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."
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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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Sunday, October 31, 2004
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
=====================================================
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
=====================================================
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.
======================================================
Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
=====================================================
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.
======================================================
Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
=====================================================
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.
======================================================
Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
=====================================================
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.
======================================================
Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
=====================================================
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?
======================================================
Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
=====================================================
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?
======================================================
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".
======================================================
Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
=====================================================
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".
======================================================
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.”
======================================================
Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
=====================================================
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.”
======================================================
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.
======================================================
Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
=====================================================
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.
======================================================
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."
======================================================
Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
=====================================================
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."
======================================================
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
======================================================
Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
=====================================================
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
======================================================
Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
=====================================================
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.
======================================================
Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
=====================================================
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.
======================================================
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
======================================================
Copyright C. 2002 - 2004
Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
=====================================================
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
======================================================
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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