Articles and letters may be edited for the purposes of clarity and space. They are published in good faith with a view to enlightening all the stakeholders. However, the contents of these writings may not necessarily match the views of the newspaper.
World of Physics
The realms of Physics range from astronomical mysteries to mind-boggling makeup of minute particles in Quantum. In short Physics has it all. Many Pakistanis Physicists have also been under the limelight including notables like Dr. Abdus Salam. However, during last couple of decades while there is a degree galore in the country, there is a deficiency of great minds.
According to an official document published in 2016, 5621 students completed their PhD’s in 2011-2016 far greater than there has been in first 55 years after country’s independence. While the quantity is on rise the quality is on serious decline. According to Dr Pervaz Hoodbhoy, a prominent physicist: “We need to produce quality rather than quantity, as currently we are only producing quantity.”
More problematic is that only 0.04% have obtained a PhD in Physics. This percentage is alarming because in a competitive world our country is in a dire need of scientists, particularly astrophysicists, which according to experts will play a focal role in coming days. China has increased its space spending by 349% over last fifteen years. China has a budget of $8 billion to explore space science second only to the US. To sum up government needs to take initiatives to not only produce minds capable of exercising creativity but also to provide job opportunities in these ever-growing fields of Physics, particularly astrophysics.
SOBAN ASIM
Lahore
Visa consultancy service
I would like to draw attention to working of some of the visa consultancy firms that are working in Pakistan. A few weeks ago, one of my family friends was trying to get his visa processed for Turkey through Gerry’s Visa Services. After a procedural practice, his visa application was not accepted with a proper & understandable explanation and reasoning as there were some documents missing.
Then somebody referred them to a newly established visa consultancy firm named Anatolia to submit the file quickly without any changes and his documents were accepted with a guarantee that he will get the visa. At the end of process, he got his passport back with a rejection. It turns out that it would have been more beneficial to listen to advice and complete the documentation, as previously they had gotten multiple visas after following due process but this time opted for a shortcut with a new company. This clearly shows that such newly established firms are only minting money from innocent customers by making false promises.
Obviously as a client, able to find a shortcut, this got me into thinking how is it possible that submission of a visa is rejected through one service provider & accepted by another instantly. We have also witnessed growing number of advertisements on social media about “Done base visas” and ready visas which require minimal documentation, which is surely a question mark on unprecedented growth of visa consultancy services in Pakistan. There are lot of malpractices and bypassing of SOPs going on in such firms that is a threat to innocent Pakistanis who wish to go abroad for educational, professional or any other reasons. Such firms need to come under strict scrutiny by concerned authorities on an emergency basis.
M SAGHEER
Islamabad
Education system
Most of the countries in world are doing everything under the sun to make their education sector stable and standardised. However, Pakistan is among those few countries with lowest literacy rates in the world.
Furthermore, Pakistan’s education system is known to be very backward as it lacks sufficient allocation of funds due to which it has failed to provide quality education. Moreover, non-availability of educational institutions and buildings and lack of well-trained and competent teachers are other issues that create hurdles for students to be equipped with good education.
In addition, very less amount of money that government allocates for education, that is too embezzled by concerned persons. As a result, educational institutions suffer from financial crises. Relevant authorities have also failed to utilise available amount of money effectively. I request PTI government to take serious steps for betterment of education system in the country.
AROOJ MASOOD
Rawalpindi
Less cotton production
Cotton is backbone of textile industries in Pakistan. Pakistan stood at 4th in producing cotton in 2012-13 with some 11 million bales and before that during 1980-90 is considered as golden period regarding cotton production in which rapid growth was seen. Earlier in 2014-15 the production increased 11 per cent and holds record of 15 million bales. And that was the last time of growth. Since then, production of cotton has started to decline. In 2020-21 production of cotton is estimated at about 6.3 million bales following 8 million bales previous year with a reduction of 58 per cent this year since 2014-15.
The reasons behind this fall are (1) low profitability (2) bad quality seed (3) water shortage (4) climate change (5) lack of awareness of latest technology. More painful is huge import of cotton involving precious foreign exchange. The policymakers should take very seriously this issue otherwise country would face serious economic issues in near future.
FARAZ ALI SHAH
Lahore
