The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada and the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) have invited fellowships applications from students intending to pursue Masters, Mphil and PhD degrees in South Asian universities in the fields of governance, security and justice.
The programme is open to nationals from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan , India , Maldives , Nepal , Pakistan and Sri Lanka, said a press release here Friday. SDPI will manage these fellowships in South Asia and the programme focus is to address research gaps and analytical capacity in issues revolving around degree programs in governance, security and justice. Applicants are free to apply for Masters, Mphil or PhD programs. For Master’s and Mphil the maximum duration of fellowship will be 2 years while for PhD the maximum duration will be 4 years. Applicants will be assessed on the basis of past academic credentials, extra-curricular achievements, two reference letters from university professors, and a research proposal in the case of Mphil/PhD students. The research proposal should be 3-5 pages long providing details of research objectives, research problem, gaps in past literature, methodology, data sources and expected results. Female students and students from fragile areas and minority groups are particularly encouraged to apply.
Application forms can be found at: http://isfsa.sdpi.org/ and complete applications with required documents should be submitted electronically to [email protected] (with Cc to [email protected]) or can be mailed via post/courier to: Fayyaz Yasin, Sustainable Development Policy Institute, H-38, Main Embassy Road , G-6/3, Islamabad . The programme will remain open for receipt of applications until December 31, 2012. The applicants are encouraged to apply as early as possible and once you have secured admission. For students applying for September 2012 session, the names of selected candidates will be announced by the start of August.
Poor maintenance causing problem for commuters: Poor maintenance, lack of interest of the concerned departments and wrangling between civic organizations has rendered a major portion of the Airport Road into a nightmare for drivers plying between the Flying Club and Karal Chowk.
Being one of the main links between the twin cities the road is extensively used by motorists who travel daily to the Capital and to various residential areas along it. Ironically the section is neither owned by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) or the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) and both the civic organizations put the onus of maintenance on other.
According to the official record available, the road from Kutchery Chowk to Flying Club is in the limits of Chaklala Cantonment Board CCB and beyond falls in the jurisdiction of the CDA. However the CDA claims that the portion lies with the Rawalpindi Development Authority. A number of accidents have occurred near Falcon Chowk as motorists, who have to turn towards KRL and adjoining areas, try to criss-cross to avoid the dilapidated road and run into fast moving traffic moving towards the Capital city. The area residents and motorists are perplexed that being a VVIP route and a major link between the twin cities, the road has going to dogs due to departmental wrangling. Talking to APP DG RDA said the road was always in the domain of CDA and putting it in Rawalpindi’s limits is a lame excuse by the CDA high ups.
