ISLAMABAD, April 13: Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali has advised the youth to pursue their careers in science and technology to benefit the country. He said science and technologies were developing at a tremendous pace and the students should not be left behind in pursuing studies in these fields.

The prime minister was chief guest at the first convocation of Bahria University where he awarded degrees to 221 students of Master of Business Administration and Computer Sciences.

He also awarded gold and silver medals as well as merit certificates to a number of students including Mohammad Usman Arshad Khan, Nadia Noveen Rahman, Omar Farook Malik, Humayoon Ahmed, Inayetullah Khan, Shahzada Farhad, Mahvish Javed, Mohammad Kamran Arif, Asad Hussain Abbasi, Mohammad Muzammil Khan, Rahat Hussain, Melisa Ikram, Fauzia Shahzad, Isma Saleemi, Rashid Aziz Faruqui and Rizwan Ismail Khan.

Mr Jamali said education and health were on the list of high priorities of the government and for this the two sectors would receive greater allocation during the next budget.

He called upon the youth to pursue the study of science and technology vigorously. "They should grapple these two disciplines; these two disciplines are progressing at a tremendous speed and the students should not appear to have been left behind in these two fields.

"Our students have the huge responsibility of bringing the benefits of science and technology within the reach of Pakistani citizens," he said. He also appreciated the Bahria University for being the first among the country's universities to extend its affiliation to UAE Naval War College at Abu Dhabi.

Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Shahid Kalimullah, who is also the pro-chancellor of the university, received the prime minister at the university. The prime minister announced a donation of Rs40 million for the Bahria University for establishing an institute of marine sciences at Gwadar.

An additional amount of Rs40 million was also given for a new campus and residential facilities of the same university at Gwadar. Pakistan Navy would donate land for the two facilities at Gwadar.

Half of the amount (Rs40 million) would be released before the close of the current financial year while the remaining would be given to the university after the budget session.

The marine sciences institute would be part of a number of development projects of the university, which also included extension of business administration and computer sciences study facilities to students of coastal areas.