US Consulate offers KU assistance in film-making

A delegation of the Consulate General of the United States in Karachi has offered their assistance to the University of Karachi in the area of film-making.

During their visit to the KU on Tuesday, the delegation expressed it interest in arranging workshops, group discussions, training programmes and meetings with US-based experts at the Karachi University with an interested group of students and faculty members.

The meeting was held in the KU’s Vice Chancellor Secretariat in connection with the university partnerships on films and videos. An agenda was to enhance and utilise the existing university partnership grants with the universities in Karachi.

The visitors briefed the KU officials that they were looking for media and film programmes in Karachi-based universities which the capacity and interest in learning innovative skills and contemporary knowledge.

The US officials also talked about offering equipment-related training and how to use tools and technology in filmmaking to the students and faculty members of the KU. They also discussed possibilities of online dialogues with filmmaking experts and how to enhance capabilities to produce quality feature films for the international market.

The objective of the visit was to learn about different programmes being run at the campus which could be helpful and useful in filmmaking. The visitors were briefed on the University’s academic and research pursuits and achievements.

Lisa Swenarski, Country Cultural Affairs Officer in Islamabad, Cameron Thomas-Shah, Deputy Cultural Affairs Officer in Karachi, Ali Chauhan, Education Advisor in Karachi and Richard Boyum, University Partnership Coordinator, were part of the visiting delegation.

During the visit, the delegation had had a detailed discussion with KU acting vice chancellor Professor Dr Khalid Mahmood Iraqi, Visual Studies in-charge Professor Durriya Qazi, Mass Communication chairperson Dr Fouzia Naz, faculty member Samina Qureshi, students’ adviser Dr Syed Asim Ali, Directorate Admissions in-charge Dr Saima Akhtar and other faculty members.

Scholarship certificates

A four-member delegation of the Mitsubishi UFJ Foundation of Japan awarded 12 scholarship certificates to students of the University of Karachi on a need-cum-merit basis.

Mitsubishi UFJ Foundation Chairman Ryosuke Tamakoshi distributed the certificate of a total of $3600 ($300 each student) among the students during a ceremony held at the KU’s Vice Chancellor Secretariat. The KU Student Financial Aid Office had organised the scholarship award ceremony.

Tamakoshi informed the audience that the scholarship programme was initiated in 2014 and every year 12 students received scholarships under this programme.

KU Registrar Professor Dr Saleem Shahzad said by sponsoring the students, the MUFJ was participating in the progress of society. He mentioned that the students should contribute to the economy and national development of the country. He urged the students to learn the contemporary knowledge and acquire innovative skills.

Speaking on the occasion, Student Financial Aid Office in-charge Dr Ghazal Khawaja Hummayun said during the current scenario “when almost the entire nation is striving to deal with the financial crunch” the University of Karachi was making efforts to help students by ensuring scholarships for them on a need-cum-merit basis.

She said the Karachi University believed that student should not drop out of thje varsity due to financial problems. She said the Student Financial Aid Office was established to facilitate students facing financial issues besides facilitating them merit-based grants and scholarships.

MUFJ Managing Director Kunihiro Watanabe, representative of the MUFG Bank, its country head, and the president were in attendance. The programme was also attended by Karachi University Teachers Society vice president Professor Dr Anila Amber Malik, Professor Dr S M Taha, members of the Syndicate, Campus Security Adviser Dr Moiz Khan, faculty members and deans of various faculties.