Punjab University admission stalls

'No student union's stalls at PU'
Lahore, July 16: The Punjab University (PU) students advisor has said that the university administration has not allowed any student organisation to set up admission stalls on the campus.

In press statement on Thursday, PU Students Advisor Iftikhar Ahmad Chaudhry said the university had set up admission stalls both on the New and Old campuses for the counseling and information for the admission seeking students. He said the PU administration had not allowed any student organization to set up its admission stall, while any organisation had not established such stall.

It is pertinent to mention that the Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) has been making claims regarding the resetting up admission stalls on the PU New Campus. It also claimed that the university officials had also visited the stalls.

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PU awarded PhD
Lahore: The Punjab University (PU) on Thursday awarded a PhD to a student in the subject of Geology after approval of his thesis "Effectiveness of delay action dams towards increasing groundwater recharge in Balochistan." According to a press statement, Jalaluddin s/o Abdul Khaliq completed his thesis under the supervision of Prof (r) Dr Malik Muhammad Hasnain of the Institute of Geology while his co-supervisor was Dr Abdul Majeed, National Project Manager, Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources, Islamabad.

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PUICS journal
Lahore: Punjab University (PU) Institute of Communication Studies has published its research journal "Journal of Media Studies (JMS). According to a press statement on Thursday, the articles in the current issue had been contributed by local, national and international scholars and the issue contained research articles on portrayal, responsibilities, role and the challenges faced by the media and journalists. Dr Bushra H Rahman is the Editor of the journal while the Editorial Board comprises of more than 50 percent foreign scholars from academically advanced countries, including the US, Canada, Norway, Poland and Malaysia. Director ICS Dr Ahsan Akhtar Naz is chief editor of the JMS while Dean Faculty of Social & Behavioral Sciences Prof Dr Mugheesuddin Sheikh is the Executive Chief Editor. The news

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Entrance test process: Reply sought from PMDC, UHS
Lahore: A division bench of the Lahore High Court on Thursday sought a reply from the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) and the University of Health Sciences (UHS) by July 22 on a petition challenging the process of entrance test being taken for admission to MBBS and BDS classes in the province.

The bench, consisting of Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Farrukh Irfan Khan, turned down the petitioner's request to stay the process and allowed the UHS to hold entrance test according to its schedule on July 20.

Nazifa Fatima, an FSc student, through her counsel Muhammad Azhar Siddique, petitioned that the entrance test was being conducted prior to the announcement of FSc results which prevented the petitioner from participating in the test.

Advocate Siddique said holding entrance test in such a manner was violation of fundamental rights and also in violation of the mandatory instructions issued by the PMDC.

He said all other provinces were having eligible criteria of 60 per cent marks in FSc and passing marks of 50 per cent in the entrance test. But, the UHS and the chairman of the admission board for medical/dental institutions of Punjab, without any approval from the PMDC, adopted a 60 per cent marks eligibility criteria in 2009.

He also pointed out that in the same year, the respondents while going a step further and while negating the regulations of the PMDC, increased the passing marks from 40 to 60 per cent.

The advocate requested that the criteria for entrance test given by the respondents be declared to be without lawful authority and in conflict of articles 9, 25, 37 and 38 of the Constitution and against the instructions of the PMDC.

He said the respondents be directed to act strictly in accordance with the law and follow the criteria for holding the entrance test as laid down by the PMDC and directions be issued for holding the test after the announcement of FSc results.

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Cut in HEC budget: UAF faculty told to seek foreign funds
Faisalabad: The University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) vice-chancellor has asked the faculty members to seek foreign funds for research projects after the Higher Education Commission (HEC) declined to release more than 50 per cent of the budget.

Addressing a meeting of the academic council on Thursday at the New Senate hall, vice-chancellor Dr Iqrar Ahmed said owing to an alarming cut in the HEC budget, the commission had refused to further assist the university beyond the promised Rs720 million against the estimated expenditure of over Rs1,900 million.

He said keeping in view the financial situation, the university had to take austerity measures and go for income-generation steps. He urged the faculty to sell their brains globally and get research projects from national and international funding agencies.

The VC said two departments of the university would be elevated to independent institutes shortly and an independent board of studies would also be instituted at the National Institute of Food Science and Technology (NIFSAT) to meet the international standards of education and research activities in the fields of microbiology, food nutrition and business management.

He said the emerging needs and utility of microbiology in all fields of science required establishment of an independent institute of microbiology so that all such issues relating to veterinary, soil, plants and other fields could be addressed under one umbrella.

During the meeting, the house unanimously pushed forward the idea of elevating the department of business management sciences to the status of institute of business management sciences and urged the faculty of agri economics and rural sociology to coordinate with the department of business management sciences for developing a scheme of studies for three-year degree programme of MBA (Hons) in line with the directions of the Higher Education Commission.

Dr Ahmed said the UAF had witnessed a 'tremendous' growth in soil and environmental sciences, horticultural sciences, animal nutrition and feed technology after upgrading the departments into institutes.

"Elevating more departments to the status of institutes is on the cards that will bring about new developments in their respective fields."

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UoE admission committees
The University of Education, Vehari Campus, has constituted admission committees to improve the process of admissions and provide better guidance to the students visiting to seek admission for the session 2010-11.

UoE Vehari Campus Principal Razia Sultana has constituted two committees – Post-Intermediate Admission Committee and the Postgraduate Admission Committee –comprising four members each. These committees will facilitate the students coming to seek admission to undergraduate and postgraduate classes.

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Aitchison block extension
Lahore: Governor Salmaan Taseer has directed the Aitchison College administration to expedite college's Barry Block extension project to create space for more students.

Mr Taseer said this at a meeting of the Aitchison College's board of governors at the Governor's House on Thursday, says a press release.

College Principal Fakir Syed Aijazuddin briefed the participants about the academic performance of the college in 2009-10 and the projects.

The board discussed matters of awarding Governor's Scholarships to needy students from all provinces. The board heard students were being taught French, German and Chinese languages and that more and more students took Urdu language.

The governor stressed that the college administration should maintain academic and co-curricular standards. Dawn

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