GCU inks accord with SA university

LAHORE: Government College University (GCU) Lahore and University of Pretoria, South Africa on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding for student and faculty exchange and research collaboration in the field of Mathematics.

Prof Dr Hassan Amir Shah, Vice-Chancellor GCU, and University of Pretoria Mathematics Department Chairperson Prof Dr Roumen Anguelov singed the 22-point accord at a ceremony organised at Government College University here on Monday.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof Hassan said GCU was actively strengthening research and academic ties with foreign universities for research collaboration, training of faculty members and exchange of students at postgraduate level. However, he said, this was first collaboration of Government College University with a South African university in many years.

Prof Anguelov gave a brief introduction about history and traditions of University of Pretoria which, he said, at present offering 1,213 study programmes, 230 degrees, certificates and diplomas, 166 undergraduate programmes and 1,047 postgraduate programmes.

According the accord, both the universities have agreed to launch joint research programmes and exchange expertise and academic documents. Government College University Registrar Saboor Ahmed Khan and Mathematics Department Chairman Prof Dr Mujahid Abbas also attended the MoU signing ceremony.

Meanwhile, the 38th All Pakistan Allama Muhammad Iqbal Bilingual Declamation (AIBD) began at the GCU on Monday. Government College University Debating Society President Haris Ali Virk said a large number of orators from different universities were contesting for the coveted team trophy and best speaker awards at the two-day event spread over three sessions.

The serious topics that remained closely contested by the teams on the first day were: “It is not the Earth that needs us, but we who need the Earth.”, “a civilization is judged only in its decline.”, “power rests at ease where critics refuse to go.” and “independence is when fools exchange White masters for Brown.”

In the humorous category, the participants enthralled the audience with their wit and humour particularly on the topics: “In the face of pain, there are no heroes.”, “to oppose something is to maintain it”, “in the middle of difficulty, lies opportunity.”, and “we think too much and feel too little.”

In the Urdu category, the youth punctuated their speeches with fiery verses of Allama Iqbal, Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Habib Jalib. Government College University VC lauded GCUDS for maintaining the tradition of oratory by picking up themes from contemporary issues for its declamation.

He said like every year the best English speaker would be awarded with the Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Medal and a cash prize while the best Urdu speaker would receive the Dr Majeed Nizami Medal.

Career counseling: Punjab University’s Career Counseling & Placement Center will organise a session on “Role & Responsibilities of Career Counselors” on Tuesday (today) at Al-Raazi Hall. Vice-Chancellor Prof Niaz Ahmad Akhter will be the chief guest on the occasion.