Reckoning Time for HEC

Will someone please tell Dr. Hoodbhoy to stop crying over the GRE standards? GRE can never be a estimate of a person's *intelligence* or *qualification level* for a PhD, if you will. No wonder its not endorsed by many leading universities around the globe. Even the ETS(testing authority for the GRE) has had several objections to its testing criteria over the years from within the USA.

Scoring highly in GRE requires a superior grip over the english language. By all my due respect Dr. Hoodbhoy, not everyone is as lucky as you to be educated in an elite schooling system. Please stop making fun of the lesser privileged cross-section of the society who can only make it to *ordinary* schools, having dismal standards of english teaching, and yet some how manage to compete at the highest level.

While I respect Dr. Hoodbhoy immensely and value his opinions greatly, I do think that his criticism of Dr. Ata-ur-Rahman is overdone in Pakistan's context. In my humble opinion, it's not all doom and gloom in Pakistan. For the first time in the nation's history, Dr. Rahman succeeded in getting tremendous focus and major funding increases for higher education in Pakistan. According to Sciencewatch, which tracks trends and performance in basic research, citations of Pakistani publications are rising sharply in multiple fields, including computer science, engineering, mathematics, material science and plant and animal sciences. Over two dozen Pakistani scientists are actively working on the Large Hadron Collider; the grandest experiment in the history of Physics. Pakistan now ranks among the top outsourcing destinations, based on its growing talent pool of college graduates. As evident from the overall results, there has been a significant increase in the numbers of universities and highly-educated faculty and university graduates in Pakistan. There have also been some instances of abuse of incentives, opportunities and resources provided to the academics in good faith. The quality of some of the institutions of higher learning can also be enhanced significantly, with some revisions in the incentive systems. But overall, I would have an Ata-ur-Rehman in charge of education rather than Mir Hazar Khan Bijrani, the current education minister.

Riaz Haq, PakAlumni Worldwide

Re: # 106

nkg,

I read somewhere that early in his career he applied for a job at Pakistan Steel. As I read this many years ago, I don't remember the source anymore but will now try to trace it out. This might well be incorrect information. Many thanks for correcting me. I reacted to comment made in # 89:

"Dr Abdus Salam trying his hardest to serve his country ... but constantly being shunned away ... do you have a theory on that"

Re: # 96
Viewer....
I think you have mixed up matters...
That fellow (APJ Abdul....) is Tamil, a pure vegetarian and very close to RSS. It is very utopian to imagine that this fellow was planning to migrate to Pakistan. He may not be great scientist, but good academician and materials engineer. He was associated with ISRO/DRDO from begining ( after B.E from a Tamil Engineering college). Have you ever heard his accents? He has received PhD degree much later (not through regular PhD course).....

Re: # 35
Ahmed...
"IIT engineers are building bridges in India and why they are coming down fast within year?
Here also it happened in Karachi after it was opened with great fanfare.
Now beitish engineers built 100 of thousands of bridges for railways and all are still strong.
Those engineers were not trained in IIT but they were not trained at all but hands on education . They built bridges made up of steel. All bridges built here and there came down are all concrete bridges. Now if you want bridges built of steel not concrete as they put mitti 10% instead of cement and engineers approves bill and bribe is part of bridge instead of cment. Engineer Babu can not steel so steel bridge is best preference for..."

When Brits built these bridges, RC technology was in its inception stage. What Brit engineers built was not economical. Furthermore, RC takes little time to settle. When the contractors under pressure from the site engineer or political pressure try to squeeze time, you see all sorts of problems...

I used to admire Howrah Bridge ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howrah_Bridge) and flaunt to my friends about association of my college with the bridge, until my Civil enginerring friends (hostel mate and partner in cards) pointed out that the structure is very costly and in modern world, it is absolute stupidity to build such bridge...

Re: # 101 which countries stated seeding of IITs and do they still provide money or education courses etc?

There is nothing wrong in IIT going out. One can consider human export and educated human as product for export as he brings dollars back. Also it keeps general termoil more controlled as this intelligent people if not trained and induced foreign dream if they back at home can be dangerous. Many intelligent people ( men , women and others ) if not lured by money and love can get high on Revolutionary Romanticism. That can be extremely dangerous. Intelligent Human can be extremely dangerous and they need to contained by chains of foreign going hope, that cripples all extra curricular activities.

Re: # 4
Ahmed....

"We should develop institutions of higher learing and be named Pakistan Muslim institute of Technolgy...."

Entire post is very funny...
You have invented something called Muslim THINKER....This is kind of oxymoron...

Then moslem technology.....
I was reading one article that Malayasia's car company Proton in Iran's Khordo motor are going to produce a Moslem car.... what technology they will contribute towards this SPECIAL car? A Compass attached to the car, which will always point to Meccca's temple of Kabba...and a timer which will blare in Arabic 5 times as prescribed by Mo The Barbarian (A 7th Century Beduine production)....
So, what this moslem technology will look like?
Your 6th century BC ancestors (if you don't think that, you are descendent of central asian or arab barbarians) created one of the finest universities of the world in Takshashila. Please analyse, where you have lost out. Otherwise, it will be like story of American rowing team vis a vis Japanese rowing team...more infusion of arab barbarism(Islam) and more deviation from mainstream civilisation....

I have already written, why IITians end up on the lap of US corporates rather than Indian companies...

#47 Dawa Deal

"Is it our national character that we dont pay tribute ..acknowledge and even consider the 'Silent Heroes' for what they are doing for Pakistan and islamic world. We kept that Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan under seige who made aur defence unbeatable and gave us the most dangerous weapon of 1400 years...."

Dawa Deal, for the time being forget about Pakistan. Had this fellow( A Q Khan) is the first person, who created such technology? Answer - Big NO.
Had he made these equipments from his own experiment? - Answer- Big NO. He is treated as technology smuggler from the Europe. Now, you may find similar heroes in Libya, North Korea etc... Worked as mechanic in European countries and aped their products.....If you treat such fellow as Scientific Hero, then your nation will be at that level only (smuggling and aping)...

Re: # 54
Ahmed, Arjun....

In recent years, couple of IIT people started working on local technologies.

The brain drain (from IITs) is direct result of Nehruvian stupidity (his hallmark). Engineering and technical education should not be treated in isolation with industry. While GoI sponsoring education modelled after US ( IITs are modelled after MIT), the same Govt. prohibiting US industries to setup factory and shop here in India!!!! And you do not expect brain drain!!!!!

# 96

A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

Born on 15th October 1931 at Rameswaram, in Tamil Nadu, Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, specialized in Aero Engineering from Madras Institute of Technology.

He initially worked in DRDO in 1958 and then joined ISRO in 1963. Dr. Kalam has made significant contribution to Indian satellite and launch vehicles of ISRO and also in the missile programme of DRDO. As project Director, SLV-III, he contributed for the design, development and management of India’s first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III) to inject Rohini satellite in the near earth orbit. He was responsible for the evolution of ISRO’s launch vehicles programme and configurations. He rejoined DRDO in 1982 and conceived the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) for indigenous missiles.

He was Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister and Secretary, Department of Defence Research & Development from July 1992 to December 1999. Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam was the eleventh President of India, serving from 2002 to 2007.

Also, there are several reasons why many Muslims would consider him a "Traitor" to the faith.. :) If interested, look it up in Wiki.

Viewer,

The last president of India and the architect of Indian Missiles.

Thanks. Actually his name is APJ Abul Kalam, "Azad" was never a part of his name. Both his Phdship in Cam and his application to Pak Steel Mills are new facets to his personality, unknown to the average Indian.

Being a muslim, after getting PhD from Cambridge he applied for job in Pakistan back in late forties or early fifties

Must have been early 50s. "Cos in late 40s he wud have been only 18 (Kalam sahib was born in 1931) so cud not have completed his Phd so early.

Anyways, I am glad PSM "shunned" him away.

Another piece of nugget for you. Mr Hasham Premji, father of Azim (prolly the richest self-made Muslim) was offered a ministry by MAJ (pbuh) but he refused.

Regards

Re: # 97; majumdar

sad but true ... and it wasn't just Zia but the people from his beloved Jhang!

Cheema sahib,

When DR Salam died, his grave was proposed to have an epitaph which said "A great Muslim scientist" Zia in his mean mindedness removed the word Muslim from it (I hope the story I have heard is true).

Ironically, Zia may have done a good thing for once, a great scientist like that cannot belong to one faith or one nation.

Regards

Re: # 93
The last president of India and the architect of Indian Missiles. Being a muslim, after getting PhD from Cambridge he applied for job in Pakistan back in late forties or early fifties when Indian Muslims were allowed to get Pakistani citizenship.

Re: # 93; majumdar
I believe he was the president of your country until recently

Re: # 92
But he could not involve in such top class Reserach in Pakistan as he didi in Cambridge or Imperial.