Paksef -- Kindling the flame of science and innovation

National Renewable Energy Design Competition

2010-04-22T13:03:00.000-07:00

We are delighted to announce the launch of the National Renewable Energy Design Competition. The Competition involves teams of 5 students; all of them must be university students at the time of the competition. Each team will design and build a vehicle that will run on any renewable or free energy. Each student interested in participating in the competition will be required to register on-line or through their university. Students will have to attach the proposal of their project providing design layouts, functions, cost details and sponsorship or funding proof. On the selection of a design for the competition, a certain amount of registration fee will be charged. Confirmation information will be e-mailed to officially registered students as well as sponsoring universities and institutions.

We will provide compete guidelines as to what rules will be followed; discussing the copyright and compliance issues, basis of judging, stating the requirements and criteria for design.To fund the event, we will contact the government department of education to support us. We will also look for organizing partners and sponsors for the event. We will also arrange for venture capitalist to fund the winner project.

Currently we are in the process of forming an Operating Team. To participate please email ndc@paksef.org.

Vote for ClickDiagnostics in USAID Dev Challenge

2008-12-10T18:07:00.005-08:00

Please take a minute to vote for ClickDiagnostics in the USAID Dev Challenge.

ClickDiagnostics.com is a social enterprise co-founded by Tania Aidrus (Pakistan) and Mridul Chowdhry (Bangladesh). It is based on a very simple and unique idea. It provides a way for doctors in developed countries to diagnose ailments of people in developing countries, by analyzing photographs and other data transmitted over the internet. It brings together public health, technology and entrepreneurship and helps a lot of people in the process. More details on http://www.clickdiagnostics.com/.

Mridul was a classmate of mine in UTAustin. After graduation he went back to Bangladesh and started a non-profit. Recently he graduated from Harvard MPA program and developed this idea along with Tania Aidrus who is a MIT alumni. Mridul is currently in Africa, researching how this technology can be replicated across the developing world.

Winning the USAID Dev Challenge will give this a lot of publicity and help ClickDiagnostics become an established concept.

Steps to vote:

1. To register, go to: https://www.netsquared.org/user/register and populate form and create account

2. To login, go to: https://www.netsquared.org/user

3. Go to the ClickDiagnostics voting webpage: http://www.netsquared.org/projects/clickdiagnostics-global-health

4. Click on 'Add Project to your Ballot'

5. Add AT LEAST two more projects - other projects by Harvard Kennedy School/MIT students are: "Reading Mobile", "Finding the flow", "Assured Labor"

6. Cast your ballot by going to: http://www.netsquared.org/projects/vote/ballot

Deadline is December 12th.

Ground Breaking iPhone Ap by a Pakistani Developer

2008-10-08T16:40:00.003-07:00

For those iPhone walla's out there - check out this new Applications called Jaadu. It was developed by Jehanzed Sherwani, the first developer from Pakistan whose application has been accepted into Apple's iPhone App store!

I haven't tried it out it, but read the description at the iPhone Ap Store.

Jaadu is a groundbreaking application for the iPhone and iPod touch that lets you control your computer from wherever you are in the world.

In a nutshell it is a VNC tool for iPhone. That is , it enables you to login to your Windows, Linux, or Unix based PC from your iPhone device.

It costs $25 to download. Looks compelling.

let me know if any of you get a chance to play around with it .

Jahanzeb will be presenting a demo of Jaadu on Saturday, October, 11, 2008 at The Second Floor Cafe (T2F) in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. A VoD of the event will be posted by T2F.

Cross-posting to WadiBlog

Seminar: DNA Hybridization on Surfaces

2008-08-06T16:13:00.000-07:00

Khwarzimic Science Society brings you....

Seminar:

DNA Hybridization on Surfaces

Speaker: Fouzia Bano, SISSA International School of Advanced
Studies, Trieste, Italy.

Venue: Center for Solid State Physics, University of the Punjab,
Lahore.

Time and Date: 7/28/2008 (month/day/year)

Download announcement

Introduction:

The controlled arrangement of DNA molecules on surfaces represents
one challenging contribution of nanotechnology to biology and
medicine. In particular, one of the open issues in the field of DNA-
based sensors is detecting the hybridization process with high
precision in a real-life biological environment. Towards this end, we
have studied the hybridization of single stranded (ss)-DNA anchored
on a gold surface using the increase in height of the molecules upon
hybridization with a label free target which is due to the much
larger rigidity of ds- vs. ss-DNA. Nano-scale ss-DNA patches are
assembled within oligo-ethylene- glycol terminated alkylthiol self-
assembled monolayer on a gold substrate using nanografting (an atomic
force microscopy-based nanolithography technique). Differential
height measurements indicate that ss-DNA nano-patches do not show
significant increase in height upon hybridization with complementary
strands in high density regime. Moreover, the advantage of this
system for biosensors and genomics applications will be discussed
briefly in the end.

Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

Replacement of Multi-Chip Solutions

2008-05-12T23:57:00.000-07:00

By Amna Nasir Malik Jamal

re-printed from Cyber@Print, Jang News

He shared his thoughts and opinion - steps needed to put Pakistan on the scientific and technological map, along with India and China. In the development and advancement of high-tech business one prominent name is of Syed Jauher Zaidi, of Pakistani origin in Silicon Valley, founder and CEO of Palmchip Corporation. He has two decades of experience in system design and integration and inventor of System-on-Chip (SoC) CoreFrame Architecture. Before founding PalmChip, he was involved in the System-on-Chip initiative at Quantum Corporation, a leading hard drive manufacturer. The EE Times, a well-known industry publication, named him among the 'Top 20 Visionary CEOs.'

Palmchip Corporation is a pioneer in semiconductor Intellectual Property (IP) and SoC platform technology. It offers outsourced software and hardware design services to its clients in the US, Europe and worldwide. It is also leader in the development and licensing of Market Specific Platform (MSSP) - an SoC software and hardware technology.

Responding to a question about the company's projects and design centre in Pakistan Mr. Jauher Zaidi said, "Palmchip has three divisions in Pakistan. Our IT and Software outsourcing division provides design development for Network Security and Web2.0 products. Telecom division is active to design and develop products for Pakistan's telecom companies for Fibre and New long range Wireless Standard's (WiMAX) management which includes Graphical Information System (GIS) and network management and mobile phone applications for billing and games. Third division is SoC, designs SoC design platform for mobile devices like cell phone, digital camera, Voice-over-IP (VoIP) phones, Short Range Wireless Standard (WiFi) network routers, computer storage devices and DVD players. For Pakistan's market, we designed and introduced ParkSafe, a parking lot management and security system with remote data management. It is a user friendly system which can be operated by a person having average computer knowledge."

Further he explained SoC, "Single chip wireless mobility's Application Specific Standard Part (ASSP) will replace the multi-chip solutions available today for mobile phone, WiMAX and WiFi devices. Palmchip's customers will benefit from lower power consumption, lower system cost, and significant system performance improvement. These products target a growing need for inexpensive multitude of wireless mobility applications. Our extensive experience in working with Silicon Valley startups and Fortune 500 companies has given us appreciation of the importance of agility without compromising quality. Our startup clients find us in tune with their drive to reach the market quickly and benefit from our best practices for outsourced development to ensure that speed does not compromise quality."

About outsourced software and hardware design services he replied, "We offer optimal distribution of work between onshore and offshore resources to achieve top quality deliverables in a highly cost-effective manner within aggressive delivery timeframes."

US Patent and Trademark Office has awarded PalmChip a key patent for the company's technology, facilitating the easy connection of IP Blocks within a SoC design. On the question about being pioneer in SoC and this patent grant he replied, "It is a significant milestone in our company's history to get protected our intellectual property when competitors are roaming in market. The patented SoC technology enables greater integration of multiple functions on a single chip. Over 65 licensees and more than 30 consumer products use our patented IP and hardware and software technologies."

About next growth areas in the technology sector and current IT scenario he thinks there are currently many growth sectors in technology, such as digital TV, biometrics, security, Radio Frequency ID (RFID), Nano technology, storage and VoIP. He has decided to focus on storage, security and voice-over-IP. He believes that Pakistan has a long way to go before it becomes the next offshore design resource in the world, like India and China. He highlights some of the core areas that need immediate attention, including intellectual property protection laws, low-cost communication infrastructure for voice as well as video, and venture capital funding for startup companies.

While coming to the end of our discussion I put one final question to tell about future plans he replied "Palmchip possess a tremendous breadth and depth of skills that can be brought to bear on most software development projects. Pakistani youth has potential, well-educated and hardworking. Due to latest investment in education outcome is up to the mark. Future plan is we want more energetic people in software development and telecommunication and want to expand into Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), finance, banking and modernization projects. Palmchip invested in Palmchip Pakistan to setup three design centers, two in Lahore and one in Islamabad." About entrepreneurship promotion in Pakistan he added, "In order to promote entrepreneurship in Pakistan government and educational institutions need to provide platform to learn business, setup Venture Capital (VC) to fund the companies. Entrepreneurs have very bright future in Pakistan as Telecom, Software and finance sectors are at very fast growth. With little guidance Pakistani youth could be next Bill gates. They just need to find mentors," he concluded.

Jauher Zaidi is Founder, Chairman, President and 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 System-on-chip Input/Output devices (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 International System-on-Chip conferences. He has also founded Silicon Pakistan organization to bring SoC technologies to Pakistan. He received his Bachelor of Science in Electronic Engineering (BSEE) and Master of Science in Electronic Engineering (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 CoreFrame SoC Integration Architecture. He holds several patents on SoC technology and infrastructure.

Silicon Valley Pakistani firm Celebrates One-Year Anniversary

2008-05-03T11:28:00.007-07:00

May 2nd, 2008 marked the one year anniversary since the Silicon Valley Pakistani Semiconductor firm, Cavium Networks went public on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange [Read: Silicon Valley Pakistanis - NED to NASDAQ].

In commemoration, the Cavium Management Team has been honored with the opportunity of ringing the opening bell at the start of trading day on Monday, May 5th at 6:30 am (U.S. Eastern Standard Time).

The event will be telecasted live on major U.S. and International financial networks. To watch the live broadcast visit: http://nasdaq.com or http://cnbc.com.

Cross-posted to ScitechWire, Siliconstani, WadiBlog, OPEN SV

DR. ATTA-UR-RAHMAN PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY

2008-03-20T13:26:00.000-07:00

The Pakistan Academy of Sciences has instituted Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman prize in Chemistry. The prize carries Rs.20,000/- Cash, a Gold Medal and a Certificate. Pakistani Scientists, except Fellows of the Academy and those who have not received any Medal/Prize from the Academy during past five years are eligible for the prize.

Only one nominee may be proposed. Nominations can be made only by Fellows of the Academy and Heads of institutions engaged in scientific education and research. Nominations must be accompanied by four (4) copies each of the Biodata and complete list of research papers, a brief summary highlighting outstanding achievements in the field of scientific research, gold medals and other awards already received and reprints or photocopies of the research papers published in scientific journals of international repute.

The nominations complete, in all respects, received within due dates are to be processed. The documents of the candidates will be sent to members of the relevant expert committee for assessment in order of merit.

Recommendations of the experts will be placed before the Council of the Academy for selection of the candidate for the prize.

The decision of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences shall be final and not be challengeable in a court of law or elsewhere.

A Social Network for Professionals

2008-03-19T13:53:00.004-07:00

Folks,

It has been six years since PakSEF was founded. Since then we have made significant strides towards the promotion of Scientific literacy. We have initiated several projects, though it may appear like little progress has been made, however contrary to popular belief, there has been a great deal of closed door brainstorming amongst the core team.

Some of the activities outlined for 2008 are as follows:

Re-launch of the Science and Technology Review Journal (STReJP). In past years the support for the journal was phenomenal. And recently we have been getting inquiries about the next Journal issue.

Continuing our efforts towards incubating promising research proposals - such as the VLSI center for excellence, encryption project, etc. You will hear more on these initiatives in the coming days.

Development of our Web infrastructure - enabling greater collaboration between members from the Pakistani S&T diaspora.

With that I would like to invite you to join us on PakSEF-Global - The Social Network for Professionals. This site will transform the Virtual S&T Think Tank (VSTTT) from being a mere email exchange forum, to a fully loaded and functional community of professional engineers, investigators, and students. Here you will have the opportunity to share ideas, videos, blog posts - or feel free to join one of the kindred groups created here. More over it will enable members to associate an email ID to a face...enabling greater global to local collaboration.

Also, I would like to extend a special invitation to members from kindred groups, such as IOPWE, UETian's, and NEDians - highlighting our common vision to support the Pakistani Science and Technology diaspora.

Sincerely,

Abdulrahman Rafiq
founder/President, PakSEF

Our Web infrastructure:
http://paksef. org
http://global. paksef.org
http://scitechwire. paksef.org
http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/paksef/

Other Executive Board Members:
Asif Jan - Location: Geneva, Switzerland
Khurram Pirzada - Location: Lahore, Pakistan (Formerly Germany)
Moazzam Chaudry - Location: Silicon Valley, U.SA.
Rahim Ali - Location: Karachi, Pakistan
Sabahat Ashraf - Location: Silicon Valley, U.S.A,

Interested in participating in PakSEF? Email info@paksef.org

Sindhi SMS & Multilingual Online Dictionary unveiled

2008-02-28T11:50:00.002-08:00

Cross-posting from Tech Lahore

The University of Sindh at Hyderabad recently unveiled a number of interesting projects developed by its faculty and students. The projects were showcased at an exhibition inaugurated by Dr. Rabia Sheikh, the Pro Vice Chancellor of the University. Three of our favourites were:

1) A multilingual software dictionary that includes English, Urdu and Sindhi translations; this is a good addition to online tools that are relevant for millions of Pakistanis. We need more of them. We talked about street maps in a recent post, well, we need them all. Multilingual email, better Pakistan-centric VoIP services, multilingual dictionaries… bring ‘em on!!

2) Sindhi language SMS applications for mobile phones; this one is particularly important now that the mobile phone penetration has reached over 55 million users in Pakistan. Local language support will greatly enhance the usability and usefulness of technology.

3) Digital display boards with embedded GSM/GPRS control modules; this again shows how inexpensive technology can be used to solve what were previously pretty substantial problems. You can plop one of these billboards anywhere in the city and remotely manage the content it displays… without laying any physical wires or bothering to connect the system up to a copper phone line. [More...]

ScitechWire is an online S&T publication put out by the Pakistan Science and Engineering Foundation, also referred as PakSEF that is a non-profit 501(c)(3) California based organization -- http://paksef.org

Pakistan Blocks/Bans YouTube!

2008-02-22T13:51:00.005-08:00

There's an old (from our youth :p) Bollywood song that goes "Main ro'oon ya hansoon; karoon mai kyaa karoon?!" or "Should I cry or laugh; To do, what do I do?"

Users subscribing to the Internet though the PTCL (Pakistan Telecom Corporation Limited, the semi- or formerly-government-owned corporation), in particular, have been getting the following message today if they tried to access YouTube:

-------------- Dear Internet Users Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (www.pta.gov.pk)has directed all ISPs of the country to block access to www.youtube.com web site for containing blasphemous web content/movies. The site would remain blocked till further orders from PTA. Meanwhile, Internet users can write to youtube.com to remove the objectionable web content/movies because this removal would enable the authorities to order un-blocking of this web site. Best Regards Manager Technical Assistance Center Micronet Broadband Pvt. Ltd. Islamabad -------------

For background, see:
http://wadiwallah.com/blog/
http://siliconstani.blogspot.com
http://www.teeth.com.pk/blog/2008/02/22/youtube-blocked-in-pakistan/
http://www.teeth.com.pk/blog/2008/02/22/vote-rigging-videos-in-karachi-could-this-be-why-youtube-is-blocked/
http://www.kidvai.com/windmills/2008/02/last-laugh.html

Copyright C. PakSEF and iFaqeer 2002 - 2008

Member of the Month: Nasa Scientists from Pakistan

2008-02-14T22:05:00.000-08:00

By M. Khalid Rahman, DAWN Staff Reporter

IT is not every day that you come across a Pakistani scientist who has worked for the United States space agency Nasa. A noted physicist who has taught and trained thousands of scientists, engineers and technicians, Dr Bashir A. Syed was here in Pakistan recently.

Now in his late sixties, he is as alert and active as he was in his younger years. He travels the world over to give lectures and make presentations on harnessing renewable energy resources and designing solar, wind and water energy projects.

Bashir Syed is vice-president, R&D, EnerTech Enterprises based in Houston, USA. He is a well-known physicist who has worked for Nasa and other research organizations for decades.

An alumnus of the DJ Sindh Government Science College, he taught there when Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan was a student.

In the United States he attended some of the most prestigious universities. He has been a Fulbright scholar, and a Nasa scholar. His first job was with the Rockwell International Science Centre where he worked on Support US-EPA Contract for Air Pollution Monitoring through Remote Sites.

He also worked for Control Data Corporation where he trained engineers in mainframes/miniframes and digital computer design. Then he joined General Electric where he was involved in microelectronics (design and fabrication of CMOS-SOS ICs, Ga-As monololithic), microwave ICs (MMICs), EW systems, phased array antenna design, optronics, and formulation of a military standard (MIL-Perf-38535) for procurement of ICs, SPICE Commitee and NSRE Commitee.

Bashir Syed has also worked for Nasa support corporations such as Ford Aerospace, Loral Aerospace, Lockheed Martin, Science Applications International Corporation. All of them support International Space Station, the space shuttle, manned space programme for Mars, Deep Space Probes, etc.

During his stay in Karachi, Dawn Sci-tech World talked to him. When asked how he got involved in the Nasa work, Mr Syed said that “in 1989 General Electric where I worked decided that they no longer wanted to be in military business, and laid off scientist and technicians engaged in that field. One day, I received a call from a Nasa contractor and was offered a job. It was to support the building of International Space Station.”

Mr Syed played a major role in the project from the design phase till the construction phase. He also participated in the Space Shuttle Modification Programme “since the shuttle had developed some faults and the system had become very old.”

An interesting project Mr Syed worked on was development of the space probes. Since he is a specialist on cosmic radiation, he was in charge of space radiation effects on the space ship and its components.

“As you can understand, the equipment sent out in the space is badly damaged because of the radiatin to which it is exposed. Thsi readiation comes from the sun as well as cosmic rays. My job was to teach the negineers how to mitigate these effects so that this problem does not occur and if it does, how to rectify it.”

Mr Syed was also a member of the radiation safety committe which not only took care of the instruments and gadgets exposed to radiation but also effects of radiation on engineers and technicians who handled them.

He got retired in September 2002 but before his retirement did some research in recently emerging microtechnology, especially the carbon nanotubes.

“The carbon nanotubes are much stronger than Kapton, the material used in bulletproof vests.

Equipped with the knowledge that he gained from his job with the space programmes, he launched a business with three colleagues. His company provides ways to harness solar and wind energies. It is engaged in designing solar energy panels and working on projects related to solar heating as well as cooling systems.

“Right now we are involved in two major projects: one is on a small island off the coast of Tanzania where there is no electricity. They have asked us to prepare feasibility study that would eventually help in setting up a wind farmin order to provide electricity to a stadium.

“We are also working on another island in the Adriatic Sea off the coast of Croatia. Over there too we have been asked to set up a wind farm.”

He believes that wind farms and solar energy are the right solutions to meet the power needs in Pakistan.

“There are two reasons for that. One is that by relying on fossil fuels we are increasing atmospheric pollution globally. As a result, earth warming is taking place. This is no fiction any more but a reality. In order to minimize that effect Pakistan has been given at least 20 million dollars from the United Nations Environmental Fund under the Kyoto Protocol.

“In addition, the Asian Development Bank has given funds to Pakistan to interdict renewable energy technologies. Moreover, fossil fuels are depleting and becoming more and more expensive.

“On the other hand, we have natural energy sources that are recyclable all the year round. For instance, the sun is always there five to eight hours a day. Of course at some places the sun is more suitable while at others the wind is the right choice.

“We are preparing feasibility studies in coastal areas such as Karachi and Gwadar where there is a lot of wind. At these places, big windmills can be set up successfully. At others, where the wind velocity is low, small wind mills should be set up to meet specific needs. A big windmill can generate three to four megawatts of energy.”

Can you estimate how big a windfarm would be needed to meet the power needs of a city the size of Karachi?

“Karachi’s electric supply cannot be entirely met with wind energy. The city already has fossil fuel power plants as well a nuclear power plant. The Alternate Energy Board in Islamabad has estimated that almost ten per cent of Karachi’s electrical energy needs can be met with renewable energy sources.”

Is it viable to use wave energy or geothermal energy for electric power supply?

“The wind energy and geothermal energy can be harnessed with very advanced technologies which are available only in developed countries.

“As for solar energy, it would be astounding to know that the Earth receives as much energy from the sun in one day which would suffice the needs for all the inhabitants of the planet for seven days.

“Solar cell technology is changing so rapidly that silicon solar cells which are most expensive to produce are being replaced by copper cells whose technology is being developed in France. Although the solar cells produced from copper only have a ten-year life, the difference in cost is considerable.’

About the ongoing debate on whether Pakistan needs big or small dams, Mr Syed said: “You don’t have to build huge dams and can rely on small dams wherever there are waterfalls. The technology is called micro-hydroelectric technology. This type of dams have been built successfully in China.”

Reprinted from http://DAWN.com.
All rights owned by DAWN Group of Newspapers.

Pakistani S&T Expats on VoA

2008-02-09T00:39:00.000-08:00

Recently the Voice of America broadcasted, in Urdu a round table session with select Pakistani Science and Technology expat professionals, and students in the United States.

On the show, five personalities were portrayed, all of whom provided anecdotes about studying and working in the United States. While at the same time offering valuable advice to prospective foreign students aspiring to pursue higher-studies.

Dr. Deen Aslam (Professor, Michigan State University, EE Dept)
Syed Raghib Hussain (co-founder/VP, Cavium Networks)
Owais Mughal (Editor, Pakistaniat.com)
Saad Kaisar (PhD Canditate, Michigan State University)
Sabahat Ashraf (Sr. Technical Writer, Cavium Networks, also blogs at http://ifaqeer.com)

Click to listen to the VoA Program

Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2008

Effects of Fibre Outage through Mediterranean

2008-02-07T21:00:00.000-08:00

A recent study at Stanford was conducting regarding the recent Internet outage in much of the Middle East, and India.

Interestingly, Pakistan to the most part wasn’t affected as much as other countries in the region. This is also mentioned in study as a tribute to Pakistan , quoted below.

It is interesting that some countries such as Pakistan were mainly unaffected, despite the impact on neighboring countries such as India . This contrasts dramatically to the situation in June - July 2005, when due to a fibre cut of SEAMEWE3 off Karachi , Pakistan lost all terrestrial Internet connectivity which resulted, in many cases, in a complete 12 day outage of services. This is a tribute to the increased redundancy of international fibre connectivity installed for Pakistan in the last few years. [More...]

Click for Stanford Study

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

2007-11-01T10:09:00.000-07:00

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

UET Alumni Mixer, Nov 3rd, 12pm

2007-10-16T09:43:00.000-07:00

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 Associatio n 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

NEDians in the Silicon Valley!

2007-09-11T19:33:00.000-07:00

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

Click to listen to Professor Pervez Hoodbhoy's keynote lecture

[Article of the Month] Science and the Islamic World

2007-08-28T16:54:00.000-07:00

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.

Science Ka Adda

2007-08-28T13:30:00.000-07:00

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.

Cyclone Relief: Appeal for donations

2007-07-24T13:15:00.000-07:00

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:

Protest - GST imposed on IT equipment

2007-05-18T09:13:00.000-07:00

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

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

2007-05-07T21:10:00.000-07:00

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

Silicon Valley Pakistanis - NED to NASDAQ !

2007-05-03T16:52:00.000-07:00

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

Plagiarizism - A Kala dhubba on Pakistani Academia

2007-04-28T19:17:00.000-07:00

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

Technology versus Humanity

2007-04-19T16:51:00.000-07:00

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...

Technorati tags applicable to this post: Technology and Society - Yahoo! - Torture - Human Rights

Pakistan's wetter weather linked to global warming

2007-04-19T09:28:00.000-07:00

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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A non-profit 501(c)(3) California based organization

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

2007-04-17T10:39:00.000-07:00

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

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

2007-03-31T19:51:00.000-07:00

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]

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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.

Pakistan has leapt to the forefront of IT training for women

2007-03-27T14:19:00.000-07:00

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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Conference on Language and Technology

2007-03-26T10:59:00.000-07:00

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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[PakSEF-VSTTT] Internet censorship

2007-03-19T14:45:00.000-07:00

[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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Harbour pollution costs navy $1B a year

2007-03-16T01:33:00.000-07:00

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

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

2007-03-15T23:48:00.000-07:00

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

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

2007-02-07T13:31:00.000-08:00

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.

Palmchip CEO Jauher Zaidi: Guest Speaker at LUMS

2007-02-05T14:17:00.000-08:00

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

Pakistan launches renewable energy policy

2006-12-22T10:42:00.000-08:00

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Dec. 19 Pakistan's announced Monday the launch of the country's first formal renewable energy policy.The policy comprises three phases: short term medium term and long term, Federal Minister for Water and Power Ali Jatoi said. The short-term phase covers the period up to June 2008.The Policy for Development of Renewable Energy for Power Generation was approved by the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet, the Dawn newspaper reported Tuesday.

Jatoi said the policy provides incentives for private sector investments in renewable energy. Specifically, the country is hoping to find funding for independent power projects, spillover power projects and captive power projects and isolated grid projects.Renewable generation for small, individual use projects does not require special government permission and the incentives lie in the ability to sell the surplus power to distribution companies, Jatoi said.

Jatoi said the policy provides incentives for private sector investments in renewable energy. Specifically, the country is hoping to find funding for independent power projects, spillover power projects and captive power projects and isolated grid projects.Renewable generation for small, individual use projects does not require special government permission and the incentives lie in the ability to sell the surplus power to distribution companies, Jatoi said.END

Women in Engineering

2006-12-20T17:54:00.000-08:00

Women are a minority in the engineering fields worldwide. From the United States to Europe the number of women that are in the Physical Science and Engineering fields is far less that those of men. The few women that end up in these fields can find it challenging working in a predominantly male environment.

Following is a television interview that the World Business and Technology Television (WBT-TV), in collaboration with the Paksitan Science and Engineering Foundation (PakSEF) and the International Organization for Pakistani Women Engineers (IOPWE) conducted and aired in the Silicon Valley, San Jose, California: http://www.wbt-tv.com/videos.php?sid=20

In this TV segment WBT has profiled two highly successful women, one Ms Kamila Kraba a senior software engineer at Cisco Systems and Ms Hina Naqvi, who is holds a senior level engineering position at Adobe Systems and is the current president of IOPWE.

Seminar by Prof. Fayazuddin on Evolution of Science

2006-12-19T04:31:00.000-08:00

Prof. Fayazuddin is one of Pakistan's most eminent physicists.
Recipient of the Hilal-e-Imtiaz (2002) and the Khwarizmi Laureate
Award (2003), he is author of three well-known books on particle
physics and quantum mechanics, and to mention only one of his
contributions to modern particle physics, is the
Kawarabashi-Suzuki-Riazuddin

-Fayyazuddin (KSRF) relation describing
properties of hadrons and mesons.

Prof. Riazuddin will be speaking on the Khwarzimic Science Society platform on:

DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE AND ITS IMPACT ON SOCIETY

on Friday, 22 December 2006, 11 am at:

Centre for Solid State Physics, Punjab University, Quaid-e-Azam (New)
Campus, Lahore.

This is a public lecture and will discuss the contribution of science
to the social evolution of mankind.

A detailed abstract and poster is available on our website:

http://www.khwarzimic.org

Please do take out some time to attend Prof. Fayazuddin's wonderful
exposition of the topic and do not forget to pass on this information
to friends and colleagues.

See you there,

Dr. Saadat Anwar Siddiqi
President
Khwarzimic Science Society

Cell: 0300-4866616

Professional Technology Publications--A Lack there off

2006-12-12T15:29:00.000-08:00

There is so much literature, so many publications published out of Pakistan. However, you wont find many Technology oriented publications other than the Sci-Tech Review DAWN prints each Saturday and Spider Magazine, which is also a DAWN publication. And even these two widely circulated publications aren't something a professional Scientist or Engineer would read. The content of Spider and Sci-Tech is geared for your average non-tech consumer.

These are great publications, no doubt about it but just not something a professional would consider reading or publishing in, other than for his/her personal pleasure.

With little Scientific and Technical publications, how is a country of 166M ever hope to advance itself in the Scientific and technical arena? Even our neighbors like India, China and Iran for crying out loud has a vibrant Scientific culture. What have we to say, other than try and blame government, blame the radicals, blame outside powers---that is all Pakistan's are good it, or it would seem point the finger at others not realizing that reform and progress begins at home.

How much longer will we wait for some boon to fall out of the sky, someone or something to come and say "here I have the solution"? Wake up my dear country folk--wake up and smell the roses, wake up to reality. No one is going yo come and hand us the solution on a silver platter. The solution to Pakistan's Scientific Culture resides within, not without. The solution reside with the Scientific intelligencia, that is with people like you. it is you who will bring change, it is you and you alone who can turn around the despicable situation in the Scientific Culture.

Lets not wait any longer, governments can only do so much---the rest is up to us. It is up to us to make good of the situation, to work with what little infrastructure government has put in place. The government can only provide the tools, it cannot be expected to conduct the cutting edge research and development. Tools, such as funding, University buildings, labs, technology park property, etc is what the what the government can provide. The rest is up to us. We have to take the first steps and boldly venture out into the unknown world of research and entrepreneurship.

So my fellow countrymen and countrywomen, are you ready? Ready for the challenge to boldly go where no Pakistani has gone before? To take the plunge, against all odds, follow your Scientific and Techie passions and make something out of it. [Abdulrahman Rafiq]

PakSEF's Winter Moot 2007

2006-12-10T14:55:00.000-08:00

The 2nd Annual Karachi Winter Moot

Reviving our scientific heritage…

Come join us at the 2^nd Annual Karachi meeting to strategically position the PakSEF charter for the coming year of 2007.

Click for details and to RSVP

DENGUE FEVER: A POSSIBLE THREAT TO OUR LIVES?

2006-11-28T23:07:00.000-08:00

The Khwarzimic Science Society has organized a popular lecture on Thursday,30 November 2006:

The speaker will be Dr. Waseem Akram, Assistant Professor, Department of Agro-entomology, Agriculture University, Faisalabad. He is currently leading a researh group in Faisalabad conducting research on ways of counteracting and forecasting the outbreak of mosquito-related diseases, especially those protracted from the Asian Tiger mosquito: Asian Tiger Aedes albopictus/aegyptus. Dr. Waseem Akram is also the Associate Editor of the journal, "Entomological Research", published by the Blackwell Publishing Asia Pvt. Ltd.

I would request you to extend this invitation to your colleagues, friends and family members. This is an important topic that concerns our health and safeties. The numerous deaths reported due to dengue fever in our country are really a wake-up call to changing our societal lifestyles and pressing upon the government and non-government organizations to act swiftly and
soundly. Please do not miss out.

The time and venue for the lecture are 12 pm (noon), at the Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Quaid-e-Azam (New) Campus, Punjab University, Lahore. The date is Thursday, 30 November, 2006.

Best regards,

Muhammad Sabieh Anwar
Joint Secretary Khwarzimic Science Society, Lahore

Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

Establishment of a VLSI Center for Excellence

2006-11-28T14:30:00.000-08:00

On November 16th, 2006 PakSEF endorsed an effort initiated by Saad Rahman on the ASIC-Pakistan e-list to establish a VLSI Center of Excellence in Pakistan. This effort has taking the form of a document which is being compiled by various contributors from around the world.

The document can be viewed at http://docs.google.com/View?docid=dc23v8tg_0fcfxq9.

This is a collaborative effort by Pakistani and Pakistani expatriate Electrical/Electronic engineering professionals. Contact Saad Rahman if you or anyone you know would like to contribute to this effort.

PakSEF is a non-profit professional organization established in 2002 for the promotion and development of Pakistan's Scientific Culture. TO join PakSEF send an email to Abdulrahman Rafiq. Membership is USD 20 or PKR 1,200 per year made payable via PayPal.

NED Seminar: Cell-Planning for Cellular Networks

2006-11-27T20:06:00.000-08:00

A seminar has been arranged for the passing out final year students to facilitate them in preparing for the forth-coming interviews in the telecom companies. The seminar will enable you to acquire knowledge which is only gained by working experience and usually not covered in the text books or the curriculum.

Speaker:
Mr. Jahangir Ali, an NED graduate, has an 8 years experience of cellular nework planning and optimization with major operators/vendors in Europe. He has extensive experience of managing and optimizing the GSM/UMTS systems to achieve key performance indicators (KPIs) for the quality of service (QoS) and to support marketing plans. He has continously worked in multi-vendor environment like Nokia, Motorola, Nortel etc. He has toyed virtually with all the propreitary tools available for radio planning, frequency planning, drive test and peformance monitoring in cellular networks.

Mr. Jahangir has a Masters degree from well-known French school and a specialization course on comptuer netowrks from Supelec.

Date, Time and Venue:
30th November, 1400 to 1600 hours in the VLSI & DSP Lab.

Registration:
Only 20-25 interested participants will be registered. Go to the DSP & VLSI Lab for registration or contact Adeel Razi, razi_adeel@yahoo.com.

Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

Residency & Fellowship Seminar in Silicon Valley

2006-11-17T11:08:00.001-08:00

RESIDENCY & FELLOWSHIP SEMINAR

FOR INDIAN & PAKISTANI YOUNG PHYSICIANS IN CALIFORNIA

Organized by AAPIO* & APPNA**

November21st 2006Time: 05:45 - 08:00 pm

VENUE:HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS

Newark, Ca. 94560

Phone: (510) 795-7995)

Guest Speakers: Program Directors from well reputed programs in CA including
Alameda County Oakland Hospital California Pacific Medical Center & Kaiser Permanente.

Come & get your questions answered. A unique opportunity for you to talk to the program directors face to face.

Spots are limited, so kindly RSVP latest by Sunday, Nov 19th 2006 to aifra.ahmed@gmail.com

For Details, contact: Aifra Ahmed

408-332-6153, aifra.ahmed@gmail.com

*AAPIO: American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (www.aapio.org)

**APPNA: Association of Physicians of Pakistani descent of North America (www.appna.org)

[CALL FOR PAPERS] IEEE Conference @ UET Lahore | 11 - 12 April 2007 |

2006-11-17T08:18:00.000-08:00

Call For Papers: ICEEE 2007 International on Electrical Engineering

Dates to Remember:

Full Paper Submission: 30 December 2006
Camera Ready Papers: 15 February 2007
Registration Deadline: 15 March 2007
Conference: 11 - 12 April 2007

Conference Topics:

Telecommunication
Embedded Systems & Reconfigurable
Computing
VLSI System, Design for testabilit y
Digital Signal/Image Processing
Control Systems
Power Elec tronic s
Wireless Communication
Biomedical Engineering
Power Generation, Transmission and
U tilization
Computer Networks
A r tificial Intelligence
Data Mining

Contact:

Department of Electrical Engineering
University of Engineering & Technology, Lahore 54890, Pakistan
Ph: +92-42-6829229, Fax: +92-42-6827504, Email: icee2007@uet.edu.pk, URL: http://www.icee2007.org

Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

Modern Engineering and Science---Where did it all begin?

2006-11-06T23:45:00.000-08:00

Part 2:

From the modern astrolab to modern optics, medieval Islamic civilization holds the answers to the beginnings of our present-day technological advance civilization.

The root of modern scientific methods, verifying theory with experiment, the concept that light indeed travels in straight lines was first confirmed by a Muslim Scientist name of Al-Hythem. The list is endless, numerous books and historical accounts have been written on Islamic civilizations contributions to present-day Science and Engineering.

This video merely scraps the surface of a vast array of historical knowledge that can shed a brighter on our present-day technological advancement.

Copyright 2006 Pakistan Science & Engineering Foundation (PakSEF)
A not-for-profit professional organization, www.paksef.org/info.htm

Lahore: Wireless Rural Connectivity Conference and Hands-on Workshop

2006-11-01T09:19:00.000-08:00

Everyone is invited to the "Wireless Rural Connectivity Conference and
Hands-on Workshop" Nov 15, 2006 in Lahore. Registration is free and open to
all but nominations with name, contact address and phone; organization
should reach the President P@SHA Ms. Jehan Ara at jehan@cyber. net.pk or
jehan@wiredet. com as soon as possible. If anyone wishes to participate in
this initiative, we would welcome the support with the possibility of
identifying a town or village in Lahore that can be utilized for a hands-on
workshop. Please also inform as many people as you can so that we have a
good turnout and a larger number of people benefit. NGOs, technology people,
government reps, students etc all need to be a part of this.

READ BELOW THIS LINE:

Wireless Rural Connectivity Conference and Hands-on Workshop Nov 15, 2006 in
Lahore - Everyone is invited!

P@SHA (Pakistan Software Houses Association) is planning a Rural Networking
conference and Hands-on Workshop on Nov 15, 2006 in Lahore in collaboration
with Cisco Systems and the Punjab IT Board. The intent is to have a one day
conference followed by a hands-on workshop and actually deployment in one of
the towns or villages close to Lahore if an effort can be identified that
will benefit and can benefit from local support for the first 3 months while
they are learning the ropes. BytesForAll Network South Asia is spreading the
word to all corners of the country.

INTERNATIONAL SPEAKERS

Jim Forster
Co-author of the book "Wireless Networking for the Developing World" and
Cisco's 30th employee (they now number in the tens of thousands) is coming
to Lahore at our request for the Keynote address and to be part of several
panels.

Malcolm Maston
An entrepreneur in the telecoms and IT sectors. In the early 1980's he was a
pioneer of the UK broadband industry and eventually sold his interests to
the US RBOC, Pacific Telesis. As a result of this experience, he began to
develop and enunciate the principles for the emerging digital world of an
OPLAN (open public local access network) as the "4th Utility". He then
formed COLT Telecoms as an OPLAN - Europe's first all-fibre public
telecommunications network but exited the Company when it abandoned the
'open' strategy. Since then he has promoted the OPLAN concept consistently
around the world - doing so now in the name of the OPLAN Foundation
(www.oplan.org) which he founded in 2005 as a not-for-profit body dedicated
to 'opening minds to open networks'. In late 2004, The OPLAN Foundation was
appointed to advise the World Bank on the relevance of 'open access' for the
developing world. He is an advisor to various European cities developing
their own OPLAN strategies and has written widely on the topic for bodies
such as the Institute of Economic Affairs and the Technical University,
Delft, Netherlands. Educated at the University of Nottingham and the Harvard
Business School, he serves on the boards of various private companies
including OpenPlanet Ltd. (www.open-planet. net ) which partners cities and
communities to develop their own OPLANs - serving citizens above all others.

Bjarke Nielsen
An educational leader at DIIRWB (Djursland International Institute of Rural
Wireless Broadband) and he founded the DjurslandS.net, one of the World's
biggest non-commercial rural wireless networks, connecting rural schools,
-institutions, -firms and -up to now more than 5000 rural households to the
Internet.

DIIRWB
Is an institute for training builders of cheap rural wireless broadband,
based on the experience of establishing and running of the DjurslandS.net .
DIIRWB is a cooperation of the "Computer Support Community of Djursland" and
"the Grenaa Technical School".

Bjarke
Founded the Computer Support Community of Djursland in 1993 and has
been its chairman ever since. He is also the chairman of GrenaaS.net, the
area-network of Grenaa, the largest city on Djursland. He also chairs all
pilot projects on rural wireless networks in the EU-funded "Baltic Rural
Broadband Project" in the countries around the Baltic sea in Northern
Europe, and are also project-responsible for the Danish part called
"Networking Djursland". He is a member of the EU-funded think-tank or
advisory-board on "Broadband Access, Innovation & Regional Development" for
the North SeaArea. He is also one of the trendsetting coordinators of the
World Summits on Free Information Infrastructures.

Other speakers include:

Malcolm Bjarke - Open networks advocate from the UK

Corinna"Elektra" Aichele.
Elektra's main interests include autonomous power systems and wireless
communication (antennas, wireless long shots, mesh networking).
Shemadeasmall Linux distro based on slack-ware geared to wireless mesh
networking.

Sebastian Büttrich (http://wire. less.dk/) is a generalist in technology with
a background in scientific programming and physics. Originally from Berlin,
Germany, he worked with IconMedialab in Copenhagen from 1997 until 2002.
HeholdsaPh.D. in quantum physics from the Technical University of Berlin.
His physics background includes fields like RF and microwave spectroscopy,
photo voltaic systems, and advanced maths. He is also a performing and
recording musician.

Vickram Crishna & Dr. Arun Mehta
Internet activists and Community Radio specialists. They have helped set up
WiFi Networks in rural areas of India

LET'S BENEFIT TOGETHER

This is a team of individuals who each, in their own field, are actively
participating in the ever-expanding Internet by pushing its reach farther
than ever before. The massive popularity of wireless networking has caused
equipment costs to continually plummet, while equipment capabilities
continue to sharply increase. The following experts will be visiting
Pakistan for the conference and hands-on workshop.

By taking advantage of this state of affairs, people can finally begin to
have a stake in building their own communications infrastructure. This is
not only possible, but has been done. This team intends to provide the
information and talk about the tools that are needed to start a network
project in our local community.

Wireless infrastructure can be built for very little cost compared to
traditional wired alternatives. But building wireless networks is only
partly about saving money. By providing people in your local community with
cheaper and easier access to information, they will directly benefit from
what the Internet has to offer. The time and effort saved by having access
to the global network of information translates into wealth on a local
scale, as more work can be done in less time and with less effort.

Let's take advantage of this team being here and if any of you can identify
an effort close to Lahore where deployment can take place right away, these
people can actually show hands-on how it's done. We will also have local
Pakistani experts present who can help expand this initiative into a mass
effort.

If any of you wish to participate in this initiative, we would welcome the
support. Please also inform as many people as you can so that we have a good
turnout and a larger number of people benefit. NGOs, technology people,
government reps, students etc all need to be a part of this.

At BytesForAll, we are already spreading the word to relevant people and
wish all the success to this event.

ABOUT JEHAN ARA

Ms. Jehan Ara, President of P@SHA (Pakistan Software Houses Association) , is
an active Bytesforall. org admin member as well as part of Pakistan ICT
Policy Monitor Network. She is known to be always very keen on bringing ICT
revolution into mainstream development agenda and see it contributing for
people's good.

In an email conversation Jehan informed that for this event she took
advantage of a major connectivity Summit called AirJaldi Summit
http://summit. airjaldi. com/ held in neighboring country India (in
Dharamsala). At the summit, she was able to convince some globally renowned
leading experts in the field to spare some more time and make a side trip to
Pakistan for a wireless networking event to be organized in Lahore on 15-16
November 2006.

Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

Dengue fever: a lethal outbreak

2006-10-29T22:45:00.000-08:00

[By Qurat ul ain Siddiqui]

DENGUE fever, known to health experts for more than 200 years and now turning into a health issue of epic proportions, used to be known as the break-bone fever because of the severe joint and muscle pains it caused which made the patient feel as if his/her bones were breaking.

Dengue isn’t really a novel phenomenon as far as South Asia is concerned, though it is an older one for Africa. More recently, India has also been severely affected by the virus with the death toll from dengue exceeding 100 (more than 30 dead in Delhi only) along with more than 5,000 people admitted to hospitals as “dengue-positive” patients. This initial outbreak eventually turned into an epidemic and it is now expected that the toll may exceed that of 1996 when it claimed more than 400 lives and left more than 10,000 people infected. A similar situation is also developing in Latin America and the Carribean. Cuba and the Dominican Republic are some of the more affected Latin American countries victimised by the infection with thousands of people contracting it (along with the ones suffering from dengue haemorrhagic fever or DHF) during the past few years. DHF is mostly a disease of the tropical and sub-tropical regions and even in those areas it is more likely to be found in the more densely populated places.

Dengue is commonly said to occur in two forms: as dengue fever and as dengue haemorrhagic fever. Dengue fever is an acute flu-like condition which affects people of all ages but is very seldom fatal. On the other hand, DHF is a more dangerous, even lethal form of dengue. The two are essentially forms of Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers (VHFs) – a group of illnesses that are caused by a distinct families of viruses, transmitted to humans by an infected female mosquito Aedes Aegypti, which is commonly known as the Yellow Fever Mosquito. It has the capability and the capacity to host various viruses such as the dengue fever virus (known as the arbovirus that is predominantly transmitted by mosquitoes and ticks), Chikungunya (a much rarer form of viral fever) virus and the yellow fever virus.

One must point out here that it is the mosquitoes that become infected with the virus when they bite infected humans. Oddly enough, this particular mosquito breeds only in clean water containers like barrels, buckets, drums, tanks, flower vases, water coolers, discarded tires, toilet bowls and other such places, including the ones where rainwater collects, which is a practice contrary to that of the malaria-causing mosquito that thrives and procreates in dingy waters.

Dengue is infectious, with the first symptoms occurring during initial five to seven days after being bitten by the infected Aedes Aegypti mosquito. It is characterised by a sudden onset of high fever accompanied by severe headaches, muscle and joint ache, nausea and vomiting as well as rashes. The dengue rash is usually bright red in colour, occurring initially on the lower limbs and the chest and in some cases which then spreads to most of the body. Some cases also involve loss of appetite and the ability to taste things. In certain severe cases, the Sindh Health Department advisory states that the patient may bleed from the mouth, nose, in the vomit or stool, as a result of internal or external bleeding. Symptoms, however, may not be the same for all cases as some cases develop milder indicators which can be misdiagnosed as flu or some other viral infection and later develop into a more serious, even deadly form of the disease. It is for this reason that people may pass on the disease unwittingly until someone with more conspicuous symptoms is discovered, said a local medical practitioner, though dengue patients are usually believed to spread the infection only through mosquitoes or blood products and that too as long as they are feverish.

However, all dengue patients undergo a progressive decrease in their blood platelet count which worsens the condition in cases where bleeding has already started and poses an imminent threat to the ones who aren’t already bleeding, but their condition might worsen. Since bleeding with the low platelet count takes a non-stop turn, an ample supply of platelets and blood is required which may not always be available everywhere all the time. Also, all dengue patients are required to get a blood test done every day to see if the platelets count is getting better.

According to the World Health Organisation (Who), DHF, a more acute form of dengue, has a five per cent mortality rate though this may increase if the cases are not properly handled and treated. On the other hand, with proper treatment and therapy mortality rates may be minimised. Also, according to a Who report, people at a higher risk for dengue transmission are children, travellers and tourists, whereas adults residing in endemic areas are also susceptible to contracting the disease.

There is no vaccine that can effectively and entirely cure dengue, though research is being conducted in this area with the use of biotechnology and genetic engineering. According to a Who document, “a live, attenuated, vaccine for all four types of dengue is now in clinical trials in Thailand,” which is where it was first recognised in the ’50s (along with Philippines) during dengue epidemics, whereas now it has spread to many Asian and Latin American regions.

The only effective and available way of controlling and eventually eliminating the disease is by destroying the mosquito breeding places along with effectively treating patients identified as carriers. These patients can at best be given plenty of fluids and measures should be taken to control their fever. With quick and careful treatment, most patients may survive without having to go through blood transfusion. As for the Aedes Aegypti’s breeding places, they can be eliminated by various means such as by tightly covering water storage containers, draining rainwater regularly and disposing off garbage. Even though the virus may survive without the host as well as within, precautionary measures are advised to be taken as seriously as possible, even required.

Karachi presently has, according to official estimates, more than 800 people suspected of being dengue-positive. About 100 new cases were reported last week in different hospitals of the city, whereas more than a hundred people have been discharged during the past few days. However, the average number of dengue case registration has gradually increased over the past few weeks and is still on the rise. One of the first reported deaths this year (in early October), however, was that of a man in his ’40s from Karachi’s Akhtar Colony.

It is hard to determine, let alone tell, who was the first infectee and from where it all started as far as Karachi is concerned, though a young doctor working at a local government hospital spoke of another doctor who died of DHF no less than six months ago, which indicates that the dengue that we see today is, possibly, no sudden phenomenon. It has been there for the past few months, though rather sporadic in its appearance.

A medical practitioner from Liaquat National Hospital, who requested anonymity, said that a terminal case of DHF was registered at this hospital about six months ago. The patient was rejected admission at another reputable hospital for the very reason that his condition had worsened to the point of incurability. Despite continuous insistence on the part of health experts and the provincial advisory issued with regard to DHF – not transferable from one person to another – the doctor is also of the opinion that DHF patients should be kept in quarantine instead of an open ward as droplets or any secretion from a dengue-positive’s body can infect another person. However, now that the city is dreading the growing dengue threat, hospitals are hopefully going to try and live up to their reputation and perform their duties in this seemingly precarious situation.

A medical operative at a local government hospital revealed (on condition of anonymity) that the doctors were not even properly briefed about handling the cases as they began to increase in number. She was also uncomfortable with the fact that dengue patients were not being kept in a separate ward. “In fact,” she said, “you can find dengue patients’ wards that deal or at least are supposed to deal with something entirely different.” When asked whether she thought the situation was turning into an epidemic, she felt that “it already has become one, and if not, then it will, because things don’t seem to be changing around here, and in that case we shouldn’t expect different results.” When asked about ways to prevent dengue from spreading further, she said that other than keeping and treating the dengue-positive patients in isolation, the city administration, apart from the “fumigation spree” that it is on these days, should also deal with the city’s sewerage system along with regularly checking up on abandoned construction sites as well as various potholes and dilapidated streets throughout the metropolis.

The virus, it appears, cannot be prevented from spreading and the dengue-infected mosquitoes from breeding if these aspects which, according to her, are in fact the problem, go unattended. “The dengue problem in Karachi, if considered with some insight, leads to a Pandora’s box which I don’t think anyone here would want to open,” she said.

Things have become better with regards to the diagnostic facilities available to the people. Earlier, it was only one other private hospital along with Liaquat National Hospital, that had the equipment for conducting diagnostic tests for dengue, whereas government hospitals would send blood samples of suspected infectees to the National Institute of Health, Islamabad, which took three to four days to send its report on the samples. However, the health department’s recent announcement that all patients hospitalised either at private or public hospitals can get their tests done at the Sindh Services Hospital, Blood transfusion Centre without charge, is a much desired development given the current crisis.

The government is trying to do its bit by assisting patients with laboratory facilities for diagnosis; however, the aerial and ground sprays that began a few days ago give more of an unorganized, helter-skelter picture and are not believed to be as effective as desired by various health experts around the city.

At the same time, the number of people wanting to be tested for dengue is gradually increasing; an indicator that the average Karachiite is taking the threat rather seriously. Paranoia, one may say, but it is not without good cause. A lab operative at a local private hospital informed that contrary to prior practice, tests can be administered without a medical prescription which was also one reason people would show up more frequently for a test. He informed that an average number of 20 people were getting tested every day, out of which 20-25 per cent would turn out to be carriers of the virus.

Many hospitals however portray a rather dismal picture when it comes to dealing with dengue. At one of the most crucial medical facilities in Karachi, the “information” section operative did not know whether the hospital housed a specific ward for dengue-positive patients, let alone for those suffering from DHF. This chaotic scenario was seen at a renowned medical facility which has admitted possibly the largest number of dengue cases in Karachi. Dengue-positive cases are also being identified in some areas of Punjab and, therefore, it is a matter of growing concern that it is gradually spreading to different parts of the country.

The use of biological weapons against certain groups of people comes as nothing new to the human world. The use of smallpox-contaminated blankets by the colonising British against the Native Americans and the Russian attack on Swedes with plague-infected corpses are examples. In the current context also, the spread of dengue fever is a cause for speculation and inquiry, considering that it spread extremely quickly. Who knows whether the disease known as dengue fever is an actual disease or just one of the many biological weapons that are being developed around the world.

The writer is a freelance contributor

Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

KARACHI: Harmful effects of X-rays

2006-10-29T22:42:00.000-08:00

[Published in DAWN]

KARACHI, Oct 29: There could be harmful effects of X-rays on patients, paramedics and general public visiting the hospitals.

Such harmful effects were known almost immediately after they were discovered, an Indian doctor said.

“If judiciously used, X-rays are not harmful otherwise they can cause havoc,” Dr Sneh Bhargava, Radiologist at Sitaram Bhartia Institute, Delhi, told a TV channel.

As far as the human body is concerned there are three systems, which are affected by X-rays. First, is the genitalia, which if affected may have a negative effect on the progeny. The other main system that is affected is the skin. You can get a rash, hair loss and apart from being cosmetically harmful, they also predispose to cancer. The third system that is affected is the blood. If the red blood cells are affected, you can suffer from anaemia and if the white blood cells are affected, they can attack your immune system and make you vulnerable to various diseases, Dr Bhargava said.

X-rays are electromagnetic radiations in a wave form just like gamma, ultraviolet, infrared and radio waves. The only difference is that they have a different wavelength and because of this difference they have different properties. X-rays, for instance, can pass through wood and the human body just like light can pass through glass. When X-rays pass through the body, a part of it is absorbed and some part goes right through. For instance, the bone in an X-ray looks white whereas the lungs in an X-ray look black.

A patient should be exposed to an X-ray only when doctors need more information than what just a physical examination can give. However, X-ray should not be repeated before three months.

Radiation worker must protect himself against the main beam of X-rays. One can stand behind a lead screen to avoid the harmful effect of X-rays. The lead completely absorbs the X-rays and you are safe.

If you are a radiologist, you must wear lead gloves and apron.

A proper machine should have no leakage. Every machine should be checked annually by a trained physicist. They can record whether or not there is any leakage with a dosimeter or with a film. It is necessary that you have a physicist check the equipment. If the machine is off, there is no leakage and if the machine is on, rays must go through a specific point and not get scattered anywhere.

X-rays should not be done during pregnancy. There is no question of doing abdominal X-ray nowadays because ultrasound is available. If you want to know anything about the baby, the correct method is the ultrasound. Ultrasound is totally safe, as it has no ionising properties like X-rays.

Today, with other types of non-ionising radiations available like ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging, X-rays should be used minimally.–PPI

Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

Northern Lahore declared sensitive: Dengue virus

2006-10-29T22:35:00.001-08:00

[by DAWN Staff Reporter]

LAHORE, Oct 29: The City District Government Lahore has made the city railway station and its adjoining areas as focal point for its campaign against the feared dengue fever epidemic as the CDGL officials claim that the mosquito causing the disease has shifted to Punjab through passengers who came from Sindh to celebrate Eid here.

All the three dengue fever cases detected so far - Sarfaraz, 16, Fiaz, 45, and Ali Tariq, 18, - belonged to Misri Shah. Blood samples of residents of the locality are being collected to detect more such cases.

At a meeting of the CDGL authorities held here on Sunday with DCO Muhammad Ijaz in the chair, EDO (health) Dr Inamul Haq claimed that the `aedes’ mosquito shifted from Sindh when people from there came to Punjab on the eve of Eid.

So far 2,000 dengue cases have been detected across the country, most of them in Karachi and Hyderabad.

Dr Haq said all localities adjoining the city railway station and of northern Lahore like Misri Shah, Shadbagh, Naulakha Bazaar, Railway Road, Lunda Bazaar, Badami Bagh and Chah Miran had been declared as sensitive and were being fumigated with fog spray.

Out of a total of 1,650 lady health workers in the provincial metropolis, 35 had been deputed in Misri Shah for creating awareness about the disease and precautionary measures, he said.

He also claimed that 11 mobile teams had been formed for prevention of dengue fever, provision of specialist doctors and laboratories at all state-run hospitals had been set up where the required stock of medicines had also been provided.

Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi has meanwhile directed health department officials to take effective steps for controlling dengue virus in the province and ensure availability of medicines for its treatment, says a handout.

The chief minister issued the directions while presiding over a meeting held here on Sunday to review implementation of the health sector reforms programme.

MINISTER: Health Minister Dr Tahir Ali Javed claimed that his department had completed all the arrangements.

He said the availability of necessary medicines in all public sector hospitals would be ensured.

The minister said that health services director had been appointed focal person for prevention and control of dengue fever and he would be responsible to have close liaison with the medical superintendents of all the public sector hospitals, EDOs (health) of the province. He would also contact the allied

Departments, arrange procurement of all required items for the safety of medical and paramedical staff treating dengue victims.

Dengue fever cases rise to 70, civic paper over cracks

2006-10-29T22:35:00.000-08:00

[By Baqir Sajjad Syed. DAWN]

SLAMABAD, Oct 29: With the number of confirmed cases of dengue fever closing to 100 in the twin cities, senior officials of civic agencies are claiming that the situation is perfectly under control and there is nothing to be worried about.

The number of confirmed cases of dengue fever in the twin cities had risen to 71 by Saturday afternoon. The problem is more intense in Rawalpindi, where 41 cases have been confirmed compared to 30 reported in the capital. Fresh figures for Sunday were not available being a holiday.

However, the speed with which the disease is spreading in the twin cities can be judged from the fact that in the first week of the outbreak of disease from October 12-19, 25 confirmed cases were reported, while in the second week from October 20-28, 46 fresh cases were reported, almost double the number of cases reported during the first week.

Doctors have termed the situation epidemic, believing that the number of cases being reported is just the tip of the iceberg.

Federal Health Secretary Anwar Mehmood had recently said that dengue fever was not a health issue alone and was also related to our environment. He believed the role of municipal administration was all the more important since fumigation, fogging and removal of solid waste from the cities was their job.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has endorsed this view saying that proper vector control by involving municipal administrations and social mobilisation and education of the people about the disease can effectively contribute towards controlling the disease.

Capital Development Authority’s Director Health Services Dr Saeed Ahmed told this reporter that the situation was under control. He said the figure of just 30 was not significant for Islamabad having a population of over 1.5 million.

He claimed that the authority had been spraying and fogging in the city since the start of the October. He contended that falling temperatures would finish off the problem.

City District Nazim Raja Javed Ikhlas also said that the number of cases was quite insignificant, as some of those testing positive had travelled to Rawalpindi for Eid vacations.

Rawalpindi district government had started fumigation from October 23. Executive District Officer (Health) Dr Zafar Iqbal Gondal was not ready to concede that the health department was slow to respond. Mr. Gondal insisted that he was the first in Punjab to launch the awareness campaign and anti-mosquito spray.

The general public is critical of the performance of the civic agencies to control the disease. While the affluent are ordering fumigation of their homes and the schools where their children study, the poor and the disadvantaged living in slums, the general public thinks, have been left at the mercy of the mosquitoes.

Notwithstanding the tall claims of the officials of civic agencies, their failure is quite evident from their failure in controlling malaria also spread by mosquitoes.

Malaria outbreaks occur every year in this season and because of ineffective control the malarial parasite has become multi- drug resistant and is showing an alarming re-emergence. The preventive measures for malaria and dengue fever are the same.

Commenting on the views of the civic agencies about the issue, a senior medical practitioner said: “It is good to paint a rosy picture, but there’s need to be careful so that it does not impact on the ongoing or planned interventions. We should not be alarmist and should not be minimalists either.”

The brighter side of the whole episode is that districts like Rawalpindi previously relying on outdated equipment for fumigation have started purchasing modern equipment.

Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

Pakistan gets its first satellite broadband IP hub

2006-10-28T18:39:00.000-07:00

Pakistan is now on the satellite broadband hub with the commissioning of the Infosat 51F.

Comstar ISA Ltd, a leading satellite service provider, Thursday announced the completion of the installation, testing and commissioning phase of the hub in Karachi.

The hub is now commercially available to users throughout the country, Pakistan Times newspaper quoted company officials as saying.

The Infosat I-Direct Hub has been installed in the country in collaboration with Infosat Communications. Infosat is a Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE) subsidiary and the largest broadband satellite operator in Canada.

With the commissioning of the hub, Infosat completed the first phase of its investment in Comstar and formally took control of 22 percent shareholding in Comstar ISA Ltd. This is first of its kind investment by a satellite services company in Pakistan.

Sami Bajwa, CEO and president of Comstar, said Infosat Connect services were being launched in Pakistan would aim to offer the same level of service that customers in North America have been accustomed to.

John Robertson, president and CEO of Infosat Communication, said Infosat's substantial investment in Pakistan both in terms of equipment and human resources proves his organisations commitment to Pakistan.

'We are here to stay for the long term,' Robertson was quoted as saying.

Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

Natural Cure for Dengue Fever

2006-10-26T00:06:00.000-07:00

Natural Cure for Dengue Fever
by a member of PakSEF VSTTT

I would like to share this interesting discovery from a classmate's
son who has just recovered from dengue fever. Apparently, his son was
in the critical stage at the SJMC ICU when his platelet count dropped
to 15 after blood transfusion also.

His father was so worried that he sought another friend's
recommendation and his son was saved. He confessed to me that he give
his son raw juice of the papaya leaves. From a platelet count as low
as 45 after blood transfusion, it jumped to 135 after drinking the raw
papaya leaf juice. Even the doctors and nurses were surprised. After
the second day he was discharged. So he asked me to pass this good
news around.

Accordingly it is raw papaya leaves 2 pcs just clean and pound and
squeeze the juice thro cloth filter. You will only get one tablespoon
per leaf. So, use two tablespoons per serving once a day. No need to
boil or cook or rinse with hot water, it will lose its strength. Only
the leafy part has to be taken, no stem or sap. It is very bitter and
you have to swallow it. But it works wonders!!!!

Papaya Juice - Cure for Dengue

You may have heard this elsewhere, but if not, I am glad to inform you
that papaya juice is a natural cure for dengue fever. As dengue fever
is ram! pant now, I think it's good to share this with all.

A friend of mine had dengue last year. It was a very serious situation
for her as her platelet count had dropped to 28,000 after 3 days in
hospital and water had started to fill in her lungs. She had
difficulty in breathing. She was only 32-years old. Doctor said
there's no cure for dengue. We just have to wait for her body immune
system to build up resistance against dengue and fight its own battle.

She already had 2 blood transfusions and all of us were praying very
hard as her platelet continued to drop since the first day she was
admitted.

Fortunately her mother-in-law heard that papaya juice would help to
reduce the fever and got some papaya leaves, pounded them and squeezed
the juice out for her. The next day, her platelet count start! ed to
increase, her fever subsided. She was given papaya juice regularly and
she recovered after 3 days!!! Amazing but true.

Papaya juice has a cooling effect thus, it helps to reduce the heat in
one's body. I found that its also good when one is having sore throat.

Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

Dengue Fever Issue---a cause for concern

2006-10-25T11:29:00.000-07:00

Dengue not just a health issue: official
By Nasir Iqbal, DAWN

ISLAMABAD, Oct 24: Feeling the heat of dengue fever, the health ministry on Tuesday said vector control was the only solution to check the outbreak of dengue fever in some parts of the country for which the role of municipal administrations became pivotal.

“Dengue fever is not a health issue alone and also related to our environment,” federal secretary, health, Anwar Mehmood told reporters at the health ministry.

The role of municipal administration becomes all the more important since fumigation, fogging and removal of solid waste from the cities was their job, the secretary said.

World Health Organisation (WHO) representative Dr Khalif Bile also endorsed the health secretary’s point of view saying proper case management, vector control by involving municipal administrations, social mobilisation and education among the people could create a big difference in controlling the disease.

WHO, he said, was closely working with the ministry for effective case management of the dengue fever and to develop human resource for containing the disease.

“We expect that all the municipal departments would play a proactive role in helping us by doing proper garbage disposal and giving proper treatment to water storage tanks,” the secretary said.

The secretary also denied that a dengue patient had died in a Rawalpindi hospital on Monday, saying the mosquito-borne viral infection was not the cause of the 14-year-old girl’s death.

Dr Nilofer Ansari, Acting Medical Superintendent of the Cantonment General Hospital (DGH) said Mehreen was brought to the hospital from Pindi Gheb with ‘Septic Shock’ (a different kind of infection) and not with dengue.

About the growing number of suspected cases, Anwar Mehmood said, the people were coming in a large number in the hospitals because of better awareness created by the media.

“The current spike, though much severe, is the continuation of the November last year’s outbreak of dengue fever in Karachi. However, the fatality rate remained contained around a little over 2 per cent which is also dropping to 1.86 per cent due to better case management by hospitals”, he said. It will subside as the winter sets in, he added. During the first spike in 2005, the fatality rate was seven per cent.

Out of a total of 81 blood samples in Rawalpindi and Islamabad over the last three weeks, 34 samples, including three of the Shifa International Hospital, have been confirmed.

As regards to Karachi, a total of 1,392 patients with symptoms of dengue disease were admitted to different hospitals in Karachi since October 2. Of these 455 were found to be positive for the virus. 25 deaths have been reported so far from the infection in Karachi.

In addition three cases have also been confirmed in Khushab and Chakwal each, four in Kotli (Azad Kashmir) and one in Peshawar.END

Steps taken to check dengue fever: Aziz
DAWN report

ISLAMABAD, Oct 24: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Tuesday the government would check the spread of dengue fever and there was no shortage of testing kits or other required facilities to deal with the situation.

“Special treatment units have been established at all the hospitals across the country, with hospitals in major cities put on high alert and there is no problem of medical or paramedical staff despite Eid holidays,” the prime minister told journalists during a visit to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims).

The prime minister inquired after Dengue patients as well as the under-treatment children and distributed Eid gifts among them.

He said there were four dengue patients being treated at Pims, adding that some others had been discharged after effective treatment.

The government, he said, had ensured the availability of testing kits in Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad and other major cities.

Answering a question, Mr Aziz said the government was taking all out measures, including the use of anti-mosquito sprays, to contain the disease.—APP

KARACHI: Number of VHF cases on the rise
By Mukhtar Alam, DAWN

KARACHI, Oct 24: With more than 50 cases of the viral haemorrhagic fever (VHF) reporting every day at a few major hospitals of the city alone every day, the disease is taking the shape of an epidemic that has struck both slums and posh areas equally.

The number of such cases reporting at big public and private hospitals, as well as small clinics and other health care centres, is on the increase. The Sindh health department’s Dengue Fever Cell recorded arrival of 55 fresh cases at nine government and private hospitals during the past 24 hours ending at 2pm Tuesday.

Of the 1,392 suspected VHF patients admitted to various hospitals since June 2006, 431 have already been declared dengue-positive cases, bringing the percentage of these patients from among the total VHF patients to 30.96 by Tuesday.

This percentage is on a higher side at the private hospitals where normally a patient from a well-off family is admitted. The Aga Khan University Hospital said that it had 21 in-house VHF/dengue patients, 11 of them having been tested dengue positive and the remaining ones negative.

According to the Dengue Information and Surveillance Cell, of the 353 patients admitted to the AKUH over a period of four months, 100 have been tested dengue positive. At another private facility, the Liaquat National Hospital, the tally of dengue positive cases has reached 130. The Ziauddin Hospital has 52 and the Bismillah Taqi Hospital 45 dengue positive cases at present.

A total of 22 people have died from the VHF since its outbreak. The diseases, including dengue, have claimed three lives in the interior of Sindh whereas four patients with the symptoms linked to the dengue fever are admitted to two hospitals, one in Sukkur and the other in Larkana. Three patients have been tested dengue positive, said an official of the Cell.

Meanwhile, patients with suspected VHF were brought to various hospitals from Defence, Clifton, PECHS, Bahadurabad, Liaquatabad, F B Area, Korangi, Landhi, North Karachi, New Karachi, North Nazimabad, Orangi, Nazimabad, Baldia, Golimar, Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Garden, Saddar, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Shah Faisal and Malir.

According to the Dengue Fever Cell, 160 patients are under treatment at 12 hospitals while 47 have since been discharged during the past 24 hours.

The number of in-house patient as of Tuesday was as follows: AKUH: 21 (12 new), LNH: 38 (11 new), CHK: seven (two new), Ziauddin Hospital: 28 (10 new), JPMC: 30(eight new), Bismillah Taqi Hospital: five (four new), Hamid Hospital: one (no new), NICH: seven (four new), Abbasi Shaheed Hospital: 14 (two new), Baqai Hospital: five(two new), Star Gate Hospital Malir: three (no new) and Afroze Medical Centre: one (no new).

Experts have once again urged the government to scan all those areas which have been providing breeding grounds to the Aedes Aegypti, the mosquito class responsible for the dengue infliction and spread.

In another development, the Ziauddin University Hospital has decided to perform dengue IGM test at its North Nazimabad, Clifton and Keamari campuses at a reduced rate of Rs600 in line with the directive by Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad and Minister for Health Syed Sardar Ahmed, said a press release of the hospital.END

Dengue Fever Kills 23 in Pakistan
Yahoo News Story

Twenty-three people have died and more than 1,000 been infected in a month-long outbreak of dengue fever, Pakistan health chiefs have said.

The latest casualties were an 11-year-old boy and a girl of eight who died of the mosquito-borne virus in a children's hospital in the southern port city of Karachi earlier this week, the government of Sindh province said Thursday.

"The death toll is now 23, with 20 in Karachi, while over 1,000 cases have been reported so far in Sindh province this a month," provincial spokesman Salahuddin Haider told AFP.

"It's deadly and has hit Karachi badly with hospitals full of dengue fever patients, but the government has provided machines to carry out a massive spray in the city," Haider said.

Authorities in the capital Islamabad and nearby Rawalpindi have also issued public advice for preventing the spread of the female Aedes mosquitos that carry the virus.

In neighbouring India, the death toll from a dengue outbreak rose to 107 on Wednesday. END

Dengue Deaths Put Pakistanis on Alert
by Reuters by way of the New York Times

KARACHI, Pakistan, Oct. 14 (Reuters) — Dengue fever has killed at least 17 people in Pakistan’s biggest city, Karachi, in the past four months, five of them since the beginning of October, health officials said Saturday.

A high alert has been declared in the city’s hospitals after about 250 people tested positive for the disease, they said.

“We have had 17 reported deaths from the virus in various hospitals,” said Abdul Majid, a health official in the southern province of Sindh, which includes Karachi.

“It is not a panic-like situation, but yes, in the last few weeks cases have been increasing on a daily basis,” he said.

Indian health authorities have been battling dengue too, reporting nearly 4,900 cases, including 94 deaths, in recent weeks.

But Saturday’s announcement in Pakistan was the first that dengue was raging there as well. Opposition politicians, some aid workers and the news media have criticized the city government for not anticipating the disease after the rainy season and for not carrying out proper fumigation drives.

Dengue is a disease of the tropics and is carried by the Aedes mosquito, which bites during the day. The mosquitoes usually breed in trapped rainwater. END

About Dengue Courtesy of the CDC

Dengue (DF) and dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) are caused by one of four closely related, but antigenically distinct, virus serotypes (DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, and DEN-4), of the genus Flavivirus. Infection with one of these serotypes provides immunity to only that serotype for life, so persons living in a dengue-endemic area can have more than one dengue infection during their lifetime. DF and DHF are primarily diseases of tropical and sub tropical areas, and the four different dengue serotypes are maintained in a cycle that involves humans and the Aedes mosquito. However, Aedes aegypti, a domestic, day-biting mosquito that prefers to feed on humans, is the most common Aedes species. Infections produce a spectrum of clinical illness ranging from a nonspecific viral syndrome to severe and fatal hemorrhagic disease. Important risk factors for DHF include the strain of the infecting virus, as well as the age, and especially the prior dengue infection history of the patient. click to learn more

opyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

Oracle to launch online programme to promote IT learning in Pakistan

2006-10-24T16:00:00.000-07:00

ISLAMABAD: Oracle Corporation, a software manufacturing company will start an online school level educational programme www.Think.Com by December this year to promote teaching of Information Technology in Pakistan.

The programme is aimed at providing the students an opportunity to improve their skills in IT and giving them a chance of pursuing their studies abroad.

The primary schools in rural areas have also been included in the educational programme, said Regional Managing Director, Asia Pacific, of the Company, Natasak Rodjanapiches.

He said, schools participating in the program, would be linked to each other through a website.

Replying to a question, Natasak said through this educational programme, Oracle would also link up students in Pakistan with students abroad and would play a role in promoting the exchange of culture and civilization.

He said initially the programme would be launched from 8 or 12 schools and later more schools would be included.

Replying to another question, he said, Oracle basically assisted in preparing standard software programmes. However, it was also providing services and investing in other sectors like telecom, oil and gas, mobile phone sector, pharmaceuticals and defense.

"We feel huge opportunities for development and investment exist in telecom and information technology sectors in Pakistan and Oracle was working out a strategy in Pakistan for offering scholarships to talented students who displayed outstanding performance in IT and telecom sectors," he said.

He said the ' www.Think.Com ' programme would also be used to improve professional capabilities of the teachers. www.Think.com turns students into multimedia authors for a global community and allows peers to think and learn together.●

Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

Pakistani woman to go into space

2006-08-22T09:09:00.000-07:00

ISLAMABAD: Namira Salim, a Paris-based Pakistani artist who has made her mark on the international scene as a talented and internationally accomplished artist with a strong commitment to the arts and humanity, has been selected as an astronaut to go into space in the Virgin Galactic Space Ship in 2008.

Namira will also be publishing her first book of English poetry this year, which is inspired by Urdu Ghazal. In all, her passion for humanity, art and music will come together in the form of music videos, which will light the stars with her songs.

Gifted with diverse creativity, Namira has long played the role of a goodwill and peace ambassador; her art has been exhibited during top humanitarian summits at the United Nations, Unesco and during the historic Saarc Summit in Pakistan two years ago.

Speaking at a ceremony organised here by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for Namira Salim — the first prospective Pakistani astronaut — here on Thursday, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Tariq Azeem said that Pakistani women have potential to make waves in all spheres of life and Namira Salim is one of them who will set a new direction by venturing into space. He said the concept of enlightened moderation given by the president and the idea to make Pakistan an energy corridor of the region as spelled out by the prime minister are the hard facts, which “we need to comprehend.”

The minister said the world would witness Pakistani women could stand by their male peers in all fields. He said the space venture of first Pakistani woman would set a new direction for other Pakistani women and encourage them utilize all their talent to the fullest. He said Pakistanis were contributing in various constructive fields and have earned good name at home as well as abroad.

Tariq Azeem said in May this year the government introduced Adam Khan, a formula-one driver who represents Pakistan in international car racing events, and now “we have a daughter of our country who will take our flag into the space.”

The minister said the government is committed to bringing about a change in every field of national activity to improve the living standard of people, especially women. The government, he said, would continue highlighting achievements of the talented Pakistanis like Adam Khan and Namira and show the world “the potential our people possess.”

On the occasion, Additional Secretary Information Ehsan Yousaf said introducing Namira Salim to the media that it is part of a segment within the Pakistan Image Project known as ‘Faces of Pakistan.’ He said under this segment “we introduce Pakistanis who are and would be contributing in various constructive fields, thus presenting an enlightened image of Pakistan.”

“Now we are introducing a lady who would carry the national flag into space. We are proud of our younger generation and proud to present Namira Salim as the first Pakistani to go into space and carry the Pakistani flag,” he added. Addressing the ceremony, Namira Salim said she would be on the Virgin Galactic Space Ship that would commence its commercial operations in 2008 with 100 people.

Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

NWFP: Health Minister Launches Preventive Campaign

2006-08-12T10:33:00.000-07:00

PeSHAWAR—The NWFP Minister for Health Inayatullah while underlining the need of shifting focus from curative to preventive side to control disease effectively has ordered launching campaign for creating awareness among masses through easy and simple methods.

He was addressing as chief guest at an awareness seminar arranged by Provincial AIDS Control Program at Bagh-e-Naran Hayatabad the other day. The seminar was attended by local people, elected representatives and social workers. Provincial Manager AIDS Control Program, Dr. Mohammad Zafar, Dr. Amir Rehman Jadoon and Nazim Hayatabad Union Council, Mohammad Ishaq also addressed the seminar.

The health Minister said that hepatitis B&C were spreading in the society at alarming rate and had become major public health issues. He informed that Government was taking steps to make people aware of dangerous diseases. He elaborated that training activities to educate media men, religious scholars, elected representatives and health workers about health problems had so far been arranged.

He went on to say that steps were also being taken to create awareness among common people about diseases. The Health Minister asked all segments of the society to play their active role in prevention of diseases. He also directed concerned authorities to inform general public about their responsibility in controlling diseases. The Health Minister ordered high-ups of the Health Department to arrange awareness activities at public places. “Target public sites for sensitization so that more and more people can be educated” he asserted.

The Minister also directed for transferring information about public health issues to the masses in easy way. “Use local terminologies to help people understand effectively”he directed. The Minister cautioned people to be careful about the use of water and blood. “Taking care of these two liquids can minimize 60% to 70% of the diseases”, he remarked.

Speaking on the occasion various experts expressed concern over spread of hepatitis B&C and HIV/AIDS in the society. The experts while underlining the need of creating mass awareness about the dangerous diseases advised people to avoid reuse of syringes, contaminated surgical equipments and shaving items. Similarly they stressed the need of the transfusion of only screened blood and abiding by the Islamic principles to ensure sound health.

Broad band connectivity and its installation in Sindh

2006-08-12T10:23:00.000-07:00

Reported by John Khakur Das

Karachi—Governor Sindh Dr. Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan on Friday announced that all government officers will be provided with broad band connectivity and its installation will start from Karachi spreading to the entire province later on.

Addressing a delegation of Pakistan Telecommunication Company led by Chie Executive of Etislat Mohammad Bamakhrama the Governor pointed out that Karachi has plenty of potential for such investment as most of the country’s big investors live here. He asked PTCL to offer an acceptable package for the officers.

Karachi is a city, which has plenty of opportunities for infrastructure improvement and setting up of industries as it is a consumer-based city offering conducive environment in the region.

He emphasised on the need for a good quality and cheap package for the consumers that should include best after sale services. In Karachi all utility companies are stakeholders so there is no room for negligence or inefficiency. He asked all of them to cooperate and work in coordination with city government so that people could reap rich benefits.

The Governor was quite firm in expressing faith in the process of privatisation citing example of Karachi Electric Supply Company, which has received full support of the government even in difficult times. It was his firm belief that such companies, which take over charge of utility services, are well reputed and it was but obvious that they will face initial problems in settling down for the bright future.

Meanwhile presiding over a meeting of the law enforcing departments the Governor made sure that foolproof security arrangements are on board for the Independence Day celebrations.

He also alerted the police to brace themselves for the impending dangers of floods in Sindh and asked them to coordinate with concerned departments to meet any emergency in that respect.

Dr. Ishrat also reviewed progress on street crime control and directed to prepare an action plan to reduce incidents of mobile phones and car snatching.

Musharraf reaches for the moon

2006-08-12T10:17:00.000-07:00

* President announces Rs 500m grant for IST
* Government planning to produce 1,500 PhDs every year by 2010

ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to put Pakistan on the map of nations exploring space, said President General Pervez Musharraf at the graduation ceremony of the Institute of Space Technology’s (IST) first batch of BSc in aeronautical, aeronautical engineering and communication systems engineering on Friday.

“We must explore space and bring its benefits to the people of Pakistan,” he said at the ceremony attended by federal ministers, services chiefs, senior government officials and the institute’s faculty. He vowed to launch a manned flight to space and even the moon in the coming years. Musharraf said the country’s space programme had been neglected in the past, and adequate funds had not been provided for its development. He said the government was providing funds to all research and strategic organisations to achieve the desired results.

The government had brought Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission under the National Command Authority’s control to bring the commission at par with strategic organisations, he said, adding that the government had realised the potential of space in terms of socio-economic development and security.

Recalling his visit to SUPARCO last year, the president said he was pleased to see the progress made by a team of young engineers and technicians. Giving his vision of Pakistan’s space programme, he asked SUPARCO to develop the country’s capacity to make and launch various types of satellites, especially communication, remote sensing and metrological satellites. “We expect SUPARCO to deliver as PAEC, NESCOM and KRL delivered in the nuclear and missile fields,” he said, asking graduating students to dedicate themselves to the vision’s fulfilment.

Human resources were the key to Pakistan’s success in various fields, including space technology, he said, adding, “We are trying our best to improve the quality of education for people at the grassroots level. This is the future.”

He said the government was targeting to produce 1,500 PhDs every year by 2010 to improve the education faculty.

Musharraf said an improvement in human resources would lead Pakistan to a knowledge-based society and transform its economy. He said it was unfortunate that a developing country like Pakistan was involved in agriculture only, since, “Agriculture is not going to take us to new heights and boost our economy.” Highlighting the importance of science and technology, he said the difference between a developing country and a small but developed country was that the latter possessed knowledge-based economy and modern technology.

Progress in science and technology had helped Pakistan reduce the cost of products, he said while expressing satisfaction over the fact that Pakistan was moving a path of knowledge-based economy.

The president announced a Rs 500 million grant for IST in the first stage and a similar sum in the second stage. agencies

Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

Global Warming: Skin Cancer on Rise in Pakistan

2006-08-12T10:15:00.000-07:00

KARACHI - Dermatologists are concerned on the growing cases of skin cancer in Pakistan, Dr Azam Samdani, head of the Department of Dermatology at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, said Friday.

Dr Samdani said that according to estimates about two percent of patients of skin ailments were suffering from skin cancer. He said the disease was curable at the initial stage. However, he warned that the disease could be fatal if the patient delays treatment. “It could be so painful that patients wish early deaths,” he told The Nation.

Dr Samdani said that due to global warming and dents in the Ozone layers, the ultraviolet rays were hitting humans bodies, causing serious damages to them. He said that all undressed and uncovered parts of the body are vulnerable to the skin damages. The main cause of spreading the disease to dangerous levels is that most of patients go to quakes and apply local ointments, which further damage the skin’s upper portion.

The diseases are more prevalent among those who live mostly out side in the sun. Farmers, construction workers, are more prone to the disease. He viewed that people are not well aware of the risk of skin diseases.

Dr Samdani said that at a given day in the JPMC alone, 250 to 300 patients visit the dermatology department. About two percent patients reported in the centre suffer from different kinds of skin cancer, the number may be much more but statistics are not available. Speaking about the gravity of the disease, the doctor said that as the sunrays are coming to the earth without getting filtered through the Ozone layers, the risk of skin disorders especially cancer has increased manifold particularly among people who stay in direct contact with sun light for long hours.

Most of the people do not know they have some skin problem that requires medical treatment. Apathy and monetary problems both causes dominate the general attitude of the masses. People do not go to the doctor for skin disease because skin diseases do not pose any threat to life.

“At an advanced stage, skin cancer cannot be treated. It is one of prolonging and chronic cancers. Fortunately, some kinds of skin cancer are curable if they are treated at early stages,” Dr Samdani added.

“Skin problems are more considered as beauty problem as compare to a medical disorder therefore instead of consulting with a dermatologists, due to lack of general knowledge, people go to beauticians for suggestions and remedies, he said and pointed out that acne was a common problem among young and middle aged people.

Acne causes disfigure, it may also go down shoulders to chest and back. Such skin diseases like acne and eczema may cause problems of lack of social acceptability. It causes problems like social acceptability or hurdles in marriage and jobs.

Matrimonial relations, stress, PMS and menstrual cycle affect and cause changes in skin. Bad effects in sun, due to environment, pollution, carbon particles, dust, etc. Sun damage awareness is less among the masses, due to less ozone the damages are getting intense.

Skin is the largest organ of human body. The skin contains secretions that can kill bacteria and the pigment melanin provides a chemical pigment defence against ultraviolet light that can damage skin cells. Most of the skin problems are caused by infections and bacteria. Epidermis, dermis and subcutaneous. Infections and bacteria attack the outer layer of skin - epidermis.

Talking about Karachi, Dr Samdani said that overcrowding, poor living and unhygienic conditions contribute to scabies, infections and most of skin diseases. “Skin disease can be inherent, or can be caused by allergies and internal disorders of the body,” he said. Eczema is of various kinds that can be inherent like atopic eczema or it can also be caused by allergies.
Allergies that cause eczema results due to, Nickel in gold causes such allergies among females, in male cement and chemicals direct contact causes skin diseases. Eczema and skin diseases cause by other associate diseases. Solar damage is important. It causes eczema, allergies, reaction, extreme skin and chronic skin cancer.

Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

2nd South Asian Sanitation Conference on September 20

2006-08-12T10:12:00.000-07:00

ISLAMABAD – The Federal Minister for Environment, Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat has said that Pakistan will host a two-day 2nd South Asian Sanitation Conference on September 20 2006, which will be witnessed by the representatives from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and other countries whereas, more than Rs 210 million have been allocated by the donors agencies in this regard.

He expressed these views while talking to Ronald Van Dijk, Acting Representative, UNICEF and Thowai Zai, Sectional Chief, Water & Environmental Sanitation, UNICEF. Overall situation of sanitation of the region was discussed in the meeting. Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat said that hosting SACOSAN-II is a matter of great honor for Pakistan.

He said that the conference was to be held on November 21, 2005, which was postponed due to the tragedy of 8th October. He said that representatives of international NGOs will also participate in the conference.
Elaborating the objectives of the conference, he said that it will help the general public to accelerate the progress of sanitation and hygiene in South Asia alongwith improvement in quality of life.

He said that Ministry of Environment, under the obligation of Dhaka Declaration after consultation with the Ministry of Health, has taken upon itself to organise the 2nd South Asian Conference on Sanitation.

Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

Pakistan close to Nuclear Energy deal with China

2006-08-12T10:10:00.000-07:00

ISLAMABAD-Pakistan and China are close to ink the landmark accord on nuclear energy cooperation, under which Islamabad will acquire six reactors of 300 megawatts each.
“Negotiations on nuclear energy cooperation between Pakistan and China are in final stages and the deal is most likely to be reached at during the forthcoming visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao in November, this year,” said an official here on Friday.

He said Pakistan also wanted to acquire a nuclear power reactor of 600 megawatts from China but the Chinese have just started using its first such reactors hence its provision to Pakistan would take some time.

The nuclear energy cooperation deal with China has brought great solace to Pakistan, as the United States is not willing to extend such cooperation to Islamabad despite the months’ long talks between the allied nations in war on terror.

With Chinese cooperation, Pak would build six new nuclear reactors in next 10 years having capacity of 2,000 megawatts, the official said. This was part of Pak’s plan to increase the capacity of N-power generation to over 8,000 megawatts by 2025, he added. China has already helped Pak build a nuclear reactor of 350 megawatts at Chashma near and it was currently building one more at the same place with the same capacity.

Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

PESHAWAR: 7,816 TB cases detected in three months

2006-08-12T10:08:00.000-07:00

PESHAWAR, Aug 11: The Provincial TB Control Programme has detected 7,816 cases in the province in the second quarter of the current year, officials said.

The patients would be provided free diagnosis and treatment for eight consecutive months under the DOTS (directly-observed treatment short course) at the district level offices.

Officials said that 6,245 patients had been registered in the first quarter of this year.

They said that 1,536 patients (897 females and 639 males) had been registered in five quake-hit districts in the second quarter of the current year. During the first quarter, the officials said, 1,090 cases had been registered in these districts.

A breakdown of the figures shows that in Abbottabad there were 509 patients, in Mansehra 492 patients, in Shangla district 294 patients, in Battagram 107 patients and in Kohistan district 134 patients.

EPI WORKERS: Director General Health Services NWFP Dr Jalilur Rehman has directed the workers of the expanded programme on immunisation (EPI) to work with commitment and team spirit for effective immunisation.

He was addressing a three-day master trainers’ workshop on the ‘social mobilisation for the EPI’ here on Friday.

Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

PESHAWAR: Gastro, skin diseases break out in Mardan

2006-08-12T10:07:00.000-07:00

PESHAWAR, Aug 11: The water in residential areas of Mardan over the past week has complicated health problems, as hundreds of people have reported to the relief camps with cholera, gastroenteritis and skin diseases.

Every third person visiting the health facilities was complaining of skin problem and this was because of the stagnant water in residential areas, Dr Hidayatullah, the Health Management Information System Coordinator, said.

The doctor said most of the patients got infected while cleaning their homes or work places, where floodwater had mixed with sewage.

Sources said cholera and gastroenteritis had affected hundreds of people because of the failure of the municipal staff to drain out the water.

Dr Hidayatullah said 120 cases of cholera and gastroenteritis had been reported in the flood-affected areas.

A few cases of Malaria have also been reported but a district headquarters official said arrangements had been made to control the disease.

Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

KARACHI: Centre urged to help fight fuel-based pollution

2006-08-12T10:05:00.000-07:00

KARACHI, Aug 11: The clean air coordination committee of the city government on Friday urged the federal government to take measures to reduce sulphur quantity in petroleum products to contain environmental pollution and save human health.

The meeting held here with the committee chairman and City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal in the chair noted that in Pakistan, fuel had the highest quantity of sulphur, one of the major sources of air pollution, than any other country of the world.

It decided to formally request the federal government through a letter to take steps to reduce the sulphur quantity to control pollution especially in Karachi, where environmental pollution was on the rise with the increase in its population.

The meeting stressed the need for making motor vehicle fitness section more effective and called for setting time frame of its privatisation as it had been, in principle, to give the section to private sector.

It was told that talks were under way in this context with a Malaysian firm while land had been allotted at the city government-run bus terminal for establishing the section.

After the privatisation of motor vehicle fitness section, the menace of smoke-emitting vehicles, the major cause of air pollution, could be properly checked.

The meeting also discussed imposing ban on plastic bags and decided to put a ban on the same gradually and increase their weight and price to discourage its use.

It was observed that with the increase in the process of plastic bags, people would use them repeatedly and this would eventually eliminate the problems of choked sewerage lines and pollution. It also considered improving CNG vehicles and called for installing converters in such vehicles.

Speaking on the occasion, City Nazim Mustafa Kamal assured that the recommendations from experts to control pollution and save human health from its hazardous effects would be mulled over and implemented.

He asked the committee members to submit their recommendations so that they could be included in the agenda for next meeting. The nazim stressed the need for step-wise progress towards the betterment of the environment.

Mr Kamal said that the city government was making efforts to improve the transport system and make it environment-friendly. For the purpose, new buses would be inducted gradually on the city roads.

He said that the city government was making efforts to bring Karachi at par with international standards in terms of environment to provide citizens with healthy atmosphere.

DIG Traffic Falak Khurshid told the meeting that the government had introduced new four-stroke CNG rickshaws while two-stroke rickshaws had been given one-year deadline to get their engines changed to environment-friendly ones. Action would be taken against them after one year, he added

It was decided that the recommendations would be considered in next the meeting of the committee and implementation of its decisions would be made sure.

Representatives of the city government Mass Transit Cell, transport and communications department, Suparco, Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan, Sindh Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), NED’s environmental engineering department, Aga Khan University’s health sciences department, Urban Resource Centre, Pakistan Environmental Assessment Association, KCCI, Karachi Transport Ittehad, IUCN, Sindh Transport Department, Automobile Corporation of Pakistan and others attended the meeting.—PPI

Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

US, Pakistan agree to work in IT sector

2006-08-12T09:58:00.000-07:00

ISLAMABAD, Aug 11: The United States and Pakistan on Friday agreed to work together to enhance and upgrade IT disciplines in major universities, promote broadband internet and increase computer usage in Pakistan.

The two sides also agreed to increase bilateral cooperation in e-governance, spectrum management, human resource development and capacity-building.

A statement issued here said that the agreement was reached during a meeting between Minister for Information Technology Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari and US Coordinator for International Communications and Information David A Gross. State Minister Ishaq Khan Khakwani, Secretary Furrukh Qayyum and other senior officials also attended the meeting.

Mr Gross said he had been thoroughly impressed with the scale of progress achieved by Pakistan in the telecom sector within the past three to five years. It had not only won Pakistan recognition in the form of prestigious GSMA Award but also put Pakistan prominently on the radar screen of international IT firms.

“Until a couple of years ago, Pakistan was not even heard of in the telecom arena. But 37 million mobile phone subscribers within a couple of years point to the vision and the effort of the government in moving from old system to the new telecommunication system,” he said.

He said the US was keen to work closely with Pakistan on increasing broadband and computer usage, promoting content development in local languages and improving high-end professional human resource.

Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

Pakistan's First Open Source Software Competition

2006-08-09T16:06:00.000-07:00

UIT Computer Society a chartered Student Chapter of Association for Computing Machinery (USA) is organizing the National Multi-Competition Event named "CyberNet U-Tech 2006" on 18th & 19th August 2006. This Event will instigate and embellish a whole new dimension of Information Technology by organizing 7 different competitions including OpenIdeas, ModulationMax and Solution.Net competitions for the first time in any National IT Event in Pakistan.

OpenIdeas is an open source software competition dedicated to provide the platform for Open Source Developers to exhibit their skills to a wide IT literate audience. U-Tech 2006 holds the pride to introduce Open Ideas for the first time in such National IT Event in Pakistan. The software will be analysed by a panel of expert judges from industry and academia. A multi-phase evaluation will result an attractive and productive Open Source Software for Industry.

Large number of participants and audience are expected from universities and IT industry.

Interested individuals are encouraged to visit U-Tech website http://www.utech.org.pk and send their registration information at info@utech.org.pk by 10th August 2006 .

Reported by: M. Qasim Pasta, Chairman UITCS ACM Student Chapter, via pakgrid@yahoogroups.com.

He can be reached at: http://mqpasta.blogspot.com/

Pakistan's IT exports hit $72m

2006-08-06T19:04:00.000-07:00

Islamabad, Aug 5 (IANS) Pakistan's information technology (IT) industry has registered exports worth $72 million in the financial year 2005-06, a record 56 percent annual increase over exports of $46 million in 2004-05.

Much of it is thanks to government's promotion, concessions and huge tax holidays.

Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) managing director Yusuf Hussain appreciated the efforts of the ministry of IT and telecom.

He also congratulated the growing industry on this achievement, giving due credit to all the stakeholders for the success and promised them continued support from the government through the PSEB, The News said.

The maximum contribution to these earnings had come from computer software export, accounting for 63 percent of the total exports, with an overall increase of 44 percent compared to computer software exports last year, it added.

"According to statistics released by the State Bank of Pakistan, the country's central bank, on July 24 to PSEB, there is an overall 56 percent annual increase in IT exports by Pakistani IT companies," it said quoting a PSEB statement issued in Karachi.

"The government of Pakistan has been proactively developing the IT sector for the last few years," it said.

"The top five companies that have contributed the maximum share to IT exports are Netsol Technologies, Ovex Technologies, TRG Private Ltd, Systems Private Ltd and Elixir Technologies," said the PSEB statement.

"The incentives include tax exemption till 2016, establishment of IT parks with low rent, foreign ownership of equity invested in IT and 100 per cent repatriation of profit allowed to IT companies."

Major spending had taken place in hardware consultancy services, software consultancy services, maintenance or repair of computers, export of computer software and other computer services.

US firm sees Pakistan as IT hub

2006-08-05T22:51:00.000-07:00

US firm sees Pakistan as IT hub

By our correspondent/

NEWS

KARACHI: The US-based WYSE Technology Incorporation - a pioneer in
thin computing - is considering making Pakistan a hub of its
commercial activities in the South Asian region, industry sources
said on Saturday.

"President and CEO of WYSE Technology Dr John Kish is due to visit
Pakistan later this month," said a source in local IT industry close
to the development.

"The convergence of more powerful networks, dramatic growth in
wireless devices and rapid adoption of new technologies in markets
like India and China make this the right time for WYSE to expand its
lead in the thin-client market and deliver entirely new computing
benefits to customers around the world. I'm thrilled to take on that
challenge," he quoted Dr John Kish as saying.

NC Incorporation Pakistan had already been appointed as authorised
distributor and service centre of WYSE Technology in the region and
had included MCB Bank, Allied Bank, EFU, Bank Alfalah, Ibrahim
Fibre, Gul Ahmed and others in their clientele, he added.

Founded in 1981, WYSE Technology is a technology developing company
headquartered in San Jose, California, USA, with offices worldwide.
The company introduced economical, ergonomic and attractively
designed terminal products of high quality and reliability.

"Recently, global technology analyst International Data Corporation
announced in their fourth quarter 2005 report that WYSE remains the
leader in all regions, with 44.2 per cent market share in the US, 37
per cent in Asia Pacific and 27.2 per cent in Western Europe," added
the source.

5 Day Workshop--High Performace Computing

2006-08-03T22:39:00.000-07:00

5 Day Workshop: High Performance Computing
A Short Hands-on Tutorial on Programming
Parallel/Distributed Platforms

August 7 - 11th, 2006

In Collabration With

The University of Illinois, Chicago, U.S.A.

Hosted by The Ghullam Ishaq Khan Institute

General Information

Computational mechanics involves large-scale problems with the analysis phase alone requiring over 10 Tflops. This necessitates the use ofparallel computing paradigms to perform the computations in a reasonable simulation time. However, just taking a sequential code and running it on a parallel platform does not work. In this tutorial we will review basic parallel computing approaches and analysis techniques in the context of computational mechanics. These approaches will be demonstrated using two different parallel programming styles: message passing libraries such as MPI and shared memory programming standards such as Open MP. For both these styles hands-on programming sessions will be conducted on a Beowulf PC cluster for training the participants on parallel programming.

This tutorial is suitable for faculty, students, and industry practitioners interested in using parallel machines and requires as a pre requisite basic programming skills in FORTRAN or C.

About the Lead Instructor

Dr. Ashfaq A. Khokhar is Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, UIC USA. Dr. Khokhar has published over 120 technical papers and book chapters in refereed conferences and archival journals in the area of wireless networks, multimedia systems, data mining, and high performance computing. He has supervised research of numerous PhD and MS students who are currently serving in leading universities, research labs, and industry. He is recipient of the prestigious NSF CAREER award in 1998. His paper entitled "Scalable S-to-P Broadcasting in Message Passing MPPs" has won the Outstanding Paper award in the International Conference on Parallel Processing in 1996. He has served as the Program Chair of the 17th Parallel and Distributed Computing Conference (PDCS), 2004, Vice Program Chair for the 33rd International Conference on Parallel Processing (ICPP), 2004, and General Chair of the Workshop on Frontiers of Information Technology, 2004. Dr. Khokhar has been nominated for IEEE Fellow in 2006. His current research interests include: high performance computing, wireless and sensor networks, multimedia systems, and data mining.

Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

Second IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies (ICET 2006)

2006-08-03T09:27:00.000-07:00

Second IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies (ICET 2006)
Peshawar, N-W.F.P, Pakistan,
November 13 – 14, 2006,
URL: www.icet2006.org

The second IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies - IEEE ICET will be held in Peshawar, Pakistan, on 13-14 November 2006. It will be organized by NWFP University of Engineering & Technology Peshawar and co-sponsored by IEEE Islamabad Section. Proceedings of ICET 2006 will have an ISBN number, IEEE Catalog number and the Library of Congress number. All the accepted papers published in the Conference Proceedings will be accessible through IEEE Xplore ®.

Scope of the Conference

The relevant areas of interest may include, but not limited to, the following:

• Algorithms, Tools & Applications
• Artificial Intelligence and Fuzzy Logic
• ASIC Design and Embedded Systems
• Automation and Control Systems
• Communication Techniques and Systems
• Computer Networks
• Computer Vision and Graphics
• Databases and Warehousing
• Geo-Informatics
• Microelectronics and MEMS
• Microwave and Optoelectronics
• Modeling & Simulation
• Nanotechnology and Quantum Computing
• Power and Alternate Energy Resources
• Software Engineering
• Speech, Image, Video and Signal Processing
• Ubiquitous Computing
• Wireless, Mobile and Sensor Networks
• Bio-Engineering (Informatics, Medical, Technology)Schedule

• Early Registration Deadline: September 30, 2006
• 15% reduction will be given if payment is received by the early registration deadline

Contact for Further Information
Prof. Dr. Azzam ul Asar
Program Chair, ICET 2006 Secretariat, Dept. of Electrical & Electronic Engineering
N-W.F.P. University o Engineering and Technology, Peshawar, Pakistan.
Tel: +92 - 91 – 9216435, Fax: +92 – 91 – 9216663, Cell: +92 – 03339116925,
Emails: program_chair@icet2006.org, program_chair@mail.icet2006.org
URL: http://www.icet2006.org

Iran Develops 32-Bit Processor

2006-07-31T13:53:00.001-07:00

Peter Clarke(07/26/2006 1:36 PM EDT)
URL: Web site. During that time it has developed the Aristo and Tiny cores based on the Sparc V8 architecture, and has now proved the cores out in silicon.
Parsé works with the High Tech Industries Center of Iran, according to its website.

Aristo is a core intended for SoC implementation and, according to Parsé, the processor has been declared fully functional after fabrication in a 0.18-micron process technology from foundry company Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. The Tiny model of the processor is intended for FPGA and fast ASIC implementation, where the processor may not need cache memory or other peripheral blocks. The Tiny core has already been designed into a single-chip global positioning by satellite (GPS) system that is being designed to include both RF and baseband circuitry.

In addition Parsé has released its own chip called Tachra, which includes the Aristo processor core, together with a suite of Tachra development tools.

The Aristo and Tiny processor cores and the Tachra processor component are suitable for use in communications projects, automated manufacturing, industrial automation, robotic systems and artificial intelligence, and data transfer networks, according to the Fars News Agency.

It is expected that, compared with the latest microprocessors developed in the west, Aristo, Tiny and Tachra would be relatively modest in performance. No performance benchmarks could be found on the Parsé Web site.

Aristo, Tiny and Tachra are likely to have much in common with the Leon, Leon2 and Leon3 processors, which are also Sparc V8 compatible, and provided by Gaisler Research AB (Goteborg, Sweden).

Gaisler Research, founded by Jiri Gaisler in 2001, performs custom microprocessor development and fault tolerant computer system design. Tt was while working for the European Space Agency (ESA) prior to 2001 that Gaisler developed Leon, a Sparc-compliant 32-bit processor, for which the design source code was made freely available.

The full source code of the Leon3 processor is also available under the GNU GPL license, for free and unlimited use for research and education, but Leon3 has a paid-for commercial license and includes multiprocessor support. The commercial version of Leon3 is capable of a 400-MHz clock frequency on a 0.13-micron manufacturing process.

Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

The 4th International Workshop on Frontiers of Information Technology

2006-07-24T10:33:00.000-07:00

The 4th International Workshop on Frontiers of Information Technology

"Leveraging IT for Progress"

December 20-21, 2006 Islamabad Pakistan

The International Workshop on the Frontiers of Information Technology (FIT) is shaping up to be an annual conference to provide a platform for presentations and discussions of recent developments and future trends in Information Technology.

Since its inception in 2003, the International Workshop on Frontiers of Information Technology has emerged as a leading forum in Pakistan for IT professionals and researchers to discuss and present the latest research trends and results in the field of Information Technology (IT). FIT 2006, forth in its series, promises to be another exciting event that will host leading IT researchers from across the globe and will provide opportunity to build international research collaborations.

The workshop generally consists of technical presentations, panel discussions, posters, exhibitions and demos.

FIT 2006 will be held at the Marriott Hotel in the picturesque capital city Islamabad , Pakistan, on 20 - 21 December 2006.

Organized by

COMSATS Institute of Information Technology Abbottabad

Sponsored by

Higher Education Commission of Pakistan

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd

FIRST SESSION OF PAK - US JOINT COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

2006-07-20T10:18:00.000-07:00

The inaugural session of the Pakistan-U.S. Joint Committee on Science & Technology is being held in Washington on 19-20 July 2006. A three-member Pakistan delegation, led by Prof. Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman, Chairman, Higher Education Commission, is visiting the United States for this purpose. The other members include Secretary, Science & Technology, Dr. Parvez Butt and Mr. Shahid Kamal, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Science & Technology Dialogue is part of the several initiatives agreed between Pakistan and the United States during President George W. Bush's visit to Pakistan in March 2006. The two sides had inter alia decided to establish the Pakistan-U.S. Joint Committee on Science and Technology at a higher level, with a view to developing collaborative activities and relationships between the scientific and technological communities and institutions of both countries.

Dr. Atta-ur Rahman is the co-chair from the Pakistan side. From the U.S. side, Dr. Arden Bement, Director, National Science Foundation, has been appointed as the co-chair.
The Joint Statement on Pakistan-U.S. Strategic Partnership, issued by President Bush and President Musharraf on 4 March 2006, commits the two sides to build capacity in Pakistan and work towards increased cooperation in science, technology and engineering. Both sides also agreed to improve the quality, relevance, or capacity of education and research at Pakistani institutions of higher education in the field of science and technology. It was further agreed to enhance institutional capacity of Pakistan in the areas of environment through exchange of experts and developing linkages and collaborative projects with relevant U.S. institutions.

During its visit to Washington, the Science and Technology delegation would have wide-ranging talks with Dr. Arden Bement, Head of the National Science Foundation and senior officials of the State Department, Department of Agriculture, USAID, and National Academy of Sciences. The delegation would also meet with Dr. John H. Marburger, Advisor to President Bush on Science.

The delegation would visit Boston and New York, where it is scheduled to have meetings at relevant scientific and educational institutions.

Islamabad

17 July 2006

Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

Warid Telecom Donates Rs.120 Million and Plans to Construct SOS Villages for Earthquake Survivors

2006-06-27T17:05:00.000-07:00

Considering the massive destruction caused by the devastating earthquake which has affected thousands of households all across the country specially in the areas of Abbottabad, Mansehra, Balakot, Shikiari, Muzaffargarh and Bagh. The Management of Warid Pakistan and Warid International has contributed Rs.120 million towards the president relief fund.

Warid Telecom has provided free calling facilities at various locations in Abbotabad, Mansehra and Kashmir by providing satellite units and has installed free PCO’s at the PIMS and Shifa hospital for the convenience of the survivors of Margalla Tower disaster in Islamabad.

Warid Telecom plans to cons- tructing SOS villages to rehabilitate the affectees of the devastated earth quake, who are migrating towards Rawalpindi after loosing their homes and relatives. Warid will facilitate them by providing basic needs like food, medicines, tents and other basic amenities.

Mr. Hamid Farooq CEO Warid Telecom said, “This donation would serve as a token of acknow-ledgement that we as a Warid Family are there to serve our beloved nation in this moment of need and solidarity.

He further added that our group is planning to contribute generously towards the reconstruction of infra structure for the survivors of the earthquake, so they can restart their life after this calamity.

Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

Telenor Pledges Rs.65 Million Relief Package

2006-06-27T17:03:00.000-07:00

Telenor has announced an emergency relief package for the victims of the recent earthquake that has left thousands dead in its wake. Telenor is pledging a sum of Rs. 65 million to go to the Red Cross and President’s Earthquake Relief Fund.

Tore Johnsen, Telenor Pakistan’s CEO said, “We know that the government and Red Cross are working together to mobilize resources for the relief effort and we would like to contribute by all means possible.”

Tore further said that Telenor is committed to support the immense effort that was being carried out by the army and the Red Cross as blocked roads were cleared, communication was restored, and truck loads of tents, blankets, food and medicines were distributed in Manshera and Balakot in the NWFP.

Immediately after the earthquake, Telenor opened its network in advance in several affected cities and is currently providing free emergency communications services to the National Crisis Management Center. Telenor has also set up phone booths at emergency sites in Mansehra, Abbottabad, and Islamabad and is offering free communication facilities to the affected families.

Copyright C. PakSEF 2002 - 2006

KARACHI: E-education programme to start soon at DUHS

2005-09-01T01:38:00.000-07:00

KARACHI, Aug 31: E-Education Programme would become an integral component of Dow University of Health Sciences in the next three months along with a full-fledged digital library.

This was stated by DUHS Vice-Chancellor Prof Masood Hameed Khan while addressing the inaugural session of a seminar organized by the Health Times Academy, an NGO of Sindh-based senior medical professionals, in collaboration with DUHS at Arag Auditorium on Wednesday.

He announced that the E-Education Programme would be simultaneously complimented by the digital library project at the university enhancing direct accessibility of students and faculty members associated with the Dow Medical College, Sindh Medical College and Ojha Institute of Chest Diseases to all online journals and archives.

For the very purpose, 100 work stations are being made available at Dow Medical College, 70 at SMC besides a sizable number at Ojha Institute of Chest Diseases, he said.

Appreciative of the initiative undertaken by Health Times Academy, the vice-chancellor said that it was extremely appropriate and contributory to further strengthening the ongoing Continuing Medical Education Programme at DUHS.

Prof Masood Hameed reminded that the university fully conscious of the importance to update the knowledge of family physicians and young medical graduates had already chalked out education-cum-training programmes particularly focussed on the commonest diseases inflicting local population.

“DUHS has already chalked out a programme comprising a series of 24 lectures for local general medical practitioners and family physicians,” he said adding that Dow varsity is also in process to incorporate a mandatory education-cum-training programme in 20 diseases, most pertinent to Pakistan, for its final year students about to start with their house jobs.

Prof Abdul Ghaffar Billoo appreciated the Health Times Academy for its selection of topics ranging from diabetes to enteric fever which were registered to be fast growing in Pakistan.

Prof Ali Ansari observed that proper guidance and provision for updating knowledge among family physicians was largely lacking. He stressed that the gap between family physicians and specialists be bridged as in any society they ought to be complimentary to each other.

Health Times Academy President Prof Zaman Sheikh, in his welcome address, said that the academy functioning for the last five years had embarked upon a series of continuing medical education programme for family physicians scattered across the province.

First of the series of programmes, he said, was held in Mirpurkhas on Aug 27 and the last programme in Sukkur on Sept 3. —APP

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Pakistan Science and Engineering Foundation (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
www.paksef.org
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KARACHI: Tampered lines caused contamination, says KWSB

2005-09-01T01:34:00.000-07:00

KARACHI, Aug 31: The Managing Director of Karachi Water and Sewerage Board, Brig (retd) Iftikhar Haider, on Wednesday said that tampering with water supply lines in some kutchi abadies had resulted in contamination of water.

During his visit to Essa Nagri and Manno Goth in Gulshan-i-Iqbal, he said that some residents of kutchi abadies used to get water connection by illegally breaking water supply lines. He added that these people did not follow mechanical needs to check seepage into these lines, which result in water contamination.

On the occasion, he inspected affected water supply lines of the area. KWBS engineers told him that people used to take water connections for their homes by using PVC and plastic pipes and they did not use durable rubber washers in these connections and instead use pieces of sponge sleepers. They said that this makeshift procedure created leakage and seepage problems, ultimately contaminating the water, when suction pumps are used to get water.

KWSB chief requested the citizens not to tamper with water lines for getting illegal connections instead contact KWSB staff for obtaining legal and safe water connection.

He said that in case of any complaint regarding supply of contaminated water, citizens could contact chief engineer water supply on phone numbers 9231221 or 9231218. He said that after drive to clean manholes, the complaints of water contamination were decreasing.

Later, Brig Iftikhar went to Sakhi Hasan and inspected the 33-inch-dia water supply line that had burst. The affected pipeline was changed and water supply had been resumed. —PPI

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Pakistan Science and Engineering Foundation (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
www.paksef.org
=====================================================

Rs400 million allocated for research in nano medicine

2005-07-04T00:18:00.000-07:00

Rs400 million allocated for research in nano medicine

ISLAMABAD, July 3: The government has allocated Rs400 million for two premier institutes, Comsats and the National Institute for Biomedical and Genetic Engineering (Nibge) Faisalabad, for research in nano medicine.

This was stated by Dr Raheel Qamar, who is studying the discipline at the Comsats Institute of Nano Technology, at the monthly meeting of the Scientists Club here on Saturday.

He said the first application of the nano-medicine technology in the country would be development of kits for diagnoses of different diseases. He announced that indigenous development of these kits would be started soon, saving valuable foreign exchange.

At present, these kits are imported, he said, adding that “in most cases, these kits were not suitable to our particular environment as the diseases found in foreign countries differed from those found here, so we ought to develop these kits on the basis of data obtained in the country”.

A lot of studies in this regard are being done at Nibge, Faisalabad.

Dr Qamar said huge advancement had been made worldwide in therapeutic uses of nano-medicine technology, particularly in treating cancer. The technology can also be helpful in treating coronary diseases.

“Because of their small size, nanoparticles have the advantage of easily interacting with biomolecules on the surface of cells or inside. In addition, nano medicine has the potential of reducing the morbidity and morality among patients.”

Former commandant of Armed Forces Institute of Pathology Gen (retired) I.T. Burney, who presided over the event, appreciated the efforts of nano-medicine diagnostic expert Dr Qamar for keeping his country in stride with progress in the new technology.

He said many Muslim countries were looking up to Pakistan for assimilating new developments in science and technology which would be of use to them in later years.

Gen Burney said: “We are lucky that we have made progress in related diagnostic fields. He recalled that the country received its first electronic microscope able to magnify a cell 40 times during his time.”

Later, Gen Burney said he was given funds to acquire an electronic microscope that could magnify things 100 times. “We have now acquired the capacity to actually see the structure of cells and a time would come when we could deliver therapeutic agents directly to the affected cells,” he said. — Jonaid Iqbal

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"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
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Fibre-optic cable fault remains untraced

2005-07-03T23:57:00.000-07:00

Fibre-optic cable fault remains untraced

By Bahzad Alam Khan

KARACHI, July 3: Engineers working on the snapped Internet link failed on Sunday to trace the fault in SEA-ME-WE-3, world’s longest fibre-optic cable. The engineers are aboard a ship sent by the 92-party consortium that runs the cable to the coast of Karachi.

The president of the Pakistan Telecommunication Company, Mr Junaid Khan, told Dawn that in a repair operation that involved scores of technical experts from various countries, the defective portion of the undersea SEA-ME-WE-3 had been narrowed down to around five kilometres.

“Frankly, the fault has not been traced. Previously, we had narrowed the defective portion down to 15 kilometres. At the moment engineers working aboard the ship sent in by a UAE-based company, E-Marine, were scanning five kilometres of the 39,000-kilometre-long fibre-optic link, which is believed to contain the defective portion,” he said.

Pakistan made an initial investment of $35 million in SEA-ME-WE-3. It pays around $2.5 million as maintenance cost, including repair cost, to the consortium annually.

The PTCL president said: “Apparently the undersea fibre-optic link is not damaged. If it had been damaged, it would have been easy to detect it. Besides, the rough weather has made the fault localization process, a tedious exercise in the best of times, even more cumbersome. Engineers are having a hard time differentiating between noise and signals sent back by the faulty portion of the cable in what is known as sonic testing.”

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Summer Confrence in Mathematics

2005-06-08T09:20:00.000-07:00

LAHORE UNIVERSITY OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCES
Centre for Advanced Studies in Mathematics

SUMMER CONFERENCE
IN MATHEMATICS
(July 18-19, 2005)

1st Announcement

CASM is organizing this conference, with the view to broaden the research interests of young mathematicians by providing an opportunity to discuss recent developments in various fields and to assess future directions. The organizing committee invite all those interested, to intimate by June 15, 2005 through an e-mail to: kashifi@lums.edu.pk.

Organizing Committee:Dr. M. Aslam Butt (Convener), Dr. M. Naeem Qureshi

Venue: Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Lahore.
For further detail please visit: http://web.lums.edu.pk/~casm/summerconference.html
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Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
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=====================================================

Pakistan to send centrifuge parts to IAEA for testing: diplomat

2005-03-13T10:08:00.000-08:00

VIENNA (AFP)
13 March 2005

Pakistan will send centrifuge parts to the UN nuclear watchdog to help determine whether uranium contamination found in Iran came from imported equipment, as Iran claims, a Western diplomat said here.

"The centrifuge parts will be sent to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) laboratory in Seibersdorf," near Vienna, he said.

The IAEA is investigating contamination by microscopic particles of highly enriched uranium (HEU) found at the Kalaye workshop in Tehran.
HEU can be fuel for civilian nuclear reactors but also can be used to make nuclear weapons.

The diplomat said that the centrifuge parts should come from the same set of centrifuges that were used at Kalaye, "otherwise it wouldn't serve any purpose."

IAEA technicians at Seibersfdorf will be checking for HEU contamination and to see whether the "signature" or isotope configuration of the contamination at Kahle matches that of the parts from Pakistan.

A diplomat close to the IAEA told AFP that they were looking at HEU contamination at several
sites in Iran besides Kahle.

The diplomat said he would be "happy when the parts actually arrive," adding that the investigation was a very delicate matter.

Britain, France and Germany, on behalf of the European Union, have been trying to persuade Tehran to permanently abandon its capacity to produce HEU in return for a package of incentives.

The diplomatic effort is aimed at securing "objective guarantees" that Iran will not produce nuclear weapons.

The United States charges that Iran has a clandestine nuclear weapons program and wants the IAEA to bring Tehran before the UN Security Council for possible sanctions.

But IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei says that while Iran hid sensitive nuclear activity for almost two decades, "the jury is still out" on whether Tehran is trying to develop atomic weapons.
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Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
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Compliments Of The Seasons From Mr Turkin & Monica

2005-01-28T13:54:00.000-08:00

Dear Sir,
I Hope This Mail Meets You In Good Health And Spirit, I Am, TURKIN EZE,
A Sierra Leonia. Presently, I Live As A Refugee In republic of senegal
dakar , With My Younger Sister, MONICA.I Am A Victim Of War And The Son
Of Late Chief Dr.O.ONUORAH The Assassinated Former Assistant Director Of
Sierra Leone Gold And Diamond Mining Corporation.
My Father Was Killed With Other Government Officials During Official
Hours When The Rebel Troops Stormed And Raided The Mining Corporation
Office At The Heat Of The Crisis In My Country. A Few Weeks Later, The
Rebels Also Invaded Our Residential Building In Which My Mother And Two
Of Our Security Men Were Killed In The Compound While I Was Out For A
Special Research Program And My Younger Sister Was In School.
I Had A Singular Shock And Trauma, Which Compelled Us To Flee From The
Country To republic of senegal dakar By The Help Of An Army Colonel, Who
Is A Close Friend Of My Late Father,We Would Like To Further Our Education If
Not For The Death Of My Parents. I Have Never Worked To Earn My Living
Since My Late Parents Had Enough Wealth For Us.
I Am Contacting You Now Because Of The Present Difficulty I Am Facing.
Unfortunately My Father's Two Accounts In West Africa Have Recently Been
Frozen.However This Did Not Affect The Twenty Million And Six Hundred
Thousand Dollars(Us$ 20,600,000), Which He Kept In a Foreign Finance Fairm
Banking On My Name As The Next Of Kin.
For Now, I Am Having Every Information And Document Needed For The
Clearance Of The Money In The Foreign Finance Firm Banking Here With Me And
I Want You To Act As The Beneficiary Of The Fund For Easy And Smooth
Transfer To Your Account Abroad For Investment Purposes.
You Will No Doubt Be Adequately Compensated With As Well As A Percentage
Of The Profit From Investment Of The Fund. Also You Will See To It That
My Sister And I Come Over To Your Country At The Earliest Possible Time.
I Am Making This Request To You With Tears In My Eyes And I Feel That God
Almighty Will Touch You With His Spirit To Listen To My Cry For Help And
Answer Me Without Delay.
Since Our Breadwinner Is No More And This Is The Only Hope For Life.
You Positive Response Will Give Me The Greatest Joy And Relief. God Bless
You For Your Kind Assistance We Have Agreed To Offer You
35% Of The Total Sum.Seriously Waiting For Your Urgent Reply Below Email.
Email :turkineze2004@walla.com.
Best regard,
MR.TURKIN.E.ONUORAH

Compliments Of The Seasons From Mr Turkin & Monica

2005-01-28T13:45:00.000-08:00

Khwarimi Science Society Workshop on Nano-Materials

2005-01-14T17:21:00.000-08:00

KHWARZIMIC IN 2005 (The Year of Physics): Want to lead a seminar? Want to propose a speaker? Please contact us at info@khwarzimic.org.

Dear Member / SubscriberAssalam-o-alaikumThe Khwarzimic Science Society has organized a one-day workshop on:NANOMATERIALS: THE INVISIBLE MADE VISIBLEon Monday, 17 Jan 2005 at 11 am at the Centre for Solid State Physics,Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Punjab University, Lahore.

The workshop instructor is Umair Manzoor from the Nano-cermaics Lab,KAIST, Korea.The workshop will comprise four presentations of one hour each. Lunchbreak will be at 1 pm.For details, posters and abstracts, please visit http://www.khwarzimic.org.

The workshop will be oriented for beginners to the field of nanotechnologyand nanomaterials. It will focus on preparing such materials andstructures. Students and faculties are equally welcome. The workshop isfree of cost. However we encourage you to register.

Please email us atinfo@khwarzimic.org or call us at the following cell numbers:0300-4605930 (Sabieh), 0300-4154574 (Shahab)We look forward to seeing you on Monday.Dr. Sabieh AnwarJoint SecretaryKhwarzimic Science Society

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Pakistan Science and Engineering Forum (R)
"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
PakSEF (TM) Daily Science News Update
=====================================================

‘Quake may have made Earth wobble’

2005-01-09T12:03:00.000-08:00

The deadly Asian earthquake may have permanently accelerated the Earth’s rotation – shortening days by a fraction of a second – and caused the planet to wobble on its axis, US scientists say. Richard Gross, a geophysicist with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, theorized that a shift of mass toward the Earth’s centre during the quake on Sunday caused the planet to spin 3 microseconds, or 3 millionths of a second, faster and to tilt about an inch on its axis. When one huge tectonic plate beneath the Indian Ocean was forced below the edge of another “it had the effect of making the Earth more compact and spinning faster,” Gross said. The Earth’s poles travel a circular path that normally varies by about 33 feet, so an added wobble of an inch is unlikely to cause long-term effects, he said. reuters

[For further information visit the International Earth Rotation and Refrence System (IERS) wbsite at http://www.iers.org/ ]
======================================================
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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Pakistan Has Become a Hot Spot for IT Outsourcing

2004-12-24T17:10:00.000-08:00

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

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

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

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

Why Care?

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

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

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

India Helps Pakistan

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

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

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

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

Pakistan's Advantages

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

Pakistan offers five advantages over India:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shared Roles

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

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

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

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

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

2004-12-18T08:57:00.000-08:00

REGISTRATION FOR SCONEST 2004

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Our postal addresses are:

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

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

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HONETCON Optical Network Confrence 2004

2004-12-15T01:13:00.000-08:00

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

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

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"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
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KARACHI: Royal navy ship arrives

2004-12-04T01:06:00.000-08:00

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

2004-12-04T01:05:00.001-08:00

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

2004-12-04T01:05:00.000-08:00

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

2004-12-04T01:04:00.000-08:00

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

2004-12-04T01:01:00.000-08:00

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

2004-10-31T02:32:00.000-08:00

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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US to assist Pak build science, tech projects

2004-10-31T02:30:00.000-08:00

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.

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Pakistan Pleads for Sharing Space Science and Technology

2004-10-14T07:05:00.000-07:00

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.
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Austrian companies evince interest in investment in Pak

2004-10-11T15:52:00.000-07:00

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

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

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

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Iran takes part in 'Abdus Salam' confab in Italy

2004-10-11T15:50:00.000-07:00

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

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

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

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Physics centre for the developing world turns 40

2004-10-11T15:45:00.000-07:00

Christina Scott
1 October 2004
Source: SciDev.Net

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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"Kindling the Flame of Science in Pakistan (TM)"
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