ISLAMABAD, Nov 11 (APP):Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF) celebrated World Science Day for Peace and Development through arranging a ceremony here on Monday to award medals, certificates and cash prizes to the students who performed outstandingly in the field of science during the whole year.
The ceremony was arranged by PSF in collaboration with Ministry of Science and Technology. Chairman PSF, Major (Retd) Qaiser Majeed Malik was chief guest on the occasion while eminent scientist, Dr Aslam Baig presented the key note address.
In the Inter Board Essay competition (English), Ammara Zahid from Dipalpur Sahiwal received first prize while Eshaal Sagheer from Sahiwal and Maryam Tahir clinched second and third prize respectively.
While in the category of Urdu Essay, Iman Fatima from Gujranwala and Anzala from Larkana obtained first and second prizes respectively while Hammad Yusuf from Larkana received third prize.
In the Poster competition, Sadiya Awan from Bannu and Abdul Ahad Rizwan from Sialkot received first and second prizes respectively while Fiza from Sialkot grabbed the third prize. The consolation prize was given to Areesha Adnan Ahmad from Larkana.
The judges of poster and essay competition including Chairman Pakistan Council for Research and Water Resources (PCRWR), Dr Muhammad Ashraf, Deputy Director, Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA), Sobia Rehman and Operational Manager of Pakistan Museum for Natural History (PMNH), Rahat Saeed were given certificates on the occasion.
The students who performed outstandingly in the Asian Science Camp-2019 including Zaiqa-tul-Jannat from Allama Iqbal Medical College Lahore and Maria from King Edward University, Lahore were also given PSF crest.
The six member team selected to participate in the 16th International Junior Science Olympiad (IJSO) were given award letters on the occasion.
Alishba Hameed from Malakand, Umama from Haripur, Wajahat Haneef from Bannu, Warda Hadia from Bhakkar, Syed Abdullah Shah Bukhari from Quetta and Muhammad Aon Azhar from Sargodha received award letters for participating in IJSO to be held in December.
Speaking during the ceremony, Chairman PSF Major (Retd) Qaiser Majeed Malik said PSF is diligently working to promote science culture among the students through enabling them to participate at the national and international level science competitions.
He said PSF will take steps to increase the number of Pakistani students participating in the Asian Science Camp up to 10, keeping in view the budgetary requirements.
PSF will also arrange science lectures for the students on regular basis to inculcate the urge among students to get knowledge about science.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Aslam Baig emphasized on exploring more opportunities for the students to enhance their scientific knowledge through activity based learning.
He said students from the very initial stages should be given such a learning environ where they start thinking out of the box.
Ex Director General, National Center for Physics and Professor at Institute of Space Technology, Dr Hamid Saleem also briefed the students about the importance of science in our daily lives.
The World Science Day for Peace and Development, celebrated every year on 10 November, was established by UNESCO in 2001 with the aim of highlighting the important role of science in society and the need to engage the wider public in debates on emerging and important contemporary issues relevant to science.
According to UNESCO, this year’s theme is based on the concept of Open Science which is a burning issue in the scientific community and gaining increasing attention by the non-scientific community as well.
