Genetic Revolution and Human Rights: Exploring Moral and Social Aspects (28.03.2011)

The Biotechnological or the Genetic Revolution provides enormous possibilities to human development (nutrition, medicine, industry), while at the same time, creates social-ethical apprehensions due to the dangers to Human Rights that an improper use could generate. In this respect, Department of Philosophy organized a national seminar on ‘Genetic Revolution and Human Rights: Exploring Moral and Social Aspects’ sponsored by College Development Council, Panjab university. the seminars discussed and explore the nature of Human Rights and its various issues associated with the genetic revolution and beyond. Among the resource persons Umendra Dutt, Executive Director, KHETI VIRASAT MISSION JAITU, District-Faridkot, Punjab, Professor Shalina Mehta, Department of Anthropology, Panjab University, Chandigarh. Mr. C.H. Premani, Scientist F, Computer Technology, Institute of microbial Technology, Chandigarh. Dr Meena Dhanda, Reader in Philosophy and Cultural Politics, Leverhulme Research Fellow, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, U.K., Lallan Singh Baghel, Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, Panjab University, Chandigarh., shared their wisdom with the facuty, students of the college and other participants from Faridkot, Muktsar area. Umendra Dutt presenting the Keynote address cautioned the participants about the hazards of inorganic farming and the increasing amount of the seeds of various crops which is leading to a competition and resulting in the exploitation of poor farmers and subsequently the people of the country. Professor Shalina Mehta very interestingly brought the issue of Cloning and its politics. Professor Meena Dhanda gave a multimedia presentation and raised the ethical and legal issues of Surrogate mother in the west and India. She discussed the issue at length underlining the impact of technology on Human life other human conditions and laws. Lallan Singh Baghel presented his paper on Cloning People: Rights and Beyond he tried to probe the limits of genetic engineering and its multiple implications for constructing a discourse of technology and its instrumentality thesis. He said that it revolves around 'power' and it has been used to reduce human freedom and manufactured a language of consensus about the very nature of science. He also gave a Greek Philosophic account of ‘Techne’ Technology from Platos Republic to illustrate the questions of the goals of technology. In the seminar many questions were raised by the faculty and students of the college particularly Amandeep Kaur of B.A. I year. Vote of thanks was extended by the coordinator of the Seminar, Dr. Ambuj Sharma.

‘Reading Philosophical texts for Hope: Idea of Public Sphere in the Era of Globalization’ (08.03.2011)

‘Reading Philosophical texts for Hope:
Idea of Public Sphere in the Era of Globalization’

Department of Philosophy, Dev Samaj College for Women, Ferozepur City, Punjab organized the Indian Council of Philosophical Research (ICPR) sponsored periodical Lecture on the theme ‘Reading Philosophical Text for Hope: Idea of Public Sphere in the Era of Globalization’ on 8th March, 2010 at the Seminar Hall of the campus..
Dr. Lallan Singh Baghel from philosophy department, Panjab University delivered the lecture. Around 400 hundred students from philosophy and other departments of the college attended and participated in the discussion followed by the lecture.
In the first session Ms Sukhdeep Kaur, President Philosophical Society of the college along with Ms Rupinderjeet Kaur, Head Girl of the college and Ms Bhawana Munjal Vice President of the Philosophical Society, Ms Amandeep Kaur, General secretary of the Philosophgical society of the college and Dr. Ambuj Sharma, faculty, Department of Philosophy presented bouquet to the resource person.
Dr. Lallan Singh Baghel congratulating the participants of the Women’s Day raised the issues and concerns of the Public Sphere and Globalization with the participants. He started his presentation by defining the concept of Globalization and said that globalization is not at all the same as it appears. It centers on profit dynamics which sidelines the holistic growth of the society. Pointing on the concept of Knowledge lallan informed the participants about Plato’s views. He said that Plato held that ‘Knowledge is justified true belief’ and asked the participants to distinguish between knowledge, opinion and wisdom. He also brought the discussions of Richard Rorty about philosophy and said that Rorty focused that philosophy or any other discipline should not be confined to the parameters of its subject matter but rather work out for the development of a just society. Lallan speaking about the public sphere said that “public sphere is a sphere where every human individual carries his or her life, sometimes as a thinking being and sometimes as vegetables” Supporting his arguments he gave an example of Bhagat Singh the martyr and his opinion about the public sphere. He said that Bhagat Singh wanted a just society and adopted a method of critical reasoning in understanding human life and society.
Lallan insisted that philosophy is a critical enquiry into the nature of reality therefore formation of public sphere is essential for questioning the various issues for a better society. Lallan also philosophically explored the concepts of rights, civil society and its implications in the contemporary society. He said that the task of philosophy is to engage in dialogue about the different affairs of the world and form public opinion on grounds of reason and justice for a formation of a just society. The lecture was well received by the participants and many questions were asked by Ms Amandeep, Ms Bhawna, Ms Neha and Ms Satwant of the college. Dr. Narinder Kaur, Ms Satwant Kaur and Ms Paramveer Kaur from Punjabi Department, Ms Rubal from Economics Department, Ms Kanchan Narang From History Department, Dr. Suman Sharma from Sanskrit Department and Ms Savita fro Commerse Department also participated in the seminar. The proceedings of the lecture were conducted by Dr. Ambuj Sharma, Head, Department of Philosophy while the vote of thanks was extended by Ms Sukhdeep Kaur, President Philosophical Society of the College.
The lecture was followed by “Professor Daya Krishna Philosophy Awards” in which the students who presented papers at various students and national seminars along with the office bearers of the Critique Ferozepur Chapter and Philosophical Society, Ms Sukhdeep Kaur, President, Philosophical Society Ms Karamjeet, Co-coordinator,Ms Daljeet Kaur Co-coordinator, Ms Ramanpreet Kaur, Co-coordinator, Ms Bhawna Munjal, Vice President, Ms Ramanveer, Vice President, Ms Prabhpreet Kaur, Vice President, Ms Sumanpreet, Vice President, Ms Adeshbeer, Vice President, Ms Amandeep kaur, General Secretary, Ms Amrit Kaur, General Secretary, Ms Ramandeep kaur, General Secretary, Ms Amanjotpreet Kaur, General Secretary, Ms Amrit, Joint Secretary, Ms Kirandeep, Joint Secretary, Ms Mandeep, Joint Secretary, Ms Manjinder, Joint Secretary, Ms Jagpreet, Joint Secretary, Ms Sapanpreet, Public Relation Officer, Ms Komalpreet, Public Relation Officer, Ms Kamalpreet, Public Relation Officer, Ms Jassandeep, Public Relation Officer, Ms Sumit, Public Relation Officer along with Ms Manpreet, Ms Rajwant, Ms Bhanu Priya, Ms Amandeep, Ms Neha, Ms Amritpal, Ms Pradeep, were felicitated with the Professor Daya Krishna Philosophy Awards by College Management Secretary, Mr. M. R. Manchanda and Dr. Lallan Singh Baghel. A small cultural programme was also organized by the department students.
On the occasion Dr. Ambuj Sharma presented the Annual Department Report 2011. The event was followed by a small tea party managed by the department students.

National Seminar on Democracy, Resistance and Globalization (9- 10 Feb, 2011)

Department of philosophy, Dev Samaj College for Women, Ferozepur in collaboration with Department of Philosophy, Panjab University organized a national Seminar on ‘Democracy, Resistance and Globalization’ at Department of philosophy, Panjab University Chandigarh on 9th and 10th Feb, 2011. Dr. Shiwani Sharma of Philosophy department presented the welcome address.
Addressing the participants which included seventy undergraduate students from Dev Samaj College for women, Ferozepur City, Dr. Dharmendra Goel, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy Department said, “Resistance is an indispensable part of democracy. Resistance is a dialogue, a fundamental right of expression which sustains the very notion of democracy. It is absolutely necessary to submit resistance if there is any violation on part of any individual or institution against the laws and the essential norms of democracy. Gandhi’s Civil disobedience or Satygraha without violence against the establishment, French resistance against the Nazi in the early fourties of the twentieth century are classic examples of the resistance.”
Professor Shalina Mehta from Anthropology Department, Panjab University, focused on tribal issues and democracy. She said that Indian society is not a homogenous society and the issues of development of the urban and the tribal are different. She said that the issues of tribal do not get proper government attention and the people who work for tribal rights face the highhandedness of the government and its officials on different fronts.
Lallan Singh Baghel of Philosophy Department, Panjab University, philosophically elaborated the notions of resistance and democracy. He said that resistance is a concept which aims at bringing real problems of the society to the attention of the government and demands its immediate solution.
Rajeev Godara from Sampooran Kranti Manch, Haryana, speaking on the Role of resistance in democracy said that Dr. Binayak Sens' arrest is a big jolt to the law and democracy of India He further said that Binayak Sen is a world acclaimed human rights worker who dedicated his entire life to work for the underprivileged in the country and his resistance to the governments' unfair policies for the tribals has cost him life imprisonment. Rajeev emphasized a need to build an atmosphere where the government should be accountable to public views and resistance against its policies, laws and other issues of development.
On the second day of seminar, Dr. Prem Singh from Delhi University talked about the nature of democracy and nature of peoples' movements. He based his lecture on the main theme of decentralization of the government and maintained that all the movements working in favour of democratic ideals have to come together to minimize the loss, the movements are suffering due to the contradictions which favors the oppressive regimes.
All the lectures were followed by serious discussions during which the students raised some intriguing questions with respect to the current nature of Indian state and its democratic profile. The seminar was coordinated by Dr. Ambuj Sharma, Asst. Professor Dev Samaj College for Women, Ferozepur and coordinator of the Critique Ferozepur.

Human Rights in India (20th January, 2011)

Ambuj Sharma of Critique Ferozepur Chapter and Philosophical Society participated and presented a paper on 'Dilemmas of Human Rights and Honour Killings In India: Unmasking the concept of Honour' in the UGC-sponsored one day National Seminar on the topic ‘Human Rights in India” organized by Department of Political Science, D. A. V. College, Abohar, Punjab on 20th January, 2011 at D. A. V. College Abohar. In a short presentation Ambuj critiqued the notion of ‘honour’ giving an account of the evolution of morality. He strongly urged the participants to take a course on reflective Morality while drawing moral judgments. He said that largely people follow the notions of customary and instinctive morality and closes all doors to reflective and critical thinking. He further said that to take a life of an individual who decides to marry an individual of his or her own choice is the greatest violation of any values in ethics or religion. He asked the participants to draw another sketch of morality with reason and respect to human life and dignity.
Ambuj was highly benefited from the suggestions and comments from his friends Mr. Paras Aggarwal from Department of Physics and Mr. Kashmiri Lal from Department of Hindi D. A.V. College, Abohar.
Among other prominent speaker who addressed the seminar were Prof. Ronki Ram, Chairman, Dept. of Political Science, Panjab University, Prof. Rajiv Lochan, Chairman, Dept of History, Prof. I. D. Gaur, Dept of History, Lallan Singh Baghel, Dept of Philosophy, Dr. Vijay Nagpal, Dept of Laws, Panjab University, Joginder Singh, Former Director, C.B.I.
Dr. Vandana Munjal, Head, Department of Political Science, D. A.V. College, Abohar who was the convener of the seminar, along with her other colleagues, students and staff left no stone unturned to provide great hospitality and comfort to the participants during their entire stay at the college.