The Nobel Prize stands out for its excellent and transparent selection process for honouring men and women of outstanding work and achievements in different fields. Each year, the respective Nobel Committees (each committee comprising of well-known experts of the particular field) send individual invitations to thousands of academies, including eminent university professors, scholars, intellectuals and scientists from various countries. They also approach previous Nobel laureates in all disciplines, members of parliament, prominent citizens and others for merely asking them to submit candidates for the Nobel Prizes. These nominators are chosen in such a way that as many countries and universities as possible are represented over time. This extensive selection process ensures the repute, quality and the credibility of the Nobel Prize which awards achievements stretched over a lifetime to people who really deserve this honour. Likewise in Pakistan, we have to ensure that our Presidential Awards carry some meaning too. Unless and until they are detached from shackles of the bureaucratic process, in which awards are laid on to accommodate individuals having less than mediocre abilities or achievements, they would have no credibility. -DR. IRFAN ZAFAR, Islamabad, October 8.