Technological breakthrough in country soon: Atta

ISLAMABAD: Minister Incharge for Science and Technology Dr Atta-ur-Rahman on Monday said efforts of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) and Higher Education Commission (HEC) would usher in a technological breakthrough in the country soon.

Inaugurating a five-day international seminar on "Urea Breath Test (UBT)," a convenient test for detection of peptic ulcer, jointly organised by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), PAEC and HEC, the minister said key to prosperity lies in ideas and technologies generated by an educated and trained human resource of a country. In this regard, he cited level of investment made by developed economies in the education programmes for their citizens.

Dr Atta paid tributes to the PAEC for its multidisciplinary research and development efforts towards economic development of the country and remarked PAEC’s contribution should be emulated.

The minister regretted the quality of university education in the country where only 190 PhDs. are being produced by all the institutions of the country put together as against 5,000 by India.

He was especially critical of higher training in engineering subjects, which are so vital for the industrial development and where only 5 to 6 PhDs are being produced.

Dr Atta said to give boost to the engineering discipline, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has arranged major endowments for engineering universities.

The government aims at producing 1,000 to 1,200 PhDs every year, he added.

Dr Atta, who is also Chairman HEC, said the local PhD programme is being strengthened for a competitive quality at par with their counterparts abroad, adding that attractive working environment/packages are being offered to lure back the Pakistani scientists working in other countries.

There are about 300 projects launched by the HEC for lifting the higher education qualitatively and quantitatively, he said.

The minister said as against a total outlay of Rs 800 million for Science and Technology some years before, an allocation of Rs 5,000 million exists at present and this is proposed to be raised to Rs 9,500 million in the coming budget.

Earlier, in his welcome address, Chairman PAEC, Parvez Butt appreciated the IAEA for its contribution towards development of the S&T sector in Pakistan. He said Pakistan is the second largest recipient of technical assistance from the IAEA, adding Pakistan is a regular participant in all IAEA’s activities and, therefore, a good receiver of IAEA aid.

Parvez said the PAEC is involved in minerals development, improvement of crops, nuclear energy, lasers, hydrology, human resource development and health-related projects.

The PAEC is operating 13 nuclear medical centres for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer-related diseases and five more cancer treatment centres are coming up, he said, adding more than 350,000 patients benefit from our cancer care facilities annually.

The chairman said the PAEC is also offering industrial support services in quality control, welding, design, and manufacturing for industrial growth and quality competitiveness.

He said in the wake of rising menace of Hepatitis, not enough is being done in the country to combat the disease and added that the PAEC would play its role in this regard.

Parvez said the Pinstech, a premier research institute of PAEC, has been recently awarded additional funds by the government to enhance its research output yet further.

To combat overuse of irrigation water and bring about economy in water use, the PAEC has developed a laser land leveller, which is in great demand by the farmers and fruit fly traps, which help avoid the use of insecticides.

Dr Rakhshanda Bilal, Coordinator of Urea Breath Test (UBT) project, explained the aims and objects of the seminar. She said the technical input of the project has brought down the cost of test for detection of peptic ulcer. The test facilities are available to public at NORI Hospital, Islamabad.

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