Daily Times

Foreseeing the brain drain of scientific elite from developing countries like Pakistan to the advanced scientific hubs in search of greener pastures, the only Nobel Laureate from Pakistan, Professor Abdus Salam was a staunch believer in utility of periodic bringing together of scientists from developing countries with those from developed nations. This was the guiding spirit behind the idea of organizing a science college at Nathiagali, one of the most beautiful and picturesque hill resorts of Pakistan near Islamabad, on regular basis. In 1974, the distinguished professor proposed that an international forum for scientists from developing countries be organized to break their isolation and provide them with an opportunity to interact with their peers from advanced countries.

When Professor Abdus Salam put up his proposal to Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), Mr. Munir Ahmed Khan, the then Chairman PAEC, not only acceded to the idea, but also put his heart into it. He took personal interest to make the first college in 1976 a great success, which set a lasting tradition.

The seed sown by Professor Salam has now blossomed into a lasting institution Successive chairmen of PAEC, Dr. Ishfaq Ahmad, Mr. Parvez Butt, Mr. Anwar Ali, Dr. AnsarParvez and now Mr. Muhammad Naeemprovided full support for holding of this annual activity. ‘International Nathiagali Summer College (INSC) on Physics and Contemporary Needs’ has been organized every year since 1976, mostly at the scenic hill resort of Nathiagali and for the last few years at National Centre for Physics (NCP) in Islamabad.

The two-week long activity of INSC 2019 is being held in Islamabad these days at NCP co-organized by PAEC. Addressing the versatile audience including eminent scientists, engineers and physicists from around the globe, Scientific Secretary of INSC, Dr. ManzoorIkramexpressed his gratitudeto PAEC for successfully holding this annual activity unabated for the last 44 years. He proudly shared, “So far 7 Nobel Laureates and 41000 scientists, out of which 1000 were foreigners, from 72 countries have participated in the annual spring of scientists in Pakistan to exchange valuable knowledge with their local colleagues and science students.”

In the backdrop of this scientific spring continuing in full bloom in Islamabad, one can hope that famous words of Professor Abdus Salam – “Scientific knowledge is a shared heritage of all mankind”

It is to mention here that NCP, which evolved from INSC,was established in the capital to grow into a center of excellence in the field of Physics and related emerging disciplines on the lines of Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (AS-ICTP), Trieste, Italy, that was established by the late professor himself.

In his welcome address during the inaugural session, Chairman Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, Muhammad Naeem (HI, SI) said that successive governments’ commitment to promotion of science and technology can be judged by the fact that the Nathiagali Summer College inauguration has been graced 25 times by heads of the state. He specially thanked the president of Pakistan Mr. ArifAlvi for attending the inaugural session of 44th INSC as chief guest.

Mr. Muhammad Naeembriefed the audience that Pakistan is now Associate Member of European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and scientists from the country are actively participating in various research activities at CERN and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and shared the fact that Pakistan is among the highest recipients of IAEA’s technical support. “Moreover Pakistan is among the founding members of Synchrotron-Light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East (SESAME) in Jordan,” he added.

Explaining his vision of adopting a progressive approach for development of the country, Chairman PAEC said the pre-requisites for meaningful progress in scientific arena included development of highly technical manpower, establishment of state-of-the-art science and technology infrastructure in the country and promotion of research on contemporary issues in physics and other sciences.

While elaborating the contribution of PAEC for peaceful uses and applications of the nuclear, Mr. Naeem briefed in detail about the contribution of R&D institutes presently working under PAEC which included PINSTECH, PIEAS, CHASCENT, KINPOE, NIBGE, and NIAB.

Regarding use of nuclear energy to generate electricity, Chairman PAEC explained how 5 nuclear power plants including KANUPPin Karachi, and C-1, C-2, C-3 and C-4 in ChashmaMianwali were collectively producing about 1400 MW of electricity while K-2 and K-3 Nuclear Power Plants near Karachi were expected to join national grid in 2020 and 2021, respectively, which would further add 2200 MW of electricity to the national grid. He also mentioned that fifth nuclear power plant in Chashma named C-5 was in the pipeline.

He informed that PAEC was well ahead of schedule to meet the target mandated by the government of producing 8800 MW of cost-effective and environmentally less-harmful form of nuclear energy by 2030 for the county.

The Chairman also highlighted the contribution of PAEC in application of nuclear technology in health sector mentioning 18 cancer hospitals treating 80% of the registered cancer patients in the country and foundation stone already laid of 19th cancer hospitalbeing constructed in Gilgit.He concluded the welcome speech by paying tribute to the role of Strategic Plans Division (SPD) and the Government of Pakistan for their unwavering support for all programs of the Commission.

Addressing the learned audience from around the globe as chief guest, President Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Mr. ArifAlvi enlightened everyone with his powerful oratory. He dispelled the wrong allegation against the country that Pakistan stole someone’s technology in nuclear field by emphatically stating that “knowledge can never be stolen, it can either be shared or learnt.”Pakistani scientists learnt it and applied it to meet national needs in defense and other sectors. Commenting on the future of nuclear technology and power generation, the President hoped the nuclear power sector would soon overcome the only matter of concern related with it i.e. nuclear spent fuel.

Mr. ArifAlvi stressed the need for nuclear powersaying that dams were justified for fulfilling water needs of the country but not for energy because of the environmental hazards attached with building of dams for producing electricity. For meeting energy needs of the country, nuclear has to play a major role along with renewable sources including wind and solar. He hoped that PAEC would seriously think aboutlocally producing nuclear power plants in the coming years.

The President said increasing level of interaction with foreign institutions like CERN, Abdul Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (AS-ICTP) and SESAME would definitely help Pakistan accelerate its process of transforming into a scientific hub.

In the backdrop of this scientific spring continuing in full bloom in Islamabad, one can hope that famous words of Professor Abdus Salam – “Scientific knowledge is a shared heritage of all mankind” – would gain further groundand the interactive sessions of International Nathiagali Summer College (INSC) would produce fruitful results for scientific community of Pakistan in the coming years.-

The writer is former sub-editor of daily Dawn Islamabad and a PR practitioner