Day: December 28, 2011

By Abdul Khaliq Qureshi

ABBOTTABAD: Benazir Bhutto (BB) was a democratic socialist who served Pakistanis as prime minister for two terms from 1988 to 1990 and 1993 to 1996, said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Provincial Assembly Member Dr Faiza Rashid on Tuesday while talking to media persons on the occasion of BB’s 4th death anniversary.

PPP women wing leader Dr Rashid said BB led Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) found by her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

She said in 1982 at the age 29 BB became PPP chairwoman making her the first woman in Pakistan to head a major political party. In 1988, she became first elected woman prime minister of a Muslim state, said Dr Rashid, adding, her charismatic personality political astuteness drove Pakistan’s economy and national security on sound path.

She said BB implemented social capitalist policies for industrial development and growth of Pakistan. Her political philosophy and economic policies emphasised deregulation of financial sector, flexible labour markets, the denationalization of state-owned corporations and the withdrawal of subsidies, said Dr Rashid, adding, but conservative President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dismissed her government accusing her government of corruption.

She said in 1993 BB was re-elected as prime minister for the second time after the parliamentary elections. She survived an attempted coup d’état in 1995 due to her hard-line against the trade unions and tough opposition to political rivals, said Dr Rashid. Paying tribute to their leader, she said BB earned the nickname “Iron Lady” from neighboring India, but in 1996 President Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari again dismissed her government on the charges of corruption. Benazir Bhutto conceded her defeat in the 1997 Parliamentary elections and went into self-imposed exile in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in 1998.

Dr Rashid said after nine years exile BB returned Pakistan on October 18, 2007 for restoration of democratic process in the country but she was assassinated in a bombing attack on December 27, 2007 when she was leaving after addressing a PPP public meeting in Rawalpindi two weeks before the general elections scheduled for 2008.

Paying rich tributes to BB, PPP MPA from KP and member of party’s provincial women wing Naeema Nisar said it was their bad luck that she was martyred at Liaquat Bagh ground due to her hard struggle for restoration of democratic setup ruined by military dictator Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf due to his unconstitutional steps during his regime.

Source: DAILY TIMES

By Noman Ahmed

KARACHI: It’s a call that few children could have found believable. Fatima Hussain, 15, felt the same when she received a call from Zehra Ali, an assistant manager at the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco), who asked her to pack her bags for an international competition in Singapore.

Fatima was surprised to hear she been selected to participate at the International Water Rocket competition 2011. The contest was organised in Tampines, on December 3, in conjunction with the 18th session of the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum.

Fatima ranked 15th among 60 participants from over 20 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, all aged between 12 and 16. The contest tasked students to launch two-litre soda bottle rockets twice from a 60-metre distance and land it within a specific area.

“Water rocket launching teaches students about the principles of aeronautics,” said Fatima. Water is shot backwards in these model rockets to propel them, as an alternative to the fuel in actual rockets.

Fatima had the experience of a local competition organised by Suparco during World Space Week 2010 under her belt. She was ranked third in the contest. “Based on her performance, Suparco selected her to represent Pakistan in an international competition,” said Ghulam Murtuza, Fatima’s Physics instructor.

Fatima had been informed of her selection a month before the competition and Suparco arranged training sessions for her. But there were still a few things lacking, which Fatima believed would have helped her compete better in Singapore. “For instance, I practiced on simple Japanese launchers while those in the competition were newfangled iPad-EEG based,” she said.

“I was scared at first and I had no idea what would happen since I didn’t have any experience with the new launchers,” she said. While Fatima is interested in dentistry, winning Suparco’s competition made her develop an interest in aeronautics. “I’m double-minded about what should I choose for a career,” she chuckled, adding that her parents encourage her to do what she identifies herself best with.

Dawood Public School principal Viqar Afza is proud of her student. “She was in grade 7 when I began to think that she has something extraordinary in her,” she said, recalling an article Fatima wrote about herself titled ‘Fatima Hussain: The science whiz in the block’. “I was wondering how a seventh-grader could write with such elaboration. I asked the teachers to verify if she wrote it by herself or copied it from somewhere,” she said. Fatima’s mother, an assistant professor at the Government College of Home Economics, also credits the school, which she says has served as a “confidence booster” for her daughters.

Source: TRIBUNE