JAMSHORO: Eight gold and 30 silver medals were conferred on position holders who were among a total of 707 graduates receiving degrees at the 20th convocation of the Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET) held at the university auditorium here on Thursday.

Four degrees of doctor of philosophy, 51 master`s in engineering, 466 bachelor`s in engineering, 30 bachelor`s in architecture and 69 bachelor`s in art and design, among others, were awarded to the graduates.

Another 56 students of MUET`s Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto campus, Khairpur Mirs, received BE degrees from Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah who was chief guest at the convocation.

Mr Shah said in his speech that his government focused on education and remarked that he was greatly impressed by the university`s contribution to socio-eco-nomic development of society.

MUET Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Mohammad Aslam Ugaili called upon the chief minister to provide land and financial assistance for the establishment of MUET`s campuses in Ghotki and Jacobabad.

Speaking to journalists after attending the convocation, the chief minister said that mega projects like Karachi Circular Railway (KCR), Keti Bandar port and industrial zone and energy resources consisting of Thar coal and wind energy projects were included in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPE C) proje ct.

He said that KCR was an old project which had been in the doldrums for years for want of funding.

The PPP government launched negotiations with Japanese in this regard but the talks hit snags and the project suffered an inordinate delay of around 10 years, he said.

He said that he would strive hard to make CPEC a success as it would greatly benefitSindh and the rest of the country.

About mayors` powers and threats to the life of Karachi Mayor Waseem Akhtar, Mr Shah said the government had already provided security to the mayor, if he needed more security, it would be done.

He said that it was wrong to say that the mayor had not been given powers; he enjoyed all administrative and financial powers under Article 140 of the law passed by the Sindh Assembly.

`Can I say that I will not work if prime minister does not give his powers to me,` he argued.

He criticised prolonged power load-shedding of six to eight hours in the province during winter and warned the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company and Sukkur Electric Power Company that if people were not supplied power, and if it led to law and order issue, the PPP government would take action and its responsibility would rest with the power utilities.

Sindh Minister for Works and ServicesImdad Pitafi, special assistant to CM on information, science and technology Dr Sikandar Ali Shoro, MNA Malik Asad Sikandar, educationists, government functionaries and parents of graduates attended the convocation.

Govt to sponsor education of students in SST Public School Speaking at the 12th founding day function of the Sargodhian Spirit Trust Public School in Rashidabad, Tando Allahyar, the chief minister said that the Sindh government would provide education to 50 per cent of students in the school.

He said that he was pleased to learn that 80pc of the students in the school were from Sindh and 20pc from other provinces and 25pc of the students were getting education free of cost.

He promised that the Sindh government would also put in its share in the good work the school was doing and sponsor education of 50pc of students.