LA HORE: A book titled Nuclear Arms Control in South Asia: Politics, Postures and Practicesby Prof Dr Zafar Nawaz Jaspal was launched at a ceremony by the Department of Political Science at Waheed Shaheed Hall on Wednesday.

Prof Jaspal, who serves as the dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at Quaid-i-Azam University, was joined by prominent academics including Dean of the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences Prof Dr Iram Khalid, renowned political analyst Dr Hassan Askari Rizvi, Chairman of the Department of Political Science Prof Dr Rana Ijaz Ahmed, Dr Sharreh Qazi, faculty members and students.

Speaking at the event, Dr Jaspal said that knowledge is constantly evolving and that, as a writer, he had tried to avoid factual errors. He called Pakistan a sovereign nuclear state and urged people to place trust in the country`s educationists, researchers, publishers, and intellectuals. He also said that reading culture was declining in Pakistan, addingthat qualityresearchstillgarners global readership. The book, he said, explores the contrasting rhetoric andpractical policies of India and Pakistan on nuclear arms control.

Dr Rizvi said the publication was timely and was an important contribution to the fields of security studies and international relations. He said that global attention on Pakistan`s nuclear programme intensified after 1979, largely in a negative light. Following the 1998 nuclear tests, he said, international discourse often labelled Pakistan`s capability as an `Islamic bomb`. He added that earlier, Pakistan had struggled to communicate its nuclear policy to the world, but scholarly work since 2014 had begun to challenge such narratives effectively.

Prof Khalid called the book `a need of the hour`, especially for studentsseekingtounderstandthehistorical evolution of Pakistan`s nuclear programme. She said it addressed the theoretical and practicalchallengesofnuclearproliferation and arms control in South Asia.

Prof Ijaz said the region had strategic importance given the presence of nuclear powers like Pakistan, China, India and Russia. He said arms control required a wellthought-out strategy and pointed out that Pakistan had acquired nuclear capability to meet its legitimate security needs, without breaching any international legal obligations.

FCCU: The Forman ChristianCollege University (FCCU) and the Pakistan Network of Quality Assurance in Higher Education (PNQAHE) on Wednesday organised the 5th international conference on `Stakeholders Engagement in Quality Assurance Shaping Higher Education with Inputs from All Relevant Voices.

The moot brought together over 600 participants from across the country and abroad, uniting local and international experts.

FCCU Rector Dr Jonathan S Addleton welcomed the delegates.

Keynote speakers from Scotland, Bahrain,France,Georgia,Gibraltar, the Netherlands, Poland, Turkey, and Romania shared global best practices and insights into quality assurance in higher education.

The event featured workshops, plenary, and parallel sessions which addressed institutional assessment, stakeholder engagement, industryaligned curricula, and strengthening self-study reports and learning outcomes. Key themes included student partnership in policy-making, curriculum co-creation, and balancing quality with institutional autonomy in accreditation processes.

The closing ceremony was addressed by Dr Inga Afanasieva, Senior Economist at the World Bank South Asia Education Team, as the chief guest.