KARACHI, Aug 19: Noted nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan will undertake ‘Solar Energy Development and Disaster Relief Programmes’ which will be co-sponsored by the Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology (SSUET).

He announced this while speaking to the office-bearers and members of the Aligarh Muslim University Old Boys Association, and members of the varsity council.

Dr Khan, who himself is a member of SSUET Board of Governors, on the occasion, also announced to undertake research projects in collaboration with the university.

He informed that the Dr A Q Khan Institute of Technology, Islamabad, is going to be expanded to almost to the level of a university, for which land had already been acquired.

He said the Institute, affiliated with the SSUET, would conduct exchange of teachers and students with the varsity, in various disciplines, to undertake the proposed research projects, with the objective of benefiting from each other’s experiences.

He said that Pakistan’s very existence would have been in danger, if it had not started its nuclear programme after Indian’s nuclear test in 1974.

“Pakistan’s going nuclear could only be regarded as a miracle,” he stated.

Rejecting the allegations against Pakistan’s nuclear programme, he said that a particular lobby published fake reports about his visits to Iran and North Korea, adding that he never visited Iran, even for ziarat purposes.

Dr Qadeer Khan said that he had spiritual affiliation with the SSUET since its inception.

He paid lauded the services of University Chancellor Z A Nizami and the members of his team for successfully establishing of the varsity, from where thousands of students were passing out after graduating in various important disciplines.

Dr Khan said in only 56 years of its existence, the country had made considerable achievements, but it should not be compared with those countries which had existed for 200 or 500 years.

He expressed hope that with spread of education our systems would witness more improvements and progress.

Dr Khan said the educational movement, which was initiated by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, benefited Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah and contributed a lot to the creation of an independent country.

He also spoke about the involvement of people in social welfare activities and noted that philanthropists had now greater participation in this field.

He pointed out that President Pervez Musharraf gave highest priority to the education sector and Dr Ataur Rehman had done a lot in this field.

He said for the first time education had been given the biggest allocation and the number of grants and scholarships being given to universities was unprecedented.

On the occasion, Dr Khan, appealing to philanthropists and organisations to come forward to establish chairs in universities in memory of great benefactors of Pakistan, announced to set up chairs in memory of Nawab Ismail Khan and Nawab Saheb Mahmoodabad.

Earlier, welcoming Dr A Q Khan, SSUET chancellor thanked the noted scientist for his cooperation with the SSUET and said that with his help the SSUET had planned to start special programmes, particularly in PhD.

He informed Dr Khan that today the university and its affiliated institutions had a total enrolment of some 7,000 students, including 4,000 students doing graduation and 200 participating in post-graduation courses and another 1,000 taking part in continuing Microsoft courses.

Mr Nizami said that university’s bio-medical engineering was getting popular and its graduates were 100 per cent employed.

He said a local philanthropist, who supports hospitals in Saudi Arabia, had pledged to provide jobs to 12 bio-medical engineers, every year.

General secretary of the Aligarh Muslim University Old Boys Association, Zakir Ali Khan, also spoke on the occasion and paid tributes to Dr A Q Khan for his unmatched services for Pakistan.

On the occasion, Mr Nizami presented the noted scientist a book compiled by the University on his life and achievements.—APP