GCU signs accord with Turkish University

LAHORE:Government College University Lahore on Monday signed a collaborative research project with Bartin University, Turkey for the cost effective production of bioethanol.

Turkish Council General Emir Ozbey chaired the launching ceremony at the GCU’s Bukhari Auditorium. The project, to be funded by the Higher Education Commission, Pakistan and Council of Higher Education, Turkey, also included PhD students exchange programme between both the universities.

Addressing the ceremony, Bartin University Dean of Science Prof Dr Ahmet Karada said Turkey and Pakistan were currently importing 95% of their energy requirement and had not yet put full efforts in the production of more sustainable energy.

“Turkey is far behind in the world ranking for bioethanol production which is one the most important renewable energy sources,” he said adding that the ultimate goal of this project is to develop a process for fourth generation bioethanol production both in Turkey and Pakistan.

Turkish Council General laid a stress on more research collaborations between the varsities of the both countries. GCU Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Hassan Amir Shah said Pakistan was facing severe energy crisis and it needed to find a quick replacement of fossil fuels.

He hoped the completion of the project would contribute greatly to the economies of both countries. Dr M Nauman Aftab, Principal Investigator of the project from Pakistan, said solar and wind energy projects were not feasible for a country like Pakistan because they required huge investments for heavy installations and huge storage devises. “So, it’s high time that we must pay attention on mass scale production of renewable energy in the form of biofuel,” he said.

Dr Aftab said the project was for three years and each year one PhD student of GCU would go to Bartin University, Turkey for a period of two months. “Similarly, three PhD students from Bartin University will also come to GCU,” he concluded.

contest: University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS), Lahore arranged 3rd All Pakistan Bilingual Declamation competitions “Decrodeo 18” here in City Campus Lahore.

Total 34 institutions from all over Pakistan participated in this contest. Government College University Lahore won the team trophy as the winner of this contest. In English debate category contest, Farhan Ahmad won 1st position and Romaisha Tauseef (Government College University Lahore) got 2nd position while Ali Shahid (Allama Iqbal Medical college) got the 3rd position.

In Urdu debate category contest, Kashaf Iqbal (University of Karachi) won 1st position, Arslan Haider (Government College University, Faisalabad) 2nd position while Usama Iqbal (Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi) and Hassan Ijaz (Government College University, Lahore) both got 3rd position.

Chief Executive Officer of Punjab Educational Endowment Fund (PEEF) Dr Kamran Shams was the chief guest at the event. He distributed trophy, certificates and shields among the winner of the contests while UVAS Pro Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Masood Rabbani, Senior Tutor Prof Dr Kamran Ashraf, Prof Dr Asim Aslam and number of students from different universities of all over Pakistan including UVAS were presents on the occasion. PhDs: Punjab University has awarded four PhD degrees to the scholars.

The scholars who received PhD degrees included Naureen Shehzadi in the subject of Pharmacy (Pharmaceutical Chemistry) after approval of her thesis entitled “Analytical, Biological and Pharmacokinetics Studies of a Novel Heterocyclic Chemical Entity: 5-[4-Chlorophenoxy Methy I]-1,3,4-Oxadiazole-2-Thiol”, Hasnain Javed in the subject of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics after the approval of his thesis entitled “Genetic Diversity of Multi-Drug Resistant Mycobacterium Tuberculosis in Pakistan”, Sumera Perveen in the subject of Biological Sciences after approval of her thesis entitled “Tryptophan Biosynthesis Pathway in Hyperthermophilic Archaeon, Thermococcus Kodakarensis” and Khawar Shaheen Butt in the subject of Arabic after approval of thesis entitled “Picture of Women in the Novels of Naguib Mahfouz and Qurat-ul-Haider”.