Hec news and views october 2018

MinisterAppreciatesHECʼsEfforts
forElevatingHigherEducation
HEC, NACTA Sign Letter of Intent to Collaborate
against On-campus Extremism
HEC Proposes Task Force, Technical Committee
on Baclochistan Water Crisis
rd
33 Commission Meeting Reviews, Endorses
HEC Policy Decisions
Higher Education Commission - PakistanHigher Education Commission - Pakistan
P- 2
P- 4
P- 5
P-12
P-26
September-October 2018September-October 2018
HEC, Pink Ribbon
Renew Pledge
to Fight
Breast Cancer
P-15

Table of Contents
Publisher:
Higher Education
Commission, Pakistan
3
Graphic Designer
Raja Ahmad Nadeem
Reporter
Syed Muhammad Ittifaq
Editor
Aayesha Ikram
News & Views is published after
every two months. No part of this
publication may be reproduced in
any form without prior written
permission of the publisher.
The views expressed by authors in
the articles are their sole
responsibility and not of HEC. The
Commission would like to thank all
the institutions and individuals
who contributed information and
photographs for this Magazine.
Graphic Designer
Raja Ahmad Nadeem
Reporter
Syed Muhammad Ittifaq
Editor
Aayesha Ikram
News & Views is published after
every two months. No part of this
publication may be reproduced in
any form without prior written
permission of the publisher.
The views expressed by authors in
the articles are their sole
responsibility and not of HEC. The
Commission would like to thank all
the institutions and individuals
who contributed information and
photographs for this Magazine.
4
10
2
Minister Appreciates
HEC’s Efforts for
Elevating Higher
Education
Minister
Congratulates
Pakistani Students for
Earning Distinction
HEC, VCs Condemn
Maltreatment of
VCs, Teachers
5
5
6
8
13
14
16
17
18
19
27
Universities Asked to Update PQR Data
HEC, NACTA Sign Letter of Intent to
Collaborate against on-campus Extremism
GRE/ TOEFL Coaching to be Provided to
Students
Programme to Support Job Search for
Unemployed PhDs
HEC, Hungarian Government to Renew
Agreement for Award of Scholarships
HEC Committed to Sustaining Pace of
Higher Education Progress: Dr. Banuri
HEC, Pink Ribbon Renew Pledge to Fight
Breast Cancer
nd th
2 Round of 20 All Pakistan Inter-
Universities Competition
Coventry University Delegation Calls on
Chairman HEC
HEC-World Bank Team Talks Begin
Guideline for Universities on Undergraduate
Degree Programmes Nomenclature
rd
33 Commission Meeting Reviews, Endorses
HEC Policy Decisions

The Government is committed to supporting the
higher education sector so that the Pakistani youth
can succeed in the job market, play their role in the
country’s socio-economic uplift, and become
valued members of the society.
This was stated by Mr. Shafqat Mahmood, Minister
for Federal Education and Professional Training in
his recent visit to the Higher Education Commission
(HEC) where he met with Dr. Tariq Banuri, Chairman
HEC, Dr. Arshad Ali, Executive Director HEC, Vice
Chancellors and senior HEC
officials. Mr. Arshad Mirza,
Secretary, Ministry of
Federal Education and
Professional Training was
also present in the meeting.
The Minister appreciated
HEC’s efforts for promotion
of higher education and
endorsed its core objectives
of access, relevance and
quality. He stated that all of
these goals are of fundamental importance.
He stressed the need for measures to ensure
improvement of basic skills of graduates. “There
must be no compromise on quality,” he stated.
Dr. Banuri stated that HEC pursued three major
objectives including access, quality and relevance.
Minister Appreciates HEC’s Efforts
for Elevating Higher Education
He said that the higher education sector received
only 0.10 per cent of GDP in 2001-02, which was
increased in 2006-07 up to 0.33 per cent but it
declined to 0.19 per cent in 2011-12. He regretted
that the percentage has stagnated in the last two
years, and reached only 0.26. He emphasised the
need to increase funding to at least one per cent of
GNP.
He also stressed the need for creating conditions for
the Pakistani PhDs and scholars serving abroad to
come back and serve the
country. He said that HEC
aims to take tangible
measures for university
autonomy, increased global
engagement, capacity
building, systems reforms
and ICT-based solutions to
academic issues. The HEC
i n t e n d s t o e s t a b l i s h
National Academy of
Higher Education (NAHE)
for providing pre-service,
in-service and executive trainings. He also
highlighted the HEC’s initiatives for promotion of
innovation in the country by establishing Offices of
Research, Innovation and Commercialisation
(ORICs), Business Incubation Centres (BICs) and
Open Source Laboratories. He also shed light on the
HEC’s efforts to develop international collaboration
and mentioned US-Pakistan Knowledge Corridor,
2

China-Pakistan Intellectual Corridor, UK-Pakistan
Education Gateway and other international
programmes.
Dr. Banuri said that HEC is working on a strategy -- a
twinning model -- to attract foreign faculty to come
to Pakistan for teaching and collaborative research
endeavours.
He emphasised on efforts to ensure university
autonomy, transparency and accountability. “We
have to move towards international standards on
quality,” he underlined. He informed the Minister
that the HEC has conveyed to universities to
evaluate the market relevance and scope of a
programme before launching it.
During the course of meeting, Dr. Banuri also shed
light on Higher Education Management
Information System (HEMIS), Pakistan Education
and Research Network (PERN), quality of research
journals, Technology Development Fund (TDF),
mobilisation of students for increased literary rate,
and training of potential university leadership.
The Higher Education Commission, Pakistan has
directed public and private sector universities to
review and update the Pakistan Qualification
Register while providing latest information.
The PQR was initiated in October, 2016 and it
is a component of National Qualifications
Framework (NQF). It is an online
d a t a b a s e w h i c h c o n t a i n s
information regarding accredited
h i g h e r q u a l i fi c a t i o n s a n d
institutions recognised by HEC of
all public and private sector
universities including their sub
campuses and affiliated as well as
constituent colleges. The PQR has
been established in view of the
international norm, as every country has to
register the academic programmes offered in
Higher Education Institutions.
In a letter issued to Vice Chancellors of public and
private sector universities, the Vice Chancellors have
been requested to instruct focal persons and
relevant staff to review the already filled data,
remove anomalies, duplications or typographical
errors in their degree nomenclature and update the
PQR with latest information regarding programmes
being offered by universities.
Although most of the universities have uploaded
maximum information of their programmes in PQR,
some of the data is still missing or the titles of
degree programmes do not match.
Universities Asked to Update PQR Data
The letter reveals that after erasing anomalies and
duplications, a certificate shall be rendered by the
university to HEC ascertaining that data has been
cleansed in the PQR.
The letter says, “In order to facilitate graduates
of such programmes in degree attestation
process they were permitted to upload
the correct information. The
information uploaded by graduates
was checked manually and
accepted by the HEC on the basis of
physical verification.”
The letter further reads, “It has been
n o t e d t h a t t h e r e a r e s o m e
duplications or mistakes in the degree
titles as well as typographical errors etc. in
the data available in PQR. This has been causing
delays in the degree attestation process and
causing inconvenience to graduates as well as HEC
staff.”
Meanwhile, in another letter issued to Vice
Chancellors regarding validity of HEC recognised
journals, the HEC has extended validity of HEC
recognised journals for faculty appointment,
promotion, selection of HEC approved supervisor,
award of PhD degree and other such requirements.
For more details, web links of HEC recognised
journals can be accessed through the links:
www.hec.gov.pk/journals and www.hec.gov.pk/
ssjournals
3

The Vice Chancellors’ Committee meeting was
recently held at the Commission Secretariat. The
meeting was chaired by Dr. Masoom Yasinzai,
Chairman, Vice Chancellors’ Committee and
attended by over 65 Vice Chancellors from all over
the country, mostly through video conference. The
meeting adopted the following resolution in the
light of public humiliation of Dr. Mujahid Kamran,
Dr. Akram Chaudhary and five officers by NAB
officials for appearance in Court:
I. We, the Vice Chancellors, condemn the
maltreatment and public humiliation of
respectable professors and teachers.
II. We strongly condemn the media trial of
teachers before prosecution or legal procedure
III. We appreciate Chief Justice, Supreme Court of
Pakistan for suo moto notice, however a mere
apology is not sufficient in the face of
humiliation suffered by senior academicians.
IV. We call upon Chairman National Accountability
Bureau (NAB) to conduct inquiry against the
officials involved.
V. We propose holding of a meeting between
Chairman HEC and Chairman NAB along with a
HEC, VCs Condemn Maltreatment
of VCs, Teachers
select group of Vice Chancellors to evolve
procedures needed to be followed in such
cases.
VI. We make a commitment to the nation that we
will act with integrity to serve youth of the
nation and will work to strengthen our internal
systems so that all endeavours are transparent
and beyond question.
VII. We support the HEC and stand by it in its
endeavours to enhance quality, access and
relevance.
VIII. Universities face multiple problems due to
external interference. We urge the Government
to ensure university autonomy by stopping the
external interference.
The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has sent
off the second batch of 36 students from Gwadar for
one-year Chinese language course in Beijing
Polytechnic University, Beijing, China. In 2017, the
Government announced 50 scholarships for
Gwadar students in order to meet the local needs
owing to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
(CPEC). The HEC was entrusted with the task of
selecting bright students from Gwadar for award of
the scholarships.
The HEC Human Resource Development, Division,
with the support of HEC Regional Centre, Karachi,
conducted medical check-up of the students and
facilitated them in visa processing. The group of
students, who belonged to very ordinary
background, reached Islamabad where Mr. Waseem
Hashmi Syed, Adviser HRD, HEC conducted an
orientation session and explained the purpose of
language course.
36 Gwadar Students to Study
Chinese Language in Beijing
4

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) and
National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA)
recently signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) to engage
faculty members and students from universities
across Pakistan in developing a national strategy to
counter on-campus extremism.
The LoI signing ceremony was held at the
Commission Secretariat. Lt. Gen. (Retd.)
Muhammad Asghar, Acting Executive Director, HEC
and Mr. Khaliq Dad, National Coordinator, NACTA
signed the LoI on behalf of their organisations.
Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Asghar said that HEC has been very
actively promoting the cause of peace at
universities. “The HEC has heavily invested on
security at universities,” he stated.
He observed that extremism is an international
phenomenon which has impacted major part of the
world. He hoped that the partnership between HEC
and NACTA will help sensitise students, faculty and
the entire academia on the menace of extremism
and terrorism. He underlined that Islam is a religion
of peace and there is a need for promoting the true
teachings of Islam. “We hope HEC and NACTA will
work very closely in the years to come address the
multidimensional causes of extremism,” he
concluded.
Mr. Khaliq Dad said NACTA devises national anti-
terrorism strategies, adding that it carries out
research on various aspects of terrorism. He hoped
that the HEC-NACTA partnership will help utilise the
research conducted related to causes, threats and
solutions of terrorism.
Under the LoI, the HEC and NACTA will carry out
research on topics relevant to terrorism and
extremism. The HEC will give NACTA online access
to research journals on topics pertaining to
extremism and terrorism.
HEC, NACTA Sign Letter of Intent to
Collaborate against on-campus Extremism
The Higher Education Commission (HEC) will
provide coaching to 6,000 candidates of GRE/
TOEFL in collaboration with the United States
Education Foundation in Pakistan (USEFP), public
sector universities and private sector trainers and
ﬁrms. The training is part of Talent Farming
component of the US-Pakistan Knowledge Corridor.
The coaching will be provided in various cities of the
country to shortlisted candidates intending to seek
admission in PhD studies at US universities under
the US-Pakistan Knowledge Corridor. Candidates
seeking admissions in PhD studies at US universities
need to qualify GRE/TOEFL tests so as to qualify the
basic admission criteria.
GRE/ TOEFL Coaching to be Provided to Students
5

support and facilitate the PhD holders of Pakistan in
their efforts for employment on merit and quality.
This was stated by Dr. Tariq Banuri,
Chairman, Higher Education
Commission (HEC) in a statement. In
r e s p o n s e t o r e q u e s t s f r o m
unemployed PhD degree holders,
the HEC had established an e-portal:
h t t p : / / w w w . h e c . g o v . p k /
english/services/PhD-DB/Pages/
default.aspx in order to collect basic
information. The eportal was
launched in August 2018. Up till
now, 170 PhD holders have registered themselves.
Out of these, 126 PhDs are unemployed.
Most of the unemployed have availed the Interim
Placement of Fresh PhD (IPFP) opportunity
provided by HEC for a period of one year. Under
HEC rules, host institutions of the IPFP Programme
are required to advertise the respective positions
and give the IPFP scholars the opportunity to
compete for jobs. However, some of the scholars
were unsuccessful in securing employment at their
host university or elsewhere.
The HEC has offered around 4000
jobs to fresh PhD holders through
the IPFP Programme in universities
and 80 per cent were inducted in the
same universities and the others
were inducted by other institutions.
For the unemployed, who have
approached the HEC, the HEC has
written to various institutions to
consider them if they qualify and positions are
available in the respective disciplines on
competition basis.
The fresh PhDs have been guided in preparation of
CVs and developing skills to apply for positions in
colleges as well, as only seven per cent of college
teachers are PhD holders in Pakistan.
Programme to Support Job Search
for Unemployed PhDs
Talent Farming is scheduled four times a year under
“Call for GRE Training” at Islamabad and four
provincial capitals through three programme
components, namely orientation, workshop about
higher education in the US, and Five-Week GRE
Training.
For provision of such trainings and award of
scholarship, HEC considers candidates with
excellent academic credentials.
st
In the 1 phase, the project entitled PhD Scholarship
Programme (without tuition fee) under US-Pakistan
Knowledge Corridor (Phase-I) targets at supporting
1,500 PhD scholars at the leading US universities. So
far, 31 candidates, who had secured complete fee
waivers from US universities, have proceeded for
PhD studies. Likewise, 30 more candidates shall be
proceeding to US for their PhD studies in the
Spring-2019 session. So far, 567 candidates have
been trained in Orientations; 809 during
Workshops, and 330 in Five-Week GRE Training.
The eligibility criteria for award of HEC scholarship
are elaborate and require applicants to have at least
18-years of formal education, International GRE
general/GRE subject scores, PhD offer/admission
letter from Ranked Land-Grant US Universities.
Nonetheless, the project award is conditional to the
fact that the applicant secures a complete tuition
fee waiver or TA/RA-ship which covers tuition fee, as
the scholarship does not include tuition fee.
To ensure timely achievement of the project targets,
HEC is at the same time negotiating on Documents
of Understanding (DoUs) with US universities with
an aim to place cohorts of Pakistanis in ranked US
universities. As of now, a total of four DoUs with full-
tuition fee waivers have been formalised with
ranked US universities including University of
Georgia, University of Delaware, University of
Houston, and George Washington University.
Negotiations with other US universities are
underway for tuition fee waiver.
6

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) and
Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied
Science (PIEAS) recently finalised candidates for
interaction with Lindau Laureates in Germany.
In this connection, interviews were held at the
Commission Secretariat. Dr. Muhammad Majid, Dr.
Spozmai Panezai, Dr. Rabia Saleem, Ms. Tamveel
Mujahid, Mr. Junaid Saif Khan, Ms. Arifa Mirza, Ms.
Mamoona Nawaz, Dr. Amina Zafar, Ms. Wardah
Mahmood and Ms. Komal
Tauqeer were selected for
p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n t h e
meeting.
Interaction with Nobel
Laureates is a joint venture
of HEC, PIEAS, and the
Council for Nobel Laureate
M e e t i n g s i n L i n d a u ,
G e r m a n y m e a n t f o r
Pakistani nationals studying or working in Pakistan.
The eligibility criteria for participation in the
meeting requires the candidate to have graduation
in Physics or related fields and first-class academic
career. However, preference is given to the
applicants who secure top positions in board or
university examinations and have research
publications to their credit.
The project is being funded by HEC out of its
recurring funds for the promotion of higher
th
69 Lindau Noble Laureate Meeting
Scholars Nominated for Interaction
with Nobel Laureates in Germany
education and human resource development in
Pakistan. This project provides a unique opportunity
to talented graduates and young researchers of the
country to interact with 40 to 50 Nobel Laureates
and more than 600 scientists from all over world.
Under a Memorandum of Understanding signed
between PIEAS and the Lindau Council in June 2016,
up to 10 scholars can participate each year in Lindau
Nobel Laureate Meetings. This year around 200
a p p l i c a t i o n s w e r e
submitted, out of which 29
applicants were shortlisted
and interviewed.
After the interviews, 10
applicants have been
nominated and will be sent
t o L i n d a u C o u n c i l i n
Germany.
The selection board comprised Dr. Arshad Ali,
Executive Director, HEC, Dr. Nasir M. Mirza, Rector,
PIEAS, Dr. Mutawarra Hussain, Dean (Research)
PIEAS, Burghard Brinksmeier, Counsellor, Head,
Press and Cultural Section, Embassy of the Federal
Republic of Germany, Ms. Inge Iqbal, Director DAAD
Information Centre, Islamabad, Dr. M. Aftab Rafiq,
Programme Director, PIEAS, Dr. Kamran Safdar,
Member Noble Laureate Meetings Programme and
subject experts including Dr. M. Masood ul Hasan,
Dr. S. H. Khan, Dr. N. M. Butt, and Dr. Abdullah Sadiq.
7

The Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan
accords high importance to collaboration with
Hungary.This was stated by Dr. Tariq Banuri in a
recent meeting with Mr. Istvan Szabo, Ambassador
of Hungary to Pakistan.
Ambassador Szabo said that Hungary is looking
forward to enhancing collaboration with HEC.
Congratulating the Chairman on completion of
studies by 11 Pakistani students of the first batch
sent to Hungary under the bilateral Higher
Education and Scientific Exchange Programme, he
said the programme has yielded fruitful results.
Appreciating the academic support and
collaboration by Hungary, Dr. Banuri said HEC will
welcome extension in the programme. The students
studying in Hungary will bring a good knowledge,
exposure and experience and play a significant role
in socio-economic development of Pakistan. He
maintained that the collaboration needs to be
further strengthened by creating opportunities for
faculty and university administrative staff. He
underlined that Pakistan is strong in areas like
agriculture, Biotechnology and Microbiology, while
the textile sector is also well-advanced. He said HEC
will welcome Hungarian students to come to
Pakistan and pursue studies in these subjects.
Ambassador Szabo proposed formation of an
alumni group. To this, Dr. Banuri said that HEC will
extend support in formation of the group.
Bilateral Higher Education and Scientific Exchange Programme
HEC, Hungarian Government to
Renew Agreement for Award of Scholarships
Dr. Banuri stressed the need for exploring more
potential areas for bilateral cooperation. He said the
two sides may collaborate in sports coaching, sports
management trainings, healthcare and medicinal
therapies. He reiterated HEC’s full support to
Hungarian students, professors and researchers to
come to Pakistan and work in the areas of mutual
interest.
During the meeting, initial discussions were also
held on a new Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) which will encompass the bilateral
scholarship programme, academic and research
collaboration between Pakistani and Hungarian
universities, arrangement of conferences, seminars
and workshops on areas of mutual interest.
Under the Programme, the Hungarian Government
has awarded 480 fully-funded scholarships to
Pakistani nationals, while the Government of
Pakistan reserved 30 scholarships for Hungarian
students.
Recently, Eotvos Lorand University, Budapest has
accepted to conduct a joint research in Pakistan in
the field of archeology with archaeology
departments of University of Peshawar, Peshawar,
Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad and Shah
Abdul Latif University, Khairpur. A conference on
archaeology, fine arts and cultural heritage is under
discussion between Pakistani and Hungarian
universities.
8

The China Road & Bridge Corporation (CRBC)
scholarships for Pakistani students under “Inherit of
Pak-China Friendship, Hundred Talent Study
Financing Programme” will help strengthen China-
Pakistan relations.
This was stated by Dr. Tariq Banuri, Chairman,
Higher Education Commission (HEC) while
addressing a send-off ceremony recently held in
honour of 24 Pakistani students proceeding to
China for Masters’ studies in various fields of
Transportation Engineering, Structural Engineering,
Geo-Technical Engineering, Railways and Bridges.
Mr. Yao Jing, Ambassador of People’s Republic of
China to Pakistan, Dr. Arshad Ali, Executive Director,
HEC, Mr. Li Zhihuai, General Manager, CRBC and
students selected on merit through a transparent
selection process attended the ceremony.
Dr. Banuri said that the CRBC scholarships provide
an important opportunity to Pakistani students to
study in South East University, China and also learn
about the manifestations that led to the economic
growth of China. “Work hard and learn about the
habits of work and discipline that has caused the
success of Chinese economy,” he emphasised. He
advised the students to become ambassadors of
Pakistan in China. Appreciating the CRBC for its
collaborative efforts, Dr. Banuri said that CRBC
scholarships are an important step forward towards
execution of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
(CPEC) projects.
24 Pakistani Students Leave for
Masters Studies in China
In his remarks, Mr. Jing asserted that the future
development of Pakistan depends on youth as the
youth consist of 60 per cent population of the
country. “China wants Pakistan to develop and is
keen to contribute to its development,” he stated,
adding that China is confident of Pakistan’s future
development and prosperity.
Ambassador Jing said that the CRBC is an initiative
of CPEC to not only strengthen government-to-
government relations but also to develop business-
to-business and people-to-people contacts. “China
is keen to work with the new Pakistani government
and to enhance cooperation and partnership,” he
said.
The HEC and CRBC signed a Memorandum of
Understanding for award of 100 scholarships under
the umbrella of “Inherit of Pak-China Friendship,
Hundred Talent Study Financing Programme” in
st
2017. The 1 batch of 10 Pakistani engineers was
nd
selected in 2017, whereas the 2 batch of 24
Pakistani engineers is now proceeding to South East
University, China to join Fall 2018 session.
This scholarship programme is in line with
Government of Pakistan’s vision of development
through CPEC that works on a well-defined pathway
for regional connectivity enhancing people-to-
people contact through academic, economic and
cultural relations. The fully funded scholarship will
cover the tuition, accommodation, return airfare
and living stipend for all awardees.
Send-off Ceremony
9

Mr. Shafqat Mahmood, Minister for Federal
Education and Professional Training has lauded the
Pakistani students who earned distinction in the
nd
Huawei ICT Competition 2017 by clinching 2 and
rd
3 positions in various categories.
“This is a source of satisfaction to see our students
excelling globally,” he remarked while addressing
r d
the opening ceremony of 3 Huawei ICT
Competition held at the Higher Education
Commission (HEC).
Dr. Tariq Banuri, Chairman, HEC, Dr. Arshad Ali,
Executive Director, HEC, Mr. Yao Jing, Ambassador
of People’s Republic of China to Pakistan, Mr.
Spacelee, Vice President of Public Affairs and
Communications, Huawei, Middle East, Mr. Chilin
Chun, CEO, Huawei, Pakistan and a large number of
Vice Chancellors, students and ICT professionals
attended the ceremony.
Mr. Mahmood said, “Pakistan is blessed with a huge
amount of talent and it is our job to turn this talent
into opportunities for the country’s development.”
He appreciated the HEC for its endevours to
promote ICT in the country.
The Minister regretted that 25 million children are
out of school in Pakistan which is a great challenge
for the Government to deal with. He stressed the
need for leading the educational system of Pakistan
towards having a single primary school leaving
certificate and a common curricula across the
country.
Minister Congratulates Pakistani
Students for Earning Distinction
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Banuri appreciated
Huawei support for extending the latest
technologies to the education sector and extending
cooperation to HEC in making different projects
including Pakistan Education and Research Network
(PERN) and Cloud Data Centre a success. He hoped
that other institutions and organisations will
replicate the efforts of Huawei for technological
development in Pakistan.
He opined that acquiring education is no longer a
simple practice, as the technological advancement
has made it complex. He added that such
competitions are part of educational agenda and
education is all about stimulating curiosity for
solutions to impending problems. He urged the
students to take part in Huawei ICT Competition
and work hard for distinction at the global level.
Ambassador Jing said that Pakistan is a talented
nation consisting of 60 per cent youth. He added
that the future of Pakistan depends on the
performance of young Pakistani students. He
observed that the Pakistani government is
committed to the country’s development in terms
of education, health and social well-being.
The ceremony was also addressed by Mr. Spacelee,
Mr. Chilin Chun and other notables. The ceremony
aimed at inviting colleges and universities for the
promotion of ICT industry technology certification,
and development of local ICT industry talent and
ecosystem.
Huawei ICT Competition 2017
10

Learning Innovation Division (LID), Higher
Education Commission recently organised three-
day workshop on Testing & Evaluation at Khawaja
Fareed University of Engineering and Information
Technology, Rahim Yar Khan.
The training programme was aimed at informing
the faculty members about evaluation, testing,
assessment techniques and methodologies. The
training will help the faculty to evaluate the learners
and to learn practical tips to prepare students for
testing and evaluation including sourcing and
exploring authentic materials for test design,
aligning learning activities and assessment
strategies.
Likewise, LID-HEC in collaboration with Quality
Enhancement Cell (QEC), University of Swat
organised a three day training workshop on
Training Workshops on Testing &
Evaluation and Research Methodology
Research Methodology at University of Swat. The
focus of the training was to provide a
comprehensive view of research methodology, so
as to enable faculty to facilitate the students in
writing research proposals, projects and thesis in
light of international standards. Furthermore, the
faculty was given updates about trends in
international research and ethical perspectives of
research.
In another three day training workshop on
Academic Reading and Writing Skills and Tools for
Eﬀective Research, LID-HEC collaborated with
Department of Modern languages, Karakoram
International University, Gilgit Baltistan. The main
objective of the workshop was to develop the
academic reading and writing skills of the
participants and to provide hands on practice of
diﬀerent softwares that are used for the purpose.
Under the Prime Ministers’ Laptop Scheme 500,000
laptops have to be distributed on merit to students
of public sector universities and technical colleges
across Pakistan including degree colleges of
Islamabad and FATA. During Phase-I, II and III
300,000 laptops have already been distributed
whereas 72,000 laptops have been distributed in
Phase-IV so far.
In this phase, 358 laptops were distributed recently
in Gomal University, D.I.Khan, 145 laptops in
Peoples Medical University of Health & Sciences,
Laptops Distribution in Various Universities
under Prime Ministers’ Laptop Scheme Phase-IV
Nawabshah, 203 laptops in University of Science
and Technology, Bannu, 382 laptops at University of
Malakanad, Malakand, 485 laptops at the Kohat
University of Science & Technology (KUST), Kohat
and 6 laptops in Women University, Mardan.
11

propose setting up a Task Force to deal with the
challenge of water scarcity in Balochistan. The
decision will be finalised after discussion with Mr.
Jam Kamal Khan, Chief Minister, Balochistan.
This was stated by Dr. Tariq Banuri, Chairman, HEC
while chairing a meeting on academia’s role in
addressing water crisis in Balochistan at the
Commission Secretariat. The meeting aimed at
contemplating on the prevailing scenario,
challenges and future opportunities regarding
ground water recharge, water reservoirs, water
usage efficiency, clean drinking water and water
resource management.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Tariq Banuri said
expressed deep concern over the prevailing water
crisis in Balochistan and assured of support from the
academia. He said Mr. Jam Kamal Khan, Chief
Minister, Balochistan places high priority on
addressing the issue. He He added that the HEC
and universities need to come forward to present a
joint plan of action for solution to the issue.
It was decided in the meeting that the HEC will
propose to the Government of Balochistan to set up
a Task Force, assisted by a technical committee, to
help resolve the issue. “The Task Force will be a joint
body and will help formulate water policy and
execute it, while the technical committee will
undertake research, collect data, assess and
determine research gap, and identify areas that
need attention,” Dr. Banuri explained.
HEC Proposes Task Force, Technical
Committee on Balochistan Water Crisis
The meeting participants agreed that the Task Force
will comprise Vice Chancellors and representatives
of Centres of Excellence and Advanced Studies in
water. They suggested that the Task Force must
develop Terms of Reference (ToRs) based on
modalities and feasibility of the plan, while the
technical committee must undertake research and
HEC to Support Balochistan Water Agenda
Dr. Tariq Banuri, Chairman, Higher Education
Commission (HEC) assured Jam Kamal Khan, Chief
Minister, Balochistan of HEC’s support in resolving
the challenge of water scarcity in the province.
In a telephonic conversation, Dr. Banuri felicitated
Mr. Khan on assuming the charge of Chief Minister
of Balochistan and said that HEC was cognisant of
the situation regarding the limited water resources
in Balochistan.
He informed the Chief Minister that he is in contact
with Vice Chancellors and heads of research
centres in this regard. He said that research in
water resources is being conducted at a number of
academic institutions, including Balochistan
University of Information Technology, Engineering
and Management Sciences (BUITEMS), NED
University, Mehran University of Engineering and
Technology (MUET), University of Balochistan, and
Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources
(PCRWR).
These researchers will be mobilised for conducting
research, building capacity, and setting up
monitoring and evaluation system to deal with
problems related to ground water, water recharge,
weather forecasting, climate change, and
environmental changes.
Thanking the Chairman, the Chief Minister
appreciated the HEC for its offer of assistance in
resolving the water shortage problem. He said that
the Government, HEC and universities will work in
close collaboration.
12

identify the areas that require attention. They also
emphasised the need for capacity building of
organisations and centres working on water
resource management.
They expressed concerns that there are over 42000
tube wells in Balochistan and only 450 of them are
registered. This is one of major causes of water
depletion and causes electricity burden as well, they
underlined. They stressed the need for creating
awareness among people about hazards of wasting
water.
During the course of meeting, representatives of
various universities Centres of Excellence in Water
also highlighted their efforts about water
management. They pointed out that the surface
water in Balochistan has reached an end, while the
ground water is rapidly depleting. “Balochistan
largely depends upon ground water and its
depletion is highly alarming,” they observed.
They also discussed the outcomes of delay-action
dams concept as well as the prospects of leakage
dams and other measures including irrigation and
capacity building of centres on water. Issues
pertaining to draughts, disaster management, flash
floods, agricultural water management, farming
methods, climate change assessment, meteorology,
ground water modeling, and urbanisation were also
brought under consideration. “I will discuss the
points raised in the meeting with the Chief Minister,
Balochistan so that we may proceed,” Dr. Banuri
concluded.
is committed to sustaining the pace of progress
made in the higher education sector by enhancing
quality, increasing access and promoting relevance
of research through international linkages with
eminent higher education institutions.
Dr. Tariq Banuri, Chairman, HEC said this in a
meeting with a group of 29 US universities on its
visit to the Commission Secretariat. The group
visited HEC to learn about the HEC programmes of
faculty development and strengthening of the
research culture in Pakistani universities through
the US-Pakistan Knowledge Corridor. They
discussed modalities of collaboration for PhD
Scholarship Programme (Phase I) under the US-
Pakistan Knowledge Corridor.
Dr. Banuri welcomed the delegation and said that
research has become an essential part of academic
professionals. “This is the change that used to be
unheard of in the past,” he observed.
Dr. Banuri said HEC will welcome the US universities
to become a part of the US-Pakistan Knowledge
Corridor. He stressed the need for deliberations to
explore ways for collaborative endeavours.
HEC Committed to Sustaining Pace of
Higher Education Progress: Dr. Banuri
Earlier, Dr. Mahmood-ul-Hassan Butt, Consultant,
HEC briefed the delegation about the background
and objective of US-Pakistan Knowledge Corridor.
He said the US-Pakistan Knowledge Corridor was
established in June 2015 as a result of the US-
Pakistan Education, Science and Technology
Working Group (ESTWG) under the bilateral
strategic dialogue. He said 200 Pakistani scholars
were sent to the US universities in 2017, while HEC
aims to send over 300 scholars in 2018 to the US
universities.
The US universities’ delegation members expressed
their views with regard to the programme and
shared their willingness to participate in the
ambitious programme of outstanding mutually
beneficial research and faculty development.
13

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Pink
Ribbon have recently signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU), pledging to create breast
cancer awareness by directly approaching female
students of all colleges and universities.
Dr. Arshad Ali, Executive Director, HEC and Mr.
Omer Aftab, Chief Executive Officer Pink Ribbon
signed the MoU at the Commission Secretariat. Mrs.
Shaheen Khan, Adviser, Learning Innovation (LI)
Division, HEC, Mr. Fida Hussain, Director General, LI,
HEC, HEC officials and other notables from industry
and academia also attended the ceremony.
Under the MoU, the strategic partnership between
HEC and Pink Ribbon continues and aims at
promoting research projects on different aspects of
breast cancer, organising professional education
seminars and workshops, and forming a working
group for need assessment and formulation of
HEC, Pink Ribbon Renew Pledge to
Fight Breast Cancer
action plan for another five years. The HEC and Pink
Ribbon jointly coached more than one million
female students across Pakistan on breast cancer
hazards and challenges in the last five years under
the Pink Ribbon Youth Programme.
Addressing the MoU signing ceremony, Dr. Arshad
Ali appreciated Pink Ribbon for reaching out to
1,050,000 young girls through educational
institutions to create awareness about breast cancer
during last five years.
Omer Aftab said that the HEC collaboration will help
Pink Ribbon to expand its outreach across the
country. It is very important to make our young girls
aware about the prevention and cure of this fatal
disease, he underlined. Breast cancer claims more
than 40,000 lives every year in Pakistan. One of
every ninth woman in Pakistan is at high risk of
breast cancer.
The Higher Education Commission has recently
upgraded its data centres’ network from 1Gbps to
10Gbps by achieving redundancy at Core layer by
using Virtual Router Redundancy protocol (VRRP).
VRRP is a network management protocol that is
used to provide a backup mechanism in case of
failure of gateway device. This algorithm increases
availability and reliability of default gateway device
servicing the hosts. In case of failure of one gateway
device end user services are not interrupted.
PERN Network Upgraded from 1Gbps to 10Gbps
One of the biggest reasons to go for a
comprehensive network up gradation is to adapt a
powerful network infrastructure that include your
hardware and software resources of an entire
network enabling network connectivity,
communication, operations and management of an
enterprise network, that is robust and modern to
run advanced application hardware. In near future,
redundant connectivity between data centre and
Infrastructure and redundant links between
buildings would also be established.
14

In collaboration with the Higher Education
Commission (HEC), Pakistan and University of
Queensland, Australia, the University of Haripur
held the closing ceremony of All Pakistan Pitching
Research Competition (APPRC) 2017-18 at the
Commission Secretariat. The purpose of
competition was to sensitise students and
researchers on how the research proposals can be
made more productive.
Dr. Arshad Ali, Executive Director, HEC was chief
guest and Prof. W. Robert Faff, Professor of Finance,
University of Queensland, Australia was the guest of
honour of the ceremony. Dr. Abid Khalil, Vice
Chancellor, University of Haripur was also present
on the occasion along with a large number of
researchers.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Arshad Ali said the
HEC is contemplating on linking its Start-up
Research Grant with the Pitching Research
Competition. He stressed the need for generating
ideas to make the competition more productive and
useful. He said that conducting research is not a
simple practice, as it revolves around conceiving the
issue. “This is the hardest part of the research, as you
have to come up with a practical solution to a
problem,” he observed. Terming the idea of Pitching
Research Competition unique, he assured that HEC
will extend full support to make the idea more
impactful.
Congratulating the competition winners, he
encouraged all the participants for taking part in the
competition. “The real spirit lies in participating in
such competitions,” he underlined. He emphasised
on efforts to promote quality research and
contribute to novel ideas related to solution of
problems.
Prof. Robert Faff appreciated the researchers for
sharing their reflections on the utility of Pitching
Research Competition. He thanked the HEC,
University of Haripur, supervisors and researchers
for their support to make the competition a success.
The HEC extended its strong support to take the
All-Pakistan Pitching Research
Competition Concludes
competition to a logical end, he maintained. He
observed that the Pakistani researchers have a great
potential that needs to be tapped. He noted that
there are plenty of areas in which researches can be
conducted efficiently.
Shedding light on Pitching Research, he said it is
based on a two-page template which requires a
researcher to have adequate knowledge on
research topic. He added that the proposals must be
well-structured and precise. He appreciated the
Pakistani researchers and their supervisors for
efficiently executing the complex process of
Pitching Research Competition.
A total of 105 entries of research proposals were
received on a two-page template for the
competition. The template provides a simple,
methodical tool to confidently “pitch” essential
elements of a new research proposal to an academic
expert i.e. to a thesis supervisor. Twenty five national
and international experts evaluated the entries and
shortlisted 30 proposals. The shortlisted proposals
were evaluated by experts at the University of
Queensland, Australia where top 10 proposals were
announced.
Ms. Tuba Ejaz from University of Veterinary and
Animal Sciences, Lahore won first position for her
proposal on Diagnosis of Bovine Tuberculosis by
Mobile Digital Fluorescence Microscopy. Ms.
Andleeb Malik from Foundation University,
Islamabad clinched the second position, while Ms.
Sadiqa Kiyani from University of Haripur grabbed
the third position. The titles of research proposals of
the second and third prize winners were Impact of
15

Organisational Culture and Organisational
Citizenship Behaviour on Knowledge Management
Processes, and Teacher’s Attitude towards
Technology and its Impact on Students’ Motivation
and Learning respectively.
Abdullah Faisal from University of Haripur; Talha
Iqbal from COMSATS Institute of Information
Technology, Islamabad; Kanwal Khan from
University of Haripur; Imran Tariq from Institute of
Space Technology, Islamabad; Sharjeel Abid from
National Textile University, Faisalabad; Mamoona
Arshad Sheikh from Lahore University of
Management Sciences, Lahore; and Kiran Tariq
Raput from Sukkur Institute of Business
Administration, Sukkur were among the top 10
winners of the competition.
The UQ Business School generously sponsored a
total prize pool of up to Rs. 160,000 for the top 10
pitches. The best pitch was awarded PKR 50,000,
PKR 25,000 for runner up, PKR 15,000 for the third
position holder and PKR 10,000 each for the
remaining seven pitches. Semi-finalists and finalists
will receive a certificate of “commendation” on
behalf of UoH and UQ.
nd th
The 2 round of 20 All Pakistan Inter-Universities
Competition for the award of Allama Iqbal Shield
were recently held at International Islamic
University, Islamabad (IIUI). The competition was
attended by more than 40 contestants from 19
federal universities including FATA, Gilgit Baltistan
and Azad Jammu Kashmir universities.
In the English category of the competition,
Muqaddsa Gul and Ahsan Kamal from NUML
st rd
clinched 1 and 3 position, while Aiman Butt from
nd
COMSATS got 2 position whereas in the Urdu
st nd
category, Farrukh Awais from MUST stood 1 and 2
position was secured by Abdul Rehman of IIUI. The
rd
3 position in Urdu category was taken by Attiq ur
Rehman from NUST.
These contests are first organised at the universities’
level wherein the students from all the departments
of all public and private universities and constituent
d
colleges can take part in the competition. The 2ⁿ
round of these competitions are arranged on
provincial level. In Balochistan, the competition was
nd th
2 Round of 20 All Pakistan
Inter-Universities Competition
held in University of Balochistan, Quetta, while in
Punjab and Sindh the competitions were organised
in Higher Education Commission, Regional Centres
and in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the competition was
conducted in IMSciences, Peshawar.
Three top scorers of both Urdu and English contest
take part in national round organised in HEC
Secretariat, Islamabad. The winners of the final
competition would be awarded with Allama Iqbal
Shield and cash prizes of Rs.100000, 75000, and
50000 respectively. For encouragement of students,
every contestant is given a certificate and replica of
the Shield.
The aim of organising these competitions is to
enhance Public speaking skills and sparking healthy
positive competition, develop understanding of
socio-economic, cultural and political issues among
the students from all over Pakistan, divert energies
of students towards healthy activities and creative
thinking and encourage tolerance, non-violence,
and respect for others opinion among the students.
16

A delegation of Coventry University, London called
on Dr. Tariq Banuri, Chairman, Higher Education
Commission (HEC) Pakistan and discussed possible
collaborations between the two organisations.
The delegation comprised Mr. Gary Armstrong,
Associate Pro Vice Chancellor, International
Business Development, Prof. Richard Dashwood,
Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research, Mr. Christopher
Bland, Group Director, Quality Assurance, and Dr.
Farzana Aslam, Associate Head.
Dr. Banuri welcomed the delegation and briefed
them about the HEC’s initiatives and achievements
regarding promotion of higher education in
Pakistan. He said international collaboration will be
helpful in resolving local issues. He stressed the
need for research based on problem-solving
approach in order to help address the problems
facing the country.
The delegation shared the strength of Coventry
University as well as the success of industry-
university linkages. They dwelt in detail on the level
of excellence in their engineering, research centres.
Apart from serious involvement and funding from
industry, it was revealed that the Government
investment is also a major part. The Coventry
University works on the premise that teaching and
learning are deeply connected with the industry,
they informed.
Ms. Aslam explained the importance of embedded
employability which was the main feature of their
Coventry University Delegation
Calls on Chairman HEC
programme. They also train their students to apply
for placement all over the world, where students are
motivated by a suitable academic which results in
transfer of skills for a year.
Dr. Banuri expressed interest in the university’s
achievements and stressed the need for bilateral
collaboration for promotion of higher education
and research. He shed light on the HEC’s Split PhD
programme under which Pakistani scholars will
spend two-three months every year in the university
for Research and other activities.
The HEC will provide monthly stipend and
discounted bench fee during scholars’ stay in the
UK, he added. He said Pakistan would welcome
support in capacity building, knowledge and
technology transfer, and research assessment
mechanisms.
Earlier, the delegation held a series of meetings with
HEC’s senior management and heads of various
divisions as well as representatives of selected
universities for exchange of views on diﬀerent areas
of interest including provision of PhD, joint research
endeavours, academic partnerships, two-way
mobility of faculty and students, transnational
education, academic audit and Teaching Excellence
Framework.
The delegation highlighted that the research at
Coventry University is based on ﬁve key themes
namely Safety and Security, Intelligent Products and
Processes, Creative Cultures, Sustainability and
17

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) and World
Bank (WB) have begun talks to enhance tertiary
education quality by supporting academic
excellence in strategic sectors, strengthening
employable mid-level skills, and innovative modes
of delivery and digitisation.
In this regard, the World Bank AGAHEE team called
on Dr. Tariq Banuri, Chairman, HEC during its recent
visit to Pakistan. The WB mission, headed by Ms.
Tazeen Fasih, includes Umbreen Arif, Mr. Benoit and
Ms. Ghazala Mahmood.
Talking to the delegation, Dr. Banuri said the HEC is
employing Information Technology tools to bring
improvement in its operating
procedures and systems
including attestation and
accreditation. “We need to
fully exploit the IT-based
change,” he underlined.
He said the university campus
system needs improvement
by judicious resource management and responsible
exercise of autonomy. He said HEC wants
universities to value the resources they have. “We
need to guide them to become stand-alone entities
that earn and maximise their resources,” he stated.
Sharing his vision with the WB AGAHEE team, Dr.
Banuri said the HEC eyes making Pakistani
Nurturing Academic Excellence
HEC-World Bank Team Talks Begin
universities fully autonomous which may be a
model for other higher education institutions. “We
intend to select 15 universities and develop them as
autonomous institutions in the next three years on
the basis of their commitment to quality,” he
revealed. He underscored that the universities will
be encouraged to conduct fundraising drives and
activities so that they may
proceed towards their own
ﬁnancial autonomy.
International universities
will also be invited to assist
Pakistani universities and
transfer their operating
models of autonomous
universities. He emphasised
on leveraging sports activities conducted by
Pakistan University Sports Board to hunt talent and
generate funds.
Apart from the WB AGAHEE team’s direct meetings
with HEC focal persons, the team meetings will also
cover discussions with WB procurement staﬀ, and
environment and safeguards team.
Resilience and Health and Well-being. Coventry
University has over 1000 researchers (increasing to
1500 by 2021) working in 15 challenge-led
interdisciplinary research centres. In addition to
external research funding, the university is
committed to an investment into research of over
£120 million between 2014 and 2021.
In their meeting at the Research and Development
(R&D) Division, HEC gave a brief overview on the
initiatives, functions, achievements of R&D
programmes and two R&D initiatives for the
proposed Pak-UK Gateway project namely
“Development of Research Excellence Framework
(REF)’’ and “Mega Sectoral Research Grant”.
Possibilities of placement of Pakistani PhD scholars
in various priority areas at Coventry University also
came under discussion and the delegation was
informed that HEC has already availed partial fee
waiver from many universities of UK.
Moreover, capacity building opportunities available
for Pakistani faculty, Quality Assurance
implementation mechanism, and ranking criteria
for universities were also discussed in the meetings
with the heads of HEC divisions.
18

Mrs. Khadija Mohamed Almakhzoumi, Ambassador
of Somalia to Pakistan called on Dr. Tariq Banuri,
Chairman, Higher Education Commission (HEC)
at the Commission Secretariat and
discussed various opportunities for
Somalian students studying in
Pakistani Universities, creating
g o o d w i l l f o r t h e m a n d
p r o m o t i o n o f h i g h e r
education.
Dr. Banuri welcomed the
Ambassador to HEC and
assured Her Excellency of full
cooperation and support for
Somalian students aspiring to
study in Pakistan.
The Ambassador appreciated the HEC and
Pakistani universities for facilitating Somalian
students. She informed the Chairman that around
Somalian Ambassador Calls on Chairman HEC
1500 Somalian students are currently studying in
Pakistani universities. The award of 100 fully-funded
scholarships to students from least developed
countries of the Organisation of Islamic
Cooperation (OIC), announced by the
Government of Pakistan, was also
discussed in the meeting.
Eight fully funded scholarships
are allocated for Somalian
students from which one PhD,
t w o M a s t e r s , a n d o n e
Bachelor are being nominated
and have successfully secured
admission in the field of
agriculture at PMAS Arid
Agriculture University, Rawalpindi.
However, two Somalian students have
applied for Bachelors of Civil Engineering at
Mehran University of Engineering & Technology
(MUET), Jamshoro under the same scholarship.
The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has
instructed all universities and Higher Education
Institutions (HEIs) not to use title of “Doctor” in their
BS degrees nomenclature without getting prior
approval from respective National Curriculum
Review Committees (NCRCs) constituted by HEC.
A letter issued to Vice Chancellors, Rectors and
Heads of HEIs, reveals that some of the universities
and HEIs are offering undergraduate degree
programmes with title of Doctor in their
nomenclature without taking approval from NCRCs
which is misleading the students, their parents and
employers at large who request HEC for
clarifications.
“All the universities/ HEIs are hereby directed to
stop further admissions in such programmes and
withdraw their advertisements in newspapers as
well as on their websites and social media platforms
with immediate effect,” the letter underlines.
The letter mentions few degree titles as Doctor of
Dietetics and Nutritional Sciences, Doctor of
Optometry, Doctor of Medical Laboratory Sciences
and Medical Imaging Doctor, etc. which will not be
recognised by HEC, whereas HEC has approved
curriculum and nomenclature of the degree title,
Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT), a five-year degree
programme. These curricula can only be taught in
those universities which have relevant faculty,
infrastructure, required labs and attached hospitals
for clinical practices.
Guideline for Universities on Undergraduate
Degree Programmes Nomenclature
19

encourage Pakistani researchers to provide
technical assistance to our partner countries,
especially our partners in the Islamic world.
This was stated by Dr. Tariq Banuri, Chairman,
Higher Education Commission (HEC) during a
meeting with Dr. Ahmed Yousif Ahmed Al-
Draiweesh, President, International Islamic
University Islamabad (IIUI) and Dr. Masoom
Yasinzai, Rector, IIUI at the Commission Secretariat.
Dr. Draiweesh appreciated the HEC’s role in guiding
universities and encouraging them to produce
research relevant to the country’s needs as well as
the needs of the Muslim Ummah.
As the Acting Coordinator General, COMSTECH
(OIC Standing Committee on Scientific and
Technological Cooperation), Dr. Banuri shared his
vision to bring the Organisation of Islamic
Cooperation (OIC) member countries together to
mobilise mutual technical assistance and address
the issues of climate change, energy, water scarcity,
agriculture, disaster management and other
problems requiring scientific solutions.
Meeting with IIUI Rector, President
Pakistani Scholars Encouraged
to Assist Partner Countries
Dr. Draiweesh and Dr. Yasinzai said that the IIUI
plans to organise a conference to promote sectarian
harmony and peaceful coexistence in line with
Paigham-e-Pakistan, a verdict signed by 1,800
scholars from various schools of thought. They said
eminent religious scholars from various sects will be
invited to reflect and share their views in the light of
Quran and Sunnah.
Dr. Banuri appreciated the IIUI’s efforts to promote
sectarian harmony. He said the HEC fully supports
the objectives of Paigham-e-Pakistan and especially
the endeavours to mobilise Pakistani youth, faculty
and civil institutions behind a national consensus
agenda.
The projects approved under Technology
Development Fund (TDF), an initiative of the Higher
Education Commission (HEC) to provide financial
and technical support for development of products
and prototypes, have started yielding outcomes.
Under the TDF, so far 126 projects have been
approved for funding. The projects awarded in the
FY 2016-17 have entered the execution phase and
are progressing towards the goals envisaged. One
of these projects entitled, Transforming Biomass
Ash Residues into Commercialisable Products by Dr.
Projects Approved under TDF
Start Yielding Results
Basit Yameen from Lahore University of
Management Sciences (LUMS) and his industrial
partner, Dr. Amir Said, from Bulleh Shah Packaging
(BSP) Pvt Ltd. has started pilot production.
Bulleh Shah Packaging was facing industrial
problems in disposing of biomass the ash residues,
so the conversion of biomass ash residues into
commercialisable products is an example of great
success. Two researchers involved in this project, Dr.
Basit Yameen and Dr. Abdul Wakeel are now
working to covert the waste material into pavement
20

material and plant growth supplement as a new
production line. Total worth of the project is Rs.
18.474 million wherein the industrial contribution is
Rs. 4.530 million. Based on promising results, the
project team has developed several laboratory scale
formulations to fabricate pavers
with a range of compressive
strengths.
Likewise, cost effective and safe
synthetic pro-angiogenic skin grafts
have been constructed for the
treatment of burns and chronic non-
healing ulcer wounds. This project
was approved and undertaken
under the Technology Development
Fund (TDF) of the Higher Education
Commission (HEC).
The project entitled Converting Inexpensive
Indigenous Chitosan to High Value Commercial
Pro-angiogenic Tissue Engineered Skin Grafts for
Burn Patients was awarded to Dr. Muhammad Yar,
Associate Professor, COMSATS University, Lahore. It
was aimed at formulating quick, safe and low priced
products to immediately stop blood by procuring
grail scale-up of chitosan and its water soluble
derivatives, conducting chemical and biological re-
evaluation of those products and then converting
prototypes to commercially valuable outcome. It is
expected that the grafts will become
very effective for the treatment of
burn and Diabetic Foot Ulcer (DFU)
patients in Pakistan and all across
the world.
Cotton Craft, industrial partner, has
started working on attaining the
certification from Drug Regularity
Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) to start
human trials and to manage
commercial scale sterilisation and
packaging. The project team is also undertaking all
steps to find a clear way forward for product
registration and manufacturing approval.
The project has also been granted patent in USA.
The patent disclosed water soluble biocompatible
hydrogel having an amino sugar linked to
hydrophilic polymer.
Commission (HEC) recently met with Mr. Yao Jing,
Ambassador of China to Pakistan and discussed
issues pertaining to bilateral collaboration in higher
education sector and research.
Expressing his views, Dr. Banuri stressed
the need for explicit inclusion of higher
education in China-Pakistan Economic
Corridor (CPEC) priority areas. He
expressed a hope that the future will
witness strengthened relations
between the two countries, especially in
the areas of scientific research and
higher education.
Ambassador Jing underscored mobilisation of the
China Study Centres and Confucius Centres to
support research and knowledge sharing on the
Chairman HEC Discusses CPEC
Priority Areas with Chinese Ambassador
Chinese experience and success in various practical
areas including economic development,
environmental conservation, climate change, social
equity, and good governance. He said that currently
over 20,000 Pakistani students are in China and
nearly 2000 Chinese students study in
Pakistan. He observed that Pakistani
faculty members may benefit from
dedicated training programmes offered
by China in practical dimensions of
experience.
Dr. Banuri emphasised on an increase in
the number of students and enhanced
student exchange initiatives. He offered
holding of a host of meetings on the significant role
of China Study Centres and Confucius Centres in
order to develop a platform for enhanced
collaboration.
21

Under HEC and USAID-funded Merit and Needs-
Based Scholarship programme (MNBSP) a series of
talent grooming workshops for newly enrolled
students were organised at Mehran University of
Engineering & Technology, Jamshoro and
University of Karachi, Karachi.
The USAID-funded MNBSP of HEC is a programme
which focuses on personality grooming and
professional skills development of the students in
addition to awarding scholarships.
During the workshops participants of partner
universities were provided training on
communication skills, interpersonal and
intrapersonal skills, presentation skills, research
methodologies, developing research proposal,
personality development, confidence building and
decision making skills.
The workshops provide participants a platform to
interact with the multi-disciplinary students of
different universities and boost their confidence
Capacity Building Programme
HEC, USAID Talent Grooming Workshops
and knowledge. Moreover, job search strategies,
CV writing tips, interview skills, introduction to
entrepreneurship, and development of business
plan were also discussed in the workshops.
Furthermore, Ms. Dur-e-Shahwar Sadozai, Director
Capacity Building, USAID-MNBSP moderated an
interactive session being held in HEC Regional
Centre, Karachi where participants were university
representatives who shared their current practices
and experiences of others. In next session, Dr. Tauha
Hussain from MUET, Jamshoro emphasised on the
importance of students’ counselling at universities
and encouraging students to get maximum
educational advantage during their stay at
universities.
The other two sessions were delivered by Dr.
Qudsia Tariq, Students Adviser, University of
Karachi who explained: how to provide
psychological support to students who experience
emotional or psychological distress and
behavioural problems.
Commission (HEC), in order to communicate with
students and other higher education stakeholders
decided will be live every month through HEC web-
based television channel, Higher Education EduTV.
The objective of the EduTV is to address the critical
need for improving communication with the
“Chairman Online” Programme Launched
stakeholders and creating awareness about the
national higher education standards, quality
assurance policies and procedures, financial
management, governance and regulatory
arrangement.
The Higher Education EduTV has been operational
since March 7, 2017. The EduTV was launched with
22

an aim to uplift the standard of higher education
culture and offer education counseling services to
citizens of Pakistan. Following the success of EduTV
online sessions, Dr. Banuri has decided to
communicate with pertinent audiences through the
TV. The programme will be on aired on regular
schedules with live interaction via social media
platform.
The EduTV provides a platform to students, faculty
and researchers of partner media and mass
communication departments of Pakistani
universities to take full advantage by using their
writing, directing, screening, editing and relevant
skills to develop diverse contents around higher
education activities. It has been broadcasting live
web-based programmes on different topics in
collaboration with media and mass communication
departments of Pakistani universities.
A few of the awareness and counselling services
sessions includes Prime Minister’s Laptop Scheme,
Scholarship Guide, Degree Attestation System,
Plagiarism Policy, Universities Inside, Professor
Online, Achievements in HEI’s, National Research
Programme for Universities, and Pakistan
Qualification Register etc. The channel can be
browsed with URL http://edutv.hec.gov.pk. The
audience can also connect via social media links to
ask their queries in live broadcast session through
connected Twitter and Facebook accounts of the
channel.
The channel is also providing a TV platform to
media and mass communication departments at
universities by successfully integrating the
universities studios with video conferencing facility.
Since these universities have built-in production
capabilities that include studios, script writers,
producers, directors and technicians, they will not
only help showcase the talent of media and mass
communication students and faculty but will also
lead to developing contents for the TV channel.
The success has given opportunities to universities
to develop collaborative programmes with other
universities regardless of geographical locations.
The Higher Education EduTV has recently
integrated with Virtual University studio to on-air its
programmes through satellite.
HEC, CII to Collaborate on
Paigham-e-Pakistan
23
The Higher Education Commission (HEC) fully
supports the aims and objectives of the Paigham-e-
Pakistan programme and especially its endeavours
to mobilise Pakistani youth, faculty and civil
institutions behind a national consensus agenda.
while talking to Dr. Qibla Ayaz, Chairman, Council of
Islamic Ideology (CII) who met with him at the
Commission Secretariat.
In his remarks, Dr. Ayaz termed the Paigham-e-
Pakistan ‘the most amazing and rewarding
agreement’ sponsored by HEC and International
Islamic University, Islamabad (IIUI). He said that the
agreement is a consensus counter narrative to
terrorism and extremism sanctioned by all sects.
He added that it is an instrument that HEC and all
other relevant public and civil institutions should
leverage in building inclusive, tolerant, civilised and
peaceful societies.
During the meeting, issues pertaining to Seerat
Chairs and observance of International Day of Peace
were also brought under consideration. Various
action points were agreed upon in the meeting
including regular consultation with Vice Chancellors
to deliberate on important issues pertaining to the
higher education sector, including the support for
Paigham-e-Pakistan and the use of social media,
university radio channels, walks and seminars,
lecture series, workshops, exhibitions, posters and
short film competitions as well as engagement with
civil society, communities, colleges, schools and
NGOs for joint cultural and social activities.
Besides, it was agreed that active coordination may
be undertaken for filling the positions of Seerat
Chairs at universities and enhancing their role.

Energy
Health Water Human & Social Sciences
Climate Change/Enviromental Sciences
A total of 12 training seminars were arranged by the
Higher Education Commission (HEC) and National
Computing Education Accredited Council (NCEAC)
in collaboration with Pakistan Software House
Association (P@sha) in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi
and Peshawar.
Out of 12 five seminars were held in Islamabad, two
in Lahore, four in Karachi and one in Peshawar
respectively and were attended by 152 participants.
The instructors of these seminars were from both
academia and industry and provided training on
Training Seminars on Computer
Technologies Organised
five topics; Blockchain, Machine Learning, Data
Analytics and Big Data, Cyber Security and Open
Stack and Cloud Computing.
has invited joint research proposals from Pakistani
faculty members of public as well as approved
private universities for award of mobility grant
under Phase-V of its Pak-France PERIDOT Research
Programme.
The five priority areas of research promoted under
the programme include energy, health, human &
social sciences, climate change/environmental
sciences, and water.
The applications received under the call for Phase-V
proposals will be assessed through a rigorous joint
evaluation process, after which the outperforming
proposals will be awarded with the grant. To avail
this opportunity, applicants are required to hold a
full-time faculty position at public or HEC approved
Research Proposals Invited for Mobility Grant
private universities. The major cost of the project
will be borne by the participating universities from
Pakistan and France. It is pertinent to mention here
that the programme will only provide funding for
travel and living expenses to the researchers
involved in the project.
PERIDOT is the Franco-Pakistani Hubert Curien
Partnership (PHC) providing opportunities to
Pakistani and French researchers to develop new
scientific and technological cooperation between
French and Pakistani higher education institutions/
research laboratories by supporting the mobility of
researchers from both sides.
As part of the Prime Minister’s Laptops Scheme, the
Higher Education Commission (HEC) recently
signed an agreement with Coursera to initiate
Digital Learning Skill Enrichment Initiative (DLSEI) to
offer 8000 single courses through it.
Coursera Offer Online Courses to
Prime Minister’s Laptop Scheme Awardees
The students’ registrations for the offered courses
were publically made available to engage students
in this opportunity offered by HEC. The Coursera is
an online platform that offers courses,
specialisations and degrees in a variety of subjects,
24

such as engineering, humanities, medicine, biology,
social sciences, mathematics, business, computer
science, digital marketing, data science, and others
from internationally recognised educational
institutions.
HEC is offering these courses on first come first
serve basis to those students who have been
awarded a laptop under the Prime Minister’s Laptop
scheme and are willing to avail this opportunity of
attending specialised on-line courses at free of cost.
Under the initiative, the offered courses are in the
fields of Data Science, Business, Personal
Development, Physical Science and Engineering,
Computer Science, Information Technology, Arts
and Humanities, Life Sciences, Social Sciences,
Language Learning and Math Logic.
HEC, USEFP Affirm to Provide
Opportunities for Pakistani Students
develop academic collaboration with Sri Lanka
through Pak-Sri Lanka Higher Education
Cooperation Programme.
Dr. Banuri, Chairman HEC stated this during a recent
meeting with Pakistan’s High Commissioner in Sri
Lanka, Maj. Gen. (R) Shahid Hashmat at the
Commission Secretariat.
Mr. Hashmat expressed his strong commitment to
play active role in executing the Pak-Sri Lanka
HEC to Strengthen Academic Ties
with Sri Lanka
Higher Education Cooperation Programme. Dr.
Banuri said that the HEC accords high importance to
international collaborations.
Under the programme, the HEC will extend
educational assistance to Sri Lankan students and
faculty. The project includes 1000 scholarships for
Sri Lankan students, faculty exchange initiatives,
training of Sri Lankan civil servants, holding of
Pakistan Higher Education Expo in Sri Lanka, and
establishment of a Department of Language and
Culture at University of Colombo.
25
There are multiple opportunities for Pakistani
students to access higher education in the United
States. This was highlighted in a meeting between
Ms. Rita Akhtar, Executive Director,
United States Educational Foundation
in Pakistan (USEFP) and Dr. Tariq
Banuri, Chairman, Higher Education
Commission (HEC), at the Commission
Secretariat.
The HEC and USEFP signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2005 to
launch the world’s largest Fulbright Programme.
Under the programme, 100 Masters and 50 PhD
scholarships are awarded every year. So far, 1425
Masters and 432 PhD scholarships have been
awarded. The joint educational collaboration is
primarily focused on increasing higher education
institutional capacity as well as enhancing the
research activities at R&D organisations to meet the
international challenges.
Dr. Banuri appreciated the Fulbright
Scholarship Support Programme,
which is the largest programme in the
history of USEFP, and shared HEC’s
ambitious plans to send 10,000 scholars for
doctoral studies in the US universities in the next 10
years. He requested for USEFP support in organising
pre-departure orientations for PhD scholars ready
to leave for the US under the US-Pakistan
Knowledge Corridor Programme.
Ms. Akhtar assured her support for such initiatives
by inviting academic experts in the required fields.

formulate Higher Education Information
Management System (HEIMS) to collect data of all
new and running universities in order to ensure
transparency in the functions of higher education
system.
rd
while addressing a press conference after the 33
Commission meeting which was held after a lapse of
32 months.
Dr. Banuri said the policy decisions taken by HEC in
the last two years and eight months regarding
funding and regulation of universities,
administrative matters, and quality were presented
before the Commission for review. He added that
the Commission appreciated the HEC’s endeavours
and endorsed its initiatives towards achievement of
its objectives including improvement of quality,
access, and relevance. He said the Commission has
directed for review of university funding formula so
as to ensure performance based allocation of funds.
He said the Commission has directed for forming
separate committees for reforms in higher
education system in order to bring improvement in
quality, access and relevance.
HEC encourages the private sector to come forward
to serving the nation, however, Dr. Banuri said, the
rules and regulations cannot be compromised. He
said the universities which open their campuses
need to obtain No Objection Certificate (NOC) from
HEC. He advised students to check HEC website
before taking admission in any university campus or
programme.
The universities committing violation of HEC rules
will be penalised and they will have to pay three
times fee of the students whose degrees are not
attested by HEC, he revealed. “Foreign universities
are welcome to set up their campuses in Pakistan,”
he said. He maintained that these universities will be
treated as per HEC rules for Pakistani universities.
rd
33 Commission Meeting Reviews,
Endorses HEC Policy Decisions
Directs for Formulating Higher Education Information Management System
He said the Commission admired the HEC’s efforts
for promotion of ICT in Pakistan, especially the
establishment of Pakistan Education and Research
Network (PERN). He underlined that the
Commission has directed for strengthening the
internal ICT systems of universities so that they can
be interconnected nationally and internationally.
He said HEC Edu TV, a web-based television
channel, has been made active so that students
could ask their questions directly. “I will be on air
every month and answer questions,” he said. He said
HEC has reviewed its attestation and equivalence
policy, which the Commission has endorsed. He
informed the media that HEC plans to connect the
attestation and equivalence system to HEIMS so as
to make the degree verification system online.
Dr. Banuri while addressing the press conference
rd
called in the backdrop of 33 Commission Meeting,
said that Dr. Arshad Ali, former Executive Director,
HEC tendered his resignation in view of the charges
of plagiarism against him, although he denies the
allegations.
The resignation has been accepted. He informed
the media persons that the Commission did not
make any judgment in any high profile plagiarism
case including the case of Dr. Ali. “Dr. Arshad Ali has
resigned in an honourable way in order to avoid
prolonging his case”, he said, adding that, “the
Commission appreciated Dr. Arshad Ali’s sacrifice to
protect the organisation from further controversy.”
The Commission has also directed the HEC to devise
a policy to facilitate disabled students studying in
universities. The policy will be presented before the
Commission in its next meeting, he informed.
He urged the Government to give 20 per cent
increase in the higher education sector’s budget. He
informed the media persons that negotiations have
been started with the World Bank for fund raising to
further strengthen Pakistani universities. He
27

underscored that a committee will be formulated to
work on feasibility of opening campuses of Pakistani
universities abroad.
He also announced that Lt. Gen. Muhammad
Asghar, former Rector, National University of
Sciences and Technology (NUST) and currently a
Member of the Commission, has been appointed
provisionally as Acting Executive Director, subject to
the approval of the Commission. The advertisement
for new ED search will also be made immediately.
“We will seek concurrence of the Commission on
appointment of Lt. Gen. Asghar for an interim
period, and announce the search process for ﬁlling
position of Executive Director on permanent basis,”
he underlined.
Institute of Space Technology (IST), Islamabad
th
recently celebrated its 13 Commencement of Class
2018 with graduation of 285 students in the
disciplines of Aerospace, Electrical, Mechanical,
Materials Science & Engineering and Space Science.
Mr. Muhammad Naeem, Chairman, Pakistan Atomic
Energy Commission (PAEC) graced the occasion as
the chief guest. The chief guest conferred the
students with degrees in their respective ﬁelds of
specialisation and gave away the President of
Pakistan Gold Medals to those students who stood
st
1 in their respective programmes.
th
‘13 Commencement of Class 18’ at IST
The chief guest advised the students to use their
skills and knowledge with sincerity and
commitment towards national advancement.
Speaking on the occasion, Engr. Imran Rahman, Vice
Chancellor, IST informed that IST will work in the
futuristic technologies, which include Indigenous
Design and Development of Micro & Nano
Satellites, Swarm UAVs, Advance Propulsion Using
Plasma Technology, Structural Health Monitoring,
Space based Synthetic Aperture Radar systems,
Deep Space Communications and Thermal Barrier
Coatings for Aerospace Application.
The National Defence University (NDU), Islamabad
recently organised a lecture of Brig. (Retd.)
Mowadat Rana, SI, a psychiatrist. He delivered a talk
Lecture on Psychiatry in NDU
followed by an interactive session on stress,
behaviours and distress among the students and
faculty members. This learning programme was
aimed at helping students to know about self-
assessment techniques.
Brig. (Retd.) Mowadat gave an insight on stress
management, contemporary attitudes and
abnormal behaviours. His emphasis was on giving
details about reducing and overcoming stress and
distress situation.
28

The Office of Research Innovation and
Commercialisation, Institute of Business
Management (ORIC-IoBM) recently organised a
Workshop on Role of Incubation Centres in
Entrepreneurship Creation at the Entrepreneurship
and Management Excellence Centre (EMEC), IoBM.
The resource persons of the workshop were Syed
Azfar Hussain, Head of Technology Park,
Technology Incubation Centre and International
IoBM Initiates Research in Business Incubators
Sukkur IBA University, in collaboration with
Community Development Programme (CDP),
Planning and Development Board, Government of
Sindh recently organised a summer science
exhibition for the students of Class-IX and X
studying in government schools of entire Sindh.
Total 100 projects prepared by students of various
government schools were displayed. The purpose
of this programme was to impart inquiry-based
science education to the students of under-
privileged background at Sukkur IBA’s five
Community Colleges. It also explored hidden
Summer Science Exhibition at
Sukkur IBA University
As many as 394 students were recently conferred
nd
with degrees during 22 Convocation of Ghulam
Ishaq Khan Institute, Topi, Swabi. Among the
graduating students, 337 students were BS
graduates, 53 did their MS and 4 scholars got their
Convocation Organised at GIK Institute
Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS)
and Mr. Muhammad Talha, Manager Incubation and
Outreach Activities, IBA.
The workshop was focused on formation of
Incubation Centres; sources of funds for startups;
structure and functions of Incubation Centres;
industrial liaison through Incubation Centres;
promotion and management of Incubation Centres
and spin-off and graduation of startups.
During the workshop, the resourceperson
emphasised upon need for a congenial atmosphere
for the startups; teamwork and collaboration from
all departments; motivating faculty and attracting
industry; company spin-offs amid university
research; marketing and selling of the prototypes
from the blossoming hatcheries to mentoring
accelerator levels.
potential among students of government schools to
become future scientists and technologists.
The highly qualified faculty of Community Colleges
delivered knowledge related to Biology, Chemistry,
Physics, Mathematics and Computer Sciences
through projects and practical activities in groups.
While addressing the participants of this summer
science camp, Dr. Nisar Ahmed Siddiqi, Vice
chancellor Sukkur IBA University said that Science
and Technology is changing industries, labour
market and future work requirements.
PhDs in respective disciplines of Engineering and
Management Sciences respectively.
Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Governor of Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa presided over the convocation.
29

nd
The 2 two-day Young Researchers’ National
Conference on Water and Environment (NCWE-18)
was recently kicked off at US Pakistan Centre for
Advanced Studies in Water (USPCAS-W) at Mehran
University of Engineering and Technology (MUET),
Jamshoro.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony, Dr.
Mohammad Aslam Uqaili, Vice Chancellor MUET
said that learning is a continuous process which not
only helps to know the problems of communities
but also offer the sustainable solution based on the
applied research and knowledge transformation.
Dr. Bakshal Lashari, Project Director in his welcome
address said, “The centre lays primary focus on
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly
National Conference on Water and
Environment at USPCAS-W MUET
A five-day training workshop on Improving
Groundwater Management and Groundwater
Modelling was recently kicked off at US Pakistan
Centre for Advanced Studies in Water (USPCAS-
W), Mehran University of Engineering and
Technology (MUET), Jamshoro.
In the inaugural session, Dr. Abdul Latif Qureshi,
Sectional Head of Hydraulics, Irrigation and
Drainage (HID), USPCAS-W MUET said that the
training workshop would help participants to
design conceptual model and to review modeling
flow packages used to construct a groundwater
model for Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan site
MUET Holds Workshop on
Groundwater Management
Virtual University, (VU) Lahore has recently
developed a mobile science laboratory. This mobile
lab would provide hands-on experience to students
in bio-sciences and technology research. Beside this
initiative, practical sessions of life science studies
VU Lab on Wheels
SDG6 to ensure availability and sustainable
management of water and sanitation for all.”
Dr. Kamran Ansari, Conference Convener said that
the conference aimed to provide an ideal academic
platform to young researchers and scholars from all
over the country to present, share and exchange
their latest findingson water and environment
related issues.
He further highlighted that the papers on different
themes of the conference would provide
opportunities to delegates throughout the country
to share their scholarly knowledge, skill, experience,
and expertise focused on water, environment and
shared challenges facing our current and future
generations.
areas. Dr. Qureshi warned that extraction of
groundwater would cause deterioration of water
quality and quantity.
On this occasion, Dr. Jehangir F. Punthakey,
Project Coordinator said the training workshop is
part of a four-year project on improving ground
water management to enhance agriculture and
farming livelihood in Pakistan signed by the
Australian Government through the Australian
Centre for International Agricultural Research
(ACIAR) and Charles Sturt University (CSU),
Australia, with 12 implementing partners from
Pakistan.
are being performed at Lahore, Rawalpindi, Multan,
Karachi and Peshawar. This mobile laboratory is
accompanied by trained staff and equipped with all
necessary instrumentations required for practical
training of ongoing degree programmes.
30

The University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences
(UVAS), Lahore in collaboration with the Livestock &
Dairy Development Department, Punjab organised
a consultative meeting on the development of dairy
sector in Pakistan.
Capt. (Retd.) Muhammad Mahmood, Secretary,
Livestock & Dairy Development Department,
Punjab presided over the meeting to seek
suggestions from stakeholders for the formulation
of policies and plans for profitability of dairy sector.
Dr Talat Naseer Pasha, Vice Chancellor, UVAS, Mr.
Saeed Hassan Hotiana, President, Buffalo Breeders
Association, academicians, researchers, a large
number of stakeholders from public and private
dairy sector and officials from Livestock
Department attended the consultative meeting. Dr.
Pasha gave a presentation on key issues of
hampering growth in dairy sector, milk production
Deliberation on Ways to Develop Dairy Sector
model in Punjab, potential impact of price de-
capping, import of milk and changing trend in dairy
industry due to tea whiteners being introduced in
market.
During open discussion session, all participants put
forward suggestions for the development of dairy
sector. They called for imposing heavy duty on
import of whey and milk powder, reducing cost of
milk production, farmers’ education and training.
The University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences
(UVAS), Lahore recently organised a meeting of
federal and provincial fisheries departments to
review arrangements for an upcoming International
Fisheries and Aquaculture Conference for the
promotion of fisheries and aquaculture sector in
Pakistan. The theme of this conference will be
“Emerging Trends for Sustainable Exploitation of
Aquatic Resources”.
UVAS Set for Fisheries and
Aquaculture Conference
Dr. Talat Naseer Pasha, Vice Chancellor, UVAS
highlighted that the main objective of the meeting
is to seek suggestions and technical input from
public and private sector stakeholders from all over
Pakistan for making upcoming event successful.
He hoped that the conference will bring national
and international scientists, experts and
stakeholders to a single platform.
The Office of Research, Innovation and
Commercialisation (ORIC), Bacha Khan University,
Charsadda, with the technical support of the
National Highways and Motorway Police (NH&MP)
recently organised one-day seminar entitled Road
Safety and Security.
The aim of the seminar was to materialise various
technical and capacity building interventions with
Seminar on Road Safety, Security
special focus on more significant issue for the
drivers and helpers in particular and other faculty
and students in general.
More than 300 students, faculty members,
administration staff including drivers and helpers of
the university attended the seminar. The officials of
the NH&MP delivered lectures on various issues
related to driving, road safety and security.
31

A group of Pakistan Institute of Fashion and Design
(PIFD) students recently participated in
International Graduate Fashion Spectacle (IGFS) at
Colombo, Sri Lanka. The IGFS brought together
young graduates from around the world to
showcase their best work together at a catwalk
show and an exhibition in Sri Lanka. For the selected
designers, a four day programme was organised
that consisted of touring the city, participating at a
fashion and apparel talk show, exploring the culture
of Sri Lanka, meeting a French Artist and a live view
painting of a wall art, experiencing Sri Lankan food
and showcasing at the Gala Fashion Show.
PIFD Graduates Participate in
International Graduate Fashion Spectacle
The Pakistan Institute of Fashion and Design (PIFD),
Lahore celebrated the Defence Day by organising a
painting and declamation contest.
Mr. Saeed Akhtar, former Professor, National
College of Arts, Lahore was the juror of the painting
competition whereas Dr. Surriya Shaffi Mir, Dean,
Long Live Pakistan
PIFD Holds Defence Day Painting,
Declamation Contest
Art and Social Sciences, Gujranwala Institute of
Future Technologies, Gujranwala was the judge for
declamation contest.
Students from different departments participated in
the competitions. Prizes were also distributed
among the position holders.
The Quality Assurance Directorate, National
University of Medical Sciences (NUMS), Rawalpindi
st
conducted its 1 orientation workshop on “ISO
9001:2015 Quality Management System” for quality
coordinators duly nominated by all the directorates
and management entities across NUMS. The
purpose of this orientation was to give an overview
of ISO 9001:2015 and Quality Management System
to the quality coordinators for trickle-down effect.
Danish Nadeem, Nurse Manager Research, NUMS
was the resource person of the workshop. He
NUMS Organises Orientation Workshop on
Quality Management System
briefed the participants about the background,
structure and clauses of ISO 9001:2015 quality
standards. The presentation was followed by a post-
test to evaluate the outcome of the workshop.
Maj. Gen. (Retd) Muhammad Aslam, Acting Vice
Chancellor, NUMS elaborated benefits of
complying with ISO standards and its ultimate
impact on the organisational processes. He also
advised participants of the workshop to play their
role effectively and ensure compliance of the
standards without compromising at any stage.
32

Dr. Muhammad Naveed, Associate Professor,
Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and
Technology (SZABIST), Islamabad recently joined
Global Research Conference in University of Oxford,
UK as a Guest Speaker.
In the conference, researchers, academicians and
industrialists from 25 countries exchanged their
views and research discourse to strengthen
knowledge economy through action based
research.
Dr. Naveed delivered his speech on New Insights
into Dividend Policy: A Customised and Dynamic
Sectoral Analysis. In his talk, he emphasised on
providing Pakistan and US non-financial sectors to
develop customised dividend models according to
sectors’ nature and economic conditions which
directly and indirectly influence financial behaviour
of firms operating under different institutional
Scholar Joins Global Research Conference
at University of Oxford
settings across developing and developed
economies. His speech was pertinent to new age of
finance to unleash the financial institutions to take
financial innovation drives to comply with advanced
financial modeling.
Also, he shared important insights about speed of
adjustments to readjust the dividend behaviour in
line with target dividend.
Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and
Technology (SZABIST), Islamabad recently
organised an Experiential Role Play Competition
among its students.
Mr. Iftikhar Babar, Joint Secretary Federal Ministry of
Education Training, Mr. Iftikhar Babar, Director
General Basic Education Community Schools, KPK
and Dr. Muhammad Naveed, Associate Professor,
SZABIST, Islamabad were the judges of competition.
SZABIST Emphasises
Experiential Learning Innovation
The aim of conducting the competition was to put in
practice all concepts and theories learned
throughout the course and express it through
innovative experiential learning. The play also
revolved around consequences of not applying
principles of management.
On the occasion, Mr. Khusro Pervaiz Khan, Head of
Campus reiterated need for experiential learning
and role plays, specifically in real time settings.
The University of Sindh (SU), Jamshoro recently
organised a ceremony to confer excellence awards
to 440 top performers of different departments.
The Bureau of Students Tutorial Guidance/
Counseling Services and Co-curricular Activities
(STAGS) hosted the ceremony which was presided
SU Conferred Excellence Awards to 440 Students
over by Dr. Fateh Muhammad Burfat, Vice
Chancellor, SU.
On the occasion, Dr. Burfat said that conferring this
award is sincere recognition of the academic
endeavour of students and devoted input of the
faculty members.
33

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was
signed by the University of Health Sciences (UHS)
and Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America
(IFANCA) to promote halal certification in food,
pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry through
research, education and advocacy.
Dr. Javed Akram, Vice Chancellor, UHS, Dr.
Muhammad Munir Chaudhry, President, IFANCA,
Dr. Javaid Aziz Awan, Country Head, IFANCA, Dr.
Faqir Mohammad, Vice Chancellor, Gambia
University and senior faculty members were present
on the occasion besides representatives of Pakistan
Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association and
Women Chamber of Commerce.
On this occasion, Dr. Chaudhry said that the halal
industry continued to grow into the mainstream
market worldwide. He maintained that halal
certification was required to produce suitable food
products for consumers. According to the President
UHS, IFANCA Ink Agreement
on Halal Certification
IFANCA, the growing global market for halal
certified products estimated is 1.6 billion Muslims as
well as others who choose to eat and use halal
products.
Dr. Akram added that the market for halal cosmetic
products in West is also attracting non-Muslim
consumers.
th
The 5 group of 16 MS scholars of US-Pakistan
Centre for Advanced Studies in Water (USPCAS-W)
at Mehran University of Engineering and
Technology (MUET), Jamshoro departed for the
United States of America (USA) for one semester
under student exchange programme.
Dr. Bakhshal Lashari, Project Director, USPCAS-W
said that the exchange programme would be
beneficial for the students in enhancing their
research skills. He further suggested the scholars to
involve themselves in academic, research, co-
curricular and cultural activities during their stay at
the University of Utah and the Colorado State
University of USA.
Mr. Hafeez Samo, Education Specialist, United
States Agency for International Development
Students of USPCAS-W MUET
Depart for USA on Exchange Visit
(USAID) congratulated the selected students and
said that the purpose of student exchange
programme is not only to encourage students to
learn academic courses but also to pave way for
students to participate in socio-cultural activities
and explore the wonders of USA.
During their stay in USA, students will work on their
research projects in the co-supervision of
professors at University of Utah and Colorado State
University of USA.
34

Mr. Ali Gul, former computer engineering student of
Balochistan University of Information Technology,
Engineering and Management Sciences (BUITEMS),
Quetta came up with an innovative idea of Smart
Helmet for Coal Miners that keeps track of coal
miners and their health through sensor-based
smart helmet that can sense gas leakages, track
real-time location, analyse health vitals for miners
and the capability to inform miners about
potentially dangerous areas inside the mines
through vibrations and toggling of colourful lights
to ensure safety of the coal miners.
The helmet is embedded with gas temperature
humidity, real-time location systems and heartbeat
sensors to detect pulse rates, using Zigbee, Radio
Frequency Identification (RFID), Artificial
Intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT).
It gives early warning of the presence of different
poisonous gases, and there is a base station to
monitor the coalmines’ environmental condition
and a ventilation fan inside the mines.
The idea came in Ali’s mind when his brother was
injured in one of coal mines’ accidents few years ago
BUITEMS Graduate Innovated
Smart Helmet for Coal Miners
in Balochistan as mining is one of the major
occupations of Balochistan. Mining is a risky job and
rising number of deaths in mining accidents are due
to low levels of safety against cave-ins, toxic fumes,
flooding, gas explosions, dust, chemicals, and
electrocution. Through his innovation of smart
helmet risk of calamities in mines would be
lessened.
His Smart Helmet has graduated from BUITEMS
Business Incubation and Entrepreneurship Centre
(BBIEC) and is now part of National Incubation
Centre (NIC), Quetta accelerator, winner of an Ignite
st
FYP grant and 1 runner up among 5000 diverse
projects from all over the country in National ICT
R&D project Contest.
The Department of Food Science and Human
Nutrition and Office of Research Innovation and
Commercialisation (ORIC), University of Veterinary
and Animal Sciences (UVAS), Lahore in
collaboration with Punjab Food Authority (PFA)
recently observed World Food Day under the theme
of Our Actions are our Future: A Zero Hunger World
by 2030 is Possible.
Capt. Rtd. Muhammad Usman, Director General PFA
presided over the seminar while Dr. Talat Naseer
Pasha, Vice-Chancellor UVAS, Dr. Sana Ullah Iqbal
and many guest speakers from public and private
sector organisations were present on the occassion.
Mr. Usman spoke about role of PFA in ensuring food
safety and security in the Punjab province.
World Food Day Observed at UVAS
Dr. Talat Naseer Pasha said that it is our
responsibility to create awareness among people
about high quality food and adulterated food
through our knowledge and skills. He further said
that knowledge and research is the key to curb
malnutrition issues in Pakistan.
35

Hec news and views october 2018

Hec news and views october 2018

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Hec news and views october 2018