The Fine Print Issue Five, November 2014 | Page 4

problematic models. Free Online Counselling: The plan: The manifesto point promised two things. One: live video counselling for all students and two: confidential and secure counselling. The status: Counsellor Bharti Mohan Bhora has been spoken to and she has agreed to counsel students online when not on campus. Not much else has been done in this regard as a concern that is cited is privacy issues. Our take: For one, if Skype cannot be trusted as a secure transmission mode, then how much security is expected for an online chat? And, what kind of network security breach is in question? Also, was this not seen as an issue before the elections itself with security a matter of concern in counselling at that time too? Says he, "Before elections, the main issue was bandwidth. We have solved this and the issue of security also, but you always tend to think 'thoda aur kar lete' before you implement." Where's the end then, we ask. Internship Cell: What was originally intended to be an independent body providing internship support might not turn out to be so, with the Practice School Division being concerned that it might interfere with their procedures and interests. For instance, companies might de-register from being a PS process and choose to be associated with the Internship Cell as they would then have flexibility of choosing students. With discussions happening between the SU, PU and PSD, matters are unclear. 24x7 Medical Facilities: The plan: A remote telemedicine facility would be set up in BITS, with the aim of improving diagnosis of general and specialized health conditions. This would involve hiring paramedics to work on shifts around the clock, a ten by twelve feet air conditioned consulting room and tele-conference with doctors in Apollo. Basic detection equipment such as PFTs, stethoscopes and mobile devices would be available and paramedics would use them to communicate patient conditions to the doctors. The status: Ashutosh tells us that Apollo and Medanta Hospitals have been contacted and Apollo is coming down to present a demo by the end of this month. What took so long was that the institute had to be convinced of its feasibility and viability (nearly 10 lakhs have to be borne by the institute). Also, the hospitals took time to make the proposal. Our take: This is a point that has been implemented and with a fair amount of success at that. The same has been timely, with the machines proving to be a boon in the winter months. The service still remains to be extended to the other hostels, however, and the expansion will hopefully happen sooner than later. APOGEE Projects Initiative: The idea here was to forward the final list of projects to the National Entrepreneurship Network, which may then take the same further or prov