The Cabinet Committee on Institutional Reforms was informed on Thursday that around 41 top level positions from 68 Public sector organisations are lying vacant due to different reasons. The meeting was chaired by Federal Minister for Education, Professional Training, National Heritage and Culture Shafqat Mahmood at the Cabinet division. The meeting was also attended by Syed Ali Haider Zaidi, Federal Minister for Maritimes Affairs, Syed Fakhar Imam, Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research, Ms. Zubaida Jalal, Federal Minister for Defence Production and SAPM on establishment Muhammad Shahzad Arbab. On the instructions of the CCIR, a study was conducted by the Planning, Development and Special Initiative division to diagnose the difficulties and delays of executive recruitments in Public Sector organizations. It was apprised the committee that 41 top level positions from 68 Public sector organisations are lying vacant due to different reasons. The study also recommended different measures including legal, human resource management, performance evaluation and hiring criteria to address the issue. The chairman of the committee said, the delaying in recruitment of CEOs, and MP scale positions in Public Sector organizations was a matter of concern for us so we commissioned that study to know the exact reasons behind this delay. Federal Cabinet would also be briefed about this, he added. The Committee also discussed in details on potential of Maritime Sector of Pakistan for revival of blue economy and different directions issued to the concerned divisions and departments in this regard. Webinar: A number of researchers and students attended a webinar on “How to build a successful academic career” arranged by OIC Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH) on Thursday. Prof. Dr. Mohamed Ali Farag, Professor and Program Director, American University in Cairo, Egypt delivered his lecture online. Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Farag said that there is a difference between what we think and what is the reality. He termed the academic career as ‘Academic Metabolism’, as it involves many factors like metabolism. Prof Farag delved deep into the academic activities and talked on how to research, write a scientific paper and present it. He suggested that the job of an academician is to break the bottlenecks and free the students by solving the problems faced by them. He said the life of an academic revolves around studying, researching and paper writing. Prof Farag advised the researchers to have good networking skills, terming it as a key to success in academics. He said that there is no big or small research, all research is important and urged the need to always ask questions. Prof. Farag urged the researchers to learn out of the box. Learn things that you are not supposed to learn. Always attend seminars even if they are not related to your field of study. He emphasized his point by saying that if you are a biologist, learn computer programming and if you’re an engineer learn biology. He emphasized the researchers to practice science communication. Simplify it and communicate it to the common masses for the common good. He encouraged scientists to share ideas openly with others. Education is not learning facts, it is training minds to think, he quoted Einstein. Dr. Syed Khurshid Hasanain, Advisor COMSTECH, introduced the speaker and said that the research paper publication has a key role in the career development and promotion of academics. The webinar was attended by over 70 students, researchers, scientists, and academicians from the OIC member states. Prof. Farag completed his PhD at Texas Tech University, USA, in 2003. In 2005, after spending time as a postdoctoral fellow at The Samuel Noble Foundation, USA, and the James Graham Brown Cancer Center, USA, he became assistant professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University, Egypt. Currently, he is working as a Professor at the Chemistry Department, American University in Cairo.