Punjab University Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Mujahid Kamran has urged upon the varsity graduates to undertake maximum research projects for production and utilisation of new knowledge for long-term socio-economic progress of the country.
He was addressing annual get-together of the Alumni of PU Institute of Social Studies, New Campus here on Sunday. The Vice-Chancellor University of Gujrat, Professor Dr Muhammad Nizam Uddin, Institute Director Professor Dr Muhammad Hafeez, and former faculty members also spoke at the function which was attended by a large number of old students. The Vice-Chancellor said the major difference between the technologically advanced and developing countries today is their capacity to produce and apply new scientific knowledge in various spheres of life. The astonishing successes of the developed nations are due to the fact that their universities are also leading the world in research, innovation and creativity, which are the real engines of economic growth.
He said Pakistan can also achieve economic superiority and high level of standards of living through conquering new frontiers of knowledge and enlightenment. Towards this end, the incumbent administration has raised the research grant from a paltry Rs 40 lakh in 2008 to Rs 6 crore while the funding for faculty development programme has been enhanced to Rs 7.50 crore during the current financial year. He said research constitutes the very backbone of any university, which is not possible in the absence of PhD scholars who generate and disseminate new knowledge.
He also emphasised upon the varsity social scientists and experts to produce new researches for resolving myriad of problems in country's social life to make their research studies useful for the society and nation. He said our students and scholars should minutely study the emerging developments on the international horizon to understand the real motives behind them. The on-going big power rivalry and politics revolves around the objective of money making. The Muslim countries suffered huge economic losses and lost a phenomenal amount of 12 trillion dollars in the Middle East wars in past while huge profit was reaped by the USA because they resulted in flourishing of the American war industry. Now under the cover of bogy of terrorism the America has not only set up its military bases in 32 countries but has also been able to enact new legislation within the country under which it can indefinitely detain anybody without granting him any right of appeal against his confinement.
He said under this pretext, the USA has also established its bases in Africa where there is no incidence of terrorism which according to a writer, amounts to a hammer looking for a nail.
Vice-Chancellor Nizam Uddin in his brief address said that Punjab University is the mother of country's all universities and it has also played a contributory role in the successful establishment and running of the University of Gujrat, credit for which goes to Dr Kamran who has always been vastly helpful in provision of highly qualified faculty to Gujrat varsity.
Dr Muhammad Hafeez stated that Dr Kamran has recently provided a sum of Rs 50 lakh for expansion of Institute building and has also extended generous financial assistance for increasing the number of PhD faculty staff. Later the Vice-Chancellor gave away life achievement award shields to the participating old faculty of the Institute.