Militants seize Anbar University campus in Iraq: police

RAMADI: Jihadists took staff and students hostage on Saturday at a university campus in the Iraqi city of Ramadi, where security forces have been battling rebels for months, police said.

The militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group, seized the Anbar University campus after killing its guards, they added.

PSA holds its 5th Annual Banquet in University of Texas

DALLAS: The Pakistani Students Association (PSA) at University of Texas in Dallas held their largest event "PSA 5th Annual Banquet" at their campus on April 19.

The highly successful event gathered people from all walks of life and ages in the DFW area towards the mutual goal of promoting Pakistani culture.

The night was filled with musical and dance performances, delicious Pakistani food, designer and bridal fashion shows, Mr & Ms PSA Awards, and the opportunity to socialize with fellow countrymen.

The goal of PSA is to unite all of the University of Texas at Dallas through exciting events by raising awareness about our beautiful country and its traditional values. Every semester, they hold several events with a focus to bring unity amongst students and the Dallas community by organizing cultural, social, and entertainment events.

More than 200 students, professionals and community members, both with Pakistani origins and non-Pakistani graced the occasion with their presence.

The evening was also highlighted by a superb performance by Sohail Najmi, the Pakistani ghazal maestro, who volunteered his talent for the event. PSA officers Hassan Allahrakha and Hira Ahmed paid tribute to the heroes of Pakistan so that our new generations remember their services and sacrifices.

They talked about the lives of the founder of the Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Fatima Jinnah, Abdul Sattar Edhi, Abdus Salam, Abdul Qadeer Khan, Raziuddin Siddiqui and Hakim Saeed.

The event was made possible by active support from the Pakistan Society of North Texas (PSNT) officials Anjum Anwar and Salman Tabani, who attended the event to show that the Pakistani Students Association and the Pakistani community in Dallas-Fortworth area share a common goal and that they are ready to work together in achieving it.

The PSA Vice President Muhammad Muneeb Saleem stressed on the need for scholarships to facilitate higher education for international students from Pakistan at the University of Texas at Dallas to which the PSNT officers gave a very positive response.

Dr Amer Suleman represented Pakistan American Association of Texas (PAAT) as its President and encouraged the PSA officers to continue to organize such events.

The President of PSA Muhammad Ali expressed deep gratitude in his speech to the Pakistani community of North Texas for helping sponsor the event which brought together everyone to celebrate our mutual heritage and traditions.

On behalf of PSA, he thanked the fashion show sponsors, local media partners, and the performers who volunteered their time to make the show a huge success.

Pakistani student wins distinction from top UK university

LONDON: A Pakistani student has gained top position in Bachelor’s of Business and Finance at the Heriot-Watt University by gaining 14 As.

Ahmer Baloch, aged 26, originally from Haveli Naseer Khan, a small village in the district of Lodhran, started his studies at the UK university in 2012 after qualifying for the American High School Diploma from Pakistan’s American School of International Academics (ASIA) in Lahore.

Heriot-Watt University is ranked within the top 20 universities of the UK i.e. 9th on the Sunday Times Top 100 Universities and 18th on The Guardian University Rankings, 2nd in Scotland and has the top ranking for many degree disciplines in the UK. Heriot Watt has three campuses in Scotland, one campus in London and one each in Dubai and Malaysia with combined student strength of over 30,000 students.

Although the graduation ceremony will be held on 27th of June 2014, the results have been published and it has been confirmed to Ahmer Baloch that he has topped the university.

Speaking to The News, Ahmer Baloch said he felt very proud at achieving the distinction: “It’s a proud moment for me as a Pakistani student from a highly ranked overseas university. I want this to be an inspiring and motivating factor for all the Pakistani students out there and want to let them know that if they work hard and persevere then only sky is the limit. From all the students combined, less than 5 percent achieved a distinction (highest possible mark for a degree). Among those that did achieve a distinction, I was the highest achiever (top graduate) around the world.” Ahmer Baloch, who now has offers of jobs from leading European financial firms, wants to make his achievement a special note for all the youngsters in Pakistan who lose their way in high school and come to a point where they think all hope is lost for them. It’s because Ahmer Baloch had given up on studying himself when he was 18. After finishing high school, he thought studying was a waste of time and he would be better off working on the lands of his father in Lodhran.

That all changed when he met his future wife Umme Rubab, a Briton of Pakistan origin who is a broker at a London firm, in Lahore and she went on to change Baloch’s whole perception.

“She taught me how to remain positive in the most negative of situations and never give up. I also learnt from her the joy of being self made and independent. I moved to London after my marriage and started my bachelor’s once again but this time, with absolute determination and drive to achieve success. I worked extremely hard preparing for the exams and after the finals, I could easily say that I was expecting to be the top in my class. Little did I know how strongly Allah helps those who help themselves. Two weeks after the results were posted, I received a letter from my university informing me that not only had I achieved a distinction, I had achieved a higher distinction among all of the university’s students around the globe! To make it even better, the degree helped me land a job at Ernst & Young, one of the ‘Big 4’ Professional Services firms in the UK and one of the best around the world.”

Ahmer paid tribute to his father Muhammad Iqbal Khan Baloch who never gave up on him “and found a way to see past all my previous mistakes and persisted with supporting me financially no matter what”.

No Indian university in top 100 global list, Harvard voted best

None of the IITs have made it to the top 100 of a global list released by the Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings on Thursday. 

CHENNAI: None of India's 700 universities and 35,539 colleges has made it to the top 100 list of the Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings released on Thursday.

This means that academics don't think too highly of the capabilities and work of our higher educational institutions.

The ranking, drawn on the findings of an invitation-only academic opinion survey, is based on the subjective judgment of around 60,000 senior, published academics considered as "the people best placed to know the most about excellence in our universities".

Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University in the US lead the list followed by the UK's University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford. Agency reports said that Punjab University, the alma mater of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, found a place in the unranked section of 226 - 300. It is followed by the IITs in Delhi, Kanpur, Kharagpur and Roorkee between ranks 351 and 400.

Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore is ranked highest among Indian institutions, at just below 200, from its 130th place last year. IIT-Bombay figures among the 210-220 group, and IIT-Delhi and IIT-Kanpur are ranked below 250.

The US has the most representation with more than 45 institutions figuring in the top 100 followed by the UK with 10 institutions, Germany with six and Japan and Australia with five. India is the only BRIC country that is not represented in the top 100 list. China has two of its institutions on the list while Brazil and Russia have one each.

Though based on perception experts said the reputation ranking cannot be taken lightly. In his article 'Credit check' on the website, Times Higher Education Rankings editor Phil Baty said that reputation is the currency of global higher education today, and is accepted by scholars, students, donors and industry.

"In today's academy, reputation is the currency: research has shown that institutional standing is the top consideration for academics when moving jobs, is vital for the formation of international collaborations, and is essential in persuading philanthropists to give and industrial partners to invest," Baty said.

According to data put together by the Institute of International Education on international student mobility in 2012, the number of foreign students registered in Indian higher education institutions in 2012 is 27,000, much lower than in other Asian countries like China (3.28 lakh) or Japan (1.37 lakh).

"Personal experience has shown that IITs are incredibly highly valued in institutions like MIT or Caltech. When we host international delegations in the realm of technology, we find that IITs are as good as any other institution," said R Nagarajan, dean, international and alumni relations, IIT-Madras. But he maintained the stand that it was unfair to compare IITs which are technical institutions with universities that also ran other courses.

VIT University chancellor G Viswanathan said that the visibility of Indian institutions outside the country is poor. "If we want to be known outside the country, we must have partners around the world and get international accreditation. Senior institutions like the IITs are only taking the initiative to get international students or faculty," he said.