IITians For Youth
So you’ve given a slew of examinations post 12^th standard, and the results are out to confuse you. It’s that time of the year when you could do with some good advice – but where do you find a trustworthy greybeard? In the teapot, or at Truthful Baba’s Palm Reading Center? Before a nervous breakdown leaves you scarred for life, turn to IFY to help you out.

IFY is a start-up that focuses on providing mentorship and directional assistance to pre-college students, to help them form more informed opinions and make better decisions about their choice of branch and institute for their undergraduate degree. Founded in 2010 by a group of students from IIT Kharagpur, the organization hopes to eradicate the rampant problem of misguided career decisions, which can cause a whiz at potato chips to end up studying their silicon cousins.

Current activities include a recently conducted workshop ‘Endeavour’ at Patna, which was attended by over three thousand students between classes 9 and 12, and their parents.

Also, a magazine called ‘Inception’ is expected to be launch shortly. Content-wise, it will have articles with inspirational and/or informational value, written by students.

All in all, after a promising start, IFY looks set to do great things in future.

Farms ‘n Farmers
Let’s face it. The average Indian farmer is not a happy man. Or woman, as the case may be. At a time when the government doesn’t seem to be doing enough to alleviate the community’s miseries, two IITians have taken it up as their duty to help our rustic brothers.

FnF was founded in 2010 by two IIT alumni – one from Kgp, and one from Delhi. Its projects so far have included providing technical assistance to farmers in Rampur, Kurlahiya, Hemnagar, Nabigarha, and Vaishali. FnF is also working on improving the efficiency of the banana fibre extraction process in the Vaishali district of Bihar.

With a good number of technical professionals in such diverse fields as horticulture, soil testing, and organic farming, to name a few, it is hoped that FnF will help the average farmer smile again.

CompTalks
A team expansion. An offline magazine. A takeover attempt. A rejected takeover attempt. A partnership with a leading news channel. It’s been a tumultuous yet exciting year for Bishwajeet Mahato of CompTalks. And for CompTalks.

What started off as a blog post to help his friends get rid of a common computer virus has blossomed into an immensely popular technology blog, with over 13,000 users and 700,000 monthly page views. CompTalks covers the happenings of the tech world, and offers computer solutions and tips to its followers. After an initial period of stagnation, Bishwajeet recruited members on the back of his expansion plans, and a few months later, they came out with an offline magazine targeted at engineering colleges, which was met with considerable enthusiasm. CompTalks were the subject of an acquisition offer during the summer, but they resisted the temptation of big bucks as Bishwajeet felt Comp Talks could grow to another level during his last year in KGP. They also struck a partnership with the TV channel ‘ET Now’, wherein CompTalks would be the online partner of the show ‘Starting Up’, which covers fledgling start-ups.

When asked where he sees CompTalks in five years’ time, Bishwajeet replies instantly, ‘I’d like it to become the TechCrunch of India.’ Pretty ambitious, eh? Understandable in a guy whose name literally means Conqueror of the World.

Conceptualized in early 2011 by Anubhav Pratap Singh, EstuMart began its operations during mid-March in Kharagpur. It aims at reducing the price of products and offering substantial discounts by efficiently cutting down on the supply chain and acting as a direct link between companies and students.

Its operations have been shut as of 27^th April – the end of the previous semester, and there has been no activity ever since. But with such a promising outing the last time, it doesn’t seem unwise to bet on the event that they’ll be back – bigger this time.

Anish Sarkar (Mechanical Engineering, 1995) :

Appointed as the Head of Consulting, Capgemini India earlier this month, this IIT-IIM graduate has managed to sway critics with his debut novel Benaami. Driven by corporate ennui and the desire for distinction, Sarkar spent five years researching themes like reincarnation and the Sepoy Mutiny, and creating his own fantastical tale of rebirth juxtaposed with India’s struggle for freedom.

Benaami is the story of a software developer who has recurring dreams of his past incarnation as the initiator of a secret society called Benaami in the mid-nineteenth century, devoted to the cause of extirpating British Imperialism in India. Aided by a charming history professor, he sets out on a quest to solve the mystery of his past and then follows the battle between time and destiny. Two tangled plots, presented with spectacular transitions between the past and present, complete with a romantic angle and a villain, this novel has the perfect cognitive content for a superhit movie. All in all, Benaami is a page-turner and keeps the reader thrilled with suspense till the end.

Benaami [flipkart]

Arjun Sen (Aerospace Engineering, 1986) :

Founder of the management consultancy firm ZenMango, Arjun Sen used to believe in an adage that his corporate stair-climbing friend once revealed to him- “To achieve larger glories in life you have to sacrifice smaller things”. That was until he had an epiphany and realized that he had gotten his priorities wrong. Nudged by his daughter, he promptly gave up his successful career and started his home based marketing consultancy business so that he could be with his daughter.  He recounts the innumerable ways and gestures in which his daughter turned him into a better father through her charm, love and care in Raising a Father. Above all, he chanced upon a new way of measuring success.  A delightful read, it will send that warm fuzzy feeling down your spine, when you turn over the last page.

Raising a Father [amazon]

Paul Kalra (Electrical Engineering) :

Hailing from a country where the caste system once prevailed, Paul Kalra scrutinizes the American social structure and offers an unbiased outlook. A venerated Electrical engineer from IIT Kharagpur, with an M.S.E.E. from Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago and a MBA from the University of Pittsburg as accompaniments, Kalra felt obliged to America for rewarding his talents, but at the same time perturbed by the glaring class distinction predominant there.

His first book, The American Class System: Divide and Rule, published in 1995, brings forth the existence of disparities in terms of wealth in the American social strata. His twenty-year long quest for finding answers to his skepticism about the Civil War, which involved five wholly dedicated years, came to an end only with the release of his 300-page narrative, From Slave to Untouchable: Lincoln’s Solution, which reveals that the most ruthless war fought in America was a class war and not an attempt to abolish slavery. It is laudable as to how an Electrical engineer, neither Black nor White, delved deep into the factual details of this aspect of American history, read over a hundred works on slavery and sure-footedly condemned the American class system.

From Slave to Untouchable: Lincoln’s Solution [amazon]

Raj Kamal Jha (Mechanical Engineering, 1987) :

After his first encounter with journalism as the editor of the campus magazine, Alankar, Raj Kamal Jha took a leap of faith and enrolled himself in a journalism course in The University of Southern California.  He emerged out of the shadows in 2000, with his first novel, The Blue Bedspread which garnered rave reviews from the literati. A series of vignettes strung together around a newborn child, it is a sordid saga of violence, abuse and incest in a dysfunctional Indian family.  His concise prose brings to life the sights and sounds of Calcutta in a convincing manner and you find yourself teleported in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the city. Using evocative imagery bereft of dialogue and a narrative that shifts back and forth across time, Jha manages to strike a chord with the reader and keep him hooked.

After The Blue Bedspread,  Jha went on to write If You Are Afraid of Heights , in which the lines between reality and fantasy blur as daily realities of contemporary Urban India are mirrored by the hallucinations of its denizens. He makes use of his experience as a journalist covering the Gujarat riots for The Indian Express in his most recent novel, Fireproof.  A chilling tale in which the murdered whisper from beyond the grave, Fireproof examines the collective evil ordinary humans are capable of perpetrating when their identity is threatened.  With his three novels, Jha has established a reputation of not shying away from exploring the remote recesses of human souls, places where other authors fear to tread.

Fireproof [amazon]

Sandipan Deb (ECE, 1985):

An engineer turned journalist, Sandipan Deb is famous for penning down The IITians, a book revolving around the IITs. He examines the history of the IITs since inception, the lives of its star alumni and the challenges before the institution, most notably the curbs on freedom of expression. Delving into these aspects, he tries to identify factors that make the archetypal  IITian tick. It’s not the classroom learning that ultimately matters, he reckons. A recurring theme in his book is that the successful IITian is defined more by the education he received outside his classroom.

This book will resonate particularly well with KGPians, because the author recounts several interesting anecdotes and incidents from his student life in Kharagpur like the famed RK-Nehru rivalry and the ‘weirdoes and wastrels’ from his batch. Although it cannot be tagged as the definitive bible on IITs, it nevertheless is a must-read for everyone associated with this remarkable institution.

The IITians [flipkart]

I’ll look to increase the involvement of Department representatives in the TnP granting formal membership of the T&P Cell, without calling privileges.

These are only suggestions at present, however, and nothing has been finalized.

TSA: That brings to mind Celestine’s Internship Committee Proposal. What are your thoughts on that?
PA: The burden of providing internships to students rests with the Departments as well. Moreover, this is not a feasible option, because there would be an inevitable communication gap, a majority of companies being common to both. A possible solution could be sending internship application forms to the companies, along with the job forms currently sent. In addition, the Alumni Cell has come up with the Institute Development Fund, a goal of which is increased interaction between alumni and students, so that a greater number of students may receive suitable internship offers.

TSA: Let’s discuss your proposals. On sending regular gymkhana updates to students via email.
PA: We had to formulate a plan wherein the frequency of emails remained suitably low but provided a comprehensive update. I plan to send a weekly email, on Fridays most probably, which will contain information of events in the forthcoming week as well as results of the previous week. There will be sections relevant to the 3 GCs along with academic updates, if and as requested by the administration or faculty.

The mass mailing has already been tested by sending mails informing students about the Institute email-ids. The weekly newsletter will start from the next semester, whererin we’ll work in tandem with TSA.

TSA: On the implementation of the proposal on No Due certificates.
PA: I have already spoken to two companies regarding this, and they have confirmed that the system can be implemented within a month. I am confident that we will be able to have the online payment gateway integrated into the system by the end of the semester.

TSA: On the nature of grievances to be addressed by the Grievance Cell.
PA: A student can post any grievance he/she seeks to be addressed on the forum. The issues shall be made public on the forum subject to the Grievance Cell’s discretion. It is better if a matter is routed through us rather than approaching the administration directly. It will act as a medium between students and the administration.

TSA: About the Research Program Proposal.
PA: The idea is to have a system similar to foreign universities where summer programs are held with the participants receiving a stipend. Such a program is also already present in IITK and IITD.
The source of the fund will be the caution deposit of final years who will have the option of contributing.
HODs of departments will be asked to give a list of projects which they would like students to apply to. Projects may be accepted from the various Centres and Schools as well. This program, which will first be implemented next year, will act as an incentive for students to stay in Kgp in the summer.

TSA: Could you tell us more about the funding? Where does the unreclaimed or donated caution deposit currently go?
PA: Students who joined prior to 2006 paid Rs 4000 as the caution while those who joined in 2007 and later paid Rs 6000. Due to this variation, it isn’t known beforehand how much money will be received. A stipend of Rs 6000 per student over 2 months is an estimate.
Also, the stipend will be drawn from the interest collected on the contributed amount, compunded annually. Also, the sum will act as a buffer if a shortage of funds is faced.

Right now, the caution money goes to the Alumni Cell. Presently, not many students are aware of how to claim the money. Dues are deducted from this caution. Once the research program is in place, the dues will be dealt with separately.

TSA: Tell us about the TnP Site.
PA: A public website exclusively for TnP purposes, incentives to recruit from Kgp, placement statistics, the number and enrolment of courses and the placement brochure will be available on the site for visiting companies. The highlighting feature is a dedicated student login portal and a company login portal.
From the point of view of the students, the process will be easier as they can directly apply to companies and read notices which otherwise are up on the internal notice board.
It will make things easier for companies as well, who can view the profiles of the applying students.
Finally, it will also help smoothen the Placement Committee’s functioning.
I aim to have the databse completed over the summer, and we will be getting to see the site in practice once students return for the next term.

TSA: Any of Akshat Verma’s proposals you plan to work on?
PA: I liked his proposal regarding the provision of bus services between Kgp and Kolkata, as well as the online payment gateway idea. The latter will be integrated in my proposal pertaining to the procurement of No Due certificates. I will take these up only if the idea proves to be a success.

TSA: Aside from the proposals, any other matters you have in mind to work on during your tenure?
PA: Next year will be eventful for IIT Kharagpur with the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations and Inter-IIT. That is something which no earlier VP has been involved in, and will be an additional responsibility for me.
As for other matters, I plan to increase security in the other part of the 2.2 as it is rather deserted. With the addition of the Grievance Cell, new matters that require attention will be brought to notice.

TSA: Could you tell us about the Inter-IIT plans?
PA: Two main goals are to be focussed on. Firstly, providing very good hospitality to all participants and secondly, Kgp’s performance.

TSA: Having been through the process, what do you think of the election scenario and the system followed here?
PA: As a VP I won’t be judgemental of the system. I feel that people who want to contest independently should come forward. Personally, I feel that the pact system should not be present, but at the same time we should not have 10-11 candidates. If somebody can come up with a system that works better, well and good.

Plans for the opening ceremony
While each year certain occasions special to the Institute are conducted on a befitting level, we can expect to see them take place on a different level next time. The Convocation is planned to be held on the Foundation Day, 18th of August, with possibly the PM as the Chief Guest.

The evening of 17th is when it is proposed that former Directors, Deputy Directors and Chairmen of the BOG will be invited and honoured, acknowledging their hard work and vision for the institute. Prof. Mathur also proposes that some ‘tempo building program’ such as a quiz or debate be held to make the guests feel at ease and involved. He is also looking for a script for a 15-20 minute light and sound show with the idea of depicting the history of Kgp via lasers projected on smokescreens.

Some of what else is in store

• Special posts, covers, envelopes and cancellations will be available for a day. One can send posts using this stationery via a special post stand. These will later go into a postal museum.
• An exhibition train will be launched on the 18th which will visit 50 destinations around the country in a span of 3 months. It will showcase the IIT system of education. We’re still in talks with the Ministry of Railways regarding this.
• Special conferences and symposia will be held around the year. Prof. Mathur’s idea is that all of them use similar themed stationary and similar bags. Mementos bearing the 60 years’ celebrations logo will be given to all guests.
• Speakers- including Nobel Laureates- are being invited for talks. This list of speakers will be available before the end of this session.
• Different subcommittees are in charge of overseeing various events. There’s a publication committee, which will be bringing out monthly volumes highlighting aspects of the institute history. Department specific committees will be bringing out monographs highlighting department achievements and 60 years’ worth of research.The Inter-IIT itself is being handled by the Gymkhana.

The Diamond Jubilee calendar is up on the internal notice board is being updated regularly. There’s more yet come. Expect a detailed report from our side next July.

Overall placement statistics:

Course-wise Statistics

A) B.Tech

B) Dual Degree

C) 5 Year M.Sc

D) 2 Year M.Sc

E) M.Tech/LLB

Note : The ‘Placed’ category in the above graphs also include people who have opted for Higher Studies.

His numerous renditions of Voodoo Child have left us craving for more. His brainchild Fort Rock is perhaps KGP’s most awaited in-house gig. Read on as Harish Chandra gets candid about music and his upcoming album.

TSA: How did you get into music? What was your source of inspiration?
HC: I started playing the tabla when I was 5 years old and picked up the synth later on.When I was in the 8th standard, our school had to put up a program. They had a high-end synth, but no players, so I volunteered. I asked my dad whether he could buy me a synth. Unfortunately, the model I wanted was unavailable for at least a week more. So basically, I had to put up a show the next day without any instrument to practice on. Believe it or not, I implemented the Musical Glasses experiment. I took 13 glasses, filled them up to different levels with water, and produced various notes lying within two successive octaves on striking them with a metal spoon. I combined the different notes and found out six chords, three majors and minors. The song that I had to perform was in one scale, so I went ahead and played it using those chords the next day. I was really fascinated by this, and used to come back from school and figure out different chords. My father saw my eagerness to learn and finally ended up buying me the synth I wanted.

TSA: What made you start playing the guitar?
HC: One day, I was playing this Beatles song on my synth(Here comes the Sun), and my father asked me whether I could play it on a guitar. I got my first acoustic guitar the day I wrote JEE and I played that song within two weeks. All I had to figure out was the standard tuning of the guitar, for which I referred to the Internet. That’s the only time I learnt something from the Internet.

TSA: Why did you completely span your attention on the guitar?
HC: I got addicted to it. Things used to happen mentally for me. I knew the note I wanted to play, and closed my eyes and played it. I came here without my guitar but played around a lot with my room-mates guitar, figuring out stuff on my own.

TSA: Do you have any plans on taking up music as a career?
HC: Music is my passion, and I need a job to fund my passion. I don’t want to depend on something that depends on me. It’ll become a feedback loop. If I screw up once, I’ll end up spoiling my own mood, and as a result the output would suffer.

TSA: Can you tell us about your album? What kind of music does it have?
HC: There are some very romantic and slow songs, touching various aspects, except metal. People have this misconception about me not liking metal. It’s not true. I don’t favour metal, but it’s not something I hate. I don’t support it either.

TSA: Is it a solo guitar performance? Are you playing other instruments too?
HC: No. We have a complete band. I’m in most of the tracks but there are songs featuring other musicians as well.

TSA: Tell us more about Fort Rock. Do you plan on expanding it any further?
HC: Fort Rock was started with the intention of giving good music to KGP. The thing is, we have open-IIT vocals, open IIT instrumentals, but not open IIT groups. It’s a platform to showcase bands, without any winners. We wanted everyone to participate, but owing to hall poltu, no one came forward. I tried to publicize it but didn’t get a heartening response. As a last resort I had to personally ask people to play. Since it is an unofficial event, we need public support to continue. This time we’re thinking of including both eastern and western bands and spreading the event over two days. We want all halls to come forward.  Everybody says MS mixes tracks very well, then why not participate along with them and learn the tricks of the trade?

TSA: Universities abroad usually offer courses in music, but our institute has nothing to offer. Can something be done in this regard officially? Any small step?
HC: That would be wonderful. I had offered to teach music last year, and arranged to ask the Gymkhana President regarding the same. But then something really bad happened- I broke my hand, washing out all the plans.

TSA: How do you make guitar playing look so easy? Does it come with practice?
HC: Do I? I hardly practice. Take Voodoo Child for instance. People must be thinking that I’ve played it a hundred times, but honestly I haven’t played it more than six or seven times. There’s hardly any point practicing that song because whatever I play on stage differs from what I play while practicing. I just discuss the basic structure with the band members, and the rest is spontaneous. Coming back to the question, I just close my eyes, think about the song and the idea it wants to communicate, and tell my fingers that my music should complement it.

TSA: What kind of music are you passionate about?
HC: All kinds, really.

TSA: What is music to you?
HC: I’ve discussed this with my friends a lot. We were wondering why we have certain moods associated with certain kinds of music. Try watching a movie without music- you can’t! Initially there was no language, so music was basically a language. If you’ve noticed there is a raga for every mood. Human ears weren’t developed enough to distinguish vowel sounds, making people communicate using bare notes.

TSA: Any advice for budding musicians or people interested in getting into music?
HC: If they’re absolutely sure of themselves and they want music as their primary career, then who’s to stop them? India needs a lot of uplifting, I want to do it but the first reason why I don’t depend on a career in music is because I need a band and other musicians, but not many are ready to commit themselves to a band, especially from IIT where most are interested in academics and getting stereotype jobs. I also believe that if you really want to learn something, you should not follow any rule. Following rules builds walls, and going to the other side of a wall is not an easy task. You will never know what you could have done had you not followed rules. The best thing would be to try and discover yourself.

TSA: There are guitarists who keep trying, fail and give up? Why do you think that happens? What are the mistakes?
HC: I think this might be happening because of the mechanical approach of some guitarists. They play the strings on the correct frets, without really knowing what’s being played. If you know that there’s a sound that comes out you can actually color it with your imagination. All they know is that they are moving their fingers and pulling the strings. This is the wrong approach. People start playing the guitar not to learn music, but to gain popularity. In the end, it’s all about the music.

TSA: You don’t have a teacher or anything? How exactly do you train yourself?
HC: I listen to a song. If I want to play it as it is, I listen and play. That’s it, obviously no tablature or anything. I stand, strap on my guitar and play. You must have noticed that the way I hold my plectrum is different. I don’t use my pinky much. The way I play is a technique in itself, but I don’t follow any orthodox method. If you follow a technique you would definitely face some problems. Even my technique might have certain limitations, but I don’t know them yet. Who’s stopping you from inventing a new technique? On stage nobody cares, as long as you play the right thing.

TSA: Anything you would like to tell the junta?
HC: Politics ruins music. Some person or hall abruptly barges into the auditorium, head-banging to literally nothing that is going on on-stage and leaves. Don’t do this.

TSA: Do you have any plans to teach in the coming year? There will be many who would definitely be willing to learn.
HC: Let’s hope so. If people are interested, then I’d definitely try helping them out, mainly emphasizing on playing by ear. It’s the same with languages. No one comes to you and operates your jaw or anything. You hear it, you tell it back. That’s the way it should be with music.

HC: Let’s Jam?

Yes, Yahoo’s famed university event – HackU was in KGP after a tremendous response at our sister institutes at Madras and Bombay last semester. As with all HackU events around the globe, two nights before the weekend were spent in bringing KGPians up to speed on the latest technology trends. To facilitate this, about 15 Yahoo techies (fondly called Yahoos) had flown down from Bangalore, and were welcomed by an expectant crowd at the opening session in Vikramshila complex. The 300 strong participants were then given an opportunity to individaully interact with the tech crew and finalise what they were going to build in the next 2 days. The 24-hour Hackathon began on Saturday and was very well received by KGPians, who were kept in good stead with some groovy music and timely refreshments. At the end of the hack-off, the organisers were full of praise for KGPians, who showcased 30 creative hacks. Here’s a round up of a few interesting ones.

Rail Mapia: A cool visualisation tool for all your rail journeys, Rail Mapia overlays train routes and timings on a google map. You can search by train number or name and plan your travel intuitively by selecting points on a map. This team, comprising four final year students – Shubham Agrawal, Rishav Agarwal, Ashish Yadav and Naveen Sharma of the CSE department, walked away with the first prize.

Stock Network: While rest of the world is hooked to various social networks, here’s a new one where you can use to actually make money. Here in this secure environment, your followers will be able to see what stocks you trade in and hold discussions regarding the same. An exciting concept and a legitimate reason to squander your time online!

ssh-SMS: This walked away with the third prize thanks to numerous real world use cases. When everyone has a cellphone and when you can interact with a computer through SMS, you open up a lot of possibilities.

Question.me and Question recommendations: While semantic search is yet to take off in a big way, these two simple hacks try to give a taste of what it would be like using our current keyword-based technology. While Question.me gives answerers a reputation rating based on their answers in Quora, Yahoo Answers and the like, the latter brings in ranked similar-query results for the question you want to ask on answer sites.

HackTheTag: This innovative hack uses reverse image search techniques, to tag photos on photo sharing sites. With images being a staple part of our media consumption, HackTheTag would help in better structuring of the web’s pictorial data.

NotifySS: Probably the simplest and the most useful of all the hacks presented at HackU. While notifications form a vital cog of Facebook, its functionality leaves a lot to be desired, especially for administrators of large groups. Notifyss gives you a slideshow of your notifications, all the while letting you take appropriate action on them.

For the complete list of the hacks compiled, click here.

Why are messes being privatized?

Dilip Meena: All expenses borne by the HMC are deducted from the ‘Hostel Overhead’ charges (Rs. 7250/semester) paid by students as part of their fees. The salaries, pensions and endowment funds for all the workers employed currently and in the past by the HMC (including those in the messes run by it) would, it was estimated, take these charges to very high levels. Privatization is a solution that would keep these costs under control. It is a long-term move, and LLR, Gokhale and Lal Bahadur Shastri Hall (which is under construction) will have privately-run messes next semester onward.
Mahesh Kumawat, G.Sec (Mess) of MS Hall of Residence, adds, “It gives students a degree of control over quantity and quality of food in the Mess.”

What are the problems in the current system of Privatized Messes?

DM: The main issues are:
1. Quality: The contractors are forced to compromise the quality of labour owing to political pressures. Staff recruitment and efficient working is impacted due to the strength of unionized labour groups. For example, in Patel Hall of Residence (which has a privately-run mess), workers perform tasks such as cooking, cleaning and serving on a rotational basis, reducing efficacy. In other IITs like Bombay, Kanpur, which are located in urban areas, private messes run smoothly because competition between many players ensures quality.
2. Student Dues: The main difference between costs in the Private messes and the HMC-run messes is the distribution of Mess Charges (Rs. 8,000/student as of last semester). While in HMC-run halls, the money is divided between procuring raw materials and the Hall budget, the same amount has two additional components in case of privately-run messes: salary for the mess workers and a margin of profit for the contractor. This results in students of these halls having to cough up the deficit at the semester’s end.

What are possible solutions that will enforce the benefits of the Private Mess system while eradicating its problems?

DM: A dedicated effort to try and bring in more competent caterers to bid for the Mess contracts could result in healthy competition, improving quality and reducing costs at the same time. If possible, the excess charges levied on the boarders of halls with private messes could be distributed uniformly over all students, hence moderating the problems to some extent.

The HMC makes constant efforts to keep such costs uniform and in check. Better contractual agreements and continuous efforts to keep the basic meal costs at a minimum are aimed at ensuring that students are burdened to the least extent possible. As Dilip says, “A mess is a place where one should be able to have four hearty meals a day without worrying about extra costs.” The Scholars’ Avenue’s best wishes are with the administration as they tackle these problems and create an optimized system that will benefit one and all.

The Food Monitoring Committee (FMC) is a student advisory body created with the objective of providing inputs to ensure improvement in the quality of food on campus. Besides suggesting improvements in the mess setup, the committee also shoulders the responsibility of ensuring proper hygiene conditions in the various eateries in and around the campus. It conducted surprise checks to evaluate conditions in the kitchens of campus eateries, and exposed the minimal attention paid to hygiene.

In the near future, the team proposes to introduce a systematic rating system for all messes, enforce stricter mess duty rules, monitor the consumption of expensive commodities in the messes and analyze the nutritional value in the food served. They interact with other professors to implement rules, a recent example being a rule suggesting Wardens to eat in the Hall mess thrice a week.

Things you can do to reduce the Mess Bill:
1. Give Feedback. If you think you have suggestions, or can spot food or energy being wasted somewhere, talk to your G.Sec.
2. Do your (Mess) Duty. It’s your responsibility to ensure that there is no misappropriation of resources.
3. When in doubt, ask. If you have any query regarding Mess Expenditure or the status of your Personal Ledger File, be sure to ask the appropriate authority.

Student Support:
My Imprint aims to resolve issues related to quality of life- it will encourage improvement of student related campus amenities. Areas to be covered are:

• · Student amenities / infrastructure
• · Student participation in global competitions
• · Financial aid to needy students

Brand Building:
Addressing the critical matter of international branding of the institute, the Institutional Development (ID) Program aims to fill-in gaps in the brand and present a world-class IIT. Taking into account statistics which speak of a correlation between world ranking and endowments, the ID Program aims to build such endowment funds.

Institutional Development:
The ID Program is designing programs in other arenas such as procuring R&D projects. The GoI will run a matching program especially for IIT KGP wherein it will match the funds raised by IIT, hence multiplying the fund generated. The interest from these endowment funds could be utilized for other projects.

How will the Alumni Cell recongize an Imprint?
Public recongition of contribution, a demonstration of gratitude and encouragement to other alumni, will be realized via:

• ·Featuring donors’ profiles on the Alumni Cell web portal.
• · Acknowledging major donors in institute publications.
• ·Keeping the members of the Imprint community connected to the Alumni Cell job portal.
• ·On-campus tour for donors and free hospitality during campus visits.

Accountability:
An Annual Report will be released in the month of August every year which will have details of funds generated, expenditure made, channels of expenditure, progress in work thereof and fund planning and closing balance. The Alumni Annual Report will reflect the difference made by the Imprint.

Shreyoshi Ghosh
(Corporate Communication Executive)
Email: shreyoshi@adm.iitkgp.ernet.in
PH: 03222-282236

Vishnu Rajeev
(General Secretary – Students’ Alumni Cell)
Email: r.rajeevvishnu@gmail.com
GSM: 9775194669

Drishti Guin
(General Secretary – Students’ Alumni Cell)
Email: drishtiguin.corp@gmail.com
GSM: 9775550964