Myth of Bigger Infrastructure Means Better Education: Quality vs Infrastructure

Myth: Bigger Infrastructure Means Better Education:

We were told that only high-quality universities should be allowed to come up. Primary criteria for high quality were the size of the campus, covered area and other brick and mortar facilities. HEC, SHEC, PHEC, CIEC and their institutional proformas are replete with questions about the size of the campus, and size of the offices for Deans, Faculty, and other officials. They ask about playgrounds, auditoriums, hostels etc. The conventional wisdom started suggesting that private sector universities starting in rented bungalows somehow will not be able to provide quality education. This argument was sold in spite of knowing about the history of many of our big universities now.

Traditions of Eid: Reflections of Past Eids and Future

This is a time to reflect on our traditions and culture of Eid. I am wondering how many of Pakistanis are still experiencing these. There are some disturbing posts on facebook and through some of my interactions that tell me that it is not only time to reflect but also to rekindle them through a sustained effort. Here I reflect on my life and learning over the last 55 years with many of these traditions

Rauf Mamoo, My war hero of 1965 War: Major (R) Shah M Ismail at Chawinda Tank Battle.

My hero of 1965 War: Major (R) Shah M Ismail at Chawinda Tank Battle.
Rauf Mamoo (as known in the family) related to us of his experience at Chawinda battlefield in the 1965 India-Pakistan war.

Major Shah M Ismail

Chairman Salim Mehmud and my Brush with SUPARCO during the 1980s

I spent 6 months in SUPARCO in 1987 before resigning and leaving for US for PhD. They were trying to design for several years a signal-filter chip that was available for a few hundred rupees in Saddar. We had nothing to do in the Computer Department where I was working. The commute time from City to Factory in Somiani was about 1.5hrs. Vans will come and pick us up early in the morning before 6. We were pretty tired and sleepy as we reach the factory at around 7am. Often the department employees would spread the packing material and sleep in the corners behind computers in the chilled computer center. The enterprising among us would sit on Autocad and design fun machine diagrams such as Space Shuttle (only its drawing, not the technical construction). The higher management was busy in making indents for purchasing materials and equipment. Their interest appeared more to be in commissions than in the usage of equipment. One could see expensive equipment lying around rotting.  Ran typically as a bureaucratic organization, the objective of the top management was not to allow people to work. So everyone was doing nothing but looking busy. Chairman was Dr Salim Mehmud, who was at the helm of affairs for around a decade. I think his mandate was neither to do any thing nor allow any one to do anything. Once in early 1980s, much before joining SUPARCO, while I was still a student of engineering and was a regular member and visitor of American Center, Dr Salim Mehmud was invited as a guest speaker at American Center Science Club. After his presentation there, I asked him a question. The question was based on science articles by Mr Azeem Quidwai in Dawn that I used to read regularly. Around that time, I had read some articles about the satellite slots allotted to Pakistan, which if not utilized, would be lost. The question that I asked was given that there is only limited space available for geostationary satellites,  why Pakistan had not occupied the 3 spaces allotted to it. Pakistan had at that time already lost some allotted space or was about to lose some. He got angry at my question, and instead of replying effectively shut me down. At that time I was too young (around 21) to understand what was in the question that irritated him so much! It was much later that I realized the question was actually pointing out his key weakness. I recall we were left with only one last space in 1999-2000. I remember Mr  Salman Ansari, Advisor to Dr Ata Ur Rahman, managed to get a dying satellite moved to this space just to fill and occupy the space up till such time a worthy satellite could be acquired and moved into that slot.

Dr Salim Mehmud

DoN Quixote PCO CJP Saqib Nisar who godfathered Sancho Panza Imran Khan

DoN Quixote and his Sancho Panzas tilting at the windmills.
1: DoN Quixote tilting at the windmills, through the Sancho Panza 2018-2023. Fighting the enemy of states: poor street vendors, irregular shops, all sectors of economy, auto sector, energy sector, real state sector, and the tax chor 99% of Pakistan population, lower class, middle class, rich class, politicians... .

What Should New Students of a University Must Consider: Essentials of a University Education

Why Education and Why Higher Education

• What is the Purpose of Education
• What does it mean to be well educated and what is our mission
• What is Higher Education
• What is Impact can you create
• What Impact on Society
• What Impact on Industry and Economy
• What should be your personal Impact 

5 Challenges for Designing your Professional Lives

Faculty, Parents and my dear students:

As I look at your beaming faces full of hope and aspirations and great expectations of your future after four years of university life, I first invite you to try to soak in this environment of this marvelous infrastructure at IoBM. You are sitting in the building which is name after the founder president of this institute Mr Shahjehan S Karim who left for the hereafter two years ago. This campus, which is spread over 10 acres and consists of several buildings like this one, is a concrete realization of the dream of Mr Shahjehan S Karim, who envisioned IoBM to be one of the the leading institutions, nationally and internationally, renowned for its contribution to education and society. Please note that he envisioned this around 25 years ago in 1994, after he had retired from a long illustrious service with the government! Mind you, the age of 60 is the time when most think of retiring and folding up their lives with reading or writing. SSK starting a new professional endeavor and working vigorously into his 80s should be an inspiration for all of us. If he can envision such a grand project at 60 and bring it to realization over the next 20+ years, you can also dream big and work for its realization. You have much more time and energy, you are in your youthful late teens and early 20s. You are about to embark on your professional life. You too can create a similar vision and work for its realization over the rest of your life. As I say this, I am reminded of my start, some 40 years ago at NED in early 1980. For me those last 40 years have passed within a blink of an eye. I wish my professional education would have started with a concrete inspiration like this vision. But, as Mr Shehjehan S Karim's life tells us, it is never too late. [Sep 7, 2019 Orientation for Fall 2019 Intake at IoBM]

Far From the Madding Crowd, Hardy and Me

Today I got off from the board meeting early and my flight was in the evening. I had a few hours to kill with nothing to do. I chanced upon a YouTube video snippet of Bathsheba Everdene and Sergeant Troy's sword scene of 2011 remake of Far From the Madding Crowd. I didn't like it at all, there was no mystery, no suspense and no thrill that I remember experiencing when I first watched the scene in the original 1967  British movie starring Julie Christie, Alan Bates, Peter Finch and Terrance Stamp. Knowing me, YouTube presented the Terrance Stamp interview recorded just before the remake. He had played Sergeant Troy in the 1967 BBC movie. The interview opened a flood of memories flashing across my mind of the various times of my life when i had seen the movie and the times that I have read the book. It brought to my mind my struggle to derive meanings of various scenes. My first viewing was at a time when I had limited understanding of what was happening as our exposure to the themes discussed in the book were not discussed openly in my time. The book itself dealt with these themes in a roundabout manner making it difficult for school boys to fathom. I first saw the movie around 1977. I started going through the various scenes being presented by YouTube and connecting them with my earlier stage. Terrance stamp was saying that the original 1967 team involved in the movie consisted of luminaries of British Film making and were the who-is who of the British cinema. He predicted that it would be really difficult for the remake to break the spell weaved by the original. How true was that:

Forthright and Courageous Gentleman-Col Raza Kamal at KIET

Col (r) Raza Kamal from 17 Baluch (2 Sind). A thorough gentleman and a great colleague. His commitment and dedication as Director College of Management Sciences at PAF KIET was exemplary. I had a long 10+ years association as Dean n Vice president of PAF KIET with Col Raza Kamal. It started during KIET's initial years at Korangi Creek Base Campus. I had joined in Feb 2001 after leaving IBA. This time was about six months after KIET had moved to its PAF Base campus from its city campus location on Shahrah e Faisal. The campus had been vacated by CBM. KIET got the contract with PAF after after obtaining the charter. 

Col Raza had been with KIET since its inception in a Sindhi Muslim Society Banglow in 1997. When I joined PAF KIET, he was HoD of Management Science department. HoD Computer Science department was Mr Adnan Manzoor. A few months later there was a change in higher management and Air Commodore Khalid Husain took charge as the President from Mr Adnan Arabi. 

Dynamic Role of Abstract in Guiding the Flow of Writing of a PhD Dissertation

Abstract is the first thing in a dissertation that is read, and is often the last. A dissertation is at most read by 1.6 people from end to end, including the author [1]. PhD dissertation is written to enable a researcher to find all information necessary for replicating the results and understand the thesis. Hence, the detail. However, most readers are only interested in finding out a few items about the research which are typically provided in the abstract. These include the problem statement, thesis statement, contribution, and significance. Details of what a dissertation should contain has been amply documented elsewhere. In this post, I will discuss the role of abstract in guiding the flow of PhD Dissertation during its writing stage. 

Islamabad Think Tanks Running Out of Options: Tanks without Think

[To understand the context of this post, please read At What Cost! Why Compute Economic Costs of Faulty Political Decisions]
"Think-tanks" have yet again run out of options when IK exclaimed in the joint session of parliament:
ہم کیا کریں؟ کیا انڈیا سے جنگ شروع کر دیں؟
This indicates No "think", only "tanks"! It is pathetic that there are No out-of-the-box thinkers!

Is there a severe قحط الرجال and dearth of thinkers in scores of Islamabad "think-tanks"? Do these think tanks only consist of visionless ex career bureaucrats and ex generals whose distinctive qualification is often their career promotions based on a system that only rewards obeying orders diligently? What great distinguishing accomplishments of enterprising, creative, innovative breakthrough and out-of-the-box ideas in successful execution do they have in their testimonials?


They stand blinded, listless and clueless the same way they stood after 9-11 when threatened by US, and capitulating on a single call from Assistant in State Department.

• اسلام آباد تھنک tanks میں قحط الرجال:  sycophants جن کو جنگ اور آدھ گھنٹے کے مظاہرے کے درمیان کوئی out-of-the-box اسٹریٹجی نہ سوجھی

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• PTI Think Tanks:
  معیشت میں 4 مرغیاں و 1 مرغا، کٹے سے شروع ہو کر IMF تک- اب diplomacy میں جنگ سے شروع ہو کر آدھ گھنٹہ مظاہرہ تک

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Government Spending, Keynesian Economics and Pakistan's Economic Slide in 2018-19

This issue was the beginning of the start of destruction of economy. So many apparently sane people people lost it through his charisma.
We need to take a hard look at how criticism for the sake of criticism destroyed the "development" cycle of Pakistan's economy. Development expenditure on flyovers, metros, motorways etc increases the money circulation, which increases the disposable income of people, which increases the GDP, which increases the growth, which increases the tax/revenue collection of the government, which increases the "development" expenditure. This cycle was destroyed by IK and his uncouth advisors. This is macro economics 101. Take any first level textbook of economics and turn to chapter on Government Spending and growth. Grand Tabdeeli: For the first time in decades our debt is more than our GDP. A two pronged attack on economy (1) destroy GDP, (2) increase debt by the Economic Hitmen of IMF.

Credit: Dr farrukh saleem on Twitter

From Atiq Rehman's wall:

The economy, which is growing at 7%, doubles its size in 11 years. If the economy is growing at 3% then it needs about 25 years to double, while the economy growing at 1% will double in about 50 years.

Our growth rate had reached 5.8% but thanks to Tabdeeli, we everted the growth momentum back to its natural value. We are currently being counted among the slowest countries in South Asia. If this is the case, Bangladesh's income would have doubled after 8/10 years. and we???

To say the growth in Pakistan was 3% but let's look at a few facts

1. In 2018-19, 4% of Pakistani GDP was paid to banks as interest payment. The interest paid for interest in 2019-20 accounts for 5.7% of GDP. Earlier, payments to banks were 3% of GDP in 2017-18. The addition in GDP that we see, goes to banks as interest payment. Therefore, the increase in GDP for the public is almost zero.

2. The population growth rate is about 2%. Thus the increase in per capita GDP is negative

So after seven to ten years, countries like Bangladesh will have doubled their production and Pakistan will be cited as eample of depreviation and backwardness instead of Ethiopia

Imran Khan's Criteria of Fascism and Treatment of Opposition

[To understand the context of this post, please read At What Cost! Why Compute Economic Costs of Faulty Political Decisions]
Our Honorable Prime Minister Imran Khan in the recent joint session of Parliament on Kashmir's annexation by India, reminded the MNAs and Senators about Hitler's fascism and Nazi Party. He explained fascist governments are those that "drive opposition to the wall'. IK reminder comes as Déjà vu in the situation we confront. Thank you IK for reminding Pakistanis about Nazi Party's Germany: Hitler-Modi's Fascism: 1)Imprison all opposition, 2)Total censorship, 3) Dreaded SS & Gestapo agencies, 4) Forced disappearances:

How to Deal with Personal Criticism by People

Consider the posts like these running around on social media:
"If you're skinny, you need to gain weight.... If you're fat, you need to lose weight. If you smoke weed you're a druggie. If you drink, you’re an alcoholic. If you get dressed up, you are vain, If you dress down you've let yourself go. If you speak your mind, you are rude. If you don't say anything, you're snobbish. If you are sociable, you're a party animal. If you keep yourself to yourself, you’re detached. If you are young, you are immature, if you're old you're dispensable.

YOU can't do anything without being criticized. We live in a society where people can't survive if they're not judging the next person. Love me or hate me, but you will never change me. Get to know people before judging them. Let's build each other up. We are all doing the best we can, in the same game called life!!

If you're proud of who you are copy and paste this with a pic of you!!"

I'm OK, You're Not OK: My Government is OK, Your Government is Not OK (Corrupt)

I am OK, You are not OK: I am (my government is) OK, you (opposition) are not OK (corrupt)
This refers to Harris' acclaimed book "I'm OK, You're OK" (psychology, self help to help people grow out of childhood into adulthood: It discusses the psychology of a child as it grows up to become an adult. The mental state of a person can be explained using these four states: (1) I'm OK, You're OK, (2) I'm OK, You're not OK, (3) I'm not OK, You're OK, and (4) I'm not OK, You're not OK.

Neocolonialism Objectives for Third World Countries like Pakistan

[To understand the context of this post, please read At What Cost! Why Compute Economic Costs of Faulty Political Decisions]
Work in Process:

خبردار جو ایمپریس مارکیٹ کی طرح ٹھیلے/پتھارے سے حلال روزی کمائ! انہیں تباہ کر کے تاجِ برطانیہ کا طمطراق واپس لائیں گے: کالے انگریز

ٹیکس چور deserve کرتے ہیں!
آٹوموبیل سیکٹر میں اربوں کے خسارہ کے بعد مہینے میں دس دن کام بند، ایک شفٹ بند، ڈیڑھ لاکھ ملازمتیں ختم

Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2019

آج وطن پرستوں سے مکالمہ
"یہ افغانی ہمارے ملک کا کھاتے ہیں اور سپورٹ افغانستان کو کرتے ہیں۔"

"تماری طرح وہ بھی اللہ کا دیا کھاتے ہیں، اپنی تقدیر کا کھاتے ہیں، کوئی کسی کے حصے کا نہیں کھاتا۔ اللہ کی زمین پر رہتے ہیں، تمہاری ملکیت پر نہیں رہتے۔ جب کوئی پاکستانی برطانیہ، آسٹریلیا، نیوزی لینڈ میں رہ کر وہاں کی شہریت لے کر پاکستانی ٹیم کو سپورٹ کرتا ہے تب تمہارے پیٹ میں مروڑ کیوں نہیں اٹھتی؟"

"لیکن یہ غدار ہیں، یہ ہمارے ملک میں دھشتگردی لائے، منشیات لائے۔ ہم نے ان کو پناہ دی اور یہ اب بھارت کے حواری بن بیٹھے۔"

"دھشتگری امریکی جنگ سے آئی جسے تم اپنی جنگ کہتے نہیں تھکتے ورنہ اس سے پہلے افغان سرحد تمہاری سب سے محفوظ سرحد تھی۔ طالبان تمہاری دوست حکومت تھی جو افغانستان میں امن قائم کر چکی تھی، منشیات کی کاشت ختم کر چکی تھی۔ تم نے نیشنلزم کے نام پر اس دوست ریاست کی بلی چڑھائی اور جب اس کے نتیجے میں امریکی نواز حکومت قائم ہوئی اور اس کا جھکاو بھارت کی طرف ہوا تو تم نے اپنے گریبان میں جھانکنے کی بجائے افغانیوں کو غدار قرار دے دیا۔"

"جاو یار! یہ قوم تو ہے ہی ترقی اور امن سے نفرت کرنے والی۔ اس قوم کو لڑنے کے علاوہ آتا ہی کیا ہے۔ ان سے جان نہیں چھڑائی تو یہ ہمیں بھی پسماندہ کر چھوڑینگے۔"

"لڑائی کی جس صفت کو تم تذلیل کی نظر سے دیکھ رہے ہو یہ صفت تاریخ میں تماری محافظ رہی ہے۔ جس قوم کو تم پسماندہ سمجھ کر تحقیر کا نشانہ بنا رہے ہو اس قوم نے پچھلے ہزار سال درجنوں ریاستیں قائم کی ہیں۔ غزنوی، غوری، خاورزمی، تغلق، لودھی، ابدالی، خلجی، ہندوستان اور وسطی ایشیاء میں اسلام کی تشہیر و حفاظت کا بڑا سہرا ان افغانوں کی اس ہی دلیرانہ صفت کے سر ہے۔ مراٹھوں سے تمہاری جان چھڑانے، برطانیہ کی وسطی ایشیاء میں توسیع روکنے، کمیونسٹوں کی کمر توڑنے میں انہی کا خون ہے۔"

"او جاو یار! میں یہ سب نہیں مانتا۔"

"تمہارے ماننے نہ ماننے سے حقائق تبدیل نہیں ہوتے، صرف تمہاری کم علمی اور تعصب ظاہر ہوتے ہیں۔ تم دوست اور دشمن کا فرق بھول بیٹھے ہو۔ تم امت کا تصور اور تقدیر پر ایمان بھلا بیٹھے ہو ورنہ تم وطن پرست نہ ہوتے۔"

Finally would you believe the founding father Iqbal or some 5th Generation media campaign

Can Corruption Problem be Solved by Hanging a Few Thousands?

کیا 5 ہزار کو لٹکانے سے کرپشن سے نجات ملے گی؟ انقلاب فرانس 40 ہزار مارے، انقلاب روس 20 ملین مارے: کوئی افاقہ،  بہتری، حل نہ ہوا!

1. Nations that forget history are forgotten by history. History tells us that mass killings, mass purges, indiscriminate hanging of suspects has never solved any problem for any nation. Whether it was French Revolution in 1789, or Russian Revolution in 1917, or Iranian Revolution in 1979. Several despots has tried this recipe and have failed miserably.

2. We in Pakistan must remember that those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.

3. Also note that 60,000 were killed in Iranian revolution + millions killed in Iran-Iraq war imposed by USA as a revenge for revolution. Nothing got sorted out.

4. I first wrote about sentiments of hanging people and French revolution years ago  in the blogpost during Panama Case when they were clamoring for retribution with off-with-their-heads slogans.

See other posts on Corruption: 

1. Can Corruption Problem be Solved by Hanging a Few Thousands?
2. Can Corruption be Eliminated by Hanging a few Thousands through Panama Case like Judgments
3. Corruption is a cause or symptom of Government Inefficiency- Challenge for Imran Khan
4. Covey's First Habit Advice to Proponents of Corruption Eradication First 
5. How Corruption is being Eliminated in Pakistan since 1950s: Corruption as a Ruse to Maintain Status Quo
6. How to Eliminate Corruption in Pakistan: Simplicity and Transparency of Bureaucratic Procedures
7. It is not corruption but incompetence and inefficiency that is the fundamental problem of third world countries 
8. 
   

Booby Traps Inserted in 1973 Constitution by DoN Godfathers that Perpetually Keep Pakistan in an ICU Emergency

Doctrine of Necessity (DoN) godfathers have inserted booby traps in the 1973 constitution that strangulate and throttle the elected governments in their functioning and also keep on exploding every few years keeping the country perpetually in an ICU emergency. The moment an elected government reaches a stage where it can start asserting the will of the people, a booby trap explodes plunging the country in to uncertainty and hopelessness. Since my childhood in early 1970s, I have experienced being in mortal fear of the country disintegrating. I am told that the same fear of disintegration and dismemberment has characterized the existence since independence.

This post reviews the history of three such provisions inserted in the constitution of 1973 by dictator General Zia through the machinations of Jadoogar of Jeddah Sharifuddin Pirzada who has the dubious distinction to be the legal architect of MLOs, PCOs, MLRs and other intricate insertions in the constitutions such as 58(2)b, 62(1)f, 183(4) and others of the ilk. Pernicious influence of such booby traps are only now being recognized by the elected lawmakers, who originally thought that they are donewith the dictatorial alterations once they got rid of 58(2)b.

1. Gen Zia
2. Junejo
3. BB1
4. NS1
5. BB2
6. NS2
7. Gen Mush
8. Yusuf Raza Gilani
9. Raja Ashraf
10. NS3
11. 
    

Covey's First Habit and Depression

Worry about the things that are in your control. Don't worry about the things that are not in your control. This is Stephen Covey's First Habit from his highly acclaimed book 7 Habits of highly Effective People. What this means is that we need to have the mental capacity to block worring about the things that are not in my control and shift the focus to the things that are in my control. 

This wonderfully expressed and portrayed in the famous quote referring to "I wouldn't think of things that are not in my control today" because those are in my circle of concern about which I can't do any thing today. "I would only think of them tomorrow. Because tomorrow is another day." Scarlett O'Hara makes this resolve at the height of disappointment when she reaches her palatial house Tara to find that the strength and support she was looking for in her household, and her father is all gone as related to the plight in which the rich found themselves after the civil war ended as depicted in Margaret Mitchell's famous book/movie "Gone with the Wind". This resolve points out that I want to be fresh tomorrow to focus on how to bring things in my circle of concern into my circle of Influence. I will start by only focusing and working on things that are in my control. This will expand my circle of Influence and the consequent expansion will eventually encompass things that were previously only in my circle of concern. This expansion will bring them in my control.

Depression is a state in which we keep on thinking about the things that are not in my control and about which we can't do any thing. This saps our energy as we keep going round and round thinking about things of which we do not have any convincing solution. We only get depressed when we keep on thinking about things that are not in my control (that is,  those which are in my circle of Concern). And we don't convert the things which are in my control in to action items that can be completed in specific time frame.