India Defeated In The First Round

India Defeated In The First Round

Adm. Mike Mullen asked Pakistan for a guarantee that Pakistan Air Force will not respond to Indian surgical strikes. General Kayani is said to have responded with showing Mullen a photograph of an IAF Mirage-2000 locked by Pakistan Air Forces’ F-16 taken on December 13. ‘Next time, we’ll bring it down’, Mullen was told. To make sure the message was loud and clear, Pakistan Air Force jets started patrolling the skies in hot mode and a red-alert was issued throughout the country. The Indian war rhetoric has failed to impress Pakistan. Instead, the focus is now shifting to Indian intelligence agencies’ failure to put together credible evidence implicating Pakistan in the Mumbai attacks.

Dan Qayyum PakistanKaKhudaHafiz.com
Sunday, 28 December 2008.
WWW.AHMEDQURAISHI.COM

It is best to win without fighting- Sun Tzu

With India and Pakistan standing eyeball to eyeball, it was India that blinked first, with its media and officials admitting defeat on the diplomatic front.

Times of India writes:

“While the de-escalation should soothe the tense nerves of the international community, it was being feared that Islamabad, by raising the bogey of war, may have edged out India’s concerns. By feeding fears of an imminent conflict between two nuclear-armed rivals, it had ensured that the focus would shift towards conflict prevention. Indian security experts noted that Gilani made it a point to mention that “our friends are persuading India against aggression”.
While the government persisted with reminders to Islamabad about unkept promises, independent security experts said Pakistan may have got away with almost no cost at all. “As of now, Pakistan has managed to divert attention from the Mumbai attacks to an India-Pak conflict,” said K Subrahmanyam.

It was diplomacy by fear, and Pakistan played it effectively. As it allowed passions to run high and let known terrorists join in the show of national belligerence, it was also playing victim. As part of the script, its foreign secretary, it now turns out, even summoned the Indian high commissioner in Islamabad, Satyabrata Pal, on Friday to lecture him on the need for India to bring down tensions.

The U.S. and China had on Friday asked India - in a clear sign of Pakistan’s success - to engage in a dialogue with Pakistan. It’s becoming increasingly evident that India has so far nothing to show for its diplomatic offensive in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks.”

How could things have gone so wrong, wonders Vir Sanghvi of the Hindustan Times:

“I am now coming round to the view that they’ve only gone wrong for us. They’ve gone very right for Pakistan. Islamabad has got exactly what it needs, and what it always wanted.

Consider what’s happening today. The operation in the tribal areas has stalled. The Taliban have sworn to back the Pakistan army against India. Troops have been moved to the Indian border. The incoming Obama administration is talking about appointing a special envoy for India and Pakistan.

And forget about acting against those who organized the Bombay attacks. Pakistan isn’t even willing to hand over Dawood Ibrahim or Masood Azhar [Editor: Not in Pakistani custody anyway]. Moreover, Washington seems largely content with this state of affairs.

I don’t want to sound like a pessimist or a warmonger — especially since I have always applauded New Delhi’s moderation and restraint — but it is beginning to seem to me that Pakistan has out-maneuvered both India and America.”

M. K. Bhadrakumar writes at Asia Times Online:

“By gently holding out the threat to the U.S. that the Afghan operations would grievously suffer unless Washington restrained Delhi from precipitating any tensions on the India-Pakistan border, Islamabad seems to have neatly pole-vaulted over Rice to appeal straight to the Pentagon, where there is abiding camaraderie towards the Pakistani generals.

With Pakistan’s recalcitrance and Mullen’s veiled threat of reopening the Kashmir file, a sense of frustration is gripping Delhi. Pakistan has ignored India’s tough posturing. The faltering Indian security agencies, which have been in a state of appalling decline in recent years, seem to have failed to put together any hard evidence of a Pakistani involvement in the Mumbai attacks.

All indications are that Pakistan is not impressed by the Indian rhetoric. It seems to think Indian politicians are grandstanding in an election year. But, just in case Delhi may spring a surprise, Pakistani army chief General Ashfaq Kayani has warned that the armed forces would give an equal response “within few minutes” if India carried out any surgical military strikes. “The armed forces are fully prepared to meet any eventuality, and the men are ready to sacrifice for their country,” he reportedly said.

Just as we predicted, an all out war seems to have been averted and Indian media and officials are admitting defeat.

China, Saudi Arabia and Iran have come out strongly in the last couple of days which saw an intense diplomatic effort by all parties to make it clear to India that they not only remain unconvinced of Delhi’s allegations, but also that any attack could have serious consequences for India and the region as a whole.

Pranab Mukherjee was made to do an embarrassing u-turn on India’s previous stance previously, admitting that terrorism - a global issue and not a bilateral one - should be fought jointly.
The Indian officials have also been made to backtrack from their earlier claims of deploying troops along the border with Pakistan.

Times of India, December 22nd:
Even as India refused to take the military option off the table while asking Pakistan to rein in the terrorists, the Indian Army’s and IAF’s quick reaction teams (QRTs) were deployed along the borders in the Western Sector.

“Runways, hangars, main roads, ammunition stores and other sensitive places have been provided with additional cover. Sophisticated radars are installed at a few air bases and we are keeping watch on each and every cross-border activity,” said an IAF personnel.

Indian forces were on regular firing exercises at locations like Lathi Firing Range in Jaisalmer, Mahsan in Bikaner, Suratgarh and Ganganagar.

India Today, December 27th:
India has informed Pakistan that it has not engaged in any sort of troop build-up along the frontier.

In response to the ‘deadline’ set by India and the threats from Sonia Gandhi and Pranab Mukherjee, Pakistan had gone on a diplomatic counter-offensive, briefing world powers and countries in the region on the deteriorating relations with India and the steps taken by it to address Indian concerns. Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir met the ambassadors of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — the U.S., Britain, China, France and Russia. He also met ambassadors of Italy, Japan, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey soon after returning from France where he had gone for annual bilateral consultations. However, his most crucial meeting was with Indian High Commissioner Satyabrata Pal at the Foreign Office when he said that India should defuse the tension.

Mr. Pal was accompanied by his deputy Manpreet Vohra. The Indian side was categorically told that any ‘surgical strikes’ would be considered a declaration of war. India was urged to respond to Pakistan’s proposal for joint investigation into the Mumbai attacks.

According to sources, the Indian diplomats looked somber when they came out of the meeting.
As things stand, the possibility of war has been averted for now, which is being seen as a massive diplomatic victory for Pakistan.

This of course does not mean that we should let our guard down. In addition to the diplomatic counter-offensive, it was Pakistan Army’s seriousness that put India on the back foot.

Once the realization set in that any further attempts to enter Pakistan Airspace will be punished severely by the PAF, the Indians had gone to plan B, with Mullen asking for a guarantee that PAF will not respond to Indian surgical strikes.

General Kayani is said to have responded with showing Mullen a photograph of an IAF Mirage-2000 locked by Pakistan Air Forces’ F-16 taken on December 13th. ‘Next time, we’ll bring it down’, Mullen was told.

To make sure the message was loud and clear, Pakistan Air Force jets started patrolling the skies in hot mode and a red-alert was issued throughout the country.

Failing to get that guarantee, the chance of an Indian strike was reduced significantly. For them it was never about a full war. A few surgical strikes on pre-agreed locations would have been enough to relieve some of the pressure the Indian Government faces domestically. Pakistan Army on the other hand made it clear that any action from India would be taken as a declaration of war, and the response would be swift and decisive.

India faces humiliation now on the diplomatic front having failed to achieve anything from this standoff.

In its attempts to isolate Pakistan by building what it saw as a definitive case, it is India that stands alone on the diplomatic front and is left with begging the Iranians and Chinese to put pressure on Pakistan.

We can now expect an intense and sustained terrorism campaign in Pakistani cities in an attempt to destabilize the country along ethnic / sectarian lines - New Delhi’s time-tested method.

On the diplomatic front India will be lobbying hard to have the ISI (and Pakistan Army) declared as terrorist organizations.

We can also not rule out another false flag attack in the next few weeks.
Pakistanis need to stay united.

It’s not over yet.

Dan Qayyum moderates PakistanKaKhudaHafiz.com, one of the emerging Pakistani nationalist e-posts and a source for news from a Pakistani perspective.

Career Counselling Session

Career Counseling Session

---------------------------
EME ALUMNI: for De-27 Electrical,
Venue: Lecture Hall (EE dept),
Date: 17November, 2008)
Speaker: Mr. Afnan Ahmad (De-18 Elec)
(Manager, Core Network Optimization, Telenor Pakistan)
Background
The meeting was arranged by SNS Faizan Razzaq (27 EE) on the platform of career counseling (C-3, initiated by shahid habib khan 26 EE). The meeting was a result of the continuing efforts of students of 27 EE for utilizing the alumni platform to the maximum benefit of the sophomores.

--------------------------




Details of Session


Mr. Afnan Ahmad started the presentation by throwing some thought provoking questions at the students. He stressed out that start of professional career must be well planned and focused. Each student must know his/her talents and must have a plan about future direction.


Be selective in your career interests
It was stressed out that knowing the company one is applying to is a pre-requisite for all job tests/interviews. The students were told to apply in job openings in which they are really interested. The tough competition and limited number of job openings demands a high degree of planning and organization on the part of the students.


Be good at studies, projects and relations
Students were stressed to utilize their potential to the maximum. It was highlighted that students graduating from their college hardly appreciate the potential of the links and associations with seniors and faculty. Recommendation letters and appreciations from professors, Hod’s and people who know you are a powerful succeeding in professional career. Those who appreciate this potential can really build on it and prosper. This all discussion was followed by a categorical statement that GPA does matter: it is the first filtering criterion in job applications. Students must pay consideration to choose their final year project of their own interest. They must be specific in the scope of their project. Doing a project because it has been assigned to you is not the right attitude. Moreover, if the final year project is related to the field of your interest (with regards to career) it will improve your chances to get a job.



Take the job applications seriously
Mr. Afnan shared his experiences of interviews and hiring with the students and told them to be serious in their job applications. Resumes forwarded to a list of companies are the first ones to be discarded! For every job opening one must make a custom resume and attach a befitting cover letter. Blank emails are mostly ignored; however, the email text must not be excessively long either. The projects or work experience related to job opening must be highlighted properly in the email also.
The resume must consist of particular details and must reflect different dimensions of your personality. Each company has different demands and the resume must be tailored accordingly. (e.g. an R&D company will be more interested in your projects as compared to a company which is hiring for management vacancies). Email IDs must consist of your name; emails from weird/ridiculous IDs are not entertained (since they reflect your personality in a negative manner).




Choices of Career
Mr. Afnan presented several job prospects in front of the students:

• Research and development / Software Houses
  Project and/or Product based companies
  Project based companies are those which work on projects (for others) and get their revenue out of them. Working in these has an inherent risk. If the country is in disaster, projects will be hard to get and thus financial condition of company will not be good. Software houses generally fall into this category.
  While product based companies are those which have their work developed into a finished product and they design, implement and sell their product. These companies are more financially stable.
  Pro’s
  · Excellent learning opportunities
  · Experience is a plus for graduate schools
  · Usually, casual atmosphere and these days, they are stable compared to telecom companies
  Con’s
  · Unstable due to shortage of financing. (smaller companies)
  · Public sector organizations are not good pay masters.
  · Growth is subject to graduate qualifications.
  Examples
  CARE, And/Or Logic, PalmCHIP, NESCOM (NDC/AWC/PMO), LMKR, Elixir, DPS, NCR/Teradata
  Mr. Afnan further added that if someone gets a job in NDC, PMO etc and has got some interest for research too…he will certainly recommend him to join. These defense related RnD institutes offer pay scales better than government but are somewhat lesser than that of private companies. However he quoted example of an eminent Mr. Abubakr who won tamgha-i-imtiaz for in recognition of his work to highlight the bright prospects of getting recognition on genuine work.

• Academia
  Be specific
  Doing masters and PHD and then joining academia as a teacher is certainly not a bad option! Payscales are good and the R&D element comes as a bonus. However students must be specific in applying abroad too. They must specifically know which companies they are aiming at and which universities are favored for hiring by specific companies. e.g Those interested in communication must know which universities in Sweden are preferred by Ericson and for electronics and controls, students must know which universities can improve their chances of getting admission in Siemens in Germany.
  Mr. afnan stressed that students must know specifically for what they want to pursue for masters: Telecommunication industry doesn’t need masters at all in Pakistan!
  Use the resources well
  Mr. Afnan also told the students that in his view those going abroad for studies must use their research contacts well. They must try to find jobs or do research after studies so they do not have to start afresh when they return Pakistan (since masters alone is not much valued for jobs here). Examples of Dr. Shoab Khan, Dr. Mudassir, Dr. Muid Mufti, Dr. Mojeeb and Dr. Maud were quoted. Most of them are either running their own R&D companies or doing consultancy, all because of their research contacts abroad.
  Pro’s
  · Provide good careers in academia in Pakistan.
  · May open R & D companies in Pakistan e.g. CARE
  · Government scholarships available
  · Preference in public sector jobs
  · Excellent career opportunities abroad
  Con’s
  · Doing only MS is not a recommended option for most jobs in Pakistan.
  · Opportunity cost for MS+PhD is very high
  EMEnents in top colleges:
  MIT, Michigan, Ann Arbor, Stanford, USC, Georgia Tech, KTH(Sweden), Oxford, K JIST(Korea: Daewoo, Honda, Samsung are Korean) KFUPM (pays students for studying there!), HUT

• Service Industry
  All the industry that provides services is called service industry i.e. telecom, oil and gas etc
  Service Industry is more interested in your presentation skills, co-curricular activities, management skills, interpersonal relations etc. rather than loads of technical knowledge alone. This industry requires MBA at specific stage of career (not in all cases, doing MBA directly after graduation is discouraged). People who have multidimensional personalities fit well.
  Pro’s
  · Excellent career growth opportunities (not applicable to Telecom: its saturated)
  · Job security
  · Excellent pay masters
  · Highly paid consultancy jobs available
  Con’s
  · Strong communication & presentation skills required for growth.
  · MBA is required at some stage.
  Companies
  Siemens, Motorola, Ericsson, Nortel, Huawei, Mobilink, Ufone, WorldCALL, MOL, Shell, Tullo , Orient, Petroleum, PTCL/NTC, Toyota/Honda

• Production Industry
  Automobile, Electrical Appliances, Fertilizer companies fit here. These companies have much less glamour (in terms of packages) and very often the engineers have to work in remote areas.

Points to Ponder

• What makes you special? Why graduates from EME? Why you?
• In whichever field you work in, strive to be in the top 10%.
• Take your studies & CGPA seriously. Get guidance from alumni and guide your juniors correctly.
• Join the EME Alumni e-group (on yahoo groups) to be part of the EME grad community (EME_Alumni)


Mr. Afnan told the students that they must be in top 10% people in whatever they do. If they are not in the top 10% they will be the first ones to lose their jobs if companies start lay-off. Not being in top 10% also reflects that either you have made a wrong choice of field or you are non-serious.

Students were stressed to be smart and organized since the lack of openings, only allows the survival of the fittest!

In Q&A session Mr. Afnan told the students that sports, extra-curricular activities and management experiences also count in the job interviews. Therefore the students need to have an all round personality. Having the best of grades and co-curricular activities as well, is the best thing you can have on your resume.


Documented by: Muhammad Uzair Sukhera (De-27 EE)

TARBELA DAM

Educational Trip

A long awaited educational trip was arranged for De-27 Electrical on Saturday 29 November 2008. Since it was the first ever official class trip, everyone was enthusiastic about it. The students had gathered at college at the given time of 8.30 am and the buses left the college at around 9.15 am. Due to overwhelming fervor almost 85% of class had shown up for the trip. The students were accompanied by three members of the faculty of electrical department namely Mr. Arfakshand Ali Qazalbash, Mr. Asim Ejaz and Mr. Haider Zia. (got the hidden message? if not pls contact umair ehsan! :p)

The students reached tarbela dam site at around 11.30 am. The public relations office of tarbela dam project welcomed the students. Senior engineer Mr. Amin, (civil works - WAPDA) gave a briefing to the students on the tarbela dam project.

Mr. Amin started the briefing by giving a historical perspective into the Indus water plan. The students were briefed about the background of the plan as well as the intimate details of the project: the proposed dams (mangla and tarbela being the bigger dams and several other barrages) and link canals (total of 8) to overcome the shortage of water in the eastern rivers due to their division with India. The only large dam on the mighty river Indus is the tarbela dam. The dam project was the largest civil contract given to a consortium of 13 European companies known as the TJV (tarbela joint venture). The construction started in 1968 and it took 6 years to complete the project, however, due to technical issues it started functioning in 1977.

The students were briefed about the construction phases of the dam from an engineering point of view. In the first phase a small diversion was created to restrict the width of the river. A buttress dam was built on the main stream of the river. In the next phase the construction of the main dam was started along with the construction of the tunnels. In the final stage the buttress dam was closed and water was diverted through the tunnels. As the dam construction was complete it was filled with water. Due to water inrush cracks appeared in the dam and it was again drained before doing the remedial works to secure the structure. The overall project cost was 2.85 billion $ and the whole amount was recovered within few initial years of its operation. A total of 120 Villages had to be displaced during the dam construction; tarbela being the largest. The lake formed in the dam has a surface area of 100 sq mile.

The basic purpose of tarbela dam is water storage for irrigation. This dam has the primary and secondary storage dam. The dam has 5 tunnels. Tunnels 4 and 5 have been reserved for irrigation purposes. In tunnel 1 and 3 a total of 10 turbines each of capacity 175 MW have been installed while in tunnel 2 there are 4 turbines of 432 MW output. The total power production capacity of tarbela dam is 3470 MW, if full head is available. The initial live storage capacity of dam was 9.7 million cubic meters which has been reduced to 6.8 million cubic meters now: an overall loss of 30% due to sedimentation. The dam height is 1565ft above sea level. The width of the dam at the top is 40ft while the base width is 2000ft. The dam has maximum discharge flow of 15 lac cusecs.

The briefing was followed by a question and answer session. The first question asked was related to the problems faced during dam construction. Mr. Amin replied that cracks had appeared in the main dam structure due to a technical fault. The dam was then drained and remedial steps were taken to reinforce the dam. The adjacent mountains were also plated and reinforced with iron rods.

In reply to a question related to the power shortage Mr. amin explained the modus operandi of the power generation. He told us that the discharge capacity of the tunnels was around 80,000 cusecs. The tarbela dam is primarily a dam for irrigation purposes and not the power generation. Therefore the water discharge from tarbela is under control of the IRSA's directives. IRSA issues a demand notice to tarbela and mangla dam: the water release is as per demand. The spillways are only used in case the demand is higher than the discharge capacity of the tunnels. The demands are fulfilled through the tunnels so that the water discharged can be used for power generation purposes. If however the water demands is lesser the turbines can not be run at full capacity. The students were later briefed that the water demand for that particular day from IRSA was 50,000 cusecs; therefore the turbines were not working at full capacity. The water discharge rate at any time of the day is further governed by the power demand by WAPDA. If the power demand is greater at night the major portion of IRSA's water demand is fulfilled during night time to maximize the power output of power station.

Mr. Amin was asked about the feasibility of the KALABAGH dam from an engineering point of view. He then gave an interesting insight into the standing of Pakistan all over the world in terms of water storage structures and then reiterated that KALABAGH and BHASHA dams are an imperative for us. He briefed the audience that detailed feasibility studies of KALABAGH have proved that there are no technical flaws in the project plan. Mr. Amin briefed the students that the total count of small and large capacity, dams in Pakistan doesn’t exceed the number of fifty in any case, while the number of dams in USA is 75,000 and 93000 in China!

After the briefing the students were taken to the spill ways and a brief explanation of their functionality was given. After the spillways the students were taken to the main dam. The students were briefed that the water demand for that day was 50,000 cusecs and it was being fulfilled by water discharge through the tunnels therefore the spillways was not in operation. It was further explained that the water inflow is recorded at bisham and during summer season the water from glaciers is stored in the dam. However only 13 to 15% of total water can be stored and rest is spilled away which eventually goes into the Arabian sea!

Afterwards the students were taken to the power station. Due to security measures the cameras and mobiles were not allowed. The students were split into groups which were monitored by the faculty as well as the experts from WAPDA who gave detailed briefing of all the components of the turbines. The power generation process was explained in detail along with the operation of the tunnels.

After this detailed briefing and inspirational engineering insight into the power generation process the student had a stop over at a small hotel on a small lake near GIKI for lunch. The return journey started at around 4.20 pm. The students reached college at around 7 pm after a great experience and fun. All the students were pleased with the college administration and the HOD electrical department for arranging such a great trip and providing them with an excellent experience.

The overall discipline of the students was really good and everyone tried to maintain the reputation of NUST. The faculty from electrical department was really helpful and made this trip a success. It is hoped that the final year students will be provided with such opportunities often since they have been waiting for whole three years. Furthermore, it would be really appreciated if the college also arranges lunch for the students.

Written by: Muhammad Uzair Sukhera
------
Photo credits: Muhammad Usman Farooq
Data by: Aneeqa Ishaq