11-yr-old girl declared MCP | Removal of DCET principal

She secured 96.5 percent marks in MCP
Karachi, Mar 18: At the tender age of 11 years and 6 months, Umema Adil has been declared a Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP). The young girl was enrolled in the Continuing Education Programme (CEP) at the Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology (SSUET) where she secured 96.5 percent marks in an online examination. SSUET Chancellor Z A Nizami and Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Sayid Nazir Ahmed have congratulated Umema and her parents on this remarkable achievement.

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HEC questions federal education ministry's authority: Removal of DCET principal
Karachi: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has written to the federal ministry of education to withdraw its notification dated March 13, 2009 regarding the appointment/additional charge of the principal of Dawood College of Engineering and Technology (DCET), arguing that the ministry has no administrative jurisdiction over the DCET.

In a letter dated March 14, 2009 and addressed to Shamsuddin Mangrio, the joint education adviser in the ministry, HEC Director (M&C) Awais Ahmed has explained that after the establishment of the DCET, Karachi, as a degree-awarding institution, the federal ministry of education had ceased to have administrative jurisdiction regarding the appointment or assignment of additional charge to the DCET principal.

He referred to the ordinance dated October 31, 2007, and pointed out that the President of Pakistan, who was the chancellor of the DCET and chairperson of its senate, had the authority to appoint a principal for the college on the recommendation of its senate.

Any proposal for appointment or removal of DCET principal has to be processed by its senate, according to the director.

Through the March 13 notification, the ministry of education removed Prof Mohammad Nasim from the post of DCET principal.

Students and non-teaching staff of the college led by the Students Action Committee have been protesting against the ministry's action since the issuance of the notification.

The protesting students have been boycotting their classes and the ongoing mid-term examinations. They have also staged a sit-in on M. A. Jinnah Road to press the government to withdraw the notification.

Press conference
On Tuesday, the Students Action Committee held a press conference to assert the contention that the federal education ministry did not have the authority to remove the college principal, a BPS-19 officer, saying that the authority rested only with the chancellor of the institution.

Coming from various students organisations, the action committee members demanded immediate withdrawal of the notification and vowed to continue the protest and boycott till the acceptance of the demand.

Hafiz Yaqoobur Rehman, Aamir Khan, Arif Fahim, Zaamin Al-Hussaini, Imran Tunio, Zahoor Baloch and Taimoor Habibullah Khan accused the federal minister for education of having taken the action in violation of the relevant ordinance.

The committee members represented the Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT), Pakhtun Students Federation (PSF), Punjabi Students Association (PSA), Imamia Students Organisation (ISO), Jeay Sindh Students Federation (JSSF), Baloch Students Organisation (BSO) and Kashmir Students Organsiation (KS).

They termed the principal's removal "illegal, immoral and unconstitutional".

They alleged that the minister by taking the illegal action had put the future of thousands of students at stake.

They proposed holding of a referendum in the college on the issue. The student leaders also rejected all allegations levelled against the principal. Ppi

HSC exam forms Hyderabad schedule
Hyderabad: The Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Hyderabad, has announced that examination forms of HSC part-I (class-XI) will be accepted in the board office along with online receipt/challan up to March 19 without late fee.

The forms would be accepted with late fee of Rs200 up to March 28, with late fee of Rs400 up to April 11 and with late fee of Rs1,200 up to 15, the announcement said. Dawn

Karachi University can help govt increase chilli export
Karachi: Karachi University (KU) has potential to assist Pakistani government to increase production and export of Red Chillies, as the country is facing drastic decline in the export of the said commodity due to the presence of cancerous aflatoxins in red chilli.

The red chilli export has declined from nearly Rs1.127 billion (during 2003-2004) to Rs846 million after European Union imposed ban on import of the product from Pakistan due to aflatoxins which is produced by fungus, namely Aspergillus flavus.

Prof Dr Abid Hasnain, senior food scientist of KU Food Science Department said on Tuesday.

He said that the presence of the said cancerous toxic in the chilli has been considered a real threat to the health of populations, while huge export has been damaged owing to this problem. He said that the use of modern equipment and techniques in the storage procedure could help the authorities concerned to over come on the problem. The old storage system cause fungus in the chillies, as chillies stored in open air for many days while the said fungus take three days to infect the crop, he said. However, he mentioned, Karachi University's food science department could assist the authorities concerned in term of giving expert suggestions to avoid the problem and prevent the exports from further decline; while the university could also design a scientific equipment 'Solar Dryer' for storage purposes of the crop. He said, "Red chillies grow in Kunri town in district Umer Kot of Sindh, which is considered as the largest production centre for red chillies in Asia.

Red chilli is also considered as the main cash crop of Sindh, although a post-harvest fungal disease aflatoxin has extremely damaged this business of billions. China, Pakistan, Morocco, Mexico and Turkey are considered major producer of chillies (fresh chillies, stalk less chillies, green chillies, chilli powder and also as oleoresin) after India, however countries, including Gulf States, the US, Canada, Sri Lanka, the UK, Singapore and Germany are foremost importers of red chillies from Pakistan."

It is pertinent to mention here that capsaicin is a safe and effective analgesic agent in the management of arthritis pain, herpes zoster-related pain, diabetic neuropathy, postmastectomy pain, and headaches. The Nation

'Early Warning Systems essential'
Karachi: The initiation and implementation of Early Warning Systems (EWS) has great potential in avoiding conflicts and managing crises in an effective manner, speakers said at an international seminar organised on Tuesday by the University of Karachi (KU) International Relations department, in collaboration with the Hanns-Seidel Foundation.

Experts dealing with Early Warning Systems converged at the Goethe Institut for the two-day seminar titled "Early Warning Systems: Potential for Crisis Management and Regional Cooperation."

KU Vice Chancellor Prof. Pirzada Qasim, in his inaugural address, urged South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) member countries to cooperate with each other to counter natural and man-made crises. "Frequency and abundance of naturally and artificially caused crises and challenges have made it necessary for developing states to have reliable means to counter them," Prof. Qasim concluded.

Dr Kumar Rupesinghe, the Chief Executive Officer of The Foundation for Co-Existence (FCE), Colombo, Sri Lanka was the key note speaker at the event and reminded the audience that South Asia has faced 32 conflicts while Europe has been free from this ailment. "EWS are fast becoming necessary ingredients in regional and global issues concerning humanity at large," he said.

Dr Kumar Rupesinghe presented a paper on "Early Warning and Capacity Building" in which he highlighted the prospects for broadening the scope and functional usefulness of the concept.

He specifically cited the achievements of the FCE, and said that the associational networks and inter-ethnic social and cultural cooperation could play an immense role in tracing and controlling socially and politically induced violence.

KU Department of International Relations Chairman (and Chief Coordinator of the workshop) Dr Moonis Ahmar presented a paper on "The Concept of Early Warning and its Mechanisms," and explained professional expertise is urgently needed as lack of expertise will not yield results that EWS are aimed at.

Prof. Joe Bock, Director of External Relations, Heber Centre, University of Notre Dame, Indiana, US, said that there was essentially a law-like relationship between outbreak of violence and a precipitating event. He said that human minds have been endowed with great capabilities for judgment and intuition. Dr Bock also spoke of human courage, will and determination to deal with man-made and natural disasters.

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29,000 young people being trained under Benazir Programme
Karachi: A meeting chaired by Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah was informed on Tuesday that about 29,000 young people were being trained under the Benazir Bhutto Youth Development Programme.

The meeting also reviewed ongoing training programmes of different departments.

The meeting was told that the youths were getting training at 52 centres, which would be completed by June 28, 2009.

Through 24 centres, the labour department trained 4,124 people. The works and services department provided year-long training to 12,000 people at eight centres, while the IT department imparted four-month-long training to 7,000 young people. The education department provided special training to 375 tutors to train 6,000 young people, and the health department was imparting 18-month training to 4,575 midwives and paramedics with the help of 208 tutors. The CM promised that the under-training pupils will be given a monthly stipend. The News

Zamzama college students' week
Karachi: I am student of zamzama college at khi. n student week handeling at our college in this week... n we r enjoyinnnnnng. -Sonia khan, fairy_malaika@yahoo.com

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