GNDU hosts session on growing popularity of foreign languages

Amritsar, September 25

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Keeping in mind the growing importance of foreign languages like German, GNDU hosted a special session on the popularity of foreign languages. Prof SS Behl, Dean, Academics Affairs, in his address, said that knowledge of a language opens new vistas for the learners as language learning encompasses not only the phonetic, morphological, lexical, syntactic aspects, but also the culture, traditions, conventions and rituals associated with the community of the language.

“Multilingualism is a huge asset in the global world of ours, which can go a long way in building bridges across nations, ethnicities, races and religions,” said Prof S S Behl during the inaugural session of the information seminar of the Goethe Institute, in collaboration with Department of Foreign Languages, GNDU.

Dr Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, MLA Amritsar North, who himself is a polyglot, underlined the significance of multilingualism in contemporary times.

Seminar on rights of differently abled women

To highlight the issue and discuss the reasons and solutions for gender-based discrimination, a national seminar was organised by the Department of Sociology, Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU), in collaboration with the National Commission for Women, New Delhi.

Speakers’ panel included Dr Baljit Kaur, Cabinet Minister, Government of Punjab, Prof Nilika Mehrotra (sociologist) from the Centre for the Study of Social Systems, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Prof Sujatha Bhan from SNDT University, Mumbai, and Shampa Sengupta, founder of Sruti Disability Rights Centre, Kolkata, among others.

Dr Baljit Kaur highlighted the role of government, NGOs and educational institutions in the sensitisation towards people with disabilities and to combat social stigma.