IT is a matter of pride for the entire nation that the country’s renowned scientist Dr Attaur Rehman has been honoured with the International China Science and Technology Cooperation Award for the year 2020 by President Xi Jinping. This is the highest ranked award in China that is conferred on those making remarkable contribution to scientific and technological development.
Dr Rehman is the first Pakistani scientist to have received this award. It has been conferred on him in recognition of his contributions in the field of chemistry and the numerous strong collaborations that he has developed with China in the fields of organic chemistry, genetics, pharmacology, agricultural sciences, virology, nanotechnology and other emerging areas. Dr Attaur Rehman has dedicated his entire life to scientific pursuits — knowledge as well as research and development and struggle to transform all this in practical shape for advancement of the country and welfare of the humanity. It is, therefore, not surprising that today he is the most decorated scientist of Pakistan, having won 4 Civil Awards including Tamgha-i-Imtiaz, Sitara-i-Imtiaz, Hilal-i-Imtiaz and the highest national award Nishan-i-Imtiaz. Currently, Prof Atta-ur-Rahman is serving as Chairman of Prime Minister’s Task Force on Science and Technology, Vice Chairman on Prime Minister’s Task Force on Technology-Driven Knowledge-Economy, and Co-Chairman, Task Force on Information Technology. People of Pakistan have cherished memories of the period when Dr. Atta served as a Federal Minister of Science and Technology, and founding Chairman of Higher Education Commission, as during that tenure he launched policies and programmes that placed Pakistan firmly on the S&T and ICT maps of the world. He was able to get enhanced budgets for higher learning and science and technology and made a difference by spending those allocations judiciously to get optimum results. Pakistan would have scaled new heights of progress and developments but unfortunately the governments either abandoned those policies or slowed down their implementation for petty gains and considerations. While congratulating Dr Atta on his accomplishments and honours, we hope that taking advantage of his prominent position in the present setup, he would be able to bring Pakistan back on the road to scientific and technological development.
