The Times of Chitral - دے ٹائمز آف چترال http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com بین الاقوامی اور قعمی خبریں، تبصرے ، معلومات، تصاویر، لنکس ااپنی آراء اور مشوروں سے ہمیں آگاہ رکھیے۔ Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:49:59 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ ur hourly 1 http://www.gravatar.com/blavatar/70b1e347b0c78347e28f814627c2a17a?s=96&d=http://s.wordpress.com/i/buttonw-com.png The Times of Chitral - دے ٹائمز آف چترال http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com ‘Vocational education gets better job than mere degrees’ TNN 14 November 2009, 04:01am IST LUCKNOW: Does a degree guarantee a job? It doesn’t, unless the subject is one of the preferred ones or it has been obtained from a reputed premier college. So, a society poised to have a substantially large young population by 2020 just might end up with a “demographic disaster”. “The serious deficiency in vocational training and deficiency in the level of education, especially in the tertiary education, as compared to the other emerging BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries is well known,” said Prof Abad Ahmad, chairman, Aga Khan Foundation India. He was speaking at the convention `Leveraging demographic dividend through quality education — The way forward’, organised by LMA on Friday. Prof Ahmad pointed out that the number of employable graduates is a small percentage. The key to transform our education system lies in liberalisation of education, addressing its supply side matrix, enabling more choices to students and creating healthy competition among educational institutions to generate merit. This will require bold steps to dismantle “archaic regulations” that have generated artificial scarcity for quality education and spurred growth of shoddy institutions indulging in crass commercialisation, he said. Former director, IIT Madras, Prof P V Indiresan stressed upon improving the admission process. Referring to the recommendations of Yash Pal Committee on higher education and the National Knowledge Commission, he questioned the wisdom of increasing enrolment and instead suggested decrease in enrolments and matching the system to economic activity. Prof Indiresan suggested doing away with tests that lead to the need for coaching classes and instead considering value for school tradition and teachers’ recommendations as in premier global institutions like Harvard. He also stressed the need for job-oriented education and suggested a plan for better teachers, not just by offering higher salaries. In the session that was chaired by G B Pattanaik, principal secretary to the governor, the head of corporate affairs at Intel Corporation, Valsa Williams suggested a sharing of responsibility between stakeholders including government, private sector, academia and civil society. Earlier, delivering the keynote address, member, Planning Commission, Narendra Jadhav expressed concern over quality of education, which, he said, was much below expectations. While curriculum revision could be a step towards improving the quality, access to higher education also needed to be increased. Governor B L Joshi, delivering the inaugural address, stressed on human resource management, innovative modification in curriculum and a balanced regulatory system based on transparency and accountability. Chief secretary (UP) and chairman of LMA advisory council, Atul Gupta, maintaining that UP had committed itself for improving the education scenario, stressed upon public-private partnership. LMA president, Jayant Krishna was also present on the occasion. http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/vocational-education-gets-better-job-than-mere-degrees-tnn-14-november-2009-0401am-ist-lucknow-does-a-degree-guarantee-a-job-it-doesnt-unless-the-subject-is-one-of-the-preferred-ones-or-it/ http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/vocational-education-gets-better-job-than-mere-degrees-tnn-14-november-2009-0401am-ist-lucknow-does-a-degree-guarantee-a-job-it-doesnt-unless-the-subject-is-one-of-the-preferred-ones-or-it/#comments Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:49:59 +0000 khansconcepts http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/?p=2064 ]]>

 

LUCKNOW: Does a degree guarantee a job? It doesn’t, unless the subject is one of the preferred ones or it has been obtained from a reputed premier college. So, a society poised to have a substantially large young population by 2020 just might end up with a “demographic disaster”.

“The serious deficiency in vocational training and deficiency in the level of education, especially in the tertiary education, as compared to the other emerging BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries is well known,” said Prof Abad Ahmad, chairman, Aga Khan Foundation India. He was speaking at the convention `Leveraging demographic dividend through quality education — The way forward’, organised by LMA on Friday.

Prof Ahmad pointed out that the number of employable graduates is a small percentage. The key to transform our education system lies in liberalisation of education, addressing its supply side matrix, enabling more choices to students and creating healthy competition among educational institutions to generate merit. This will require bold steps to dismantle “archaic regulations” that have generated artificial scarcity for quality education and spurred growth of shoddy institutions indulging in crass commercialisation, he said.

Former director, IIT Madras, Prof P V Indiresan stressed upon improving the admission process. Referring to the recommendations of Yash Pal Committee on higher education and the National Knowledge Commission, he questioned the wisdom of increasing enrolment and instead suggested decrease in enrolments and matching the system to economic activity.

Prof Indiresan suggested doing away with tests that lead to the need for coaching classes and instead considering value for school tradition and teachers’ recommendations as in premier global institutions like Harvard. He also stressed the need for job-oriented education and suggested a plan for better teachers, not just by offering higher salaries.

In the session that was chaired by G B Pattanaik, principal secretary to the governor, the head of corporate affairs at Intel Corporation, Valsa Williams suggested a sharing of responsibility between stakeholders including government, private sector, academia and civil society.

Earlier, delivering the keynote address, member, Planning Commission, Narendra Jadhav expressed concern over quality of education, which, he said, was much below expectations. While curriculum revision could be a step towards improving the quality, access to higher education also needed to be increased.

Governor B L Joshi, delivering the inaugural address, stressed on human resource management, innovative modification in curriculum and a balanced regulatory system based on transparency and accountability.

Chief secretary (UP) and chairman of LMA advisory council, Atul Gupta, maintaining that UP had committed itself for improving the education scenario, stressed upon public-private partnership. LMA president, Jayant Krishna was also present on the occasion.

source – times of inida

 

 

Posted in Int'l Media Clips ]]> http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/vocational-education-gets-better-job-than-mere-degrees-tnn-14-november-2009-0401am-ist-lucknow-does-a-degree-guarantee-a-job-it-doesnt-unless-the-subject-is-one-of-the-preferred-ones-or-it/feed/ 0 khansconcepts ناسا کے سائنسدانوں نے چاند پرکافی مقدار میں جما ہوا پانی دریافت کر لیا۔ http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/%d9%86%d8%a7%d8%b3%d8%a7-%da%a9%db%92-%d8%b3%d8%a7%d8%a6%d9%86%d8%b3%d8%af%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%88%da%ba-%d9%86%db%92-%da%86%d8%a7%d9%86%d8%af-%d9%be%d8%b1%da%a9%d8%a7%d9%81%db%8c-%d9%85%d9%82%d8%af%d8%a7/ http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/%d9%86%d8%a7%d8%b3%d8%a7-%da%a9%db%92-%d8%b3%d8%a7%d8%a6%d9%86%d8%b3%d8%af%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%88%da%ba-%d9%86%db%92-%da%86%d8%a7%d9%86%d8%af-%d9%be%d8%b1%da%a9%d8%a7%d9%81%db%8c-%d9%85%d9%82%d8%af%d8%a7/#comments Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:37:21 +0000 khansconcepts http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/?p=2061 ]]>

AFP – 14 Nov. 2009

WASHINGTON: A “significant amount” of frozen water has been found on the moon, the US space agency said on Friday heralding a major leap forward  in space exploration and boosting hopes of a permanent lunar base.

Preliminary data from a moon probe “indicates the mission successfully uncovered water in a permanently shadowed lunar crater,” NASA said in a statement.

“The discovery opens a new chapter in our understanding of the moon,” it added, as ecstatic scientists celebrated the landmark discovery.

The data was found after NASA sent two spacecraft crashing into the lunar service last month in a dramatic experiment to probe Earth’s nearest neighbor for water.

One rocket slammed into the Cabeus crater, near the lunar southern pole, at around 5,600 miles (9,000 kilometers) per hour.

The impact sent a huge plume of material billowing up from the bottom of the crater, which has not seen sunlight for billions of years.

The rocket was followed four minutes later by a spacecraft equipped with cameras to record the impact.

“We are ecstatic,” said Anthony Colaprete, project scientist and principal investigator for the 79-million-dollar LCROSS mission.

“Multiple lines of evidence show water was present in both the high angle vapor plume and the ejecta curtain created by the LCROSS Centaur impact.

“The concentration and distribution of water and other substances requires further analysis, but it is safe to say Cabeus holds water,” Colaprete said.

Scientists had previously theorized that, except for the possibility of ice at the bottom of craters, the moon was totally dry.

Finding water on Earth’s natural satellite is a major breakthrough in space exploration.

“We’re unlocking the mysteries of our nearest neighbor and, by extension, the solar system,” said Michael Wargo, chief lunar scientist at NASA headquarters in Washington.

“The full understanding of the LCROSS data may take some time. The data is that rich,” Colaprete cautioned.

“Along with the water in Cabeus, there are hints of other intriguing substances. The permanently shadowed regions of the moon are truly cold traps, collecting and preserving material over billions of years.”

Only 12 men, all Americans, have ever walked on the moon, and the last to set foot there were in 1972, at the end of the Apollo missions.

But NASA’s ambitious plans to put US astronauts back on the moon by 2020 to establish manned lunar bases for further exploration to Mars under the Constellation project are increasingly in doubt.

NASA’s budget is currently too small to pay for Constellation’s Orion capsule, a more advanced and spacious version of the Apollo lunar module, as well as the Ares I and Ares V launchers needed to put the craft in orbit.

A key review panel appointed by President Barack Obama said existing budgets are not large enough to fund a return mission before 2020.

Posted in Int'l Media Clips ]]> http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/%d9%86%d8%a7%d8%b3%d8%a7-%da%a9%db%92-%d8%b3%d8%a7%d8%a6%d9%86%d8%b3%d8%af%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%88%da%ba-%d9%86%db%92-%da%86%d8%a7%d9%86%d8%af-%d9%be%d8%b1%da%a9%d8%a7%d9%81%db%8c-%d9%85%d9%82%d8%af%d8%a7/feed/ 0 khansconcepts 5 killed as Mandore Express to Delhi derails near Jaipur http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/5-killed-as-mandore-express-to-delhi-derails-near-jaipur/ http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/5-killed-as-mandore-express-to-delhi-derails-near-jaipur/#comments Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:28:27 +0000 khansconcepts http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/?p=2057 ]]>

The Delhi-bound Mandore Express derailed with some portion of the track piercing its AC compartment, leaving six passengers dead and 19

others injured in the wee hours in Bassi town near here today. ( Watch Video )
Eleven coaches of the train derailed at 1:30 am near Banshkov Railway station, 40 km from here, after the train left the Pink City, North West Railway sources said.

Following the derailment, a portion of the tracks pierced the AC compartment and probably hit the passengers, they said.

Welders are being used to remove the iron rods. While three of the dead have been identified as Sonal Singh (18) of New Delhi, S Kumar of Jodhpur and Ujjawal Vadhwa (27) of Jaipur, three bodies are yet to be identified.

Nineteen of the injured, including a New Zealand national Ana Elizabeth, have been admitted to the SMS Hospital here.

Railway minister Mamata Banerjee has announced an exgratia of Rs 5 lakh to the next of the kin of those killed.

An exgratia of Rs one l lakh would be given to the seriously injured and Rs 10,000 to passengers who have received minor injuries, a North West Railway Spokesman said.

Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot also announced a compensation of Rs two lakh to the next of the kin of the deceased and Rs one lakh to those seriously injured.

A sum of Rs 50,000 will be given to those who have received minor injuries.

West zone railway protection commissioner Prashant Kumar and GM NWR R M Verma have left for the accident site.

Twelve trains have been diverted including the New Delhi Ajmer Shatabdi. The stranded passengers have been sent to Jaipur.

State-owned buses have been pressed into service to take the passengers to their destination.

source – timesofindia

Posted in Int'l Media Clips ]]> http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/5-killed-as-mandore-express-to-delhi-derails-near-jaipur/feed/ 0 khansconcepts آئی ایس آئی کے دفتر کے باہر خود کش دھماکے میں 10 شہید اور70 زخمی ہوگئے۔۔۔ روزنامہ وقت لاہور http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/%d8%a2%d8%a6%db%8c-%d8%a7%db%8c%d8%b3-%d8%a2%d8%a6%db%8c-%da%a9%db%92-%d8%af%d9%81%d8%aa%d8%b1-%da%a9%db%92-%d8%a8%d8%a7%db%81%d8%b1-%d8%ae%d9%88%d8%af-%d8%af%da%be%d9%85%d8%a7%da%a9%db%92-%d9%85/ http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/%d8%a2%d8%a6%db%8c-%d8%a7%db%8c%d8%b3-%d8%a2%d8%a6%db%8c-%da%a9%db%92-%d8%af%d9%81%d8%aa%d8%b1-%da%a9%db%92-%d8%a8%d8%a7%db%81%d8%b1-%d8%ae%d9%88%d8%af-%d8%af%da%be%d9%85%d8%a7%da%a9%db%92-%d9%85/#comments Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:02:43 +0000 khansconcepts http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/?p=2053 ]]>

Waqt Lahore

source – www.dailywaqt.com

Posted in قومی خبریں ]]> http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/%d8%a2%d8%a6%db%8c-%d8%a7%db%8c%d8%b3-%d8%a2%d8%a6%db%8c-%da%a9%db%92-%d8%af%d9%81%d8%aa%d8%b1-%da%a9%db%92-%d8%a8%d8%a7%db%81%d8%b1-%d8%ae%d9%88%d8%af-%d8%af%da%be%d9%85%d8%a7%da%a9%db%92-%d9%85/feed/ 0 khansconcepts Waqt Lahore برف باری کے سبب چترال کے عوام محصور ہوگئے۔ روزنامہ امت http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/%d8%a8%d8%b1%d9%81-%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%b1%db%8c-%da%a9%db%92-%d8%b3%d8%a8%d8%a8-%da%86%d8%aa%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%84-%da%a9%db%92-%d8%b9%d9%88%d8%a7%d9%85-%d9%85%d8%ad%d8%b5%d9%88%d8%b1-%db%81%d9%88%da%af%d8%a6/ http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/%d8%a8%d8%b1%d9%81-%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%b1%db%8c-%da%a9%db%92-%d8%b3%d8%a8%d8%a8-%da%86%d8%aa%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%84-%da%a9%db%92-%d8%b9%d9%88%d8%a7%d9%85-%d9%85%d8%ad%d8%b5%d9%88%d8%b1-%db%81%d9%88%da%af%d8%a6/#comments Sat, 14 Nov 2009 04:46:09 +0000 khansconcepts http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/?p=2049 ]]>

Chitral

source – www.ummatpublications.com

Posted in قومی خبریں ]]> http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/%d8%a8%d8%b1%d9%81-%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%b1%db%8c-%da%a9%db%92-%d8%b3%d8%a8%d8%a8-%da%86%d8%aa%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%84-%da%a9%db%92-%d8%b9%d9%88%d8%a7%d9%85-%d9%85%d8%ad%d8%b5%d9%88%d8%b1-%db%81%d9%88%da%af%d8%a6/feed/ 0 khansconcepts Chitral Three CRPF – Central Reserve Police Force personnel killed in IED blast in Orissa http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/2009/11/13/three-crpf-central-reserve-police-force-personnel-killed-in-ied-blast-in-orissa/ http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/2009/11/13/three-crpf-central-reserve-police-force-personnel-killed-in-ied-blast-in-orissa/#comments Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:53:26 +0000 khansconcepts http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/?p=2044 ]]>

 

MALKANGIRI (ORISSA): Three CRPF personnel, including an officer, were killed in a landmine blast triggered by Maoists in Orissa’s southern district of Malkangiri on Friday.

The blast took place in Maoist-dominated MV-66 area, about 40 km from here, when a van carrying the CRPF personnel was on its way from Kalimela to Gompagunda probably to pick up rations, Malkangiri Superintendent of Police Satyabrata Bhoi said.

The landmine was planted at a culvert and exploded when the van passed over it, he said.

CRPF deputy commandant Bhupinder Singh was among the three CRPF men killed.

The attack is believed to be part of the Maoist strategy to restrict movement of security forces ahead of their proposed offensive in the region.

Additional CRPF jawans and state police personnel have been rushed to the site, while steps taken for intensifying patrolling in the area, Bhoi said.

This was the third attack by Maoists in Malkangiri this month. A guest house of a private steel company in Chitrakonda area was torched and a bridge over a rivulet was blown up on the other two occasions.

source – www.timesofindia.com

 

Posted in Int'l Media Clips ]]> http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/2009/11/13/three-crpf-central-reserve-police-force-personnel-killed-in-ied-blast-in-orissa/feed/ 0 khansconcepts PAKISTAN: Military Vs Militancy Does Not Equal Peace – IPS ipsnews.net http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/2009/11/12/pakistan-military-vs-militancy-does-not-equal-peace-ips-ipsnews-net/ http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/2009/11/12/pakistan-military-vs-militancy-does-not-equal-peace-ips-ipsnews-net/#comments Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:38:36 +0000 khansconcepts http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/2009/11/12/pakistan-military-vs-militancy-does-not-equal-peace-ips-ipsnews-net/ ]]>

PAKISTAN: Military Vs Militancy Does Not Equal Peace – IPS ipsnews.net

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Posted in معاشیات ]]> http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/2009/11/12/pakistan-military-vs-militancy-does-not-equal-peace-ips-ipsnews-net/feed/ 0 khansconcepts Smooth polling continues in GB http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/2009/11/12/smooth-polling-continues-in-gb/ http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/2009/11/12/smooth-polling-continues-in-gb/#comments Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:26:49 +0000 khansconcepts http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/?p=2040 ]]>
GILGIT, Nov 12 (APP): Polling is in full swing for the Legislative Assembly elections of Gilgit-Baltistan. Total number of registered voters for the GB Legislative Assembly is 7,17,286. Over 250 candidates are taking part in the election on 23 seats out of 24. Polling has been postponed in GB-19 due to the death of MQM candidate.
 
Polling which started at 8 in the morning will continue till 4 pm without any break. However, those voters will be allowed to cast their votes who will be present in the premisis of the polling stations even after the mentioned time.
 
Due to stringent security measures, so far there has been no report of any violence or untoward incident from any part of Gilgit-Baltistan.
 
Moreover, in order to conduct the election in a smooth manner, 24 returning officers and 25 assistant returning officers have been deployed while more than 3,000 polling staff has also been assigned duties on the polling day.
 
Foolproof security measures have been adopted under which around 5,000 security staff is deployed at the polling stations, especially the sensitive and highly sensitive stations. Two battalions of the Army have been called and moved to different areas of the region. Army soldiers would be available on a call in case of any emergency.
 
Meanwhile, political activities and election campaign ended at midnight on Wednesday under the election order.
 
The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of the area, Rahim Nawaz Khan Durrani, has directed all the district election commissioners and polling staff to ensure on time arrival at their respective stations. APP
Posted in قومی خبریں ]]> http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/2009/11/12/smooth-polling-continues-in-gb/feed/ 0 khansconcepts ‘Tajikistan Road Project approved in principle’ http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/2009/11/12/tajikistan-road-project-approved-in-principle/ http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/2009/11/12/tajikistan-road-project-approved-in-principle/#comments Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:19:30 +0000 khansconcepts http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/?p=2037 ]]>

PESHAWAR (November 11 2009): NWFP Minister for Population Welfare Saleem Khan has said the federal government has approved the Tajikistan Road Project in principle to establish road link between Pakistan and Central Asian states via Chitral as this is the shortest and most feasible route in this regard.

Addressing a public gathering in his native village Garam Chashma in Chitral, the other day, the minister said the proposed road would provide access to Central Asian states to the sea via Pakistan and it would help promote trade and generate other economic activities in the whole region, including Chitral.

He said Prince Karim Aga Khan had struggled for the project, and the Aga Khan Development Network had agreed to fund the project. The minister said the government had allowed the people of Chitral to travel through the under construction Lowari tunnel during the upcoming winter season when the Lowari top was closed due to heavy snowfall.

Saleem Khan thanked the federal government, specially Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani for including Chitral in the special package for Malakand division and said it would help compensate the losses of Chitral’s farmers which they suffered due to imposition of curfew in the region during the Malakand operation. In response to public complaints against the line departments of Chitral, he warned the concerned officials to redress the grievances of masses, otherwise, there would be no place for them in Chitral.

source – www.brecorder.com

Posted in قومی خبریں ]]> http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/2009/11/12/tajikistan-road-project-approved-in-principle/feed/ 0 khansconcepts Free Clinics in Pakistan Promote Microinsurance for Healthcare http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/2009/11/12/free-clinics-in-pakistan-promote-microinsurance-for-healthcare/ http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/2009/11/12/free-clinics-in-pakistan-promote-microinsurance-for-healthcare/#comments Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:09:13 +0000 khansconcepts http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/?p=2034 ]]>

 

Microfinance Focus, Nov. 11, 2009: ‘First Microinsurance Agency (FMiA)’ in Karachi has offered several hundred clients basic outpatient care, along with information on health insurance.  This is the part of a new programme designed to make poor people aware of microinsurance services and their benefits.

The health clinics programme, which is expected to continue, is meant to help fulfill FMiA’s goal of providing affordable insurance products carefully tailored to the needs of poor families.
“FMiA hopes to keep playing an important role in making health care easily available to its clients and others that need it,” said Al Malik Khoja, the acting CEO of FMiA.

Microinsurance services offered by FMiA include: hospitalization insurance, savings completion and credit life. Counselors at the clinics offer advice on microinsurance products, including how:
•    Health insurance provides cashless coverage for medical expenses incurred in private and medical hospitals due to serious illnesses, obstetric care and accidents,
•    Savings completion ensures that a family’s savings objectives are met even in the event of the death or injury of the breadwinner,
•    Credit life helps to protect the family of the loan borrower from debt in case of death or serious disability.

FMiA Pakistan is the first of two microinsurance institutions operated by the Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance (AKAM). FMiA focuses on the needs of poor families, in both the formal and informal economies, by providing them with a range of financial products that will help protect their assets and well-being.

AKAM is a not-for-profit; non-denominational, international development agency created under Swiss law and it has 13 microcredit operations and two microinsurance operations in 13 countries. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland. It is governed by a Board of Directors and the Chairman of the Board is His Highness the Aga Khan.

source – http://www.microfinancefocus.com/news/2009/11/11/pakistan-promote-microinsurance-healthcare/

Posted in معاشیات ]]> http://timesofchitral.wordpress.com/2009/11/12/free-clinics-in-pakistan-promote-microinsurance-for-healthcare/feed/ 0 khansconcepts