FAISALABAD – District Coordination Officer (DCO) Nasim Sadiq has said that Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has provided Rs 30 million for the Faisalabad blast victims. He said this while giving cheques to MPAs Chaudhry Shafiq Gujjar, Chaudhry Zafar Iqbal Nagra and Begum Rana Muhammad Afzal on behalf of the CM who visited the district headquarters hospital to distribute cheques among the injured. The heirs of those killed received the cheques at their residences.
The parliamentarians offered fateha for the departed souls and prayed for the early recovery of the injured. They reiterated the Punjab government would not leave the victims in the lurch and possible assistance would be provided for them. The DCO announced that reconstruction and repair of the damaged houses had already been started and it would be completed in the next few days. He expressed his commitment that the district government would utilise all resources for the complete rehabilitation of the affected families.
UAF has produced over 50,000 graduates, 850 PhDs: UAF Vice Chancellor (VC) Professor Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan has said UAF, besides producing more than 50,000 graduates, had produced 850 PhDs, adding there had been a significant increase in the higher learning programmes in the last three years. He said as the university was currently producing 100 PhDs in a year, it could be safely predicted that keeping the prevailing pace in view, at least 800 PhDs would be contributing to the national mainstream in the next eight years time.
UAF Vice Chancellor (VC) Professor Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan said this while addressing 45 participants from Allied Division of National Security and War Course of Islamabad National Defence University (NDU) who recently visited the university under Rear Admiral Khan Hasham Bin Saddique’s command. Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan welcomed the NDU delegation consisting of participants from Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Nepal, Nigeria, Palestine, Qatar, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Zimbabwe, Australia, Nigeria, United States of America (USA) and United Kingdom (UK) and informed them about the teaching and research distinctions of the university.
Farming as a profession is declining as very few farmers send their children to agriculture universities because their desired field of study is medicine.
Therefore, University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) has revised its admission policy by getting the students’ intake after 10 years of education instead of 12 years to avert the disappointing situation. He said that UAF had made tremendous contribution in the agricultural development and today the country had become food-secured. He added that a mere food security was not enough; the nation needed to translate the knowledge into goods and services in line with the emerging needs and challenges of the hour.
He told the delegates that UAF, besides producing more than 50,000 graduates, had so far produced 850 PhDs and added that there had been a significant increase in the higher learning programmes in last three years. He said as the university was currently producing 100 PhDs in a year, it could be safely predicted that keeping the prevailing pace in view, at least 800 PhDs would be contributing to the national mainstream in the next eight years time. He further said the World Bank had rated Pakistani Punjab greater than Indian Punjab in terms of agriculture production by saying that Indian Punjab was totally irrigated through a canal system that was followed by their university intervention in all spheres of their agricultural activities while Pakistani Punjab was provided with an even degree of level and its agricultural yield could grow far higher than the existing level.
He added that out of 500 faculty members, more than 100 were alumni of the US universities and an equal number faculty member were on their way to take up higher education in US universities under Pak-US S&T strategic partnership programme.
He said the universities used to get funds by winning the competitive research projects and the UAF was also pursuing to excel in this context as a vast potential was yet to be explored.
UAF’s graduates were in great demand nationally and internationally and, on the basis of university’s outstanding performance and distinguished contributions, the administration was determined to produce leaders who could be future entrepreneurs and businessmen, he said and added that they had to establish an international centre of excellence in agriculture similar to the neighboring countries.
At the end of introductory session, he awarded the university mementos to Khan Hasham Bin Saddique and Brigadier Tauqeer Ahmad.
The delegates toured the various departments including Institute of Horticultural Sciences, annual book fair, National Institute of Food Science & Technology and an industrial unit of the city.
