Dr. Atta ur Rahman transformed higher education in our country and now the current regime of idiots are trying their best to undo all the gains...we were in heaven and now we are standing in the lines for sugar/atta/daal/roti....hoping we can get something from one month's salary!
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It's only a case of two rival scientists and nothing more than that. Poets don't like other poets, artists dislike other artists and it's also true for scientists. I don't know if it's jealousy or something else but whatever Dr. Hoodbhoy is doing is simply character assassination of Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman and one should open his/her mind before start bashing Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman only because Dr. Hoodbhoy said something weird about him.
There should be no doubt in this fact that Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman has a long list of achievements and honours he earned before coming to limelight as minister under umbrella of Musharraf. So, it's nonsense to associate him with Musharraf that "he is missing General now". I think Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy is jealous that why he wasn't "hand-picked" by Musharraf government to be IT minister and then later lead HEC. The only achievements I see of Dr. Hoodbhoy since last many years is to express his opinions on Nuclear Disarmament, Islam, Peace, International Relations and HEC. I don't think these topics help in contributing to development of Science in any way. If more people know you because of public debates or TV talk shows on non-scientific things (as compared to other doc who prefers to work silently), it doesn't mean that you have got authority of everything.
For those who are questioning Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman's capability, here is a short info of him. It will hopefully open your eyes.
1. He has over 825 publications in leading international journals in several fields of organic chemistry.
2. He has written 99 books and 59 chapters in various other books books published by major U.S. and European presses.
3. 72 students have completed their Ph.D. degrees under his supervision.
4. He was the first scientist from the Muslim world to have won the prestigious UNESCO Science Prize (1999) in the 35 year old history of the Prize.
5. He was elected as Fellow of Royal Society (London) in July 2006 thereby becoming the one of the 4 scientists from the Muslim world to have ever won this honour conferred by the prestigious 360 year old scientific Society.
6. He has been conferred honorary doctorate degrees by many universities including the degree of Doctor of Science (Sc.D.) by the Cambridge University (UK) (1987) and an Honorary degree of Doctor of Education by Coventry University UK in November 2007.
6. He was elected Honorary Life Fellow of Kings College, Cambridge University, UK in 2007.
7. He is President of Network of Academies of Sciences of Islamic Countries (NASIC) and the Vice-President (Central & South Asia) of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS) Council, and Foreign Fellow of Korean Academy of Sciences.
8. The Austrian government honoured him with its highest civil award (Grosse Goldene Ehrenzeischen am Bande" (2007) in recognition of his eminent contributions.
9. Recently an honorary degree of Doctor of Science was conferred by Bradford University to him.
10. Budget for higher education was increased upto 900% during 2002-08. And yes, this budget was not to buy new plots, cars or factories. As many as 47 new universities were established and 18 new campuses of universities were established during the six year period of HEC. University enrolment was tripled from 135,123 to 363,700 during that time.
11. DR BERND MICHAEL RODE (Chairman of prestigious organization ASEAN-EUROPEAN University Network) said: "The United Nations Commission on Science and Technology has closely monitored the development in Pakistan in the past years, coming to the unanimous conclusion that Prof Rahman's policy and programme is a best-practice example for developing countries aiming at building their human resources and establishing an innovative, technology-based economy." (Source: http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?207291).
After reading the above facts, it makes me laugh (or cry) when a knowledgeable person like Dr. Hoodbhoy claims that "Atta's understanding of basic science is astonishingly poor.". I have now serious doubts about credibility of Dr. Hoodbhoy.
It's only a case of two rival scientists and nothing more than that. Poets don't like other poets, artists dislike other artists and it's also true for scientists. I don't know if it's jealousy or something else but whatever Dr. Hoodbhoy is doing is simply character assassination of Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman and one should open his/her mind before start bashing Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman only because Dr. Hoodbhoy said something weird about him.
There should be no doubt in this fact that Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman has a long list of achievements and honours he earned before coming to limelight as minister under umbrella of Musharraf. So, it's nonsense to associate him with Musharraf that "he is missing General now". I think Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy is jealous that why he wasn't "hand-picked" by Musharraf government to be IT minister and then later lead HEC. The only achievements I see of Dr. Hoodbhoy since last many years is to express his opinions on Nuclear Disarmament, Islam, Peace, International Relations and HEC. I don't think these topics help in contributing to development of Science in any way. If more people know you because of public debates or TV talk shows on non-scientific things (as compared to other doc who prefers to work silently), it doesn't mean that you have got authority of everything.
For those who are questioning Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman's capability, here is a short info of him. It will hopefully open your eyes.
1. He has over 825 publications in leading international journals in several fields of organic chemistry.
2. He has written 99 books and 59 chapters in various other books books published by major U.S. and European presses.
3. 72 students have completed their Ph.D. degrees under his supervision.
4. He was the first scientist from the Muslim world to have won the prestigious UNESCO Science Prize (1999) in the 35 year old history of the Prize.
5. He was elected as Fellow of Royal Society (London) in July 2006 thereby becoming the one of the 4 scientists from the Muslim world to have ever won this honour conferred by the prestigious 360 year old scientific Society.
6. He has been conferred honorary doctorate degrees by many universities including the degree of Doctor of Science (Sc.D.) by the Cambridge University (UK) (1987) and an Honorary degree of Doctor of Education by Coventry University UK in November 2007.
6. He was elected Honorary Life Fellow of Kings College, Cambridge University, UK in 2007.
7. He is President of Network of Academies of Sciences of Islamic Countries (NASIC) and the Vice-President (Central & South Asia) of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS) Council, and Foreign Fellow of Korean Academy of Sciences.
8. The Austrian government honoured him with its highest civil award (Grosse Goldene Ehrenzeischen am Bande" (2007) in recognition of his eminent contributions.
9. Recently an honorary degree of Doctor of Science was conferred by Bradford University to him.
10. Budget for higher education was increased upto 900% during 2002-08. And yes, this budget was not to buy new plots, cars or factories. As many as 47 new universities were established and 18 new campuses of universities were established during the six year period of HEC. University enrolment was tripled from 135,123 to 363,700 during that time.
11. DR BERND MICHAEL RODE (Chairman of prestigious organization ASEAN-EUROPEAN University Network) said: "The United Nations Commission on Science and Technology has closely monitored the development in Pakistan in the past years, coming to the unanimous conclusion that Prof Rahman's policy and programme is a best-practice example for developing countries aiming at building their human resources and establishing an innovative, technology-based economy." (Source: http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?207291).
After reading the above facts, it makes me laugh (or cry) when a knowledgeable person like Dr. Hoodbhoy claims that "Atta's understanding of basic science is astonishingly poor.". I have now serious doubts about credibility of Dr. Hoodbhoy.
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