1,733 awarded degrees at UVAS convocation

LAHORE:The 15th convocation of the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) was held here on Thursday in which 1,733 graduates were awarded degrees.

UVAS Pro Chancellor/ Minister for Livestock & Dairy Development Punjab Syed Muhammad Ashiq Hussain Kirmani presided over the convocation while Minister for Higher Education Punjab Rana Sikandar Hayat, Parliamentary Secretary Livestock Sardar Muhammad Asim Sher Mekan, UVAS Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Muhammad Younus, faculty members, syndicate members, representatives from dairy, poultry, meat, food and pharmaceutical industries were present.

Out of the graduating students, 73 were PhDs, 482 MPhils, 277 DVMs, 734 BS (Hons), 104 Pharm-D and 63 BBA (Hons). Addressing the convocation, Livestock Minister said that under the vision of the CM, the Punjab government recently launched an internship programme with a stipend of Rs60,000 for agriculture students to impart practical training to them. He said that the government would also launch such internship programme for veterinary students and provide internship opportunities to 1,000 students of UVAS for their capacity building.

Rana Sikander Hayat said that Pakistan is the fourth largest milk producer in the world and it was direly needed to prepare our own vaccine instead of importing them from other countries to eradicate livestock diseases.

Earlier, the Pro Chancellor along with the UVAS Vice Chancellor gave away degrees to PhD scholars and medals to the position-winning graduates. Presenting the welcome address, Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Muhammad Younus spoke about the academic, research, development, extension programmes, various initiatives and community services of the university.

Seminar on road safety

A seminar on road safety was organised at Police Lines Qila Gujjar Singh to raise awareness about the rising number of traffic accidents, their causes, and possible solutions. CTO Lahore and Accident Investigator Dr Umar Masood Qureshi attended as special guests, along with traffic circle officers and wardens. Dr Umar delivered a detailed briefing on the causes of accidents and strategies for their prevention.