Griffin was invented by two professors of Manchester University namely Andre Ghaem and Konstatin Novoselov .They both got Nobel Prize for this invention. It has wonderful features.
Griffin's. Carbon is an extremely light, stable and resistant material.
It is very very thin layer of carbon which is just one atom in width.
It is a wonderful filter which filter all impurities and gases from water.
Professor Graeme says it is very difficult to stop Helium but this Griffin filter also stops it.
It is very thin but still very very strong.
It is the best conductor of electricity as compared to any other material .
Thinnest mobile phones can be made from it.
Aeroplanes and panels of electric wall papers can also be made from it.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
MFN status for India
Indian Commerce Minister Mr. Anand Sharma, accompanied by a high powered business delegation as well as relevant government officials dealing with trade related issues seems disappointed at the first-ever such visit by an Indian Commerce Minister to Pakistan ,the reason being the decision of the Pakistan government to phase out in three steps a negative list of 636 items , a process envisaged to be completed by December ,2011.
This effectively implies that the extension of the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India has been delayed.
In itself this is disturbing as credible reports supported by documents, indicate that the Pakistan government had agreed to extend MFN status to India as a critical condition for India's withdrawal of objections to the European Union humanitarian package for Pakistan's 2010 flood victims that would allow about 75 products of our major exports items duty-free entry into the EU countries for a period of two years.
The reason for the delay, it has been revealed, was the failure of the government to take everyone on board, including but not limited to establishment, with respect to the pace of normalisation in trade relations and the grant of the MFN to India.
In short, while there is general agreement that trade needs to be strengthened, a win-win situation for the two nuclear rivals, yet there is no agreement on the time frame to achieve this objective.
There is no doubt that the government's failure to convince all the stakeholders in advance of Sharma's visit embarrassed the Indian Commerce Minister that also reflects poorly on our government's ability to deliver on its promise to the Indians.
However be that as it may, there is a continuing paranoia within some parts of our government and people that trade with India may compromise our security.
The PM Gillani during a recent interaction with senior members of the media correctly pointed out that China and India have considerably enhanced their trade relations in spite of the fact that the two countries have border disputes.
Or, in other words, security concerns aside, the economic benefits of trade must be explored to the extent possible that would benefit the peoples of the two countries.
However, to convince different organs of the government is the responsibility of the country's Chief Executive and one would hope that he would take appropriate measures to deal with all lingering concerns from all quarters.
At the same time there are some Pakistani businessmen who have also expressed concern over the grant of MFN status to India, by stating that it would hurt domestic industry of Pakistan.
Additionally, some businessmen lamented India's non-tariff barriers (NTBs) as impediments to fair trade, which are a source of concern to India's other trading partners as well.
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) allows countries to take protectionist measures if the domestic industry is hurting due to the opening of trade and therefore the concern by the industries can be easily dealt with.
However, with respect to the NTBs, the govt can and must negotiate to ensure that they are not an impediment to Pakistani exports to India.
The joint communique does note that the two countries would systematically address issues related to Non tariff barriers.
To conclude, enhancing trade relations is the way forward to not only deal effectively with our own domestic economic issues, but also gain leverage and bring India on the negotiating table with respect to other issues, including Kashmir, security and water issues as well as border disputes.
This effectively implies that the extension of the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India has been delayed.
In itself this is disturbing as credible reports supported by documents, indicate that the Pakistan government had agreed to extend MFN status to India as a critical condition for India's withdrawal of objections to the European Union humanitarian package for Pakistan's 2010 flood victims that would allow about 75 products of our major exports items duty-free entry into the EU countries for a period of two years.
The reason for the delay, it has been revealed, was the failure of the government to take everyone on board, including but not limited to establishment, with respect to the pace of normalisation in trade relations and the grant of the MFN to India.
In short, while there is general agreement that trade needs to be strengthened, a win-win situation for the two nuclear rivals, yet there is no agreement on the time frame to achieve this objective.
There is no doubt that the government's failure to convince all the stakeholders in advance of Sharma's visit embarrassed the Indian Commerce Minister that also reflects poorly on our government's ability to deliver on its promise to the Indians.
However be that as it may, there is a continuing paranoia within some parts of our government and people that trade with India may compromise our security.
The PM Gillani during a recent interaction with senior members of the media correctly pointed out that China and India have considerably enhanced their trade relations in spite of the fact that the two countries have border disputes.
Or, in other words, security concerns aside, the economic benefits of trade must be explored to the extent possible that would benefit the peoples of the two countries.
However, to convince different organs of the government is the responsibility of the country's Chief Executive and one would hope that he would take appropriate measures to deal with all lingering concerns from all quarters.
At the same time there are some Pakistani businessmen who have also expressed concern over the grant of MFN status to India, by stating that it would hurt domestic industry of Pakistan.
Additionally, some businessmen lamented India's non-tariff barriers (NTBs) as impediments to fair trade, which are a source of concern to India's other trading partners as well.
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) allows countries to take protectionist measures if the domestic industry is hurting due to the opening of trade and therefore the concern by the industries can be easily dealt with.
However, with respect to the NTBs, the govt can and must negotiate to ensure that they are not an impediment to Pakistani exports to India.
The joint communique does note that the two countries would systematically address issues related to Non tariff barriers.
To conclude, enhancing trade relations is the way forward to not only deal effectively with our own domestic economic issues, but also gain leverage and bring India on the negotiating table with respect to other issues, including Kashmir, security and water issues as well as border disputes.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
School enrolment
Pakistan stands 2nd in world ranking of out-of-school children with 57% children in the 3-5 age group not enrolled in any school in the rural areas and 65% mothers being in the illiterate segment , Annual Status of Education Report (Aser), Pakistan revealed these facts.
They also called for withdrawing teachers from election duties to minimise political interference and promote merit in their appointments.
The program was organized by the Idara Taleem-o-Agahi and South Asian Forum for Education Development.
A total of 48,650 households were surveyed in 2,500 villages across 84 rural districts. This was the second Aser survey, which also includes data from three cities (Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad etc) for the first time. Children aged 5-16 were tested for language and arithmetic competencies while detailed information was collected about children above 3 years of age. Data was also collected from govt and private schools.
Sharing details of the national survey (rural), ITA programmed director Baela Raza said of the 32,320 children surveyed in the 3 to 5 years age group, 57.30 % were not enrolled in any school. Of those enrolled, 67. 6pc were in government schools, 29.30 % in private schools, 2.70% in religious madressahs and 0.4pc in `other` institutions. Girls` enrollment stood at 42.20 per cent only.
“Among children aged 5, an age at which one expects children to be enrolled in some educational facility, 32.30 pc were not enrolled in any school,” she further told.
Gender disparity, she told, was clearly reflected in the survey. School enrolment for children aged 6 to 16 stood at 80%, comprising 36pc girls and 64pc boys.
Monday, February 13, 2012
dates export
Pakistan's dates exports can be enhanced up to $200 million provided proper processing and packaging facilities are provided to the farmers, CEO Harvest Tradings and Member Export Committee, ICCI, Ahmad Jawad told the media.
"Since dates are perishable item , processing and packing facilities should be provided at farms to tap full potential and earn precious foreign exchange ", he said.
Jawad estimated date production per annum in Pakistan is around 536,000 tons, of which only 85,000 tons is exported and the rest is either consumed locally, or perishes for want of different facilities.
Since 1999, per acre yield of dates in the country has not increased so much whereas the worldwide production had increased by 165% during this period.
He said, date palm needs immediate attention from producers, exporters, government and even public and private creditors.
The production and export of dates percentage wise has been showing a decline over the long period, he said and added the government needs to pay urgent attention towards production, processing and quality enhancement, preservation, research and marketing facilities to save and ensure growth of this important source of foreign exchange for the nation
Due to the dearth of these facilities, dates are just dumped abroad at throwaway prices.
In addition, developed importers of date palm, as Germany, Denmark, and UAE, are re-exporting Pakistani dates, after quality enhancement and preparation of byproducts, at a price which is 5 to 6 times higher than their import price.
Other major importers of Pakistani dates include India, Nepal, US, UK, Afghanistan, and Canada.
Out of the 300 varieties of dates produced in Pakistan, Begam Jangi of Balochistan, Aseel of Sindh and Dhakki of Dera Ismail Khan are the varieties which are much sought the world over due to their exotic fantastic taste.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
World's largest producer of uranium
Kazakhstan increased its uranium output by about 9% to around 19,500 tonnes in the year 2011, consolidating its position as the world's largest producer of the metal with a 35% share of global output, stated nuclear firm Kazatomprom on Friday.
Releasing its preliminary data, Kazakhstan's industry and new technologies ministry said on a few days ago that the Central Asian state's uranium output stood at "about 19,000 tonnes" in 2011.
Kazatomprom said that its own uranium output totalled 11,080 tonnes last year, accounting for 20 percent of the global production of the uranium.
It should be mentioned here that uranium is a dangerous source of producing electricity.
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