Thursday, November 01, 2007

Analysis of Mealybug attack using Agri Decision Support System (ADSS)

Dear colleagues and friends:

The emergence of Mealy bug as a cotton pest in Pakistan has taken many by surprise. However, there are not many studies using recent field data that can identify the varieties at risk, most effective pesticide groups, effect of weather etc.

The Agriculture Decision Support System (ADSS) developed at the FAST National University Islamabad and funded by the National ICT R&D Fund is geared to answer these questions; and more. The ADSS research report on Mealybug is freely available online, and can be
downloaded by visiting www.agroict.org

The following media sources can shed a brighter light upon this issue.

The NEWS
http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=76453

Daily DAWN
http://www.dawn.com/2007/10/18/ebr8.htm

Daily Business Recorder
www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=641013


Best regards


Ahsan Abdullah
PI ADSS

The Author initially posted this to the PakSEF Virtual S&T Think Tank (VSTTT).

Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2007

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

UET Alumni Mixer, Nov 3rd, 12pm

The UET Alumni Association of the Silicon Valley invites all UETians, and family of UETians to an informal mixer event on November 3rd. This is an opportunity to reconnect with old classmates and friends who reside in the San Francisco Bay Area. A delicious buffet lunch will be provided.

Host: UET Alumni Association of the Silicon Valley

Time: November 3rd, 2007 at 12pm

Venue: Chandni Restaurant
5748 Mowry School Road, Newark, Ca. 94560 [map it]

Registration: $15
[Click to register online]



Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006
PakSEF and Scitech Wire are trademarks of the Pakistan Science and
Engineering Foundation, a California based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

NEDians in the Silicon Valley!

On Saturday, September 8th, 2007, Silicon Valley was abuzz with NEDians.

The NED University of Engineering and Technology, based in Karachi, Pakistan, is alma mater to thousands of people, many of of whom reside in North America--and not a few here in Silicon Valley. The University was first established in 1921 as the Prince of Wales College. In 1942 the institution was renamed after a Parsee philanthropist named Nadirshaw Edulji Dinshaw.

Until 1977, when it became a university in its own right, it was affiliated with various universities, including Bombay University, Sindh University. and Karachi University, in successive periods before and after Pakistan's independence.

NED remains one of the oldest and best-known institutions of higher learning in Pakistan. A large number of highly successful alumni is a testament to its rich heritage.

The first link below is an audio recording of Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy's keynote speech at the banquet in the evening. Professor Hoodbhoy spoke on The Power of Ideas. One of the conference attendees, Ali Hasan Cemendtaur, described it as "a brilliant speech given in a soft tone that would make you fall madly in love with Hoodbhoy's scholarship."

The video below, also produced and edited by Cemendtaur, shows highlights from the whole day's events.

You can follow more pictures, videos, and discuss the events at NED Nama, the NEDians' blog: http://NEDians.org/blog








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ScitechWire is a Trademark of the Pakistan Science and Engineering Foundation

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

[Article of the Month] Science and the Islamic World

Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy has been a faculty member at the Quaid-e-Azam University since 1973. In 1984 he received the Abdus Salam Prize for mathematics and is the author of 65 scientific research papers.

He recently authored an article published in the Physics Today monthly, Science and the Islamic World - A Quest for rapprochement. Here Dr Hoodbhoy discusses the past, present and prospective future for the development of Scientific thought in the Muslim World.









Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2007
ScitechWire is a Trademark of the Pakistan Science and Engineering Foundation

Science Ka Adda

The Science and Ethics of Stem Cells: Film Screening and Discussion on 29th August 2007

Discover what Stem Cells are and why they’re so important to medical science and so controversial to religionists. Is it ethical to tinker with potential life to generate embryonic stem cells? ‘Frankenstein science’ or hope for a cure?

Join us at T2F’s third Science Ka Adda as we screen a documentary and discuss the science and ethics of stem cells with Biologist Dr. Ather Enam and Medical Ethicist Dr. Aasim Ahmad.

Dr. Ather Enam is Head of Neurosurgery and Associate Professor, Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences at the Aga Khan University. His research interests include stem cell transplantation for neurological problems and regeneration of spinal cord injuries. Dr. Enam obtained a Ph.D. in Neurosciences from Northwestern University in 1991. In addition to several awards and fellowships, he received the Excellence Award in Neurosurgery by the Pakistan Society of Neurosurgeons in 2004.

Dr. Aasim Ahmad is Dean and Chief Nephrologist at The Kidney Centre as well as an Honorary Senior Lecturer in Bioethics at the Aga Khan University. In 2003, he obtained a Masters in Bioethics from University of Toronto. His main areas of interest are bioethics capacity building, research ethics and bioethics education. Dr. Ahmad serves on a number of bioethical committees and organizations; including as Chairperson of the Bioethics Group at the Aga Khan University and as member of the National Bioethics Committee.

Date: Wednesday, 29th August 2007

Time: 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

Entry Fee: Rs. 100

Venue: The Second Floor
6-C, Prime Point Building, Phase 7, Khayaban-e-Ittehad, DHA, Karachi
Phone: 538-9273 | 0300-823-0276 | info@t2f.biz
Map: http://www.t2f.biz/location

Seats are limited and will be available on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.



Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Cyclone Relief: Appeal for donations

On June 23rd and 24th, 2007, coastal areas of Pakistan were hit by tropical cyclone Yemyin, packing winds of up to 80 miles per hour (130 kmph) roared over the Arabian Sea to the south of Karachi and hit the coast of the southwestern province of Baluchistan, dumping torrential rain over Balochistan and Sindh provinces. The torrential rains and flash floods have played havoc in these areas and numbers of casualties is rising day after day. Besides that flash floods and torrential rains in parts of NWFP had a devastating affect on the local population as well.


An estimated 1.2 million people across Sindh, Balochistan and NWFP have become homeless and have been badly affected. In Balochistan alone the toll of affected people has reached an estimated number of 0.8 million.


Worst Affected Kech (Turbat), Gawadar, Jhal Magasi,

Naseerabad/Jaffarabad, Sibi, Bola and Thatta

Badly Affected Kharan, Washik, Noshki, Khuzdar and Swat

Partially Affected Mustung, Dalbandin, Qila Abdullah and Kalat

There is a sever shortage of food, medicine, shelter. PakSEF encourages you to donate generously to one of the named organizations below. Or you may also donate to PakSEFs Relief Fund, funds will accordingly distribute the funds to one of the names charities.

SPO Pakistan, is operating in all the above mentioned districts through approximately 350 partner organizations and 16 Civil Society Networks (CSNs). Currently, SPO operations for relief are being managed through SPO field offices situated in Kech (Turbat), Naseerabad and Sibi, whereas, Hyderabad, Karachi, Quetta, Peshawar and Islamabad offices are undertaking planning, networking and coordination activities. (Donations can be made directly via bank draft, or you may also make a donation directly to PakSEF Cyclone campaign which is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization registered in the United States. PakSEF will accordingly forward the funds to SPO Pakistan.)

Hidaya Foundation, Hidaya’s response has been swift; from the strength of 50 Hidaya employees in Pakistan, 80% are involved in the relief effort. As of July 19: Over 249+ metric tons have been purchased and are being distributed costing approx. $240,000+.

Click to donate to the PakSEF Relief Campaign:





Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2007

Friday, May 18, 2007

Protest - GST imposed on IT equipment

Pakistan Computer Association (PCA)

Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan (ISPAK)

Computer Society of Pakistan (CSP)

cordially invite you to join a

Peaceful Protest

to express rejection of the IT industry

on imposition of General Sales Tax (GST) on

Computers and Networking Equipment

and to demand with drawl of GST in Budget 2007-07

22 May 2007, Tuesday at 2:30 pm (sharp) in

front of CBR, Constitution Avenue, Islamabad

Come one - come all to express solidarity and to demand repeal of oppressive taxes on computers and networking equipment in a country where no tax is charged on billion dollar properties, palaces and agricultural landholding while educational and research tools are heavily axed and taxed.

Professionals from IT industry, IT education, call centers, software houses, computer vendors and ISPs will join the protest.

Your half an hour of time can save future of our IT industry

www.pakcomputerassociation.com www.ispak.com.pk www.csp.org.pk



Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

Monday, May 07, 2007

Magnetic Resonance - Lecture @ KSS, Lahore | May 9th

Speaker: Dr. Sabieh Anwar, Assistant Professor, Physics,
School of Science and Engineering, LUMS

Day and date: Wednesday, 9 May, 2007

Time: 11 am

Venue: Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Punjab
University, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore 54590

Abstract:

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a technique that exploits the spin of certain nuclei to obtain a tell-tale signatures of the molecules. This technique finds immense use in diagnostic imaging of human tissue. We will explore the origins of the NMR effect. In addition to its medical uses, we will also address other novel and esoteric applications, such as quantum computing, low-field NMR, explosives detection, polymer and foodstuff characterization, single-cell and
nano particle MRI.

For information contact: info@khwarzimic.org


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Scitechwire and PakSEF are trademarks of the Pakistan Science and Engineering Foundation

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Silicon Valley Pakistanis - NED to NASDAQ !




On Wednesday morning, May 2, 2007, Cavium Networks (CAVM) was listed on the NASDAQ, the stock exchange of choice for tech companies in the US, listed a graduate of the NED University in Karachi as the founder. Given the diversity of the US and especially the tech sector, that might sound like an everyday occurrence. But a search of EDGAR, the electronic filing system of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), shows that this is a first-of-its-kind event. It seems that M. Raghib Hussain, who graduated from NED with a Computer Systems Engineering degree in 1993/94 is the first founder of a public corporation in the US to list NED in his profile.

And this is not just any Initial Public Offering (IPO). Red Herring, a popular magazine in the business community, says "Cavium Networks ... is deemed by many as the `pick of the week',” describing the company as "a supplier of integrated semiconductor processors to “triple play” mavens such as Aruba Networks," that caters to clients whose networking equipment delivers “triple play” packages of voice, video, and data services at high speeds. Cavium is known," the magazine's IPO Watch column continues, "for its fast and secure system-on-chip processors.
Its customer list is a “Who’s Who” in tech with names such as Cisco, IBM, and Samsung."

And here is Red Herring's take on Cavium's prospects: "Formed in 2000, Cavium has reported an accumulated deficit of $61.9 million. But its days of gushing red ink may soon be over. Consider its first quarter: for the three months ending March 31, Cavium Networks reported revenues of $11.1 million--up 58.6 percent from $7 million for the same period a year ago. Cavium also cut its net loss sharply to $997,000 for that three-month period, down from $3 million a year ago. That’s the kind of numbers story that attracts attention on Wall Street."

Cavium Networks is a story about NEDians and Karchiites who attended Pakistani educational institutions and are making it to the top of their game. From the corridors of NED University to Wall Street.

Cavium Team (L-R): Amer Haider, Imran Badr, Raghib Hussain

As mentioned above, the company was started by M. Raghib Hussain and a colleague in 2000. He was soon joined by fellow NEDians Amer Haider, who started and set up the marketing department and Imran Badr, who started the software department.

Raghib, currently the company's Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and VP for Software Engineering, attended Delhi College and then NED Engineering University, graduating as mentioned above, in 1993-94, with a BE in Computer Systems. He started his career working at Zelin (Pvt.) Ltd., and then ITIM Associates in Karachi. Prior to Cavium Networks, Raghib has held senior technical roles in several startups and large organizations in Silicon Valley, including Cisco Systems. Raghib was a founding team member of VPNet (acquired by Avaya), where he was a key contributor in the design of the first commercial IPSecased VPN (VirtualPrivate Network) gateway. IPsec VPN Gateways become popular means of deploying security in enterprise and are widely used world wide today. At Cavium, Raghib was the key architect of Nitrox product family which is the leading security processor family in the industry today with most comprehensive security algorithms and low to highest performance scalable solution. Raghib was also a major contributor in Octeon multi-core processor family which provides highest performance per watt and per dollar for networking and communication industry. Along the way, Raghib has also earned an MS in Computer Engineering from San Jose State
University.

Amer Haider, currently Director of Strategic Marketing and Ecosystem Development, attended D.J Science college and graduated from NED University in 1995 with a bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering. He also started his technical and management career in Karachi with Wavetech and
other local concerns. He has been the backbone of Cavium's strategic and marketing efforts from the beginning, initially working alone and setting up the brand and products in the market and, in his current role, building partnerships with other technical players globally.

Imran Badr, currently Lead Software Architect, attended Malir Cantt College and graduated from NED University the same year as Amer, with a degree in Electrical Engineering. Imran Worked in Karachi for 4 years with local companies and Reuters before moving to Silicon Valley . Working on the design and architecture of the software for Cavium products, Imran has played a key role in the success of Cavium's products.

Along the way, the three original NEDian team members have been joined by others; specifically Faisal Masood and Syed Saadullah Hussain in Software, and Sabahat Ashraf in Technical Documentation.

CORPORATE DETAILS:

Cavium Networks a company based in Mountain View, California, plans for an IPO on NASDAQ under the ticker "CAVM". Cavium Networks plans to offer 6.25 million shares to the general public at $13.50, for an initial market capitalization of $566.7 million. The IPO is to start trading on Wednesday May 2, 2007.

Formed in November 2000, Cavium Networks has about 177 employees.

Underwriters: Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers are the joint-lead managers. Acting as co-managers are Thomas Weisel Partners, Needham, and JPM Securities

RELEVANT LINKS:

Information on Cavium Networks SEC filing
Cavium Networks official Home page
Founder Raghib Hussain's bio from IEEE Keynote speech
Hot Chips - Red Herring May Issue
San Jose Mercury Report
Venture Beat News Wire
All-Things-Pakistan Report by Owais Mughal


Acknowledgment: A special thanks to ifaqeer who provided the background information.


Copyright (c) PakSEF 2002 - 2007
PakSEF & ScitechWire are trademarks of the Pakistan Science and Engineering Foundation

Saturday, April 28, 2007

Plagiarizism - A Kala dhubba on Pakistani Academia

This is a video by Bruce Schneider, whose paper was plagiarized. This is from a security conference called CRYPTO.



Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2007
PakSEF and ScitechWire are trademarks of the Pakistan Science and Engineering Foundation

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Technology versus Humanity

For a while now, I have been wondering about the moral responsibility of people like us, who work in the tech industry here in the Bay Area for human rights abuses enabled by our products. Here's the first real effort I have seen to put some legal and real shape to the concerns:

Yahoo! sued over torture of Chinese dissident
Chinese political prisoner sues Yahoo! in a US federal court in what is believed to be first case of its kind
Rhys Blakely

A Chinese political prisoner sued Yahoo! in a US federal court, accusing the internet company of helping the Chinese government torture him by providing information that led to his arrest.
The suit, filed under the Alien Tort Claims Act and the Torture Victims Protection Act, is believed to be the first of its kind made against an American internet company.
More here....

One of the few stories I have seen in this regard was:

Gag Orders
Is the work of Cisco Systems and other high-tech companies helping China to crack down on dissent?
By DK Sweet
EARLIER this year, on CNBC, business news junkies were treated to another superlative on-camera performance by one of America's foremost business superstars. Donald Trump may best personify the cheesy pop-culture idea of a celebrity businessman, but to the stockholder class, Cisco Systems' John Chambers is the Real Deal. Compare the income, size, growth and influence of international Internet infrastructure colossus Cisco to The Donald's twice-bankrupt real estate empire and Trump might as well be Chambers' pool boy.
More here...

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Pakistan's wetter weather linked to global warming

New data from millennium-long tree-ring analyses are indicating that mountains in northern Pakistan have grown significantly wetter over the past century than they have been over the last millennium — quite possibly due to human-induced global warming, the researchers say.

In the Karakorum and Himalaya mountains in northern Pakistan, the upper reaches of the Indus Valley (which supplies the world's largest irrigation network), a group of researchers collected samples of Juniper tree rings that dated back as far as A.D. 828. "Tree rings can tell a lot about precipitation changes over time," such as how much precipitation fell and whether it fell in the form of rain or snow, says Kerstin Treydte of the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL in Birmensdorf, Switzerland, and lead author of the study in today's Nature.

Treydte's team measured the oxygen isotope ratio in the rings and found that most of the precipitation in the region fell as snow, which they expected given the high elevations. And over the last 1,100 years, the hydrologic cycle there intensified at an unprecedented rate, Treydte says. The team suggests that the precipitation increases aren't just temporary changes, and the increases may be too great to be due to natural variability.

New isotopic research on the rings of 1,172-year-old Juniper trees in the mountains of northern Pakistan is revealing that the 20th century was the wettest century of the past millennium, possibly due to human-induced global warming. Image is courtesy of Kerstin Treydte.

The tree rings revealed periods of wetter-than-normal weather that lasted about a decade, such as around the years 1200, 1350, 1500 and 1870, and drier periods around 1270, 1420, 1600 and 1720, the team reported. In the 1790s and 1890s, the tree ring record showed severe droughts, which correlate with historical records of drought and famines in India. The data collected from the tree rings also roughly corresponds to historical records of extreme weather in other parts of the world, Treydte and colleagues wrote.

"But what is most significant, Treydte says, is "a cluster of peak precipitation periods during the late 19th and 20th centuries" that are at the upper limits of what the data show for the last 1,100 years. Furthermore, "we have empirical evidence that precipitation increased as temperatures increased," she says.

Increasing global temperatures over the past 150 years are "at least partly" the result of "the increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gases during this time," the team wrote. "We're not atmospheric scientists," Treydte says, "so we're not going to argue that the increasing precipitation is directly caused by a carbon dioxide increase" in the atmosphere. "What we will say, is that at the same time as the Industrial Revolution began, [carbon dioxide] increased, and there was a coincidental increase in precipitation — so there could be a human role," she says.

One of the biggest uncertainties in predicting climate change involves the hydrologic cycle — both "the net effect of water in the climate system and the way in which water will be redistributed over the surface of the planet," wrote Michael Evans of the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at the University of Arizona in Tucson in an accompanying commentary also in today's Nature. Understanding the hydrologic cycle and how it might be affected by warming temperatures is complex (see Geotimes, March 2006).

But research indicates that warming temperatures can lead to increases in the moisture-holding capacity of the atmosphere, altering the hydrologic cycle and characteristics of precipitation events, including the frequency, amount, intensity and duration, Treydte and colleagues wrote. And Treydte's team's "compelling" results roughly match climate models' predictions for the hydrologic cycle's intensity, Evans wrote, which adds further support to the researchers' hypothesized link between certain climate change effects and increases in greenhouse gas emissions. Such a link would certainly help improve confidence in climate models, he wrote.

Still, Evans noted, correlating anthropogenic climate change with the hydrologic cycle is tricky, as many factors must go into the models, and many uncertainties remain. Although this is the first tree-ring isotope record that is longer than a couple hundred years, more research is necessary. A denser network of precipitation gauges, for example, would help researchers distinguish natural variability from human-induced climate change, he wrote. "All of these advances will assist in the crucial work of climate-change detection and attribution."

[Article cross-posted from GeoTimes]

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ScitechWire is a trademark of the Pakistan Science and Engineering Foundation
A non-profit 501(c)(3) California based organization

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

City’s plants struggle to stay green due to smog: study

KARACHI: Air pollution in the city has caused a 60 percent increase in various diseases and has damaged the natural ability of plants to release oxygen, stated a report prepared by the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) after a survey of 28 of Karachi’s main arteries.

Five scientists, two engineers and other technical staff studied air and noise conditions by using two mobile laboratories. They tested shopkeepers and pedestrians and took blood samples of drivers and traffic policemen, which were later tested at Liaquat National Hospital.

“Cancer and other diseases of the ear, throat and lungs have increased by 60 percent, due to the smoke emitted by vehicles, which is basically a form of carbon dioxide,” the report said.

Air pollution and high-rise buildings have damaged the greenery of Karachi by blocking proper sunlight for plants. “Air pollution has altered plant colouring by making it blackish. Leaves have also shrunk. Buildings are affected as there is a thick layer of oil and dust on their entire structure,” said the report.

Air pollution is much higher than the standards set by the World Health Organization and the World Bank, especially along the stretch of MA Jinnah Road between Tibet Center Saddar and Mereweather Tower.

The SUPARCO team has asked the relevant officials to impose a ban on diesel vehicles and garbage burning. In addition, two-stroke rickshaws should be replaced with four-stroke ones.

The team pointed out that Karachi’s roads were planned for 750 vehicles in an hour, but were being used by 11,000 vehicles.

Dr Qaiser Sajjad, an ENT surgeon at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and secretary of the Pakistan Medical Association, said that children were the worst affected by air pollution. He added that the high court had taken a suo moto action by ordering the authorities concerned to eradicate pollution in three months. However, the government had as yet not taken this matter seriously.

“If the government does not take the necessary steps, then in the coming five years the situation will become uncontrollable,” he said. ppi/DailyTimes



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ScitechWire and PakSEF are trademark of the Pakistan Science & Engineering Foundation

Saturday, March 31, 2007

Prof. Abdus Salaam...A co-founder of High Energy Physics [HEP]

Abdus Salam was born in Jhang in 1926. At the age of 14, he got the highest marks ever recorded for the Matriculation Examination in Punjab. The whole town turned out to welcome him. He won a scholarship to Government College, Lahore, and took his MA in 1946. In the same year he was awarded a scholarship to St. John’s College, Cambridge, where he took a BA (honours) with a double First in mathematics and physics in 1949. In 1950 he received the Smith’s Prize from Cambridge University for the most outstanding pre-doctoral contribution to physics. He also obtained a PhD in theoretical physics at Cambridge; his thesis, published in 1951, contained fundamental work in quantum electrodynamics which had already gained him an international reputation. [Click to Read More]







Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2007
ScitechWire is a trademark of the Pakistan Science and Engineering Foundation
A California based non-profit organization registered under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Pakistan has leapt to the forefront of IT training for women

The role of women in plugging IT skills gap has been given a boost in one of the world's most important developing regions.

Pakistan, the sixth most populous country in the world and second most populous Muslim country worldwide, has leapt to the forefront of IT training for women with the opening of a women-only Cisco® Networking Academy® Program Regional Academy in Lahore, the country's second city.

Women-only Local Academies have previously been launched, and still operate, in countries such as Togo and Saudi Arabia.

But what makes the Lahore initiative special is that it is a Regional Academy: in other words, one tasked with providing support and training for Local Academies in the region.

The Lahore College for Women University (LCWU) started operating as a Regional Academy in May this year, adding to its already considerable reputation as one of the oldest female institutions in Pakistan.

It first opened its doors to students in 1922 and today it has more than 6,500 women enrolled on intermediate, degree and postgraduate courses.

The addition of Networking Academy program training is highly significant given the growing IT skills shortage faced by the country.

[To Read on visit News@Cisco]



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ScitechWire is a trademark of the Pakistan Science and Engineering Foundation
A non-profit organization in California, registered under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code

Monday, March 26, 2007

Conference on Language and Technology

The fields of linguistics and computational linguistics are very important. Throughout the world there are hundreds of institutes offering degrees in these disciplines and people are doing research for their languages.

Unfortunately, the importance of these disciplines is not realized (as it should have been) in Pakistan. Research in this area is mostly limited to individual efforts that need to be transformed into institutionalization. The conference is an effort to educate the masses and the decision making authorities to realize the importance of these extremely needed disciplines especially in this modern age of computers

Venue: Bara Gali Summer Campus, University of Peshawar, N.W.F.P., Pakistan
Dates: August 7 - 11th, 2007

Click to register


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ScitechWire is a trademark of the Pakistan Science & Engineering Foundation
A California based non-profit organization registered under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue code

Monday, March 19, 2007

[PakSEF-VSTTT] Internet censorship

[The following article was initially posted to the AOPP pakeditor mailer by Adnan Gill. Later cross posted to the PakSEF Virtual S&T Think Tank.]

This is issue about internet censorship is an issue of concern. The internet is a one of the few mediums which has revolutionized the world, bring peoples from various regions closer together, exposing people in remote parts of the globe to novel ideas, bringing about constructive social change, providing University level education to peoples who once couldn't even fathom attending a prestigious College or University.

The internet has indeed opened up many doors where people can benefit and grow themselves, however this internet revolution is threatened by various authorities (both government and private) who try to control the flow of information to their constituents.

AR Rafiq
PakSEF, www.paksef.org
Kindling the flame of Science & Innovation...

Adnan Gill wrote:

WHILE the global uproar over the government’s recent attempts at gagging the mainstream media in Pakistan may lead it to a hands-off-the-media policy for now, it brings little relief to those nationalist media organs and groups whose websites continue to be blocked. Dozens of internet blogs and sites run by Baloch, Sindhi and even smaller ethnic groups continue to face the ban, with internet service providers forced by the government to apply filters to block their viewing in the country. While the initiated internet users know how to circumvent the ban via a third domain, it is the blocking of direct access to a particular blog or a socio-economic and political forum which presents the government and the country in equally bad light as do attempts to gag the popular media. The internet is a common cyberspace shared by users globally; there are innumerable sites run by rights activists which provide lists of the websites banned by a given government. Gen Musharraf’s has the dubious distinction of being listed among the world’s most xenophobic regimes censured for curtailing people’s access to information.

That this has been happening for months with media organs representing Pakistan’s smaller ethnic communities which do not find a voice in the mainstream media is all the more reprehensible. It is good that now when the national media and civil society are rallying behind the cause of the freedom of the press, the Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement has also decided to take part in the multi-party conference called by the PML-N in London later this week. This will provide the nationalist leaders a wider platform from which to voice their grievances and become part of the mainstream opposition to press the government for greater civil liberties and for enforcing the rule of law.


http://www.dawn.com/2007/03/19/ed.htm#3

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Friday, March 16, 2007

Harbour pollution costs navy $1B a year

ISLAMABAD, March 15: Severe pollution in Karachi harbour, caused by untreated industrial affluent and municipal waste, is not only taking its toll on marine life and civilian population but also causing $1 billion worth of losses to Pakistan Navy (PN) every year.

All the navy platforms including surface ships, fleet tankers, mine hunters and missile boats berthed at Karachi’s upper harbour and PN Dockyard had been severely damaged by the seawater, the composition of which has changed for the worst due to unbridled pollution in recent years, Commander PN Rear Admiral Mehmood Ahmed Khan told the Senate Standing Committee on Defence here on Thursday.

He expressed fears that some of the vital PN assets would not be available to it at ‘crucial times’ if the low conductivity and increased chloride and sulphate in seawater continued to inflict damages.

He said Indian navy had the edge to move from east to west and south while the PN was mainly dependent on the Karachi harbour.

“This is indicative of losses. If we count on other variables, the losses can be in billions and billions of dollars,” Secretary Defence Tariq Wasim Ghazi said, expressing concerns that the pollution could damage the defence capability of not only the PN but the PAF as well.

Air Vice Marshall Rao Qamar Sulaiman said the failure of the Ministry of Environment as well as provincial and city governments to implement the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, 1997 in letter and in spirit had converted Karachi into one of the most polluted cities of the region.

He said Karachi was a strategic target for the enemy due to its industrial and commercial importance. He feared that due to air pollution, the PAF could face sever difficulties in defending this vital city in times of wars.

He said due to solid waste, industrial affluent and illegal mushrooming of slaughter houses and poultry farms, the Karachi skyline was full of smoke and big birds. The PAF had lost 10 aircraft and three pilots since 1985 in some 3,500 accidents caused by birds, he said, adding that in financial terms, the air force suffered losses to the tune of $200 million due to damage to its aircraft.

Senators Dilawar Hussain and Prof Khurshid Ahmed described as ‘shameful’ and ‘horrible’ the air and water pollution in Karachi and their damages to the national defence capabilities, marine life and civilians.

The committee also formed a taskforce that would complete recommendations for checking environmental degradation in Karachi and its harbour. The taskforce will hold its meeting next week and complete recommendations within two months. Cases against the industries and authorities responsible for pollution in Karachi would also be filed by the PAF and the PN in environmental tribunals.

The committee and defence ministry asked for a complete damage assessment survey of the pollution in Karachi. It feared that the real picture could be even more gruesome and the damages beyond thinking.

Minister of State for Environment Malik Ameen Aslam Khan drew the attention of the committee towards a recent World Bank report that stated that every year the losses caused to Pakistan by pollution were equivalent to 3-5 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“This is alarming for a country which has a GDP growth of just 7 per cent,” Mr Khan said, expressing resentment over the performance of the Pakistan Environment Protection Agency. He said the government was facing losses worth billions of dollars every year due to its inability to spend just millions of rupees for controlling pollution.

According to PN officials, the National Environmental Coordination Committee (NECC) had been formed in September 2001 after the abolition of the Marine Pollution Control Board (MPCB).

Reported by By Sher Baz Khan for DAWN


Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2007
ScitechWire is a trademark of the Pakistan Science and Engineering Foundation
A non-profit professional organization serving the Science and Technology profession

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Call for Nominations: Dean LUMS School of Business, Lahore, Pakistan

The Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) invites nominations for the Dean of its flagship Suleman Dawood School of Business (SDB).

SDB is recognized as one of the most prestigious Business schools in Pakistan and one of the leading management development institutions in the region, with particular strength in case-based teaching.The school has well-established academic programmes at the graduate (MBA and EMBA) and the undergraduate (BSc Account and Finance) levels. In addition, it has a highly regarded executive education portfolio. The School aims to launch a world class PhD programme in the near future. With a track record of nearly 20 years, SDB has recently received a substantial endowment that provides it the opportunity to embark on a major expansion.

As the administrative head of the School of Business, the position offers a unique opportunity for personal and institutional impact. The Dean will have the opportunity and the support to lead the School to a position of prominence in the region by fostering strong research capabilities, increased teaching excellence and greater internationalization. The successful candidate will bring a proven track record of leadership in management or related academic disciplines, a broad awareness of conditions shaping higher education, excellent interpersonal skills, demonstrable success in recruiting and retaining outstanding faculty and good networking ability both locally and internationally. Outstanding business leaders are also encouraged to apply.

The appointment is for an initial three year term beginning July 1, 2007 or on a mutually agreed upon date. All submissions will be reviewed on an ongoing basis, starting March 25, 2007 and will be accepted until the position is filed. Nominations and applications including resume should be sent to:

Dean Search Committee,
Suleman Dawood School of Business
Office of Vice Chancellor, Lahore University of Management Sciences,
D.H.A., Lahore Cantt. 54792, Lahore, Pakistan
Voice: +92 42 5722670-9 Fax: +92 42 5722592
Email: sdsbdeansearch@lums.edu.pk URL: http://www.lums.edu.pk


Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2007
ScitechWire is a trademark of the Pakistan Science and Engineering Foundation
A non-profit professional organization serving the Science and Technology profession

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Pakistan to export world’s largest sugarcane crushing mill to USA

Islamabad: Pakistan will make history on Saturday by exporting one of the world’s largest sugarcane crushing mill, SKODA 55"x95"x 4 to Louisiana, USA.

It has been manufactured by Qadbros Engineering, a private sector company at Lahore, which has specialized in manufacturing of bigger sugar mills. Besides being the leading manufacturer for most of the 85 sugar factories within the country, QADBROS ENGINEERING has , for the last 5 years, been exporting heavy plant & equipment for sugarcane crushing to customers spread over five continents of the world including North America , Central & Latin America, Africa, Europe and South East Asia .

The rapidly intensifying energy crisis that grips the world today has generated tremendous worldwide interest in renewable sources of energy. One of the major sources of renewable energy is the world’s cane processing & distillation industry which produces ethanol as a by-product or as its main product.

Accordingly, the world’s cane processing & distillation industry is witnessing an upheaval in terms of new capacity addition. With Brazil leading the increase in sugarcane crushing & distillation capacity worldwide, this scenario has led to an unprecedented increase in the demand for cane crushing plant & equipment. According to a conservative estimate, the world’s sugarcane crushing capacity will have increased by more than 200 million tons by the year 2012.

This tremendous increase in the demand for cane sugar factory plant & equipment is shaping up at a time when most of the few remaining recognized European, American and Australian manufacturers of sugarcane crushing plant & equipment have closed shop thanks to long years of recession within the world cane sugar industry resulting from depressed sugar prices, high cost of heavy equipment manufacture, and environment issues confronting the metallurgical foundry sector in the west. Over the years, that situation forced the world’s major cane sugar eqpt. manufacturers & technology companies to seek technology partnership with Asian manufacturers .

Mr. Jahangir Khan Tareen, Federal Minister for Industries, Production and Special Initiatives will be the chief guest on the unveiling ceremony arranged by the manufacturer. Senior government officers including State Bank Governor, Chairman, CBR, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, Federal Secretary, Industries, Production and Special Initiatives, Chief Executive Officer, Engineering Development Board (EDB), foreign diplomats, leading engineering sector manufacturers, and prominent figures of sugar sector are expected to attend the ceremony.

It may be recalled that Engineering Development Board has a leading role in development of the company to achieve the landmark as it was exposed to international market for first time in 2005 by taking to Hannover Fair. Since then the company has been marching on the road of progress and supporting hand holding strategy of EDB.



Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2007

Monday, February 05, 2007

Palmchip CEO Jauher Zaidi: Guest Speaker at LUMS

PROGRAM SCHEDULE

Location:
Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) Auditorium (A13)
Date: Saturday, February 10th, 2007
Time: 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Website: www.tie-lahore. org

Guest Speaker - Jauher Zaidi, CEO PalmChip

Chairman & CEO of Palmchip Corporation, A hardware and software design company. He is a pioneer in Channel based SoC interconnect architecture, bringing mainframe approach onto a single chip. He also pioneered the SoC Platform IP licensing business model. Jauher has over 26-year experience in executive management, mainframe processor, co-processor, fiber-optic networking design, and system integration at Unisys. He also led the single-chip I/O processor for mainframe computer at Amdahl, and mass storage group at Samsung. Before founding Palmchip in 1996, he led the flash and disk controller system-on-chip (SoC) integration at Quantum Corporation. Jauher is also a Chairman and CEO of Palmchip Pakistan Private Limited, software and IT outsourcing company focused on VoIP and Telecomm. He is a board of Advisor for Savant Company, a leader in InternationalSystem-on-Chip conferences. He has also founded Silicon Pakistan organization to bring SoC technologies to Pakistan. Jauher received his BSEE and MSEE degrees from Pacific States University in Los Angeles, California, USA. He has written and presented a number of articles and papers on the IP business model, future business and technology trends. He has also participated in many system-on-chip panels, and is a recognized expert in the area of SoC and Embedded System development. He invented the Core Frame SoC Integration Architecture. He holds several patents on SoC technology and
infrastructure.

REGISTRATION AT
10th Feb. 3.00 p.m. PICIC BANK Auditorium, LUMS

Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2007