Rawalpindi SSC Part-I composite examinations

SSC Part-I exams begin tomorrow
Rawalpindi, March 29: Rawalpindi Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (RBISE) has finalised the arrangements for holding Secondary School Certificate (SSC) Part-I (9th) composite examinations commencing from tomorrow (Tuesday), Controller of Examination Abdul Sattar Ramay said on Sunday He said, a total of 369 centers have been set up for 150,000 candidates. The roll number slips have already been issued to all candidates. The relevant offices of RBISE remained opened on Sunday to correct the minor mistakes in roll number slips to enable all students to participate in the examinations. The section 144 already imposed in connection with metric examination in all centers, will continue till the end of SSC Part-I examinations on April 13. The irrelevant peoples are hereby advised to remain 50 yards away from the examination centre. app

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Fake degrees threaten many more high profile MPs
Islamabad: A Pandora's box has been opened after two MNAs, PPP's Jamshed Dasti and PML-Q's Nazir Jatt, resigned after their degrees were found to be fake in a Supreme Court case, as many more elected representatives fear they may also fall into this ditch.

Questions are already being raised about the future of these other dubious degree holders and on top of the list is the incumbent president of Pakistan, who holds a graduation degree in Economics and Business Administration from Pedinton School, London.

This qualification of President Asif Ali Zardari was mentioned on the official website of the Pakistan People's Party but was removed after the general election of 2008. The official wire service of Pakistan also mentioned his London degree when he was elected as the president.

Many tried to locate this UK school, but failed. While no Internet search engine could come up with this institution, an official of the British Council said they were also unaware of the existence of any such school. There is, though, another school having some name resemblance with Pedinton, which is called Pedington School but it is located in Sydney (Australia) and is only from nursery to intermediate.

Interestingly, President Zardari's sister Dr Azra Pechuho, instead of referring to Pedinton School said that Asif Ali Zardari had done his graduation from Saint Patrick's College, Karachi. The college administration was, however, not in knowledge about Zardari's graduation nor was his name placed on the list of distinguished alumni as appears in that of Petaro College's alumni list.

A high-profile PPP minister has also been found holding a doctorate degree issued by a fake US university, University of Monticello, declared to be 'fraud' by an authentic US organisation and fined by a US court.

Although Federal Minister for Law and Justice Babar Awan says that his degree was valid, everybody else thinks it was fake and was wrongfully awarded by a university that was never accredited for such degree programmes and was shut down in 2000 on charges of fraud.

The United States Educational Foundation (USEF) in Pakistan confirmed that the said University was never allowed to offer degree programmes, including PhD and termed the university a fraud. This university was closed down in the year 2000 and was also fined $1.7 million for befooling innumerable international aspirants of different degree programmes.

The Higher Education Commission of Pakistan has also declared the University of Monticello as fake.

Another sitting MP of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q in the Punjab who has now joined the forward bloc is also alleged to be holding a fake degree. Mian Tariq Mehmood of Gujrat holds a graduation degree which, he claims, he passed in 2003 but the rest of his record is dubious.

Documents filed by him in the Lahore High Court, available with The News, state that Mian Tariq Mehmood, son of Mian Ghulam Rasul, was born on 05-05-1955 and appeared in matriculation exam in 1971 under roll number 17,834 from the Sargodha Board but could not pass the exam.

After Musharraf imposed the graduation degree condition for parliamentarians, Mian Tariq Mehmood got his daughter elected as an MPA and he himself got a graduation degree from the Punjab University in 2003 under roll number 23,172.

Interestingly, he used an intermediate result card of a person having the same name - Tariq Mehmood, son of Ghulam Rasul - for his graduation. The second Tariq Mehmood was born on 02-03-1978 and did his intermediate from the Gujranwala Board in 1995 under roll number 3,214. While in his admission form for his degree, Mian Tariq Mehmood MPA mentioned that he did his intermediate from the Gujranwala Board in 1995 under roll number 3,214. This case is being heard by the LHC and because of the shortage of judges it could not get a hearing.

Similarly, there are dozens of cases pending in the courts challenging the degrees of MPs, especially of those who are holding the degrees of religious institutions. One such degree holder, Haji Nasir of the PML-N was disqualified by the LHC for holding a fake degree of a religious school.

Two ministers of state in Musharraf's cabinet were also caught buying fake degrees from internet-based universities. The degree of ex-senator Pari Gul Agha was also questioned by the media but no one challenged it and the lady walked away after completing her term and contributing her role in passing the infamous 17th Amendment.

Apart from the degrees, there is an MPA, who caused the biggest Hepatitis outbreak in the US history and was sued by over 100 victims in Nebraska, who were paid millions of dollars in out-of-court settlements. He even lost his medical licence in the State of New York but continued to be the minister of Health in the Punjab from 2002 to 2007.

Dr Tahir Ali Javed has now been elected as MPA from Narowal once again in 2008 polls and is in the forward bloc supporting the PML-N.

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Staff officer of ousted RMC principal transferred
Rawalpindi: The provincial health ministry removed a senior medical officer of Benazir Bhutto Hospital Dr Shahzad Ahmed from his post who had been serving as staff officer of the ousted RMC and Allied Hospitals' Principal Professor Mohammad Mussadiq Khan.

On Saturday, some 11 days after the transfer of Dr Mussadiq, the BBH chief Dr Asif Qadir Mir was asked verbally to relieve Dr Shahzad. "I have been asked by the office of provincial health secretary to relieve Dr Shahzad Ahmed," said Dr Mir on Sunday.

He said that the health department conveyed to him that the written transfer order of Dr Shahzad would be provided to his office on Monday (today). He, however, could not tell the reason behind immediate transfer of Dr Shahzad who has been asked to report to secretary health. Dr Shahzad who has posting as senior medical officer at BBH had been serving as staff officer at the RMC Principal office with Dr Mussadiq who was removed from his post on March 15 with immediate effect and made OSD after an inquiry by a Special Task Force of Administrative Efficiencies at Chief Minister's Secretariat conducted into a number of corruption cases reported at RMC and allied hospitals within past few months.

Within past six months, a number of corruption cases involving fake documentation at the RMC and allied hospitals have been reported including submission of fake and bogus certificate by Dr Bilal Muhammad Khan son of Dr Mussadiq regarding house job to Pakistan Medical and Dental Council for permanent registration, appointments of fake doctors and illegal appointments at allied hospitals and fraudulent cases to have money from Bait-ul-Mal at the HFH.

Many health experts at allied hospitals believe that the transfer of Dr Shahzad is in result of the recommendations of the same inquiry in result of which Dr Mussadiq had been removed from his post. "I am, however, unable to say at the moment that Dr Shahzad's transfer has any relation with transfer of Dr Mussadiq or not," said Dr Mir while responding to a query.

Meanwhile, Additional Medical Superintendent (Works and Services) at the BBH Dr Shahid Raza Butt has also been transferred from his post and his services have been given to Director Health Services, Rawalpindi Division. "I think his transfer is a routine case as Dr Butt has served at BBH for more than five years," said Dr Mir and added that Dr Rafiq Ahmed would be replacing Dr Shahid Butt. The news

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HEC-FAD trains financial aid offices staff
Islamabad: The Higher Education Commission-Financial Aid and Development (HEC-FAD) programme funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) is financially assisting Higher Education Commission (HEC) and 11 partner Pakistani universities by setting up financial aid and development offices at each partner university and HEC, said a press release issued here on Saturday.

In order to impart training to the newly recruited financial aid offfice's staff, the HEC-FAD programme sponsored a three-day intensive training this week to improve their understanding of strategic and operational planning components.

The staff during the training was acquainted with the concepts of students' scholarships and loan opportunities. They also acquired the skills to establish partnerships with the private sector to support education for Pakistan's bright future. They also learned fundamentals of career counseling for students. Daily times

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AMC parliamentary debate on media freedom
While serving the nation by producing well-trained men and women for the medical profession, the Army Medical College (AMC) also keeps in mind the intellectual needs of its students by organising debates and discussions on a regular basis. These give a chance to the students to showcase their talent on a different level than that of medical competence.

One of the popular extra-curricular activities that has become a regular feature is debating and both English and Urdu debates are held in which senior students participate with great enthusiasm. Keeping to this tradition, the authorities, under the aegis of Dr Lt Col Khadija Qamar, organised the annual English Inter-Company Parliamentary Debate titled 'This house is in favour of media freedom and independence'. An interesting aspect of the debate was that the participants were given only an hour to prepare the subject matter - "to make them think and test their knowledge," said Dr Khadija.

The auditorium of the AMC was abuzz with the sound of voices from both sides of the nearly full hall, girls and boys seated separately - there was a palpable excitement to be felt. An immediate hush fell, as the moderators of the event - Nabil Tahir and Faran Hamid - took their places on stage exactly at the scheduled time of 9.30am - something that does not occur in most events/functions and shows, the discipline with which the institution is run. After welcoming everyone, Nabil announced the arrival of the chief guest, Head of Department Prof Brigadier Mazhar Hussain, who was received with cheers and applause.

After this, the judges were introduced - columnist and author Brig (r) Asif Haroon, Lecturer CB College Mrs Samina Bokhari, and social columnist Ishrat Hyatt - the rules and regulations were read out, stipulating that participants, who were selected from different companies, had one minute for introduction, three for answering questions and one for concluding remarks. The 'For' team was composed of Hasan, Jawaid, Saba, Hamad and Sanniya, while Sadeem, Mammon, Hafsa, Aquib, Bilal and Sadaf made up the 'Against' team.

The topic was hotly debated but in conclusion, the 'Against' team won by an overwhelming majority and the trophy was captured by Ayesha Company - a hands down girls win, with Hafsa winning the first prize from the 'against' side and Saba being awarded the second prize from the 'For' team.

The audience response was very enthusiastic, both for the speakers as well as for the motion and the views expressed by them. It was interesting to note that the 'Against' team objected strongly to irresponsible reporting by the media, which hurt the sentiments of victims - those who suffer an invasion of their private life - and also the repetition of gory scenes and irrelevant 'breaking news' stories - very similar to the views expressed by participants of the 'youth parliament' held recently.

While the results were being compiled, talented students - sadly, only boys, the girls it seems were too shy - recited verse and passed humorous comments for the entertainment of the audience and they too were enthusiastically cheered and applauded.

It was an interesting event and proves our young people have talent and if they have the will to make it so, Pakistan can be ranked among the progressive countries of the world.

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PAL to hold festival
Islamabad: Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) plans to organise an international conference titled 'Literary and Culture Festival 2011' in Islamabad.

Eminent international personalities from the field of literature and culture would participate in the conference and hold debates on the role of literature and culture towards promoting peace in the world.

PAL Chairman Fakhar Zaman stated this at a press briefing on Friday while addressing the media about the successful celebration of the recently held international conference on 'Sufism and Peace' and the future plans of PAL.

Sharing the success story of 'Sufism and Peace conference', Fakhar Zaman said that the main objective of this conference was to demonstrate the soft image of Pakistan. The foreign delegates participating in the conference left with a fresh vision of the true image of Pakistan and would write about it in papers and journals of their respective countries, which would help counter the false propagation and misconceptions about Pakistan, he added. The importance given to the conference by local and foreign media coverage speaks about the success of the conference in which about 80 intellectuals, writers, and poets participated from 35 different countries around the world along with over 200 literati from Pakistan.

He said that on the prestigious occasion of international conference, Pakistan Academy of Letters had announced some publications, Mystic Poets of Pakistan (Pakistan 'kay Sufi Shuaa'ra' in Urdu, Chinese, English, Spanish, and French), 'Pakistani literature' (Chinese and Arabic), 'Resistant Literature' (Urdu part 1&2), Writers Directory, 'Khushboo ki Shahadat' , 'Bhutto Trail V part 1&2', 'Shaheed Benazir Bhutto (English 2nd edition), 'International Conference 1995', 'In the Defense of Peace, Poetry and Culture', 'Ban Lifted after 18 Years from Fakhar Zaman's 4 Books', 'Resistance Literature', 'Delegates profile' and 'Delegates Hand Book'.

Briefing about future projects and plans of PAL, Fakhar Zaman said that along with preparing for International Literary and Cultural Festival 2011, PAL is also working on the establishment of Literary TV channel and FM channel, a mega project to boost litro-cultural activities in Pakistan. He said that the project is to be completed in next three months.

Fakhar Zaman also informed that PAL has decided to celebrate 2011 as the Year of Faiz Ahmed Faiz. In this regard, on February 13, 2011, on the birthday of Faiz, a national conference would be organised.

PAL has also started the construction of Faiz Ahmed Faiz Auditorium within its premises, which is going to be completed very soon. He said that PAL is also organising 'Sufi conferences' in provincial capitals, in which the papers will be presented on the Sufi poets of Pakistan. Fakhar Zaman also said that PAL would soon start writers exchange programme with other countries. The latest development in this regard is this that on the occasion of international conference on Sufism and Peace, PAL has decided to start writers exchange programme with Sweden, Austria, Italy, Morocco, Algeria, Nepal, Azerbaijan, and Tajikistan. He said that under the umbrella of Pakistan Academy of Letters special numbers on Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Ahmed Faraz, Munir Niazi and Amrta Preetam of its quarterly journal 'Adbiyat' have been published, which received immense appreciation from around the world.

He said that PAL in its publication projects had decided that it would publish separate books on the literature of Pakistan's regional languages since 1947-2008. This project has been completed and the selections on the poetry and prose of Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi, Pushto, Balochi, Barahvi, Saraiki, Shina, Balti, Khawar and Gujrati languages, have already been published.

Fakhar Zaman further said that PAL's future publication project includes "Translating Pakistani and International Literature". Academy is managing the translations of different countries' literature along with Pakistani literature of different languages.

This is one of the major projects of academy, on which we have started working, so that Pakistani literature may get its presentation and achieve its status abroad in a better way, and Pakistani writers may get benefit from international literature, he added.

He also informed that PAL is also planning a new project of children's literature and writers, as very little work has been done in this regard. In this project, we have included the books on children's literature writers, children magazine, the publication of children's classic literature, and conferences & seminars on children's literature. First step in this effort is to recognise the work of Pakistani writers including Punjabi, Sindhi, Pushto, Balochi, Brahvi, Saraiki, Hindko and Northern areas languages. Pakistan Academy of Letters will support and encourage these writers by presenting awards for their work. The news

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