Various exams postponed | Benazir Bhutto medical university fate

HSC exams postponed
Karachi, May 25: The Board of Intermediate Education Karachi (BIEK) has postponed the HSC Annual Examinations papers scheduled for May 25.

This was announced by BIEK Chairman Professor Anwar Ahmed Zai here on Sunday evening. He said that both the morning and evening shift papers for May 25 have been postponed. Prof Zai said that fresh dates for these papers would be announced on Tuesday.

The HSC papers on Tuesday would be held as per schedule, he further stated. Meanwhile, the University of Karachi (KU) has announced to postpone all exam papers on 25 May (morning & evening). New dates will be announced later, a KU release said on Sunday. app/ppi

SSC practical exams
The Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK) has said that the practical examinations of Secondary School Certificate (SSC) which were scheduled to be held on Monday have been postponed.

Board officials said on Sunday that a new date for the practical examination would be announced later.

DCET exams to be held
Karachi: The Dawood College of Engineering and Technology (DCET) has announced that BE (electronics, chemical, metallurgy & materials, industrial engineering & management) and B-Architecture batch 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2009 regular/supplementary examinations will commence on May 25 on the college premises.

An announcement to this effect was made by DCET protocol officer Mushtaq A. Shaikh on Sunday.

Krachi University MA exam forms
In a statement issued on Sunday, the University of Karachi said that the last date for the submission of examination forms for MA/double-MA and improvement of division with a total fee of Rs2,850 was June 2.

This would be the last chance for the candidates willing to appear in the examinations and no form would be accepted after the date, it added. The examinations are scheduled to be held in June. Dawn

Karachi University MPhil, PhD
Karachi: The University of Karachi has advised all MPhil and PhD students of the faculty of science, who want to appear in the Research Methodology (course no. ASR 702) exams, to pay their course fee of Rs300 by May 26. App

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Fate of medical university hangs in the balance
Larkana: The fate of the proposed Benazir Bhutto medical university hangs in the balance as the provincial government is dilly-dallying on the project for one or the other reason since the Sindh Assembly unanimously passed an act on Aug 15, 2008.

On April 12, 2008, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah during a visit to Larkana announced that a medical university named after Benazir Bhutto would be established in the city. The Sindh Assembly passed a bill in this regard on Aug 15, 2008.

Subsequently a notification was issued on Sept 18, 2008, which said that all properties, right, and interests of whatever kind, used, enjoyed, possessed, owned or vested in the trust by Chandka Medical College Larkana, Ghulam Mohammed Mahar Medical College Sukkur, Gambat Institute of Medical Sciences would be transferred to the university and all the persons serving in all the above institutions would be transferred to the university.

The notification generated jubilation among people in genral and doctors in particular. But their pleasure proved short-lived as the government did not make any headway on the project after issuance of the notification.

A special meeting of the academic council of CMC held on March 19, 2009 recommended acquiring land on Larkana-Karachi road, five kilometres from Larkana city, for the construction of main campus of the university.

"We are still waiting to hear from the Sindh government about the recommended land," said Prof Afsar Bhutto, president of Larkana chapter of the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA).

As a first step, the government should immediately appoint a vice-chancellor and acquire land for the university, said Prof Zaffar Pirzado, head of the Department of Bio-Chemistry and president of Chandka Teachers Association, who plans to hold protests to press for the demand.

An estimated amount of Rs352.4 million would be required for land, secretariat, registrar office, examination branch, transport and faculty development, said the sources, adding that the government had been informed about it.

Rs2,640.5 million would be required for generalised development and Rs1,786 million for faculty of clinical and oral health sciences under long term projects, the sources said.

Prof Hakim Ali Abro, head of the Department of Medicine Unit-III, said the delay was causing disappointment and raising doubts over credibility of the government.

The government should immediately release seed money of Rs200 million lying with the Sindh government to initiate work on the project and house it temporarily in the hostel-IV of Chandka Medical College, Mr Pirzado suggested.

Dr Shabir Shaikh and Dr Rajib Deenari, assistant professors of surgery, said the university would provide opportunity to the medical graduates of Upper Sindh to do post-graduation near their cities because at present they were facing problems in getting admissions in Karachi.

Dr Inayat Magsi, a psychiatrist, said that lack of political will paired with indecisiveness were key impediments to the university. He pointed out lack of vision in implementing the act which the Sindh Assembly itself had passed.

Bahadur Shah Gilgiti, president of Sindh People's Students Federation of CMC unit, said that they were seriously planning to hold demonstrations to press for the demand for the university.

It has become even more important to establish the university as the Dow University of Health Sciences Karachi has practically curtailed awarding admissions to the candidates hailing from interior of Sindh, said Dr Deenari.

The consensus opinion of the doctors was that the government was looking for a favourite candidate to make him or her vice-chancellor who could look after their interests.

According to some reports, the government was initially considering establishing the medical university in Nawabshah. It had identified land and also gave a nod to releasing funds for the university, said the sources.

"Silence in all quarters with regard to the university project is a valid indication that the government is unwilling to go ahead with the project in Larkana," said Prof Afsar Bhutto, president of PMA Larkana.

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83,547 appear in test for PST jobs
Hyderabad: A total of 83,547 candidates, 51,865 men and 31,682 women, appeared in the test for the post of primary school teacher, held on Sunday in 11 districts of Sindh.

The test was conducted in a disciplined and transparent manner, says a press release of the Sindh University which supervised the second phase of the exam.

In Karachi, 17,714 men and femen candidates appeared in the test.

University teams reported 40 cases of cheating and impersonation from Karachi, Jamshoro, Matiari, Nawabshah, Sanghar, Tando Mohammad Khan and Tharparkar districts.

Six cases of impersonation were detected in Karachi. After verification of record, the candidates involved in using unfair means were disqualified from the test.

One impersonation case was reported from Jamshoro centre where a woman tried to appear on behalf of her cousin.

From Matiari centre, 15 men and woman candidates were reported involved in cheating while 14 cases were reported from Tando Mohammad Khan centre.

In Jamshoro, 4,073 candidates appeared in the test held at the Arts Faculty Building, Sindh University, where 50 blocks were set up for candidates.

A control room was set up at Allama I.I. Kazi Campus Jamshoro and a committee headed by the vice-chancellor monitored the test arrangements in all 11 districts.

In Karachi, the test was conducted at the Expo Centre where 6,034 men and 11,680 women took the test.

Sindh Education Minister Pir Mazharul Haq monitored the test and remained at the Expo Centre till the and of the test last.

In Naushahro Feroze, 15,602 candidates, including 11,800 men and 3,802 women, appeared.

In Shaheed Benazir Abad centre, total 10,347 candidates, 7,768 men and 2,579 women, took the test.

In Badin, 7,797 candidates, 5,868 men and 1,829 women; in Matiari 6,002 candidates, 4,707 men and 1,295 women; in Mirpurkhas 2,939 women; in Sanghar 2,625 woman candidates; in Tando Mohammad Khan 3,294 candidates, 2,449 men and 845 women; in Tharparkar at Mithi 6,852 candidates, 5,722 men and 1,130 femen and in Umerkot 6,302 candidates, 4,817 men and 1,485 femen appeared in the test.

The university provided OMR sheets and black ball points to the candidates for answering the questions. The test was spread over two hours and the test paper contained 100 questions carrying 100 marks.

At every centre admit cards were checked by the university staff. The deans of the faculties as chief vigilance officers and members of syndicate as vigilance officers supervised the test arrangements in different districts.

InNawabshah, some candidates used unfair means in the test held at Degree College on Sunday.

More than 10,000 candidates, including over 2,500 women, appeared in the written test for 1,200 vacant posts of PST.

Around 500 invigilators performed their duties in the examination hall set up in camps. Dawn

Inducting teachers purely on merit
Karachi: Senior Sindh Minister Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq said on Sunday that the appointments of teachers in Sindh were being made on merit.

He said this during his visit to the examination centre of candidates for appointment as primary school teachers (PSTs) at the Expo Centre here.

He said that only the teachers inducted on merit basis could improve the standard of education. The Sindh Minister said that all possible measures were being taken to improve the standard of education in Sindh in which, he said, the Education Department and media were playing a significant role.

Of a total 17,700 candidates for the posts of Primary School Teacher (PST), a total 11,000 were women, he noted. He also reviewed the arrangements to conduct the tests for the posts of PST and also directed the concerned departments in this regard.

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NED varsity to add new faculty of engineering
Karachi: The NED University of Engineering and Technology will have a new faculty of engineering from July this year.

At present, the university has four faculties – civil, mechanical and electrical engineering and humanities and information science.

According to the university's registrar, Engineer Javed Aziz Khan, the disciplines of chemical, material and polymer engineering, which are presently functioning under the faculty of mechanical engineering, will comprise a separate faculty from July.

Mr Khan said the university would also increase the number of seats from the next academic year, adding that the academic council would meet in July and take up the matter.

He said more than 100 seats were likely to be added to the university's intake for the academic session scheduled to begin from January 2010. Presently, the annual intake of the NED University of Engineering and Technology is 1,917 students in its 21 departments. App

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KU ICCBS prepares cost-effective bio-pesticide
Karachi: The International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS), University of Karachi (KU) has prepared a cost effective name-based bio-pesticide that is ready for marketing. A renowned scientist of HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry, KU, Prof. Dr Bina Siddiqi, has prepared the bio-pesticide, according to a press statement issued here on Sunday.

KU Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui and ICCBS Director, Prof. Dr Muhammad Iqbal Choudhary has congratulated the senior professor and termed this achievement as honour for the university.

As per the statement of ICCBS, the Plant Protection Department, Government of Pakistan, has already granted the registration for the said bio-pesticide, which has been prepared after years-long research jointly carried out by the HEJ Institute and Prof. Dr Naeem-ul-Hassan Naqvi of the Zoology Department of the KU.

According to Prof. Siddiqui, who is the project director, this bio-pesticide is effective in protecting several crops like cotton, rice and vegetables including brinjal, tomato, pumpkins, cucumber, chillies, ladyfinger, cabbage and peas etc.

"Its prophylactic use gives up to 100 per cent protection. Resistance does not develop against this pesticide up to 50 generations while so toxic resides are left as it is bio degradable. It is pollution free product and environmental friendly," adds the statement. Better effects have been found on while fillies with this pesticide as compared to the conventional pesticides in the long run. It also produces sterility in insects, it further adds.

In the country, farmers use synthetic pesticide worth millions of dollars despite the fact that synthetic pesticides have long-term toxic affects not only on humans but also on animals. "The country's exports in the agriculture side have been badly affected due to the use of toxic pesticides, while the bio-pesticide made of indigenous resources is very safe," said the statement.

As per the directions for use, treatment by 1-3 per cent concentration is recommended depending upon the size of plant and the extent of infestation, while dilution should be done with water. Around 90 to 100 per cent control is obtained if sprayed at an early stage of infestation 50-60 per cent control on old infestation. On the other hand, three to five sprayings are advisable during the whole season, it further added. The News

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