IJT-ISO activists clashed at Karachi University

IJT-ISO clash at KU
Karachi, July 31: Two students were hurt when activists of two student groups clashed on the Karachi University campus on Thursday. Evening classes were partially suspended after the incident.

Adviser to the vice-chancellor on campus security Dr Khalid Iraqi said that the two victims were treated at the university's clinic and one of them had to be referred to a hospital.

"The students clashed over a petty matter," he said. "What I was told was that activists of one student group accused members of the other group of sitting in the girls' compartment of a point bus and this later led to a brawl," he added. The trouble started when members of one group beat up activists of the other group at the point buses terminal after getting provoked by alleged threats.

Fellows of the beaten-up students tried to avenge the attack but the Rangers deployed on the campus intervened and brought the situation under control.

The ISO approached KU Students Adviser Dr Tanweer Khalid and complained that they were the aggrieved party. Dr Khalid told the students to tolerate each other, the students agreed and dispersed. Later some students belonging to the ISO allegedly attacked IJT students in the Department of Chemistry. Three IJT students sustained head injuries while the fourth student sustained cuts and bruises on his body.

An IJT activist Saad Ahmed said that the ISO students had left the campus after the attack. Calls to ISO representatives Shakir, Fayyaz and Raza Abidi went unanswered.

Post your comments

KU terminates accounts staff
Karachi: The Accounts Department of the University of Karachi (KU) has terminated the services of personnel who were rehired after their retirement without the approval of the Sindh governor who is the Chancellor of the university. Those who lost their jobs include Chief Accountant Muhammad Iqbal, Accounts Officers Iqbal Grotto, Muhammad Khalid, Muhammad Anis and Muhammad Farooq and an assistant registrar, Muhammad Kaleem. The governor had sent directives to all public sector universities of Sindh saying that nobody should be rehired after retirement without the governor's approval. The KU, it seems, did not comply with the directive, resulting in the termination of the accounts staff. Dawn/The News

Post your comments

KU preserving valuable texts of the past
Karachi: The University of Karachi (KU) has started preserving old books dating back several centuries in microfiches and microfilms, after which they could also be scanned, allowing their content to be saved on CDs, as well as uploaded on the Internet to facilitate students in their research work.

These books include the Al Sarajiya, which was written in 988 Hijri by Abu Tahir Mohammad bin Mohammad bin Abdul Rasheed. It is based on the study of inheritance. This book written in Arabic is present in the original handwriting of the author.

Another book Al Sahifatul-Kamil was written in 1248 Hijri. This book written by Maulvi Syed Karam Hussain Al-Hussaini relates to views on different Islamic matters by a scholar Zain-ul Abdin Ali bin Al-Ain.

Another old text named "Nihayat At-talab Aljilkdaki", a study about chemistry, which was written in the 1340 Hijri, and Sir Syed Ahmed Khan's own handwritten book on 'Traditions of Delhi's Muslims" are also among the books preserved by the KU.

KU Audio and Visual Section In-charge Khalid Hussain said that providing the content of these books in CD and online form would greatly benefit the students since they could not be allowed access to the original texts.

"The matter preserved in microfiches and microfilms are many centuries old. These books relate to several topics of science, history and politics including history of Islamic literature, Indian history and Persian literature," he said. He further maintained that they have two types of special scanners, one of which is a microfiche and microfilm scanner while the other scans document. Microfiche is a small card with equal-sized small frames. In each frame, a page of a book is stored. In each card, there are about 18 to 22 frames present.

Hussain also said that microfiches require great care and a suitable environment since at high temperature, they start melting. Daily Times

Post your comments

Controversial promotions made in BSEK
Karachi: The recent promotions in the Board of Secondary Education, Karachi (BSEK) are controversial and open violation of rules and regulations required for promoting the staff, sources said.

Sources alleged that one of the promoted individuals, Controller of Examinations Kalim Asghar Kirmani, previously worked as a deputy secretary and was deployed at the BSEK Secretariat. He was promoted from Grade 18 to Grade 19.

On the other hand, BSEK Secretary Hoor Bi Mazhar had been promoted to Grade 19. She was directly promoted from Grade 16 to Grade 18 earlier, and once again she has been promoted. As per policy, a person must serve seven years at a designation to meet the criteria of being promoted, sources added

The BSEK officials, commenting over the matter, said that the secretary and the controller of examinations were promoted by the authorities concerned, and not by the Board.

Another problem regarding education is this that the Centralised Admission Policy has announced that August 08, 2009 is the last day to submit admission forms. However, there are some 6,000 students in Science Group and approximately 3,000 students in General Group, who are still awaiting their results. The mark sheets of Science Group have not been issued yet, sources said.

Sources said that students were not adequately facilitated as they should have been, while parents visiting the Board office also faced problems in obtaining entry pass and had to wait for hours in long queues. There was no staff to guide them and they were not entertained properly by those concerned.

On the other hand, BSEK officials claim that they sit in their offices, even on Sunday, to facilitate students and every case is given due priority.

"We would be pleased to see every student going to college for further education, and all efforts are being made to make this possible," they added.

BSEK announces scrutiny schedule
Kaachi: Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK) Controller of Examinations Kalim Asghar Kirmani announced on Thursday that applications for the 'scrutiny of scripts' of Class X, Science Group, Annual Examinations 2009 will be accepted in Board Office booths of National Bank of Pakistan, Habib Bank Limited and Askari Commercial Bank. The applications will be accepted from August 4 to August 24, while Rs150 would be charged per subject (paper) only, he added. The News

Post your comments