History conference begins

Patiala: The three-day 5th South Asian History Conference being organised by the Department of History, Punjabi University, Patiala, on "Women in South Asia: History, Challenges and Potentialities" commenced at the Science Auditorium here today. Vice-Chancellor BS Ghuman presided over the conference. Prof Ghuman said no research study in social sciences could be called complete without the involvement of women as demographic and psychographic variables. Prof Kumkum Roy from Jawahar Lal Nehru University, New Delhi,  highlighted that men and women inhabit multiple and shifting identities in terms of caste, class, gender, region , ethnicity, language, age, disability and locations within kinship networks. These identities intersected in the past as well as at present juncture too and were needed to be explored widely. Dr Muntassir Mamoon, Dhaka University, Bangladesh, emphasised on atrocities committed on the women by the Pakistan army when Bangladesh became an independent nation.

Punjabi varsity faculty invited

Prof Gurmeet Singh Maan, Director Media Centre, Punjabi University, Patiala, has been invited by the New York Film Academy (NYFA), US, to participate in its Open House celebrations on November 18 and 25 at New York City and Los Angeles. The ceremony, inter alia, includes adult and children workshops for filmmaking, acting for film, musical theatre, 3D animation, VFX, editing, documentary, cinematography, photography, broadcast journalism, screenwriting, producing, game design and graphic design. Prof Maan has been instrumental in making over around 1,500 educational video, e-content and enrichment programmes and Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) for the UGC and the Ministry of Human Resource Development. TNS

Two killed in road accidents

Morinda: Two persons, including a woman, were killed in road accidents here in the past 24 hours. The deceased have been identified as Harmesh Singh (45) of Kotli village and Inderjit Kaur (45) of Kakrali village. Morinda police post in-charge Gaganpreet Singh said in a hit-and-run case, an unidentified car driver hit Harmesh when he was going on foot at Chamkaur Sahib Chowk late on Thursday evening. He was taken to a private hospital from where he was referred to the PGI, Chandigarh. Harmesh died on the way to the PGI, said the police. In another mishap, a tipper hit the scooty of Inderjit Kaur near HDFC Bank on Sugar Mill road on Friday. The woman died on the spot. The tipper driver fled from the spot leaving the vehicle behind. The police have registered a case against the unidentified driver. TNS

Farmer robbed of Rs 2.88 lakh

Ropar: Three unidentified persons allegedly snatched Rs 2.88 lakh from a farmer when he was going to his home at Bhakumajra village near Chamkaur Sahib here on Friday. The victim, Amarjit Singh, had withdrawn the money from a bank in Ropar. Amarjit told the police that he was going to his village from Ropar on Friday afternoon when a person, who was standing near Kamalpur village, threw sand in his eyes. Soon, he was joined by two other bike-borne miscreants who took out money from his pockets and fled from the spot. Chamkaur Sahib DSP Navreet Singh Virk said the police had started investigation after registering a case against the miscreants. TNS