Sindh Minister for Finance Murad Ali Shah said here on Friday that the provincial government would extend its full support to Karachi University's International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS) in setting up of a hostel for its female PhD students. He also vowed that the government would leave no stone unturned in bringing an end to financial crisis being faced by public sector universities and Karachi University will get priority in this regard.
He was speaking at the inaugural ceremony of a National Seminar on 'Plant Remedies Used against Skin Diseases in Sindh' held here under the aegis of ICCBS. Karachi University's vice chancellor Professor Dr Muhammad Qaiser, Sindh Planning and Development department's additional Chief Secretary Aijaz Ali Khan, ICCBS' director Professor Dr Muhammad Iqbal Choudhary, Ms Saman Aziz Jamal, Dr Atia-tul-Wahab and Dr Sonia Siddiqui also spoke on the occasion. The ceremony was attended, among others, by HEJ Foundation chairman Aziz Latif Jamal, Dr Punjwani Memorial Trust chairperson Nadira Panjwani and senior government officials.
Underscoring the need for the documentation of rich plant resources possessed by Pakistan, Professor Muhammad Qaiser deplored plant resources were being depleted in the country due to negligence of the authorities, while some plants were being smuggled to India. He appreciated the efforts of Sindh government and ICCBS for carrying out a useful research in medicinal plants. Aijaz Ali Khan said that Sindh has a diversity of medicinal plants used by the natives of this province. This is very positive sign that the knowledge of medicinal plants and their uses are presented only for a commoner, he added. Professor Muhammad Iqbal Choudhary said: "This is for the first time in our history that a group of researchers went around the entire breadth of the province, and collected the most valuable information about the folk and herbal remedies used by the people of Sindh against the skin diseases. They did a great favour by preserving this most important knowledge base for the future generation." The ICCBS, he added, is also an institution where students from advanced countries, such as Germany, France and Turkey, have been coming regularly to get training in the field of science and technology.
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