenerative diseases compared to any country in this world.

Is sports just an appendix?

-- Dr. K. V. Raj Shekhar Assistant Director, Physical Education,

University of Hyderabad

Sports in Indian university system are viewed as an appendix and not as an essential organ

Telangana has a stun-ning historical record of youth participation in social revolutions.

Around 600 students gave their lives in the Telangana agitation and we still lose them in the name of naxalism and counter insurgency creating friction in the civil society. The famous Telugu revolutionary singer Gaddar whose voice has a great influence amongst the youth of Telangana, shared his views with Dispatch.

Are the universities in Hy-derabad becoming targets for Maoist cadre recruit-ments?

Honestly, I don’t know. Mao-ist party is a secret party. It’s not possible for a common man to know about their operations.

In between Maoists and police forces, are the youth in Telan-gana targeted?

The future belongs to the youth and they are fighting for their opportunities. Encounter of youngsters creates white terror amongst them.

Is naxalism the only alterna-tive for youth?

Armed struggle is not the only alternative. Gun for gun is not the solution. At this moment, I urge the civil society to prepare for a traditional revolution but not armed revolution.

What do you mean by tradi-tional revolution?

From rural to urban, our life is tied with the market. The help-lessness created due to exploita-

tion by the capitalist market has made them habituated to a con-sumer life which tends to turn them into hopeless individuals. They need to emancipate collec-tively to fight and set themselves free from this market.

How will you build such a revolution?

Pens. We fight with our pens and songs. Students should build mass movements and participate in traditional revolution.

What does the civil society need to understand from Vivek Kodamagundla, a law student dropout and Sruthi, an engineering graduate, who were killed in encounter in Telangana?

We need peace. In the forma-tion of Telangana, students were not properly channelized. This is a mistake. They failed to line up their demands of leadership,

access to resources and oppor-tunities. This created friction between the society and their paths. Torturing them to death is a serious violation of human rights and the Indian Constitu-tion. Civil society should fight against these undemocratic practices.

What is your opinion about the role of human rights and civil organizations in such contexts?

They should become the seeds, plant themselves among people and should build mass movements. Sitting and con-demning attacks or crying on sit-uations doesn’t make any sense and cannot bring any change. Activism should be in their life, but not as a profession.

What is your take on the farmer suicides in Telangana?

A farmer is a producer. They produce food. But now, the pro-

ducer is being forced to become-just a consumer. With this trans-formation, the farmer is left with no option but to end his life. The sons and daughters of soil must stand up and raise their voice to build a peaceful social revolu-tion.

What are the strategies ad -opted by the government in combating Maoist violence?

Both state and central gov-ernments are implementing the same policies. They are not ini-tiating anything to address naxal issues. Counter insurgency op-erations are political decisions. Governments are linked up with capitalist economies. They don’t like any conflict in their devel-opment model. They will simply kill even if they sense an air of radicalism.

Are you saying that State is making these decisions?

This is the confrontation of

the state. The state’s decision making is the violation of Con-stitution. Here, state is arresting people, and itself carrying in-vestigation at its convenience, and implementing punishments within the frame works of con-stitution. I strongly oppose this.

Would you like to give a call to the naxals to join social life and prepare the civil so-ciety in building traditional revolution?

Yes. No one wants to live in forest. They were forc-ibly thrown into forests. In the mainstream society, there are not only physical encoun-ters. They are not allowing any

meetings, cultural programmes at public spaces. The attacks were made by curbing ideologi-cal voices.

What is in your opinion, is media’s role in bringing peace to this conflict?

The journalists who are in between the age of 18 to 35 are becoming dry these days. It is hard to make them understand the issues in depth. They should communicate the ideologies and principles to the society in a re-sponsible way with a proper re-search.

What do you think can bring peace and save the young lives of Telangana?

We are still alive. The battle is not over yet. It is still there but not war. We may lose. But, we need to communicate why we lost and need to think about how to rebuild the revolution with new design.

Naxalism is not the only alternative: Gaddar

A career in photography or in any creative field for that matter is more like

self-exploration. You work as per your needs. You try to push your limits and create a name. You never know what you want to become until you come across something inspirational which makes you think. And when you decide you get confused.

How to start? Where to Start? How to learn? Well, there are many universities offering long term as well as diploma courses in photography.

They teach you the basics of photography and give you a glimpse about the professional world and then you’re on your own. Start taking pictures and analyze other photographers’ work. Know the techniques of composition and understand the lighting and how to use your camera under different lighting conditions. Understand your camera and know the details and variants perfectly. Theory can give you an idea about what it is,

but only when you practice you learn. It might take time but you will evolve as a photographer.

To pursue a career in photography, there are different genres available today like fashion, wedding, travel and lifestyle, nature, fine art. The problem new photographers usually face is getting recognition.

It needs your time, money and skill to reach to a point where your name starts getting work for you.

You need to market yourself with your ability to speak, gather people, build a network and enhance your photography skills. But what is important is that your work should speak for yourself.

Create a style of your own and try to improve and enhance it. Work for various organizations and magazines and individuals. Conduct workshops and exhibitions. Always remember that the reason for your success is none but you.

Capturing life through lens

UOH DISPATCH OCTOBER 2015PERSPECTIVES 5

INTERVIEW

Digavalli Pavan

-- Kaleem Taj Shaik Freelance Photographer

No dignity, even after death

The Engineering students from Hyderabad are already in a wretch-ed condition due to the havoc cre-ated by the private engineering colleges. Apparently now it’s the turn of medical colleges to rub salt to the wounds. Prist Univer-sity in Tamil Nadu, has allegedly failed to get UGC recognition, after having conducted medical entrance exams in Hyderabad.

P.Madhusudan Reddy, Presi-dent of Government Junior Lec-turer’s Association, said that on April 23rd this year, Prist Uni-versity had conducted the medi-cal entrance exam for more than one lakh students, charging

Rs. 600 each. “The University made around Rupees six crore and most of the students who had taken the exam were from Narayana Institutions. Shock-ingly the university is in the black list of UGC,” said Mr. Reddy.

In 2009, Tandon committee

was set up by the Human Resource Development Ministry to exam-ine the institutions whose perfor-mance was not at par. A total of 41 institutions were blacklisted and eight universities were declared ‘unworthy’ of the deemed tag..

Although there was no offi-cial confirmation regarding the eight varsities on the chopping block, Prist University, is one among the varsities whose name is doing the rounds with other varsities the case of which are-pending in the Supreme Court.

On this matter Reddy said,“It claims itself as a deemed univer-sity. I have no issues with that. But, when I questioned the uni-versity administration regarding their accreditation they said that it’s still in process. They would have waited till they received the recognition approval from the UGC. What made them to conduct the exam so early?”

Prist University counters all these allegations. M. Jawaha-rnath, Admissions in-charge of the Prist University says,“It’s not only our university that con-ducted the entrance exam, other institutions whose cases are still pending in the Supreme Court are also conducting the entrance exams”. K.V Srinivas who is also admissions in charge of the university claims, “Our univer-sity is recognized by the UGC.”

While P. Srikanth, study-ing intermediate second year in Narayana Institute said that he was completely unaware of the university identity. “We are told by our institution to write the exam, but I didn’t know this breakneck attitude be-hind the University”, he added.

Contoversies are thick and the legal process is tak-ing its own time while the fu-ture of the students are at stake.

Government hospital mortuar-ies in Hyderabad, especially the Osmania General Hospital have become the hub for ille-gal trade in dead bodies to the private medical colleges across India. Authorities of various de-partments like Public Health, Municipal Corporation and Medical Officials in hospitals are allegedly involved. The neg-ligence of the police officials towards this issue raises ques-tions of their connivance as well.

Because of this, the dead bodies remain untraceable for the claimants. These are well hatched situations created by habitual offenders which in-clude the network comprising of mortuary employees to gov-ernment officials. The process of establishing identity is an excruciating process due to ill-treatment of hospital auhorities.

The manner in which dead bodies are dealt with is unethi-cal, against the law and viola-tion of human rights. The body of a person found dead under suspicious circumstances is to be taken to mortuary for post-mortem under police scrutiny only after filling an FIR un-der sections 174 and 176 as per Criminal Procedure Code. Every mortuary has a capacity to hold about 50 to 75 bodies for pres-ervation in freezers for 72 hours after postmortem as per rule.

These 72 hours are the time available to identify the body through various means and inform the relatives con-cerned so that they can claim it.

If the body still remains un-claimed, then the police and hospital officials must hand it over to public health de-partment for funeral rites.

According to Satya Hari-

schandra Foundation (SHF), an NGO working for unclaimed and unidentified bodies, in spite of all these laws, the bodies were kept hidden in a separate room without filing any case and post mortem for the sake of trading.

PILED UP: “In this room, we could see bulks of bodies placed one on the other in an inhumane manner. Most of these bodies were mutilated or did not have the internal organs. These are cash pots for the mafia”, said Vijay, an SHF volunteer.Despite several attempts, police officials

refused to respond on this issue. Dr. K.R.Rao, Founder, SHF says, “Bodies that have undergone sur-gery cannot be sold. Only good condition bodies are required. A female dead body comands up to Rs. 15 lakhs.”“If they come across any unclaimed or uniden-tified body to be that of a destitute, then the miscreants inject four li-tres of glycerene and morphylene solution into the body to preserve it for more than a year with-out decomposition”, he added.

HUGE DEMAND: Privatiza-tion of medical education has

led to a large number of private medical colleges and that has increased the demand for dead bodies for various purposes. The grwoing demand for medical pruposes fulling the illegal trade.

In 1997, Government of Andhra Pradesh issued a Gov-ernment Order(G.O), which provides the unclaimed dead bodies in government hospitals to the Deccan College of Medi-cal Sciences, Hyderabad, on re-quest and payment of Rs.4000. After the needs of government colleges are fulfilled, the sur-plus cadavers are handed over to

private medical colleges on pay-ment of Rs.15000 per dead body.

Later the G.O. was re-vised in favor of the private medical colleges. “After this G.O, the mafia generated huge business over dead bod-ies compounding the woes of the relatives,” said Dr. Rao.

Graveyards and crematori-ums are maintained by private groups with a challan price un-affordable for the poor. This has created a situation where many families are leaving their deceased at mortuaries. These bodies are like bonus to the mafia for the lack of claimants.

DIGNIFIED DISPOSAL: Ac-cording to Indian constitution, Article 21 provides protection of life and personal liberty. This right also extends to the digni-fied disposal of the dead body. “To meet the requirement of medical colleges, we can go for synthetic dead bodies which can even breathe and pump blood. Virtual dissection using videos with 3D technology can also be implemented. These meth-ods are already in use in China and other countries.” says Dr. Sree Bhushan Raju, Head, Dept of Nephrology, NIMS.

“I don’t understand, for them is this not an issue of violating hu-man rights? Why are they not re-sponding? We need to understand this issue in depth”, said Dr. Rao.

“The government has the re-sponsibility to dispose dead bod-ies in a dignified manner. I feel the dead bodies too have rights, as they cannot speak out about the violations perpetrated on them. Civil society and government need to take care of their rights,” said S. Jeevan Kumar of Hu-man Rights Forum. This issue isa social evil that has to be addressedat the earliest.

Ch. Sandeep Manohar

Un-recognized varsities leave students in a fix

UOH DISPATCH OCTOBER 2015CRIME 6

Digavalli Pavan

ILLEGAL TRADE

Bodies that have undergone surgery cannot be sold. Only good condition bodies are required. A female dead body comands up to Rs. 15 lakhs in a season of scarcity.”

- Dr. K.R.Rao, Founder, Satya Harischandra Foundation

They would have waited till they have received the recognition approval from the UGC. What

spurred them to conduct the exam so early?”- P. Madhusudhan Reddy

President, Government Junior Lecturer’s Association

While most people spend morn-ings on weekends by sleeping in late, members of the Public Garden Walkers’ Association (PGWA) are the early birds prey-ing upon fresh air and exercise. They also keep one Sunday aside every month to stay informed of the latest health issues and de-velopments through an interac-tive session with some of the top doctors in the city.

The PGWA hosts health lec-tures by renowned doctors on the first Sunday of every month. The series started on November 9, 1995, with a talk on ‘Walk & Vision’ by well known ophthal-mologist, Dr. P. Siva Reddy, and is now in its 20th year without a break. The Association organ-ized its 240th lecture on October

4, the man respon-sible for this initia-tive and continuous effort, Ghulam Yazdani, Sen-ior Advocate and Chairman of PGWA is content with the way the ven-ture has sustained for so long, “The PGWA is about fifty years old and this series started incidentally twenty years back when one of our walker friends agreed to give a lecture. I feel this humble beginning gradually developed into a full-fledged beneficial regular af-fair as a number of non-walkers

from the city and suburban areas also made it to these lectures”. In 2012, the 200th lecture was celebrated with the launch of the book ‘Health Spectrum’ that carried the gist of all the health

lectures delivered prior to it. Dr. Shakti Gupta, Medical Superin-tendent, AIIMS, Delhi, was invited to give a talk on ‘Increase Public Awareness & Re-shape to promote a Safer Healthcare System in India.’ The talks over the years have dealt with a variety of common health concerns from

hypertension, diabetes, cancer to other related topics such as laughter therapy and medical insurance. It has given the audi-ence an opportunity to ask que-

ries and clear their doubts with-out having to pay anything.

“The audience benefitted from the advice and experience of eminent specialists and super specialists of allopathy, homeop-athy, yoga and so on,” said Mr. Yazdani.

Prevention and awareness are clearly better than cure, “The talks are very informative and worthwhile. I have incorporated a lot of helpful tips in my life after hearing these lectures. It happens early in the morning on a Sunday but I make it a point to be there as it’s not everyday that you get a chance like this,” insists Sameeha Jameel, a non-member but regular attendee. The organizers hope more peo-ple will follow suit.

Recent makeover has helped one of India’s oldest sport to make a pitch for a spot in the big league

Dr C. Chandra Shekar, Sr Consultant, Peripheral Vascular Surgeon, Apollo Hospitals delivering a monthly lecture

Kabaddi regains its lost glory

Early birds: Walking their way to health and fitness

UOH DISPATCH OCTOBER 2015GAME-ON 7

Kabaddi, despite being one of the oldest indigenous sports in our country, has only recently cemented its place amongst the most watched sporting events in India thanks to the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL). Cutting across de-mographics, the first season has had a viewership of 435 million, second only to the wildly popular Indian Premier League, and has seen a 45% increase in televi-sion viewership during the second season. The exciting nature of the game and loud, menacing chants topped up with celebrity owners and sleek coverage on televisions have resulted in the revival of Kabaddi in many ways.

K. Jagdishwar Yadav, Secre-tary of the Telangana Kabaddi Association and the General Sec-retary of the Telangana Olympic Association feels that showcasing Kabaddi in a more contemporary format has generated renewed interest in a sport that was rarely followed on a competitive level, “Kabaddi has always enjoyed popularity in Telangana but the Pro Kabaddi League has definite-ly raised awareness and brought in more people. We get lot more enquiries now about the coach-ing camps, selections and so on. Schools and colleges have also seen a considerable increase in participation.”

Pro Kabaddi League does not include women players yet but women of the city have been achieving milestones of their own, “Players from Hyderabad have al-ways excelled. Indian Women’s Kabaddi team captain, Mamata

Pujari and one of the most tal-ented team members, Tejaswini Bai V, both Arjuna awardees, are from Hyderabad. They are do-ing very well on the international level. In fact, there is no one else who can be compared to Mamata and Tejaswini, they are number 1 and two in the country now,” said Yadav. Mamata Pujari captained the women’s kabaddi team that grabbed the gold medal at the Asian Games last year.

The roaring success of the Pro Kabaddi League has reaped rewards for the players as well. K. Jagmohan, Manager & Asst Coach of the Telugu Titans team is impressed with the way his

team players have benefit-ted from PKL, “The League has really helped our play-ers financially. Most of them come from middle or lower middle class families and due to the success of PKL, they have all gotten good jobs now. Banks, railways and other companies come to provide jobs as it also helps in advertising their

department now that the players are fa-mous.” He also finds a drastic improvement in their per-formances, “There used to be very few tour-n a m e n t s earlier, but now with more coach-ing camps to prepare for PKL, their fitness lev-els have increased considerably and has helped them perform more consistently. They know they have to be at their best for the tourna-ment.” He added that the players have already start-ed preparing for the next

season that is scheduled to start in January.

Telugu Titans finished third in the second season after failing to qualify for the semifinals in the inaugral season. Their home ground, Gachibowli Indoor Sta-dium, drew large crowds for their games.

Najah Sameen, an avid fan of the league, finds it ‘amazing’ to have a home team to

cheer for even though all the players do not belong

to Tel-a n -

gana. “Since players are auc-tioned off, we have just one player, T Prasad, from Telangana playing for Telugu Titans. There

are, of course, Hyderabadi p l a y e r s in other

teams. Gangadhari Mallesh plays for Jaipur Pink Panthers and a few others play for Bengaluru Bulls. Nevertheless, it’s a lot of fun to watch Kabaddi, especially in this format.”

OPENING NIGHT REACHPro Kabaddi

League

On Star Sports 1 & Star Gold

22 Million

FIFA World Cup

On Sony Six & Sony Aath

2.1Million

Indian PremierLeague

On Sony Max &

Sony Six

65Million

Source: TAM data

Shaima Mansoor

Shaima Mansoor

The 1960’s saw the rise of modelling industry in differ-ent corners of the world. Mod-els can be the most influential people in the world but behind the paparazzi and glamour that is showcased, there is a world less renowned and applauded.

The city of Hyderabad has its share of young men and women fighting through the odds to es-tablish themselves in the world of glamour. Andy Pillai, a freelance model says, “The most challeng-ing thing is that there is a lot of competition and less work, you also need to have loads of patience because you face lots of rejections before you get that one chance.”

While speaking to few mod-els in Hyderabad, voices of hues and cries were vehemently heard.

“I once went through a dismal casting experience where I met a casting director who charged me a hefty amount. Later the casting director and the opportu-nity both turned out to be fake”

said Sai Prasad Heerekar, Mr. Hyderabad 2013.

Actor and model Seema Choudhary reflected, “ We all love glamour, but the truth is that we do not have it all what

it takes to be a model. For me,the most and only challeng-ing thing I have is my height

... I wish I was 6 feet tall.”Despite all the obstacles there

is the immortal zeal that keeps them going. Prabodh who is a model working from the city shared his views,“Challenges are part and parcel of life but what is important is to face them with

positive attitude, crack them and learn from them. For me life itself is a challenge and I love facing challenges because they help me recognize my hidden potential and have made me who I am today.”

Hyderabad is slowly be-coming a hub for young and fresh aspirants attempting to make it big in the world of fashion and modelling.

E-commerce firms are fast gobbling up conventional plat-forms with their own menu to success. The food business is no exception. In Hyderabad, several online websites are rushing to sup-ply food at your door steps on a click .

The city has seen the rise of many websites that offer food de-liveries. The idea of having food delivered at your door-steps is amazing.

Food sites like foodpanda, Eatz, Get Me Food, Swiggy, FAASOS are some fa-vorable sites to order food. They put up a list of restaurants available near your location or produce their own food. They might give you some discounts and you just have to select and order. “I use foodpanda a lot. I have placed order from Swiggy, they are like the blind escape when you don’t want to cook plus too lazy to go out,” says Ramya Vedicherla, who is pre-

paring for her UPSC exams. But sites like Kitchen’s Food

and Hello Curry have taken the competition a notch higher. They de- liver home cooked

food at reasonable prices. Kitchen’s Food launched in June 2014

started as a food or-d e r i n g w e b s i t e but later upgraded to serv-

ing a list of home

cooked food items of dif-

ferent cuisines. They have en-

rolled a number of chefs, and the website is used as their meeting space.

“Return on investment is ex-tremely high and there are many advantages of e- commerce,” says Rishi Raj Singh, the own-er of Kitchen’s Food. E-com-merce is a fast growing indus-try; it is time and cost effective.

For a beginner, it is the right place to develop a brand.

Food, a click away Behind the glitz & glamour

Comic Con weekend rocks the cityA wide range of comics, chi-tra-katha,novels,graphics,merchandise, toys, games, films and animation in the toys and game industry were displayed at Comic Con, the yearly com-ic-based convention held in Hy-derabad on 12th and 13th Sep-tember. The two day event was a treat to all the comic lovers. Traditionally associated with Comic Con, several fans, both adults and children, participated in the cosplay which was one of India’s first events of this type. Famous artists and writers, game developers, startups from India and abroad all turned up for the event. Kids dressed in their favourite comic hero’s attire like

Superman,Green Lantern, Spi-derman etc, to developers launch-ing their latest products, firms new games and authors with their latest comic works had gathered in Hyderabad for the two days.

The special guests in Com-ic Con Hyderabad were Matt Melvin, creator of Last nerds on earth, Tomoko Miya, pro-fessional cosplayer, Moe Tsu-rumi, spokesperson of the game Minecraft and Kevin Hamric, a senior director who had worked with series and movies like Naruto, Bleach, Deathnote, Dragon Ball Z etc.

Amongst all, Melvinn man-aged to grab maxi-

mum audience. Triza, a

s t u d e n t f r o m

St.Josephs College expressed her fondness for Comic Con, “Every year I wait for this time of the year. I love Comic Con. It is fun and exciting. I get to know more about my favour-ite comic characters. I have nev-er missed it. I come every year and I will continue doing that.”Another participant said, “This time Comic Con is fun. It is much better than earlier years. Besides the events, a food court is also organized.” When asked about their favourite section, Tanya an interior designer said, “For me it is the presence of renowned writers that make this event worthy.”The organizing team said, “It’s nice to see people happy and that has always been our aim, Comic Con 2015 has been another suc-cesful event, big thanks to all the participants.” Comic Con India started

with relatively young minds who instead of going to for-eign countries for comic convention decided to start one in their home country. Their main goal has been to in-novate new culture to bring the young energies together to celebrate their love for comics and popular culture.Since its initiation it has emerged

as one the most renowned comic event in the country. As this comic based event is heading strong, the organisers hope to bring in more varieties.Comic Con India holds the main edition at New Delhi and ex-press editions at Mumbai and Bangalore annually. Hyderbad had its maiden edition on 21st and 22nd of September 2013.

UOH DISPATCH OCTOBER 2015 LIFESTYLE 8

Lalrindiki SailoT Takuangla Jamir

Lalrindiki Sailo