Summer vacations fiesta | Private university project

Summer fiesta beckons youngsters during vacations
June 18: Beginning of June every year is one month every student in a school eagerly looks forward to, since that is when they have the start of two-month-long summer vacations, allowing them to indulge in various activities which they are unable to do otherwise.

While speaking to students across Karachi about their summer vacation plans, many have already charted their course of action. Some youngsters have made plans to travel northern parts of the country to get away from the hot and humid weather of the city, whereas some of them decided to join one of the many summer camps that have sprouted across the city.

Muhammad Hasan Noor, a student of the federal board, is leaving the city to visit upcountry areas. "My friends are waiting for me and I will join them in Rawalpindi and then the group will move towards Abbottabad," Hasan said.

"We have planned visits to valleys of Kaghan, Naran, Lake Saiful Maluk, Ansoo Jheel (Ansoo Lake), Sabzazar. Then we will travel to different districts of Punjab," he further said.

International tourism is not as common due to expenses involved but Karachiites still love to travel to various destinations within Pakistan during any vacation they get. Firdous Anjum, a mother of two, said: "My husband has this year planned to visit some place which is not visited often, just to explore it and avoid all the rush. That will be real fun."

Summer vacations have also allowed youngsters to pursue their favourite activities, including sports. "I was allowed to take part in the football camp. I was planning for the training well before the vacations but I had to wait for the holidays," Muhammad Ahmed Arif said. However, the teenager added that this permission was granted to him only with the condition of completing his homework.

Maha, who recently appeared in her matriculation exams, said that she would like to join cooking classes. She added that she would learn the art of cooking at home but also take admission in an institute to discover new cuisines. Maha is also interested to find out courses for house decoration.

Five-year-old Muhammad Ibrahim is excited as his father has enrolled him at a summer camp.

This camp offers swimming classes for younger children. "My child goes for swimming six days a week. It is really good for him and he is enjoying it. Ibrahim talks a lot about swimming at home and never misses any class," said Ibrahim's father, Kamil Abrar said.

Meanwhile, many youngsters who are not interested in outdoor activities have found console-gaming and spend time at gaming zones. The gaming zones organise competitions among children and offer expensive gift items to the winners which encourages them a great deal.

"We can participate in worldwide competitions as well. Every year, international organisations arrange such events and teams across the globe take part in it," Abu Bakar said. Though, Muhammad Farhan, who is fond of gaming, said that he prefers playing games at home rather going to game zones.

Aside from video games, a lot of different options are available for youth to get involved into. This correspondent visited several localities and observed that snooker tables placed at the roadside can be booked at fixed price. Similarly, a board game called Dabbu, which belongs to the Carrom Board family, and Foosball, are most popular for the locals as they are quite economical.

However few of these games are also putting negative impacts on the children. Use of cigarettes, gutka and other forms of tobacco are quite common at these places. Also, immature minds may adopt abusive words from these places as unpleasant language is a routine. However, some responsible owners at a few of these gaming places have imposed ban on swear words to maintain a friendly environment.

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LHC halts road project for private university
Islamabad: The Lahore High Court on Thursday stopped the Punjab government from spending about Rs70 million on the construction of 2 km dual road for the Beacon House University, whose voice chancellor is a member of the PML-N Central Executive Committee and former finance minister Sartaj Aziz.

The stay order against the construction of the road was granted on Thursday by Justice Ejazul Ahsan of the LHC on a writ petition filed by Mrs Zareena Saeed and others who claimed that Sartaj Aziz was using his clout to further the business of Beacon House University by using the state resources and now the Punjab government was forcing small farmers to sell their land at a throwaway price. The court issued the stay order to stop the acquisition of private land from the villagers of Tarrogil Raiwind Road, Lahore,

The main petitioner, Mrs Saeed argued, that the management of the university, a private enterprise, has used its influence with the CM Punjab Shahbaz Sharif to acquire private land of small farmers to construct the road at public expense.

The petitioner said on April 2, 2010 notices were served on the landowners of village Tarogill and village Janjatay by EDO Revenue, Lahore for acquiring their lands. She said this was a glaring example of misuse of authority. She said public money is being spent to exclusively benefit a private enterprise while the villagers would not directly benefit from the project. She said the estimated cost of land for the road is Rs.40848000 while the cost of construction of the road is approximately Rs30 million. There is no village in the entire Punjab, which is connected with dual carriageway at such cost, she argued. Ishaq Khan Khawakni, who is one of the petitioners, said the CM Punjab should not allow the Revenue Department to be used by a private party.

The Punjab government spokesman Senator Pervez Rashid said he did not know the facts of the case but as the case was now in the LHC, so the court would decide the matter. He said if the Punjab government has done any thing wrong, as alleged by the petitioners, then definitely the court would decide it on merit.

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Talent award show organised
Peshawar: The Islamia College University chapter of Islami Jamiat-e- Talaba Thursday arranged a 'Talent Award Show' to give away awards to the outstanding students of the university.

Former principal of Islamia College Peshawar Prof Dr Rasheed Farooqi was chief guest at the ceremony, which was addressed by acting IJT head of the university campus Peshawar Mian Shoaibuddin Kakakhel and Nazim of Islamia College University Hafeezullah Khaksar, besides others.

The speakers urged the students to concentrate on studies to become good Muslims and citizens. They said the students were a ray of hope for the Muslim world, which was faced with challenges from all sides.

They said that becoming good professionals was the need of the hour for the Muslim youth, but at the same time they should be good Muslims as well.Later, Professor Rasheed Farooqi distributed awards to the students. The news

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Workshop on research held
Baragali: The Area Study Centre, University of Peshawar, in collaboration with Hanns Siedel Foundation, Islamabad, organised a seven-day workshop in Baragali Summer Camp of the university.

Titled "Selection of research topic, research method and writing MPhil/PhD dissertation" the workshop was formally opened by Shafiqur Rehman, Dean Environmental Sciences, University of Peshawar, and Dr Martin Axmann, HSF Resident Representative.

According to a press release issued on Thursday, presenters gave informative lectures about research to the students of MPhil and PhD of different universities of the country during the workshop.

During the concluding session of the workshop, Dr Sarfraz Khan, Director of Area Study Centre, University of Peshawar, and Dr Mujib Rehman of English Department, University of Peshawar distributed certificates among the participants. Dawn

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Thesis defended
Peshawar: Sardar Ali, Associate Professor, University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar, has successfully defended his PhD research work at the University of Education, Lahore in Applied Mathematics in the field of mathematical modeling. His PhD thesis topic was 'Mathematical Models for the Efficiency of Flotation Process for North Waziristan Copper Ore'. He worked under the supervision of Prof Dr Mir Asadullah, Department of Mathematics, Comsats Institute of Information Technology Abbottabad. Sardar Ali got published seven technical papers in mathematical modeling in HEC-recognised journals and over 20 research publications are to his credit. He did MSc in Mathematics from University of Peshawar in 1975 and received his MPhil degree from Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad in 1986. The news

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Distinction
Peshawar: The St Marry's School shined in the annual SSC examination, Board of Intermediate and Secondary Examination Peshawar by securing 100 per cent result.

A student of the school, Qazi Mohmmad Jamal, secured an aggregate of 930 marks out of 1050, topping the school list. He termed his success as a tribute to the staff and students of the institution. Dawn

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