National University of Modern Languages scholarships

NUML rector, directors caught by own auditors
Islamabad, Jan 6: An audit report of the Army-run National University of Modern Languages (NUML) has found that its Rector, a retired Army brigadier, was also receiving the salary of a night watchman (security supervisor), getting tax rebates as a researcher and had sent his daughter and son-in-law abroad using the university scholarships.

While the NUML management has given some lame justifications for these acts, the auditors have found them unsatisfactory. The report finds that out of three scholarship grants, two were granted to the Rector's family members. A grant of Rs 15.4 million allocated for setting up linkages and exchange of visits with the Utrecht University of the Netherlands was used for summer vacation in the UK, the USA, France and Turkey.

A hefty amount collected under the head of fine from students was kept aside for discretionary use of the management as "daily expenditures," the audit report disclosed. Besides, dozens of appointments were made during a period of hiring ban. One such beneficiary, Maj Gen (retd) Owais Mushtaq Qureshi, has now been appointed as Federal Public Service Commission member.

The report finds that Brig. (retd) Aziz Ahmad Khan, the Rector, is not the only official involved in irregularities, he has many partners posted on senior positions like director administration, director finance, director libraries, registrar and director academics.

As for drawing money under the garb of a supervisor of security guards, other beneficiaries include his director administration Muhammad Yasin, director finance Muhammad Ashraf, director libraries Muhammad Abbas, registrar Kamran Jahangir and director academics Saeed Akhtar Malik. The Rector, together with his partners, impersonated as security supervisor to collect Rs 620,549 in extra money.

Defending itself, the NUML administration told the auditors that high-level security was organised for the protection of a sizeable number of foreign military students in the university. "This was the time when the security situation in Islamabad was beyond anyone's control. It was, therefore, decided that high-level security be organised. This included security provided by the agencies and overseen by senior officers of the university. It would be appreciated that the whole night duty would definitely require compensation. Hence, the amount under observation was paid. However, as soon as these sensitive students had completed stay at the campus, the payment was stopped forthwith," the NUML said.

The audit report, however, turned down the plea, saying: "Security didn't fall under the responsibility of the officers mentioned" and directed the beneficiaries to return the money. The Rector's daughter, Ayesha, and her husband, Waqas Hassan, are named as the two, out of three beneficiaries, who were granted M Phil leading to PhD scholarships for study in Sussex University, UK. The criteria for granting such awards were not adhered to, the audit report objected, noting that there was no provision of awarding scholarship for higher education in the NUML Ordinance 2000.

The university administration responding to this objection said the criteria for selection was transparent, the candidates had fulfilled all the conditions for winning the scholarship and that the Rector was not part of the selection committee.

The Rector's administrative post notwithstanding, he received 75 per cent tax rebate posing as researcher as the facility is available to those involved in research work. Director planning & coordination and registrar also abused this facility, the audit objected.

The NUML's reply to this charge was that PhD degree holders from foreign university, who also work as teacher and researcher, qualify for the rebate. This justification was also rejected by the auditors who observed that the facility was available only to full-time teachers.

As regards the use of Rs 15.4 million allocated for setting up linkages and exchange of visits with the Utrecht University, the project was intended to promote research and development at the postgraduate level. A department called "Government and Organisational Science" was to be established with similar system in currency at the Utrecht University. The staff was to be trained by the Utrecht University with its staff biannual visit to Pakistan be arranged. It was not done; instead the NUML management started using it for foreign visits.

"The activities of the project mainly depicts the picture that the programme was made to have foreign visits to UK, USA, France, Netherlands, Turkey during vacations of the university," noted the audit report.

The NUML administration replying to this objection said that the PC-1 provides that joint faculty visits will be undertaken by the Pakistani side in May and June every year because in June and early part of July, Utrecht's faculty and administrators are free from their routine assignments and can spare more time for research. However, the management didn't reply as to how the visits to other countries were undertaken using these funds.

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RBISE FA Supplementary result
Rawalpindi: Board of Intermediate & Secondary Education, Rawalpindi will announce the result for Intermediate Supplementary Examination on January 8 at 10am.

The copies of the gazette may be obtained after getting a token from Habib Bank Limited, Rahmanabad Branch on payment of Rs400, said an announcement by the Board here Tuesday.

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Students complained about scarce facilities at private college
Peshawar: The students of Peshawar College of Engineering have complained of lack of facilities at the institution despite being made to pay a huge fee.

A group of students of the college said they were not provided any facility despite paying high charges.

They said the mess in the lone hostel of the college was in a deplorable condition. There were no electricity, no gas and no water in the hostel, while the college administration was charging each boarder Rs15,000 per year, they alleged.

They said three students were allowed to occupy one room. Thus, a room has been rented out to a student for Rs45,000 each, they added.An equally pathetic situation can be observed at the college, the student alleged. They said the college lacked qualified faculty and laboratories were almost non-existent.

Fed up with the situation, the students said they had staged a peaceful demonstration on the premises of the college on January 2 to press the administration for providing them the required facilities.

The administration, instead of looking into their concerns, called police who arrested all the boarders. "We were kept in custody for 24 hours at the Badaber Police Station. As there was no charge against us, we were released without producing us in any court of law," one of the students said on condition of anonymity.

When contacted, Principal of the college Dr Fayyaz Noor rejected the allegations as baseless. He said some senior students had virtually taken over the hostel and were not following any rules.

"When I returned from abroad, I appointed an administrator at the hostel to put things in order. The students were opposed to the appointment of the administrator, who is a thorough professional and honest man," he remarked.

The principal said the best meals were being provided to the students. "We charge the students Rs2,000 a month for three meals a day. We have subsidised the hostel mess," he argued.

About the qualification of staff, he claimed that the best faculty had been recruited in the college. "I myself have remained a professor of electrical engineering. I am PhD in my subject and have also done my master's in education from USA," he said.

About laboratory and other facilities, Dr Fayyaz Noor said the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) had registered the institute. "Had we lacked facilities, PEC would have never registered us," he pointed out.

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IIUI Newsletter on bomb blasts
Islamabad: It was not a case of two bomb blasts; it was a blatant attack on the pious grounds of a citadel of learning; a blow to the education system of the country, and a cowardly attack on unarmed, innocent boys and girls, who were in the University, fulfilling their religious duty of the pursuit of knowledge.

The above comments are part of a special edition of the Newsletter of the International Islamic University, Islamabad (IIUI) that appeared here Tuesday.

The special edition has given horrifying accounts of the twin bomb blasts at IIUI on October 20, 2009, alongside complete details of the martyrs of this tragic incident with a list of those injured.

President IIUI Dr Anwar Hussain Siddiqui is the Newsletter's patron-in-chief while Vice President IIUI Parveen Qadir Agha is its patron, Director Academic Policy Gulzar Ahmed Khwaja is its advisor and Deputy Director Public Relations Syed Muzammil Hussain is its editor.

The Newsletter carries the messages of Rector IIUI Prof Fateh Muhammad Malik, and the IIUI president respectively. The rector in his message said it is very tragic that terrorism has been linked with Islam whereas Islam has nothing to do with this alien phenomenon, as Islam is a religion of peace and harmony. He reiterated that the University would continue its march towards excellence in education.

Dr Anwar Hussain Siddiqui in his message said, "There are elements who are against the University because of the uniqueness of its nature of providing equal opportunities to girls by way of providing all types of disciplines in education, including science and technology. They study in an exclusive environment to the satisfaction of their parents and come from all over the country. Perhaps those elements intended to frighten us. But I am proud to say that the resolve of our staff and students, particularly the girls, is steadfast."

The Newsletter also includes two articles by Mrs Parveen Qadir Agha and Gulzar Ahmed Khwaja in which Parveen has spoken on IIUI's response to a cowardly attack while Khwaja spoke on the tragic incident itself.

The Newsletter also carries details of two massive 'Save Pakistan Rallies', held at the University soon after the bomb blasts.

In the picture gallery, the Newsletter has given photographs of the martyrs i.e. Hafiz Nafees Anjum, Hafiz Khalil ur Rehman, Amna Tahir, Amna Batool, Tayyaba Hina, Aqsa Malik, Hina Nawaz, and Sidra Khalid. A special section has been given to Pervez Masih, janitor of the Female Cafeteria, who laid down his life while saving students.

Tributes to the University staff, condolences by national and international community and a number of Urdu and English writings/poems by IIUI students are also part of the Newsletter. The edition also carries media coverage of the bomb blasts and their aftermath.

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BUITEMS 5th convocation
Quetta: The Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering & Management Sciences (BUITEMS) organised its 5th Convocation here on Tuesday. On the occasion, degrees and certificates were confered on graduates who had completed their masters in different disciplines.

Buitems is considered amongst the leading universities of the country, accessible to all, imparting quality education and promoting cutting- edge research. Meanwhile, the universty administration on the occasion of successful holding of the 5th Convocation announced holiday for its students on 6th January.

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PMI training activities
Islamabad: Pakistan Manpower Institute (PMI) is providing skill development training to over 700 employees from public and private sectors in different disciplines every year.

Director Muhammad Azam said the objective of the Institute is to conduct training and research activities in the disciplines of Human Resource Development, Human Resource Management, Information Technology and other labour related issues.

He said the training programmes are arranged with the objective of providing human resource research services to government departments, public corporations and private establishments that could contribute towards the country's development.

Muhammad Azam said the institution works to stimulate interest in human resource problems generally and to cooperate and assist other human resource research agencies, institutions or professional associations.

During its various programmes, PMI imparts training to 35-40 people, selected from different departments in each course, while regular courses are offered over 20 times in a year.

Besides these human resource development and management courses, PMI also holds seminars and workshops for the employees and introduce latest computer short courses for improvement in the skill development of people, he said.

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Pilot school milk programme
Islamabad: Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) has launched a Rs22 million pilot project of School Milk Programme aimed to provided milk on a daily basis to over 5,000 primary schoolchildren in 41 schools in Union Council Rasoolpur, District Rahim Yar Khan.

National Rural Support Programme (NRSP), a major PPAF partner, has started the project's implementation from the first week of January 2010, says a press release.

PPAF has already conducted a representative baseline survey of the children's health and nutritional status in the project area presently, and an assessment exercise would be conducted on the project's completion to measure the impact on children.

PPAF would provide over Rs19 million for the project while Tetra Pak Pakistan would make a contribution of Rs1 million for implementing the project besides providing the packaging material at special rates to Shakarganj Food Products Limited, which would supply 200ml packs at a discounted price.

Kamal Hyat, Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director PPAF, said the School Milk Programme would encourage school going kids and help in raising their health and educational standards. Azhar Ali Syed, Managing Director Tetra Pak Pakistan, said this pilot project would motivate kids to go to school. The news

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