HEC probe into Peshawar University VC plagiarism
HEC asked to probe into alleged involvement of VC in plagiarism
Islamabad, June 17: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) governor's office has asked the Higher Education
Commission (HEC) to constitute a committee under its supervision to probe into
the alleged involvement of University of Peshawar Vice Chancellor (VC) Dr. Azmat
Hayat Khan in plagiarism. The HEC has received a letter (SO
(HE.I)/6(1)6/010/1832-33) from the governor's secretariat on Thursday in which
it has been stated: "Keeping in view the gravity of the situation, the
governor-chancellor has been pleased to desire that the HEC may constitute a
committee under its own supervision and furnish findings-recommendations for the
perusal of the honourable governor KP." The letter also mentioned the
reference of the letter written by the HEC to the KP governor in which it has
requested the governor-chancellor to probe into the matter of alleged
involvement of the Peshawar University vice chancellor in
plagiarism. Sources said that the existing anti-plagiarism policy of the
HEC is somewhat flawed as it does not include any rule or procedure in case of
involvement of a vice chancellor in plagiarism. For this reason, the HEC has
requested the governor to intervene into the matter. According to
sources, as per anti-plagiarism policy, vice chancellors are responsible to
constitute a standing committee to probe into the case of plagiarism. The
committee is responsible to report to the vice chancellor, but in this case the
complaint is against a VC himself. The letter mentions: "The HEC has
referred the subject case to the University of Peshawar for investigation. But
for the sake of justice, and as a common perception, the University of Peshawar
could not conduct an independent, impartial and unbiased inquiry against the
incumbent VC, being fully in charge of the university. Moreover, the
satisfaction of the complainant - a university teacher - links his trust with
the impartial inquiry conducted by the HEC." According to information
collected by this scribe, Dr. Khan, a former director of the Area Study Centre,
has been accused by a university teacher, Muhammad Zubair, of including in his
book titled 'The Durand Land: Its Geo-Strategic Importance' published in 2000 by
the Area Study Centre, University of Peshawar, and Hanns Seidel Foundation, some
passages from the book 'Pak-Afghan Relations', written by Dr. Kulwant Kaur of
the Jammu University, Jammu, and published by Deep and Deep publications in
1985. HEC Chairman Dr. Javaid Laghari said that it
was too early to ask about the committee. "We have received the letter just
today and it will take some time to constitute a balanced committee," he said.
He said that they want to constitute an entirely impartial committee
whose findings are acceptable to both parties. "We are thinking of including a
senior official of the HEC, most probably adviser on quality assurance,
vice-chancellor of a public sector university and a VC from a private sector
university," he said. Laghari, however, assured that the probe into the
alleged involvement of Dr. Azmat Hayat Khan in plagiarism would be speedy and
the committee would be bound to submit its findings within one
month. Earlier, Dr. Laghari assured that the lacunas in the
anti-plagiarism policy would be removed and amendments would be brought to the
policy in context with the involvement of VCs in plagiarism.
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FUUAST to have another campus
Islamabad: The ground breaking ceremony of the newly purchased land for Federal Urdu University of
Arts, Science and Technology (FUUAST) Islamabad campus was held at Moza Mohrian,
Kurri Road Zone IV, near Chak Shehzad on Thursday. Higher Education Commission
(HEC) Chairman Dr. Javaid R. Laghari graced the occasion as chief guest.
In-charge Islamabad campus Professor Dr Zahid Saleem briefed the chief
guest about the project. Professor Dr Zahid Saleem said that eighty kanals of
land has been purchased by the university for the new campus of FUUAST in the
institutional sector of Islamabad. He told that the new building will initially
comprise of two educational blocks, administration block and residential
quarters for the staff.
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Rs270m KMU budget approved
Peshawar: The Syndicate of
the Khyber Medical University (KMU) here Thursday approved a budget of Rs270
million for the fiscal year 2011-12. The seventh syndicate meeting of the
KMU chaired by Vice-Chancellor Dr Prof Muhammad Hafizullah approved the budget
and development projects including establishment of two new institutes at the
varsity. The Syndicate mandated formulation of KMU Audit and Accounts
Committee to address the audit objections. It also authorised a research project
'Assignment of Community Participation in the Community Midwives programme'
worth Rs4.2 million in collaboration with the British Council. The
eligibility criteria for the posts of teaching, non-teaching staff including
professors, associate and assistant professors, lecturers, data analysts,
curriculum coordinators and laboratory technicians for various institutions were
also agreed in the meeting. The Syndicate approved appointment of Dr
Jawad Ahmad as professor, Dr Shafiq Ahmad, Dr Rubina Niaz and Dr Niaz Ali as
associate professors and Dr Musharaf Jillani, Dr Wilayat Shah, Dr Sami Siraj, Dr
Momin Khan, Dr Nuzhat Sultana and Dr Tauseef Raza as assistant professors on
regular basis in the IBMS. It was also decided that the appointment of
the employees in basic pay scale 1 to 4 would be requested or directly appointed
by the KMC through the employment exchange service of Government of Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa. The Syndicate also approved the establishment of Institute of
Health Profession Education and Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
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78 teachers sacked in Orakzai
Kalaya: The political administration dismissed 78 teachers from service after their refusal to perform
duty in Orakzai Agency, an official said Thursday. Talking to reporters,
Orakzai Agency Political Agent Riaz Khan Mahsud said the 78 teachers had refused
to perform duty in lower Orakzai Agency despite the repatriation of the
tribesmen. He said tent schools had been set up to resume the education
activities in the tribal region in place of the 68 schools that had been
destroyed during the militancy in the tribal region. The official said
over 22,000 students had started taking classes in lower parts of the Orakzai
Agency. He added that more teaching staff had been transferred to those areas
where schools had been made functional. He said over 0.15 million people
had been repatriated to the Orakzai Agency with the support of the international
donor agencies and security forces. The administration, political agent said,
constituted peace committees in these areas to maintain law and order. The news
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