Preston University singing competition

Preston University holds singing competition
Islamabad, Aug 15: The students enthralled the audience with their melodious songs in the Inter-university Singing Competition 2009 organised by the Preston University here.

The jam-packed hall of the university echoed with clapping and hooting by youngsters, who kept on applauding the amateur singers from different universities of the twin cities. The audience remained excited throughout the event.

There were three competitions held on the same day, namely the singing competition, dumb charade and a marketing competition titled 'Sell It'. The participating universities included the host university, National University of Modern Languages (Numl), Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi (AAUR), SKANS, Bahria University, Comsats and International Islamic University, Islamabad (IIUI).

The participants of the singing competition enthralled the audience with their excellent voice quality and complete grasp over the art of singing that was no less than that of a professional singer. A few of them such as Sahiba of AAUR, Iffat Shaheen of Preston University, Syed Bilal of Bahria University and Adnan Ahmed of Numl gave such a powerful performance that the audience at once accompanied them in singing.

Iffat Shaheen sung the beautiful ghazal of Faraz 'Mujh say pehli si mohabbat' without the help of any musical instrument so tremendously that she received a standing ovation from the audience.

The penal of judges for the singing competition included Nazia Hameed, Nauman Khalid and Kaleem A Barlas, who, in their remarks, thoroughly appreciated the participants, saying that they are the real future of the country. Ashir of Iqra University got the top honour in the singing competition while Iffat Shaheen of Preston University and Adnan Ahmed of Numl bagged the second and third positions respectively.

The dumb charade competition was unique and interesting, where one of the team partners was given some phrase or word and he had to act upon it only with actions and no words while his/her partners had to guess the right phrase or word. Preston University Kohat Campus was the only participating team in the competition; hence they were prized without any contest.

Later, the competition 'Sell It' was held to gauge the marketing skills of the students who were given some topics only a few minutes before the act and they had to come up with an advertisement of 45 seconds duration on their assigned topic. Preston University Islamabad Campus got the first prize in this competition while IIUI came second and SKANS got the third position.

Preston University Chancellor Dr Abdul Basit while addressing on the occasion said the varsity ever tries to explore the talent of its students in different creative fields and equally focuses on co-curricular activities. "We have tried to create a balance between the curricular and extra-curricular activities, which is a must for building the balanced personalities of the youth," he said.

Myra Imran adds: To acknowledge the role of media in the promotion of education in the country, Preston University arranged a dinner for media organisations as part of their ongoing activities to mark the institution's Silver Jubilee celebrations.

Representatives of print and electronic media organisations and eminent journalists attended the event. Parliamentary Secretary for Information & Broadcasting Azeem Doltana, the chief guest on the occasion, distributed shields among the media representatives.

Speaking on the occasion, Chancellor Preston University Dr Abdul Basit thanked the media for its continuous support and encouragement. "In the past 25 years, constant acknowledgment from media at every step forward was the major motivating force for the staff and students of Preston University," he said.

The chancellor appreciated the media for bringing a change in the public mindset through its extensive coverage of social issues, adding that it has played an important role in the development of higher education in the private sector.

"This dinner is aimed at acknowledging the cooperation the media organisations extended during this long journey of developing a small institute into an 'A' grade university." He said the journey is not yet over, as the university is committed to continue providing the highest quality education to the country's youth. "It is our mission to develop trained and educated human resource that can contribute in the development of the country."

Preston University is celebrating 25 years of its dedicated services to the country. Starting with only five students in the year 1984, the university today has a large network of campuses in the country with the total enrolment exceeding 8,000 students. The news

Post your comments

I-Day celebrated in FJWU
Rawalpindi: As per tradition, the Independence Day was celebrated whole-heartedly and enthusiastically at Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU), Rawalpindi, on Friday.

The Independence Day ceremony was held at 10:00am. Vice-chancellor of Fatima Jinnah Women University, Prof Dr Saeeda Asadullah Khan hoisted the national flag.

The event formally started with the recitation from the holy Quran by Aaliya Jawad, lecturer Department of Education, and culminated with special prayers for the prosperity and solidarity of the country.

The vice-chancellor in her address said that August 14 is the day of reviving the promise and commitment to make the country prosperous.

She said that our forefathers had made huge sacrifices to get an independent homeland and now they had to use their fullest capacity to make the country achieve the new destinations of success.

She advised the students to keenly follow unity, faith and discipline, principles of the great leader of the nation, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

A prize distribution ceremony was also held to award prizes to the winners of radio drama competitions, organised earlier in connection with the Independence Day celebrations.

Students from various departments participated in the competition with fullest zeal and fervor. The vice-chancellor, Professor Dr Saeeda Asadullah Khan awarded the prizes to the winning students and applauded their efforts.

The first prize in the radio drama competition went to the Department of Islamic Studies while the second and third prizes were awarded to the Department of Defence and Diplomatic Studies and Department of Bachelors of Computer Arts respectively.

Certificates of appreciation were also awarded to the English and Behavioural Sciences Departments acknowledging the volunteer participation of their students in the campus radio VOW (Fm 96.6 Mhz).

The university premises, decorated with beautiful lights, was giving a festive look. Students from different departments of the university paid tribute to the holy land in the form of national songs while the Faculty and Staff members were served with sweets and breakfast.

Later in the day, the third anniversary of the FJWU Campus Radio was also celebrated. Radio VOW (96.6) arranged a live transmission based on Independence Day special programnes from 8:00am to 4:00pm to commemorate the auspicious day of National Independence.

Thirty, special participation certificates were distributed among the students of different departments who have been participating in Radio VOW's programmes on Voluntary basis throughout the year. The nation

Post your comments

Function at CDA school
Islamabad: The CDA Model School organised a simple but impressive event to celebrate 63rd Independence Day of Pakistan here on Friday.

The school was decorated tastefully to make the function more colourful, attended by school staff and students. Principal of the school Mrs. Shahwar Ajmal opened the ceremony with the hoisting of national flag, which was followed by national anthem.

The students of the institution presented tableaus and stage shows depicting patriotism and love with their motherland. Speaking on the occasion, the principal advised the students to work hard in their student life so that they could become useful citizens to play their role in progress and prosperity of the country. She also highlighted the importance of faith, unity and discipline as stated by Father of the Nation, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The news

Post your comments

On-the-spot mural painting competition: Students paint Pakistan Movement leaders at NAG
Islamabad: Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) on Friday arranged 'On the Spot Mural Painting Competition' titled 'Pakistan Day Celebrations' among schoolchildren at the National Art Gallery (NAG) to highlight the Pakistan Movement and sacrifices rendered by the people at that time for the independence of the country.

In the competition, students depicted Quaid's life, struggle and sacrifices for the independence of Pakistan. The participants tried to educate the youth about their roles and responsibilities in nation building. Some students used pieces of poetry and Quaid's sayings to make their art more effective.

Some 100 youngsters took part in the competition. They painted photographs of Quaid-e-Azam, Allama Iqbal, their mausoleums, historical buildings, ancient mosques and national flag.

PNCA under 'Freedon Fest 2009' also held a string of other cultural activities including national and folk songs and dances and regional dances of four provinces and Northern Areas in connection with Independence Day celebrations.

Later, a number of artists from different provinces presented a potpourri of folk and national songs and regional dances to highlight patriotism and unity.

Songs: Singers Sara Raza Khan, Javed Niazi, Babar Niazi, Manzoor Malangi, Deeba Sehar, Raza Allan Faqir, Bashir Baloch, Waghma and Ghazala also performed on this occasion. They sung popular folk, national and patriotic songs and received great applause from the audience.

Dances: Artists from NPAG Islamabad, Bhit Shah Group from Sindh and performers from Northern Areas also enthralled jam-packed auditorium with their regional dances in traditional attire. They gave beautiful performances expressing their feelings for their motherland on this auspicious occasion of Independence Day.

Children in the auditorium, who were carrying Pakistani flags, were swirling and swaying to the tune of folk music.

PNCA Director General Tauqir Nasir said such events were aimed at promoting the peaceful culture and festivals of Pakistan. He said by celebrating the Independence Day in a befitting manner they could send a message that Pakistanis were a peaceful nation.

He appreciated the enthusiastic participation of the schoolchildren and artists from different provinces in the Independence Day celebrations.

Nasir said Pakistanis were a brave nation and creation of Pakistan was a miracle that was a result of their bravery.

A prize distribution ceremony was held at the end of the event in which different schools were given PNCA shields and certificates for their participation in the painting exhibition. Daily times

Post your comments