LAHORE, Nov 24: The Sherani Hall of the Punjab University (PU) glittered with a galaxy of star Punjabi poets and fans at a sitting late on Wednesday.

According to a press release, Vice-Chancellor Dr Mujahid Kamran praised Punjabi Department Chairman Dr Asmatullah Zahid for organising the successful mushaira.

The poets who presented their verses are: Prof Anwar Masud, Saleem Kashir, Dr Zakariya, Dr Vanita, Dr Inamul Haq Javed, Ikram Majid, Dr Younas Ahqar, Prof Riaz Ahmad Shad, Qaim Naqvi, Akram Bajwa, Bushra Ijaz, Akram Sheikh, Tajammal Kalim, Khaqan Haidar Ghazi, Saif Bhatti, Nasrin Akhtar, Sana Tariq, Nasreen Anjum Bhatti, Zahid Nawaz, Tufail Khalish, Majid Khawar Mailsi, Ali Asghar Abbas, Ramzan Shakir, Imran Naqvi, Kaliyan Singh Kaliyan, Inamur Rehman and Sehar Javed.

Dr Kamran also announced the establishment of 'Baba Fariduddin Ganj Shakar Chair' at the Punjabi Department.

Sufi poetry contest: “Punjabi is the mother tongue of 60 million Pakistanis and it is the need of the hour to patronise this rich language.”

This was stated by Lahore College for Women University Vice-Chancellor Dr Sabiha Mansoor while speaking at the inaugural session of inter-collegiate Sufi poetry singing competition organised by varsity's Punjabi department at the auditorium under the auspices of department of Punjabi.

According to a report by Unesco, she said, 50 per cent languages currently being spoken would be eliminated in next 50 years due to globalization.

Teams from 10 colleges and universities participated in the event. Folk singing competition was won by Government College University's Samia Khan.

Nadia Qadir of the Government Islamia College, Cooper Road, and Rafia of the Islamia College, Cantonment, got second and third prizes, respectively.

In Sufiana kalam singing competition, Mehvish from Islamia College, Cantonment, stood first while Ravian Ambreen and Mishal Habib of Government College for Women, Samanabad, bagged second and third positions, respectively. Students of the Government College University lifted the overall trophy.

World Punjabi Congress, Canada, chairman Dr Darshan Singh, Dr Ajaib Singh, Dr Kanwar Jeet Kor, faculty members and a number of students attended the competitions. PUCIT:

According to another press release by the PU, PU College of Information Technology (PUCIT) faculty members and Image Processing Researchers have developed the cutting-edge software to be used to remove different types of bars and fences from images.

Researchers include Muhammad Shahid Farid and Muhammad Hassan Khan, who work under the supervision of Dr Arif Mahmood.

The PU spokesman claims the team also worked on an image in-painting algorithm that can be used to remove scratches from digital images. The spokesman says Mr Farid and Dr Mahmood have also worked on the Frequency Domain Image Morphing software that can mix two images and generate a set of images containing contents from both original images.