| 27 July 2004 | Tuesday | 09 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425 |
Re-naming the arts faculty: Campus Round-up
The Tehsil Municipal Administration has failed to start work on the People's Colony underpass even three weeks after its announcement by the chief minister. During his visit to the city on July 6, Pervaiz Elahi had laid the foundation stone of the People's Colony underpass besides announcing a special package for other uplift projects at a public meeting in Mini Stadium.
The delay is irritating for the locals in general and People's Colony residents in particular who face a lot of problems in crossing the railway line. Traffic remains suspended on area roads during rush hours.
Residents also took out a rally against the administration and city tehsil council here the other day in People's Colony and urged the chief minister to take note of the delay.
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A company operating buses between Kamoki and Ghakkhar under the government's frenchized scheme has failed to induct required number of buses although it enjoys monopoly on the route.
Some 30 vehicles currently plying the route are seen overcrowded during the rush hours. At times passengers risk their lives by clinging to doors. The provincial government, under the scheme, has given monopoly to the transporter by cancelling the route permits of some 500 wagons in a bid to improve travel. But, for commuters, things are worst than before.
The district administration and the regional transport authority have also failed to make the transporter to adhere to the agreement.
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Residents of village Aroop have expressed their concern over delay in restoration of their phones. Some 1,600 phones have been silent for the last few days. Traders and businessmen have been badly hit.
A PTCL spokesman said that efforts were afoot to restore the lines.
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The Gujranwala Electric Power Company (GEPCO) claims achieving its targets for the recovery of dues and new connections during the 2003-04 fiscal. Company chief executive Brig Saifullah Khalid attributes this 'success' to the efforts of his staff and field workers.
Re-naming the arts faculty: Campus Round-up
The academic council of the University of Karachi on July 19 approved a proposal to rename the arts faculty as the faculty of arts and social sciences. The proposal which was included in a set of recommendations finalized at a meeting of the board of the faculty on December 20, but no debate on the name change was held at the academic council meeting.
It is said that it is normal practice for decisions taken by different faculties to be approved by the council without any debate or discussion, but some teachers have reservations on the issue and are looking up to the university's syndicate for a final say.
The faculty of arts has always been known as such since the establishment of the university. It includes the departments of economics, history, political science, international relations, psychology, sociology, social works, mass communication and departments teaching languages.
The faculty's board opted for a change in nomenclature to give it a more representative character. The word 'arts' was often seen abroad as being confined to the domain of liberal arts, commented a senior teacher of the faculty, and the new name will make the degrees issued to arts graduates more acceptable worldwide.
However, there are teachers who believe that the renaming is the beginning of a bifurcation of the existing arts faculty into two faculties of social sciences and humanities and arts, which will probably leave the students of languages nowhere in the job market.
Another teacher wonders why this has been done at a time when the university administration is also considering merging different languages' departments and establishing an institute of languages, with the objective of improving teaching and research.
If the syndicate also approves the change of name, changes will have to be made in the degrees within a short period of time. This has not only financial and technical implications, but can lead to unnecessary confusion.
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Three KU teachers have been elected to the Pakistan Fisheries Society, a national-level body for interaction between fishery scientists and aquaculturists for the development of fishery resources.
The teachers are Prof Dr Afzal Kazmi, Dr Itrat Zehra and Atiq Ahmad Khan, who have been elected as president, joint secretary and executive council member, respectively.
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The student branch of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, USA, at the NED University of Engineering and Technology is organizing its second international multi-topic conference, E-Tech 2004, on July 31 at the university auditorium. A technical tutorial session will also be a part of this conference.
As many as 10 papers have been received from abroad, including papers from India, Bangladesh, Australia, Germany and the USA, and 22 from local PhD students and professors for the conference on "current and emerging fields of engineering and science."
The IEEE is a worldwide organization of engineers and researchers working in areas of electrical, electronics and computer engineering and computer sciences, and has its branches at various educational institutions the world over. There are 10 IEEE student branches in Karachi.
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The Federal Urdu University of Arts, Sciences and Technology (FUUAST) held a reception in honour of noted researcher and critic from India, Dr Muzaffar Hanfi, at its Gulshan-i-Iqbal campus the other day.
Dr Hanfi referred to the status of Urdu in India and said while there was a general feeling in Pakistan and the western countries that Urdu had lost its roots in India, the situation was not so bleak. But he admitted that the language enjoyed its pre-independence position.