GUJRAT: A Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) team has severed the industrial connection of a manufacturing unit of enameled copper wire owned by the brother of a Gujranwala-based MPA of the PML-N.

The management of the factory had earlier in the last week resisted the bid to disconnect the connection. As the issue was highlighted in the media, the unit management negotiated a settlement with the SNGPL authorities according to which the industrial connection had to be severed.

An official of the SNGPL told Dawn that even the use of commercial connection for industrial purposes was an illegal act and the department would have to disconnect it as well.

The government had banned the commercial or domestic connections at the industrial places and asked the commercial consumers to get their domestic connections severed through the notices.

Many commercial connections of fan manufacturing units had earlier been severed by the department during the last week.

UOG VC: The Punjab government has formally issued a notification for the appointment of Prof Dr Ziaul Qayyum as the third vice-chancellor of the University of Gujrat on Wednesday.

Though the Punjab chief minister had approved the posting of Dr Qayyum as the UoG VC after interviews of the three shortlisted candidates about two weeks back, the formalities have caused a delay in the issuance of the formal notification.

A senior UoG official said the newly-appointed VC would assume the charge of his office on Thursday (today).

The VC post had been vacated after the completion of the second term of its two times VC Prof Dr Muhammad Nizamuddin on Oct 10, 2014 as senior faculty member Prof Dr Muhammad Faheem Malik had been given the acting charge of the VC office.

Prior to the approval of his posting as UoG VC, Dr Ziaul Qayyum was serving as director of the Faisalabad/ Chiniot campus of the ‘FAST’.

His professional experience spans over 22 years in a diverse range of fields. The establishment of IT institutes and organizational planning and development remain the foremost highlights of his career.

His expertise ranges from teaching and research in the field of computer science in general and applied artificial intelligence in particular, academic administration, devising policies for strategic planning and direction, project planning and management along with strong leadership and managerial skills.

Dr Zia earned two master degrees in mathematics and computer science and subsequently earned a doctorate from University of Leeds, the UK, specializing in machine learning/semantic information retrieval.

Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2014