DIRECTOR'S THREE YEAR REPORT 2007-10
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REPORT OF ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF PAKISTAN STUDIES, QUAID-I-AZAM UNIVERSITY, ISLAMABAD FOR THE YEAR 2008-09
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REPORT OF ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF PAKISTAN STUDIES, QUAID-I-AZAM UNIVERSITY, ISLAMABAD FOR THE YEAR 2007-2008


The present report covers the period from June 2007 to June 2008 which also coincides with the incumbency of the present director who was appointed to this position on 01 June, 2007,

The report is sub-divided under five main heads:

  1. Academic research

  2. Teaching and research

  3. Improvement of infrastructure

  4. Provision of facilities

  5. Projects in the pipeline

Let us take these heads one by one.

1.    Academic Research

The following faculty members published journal articles, books and monographs given against their names:


(i)    PROF. DR. TARIQ RAHMAN

     Journal Articles:

     Conference Proceedings:

     Contribution to Books:

     Book Reviews in Inxexed journals:

(ii)    DR. M. AZAM CHAUDHARY

     Publications 2007:

(iii)    DR. NAUREEN TALHAN

     Publications 2007:

(iv)    MR. MANZOOR ALI VEESRIO

     Publications 2007:

(v)    MR. MUHAMMAD HANIF

     Publications 2007:

Grant to Faculty for Research Projects:

The Institute had Rs. 700,000/- under the head for research. All faculty members, except those who are already working on ongoing research projects which have been paid for earlier, were asked to submit research projects which could be funded by the Institute.


The following faculty members submitted projects which were approved by the research committee of the Institute. The names of the projects and the funds allocated/released to each are given against the names of the faculty members:

S.No. Name of Academic Title of Project Allocation (Rs.)
1. Dr. M. Azam Chaudhary Making a documentary film of celebrations at the Shrine of Bari Imam & Bulleh Shah 172,000/-
114,667/- released
2. Mr. Muhammad Hanif Pushto Manuscripts in Pakistan 175,000/-
116,667/- released
3. Mr. Manzoor Ali Veesrio Collection and Translation of documents on Sindhi Ethnicity 125,000/-
83,333/- released


SEMINARS

In order to expose students and faculty to new ideas and perspectives, seminars were regularly held in the Institute. A total number of 16 events during the year are recorded below:
September 8, 2007 1. "The Judicial Crisis", Seminar Hall, NIPS
Speaker - Mr. Hamid Khan.
November 7, 2007 2. "Oral History of the Partition in Potohar"
Speaker - Dr. Anandi Mahmood.
September 14, 2007 3. "Debate on the Constitution and the Judiciary"
Participants - Mr.Babar Sattar, Dr. Ijaz Hussain and Dr. Inayatullayh.
March 5, 2008 4. "What is the big deal about the US-India Nuclear Deal" Seminar Hall, NIPS.
Speaker - Dr. A.H. Nayyar
March 12, 2008 5. "Post-Election Scenario in Pakistan", Seminar Hall, NIPS
Speaker - Dr. Ijaz Shafi Gilani
March 18, 2008 6. "An Extintial Introduction to the Muqaddimah of Ibn-e-Khaldun", Seminar Hall, NIPS.
Speaker - Dr. Noman ul Haq.
March 26, 2008 7. "Psychological Course of War", Joint DSS-NIPS Seminar.
April 02, 2008 8. Film called "Claybird" from Bangladesh.
April 09, 2008 9. Dr. Peter Zingel's lecture on 'Food Scarcity in South Asia'.
April 11, 2008 10. "Swara" Documentary made by the Aurat Foundation.
April 23, 2008 11. " One-day conference on "Political & Historical Aspects of the NWFP".
April 30, 2008 12. "Crossing the Lines", Film on Kashmir problem, Seminar Hall, NIPS.
Speaker - Drs. Pervez Hoodbhoy & Zia Mian.
May 07, 2008 13. "The Events of 1857 in Contemporary Urdu Writings", Seminar Hall, NIPS.
Speaker - Prof. Dr. Tariq Rahman.
May 14, 2008 14. "The Political Fallout of the Judicial Issue", Seminar Hall, NIPS.
Speaker - Dr. Ijaz Hussain.
May 21, 2008 15. "Discussion on the Political & Social Aspect of the present Pakistan", Seminar Hall, NIPS.
Led by Dr. Tahir Amin & NIPS Faculty.
May 21, 2008 16. Documentary film on "The Urs of Bari Imam", Seminar Hall, NIPS.
Speaker - Dr. M. Azam Chaudhary.


2.    Teaching & Research

(i)    Enrolment of Students

M.Sc. Programme (Spring 2008):

Semester Regular Self Finance Total
Male Female Male Female
1st 14 16 00 02 32
2nd 09 13 01 01 24
3rd 14 17 00 03 34
4th 17 21 01 00 39
5th 02 03 00 00 05
TOTAL 56 70 02 06 134


Total Enrolment:
     134

M.Phil. Programme:

M.Phil. Degree awarded 2007-2008: 08
Total M.Phi. degrees awarded: 125
Working on thesis: 22
Finished course work, but not working on thesis: 06
Total enrollment 28
Theses under revision after viva-voce exam: 01


Ph.D Programme:

Ph.D Degree awarded 2007-2008: 02
Total Ph.D. degrees awarded: 14
Working on thesis: 13
Thesis submitted to Supervisor 03
Thesis submitted to examination section 02
Not appeared in comprehensive examination in three years 04
Thesis recommended for revision by foreign experts till 2007 01
Doing course work 05
Not in touch with Institute and recommended for cacellation of Admission 16
Total enrolment: 28


(ii)    Induction of New Faculty Members to Improve Teaching/Research

The following faculty members have been inducted into the Institute:-

  1. Dr. Ijaz Hussain (former Dean of Social Sciences Faculty and Meritorious Professor. He has been inducted under the provision for hiring retired academics under contract.

  2. Dr. Azam Chaudhary (as Associate professor under the tenure track system, in order to supervise research students and teach courses on sociology/anthropology as related to Pakistan)

  3. Ms. Mariam Asif (as lecturer, in order to teach courses related to politics, international relations, strategic studies with focus on Pakistan).

  4. Mr. Mushtaq Ahmed (as lecturer, in order to teach courses related to language politics and other relevant subjects of his interest).

  5. Mr. Saeed Ahmed Rid (as lecturer with two increments, in order to teach courses on politics with focus on Pakistan).

(iii)    Improvement of Standard of Students

  1. Research Students
    There was a big backlog of students in the Ph.D./M.Phil programmes who were not doing any work. Some did not have relevant supervisors. Attempts are being made to make them submit acceptable work or leave the programme. Moreover, in order to raise the standard of research, future intakes will be made after a rigorous test.

  2. M.Sc.
    For improving the standard of the intake for M.Sc. a screening test will be introduced from September, 2008. Moreover, the total number of students entering each semester has been decreased so as to take those whose academic performance has been better in the past.

(iv)    Improvement in Courses

  • Students used to take the literature group in which they got very high grades with minimal effort. Moreover, they neither got sufficient exposure to the social sciences nor to the English language as these courses are in Urdu. Keeping this in mind, groups have been abolished and a number of optional courses have been added to both M.Sc and M.Phil/Ph.D level so that students have a greater choice in keeping with their interests. These courses have been provisionally passed by the relevant bodies of the Institute and the University but the Academic Council has still to ratify them.

3.     Improvement of Infrastructure

1. The following changes have been in the infrastructure in order to modernize it and improve the overall image and performance of the Institute.


(a)    Furniture

  1. 40 plastic chairs for a small class room occupying less space and giving a better look.

  2. 50 cushioned chairs made by the Quaid-i-Azam University Central Workshop for the seminar room.

  3. 15 book shelves for faculty member's offices.

  4. 03 tables for the library in order to read microfiche images on the screen.

  5. 04 tables for the classrooms.

  6. Sofa set with tables and 05 chairs for the newly constructed faculty lounge.

  7. 12 steel benches for students

  8. 04 steel almirahs for staff member's offices.



(b)    Equipment: The following equipment has been acquired:-
  1. 03 Split A.Cs for newly constructed computer laboratory, class room and professor's office.

  2. 01 multimedia projector for the seminar room.

  3. T.V with trolley in order to show educational films to students.

  4. D.V.D in order to show educational films to students.

  5. 19 Pentium desktop computers for computer laboratory and faculty. One laptop computer has also been added by a researcher from his research grant.

  6. 10 laser printers for the faculty

  7. 05 telephone sets for the faculty.

  8. Water dispenser for faculty lounge (water bottles to be replaced by contribution by the faculty).

  9. 01 photocopier to facilitate the faculty and staff.

  10. 16 gas heaters for the faculty and staff. New pipes have been laid in all rooms now.

  11. 03 electric fan heaters for the faculty lounge and computer lab.

  12. UPS to provide interrupted power to telephone recording machine.

  13. Three DVD players have been installed in the offices of faculty, staff and library.

  14. A diesel generator has been installed to keep the computers functional during power failure/load shedding.



4.     Provision of Facilities

The following facilities have been provided to members of the faculty, staff and students:


  1. All faculty members have been provided with a telephone which serves both as intercom and for communicating outside the campus.

  2. A faculty lounge has been made providing opportunity for faculty and visiting faculty to meet and discuss matters.

  3. Offices of faculty members have been reorganized and embellished so as to give a better impression of the Institute to students and visitors.

  4. Classes as well as the computer laboratory have been given air conditioners, gas and electric heaters.

  5. The library has been extended so that the extra books can be accommodated. The same extension also serves as the seminar room.

  6. A store has been constructed on the right (southern) staircase to accommodate extra copies of unused books and the unsold publications of the institute.

  7. Another store, which was so termite-infected as to have caused the loss of papers stored in it, was thoroughly infected and white washed. Broken and unused items are stored in it now.

  8. Broken furniture and unusable items have been auctioned according to rules so that space is created for new items.

  9. Sign posting of the Institute has been carried out from the main campus as well as the Shahdara turning.

  10. Benches, chairs and tables have been provided for students to sit down and discuss issues instead of sitting on the ground on the steps of the staircases.

  11. Staff's offices have also been improved and telephone facility has been provided. Besides, award/bonus for exceptionally good performance and meritorious service has been provided for in the budget.

  12. Students are being given scholarships as financial assistance at the rate of Rs. 2000/- per month for M.Phil and Rs. 1500/- per month for M.Sc. on grounds of poverty. However, all such students are supposed to put in 06 hours of work per week with a member of faculty/staff otherwise the amount due to him/her will not be paid. The number of M.Phil students is 03 and number of M.Sc. students is 23.

  13. Applications will now be entertained by students who want scholarships on grounds of merit.

  14. In order to give incentive to the faculty advantage has been taken of the Government's initiative to upgrade the pay scales of existing faculty members. Moreover, the TTS has also been adopted in the Institute so as to attract better qualified academics (vide BOG item No. 10 & 11 of 08 August, 2007).

  15. A number of existing faculty and staff positions have been filled in order to improve the Institute. The induction of the faculty has been mentioned earlier so only the induction of the new members of the staff is mentioned below:

    The following positions were filled in after due process under rules.
    Name of Post BPS Date of Joining
    1. Assistant Librarian 17 15.12.2007
    2. Junior Programmer 16 01.08.2008
    3. Junior Programmer 16 01.08.2008
    4. P.A. (On Contract) 08.02.2008
    5. Driver 5 22.09.2007
    6. Mali (x2) 2 -d0-
    7. Chowkidar (x2) 2 -d0-
    Sweeper 2 -d0-

  16. Moreover, in addition to the above, the Assistant Incharge of the Institute has been asked to take on the additional duties of the Superintendent in order to assist the Acting Administrative Officer. This is being done at no extra cost to the Institute.

  17. A car parking shed to accommodate 12 vehicles has been completed.



5.     Projects in hand:

  1. A research journal called scrutiny will be launched soon.

  2. The library is being digitized soon.

Research Facilities
1. Computer & Internet facilities for faculty

In addition to teaching, the faculty has been encouraged to undertake research on topics of importance and to have publications in the HEC refereed Journals to their credit. To facilitate them, computers, and internet facilities have been provided in their offices. Some printers have also been provided and others are being arranged soon.


2. Computer & Internet facilities for students

A well-equipped Computer Laboratory has been set up for the benefit of students having Internet facilities to strengthen their educational and research skills. This laboratory will also have the facility of printing research material on payment.

Computer Lab

3. Library

The Institute has a well-established specialized Library, which contains about fifteen thousand books in addition to number of national and international journals/periodicals, magazines, newspapers etc. It has procured rare government documents; some of them backdated to 1947, and all reports and proceedings of the Constituent/National Assembly of Pakistan since 1947. The Institute is intending to subscribe to a number of foreign journals to have the latest research material published around the world. Moreover, the purchase of books is a continuous process. During the current financial year seven hundred books were purchased.

The Library is now in the process of computerization for which qualified Junior programmers have been employed. Arrangements are also being made to establish an Audio Visual Library to facilitate access to research material on modern techniques. Telephone facilities for the faculty are also being contemplated.


Financial Assistance to needy students

The Institute is paying financial assistance to the needy students so that they may carry out their education smoothly. During the reporting period 25 needy students were given financial assistance: -
   
  		•  M.Sc
    22
       
  		•  M.Phill
    03

    Study Tours

    The Institute is providing the facility of study tours to its all students during each semester, one-day tours to visit places of historical and current socio-economic interests are undertaken to places at a reasonable distance from the university premises. Study tours extended over a week or so are undertaken once a year to the places of historical/cultural importance. Study tours undertaken during the reporting period are: -

       
  		•  Mangla Dam
       
  		•  Murree Hills – 03 trips
       
  		•  Attock Fort
       
  		•  Kund and Khanpur Dam
       
  		•  Abbottabad
       
  		•  Khari Sharif