119

The year began with the elections of the trinity: Gretta Castelino, Cassandra Rodrigues and Marilyn Rebello as President, Secretary and Treasurer respectively. AICUF organised a summer camp for REAP, (Reach Education Action Programme) on 11th and 12th April at Kalyan. Delfi Chinnappan, Gretta Castelino and Shilpi Dey conducted the AICUF Orientation for St. Vincent’s College of Commerce, Pune from 15th-17th April at Kune Mission, Khandala. A Cadre Training Programme was conducted by Delfi Chinnappan from 19th-20th April. Various sessions like the history of AICUF, polishing leadership skills, screening of documentaries and movies and team building activities were conducted. Selections were made of the National Team Member and Social Outreach and Action Coordinator- Delfi Chinnappan, Human Rights Coordinator and Women’s Commission Coordinator- Shilpi Dey, Publicity Coordinator- Rachel Pereira, Prayer Coordinator- Carel Pereira, Editor of ‘The AICUFer’- Rochelle Fernandes and of ‘The Phoenix’, ‘Jivan’- Stefan Fernandes.

Delfi Chinnappan participated in a Work cum Exposure Camp along with few AICUFers from Gujarat and Hyderabad from 30th April-7th May with MKSS (Majdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan), at Devdungri, Rajasthan. Delfi Chinnappan and Gretta Castelino participated in the Work Camp held at Kandhamal, Orissa from 15th to 24th May. And Arpan Jagtap, Sonya Almeida, Jessie De’britto participated in the National Dalit Commission camp held at Turkur, Karnataka from 26th to 30th May. Cassandra Rodrigues participated in the AYCM, Adivasi Yuva Chetna Manch Camp held at Dumka from 6th-10th June.

AICUF conducted the Choir and prepared the Liturgy for the Junior and Senior College Inaugural Masses. AICUF conducted the Choir and Liturgy for the St. Ignatius Feast Mass on 30th July and for the Feast of St. Francis Xavier on the 3rd of December.

The Theme for the Year, ‘Being a Catalyst for Change by Moving from ME to WE’ was decided upon, to orient our activities.

Gretta Castelino was selected from AICUF Maharashtra to attend World Youth Day held from 10th -23rd August in Madrid, Spain. Delfi Chinnappan attended MAGIS and World Youth Day through the Jesuit Youth Ministry of South Asia (JYMSA) from 1st-22nd August in Madrid, Spain.

AICUFers volunteered for the Disaster Management Workshop conducted on the 3rd & 4th of July by the XISR. A visit to Ashadaan, a home for the Orphan children was organized on 6th August to celebrate Friendship Day. It was an eye opening experience for AICUFers to think about the underprivileged rather than one’s own self. The 1st Issue of the newsletter ‘Jivan’ released on 5th August was on the theme ‘Voice of the Unheard’. It emphasized the rights of the juveniles, eunuchs, prostitutes and senior citizens. The 1st Issue of the newsletter ‘The Phoenix’ released on 22nd September was on ‘Life in Mumbai’. It dealt with the daily experiences and the struggles of the common man.

Girl Child Week was celebrated with a jewellery-making workshop conducted by Judith Mascarenhas. Poster competition and the screening of the film - ‘Water’ was organized. Lorraine Ramos and Renisha Mall were declared as Stars of the Term for being the most active AICUFers in the Unit.

The YES (Youth Encounter Sessions) State Camp was held on 24th-26th October at St. Xavier’s Villa, Khandala with 65 participants. Delfi Chinnappan regularly attended all the National Team Meetings. A Work-cum-Exposure Camp was held at Prabodhan Vidyalaya- a Jesuit Mission Station situated at Ambatha in the District of Nashik from 30th October- 7th November. 9 participants were selected from AICUF to offer their services

in teaching students belonging to the tribal community. Delfi Chinnappan attended the AGSDM 25th Year Silver Jubilee celebration held in Gujarat on 6th November. Shilpi Dey, Pramila Irudayaraj, Leonara Mendes, Pravin Tribhuvan participated in the National Women’s Commission Leadership Training Camp held at AICUF House, Chennai from 18th-20th November. Dheeraj Lonare, Nishant Besra, Linus Koli, Royston Ries and Atul Jayant participated in the Karnataka State Congress held in Bangalore from 25th-27th November.

The AICUF National Advisor, Fr.Selvin Raj SJ visited Maharashtra from 26th-29th November. He interacted with AICUFers during the general meeting in Mumbai and Pune. An Exposure Trip was organized to Amchi Koli on 27th November. AICUFers saw how most people at that place earn their daily living through working on railway platforms. Delfi Chinnappan and Sonya Almeida participated in the JHEASA National Students Conference from 14th to 16th January at Loyola College, Chennai. Pooja Alukkal and Harsha Anthony from St. Xavier’s College, participated in the National Journalism Workshop held at AICUF House, Chennai from 18th-20th January.

The13th AICUF Day was celebrated on 22nd January. The mass was celebrated by Fr. Frazer Mascarenhas, our State Advisor and Fr. Anthony Dias in the college chapel. The AICUF annual magazine ‘The AICUFer’, edited by Rochelle Fernandes on the theme ‘Moving from ME to WE’ was released by the celebrants and Dr. Agnelo Menezes, our Animator. Lorraine Ramos and Renisha Mall were awarded as The Most Active AICUFers of the Year. Cassandra Rodrigues and Rochelle Fernandes were given the title of the Most Hardworking Steering Committee Members of the Year.

Rochelle Amelia Fernandes Editor- The AICUFer

AICUF Maharashtra State Report

Associations Reports

120

This academic year began with students of the 2010-2011 batch presenting posters of their placement in both Piramal Life Sciences and Sanofi Aventis. These posters were evaluated by both faculty from the University of Bath as well as St. Xavier’s College. Of the 6 students enrolled, 3 have graduated with merit:

• Mr. Stefan Fernandes• Mr. Rishit Shah• Ms. SagorikaSinha

University of Bath faculty along with the college faculty inaugurated the 2011-2012 batch. 10 students enrolled for the course.

This year the course was developed to an even larger extent with the

involvement of faculty from the industry as well as other colleges. The external faculty involved in the delivery of the program were: Dr. Ryan Pereira (Cornell University, USIEF – Mumbai), Dr. Deepak Modi (Scientist, NIRRH), Dr. ShashikantAcharya (Associate Professor, M.S. Baroda University), Dr. Urmila Joshi (Faculty, Kundnani College of Pharmacy), Dr. B.V. Vakil (Professor, Khalsa College), Dr. Sivakami (Ex-Faculty, Dept. of Life Sciences, University of Mumbai) and Ms. Bhakti Joshi (Freelance Faculty). These faculties were involved in both the science aspects and the entrepreneurship part of the course.

Several in-house faculties form the biosciences departments as well as

from the BMS department were involved in the delivery of the program. Students were evaluated based on assignments and presentations.

The 2011-2012 batch left for the University of Bath in September 2011 and completed research projects under the guidance of various faculty from the Department of Biology and Biochemistry at the University. Students returned in January 2012 and have since then started internships in Piramal Life Sciences, USV, Glenmark, Bharat Serum and Bhat Biotech.

Dr. (Mrs) MadhuriHambarde Co-ordinator M.Sc IBE

Associate Professor, Department of Zoology,

Biotechnology and Enterprise

160 new specimens were added to the herbarium.The routine work of disinfecting the herbarium specimens, remounting of a few hundred specimens on new herbarium sheets and attending to the visitors of Blatter

herbarium continued this year too. The fern specimens were given accession numbers and incorporated into the list of the herbarium specimens. Several plant specimens submitted to Blatter for authentication were authenticated.

The herbarium was fumigated in December to get rid of the insects and other pests.

Dr. Ujwala Bapat Director, Blatter Herbarium

Blatter Herbarium

The newly renovated Caius Laboratory was inaugurated by Dr. Manjusha Molwane, the Joint director of Higher Education, Mumbai Region on January, 13th 2012. The main aim of the lab is to initiate and encourage multidisciplinary research work by the

faculty and students of the various science departments.

Research work:

Currently there are six members of the faculty from the various Biology departments doing research leading towards their Ph D degree. The faculty members are Professors Norine D'souza, Dept. of Biotechnology, Sangeeta Chavan and Karuna Gokarn,

Dept. of Microbiology, Prashant Ratnaparkhi and Sangeeta Shetty, Dept. of Life Sciences and Biochemistry, and Conrad Cabral, Dept. of Zoology. Dr. Vishwas Sarangdhar is the research consultant for the lab. Mr. Sachin Telang, SRF and PhD student of

Dr. Sheela Donde (former Director) submitted his PhD thesis, to Mumbai University in October 2011.

Projects Submitted:

The project entitled “Isolation and examination of Mycobacterium smegmatis siderophores as novel therapeutic agents” has been submitted by Dr. Vivien Amonkar and Karuna Gokarn of the Department of Microbiology, to DBT, GOI.

Industry consultancy:

A Project on “Genetic Fingerprinting of Mahseer Fish” funded by TATA Power is being carried out in the laboratory. A full time Project Assistant Ms. Archana Rasure has been appointed to carry out the project work.

Caius Laboratory

121

In order to acknowledge, celebrate and encourage the students to enhance their innate talents in Literary arts, Fine arts and Performance arts, the Extra-Curricular Credit was a unique addition that the Autonomous system ushered in from this Academic year. To be eligible for the Extra-Curricular Credit, a student has to participate in Extra Curricular activities in the forums coordinated by the Extra Curricular Committee or by any another unit on campus with the approval of the Prof-in-Charge. Co-curricular activity outside the academic space offered by various departments was also included for the Extra-Curricular credit.

Participation or Organization in the events for sixty hours over three years

made the student eligible for the Extra Curricular Credit.

It was imperative to document, collate and record the events in which a student had participated. To streamline this endeavor, it was agreed that a form be given to each student, having very clear columns of the EVENTS the student participated in, DATES of the event, No. of hours that have been granted and most importantly SIGNATURE OF THE FACULTY INCHARGE who will approve the said hours

BACK STAGE

• To usher a synergy between theStudent Council and Cultural committee on campus, the Principal Fr Frazer Mascarenhas

brought the Student Council under the ECC umbrella.

• Forums - a new venture……..with the coordinated inputs from students who have always excelled and participated in ECC activities present and past we decided to start Forums for Literary arts, Informals, Western Performing Arts, Indian Performing Arts and Fine Arts.

The Area of Work, of these forums would be to -

• Coordinate cultural activities onthe campus

• Disseminate information tofellow students about various competitions

Extra Curricular Committee

Conferences :

The following posters were presented in International Conferences-

1. Dr. Sheela Donde gave a poster presentation entitled “Cloning of endoglucanase gene from Bacillus pumilis and its expression in Deinococcos radiodurans” at the XXXI Annual Conference of the Society of Toxicology, India, and the International Symposium on “Current Trends in Environmental Toxicology” held from the 2nd to 24th December, 2011 at Jaipur.

2. Dr. Sheela Donde gave a poster presentation on “ Development of a recombinant Deinococcos radiodurans strain expressing Bacillus pumilis endoglucanase enzyme” at the UGC sponsored International Symposium on “Current Trends in Life Sciences,” on 9th March, 2012 at the University of Mumbai.

Workshops conducted:

A Lecture cum hands-on workshop in Animal tissue culture and Gas chromatography was conducted for the faculty during June 2011. This was the effort of interdepartmental collaboration between the departments

of Biotechnology, Life Sciences and Biochemistry and the Caius lab. The resource persons for the hands-on sessions were Dr. Shiney Peter from Biotechnology for Animal tissue culture, Ms. Sheetal Fernandes from Life Sciences for Lyophilization and Mr.Aslam Chougle from Thermofisher for GC. Twenty-five faculty members from chemistry and all the biology departments participated in the workshop.

A demonstration on GC was also conducted for the faculty and TYBSc Chemistry students on the request of their teachers on 16th January 2012.

Instrumentation Facility

The fully air – conditioned state of the art Instrumentation Facility of the laboratory currently houses twelve pieces of equipment that the college had obtained through the DST – FIST grant of the Govt. Of India, and two instruments obtained from the UGC grant. The Equipment includes the Gel Documentation system, two UV- Visible Spetrophotometers, Thermal Cycler, CO2 incubator, Ultrasonicator, Lyophilizer, BOD incubator, Electroporator, Gas Chromatogram, HPTLC applicator, two – dimensional gel electrophoresis system, Laminar

Air Flow, and Refrigerated Centrifuge. An ELISA reader obtained through the Lady Tata workshop grant is also placed in the CIF.

A fully functional Animal Tissue Culture facility is available, where research using animal cell lines is being carried out.

The lab also has an internet connection that can be used to acquire information for research.

The above instruments and facilities have been used by the faculty, doctoral, post graduate and undergraduate students of all the Biological Sciences departments of St. Xavier’s College for teaching, research and Honours Program work.

The Caius laboratory has workspace available for Six Ph D / research students registered from among the faculty of the college. The use of the instruments and facilities of the Caius Laboratory can also be made available to other academic / scientific institutions on request. Proposals for collaborative projects are welcome.

Dr. Priya Sundarrajan Director, Caius Research Laboratory

122

• Conduct workshops

• Invite artistes and guest speakersto provide inputs to students about improving and enhancing their soft skills and

• Coordinate/help and work withthe SUC members and the CL and ACLs of various festivals.

The forum coordinators who conducted various programmes kept the campus buzzing with various activities, enhancing the creative skills of our students. Kudos to Conrad who was the coordinator for Literary events, Meenakshi for FA, Delfi for WPA, Apoorva for IPA and Nikita for Informals.

• To stream line applications forCLs, ACLs. The application form included details like Attendance and Academic performance records with references two faculty members.

• Thisyearwebegan the Interviewsfor filling up posts of CULTURAL SECRETARY, MALHAR –CL ACLs, UMANG- CL ACLs and the student coordinators for the newly constituted forums in the month of APRIL,2011

• Ms. Shivali from the XDP officehelped in collating the data. Two Professors from the ECC staff committee coordinate with the student body for the inter-collegiate festival. The area of work for the PROF IN CHARGE OF THAT FESTIVAL/EVENT was largely to -

• streamline expenses,

• Sign vouchers and bills,

• Oversee attendance records,

• Ensure in a very judicious waythat the hours allotted for each activity to the students in which they have represented college are fair.

• Schedule auditions

• Ensure fair play while choosingstudents for the contingent

• Interact with the Choreographers

A portal was created for ECC activities which could be used as a pedestal for sharing and giving information regarding all ECC activities.

ON STAGE

We participated in the following festivals with the following contingent leaders and Assistant Contingent leaders:

• Malhar – Akshay Kohli withDevansh Mahta, Radhika Agarwal and Aditi Kujur

• Umang- Shruti Suresh withNandini Narayanan, Tanya Khare and Vailaneena Govindan.

• UniversityYouthFest-KshitiGalawith Yash Thakoor and Prachi Saxena.

• Kaleidoscope- Avantika Goswamiwith Yesha Kotak, Aradhana Sanyal and Alridge Alvares

• Mood Indigo- Hailley Turakhiawith Yesha Kotak and Keerti Bhandary.

• Waves (BitsPilani,Goa)-HermanGomes with Nikita Sonavane and Saugat Chaterjee

• O2-TejaswiniKatewithAveeandJuily.

• Rizvi College - Yesha Kotak withRadhika Nair.

• Kiran- Veda Muppavarapu withMalvika Lobo, Herman Gomes.

• Kshitij- Surbhi Borar withManasParadkar and Nikita Sonavane with Arshiya Khanna.

• Visions- Neha Laxman with AveePurohit.

Our college’s talent got a new platform with the ECC, the teams went full contingent in most of the festivals we participated in. Additionally, we brought the cups home; these achievements include the Overall, FA, PA and Conclave winners at Malhar’11, Overall 2nd at Mood Indigo’11, LA winners at Kaleidoscope’11, Overall 2nd at Kiran, Overall 2nd with LA trophy at Umang’11 and so on. For the first time we participated in Waves,

which is the college festival of Bits Pilani, Goa and opened doors to festivals happening outside the city.

OFF STAGE

• Students’counciland theCulturalCommittee conducted a joint debate on Corruption. Eminent speakers were invited to address the same.

• All units on campus cametogether under the leadership of the Principal Fr. Dr. Frazer Mascarenhas to formulate a joint action plan to launch a cleanliness drive on campus. The ECC also chose the Editors for ‘the XPRESS’.

• TheECCalsocoordinatedculturalprogrammes for College Day, JAAI MILAN, Traditional day, Teacher’s day and Third Year Farewell.

And the show goes on…

It was indeed a challenge to compile the Extra Curricular credit, and to make it work in such a way that it has a tangible presence. The work involved a very engaging coordination with students and Faculty-in-charge of all units on campus. While working in this committee we did share some great moments, testing moments, challenging moments, exhilarating moments, introspective moments, and frustrating moments. All in all, while working with the students we travelled through the entire diverse spectrum of the nava-rasa! Also three cheers to our very dynamic Cultural Secretary, Kshiti Gala and General Secretary, Shivani Aggrawal with the members of the Student Council who worked diligently to ensure that all ECC activities were coordinated without any glitches.

Finally without the synchronized efforts of the entire ECC staff committee - Prof. Gulshan Shaikh, Prof Ruby Pavri, Dr (Prof) Ashima, Prof. Rajesh Singh and Prof. Ayesha Dias, the ECC work could have not been possible.

Dr. Radha Kumar Convenor,

The Extra Curricular Committee

123

“It was the caveman, who first thought of creating false representations of real life, and assumed behaviors and ‘acted’ accordingly,” said Naseeruddin Shah, in his address to the members on the inaugural screening of the year describing the origins of cinematic productions, which was followed by a screening of the neo-classic, The Bicycle Thief.

That would be the beginning of the second active year for the Film Countdown, a film society organized under the aegis of the BMM department. This year the society had set out with certain specific ambitions for its members: of increased interactions and discussions on the diversity of cinema, and of enhancing

the most fundamental instinct in any movie-goer, that of unabashed curiosity, of hearty acceptance and the willingness to be surprised by cinema. In principle, the Countdown was successful in introducing and screening a variety of films across the world and others from the popular palette as well, each highlighting a specific, unusual and significant aesthetic of the medium.

The members of the executive committee, Raoul Thomas George, Yash Thakoor, Vydehi M, Leona D’souza, Uttara Purandare, Sneha Ganesh and Laya Maheshwari worked under the timely guidance of professors Meera Shirodkar and Akshara Jadhav, of the BMM department.

This year, the committee began with a mission bestowed upon us by Mr. Naseeruddin Shah, of exploring that which all cinema ought to be: an honest chronicler of its time. And since, the Countdown has striven towards offering its members a comprehensive cinematic experience. In the year that will follow, the Film Countdown will continue to explore the dimensions of the cinematic experience, with many and frequent interactions with its members and other film enthusiasts.

Ms Meera Shirodkar & Ms. Akshara Jadhav

Faculty –in-charge.

Film Countdown

The year 2011-2012 was a very fruitful for the Heras Institute. The following report encapsulates the activities conducted during this academic year.

WORKSHOP ON INDIAN ART AND ARCHITECTURE

A Workshop on Indian Art and Architecture was held in July 2011, to enable students from the city colleges to avail of the benefits of the Course. 51 students from St. Xavier’s College, Jai Hind College, Sophia College, S. I. E. S. College and K. G. Somaiya College participated. The themes selected for the workshop covered various aspects of Indian Art. Dr. Joan Dias, Director, Heras Institute, gave a presentation on ‘Indo-Christian Art’, highlighting the amalgamation of Christian themes and Indian forms and styles. Dr.

Yojana Bhagat, Assistant Professor, Department of Pali, University of Mumbai, focused on the Indian Rock-cut Architecture, explaining the features of the Brahmanical, Buddhist and Jaina cave temples. Dr. Meenal Kapadia presented a session on Indian Paintings, tracing the development of Paintings from Pre-historic times to the Modern times. The last two presentations given by Ms. Shilpa Chheda, Curator, Heras Institute, on Indian Structural Architecture and Indian Iconography focused on different facets of Temple Architecture and sculptures. Imbibed with a sense of awareness, the need to preserve and conserve, and moreover, visit sites that exhibit our rich cultural heritage became evidently vibrant among the students.

CERTIFICATE COURSE ON INDIAN PAINTINGS

This course was conducted in August 2011, by Dr. Meenal Kapadia, an artist and a Research Scholar in Ancient Indian Culture and Pali. She gave an over-view of the development of Indian Paintings from ancient period to present time. Dr. Kapadia’s slides enlightened students on various phases

of Indian paintings - Mural Tradition, Miniature paintings, Folk paintings, Company paintings and the Bengal School, and the Progressive and Post-Independence Painting.

RESTORATION OF THE HERAS INSTITUTE

Dr. Frazer Mascarenhas S. J., Principal, St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, had undertaken a gigantic task of the Conservation and Restoration of the Heras Institute, with a view to make it a world class Post- Graduate Research Centre. Hence, this term the Director’s room was remodelled to include a small museum. The painting of the walls, varnishing of the ceiling and old cupboards took three months. Thanks to the architect Mr. A. Lewis, who helped us to preserve and conserve

Heras Institute of Indian History and Culture

124

the valuable Collections of that one man - Fr. H. Heras S. J.

WORKSHOP ON INDIAN ART AND ARCHITECTURE (in collaboration with Gonsalo Garcia College)

The Department of History, St. Gonsalo Garcia College, Vasai, for the first time organized a workshop on ‘Indian Art and Architecture’ in collaboration with the Heras Institute of India History and Culture, St. Xavier College, Mumbai. The Head, Department of History and Vice Principal Prof. Alexander D’mello, Prof. Afegin Tuscano and Prof. Treaza Lopes put in special efforts to plan and execute the whole programme. It was held in the month of July on every Friday from 10 a. m. to 12 noon in Gonsalo Garcia College, Vasai.

Principal Dr. Solomon Rodrigues inaugurated the programme and Vice Principal Dr. Dominic Lopes, Vice Principal and Head, Department of History, Prof. Alexander D’mello and Dr. Joan Dias, Director of the Heras Institute joined him in lighting the lamp. There were 275 participants, 240 from St. Gonsalo Garcia College and remaining 35 came from the neighboring colleges - St. Joseph College (Nandakhal), Abhinav College (Bhayandar) and P.L. Shroff College (Vangav). The topics presented were as follows: ‘Indo-Christian Art’, Indian Rock-cut Architecture, Indian Structural Architecture and Indian Iconography.

FOUR DAY WORKSHOP ON RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

FOR PROFESSORS AND RESEARCH SCHOLARS

The Heras Institute held a four day workshop on Research Methodology on 25th – 26th July and 10th – 11th August 2011 that was conducted by scholars of international repute, Dr. Mariam Dossal, Former Head, Department of History, University of Mumbai, Dr. Kanchana Mahadevan, Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of Mumbai and Ms. Biraj Mehta, Visiting Faculty, Department of Philosophy, University of Mumbai.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY WORKSHOP

In November 2011, the Heras Institute conducted a Methodology Course for a batch of enthusiastic under-graduates from St. Xavier’s and other affiliated colleges of the University of Mumbai. Their data collection, corroboration of facts and methodological presentations is indeed commendable. It implies a promising future for Historiography. Yet, only the first three were awarded prizes.

HERAS MEMORIAL LECTURES

The annual Heras Memorial Lectures were held on the 14th December, 2011. Due to transport and travel constraints in Mumbai, the Advisory Committee of the Heras Institute resolved to hold both lectures on the 14th December, the death anniversary of Fr. H. Heras s. j. The 48th series of lectures were delivered by Prof. Jim Masselos (Hon. Reader, Department of History, University of Sydney). The theme was “The City and Modernity, Bombay/ Mumbai, Changes in the 19th Century”. The first lecture was “Modern Days” and the second was “Portraying the Public Man” both have been published in this issue of “Indica”. To further motivate and cultivate in our budding historians a profound yearning for research a book was launched. The veteran scholar, historian, author and fellow of the Heras Institute, Dr. Teresa Albuquerque’s book, “Goan Pioneers in Bombay”, was released by Prof. Jim Masselos and the Principal

of St. Xavier’s College, Dr. Frazer Mascarenhas s. j. before an august audience. Dr. Jeanette Pinto introduced the author and Mr. Naresh Fernandes, editor of Time Out, who briefly spoke on the book and the achievements of Dr. Albuquerque as a writer of History and as an inspiration to him and other young scholars and researchers. Thereafter, certificates and prizes were distributed to the participants of the Heras Research Methodology Programme.

HISTORIAN’S WORKSHOP

The Annual Historians’ Workshop was held on Sunday, 18th December 2011, from 9.30a.m. - 4.30 p.m. at St. Xavier’ College, Mumbai. Dr. Ruchira Banerjee, a renowned historian and a Ph.D. student of the Heras Institute conducted the workshop. Her expertise, skill and proficiency in providing the techniques and craftsmanship for writing history were inspirational. The methods and styles of data collection with substantive documentary evidence authenticating the matter and presenting facts accurately had a great impact on our future historians.

BOOK LAUNCH

Another book launch was organised by the Department of History, St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, and the Heras Institute on Tuesday, 17th January 2012. It was graced by His Grace, Bishop Agnelo Gracias, an alumnus of St. Xavier’s College. The authors are Dr. Anand Amaladass s. j. and Dr. Gudrun Loner. The Principal Dr. Frazer Mascarenhas s.j. welcomed the audience and Dr. Fleur D’souza, Head, Department of History introduced the Bishop and the authors. The authors provided valuable insights and interpretations of the book “Christian Themes in Indian Paintings”. This was followed by an open discussion with the authors. The amazing, impressive and remarkable collections on the theme stunned the audience.

MUSEUM VISIT CUM ACTIVITY

A group of 90 students from Utpal Sanghvi High School, Vile Parle, spent

125

çÆnboçÇ mçççÆnl³ç mçbiççÇlç SJçb vççìdîç DçkçÀçocççÇçÆnboçÇ çÆJçYççiç kçÀçÇ 60 JççÇb mççuççÆiçjn kçíÀ pçMvç

kçÀçÇ lç̳çççÆj³ççW cçW çÆnboçÇ mçççÆnl³ç, mçbiççÇlç SJçb vççìdîç

DçkçÀçocççÇ vçí Dçblçmç 2011 kçÀçÇ lç̳çççÆj³ççB Dçiçmlç

cçbí nçÇ Mç᪠kçÀj oçÇ LççÇb~

MçáªDççlç náF& DçkçÀçocççÇ kçíÀ HçoççÆOçkçÀççÆj³ççWkçíÀ ®çávççJç

mçí~ Òçç®ççÇ MçÌuçívê (mççÆ®çJç), S<Cçç kçÀu³ççCç Jç

çÆJçYçÓçÆlç cççª (Òç®ççj - Òçmççj cçb$ççÇ), MçkçÀçÇuç

Dçncço Jç jçpçÞççÇ çÆvçkçÀcç (çÆJçHçCçvç cçb$ççÇ), çÆMçuHççÇ

[í Jç HççÆj%çç kçÀu³ççCçHçÓj (mçn - mççÆ®çJç mçççÆnl³ç)

DççkçÀçb#çç cççªuçkçÀj Jç cççvçmççÇ jçpççO³ç#ç (mçn-

mççÆ®çJç - mçbiççÇlç), SJçb Dçccççjçn MçíKç Jç içç³ç$ççÇ

iççíKçuçí (mçn - mççÆ®çJç, vççìdîç) kçÀçí Fmç mççuç

kçÀçÇ kçÀç³ç&-kçÀççÆjCççÇ mççÆcççÆlç kçíÀ çÆuçS ®çávçç iç³çç~

HçoççÆOçkçÀççÆj³ççW kçíÀ ®çávççJç kçíÀ HçM®ççlç, mççÆcççÆlç vçí

DçkçÀçocççÇ Üçjç Dçç³ççíçÆpçlç JçççÆ<ç&kçÀ çÆnboçÇ mçHlççn

Dçblçmç kçíÀ çÆuçS kçÀjçÇyç 40 mçn³ççíçÆiç³ççW kçÀç ®çávççJç

çÆkçÀ³çç DççÌj Dçblçmç cçnçílmçJç kçíÀ çÆuçS 5 çÆomçbyçj

mçí 10 çÆomçbyçj kçÀçÇ lççjçÇKç lç³ç kçÀçÇ içF&~

5 çÆomçbyçj kçÀçí Dçblçmç 2011 kçÀç GodIççìvç yçç@

çÆuçJçá[ vç=l³ç ÒççÆlç³ççíçÆiçlçç mçí náDçç~ Fmçcçíb SkçÀuç

SJçb ³çáiçuç oçí ÒçkçÀçj kçíÀ vç=l³ççW kçÀç Dçç³ççípçvç çÆkçÀ³çç

iç³çç, çÆpçmçcçW kçáÀuç 10 ìçÇcççW vçí çÆnmmçç çÆuç³çç

DççÌj ncççjçÇ çÆvçCçç&³çkçÀ LççR mçáÒççqmçOo vç=l³ççbiçvçç

mçáÞççÇ MçcHçç~

7 çÆomçbyçj kçÀçí SkçÀçbkçÀçÇ kçíÀ Dçblçiç&lç 3 çÆJçÐçççÆLç&³ççW vçí DçHçvççÇ SkçÀçbçÆkçÀ³ççB Òçmlçálç kçÀçÇb : Yç´ ÓCçnl³çç Hçj DççOçççÆjlç DçpçvcççW vçiçj (çÆvçoxçÆMçkçÀç : Dçccççjçn MçíKç) pççÇJçvç kçíÀ Dçuçiç - Dçuçiç ªHç Hçj DççOçççÆjlç njçÇ Iççmç Hçj Içbìí Yçj (çÆvçoxçÆMçkçÀç : içç³ç$ççÇ iççíKçuçí) SkçÀ H³ççmççÇ mççÇ Òçícç kçÀnçvççÇ DçOçÓjí mçHçvçí (uçíKçvç SJçb çÆvçoxMçvç : OççÇjpç kçíÀ uççívççjí mçYççÇ vççìkçÀçíb kçÀçí Dçl³çblç mçnçjç iç³çç~

8 çÆomçbyçj kçÀçí kçÀçÆJç mçccçíuçvç kçÀç Dçç³ççípçvç çÆkçÀ³çç iç³çç, çÆpçmçcçbí kçÀjçÇyç 25 çÆJçÐçççÆLç&³ççW SJçb 3 ÒççO³ççHçkçÀçW vçí mJçjçÆ®çlç kçÀçÆJçlççSB Òçmlçálç kçÀçÇb~ Yççiç uçívçí Jççuçí ÒççO³ççHçkçÀ Lçí Òççí. JççÇCçç çÆmçbn, Òççí. DçJçkçÀçMç pççOçJç SJçb Òççí. ÒçMççblç jlvçHççjKççÇ~ Òççí.JççÇCçç çÆmçbn vçí Fmç Jç<ç& DçJçkçÀçMç ûçnCç çÆkçÀ³çç ³çn GvçkçÀç DçççÆKçjçÇ Dçblçmç Lçç, Fmç Jçpçn mçí ³çn mçcççjçín Dçl³çblç YççJçákçÀlççHçÓCç& jnç~

9 çÆomçbyçj kçÀçí mçblç æpçíçÆJç³çmç& cçnççÆJçÐççuç³ç kçíÀ mçyçmçí ÒçK³ççlç kçÀç³ç&¬çÀcç yçç@çÆuçJçá[ Dçç@kçxÀmì^ç kçÀç Dçç³ççípçvç çÆkçÀ³çç iç³çç, çÆpçmçkçíÀ çÆuçS kçÀjçÇyç 70 cçíb mçí 18 çqJçÐçççÆLç&³ççW kçÀç ®çávççJç çÆkçÀ³çç iç³çç Fvç kçÀuççkçÀçjçW vçí mçáÒççÆmç× iççÇlç Òçmlçálç çÆkçÀS çÆpçmçkçÀç Dççvçbo mçYççÇ vçí Gþç³çç~ ncççjí ÒççO³ççHçkçÀçW vçí YççÇ Fmç kçÀç³ç&¬çÀcç cçW oíJç Dççvçbo Jç MçccççÇ kçÀHçÓj kçíÀ iççÇlç iççkçÀj Gvníb Þç×çbpçuççÇ DççÆHç&lç kçÀçÇ~

Dçblçmç kçíÀ DçççÆKçjçÇ çÆovç 10 çÆomçbyçj kçÀçí çÆHçÀucç DççÆYçvç³ç kçÀç³ç&Mççuçç kçÀç Dçç³ççípçvç çÆkçÀ³çç iç³çç~ çÆpçmçcçbí GYçjlçí kçÀuççkçÀçj Jç mçblç æpçíçÆJç³çmç& kçÀç@uçípç YçÓlçHçÓJç& sç$ç, ÞççÇ DçbMçácççvç Pçç vçí çÆnboçÇ çÆHçÀucççíb kçÀçÇ vçF& lçkçÀvççÇkçÀçW, DççÆYçvç³ç kçíÀ Dçboçpç, Dççì& çÆHçÀucççW cçW DçvçáYçJç Fl³çççÆo Hçj mçYççÇ mçnYçççÆiç³ççíb kçíÀ mççLç ®ç®çç& kçÀçÇ~ DççÌj Dçç@vçmç& kçíÀ çÆJçÐçççÆLç&³ççW kçÀçí çÆnboçÇ çÆHçÀucççW yçouçlçí Dçboçpç Hçj çÆuçKçvçí kçÀç iç=n kçÀç³ç& çÆo³çç~

ncç mì[çÇ mçkç&Àuç, kçÀç@Hçjmìçívç kçíÀ yçnálç DççYççjçÇ nQ~ GvçkçíÀ mçn³ççíiç mçí Fmç Jç<ç& ncççjçÇ DçkçÀçocççÇ kçÀçÇ iççÆlççÆJççÆOç³ççB Dçl³çblç mçHçÀuç jnçÇb~

ncç Gvç mçYççÇ uççíiççW kçÀçí Oçv³çJçço oílçí nQ çÆpçvçkçíÀ mçn³ççíiç mçí Dçblçmç mçbYçJç, mçHçÀuç DççÌj mçbHçvvç nçí mçkçÀç~ DççMçç nÌ çÆkçÀ FmççÇ ÒçkçÀçj ncç Dççiçí YççÇ kçÀç³ç& kçÀjlçí jnWiçí DççÌj DççHçkçÀç mççLç ³çÓBnçÇ yçvçç jníiçç~

Òçç®ççÇ MçÌuçWê lç=lççdzç Jç<ç& - DçLç&Mççm$ç,

mççÆ®çJç, Dçblçmç 2011

the 29th and 30th November 2011 at the Heras Institute. They were instructed on the artifacts of the Heras Institute Museum and later each one wrote about the artifact that appealed to them. They were then shown documentaries pertaining to Ancient India, Medieval India and Modern India. What fascinated them the most was Moulding artifacts and Pottery Making at the Potter’s Wheel, courtesy, students of the J.J School of Art.

On the 19th December 2012, in collaboration with the St. Xavier’s Institute of Education, Mumbai, the Heras Institute held a day’s Workshop to enhance and better equip 60 B. Ed. teacher trainees in the Learning and Teaching Process of History. The Museum experience, Historical Documentaries and the study of

Cartography truly enlightened them.

STAFF ACTIVITIES

Dr. Joan Dias, Director, represented the Heras Institute at a Seminar organized by Vasco Da Gama Institute of Research, Cochin held in September 2011. The theme was “Missionary Foundations of the Indian Renaissance”. The paper presented was “Fr. Henry Heras: Humanistic Attitude inculcated through Higher Education and Art”.

At the Tri-annual Conference of the Church History Association of India, Dr. Joan Dias was invited to present a paper on the Heras Institute and the paper presented was “The Indian Historical Research Institute: The Fountainhead of Indigenization”. She was also elected Vice-President of the Church History Association of India.

The Director of the Heras Institute has been nominated as a member of the reconstituted Indian Historical Records Commission.

Ms. Shilpa Chheda, Curator, Heras Institute, was invited by the Department of History, Elphinstone College, Mumbai, to conduct a two-day Workshop (6th -7th February 2012) on “Sources of History” for 60 participants. She also conducted sessions on Jaina History and Jaina Art for the International Summer School for Jaina Studies, at K. J. Somaiya Centre for Studies in Jainism, K. J. Somaiya Campus, Mumbai and Jaina Academy, Department of Philosophy, University of Mumbai.

Dr. Joan Dias, Director, Heras Institute of

Indian History

126

The Indian Music group has been shouldering the responsibility of preserving and promoting Indian Classical Music for the last 38 years. This student-run organisation has been working uninterruptedly, organising Baithaks, Mini-baithaks, workshops and Concerts over the years. The year 2011-12 saw a big leap in footfall for all the events that were organised. “Malhar ke Prakar” was the very first concert of the year. Mrs. Padma Talwalkar gave a dazzling performance at this event. In queue was “Ta-dha” where Janab Taufiq

Qureshi and his band “Mumbai Stamp” performed drawing in a record number of music lovers. With the “Young Artist Festival” the IMG continued its legacy of providing a platform to the budding artists of Indian Classical Music. “Music Appreciation Course” witnessed an enthusiastic response from students. “Birthday Concert’12” was a grand success with a record footfall to witness the performance of Begum Parween Sultanaji at the anniversary of IMG.

The flagship event, “Janfest’12: A

tribute to Pt. Bhimsen Joshiji” left the audience dazed with an artist line-up never seen before. The two-day musical extravaganza catered to over 1200+ people from all over the city. Pioneers of Indian Classical Music like Pt. Shivkumar Sharma Ji, Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasiya Ji, Ustad Rashid Khan Saheb and Ustad Amjad Ali Khan Saheb graced the occasion of Janfest’12 and left the audience in awe with their breath-taking performances.

Dr. Asha Naithani-Dayama Faculty-in-charge.

Indian Music Group

As ever year, the Department of Inter-Religious Studies (DIRS) conducted varied activities during this academic year aimed at fostering a pluralistic spirit and expanding inter-religious and inter-cultural contact and realizing its aim of Oneness in Plurality.

Courses for Students To mark the 150th birthday anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, DIRS began the year with a course that dwelt on his many-faceted personality and contribution. It touched on his vision of education, his mystic poetry (Gitanjali), and his religion of man. The course particularly emphasized the extraordinary relevance of his universal humanism for our pluralistic world. Other certificate courses that extended through the year were: the Philosophy of Religion, Zen Buddhism, and Religion and Ecology.

Students from the science, arts, management and communications signed up. A group of fifteen opted for the course on Tagore appreciating it immensely as they felt it opened up their hearts and horizons wider. Thirty-three students wrestled with questions posed by the philosophy of religion, while nineteen explored the world of Zen Buddhism. A smaller group of students (ten) studied the relationship between religion and ecology, dwelling on scriptural, ethical and mystical texts as creatively interpreted by thinkers

today to evoke a responsible attitude to nature. A few students also worked on projects that touched on religion, spirituality and other domains such as economics, business management, politics, and globalization.

Programmes for the General Public: DIRS conducted a One-Day Inter-Faith Seminar (20 Nov’11) on Love in the World’s Wisdom Traditions at which scholar representatives from six different faiths spoke. Seventy people from varied walks of life including students from different colleges took part. DIRS also participated in an inter-faith exchange on the occasion of celebration of Id organized by the Ahmadiya Muslim Community at the YMCA Mumbai Central. Together with the Xavier Institute of Social Research, DIRS organized a one-day Eco-Symposium titled, Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream (4 Feb’12)

DIRS conducted its tri-annual Series, each consisting of 6 Saturday evening sessions (5.30 – 8.00) on the themes: The Miracles of Jesus: meaning and message, which included an understanding of miracles in the varied religious traditions (June-July’11); Love in the Christian Tradition: An Inter-Faith Perspective (November-December’11); and Christian Spirituality – A Contemporary Perspective (February–

March’12) which included sessions on the commonality and differences in the spirituality of the world’s major religions.

In Collaboration with the J. Krishnamurti Foundation, Mumbai, DIRS held regular bi-monthly sessions for the public on existential questions. Some of the questions touched on this year were: Meditation and the miracle of listening; Is there any action not touched by thought? What is the root of disorder in human consciousness? Can we be radically free from this? How does one enquire into the source of all life? Is there psychological security? What is a healthy mind? What will bring about change in the brain?

The DIRS director participated in a two-day national seminar (6-7 Feb’12) organized by the Department of Sanskrit Mumbai University on, Aspects of Mysticism, at which he read the paper: “Mysticism in the Bible.” As part of the K.R. Cama Oriental Institute’s inter-religious programme, Exploration into World Religions, he taught a course on Christianity to people of different faiths. He took sessions on Zen Buddhism for fifty students of philosophy, Wilson College (19 Jan’12), and conducted a one-day dialogue session on The Religious Mind at the J. Krishnamurti Retreat Centre, Badlapur (12 Feb’12).

Fr. Lancy Prabhu, S.J.

Inter-Religious Studies

127

The Language Laboratory was set up in the year 2006 with a grant from the U.G.C. and C.P.E. A generous donation from an alumnus, Mr. Eric Pinto [USA] made it possible for us to renovate the premises. The Language Laboratory became functional from June 2007 under the guidance of a full time staff member, Ms. Aruna Rao. In June 2008 Ms. Aruna Gulanikar took over as Language Laboratory Coordinator and in November 2008 Ms. Suzie Mascarenhas was appointed as the Language Instructor and she continues in this position to date.

The objective of the language

laboratory is to develop and refine the language skills of our students. It has its own software packages for training the students. The teacher-in- charge is available during college hours for student consultation and to conduct on-going courses.

During the months of March--April , a special vacation course in “Communication Skills and Personality Development” has been conducted. Participants have had the opportunity not only to enhance their language skills but also to develop some soft skills.

The services of the language laboratory

are open to the staff and students of St. Xavier’s College.

In October 2011, the Language Laboratory was renovated and air-conditioned. The laboratory is now bright, airy and spacious. We can accommodate 26 participants at a given time as against 20 in the past.

Students are urged to use this facility which would enable them to acquire the verbal skills necessary for effective communication.

Ms. Suzie Mascarenhas Co-ordinator,

Language Laboratory

Language laboratory

Mumbai is a melting pot of culture and college festivals have always contributed greatly to the bubbling cultural life of the city. But amongst grueling study hours, exhausting internships and the constant pressure to stay ahead in the rat race, the young adults of the city may have forgotten that sometimes life is about living in the moment and enjoying yourself a little. The theme of Malhar-2011 was hence conceived to create an enchanting world enclosed within the labyrinthine structure of St. Xavier’s College where one could simply come and lose oneself.

The events had an enigmatic element with magic being a central theme for many. This Malhar was all about a confluence of history, mythology, art and ancient culture which reminded one greatly of the Greco-Roman empires. Although the idea of ancient magic was part of the theme, the events were executed with State-of-the-art modern technology. Malhar-2011 became the first festival in India to be shot entirely in the HD format using the best available recording equipment.

There were many other firsts too. This was the first time that a college festival tapped into the power of social media to make a difference. ‘World

Wide Wakening’ was the first event of its kind in Asia which generated large scale awareness about multiple social issues using the internet and its million users. Malhar received enormous amounts of critical acclaim from the media for this particular venture. The organizers also brought back ‘Chakachak’, a trademark Malhar event with its own twist. This time it was not only about ‘cleaning up’ the city’s beaches but also cleaning and segregating waste and encouraging the culture of recycling at the source.

Malhar-Conclave-2011 met with phenomenal success as well. Dr. Binayak Sen, the Pediatric physician and renowned social activist graced our event as a keynote speaker and candidly shared his views about Naxalites, perception about terrorism and life in general. Conclave also had the great honour of hosting extremely relevant persons of our time such as Aruna Roy and Prashant Bhushan who started very thought-provoking discussions about corruption in the government’s operations. A lot of media coverage from this particular discussion soon made

way into television screens as a reflection of the youth’s perception of the government. Conclave has now become a small part of history as the Lokpal bill soon made headway into the parliament. The idea in its barest form was discussed here openly with students, activists and policy makers alike, long before it became a dinner table discussion all over the nation.

Over the years, the number of people attending Malhar had dwindled and without young energy, an event such as this is no fun. So the committee set out to enchant every single college student in the city to bring them back to the original festival of them all! With prizes and contests, with playrooms and celebrities and most importantly with passion and drive, Malhar managed to attract a whopping

Malhar 2011 – The Labyrinth

128

crowd footfall of 30,000+ people and established another first for the festival.

All in all it was a truly amazing year that had a truly amazing workforce of a thousand brilliant and motivated young minds who put together a magical experience for all involved and set an amazing standard for

many Malhars to come. There was phenomenal participation by all leading colleges of the city and many from other parts of the country but the sheer brilliance and enthusiasm of the participants of St. Xavier’s college, Mumbai took the cake and they became the champions of Malhar, third time in a row! HR College, Mumbai

and IIT-Bombay finished at second and third places respectively while Symbiosis-Pune won the outstation trophy at Malhar-2011.

Mr. Marazaban Kotwal Faculty-in-charge

Ms. Ankiti Bose Chairperson

cçjçþçÇ Jçç[d.cç³ç cçb[U1923 mççuççÇ mLççHçvç Pççuçíuçb DçççÆCç cçbáyçF& çÆJçÐççHççÇþ箳çç Dçblçiç&lç ³çíCççN³çç kçÀçnçÇ Dççod³ç cç b[UçbHç ÌkçÀç Ç SkçÀ cnCçpçí mç Wì Pçíç ÆJç³çmç& cçnççÆJçÐççuç³çç®çí cçjçþçÇ Jçç[d.cç³ç cçb[U. ³çboç ³çç cçb[Uçvçí 89J³çç Jç<çç&lç HçoçHç&Cç kçíÀuçí Dççní. Jç<çç&®³çç ÒççjbYççÇ çÆJçÐççL³ç祮³çç kçÀç³ç&kçÀççÆjCççÇ mççÆcçlççÇcçO³çí kçáÀþuçínçÇ çÆJçYççiçÒçcçáKç vç vçícçlçç, mçJç& mçom³ççbvççÇ SkçÀçÆ$çlçHçCçí, cççípçkçw³çç, Hçjblçá opçxoçj kçÀç³ç&¬çÀcççb®çí®ç Dçç³ççípçvç kçíÀuçí pççJçí Dçmçç çÆvçCç&³ç IçíC³ççlç Dççuçç.

çÆo. 15 pçáuçÌ jçípççÇ ’cçjçþçÇ uççíkçÀmçbiççÇlç DçççÆCç cçnçjç<ì^ç®ççÇ mçbmkç=ÀlççÇ“ ³çç çÆJç<ç³ççJçj cçb[UçÜçjí J³ççK³ççvç Dçç³ççíçÆpçlç kçíÀuçí içíuçí. Òçmlçálç kçÀç³ç&¬çÀcççmççþçÇ vççcçJçblç mçbiççÇlçkçÀçj - içç³çkçÀ ÞççÇ. kçÀçÌMçuç F&vççcçoçj ní ÒçcçáKç Jçkçwlçí uççYçuçí. PçíçÆJç³çmç& kçÀç@uçípç cçOççÇuç®ç vçJní Flçj cçnççÆJçÐççuç³ççblççÇuç çÆJçod³ççL³çç¥vççÇnçÇ ³çç kçÀç³ç&¬çÀcççmç cççíþîçç ÒçcççCççJçj GHççÆmLçlççÇ uççJçuççÇ. cçjçþçÇ uççíkçÀmçbiççÇlç DçççÆCç cçnçjç<ì^ç®ççÇ mçbmkç=ÀlççÇ ³ççb®³ççlçuçb iççÆnjb vççlçb kçÀçÌMçuç Fvççcçoçj ³ççbvççÇ Guçiç[Óvç oçKçJçuçb. ³çç kçÀç³ç&¬çÀcçç®ççÇ cçÓU mçbkçÀuHçvçç nçÇ ³çMç þçkçÓÀj

³çç®ççÇ nçílççÇ. uççíkçÀmçbiççÇlççlççÇuç yçouççlçÓvç cçjçþçÇ mçbmkç=ÀlççÇ®çb yçouçlç içíuçíuçb ªHç ³çç kçÀç³ç&¬çÀcççlçÓvç Òçí#çkçÀçbvççÇ DçvçáYçJçuçb. ³çç mçbkçÀuHçvçímç cççíþç ÒççÆlçmçço uççYçu³ççvçí mçJç祮çç®ç náªHç Jçç{uçç.

mççuççyççoÒçcççCçí mçJç&®ç mHçOçç& pçjçÇ nçíT MçkçÀu³çç vçmçu³çç, lçjçÇ 1956 HççmçÓvç cçb[Uç®ççÇ HçjbHçjç DçççÆCç cççvççÆyçboÓ Dçmçuçíu³çç DççblçjcçnççÆJçÐççuç³ççÇvç [ç@. yççÇ. Svç. Hçájbojí Jçkçwlç=lJç mHçOçxlç cçç$ç Kçb[ Hç[uçç vççnçÇ. çÆo. 1 HçíÀyç´áJççjçÇ jçípççÇ nçÇ mHçOçç& Dçç³ççíçÆpçlç kçíÀuççÇ içíuççÇ. pçJçUpçJçU 20 cçnççÆJçÐççuç³ççbvççÇ mHçOçxmççþçÇ vççíboCççÇ kçíÀuççÇ nçílççÇ. cçjçþçÇ mçáHçjnçÇjçí, J³çkçwlççÇ lçMççÇ Òçkç=ÀlççÇ, KçJç³³çíçÆiçjçÇ DçççÆCç Dççjçíi³ç, Yç´<ìç®ççj çÆvçJççjCççj kçÀçíCç? cçjçþçÇ DçççÆCç Fbìjvçíì Dçmçí çÆJççÆJçOç çÆJç<ç³ç mHçOç&kçÀçbvçç çÆouçí nçílçí. ³çççÆMçJçç³ç mJçlç:®³çç DççJç[çÇ®³çç çÆJç<ç³ççJçjnçÇ yççíuçç³ç®ççÇ cçáYçç þíJçuççÇ nçílççÇ. Òçmlçálç mHçOçxmççþçÇ cçç. ÞççÇ. jçínvç çÆìuuçÓ (uççíkçÀmçllçç) DçççÆCç cçç. ÞççÇ. Dçvçájçiç kçÀçbyçUí (cçnçjç<ì^ ìçF&cmç) ³çç ³çáJçç Hç$çkçÀçjçbvççÇ HçjçÇ#çkçÀ cnCçÓvç kçÀçcç HçççÆnuçb DçççÆCç mHçOç&kçÀçbvçç çÆJç<ç³ççvçáªHç ÒçMvç çÆJç®ççjlç mHçOçxlç jbiçlç DççCçuççÇ.

mHçOçxDçblççÇ ªHççjíuç kçÀç@uçíp箳çç çÆJçod³ççLçça mçbIççvçí

[ç@. yççÇ. Svç. Hçájbojí çÆHçÀjlçç ®ç<çkçÀ HçìkçÀçJçuçç,

lçj S®ç. Dççj. kçÀç@uçípç®çí çÆJçod³ççLçça ní Òçç. vçç.

kçíÀ. YççiçJçlç çÆHçÀjl³çç ®ç<çkçÀç®çí cççvçkçÀjçÇ þjuçí.

lçmçí®ç ³çç mHçOçxojc³ççvç cçb[Uç®çç JçççÆ<ç&kçÀ DçbkçÀ

’HçKçjCç“ ®çí ÒçkçÀçMçvç cçç. ÒççÆMç#çkçÀ Jç Òçç®çç³ç祮³çç

nmlçí kçÀjCîççlç Dççuçí. $çÝlçÓ pççOçJç DçççÆCç mçájçÆYç

HçJççj ³çç kçÀuçç MççKçí®³çç çÆJçodîççL³çç¥vççÇ ³çç DçbkçÀç®çí

mçbHççovç kçíÀuçíí.

cçjçþçÇ nç çÆJç<ç³ç DçY³ççmç¬çÀcççlç vçmçÓvçnçÇ ojJç<çça

Gllçcç kçÀç³ç&¬çÀcç Dçç³ççíçÆpçlç kçÀjCçí, lçí ³çMçmJççÇjçÇl³çç

mççoj kçÀjCçí DçççÆCç cçb[Uçmç kçÀç³ç&jlç þíJçCçí

ní Dççcnçuçç kçÀç@uçípç®çí Òçç®çç³ç& HçÀçoj ÖçíÀPçj

cçmkçÀNnívçmç DçççÆCç cçb[Uç®çí ÒçcçáKç GHç-Òçç®çç³ç& [ç@.

jçpçWê çÆMçboí ³ççb®³çç ÒççílmççnvççcçáUí®ç Mçkçw³ç nçílçí.

³ççÒçcççCçí®ç Hçá{çÇuç Jç<ççançÇ cçb[U Dçmçí®ç vçJçvçJççÇvç

kçÀç³ç&¬çÀcç IçíTvç npçj nçíF&uç DçMççÇ DççMçç kçÀª³çç.

içç³ç$ççÇ iççíKçuçí

Riding on the success of 2011 placement season, where several students from different departments received excellent job offers, the 2012 placement process began with the same intensity where it ended last year at St. Xavier’s College campus. This year it was expected that the companies coming on campus would be less in number due to the expected slowdown, but the placement process received stupendous industry support.

The promising students were able to deliver on the expectations of the college and corporates alike. On one hand, the placement cell strengthened

its relationship with previous year’s recruiters, which revisited the campus. On the other hand, the institute initiated relationships new associations bringing 20 new recruiters into the campus.

Out of 120 students who actively participated in the process with the placement cell, 90 were short listed for various placements and 75 students got an offer letter and were made part of various companies. Also, many processes are ongoing and were off-campus.

The students were offered a variety of profiles ranging from Banking

& Finance, Sales & Marketing to Consulting and HR. There were industry leader like Aon Hewitt, Bain, D.E. Shaw, Google, Citibank etc. The chief highlight of the process was the diverse range of profiles and the average salary was close to Rs. 4,00,000 annually with the highest pay being Rs. 12,00,000 p.a. offered by Mckinsey & Co.

Other companies that came on campus were Zomato, Directi, Mu Sigma, Great places to work, Tech Target, Edelweiss Broking Ltd., JP Morgan etc. There were also a number of IT companies like Wipro, Infosys, Polaris Software,

The Placement Saga

129

WNS etc. Thus, the students could benefit from this opportunity.

The industry support for the current batch exceeded expectations, considering the current global economic scenario. It echoes the fact

that St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai is rapidly expanding its horizons and becoming a favoured destination for the companies. The recruiters were particularly happy with the conceptual knowledge and personality grooming

of students and proposed to extend this relationship with a number of internships being offered to the SY students.

Soni George Placement Co-ordinator

In its 60th year of existence, the Social Service League was turned on its head. We declared that hierarchy was largely irrelevant and insisted on the collective aspect of the Secretariat as an entity. We introduced the department of “Creatives” instead of Publicity, and truly did away with the SSL Exhibition.

Two new applicants suggested two new projects – both in the slum area of Dharavi. Delighted with the idea of working at the grassroots, these were adopted and combined into Discover Dharavi. The Society for Nutrition, Education and Health Action (SNEHA) and URBZ were very kind to let our volunteers help in transforming the community in Asia’s largest slum.

G. I. Joe streamlined its area of focus, concentrating on a massive step in our college towards waste segregation.

Hopefully in the year to come recycling will become even more effective.

Project Care, our flagship event, was sub-divided into two streams that were more sustained efforts. We were thrilled to be able to help a former General Secretary with the Teach for India sub-project which entailed taking a TFI class out every alternate weekend. The sights of Phoenix Malls, Nehru Science Centre, the Byculla Zoo and the Prince of Wales’ Museum translated into a broader horizon for the kids, allowing their teacher to reach out to a variety of previously unexplored territory for reference to context.

Another branch teamed up with the Doorstep School and visited their classes in the slums of Colaba to help them with dance, drama and creative expression.

This culminated in the weekend of fun and games that embodies the spirit of Project Care: spreading smiles and bringing back a normal childhood, albeit for a short while.

The department of Public Relations and Marketing was instituted. The learning in this was that we do not need a PR or Marketing office bearer, yet.

Rural Camp was a massive success. Armed with about half our usual population, we produced nearly double the result. The memories of those 31 campers will stand the test of time.

Blood Drive had a record number of donors and cemented its place as a staple SSL event.

Wishing the very best to next year’s team.

Neil Maheshwari General Secretary

THE SOCIAL SERVICE LEAGUE

JUNIOR COLLEGE

Our Junior College teams participated in tournaments organized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sport. The Following are the results:

SPORT GIRLS BOYSFOOTBALL (U-19) Mumbai City District 1ST Runners-up Participated at the Mumbai City District SUBROTO MUKHERJEE FOOTBALL (U/17) ------------------------------------------------ Mumbai Division 1ST Runners-up

BASKETBALL (U-19) Mumbai City District Runners-up Mumbai Division Semi- FinalistsHOCKEY (U-19) Participated at the Mumbai City District Mumbai City District Runners-up HANDBALL (U-19) Mumbai City District Runners-up Participated at the Mumbai City DistrictVOLLEYBALL (U-19) Mumbai City District 2nd Runners-up Participated at the Mumbai City DistrictTHROWBALL (U-19) Mumbai City District 1ST Runners-up ------------------------------------------------TABLE TENNIS (U-19) Participated at the Mumbai City District Participated at the Mumbai City DistrictBADMINTON (U-19) Participated at the Mumbai City District Participated at the Mumbai City DistrictCHESS (U-19) Participated at the Mumbai City District Participated at the Mumbai City District

Sports Achievements in Sports

130

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENTS

The following students participated at the State/National Level:

NATIONAL LEVEL

HOCKEY: Nunes Jarryd

BASKETBALL: Fernandes Larissa

FOOTBALL: Qwenlyn D’souza

STATE LEVEL

AQUATICS: Manasi Suryawanshi

TUG OF WAR: Narkhade Roma

WATER POLO: Agrawal Stuti

CYCLE POLO: Gogri Kruti

SQAY: Pattekar Sohom

FENCING: Chithelen Janice, Siddesh Prabhu and Tulasani Yash

ATHLETICS: 4x100 meters Relay -Girls U-19 Team (Urvi Tembey, Sephra Abraham, Vinaya Tawade, Simran Kharas and Berezida Gandhi) (Gold)Shot Put - Ganesh Kolekar (Gold), 110 m Hurdles -Agnel Domnic (Gold)400 meters : Urvi Tembey (Bronze)

MUMBAI CITY DISTRICT

CARROM: Pearl D’souzaATHLETICS: High Jump: Aldon Albuquerque (Gold)4x100meters Relay –U-19 Boys

Team (Roshan Noronha, Aldon Albuquerque, Kartik Sudhakar, Melwyn Fernandes, Keaton Talker) (Gold)4x100 meters Relay -Girls U-19 Team (Urvi Tembey, Sephra Abraham, Vinaya Tawade, Simran Kharas and Berezida Gandhi) (Gold)Shot Put: Ganesh Kolekar (Gold)5000 meters: Ganesh Kolekar (Silver)400 meters and 200 meters: Urvi Tembey (Silver)Discus Throw: Berezida Gandhi (Silver)Javelin Throw: Disha Jedhia (Silver)

SENIOR COLLEGE

Senior College participants in events organized by Mumbai University.

SPORT WOMEN MENFOOTBALL Winners Participated

BASKETBALL 2nd Runners-up 2nd Runners-upHANDBALL Quarter-finalists ---------------

HOCKEY 2nd Runners up Semi finalistsVOLLEYBALL Participated Participated

CRICKET ------------- ParticipatedTABLE TENNIS 1st Runners-up ParticipatedBADMINTON 2nd Runners up Participated

CHESS Mumbai University Team ranking-5th

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENTS

The following students participated at the Mumbai University/All India University Level.

MUMBAI UNIVERSITY LEVEL

CARROM: Baria Rakesh (Quarter Finalist)BADMINTON: Rakhee Rajsimha (2nd Runner-up)CHESS: Sidhaarth Venkatesh (Ranked 1st), Natasha Rupani (Ranked 2nd) ATHLETICS: 400 meters -Reetam Salian (Silver)

ALL- INDIA UNIVERSITY LEVEL

FOOTBALL: Tanya Thomas, Akanksha Sharma, Sonakshi Sharma and Nupur GokhaleATHLETICS: 400 meters -Reetam Salian (Finished 5th)

131

WOMEN’S FOOTBALL TEAM: CHAMPIONS 2011-2012

Top Row L-R: Alicia Ramos, Genevieve D’silva, TanyaThomas, Gayle Stephens, Thomas Pires (Sports Director), Adrian Dias(Coach), Natasha Lewis, Alisha Dantes, Nupur Gokhale, Neethi Sebastian Bottom Row L-R: Cara D’souza, Aakanksha Sharma, Drushtee Shinde, Pramila Irudayaraj, Natasha Mistry, Karen D’costa, Stacey Prince, Sharanya Rao, Shivanee Agrawal, Sonakshi Sharma

UNDER -17 SUBROTO CUP FOOTBALL: MUMBAI DIVISION 1st RUNNERS-UP

TOP ROW L-R: Johnson Kanjirathingal, O’Neil D’souza, Sean Ferrao, Shezlin D’souza, Shaun D’souza, Thomas Pires (Sports Director), Tarun Kalathil, Zain Kopty, Dean D’souza, Keaton Talker, Uday Pawar (District Sports Officer) BOTTOM ROW L-R: Arnold Rebello, Henderson Dias, Alden Kodiyan, Yohann Coutinho, Parth Maheshwari, Ashley Massey

WOMEN’S HOCKEY TEAM: Second Runners-up

Top Row L-R: Amy Crasto, Jesvyl Dsilva, Stacey Prince, Nicolette D’souza, Sanika Thakur, Niloysia Lobo, Thomas Pires(Sports Director), Melaine Rebello, Chelsea Rebello, Vijayalaxmi Yadav Bottom Row L-R: Lorraine Castelino, Cara D’souza, Salome D’sa, Alifa Barnes, Karen D’costa, Neethi Sebastian, Maurelle D’sa

INTER-DEPARTMENTAL COLLABORATION.

TOP ROW L-R: Kaustubh Tapal, Lygel D’mello(Assistant Coach), Thomas Pires(Head Coach), Sachin Bhure(Manager),Murtuza Kutarwadli BOTTOM ROW L-R: Shahid Shaikh, Mahesh Mhabdi, Rahul Navghane, Mohammed Shaikh, Tilakprasad Joshi

In one of the first ever collaborative efforts undertaken, XRCVC with the help of the Sports Department participated in the National Football Tournament organized by the Indian Blind Sports Association in Delhi from Jan 2 to Jan 10 2012.

MUMBAI UNIVERSITY CHESS CHAMPION

Sidhaarth Venkatesh

WINNERS AT THE ANNUAL SPORTS DAY

L-R: Lloyd Vaz(Senior College- Individual Men’s Championship), Vinaya Tawde(Junior College- Individual Girls’Championship), Gayle Stephens(Senior College- Individual Women’s Championship), Greeshma Hegde(Senior College Inter-Faculty Trophy- B.Sc), Aldon Albuquerque(Junior College- Individual Boys’ Championship), Darius Adrianwala(Junior College Inter-Faculty Trophy- Science)

132

2011-2012 ANNUAL SPORTS DAY RESULTS

Events/Rank Junior Girls Junior Boys Senior Girls Senior Boys

100 Mts.I Berezida Gandhi Aldon Alberqueque Gail Stephens Lloyd VazII Vinaya Tawde Aldon Kodiya Radhika Nair Yohan ShahIII Aashumi Mehta Roshan Noronha Maurelle D’sa Prasad Naik

200 Mts.I Vinaya Tawde Keaton Talker Gayle Stephens Lloyd VazII Berezida Gandhi Alden Kodiyan Radhika Nair Leon CornelioIII Aashuni Mehta Domnic Agnel Anjali Rana Uday Poojary

400 Mts.I Aashumi Mehta Keaton Talker Anjali Rana Lloyd VazII Larissa Fernandes Melwyn Fernandes Maurelle D’sa Prasad NaikIII Vipasha Laijawala Aldon Alberqueque Neeha Ghogare David Vaz

800 Mts.I Melwyn Fernandes Radhika Nair Sameer XaxaII Albin Varghese Anjali Rana Prasad NayakIII Ganesh Kolekar Nehal Johri Dwayne Rodrigues

1500 Mts.I - Melwyn Fernandes - Prasad NayakII - Albin Varghese - Sachin RamnathIII - Aldon Alberqueque - Uday Poojari

Shot PutI Vinaya Tawde Ganesh Kolekar Greeshma Hegde Tejas DongreII Silna Nair Darius Adrianwala Harol Lobo Clince VargheseIII Disha Jedhiya Zulqif Kazi Fedora Fernandes Praveen Kumar

Discus ThrowI Berezida Gandhi Darius Adrianwala Greeshma Hegde Tejas DongreII Disha Jedhiya Ganesh Kolekar Fedora Fernandes Sunil BhaidasnaIII T. Lalita Anurag Choudhary Reema D’mello Praveen Kumar

Javelin ThrowI Sonia P. Darius Adrianwala Asma Shaik Uday PoojaryII Vinaya Tawde Sancho Felix Kavita Singh -III Silna Nair Dwayne Lobo Heena Ghogare -

Long JumpI Vinaya Tawde Aldon Alberqueque Gayle Shephens Yohan ShahII Berezida Gandhi Domnic Agnel Tanyathomas Uday PoojariIII Silna Nair Dean D’souza Maurelle D’sa Subrahmanyam

High JumpI - Aldon Alberqueque - Sherwin PaisII - Dwayne Creado - Lloyd VazIII - Albin Varghese - Umesh Poojary

INTERCLASS TOURNAMENT WINNERS

SPORT Junior Girls Senior Girls Senior Boys Junior Boys

BADMINTON Amruta Dhume (XI)

Rakhee Rajasimha (TYBA)

Sachin Ramnath (SYBSc)

Mark Suarez (XII Arts)

CARROM Pearl D’souza (XII Arts)

Chanda Khandelwal (TYBScIT) Baria Rakesh (FYBCom) Ajay Rawat

(XI)

CHESS Cresenta Colaso (XI) Natasha Rupani (TYBSc IT)

Sidhaarth Venkatesh (SYBSc) -

TABLE TENNIS Aruniti Sarkar (XI)

Gauri Joshi (TYBA)

Kartik Verma (SYBSc)

Kartikeya Tutwala (XII Sci)

BASKETBALL TYBA FYBSc

RINK FOOTBALL TYBA TYBSc SYJC Science

RINK HOCKEY TYBA TYBA

VOLLEYBALL TYBSc

THROWBALL TYBA

Thomas Pires Sports Director

133

The Social Involvement Programme started in July 1996, with the aim of sensitizing students to social reality. The core concept of the programme is to help the students to be socially conscious and responsible. Indian society today is being ravaged by inequality, poverty, unemployment etc. The youth today have the ability to examine and analyze these ills and to realize their roles in shaping a new society. Through this programme our students are given the opportunity to harness their latent abilities and knowledge for constructive purposes.

As part of the Social Involvement Programme students of the college are placed with different community welfare and social organizations. The students volunteer at these organizations and perform various tasks assigned to them such as, assisting in teaching, reading to the visually challenged, imparting non-formal education, helping senior citizens and so on. Where the heart is

touched by direct experience, the mind is challenged to change: this is the philosophy of the Social Involvement Programme.

With Autonomy coming into effect from the year 2010, the SIP programme has become a mandatory part of the curriculum for all first year degree students comprising B.A, BSc, B.Sc.IT, BMM, and BMS. The total number of students covered under the Social Involvement Programme for the year 2011-2012 was as follows:

Arts Sci-ence BMS BMM BSc.

ITHon-ours Total

384 258 59 61 57 265 1084

We collaborated with around 125 organizations to give our students an opportunity to interact with people and situations that demand our concern, compassion and whole-hearted involvement. We must acknowledge that not all our students respond well to such a commitment and a few organizations have expressed

dissatisfaction with the quality of the students’ work. However most of the organisations have given a positive feedback and are grateful for the students’ contribution.

The S.I.P. Journal cover page has all the guidelines for the Programme. At the beginning of the year, sessions on Social Analysis were conducted where students were given an insight into various social issues. At the end of the year, we also conducted an Evaluative session with the students who completed their SIP commitment, in order to obtain a feedback on their experiences.

Through the Social Involvement Programme, we hope to train young minds to become conscious of the fact that we are all an integral part of our society and hence are responsible for its health.

Ms. Nadine Dias SIP Coordinator

Social Involvement Programme

This report reviews the year gone by, highlighting our work in the areas of accessibility and inclusion for the visually challenged. The multimodal nature of our work, the diverse areas in which we operate, and the various dimensions to our resources and services are presented here. The report also pinpoints areas for further development.

Advocacy – voicing concerns, overcoming roadblocks

The XRCVC has for long played a leading role in championing the issues that concern the visually challenged community. Some of these key concerns are highlighted in the realms of academia, finance, travel and daily life as part of “Project Access: An XRCVC – Sightsavers Initiative”. Through our advocacy efforts we have tried to draw attention to the lack of inclusion in the policies and practices

of different institutions. While doing so, we have shared our insights in these areas and have spelt out the ways to surmount the roadblocks the visually challenged regularly encounter.

Print access

The two major fronts of the Print Access project were the proposed amendments to the Copyright Act of India to enable special concessions to the print disabled, and the production of books in the DAISY format.

At the national level, as a result of the concerted efforts of various groups, just as we compile this report, a huge breakthrough has been made! The Copyright Amendment Bill has been successfully passed both by the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha now only awaiting the signature by the President. This historic legislation has realised the right of the print disabled to access of printed works. This has

been a huge achievement and a result of 6 years of persistent, joint efforts at the national level amongst various organisations of which the XRCVC has played a critical part in initiating and sustaining.

The XRCVC has also submitted a representation to the Ministry of Human Resource Development on behalf of the National Access Alliance to put forward our stand at the Geneva discussions of the World Blind Union (WBU) Treaty. Our position is that India should support a global treaty allowing for the sharing of accessible printed material for the blind across countries.

The DAISY production unit laboured consistently to bring the printed word within the reach of the visually challenged community. The number of books produced was 58, and the types of books varied in subjects

XRCVC

134

from medicine, law and banking to a computer manual in Hindi. The list of DAISY books was then emailed to the members. Furthermore, we uploaded all the DAISY produced books on the DFI Combined Catalogue on the website www.oblindia.org. In addition, DAISY training services were also offered to organisations so that the production of books could be diversified to other units.

Our publisher contact programme has succeeded in convincing a few more publishers to give us a soft copy of the titles published by them to be converted into DAISY format.

Financial access

Making banking and other financial operations more accessible for the visually challenged remains a key focus. With this objective in mind we tested the accessibility features of ATMs of banks such as ICICI, Standard Chartered at different locations in Mumbai and Delhi, and conveyed our recommendations to the banks and the ATM manufacturers. We also discussed with the CII the drafting of a circular to be given to the RBI regarding accessible ATMs for banks in India. Further parleys continued with senior members in the Indian Banks Association so as to sustain the lobbying and pressure to introduce accessible ATMs.

Our discussions with the Reserve Bank of India centred on accessible currency notes and our meetings with the Union Bank of India, State Bank of India, Axis Bank and the ICICI Bank drew their attention to the steps needed to make banking systems and facilities easy to operate for people with visual impairment.

In addition the XRCVC initiated a fresh partnership with Indian Banks Association (IBA) and was made part of its special task force looking at deployment of accessible ATMs across India. As part of the same the XRCVC will be actively involved in providing inputs, accessibility testing as also providing deployment location to the banking industry to help achieve the goal of accessible ATMs on the ground across India.

Inclusive Education

Overcoming the hurdles on the path to education is crucial to creating accessible pathways in other domains. Our work in this area was geared to bringing about legal, institutional, societal and individual level changes to make inclusion the operating principle in the field of education.

Our interactions with members of the Azim Premji University, to make the University a truly inclusive one, and with the principal and teachers of two schools in Mumbai - St. Thomas and Gopal Garden - which are keen to retain their visually challenged students and to provide appropriate support, demonstrate that some institutions have imbibed an inclusive ethos. XRCVC also partnered with Arya Vidya Mandir School across its four branches in Mumbai to sensitize their teachers in being able to teach students with vision impairment.

However, in some situations we have encountered resistance, and we have had to seek legal redress. Our legal battles with academic councils and examining bodies have resulted in some victories. In the case regarding the scribe eligibility for the MBA-CET exam, the Court directed the Directorate of Technical Education to issue a student his results which were being withheld and has ordered that he should be allowed to pursue admission for an MBA course.

When we sought the Bombay High court’s intervention to allow a visually challenged student to pursue Physiotherapy, the Physiotherapy Council submitted a report in court stating that as the practice of physiotherapy involves the practitioner seeing the patient to glean information from their gait, appearance, etc, a person with visual impairment will lose out on much information, and hence cannot practise as a physiotherapist but as an assistant. Although the State government has accepted the Council’s contention, the Bombay High Court has stayed the OT/PT council's decision to bar students with visual impairment from studying mainstream courses in Physiotherapy

and then to practise on par with sighted physiotherapists.

Our multi-pronged approach to this battle has led us to team up with a practising physiotherapist to discuss modifications on the visual content of the Physiotherapy course. We also contacted Physiotherapy councils around the world to understand how students with visual impairment could learn the course in a mainstream set-up and practise in the same way as a sighted physiotherapist. This information was presented in the court hearing.

On another front, meetings with the members of the Physiotherapy Academic Council and the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) bore fruit when the latter issued a circular stating the rules to conduct university examinations for the first year Physiotherapy course. A related outcome is that the MUHS has notified the XRCVC as the centre to be contacted in case any clarifications are needed during the theory examinations. Further in this academic year with the revised rules two new low vision students took admission to physiotherapy courses and the XRCVC worked with MUHS to issue appropriate new circulars for them as well.

Our concern with realising educational inclusion causes us to be always vigilant. When we noticed that the MH-CET circular 2012 by the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) allowing students with visual impairment to appear for the medical entrance tests was not posted on the DMER website, we worked with members of the DMER to get this rectified.

Another achievement of note is that subsequent to our discussions guiding the principal and teachers of Delhi Public School to work out a system with the CBSE for the practical examinations for a student studying in 11th standard science in their school, the CBSE board has passed a circular stating the guidelines to be followed when evaluating the 11th and 12th class Science practical exams.

135

Apart from addressing on-the-spot issues that the visually challenged frequently encounter, we also have a long range focus. In order to give the visually challenged community and its well-wishers a platform to air the difficulties they encounter while appearing for different exams, we organised a national process of consultation including a Round Table with Score Foundation, at the YMCA Delhi. The agenda was to frame standardized rules for theory and practical examinations, which could be followed across the length and breadth of the country to facilitate the effective participation of blind and low vision persons. We have submitted a representation on inclusive writer guidelines to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India.

We believe it is our responsibility not only to overcome the hurdles in accessing education, but also to support the visually challenged once they have gained access to a course of study. With this focus in view, we worked on making accessible educational materials such as biological diagrams and more than 30 tactile physiotherapy diagrams for students. Our latest venture is to work towards an inclusive Mathematics and Science teaching and learning experience for the visually impaired. Furthermore, in an effort to make accessibility an important feature in the curriculum for architecture students, we have been working with the concerned authorities to prepare a module which will help the new batches of architecture students to build universal and accessible infrastructure and facilities.

Thus our work in the area of education transcends academic disciplines, institutions and fields of practice to open the doors of knowledge to the visually challenged community.

Consumer, transport and legal access and independent living

Following the work started last year on making travelling by public transport in Mumbai accessible, the

XRCVC team has begun work on the Bus Identification and Navigation system developed by the IIT, Delhi, in collaboration with Saksham Trust and NAB, Delhi. A proposal for a pilot trial of this system on selected buses has been handed over to the BEST Corporation. We have also signed an MOU with IIT, Delhi, so that work towards producing the system and addressing other technical and maintenance issues of the system could be worked on before it can be installed on the BEST buses.

We submitted a representation to the Railway Ministry to include the visually challenged within the ambit of concessions that are allotted for Shatabdi and Rajdhani trains for people with disabilities. We are pleased to note that the railways have responded positively.

Following a survey by the XRCVC members on the consumer goods that need to be made accessible, we contacted the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), UK, to know more about how accessible TVs work. We also established contact with the ex and the current CEO / MD of Tata Sky, a digital TV product that is available in India to explore how this accessible system could be implemented in India. We also met with officials from Lumium and Onio to strategize on how design companies can help build in accessible universal design principles at the time of product conceptualization.

XRCVC also began dialogue with Viva City Mall for the various steps that can be taken to make the facility more accessible. In addition the XRCVC also began the process of Brainstorming with Samarthyam – the National Centre for Accessible Environments - to put together a curriculum for the development of a Universal Design course.

We realise that for the visually challenged to lead healthy lives, leisure and play are as important as education and work. We have expanded the range of services we offer by starting fitness sessions for students of the XRCVC to develop their stamina,

strength and forte in sports and hence be eligible for competing in various events like cricket, football (futsal) among the other outdoor sports. The XRCVC worked with the Blind Relief Association, New Delhi and resource centre members from Ruia, SIES and Wilson’s College along with St. Xavier’s College students to conduct a training program in Blind Football for the students of these colleges so that it could become a well played sport in Mumbai too. This has been one of the outcomes of Antarchakshu 2011. Seven students represented the XRCVC at the 7th IBSA National Football Tournament for the Blind 2012, Delhi.

Thus our advocacy work has entered new terrains with initial explorations in some areas and the intensification of efforts in existing areas.

Technology – exploring, innovating and training

As a nodal access technology centre, the XRCVC has kept abreast with the latest in access technologies through a systematic program of software and hardware up gradation.

Access tech R & D

The XRCVC has become a nodal centre for testing various software applications and hardware devices to check for their suitability and further use in assistive systems. Through our R & D collaborations across the country the XRCVC has been involved in a range of initiatives through the year.

Some of the key initiatives the XRCVC has been involved in include:

• Work on Dolphin Publisher andPlextalk DAISY recorder

• TestingofI-BallClickScancamerascanner for its OCR functionality and accessibility for blind

• Testing of Enable India’s spellingtool, Testing of C-DAC’s Marathi TTS.

• Analysis of new Text to Speechsoftware - aSpeach -from Akshara Speech Technologies, Chennai.

• ConductedtestsontheBalabolka

136

– a Text to Speech program and on the OBL 2.0 version.

• WorkwithSAPlabsonaccessibilityof varied SAP products

• TestingofaccessibilityofInclusivePlanet, IPA solution for www.monster.com for

• Tested the software Tally for itscompatibility with JAWS.

• Accessibility testing of the softphone program at the IBM-IIFL thane call centre as requested by Enable India, Bangalore. This will benefit employees with visual impairment to be employed at this organization.

• Tested the accessibility of CRMpackage with jaws at Childline, Vikhroli, also on behalf of Enable India.

• Checked the accessibility of theE-book reader program QReader.

• MeetingwithAbacusIndiatoknowmore about the various systems that this organization works with to create accessible systems in mobile phone technology, talking pens, other security measures, etc.

• The XRCVC also scanned SBIpassbooks with Zoomex scanner for Enable India’s SBI project. This report was then forwarded to the team at Enable India in Bangalore.

Support and training

The XRCVC extended support and training to various stakeholders such as government departments and educational institutions. At the behest of the Mantralaya we compiled a list of assistive devices along with a list of vendors so that the government could learn more about the products. A member of the XRCVC team was made part of the expert committee of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan to provide inputs on selection of devices, computer and software equipment, various audio visual equipment and teaching learning material for low vision and blind students in order to help set up a Multi-purpose Resource Training Centre. The Ministry of

Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of Maharashtra also sought the help of the XRCVC to prepare a final list of assistive technology products with proprietary items and their pricing.

Our training programmes to inform and instruct the visually challenged and other interested persons cover Assistive technology workshops as also computer and assistive technology training to visually impaired persons as also special educators. Through this year the XRCVC trained 51 persons through its various training programmes and in addition reached out to 579 participants through its Assistive Technology training workshops conducted through the year.

Awareness – enlightening minds

The XRCVC has always stressed the need to raise awareness on issues of inclusion and accessibility. Various meetings, collaborations and workshops were held to expand the reach and relevance of our work on these issues. Discussions were held with the corporate world and awareness and sensitization workshops were conducted for students and teachers of various schools and colleges as part of the Mumbai Eye Care Campaign of Sightsavers so that the participants of these workshops could learn more about the lives of people with disabilities and see for themselves that people with visual impairment could also be a part of the mainstream education system. The Annual Awareness event of the XRCVC, Antarchakshu once again received a huge favourable response. Through this year the XRCVC reached out to 2264 participants.

Service – identifying needs and assisting

Since many of the members of the XRCVC have studied in schools for the blind, where the medium of instruction is Marathi, English language teaching is thus an important aspect of the direct services provided by the XRCVC to its members. During the year 2011-12, twelve students of the College

underwent this programme. Other plus-curricular skills were offered on a need-basis: Braille training was provided to one person who had only been using a sighted guide or audio books for all study and work purposes; in order to help with independence, Orientation & Mobility training was made available to two individuals; and a student of the 6th standard was helped with subjects like Mathematics, Geography and Science.

Since our service orientation also includes ensuring our members have the required assistive technology, candidates who applied for the Netbook scheme were informed about their selection. In addition to this, cell phones from Saksham Trust were continued to be distributed to the members.

The XRCVC also provided workplace solutions to a member who is an employee at the SBI CAG, Ballard Pier branch where he was taught the various techniques that would help him do his job more effectively.

With regards the Institution of Banking Personnel Selection – Common Written Examination (IBPS CWE) examination, the XRCVC spread information through various media about the letter from the Commissioner of Persons with Disabilities on the much-needed relaxation of the rule that a scribe for a candidate should have a percentage score of less than 60. Helpline numbers were also provided in case students faced any problems at the last minute. This was done along with help from Eyeway Foundation and NAB India.

XRCVC this year also arranged for talks with professionals from the corporate world to help our students strengthen their concepts in economics and to understand financial markets.

In addition the XRCVC continued with providing financial support to deserving students through its two scholarships programme. The XRCVC- Tech Mahindra Scholarships for the year awarded 8 students pursuing a range of higher education programmes.

137

The Lions Club of East Bombay scholarship was awarded to Ms Natasha Shah for her overall achievement and performance as she graduated from the college.

The XRCVC Membership for the current academic year closed to a total of 200.

Network & presentations – expanding our reach

Establishing links with individuals and organisations which share our concerns is one way to further our common interests. We have shared our experience and expertise with the government and the corporate sectors. Our network includes:

Work with various Governments and Government Bodies:

• Ministry of Social Justice andEmpowerment, Government of Maharashtra and the Bombay High Court to make government jobs more accessible and up-to-date with technology for people with visual impairment.

• Bringing about a change in thewording of a post for professors at University of Mumbai, which did not allow people with vision impairment to apply for the said post.

• Being recognised by the BombayHigh Court, which has directed the Government of Maharashtra to update their GRs regularly and to work along with organizations like the XRCVC to widen the spread of their information.

• Joining the task force set up bythe Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment to work out the details of the proposed National Centre for Universal Design and Barrier-free Environment (NCUDBE) in Delhi. Dr. Sam Taraporevala was made a member of the core team set up by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment to plan and organize a major disability awareness program at New Delhi. Dr. Sam Taraporevala was also

part of the core team set up by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment for selecting the awardees for the National awards for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities.

• Dr. Sam Taraporevala was alsoinvited for discussions for the 12th five year plan so that necessary steps towards creating accessible infrastructure could be carried out in the next few years by the Government of India.

• Dr.SamTaraporevalacontinuestobe part of the Braille Council of India and the General Council of the National Institute of Visually Handicapped, Dehradun.

• Dr. Sam Taraporevala wasappointed as a member of the Expert Committee for the Resource Centre for Persons with Different Disabilities at the National Library, Kolkata.

Presentations and workshops attended for the year:

• Attending a workshop by C-DACFOSS (Free Open source Softwares) to know more about accessible systems and aids that are available for people with print impairment.

• Presenting a report of theDAISYbooks produced by the XRCVC and a report of the Copyright issue in the Parliament at the DFI General Body Meeting at Trivandrum, Kerala.

• Attending the Access India (AI)convention at Kerala where Dr. Sam Taraporevala presented on the topic of “Accessible ATM the Social Need, Prerequisites and the Current Reality.” Dr. Sam Taraporevala and Mr. Prashant Naik jointly presented on “Building Accessibility into Existing Electronic Devices - A Case Study of the IFT Electronic Physiotherapy Machine”.

• Attending the Techshare 2012conducted at India Habitat Center. Dr. Sam Taraporevala presented a session on "Technology - Showing

the way for inclusive education of the disabled" The XRCVC team also met with Dr. Viney Gupta, Associate Professor of Opthalmology from AIIMS and discussed the setting up a vision resource facility for practitioners and patients in the field of visual impairment.

• Attending a seminar onEmployability and Dignified Livelihood at Bengaluru organized by the Sightsavers South India Meet 2011, where Dr. Sam Taraporevala co-chaired the session on New Avenues – Opportunities and Challenges.

• Participating in a seminar “Accessfor Persons with Disabilities to Higher Education and workplaces” at IIM, Bangalore, jointly hosted by IIMB and Fourth Wave Foundation as a part of “never-the-less” together it gets better! At this seminar, Dr. Sam Taraporevla presented a case study of the XRCVC as a resource unit working for people with visual impairment.

• Attendingthe19thSeniorScholars’Seminar Series on the theme: Building Asynchronous Learning Environments: Opportunities and Challenges. Dr. Sam Taraporevala was the Chairperson for the session on: ‘Catering to Diverse Needs through Asynchronous Learning Strategies.

• PresentingtheworkoftheXRCVC& Inclusion in Education at a two-day National Conference on Inclusion: A Step Away, conducted by the Centre of Special Education, SNDT Women's University.

• Presentation at the annualworkshop on Corporate Social Initiatives (CSI) for the CSI practitioners of Larsen and Toubro.

• Conducting a sensitization andawareness session with stress on how to be courageous and cautious for 15 leaders from diverse sectors ranging from private, government, and non-profit as part of the 2011-2012 MERIDIAN senior leaders development course.

138

Other Collaborations:

• Worked with Mahaonline –a joint venture between the Maharashtra government and the Tata Consultancy Services to set up a camp to register people with visual impairment for the Unique Identification number and card that will help the government in providing services to people.

• Providinginputsforanewspaper/magazine in Braille for people with visual impairment with Reliance Industries.

• Discussing with the Centre forPersons with Disability Livelihoods (CPDL), Hyderabad; Patkar College, and the Rotary Club of Borivili the possibility of opening similar resource centres.

• Providingourfacilityforonebatchof Marathi typing classes to be conducted by National Federation for the Blind, Maharashtra (NFBM).

A final word

Mr. Prashant Naik, our Project Manager who has steered our technology R & D and training programmes and was part of the XRCVC for the past 5 years, has left our organisation. Although we are sorry to lose his expertise, we wish him well in his new job.

As another year draws to a close and we take stock of what we have achieved. We acknowledge the consistent support of our sponsors and well-wishers. Among the many individuals and organisations that have

contributed in various ways we would like to thank in particular Sightsavers International,

Tech Mahindra Foundation, Dhun Pestonji Parakh Trust, Sir Ratan Tata Trust, Johnson and Johnson Ltd, Lions Club of East Bombay, Godrej Industries Ltd, Sunshine Builders and Developers, Pooja Kapur, Cleartrip, Tata Sons Ltd, Keyurbhai Patel, Diptiben Keyurbhai Patel, Hansaben Patel, Krinashraya Automobiles, Dipak Madhubhai Patel, Suryavanshi Ads and Promotion Pvt Ltd (Rashna Doongaji), and the Principal, staff and student volunteers of St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai.

Dr. Sam Taraporevala Director, XRCVC

The Xavier's Photography Club Council had two very ambitious goals for the year. One, that it should be open to all, and the second, that the club itself should become more 'cultural'. We wanted this like-minded group of photo-enthusiasts to make more visits to art-galleries, museums, photography-exhibitions in and around Mumbai, simply because the Council believed that there was so much to experience 'culturally' around this city. Thus the goal in essence was to create a space for exposure, discussion and revelation. Co-ordination between our 60-odd members meant using Facebook more - a great tool for active online participation, where people shared personal photoblogs, relevant

events, links to others' works etc. This academic year we visited - Chor Bazaar, Mohammed Ali Road during the Ramzan festival, the Dharavi slums for The Wall Project conducted by the Social Service League, art galleries in South Bombay on several occasions, plays around the city and various inconspicuous meetings in LR 42 together.

Prof. J. Mistry, delivered a lecture on the physics of photography.

Our annual exhibition was held on: 10th and 11th January 2012. Contributors included Dr. Hrishikesh Samant , Mr. Khaliq Parkar , Dr. Rajendra Shinde and Mr.Rajesh Singh.

There were many contributions from the students too.

Remember, the XPC are photographers who are ready (we're the ones with badges on our ID cards that say 'XPC' in bold): to click events for college, places for competitions, people for personal profiles. So please contact thexpc@gmail.com if you have a cultural festival in college that needs amateur to semi-professional photographers to participate or document. Find us on Facebook under the incognito name of 'Xavier Fotugraffy' - we're pretty active there.

Mr. Rajesh Singh Faculty-in-Charge

The Xavier's Photography Club

Conservation means development as much as it does protection. I recognize

the right and duty of this generation to develop and use the natural resources

of our land; but I do not recognize the right to waste them, or to rob, by

wasteful use, the generations that come after us.

- Theodore Roosevelt