LAHORE: (Friday, June 14, 2024): Punjab University Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Khalid Mahmood has said that the national language is a prime source of civilization and culture and promotion of national language is a demand of the contemporary world. He was addressing a one-day national conference on ‘Urdu Fiction & Novel in Local and Global Context’ at Sherani Hall (Old Campus) here on Friday. On this occasion, Turkish Consul General, Lahore Durmus Bastug, DG National Language Promotion Department, Islamabad Prof Dr Muhammad Saleem Mazhar, Principal Oriental College Prof Dr Nabila Rehman, Director Institute of Urdu Language and Literature Prof Dr Muhammad Kamran, Prof Dr Khalid Mahmood Sanjrani from GCU Lahore, researchers, faculty members and students were present. In his address, PU VC Prof Dr Khalid Mahmood said that practical measures for the promotion of the national language are the most important need of the hour. He said that such conferences give young scholars ample opportunity to benefit from the experiences of experts. Prof Dr Nabila Rehman thanked the participants and appreciated the efforts of the organizers for the conference organized on a good topic. Prof Dr Muhammad Kamran thanked the participants of the conference. He said that the institution will continue to play its role for the promotion of literature in Urdu language. Prof Dr Khalid Mahmood Sanjrani discussed the importance of Urdu literature, especially Urdu fiction, in the keynote lecture. In the conference, Dr Safeer Haider, Dr Khalid Fayaz, Dr Amara Tariq, Dr Rehana Kausar, Dr Ayesha Maqsood, Dr Mazhar Abbas, Dr Shahid Nawaz and Faisal Iqbal presented their papers and highlighted the importance of the topic.