Author: Academia Magazine

Education Reporters Association (ERA) announced its elected body on Monday. The newly elected office bearers of ERA include Chairman Yousaf Abbasi from Express-News, Rab Nawaz Khan from Daily Jang as President, Salman Chaudhry from 92 News as Vice President, Imtiaz Ali from Abb Takk News as Secretary General, Arsalan Haider from Academia Magazine as Joint Secretary and Abdul Wahab Shahid from Lahore Rang News as Information Secretary.

The executive body consisted of Sajid Chaudhry from Nawa i Waqt, Faizan Warraich from 24 news, Ali Arshad from The Educationist, Saif Awan, Adeel Mustafa and Sidra Riaz.

Minister for Higher Education Department (HED) Punjab Raja Yasir Humayun, Minister School Education Department (SED) Punjab Murad Rass have congratulated newly elected office bearers of the ERA. Ministers expressed the hope that the newly elected office bearers would play their role in the betterment of the education system in Pakistan and enhancing academia-journalism ties.

Vice Chancellor University of the Punjab (PU) Dr Niaz Ahmad, Vice Chancellor Lahore College for Women University (LCWU) Dr Bushra Mirza, VC Home Economics University (UHE) Dr Kanwal Ameen, VC University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS), Chairman Technical Education & Vocational Training Authority (TEVTA) Mamoon Jaffar Tarrar, Chairman Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) Dr Shahid Munir, President Punjab University Academic Staff Association (PUASA) Dr Azhar Naeem, Secretary Amjad Abbas Magsi, Chairman ETPB congratulated newly elected office bearers of ERA and offer best wishes.

Related: EMGS to arrange expo for foreign studies in Pakistan

Mr Ibrahim Hasan Murad, Chairman of Mizab Group was invited to an iftar cum dinner with the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Qamar Javed Bajwa, and twenty leading businessmen of Pakistan. Army Chief in his discussion stressed economic security’s link with national security and vice versa.

He requested the businessmen to diversify, focus on IT and improve their revenues and pay taxes to alleviate poverty and show gratitude to this beloved nation for all it has given us. Gen Bajwa said that he believes Pakistan has an export potential of US$ 100 Billion.

His command of military affairs, the corporate world and the economy was par excellence, and in his interactions, he was very eloquent and candid. Editor in Chief of Academia Magazine Mr Ibrahim Hasan Murad noted that having interacted with a lot of military commanders in various spheres, he gives accolades to COAS for he is one of the finest officers of the Pakistan Army produced ever.

General Qamar Javed Bajwa has exceeded the expectations of the nation by serving the homeland for decades with loyalty, love and patriotism. He is known to have a sound understanding of Indian strategic ambitions in the region.

Related: Pakistan would become a truly welfare state by adhering to Allama Iqbal’s ideology: Ibrahim Murad

The department of psychology in collaboration with the Pakistan Centre for Autism organized a day-long international conference “Inclusion in the workplace: Challenges and Opportunities in Post Pandemic World” to create awareness regarding the Autism spectrum disorder. The event was held at the Arts Auditorium of the University of Karachi on Thursday.

Dr Mansur Choudhry from the University of Oklahoma USA while sharing data from the World Health Organization informed the audience that about one in 160 children has an ASD and mentioned that this estimate represents an average figure, and reported prevalence varies substantially across studies. Some well-controlled studies have, however, reported substantially higher figures.

He said that the prevalence of ASD in many low and middle-income countries is unknown and added that according to the survey done by the Center for Disease Control USA in 2014, 1 in 59 children have been identified with ASD.

Dr Choudhry observed that autism is the fastest-growing developmental disability. He said that in 2021, the CDC reported that approximately one in 44 children in the US is diagnosed with ASD and boys are four times more likely to be diagnosed with autism than girls.

Dr Mansur Choudhry added that Hong Kong is at the top position where one out of every 27 children has been diagnosed with autism. Followed by Hong Kong is South Korea where one out of 38 children is being diagnosed with autism.

The chief guest and renowned child specialist Professor Dr Ghaffar Billo shared that Pakistan is among those developing countries which still do not have population-based data on autism. It was estimated in 2019 that out of every 120 children, one is diagnosed with autism. He mentioned that 35 percent of young adults (ages 19-23) with autism have not had a job or received postgraduate education after leaving high school.

He talked about neglect in autism care and stressed that national and international conferences should be held every year not only in Karachi or other major cities but across the country. Dr Billo highlighted social disruption in society and informed the audience that bonding with mothers has been decreased.

“It is a big dilemma of society that mother gives electronic devices to a child so that he or she could eat. An autistic child gets only 15 percent improvement after being diagnosed and later give better results if he or she has family support and bounding.”

Meritorious Professor Dr Iqbal Afridi discussed the history of autism and shared that medications are suggested after examining the symptoms and behavior of an ASD child. He mentioned that besides medicines, described diet and therapy, which maximizes functioning and reduces dependability, is useful for ASD children.

Professor Dr Anjum Bano Kazmi of Iqra University and Dean College of Paeds and Child Health UCHS-CS Professor Dr Shazia Maqbool, observed the prevalence of neurodevelopmental conditions among children of the entire world is continuously increasing.

According to them, these conditions include ASD, ADHD, CP, intellectual disability, and developmental disorders. The challenges faced by these children are associated with significant consequences in their societies. Their limitations impact various health outcomes including the development of motor skills, social learning, and mental wellness of child and family as well.

The Chairperson Department of Psychology Professor Dr Qudsia Tariq mentioned that during Covid-19 it came up that there were a lot of issues between the parents and children, there was a communication gap, and a lot of expectations may be attached to the children. With this reference, this conference was organized on autism awareness to remove the stigma related to differently-abled children.

She said that this conference aims to increase the awareness of autism and to speak about how all differently-abled individuals have to face stigma and the community and society need to work together to remove the stigma.

The Director PCA Sajida Ali shared that inclusion is the act of accommodating everybody with equivalent chances and reservoirs. A diverse and all-inclusive working environment makes everybody, regardless of what their identity is or what they accomplish for the business, feel equally associated with and supported in every aspect of the working environment.

“The main goal of our time is to include ASD population at our workplaces. The need here is to accept their differences and add them to our society. Our aim should be to provide adaptation of the environment to the ASD population, instead of demanding them to cope with the challenges of a given context themselves exclusively.”

Another speaker Saeed Ismaeel while talking about autism awareness told that awareness creates demands if demands are not fulfilled then frustration would be raised. We need to work more on this. Other speakers, Irum Rizwan talked about the leading model for autism services, Dr Salma Khalil shed light on Autism Challenges in Pakistan, Dr Pir Suhail Sarhandi shared his experience on Assistive Technology: A Playing Field for Children with ASD.

Renowned television personality Sania Saeed also participated in the conference. When asked about the role of media in the portrayal of autistic individuals, she stated that it is the unfortunate reality of our times that those who have a stake in creating and broadcasting television programs do not even have the basic knowledge about autism, or any other mental health issues for that matter. This is why they bunch up random symptoms from various disorders to create a mythical “thora sa cracked” character. Instead of helping, this ends up hurting the cause of mental health awareness.

The Chairperson Department of Criminology Professor Dr Farah Iqbal hoped that this event would help us create a platform where current issues could be discussed and resolved for children with autism in Pakistan.

Jinnah Sindh Medical University Student Council held a Ramadan Conference to discuss the challenges arising in the Holy month of Ramadan. Organized by the Faith Society, the event focused on the virtues of Ramadan and the communal role in strengthening our personalities for the month of Ramadan.

The conference began with the recitation of the Holy Quran, followed by a brief introduction to the guest speakers and a brief on time management during Ramadan by Additional Director Professional Development Centre (PDC) Dr Syeda Zarreen Raza.

Vice Chancellor JSMU Professor Amjad Siraj Memon appreciated the Faith Society for creating a dialogue around the virtues and blessings of Ramadan and expressed that Ramadan is a golden opportunity for the believers to gain consciousness and the blessings of Allah.
Registrar JSMU Dr Azam Khan, alongwith Chairperson Student Council Professor Kefi Iqbal thanked the speakers for their time and presence and encourage the Faith Society to conduct religious awareness sessions for the youth of JSMU.

Various speakers joined the conference including, Founder of Maryam Institute and Shariah Essentials and a faculty member at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) Shaykh Dr Moiz Hasan presented on the subject of Ramadan in the light of Seerah. ‘Taqwa, in Islam, is a way of getting closer to Allah SWT spiritually, and fasting in the month of Allah is the best way to attain Taqwa’, he added.

CEO of Hikmah Institute Maulana Shahzaib Aijaz presented on the topic of purifying your heart before Ramadan and spoke about the act of fasting. He further added that Fasting is meant to remind Muslims of the less fortunate and to reinforce the need to be thankful.

Member of Youth Club and Former General Media Manager for Mercy Mission Pakistan, Muhammad Wajih Uddin presented on the topic of connecting with Quran this Ramadan. He also stressed the need to give more and more charity (Sadaqah) to the needy, spreading smiles and pleasant words, feeding people, saying the azkar, and contributing positively to community work.
JSMU Faith Society arranged an Islamic bookstall for the students and faculty members of JSMU.

The Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training on the instructions of the Prime Minister of Pakistan established the Prime Minister Advisory Council on Scholarships. However, the HEC chairman rejects the formation of the council and calls it “illegal action”.

On Friday the ministry has also issued a notification stating that it is submitted that the prime minister has been pleased to constitute the prime minister advisory council on scholarships chaired by Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman, Chairman PM Task Force on Science & Technology.

“The Prime Minister has been further pleased to desire that the Ministry of Federal Education & Professional Training shall provide the secretarial assistance to the advisory council. In this connection, Higher Education Commission (HEC) is requested to provide secretarial assistance to the advisory council as the majority of the scholarship portfolio is dealt by the HEC”.

However, the HEC chairman Prof Dr. Tariq Javed Banuri says that this is another illegal action taken by the federal government. It simply means giving some authority to Atta-ur-Raham to interfere in merit-based selection processes of scholarships.

He said that Atta-ur-Rahman has been salivating over the thought of controlling large scholarship funds. He tried to float several proposals but they weren’t approved. He did sneak some into his overpriced university projects. And now he has bamboozled the government into creating a meaningless entity simply to give him some leverage with existing outfits.

The Department of Mass Commission University of Karachi in collaboration with the Sindh Higher Education Commission and Greenwich University has a two-day long international conference on the post truth era—trends in media to be starting today.

The Chairman Sindh HEC Dr Asim Hussain would inaugurate the conference at the ICCBS Auditorium of the University of Karachi whereas the KU Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Khalid Mahmood Iraqi would preside the event while the GU VC Seema Mughal would be the guest of honor and the Director, Centre for Global Studies Purdue University, Northwest, US, Professor Dr Lee Arts would deliver the keynote speech during the inaugural session.

During the two-day event, four plenary sessions and 26 research papers would be presented during the nine sessions of parallel research papers at the KU while the Greenwich University would host three online research paper sessions and 20 research papers would be presented on February 15 and 16 2022.

Meanwhile, the former Deputy Chairman Senate Pakistan Saleem Mandviwalla would be the chief guest at the Arts Auditorium at the closing ceremony of the international conference.

The first two-day International Conference on Plant Protection Science (ICPPS-2022) will be held at Sindh Agriculture University in March 2022, the website of the International Conference has been inaugurated.

International Plant Protection Science Conference will be held from March 29 to 30, 2022 under the auspices of the Faculty of Crop Protection, in collaboration with Sindh Higher Education Commission, In this regard, Vice-Chancellor Dr. Fateh Marri and Faculty Dean Dr. Jan Muhammad Marri inaugurated the website related to ICPPS-2022 at Crop Protection Faculty of Sindh Agriculture University Tandojam on Wednesday.

Addressing the occasion, Vice Chancellor Dr. Fateh Marri said that the conference would provide an opportunity for scientists from all over the world to exchange innovative research in agricultural sciences.

He said that plant protection science is important in agriculture, the conference will exchange research on harmful and friendly pests, climate change and the effects of the environment, and scientists from developed countries around the world will work with our experts to find solutions to the problems facing agriculture globally.

Dr. Jan Mohammad Marri, Dean, Faculty of Crop Protection, said that agricultural and plant protection experts and scientists from different countries including Pakistan, Australia, USA, China, Malaysia, and Thailand will participate in the Plant Protection Conference physically and online, and they will present their dissertations based on their research, as well as an exhibition will also be held during the conference, in which domestic and international agricultural, pesticide, seed, agricultural engineering, food, IPM and various industrial, research and extension, private and government institutions will install their stalls.

Dr. Muhammad Ibrahim Khaskheli, Secretary of the Conference said that a website of Sindh Agriculture University has been launched for participation in the conference, which will include registration, research papers of experts, and activities taking place here, which will create positive results in Agriculture and research sector of the country.

On this occasion, Dean Prof. Dr. Qamaruddin Chachar, Dean Dr. Syed Ghiyasuddin Shah, Dean Dr. Naimatullah Leghari, Dr. Muhammad Ismail Kumbhar, Dr. Syed Ziaul Hassan Shah, Dr. Mubeen Lodhi, Dr. Imtiaz Nizamani, Dr. Shah Nawaz Marri, Dr. Imran Khatri, Dr. Manzoor Abro, Engineer Riasat Ali Kubar, Mohammad Ashraf Rustmani, Manzoor Ali Magsi, University faculty, officers and heads of various departments participated.
Earlier, the Vice Chancellor inaugurated the website by pressing a button.