The Concluding Ceremony of Second Three-Day Training Workshop on Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was held at Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur organized by the Office of the Research, Innovation & Commercialization (ORIC) in collaboration with Marvi Rural Development Organization (MRDO), Sukkur. Prof. Dr. Taj Muhammad Lashari, Dean Faculty of Social Sciences was the chief guest of the ceremony while Ms. Saira Ali Solangi, General Manager MRDO, Mr. Salman Ali, Program Manager, MRDO and Prof. Dr. Noor Ahmed Shaikh, Director Institute of Computer Science were the guests of honor. Prof. Dr. Rahim Bux Soomro was the Lead Trainer of the workshop.

Prof. Dr. Rahim Bux Soomro trained the 26 Faculty Members about the mechanism and working of the SPSS. He said that SPSS is primarily used program for statistical analysis in Social Science. It is also used by market researchers, health researchers, survey companies, government, education researchers, marketing organizations and others fields.

Prof. Dr. Taj Muhammad Lashari said this training will equip the Faculty Members in embarking their research work in line with the modern trends as well as market requirement. He appreciated the tangible efforts of Prof. Dr. Khalil Ahmed Ibupoto, Vice Chancellor for providing such meaningful and result oriented trainings for the capacity building of Faculty Members.

Ms. Saira Ali Solangi said that Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur is the premier academic institution providing quality education to the students of this region. The efforts of Dr. Khalil Ahmed Ibupoto are highly commendable for academic and research development.

Prof. Dr. Noor Ahmed Shaikh said that this is a collaborative effort in order to enhance the capacity building of the Faculty Members. He appreciated the efforts of Directorate of ORIC for organizing such series of trainings.

Prof. Dr. Samina Rajpar, Director ORIC extended her vote of thanks to the participants of the training and sponsors. She said the ORIC will strive dynamically to maintain linkage with academia and industry. She also appreciated the patronage of Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Khalil Ahmed Ibupoto for organizing different programs for the capacity building of Faculty Members and Students.

In the end, the certificates were distributed among the participants of the training workshop.

The Department of Pakistan Studies, Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur in line with the Social Action Plan (SAP) of Inter-University Consortium for the Promotion of Social Sciences, organized Inter-Class Poster Competition on the theme Social and Religious Tolerance. Prof. Dr. Taj Muhammad Lashari, Dena Faculty of Social Sciences presided the event.

Talking to the participants, Prof. Dr. Taj Muhammad Lashari highlighted the significance of social and religious tolerance. He said social tolerance is the leading step towards social cohesion and national integration because our religion teaches about the brotherhood and tolerance. It is need of the time that the culture of tolerance in our society may be promoted in accordance to Islamic teaching and philosophy.

Dr. Lashari commended the untiring efforts of the Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Khalil Ahmed Ibupoto for the promotion of co-curricular activities at the campus for the capacity building of the students. He also lauded the efforts of Mr. Muhammad Murtaza Noor, National Coordinator, Inter-University Consortium for the Promotion of Social Sciences for his patronage and support to train the Faculty Members and students on different projects related with the theme of social and religious tolerance.

Dr. Inayatullah Bhatti, Incharge, Department of Pakistan Studies shared the participants about the curricular and co-curricular activities at the Department. He said these activities will promote the sense of healthy competition and tolerance among the students of the Department.

Dr. Liaquat Ali Chandio, Mr. Sarfraz Ali Korejo and Mr. Ali Raza Lashari were judges of the poster competition. Mr. Ashique Ali Mirbahar was the coordinator of the entire project.

Ms. Rabiza Channa from Group A secured first, Mr. Rehan from Group B secured second while Mr. Aon Muhammad from Group C secured third position.

A large number of teachers and students attended the event.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur and University of The Punjab, Lahore. Prof. Dr. Khalil Ahmed Ibupoto, Vice Chancellor, Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur and Prof. Dr. Niaz Ahmed Akhtar, Vice Chancellor, University of The Punjab, Lahore signed the MoU.

The MoU aimed at to promote joint educational and research activities, exchange of academic materials and academic publications, exchange of Faculty Members for research, lectures and discussions and exchange of Students for study and research.

Prof. Dr. Khalil Ahmed Ibupoto remarked that the collaborative research and academic engagement is the need of the time. He said since assuming the charge of Vice Chancellor of Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, we have signed number of MoUs as part of academic linkage and cooperation with Universities and Degree Awarding Institutes. Vice Chancellor said by signing of this MoU we will foster the academic linkages with prime University of Pakistan.

Prof. Dr. Niaz Ahmed Akhtar said we are committed to enhance academic cooperation among the academic and research institutes of Pakistan so the real spirit of education may be promoted.

Prof. Dr. Taj Muhammad Lashari, Dean Faculty of Social Sciences, Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur and Dr. Sobia Khurram, Director, External Linkages, University of The Punjab witnessed the MoU. Moreover, they were assigned as Focal Persons of MoU.

This MoU has been facilitated by Mr. Muhammad Murtaza Noor, National Coordinator, Inter-University Consortium for the Promotion of Social Sciences (IUCPSS) who said on this occasion that this MoU will be greatly helpful in effective engagement and exchange opportunities between these two leading Universities.

Mr. Ali Raza Lashari, Coordinator IUCPSS, Northern Sindh and Mr. Waqar Shah, Media Coordinator IUCPSS were also present on this occasion.

Ph. D Open Defense Seminar was held in the Institute of Computer Science, Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur. Prof. Dr. Khalil Ahmed Ibupoto, Vice Chancellor presided over the Open Defense. Ph. D Research Scholar Mr. Asadullah Kehar, Assistant Professor successfully defended his research on the topic “A Framework for Deciphering of Complex Text Based CAPTCHAS for Intelligent Character Recognition” under the supervision of Dr. Rafaqat Hussain Arain and co-supervision of Dr. Riaz Ahmed Shaikh.

While presenting his research, Mr. Asadullah Kehar said CAPTCHAS (Commonly Automated Public Turing Test to tell Computer and Human Apart) is a mechanism through which system distinguish human from bots. The misuse of valuable resources on internet can be avoided by employing CAPTCHAS.

Speaking on this occasion, Prof. Dr. Khalil Ahmed Ibupoto said that the research work of the scholar is a valuable work in the field of computer science and it will improve the capacity building of the Institute of Computer Science. He said we are committed to provide better and possible facilities to our scholars despite financial compulsion and hardship.

Prof. Dr. Noor Ahmed Shaikh, Director, Institute of Computer Science also shed light on the research work presented by the scholar. He also briefed the audience about the academic and research initiatives taken by the Institute.

The Experts Dr. Kamlesh Kumar from Sindh Maderssatul Islam University, Karachi, Dr. Raheel Memon from Sukkur IBA University, Supervisor Dr. Rafaqat Hussain Arain and co-supervisor Dr. Riaz Ahmed Shaikh also shared their views on the research work of the scholar. They said the new scholars will be benefited from this research work.

Dr. Naveed Ahmed Shaikh, Director Postgraduate conducted the proceedings. Faculty Members and large numbers of Research Scholars attended the Open Defense.