ITU team wins bilingual declamation contest

LAHORE: A team of Information Technology University, Lahore, won the 39th All Pakistan Allama Muhammad Iqbal Bilingual Declamation Contest hosted by Government College University Lahore Debating Society (GCUDS).

The Ravian orators, Zain ul Hassan and Ali Sher Dil, opened and closed the House with their memorable speeches. However, they as hosts didn’t contest for medals. ITU student Naveed Ahmed was adjudicated the best Urdu speaker of the declamation contest and awarded the Dr. Majid Nizami Medal, while University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, student Urooba Waqar was awarded the Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Medal for the best English speaker of the event.

In the final round, the serious topics that remained closely contested by the teams were: “You have stolen our childhood,” “As the far right rises, the left is still asleep,” “This must not be the end of history” and “Education is a system of imposed ignorance.”

In the humorous category, the participants enthralled the audience with their wit and humour particularly on the topics: “The most I can do for my friends is simply to be their friends.”, “In the fight between you and the world, back the world,” “I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity” and “The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast.”

Prof. Dr. Khurshid ul Hassan Rizvi, a noted national poet and distinguished professor of Arabic, was the chief guest at the final round of one of the country’s biggest gala.

Prof. Rizvi congratulated the GCU Debating Society on having won 324 national awards in Qiraat, Naat, poetry and various forms of public speaking in the academic year 2018-19.

Addressing the prize distribution ceremony, GCU Dean of Languages, Islamic & Oriental Learning, Prof Dr Sultan Shah congratulated the winners on behalf of the vice-chancellor.

In his message, Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Asghar Zaidi regretted that he couldn't attend the one of most prestigious debating gala due a prescheduled address at a global workshop in Washington, the US. “But, I am very happy that GCU Debating Society is maintaining its glorious traditions of oratory by picking up themes from contemporary issues for its declamation,” he said.

The VC also said that debates played a very crucial role in overall grooming and personality development of students. Debates teach how to disagree with others respectfully on the basis of rational arguments, he said. Eminent writer and critic Prof Dr. Saadat Saeed adjudicated the debates along with Barrister Ummar Ziauddin, Shujaur Rehman Dogar, Adnan Mohsin, Awais Iqbal, Umer Khan, Omer Je Saleemi, Saad Ul Hassan, Ghadaun Aslam, Zahid Ali and Awais Ahmed Malik.

home-based workers: Civil society organisations have shown concern over delay of years in passing of the HBWs (home-based workers) bill.

The concern was expressed in a joint press statement issued on Wednesday by the organisations. The bill was included in the 100 days legislative agenda of the present government but there is no development on it yet.

The home-based workers are deprived of their right to get minimum wages. They do not have any social protection. The representatives of social society organisations have demand speedy approval and adoption of the HBWs bill and its implementation throughout Punjab. They said if the demand was not fulfilled, they would rally outside Lahore Press Club and Punjab Assembly.