UET yet to decide on honorary PhD to Ahsan Iqbal

LAHORE :While the reports kept circulating on Tuesday that the University of Engineering & Technology (UET) Syndicate had rejected the award of honorary degree to Federal Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal, former student of UET, the university administration claims the syndicate has yet to take any decision.

There were reports that the UET Vice-Chancellor Prof Fazal A Khalid had recommended the award of honorary PhD degree to Ahsan Iqbal which was unanimously rejected by the syndicate members. However, the UET registrar Muhammad Asif talking to The News claimed that the subject related to honorary degree was on the agenda of the syndicate’s last meeting but the same was not taken up and was deferred. He also clarified that UET alumni association had recommended that the university’s former student Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal be awarded honorary degree and following the guidelines set by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) recommendations were prepared for approval from the syndicate. 

However, sources said the issue was discussed at length and senior faculty member Prof Dr Suhail Aftab Qureshi was the first one raising concern over the issue and who was joined by majority of the house to reject the recommendations.   

Meanwhile, according to a press release, Dr Arsalan Ghani from Cambridge University delivered a lecture on “Entrepreneurship and Commercialisation” at UET on Tuesday. 

Talking to the students Dr Ghani said, “Pakistan has greater potential for young and passionate entrepreneurs. The only thing required is to focus on your strength and trust in abilities.” He further added, “Pakistanis are working in almost all big organisations across the globe and contributing their best to every field. No startup is big or small, but commitment and hard work make it a big venture”, he added. 

discrimination: Laws are enacted to empower humanity, discourage all forms of discrimination, and protect vulnerable populations. Recognition and respect for law helps develop harmony and peace among different segments of society, said Chairperson Punjab Commission on Status of Women Fauzia Viqar in her address at a two-day training on humanity, altruism and citizenship. 

She spoke about “International Treaties” at the training arranged by the Ministry of Human Rights and Centre for Policing and Security at Government College University, Lahore. She briefed attendees about the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). 

She said Pakistan has signed 27 treaties as a pre-requisite for acquiring GSP+ status from the European Union, in which seven are related to Human Rights, eight are connected to labour rights, eight linked to environment and four associated with governance. The chairperson urged academia to conduct research on rights of deprived segments since such research provides an opportunity to obtain updated figures and status of citizens of Pakistan vis-a-vis indicators on social development, and helps bridge a gap between youth and older segments of society. She spoke about the rights of women, children and disabled persons. Collective efforts are required to eliminate all forms of discrimination in society, she said. The session concluded with an interactive question and answer session which showed the commitment of all those present to honour basic human rights and actively work towards elimination of harmful practices and discrimination. 

Training: Two-week hands-on training of faculty members and one month training of DVM fourth year students for clinical skill enhancement completed at the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS), Lahore, on Tuesday. According to a press release, the participants were from Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (SBBUVAS) Sakrand, Sindh. Pro Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Nasim Ahmad chaired the concluding session of the training programme and distributed certificates among the participants.

The training was aimed to provide practical knowledge of different subjects and latest diagnostic techniques used in the field of veterinary profession to the training participants. All the participants lauded the UVAS for conducting training and providing a conducive platform for learning about innovative and practical knowledge.

expats’ issues: A meeting to review performance of District Overseas Pakistanis Committees (DOPCs) was held under the chairmanship of Additional Chief Secretary, Punjab, Shamail Ahmad Khawaja and Commissioner, Overseas Pakistanis Commission (OPC) Punjab, Afzaal Bhatti at civil secretariat. 

Director General, OPC, Syed Javed Iqbal Bokhari, Additional DG, Police Matters, Agha Yousaf and MPA Sardar Zulfiqar were present while civil and police high ups of Rawalpindi, Jhelum, Chakwal and Attock districts participated in the meeting through a video link. Additional Chief Secretary, Shamail Ahmad Khawaja, instructed the administration to expedite mechanism of resolving complaints of Overseas Pakistanis and out of box strategy should be adopted to redress issues. He instructed the administration to ensure two meetings of DOPCs in a month and proceeding be uploaded on OPC web complaint portal regularly.  

Commissioner, OPC, Afzaal Bhatti said DOPCs should pro-actively work so that the grievances of Overseas Pakistanis could be addressed at the earliest. He said Overseas Pakistanis are real ambassadors to the country and OPC is pursuing a vigorous policy to help expatriates to redress their complaints relating to the government agencies of the Punjab. Certain complaints of Overseas Pakistanis were discussed and additional chief secretary and commissioner, OPC, issued necessary directions to redress these complaints.