Incredible Pakistan

Incredible Pakistan

Following article by me was printed in the MORE magazine for the month of May,21011

While the inside and outside media stay busy in portraying Pakistan negatively to the whole world, they forget to illuminate the other side of the picture. The other side is comparatively positive and brighter, hence spreading the message of hope among the citizens of Pakistan. Though bombs, suicide attacks, corruption, unemployment and other evils cover most of the space in our news bulletins, there should also be a dedicated portion to enlighten the efforts of our talented youth. Our exuberant youth possess lots of talent, intellectual skills, and great ideas to turn impossible into possible. Despite of instability in Pakistan’s political and economical conditions, our youth have high potential to grow tremendously. Young talent of Pakistan keeps setting world records on international forums and makes the whole nation feel proud at them. Meeting with Arfa karim Randhawa- World’s youngest Microsoft certified professional, Bill Gates exclaimed that he does not know whether or not this young wonder kid was impressed by him, but he was certainly impressed by marvelous intellectual level and skills she possess.

Arfa Karim is a young student from Faisalabad, who at the age of 9, in 2004 became the youngest Microsoft certified professional. In recognition of her smartness, she was invited by Bill gates to visit the Microsoft headquarters in U.S.A which itself is a big honor. Arfa represented Pakistan on many international platforms. She was also invited by the IT professionals of Dubai for a two week stay. After the news was disclosed by foreign media, a competition was at rise in Pakistani TV channels and newspapers. All wanted to give full coverage of Arfa’s accomplishment, which in fact is an achievement for the whole nation, on their channels and newspapers respectively. She is a highly decorated student, one of her age, with many different rewards.

·         In 2005 August, Prime minister of Pakistan of that time presented her “Fatima Jinnah Gold medal” in the field of science and technology.

·         She was also rewarded with “Salaam Pakistan youth award”, in August 2005 by the president of Pakistan.

·         Arfa is the youngest recipient of Pakistan’s highest civil award “Pride of performance”.

Arfa Karim is the young bright star of Pakistan, who despite of all corruptions in Pakistan, grabbed this position and enabled us stand with our heads high. Not only Arfa, but the list goes on. Pakistan has produced incredible talent, rich in education, science, engineering, IT and software development. All we need to do is to focus our talent and help them in growing more. 

Ammar Afzal is another young IT genius from Okara. He secured one more world record for Pakistan by winning first global position in Stanford University England’s (SUE) World Computer Soft ware Course. He surprised the whole world by obtaining 4.99 marks out of 5 in Oracle 10. At the time of setting this record, he was the student of class 9^th and aged 15. “Ammar Afzal has earned dignity and honor for the nation by winning the top global position in the contest,” Sahiwal division commissioner Tariq Mehmood Khan said.

·         He was awarded with a cheque of Rs 100,000.

·         British Computer society has also offered him a job of Rs 25 lack per month.

·         He was also offered by US to accept their nationality for himself and his family, but this bold, patriot rejected the offer and vowed to serve Pakistan after completion of his education.

Pakistan is a land of world setters. If full attention is made sure on the government’s part to these growing young buds, then no doubt Pakistan will be no. 1 in every field. Our youth is optimistic and talented. They just need a leadership.  

Babar Iqbal is another legendary student from Dera Ismail Khan who is commonly known as “Genius Cyber Kid”. Making world records for Babar is not something new. At the age of 12, he sets forth world record in the field of computer. He is also one of the youngest Microsoft certified professional and the youngest certified wireless network administrator. He also became youngest certified web professional associate at the age of 10. Recently, at the age of 12, he has made yet another world record in Dubai and is also recognized as Youngest Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist now. Interestingly, the participants of this competition were aged from 20 to 35 years. Babar was the youngest participant, and secured the first position by defeating all others who were double in age to him.

·         President Asif Ali Zardari invited him to the presidency where he was awarded with a cheque of Rs 5 million in recognition of his extraordinary achievements. 

Muhammad Waqar Qureshi is a young student of BCS. He is just 20 but has grabbed three inventions in the field of IT on his credit. He bears a distinctive mind and is always ready to explore. Government should create opportunities where these bright stars of nation could polish their skills even more. His first invention is:

·         Non-touch Interface System

This is basically a glove which has all needed software and hardware applications, attached with a pen. By using this technology, one can be able to operate all his system including typing without even touching PC. This technology can be used as the substitute to our sometimes-annoying-mouse. “This is the first time that a person can interact with the computer through the air without touching anything. If a patient is on bed and he can’t move or walk then he can use his operating system through this device.” says Waqar.

·         Second invention under his belt is “Head Tracking System”. By wearing this device on head, cursor on monitor moves with the movement of head. Unfortunately, this device cannot perform well as it requires “Video goggles”. He could not attach video goggles as they are too expensive for him to afford. After the video goggles are added to this tool, it will be converted into Virtual Reality system as was shown in the Matrix film. It will leave the user with a feeling that he is inside the game, if the device is worn while playing games.

·         Waqar has also invented a system which can easily switch on or off all electrical appliances without any physical movement. “It was my personal project, keeping in view my budget and requirements. Presently I’m operating only eight devices, but it can operate a maximum of 250 devices, which is the maximum range of a parallel port.”, says Waqar.

·         These days he is working on another incredible, amazing project known as “Brain Interface system”. This device will be able to convert ones thoughts into occurrence.

Students like Waqar are an asset to the country. It is now our duty to nurture their talent.

In 1986 world saw FIRST ever computer virus created by Farooq Alvi brothers from Lahore. They named it “Brain”. IT was a boot sector virus that wildly spread across the world. However, Pakistani lads are also not lagging behind in the antivirus technology. Hafiz Usman and Imran made the first ever anti-virus of Pakistan which is also registered with the government of Pakistan. It is developed by “Real Soft”- a Pakistani software solutions company. This antivirus is available in market with the name of “Instant virus killer”. It is capable of not only killing the virus, but can also recover the lost data within seconds. Moreover it can fix the reboot issues of Microsoft windows affected by the virus and can give 90% protection against USBs, web and pirated CD viruses. 

Pakistanis are talented and genius in their fields. Be it the armed forces or the scientists, the educationalists or the researchers, the sportsmen or the software developers, we HAVE some of the finest brains in our country. Our people can do anything. What we only need is some motivation and opportunities. There is a shortage of energy all across the country and government finds no appropriate solution than increasing the rates of petroleum products. It should rather appreciate its own students who always lend their services to solve the problems of the country. The students of NED university Karachi created a fuel efficient car at a cost of 0.5 million named UZBAA. “The car is fully locally created and can cover 80 kilometers per litre, it has 70.cc cold back engine. The body is prepared from fiber glass, whereas its total weight is 125 kg”, says Haris Rehman, leader of the group. The car was made to represent Pakistan in the global competition arranged in Malaysia.

Pakistani students keeps astonishing world with their remarkable achievements in their respective fields. Observing the talent of Pakistan, the cream of our nation is being exported to other countries. They are offered with attractive scholarships, jobs and other opportunities by foreign countries. Unfortunately foreign powers can recognize our hidden rubies, but we keep our eyes closed. These students need our appreciation and ample opportunities. Contradictory to education sector, an average player from the national Pakistani cricket team earns more than 7 to 8 million per year as revealed by Pakistan official stats. They are also awarded with millions of rupees depending on their performance and numbers of fours and sixes per match. Sad, we have funds for sports but nothing for these bright young students of our country. Government needs to rearrange its preferences and should keep education as the top most of its agenda. Moreover, government and NGOs of Pakistan should arrange meetups for tech savvy youth and others, where they will be able to share ideas and develop recommendations, to serve their country in the best possible ways.

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Pakistan's weak cyber force

Pakistan's weak cyber force

Following article appeared in MAY,2011 MORE magazine:

There is a famous saying,"The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts." Besides primary education which is considered “basic” right of every child, there are some other elements as well, in whose absence even the primary education would be insufficient to bring any change. World is becoming a global village, being bombarded with new inventions and modern technologies. If one has to keep his identity and integrity intact, he must get his nation equipped with the modern education. Unfortunately in this “Digital Era”, where the rest of world is moving steps further towards modern scientific and technical education, we are still cursing our Primary Education system, which doesn’t let us stand with our heads high on the international platform.

We are in 21^st century which is known as “Digital Era”, therefore producing enough IT literates is the need of time .Not having IT skills will soon be as serious as not being able to read. Lord Mitchell, chairman of an international IT service provider put it into words like this, “We live in a very flat and accessible world so we have to ensure that our kids are prepared with the skills they need for 21^st century. There are few jobs that don’t require any IT so people without these skills will become increasingly disadvantaged”. Pakistan, on the other hand has failed to produce enough IT literates. BOI (Board of Investment Pakistan) brings about very alarming statistical data. Pakistan is a country consisting of 63% youth of the total population (under 25years) with above 20 million internet users, but posses only 3,125 technical and vocational centers.  It is obvious, that government of Pakistan has failed to develop ground for IT education despite of the impressive IT policies. There is a need of creating enough opportunities that could meet the current needs.

It is even more saddening that we could not keep the status of dignity which our forefathers had achieved after struggling hard. Muslims ruled the world over 1000 years by proving their mettle to world. Spain and Baghdad were considered the centre of Education and Literature in the Muslim era.  As now, everyone seeks admission in western universities like Oxford and Harvard, there was a time when we were leading the world with our educational institutions. Al-Azher University Cairo, Egypt is an evidence that speaks for itself. This University was built in 970 AD and was the centre of Islamic learning. During the reign of Izz al-Din Aydmer , al-Azher became the highest ranking institution of Islamic learning in the whole world. For over a thousand years Al-Azher has produced thousands of eminent scholars and educationists who worked for preserving Islamic heritage and identity. In the late 19^th century some modern obligatory subjects were also introduced in the university.

Not only in the field of religious learning but Muslims also paved the way for the basic concept of engineering. The world’s first robot was also invented by a Muslim in 11^th century. That robot could sing songs, play music and beat drums for the audience. This proves that Muslims had a rich religious, educational and modern culture. In every field whether science or arts, it would be Muslims winning the laurels. Muslims were the first to bless the world with the basic concepts in the field of physics, algebra, chemistry etc. On these pillars, foundation of the modern world was laid. Unfortunately, as we started moving away from our pre-destined path, we lost our much- struggled identity.

Contrary to the past, Muslims are the most oppressed class now. If, we have to snatch back our identity then we will have to dress up ourselves with modern tools of education. History proves that unless we make education affordable and in everyone’s reach we cannot achieve our targets. Pakistan’s existence on the map of world is a solid example. When in the sub-continent Muslims were lagging behind due to illiteracy, Sir Syed Ahmed khan stood up and took the responsibility of creating education awareness among the masses of Muslims. Same is to be done now; we have plans but no implications. We form policies but fail to create their followers.

In this challenging world, Pakistan needs to pay most of its attention to IT sector. Government should:

·         Launch programs for IT training and IT education across the country, without differentiating in rural and urban areas.

·          Ensure the cheap availability of computer sets with internet connection for students.

·          Launch schemes and educate youth for the constructive use of ICT.

·          Inter connect all the universities, engineering and medical colleges, and other higher educational institutes for improved quality of education.

·          Inter connect all the government institutes and departments.

·         Establish virtual classrooms that would assist use of audio/visual aids- internet and video facilities to students.

·         Establish a computerized system of data collection and processing in hospitals, public care centers, police stations and other government departments.

·         Develop computer literacy programs, offering registered and recognized degrees to the students. This would be a step above to the unrecognized small computer centers established in every nook and corner of the country, which are offering excellence only in small courses like MS Word, Excel etc.

·         Make Investments in IT training.

·         Establish technology parks for both software and hardware industry.

Instead of paying immediate concern to these very severe needs, we find our government spending millions in “Danish School Projects”. Government primary preference should be a focus on the performance of existing schools with an increased attention on IT education. Punjab government has though launched “Punjab IT Labs project” with an estimated amount of Rs.5 billion but this project is also unable to provide expected results as we lack the vision required. Providing labs, only with the infrastructure is not the total solution. These labs must have skilled IT literate personnel, who would deliver lectures, train students and make the most of the given equipments. Contradictorily, these labs have old-fashioned teachers/trainers who themselves need to be trained first.  They cannot understand the essence of IT, therefore are unable to deliver purposeful information. Moreover, these teachers are allegedly found in taking Rs 50 to 100 per student as an entry fees in the IT labs.

As Pakistan is unable to produce enough IT literates, Pakistan is losing its strength on the cyber front. There may be a strong cyber army who possess the abilities of attacking and counter-attacking, who can penetrate deep into the system of enemies, but these professionals are too limited to be mentioned.  Rather than war in the battle fields with bomb and missiles, we need to educate our population with modern education, giving most of the importance to IT education. In order to hoist our flag on the map of world, we need to win the war of economy which can be achieved only by establishing more and more technology parks, by encouraging the growth of software and hardware products, and by supporting the export of these products. Government should allocate enough IT funds to turn the 63% of our raw youth into a strong cyber force. Otherwise, instead of moving forward we will be taking a reverse gear in near future!

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Victory or a long-term Loss?

Victory or a long-term Loss?

Though Pakistan has won the cricket match yesterday but my heart is still sad.When all the nation is busy in celebrating the victory ,I found myself lost in thoughts.All my friends,(most of them)are unhappy of me because I'm the source of spoiling their fun.Why I'm different? One answer: I've got a very sensitive heart. I donot like partying on little things when we have many other issues to be anxious at.
I prefer long term results rather than being happy on short-term  incidents' of happiness.

The news of cricket match victory came at such a time, when Punjab government was taking back the facilities of buying new instruments from medical colleges and government hospitals as government lack funds for education.They are now even restricted to get the old fragile instruments repaired.I don't belong to any medical college and so i have no personal associations with this field.But i do have associations with the education of Pakistan , i do have associations with the future of Pakistan.Every sensitive citizen is compelled to think that where are we going? We have worth Rs 500000 to bestow every Cricketer when they win.Above all, it doesn't matter whether they are winning or losing they are still to get lots of money.They are involved in every crime, whether it be the illegal usage of drug or match fixing.All our love is for cricketers.

To me it seems more like a conspiracy where we our minds are directed to enjoy and party on cricket which is only an entertainment.We can easily calculate the down fall of a nation who prefer entertainment over infotainment/education.If we wish to progress,then we need to bring a change in our priorities!

What do you think it is Victory or a long term loss?

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