PU alumni for engaging global faculty

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 29

The second day of the Global Alumni Meet, organised by the Panjab University Alumni Association (PUAA), commenced with a plantation ceremony at the Alumni House of the PU here today.

The ceremony began with Prof Satyavrat Shastri, the oldest alumnus, planting a sapling. A total of 22 saplings were planted. A special session dedicated to Guru Nanak Dev was held to commemorate the 550the Parkash Purb.

Sardar Tarlochan Singh, former MP, and PU Fellow talked on Guru Nanak’s life and teachings. He talked about how the philosophy of Guru Nanak Dev is being rediscovered worldwide.

S Bir Devinder Singh, former Deputy Speaker, Punjab Legislative Assembly, spoke on ‘Reminiscing versatile Guru Nanak’.

Prof Anil Monga and Prof Bhupinder Singh Bhoop, University Institute of Pharmaceutics Science, PU, honoured Lalit Sharma, CEO, Mantrin Advertising Agency, and his production team for their 11-minute video film on the PU. The video was screened during the event, celebrating 100 years of the honours school system.

After that, a monograph was launched by PUAA which was presented to all dignitaries. Prof Deepti Gupta, Dean, Alumni Relations, and Dr Prabhdeep Brar, Chairperson, UIFT, presented a token of appreciation to the guests of honour — Prof Karamjeet Singh, Registrar, PU; Dr Parvinder Singh, Controller of Examination, PU; Prof Bhupinder Bhoop, UIPS; Prof Jagbir Singh, former Head, Department of Punjabi, University of Delhi; and Dean University Instructions (DUI) Prof Shankarji Jha.

The alumni with extraordinary achievements in their respective fields were awarded by Prof Shankarji Jha, DUI, PU. Those awarded included Prof RC Sobti, former VC, Prof Om Narain Bhargava for his contribution to the field of geology; Prof Satyavrat Shastri for research in the field of Sanskrit; Dr Pawan K Singhal; Prof Veena Tandon; Prof Sudesh Kaur Khanduja; and Padma Shri awardee Gulshan Rai for his contribution to governance and administration; Prof Lokesh Chandra; Prof Manjit Kaur; Prof PK Khosla; and Prof Akshay Anand in the field of neuroscience.

A panel discussion on ‘My Vision of the PU-2025’, which was moderated by Prof Ramanjit K Johal, Department of Public Administration, PU, was also held. The panellist included Dr Suman Bala Beri, Dr Neelam Man Singh, Dr BS Brar, Prof IBS Bassi, Dr KK Bhasin and Dr Kamlesh Mohan.

Several members of the alumni were of a view that the PU must be proactive in engaging faculty and students from across the country and globe.

Interdisciplinary approach must be institutionalised and the university must build all-rounded leaders with a societal vision. Financial crunch has to be faced with innovation ideas such as public-private partnerships, industry- institute partnerships, and alumni connections.

The meet came to an end with a visit to an exhibition at Gandhi Bhawan, Fine Arts Museum and a cultural event.

Book Discussion 

To mark the PU Global Alumni Meet, the Department of History organised a discussion on book ‘Spatialising Popular Sufi Shrines In Punjab: Dreams, Memories, Territorialities’, which is authored by a PU alumnus, Dr Yogesh Snehi, Assistant Professor, School of Liberal Studies, Dr Ambedkar University, Delhi. Three eminent professors of history — Prof Vijaya Ramaswamy, Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla, Prof Surinder Singh, Department of History, PU, and Prof Mahesh Sharma, PU — were invited to the discussion.