Karachi University Plagiarism scam | IBA executive education

Plagiarism scam hits Karachi varsity
Islamabad, April 16: Higher Education Commission (HEC) has received a case of plagiarism in which a student of Karachi University has alleged that her teacher stole her thesis and got it published with her name to get financial benefits.

According to sources, Mehwish Hameed, a PhD Scholar in Botany from Karachi University has alleged that her supervisor plagiarised her whole research work on: 'Conservation of Fresh Water in Karachi' and got it published with her own name to win over Rs0.7million research productivity allowance granted by Pakistan Scientific Research Council (PSRC).

Now, she further alleged, the supervisor is continuously creating hurdles at each step of her studies and even cancelled her admission in 2007.

Mehwish further stated she contacted the ombudsman's office in Sindh the same year who gave a decision in her favour too saying: "If people like Mehwish's supervisor are not punished then more students will be victimised". The ombudsman in his decision directed vice chancellor of the university to, "move a case to Governor Sindh, the varsity's chancellor, initiating action against the accused for committing gross misconduct."

The ombudsman also directed the university authorities that complainant should neither be harassed nor victimised in pursuing her studies.

Respondents at Karachi University however failed to comply as the case was never forwarded.

After that Mehwish filed a case at Sindh High Court (SHC) to get her degree where she is contesting the case herself as she said she was a poor student and could not afford the hefty fees of the lawyers. The case had been facing delays since then due to her ignorance of the legal affairs.

She said that on the directions of Col Mohyuddin, Investigation Officer at Mohtasib Department, she was allowed to continue her education at the university where she submitted her thesis along with evaluation fee and was waiting for issuance of the doctorate degree.

Mehwish Hameed said she completed her thesis work in 2010 and had been waiting to get her degree since then but management of the university was not issuing it.

She further said: "I have applied for the post of lecturer offered by the HEC and got selected but the commission has been demanding the degree due to which I am not being appointed.

"I have submitted an application with the Executive Director HEC, Dr Sohail Naqvi requesting him to take notice of the issue and ensure justice in my case but so far no one has contacted me."

Dr Sohail Naqvi confirmed he has had correspondence with Mehwish regarding the case.

"According to rules, we have to send such cases to relevant university first and in case it fails to address the grievances only then we can take action.

"On Monday (today) I will personally ask about the case and will ensure that justice is done to the affected student," he assured.

Spokesperson for the university Farheen Zehra said the registrar has already formed an inquiry committee but so far its findings have not been received. Action will be taken after completion of the inquiry. When asked to get an update from the inquiry committee, she said she joined the university on March 1 and did not have cell numbers of its members.

Vice Chancellor of Karachi University Dr Mohammad Qaisar said: "The student is mentally disturbed and is deliberately spoiling the image of the university by dragging it to the court.

"She can be awarded an MPhil degree but awarding her the PhD degree was out of question."

Commenting on the inquiry he said: "We formed an inquiry committee earlier on the directions of ombudsman that decided against the student". Dawn

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Criminology, Visual Studies to get KU dept status
Karachi: The Karachi University syndicate has decided to take no action against any of its staff members responsible for running a so-called criminology department on the campus, which had never been approved as a department by the varsity's statutory bodies, it emerged on Sunday.

Sources said that the syndicate meeting, which was held on Saturday and continued for more than five hours, also decided to set up a criminology department, separate from the sociology department, within two months by getting its approval from the university bodies concerned.

They said the university syndicate after a prolonged debate on reports prepared by committees set up to look into the case concluded that since the university administration, members of the Board of Advanced Studies and Research and a number of teachers were involved, deliberately or unintentionally, in the criminology 'department' case, it was deemed fit to clear all and that Dr Fateh Mohammad Burfat would only be reprimanded over his 'negligence'.

The university syndicate also reaffirmed its past decision of clearing three senior teachers of plagiarism against whom relevant charges had been proved by a committee instituted by the university itself. The plagiarism charges against an ad-hoc teacher were also dropped.

The meeting referred the plagiarism policy document prepared by its committee to the academic council for approval after some members expressed reservations over the punishments, recommended for the crime, which, they believed, were too harsh.

The members also decided to regularise the 'department' of visual studies by getting it approved by the university's statutory bodies.

Currently, the 'department of visual studies' being run for many years on the campus lacks permanent faculty and has no representation on the university's statutory bodies.

The matter of the criminology department had been pending with the KU syndicate for two years. The department was being run for many years and the university administration officially accepted its mistake when the media exposed it. But it did not withdraw the PhD degree it had awarded to a student. Later, the university took all the masters students registered in the criminology department into its sociology department, where the subject, criminology, was offered as a course after taking students' consent.

At least seven MPhil/PhD students did not agree to changing their department from criminology to sociology and decided to wait for the decision of a court, whose intervention was sought by one of the affected students.

The teachers accused of plagiarism were: Prof Dr Jalaluddin Noori, Prof Dr Sayeed Arayen, Prof Dr Najma Sultana and Dr Zakia Bibi. Dawn

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KU admissions
Karachi: Students who are waiting for their final results could apply for the Karachi University entrance test for admissions in MPhil/PhD Programmes 2012, the university administration announced on Sunday. 

However, for provisional admissions, the students will have to submit their mark sheets of the last degree passed before May 31, according to the announcement.This has been decided in a recent meeting of the Postgraduate Admission Committee (PGAC) for M.Phil leading to PhD, headed by Prof Dr Shahana Urooj Kazmi.

It has also been decided that since there is no office for the faculty of Law and Medicine in the premises of the KU Campus, the applicants could submit duly filled application forms in the office of the Board of Advanced Studies and Research situated on the first floor in the Administration Block, KU.

It needs to be emphasised that applicants who wish to apply in any other faculty should submit their applications in the respective faculties only. It is pertinent to recall that the forms for admission in MS, M.Phil and PhD programmes could only be downloaded from the university's official website www.uok.edu.pk. The last date for submission of forms is April 17, the KU management announced. The news

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Varsity clash leaves 2 students injured
Karachi: Two students were injured in a clash between student organisations of the University of Karachi here on Saturday.

The clash took place in the premises of Mathematics Department of the university.

According to SHO Mobeena Town police station Idrees Bangash a clash between All Pakistan Muttahida Students Organisation and Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba left a student each of both parties injured. Later, the injured students were shifted to the hospital.

In the aftermath of violence, the educational activities were disturbed badly and students had to leave the varsity premises earlier.

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KU welcomes Dr Chishti's release
Karachi: The postgraduate committee of University of Karachi (KU) for MPhil, PhD, MS, and MA degree programmes held a meeting on Sunday to hail the release of Prof Dr Khalil Chishti from Indian jail.

The meeting was presided over by Prof Dr Shahana Urooj Kazmi. Deans of all faculties, and all institutes, and departments in-charges attended the meeting and discussed the issue of postgraduate admission programme and appreciated the initiative of Indian Supreme Court to release Dr Chishti from Ajmer jail, besides this they also appreciated the effort of President Asif Ali Zardari and Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in this regard.

The committee also appreciated the services of social organisations, students, teachers, and Pakistan Society for Microbiology for the release of Dr Chishti. On the occasion, Kazmi said that the day of replacement was day of happiness for all of us owing to he was not only first Pakistani virologist and alumni of first batch of Microbiology at KU, he also joined department as a teacher in 1972. She requested, on behalf of all Pakistanis, to the Indian government to grant early release to Chishti.

Meanwhile, the committee decided that the students waiting for their final results were also eligible to apply for admission to MPhil/PhD programme, 2012. Daily times

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IBA inks MoU with ISB India to provide executive education
Karachi: The Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi took a winning leap as it inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Indian School of Business (ISB) to provide Executive Education in Pakistan.

The MoU was signed by Dr Ishrat Husain, Dean and Director, IBA, Karachi and Deepak Chandra, Deputy Dean, ISB at the ISB campus, Hyderabad, India on April 13.

The collaboration brings together IBA (the oldest business school outside North America) and ISB's Centre for Executive Education (CEE), one of the largest executive education providers in Asia, to offer open and custom-designed courses for the senior management seeking swift career growth in the country.

ISB is recently ranked 12th among the top Global Business Schools and is the only school in South Asia which has won the prestigious Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accreditation. This alliance is considered a major milestone in IBA's journey to be ranked among the top100 business schools in the world.

Chandra, while addressing a press conference, announced that IBA Karachi is the first business school in emerging countries with which ISB has entered into a partnership. He said, "We are delighted to associate with the IBA (Karachi) to provide executive education programmes. This marks the beginning of a new chapter in the history of two distinguished business schools in the region. The IBA and ISB are equally dedicated to develop and enhance business leadership through innovative world class programmes in management."

Chandra further added, "We are confident that this partnership will help generate tremendous opportunities for cross-collaboration between the two schools and sets the tone for many more future associations aimed at nurturing business leaders and entrepreneurs who would contribute to the growth of business and industry in Pakistan".

Expressing his pleasure, Dr Husain shared, "I am delighted to be here at Hyderabad to sign this MoU with one of the top ranking global business schools- the ISB. This start is on a modest scale but we will build up our relations over time as each one of the two institutions gets to know the other. As a long time advocate and firm believer in friendly relations between the two neighborly countries for peace and prosperity of our people this event represents a turning point."

Foreseeing the future, Dr Husain said, "This collaboration between IBA and ISB is just the foundation of a long-term broad based relationship in which the two institutions will pool resources for curriculum review, faculty development, joint research & case studies, students & faculty exchange and much more in future."

He hoped that the two institutions would make further strides in the future that would add value to students, faculty and corporate sectors in the two countries.pr

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SSUET awards gold medals to researchers
Karachi: ZA Nizami, vice chancellor of the Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology, presented on Sunday gold medals to people for their contribution in the field of research and education. The first gold medal was awarded to Prof Dr Hakim Aaqil in recognition of his work in the IT sector, whereas the second medal was handed over to Prof Dr Muhammad Qaiser, the vice chancellor of Karachi University for his mammoth contribution to research. While one of the youngest and brightest scientists of the country, Prof Dr Muhammad Iqbal Choudhry, clinched the third gold medal for his invaluable services in research development.

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Nazeer Hussain University opens with vow to provide quality education
Karachi: Professional education is the sine qua non for the survival and progress of Pakistan and full attention will have to be given to the education along with defence for the national security.

These views were expressed by Tariq Mir at the inaugural function of Nazeer Hussain University (NHU) in Karachi on Friday, according to a press release.

Mir is the president of the NHU and founder and managing trustee of the Society for Unwell and Needy (SUN), an international welfare organisation.

Mir said that lack of proper education and ignorance was incongruous with the 21st century. He said that the NHU would prove to be a milestone in the progress and advancement of the country.

He said it was unfortunate that the Pakistani universities were not at par with international standards. He said that the NHU would not only compete with the international universities in high standards but it would equip the students for better employment.

Speaking about the programmes being offered by the university, Mir said that initially admissions would be given in the faculties of engineering, architecture and business administration. He said that the faculty of medicine would also start functioning soon.

He said that highly qualified teachers living outside the country would also participate in the process of teaching through video conferencing.

The admission process would start in August 2012 and initially 1,000 students would be admitted. The university, spreading on an area of 15 acres, has future expansion plans to accommodate 5,000 students in various faculties.

Mir said that hostel and sports facilities would also be provided to the students.

Deputy conveners of the Coordination Committee of the MQM, Dr Muhammad Farooq Sattar, Anis Ahmed Qaimkhani, Nasreen Jalil, Dr Nusrat Shoukat, other members of the committee, MNAs, MPAs and senators were also present on the occasion.

Syed Mustafa Kamal, member of the Coordination Committee, vice chancellor of Muhammad Ali Jinnah University Dr Abdul Wahab, former British Justice Minister Shahid Malik, Nasir Gulzar also spoke.

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Educational trust celebrates 30 years of imparting education
Karachi: The Shahwilayat Educational Trust is celebrating 30 years of offering dedicated and selfless services in the field of education. They had set up a state-of-the-art school 30 years back, the Shahwilayat Public School, in Federal B Area, Karachi, to prove their mettle in the field of education.

Built in a middle-income area to provide quality education at a minimum possible cost, the Shahwilayat Public School is now considered the best school in District Central.

The ceremony will begin at 7.30pm on Sunday, April 15, with a brief rundown on the Trust's efforts in building and running the school over the years, and the Shahwilayat Public School's achievements in a span of 30 years, followed by a documentary and then an announcement of the launching of the Trust's second project i.e. the setting up of a second campus of the Shahwilayat Public school in Scheme 33, Karachi. There will also be an unveiling of the plaque etched with the name of Sharfuddin Shahwilayat, the great sufi saint. The Trust and the school are named after his name.

The chief guest of the ceremony will be Senator Mustafa Kamal, former mayor of Karachi.

The Trust has conceived these projects after much deliberation over the fact that true social uplift and development of the Pakistani masses is only possible through education. Currently, the Shahwilayat Public School is imparting education to a total of 1,800 students right from kindergarten to Matric and O'levels sections. It continues to run on a no-profit no-loss basis.

The second project of the school in Scheme 33 aims to provide a wholesome learning environment in a building that will be designed on modern lines. The land for the school premises has been purchased and the architectural drawings and design of the school have been prepared. Though the kindergarten, primary, and middle school will be separate, they will be interconnected to bring about homogeneity in the learning environment. The new school is a huge project for which the estimated cost is Rs400,000,000.

At present there is no good school in the Scheme 33 area. It urgently needs a high quality school that imparts education at a minimum possible cost. The Trust has successfully run a good school in Federal B Area, and now it aims to replicate the experience by building another school in Scheme 33 with high academic standards. This will also lead to the socio-economic uplift of the entire locality, a goal that the Shahwilayat Educational Trust keeps very close to the heart.

The ceremony will commence at the Shahwilayat Public School, St.8, Federal B Area, at 7.30pm sharp and will be followed by dinner. The news

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Negligence of edu dept ruins one academic year of 18 students
Karachi: Negligence of education department has ruined an entire educational year of around 18 college girls.

A few months ago, Government Degree Girls College, Gulistan-e-Jauhar invited applications for admissions in degree classes, but strangely only after four months, the college administration cancelled all the admissions in the pretext of an issue of affiliation with the University of Karachi (KU) over degree programme issue.

As per details, present college principal Nilofer Shah had gotten 'No Objection Certificate' (NOC) from DG Colleges on Dec 30, 2011 for applying affiliation of BA programme and submitted the application with NOC in office of KU Deputy Registrar Academic office on Jan 16, 2012 for approval.

In response on February 3, 2012, KU affiliation team, comprising 17 members with experts of subjects, inspected the college. KU affiliation committee posted their survey report to the college after a prolonged period of two months on April 3, 2012 and declared educational process as dissatisfactory, raised concerns, while focusing on library and faculty. They directed the principal to fulfill the requirements within three months so that college could be affiliated for BA programme. According to report, teachers of Urdu, English and Political Science were not satisfied to teach students of degree level.

College principal did not inform DG Colleges about the response of KU and cancelled all the admissions of BA and directed their college accountant to refund fees to the students, which was submitted at the time of admission. The dilemma, that raised here was that all those girls took admission in the college, have lost their chance to take admission in other colleges and instead of resolving their issue, the college administration was offering students to take admission as a private candidate.

When contacted, college principal said that DG Colleges allowed them to issue the admissions before affiliation, but they did not have any written permission on demand. She said, "DG Colleges granted us admission permission verbally."

When asked DG Colleges Nasirul Ansar, in this regard, he said, "We issued NOC but principal did not inform us about the response of KU." He stated that he did not know how college issued admissions before decision of KU affiliation committee and principal should inform them about the response so that they could fulfill requirements demanded from KU. He further informed that principal did not have right to cancel admission of students and he strongly condemned it. He added that he would contact with principal on Monday and would inquire the issue.

Affected students and their parents said that it was big blunder of college and now they were providing us forms of private instead of transferring their children in any other college and they were unable to get admission in any other college because admission dates were closed.

Another aspect that came to know was that the Government Degree Girls College, Gulistan-e-Jauhar was the first ever degree college in the history, which was not eligible to run degree classes and due to negligence of college principal, college was still illegible to run degree level programme once again and DG Colleges did not take any kind of notice of the issue. Daily times

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Exam centre changed over corruption charges
Karachi: The Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK) on Sunday announced that one of the examination centres for the ongoing annual exams of the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) has been changed on the charges of corruption.

Controller of Examinations Rafia Mallah said that the board had received a complaint from a student who was giving her paper at the Global Educational Secondary School, near Bismillah Chowk, Orangi Town No 10, that the centre superintendent was demanding an amount of money from each student and in return allowing them to use unfair means while solving the paper.

The management of the school was found guilty of providing materials for cheating to the students and the invigilators were too young for their jobs, she said. "The visiting team of the BSEK observed a lot of irregularities during their visit and decided to change the examination centre with immediate effect," she said.

Now the students of the school would appear at the Government Girls Secondary School, New Happy Garden, located in Bismillah Colony, Orangi Town 10, she added. According to her, the BSEK has sent official complaint against the school and its management to the departments concerned. The news

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