Students’ Feel

NISCORT always admires the sharpness of the Dean Dr. John Edappilly in selecting the relevant topic and finding the expert exponent for every week to nurture the erudition and extra enjoyment of NISCORT student!

IPL, the Game, and the Politics April 30, 2010

Speaker: The 116th session of World Around at NISCORT had Mr. Pradip K Bagchi, a senior Journalist speaking on the IPL, the Game, and the Politics. In 20 years of journalistic career span, he has covered a wide range of beats such as politics, diplomacy, defence, crime and law, disasters and sports. He had been also associated with news channels like CNN-IBN, Headlines Today and News-X as well as AIR

Issues covered: “Cricket is not about balls, it’s about eye ball,” said Mr. Bagchi. The session started with an interesting experience analysis that set the students excited to watch people glued to our television during IPL matches. His lecture intended to make students aware of the corporatisation and commercialization of cricket. He brilliantly explained how cricket has become a business of entertainment in present scenario. Cricket, which is considered as a religion in India has become a mixed baggage of business, glamour and controversies. Mr. Bagchi’s talk made the students understand the concept of Betting and Match fixing in an improved way. He also explained about different formats of cricket such as Day Night matches, ODIs to T – 20. He also focused on how IPL has changed the entire content of game with its prime objective to catch more and more eyeballs while competing with entertainment.

Presentation style: Mr. Pradip Bagchi’s lecture was very interactive and lively. He divided the topic and addressed all important issues such as politics, business, controversies and glamour involved in the IPL game. He interacted with the students in such a way that it helped them in understanding the IPL concept in a much better way.

Evaluation: The politics and controversy of IPL is getting complicated day by day and therefore it was a great privileged for the NISCORTIANS to have Mr. Bagchi to explain the concept of IPL. Answering questions by students Mr. Bagchi said that there is a huge difference in betting and match fixing. He also enlightened the students on how sponsors are dictating the term in such a scenario where IPL’s TRP is much more than most watched daily soaps. Getting an inside knowledge about IPL from an experienced journalist will help our future sports journalists.

Historicizing Cinema, Gendering the Nation. . . April 23, 2010

Speaker: To enlighten the students on the undercurrents and hidden agenda of cinema, NISCORT had Mrs. Karen Gabriel as its guest speaker for the 115th session of world around. Mrs. Karen Gabriel, an author and associate professor at St. Stephen’s college, University of Delhi spoke about Historicizing Cinema, Gendering the Nation.

Issues covered: The session aimed at understanding cinema not as entertaining celluloid but actually as an industry. The term Bollywood has become the national mainstream cinema of the country despite of the fact that the Indian film industry is not limited to the Hindi cinemas only. The melodramatic features of nationalism, integrity, gender, politics etc makes the Hindi cinema prominent. The Indian film industry together produces 800-1000 films in about 20 different languages in a year. It is expected to experience the growth rate of INR 175 million from INR 84 million by 2012. Hindi films have become global in a very deliberate way because of its marketing strategies, huge network and great involvement of corporate industries. The class bias and gender bias of Indian cinema were analyzed in depth in the background of the Indian social ethos and traditional values.

Presentation style: The lecture was delivered using presentation software such as Microsoft PowerPoint. Although PowerPoint method is widely used these days, Ms. Gabriel encouraged an active learning atmosphere with the use of colorful pictures.

Evaluation: The lecture allowed students to form a different perspective of Cinema. The students identified with the topics and cleared their doubts regarding representation of northeastern people in Hindi cinema, negative influence of melodrama in our society as well as stereotyping in films. Ms. Gabriel provided an opportunity for a two-way exchange of information by her effective presentation and brilliant answers.

India in the International Scenario. . . . April 16, 2010

Speaker: Mr. Happymon Jacob, an assistant professor in Diplomacy and Disarmament, JNU, New Delhi, was the guest speaker for the 114th session of World Around at NISCORT. Mr. Jacob holds many research and fellowship positions and has worked as the Assistant Professor at the Department of Strategic and Regional Studies, University of Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, visiting Fellow at the Nelson Mandela Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Jamia Milia Islamia University, New Delhi and Slavic Research Centre, Hokkaido University, Japan. His areas of research interest are Indian Foreign Policy, Geopolitics in Southern Asia and Security Studies.

Issues covered: The session was revolving around two questions: Is India important in the International circle today and what is that India can do further to become more influential in International Relations. Positioned as fourth in purchasing power, and second fastest growing economy, with largest standing army, India is taken seriously by all super countries and is believed to be a regional stabilizer.

In recent past, the country has had major developments and therefore it’s time for us to think and behave like a great power. Despite the growth and progress we like to be tagged as a Third World nation. India has to and should take leadership role to bring about international peace and security. Talking about the challenges faced by India in international scenario, he said that settling disputes with neighbouring countries and asserting its right place in international system is very much required.

Mr. Jacob looked at media’s role as an agenda setter in International Relations. The effective and wise use of media can be an accelerator in foreign policy making and International Relations, but at the same time if used in an irresponsible manner, it can also be a barrier in maintaining healthy International Relations.

Presentation Style: Mr. Jacob’s lecture was a well- planned oral presentation. He opened the session by introducing the key topics to be addressed and discussed. Mr. Happymon Jacob interacted with the students thus making it a successful and effective presentation.

Evaluation: To have a speaker like Mr. Jacob was a blessing for the students. They got a chance to put forth a train of questions regarding India-China hostility and the Jammu and Kashmir issue as well as their impact in India’s International relations. Mr. Jacob was very positive in his approach, making it an informative and enriching session. The program was unusually prolonged due to the student’s interest and interactions

Muslim Marriage Laws and Sania Mirza’s Issue April 9, 2010

Speaker: Mobin Ahmed Khan, an expert media personnel in Islamic studies was invited as the speaker for the 113th session of World Around. Mr. Khan, who is associated with Radio broadcasting talked about ‘Muslim Marriage Laws and Sania Mirza’s issue that filled the media news for quite some time.

Issues covered: The session started with a proper background of the subject and explored the status of Islam and Muslim Marriage Act in the Indian Constitution. Explaining about terms like Niqaah, Mehr and Niqaah Nama, he said that these play a vital role in the process and functioning of Islamic marriages. Mehr is protection money given to the bride and can be in any form such as gold, property or cash.

Looking into the root understanding of Islam he stated that marriage is a pure contract and either party is free to leave it. According to Islamic laws the marriage requires consent from both the sides and the presence of at least two witnesses followed by a “vaqil” (advocate). Talking about divorce, he clarified that it is not a one-sided affair and there is three-month duration for its realisation including the presence of a witness. He also talked about the factors deciding the dissolution of marriage along with the process of remarriage in detail. Focusing on a Muslim person marrying a non-Muslim, he explained that the bride or groom belonging to other religion must be converted to Islam, if not such a marriage is considered invalid.

Evaluation: The lecture helped the students to develop a deeper knowledge about the Islamic laws. With Sania-Shoaib marriage controversy around, the session was of special relevance for the students. They came to know about the Do’s and Don’ts of Muslim marriage and a deeper understanding of the Muslim laws and their practical functioning.

DOCUMENTATION April 7, 2010

“Thought is the blossom; language the bud; action the fruit behind it” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

We think…..
We Communicate………
We achieve…………………

Group C presented the events at NISCORT in the documentation on April 7, 2010. The theme chosen for this month was “Blossom”. An excellent Print, Audio and Video presentation explained about the happenings such as Holi celebrations, Dissertation, World Around programmes, Parliament Visit, National Seminar, bidding farewell to the sisters of the Pastoral Communication course in the 112th session of World Around. These events gave them many opportunities to display their talents and creativity before others.

Praising and appreciating the group, Dr. John Edappilly, the Dean of the studies, Dr. Jude Botelho, the Director and the System Analyst, Fr. Dejus J.R critically evaluated their productions. Fr. John said that clarity of idea and joint effort of the group members helped them to bring out the brilliant documentation. Dr. Botelho appreciated the simple and attractive layout and presentation of the print. Fr. Dejus J.R also appreciated the students about the improvement of video and radio productions. He stressed upon the importance of shooting more footage in order to avoid problem during the editing process.