Is SUPARCO REALLY a failure?

[Meesna]

It is sad to see what looks like middle class youth filled with so much sectarian hate that they shamelessly deface the only scientist of international stature and repute that Pakistan has produced.

These are typical Punjabis (majority in Pakistan) representing mainstream Punjabi views. Nothing short of. To be fair Punjabis hate every racial and faith group. Equal opportunity haters.

 

[Meesna]

It is sad to see what looks like middle class youth filled with so much sectarian hate that they shamelessly deface the only scientist of international stature and repute that Pakistan has produced.

Punjabis take their hate wherever they go too;

London mosque warned over 'kill Ahmadis' leaflets

Leaflets calling for the killing of a sect of Muslims were found in a south London mosque in 2016.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[S.Y.A]

i don't understand one thing... if Pakistan with help of SUPARCO can launch Shaheen III... why it can't launch civilian space probe missions/ rockets ??? The launch vehicle for both is essentially the same.

priorities.

ndc (nescom) lobby is strong. they get most of the funding. as long as we have someone to provide us satellite-based intel or access to a guidance system, why waste money on a space program? at least thats what i think the people in decision making roles are thinking.

These are typical Punjabis (majority in Pakistan) representing mainstream Punjabi views. Nothing short of. To be fair Punjabis hate every racial and faith group. Equal opportunity haters.

lol, punjabis are the most tolerant group. how much have you travelled in pakistan?

 

[CallSignMaverick]

No, it isn't a failure. It's just that Pakistanis have over-expectations from it as an organisation. Otherwise given its budget and the size of the economy it has done a brilliant job. And can get better if actual scientists are appointed instead of military officer. Even if military officers are to be appointed then it should be PAF ones.


And success and failure is relative. As much as I admire ISRO, truth is we're decades behind NASA and CNSA in terms of projects, missions and capabilities, they're relatively more successful owing to various reasons including much bigger economy than India and much higher human development index than us, and not to mention the much advanced industrial ecosystem they enjoy comparative to us.

 

[Peaceful Civilian]

Major generals occupied the positions of Suparco after 2001. One of the reason of fall of Suparco.... non-merit

 

[Bratva]

While you guys are at it here is an interview of Saleem Mehmud as to how SUPARCO came about and its early days. This is historic so some of you might want to make a copy of it and spread around.

How salim Mehmud destroyed Merit inside Suparco

Chairman Salim Mehmud and my Brush with SUPARCO during the 1980s

syedirfanhyder.blogspot.com

@SQ8 @S.Y.A

Sunday, September 8, 2019​

Chairman Salim Mehmud and my Brush with SUPARCO during the 1980s​

I spent 6 months in SUPARCO in 1987 before resigning and leaving for US for PhD. They were trying to design for several years a signal-filter chip that was available for a few hundred rupees in Saddar. We had nothing to do in the Computer Department where I was working. The commute time from City to Factory in Somiani was about 1.5hrs. Vans will come and pick us up early in the morning before 6. We were pretty tired and sleepy as we reach the factory at around 7am. Often the department employees would spread the packing material and sleep in the corners behind computers in the chilled computer center. The enterprising among us would sit on Autocad and design fun machine diagrams such as Space Shuttle (only its drawing, not the technical construction).

The higher management was busy in making indents for purchasing materials and equipment. Their interest appeared more to be in commissions than in the usage of equipment. One could see expensive equipment lying around rotting. Ran typically as a bureaucratic organization, the objective of the top management was not to allow people to work. So everyone was doing nothing but looking busy. Chairman was Dr Salim Mehmud, who was at the helm of affairs for around a decade. I think his mandate was neither to do any thing nor allow any one to do anything. Once in early 1980s, much before joining SUPARCO, while I was still a student of engineering and was a regular member and visitor of American Center, Dr Salim Mehmud was invited as a guest speaker at American Center Science Club. After his presentation there,

I asked him a question. The question was based on science articles by Mr Azeem Quidwai in Dawn that I used to read regularly. Around that time, I had read some articles about the satellite slots allotted to Pakistan, which if not utilized, would be lost. The question that I asked was given that there is only limited space available for geostationary satellites, why Pakistan had not occupied the 3 spaces allotted to it. Pakistan had at that time already lost some allotted space or was about to lose some. He got angry at my question, and instead of replying effectively shut me down.

At that time I was too young (around 21) to understand what was in the question that irritated him so much! It was much later that I realized the question was actually pointing out his key weakness. I recall we were left with only one last space in 1999-2000. I remember Mr Salman Ansari, Advisor to Dr Ata Ur Rahman, managed to get a dying satellite moved to this space just to fill and occupy the space up till such time a worthy satellite could be acquired and moved into that slot.

​

Dr Salim Mehmud

That Q n A with Dr Salim Mehmud was a few years before I appeared in the Ministry of Science and Technology Scholarship interview panel in Fall 1986 after having passed the written test, which was conducted in SUPARCO premises in PECHS (I think). Dr Salim Mehmud was heading the interview panel and included in the panel was also his head of computer department.

The question that he asked me was how many Sijdas are there in Quran. Another panelist asked me to recite Dua e Qanoot. The head of computer department Mr Moiz asked me a really technical question that only a techy could have asked. I was explaining my Final Year project that involved assembly language programming of micro controller based on Z-80 microprocessor. I had spent the previous year working in the dungeon going exhaustively into every nook and corner of the processor.

After a couple of easy questions such as how to load accumulator and what is indirect addressing, he asked me a real difficult one. He asked how can we save all the contents of the registers with a single command. I replied EXX command that would shift all the contents of all the registers to their shadow counterparts. This was a seldom used command that I had encountered in the monitor program (kernel/micro os) for the micro-controller that I was tweaking. It was used typically for saving the state before delving into an interrupt (NMI?) routine. I still can recall many of mnemonics of the oft used commands. For some even their Hexadecimal codes. [A testimony to thousands of hours that I must have spent with that project and microprocessor]

My written exam was excellent (someone later told me I was among the top) as I had prepared exhaustively for GRE a few years ago for getting admission to foreign universities. I already had secured the admission at UT Austin. Initially I got the admission for Fall 1985, which I extended to 1986 citing some personal reason. The actual reason was that I was expecting scholarship which they did not offer, and I wanted to reserve the admission as I was looking for alternate sources. Mind you, that reservation costed me $50 which was hell of a lot of money for me at that time as I was taking tuitions to support my education. I had no resources of my own or family to support this foreign study project [need a separate post on this].

In 1986, I again obtained an extension of admission to 1987 from UT Austin. Fortunately, Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) announced 400 scholarships for study abroad and I applied. My interview was excellent and I had replied to all the questions correctly and convincingly. Many of the students selected for Science and Technology scholarship during the previous year did not have admission in foreign universities and many failed to secure the admission and the seats went vacant. Hence, Mr Salim Mehmud and the panel immediately decided to give me the scholarship and also a job at SUPARCO and promised the incentive that I would be given leave with pay for the 4-year duration of scholarship.

This was how I entered SUPARCO and was assigned the computer department which was headed by Mr Moiz. We were first given a three months training at the SUPARCO factory in Somiani. After which I started going to the job in the department and the workplace situation described above was of that time. However, around 2-3 months before my scheduled departure for Fall 1987 joining of UT Austin, I learned that Mr Salim Mahmud had taken back the scheme of with-pay leave for the duration of scholarship. This was a severe setback for me. I was counting on it and signing of 5-year bond with SUPARCO could only have made sense with that incentive.

MoST had arranged a 15 days training in basic computer awareness in what is now the HEC office in H9 Islamabad during the Summers. It used to be some Atomic Energy Institute. The affectees of the removal of incentive included several other SUPARACO employees who had also gotten the scholarship. This Islamabad course offered a fortuitous opportunity for canvassing. We sat down and prepared a petition. The team also included Mr Altaf Mukati (later to be PhD) who was going to Boston University for his PhD. Armed with a long petition quoting the statements of Chairman SUPARCO, statements of Dr Mahboob ul Haq, and President Zia ul Haq regarding promotion of Science and Technology that we obtained from Dawn, developing the ground for why we should be given leave with pay. [I have the copy of petition somewhere]. Mr Mukati and I utilized the training time in Islamabad for going from office to office.

We went with our petition to Chairman PEC Mr Ilahi Baksh Soomro, to Finance Secretary, to Federal Ombudsman, to Secretary Science and Technology and others. We would try to meet each of them, and did meet some of them and give our petition in person. Others we got the offices to receive them officially. We also attended some sessions of the computer training which was too elementary for us, and hence we managed to get official leave from the instructors for these expeditions.

When I saw nothing happening to my petition, I decided to resign some weeks before my departure date. Why should I take on a severely constricting bond of SUPARCO which was thought to be too tough at the time, when I would not be getting any with-pay-leave incentive. I think by that time SUPARCO had traced the people who were sending these petitions. My resignation was readily accepted as I was on probation for the new joining. I remember meeting him at his house in North Nazimabad regarding my resignation, where he seemed quite reasonable.


I learned later that Dr Salim Mehmud was quite angry. However, Mr Altaf Mukati was a permanent employee and the reprisal from the vindictive Mr Salim Mahmud is another story that he should relate himself. Eventually a year later when I was in USA my appartment mate Mr Sohail Zaki Farooqui (later to be PhD), who was also a SUPARCO employee and one of the affectees, told me that they have revived the policy of with-pay leave and they would all be getting the arrears. Initially I felt the loss, but I was later glad that I did not take the bait. Five years at SUPARCO would have definitely made me a fossilized relic the way I saw many others becoming there.

Having seen Chairman SUPARCO Dr Salim Mehmud, Chairman Gen Javed Husain of POF Wah, and Air Chief Marshal Tanveer of PAF, I can safely say that easiest way to stultify the research organizations is for the neocolonial powers to maneuver only people like these to the top positions. Spending hundred of millions of dollars on espionage is useless. The only thing the powers need to do is to ensure the continuation of mediocrity and incompetence in these organizations. Incentivizing the promotion of a few nincompoops to the top is enough. The incompetent don't even need to know who jacked them up. Nepotism and such pulls are already kosher in Pakistan. Let them revel in celebrating their incompetence and let them believe that their type of performance (lack of) is ticket to success. This will encourage them to promote more like them, reducing the need for external incentivizing.

 

[N.Siddiqui]

Suparco success and failure story is same as of the country Pakistan.

Successful institutions are directly proportional to the success of the country.

It's rarely possible that country is failing and flailing but the institutions are a success story.

There are rare exceptions though.

 

[shanipisces2002]

simply reduce the military budget to 20% and spend rest on infrastructure and other projects and look how much we can achieve but those Khaki bastards (starting from 1star) always undermine the productivity of Pakistan

 

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

It was just a cookie promise back in 60's when Ayyub Dictator (Who rigged elections against Fatima Jinnah ) , showcased his great foreign policy that Pakistan will be big powerhouse in Space technology

Fast forward 2023 , Ayyub the Dictator is dead under the ground

Suparco has done nothing but launch that Kit rocket now sold in USA for few hundred dollars , even school children launch that rocket for fun



It is just like the box of candies promised in 80's when Pakistan got some handful of F16 Zia Dictator fell in love with promise that he will get 500 F16


SUPARCO is failed entity because it was created just to showcase Ayyub Dictator as a great Leader for country

 

[ghazi52]

,.,.

ہم چاند پر بھارتی قبضے کی شدید مذمت کرتے ہیں،اور اس جارحیت کا منہ توڑ جواب دینے کی صلاحیت رکھتے ہیں۔

ہم نے اپنے جھنڈے پر پہلے دن سے چاند بنا کر دنیا کو یہ واضح کیا تھا کہ چاند ہمارا ہے مگر اب چاند پر بھارتی قبضہ ایک مضموم سازش ہے جسے ہم پوری طاقت کے ساتھ UN میں چیلنج کریں گے۔

بھارت جا جا چاند سے نکل جا
چاند بنے گا پاکستان
ISPR
​

 

[SaadH]

That is why every terrorist, and extremist Khatm e Nabuwat mullah automatically becomes a hero for Punjabis, and Pakistani Punjabis always have the most vile people as their heroes and role models for this reason.

The concept of progress for Pakistani Punjabis is not to build, like the rest of the world, but for a Muhammad Bin Qasim figure to come and start conquering for Pakistani Punjabis including India. Since Pakistani Punjabis see Muhammad Bin Qasim in every Jihadi and every Army Chief (a potential saviour for Pakistani Punjabis), Jihadis and Army Chiefs (and military) have traditionally been highly revered by Pakistani Punjabis and blindly followed.

With this mentality there is no need to construct as everything would be acquired through conquering others who have built (like India), Inshallah (!). Gazwa e Hind and all that. In the meanwhile Punjabis are conquering, looting, killing other Pakistani nations; Bengalis in the past, Baluchis, Sindhis, Muhajirs, Pakhtuns, even Kashmiris, Ahmadis, Hindus, Christians. In short Pakistani Punjabis can not accept any racial or faith group and must conquer them.

Pakistan Punjabi culture of looting encourages short cuts and unfair means to acquire wealth over serious honest effort to construct and build. Sincere people are shunned and considered stupid, and corrupt are celebrated.

Since Pakistani Punjabis are dominant, Pakistan in its present demographic is a lost cause, to the benefit of India.

Not to worry punjabis also produced the antidote of khatam e nabuwat Mirza Qadianni. Seems like you are of the latter variety.

 

[MilSpec]

Tells you everything there.

What if the organization was headed by ACM Nur Khan?
Just because the leadership was military, doesn't automatically mean it was incompetent.

 

[TheSolution]

lol, punjabis are the most tolerant group. how much have you travelled in pakistan?

He is Qadiani, hence the constant bitching and moaning lmao

Some of it is true but seeing him bitch is so funny

Not to worry punjabis also produced the antidote of khatam e nabuwat Mirza Qadianni. Seems like you are of the latter variety.

That's literally the entire reason why he's squirming all over this forum lmao, because of the qadiani thing

 

[Falcon26]

Another obsession of Punjabis is to destroy valuable farmlands and building DHAs and Bahria Town and what not on top. Even when Punjabis construct, they destroy.

Why can't Punjabis build houses on beeches of Baluchistan where infinite land is available? Not necessarily in Gawadar or places owned by Baluchis but presumably there is plenty of land on Balucistan coast which is not owned by anyone.

This could be highly lucrative for government to develop the land and sell at premium including to overseas Pakistanis. Add water sports and ferries and soon everyone would want a seafront property. Use desalinated sea water for population as well as for small scale agriculture to provide fresh vegetables to locals.

This will help reduce inland population congestion, pollution and pressure on resources.

Part of the land sale proceeds can go to subside housing for Baluch but no, Punjabis would rather spend more to kill Baluch than to spend less on Baluch to make them happy.

I have noticed that you have been making ethnic attacks and other social incitements in your past few posts. Mistakes by Pakistan’s corrupt army junta can not constitute crimes by Punjabis, or any other ethnic group. Please refrain from these outrageous attacks against entire ethnic groups.

Please pay attention to such users & their hateful comments. The forum should not be allowed to host such bigoted and incendiary views.

@waz

 

[LeGenD]

Pakistan has two evils combined; Pakistani Punjabi pagal kutta mentality and Khatm e Nabuwat pagal kutta religion. Since both Pakistani Punjabis and Khatm e Nabuwat followers are dominant, not much good can be done and Pakistan can go only downhill.

Thanks for your valuable input.

Sharif khandaan is composed of Kashmiri Butts. Kulchay khaan walay. Army kay favorites. Kha Kha kay pait nahi bharra.

WE had been fighting for these Butts to our detriment.

Punjabi are tolerant and progressive people on average.

As for the extremists, as if these morons do not exist in other provinces.