University of Karachi degrees verification

KU receives politicians'degrees for verification
Karachi, July 02: As many as 106 degrees of the members of the National and provincial assemblies have been received by the University of Karachi (KU) for verification purposes, with the Higher Education Commission asking the university to complete the verification process by July 13.

The degrees sent for verification include those which belong to important figures in the government; the academic qualifications of Farooq H. Naek, Shahla Raza, Nisar Khuhro, Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani, Rahman Malik, and Raza Rabbani will all come under the scanner.

Some 46 degrees also belong to members of the Sindh Assembly, four degrees are of members of the Balochistan Assembly, and three belong to the members of Punjab Assembly.

Meanwhile, a three-member committee has been constituted the KU Vice-Chancellor Prof. Pirzada Qasim, which would ensure that the degrees are authentic and valid.

KU Pro Vice-Chancellor Dr Nasiruddin Khan, Registrar Prof Kaleem Raza, and Department of Computer Science Chairman Dr Aquil Burney are members of the committee.

The registrar, Prof. Raza, informed that most of the degrees received were genuine, and there was no reason to doubt their authenticity. Interior Minister Rahman Malik, holds an M.Sc. degree in Statistics, and is a former class mate of Dr Aquil Burney. Shahla Raza was an active student leader and many teachers remember her.

The committee held its meeting on Thursday to devise a methodology to enable the university to meet the deadline of July 13. "We have not begun checking the degrees yet. Hopefully the process will start on Friday (today). Some degrees date back to 1952 and 1955. It would be a long journey into the past", he said with a sardonic smile.

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KU VC laments lack of female neurologists
Karachi: Pakistan faces a shortage of neurologists, and more so, of female neurologists, who could treat the disorders of those in the lower rungs of society, said University of Karachi (KU) Vice-Chancellor Prof. Pirzada Qasim.

Qasim was speaking at the inaugural session of the two-day symposium on "Women in World Neuroscience," held on Thursday at the university's International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences.

The VC argued that due to impoverished conditions, many women suffer from different neurological and psychological disorders. The presence of female neurologists can play a pivotal role in treating such disorders, he said.

Qasim also spoke passionately about the "unfinished agendas" that were inundating the country, and turning people into impractical individuals with no defined targets and without any means to get them.

The education sector in Pakistan was facing a number of difficulties, he said, adding that there has not been much progress after some "good moments," when higher education received funds liberally and there were considerable advances in science, technology and social sciences.

The VC lamented the decline of government schools, and reminded the audience that these schools produced the cream of Pakistani society at one point, and even he was a product of a so-called "Peela School."

"It is sad to see that some elements are trying to turn public sector universities into Peeli universities," he added.

Meanwhile, former HEC Chairman Dr Atta ur Rahman spoke about the wonders of science and praised women scientists who have made inroads in the field.

Vice Chancellor of Karakoram University Dr Najma Najam, herself a neuroscientist, praised women neuroscientists who had fought obscurity and social stigmas to prove their worth in the field.

KU Faculty of Science Dean Dr Drakhshan Jabeen Haleem talked about the gender differences of the brain. "It is well accepted that men and women can behave differently, but how much of these differences can be attributed to environmental factors as opposed to biological factors has remained a matter of debate," she explained.

"When we say that there are differences between the male and female brains; a question arises whether the female brain is superior to male or vice versa. The answer will make both men and women happy, because some functions are better coordinated in the female brain, while others are better in the male brain. Religion, politics and tradition have created gender barriers but women are breaking the taboos", she commented. Dr Nadira Panjwani, Dr Iqbal Chaudhary and Dr Kaneez Fatima also spoke on the occasion. The news

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9th Young Leaders' Conference kicks off
Karachi: The School of Leadership (SoL) Karachi began the six-day Young Leaders' Conference (YLC) 2010, headed by YLC 2008 graduate Rabia Salam, at a local hotel on Thursday.

Sindh Youth Affairs Minister Faisal Sabzwari inaugurated the conference as the chief guest and termed the youth of Pakistan as its future.

He said today's youth was lucky as they had good opportunities to meet and interact with young boys and girls from different areas of the country.

He hoped everyone could freely move anywhere in the country and amalgamate with the people so both parties could learn something from each other.

He said his ministry had launched many initiatives for the youth that would allow them to develop their skills and provide avenues of productive interaction, resource exploration and growth, and in this connection, the ministry would soon open the First Mega Youth Development Centre in Gulshan-e-Iqbal. He lauded SoL's efforts, emphasising the need for cultivating leadership among the youth.

Introducing the concept of the conference, SoL Director Kamran Rizvi said, "We will be celebrating 10 years of our conference next year. The mentoring session by our partners would help our participants to learn about their successes in life and how they overcame hurdles and barriers to reach where they are today."

Three hundred young boys and girls belonging to 34 districts, towns and villages of the country are participating in the six-day conference, hoping to learn to develop their hidden talent and to use their abilities for a brighter future.

Irfan Rehman, 24, a paralysed participant from Islamabad said, "Everyone in the universe is gifted with some special qualities. If he is able to use them properly, he can do anything and achieve greatness. I believe this conference will break my inner silence, which stops me from expressing my views, my thoughts and emotions."

Another participant, Muhammad Sharif Amiri from the Afghan province of Ghazni, said, "This conference has given me an opportunity of interacting with the youth of different areas of Pakistan, and also with high-profile personalities from different fields, from whom I can learn so much."

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LUMHS to admit 13 Kyrgyzstan returnees
Karachi: The authorities of the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS) Jamshoro have decided to give admission to 13 students from Sindh, who returned from different universities in Kyrgyzstan's southern city of Osh after the recent wave of ethnic riots, sources disclosed on Thursday.

The massive riots in southern Kyrgyzstan resulted in the death of more than 130 people while around 269 Pakistani students were stranded out of which 13 belonged to Sindh, including three female students.

These 13 students belonged to Karachi, Mirpurkhas, Dadu, Benazirabad (formerly Nawabshah), Satharja, Kunri, Nausheroferoze, Jacobabad and Shikarpur.

Most of these students were not willing to go back, and therefore appealed to the government to provide them admissions in local universities, following which the LUMHS agreed to admit them.

However, Sumayya Solangi, a first-year medical student, was also one of the three female students of Sindh, who had returned from Osh with her cousins Lubna and Amina Ghaffar, has said she has not been not contacted by the university administration for the admission process.

After knowing about the other students' admissions, she contacted the LUMHS Vice Chancellor Dr Naushad Shaikh, who asked her to send him her documents.

"Nobody contacted me to visit the LUMHS. I called the VC and he asked me to fax my documents for consideration," said Solangi.

She said that her father Habibur Rehman, a retired primary school teacher had spent a huge amount of money on her studies, adding, "I am really confused and I really don't want to go back to Kyrgyzstan." Daily times

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FUUAST announces MA Education exam result
Karachi: Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology (FUUAST) Controller of Examinations Prof. Waqar-ul-Haq on Thursday announced the result of the MA Education Final Year (repeaters) examination. As per the result, 16 students appeared in the examination, out of which 15 passed. The news

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