Water, energy crises: all segments of society to be taken onboard

The city administration, educationalists and medical doctors have vowed to expedite pace of work on transferring knowledge into goods and services by taking all segments of the society on-board in a bid to address the issues including water, energy, diseases and many others confronting a common man.
Faisalabad Commissioner, Tahir Hussain presided over the meeting of Faisalabad Research Forum at new Senate Hall, University of Agriculture while UAF Vice Chancellor, Professor Dr Iqrar Ahmed Khan and Punjab Medical College Principal, Riaz Hussain Dab were the guests of honour on the occasion.
The House also agreed to take the industrials on-board in the forum and extend services of researchers to them not only for the uplift of the industries but also for the development of the country. The commissioner stressed the need to involve the educationists in developing many projects relating to the common man for the welfare of society. He said that the forum is working on resolving the issues including diseases, waste management, water, energy, agricultural production and so many others that directly affect the masses.
Tahir said that at the time of devastating floods that killed scores and made millions homeless, the city administration generated resources from its own pocket with the help of various institutions including UAF and PMC. He urged scientists and researchers to produce tangible researches that will bring positive changes in the lives of masses. Earlier, briefing the House, UAF VC said the university intends to narrow the gap between state-of-the-art knowledge and traditional farming by educating farmers. In this regard, an outreach programme is being run by the university, he added.
He highlighted that in terms of publication, the university is ranked among the top four universities of the country as it is competing with Punjab University, Quaid-e-Azam University and Karachi University. He informed that despite financial constraints, UAF has completed 132 projects in 2009-10 while 236 projects in 2010-11.
Professor Dr Iqrar said that this year the university is working on 160 projects and this number will go up. UAF has strong linkages with various universities across the globe including United Kingdom, United States, Brazil, Mexico, Turkey, Iran, Indonesia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and others.
He said that with an aim to equip the youth with modern knowledge, the university is also starting various programmes including agricultural business, biotechnology, microbiology, environmental sciences and others. He said that in 2011 so far, UAF has produced 309 research papers.
Expressing his views, Riaz Hussain said that he attended Islamic Countries Medical University Network to strengthen ties with other countries and it is great honour that Pakistan has become the focal country of the network this year. He offered UAF-students relevant disciplines to get training at the hospitals and the college. The same offer was made given by Faisalabad Institute of Cardiology for UAF students. Chiefs of different research institutes and UAF deans and directors participated in the meeting.