President Dr Arif Alvi on Monday underscored the need for enhancing educational and scientific cooperation among COMSTECH members to overcome the challenges, being faced by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries in different sectors. He said that there existed an abundance of open-source knowledge that needed to be fully utilized by the Muslim countries to their benefit. The president expressed these views while talking to a delegation of the Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH) Scientific Advisory Council (SAC), led by the Coordinator General of COMSTECH, Prof Dr M. Iqbal Choudhary, that called on him, at Aiwan-e-Sadr, President Secretariat Press Wing said in a press release. The president said that the world was undergoing rapid changes due to advancements in the field of science and technology and Islamic countries were required to strengthen their capacities and make faster decisions to keep pace with the fast-changing world. He said that the availability and democratization of knowledge had brought greater opportunities that should be fully capitalized upon by the Muslim countries. The president also underlined the need of taking benefit from emerging technologies, like Artificial Intelligence, as well as find out-of-box solutions to the problems being confronted by Muslim countries in the fields of education, science and technology. He said that the scientific advisory mechanisms of COMSTECH would also help fulfill the national requirements of OIC member countries. The delegation apprised the president about the initiatives undertaken by COMSTECH to strengthen cooperation in the fields of science and technology among OIC member states. The participants highlighted the challenges and opportunities in higher education, science, technology and innovation (STI) and also gave various suggestions to further boost cooperation among Muslim countries. The president appreciated the ideas, presented by the participants as well as the contributions made by COMSTECH towards the promotion of educational and scientific cooperation among member countries.AIOU organizes an extension lecture on Seerat-e-Tayyaba: Youth needs to be trained in the light of the Holy Prophet (SAWW)’s life to establish a righteous and happy society which will lead the entire humanity towards peace and tranquillity. This was said by Prof. Dr. Muhammad Yusuf Farooqui in an extension lecture on “Prophet’s (SAWW) style of Education and Training” organized by Vice Chancellor, AIOU, Prof. Dr. Nasir Mahmood. He said that we should learn the method of education and training from the Holy Prophet (PUBH). He (SAWW) had adopted the method of teaching by practical to describe the problem in a better way. This extension lecture was presided over by the Dean, Faculty of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Prof. Dr. Shah Mohyuddin Hashmi while Prof. Dr. Muhammad Yusuf Farooqui was the special guest. Head, Seerat Chair, Prof. Dr. Sahibzada Sajid Ur Rehman, Senior Advisor, Center of Excellence, Prof. Muhammad Rafiq Tahir, and Dr. Hafiz Muhammad Sajjad from the faculty of Arabic and Islamic Studies hosted the ceremony. Dr. Shah Mohyuddin Hashmi said that the teaching methods of the Holy Prophet (SAWW) are the most important aspect of the Prophet’s life. Holy Prophet (PBUH) gave his companions the mission to carry forward the responsibility of education. Sahibzada Sajid Ur Rehman said that Holy Prophet (PBUH) produced Abu Bakr (R.A), Umar (R.A), Usman (R.A), and Ali (R.A) through education and training. Muslims ruled half of the world due to the education and training of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). He said that Seerat Chair started a series of seminars a year ago to promote the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (SAWW), today is the 13th event of this series. Prof. Fateh Muhammad Malik, Head Iqbal Chair, said that the discussion based on Islamic teachings enlightens the mind. We are grateful to Sahibzada Sajid Ur Rahman for providing us with this opportunity.