Agriculture conference opens

LAHORE: The inaugural ceremony of international conference on Microbes for Sustainable Agriculture organised by School of Life Sciences of FC College University was held here Monday.

According to a press release, FCCU Rector Dr James Tebbe, who recently has been awarded with Sitara-e-Imtiaz, applauded the efforts of organising committee for making participation possible from different countries saying science should be beyond borders and inter-culture and interfaith linkages should be developed through such conferences.

The conference which will end on March 28 is aimed to bring together international and national experts to review the status of soil microbial ecology and its impact on sustainable agriculture.

Along with 30 national speakers from 15 different cities of Pakistan, including Tandojam, Mardan, Mansehra and Quetta; eight international speakers from USA, Canada, Turkey, China, Germany and Saudi Arabia will give presentations on their work. Separate poster sessions have also been designed for the appreciation of junior researchers from across the country.

In the inaugural ceremony, Dr Samina Mehnaz (Focal person of the conference and Chairperson of School of Life Sciences) briefly gave the introduction of four days. Dr Kauser A Malik (Dean Post graduate studies FCCU and Chair Organising Committee of Conference) along with Dr Thomas Hesse (Deputy General Secretary, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation) also shared thoughts and appreciated the efforts of organising committee.

D Raza Bhatti - Member Operations and Planning HEC, Dr Aslam Baig – Secretary General, Pakistan Academy of Sciences, Dr Manzoor Soomro – President, ECO Science Foundation also shared their remarks and appreciated the design and objective of the conference.

This moot has been funded by Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation and co-funded by Higher Education Commission, Pakistan Academy of Sciences, Pakistan Science Foundation and COMSTECH.

US official: Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges (AAVMC) Washington DC, USA Chief Executive Officer Dr Andrew T Maccabe visited the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) here Monday as a first step to initiate process of granting AAVMC accreditation to UVAS.

According to a press release, Dr Andrew T Maccabe held a meeting with UVAS Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Talat Naseer Pasha, Pro-Vice-Chancellor/Dean Faculty of Veterinary Science Prof Dr Masood Rabbani, senior faculty members and took a round of university departments, labs, library and clinical facilities on City Campus.

The veterinary university already has provisional membership of AAVMC which is a supreme body of veterinary education in the States. According to Prof Dr Masood Rabbani, AAVMC accreditation will make easy the process of obtaining licence for UVAS veterinary graduates for clinical practice in the United States.

Giving a detailed presentation, the VC briefed the AAVMC CEO on the university’s academic, research, training and extension programmes and clinical services/facilities. He told the US delegate that focus of the university was on applied research, quality human resource development, knowledge generation and technology transfer.

Dr Andrew T Maccabe appreciated the UVAS achievements and its fast growth in a short span of time after getting university status. Later, he visited the Theriogenology Lab, Pathology Lab, Parasitology Lab, Physiology Lab, IVPD Facility, Microbiology Labs, Anatomy and Histology, Meat Technology Departments, Pet Centre, IBBT Labs, Quality Operations Lab, Outdoor Facility, University Diagnostic Lab, Business School and IT Centre.

The AAVMC Executive Director will visit the Ravi Campus of the UVAS at Pattoki on Tuesday (today).