Riphah University Expo | FG college collection of fines issue

Expo 2010 starts at Riphah University
Islamabad, Apr 07: Education Expo 2010 in connection with Riphah International University's (RIU) Information Week started on main campus of the university in I-14, on Tuesday.

Federal Minister for Education Sardar Assef Ahmed Ali inaugurated the Expo aimed at creating information literacy and virtual learning environment among the students, faculty and knowledge seekers.

The minister lauded the university for taking solid steps to provide education in diversified programmes not only within the country but also expanding it to UAE.

Earlier, Prof Dr Anis Ahmed, RIU Vice Chancellor, highlighting the importance of knowledge said information was linked with the knowledge, and only those nations could excel who had more knowledge.

Muhammad Farooq, RIU Director Information Services, highlighted the aims and objectives of the Information Week and the exhibition.

After the ribbon cutting ceremony, the federal minister visited different stalls and appreciated the exhibition.

A large number of students, teachers, knowledge seekers from different universities and educational institutions of Islamabad and Rawalpindi visited the expo.

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Students protest against FG college administration
Rawalpindi: The final-year students of the Federal Government Postgraduate College for Women, Kashmir Road, protested here on Tuesday against what they termed the administration's random collection of fines from them.

The students staged a protest against the college administration for collecting huge fines that they have claimed to be illegal and staggering. They said that why the college administration is imposing heavy fines on the students despite the fact that the academic institution is under the control of the government.

The students said that their final university examinations would be held from April 15 for which they need admit cards and character certificates from the college administration. Those who did not appear in the college examinations are bound to pay a fine of Rs200 per subject. Many students have already paid the fine. The fee for the whole academic year is Rs1,500 and fines for not appearing in any subject in the college examinations is Rs2,100. The students said that it is impossible for their parents to pay such a heavy fine. "Moreover the college administration is imposing a fine of Rs10 on the students for missing a lecture and if a girl is absent for one day she has to pay a fine of Rs60," the students said.

The parents said that the college administration has been putting an extra burden on their pockets. They said that the college administration should not impose heavy fines. According to them, there was no justification for imposing heavy fines as the college administration was getting adequate funds from the government.

Vice Principal Samina Bukhari said that the imposition of fines is a disciplinary action and it compels the students to take college examinations seriously. "This has been going around since last two years and there has been no change in college rules. We impose fines so that all students appear in college examinations and the result of the college is not affected," she said.

Principal Nasreen Mirza said that it is a college advisory committee's decision to improve the results and make non-serious students serious about college examinations. The protest by students is not justified because it is for their own benefit and to make them study for the forthcoming examinations. "The money collected through fines are deposited in students fund and later utilised for their own benefit," she added.

We tried to contact FG Colleges Director Brigadier Raheel Ashraf, but he was out of the city and not available for comments. The news

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AAUR Students Week kicks off with different competitions
Rawalpindi: The Students' Week of Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi (PMAS-AAUR) started here on Tuesday.

The main events of the week include software programming, video games, photography, poster, flower arrangement, essay and story writing, sports (boys and girls), drama and poetry competitions, art exhibition, Urdu musharia and three days book fair. Inter-university level Qirat and Naat competitions and bilingual declamation contest will also be the part of Students' Week.

PMAS-AAUR Vice Chancellor (VC) Prof Dr Khalid Mahmood Khan inaugurated the Students' Week. He said the active participation and involvement of the students in different extra-curricular activities was essential to inculcate among them the sense of responsibility, discipline, obedience and punctuality.

The week started with software programming competition in which 12 students participated from different department of the university. The competition was aimed at improving the programming, logical thinking and presenting skills of the students. The winners for the competition included Shahzad Zafer, Yusra Malik and Saifur Rehman.

Eleven students participated in the poster competition. Syed Rashid Mahmood, stood first while Fahad Mubashir and Ms Fakhira Nazir got second and third positions in this contest.

The VC also inaugurated the three-day Book Fair on the university campus. More than 25 well-known national booksellers are exhibiting their publications and around 30,000 books have been displayed in the fair.

A Mehfal-e-Musharia was also held in the University Auditorium, in which 15 students from different department participated. In Poem category Ms Hafsa, Ms Kanwal Abid and Ms Sidra Bibi while in Ghazal category Mohsin Raza, Ms Nabeela Ameen and Imran Raza got first, second and third positions, respectively. Daily times

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PAL set to launch TV channel
Islamabad: Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) is all set to launch the country's first ever literary television (TV) channel and radio station for developing better understanding of literature and culture among people, PAL Chairman Fakhar Zaman told APP on Tuesday. He said that TV channel would be launched soon as it was in final stages of its completion. He added that initially the channel's transmissions would be of six-hour duration adding literary and cultural programmes would be telecast on the channel besides special seminars and book reviews. He said that literary figures would be invited to the talk shows to enlighten young generation on the messages writers and poets had tried to communicate through their literary contributions. "Literary sessions and talent hunt programmes will also be the part of the transmissions," the chairman added. Zaman hoped the channel would persuade youth to turn to literature. "However, a number of other steps are also being taken to inculcate in youngsters and children interest in literature," he elaborated. He said that PAL as a first step would award best writers of the children literature in order to encourage them to contribute more with their writings. app

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Peking University's teacher visits IIUI
Islamabad: Prof Wang Jisi, Dean School of International Studies of Peking University, Beijing, China visited the International Islamic University, Islamabad (IIUI) on Tuesday.

IIUI Rector Prof Fateh Muhammad Malik, Vice President Parveen Qadir Aghaand deans and directors of faculties and institutes of the university received the Chinese academician. A large number of Chinese students of the university were also present on this occasion.

Malik briefed the Chinese professor about the achievements of the university. Prof Jisi lauded the IIUI role in providing quality education to the students without any discrimination. Daily times

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Students eager to learn about future business prospects
Islamabad: Scores of students and representatives of multinational companies attended the Industrial Open House 2010 organised by the Centre of Placement and Training of Iqra University here on Tuesday.

The aim behind organising the event was to highlight corporate social responsibilities in joint ventures and promote strong relationship between academic institutions and industry.

The industrial show was an ample opportunity not only for the students of Iqra University, but also for all other higher learning institutions operating in Islamabad to develop interaction with leading business concerns in the country.

Over 30 multinational companies and financial institutions working in different sectors including telecom and commerce set up their stalls where their representatives were providing useful information to students, who were anxious to learn about future prospects. The event lasted all the day from morning till evening in which students along with their CVs had walk-in interviews by Human Resource executives of various companies. Some of the students who visited these stalls to evaluate their skills and learning were lucky enough as they were offered job internships on the spot after brief interviews. Thirty projects were put on display by the students studying in various disciplines including management sciences, art and design, social sciences and computing and technology. Sales representatives of multinational companies were also engaged to project their brands among the students, who showed interest in presentations given by them with the help of multi-media and digital projectors.

A celebrity corner was set up where visiting celebrities from political and business fields expressed their views and answered the questions raised by students.

A discussion forum, broadcast live on a local FM channel, was also held in which heads of various public and private departments were invited to share their views and experiences with the audience.

Syed Umair of Iqra University, who worked enthusiastically to make the event a success said that academia-industry collaboration, which is common in developed countries, but non-existent in Pakistan, is a win-win prospect for both universities and industries. He said Industry-University linkage is a frequently used terminology among industries, academics, and the government and its importance has been widely recognised and well established.

"It is considered a vital instrument of growth that has direct and far reaching implications for the national economy. The concept has successfully evolved in the developed world. Some developing countries have also made visible efforts to have this linkage working under institutionalised system. Necessity for this linkage is also being felt in Pakistan for quite some time," he said.

Umair said it is encouraging that the universities are conducting industry-related short and medium-term courses that can help form a good platform for initiating long-term collaborations.

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3 blocks to be built at Satellite Town college
Rawalpindi: PML-N MNA Mohammad Hanif Abbasi here on Tuesday laid the foundation-stone of three new blocks at the Government Postgraduate College for Boys, Satellite Town, which will be completed with an estimated cost of Rs60.8 million.

The project is a part of the Punjab government's development package worth Rs8.5 billion allocated for the NA-56 a couple of months back. The three blocks will be built for chemistry department, science laboratory and a hostel.

"The basic objective of allocation of funds by the Punjab government is to make improvement in the sectors of education, health and development as well as beautification of Rawalpindi," he added.

He was of the view that besides constructing new blocks in old educational institutions for boys, the provincial government has a practical plan to open new academic institutions for boys not only in his constituency, but in other parts of the Rawalpindi city as well.

"At present there is shortage of colleges for boys, but we are giving special priority to resolve the issue. Due to shortage of colleges for boys, students are facing admission problems in four existing colleges despite securing high marks," he added.

He said that a sufficient amount of funds out of the total development package of Rs8.5 billion is earmarked for the promotion of education and health sectors, the PML-N leader stated.

In this connection he cited the examples of health schemes underway, including Urology Institution and Cardiology Centre. The cost of Urology Institution is estimated at Rs3.1 billion while Cardiology Centre is being built with a cost of Rs2.6 billion. The Cardiology Centre, spread over 50 kanals, would have 220 beds and it would be completed in June 2013. The news

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