KU admission date extended | SSC 2 per cent grace marks

Karachi University admission forms for BA, BSc (pass) and BCom new date
Karachi, April 18: The University of Karachi on Friday announced extension in the last date for submission of admission forms for BA, BSc (pass) and BCom (both first and second year) till April 25.

KU Registrar Prof Mohammad Raees Alvi said in a statement that the forms could be submitted by the new date with the prescribed fee along with a late fee of Rs1,000. The candidates must have completed the requisite attendance by the end of the current session, he added.

In a separate statement, he said that the university was updating the record of all its old regular students. The record would be posted on the KU website for ready reference.

All regular students enroled over the past 10 years could furnish the required information to the university using the prescribed proforma by May 20, he stated. Dawn

KU to update records of old students
Karachi: University of Karachi (KU) has decided to update the record of all its old regular students, said KU registrar Prof. Muhammad Rais Alvi on Friday. He said that this record would be available on the university website for ready reference.

All former students have been asked to furnish the required information of the past 10 years by May 20. The News

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Fuuast announced results
The Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology (Fuuast) on Friday announced the results of BS Computer Science (morning) semester-VI batch-II 2004 and semester-II batch-III 2005; and repeaters of MSc (evening) semester-I batch-VI 2008, semester-IV batch-IV 2006, semester-III batch-III 2005, semester-III batch-II 2005, semester-II batch-IV 2006 and semester-II batch-II 2005. Dawn

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SSC candidates may be given 2 per cent grace marks: Ebad
Karachi: Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan has said that two per cent grace marks might be awarded to the students, appeared in the SSC Part I & II (Class XI-X) Annual Examination 2009, due to the unprecedented loadshedding on daily basis, causing immense interruption in the studies of the students.

Law enforcement agencies are inter-linked and unified to curtail the threat of Talibanisation in the metropolis. Talibanisation cannot be encouraged in the City at any cost.

He was talking to mediamen on Friday at the end of the inaugural ceremony of the NED University of Engineering and Technology's City Campus Restoration Project, held at the historical building of the NED old city campus.

City Campus Restoration Project has been completed with a cost of Rs31.995 million, which has been listed as protected heritage under the Sindh Cultural Heritage Preservation Act in 1994. The project was initiated to ensure that the campus is maintained as in architectural heritage site and historically significant landmark of the City.

Ebad said that the long-hour loadshedding during the SSC annual examination had really caused great academic loss to the students that was giving two per cent grace marks to the students could be reviewed as per the past practice.

"As a site which marked the beginning of the development of professional engineers, the campus has done great service to the people of subcontinent in general and Pakistan in particular. Karachi and Sindh have rich treasures of architectural and cultural heritage, which remind us about the glorious past that this region has inherited. Karachi has many grand edifices that we have inherited from the past.

As responsible citizens, it is our duty to restore the buildings in need of such attention. Technical expertise, as acquired by architects and engineers of this university, must be employed to generate worth emulating results," he said.

Abul Kalam, Vice Chancellor NED University of Engineering and Technology, said that the historical building could not be saved without structural interventions and changes in the building. He appreciated the architectural efforts made by the NED's team of the architectures.

Earlier, Project Director Prof Dr Nauman Ahmed, while giving detailed presentation, said that the process of campus restoration had become a unique learning process for the students of architecture. "Evolving from the internationally accepted standards of restoration practice, this project aims to set up a precedent which will be emulated in heritage sites in Karachi and beyond."

He said that NED University would become pioneer of technically appropriate and professionally viable approach to restoration after successful completion of the series of development works in the City campus.

"The said campus presently houses intensive activities related to reference library, but further improvement in spaces and structures in urgently needed.

Most of its existing structures and spaces require intensive restoration to bring them up to the mark of NED's repute and standards," he added. The Nation

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NED annoyed by defence ministry 'apprehensions': Survey of historical buildings
Karachi: The ministry of Defence was creating hurdles in a survey of historical and heritage buildings in the city being carried out by a team of experts of the NED university, claimed the vice chancellor of the university on Friday.

Vice Chancellor Abul Kalam of the NED University said that the survey was being conducted by the experts of the varsity for the Sindh government but the team of experts were facing difficulties in surveying the buildings of the defence ministry.

He was speaking at a programme regarding completion of the phase I of the restoration project of the city campus building of the NED University.

He said that the team was facing problems in carrying out the survey despite the fact that it always visited all historical and heritage buildings after getting prior permissions from the authorities concerned.

Citing a particular example, he said that when the team, after informing and subsequently being invited, arrived at the Napier Barracks, that house various offices of the Pakistan army as well as some sensitive agencies in the city, the experts were not allowed to take pictures, carry out a survey or take measurement, etc due to security reasons.

The vice chancellor said that the security officials were probably following archaic rules and were not aware of numerous satellites, many of them belonging to non-friendly countries, orbiting around the globe and watching everything on ground and that with latest technology pictures or measurements were of not that importance as these might have been some time back.

He asked Sindh Governor Dr Ishrat-ul-Ibad, who is chancellor of the NED University, to help his team in getting permissions so that it could complete the task.

The governor said on the occasion that the city had inherited many great edifices from the past and that all such buildings that were not in good shape should be restored to their old glory.

He said that the restoration and the rehabilitation of the historical buildings was the collective task of the nation and it must be done with diligence and care.

Lauding the expertise of the NED team that had restored the beautiful old city campus building, he asked them to help other institutions and organisations that might be in need of the technical assistance in preserving their buildings.

In his presentation of the over four-yearlong restoration project, head of the architecture department of the NED University, Dr Noman Ahmed, said that many old buildings of the campus, which were in dilapidated condition, had been restored and rehabilitated at a cost of approximately Rs31.9 million, part of which (Rs9 million) were provided by the federal government's National Fund for Cultural Heritage programme while the rest was generated by the university.

He said that some interventions had also been done to increase the work space. He said that Phase II of the restoration work would be carried out at a cost of Rs21 million.

Later, he said that some restoration work on the chimney and a building next to it was to be done. Some work on the stone façade of the Puribai Power House and Becharbhai Workshops buildings had to be done.

He said that some chemical had been put on the façade stones and after the monsoon, which would pull out the dirt and rubbish settled there for decades, work would start on the façade and by that time the project chief, Aneela Naeem, who at present was in Italy to learn the latest stone cleaning techniques, would also return and lead the team with updated knowledge. Dawn

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Pir Mazhar says teachers to be promoted
Karachi: Sindh Senior Minister for Education and Literacy Pir Mazharul Haq said on Friday that a proposal is being considered to promote teachers besides increasing incentives for them.

Talking to the media at the Media Centre within the Sindh Assembly premises, Haq said, "The World Bank (WB) has set a condition of conducting a transparent teacher recruitment process for the issuance of a grant to Pakistan. No funds would be available for the salaries of the teachers if we do not meet the condition."

"The WB has a comprehensive monitoring system to keep a vigil on the recruitment process of teachers. It has asked us to prefer recruiting locals as teachers in the areas where they are needed. Under the new WB plan, the quota of assembly members in jobs has been abolished," he added.

The minister hoped that high-qualified candidates would be recruited for 13,000 posts of teachers in Sindh. WB officials are not giving importance to old diplomas of PTC and CT and want diplomas from universities for the recruitment of teachers.

He further stated that effective measures are being taken to ensure the reopening of ghost schools in Sindh and after that teachers would be recruited for the schools.

Haq alleged that some landlords in Sindh have occupied thousands of acres of government land. "Whenever action was taken to evacuate the lands, they blamed the government for political revenge," he revealed. ppi

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SSUET holds first 'Computer Artist Exhibition'
Karachi: The first Computer Artist Exhibition was recently held at Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology (SSUET), where students from the third semester in the Computer Engineering department displayed art pieces developed through the use of a modern computer language.

The students, who are studying computer graphics course as part of their studies, used Visual-C to develop their art pieces. The students depicted landscape in their images with presentation of sunset beauty as common theme of all the art pieces.

Some 120 students, divided into groups, produced 32 art works in all. The art piece developed by the group led by Baber Naseem was adjudged to have the best image in the exhibition. The group led by Danish Alam secured second prize, while third prize was jointly shared by groups of Wajahat Hussain and Sajjad Sarwar.

Zulfiqar Ali Khan, an assistant professor at the Computer Engineering department, said that the participating students had taken about a month-and-a-half to learn modern computer language tools and develop the art pieces. He said that the students did not use any other computer software, package, or tools at all, and just applied the Visual-C language to understand the background work and application of the language in the development of complicated and multi-coloured graphics work. He said that the SSUET had the distinction of teaching modern graphics languages and software tools such as Visual-C so that its students could enhance their professional skills.

Computer Engineering and Computer Science Chairman Prof. Dr Mumtazul Imam said that students pursuing computer degrees at the university were taught about the development of computer graphics, keeping in view the widening use of modern technology in various professional fields.

He said that advertising, television, print, and film industries around the globe had been widely using computer graphics for their productions. He also said that animated films and packages produced mainly for television is another medium where computer engineering and science students taught graphics could use their skills for lucrative financial returns.

He added that students of the university had already established links with electronic media and advertising industries to provide their expertise for commercial ventures.

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Jinnah University for Women (JUW) convocation
Karachi: The convocation of the Jinnah University for Women (JUW) will be held at its campus on April 18. Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan will be the chief guest at the ceremony, while JUW Chancellor Noor-us-Saba Chughtai will deliver the welcome address.

A total of 1,096 degrees will be conferred in the faculties of Arts, Science, Pharmacy and Business Administration and Commerce. Four doctoral degrees and 15 gold medals will be awarded, while 20 shields will be distributed in recognition of meritorious services.

It was also announced that from this year, a cash award of Rs10,000 will be given by Syed Manzar Ahmed Memorial Trust to the student who achieves the highest overall marks in JUW examinations. The News

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AKU wins MacJannet award
Karachi: The Talloires Network and MacJannet Foundation, on Friday, announced the winners of the first annual MacJannet prize for global citizenship with Pakistan's Aga Khan University (AKU) clinching the first prize with its innovative Urban Programme.

AKU's Urban Programme focuses on providing primary health care and socio economic support to the katchi abadis (slums) in Karachi. The MacJannet prize for global citizenship recognises exceptional student civic engagement initiatives based in the Talloires Network member universities around the world and contributes financially to their ongoing public service efforts. Sixty-seven programs from 40 universities in 19 countries around the world competed for this year's award.

The Urban Health Programme started in 1985 when medical training was limited to hospitals and public health efforts in communities received little attention in Pakistan. Daily Times

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Paintings by young students
Karachi: An exhibition of paintings by 16-year-old O'level students of the A.M.I. School opens at the A. R. Faridi art gallery of the Arts Council at 5:30pm on Saturday.

The exhibition, an annual feature of the school, will remain open from 11am to 8:30pm on Sunday. Dawn

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