CDA issues final notice to Sir Syed Memorial Society

A notice served by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to the Sir Syed Memorial Society (SSMS) has landed the society in trouble.

A few days ago, CDA issued a final noticed to SSMS to close down the Centre for Advance Studies in Engineering (Case), which is being run on the premises of the society complex in G-5.

The Aligarh Old Boys Association in Islamabad formed the society in 1984 as a tribute to the education reformist.

CDA later allotted a 24 kanal plot at 19, Ataturk Avenue in G-5 to the society for the construction of an auditorium, library, reading room and museum.

But in 2000, the society rented out a portion of the building to Case, a commercial degree awarding institution affiliated with the University of Engineering and Technology (UET) in Taxila.

Until recently the society was also being run by a 15 member executive committee, which included seven individuals from Case and had retired Brig Iqbal M Shafi as its president. However, infighting between some employees and the committee brought disrepute to the society, and attracted the attention of the city’s district administration.

The Islamabad administration then asked the committee to clarify its position on several charges, and was not satisfied with the response. On April 4, the administration sealed some of the society’s offices, suspended the executive committee and appointed a caretaker body under the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) finance director to run the society’s affairs.

On April 21, CDA issued a final notice to the society which stated: “The plot was allotted for construction of Auditorium, Library, Reading Room and Museum, but at site, a university with the name and style of Case is established.”

It added that the society was given a final opportunity to remove the nonconforming use within 15 days, or else CDA would seal the premises or cancel the allotment of the plot.

CDA Building Control Section director Shafi Marwat said the authority would act if nonconforming use did not end.

When contacted, ICT finance director Mohammad Ali said: “There were several irregularities; the society was not performing its functions in accordance with the provisions of the VSWA Act 1961.

“Out of 15 members of the executive committee, there were seven from Case, a tenant, while another private organisation known as CARE is also running there. As per the law, commercial activities can’t take place there, so on these grounds we suspended the executive committee.”

Conference on Women in Physics

A three day regional conference on ‘Women in Physics’ concluded on Wednesday with the aim to take women on board in an effort to promote science and technology.

The conference was organised by the Quaid-i-Azam University’s (QAU) National Centre for Physics (NCP), the University of Peshawar (UoP) and the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), the Higher Education Commission, Comstech and the Centre for Physics Education.

On the final day of the conference, scholars from across the world presented research papers on nanotechnology, magnetism, solar waves, cosmology, lasers and art in science education.

NCP director general Dr Hafeez Hoorani presided over the concluding session, and said that women’s contribution to science could not be ignored. He gave the example of Fabiola Gianotta, the director general of the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) who is playing a significant role in the promotion of science. Dr Dina Izadi from Iran, while discussing the role of the arts in science education, said that allowing young learners to experience science actively makes a difference to their lives.

Former health minister Dr Sania Nishtar also spoke at the conference. She said: “Fundamental strategic investment in higher education sector enabled many countries to take quantum leap economically and scientifically.

“The government’s promising budget for higher education is producing continued escalating trends in PhD students for the last 15 years. There is a dire need to develop an ecosystem to reap the benefits of science to society.”

Dr Hoorani said recent trends have shown that female enrolment in universities is higher than male enrolment.

Dr Rasul Jan, the vice chancellor of UoP, said it is time to eradicate the stereotype that women cannot deliver up to the mark.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2016