Comment by Riaz Haq on March 13, 2012 at 10:13pm

Here are excerpts of David Brooks Op Ed in NY Times:

Usually, high religious observance and low income go along with high birthrates. But, according to the United States Census Bureau, Iran now has a similar birth rate to New England — which is the least fertile region in the U.S.

The speed of the change is breathtaking. A woman in Oman today has 5.6 fewer babies than a woman in Oman 30 years ago. Morocco, Syria and Saudi Arabia have seen fertility-rate declines of nearly 60 percent, and in Iran it’s more than 70 percent. These are among the fastest declines in recorded history.

The Iranian regime is aware of how the rapidly aging population and the lack of young people entering the work force could lead to long-term decline. But there’s not much they have been able to do about it. Maybe Iranians are pessimistic about the future. Maybe Iranian parents just want smaller families.
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If you look around the world, you see many other nations facing demographic headwinds. If the 20th century was the century of the population explosion, the 21st century, as Eberstadt notes, is looking like the century of the fertility implosion.

Already, nearly half the world’s population lives in countries with birthrates below the replacement level. According to the Census Bureau, the total increase in global manpower between 2010 and 2030 will be just half the increase we experienced in the two decades that just ended. At the same time, according to work by the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis, the growth in educational attainment around the world is slowing.

This leads to what the writer Philip Longman has called the gray tsunami — a situation in which huge shares of the population are over 60 and small shares are under 30.
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Rapidly aging Japan has one of the worst demographic profiles, and most European profiles are famously grim. In China, long-term economic growth could face serious demographic restraints. The number of Chinese senior citizens is soaring by 3.7 percent year after year. By 2030, as Eberstadt notes, there will be many more older workers (ages 50-64) than younger workers (15-29). In 2010, there were almost twice as many younger ones. In a culture where there is low social trust outside the family, a generation of only children is giving birth to another generation of only children, which is bound to lead to deep social change.

Even the countries with healthier demographics are facing problems. India, for example, will continue to produce plenty of young workers. By 2030, according to the Vienna Institute of Demography, India will have 100 million relatively educated young men, compared with fewer than 75 million in China.

But India faces a regional challenge. Population growth is high in the northern parts of the country, where people tend to be poorer and less educated. Meanwhile, fertility rates in the southern parts of the country, where people are richer and better educated, are already below replacement levels.

The U.S. has long had higher birthrates than Japan and most European nations. The U.S. population is increasing at every age level, thanks in part to immigration. America is aging, but not as fast as other countries.

But even that is looking fragile. The 2010 census suggested that U.S. population growth is decelerating faster than many expected.....

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/13/opinion/brooks-the-fertility-impl...

Comment by Riaz Haq on March 26, 2012 at 8:24pm

Here's a report on a conference on technical & vocational training (TVET)as published in The Nation:

For the first time in Pakistan, the British Council on Monday held an International Conference on Employer Engagement and Entrepreneurship for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector for South Asia.

Held under the Skills for Employability programme, the conference focused on the benefits of employers’ engagement in the curriculum development and policy-making process in the TVET sector and how it can be encouraged, says a press release issued here.

The participants agreed that the engagement will result in enabling policy makers to develop demand-driven curriculum that will not only produce workforce with industry-need expertise and knowledge but will also pave ways to promote entrepreneurship amongst the young TVET graduates.

TVET experts from Pakistan, United Kingdom, Bangladesh and Nepal participated in the conference besides principals, teachers and students of TVET colleges from across Pakistan.

Riaz Hussain Pirzada, Federal Minister for Professional and Technical Training, was the chief guest at the conference. In his speech, he highlighted the role of TVET education for the development of a country’s economy particularly for a country like Pakistan.

There was an overall consensus in amongst the participants of the conference that there is always a consistent demand of skilled workforce from the developing world to the developed countries as well as within their own countries. But there was also a general agreement on the challenges that countries like Pakistan face to meet those demands. One of the major challenges that were highlighted in the conference was how to equip our manpower with the expertise and skills that are in demand in the global market.
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Adam Thompson, the British High Commissioner in Pakistan was the guest of honour at the event and he talked about how TVET education in the UK is contributing to the economy by producing demand-driven workforce.

The conference also had an impressive exhibition setup by enterprising young students from the TVET colleges across Pakistan. There were separate panel discussions on Employer Engagement and Entrepreneurship, where experts from different countries discussed the importance of these two elements in TVET sector followed by a Q & A session by an enthusiastic audience.

The findings of the two sessions on Employer Engagement and Entrepreurship were shared with the participants in the concluding session of the Conference.

Salman Shehzad, Regional Manager for Skills for Employability programme concluded the Conference with his closing remarks. Salman said, “Having the treasure of approx. 65% youth population in Pakistan; TVET reforms can be instrumental in creating dynamic opportunities for young people which would certainly support the government’s agenda of engaging youth in skill development activities.”

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-onli...

Comment by Riaz Haq on April 1, 2012 at 10:38pm

Here's TED blog on Peter Diamandis, the author of "Abundance":

Diamandis starts off his talk with some fast-cut clips of “crisis! Death! Disaster!” he’s collected from the last six months. The news media, he says, preferentially presents us with negative stories, because that’s what we pay attention to. And there’s a reason for that: since nothing is more important than survival, the first stop for all this awful information is the amygdala, the human early warning detection system that looks out for things that might harm us. In other words, we’re hard-wired to pay attention to the negative, dark side.

“So it’s no wonder that we’re pessimistic. it’s no wonder that people think the world is getting worse.” But Diamandis didn’t co-found Singularity University on a mere whim. From here, he swings into his more usual, optimistic mode: “We have the potential in the next three decades to create a world of abundance [the theme of Diamandis' recent book.] I’m not saying we don’t have our set of problems; we surely do,” he says. “As humans we’re far better at seeing the problems way in advance. Ultimately, we knock them down.”

Diamandis runs through some stats from the last century to show how things have improved for humankind. And he outlines some of the extraordinary advances made, particularly within the technological realm. After all: ”The rate at which technology is getting faster is itself getting faster.” And based on the likes of Moore’s Law ride some incredibly powerful technologies, not least robotics, 3D printing, artificial intelligence and nanomaterials.

Now, some stories:

Energy

Napoleon III once invited the King of Siam to dinner. Napoleon’s troops ate with silver utensils; Napoleon ate with gold utensils; the King of Siam used aluminum utensils–precisely because at that time, aluminum was the most valuable metal on the planet. It was only with electrolysis that the metal became cheap. Similar moves are happening in energy in our current times; solar energy, for instance, is now 50% of the cost of diesel in India.

Water

We talk about water wars. And yet we fight over 0.5% of the water on the planet. Diamandis talks of Dean Kamen’s Slingshot device, which can generate 100 liters clean water from any source. Coca Cola is apparently going to test this in the field soon–with a view to deploying it globally. Given how much water that company consumes, this is a big deal. Or, as Diamandis puts it, “this is the kind of innovation empowered by this technology that exists today.”

Health

Diamandis talks of the recently-announced Qualcomm Tricorder X Prize, challenging teams to incorporate medical diagnostic tools into a mobile device. “Imagine this device in the middle of the developing world,” he says, starrily. What of the potential of someone swabbing an unrecognized disease, calling it into the CDC and preventing a pandemic? Heady stuff.

Population

“The biggest protection against the population explosion is making the world educated and healthy,” says Diamandis, detailing that 5 billion people will be connected online by 2020. “What will these people want and desire?” And why wouldn’t that cause an economic injection rather than an economic shutdown? Why won’t they be healthier through the use of the Tricorder, better educated because of the likes of Khan Academy or using 3d printing to be more productive than ever before?

http://blog.ted.com/2012/02/28/creating-a-world-of-abundance-peter-...

Comment by Riaz Haq on April 26, 2012 at 6:13pm

Here's a Reuters' report Pakistani efforts to de-radicalize the Tliban:

Hazrat Gul spent two years in detention for allegedly aiding the Pakistani Taliban when they publicly flogged and beheaded people during a reign of terror in the scenic Swat Valley.

Now he wiles away his time in pristine classrooms, a Pakistani flag pin on his crisp uniform, learning about word processing, carpentry and car repairs at the Mashal de-radicalisation centre run by the army.

Part of a carrot and stick approach to battling militancy in the strategic U.S. ally, the aim is to cleanse minds of extremist thoughts through vocational training, and turn men like Gul into productive citizens who support the state.

The success of the programme will ultimately hinge, however, on the the ability of the government, widely seen as incompetent and corrupt, to help the de-radicalisation graduates find jobs.

“If a sincere leadership comes to this country, that will solve the problems,” said Gul, 42, one of the Mashal students. “Today the leadership is not sincere. The same problems will be there.”

Pakistan’s military drove militants out of Swat in 2009. Mashal is in the building which used to be the headquarters of the militants from where they imposed there austere version of Islam.

Eventually, the army realised it couldn’t secure long-term peace with bullets alone.

So military officers, trainers, moderate clerics and psychologists were chosen to run three-month courses designed to erase “radical thoughts” of those accused of aiding the Taliban.

Students like Mohammad Inam, 28, a former assistant engineer, give the school a good report card.

“The environment is very good. Our teachers work very hard with us. They talk to us about peace, about terrorism and how that is not right,” said Inam, in the presence of a military officer. “God willing, we will go out and serve our country and our nation.”

School officials say about 1,000 people have graduated since the initiative began two years ago, and that only 10 percent were not cleared for release.

Officials concede that their “students” are not hardened militants who killed. Mostly, they provided the Taliban with water, food or shelter, or beat people.
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Outside Mashal’s classroom, there are signs that not everyone is embracing the new approach.

Soldiers led a hooded man into a truck while three others looked on through the barred windows of what appeared to be a cell at the compound.

Conditions still seem ripe for Fazlulah and his lieutenants, who have vowed to make a comeback, to recruit people.

Pakistani officials estimated after the army operation expelled the Taliban that over $1 billion would be needed to revive the local economy and rebuild infrastructure.

Residents like Ajab Noor, 61, who sent two of his sons abroad to work, doubt the population of about 1.3 million will ever benefit from those funds.

“People have no options. They either go outside the country to work, or they join militants who promise them many things,” he said at a street market in Swat’s capital, Mingora.

A member of a state-backed anti-Taliban militia believes two boys in his village had graduated from a de-radicalisation centre and ran away to rejoin the Taliban.

“I told the military, ‘you are nurturing the offspring of snakes’. But they did not listen,” he said.

http://www.vancouversun.com/Pakistan+army+uses+bullets+classrooms+f...

Comment by Riaz Haq on May 19, 2012 at 6:48pm

Here's an ET story on Pakistani winners of Intel Science Competition: If you are looking for inspiration, look no further than Pakistan’s finalists at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Isef) held in Pittsburgh from May 13 to May 18.

“I want to be the greatest scientist in the world,” proclaimed finalist Syed Shahzeb Zarrar.

“When you’re surrounded by so much talent, and thousands of innovations, it’s hard not to believe it could happen for any one of the students at Isef.”

Zarrar, along with two other finalists, arrived in Pittsburgh last week. Five finalists were named in Pakistan, but only three obtained a visa.

Finalists received an all expenses paid trip to the Intel Isef conference. It was Zarrar’s first trip to the US, and he said he enjoyed the city of Pittsburgh because it was peaceful and not very large or crowded.

“Every Pakistani should know about Isef. Everyone has a hidden talent. Because of Isef, I was able to discover mine,” said the finalist.

It took him approximately eight months to complete his project. It is titled ‘Production of Artificial Magnetic Domains in Non-Metals’. He explained that electricity could be produced cheaply if non metals were employed. He added that his project was cost efficient and could easily be used in Pakistan. Zarrar attends Iqra Army Public School and College in Quetta.

“I’ve made friends from India, Japan, and even New Mexico thanks to this conference. It is amazing.”

Asked about entertainment provided for students prior to the judging and ceremonies, he smiled and said, “At one of the events, they were giving us free fast food! When does that ever happen back home?”

Energy square idea

A team of three girls were also named finalists in the competition, but only two made it stateside. Mahnoor Hassan, Shiza Ghulab and Bushra Shahed from the Institute of Computer and Management Sciences in Peshawar had a project titled ‘Energy Square for Cattle’. Hassan and Ghulab were present to describe their experiences. Their goal, Hassan put it, was to provide something for animals when faced with unfavourable conditions or natural disasters.

“People think of themselves in times of disaster before animals,” said Ghulab. She provided the example of recent floods in Pakistan. “This square makes it easier to look out for the well-being of livestock also,” she added.

The girls said that just a few licks of their energy square controlled diseases, increased milk production and increased weight in the cattle they conducted tests on after just 28 days.

They provided signed documents, pictorial evidence, and test results to anyone who wanted more information.

The squares are a dry mix of a variety of ingredients, such as mulberry, urea and calcium, that provide vitamins and protein to your animal...

http://tribune.com.pk/story/381235/intel-isef-3-pakistani-students-...

Comment by Riaz Haq on May 19, 2012 at 6:51pm

Here's a Daily Times story on higher education growth in Pakistan: Shaikh also highlighted the performance and achievements of government during last 10 years. He said that there are 71 universities in Pakistan in 2002, but in last 10 years, 66 new universities have been added in Pakistan. Previously, female enrolment was 37 percent, now it is 45 percent. Previously, numbers of PhDs were 1,500, now 10,000 new students have been enrolled in PhD, added the minister. He also mentioned that federal government has spent Rs 160 billion on promotion of higher education in the country. The federal minister said that federal government has transferred additional Rs 800 billion to provinces during the last four years to enable the provinces to provide their population best social services like health education. He also advised students to be proud and loyal Pakistanis. Shaikh said that it is a great day for the degree holding students, so they must thank their parents and teachers. He also assured that the government is doing every effort for the promotion of education sector in Pakistan.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\05\20\story_20-5-2012_pg5_1

Comment by Riaz Haq on May 23, 2012 at 8:03pm

Here's a Japan Today report on Japan's rapidly aging population:

Japanese researchers on Friday unveiled a population clock that showed the nation’s people could theoretically become extinct in 1,000 years because of declining birth rates.

Academics in Sendai said that Japan’s population of children aged up to 14, which now stands at 16.6 million, is shrinking at the rate of one every 100 seconds.

Their extrapolations pointed to a Japan with no children left within a millennium.

“If the rate of decline continues, we will be able to celebrate the Children’s Day public holiday on May 5, 3011 as there will be one child,” said Hiroshi Yoshida, an economics professor at Tohoku University.

“But 100 seconds later there will be no children left,” he said. “The overall trend is towards extinction, which started in 1975 when Japan’s fertility rate fell below two.”

Yoshida said he created the population clock to encourage “urgent” discussion of the issue.

Another study released earlier this year showed Japan’s population is expected to shrink to a third of its current 127.7 million over the next century.

Government projections show the birth rate will hit just 1.35 children per woman within 50 years, well below the replacement rate.

Meanwhile, life expectancy—already one of the highest in the world—is expected to rise from 86.39 years in 2010 to 90.93 years in 2060 for women and from 79.64 years to 84.19 years for men.

More than 20 percent of Japan’s people are aged 65 or over, one of the highest proportions of elderly in the world.

Japan has very little immigration and any suggestion of opening the borders to young workers who could help plug the population gap provokes strong reactions among the public.

The greying population is a headache for policymakers who are faced with trying to ensure an ever-dwindling pool of workers can pay for a growing number of pensioners.

But for some Japanese companies the inverting of the traditional aging pyramid provides commercial opportunities.

Unicharm said Friday that sales of its adult diapers had “slightly surpassed” those for babies in the financial year to March, for the first time since the company moved into the seniors market.

Unicharm started selling diapers for babies in 1981 and those for adults in 1987, said spokesman Kazuya Kondo, who declined to give specific figures on the sales.

http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/japan-faces-extinc...

Comment by Riaz Haq on July 7, 2012 at 9:47am

Here's a BR-APP report on development challenges discussed at UN:

Pakistan urged a major UN panel to help the international community respond to the challenges of development -- promoting productive capacity, employment and decent work -- so as to eradicate poverty.

"At a time when the world economy is facing multiple crises, the UN Economic and Social Council must play a robust role as the central mechanism for coordination of the activities of the UN system in the economic, social and related fields," Ambassador Raza Bashir Tarar told a high-level session of 54-member ECOSOC, the economic arm of the United Nations.

The United Nations should be in the driving seat and not the spectators gallery," he said in the course of the annual ministerial review on economic issues affecting UN member states.

The Pakistani envoy said there was no gainsaying the fact that business as usual was no longer an option and we need to reset our economic model to promote sustained, strong and inclusive economic growth, as well as sustainable development.

"About 68 per cent of Pakistans population was under the age of 30, he said, adding, the labour force grew at 3 per cent annually. Like other member states, Ambassador Tarar said, the Pakistan Government faced the formidable task of creating jobs and decent working conditions amid multiple crises.

Two policy initiatives were particularly notable among the measures taken by the Government to promote productive capacity, employment and decent work.

1. Pakistan had made youth development and community engagement one of the pillars of economic growth, he said. Steps had been taken to harness the capacities of youth through vocational and technical training programmes. It was also promoting public-private partnership in this area.

2. The Benazir Income Programme (BISP) was a cash-transfer programme focusing on empowerment of women, the Pakistani envoy said. Through this programme, female members of beneficiary families were given monthly income supplement assistance in cash.

Positive policies, he said, did not make Pakistan immune to direct impact of natural and man-made disasters and global economic conditions, as well as difficulties faced by skilled and employable Pakistanis in securing productive employment abroad. Pakistan believed that enhanced employment opportunities abroad for skilled and semi-skilled labour dovetailed into poverty eradication.

Ambassador Tarar stressed the need to increase investments in productive capacities and address infrastructure gaps. Improving agricultural productivity and rural non-farm income opportunities were among Pakistans priorities, he said.

http://www.brecorder.com/top-news/1-front-top-news/66212-pakistan-s...

Comment by Riaz Haq on July 10, 2012 at 8:52am

Here's a BR report on Pakistan's growing labor force:

The labour force is expected to grow by 3.5 percent during the ongoing fiscal year (2012-13) according to the projections of the government that have been made keeping in view the past average population growth and increase in the labour force participation rate.

The labour force growth indicates that approximately 2 million new jobs would be demanded during the fiscal year 2012-13.

As prevailing employment elasticity is 0.5, approximately 7 percent GDP growth would be required to absorb the growing labour force and to maintain the unemployment level of 2011-12, official document revealed.

The federal government has initiated a number of programmes to increase the employment through an effective human resource development, according to the document.

These programs include National Internship Program, President's Rozgar Program; Credit for Self Employment by National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), Enhancement of Residential Facilities by Construction of One Million Housing Units, Doubling of Lady Health Workers to cover Kachi Abadis, Raising of Minimum Wage from Rs. 6,000 to Rs 7,000 and Pension of workers, Establishment of National Vocational Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC), Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) and Restoration of Trade Unions.

The government together with Employers' and Workers' representatives with technical support of ILO is implementing a "Decent Work Country Program (DWCP)" in all provinces.

The main objectives of the programs include promoting decent employment in which international labour standards and workers' fundamental rights go hand in hand with job creation.

The program is also aimed to place employment at the center of economic and social policies at the global, regional and national level, improve the lives of millions of people who are either unemployed or whose remuneration from work is inadequate, and provide them opportunity and their families to escape poverty through the creation of productive employment.

Improve earnings, productivity and living standards of working women and men, especially of the working poor; and ensure that the benefits of economic growth reaches those sectors where poverty is most concentrated, urban informal economy and the rural areas, especially landless labour and small tenant farmers.

It is pertinent to mention here that an amount of Rs 2,880 million has been allocated to fund 10 proposed projects of Ministry of Professional and Technical Training for PSDP 2012-13 including Rs 300 million allocated to National Vocational &Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) to fund 134 development projects including 90 ongoing programs at estimated cost of Rs 3,993 million costs.

http://www.brecorder.com/pakistan/business-a-economy/66522-labour-f...

Comment by Riaz Haq on August 5, 2012 at 8:59am

Here's PakistanToday on young Pakistanis participating and winning at various international science competitions:

Four teams of talented Pakistani students represented Pakistan in the 23rd International Biology Olympiad (IBO) in Singapore, 44th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) in United States, 53rd International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) in Argentina and 43rd International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) in Estonia.
This year all the four teams showed excellent performance altogether winning One Silver, Four Bronze Medals and Two Honorable Mentions in these events. The International Science Olympiads are unique competitions organized to discover and encourage young talented students from all over the world, says a press release issued here by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan Sunday.
These young talented Pakistani students were facilitated under Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Careers Programme, a joint innovative venture of Higher Education Commission HEC and Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences PIEAS, for grooming talented students for careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
The main objective of this program is to inspire the Pakistani youth to opt for careers in science, mathematics and engineering and preparing them for participation in the annual International Olympiad in Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics. The program also encourages Pakistani students to come up with innovative solutions to problems of national interest. Pakistan has been participating in these international competitions since 2001.
According to the details, The 23rd International Biology Olympiad (IBO) was hosted by Singapore from July 8 to July 15, 2012. About 236 students from 59 countries participated in the event. Of the three students who participated from Pakistan in the event, two won Bronze Medals and one got Honorable Mention The bronze medalists include Mr. Usama Tahir from Lahore Grammar School Lahore, Ms. Hafsa Shahab from Lahore Grammar School Islamabad, and Mr. Hassan Mirza (Honorable Mention) from Lahore Grammar School Lahore. The IBO team was led by Dr Zahid Mukhtar.
The 43rd International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) was hosted by Estonia from July 15 to July 24, 2012. Total 400 students from 88 countries participated in the Olympiad. Of the five students who participated from Pakistan in the event, one of them won Bronze Medal. The awards winner is Mr. Muhammad Taimoor Iftikhar (Bronze Medal) from Rangers Public School & College Mandi Bahauddin. The IPhO team was led by Dr Shahid Qamar and Dr Aftab Rafiq of PIEAS, Islamabad.
The 44th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) was hosted by United States, from July 21 to July 30, 2012. About 270 students from 70 countries participated in the event. Of the four students who participated from Pakistan in the event, one of them won Bronze Medal. The award winners is Mr. Armughan Ahmad Khan from Lahore Grammar School Lahore. The IChO team was led by Prof Dr. Khalid M Khan and Dr Muhammad Raza Shah of HEJ Research Institute, Karachi.
The 53rd International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) was hosted by Argentina from July 8 to July 16, 2012. About 600 students from 100 countries participated in the event. Waqar Ali Syed of Beacon House School Karachi won Silver Medal while Ms. Huma Sibghat from Hamza Army Public School & College Rawalpindi won Honorable Mention. The IMO team was led by Prof Dr Barbu Berceanu and Dr Ahmed Mahmood Qureshi from Government College University Lahore...
-...

http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2012/08/05/news/national/pakistani-...

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