Pro-Chancellor Chairs 10th UVAS Convocation; 1,417 Graduates Awarded Degrees, 72 Medals

The 10th Convocation of the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Lahore was held here on Wednesday

LAHORE (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Dec, 2018 ) The 10th Convocation of the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Lahore was held here on Wednesday.

Pro-Chancellor/ Minister for Livestock & Dairy Development Department Punjab Sardar Hasnain Bahadur Dareshak presided over the convocation while Adviser to Chief Minister Punjab on Livestock Faisal Hayat Jabwana,Secretary Livestock & Dairy Development Department Punjab Muhammad AhsanWaheedand a large number of students, faculty members, industrialists from dairy & poultry industries and stakeholderswere present. Total 1,417graduates were conferred degrees and 72 position-holders awarded medals. Out of the graduating students, 230were DVMs, 356BS (Hons), 90Pharm-D, 26 Doctors of Nutrition and Dietetics (DND), 48MBAs,4MBF,37BBA (Hons),194MSc, 399MPhil and 33 PhDs.

Addressing the convocation, the Pro-Chancellor/ Minister for Livestock PunjabSardarHasnainBahadurDareshakcongratulated the graduating students on getting degrees and medals and urged them to play their due role in nation building. He lauded the progress achieved by the UVAS and positioned itself among top universities of Asia. The ministersaid that livestock had great potential for growth and the government is taking revolutionary steps for its upliftand focusing on providing safe and healthy livestock products to the masses with exportable surplus.He urged the UVAS scientists to expedite their efforts to cope with the challenge of food insecurity and malnutrition. Earlier, the Pro-Chancellor along with the Vice-Chancellor gave away degrees to PhD scholars and medals to the position-winning graduates. Presenting the welcome address, Vice-Chancellor Prof DrTalatNaseer Pasha spoke about the academics, research, development, extension programmes and community services of the university. He said that with a history of 136 years of excellence, the UVAShas now positioned itself among top Asian universitiesas per the Higher Education and QS World Universities Rankings. As per Higher Education Commission Sports Ranking 2018, UVAS got 3th position among public sector universities of Pakistan and 5th among all public and private universities of the country, the Vice-Chancellor said, adding that the UVAS is also among top 10 universities of Pakistan according to HEC overall ranking of Pakistani Higher Education Institutions.

Prof Pasha said that UVAS is swiftly achieving the milestones of need-based multi-level education and establishing itself astalent development institution by using its knowledge, resources and skills for growth of human resources.He said the UVAS has already secured affiliation of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges and is in the process of getting its accreditation. The Vice-Chancellor informed the audience that UVAS scientists are executing 141 research projects worth of Rs 1.5billion won by the faculty members from national and international funding agencies. He said that the university is executing five developmentprojectsworth Rs 4 billion and completed asmany projects of Rs882million last financial year. The Vice-Chancellor said that the UVAS is uniquely structured to provide wide-ranging services to the community including farmers, publicand private stakeholders and the industry. The noteworthy services are diagnostics facilities, vaccine production, 24/7 clinical and extension services, consultancy and advisory services and policy framework, he said. He said that the UVAS encourages its students by providing them incentives including merit and need based scholarships. UVAS awarded 1,162 scholarships of Rs 54 million during last year, he added. He said the university gives a lot of emphasis on the development of physical and mental faculties of its students to make them responsible and productive citizens. The Vice-Chancellor said that the university has imparted practical training to 7,244 officers/officials from L&DD Department and farmers for their capacity building last year. The Center for Applied Policy Research in Livestock organized different consultative meetings and advocacy in policy meetings for poultry, meat and dairy sector that is also practically influencing national economic policies. Given these facts, the UVAS is assuming a new role as an effective think tank, the Vice-Chancellor concluded.