New UK student visa policy | LLB students academic year saved

Presentation on new UK student visa policy
Lahore, April 09: A renowned education consultant giving a presentation on salient features of New UK Visa Rules on Wednesday explained in detail the new Points Based System TIER 4 Student Visa.

The event titled "New Student Visa Rules & Scholarship Opportunities in UK" was organised by Falcon Education & Consultancy Services (Pvt) Ltd at a five star hotel in which students, academics, heads of educational institutions and people from various walks of life participated.

The educationalist, Syed Abidi said, "The new system if implemented in true spirit will weed out non-genuine students and facilitate bonafide students without the support of agents or consultants."

He explained the basic concept of Points Based System (PBS) and the need for implementing this system by the UK Border Agency (UKBA).

He talked about different TIER structures and categories under the new PBS but focused on TIER 4 Student Visa. He said under the new TIER 4 the students would be awarded 40 points to be successful for an adult student visa, adding the universities/education providers in UK would now be known as sponsors and shall take full responsibility as a host for all overseas students.

"All students accepted by UK sponsors will be issued with CAS or a Visa letter which will carry 30 points and will be a must to apply for a visa", he said adding, "However, the student will have to satisfy the Education Providers that he/she is a bonafide and genuine student both academically and financially".

"The UKBA staff at country posts will then verify and conduct verification and authentication of the documents both academic and financial to award 10 points making it a total of 40 points", he added.

Syed Abidi, who was awarded Tamgha-i-Imtiaz by the President of Pakistan in 2008, also explained the responsibility and obligation of students when they arrived in the UK and stressed that the new PBS allowed the university and the UK Border Agency to monitor and keep a track of all overseas students. "Therefore, non-genuine students can be easily tracked ", he added.

The event also highlighted scholarship opportunities while a question-answer session was also held in the end in which the participants actively participated.

Seminar for students wishing to go to UK
Rawalpindi: A seminar on the UK points based system (TIER 4) will be held at the Pearl Continental here today (Thursday) from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. with an aim to facilitate students seeking higher education in the UK universities. The seminar, organised by the Falcon Education and Consultancy Services (private) Limited, will help raise awareness among students about the new system. It will also provide guidelines to students regarding their visa applications without paying huge fees to fake consultants. The UK Border Agency has launched new visa rules known as TIER 4 for students interested in studying in the UK. ECO of Falcon Education Syed Abidi will address the gathering and highlight the salient features of the programme. A large number of students and academics are expected to attend the seminar.

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PU saves one academic year of LLB students
Lahore: On the appeals of candidates, parents and principals of colleges, Punjab University has decided to declare the result of those candidates of LLB part-III who had solved their papers in wrong medium. All such candidates have been directed to contact controller examinations office.

According to a press statement issued on Wednesday, the Punjab University Examination Department declared the LLB Part-III Examination on March 26, 2009. Out of 2,689 candidates, the result of 421 candidates was detained due to appearance in wrong medium (appeared in Urdu instead of English) and non-availability of enrolment session of Part-III.

Despite issuing clear instructions on the roll number slips and question papers in continuation of the notification issued by the Registrar vide 2197/Acad dated 26-08-2005, the above mentioned candidates appeared in the examinations and attempted their papers in Urdu.

Result of those candidates who have provided the enrolment sessions verified by the Registration Branch and found eligible has been declared. Still the result of about 339 students has not been declared.

The Controller Office has received a large number of representations/appeals from the candidates, their parents and principals of the colleges for the declaration of result of these candidates on sympathetic grounds.

Keeping in view the interest of a large number of candidates and to save their one precious year, the case was forwarded to the convener, Board of Studies, for consideration and having an expert opinion.

Being exceptionally sympathetic, the convener recommended declaring the result of the candidates keeping in view the fact that medium of instructions as English was imposed first time in LLB Part-III this year. The Vice-Chancellor has approved the recommendations. The News

New MMG building inaugurated
Lahore: Punjab University Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran inaugurated the new building of Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics (MMG) at New Campus on Tuesday. On this occasion, the VC lauded the role of all science departments in the development of Punjab University, citing that development is impossible without energy. Dr Mujahid Kamran said, "I am proud of being the VC of such a university, whose students have been earning fame not only for the varsity but also for the country in co-curricular and extra-curricular activities." He said many development projects were affected due to cut in Higher Education Commission (HEC) funds and financial crisis of PU even then the varsity had been playing its role in the national development. F.P. Report

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KEMU urges CM not to downgrade it's status
Lahore: Staff members and students of King Edward Medical University (KEMU) have urged Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif not to revert the status of the KEMU to college as PML-N Chief Mian Nawaz Sharif, as a prime minister, had announced its upgrade from a college to a medical university during a KEMC convocation in 1999.

In a request letter to the chief minister, they urged him to take matters in his hands for resolution of the university issue while keeping in mind the plight of the students and staff of the institution.

They also gave a reference of a letter issued by Governor's Secretariat on January 22, 1999 which stated, "During the Convocation of King Edward Medical College held on 9-01-1999, Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has been pleased to desire that a Committee may be constituted to determine the feasibility of up-gradation of King Edward Medical College to a medical university." However, the process was halted due to October 1999 military coup that toppled the PML-N government in the country, they said.

They said that all faculty members, undergraduate and postgraduate students had rejected the idea to deprive the KEMU of its university status. They said that their nerves had been strained for last many days, as they were worried about what the fate of the undergraduate and postgraduate students would be after withdrawal of the KEMU from the status of university to college.

They said that the KEMU has set up its academic council, syndicate, senate, curricula and rules and regulations within a short span of time.

The KEMU has announced two to three batches of postgraduate students of MPhil, MD, MS, and MDS in 18 to 20 specialties, they said while adding that in spite of having no scholarships, stipends and hostel facilities, the students got admission in the KEMU.

They said that students from across the country were getting admission in this medical institution as the KEMU Postgraduate Programs have been recognized from Higher Education Commission Pakistan and Pakistan Medical Dental Council within a short time.

The university has launched modernized undergraduate programs of MBBS/BDS/Physiotherapy and 4 year BSC Medical Technologists in various fields, and students having top merits in the country got admissions in these courses. The university has arranged annual examinations and announced results in time even with shortage of examination branch staff.

Hundreds of international students got admission to KEMU due to its prestige and world famous status. The university welcomes thousands of postgraduate students who were initially enrolled in Punjab University and now have migrated their admissions to King Edward medical University.

This university has a rare example of conducting the PhD examination after migration of student's cases that have already matured their research in Punjab University. One of the PhD scholars has passed his thesis within one year and another thesis of PhD has sent for evaluation.

Teachers from the KEMU have published research articles in United States and prestigious medical journals of UK and even a single Department of Pathology has 15 such international publications.

They said that KEMU has also introduced HEC supervised Medical Journal Annals and all the published articles were peer reviewed from a medical review Board and Higher Education Commission of Pakistan In a short span of time, KEMU has got MoU from the universities of UK, USA, Japan, Iran, Saudi Arabia and many other countries and delegations of the KEMU have represented their research papers in Australia, Japan, India, Malaysia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE, USA, EU, UK and other countries.

KEMU students form union
Lahore: Students of King Edward Medical University (KEMU) have formed a union to help promote the issues of the students and develop a liaison between the student body and the administration. According to a press release on Wednesday, students unanimously elected Umar Shahbaz as the president and Shehryar Niazi as the general secretary of union. On this occasion, Umar Shahbaz said that Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani encouraged student unions to develop a more democratic representation of the student body and the students welcome this step. The News

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LCWU inaugurates botanical lab for disease-free seeds production
Lahore: To provide students with an opportunity to produce disease-free species of seeds and yield healthy crops, the Plant Tissue Culture Lab was inaugurated at the Bagh-e-Jinnah by Lahore College for Women University (LCWU) Vice Chancellor Dr Bushra Mateen and Punjab Floriculture Director Dr Muhammad Tariq Iqtidar on Wednesday.

The LCWU Botany Department has established the Plant Tissue Culture Lab in collaboration with the Punjab Agriculture Department. The laboratory aims to provide students with an opportunity to produce disease-free seeds that would yield healthy crops. "The lab will cater to the production of utility fruits and vegetables like bananas, tomatoes, green chillies and expensive flowers like Lilium and Carnation. The production of seeds will be cost effective. The researchers have targeted medicinal plants like Bryophylum to deal with its anti-fungal and anti-bacterial impact and the Vinca plant for its anti-cancer and anti-ulcer therapy," the LCWU vice chancellor said.

Dr Iqtidar said, "Punjab Agriculture Department has provided the laboratory and green houses situated in Bagh-e-Jinnah, while LCWU will equip the laboratory, provide all the required instruments and will help in the floriculture and landscape courses that will be arranged by the Agriculture Department. This laboratory is an implementation of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in July 2007 between the LCWU and the Punjab Agriculture Department. The agreed tenure is 25 years, the students shall be facilitated in every aspect and we look forward to more of such projects in the future."

The LCWU administration would be solely responsible for the management, production and overall control of the lab and the green houses for the sake of the security of the students and the female faculty members. "By establishing the Plant Tissue Culture Laboratory and with the availability of the existing green houses and a large biodiversity of the different species of plants, research and development in the botany sector will boom. The lab will give the opportunity of research to the BSc (Hons), MSc (Hons) and PhD students. The students will be trained in different disciplines of plant tissue culture techniques, hardening and acclimatisation methods, technology of green house management and off-season vegetable production. The lab's well-trained human resources will turn out to be good scientists for society in the future, said Botany Department Associate Professor Dr Shagufta Naz.

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23 still absent from school
Lahore: Twenty-three recruits of the Manawan Police Training School are absent from the institute following the March 30 terrorist attack, sources said on Wednesday. They said the recruits had told their colleagues that they would not rejoin the school, fearing another attack. They said the recruits had not been given salaries since February 15. They said, "It seems that several recruits are attending school until they get their salaries. The day they get salaries, several of them will quit." Major (r) Mubashar, principal of the school, said several of the recruits were missing, but none of them was killed or wounded in the attack. He said all of them had been traced through police stations concerned, adding that they were at their homes. He said it would be premature to say that they had left their jobs. He said the recruits would be directed though letters to rejoin the school. A recruit said that the March 30 attack was an unexpected event, adding that if such incidents take place in future they would face them bravely. Daily Times

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