LAHORE: Over 1,400 graduates were awarded degrees and medals at the 10th convocation of the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) on Wednesday.

Punjab Minister for Livestock and Dairy Development Sardar Hasnain Bahadur Dareshak, also the pro-chancellor, presided over the convocation.

Adviser to the chief minister on livestock Faisal Hayat Jabwana, Livestock and Dairy Development Secretary Ahsan Waheed and a large number of students, faculty members, dairy and poultry industrialists and stakeholders were present.

As many as 1,417 graduates were conferred with degrees and 72 position holders awarded medals.

Mr Dareshak urged the students to play their role in nation building and said that livestock had great potential for growth. He added that revolutionary steps were being taken for its uplift and providing safe and healthy livestock products to the masses with exportable surplus.

He also urged the UVAS scientists to expedite their efforts to cope with the challenge of food insecurity and malnutrition.

Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Talat Naseer Pasha claimed that with a history of 136 years, the UVAS had positioned itself among the top Asian universities, as per the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and QS World Universities Rankings.

As per HEC Sports Ranking 2018, UVAS stands at the third spot among public sector universities of Pakistan and fifth among all public and private universities of the country, the vice chancellor said, adding that the UVAS was also among top 10 universities of Pakistan according to the HEC’s overall ranking of higher education institutions.

Mr Pasha said that the university was executing five development projects worth Rs4 billion and completed as many projects of Rs882 million last year. “As many as 1,162 scholarships worth Rs54 million were provided last year,” he added.

Earlier, the pro-chancellor along with the vice chancellor gave away degrees to PhD scholars and medals to the position-holders.

Published in Dawn, December 13th, 2018