ALIGARH
Aligarh Muslim University Prof Tariq Mansoor felicitated achievers among faculty members, research scholars and students, for their exemplary successes in different fields of academics and research on the annual day celebration of Department of Zoology.
On the occasion, Prof Mansoor honoured Prof Qudsia Tahseen for her selection as the fellow of prestigious Indian National Science Academy; Dr Riaz Ahmad and Dr Yasir Hasan Siddique for receiving Shakuntala Amirchand Award-2015 and 2013 respectively, given by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Dr Hifzur Rehman Siddique for getting Mrs Farha Deeba Award given by the Indian Academy of Biomedical Sciences, Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Srinagar.
Prof Mansoor also gave away Sultana N Nahar Eminent Teacher of the Year Award jointly to Dr Riaz Ahmad and Dr Yasir Hasan Siddique for outstanding research publications and encouraging research scholars and students for carrying out modern researches. They were honoured with an appreciation letter and memento, while Post-doctoral Fellow in the department, Dr Abdul Lateef Wani received a cash prize, along with an appreciation letter as Dr Alburuj R Rehmani Best Thesis Award.
A number of students, who have qualified CSIR-UGC JRF/NET/GATE and other prestigious examinations, were also felicitated on this occasion by Prof Tariq Mansoor, Prof Hisamuddin Farooqui and Prof Absar Mustafa Khan. A total of 14 students have qualified the CSIR-UGC JRF, 11 CSIR-UGC NET, 4 ARS-NET, 5 GATE and one DST-INSPIRE.
Ilma Shakeel of Genetics section, Uzma Wasi Ansari of Fisheries, Ishrat Basheer of Nematology, Anam Naseer of Parasitology and Muzammil Syed Shah of Entomology were felicitated for Best M Sc dissertation.
The Vice Chancellor also released two books of Prof Wasim Ahmad, including “Termites and Sustainable Management” which have been published by international science publisher, Springer.
In his address, Vice Chancellor Prof Tariq Mansoor urged the faculty members to encourage and inspire researchers to carry out inter-discipline research with an amalgam of science and humanities as AMU provides best facilities for such kind of researches. He said it was the need of the hour to do something different in the field of modern research to create a distinct place among top notch institutions in the world.
Prof Mansoor said that the Department of Zoology is one of the oldest departments in the University and it has produced a number of great scientists in the field of biological sciences. He urged the young teachers and research scholars to bring more and more research projects with bigger funding as such projects alone helped an institution of higher learning attain higher rankings. He also shared memories of his days spent in the department during his studentship.
Earlier, welcoming the guests, Prof Wasim Ahmad, Chairperson of the Department, presented the annual report highlighting achievements and successes of teachers and students. He said that 8 PhD theses have been submitted during the session while 13 have been awarded; 10 research projects were in different stage of pursuance while the faculty members have published 3 books and 84 research papers including 69 in international journals.
Prof Ahmad informed that this department was established in 1906 and it made tremendous progress under the leadership of noted zoologist Prof Babar Mirza, while a number of eminent scientists, including Prof Waseem Ahmad Siddiqui, Prof M A Basir, Dr Ather H Siddiqui, Prof S M Alam, Prof Usman Adhami and Prof Nawab H Khan helped it create a niche among distinguished centres of biological sciences in the country. He also remembered Prof Zahoor Qasim who brought laurels to the country and the University by leading the first Indian expedition to Antarctica in 1980.
Prof Mohammad Afzal presented a formal welcome speech while Prof S M Abbasi Abidi moved a vote of thanks. Hadia Hussain and Sobia Wasim jointly conducted the programme in the presence of senior teachers Prof Qaiyyum Hussain and Prof Irfan Ahmad, along with other teachers and students.