TOBA TEK SINGH: More than 100,000 students from PhD, MPhil, master’s, associate degree, MBA, and BS programmes were awarded degrees at the 12th convocation of the Government College University Faisalabad (GCUF) on Thursday.

According to a press release, 335 gold medals, 333 silver medals, and 326 bronze medals were awarded to high achievers at the ceremony presided over by Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Rauf-i-Azam.

Addressing the ceremony, the vice chancellor highlighted the institution’s achievements in teaching, research, and institutional development.

NETHERLANDS: The ties between Pakistan and the Netherlands in the fields of agriculture, academia and research are being strengthened to get benefit from each other’s experiences that will help ensure food security, agricultural development and knowledge-based economy.

These views were expressed by Pakistan’s Ambassador to the Netherlands Syed Haider Shah during a virtual meeting with UAF Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Zulfiqar Ali.

He said: “We have to identify joint venture for the benefit of both countries and to advance bilateral relations in the field of agriculture.”

Dr Zulfiqar said the cooperation with the Netherlands in the field of agricultural technology, research and development and international standardisation would play an important role for the uplift of the sector.

He said that in the past, the UAF had worked with the Netherlands on floriculture projects to boost capacity of the local practitioners and farmers, which had yielded positive results.

He called for promoting joint programmes and research projects with universities in the Netherlands. He said the Netherlands had a unique position in terms of standardisation and we should take advantage of it.

Published in Dawn, December 5th, 2025