Friday, December 24, 2004

Pakistan Has Become a Hot Spot for IT Outsourcing

BEST OF ECT NEWS:Pakistan Has Become a Hot Spot for IT Outsourcing

By Anthony MitchellE-Commerce Times 12/24/04 5:00 AM PT
The biggest boost to Pakistan's efforts to break into the global IT marketplace came on September 28, when India's finance ministry announced an income tax of more than 36 percent on foreign firms with software, R&D and customer service operations in India. This tax proposal had been in the works since the beginning of the year and is expected to prompt U.S. firms to follow GE's lead in selling off assets in India.

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Why is Pakistan the hot new offshore information technology (IT) destination? This is because of a combination of favorable economic circumstances. Just when many Western managers are finally becoming comfortable with the idea of working closely with Indian IT firms, along comes Pakistan.

Pakistan is shaking off decades of "also ran" status. Funds invested into building educational institutions in Pakistan (when there were not enough jobs to absorb all the graduates from those institutions) are paying off as Pakistan begins to field a modern, highly productive labor force that is the envy of more prosperous but less tech savvy nations elsewhere in the region.

Why Care?

Why should the average Western IT professional, businessperson or IT consumer care? Because we are all going to be buying and using more IT outputs from Pakistan. To be a smarter buyer and user of IT products calls for a familiarity with Pakistan, even for those who do not initially intend to do business with Pakistani firms. We are all part of a global economy and Pakistan is an increasingly important part of that global economy.

The issues that Pakistan faces as it gears up for the global high-tech marketplace are many of the same issues that both advanced and developing economies face elsewhere in the world, as both service providers and service consumers. Pakistan is making no effort to gloss over its challenges, which makes those challenges easier to address.

With a population of 160 million and a land area almost twice the size of California, Pakistan is a smaller and more unified country than most of its neighbors, which increases that nation's chances of solving its own problems and avoiding the mistakes that have plagued neighboring economies.

India Helps Pakistan

The biggest boost to Pakistan's efforts to break into the global IT marketplace came on September 28, when India's finance ministry announced an income tax of more than 36 percent on foreign firms with software, R&D and customer service operations in India. This tax proposal had been in the works since the beginning of the year and is expected to prompt U.S. firms to follow GE's lead in selling off assets in India.

Any Western business manager who initiated or approved the establishment of an IT production or R&D subsidiary in India in 2004 could find that decision to be a career-ending move unless they have built in financial reserves to accommodate both the tax scheme of September 28 and upcoming taxes still on the drawing board.

A proposal is under consideration in New Delhi to tax activities conducted over international private leased connections (IPLCs) that carry most of India's voice and data traffic to and from the outside world. There is also a proposal to replace state-to-state customs duties (octroi) with a national value added tax. Both those tax proposals could be combined into a single scheme.
U.S. IT brokerage firms, their U.S. clients and domestic Indian IT operations will be largely untouched by the September 28 tax scheme. But the traditional offshore migration path of outsourcing to an offshore location first -- before setting up captive operations there -- has been disrupted in India until economic reforms reduce the role of the Indian government in the economy and consequently reduce that nation's revenue requirements.

For Westerners with long-standing personal ties to India, that country's September 28 tax scheme could have both personal and financial consequences. For new Indian workers who hoped for a position with a Western firm based in India, that country's revenue policy will alter careers, lifestyles and futures. Westerners can pack up and look for other another country to set up operations. However, what country?

Pakistan's Advantages

Pakistan is the primary beneficiary of India's decision to tax foreign firms with captive IT operations in India. No other economy can match Pakistan's labor pool of educated English-speaking workers. No other economy can match Pakistan's scalability , reliability and low-cost environment.

Pakistan offers five advantages over India:

1. Western experience: Executives at IT firms in Pakistan often have worked and gone to school in the U.S., which is Pakistan's largest export market. Indian IT firms whose managers have worked in the West are generally more expensive than similarly positioned Indian firms, without always providing noticeable differences in program implementation capabilities. The willingness of Pakistanis to return home from the West stands in marked contrast to most Indians who arrive for school or work in the West and never look back.

2. Professionalism and integrity: The personal integrity of Pakistani managers is easy to identify and appreciate, especially by Westerners with business experience elsewhere in the region. However, the relatively open and trusting nature of Pakistanis has made them easy prey for Indian business brokers who have managed to cheat several Pakistani IT firms by offering to provide them with outsourcing contracts in exchange for up-front fees. The Pakistanis assumed that these Indians were open minded and charitable for coming to help less experienced firms in Pakistan gain access to international contracts, until the Indians took their money and disappeared.

3. Higher labor availability: Fewer holidays in Pakistan means less slippage in staff availability compared to India. IT firms in India are advised to hire a diverse workforce so that members of one community can enjoy important festivals while members of other communities cover the phones and keep production going.

4. Good accents: Pakistan's official language is English. Only Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) and the Punjabi areas of India can come close to competing with accents in Pakistan, where many families speak English at home and where accent neutralization for non-native speakers of English is substantially easier than in India. Language skills and accents provide Pakistan with a major advantage over all other Asian outsourcing destinations.

5. Low cost talent pool: India's top-tier labor force for IT work has been stretched thin in many areas, especially Bangalore, where escalating wage rates, turnover and higher outsourcing prices are reaching critical mass at the same time that the urban infrastructure has exceeded its carrying capacity. Annual turnover rates reported to InternationalStaff.net for most merchant call center facilities in India at the beginning of November are approaching 100 percent. High turnover rates are causing a shift to second tier Indian cities and to Kolkata. Escalating turnover rates are one of the Indian outsourcing industry's dirty secrets. In comparison, Pakistan's top-tier talent pool is largely untapped and turnover rates are less than 20 percent.
Safety and Security

Pakistan is not without challenges, some of which are real (improving the telecommunications infrastructure) and some are exaggerated, especially in terms of the security situation. Once you have lived through a few riots in India, once you have taught yourself how to quickly turn the lights out and lay down on the floor because you are afraid of what might come through the window, then Pakistan doesn't seem so scary anymore.

The biggest danger that Westerners face in South Asia is from automobile accidents, particularly at night. India has over 8 times the number of highway fatalities per passenger mile than the U.S.

If you go looking for trouble, you will find it, whether in the back alleys of Karachi or the parking lots of many suburban U.S. shopping malls. Americans who have worked in both Karachi and Mumbai report that there is no discernable difference in the safety and security situation in both cities. The lack of reporting in the U.S. media on the occurrence of violent disturbances and general strikes in India, versus the close coverage often afforded to Pakistan, has created the illusion that Pakistani cities are somehow more dangerous than cities elsewhere in the region, especially for Americans.

The U.S. Department of State does not maintain accurate statistics on economically or personally motivated attacks against their own personnel in foreign countries. Nor does it collect accurate information on crimes committed against U.S. nationals in foreign countries. This leads U.S. citizens to avoid safe areas (for example, Islamabad) and to incur excessive risks in areas where Americans are routinely victimized (for example, Mexico City).
The U.S. government is not doing a good job at providing assistance for Americans who have been assaulted, robbed or otherwise victimized in foreign countries. If it did, there would likely be some accounting of those efforts, accounting that would demonstrate that Pakistan's major cities have been and continue to be a generally safe place for U.S. businesspeople and their families.

Shared Roles

Pakistan and the U.S. have similar roles when it comes to human rights. Both countries are a beacon of safety and a haven for refugees. The government of Pakistan has not been advertising this fact. The people who have fled to Pakistan from surrounding countries in the region have, on a one-to-one personal basis. They are Pakistan's best ambassadors.
Before making up your mind about Pakistan, talk to people who have left there or have passed through there. Their origins might be different but their stories are often tragically similar. Too often, it seems as if they are all reading from the same script: family members (or themselves) in neighboring countries who have been victimized, jailed, possibly tortured, relatives killed, and all survivors traumatized and dispossessed. Pakistan welcomes them and serves as a place of safety and security.

From Iran, Afghanistan, India and elsewhere they come, seeking the same things that immigrants to the U.S. have always sought: opportunity, liberty, freedom of religion and respect for personal beliefs.

Americans naturally identify with the underdogs, the runners up, the people who are trying harder than anyone else to succeed. This is why many Americans find it easy to identify with Pakistanis.

It is not necessary for Americans to take sides in disputes between India and Pakistan. Taking sides is not required. Long-term peaceful solutions are required.

Increased trade and joint projects between Pakistan and India will pull those two countries together and create incentives for peace. American firms doing business in one or both countries can contribute to peace through responsible business practices and the moderating effects that employment and prosperity provide. This can and should be accomplished when American firms are allowed to operate on an equal footing with local firms, which for now only appears possible in Pakistan.
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Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
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Saturday, December 18, 2004

STUDENTS CONFERENCE ON ENGINEERING SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY(SCONEST 2004)

REGISTRATION FOR SCONEST 2004

VENUE FOR DAY 1:JINNNAH UNIVERSITY FOR WOMENVENUE FOR DAY 2:PAF KIET

STUDENTS CONFERENCE ON ENGINEERING SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY(SCONEST 2004) is an annual event, which was held for the first time in 2002.SCONEST2004 covers all disciplines under IEEE domain.This event is being jointly organised by IEEE student branches at Grad School Of Engineering Sciences and Information Technology,Jinnah University For Women,NED university Of Engineering And Technology,PAF KIET in association with IEEE Karachi section. The basic conference theme of this year is "Technologies for Human Prosperity"

PROGRAMS FOR DAY1
TECHNICAL SESSION 1: NEXT GENERATION NETWORKSTECHNICAL SESSION 2: HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTINGWORKSHOP: SAPPANEL DISCUSSION 1:INTERNET BANKING
PROGRAMS FOR DAY 2
TECHNICAL SESSION 3:CELLULAR COMMUNICATIONTECHNICAL SESSION 4:BROADBAND COMMUNICATIONPANEL DISCUSSION II:PROSPECTS OF CALL CENTRES IN PAKISTAN.
For more info visit http://www.ieee.org/sconest/2004/For registration please contact :6620857-58-59 6619902

Below are the important dates regarding SCONEST 2004. Please note that these dates are subject to change without notice. Therefore, keep visiting this page to stay updated.

Full Paper Submission November 25, 2004.
Confirmation of Acceptance by Technical Committee December 13, 2004.
Final Camera Ready manuscript due December 18 2004.
SCONEST 2004 Day 1: Jinnah University for Women December 29, 2004.
SCONEST 2004 Day 2: PAF Karachi Institue of Economics & Technology December 30, 2004.


SCONEST 2004 is being organized by the IEEE Karachi Section and IEEE Student Branch members at JUW, PAF-KIET, NEDUET and GSESIT-HU.

Conference Chair
Nadia Naz
(JUW)
Co-Chair
Shahbaz Shiekh
(PAF-KIET)
Vice Chairs
Saboohi NaeemSyed Asim Ali
(JUW)(PAF-KIET)
Secretary
Azam Hashmi
(PAF-KIET)
Joint Secretary
Anum Ansari
(JUW)
Treasurers
Farah HussainFahad Farzand Shah
(JUW)(PAF-KIET)


Our postal addresses are:

SCONEST 2004 Conference Secretariat,Department of Computer Science & IT,Jinnah University for Women 5-C Nazimabad, Karachi - 74600Tel: (92-21) 6620857-59, (92-21) 6619902 Fax: (92-21) 6620614http://www.juw.edu.pk/

SCONEST 2004 Conference Secretariat,Department of Engineering,PAF-KIET Main Campus,PAF Base Korangi Creek, Karachi - 75190Tel: (92-21) 5091114-7 Fax: (92-21) 5091118http://www.pafkiet.edu.pk/

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Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
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Wednesday, December 15, 2004

HONETCON Optical Network Confrence 2004

National University of Sciences and Technology, NUST and University ofNorth Carolina Charlotte, UNCC, USA, have collaboratively organized a4-day workshop on “High Capacity Optical Networks & Enabling Technologies”from Dec 28 – Dec 31, 2004 in Marriot Islamabad.Twelve experts from USA will deliver talks on the state of the arttechnologies. So don’t miss this first of its kind event. Avail thediscounted rates (till Dec 16, 2004) and get registered today.

Note: Profiles of speakers and abstract of invited talks can be viewed at
http://www.honetcon-nsf.uncc.edu

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Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
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Saturday, December 04, 2004

KARACHI: Royal navy ship arrives

KARACHI, Dec 3: The British Royal Navy Ship, HMS ECHO, is paying an informal visit to Karachi from Dec 2 to 4. The vessel has been conducting military data gathering in the Northern Arabian Gulf since January this year as part of Britain's commitment to improve the safe navigation of both merchant and military vessels operating in an area that has not been surveyed to modern standards for many years, it was stated. Despite having been commissioned for less than two years, the ECHO has spent half her time to-date in the Middle East performing a myriad of planned and short notice survey operations. It was further pointed out that the time spent operating in the area had enabled the ship to demonstrate her versatility and value to the Royal Navy and coalition allies. The ECHO is equipped with modern sensors capable of collecting data from every element of the marine environment. The survey produced utilizing her state-of-the-art integrated survey suite delivers a product far superior than anything previously seen. The vessel has spent a couple of months out of the area participating in a joint five-powers exercise in the Far East. She is expected to return to the UK in late spring of 2005. -APP
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Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
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KARACHI: PEC issued notice on students' plea

KARACHI, Dec 3: The Pakistan Engineering Council, the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited and federal secretary education were put on notice by a division bench of Sindh High Court comprising Justice Saiyed Saeed Ashhad and Justice Maqbool Baqar. The bench was hearing a constitution petition filed by Muhammad Ali Shehzad, Dad Ali and other graduates of DCET, who moved the court against denial of their registration as engineer. According to the petitioners, they were admitted to Dawood College of Engineering and Technology after nomination by their respective provincial governments against provincial quota. They passed professional examination from Mehran Engineering University and applied for appointment in PTCL which sought their registration with the PEC. When the petitioners moved the PEC for the purpose, their request was rejected on the ground that the PEC had cancelled the accreditation of the DCET. Islam Hussain advocate appearing for the petitioners submitted that if the situation had been in the knowledge of provincial government, no nominations would have been made for the DCET. He maintained that petitioners had no nexus with the controversy between the DECT and the PEC. The bench after hearing the initial arguments issued notice to the respondents for a date to be fixed later by the office of the court. Meanwhile, the same bench issued notice to Sindh Secretary Health and Bahria Institute of Technology while hearing a petition filed by Saima Noor Shaikh, a candidate for admission to Chandka Medical College. Muhammad Nawaz Shaikh advocate appearing for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner appeared in the entry test conducted by the Bahria Institute of Technology. He said that the petitioner had attempted 90 objective questions while left 10 unanswered. When the result was announced, she was astonished to see that she was shown to have attempted 94 questions, four of which were wrong and therefore negative marking made her ineligible for admission. After initial arguments, the court issued notices to respondents for a date to be fixed later by the office of the court.
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Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
=====================================================

KARACHI: Cold weather bad for asthmatics

KARACHI, Dec 3: Cold and dry weather may aggravate the condition of patients suffering from various respiratory ailments in general and asthma in particular. Asthmatic persons have been advised to take preventive medicines after consulting their doctors besides taking other precautionary measures to avoid acute attacks. The Head, Department of Chest Diseases, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Dr Nadeem Rizvi, said, "Patients often stop medicines with the stabilization of weather and do not resume it with the change in weather. They should take preventive medicines regularly," he added. About 10 per cent of adults and 15-19 per cent of young children usually suffer from asthma. Such patients should avoid intake of dry fruits if allergic to them. They should also avoid excessive exposure to cold that could lead to flu and cough. The pressure of patients is seen increasing nowadays in chest wards and out patient departments in Karachi's hospitals, as many people suffer from various chest infections, including asthma, chronic bronchitis, pneumonia etc, due to the cold weather and burning of garbage in the city especially residential areas," he said. Asthmatic patients should use blankets after keeping them in daylight for two days, as it carries house dust mites that can worsen asthma. - PPI
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Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
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KARACHI: Contaminated water supply in Lyari

KARACHI, Dec 3: Houses, apartment buildings and commercial concerns on Lyari's Gul Mohammad Lane and Tannery Road's Street No 23 are getting contaminated for the last four days. Residents of the affected locality said sewage might be mixing with drinking water somewhere in the KWSB system as they had been receiving contaminated water. "It is for the second time during the last two months that we are facing such a problem and one will be surprised to know that when we discussed the issue with a KWSB engineer, he attributed the issue to non-availability of electricity at a pumping station in Chakiwara No 1," a resident of the locality said. Apprehending that diseases might break out in the locality owing to consumption of filthy water, residents of the affected locality demanded of the KWSB managing director to instruct the officials concerned to immediately rectify the fault as they cannot afford to buy private tankers for such a long period. SHORTAGE: Complaints of water shortage have also been received from Clifton's Block 2, Orangi Town's Ghausia Baloch Colony and Benazir Colony, parts of Saeedabad and Keamari. Residents of Clifton's Block 2 said although the root cause of water shortage in their locality was illegal connections given from their pipeline to some influential people, the KWSB officials were not taking action against such illegal connections. A UC councillor of Orangi claimed that he and the UC Nazim had apprised the KWSB officials about leaking pipelines, but no measures have been taken to plug them. Meanwhile, water gushing out from leaking pipelines is not only causing water shortage in different localities of UC-9, but was also damaging roads and streets where it often remains stagnant. A KWSB spokesman said on Friday that the KESC would carry out repair work at the Dhabeji Grid Station on Sunday, owing to which electricity would remain suspended at pumping stations in Phase Nos II and IV for seven hours. The spokesman further said that owing to power supply disruption, the city would experience a 50mgd water shortfall. However, supply from Dhabeji Pumping Station Phase No I and III would continue.
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Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
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Enrichment resumption in 6 months, says Iran

TEHRAN, Dec 3: Iran will resume enriching uranium after a maximum of six months, powerful former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani vowed on Friday, reaffirming that Tehran's freeze on nuclear fuel cycle work is only temporary. "The last word is after this period, which I do not assume will exceed six months ... we must seriously and firmly follow enrichment programmes and use the very important advantages of nuclear technology," he said. "So far, we have reached the point that we accept to suspend parts of our activities for a period that was not necessary at all. Our negotiators have tried to shorten this period and we interpret it to be about two, three months up to six months," the prominent cleric said at Friday prayers. Earlier this week the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) spared Iran the fate of being referred to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions after Tehran agreed in a deal with Britain, France and Germany to suspend its uranium enrichment programme. Rafsanjani also had sharp words for the positions of the IAEA and Western countries during negotiations over the nuclear programme. "We should be dissatisfied with them. They owe to us and have done injustice to us. Iran's activities are (allowed) under legal rights given to all countries to use nuclear technology for non-military purposes." Referring to the US objection towards Iran's access to the fuel cycle, Rafsanjani said: "They are after the free home, oil reserves and this important geographical region, which have been taken from them after the Iran's Islamic revolution." -AFP
======================================================
Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
=====================================================

Sunday, October 31, 2004

US, Pakistan Launch Cooperative Science and Technology Projects

WASHINGTON, October 29 (Online): The United States and Pakistan are joining forces to build Pakistan's science and technology capacity, contributing a combined $3 million for 2004 and $5.5 million for 2005 for projects that focus on improving education and creating technical links between the countries.

Eighteen cooperative projects for 2004 were officially launched September 28-29 in Islamabad at the first joint committee meeting under the U.S.-Pakistan Science and Technology Agreement.

The projects, funded with $1 million from Pakistan -- $500,000 each from the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) and the Higher Education Committee -- and $2 million from the United States, include supplying scientific journal content to the nationwide university digital library system, bringing telemedicine capabilities to rural areas, creating linkages between U.S. and Pakistan scientific centers of excellence, and improving Pakistan's water quality.

"The Pakistan Science and Technology Agreement is very exciting," said Lee Morin, deputy assistant secretary for health, space and science at the U.S. Department of State and leader of the U.S. delegation to Pakistan.

"It represents a reinvigoration of an agreement that came out of a 2002 meeting at Camp David between President Bush and Pakistani President [Pervez] Musharraf. It provides a mechanism for U.S. federal technical agencies to work with a foreign government."

The joint committee -- co-chaired by Morin and Shehryar Khan, MoST joint technical adviser -- reviewed more than 50 submitted proposals, the majority from Pakistan, from which the final 18 projects were chosen.

The selection process was overseen by State Department Senior Science Officer Barrett Ripin and MoST Joint Scientific Advisor Atta-ur-Rahman. Rahman is an internationally renowned expert in natural products chemistry and the author of 35 technical books. He also was instrumental in generating U.S. enthusiasm for the agreement, Ripin said.

Shortly after the Bush-Musharraf meeting in 2002, Ripin said, "Minister Rahman came to Washington and held a meeting with the science and technology community, technical agencies and others ... and outlined what Pakistan was doing in science and technology. Rahman wowed the crowd with his command of and forward thinking about how to improve or increase Pakistan's capacity through upgrading the education system and information technology."

After the meeting, Ripin added, "Rahman challenged the United States to engage in a science and technology program of substance by offering $500,000 of Pakistan money if the United States would match it two to one."

Later, when the United States pledged $2 million, Rahman raised Pakistan's contribution to $1 million.

"Each of the 18 projects," Ripin said, "is designed to foster links between U.S. and Pakistan people and institutions, build civilian science and technology capacity, and emphasize education."

The largest single project in the education area involves supplying scientific journal content. The U.S. National Academies of Science will help the Higher Education Committee purchase licenses for major science, technology and engineering journals, which will be integrated into Pakistan's existing digital library system.

A class of projects called linkages, Ripin said, is designed to enhance or create links between centers of excellence in Pakistan and counterparts in the United States, and links between scientists and students.

"In the first year there is an emphasis on health and physical sciences," he said. "These linkages not only provide opportunities for Pakistani students and faculty to collaborate with U.S. counterparts, but also the reverse."

In another set of projects, the Pakistan Council for Renewable Water Resources received funding to improve Pakistan's water resources by collaborating with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Geological Survey and the Department of Energy. Projects include collaborating on agricultural watershed management, helping design a water quality measurement program, and developing a desalination facility to provide a reliable source of drinking water.

"Drinking water is a critical resource for sustainable development," Morin said. "It's an important need and the Pakistanis have done important work in this area," including developing practical, low-cost, quantitative chemical test kits for detecting arsenic, bacteria, and other contaminants in drinking water.

In an effort to help Pakistan build its credibility in the world community and its own capacity in a number of areas, Ripin said, three projects link the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology to Pakistan's National Accreditation Council and the Pakistan Standard and Quality Control Authority.

The aim is to build Pakistan's capacity in physical metrology (the science of measurements), standards development and quality management capacity, Ripin said.

Another capacity-building project is a telemedicine collaboration between the Pakistanis and U.S. Army Medical Research and Material Command. "Two Pakistani medical doctors trained for a month with the Army Medical Center at Fort Detrick in Maryland so they could set up a model program in 2005 [in Islamabad]," Ripin said.

Looking ahead to 2005, the State Department and the joint committee are working to institutionalize the process of science and technology collaboration between Pakistan and the United States. The Pakistani government pledged $3.5 million for fiscal year 2005 and the United States pledged $2 million.

Soon, Ripin said, the joint committee will put out a call for proposals for $5.5 million worth of projects for 2005. "They will be peer reviewed and go through a process of selection on technical merit," he said, "and how well they fit with the capacity-building emphasis.

"I'm told that the program is being viewed within the State Department as a model for U.S. engagement with countries in the developing world," Ripin said. "We're looking forward to another year."
======================================================
Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
=====================================================

US to assist Pak build science, tech projects

Press Trust of India

Washington, October 28: The US is assisting Pakistan to build its science and technology capacity and 18 cooperative projects were recently launched to achieve this aim, a senior official has said.

The two countries have joined forces, contributing a combined $3 million for 2004 and $5.5 million for 2005 for projects that focus on improving education and creating technical links between the countries, he said.

Eighteen cooperative projects for 2004 were officially launched in September this year in Islamabad at the first joint committee meeting under the US-Pakistan science and technology agreement.

The projects, funded with $1 million from Pakistan --$500,000 each from the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and the higher education committee -- and $2 million from the US, include supplying scientific journal content to the nationwide university digital library system, and bringing telemedicine capabilities to rural areas.

"The Pakistan science and technology agreement is very exciting," said Lee Morin, deputy assistant secretary for health, space and science at the US Department of State and Leader of the American delegation to Pakistan.

"It represents a reinvigoration of an agreement that came out of a 2002 meeting at Camp David between President Bush (George W) and Pakistani President (Pervez) Musharraf. It provides a mechanism for US federal technical agencies to work with a foreign government."

The joint committee -- co-chaired by Morin and Shehryar Khan, most joint technical adviser -- reviewed more than 50 submitted proposals, the majority from Pakistan, from which the final 18 projects were chosen.

======================================================
Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
=====================================================

Thursday, October 14, 2004

Pakistan Pleads for Sharing Space Science and Technology

By Mohsin Zaheer
United Nations New York October 12: Pakistan has pleaded for increased efforts so that the benefits of space science and technology could be shared by all countries.
Addressing the Special Political and Decolonization Committee of the UN General Assembly on its agenda item concerning International Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space here today, Pakistan delegate, Senator Mouhim Khan Baloch emphasized that outer space could be utilized for the establishment of communication infrastructures for early warning systems which could mitigate the effects of natural disasters.
Following is the text of Senator Baloch’s statement: -
“Mr. Chairman,
Pakistan attaches great importance to the work of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) which promotes the peaceful exploration of the treasures of the outer space for the collective benefit of all mankind.
May I begin by thanking Ambassador Abiodun of Nigeria, the Chairman of the committee for the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) for introducing its report.
. Pakistan has had the privilege of Chairing the Working Group of the Scientific and Technical Sub-Committee of the UN COPOUS since 1990. We welcome the development by the Sub-Committee of templates on questionnaires relating to the implementation of the recommendations for UNISPACE III. We also support the recent widening of geographical representations for the chairs of the Sub-Committees.
Mr. Chairman,
I would like to use this opportunity to briefly dilate upon my delegation’s position on some of the key areas within COPUOS purview.
. Outer space has been declared the “province of mankind” and Pakistan supports all efforts aimed at promoting ways and means of maintaining outer space for peaceful purposes. We believe that militarization of outer space needs to be avoided at all costs, and if possible, reversed. We would like to call on the international community to intensify efforts to prevent the weaponization of outer-space, including the exploration of ways and means of establishing a comprehensive and effective legal mechanism to this end. In our view, in spite of arguments to the contrary, addressing this issue falls well within the competence and mandate of COPUOS.
The General Assembly, in its resolution 41/56, adopted the “Principles relating to the Remote Sensing of the Earth from Space”. These important principles set out guidelines for remote sensing and provide safeguards against the abuse of remote sensing techniques which might be detrimental to the interests of other states. Pakistan supports the incorporation of these principles in a more binding legal instrument. We also wish to underscore the importance of easy and low cost access to remote sensing data for developing countries which could provide them a wide range of useful applications.
. Pakistan attaches great importance to COPUOS efforts aimed at disaster mitigation and management Support. Pakistan’s national space agency SUPARCO is also operating, since 1991, the Pakistan Mission Control Centre as well as the Pakistan Local User Terminal for International COSPAS-SARSAT Search and Rescue Programme. The latter serves as a Ground Service Provider for Disaster Management Support. The service area of this station covers several countries in the vicinity of Pakistan as well as the Arabian Sea. We believe that with new emerging technologies, outer space could be utilized for the establishment of communications infrastructures for early warning systems, which could mitigate the effects of natural disasters.
. Pakistan believes that efforts must be increased so that the benefits of space science and technology can be shared by all countries, including the dissemination of satellite-based data and teaching assistance and training in institutional capabilities. We wish to draw this Committees attention, in this regard, to adverse impact of limited voluntary contributions for the UN Programme on Space Applications. My delegation stresses the need for greater voluntary contributions for the Trust Fund for this Programme not only for long-term and short-term training facilities for the developing countries but also the implementation of the COPUOS earlier recommendations in this regard.
Mr. Chairman,
In conclusion, I wish to re-affirm Pakistan’s commitment and support for the effective implementation of the Vienna Declaration in promoting cooperation among the Member States in space science and technology and to share the benefits of peaceful research in outer space without any discrimination.
======================================================
Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
=====================================================

Monday, October 11, 2004

Austrian companies evince interest in investment in Pak

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Austria today agreed to enhance cooperation and undertake joint collaboration projects in the fields of food, agriculture and livestock, petroleum and natural resources, industries and production, investment in Heavy Electrical Complex, water, education and science and technology. These decisions were reached at the concluding Session of Pak-Austria Joint Working Group meeting held on October 8 and 9.
The agreement to this effect was signed by Ms. Hina Rubbani Khar, Minister of State for Economic Affairs and Mr. Josef Mayer, Vice Minister for Economic Affairs and Labour on behalf of their respective governments. In the petroleum and natural resources sector, OMV, the leading Austrian Company in the field oil and gas already operating in Pakistan has desired to expand their operations even in difficult areas of Pakistan by using latest technology i.e. 3-D-Saismic technology and horizontal drilling. OMV also showed interest in the gas storage projects for which they have extensive experience and technology. The company will also undertake joint ventures with reliable Pakistan E&P companies within and outside Pakistan. Austria will also help Pakistan acquire technology for mining, smelting and processing of magnesite.

Some scholarships for Pakistani engineers in the field of mining, Petroleum Engineering Metal Science and Plastics Processing for studies in the MONTAN-UNIVERSITY LEOBEN, AUSTRIA will be considered. In food, agriculture and livestock, joint ventures in milk collection, transportation, processing and distribution, vertically integrated feed-lots-abattoirs for production and processing of meal for local as well as foreign markets and improvement in breeding/up gradation of Pakistani cows and buffalos and will be initiated. Pakistan will consider using Granules, a newly introduced product by Austria which can be very helpful in saving water resources. Austria will consider the proposals for setting up a desalinating plant at Karachi , manufacturing of water treatment plant in Pakistan, Hot Strip Mill Revamping of Pakistan Steel and conducting a study of steel industry in Pakistan which is required for setting a steel mill at Port Qasim. It has been agreed that the Austrian investors will be invited either to purchase Heavy Electrical Complex (HEC) through Privatization Commission, or to join hands with SE on joint venture basis on equity participation along with transfer of management under mutually acceptable cooperation arrangement.

The Austrian side showed keen interest in two projects in water sector i.e. Schola Project Karachi and Revamping of JABAN Hydro Project. The proposals in this regard will be processed. In education sector Pakistan may benefit from the successful experience, projects and strategies of educational development in the area of vocational education under education system of Austria. Pakistan has requested for possible support of Austria in this regard for educational development in Pakistan. In science and technology sector the two countries will establish linkages between the Science and Technology organizations (Universities and Research Institute) in applied science and technology fields such as engineering, renewable energy, chemicals and pharmaceuticals. For this purpose exchange of information visits of experts and training facilities will be arranged. The two countries agreed to establish Pak-Austria Joint Business Council. The Chambers of Commerce of the two countries will collaborate in this regard. The Austrian side proposed for organizing seminars in both the countries with the view to highlight potential areas for trade and investment. In this regard the Austrian side agreed to identify experts/resource persons for providing details of policies, available opportunities for promoting Pakistan Exports and attracting foreign direct investment.

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Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
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Iran takes part in 'Abdus Salam' confab in Italy

LONDON, Oct 6 (IranMania) - Iranian Minister of Science, Research and Technology Jafar Towfiqi participated at the 'Abdus Salam' (Pakistani Nobel Laureate in Physics) International Physics Conference which began in the Italian city of Trieste on Tuesday, Iran's State News Agency (IRNA) reported.

At the two-day conference, researchers and experts from different countries are due to hold talks on ways of bolstering science and scientific researches in Third World countries, particularly in the field of physics.

Jafar Towfiqi, during his stay in Italy, is scheduled to visit Italian universities and scientific centers. He also is to hold talks with the officials of the 'Abdus Salam' International Center for Theoretical Physics on expanding bilateral cooperation. Pakistani scientist Abdus Salam received the Nobel Prize toward the end of 1979.

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Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
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Physics centre for the developing world turns 40

Christina Scott
1 October 2004
Source: SciDev.Net


[CAPE TOWN] Last century, a charismatic Pakistani scientist had to make a terrible decision: choose between a potentially brilliant career abroad, or remain at home in relative poverty and obscurity.

At that time Pakistan offered no scope for postgraduate work. So Abdus Salam joined the brain drain, went to England, and eventually shared the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics for groundbreaking research that remains at the heart of today's high energy physics.

Salam vowed that no other colleague from the developing world should have to face the same grim choice. So 40 years ago, he did something for which a wide range of scientists from the developing world can be profoundly grateful.

In 1964, Salam persuaded the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to help him set up the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, on Italy's Adriatic coast.

The ICTP was to be a home from home for the crème de la crème of developing-world physics. Up-and-coming doctoral students could attend summer schools run by the world leaders in their field. Lecturers could take three-month breaks from the grind of teaching, and prepare their papers, lay the groundwork for fresh research with new colleagues, and immerse themselves in the latest developments in their subject. And each could then return home.

In this way, therefore, Salam helped plug the brain drain in his speciality. Since the foundation of the ICTP, some 70,000 scientists from more than 150 countries have benefited. And many have singled out the centre's infrastructure — even something as humble as a working photocopier — as invaluable.

"My calculations have to be done at the centre, due to a lack of computer facilities and library at home," says Bernard M'passi-Mabiala, who works on condensed matter at the Marien Ngouabi University in Brazzaville, in Congo, heading a department with more than 300 undergraduates.

M'passi-Mabiala says he would not have got his professorship without the help of the ICTP. In fact, he doubts if he would have had the courage to submit papers to well-known journals without assistance from the centre in the early stages.

Even though there is no post-doctoral programme for physics students in Congo, M'passi-Mabiala is now doing his bit, with the help of the ICTP, to foster the country's next generation of physicists. He teaches one Masters student and two PhD students by collaborating with the universities of Douala in Cameroon and Strasbourg in France through ICTP's sandwich training educational programme — or STEP — which offers fellowships to PhD candidates.

But the ICTP's biggest strength seems to lie in being able to mix and match students and lecturers with the world's top researchers in their specialised fields of interest.

Physicists are particularly dependent on collaboration, according to Ahmed Bawa, of the department of physics and astronomy at Hunter College, City University of New York. Bawa says "physics research is intensely social in its construction".

Because of this, the ICTP may be of most importance to Africa. Vast distances and stunted budgets have isolated many African lecturers and researchers: the Democratic Republic of Congo alone is the size of Western Europe.

The dilapidated state-owned communication infrastructure in some regions is being sidestepped by new advances in cellular, satellite and Internet telephony; but the developed world still has the lion's share of landlines, and African physicists often found themselves in a kind of intellectual solitary confinement. Until Trieste, that is.

"The problem is that many African scientists work in isolation or in very small groups," notes Bawa, who came first to the ICTP decades ago as a doctoral student ("an exceptional experience"), then as a researcher, and finally as deputy vice-chancellor of what is now the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

One of the world's leading relativistic cosmologists, George Ellis, a professor of applied mathematics at the University of Cape Town, agrees. "You need a critical mass of people to make science happen," he says. "Places like Trieste can give such local groups encouragement and support."

"We need to resist the view that Africans can only imitate and cannot do primary research work — we can and we do," says Ellis, who taught in Trieste for four years. "We need better science education but we also need somewhere for the youth to go when they graduate from school and then from university. We need people who can understand and tackle local problems from a physics and engineering viewpoint — for example energy, resource and water issues in Africa."

And that is just what is happening. A brief scan at the list of ICTP's junior associates uncovers Teferi Dejene improving seasonal climate prediction in Ethiopia, Kenya's Vincent Sakwa exploring the impact of doubled carbon dioxide on the East African climate, and Mahlomola Nchodu researching medical physics in South Africa.

In Nigeria, junior associates include engineer Hyginus Ubabuike Ugwu, geophysicist Olatunde Popoola and Babatunde Abiodun, who models atmospheric physics over complex terrain.

The sheer variety of physics done in Africa — and the amount that has been boosted by the centre — is mind-boggling. In English-speaking Africa, regular associates include Kenyan high energy physicist Akeyo Omolo, while in Zambia, Katongo Kanyanga does synoptic analysis of biomass-burning smoke and haze over the southern tip of Africa.

There are three regular associates from Ghana: Kwame Robert Nkum looks at the dielectric and transport properties of polycrystalline sodium nitrate, John Tawiah digs through soil physics and Alexander Asante works in digital communications.

In Nigeria, Debo Adeyewa deals with satellite meteorology and Asi Afiesimama does West African climate prediction. In Francophone Africa, regular associate David Monkam is based in a laboratory of atmospheric physics in Cameroon while in Senegal, Daouda Badiane looks at the thermal properties of convective systems at the sea-land interface of the westernmost coast of Africa.

Senior associates are also a diverse lot, ranging from Kofi Oduro-Afriyie, who works on power spectrum analyses of annual rainfall in West Africa at the University of Ghana, and M. M. Elmissiry, who works in non-conventional energy sources in Zimbabwe, to two colleagues from Brazzaville — climatologist Clobite Bouka Biona, who researches the exchange of particles and gases between the atmosphere and tropical forest, and M'passi-Mabiala.

These days, researchers don't even have to leave Africa to benefit from the centre. Ernesta Meintjes, who works in medical imaging in Cape Town, is a junior associate, even though she has not yet made it to Trieste. After surviving the gruelling selection process, Meintjes can now buy books that were once beyond her budget, for example.

"The benefits are that in the five years of membership, you are allowed three fully paid study visits to Trieste, either to attend courses or to spend time in their laboratories," Meintjes explains. "And we have a book allowance of 400 euros [US$500] every year to purchase books, which is very nice."

Two researchers from countries that bookend Africa are in Trieste right now: Tania Douglas and Jamila Douari. Douglas works in the growing field of medical imaging. By running digital pictures of children's faces through a computer, for example, her team can diagnose foetal alcohol syndrome, a heartbreakingly common local cause of mental retardation. This achieves two goals: it eliminates the need for an expensively trained specialist, and is less frightening for small children than having their face measured with callipers and rulers.

In this, her first visit to Trieste, Douglas has found out much that will help her students back home. She has just completed a medical imaging course and is now on a two-week neurophysics course.

Douglas, who was a finalist in the young black researcher category of South Africa's National Science and Technology Forum awards this year, is also designing a smart microscope with an automated slide dispenser which has imaging capabilities to detect tuberculosis infection in saliva.

Douari works in the same field — high energy physics — as the centre's founder. She seems an obvious candidate for the centre. But she also highlights another problem: Africa's internal brain drain.

Douari was born in Morocco, but she now works at the Institute for Advanced Study, at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa. The same holds for a significant number of junior and regular associates, hailing from Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya.

Some argue that it is better for African scientists to work in southern Africa if the alternative is Europe or North America. But that does not necessarily augur well for the future.

Preventing the brain drain from the developing to the developed world was one of Abdus Salam's key concerns; dealing with the continent's internal brain drain to South Africa is a relatively new development, but no less a minefield. Perhaps it will be something for the next four decades to resolve.

"ICTP was and is an important institution for providing isolated scientists with the opportunity of feeling as if they are part of global enterprise," says Ahmed Bawa. "This was Abdus Salam's great dream. Everything else follows from that."

"The fact that these scientists return to their home institutions with new projects, exposure to new techniques, new collaborations, all contribute to the improvement of science at their institutions … and it is always a powerful influence to be with other first-rate researchers."

Indeed, Abdus Salam's spirit should rest easy. How many teachers can boast of 70,000 students during their career?

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Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
=====================================================

Pakistan, US launch 18 projects in science & technology

ISLAMABAD : Pakistan and the US have agreed to undertake 18 projects at a cost of $ 3 million in various fields of science and technology.

The projects would be launched in the fields of education, human resource development, environment, medicine, advanced computing, metrology, standards, quality control and water resources with the aim to establish linkages between centres of scientific excellence in the two countries.


The agreement to launch these projects jointly was reached following the first meeting of Pak-US joint committee on science and technology cooperation. The meeting jointly chaired by Dr Lee Morin, deputy assistant secretary for health, space and science US State Department, and Engr Shehryar Khan, joint technological advisor, ministry of science and technology, also discussed ways to further progress on the Pak-US agreement on science and technology signed on June 25, 2003.

The two countries agreed to enhance cooperation following the February 2002 Camp David meeting between President Pervez Musharraf and President George W Bush and subsequently through the June 2003 agreement the two countries established a legal framework to expand US-Pakistan cooperation for peaceful purposes between public and private entities from the US and Pakistani scientific communities.

Early efforts by Higher Education Commission chairman Dr Attaur Rahman and Dr Normen Neureiter, the then science advisor to US Secretary of State Colin Powell, laid the foundation for the programme of cooperation.


Meanwhile, the US delegation heading the two-day talks between the two countries also met early Wednesday Minister for Science & Technology Chaudhry Nouraiz Shakoor Khan to discuss mutual cooperation in science and technology. The two sides emphasized the important of S&T cooperation between the two countries in the backdrop of commitment to work together for peaceful use of science and technology that was reiterated at the highest level during the recent meeting between President Bush and President Pervez Musharraf in USA.

Ch Nouraiz said he was confident this programme of cooperation would grow from strength to strength and assist in furthering the friendly relations between the two countries.

Deputy Assistant Secretary Dr Lee Morin stressed that "the joint effort supports the key US policy objectives of broadening and strengthening the US-Pakistan relationship, as well as fostering economic growth and prosperity in both countries".


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Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
=====================================================

Dr Salam remembered on his 4th death anniversary

By Khalid Hasan

WASHINGTON: Dr Abdus Salam was remembered and tribute paid to his great achievements as a scientist, a visionary and a humanitarian at a meeting in Toronto last week.

Speakers from a range of disciplines spoke about Dr Salam, who died four years ago, describing him as someone of exceptional ability and commitment who had a vision for the future of his home country, Pakistan in particular, and the Muslims, in general.

Ziauddin Ahmed, who moderated the meeting organised by a local group, said in his opening remarks that if the Pakistan government and certain people had discriminated against or ignored Dr Salam, it was only evidence of their short-sightedness as it had deprived the country of the wisdom and knowledge of a true son of the soil. “He still lives in the hearts and minds of many people in Pakistan and beyond, and he has left behind a legacy in the form of scientific institutions, ironically, most of them outside the country he loved so much,” he added.

Zakaria Virk, author of a book on Dr Salam, the only Pakistani to have won a Nobel Prize, said the way this great son of Pakistan was treated brought to light something that was gravely wrong with the attitude and understanding of certain people in his country of origin.

He equated Dr Salam with the great storywriter Saadat Hasan Manto, none of whom had been officially owned. “Practically nothing is named after them, but they continue to inspire a lot of people with their work. They, each in his separate domain, have become immortal, and thereby earned true and lasting honour,” he added.

Khalid Sohail reflected on the many tragedies in Dr Salam’s life, adding that by far the biggest tragedy was that he loved Pakistan, a love that Pakistan never reciprocated. He also loved Muslims but many orthodox Muslims hated him, simply because of his religious beliefs. He called Salam a patriotic Pakistani scientist who once said, ”Pakistan is a country where religiosity and blind faith is more powerful than scientific and rational thinking and politically, where political and democratic institutions are subservient to the military.”

Ms presented a scientifically oriented narrative of Dr Salam’s work at different times in his life. Her detailed description of his scientific achievements was cheered as it added to the knowledge of students of science and career scientists who were present at the meeting. She said Dr Salam had spent every penny of his Nobel Prize money for the betterment of science in his home country, Pakistan. Ms Subuhi Ansari told the meeting that Dr Salam did not see any conflict between religious and scientific beliefs and actually equated a scientist with a mystic who explores and unlocks the mysteries of nature.

He firmly believed in “man’s moral state” and considered every man to be a “piece of the continent and a part of the main.”

During the question-answer session, a member of the audience wanted to know why Dr Salam did not question the declaration of the Ahmediyya community as non-Muslim through a suit in the International Court of Justice, to which Zakaria Virk said, “Dr Salam may not have considered it important, as it did not matter to him whether someone called him a Muslim or otherwise. For him it was a matter of personal belief.”
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Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
=====================================================

US explores new avenues in education field with Pakistan, Nancy Powell

ISLAMABAD: The Bush administration and USAID would continue to explore new avenues in the field of educational cooperation between the two countries and expressed their satisfaction with the pace and progress the Ministry of Education had made to uplift the education in the country.


This was said by the Ambassador of the United States of America to Pakistan Nancy Powell in a meeting with Federal Education Minister, Lt. Gen (R) Javed Ashraf Qazi.


The envoy appreciated the efforts of the present government and the ministry of education for making education accessible to all particularly in the far flung areas which were neglected in the past.


The ambassador said that the country would soon achieve all the Education for All targets, as was evident by the revolutionary steps being taken by the political and administrative bosses of the ministry.


The teacher-turned-diplomat told the minister for education that US would continue its assistance to the education sector of the country as the US Congress would likely to pass a financial bill amounting to US $ 200 million for the health and education sector. She termed the current educational cooperation between US and Pakistan as a pillar of bilateral relations.


Briefing the envoy, the minister said that his emphasis would be on the implementation strategy to ensure the proper implementation of the policies of his predecessor.


He told the ambassador that he would personally monitor all the educational uplift projects in the country and would urge both the international partners and the donor agencies including USAID to continue their support and assistance for Pakistan's education sector.


He also told the ambassador that all the International donors including UNICEF JAICA, DFID, and UNESCO and USAID etc are satisfied with the spending of grants and aid given to the Ministry of Education to disburse to different sectors including FATA.


Qazi also briefed the ambassador about the projects and plans evolved by the Ministry of Education, and their implementation down to the very grass root level. He told the ambassador that the present government is putting all it's effort to uplift the basic education in the country and to introduce new concepts in the system.


He told the ambassador that the current budgetary allocation to the education sector is a record in the history of the country. No government prior to 1999 had Faid attention for the uplift of the education in the country to such an extent. The credit goes to the present democratic government to assign a priority status to the education in the country.


He also briefed the ambassador about the steps taken by the government to eliminate child labor from all over the country, and bringing the out of school children to the primary schools. He said that under the Education Sector Reforms, the primary objective of the government is to make education accessible to all in the country.


Qazi further maintained that the donor agencies have also expressed their satisfaction over the distribution of funds and their utilization and appreciated a visible change in the present education system. While briefing the envoy the minister said that Pakistan would meet the target of Education for All till 2015, which will be a big achievement.


He also briefed the ambassador about the introduction of Human Rights education in the schools and establishment of science labs in the FATA schools. The envoy showed their interest to continue the cooperation by granting scholarships and other assistance packages to Pakistan in the field of education and appreciated the performance of Pakistani teachers who went to US for training.

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Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
=====================================================

Pakistani educators study at OSU

By OSU News Service

A program designed to encourage educational improvement and innovation in Pakistan, and begin breaking down cultural stereotypes in that country and in the United States, will begin this fall when a group of 18 rural Pakistani educators come to Oregon State University to study teacher education.

Two other groups of Pakistanis will study at OSU during winter and fall terms of 2005, and the program may be renewed for an additional three years. It is funded by a grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development to the Academy for Educational Development. OSU is one of three universities participating in the program, along with the University of Montana and George Mason University.

The first group will arrive on campus in mid-September, where they will begin meeting with OSU faculty and students, visiting Oregon schools, observing other forms of education through Extension programs and internships, and taking in local sights, from OSU's Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in Portland.


"One of the main goals of the program is to begin addressing the literacy rate in Pakistan, which is as low as 20 percent in rural areas," said Michael Dalton, assistant to the dean in OSU's School of Education and project co-director. "In some cases, they are training teachers to go into schools that are mud huts, with no electricity, where the students sit on cinder blocks and recite passages.

"There is no sense of scientific exploration and discovery, or examination of complex issues," he added. "We hope to help them broaden that approach to education."

Pakistani educators will be at OSU through mid-December, learning new ways to deliver science education to teachers in Pakistan's equivalent of grades kindergarten through eight. Additional groups of teacher educators specializing in English as a second language and math education are anticipated next year.

"One of the things we plan to do is introduce them to concepts like the Wildlife Stewards program in Extension, where students at local schools improve the habitat for birds and other wildlife on school grounds," Dalton pointed out. "It's a great way to introduce science and ecology lessons through hands-on, practical experience.'

OSU's School of Education is partnering with the university's English Language Institute on the grant. Language institute director Deborah Healey, who is co-director of the project with Dalton, said her organization will take the lead with the English language education component and facilitate many of the cultural opportunities for the Pakistanis.

"We'd like to explore some long-term relationships between OSU and Pakistani institutions and faculty," Healey said. "Real educational change and innovation come from sustained activity over time."

Sam Stern, dean of OSU's School of Education, has met with several administrators from Willamette Valley school districts who are excited about the possibility for cultural exchange with the Pakistani contingent.

"Islam is the fastest growing religion in the United States," Stern said, "yet we get hung up over stereotypes and really don't know very much about the people of Pakistan or the Middle East. One of the benefits I see of this program is to begin breaking down those stereotypes and getting to know the people."

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Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
=====================================================

Higher education will bring about revolution: Musharraf

KARACHI: President Pervez Musharraf said positive headway in higher education would bring about a revolution. “The progress was achieved because of Prof Attaur Rehman. Our educational institutions are our major non-government organisations and there is a need to make a centre for all learning,” he said.

The president was speaking at the inauguration of the Dr Panjwani Centre for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research (PCMD) at Karachi University (KU) on Monday. Higher Education Commission Chairman Prof Dr Rehman, KU Vice Chancellor Prof Peerzada Qasim and Prof Mohammed Iqbal Chaudhry also addressed the ceremony.

President Musharraf said Dr Rehman had been chosen to develop this vital sector because of his commitment to education. He said 1,500 people would be sent abroad for PhD degrees every year and that the government was increasing the budget for higher education though it had already been raised from Rs 800 million to Rs 9.1 billion. He said Dr Rehman would continue to enjoy the government’s support.

President Musharraf said that 60 percent of trade worldwide was in the engineering and industrial sectors, while “we here are merely growing grass”.

He said Muslims had once been outstanding in the scientific field, but now they had stopped learning. He said Pakistani madarassas educated children and gave them food and accommodation. However, there was a need to make them centres of proper learning, he said.

The president described PCMD as a vital achievement in higher education and said its establishment had an example for philanthropic people in the country.

Dr Rehman said a revolution in any country could only be brought through education. He said science and technology was the main difference between developed nations and the third world. He said that sending 1,500 people abroad every year for their PhDs would help create a large force of intellectuals in the country.

Prof Qasim said that the PCMD was another addition to higher education and research in KU. Acting Chief of the International Centre for Chemical Sciences Prof Choudhry pointed out the importance of institutions of higher education. He said development in higher education was inevitable. The head of Dr Panjwani Memorial Trust, Nadira Panjwani thanked President Musharraf for his attending the ceremony.

Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan, Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim and other personalities attended. app
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Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
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Where are we today? - By Dr Samiullah Koreshi

What was Quaid’s Pakistan can be a vast enquiry, so I will confine myself to only two aspects which are still relevant after 57 years of Pakistan’s existence, and are of an abiding nature. These are connected with the Muslim national urge, which motivated creation of Pakistan? which was to retain their ‘national identity’, and ‘retrieve their dignity and national respect’. During the long centuries of their rule, the Muslims and the Hindus coexisted as two cultural identities and peoples. The Muslim rulers everywhere adopted a tolerant system for the non-Muslims. They allowed Hindus to retain communal autonomy under their rajas. What greater proof there was than the fact that in an age when the sword was the final arbiter, when the Muslim rule came to an end the Muslims were in a minority in India, even in the seats of their power like Delhi, Agra, Lucknow, and Hyderabad.
The challenge to this coexistence of the Muslims came between the mid seventeenth century and the mid twentieth century, after the decline of their power resulting in the entry of foreign European rulers and Hindu Revivalism beginning with Shivaji and its later manifestations of the Arya Samaj and extreme Hindu movements. Suffice to say that it was not the loss of power that was the main problem but the possibility of loss of national identity. This period was also the era of Muslim decadence, social, educational and economic, partly because of the unofficial Hindu-English entente, and for various other reasons, but mainly because the English considered Muslims as rivals and eliminated them mercilessly after the so-called Mutiny of 1857-58.
Loss of identity and merger into Hindu social order were the two fears which haunted Muslims under the British-Hindu entente. The Muslims feared that they would be deprived of their culture and distinct values, and would lose their identity and become a subordinate people as a minority in a majority rule. Acceptance of the position of a subordinate ‘minority’ and merger in the Hindu Vedic values was not acceptable.
Out of this suppression of the Muslims there came three typical Muslim reactions: the rejectionists - which were mainly the religious leaders who thought it haram to cooperate with the British. Incidentally because of their animus towards the white ruler they mostly joined hands with the (Hindu-led) Congress. The second group - a tiny minority - lost Muslim identity and became copy cats of the Rulers. The third was that of the Reformers. In due course this last group occupied the main stage after its competition with the ‘Nationalist’ Muslims, the Congressites. These three groups continued to surface in all periods, and did not believe in Muslim identity, and still their remnants do not. They became exponents of alien values and cultures.
The first step the Muslims took to safeguard their identity was to ensure that Muslim educational system was in their own hands. Interestingly, this main stream of Muslim Political Movement began in early 20th century as “All India Muslim Educational Conference”, under Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, Viqar ul Mulk, Nawab Saleemullah of Dhaka (now in Bangladesh). These Muslims believed in modernization, acquisition of Western education, particularly science and technology, without losing their Muslim identity. This is why the educational movement converted itself into “All India Muslim League” on 30th December, 1906. I should like to emphasize that this main stream of Muslim Movement was based on a demand for education with a Muslim orientation. Aligarh Muslim University was the soul of this Movement, and it was replicated by many Muslim educational efforts like Islamia Colleges allover the Subcontinent. In Sindh it manifested itself in Sindh Madrasatul Islam.
The Muslim Movement was led and supported by the most elightened, most educated, culturally most advanced Muslim elite. It is funny if some half educated people now start speaking of enlightening the Muslims. as if they are making a Columbus-like social discovery for the Muslims. The core of Muslim leadership was more educated and far more qualified and had more concrete achievements in their line of specialization as compared to the present day Pakistani leadership, except for the imprisoned A Q Khan. There were, to name only a few, mathematical wizards like Sir Ziauddin Ahmed, Dr Raziuddin Siddiqui, Dr Omar Hayat Malik, chemistry wizards like Salimuzzan Siddiqui, an FRS, economists like Anwar Iqbal Qureshi, Latif Qureshi, and educationists like Dr I H Qureshi, just. These were all foreign educated with Oxford, Cambridge, Berlin, Guttenberg doctorates. Aligarh, Osmania University, Lahore and Calcutta were the think tanks of the Muslim League and their people spearheaded the Pakistan Movement. Among great educated ladies were Begum Ikramullah, a PhD from London in the 30s.
Students in the schools, colleges and universitys also spear headed the Pakistan Movement under Quaid-e-Azam’s leadership. What is now described as ‘seminaries’, a term used for Christian religious institutions, is in fact now applied for the madressahs which were with the Congress, that is originally it was the supporters of Gandhi and Nehru and not the Quaid or the Muslim League running and supporting the madressahs. The Muslim leadership of the time was fairly englightened.
Jinnah’s rise as a Muslim politician of note started with his espousal of Muslim Family Laws and emphasis on safeguarding Muslim national identity. After publication of the Nehru Report which presented a sketch of the future Indian Constitution, the Muslims met under the League banner to reject it in 1929 and an “All parties Muslim Conference” was held in 1929 - at which Jinnah ( then not titled the Quaid) presented the famous Fourteen Points for a coexistence between Muslims and Hindus. Its Point 11 read :” Adequate constitutional safeguards for the protection of Muslim culture, education, language, religion, personal laws and Muslim charitable institutions”. Retaining Muslim character of the education for the Muslims was the continuous theme of the Muslim demands right fromthe beginning of Muslim political action.
This point is important even today because now foreign interests are trying to play with our educational system as a step to subvert our national identity. Even if they succeeded at the official level they are not likely to succeed in subverting the Muslim character of the masses, especially if the Soviet suppression of Muslims over 70 years and their elimination of Muslim education from the mainstream did not succeed in their objective.
Next, the main theme of the movement led by the Quaid and for which he became the symbol of Muslim aspirations was his emphasis on separate Muslim national identity. Creation of Pakistan was not as a mere geographic state but as an ideological state however this word “ideology” bothers certain novo deviationists. Pakistan undoubtedly safeguards the rights of minorities. It was not conceived as a bigoted state or a uni-culture state. It was in this spirit that the Lahore Resolution of 1940 stated: “the adequate and mandatory safeguards should be specifically provided for the minorities. .. for the protection of the minorities for the protection of their religious, cultural, economic, political, administrative rights and interests in consultation with them.” Thus Pakistan Resolution provides for a pluralistic society in its own state structure. This however does not provide for a secular system in which religion is excluded from the state. The Mosque has a respectable place in it but state is not the Mosque. Mosque is not eliminated in the society by the state. Nor churches are to be prohibited or Christian schools and Missionary schools to be proscribed.
I might add that in Europe and the West secularism does not mean exclusion of the place of the Church from the Society. Anybody who had lived in the West knows this fact, but it need not be elaborated here. In Europe secularism is intended to keep peace between Catholics and Protestants. In the 19th century Protestants had burnt Catholic Churches and even Catholic Embassies in London. Secularism in the west does not mean elimination of the place of the Church from the society, nor is the clergy disrespected.
As to what is Pakistan today, there are some legitimate concerns about the attempts to change Pakistan’s basic orientation. In a way the Muslim support to the Quaid was the “Social Contract” between the leaders of Pakistan Movement and the Muslim masses. How funny, some maverick so-called historian has claimed that the Quaid was not supported by the majority of the Muslims. I was listening to a program on the ARY in which their Compere Dr Shahid Masood was interviewing a certain person who claimed to be a historian. I wish this so-called historian had remembered what Vallab Bhai Patel told Gandhiji to convince him to agree to Pakistan. Gandhiji had said he will not accept cutting of Bharat into two. Patel went to him and persuaded him to accept Pakistan. He told Gandhiji “ Today there is a Pakistan in every city, every locality and every village. Wherever there are Muslims and Hindus, there is a Pakistan”
The so-called ‘historian’ said that the majority of the Muslim areas were against the creation of Pakistan. He confused their Hindu dominated Provincial Governments with the people. He forgot that the Quaid organized people’s movement in Punjab to oust Khizar Hayat Khan and paralyzed the Khizar Government., that the Christian Speaker of the Punjab Assembly cast vote for joining the Punjab to Pakistan, that the Quaid appointed Pothan Joseph a Madrasi Christian as the first editor of the Dawn, the mouth piece of the Muslims, and that some Christians migrated to Pakistan from India during the great exodus in 1947-48.
Quaid’s Pakistan was a movement for national dignity and self respect. If it was not so, he would have compromised with the demand for a subordinate status for the Muslims in one Hindu-dominated nationalism. He wanted Pakistan to be a sovereign Muslim State and not a client state. As against this, there are many who believe that Pakistan has now become subservient to foreign powers If Ayub’s demand was for friends not masters we have come to the position where we have masters and not friends. This is the perception of the people rightly or wrongly, but it has gained ground.
Moreover, instead of becoming an Islamic welfare state Pakistan has become a heartless capitalist state and is becoming more and more so. It was to be a democratic state. The only country in the world whose cartography was carved by votes, referendums, decisions by provincial assemblies and jirgas is Pakistan. It is a pity that it has ceased to be a democratic state, and the country is factually run by Generals and for formality’s sake their decisions are rubber stamped by the assemblies.
Of course Pakistan was created so that we have a modern Muslim state competitive with others in science and technology, it was not to be a theocracy as was emphasised by the fathers of the nation right from its inception, it was to be forward looking but essentially Islamic in orientation. One has to have a look at Iqbal’s and Hali’s poetry and writings of Muslim scholars of the period of Muslim decadence to understand that these were the urges of the Muslims which guided their national objectives.
Perhaps this article may be concluded on the note that reformation is indeed a continuous process, and dynamism is part of the Islamic system but one might keep in view the limits from which reformation crosses into deviation from the goal. To be a reformationist is one thing and to be deviationist is another. Quaid was all for reformation but within the limits where one does not deviate from the basic aims and objectives of the State for which it was created.
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Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
=====================================================

PSM students organise science, art exhibition

By A Staff Reporter

MUSCAT — Adding an important event to the yearly calendar Pakistan School Muscat organised an impressive two-day Science and Art Exhibition at Dr A.Q. Khan Hall.

Khayyam Akbar, charge d’affaires at the Pakistan Embassy, who inaugurated the exhibition which ended yesterday, reviewed all the stalls. Principal Professor Wajahat Ashraf Qazi, school management members, embassy officials and parents were also present.

There were different categories of the science and arts projects. Students from KG to XII classes participated wholeheartedly in the exhibition. There were different stalls in art sections depicting Pakistani culture, villages, zoo, recycling of waste items, historical places, mosques and various other things.

The maximum contribution in art came from primary section students.

In science section there were many projects of physics like power plant, nuclear reactor, mechanical forces, chairlift, elevator, electrical puzzle, working model of water wheel, parallel and series combination circuits, security alarm, magnetic boats, radar and many more.

The chemistry section presented models of volcano, periodic table, electrolysis, electrolytes and non-electrolytes and presentation of different chemical reactions.

In biology section, there were many models and charts of kidney, heart, lungs, digestive system, brain and various other items.

In computing studies the effort of the students from class VII to XII was worth watching.

They designed different websites regarding Pakistan, Pakistan School, student profiles, Interactive Local Area Network games, inventory and sales database systems, animated greeting cards and many more.

In business sciences also there were some impressive stalls presented by the A Level Business Studies students.

Tiny tots of junior section from class I and II presented a beautiful animal life show in animal get-ups.

The chief guest expressed his happiness to see the participation of students and their confidence in such a creative activity.

Parents also visited the exhibition and appreciated the efforts of the students

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Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
=====================================================

Thursday, August 19, 2004

Machine-readable passports from September

Machine-readable passports from September
Reported by DAWN

ISLAMABAD, Aug 19: Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat told the National Assembly on Thursday that the government would start issuing machine-readable passports by mid-September.

"Even the United States would not have this by September," he said while replying to questions in the assembly. He said Pakistan would be among the first few countries to issue such passports.

The minister rejected the assertion of People's Party Parliamentarians MNA Naveed Qamar that biometric passports would be introduced as a technology of the future in a few years.

"Machine-readable passports are more advanced than biometrics, with appropriate security safeguards," said the minister. In a written response to a question by MNA Rana Asif Tauseef, Mr Hayat said computerized national identity card or B-form in the case of children would be required in addition to original passport fee deposit slip for the passport.

He said the data would be transcribed in a system after the fingerprints, signatures and photograph of the applicant are captured. After examination and interview by an assistant director, immigration and passports, a system-generated receipt would be issued for collection of the passport.

When MNA Liaquat Baloch questioned the need for examination and interview by an official when data on citizens was available with the National Database and Registration Authority, the minister said that under the Passport Act, no one except an assistant director, immigration, could issue the passport. He said the official could also be held accountable if anything went wrong in issuance of passports.

In reply to a question by Rana Asif Tauseef, the minister said his ministry had asked the government to approve a Rs2.4 billion package to revamp Islamabad police. He said the PC-1 of the project had been prepared and after its approval funding was likely to be made available in the financial year 2005-06.

He said a major chunk of the funds amounting to Rs800 million would be utilized for construction of police barracks and raising a new security force for very very important personalities. The minister informed the house that two police stations in the capital were established in private buildings.
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Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
=====================================================

HEC to set up seven libraries in Islamabad

HEC to set up seven libraries in Islamabad
Reported by DAWN
http://www.dawn.com/2004/08/20/nat17.htm

ISLAMABAD, Aug 19: Higher Education Commission (HEC) Chairman Dr Attaur Rehman on Thursday ordered establishment of seven libraries in different sectors of the federal capital.

The HEC and Capital Development Authority (CDA) have recently reached an agreement to set up seven libraries in Islamabad to provide the people with an easy access to the facility and to promote reading habit among the masses, officials sources in the HEC told Dawn.

The sectors where the libraries will be built in the first phase are: Markaz G-9, Markaz G-10, Markaz F-11, sectors F-10/2, F-8/2, I-8/3 and I-8/4. This will be the first phase of the project which in future will be extended, they said.

In response to the commission's initiative, CDA Chairman Kamran Lashari has already provided plots at various locations for the project. The libraries will also cater for the needs of children where they could spend time while reading books of their interests.

The HEC has also decided that the Islamabad library project would be developed as a model to be followed by other schemes in rest of urban centres in the country. Dr Ata has also requested the CDA chairman to provide more sites for establishment of libraries in other sectors in phase-II of the project. The HEC is of the view that each sector should have at least one library, the sources said.

The decision to launch the project has been taken to promote the reading habit amongst people as a first step towards improving education standard in the country. It has also been envisaged to invite people on voluntary basis to help in the effective operation and maintenance of the libraries in their respective sub-sectors as is done in the US.

According to an official statement on Thursday, Dr Ata, who is also in charge ministry of science and technology, has announced that planetariums would be set up in all the provinces for educational purposes.

The decision was taken after the HEC took over the control of PIA's planetarium in Karachi. The planetarium has been made part of the University of Karachi keeping in view its importance.

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Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
=====================================================

AIOU to establish research complex

AIOU to establish research complex
Reported by DAWN
http://www.dawn.com/2004/08/20/nat18.htm

ISLAMABAD, Aug 19: Allama Iqbal Open University plans to establish a research complex at a cost of Rs50 million to provide modern research facilities to the scientists. The university also plans to set up a council to widen the scope of distance learning.

This was stated by the AIOU vice-chancellor, Dr Altaf Hussain, while talking to this agency. "The university is playing a pivotal role in achieving the goal of 'education for all', human resources and women development," the vice-chancellor maintained.

Replying to a question, he said the university had started various IT programmes, including setting up of Attaur Rehman Research Complex (ARRC) at a cost of Rs50 million which would be completed by March next.

The ARRC would be made the world's most trust-worthy research complex like the Dr Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy. Modern research facilities in the fields of physics, chemistry and biology will be available in the proposed complex both for students as well as scientists.

The university has already imported research equipments and machinery of worth Rs50 million for the complex. Replying to another question regarding funding for the complex, he said it was being set up with the endowment fund of the university and no single penny had been demanded from the government.

"The endowment fund was Rs470 million, when I took charge as VC and now it has reached Rs1.002 billion", he added. Dr Hussain said the non-formal education system of the university should neither be ignored nor given less importance and more allocation should be made by the HEC to support its various important projects.

There was dire need of provision of land for its regional campuses in various cities, the VC exhorted, pointing out that at present most of the campuses are working in private rented houses and bungalows and the university is spending high amount on rent.

"Being one of the major universities of the world, it is unfortunate that its campuses are not on its own buildings and facing a lot of problems in this regard", he added.

He further said, we can construct multi-purpose building like the campus recently set up in Peshawar at a cost of Rs25 million. Dr Hussain also said that the education standard of the university was rising and an increase in the enrolment day by day shows a trust on the education system of the university by the people.

The university has not raised the fee and due to increase in the enrolment, the university is expected to collect Rs1 billion this year from the fees. Dr Hussain further informed that the university had started Ph.D, M.Phil and other science and technology programmes and hired experienced teachers, retired professors and scholars as teaching staff.

He said that the university was also working on a mission to further raise the education standard of distance learning and to bring it at par with the formal education system, so that the working people could get benefit from it.

He also said that a non-formal middle school programme had been initiated from Turbat, under which primary level education would be completed within six month, middle level within three years and the scope of this programme would spread across the country.

Giving detail of the future programmes of the university, he said that multi-purpose buildings were being planned to provide all the facilities to the students under one roof. A bridge is being constructed to link both parts of the university land with each other and spreading our system of education expeditiously, he concluded. -APP

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Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
=====================================================

WLL to revolutionize telecom sector: PTA

WLL to revolutionize telecom sector: PTA
Reported by DAWN
http://www.dawn.com/2004/08/20/nat16.htm

ISLAMABAD, Aug 19: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has completed the process of bidding for 14 telecom regions for the grant of Wireless Local Loop (WLL) licences with the conclusion of the auction of spectrum in Southern Telecom Region- V (STR-V) and Karachi Telecom Region (KTR) here on Thursday. According to a press release, the bidding for the 14 telecom regions for allocation of spectrum in 1.9 GHz, 450 MHz, 479 MHz and 3.5 GHz was likely to fetch investment to the tune of Rs14 billion and about 180 WLL licences were expected to be issued for operation in various regions. In his remarks, the PTA chairman Maj-Gen (retired) Shahzada Alam said the launching of WLL service in the country would bring a revolution in the telecom sector and the process would fetch huge investment. He said the completion of spectrum bidding was the culmination of the deregulation of telecom sector. He said WLL was the modern technology which best suited to the prevailing environment in Pakistan and the service would prove very useful in the rural areas. In the bidding of spectrum in 1.9 GHz in STR-V, one block was taken by the PTCL at the highest bid of Rs79 million while two other blocks were secured by Tele card and World Call. In the bidding for the spectrum of 450 MHz, both the carriers were won by DV Com at the highest bid of Rs32 million each. Only one block in the frequency of 479 MHz was available which was offered to World Call at the highest bid of Rs11 million. Seven blocks in the frequency of 3.5 GHz were available and one each was obtained by Tele card, DV Com, PTCL, World Call, Burraq Telecom, Warid WLL and Sachal Soft Tech at the base price of Rs58,000. Out of the three blocks in the KTR, the PTCL gave the highest bid of Rs1.204 billion for one block in the spectrum of 1.9 GHz while the other two blocks were allocated to Tele card and DV Com at the matching cost. In 450 MHz band, three carriers were available out of which two were allotted to World Call at the highest bid of Rs88 million for each carrier, while the third carrier was taken by Microtech links on the highest bid of Rs37 million for one block in the spectrum of 3.5 GHz, while six other blocks each were awarded to Tele card, DV Com, PTCL, Burraq Telecom, Warid WLL and Cyber Internet.

======================================================
Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
=====================================================