RECORDER REPORT

LAHORE: Dr Khalid Mahmood, Co-PI of Remote Sensing, GIS and Climatic Research Lab (RSGCRL), National Centre of GIS and Space Applications, has participated in United Nations Conference held in Ghana, representing Pakistan and Inter-Islamic Network on Space Science and Technology (ISNET).

During his talk, Dr Khalid Mahmood highlighted the issue of depleting groundwater in Pakistan, and identified diversion of the natural courses of water by India as the root cause of burgeoning groundwater depletion rates. He stressed upon the importance of an international plan to cope with the water scarcity scenario, and pointed out the fact that mismanagement of water resources by local government alone is not responsible for depleting water resources; rather regional misconduct is second to international negligence.

He said that without the formulation and implementation of a strategic international plan that was above regional politics, none on the earth was safe and the planet would eventually dry one day.

Dr Khalid also suggested development of a second tier of science that compensates for budgetary and technical incapability of developing world.

He suggested that for the development of alternate and economic science, satellite based geospatial indices have the potential to serve humanity in a myriad of ways. With such initiatives, he said, policy makers would be equipped with requisite scientific knowledge for making correct decisions.

Meanwhile, Punjab University and Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University (SBBWU), Peshawar have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop academic cooperation in the areas of education, research and other sectors through achieving a closer relationship. In this regard, a signing ceremony for memorandum of understating (MoU) was organized at the Vice Chancellor’s office in which PU Vice Chancellor Prof Niaz Ahmed Akhtar, SBBWU’s Dr Naseem Akhtar, Director External Linkages Dr Sobia Khuram, Associate Professor Dr Muhammad Ali and others participated in the event.

Both the universities agreed to coordinate for joint research projects, organization of joint academic activities such as academic conferences, cooperative lectures, seminars, symposia and exchange of academic publications and other information.