KANPUR, Oct. 10 -- In an unusual disciplinary move, Kanpur's Harcourt Butler Technical University (HBTU) has debarred 11 engineering students suspended for their involvement in a brawl from taking mid-semester exams and attending regular classes, directing them instead to take up manual work on campus -- from cutting grass to digging soil -- for the next 15 days.

The punishment comes in the wake of a late-night brawl on October 4 allegedly triggered by junior students not greeting their seniors with a "namaste". The clash, which involved students allegedly under the influence of alcohol, began near a traffic crossing outside the university and escalated into a full-blown altercation on the Raman Hostel premises.

Of the 11 students found...