LAHORE: The government has awarded scholarships to 179 talented students belonging to the minority community of Lahore division.

Punjab Human Rights and Minorities Affairs Minister Khalil Tahir Sandhu distributed cheques amounting Rs5.2m among the students here on Thursday.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Sandhu said the Punjab government had allocated Rs30m for educational scholarships to more than 650 talented minority students for this year. He said the chief minister always encouraged the talented students without discrimination by providing them with scholarships, laptops, IT education, skills training and other facilities on merit. The minister added that the policy of five per cent quota of the minorities in government jobs was being implemented in letter and spirit.

He expressed resolve that the nation would defeat the enemy of peace and country with the power of education.

`Despite sacrifices of our thousands of citizens and security officials, our spirits as one nation are high to fight terrorism.

Such cowardly acts cannot demoralise us,` Mr Sandhu added.

Parliamentary Secretary for Human Rights and Minorities Affairs Tariq Gill and MPAs Shehzad Munshi and Kanji Ram also spoke.

UMT: The University of Management and Technology (UMT) has been declared a `drug-free campus` by the Youth Councils for Anti-Narcotics (YOCFAN) and the City District Government Lahore (CDGL).

Addressing a ceremony at the UMT, Punjab Higher Education Minister Syed Raza Ali Gillani said the university, among all the institutions of private and public sector, had achieved the status of drug-free campus.