ISLAMABAD: Dr Kausar Malik took oath as the caretaker federal minister on Monday. President Dr Arif Alvi administered the oath of office to Dr Malik at a ceremony held at the Aiwan-e-Sadr in the federal capital.

Earlier, on September 9, the president appointed Dr Malik as the federal minister in the caretaker federal cabinet.

President Alvi had made the appointment on the advice of the caretaker prime minister under Article 224 (1a) of the Constitution. The new minister will be assigned a portfolio later.

Kausar Malik, born on 7th July 1945 in Lahore, is the eldest son of noted Urdu Language author, journalist, and Marxist, Abdullah Malik.

Kausar is a noted agriculture scientist and educationist. Since 2008, he has been a Professor of Biotechnology at the Forman Christian College, Lahore.

He earned his Doctor of Philosophy in microbiology (PhD) from Aston University, United Kingdom. Malik has worked at different positions and institutions during his scientific career.

He was the chief science officer (CSO) at the Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology (NIAB), Faisalabad.

He served as the CSO of Pakistan’s National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE) and the Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology, both bioscience research laboratories for the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. He, later, became the director of the NIBGE.

Malik is also a member of Pakistan’s Ministry of Economic Development, the Planning Commission of Pakistan.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023