Universities VCs appointment process challenged
Govt reply sought on VC posts criterion
Lahore, April 14: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday sought a report and para wise comments
from Punjab government on a petition challenging process for appointment
of vice chancellors in six public sector universities and composition
of search committee tasked for the appointments. Petitioner Dr
Hassan Amir Shah also sought a stay order against proceedings before the
search committee as an interim relief, however, Justice Ijazul Ahsan
denied the instant relief and issued notices to the respondent for April
28. Shah, professor of physics in Government College University,
Lahore, through his counsel Anwar Kamal submitted that Punjab government
through an advertisement on Jan 19, 2011 invited applications for the
post of vice chancellors in six public sector universities of Punjab. He
also applied for the post of vice chancellor GCU, Lahore, being
eligible as per criteria laid down in the advertisement. He said a
candidate for the said post was required to have PhD degree in any
subject from a reputed university. However, he said, the search
committee later changed the criteria and preferences and was inviting
only foreign qualified candidates. He said call letters were only issued
to the candidates holding PhDs from a list of 500 top foreign
universities of the world. And the candidates holding PhD degrees
from Pakistani universities were not called for interview. And he,
being holder of a PhDs from Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad, was also
not called for interview, petitioner said. Petitioner s counsel Anwar
Kamal stated that the exclusion of petitioner s name from the process of
selection by not being called for interview was discriminatory and
illegal act. He also assailed the composition/constitution of Search
Committee saying there were no rules, regulations and policy guidelines
for selection and appointment of its members. The counsel argued
that the reported selection of 500 top foreign universities by the
search committee was arbitrary and had no basis in fact or in law. He
said in fact the so-called 500 top universities of today could not be
given preference over the top universities of yesteryear when the
applicants/candidates completed their PhDs, he said and added that it
was tantamount to a retrospective application of classification. Counsel
continued his arguments saying the exclusion of universities of
Pakistan from the list of reputed universities and giving preference
to foreign universities was ex-facie discriminatory, whimsical, without
lawful basis and mala fide. The counsel pointed out that none of
the members of search committee had a PhD or teaching experience. As
such, the academic credentials of the members of the present search
committee to interview the candidates for posts of vice chancellor, who
possess much higher academic qualifications than each one of them, to
assess the candidates raise serious issues of credibility, he added. He
said the entire process of selection for the posts of vice chancellors
was lacking legal basis and a credible mechanism and was liable to be
set-aside.
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Security at UVAS
Lahore: Many cases of snatching from students and employees of the University of
Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) have been reported from the
premises of the university. A press release here on Wednesday said about
a couple of weeks ago, two policemen had been shot dead in a shootout
with burglars. The university administration had reported these law and
order incidents several times but the police concerned did not register
any case.
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PU result
Lahore: The PU Examinations Department has announced the result of MS in Clinical
Psychology, Semester System, Session 2008-2010. Detailed result is also
available at PU website. The news
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Business walk at PU
Lahore: Punjab University Hailey College of Banking & Finance
students and faculty members have participated in the business walk
organised by Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry. A large
number of businessmen, politicians, members of civil society, students
and professors participated in the walk. The objective of the walk was
to promote the soft image of Pakistan. The event was followed by a
Business Catalogue Exhibition and an on-spot student's resume submission
for employer's reference. The nation
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SZABIST programmes okayed by Dubai's quality assurance body
Karachi: Government of Dubai's international quality assurance body has
approved the programmes of the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of
science and Technology (SZAIST). This was announced by the spokesperson of the SZABIST on Wednesday. "SZABIST
has become the only Pakistan-based university whose programmes have
been approved by the Government of Dubai's highly reputable
international quality assurance body following an international peer
review", the spokesperson further maintained. It was pointed
out that the academic programmes of the SZABIST Dubai Campus were
reviewed by the University Quality Assurance International Board (UQAIB)
set up by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) of the
Government of Dubai. Dr A Faiz M Ishaq, Head of Dubai Campus, highlighted the curriculum and key features of the programmes being offered in Dubai. The
board approved all the six academic programmes being offered in the
Dubai Campus, which are the same as those being taught in the home
Campus of SZABIST. The six programme were identified as:
Bachelor of Business Administration, Bachelor of Science in Computing,
Bachelor of Science in Media Studies, Executive Master of Business
Administration, Master of Business Administration and Master of Science
in Computing. As a next step, Dr Ishaq also presented a framework
of the plans that SZABIST had for further strengthening its academic
programmes. Dr Warren Fox, UQAIB Chairman and Executive Director
of Higher Education at KHDA, said: "We are very pleased with what
SZABIST has done, especially because this has been a joint effort with
other institutions in Dubai. This really is what UQAIB is about; we are
striving to guarantee the standard of higher education in our Free
Zones". The KHDA of the Government of Dubai has set up UQAIB to
assist qualifications and programmes with oversight of the quality of
higher education offered by foreign higher education providers operating
in the Dubai Free Zones. The 10-member UQAIB board comprises
academics and quality assurance experts from around the world, including
Australia, New Zealand, UK, South Africa, USA, Hong Kong, India and
Saudi Arabia. app
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Students reject transfer of DCET to Sindh govt
Karachi: The students of Dawood College of Engineering and Technology (DCET) Karachi
staged a protest demonstration on Wednesday against the proposed
transfer of college from the federal to the provincial government. A
larger number of students under the banner of DCET Students' Action
Committee gathered in front of the college and blocked the New MA Jinnah
Road. Displaying placards and banners, the enraged students chanted
slogans against the proposed devolution of DCET. Action Committee
coordinator Mohammad Idress said that the proposed devolution of their
college will affect the academic future of the students. He feared that
after the transfer of the college to the provincial government, the
quota of the students belonging to other provinces would be eliminated
He demanded of the government to restore the federal degree awarding
status of the DCET. The news
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Students clash leads to forced boycott of classes at SU
Hyderabad: Sindh University turned into a battle
ground once again on Wednesday when activists of the Sindh People's
Students Federation and SPSF-Shaheed Bhutto clashed at the Information
Technology Department, creating chaos and harassment on the campus and
forcing abrupt closure of classes. Ironically, the
incident took place on the occasion of 43rd death anniversary of the
founder of the university, Allama I.I. Kazi, who had dedicated his life
to making this institution a great seat of learning. According to a university source, the two groups clashed over the appointment of monitor at the IT department. The groups resorted to aerial firing which created fear and harassment but luckily nobody was hurt. Police
arrested Fazal Brohi, Sami Dashti, Aslam Zardari, Waheed Panhwar and
Hafeez Sehto of SPSF and Moazzam Bhutto and Riaz Siyal of SPSF-SB group
and locked them up at the Jamshoro police station. Following the
arrests, activists of the SPSF, the student wing of the ruling PPP,
reportedly forced boycott of classes, smashed windowpanes of buses and
held a demonstration outside the vice chancellor's office. The
pro-vice chancellor of the university, Dr Parveen Shah held talks with
leaders of the two groups and had them give an undertaking in writing
that they would maintain peace on the campus from then onwards. Afterwards, the university authorities intervened and the arrested students were released. Earlier
on March 31, four SPSF activists had suffered bullet injuries at the
university's International Hostel following a heated argument between
activists of SPSF and JSSF while they were watching the Pakistan-India
semifinal. The groups exchanged hot words and then opened fire at each
other. In the wake of the March 31 incident, the university
planned to hold an all-parties conference on law and order situation on
the campus. Vice-Chancellor Dr Nazir Mughal invited leaders of
different political parties to attend the conference and develop a code
of conduct for peaceful atmosphere on the campus. "All political
parties are requested to join hands to restore peace on the campus,
which is essential for the bright future of our next generations," he
said. Dawn
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Young female schoolteacher gunned down
Karachi: A young schoolteacher was cut down by an unknown assassin's bullet in Gulistan-i-Jauhar on Wednesday. SHO Asif Jakhrani said Sana, 24, was a teacher at a private school in Gulistan-i-Jauhar. She left the school with her friend in her Alto car on Wednesday and dropped her at her house opposite Bisma Apartments. She
then left for her own house situated in Block-8, Gulistan-i-Jauhar. On
the way unidentified armed men shot her dead and fled at around 2pm, SHO
Jakhrani said. After receiving information about the incident, police arrived at the scene and took the woman to hospital. Doctors found through an examination that a single bullet had hit her in the head, causing her death. Witnesses
told the police that the suspects were in a car and fired two bullets,
of which one hit the woman in the head, while the other pierced through
the car's windowpane. However, investigators a single young
suspect was involved. The family denied any enmity. They said the police
had taken Sana's cellphone into custody and were looking into the call
and message record. The news
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