PU book fair postponed | UET 19th convocation

PU book fair postponed over security fears
Lahore, April 02: A meeting of Punjab University Deans Committee under the chairmanship of Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran held on Wednesday at New Campus to review the security arrangements on the PU campuses.

According to a press release here, the meeting decided to enhance and improve the security measures at Old Campus and New Campus and special committees comprising senior faculty members were constituted for the purpose.

The meeting unanimously decided to postpone the book fair 2009 due to security problems in the country. It was also decided that publishers and booksellers would be informed formally about it.

To improve the security, the meeting showed satisfaction regarding the issuance of entrance stickers to the vehicles of faculty members, students and employees. It was also decided to make proper arrangements to send back the outsider traffic from the entrance gates.

For Old (Allama Iqbal) Campus, a committee under the chairmanship of Dr Jamshaid was constituted with its members Dr Khawaja Amjad Saeed, Dr Saleem Mazhar, Dr Mazhar Moeen, Zafar Ullah and Dr Mansoor Sarwar.

For New Campus security, four committees were constituted under the supervision of Dr Muhammad Ehsan Malik, Dr Liaqat Ali, Dr Hafiz Muhammad Iqbal and Dr Muhammad Akhtar. All committees will present their recommendations in the next meeting.

The Punjab University Book Fair was scheduled to be held on April 9 to 11 and now it has been postponed due to security concerns.

PU declares MBBS result
Lahore: The Punjab University has declared the result of MBBS, Final Professional (re-organised scheme), Annual Examination, 2008, according to a press release here on Wednesday. Detailed result is also available at the PU website www.pu.edu.pk.

Post your comments

UET convocation on 25th
Lahore: The 19th convocation of the University of Engineering and Technology (UET), Lahore, will be held at 9am on April 25 (Saturday) in the UET auditorium hall instead of as earlier scheduled on April 18, 2009.

According to a press release here on Wednesday, the successful students of MSc/MPhil, and PhD, who were successful in their respective examinations in the year 2007, 2008 and 2009 after the 18th convocation held in 2007, are invited to the ceremony.

Degrees and medals will be conferred upon undergraduates of session 2003 (F) and session 2004.

Full dress rehearsal for the ceremony would be held in the UET auditorium on April 24 (Friday) at 3pm. The students will be given entry slips during the rehearsal.

The attendance in the convocation will only be allowed to the students having National Identity Cards and entry slips. The News

Board told to allow girl to take exams with assistant
Lahore: Punjab Ombudsman Khalid Mahmood while accepting an application of a student, Farah Naz, directed the Multan Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education chairman to allow her to solve Class 9 papers with help of an assistant, as her right hand was chopped and she could not write.

Farah, a student from Burewala, submitted that she had injured her right hand while cutting fodder on January 5, 2009, and the doctors later removed it. She said she had to appear in Class 9 examination starting this week, but was unable to write with her left hand.

She submitted the board rules allowed her to solve her papers with someone's assistance, but the Multan Board had turned down her request in this regard. She said the board replied that the facility could only be provided to the blinds or permanently disable persons, and she did not fall in the two categories.

She requested the ombudsman to direct the board to allow her appear in the examination with an assistant. The ombudsman, holding that Farah's problem was of a permanent nature, directed the board to allow her appear in the examination with help of an assistant to write for her. Daily Times

Post your comments

Lecturers to get promotion soon
Lahore: Prior to February 25, the PML-N Government in Punjab had decided in principle to promote and grant grade 18 to the lecturers still working in grade 17 albeit were recruited in 1987, 1988 and 1989. More than 300 lecturers could be benefited by this decision while those who have been reinstated after the verdict by Supreme Court of Pakistan of March 24 would also be in the line for same treatment.

It had also been decided that the lecturers who completed 12 years service would be promoted to the rank of assistant professor in grade 18 and associate professor in grade 19 after eight years of service in grade 18, while associate professor would be promoted to the rank professor in grade 20 after six years who would get grade 21 after the next 3 years.

In addition, it had also been proposed by the provincial government to double the salaries of regular college teachers and provide Rs10,000 per month to the contract lecturers as a special allowance.

A summary to this effect on the representation of the Punjab Professors and Lecturers Association (PPLA) was sent by the secretary education to the chief secretary who forwarded the same to the chief minister on May 2, 2008 vide letter No PS/DS (G)-120/8. It was sent again to the CM on February 5, 2009 the very day when Shahbaz Sharif's government was terminated following the disqualification by the SC.

After the restoration Shahbaz as the chief minister following the larger bench's verdict in his favour on March 31st, the government is going to take op the matter some time during the current month. It had also been proposed to increase the charge allowance of the college principals from Rs650 to Rs5,000. All these proposals have also been forwarded by the Punjab Education Department for incorporation in the forthcoming education policy, the draft proposal of which has been circulated among the provinces for suggestions.

Another decision on the cards is to upgrade the college teachers on the pattern of varsities' academic staff. A summary to this effect was sent to Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani along with the education policy draft, which is likely to be announced shortly after resolving the present political crisis.

Meanwhile, PPLA President Prof Nazim Hussnain has expressed his hope that the Punjab Government would undertake the matter urgently and provide relief to the college teachers as recommended by the education department. The Nation

UVAS makes headway
Lahore: The genomic research group of the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) has made major achievements in genetic characterisation of livestock breeds and patenting cases have already been filed for intellectual property rights.

This was claimed in a news release issued by a university spokesman here on Wednesday.

The spokesman said work on genetic characterization and patent registration of Sahiwal, Red Sindhi and Cholistani cattle breeds was well under way.

He said the UVAS research group had also found genetic variations in genes controlling efficient energy metabolism to cater for increasing competition between humans and animals for scarce food resources. "Work on genes controlling multiple births in small ruminants (sheep and goats) has been completed," he said. Dawn

Naat competition held at Government College University
Lahore: The Arabic Society of Government College University Lahore organized Inter-Collegiate and Inter-University Naat Competition held in Chemistry Seminar Room of GCU. Dr. Sultan Shah Head Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies was the Chief Guest, while incharge of the society Dr. Muhammad Sarfaraz presided the session. Ansar Ali Qadri from Minhaj University got the 1st position, while Muneba Ijaz of Government College for Women Samnabad stood 2nd. F.P Report

Post your comments

Admission controversy at UMT
Lahore: The Lahore High Court while issuing notices to Higher Education Commission (HEC) and University of Management & Technology (UMT) has allowed eleven students of M Phil to continue their four-year scholarship.

A petition was filed by Imran Babar Jamil and others submitting that the UMT through newspaper advertisement invited applications from eligible candidates for M Phil leading to PhD Programme in English (Linguistics/Applied Linguistics).

The petitioners being eligible candidates applied to the UMT for getting admission in M Phil and the university allowed their admission to the said programme.

They said according to the advertisement it was pre-requisite for the admission to M Phil that the candidates should qualify GRE test and they qualified the same and HEC granted scholarships to the petitioners of Rs 10,000 per month and the admission fee and all other university dues have to be paid by the university to the HEC.

The petitioners started their study in the year 2007 and successfully completed the minimum requirement for the programme.

They pleaded that the UMT dispatched an e-mail to them on January 21, 2009 that they should appear in subject comprehension test (GRE international type) on Feb-10, 2009 and the GRE international subject test was the essential requirement for the award of PhD degree and the candidates have to qualify this test in three chances.

They said the UMT illegally, unlawfully and due to malafide intension asked them to qualify another entry test in which they appeared under protest.

The UMT disqualified 35 candidates out of 40 without disclosing the result of the entry test only to manage the ouster of the petitioners from the scholarship programme, they said.

They pointed out that there was no mentioning of entry test in the admission letters issued to them at the time of their admission and there was no question of holding the test in between the four years of the course.

The petitioners prayed to court to declare the implementation of impugned entry test as null and void and they be allowed to continue their scholarship programme.

The court while allowing the petitioners to continue their studies has directed a deputy attorney general to ensure the replies of the respondents until April 07. The News

Pakistan's first Breast Cancer Mobile Clinic launched at LCWU
Lahore: Pakistan's first Breast Cancer Mobile Mammogram Clinic was launched on Wednesday at the Lahore College for Women University (LCWU).

The Pakistan Pink Ribbon National Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign and Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission's Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Oncology (INMOL) collaborated to establish the mobile clinic, which has been equipped with state of the art mammogram and ultrasound machines. The set-up has been established in a truck that can travel to the remote areas of the country without mobility problems.

The truck has been equipped with a UPS generator and is air conditioned as well. It has been furnished with a washbasin, stool and couches and the interior gives the air of being inside an actual clinic. The mobile clinic has been painted pink along with various messages creating awareness about breast cancer.

Pink Ribbon Campaign National Coordinator Omer Aftab said the mobile clinic would be used to help the poor women of the country by providing them free screening services at their doorstep, which would save thousands of precious lives.

Highest rate: He said Pakistan had the highest rate of breast cancer for any Asian country. Every year, 90,000 women were diagnosed with breast cancer and 40,000 women died because of it in Pakistan. A research study conducted by the Pink Ribbon Campaign says, "Approximately one out of every nine Pakistani women are likely to suffer from breast cancer at some point in their lives". The study adds that every fifth women in Pakistan developed breast cancer after the age of 40. About 77 percent of invasive breast cancer occurred in women over 50 years of age. The research shows that with an early diagnosis of breast cancer, the chances of survival were above 90 percent.

Free screening: Aftab said the mobile clinic would go to various educational institutions and provide the women there with free screening tests that would otherwise cost at least Rs 3,000 and could cost as much as Rs 8,000. He said all the doctors and the technicians working with the mobile clinic were women, so the patients would not feel uncomfortable when getting themselves checked. He said the mobile clinic would visit Kinnaird College next and it would go to other institutions like Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) too. Aftab said the result of a test taking at the mobile clinic was prepared within an hour.

LCWU Mass Communication Department head Dr Anjum Zia said the university had been working with the Pink Ribbon Campaign for a long time, which was why it had chosen LCWU to launch their first mobile clinic. She said more than 20 women had been tested in a single day. Anjum said it was nice to see the mobile clinic doctors educating students about the disease and self-examining techniques. Daily Times

Post your comments