The Institute of Business Administration (IBA) Karachi held a book launching ceremony for a biography on Dr. Ishrat Husain, Former Advisor to the Prime Minister on Institutional Reforms and Austerity and Former Dean and Director IBA, at the IBA City Campus.
Attendees included the IBA faculty, students and alumni, media, members from the academia, corporate sector and diplomatic corps.
‘Unravelling Gordian Knots – The Work and Worlds of Dr. Ishrat Husain’, is authored by Sibtain Naqvi and explores the life and times of Dr. Husain, from his earliest days in a refugee camp in newly made Pakistan to his impactful tenures in the civil services, World Bank, State Bank of Pakistan, academia and institutional reform. The book illustrates different dimensions of Dr. Husain’s prowess as an exceptional economist, reformist and educationist.
The event commenced with a welcome note by Malahat Awan, Director, Alumni Relations, Resource Mobilization and Corporate Relations, IBA. She shed light on the legacy that Dr. Husain has left behind and how he transformed the IBA. Esteemed speakers including, Dr. Husain; Dr. S Akbar Zaidi, Executive Director, IBA, Dr. Syed Noman ul Haq, Dean, UMT, Lahore and Mr. Sibtain Naqvi, book author, were invited to the stage.Sharing her experience of working with Dr, Husain, Dr. Lalarukh Ejaz, Assistant Professor, School of Economics and Social Sciences, IBA, stated that Dr. Husain had reformed IBA in terms of introducing modern teaching pedagogies, creating a conducive environment for undertaking research, developing infrastructure and encouraging the female faculty to pursue PhDs. She said that Dr. Husain was a revolutionary leader who facilitated the faculty to enhance their abilities. Dr. Ejaz also said that she was proud of her student Naqvi for penning this phenomenal book.
Dr. Saima Husain, Assistant Professor, School of Business Studies and Director QEC, IBA, commended Dr. Husain for bringing many scholarships and studying opportunities for the IBA fraternity. She fondly recalled Dr. Husain’s instrumental role in attaining her PhD.
She opined that Dr. Husain was a visionary leader, who also had empathy for all.Dr. Irum Saba, Associate Professor, School of Business Studies, IBA, commended Dr. Ishrat as a role model for many around the world and stated that he was a serial transformer of organizations. a perfect forum for encouragement for the organizations working to uplift the society at large.
While lauding other initiatives of the power utility he further said “Another project of K-Electric that needs to be encouraged is Roshni Baji, through which women are empowered by becoming safety ambassadors and going door to door for electrical safety awareness.”
He also stressed upon other organisations to come up with similar initiatives to provide relief to the community and to bring betterment to the society.
Muhammad Azfar Ahsan, Minister of State & Chairman BOI during his address at the event said, “We must appreciate K-Electric as it honors those organizations today which are playing a critical role in bringing betterment to the city and remain committed to making it more livable and sustainable.
Karachi being the economic hub of the country has tremendous potential to attract further foreign investment, improved state of the city however, remains a pre-requisite. Therefore, we need to make collective efforts to address this city’s challenges and prioritize its progress on every fronts.”
Chairman NEPRA Tauseef H. Farooqi congratulated the winners and appreciated KE’s initiative. Addressing the audience, he said, “It is commendable to see that KE is finding innovative ways to take ownership of the communities it serves.
We have to understand that creating meaningful relationships with customers and the environment is necessary to drive sustainable progress. This is why NEPRA introduced the ‘Power with Prosperity’ vision to galvanize the power sector, and we have seen sizable investment and job creation across Pakistan through CSR efforts.”
