KARACHI: Sindh Madressatul Islam University (SMIU) is organising the first ever ‘Festival of Arts and Ideas’ in Pakistan from December 8 to 10 as a part of Pakistan’s 70 years celebrations.

The festival comprises about fifty events, concurrently running in a heavily packed programme, within three days. The events include lectures and talks by international scholars and eminent persons of the country, panel discussions on important issues, the depiction of the cultural heritage of Pakistan, screening of classic films, performing art shows, exhibitions of paintings, photographs and documentaries and other such events. This was said in a meeting of the coordination committee of the festival, chaired by SMIU Vice-Chancellor Dr Muhammad Ali Shaikh on Tuesday.

Addressing the meeting, he said that professors from international universities will deliver lectures on the subjects related to history, education, languages and socio-economy of the present day world.

He further said that the panel discussions will be held on the subjects of power of social media and phenomenon of fake news; Pakistan’s education system: The robot factory; women empowerment vs feudal mindset; Indus Water Treaty (IWT) and water wars; Pakistan’s economic dependence on international powers; digital divide and its impact on society; and Climate Change: an Existential Threat.