Scholarships fund for Pakistani students

160 Pakistani students to study in US on scholarship
Islamabad, May 24: Around 160 undergraduate Pakistani students will be heading to the US shortly for higher studies on scholarships.

The scholarships fund students' traveling and lodging. They also provide for their stipend, health insurance and tuition fees for the entire period of study.

Some of these students will attend summer institutes for four to six weeks; others will study for either a year or a full semester. All students are required to return to Pakistan to complete their Bachelor's degrees.

In this connection, United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan (USEFP) organised a Pre-Departure Orientation (PDO) for the students at a local hotel here on Saturday.

The students were briefed on visa regulations, American culture, higher education and campus life in the US.

Richard Stockton College of New Jersey Assistant Professor Dr Robert H Nichols, on the occasion, briefed recipients of scholarships on studying in the US and adjusting in a new environment. The workshop was preceded by a dinner where the students were welcomed.

USEFP Acting Executive Director Rita Akhtar said, "The exciting thing about these undergraduate programmes is that majority of students come from remote and economically disadvantaged areas of Pakistan including AJK, FATA, interior Sindh, Balochistan and Northern Areas. Around one-third of these recipients are females."

She said the students would be studying variety of courses including humanities, social sciences, engineering, basic sciences and business administration.

The selected students are funded under five different programmes, of which three are administered by the USEFP and two are managed directly by the US Embassy.

Programmes managed directly by USEFP include 111 students under Global UGRAD Programme, 2010, 29 students under Pak-US Student Leadership Programme and six students who will study for a year under the Near East South Asia (NESA) Student Exchange Programme.

Programmes directly administered by the US Embassy include seven students under Study of United States Institute (SUSI) and Women Leaders Programme proceeding to Green River Community College near Seattle, Washington for four weeks and seven students under Benjamin Franklin Summer Institute with South and Central Asia Programme proceeding to George Mason University for four weeks.

USEFP, established in 1950 by both Pakistani and the US governments, is a bi-national commission. Daily times

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Officers ganged up against NUML professor
Islamabad: The uniformed 'brigade' of National University of Modern Languages (NUML) has ganged up against the professor who, after being beaten by an ex-Army brigadier, had launched protests along with students, which had resulted in the ouster of the brigadier from the NUML.

The professor has now been declared guilty by an inquiry committee and its report will be presented before the NA Standing Committee on Education, which had sought reply from the NUML. The professor has also been issued a show cause notice on grounds of misconduct.

An inquiry committee constituted on the orders of the prime minister to look into the matter held its proceedings in mysterious ways and in a manner that not a single witness who saw the episode was presented, or testified before the committee.

Instead five retired brigadiers and the nominated persons of NUML's Rector were handpicked to record their statements.

Kamran Jahangir, Director General NUML, who is also the spokesman for GHQ-funded university, confirmed on Saturday that the members of the PM's inquiry committee first negotiated with NUML's Rector and then called the persons for statements.

He mentioned that the inquiry committee report did not fulfill all the legal requirements. "I was also called by the committee to record my statement and I was not a witness to the event," said Kamran Jahangir, adding: "Unfortunately not a single witness of the event was called by the committee." Juman J Jamro, the Additional Secretary Education who headed the committee said that all those who were available were called by the committee. He said that the committee had to find the facts, which could be gathered from anywhere.

The NUML has prepared a brief to submit to the National Assembly Standing Committee on Education, a copy of which is available, which states: "On the instruction of Prime Minister of Pakistan an independent Fact Finding/Inquiry Committee was constituted by the Secretary Education comprising Muhammad Juman J Jamro, Additional Secretary/Director (M&E Cell) and Abdul Waheed Khan, Deputy Director (M&E Cell) of Ministry of Education.

The committee interacted with faculty members, various staff/witnesses and recorded statements of 11 faculty members and established the following: "That Tahir Naeem Malik did resort to derogatory remarks about the army, ISI and their top management in the presence of faculty members and guests." "That he disrupted the transport operation by locking the gates and instigated faculty and students by making speeches and giving interviews to electronic and print media.

That his personal file is full of warnings and explanations.

That both the officials refused to appear before the Inquiry Board constituted by the University authorities. A show cause notice has been served to Tahir Naeem Malik on charges of misconduct under E&D rules".

On the other hand all the witnesses of the event when Brigadier Obaidullah Ranjha had beaten the professor over NRO criticism have submitted an affidavit in the National Assembly Committee that neither they were called before any inquiry committee within the university nor outside by any competent authority to verify and ascertain the facts of the issue. The news

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Private schools warn govt of countrywide protest against VAT
Islamabad: All Pakistan Private Schools Management Association (APPSMA) Saturday threatened to hold a countrywide protest against the imposition of Value Added Tax (VAT) on private's educational institutions. This announcement was made during a press conference at National Press Club (NPC). APPSMA President Adeeb Javedani strongly condemned VAT and termed it financial murder of private institutions. He said more than 0.5 million schools were working in the country and imparting education to millions of students, but VAT had put the future of many students at risk. He said there was no such example in the world of imposing huge taxes on educational institutions.

"According to the 1973 Constitution it is the prime responsibility of government to give education to every individual in the country, but unfortunately government instead of doing so is creating hurdles in achieving this objective through such decisions," he remarked. He demanded that the government take back this decision otherwise they had no option to come on to streets and roads. Responding to a question Javedani said he would never accept VAT and force the government to take its decision back. He said if government wanted to collect revenue it should play constructive role in bringing back money from foreign countries. Daily times

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Panthers win QAU cricket tournament
Islamabad: Extra-curricular activities play a vital role in developing students' minds as well as their physical fitness, said Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) Vice Chancellor Dr. Masoom Yasinzai here on Saturday.

Addressing the prize distribution ceremony of the 4th Vice Chancellor Cricket Tournament, he said that sports could be a powerful tool to combat extremism. The Executive Panthers of MBA Department won the final match by eight wickets defeating the ECO Stars of Economics Department in the tournament, in which a total of 56 teams from different departments tried to get top positions.

The vice chancellor distributed trophies and cash prizes among the winners and runners-up. The top three teams received cash prizes worth Rs20,000, Rs10,000, and Rs5,000 respectively along with individual prizes. The news

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