International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) 2009
Student allowed to take part in Int'l Olympiad
Lahore, July 10: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has directed the Higher Education
Commission (HEC) to ensure participation of an A-Level student in the
International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) 2009, Germany, who was dropped at the
eleventh hour from a group of six selected Pakistani students. Justice Iqbal
Hameed-ur-Rehman issued this order while allowing a writ petition filed by the
student Haseeb-ul-Hassan Zahid. Petitioner's counsel Miss Sadia Khalid
submitted that the petitioner being a student of A-Level appeared in the IQ test
and International Science Talent Contest held in 2008 and also qualified
achieving the 22nd place in the ranking among the 52 best Pakistani
students. She further informed the court that these 52 students were selected
for the IMO after a lengthy process of examination and the petitioner qualified
in all the tests obtaining the required marks. Thereafter, a National
Mathematics Olympiad was organised in the country and 28 students were
short-listed who were called for the second training camp. During the camp, 18
students were able to retain their places while only 14 candidates were able to
pass through the third round, she added. Petitioner's counsel further said
later on, the selected 14 students represented Pakistan in Asian Pacific
Mathematics Olympiad in which Haseeb (petitioner) got third position.
The
counsel said that after the final selection of six students, their registration
for IMO was finalised and their passports, visas and even tickets were
confirmed, as they were got registered with IMO-2009 to be held in
Germany. She pointed that out in order to further train the selected
contestants, a training programme was initiated in which the petitioner and five
other students were to improve their skills but surprisingly the petitioner was
informed on June 27, 2009 by the programme director that he had been dropped
owing to some disciplinary grounds. The counsel pleaded that the petitioner
was neither charge sheeted nor any explanation was ever sought from him.
Therefore, the action of the respondents at the belated stage was against the
law and all principles of natural justice. Respondents appearing before the court stated that the petitioner during final
training camp was evaluated by two qualified foreign members of the faculty at
ASSMS GC University Lahore, Prof Dr Barbu Berceanu and Prof Dr Mircea Becheanu,
who is also Pakistan Coordinator of IMO-2009. They recommended that the
petitioner should be dropped on account of disciplinary action as instead of
improving his skills he spent time making drawings on his hands and some times
tried to create disturbance for the other students in the class owing to his
non-serious attitude. Following which, the petitioner's registration from
IMO-2009 was recalled. They argued that the reservation of ticket along with
other participants could not be made in such a short time. They pointed out
that if the court allowed the petitioner to join the camp, the same could not be
facilitated because IMO allowed the registration of the petitioner and HEC
sanctioned the expenses of the petitioner's ticket as well as reservation of
seat in the form of a group along with other five participants. After hearing
the arguments from both sides, Justice Iqbal Hameed-ur-Rehman observed it
appeared that the petitioner throughout the selection process had shown
exceptional results by representing Pakistan in Asian Pacific Mathematics
Olympiad and had obtained 3rd position. The respondents also admitted that
the petitioner had shown outstanding brilliance while participating in the
International Mathematics Olympiads. The judge observed that taking such
extreme and harsh decision on account of allegations against the petitioner
seemed to be unjustified and arbitrary. Therefore, he directed the HEC and
other respondents to facilitate and expedite the process to allow the petitioner
to participate in IMO-2009 along with other five final selected students. In
case there was any delay in the sanction of the amount for ticket etc, the
petitioner would make arrangements himself, which later on would be reimbursed
to him, the judge wrote in his order. The Nation
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Students caught up in UK-Pakistan deportation row
Lahore: Nine Pakistani students are still detained in British jails because of a diplomatic standoff between
Pakistan and Britain, which, apparently no one is in a hurry to
resolve. The students were arrested in April in connection with an
alleged terror plot and were released in May after prosecution failed to produce
sufficient evidence to charge them. But they were not allowed to resume
their studies, remaining detained under immigration rules relating to national
security and ordered to be deported. But they still remain detained because
London wants a written assurance from Islamabad that the students would not be
mistreated when they return home, in line with British policy of not sending
people back to countries where they could be prosecuted. Apparently, British
officials talked to their Pakistani counterparts in the Interior Ministry, but
were snubbed. However, Islamabad says it is unhappy over its nationals
"being treated as criminals without evidence", and did not want to be party to
Pakistanis' deportation, which it said was arbitrary. Pakistan's High
Commissioner to the United Kingdom Wajid Shamsul Hasan and other officials have
publicly called on the UK to release the students and let them resume
studies. Daily Times
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PU announced various results
Lahore: The Punjab University Examination Department on Thursday declared the results of various examinations. These exams
include Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm-D), Fourth Professional, Annual Examination
2008, Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm-D), Final Professional, Annual Examination 2008,
MA Education (Elementary), Semester Systems, Session 2006-2008 (Supplementary),
MA Education (Elementary), Self-Supporting, Semester Systems, Session 2006-2008
(Supplementary), MA Education (Early Childhood), Semester Systems, Session
2006-2008 (Supplementary), Master of Education (MEd), (Supplementary), Semester
System, Session 2007-2008, LLM (Final), Annual Examination 2007, Bachelor of
Science in Information Technology (Spring 2004), Semester System, Session
2004-2008, Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (Hons), Semester System,
Session 2004-2008 and MSc Physics, Semester System, Session 2005-2007.
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PU Workshop
Lahore: The Punjab University (PU) Centre for Clinical Psychology (CCP) has organized a two-week workshop on
"Research Methods and Statistics" under the Foreign Faculty Hiring Programme of
the Higher Education Commission (HEC). Dr Ashiq Ali Shah, an eminent professor
of Psychology at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Canada, is the resource person
of the workshop. The workshop is being arranged for teachers and students of the
centre. A two-day workshop has also been arranged for professionals working in
the field on "How to Conduct a Good Research in Psychology?". Certificates will
be distributed among the participants on the completion of these workshops. The
workshop, which started on July 6, will end on July 18. The News
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