British Council presents alumni awards

A glittering function was held on Tuesday night to present awards to the outstanding alumni of UK universities on the UK Deputy High Commission premises by the British Council.

The awards are in recognition of the services rendered the country and society after the alumni’s return from higher studies in the UK.

Thomas Drew, the UK high commissioner in Pakistan, who had come all the way from Islamabad, said Pakistan was a country with tremendous potential and tremendous hidden talent. Another advantage Pakistan possessed, he said, was that 60 per cent of its people were young people, and these two factors could jointly offer Pakistan a very rosy future in all endeavours.

Lauding British education which he rated as the world’s best, he said that it was an honour for Britain to have trained these bright young people and that would certainly be an added advantage for Pakistan’s future. He wished the alumni good luck.

Rosemarie Hilhorst, country director for Pakistan, British Council, said that the British Council had come to Pakistan 70 years ago and many changes had occurred since then. She said, “The remarkable individuals selected as finalists for the Study UK Alumni Awards have all taken the UK education as a starting point to excel in their chosen careers and shape the world around them. This year’s finalists are testimony not only to the diversity of UK Alumni and their endeavours but also to the transformative impact of UK education.”

Elin Burns, the UK deputy high commissioner in Karachi, narrated her own tenure as a student at Oxford University and spoke very highly of the British education.

She said Oxford instilled self-confidence in her. She said that at school, she would never raise her hand to speak. She always hesitated to present her views but that it was at Oxford that she began to speak up on matters without the least bit of hesitation. “I was encouraged to speak up by virtue of the Oxford education, least mindful of what others would say.”

Later, the awards were presented. These were: Professional Achievement Award’s winner was Dr Aroosa Kanwal, an alumnus of Lancaster University and Assistant Professor of English Literature at the International Islamic University, Islamabad, and the runners-up were Dr Usman Qamar, Hassan Murtaza and Sundas Khan. In the category of Entrepreneurial Awards, the winner was Muhammad Uzair, and runners-up were Saeed Hafiz, Sohaib Saeed and Nausherwan Malik.

In the social impact category, Bilal Shahid was declared the winner, and Zunehra Taj, Talat Jehan and Sosan Aziz were runners-up. Since Sosan could not turn up to receive the award, the prize was handed over to her son, Saqib Aziz. Sosan belongs to the remote Hunza Valley of Gilgit-Baltistan.