Karachi university BCom paper leackage

Bomb hoax, leaked paper plunges KU into chaos
Karachi, Jan 8: Thousands of students were taken aback halfway through their business communication exam on Thursday when the University of Karachi cancelled the paper for a second time, citing leakage of the question paper.

The university administration had earlier cancelled entrance tests for the BBA admissions about two weeks ago on the same grounds.

Both the cases were related to the faculty of management sciences under which the departments of commerce, public administration and business administration function.

A number of students who had come to the university to take the BCom examination expressed disappointment over the postponement of the business communication paper.

They said it's the second time the administration had postponed the same examination.

"The BCom Part II paper of business communication was earlier scheduled for Dec 12. Its date was revised and it was rescheduled for Dec 19 due to the administration's engagements in the university convocation. Today, the same paper has been cancelled, however, on a different ground," a student said.

The candidates who appeared in the exam said that the test started on time, around 1.50pm, but it was cancelled at 3pm. "We came to know later that the paper was being sold in the city and a channel broke the news of the paper's leak at 2pm. If that was the case, why did the university administration take so long to cancel the paper? I had already answered almost half of the questions," another student said.

No KU official, including the controller of examinations, was available to respond to Dawn queries.

A large number of students staged a protest demonstration against the paper leak and subsequent postponement on University Road in the afternoon.

Pointing out possible 'lapses' in such cases, a KU teacher said that the question paper passed through many hands before it finally reached a student and a lapse could occur at any stage.

"It is difficult to accuse the examiner or the moderator (the person who checks the question paper prepared by the examiner for any correction) for any foul play. However, the people involved in its printing on the campus and those assigned to take the paper to different educational institutions are much vulnerable to any irregularities."

The BCom annual examinations-2009 for regular candidates began last month. A total of 38,658 candidates – 25,990 males and 12,668 females – are appearing in both parts of the exams. The university has set up 43 examination centres on its campus for boys and 17 centres in government colleges for girls.

According to a university statement on the paper leak issued late in the evening, KU vice-chancellor Prof Dr Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui has set up an inquiry committee comprising Prof Tanveer Khalid, Prof Mansoor Ahmed and Dr Nasiruddin Khan, the controller of examinations. The committee has been directed to submit a report on the paper leak within three days.

The university announced that the postponed paper would be held on Jan 17 (Sunday) from 2pm to 5pm at the same examination centres. Several teams had been constituted which would stay at the university and other centres in the city on the day of exam, it added.

According to the KU statement, 18 people have been posted to take the question papers to examination centres set up in different colleges for distribution. They leave the university at 12.30pm, while the question papers meant for distribution on the campus are not sent before 1.45pm. The TV channel broke the news at 1.30pm, giving credit to the assumption that such incident did not take place on the campus premises, the statement added.

Linking the paper leak with a hoax bomb alarm, the press statement says the university "remained under various rumours, including the one of a bomb planted at KU's administration block today. A large number of students were entering the campus at that time but the administration handled the situation quite well. Soon afterwards, a channel broke the news of the cancellation of BCom part-II examination. A few students reacted to it. After having a keen look at these incidents, it is not difficult to find a link."

On Thursday morning, an e-mail was received at the Institute of Business Administration, stating that bombs planted in the IBA building and KU administration block could go off anytime.

A bomb disposal squad was called in and it declared the university cleared of any bomb threat. In the meantime, visitors entering the campus were subjected to thorough security checks by Rangers personnel and security officials on the pretext of 'enhanced security'. The visitors were not allowed to take any type of equipment inside the university in a bid to detect explosives.

Everyone was stopped at the campus gates and asked to justify the reason for their visit. The entry was subject to confirmation of their identity and permission by university officials over the phone. Besides, the visitors were asked to submit identity cards at the gates to get an entrance slip. Dawn

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Book published on early warning systems
Karachi: The Department of International Relations, University of Karachi (KU), has published a book in collaboration with the Hanns Seidal Foundation Islamabad entitled, 'Early Warning Systems Potential for Crises Management and Regional Corporation' on Thursday.

The book edited by Professor Dr Moonis Ahmer, Chairman of International Relations Department, University of Karachi and Director, Programme on Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution has contributions from renewed experts from Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and the United States like Dr Kumar Rupesinghe from Sri Lanka, Professor Joseph Bock from the United States. Abdul Mateen Khan, Director General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Islamabad, Nausheen Wasi, Meezan Zehra Khawaja, Dr Maqsudul Hasan Nuri and Dr Mussarat Jabeen from Pakistan and Dr Duba Chandran from India.

It is the first book on the theme of early warning published in Pakistan and has detailed research chapters on the concept of early warning and its mechanisms, United Nations and Early Warning Systems, Regional Organisations and Early Warning Mechanisms, Early Warning and Early Warning System to Manager Drought Disaster in South Asia. The book has been printed by the Bureau of Composition, Compilation and Translation (BCC&I) University of Karachi. The news

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VC of Sindh university replaced
Hyderabad: The Vice Chancellor, Sindh University, Mazharul Haq Siddiqui, is reported to have been replaced by one of the former VCs of the SU, Dr Nazeer Mughal.

Impeccable sources said that the notification in this regard was issued on Thursday evening. However, it did not reach the university at the time of filing of this report. Dawn

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DJ college maintenance
Karachi: Sindh Senior Minister for Education and Literacy, Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq has directed to speed up the ornamental and decoration work of the DJ Science College as well as maintain its historic importance.

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Tribute to Dr M.Sarwar
Karachi: Amidst an environment wherein malignant aggression has taken deep root in Pakistani society and suicide bombing and terrorism have become the order of the day, students and youth of Karachi will assemble on January 9 at the Arts Council of Pakistan to pay homage to Dr Mohammad Sarwar, leader of the January 1953, students' movement.

The gathering, it is hoped, will act as a catalyst for the revival of a genuine democratic movement in Pakistan.

The historic 1953 students' movement was spearheaded by the Democratic Students Federation (DSF), which was established by the (late) Dr Mohammad Sarwar and his comrades to in 1950 in difficult times.

The backdrop of the 1953 students' movement was gloomy. The population of Karachi grew by as much as 600,000 between 1947 and 1951 as a result of influx of immigrants from India. Schools and colleges were in bad shape and there was an urgent need for establishing a university in the then capital city of Pakistan.

"DSF drew up a 'Charter of Demands' including issues like tuition fees and library facilities. We decided to hold 'Demands Day' on January 7, 1953, and met the education minister, Fazlur Rehman. The administration blocked the protest, resorted to lathi charge, tear gas and arrested the leaders. Meanwhile, another students' group, the 'World University Service,' led by Qamar-uz-Zaman and patronised by the Vice Chancellor of Karachi University A.B. A. Haleem, met Fazlur Rehman. They announced that all the students' demands had been met," according to an article written jointly by Dr. Syed Haroon Ahmed and Saleem Asmi and published in an English daily on April 5, 2008.

Police barricaded the area around DJ Science College where 5,000 to 6,000 students had converged for 'Demands Day'. Infuriated students charged out of the college compound, despite tear-gassing and baton-charging by the police. Hundreds of students managed to reach the Education Minister's residence only to find him unavailable. Police arrested some of the leadership but had to release them under pressure as hundreds of students who refused to move from the spot. The released leaders immediately announced another rally the next day. This too was a peaceful protest but with twice the number of participants in protest at the police brutality of the previous day.

Police firing upon students near Paradise Cinema in Saddar on January 8 took the lives of at least six students and a passer by. The ugly incident brought a sharp reaction from the student community and the common man in the city as elsewhere. But according to Students' Herald, the fortnightly published by DSF, eight students and several passers-by with a total of 27 were killed over three days, January 7-9, 1953.

Following the Baghdad Pact of 1954, the government banned DSF along with the Communist Party of Pakistan (CPP) and Progressive Writers' Association (PWA). The ban was followed by mass arrests, including the arrest of Mohammad Sarwar. According to Dr Haroon Ahmed, one of the DSF leaders, Sarwar received his final MBBS results while in prison.

The ban on DSF, however, did not deter the students and they re-emerged under the umbrella of National Students Federation (NSF) that happened to be a small, right-wing organisation but underwent a metamorphosis after progressive students joined it en masse. Since then, students under the leadership of NSF celebrated January 8 as "Martyrs Day" year after year until it withered away in the 1980s due to a host of reasons.

These included state repression, under the despotic rule of Gen. Ziaul Haq, infiltration of intelligence agencies in its rank and file, a myopic policy pursued by underground communist groups, division in international communist movement etc. However, the momentum of January 7, 1953 movement under the dynamic leadership of Mohammad Sarwar gave impetus to NSF leadership and its rank and file and it led student movements in 1962, 1964, and 1968-69.

The democratic upsurge of 1968-69 happens to be another landmark in the student movement of Pakistan after January 7, 1953 movement, since it forced military dictator Gen. Ayub Khan to announce that he would not take part in next elections and that was no doubt a great victory.

On the anniversary of 'Martyrs Day' on January 8 (today), the legacy of Dr Mohammad Sarwar is very much alive and veterans have come out of hibernation. It is hoped that the grand event at Arts Council of Pakistan on January 9 will pave the way for the reincarnation of Pakistan's glorious student movement that made headlines in 1953 as well as in 1968-69. Societies degenerate but there is always the process of regeneration.

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Naval chief stresses on goal-oriented education
Larkana: Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Noman Bashir has said goal-oriented education is the only barometer to gauge the level of any nation's progress. He was addressing a ceremony on the occasion of the 18th Annual Parents Day at Cadet College, Larkana (CCL), some 26 kms from here, the other day.

The chief of the naval staff said enlightened youth could not only stop wrong deeds but they could also transform them into good ones. He said it was only through quality education aimed at personality and character building of the youth that terrorism could be uprooted.

He said it was the triangle of parents, teachers and students that could achieve the aforementioned objective. Addressing the cadets, he said they should always remember that ideas without actions did not produce any result.

While appreciating the facilities and degree of commitment of the institution's staff, he said that the cadet college was excelling at the national level in providing quality education to the future leadership of Pakistan.

On the occasion, the naval chief announced an endowment of Rs 500,000 for the college and also assured extending complete cooperation to the college. Earlier, the principal and the Project Director of Cadet College, Larkana, (CCL) Professor Muhammad Yousuf presented the annual report and narrated the achievements of the college and academic activities and co-curricular activities of the institution.

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Youth Day organised in Jacobabad
Jacobabad: A youth event was organised by the Youth Action for Pakistan (YAP) on the Youth Day here on Thursday.

The day was given the name of Jacobabad Youth Day and was connected with the Aids Day, Disabled Day, Human Rights Day and Volunteers Day. A large number of youths, male and female, participated in the event. The EDO Health, Jacobabad, Dr Deedar Husain Jamali, DPO UNFPA Dr Asif Shah and DO Social Welfare, Jacobabad, Muzaffar Ali Channa, were the guests of honour.

The YAP distributed awards and certificates among 380 male and female youths, who completed the course of life-based-skills education on reproductive health. Addressing on the occasion, the EDO Health, Dr Deedar, said: "Youth are major part of our country's population and are the future of Pakistan. We need to prepare their minds for the future. Unfortunately, our youth are wasting their abilities in unproductive activities."

He emphasised the NGOs to focus on capacity-building of the youth. The UNFPA has focussed on 10 districts of Pakistan, including Jacobabad, where the progress is very satisfactory." The news

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