National Internship Programme new summary
Ministry plans to redesign NIP
Islamabad, March 05: Spreading its wings to address the issue of unemployment among
youth on war footing, the Ministry of Youth Affairs plans to redesign the
summary of the National Internship Programme (NIP) in order to include majority
of youth and ensure employment for those trained under the programme. A
source in the ministry said that in addition to relaxing the
condition of 16 years of education, the new summary will come up with a dynamic
employment strategy for internees. "The focus will be to provide technical
training to youth that matches industrial requirements," said that source.
He said that currently NIP is applicable to those who have completed 16
years of education. "In this way, it is mostly catering to the need of urban
population with 80 to 90 per cent of internships going to urban youth thus
ignoring the majority of youth (70 per cent) who live in rural areas."
In the new NIP summary, he said that the ministry plans to introduce
quota in accordance with educational qualification ranging from matriculation to
masters. "The aim is to utilise the potential of youth that make 40 per cent of
our total population for the development of the country," he pointed out adding
that there are plenty of employment opportunities for trained and skilled
workforce. NIP is designed to benefit educated and unemployed youth of the
country. Presently, he said it caters to those who have completed 16
years of education from HEC-recognised universities or degree awarding
institutions. The scheme is intended to provide hands on experience and
temporary financial relief to unemployed and educated youth and also to keep
them engaged and interested in acquiring additional knowledge and real work life
experiences. The maximum age limit for consideration under the programme is 25
years. The internship under the programme is a placement, which will
automatically terminate after one year and as such must not be construed as
granting any right to absorption or job with the government. The interns are
entitled to a monthly stipend of Rs10,000 during the period of their placement,
subject to satisfactory performance, duly verified by the recipient
organisations. To make the internship programme more result-oriented, he
said that negotiations are under way with the World Bank for effective
collaboration in this regard. He said that the ministry is in the process of
arranging a workshop for need assessment. "The changes will be made considering
the industry trends," he said. Talking about another feature of the proposed
summary, he said that it will focus on providing basic skills to aspiring
candidates that will include English language course and computer and
professional training. "Previous experiences have shown that the biggest hurdle
faced by youth in getting respectable employment is lack of such skills."
Currently, the ministry is busy in placing applicants for the third phase of
NIP. According to statistics provided by the ministry, around 70,000
applications have been received for the third phase. Among them, 25,545
applications have been verified and 14,407 are pending for verification with
Higher Education Commission. The news
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Teachers protest against principal's excesses
Rawalpindi: The Divisional Public School and College (DPSC) principal here
on Thursday locked dozens of female teachers with the help of security guards
when they tried to stage a protest against what they termed his 'excesses'.
Female teachers scuffled with security guards on the premises of the
academic institution. The principal locked all teachers when they tried to go to
the road for staging a protest against him. Two teachers - Nilofer Jaffery and
physical training instructor Nazia were injured in scuffle with security guards.
Some teachers started weeping after seeing their injured colleagues.
After some time, teachers and non-teaching staff broke locks and
protested against DPSC Principal Dr. Ubaidullah. They blocked the main Shamsabad
Road for an hour to record their protest against the principal's bad behaviour.
The protesters urged Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif to take notice of
the principal's high-handedness, who, with the help of security guards, kept
dozens of female teachers and non-teaching staff in illegal custody for
half-an-hour. The protesters threatened the Punjab government to take
notice of the incident within 24 hours otherwise they would stage a protest in
front of the Parliament House. A heavy contingent of police reached the
spot to maintain law and order. Hundreds of students and parents also witnessed
the incident. Media persons were not allowed to enter the premises of the
academic institution. DPSC Principal Dr Ubaidullah said that
he could not allow teachers and non-teaching staff to leave the premises before
2 p.m. "I wanted to maintain peace in the academic institution, but some
teachers and non-teaching staff created an unpleasant atmosphere," he said. He
said that he tried to negotiate with protesters, asking them not to protest
against him. He said that the protest has given a bad name to the institution,
students and parents. Addressing the protesters, DPSC Boys Senior
Section Headmaster Masood Ahmed Gill said that they could not work under Dr.
Ubaidullah because he uses vulgar language and misbehaves with them. He said
that several ad hoc employees have not been given salaries for the last one
year. According to him, "If these employees open their mouths, they are hurled
threats of termination by the principal". He said that the principal kept them
locked in illegal custody for half-an-hour on Thursday. Junior Section
Headmistress Nilofer Jaffery said that security guards pulled her and she
sustained injuries after falling on the ground. "The principal treats all
teachers and non-teaching staff roughly and uses foul language against them,"
she said. "We would stage a protest in front of the Parliament House if the
concerned authorities didn't take action against the principal." Senior
Accounts Officer Ashfaq Ahmed said that the principal gets fake bills signed by
the accounts staff. "The academic institution has adequate funds but the
principal has stopped salaries and other dues of several employees for the last
one year. All employees approach me, but I am unable to do anything without the
orders of the principal," he said. Naib Qasid Shaheen Naz said that she
could not avail even a single leave for the last two years. "I approached the
principal's office time and again for taking leave, but he always threatened me
of termination from service," she said. Security guards, on condition of
anonymity said that they blocked protesters on the directives of the
principal, saying that they being poor could not afford unemployment.
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Seminar held at NUST
Islamabad: The NUST Centre for Career Counselling & Advisory
(NUST-C3A) held a seminar on 'Emotional Intelligence' here on Thursday.
NUST Rector Lieutenant General Engineer Muhammad Asghar was the chief
guest on the occasion. Dr. Farah Malik, head of the Psychology Department at
Government College University (GCU), Lahore, Mauna Gauhar, mental health
professional, and Corporate Trainer Dr. Siham Sikandar were the key speakers on
the occasion. The NUST rector explained the 'spiritual psychology' of
Islam. He said that the expression 'spiritual psychology' covers the vast realm
of the human spirit with its almost illimitable frontiers. The spiritual doctors
divide soul into three parts or overlapping centres of energy namely 'nafs',
'qalb' and 'rooh'. He said that 'nafs' is the force that binds us to the
physical existence. "It consists of the desire to fulfil our physical body needs
like food, drink, rest, sleep and sexual desire. It has the urges of
self-preservation, self-perpetuation and self-aggrandisement. 'Nafs' is the
connecting link between the physical body and the intelligent mind. 'Nafs' by
its nature pulls us down and can lead us to the status of 'Asfal al Safaleen',"
he added. He said that 'rooh' is the net energy centre. It is the exact
opposite of 'nafs'. 'Rooh' is the breath of God. Its very essence is the love of
Allah Almighty and hence it always pulls the humans upward towards Allah. Allah
Almighty says, "My mercy prevails over my anger." This is reflected in human
soul in the form of selflessness, sincerity and generosity etc. The knowledge of
'rooh' is purely intuitive and it can be acquired through spiritual practices.
It enjoys spiritual practices. It enjoys the highest degree of certainty of
knowledge. Director C3A Brigadier (r) Ubric Marvin Cornelius in his
welcome address said that 'Emotional Intelligence' plays a vital role in
defining our course of action and shaping our destiny throughout our lives.
Dr. Farah said that a lot of research has been done on emotional
intelligence. "There are many factors of emotions and those are psychological
arousal, conscious experience and behavioural expression. First we have to
understand ourselves and then we can understand others. There are many negative
emotions that can be perceived by stories, voices and music, which are directly
not experienced. The main domains of emotional intelligence are interpersonal,
intrapersonal, adaptability, stress management and general mood," she said. The
seminar was attended by a large number of students and faculty members.
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Students honour wonder girl
Rawalpindi: "Dear Naseem Hameed, you have brought glory to Pakistan and
the whole country is proud of you. I read about you in the newspaper. You won a
gold medal in 100-metre race in 11.81 seconds in the South Asian Games and have
become the fastest woman in South Asia. Our principal informed us about your
achievement. I also like sports and one day, I will win a gold medal just like
you." This was a letter by a student of Class III at Chand Nagar School,
Westridge, Rawalpindi, written to our renowned athlete, Naseem Hameed, who
recently brought laurels to the country by winning a gold medal in 100-metre
race at the 11th South Asian Games in Dhaka. All students of Class II
and III of Chand Nagar School have written such letters, appreciating the
efforts of Naseem Hameed for her marvellous achievement. The school intends to
post all letters to the athlete. "What this 22-year-old girl has done is
simply remarkable and we need to acknowledge her effort on every platform," said
the Principal, Yasmin Ashraf. She said when Naseem
won gold medal, the students of her school were briefed in the morning assembly
and also during their classes regarding her achievement. "Women's Day is
approaching and we thought to honour Naseem's achievements in a special way. The
students were so inspired by her feat that we suggested them to write letters to
her to convey their feelings," Yasmin Ashraf said. The principal said
that girls now have multiple career choices, as they could pursue any career
they wish without much resistance. "A girl from the humble areas of Karachi has
done us proud by becoming the fastest South Asian woman. No woman would have
thought of pursuing sports as a career in the 70s and early 80s but now the
times have changed and we have witnessed the response of the whole country after
Naseem's victory," she said. The principal was of the view that we need
to teach the younger generation about our great sportsmen, who are the shining
stars of Pakistan. She suggested the teachers to highlight the country's
positive aspects among the students and inculcate the same into them via
curriculum, as the students get inspiration from them and try to replicate it.
She urged to inculcate values, ethics and morals in our education system
and recommended carrying our sportspersons' achievement in the curriculum, as
firstly, they are our heroes and secondly, children are more inclined towards
sports and games. The principal opined that we should teach the children about
all Pakistani sportsmen and sportswomen regardless of their religious or ethnic
backgrounds. Zaheer Abbas, Javed Miandad, Imran Khan, Sami Ullah, Jahangir Khan,
Jansher Khan and many shining stars have been produced by our country, who have
achieved great triumphs, and our young generation should know about them.
"Since our school has its own syllabus, we make it a point not to burden
the kids with weighty books and instead make them informed through various
informative activities. We are designing books that highlight our own heroes,
who have done wonders in their fields. We have combined History and Islamiat and
have come up with Humane Education, and combined Social Studies and Science to
make Factual Science," she said.
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Science competition ended
Peshawar: The grand finale of the Science and Technology & Information
Technology competition that ended here Thursday provided an opportunity to girl
students to display their talent through their models. Some of them were
rewarded with prizes as their models were judged among the best. For others,
just being able to participate in the three-day competition was a rewarding
experience. A total of 450 projects were exhibited at the event held at Nishtar
Hall. The participants, mostly students of different grades, were drawn from
various parts of the NWFP including the militancy-hit Swat and Buner
districts. A visit to the venue showed that the event was informative and
interesting for those associated with medical, agricultural and several other
fields. Girl students from almost all the districts presented their projects
during the exhibition and won rewards. Prominent among girls were from Swat,
Kohat, Abbottabad and Peshawar. Malaika, a student of grade-I from
Government Primary School Sawaldher village in Mardan district was delighted as
her group was awarded for the project she had displayed to explain the law of
conservation of mass. None of the students from the restive Swat district
secured any prizes in the competition, but their participation proved that life
was returning to normalcy in the valley after going through turmoil in recent
years. The contest can be termed an achievement for the Directorate of
Science and Technology that organised the mega event and provided a platform to
the students to exhibit their creations to a wider audience at the biggest, or
rather only such hall, in the province. Kainat, Javeria and Sehrish of
intermediate pre-medical group from the ICMS Girls College, Peshawar performed
an experiment using garlic juice and paste showing that the use of garlic as
part of the diet could fight asthma. Kainat said garlic was an effective
homemade remedy for asthma and had been in use for ages but only as an
additional taste to the food. "Through experiment, we have discovered that like
many other herbs, garlic could be used as a cure for asthma," she
said. She explained that after consulting a doctor from a reputed medical
centre, her group of students asked a patient to take a specific amount of
garlic along with other medicines. "We then found that the patient's pulmonary
function increased from 45 to 68 per cent. According to the physicians, normal
PFT level was 70 per cent," she said. She added that the use of garlic
has some side effects that could be addressed by adding honey to the juice or
mixing garlic paste in milk. Prof Dr F Subhani from the Post-Graduate College,
Mardan, who had brought students for participation in the exhibition and won the
second prize in one category, said that the participants who did not win prizes
should not give up and continue their efforts to do better next time. The
chief minister invited the participants to the Chief Minister's House and
announced prizes for the participants. Jamal Nasir, who did his matriculation
from Takhtbhai in Mardan, was happy after being given Rs50,000 cash prize for
his model of a mixer that he had made to mix edibles and sell as a vendor in the
bazaar. His model had attracted attention at the exhibition. Mohammad
Ayub Ashari, NWFP Minister for Science and Technology, as chief guest in place
of the chief minister at the concluding ceremony gave away prizes to the
winners. "It is very encouraging to note that even after having passed through a
tense situation in the past one year due to militancy and military operation,
the youth of the province are confident and have not given up hope and
struggle," said Dr Salahuddin, who was among the visitors at the exhibition. The news
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PAL to release new book
Islamabad: Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) will release
the book titled "In Defence of Peace, Poetry and Culture" in the
three-day International Conference on "Sufism and Peace" scheduled to be held on
March 14. Pakistan has a centuries old tradition of preservation of culture
and peace. In our days, the term, 'resistance', defines this tradition hich is
the tradition of great sufi poets, said Fakhar Zaman, Chairman PAL. Shah
Hussain, Shah Latif Bhatai, Rehman Baba, Jam Durrak, Sacchal Sami, Bulleh Shah,
Ahmad Rahi, Faiz, Gulkhan Naseer, Ghani Khan, Sheikh Ayaz and then of Lorka,
Gorki, Neruda, Nazim Hikmat and Ilya Ehrenberg are of the links of the same
chain, he added. Fakhar Zaman said that the resistance related to peace and
culture has remained, and is, own tradition as well. Poems and novels or
political activism are the creation and continuity of this tradition. He
said that the present conference is a logical continuation of all the previous
Conferences, inner dialectical continuation. Whatever were the titles of
previous conferences; they were based on the movement of culture and
peace. The book brilliantly compiled and edited by Ahmad Salim is an honest
effort to view all this history and tradition of resistance in the historical
perspective and continuation. He said that all the progressive writers and
poets of all the languages of Pakistan and India, Faiz, Mulk Raj Anand, Rajinder
Singh Bedi and Gurbakhsh Singh are few names with which attached is the name of
Arundhati Roy of our times. He said that this book would be a milestone in
the peace efforts. It includes a selection of representative articles presented
in various conferences on peace during 1932 to 2009. It is started by Maxim
Ghorki and continues till date. The book is divided into six chapters according
to the conferences held in past. Fakhar Zaman is the chief editor while Ahmad
Salim is the editor of this book. APP
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