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Asia, Africa urged to join hands against digital divide
PAKISTAN has called on the Asian and African countries to join hands in efforts to bridge digital divide. The minister for information technology recently urged these countries to help each other reap the fruits of information communication technologies, which perhaps offered the only quick way out of economic backwardness.
“There is much that we can learn from each others’ experiences in deregulating and liberalizing the telecom infrastructure in our respective countries,” said Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari in his speech at the 3rd IT Ministers’ Summit, which opened in Bahrain the other day.
Speaking as a keynote speaker at the plenary session, Mr Leghari said it was an honour for him as well as his country to be singled out for describing the progress it has made in the areas of telecommunications and IT. He said governments everywhere had a major role to play in ensuring that the issue of the digital divide was addressed in a proactive manner.
“Otherwise IT will simply add another dimension to the divisions that many of our societies are already grappling with,” he added. Mr Leghari, however, cautioned that goals of poverty alleviation and reduction in socio-economic inequities within societies should never be ignored.
Earlier, Mr Leghari met Sheikh Ali Bin Khalifa, Bahrain’s Minister for Transportation, and exchanged with him how Pakistani experiences in the IT and telecom sectors could benefit Bahrain.
Shaheen 2 tested successfully
Pakistan successfully tested its surface-to-surface missile Shaheen 2 (Hatf VI) recently. The missile system, which incorporates an advanced two-staged solid motor technology, can carry all types of conventional and nuclear warheads to a range of 2000 kilometres.
The test was carried out to verify some of its technical parameters. The test served to validate the parameters, to the relief of the scientists. President Pervez Musharraf, who witnessed the test, congratulated the scientists and engineers on their “outstanding success”.
“The nation is proud of its strategic organizations and strategic forces, which have gelled extremely well, under the National Command Authority, into an effective deterrence force in a short span of five years,” he said on the occasion.
“Their technical and operational readiness is indeed praiseworthy and a source of strength and security for Pakistan,” he remarked. The president reiterated the country’s policy of consolidating and strengthening its minimum deterrence needs as well as strict adherence to non-proliferation.
Gen Musharraf added that the country’s nuclear capability, which enjoyed the “broadest national consensus”, had been developed to secure it and would remain the “highest national priority”. The president urged the people to continue supporting the nuclear programme.
“The capability is here to stay, will continue to go from strength to strength and no harm will ever be allowed to come to it”, he claimed.
PCSIR’s research budget
Minister for science and technology recently said the government was planning to increase the research grant for the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR).
Responding to a notice moved in the National Assembly by Sardar Bahadur Ahmed Khan Sihar, Mrs Mehnaz Rafi and Gayan Chand Singh, Chaudhary Nouraiz Shakoor said more funds were being allocated under the Public Sector Development Programme to the council while the amounts saved under separate heads in the budget would also be spent on research.
Model city
Work is continuing apace on a grand project to make Sialkot the country’s first model district for information technology. The project is estimated to cost Rs45 million.
District Nazim, Mian Naeem Javaid, said so while talking to newsmen recently. He said the district government was establishing well-equipped advanced computer laboratories in the district’s 16 government high schools for the promotion of information technology. Tahir Raza, the District Coordinating Officer, said the district government had already millions on education during the last two years.
Expo and conference
The Twelfth HVACR Expo and Conference opened in Lahore recently. The event, featuring papers and presentations on heating, ventillating and airconditioning technology, is being held by local chapter of the American Society of Heating, Ventillating and Airconditioning in collaboration with the Pakistan HVACR Society. — Sci-tech World Report
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