Pakistan certifies first organic cotton bale
Balochistan on Wednesday marked the certification of Pakistan's first organic cotton bale at a ceremony held at Kot Sabzal. Balochistan's Minister for Agriculture Engineer Zamrak Khan said the provincial
Dawn (Pakistan)
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Rs20m for study of water problems
Local Government and Community Development (LGCD) Director General Tahir Husain has announced Rs20million for the development and survey of water problems in Punjab at a seminar on arsenic monitoring and mitigation here on Tuesday. Organised in conjunction with the government of Punjab and the UNICEF, the seminar discussed the findings of UNICEF Chief Provincial Officer Dr Deepak Bajracharaya, whose team conducted arsenic and bacterial surveys throughout Punjab.
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Rs2.4bn light rail project being revived: CM
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has said that the existing $800million ADB-funded mega city project will be redesigned and improved with the inclusion of mass transit schemes such as a light rail, costing Rs2.4 billion, to provide a solution to traffic congestion in the city for the next few decades. This was one of the salient features of the budget 2008-09, said the chief minister while addressing the post-budget press conference on the seventh floor of the New Sindh Secretariat on Tuesday.
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Rallies against loadshedding
Three protest rallies were taken out on Tuesday against unscheduled loadshedding. One rally was staged at the DPO Chowk, the other at the office of Executive Engineer Hesco, while third outside the press club. Demonstrator also blocked the Indus Highway for a short time. Shopkeepers took out a procession from the Station Road which after marching on main roads demonstrated at the DPO Chowk resulting in suspension of vehicular traffic on the Indus Highway. Protesters were led by Altaf Charan, Bakhshal Zounr and Hafeez Vighio.
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Power outages still haunting citizens
Citizens braved prolonged power load-shedding, coupled with frequent breakdowns, on Tuesday as the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation failed to meet the overall power demand despite the restoration of supply from a power generation unit of Bin Qasim Thermal Power Station. Sources in the power utility told Dawn that the Unit No 6 of Bin Qasim Thermal Power Station, which was shut down for repairs on Sunday morning when it developed a technical fault, came back into operation on Tuesday though it produced much below its original capacity of 170 megawatts.
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High arsenic levels in underground water causing skin diseases
A joint team of scientists of the Sindh University and doctors of the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences on Tuesday detected skin diseases among four villagers caused by consumption of arsenic-heavy underground water in Arbab Allah Bux village near Tando Allahyar. The team led by eminent scientist Prof Dr Mohammad Yar Khuhawar, project director of High-tech Research Central Laboratory of Sindh University, visited the village after tests conducted earlier confirmed high arsenic levels in underground water of the village.
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Foreign experts due to assess anti-polio steps
Alarmed by the recent reports of laboratory-confirmed polio-virus cases in Sindh, some highly designated international experts on polio eradication are rushing to Karachi to review the long prevailing supplementary immunisation activities and find out the loopholes. A source privy to the immunization initiatives in the province said that an emergency meeting of the Technical Advisory Group on Polio Eradication for Pakistan had been convened on June 24 and 25 at Karachi to review progress on "interrupting wild polio transmission'.
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Bio diesel plant to energise village
Government efforts to explore new vistas of alternative energy and overcome energy crisis has been further strengthened with a bio-diesel project launched by the Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB). A pilot project to electrify a village using bio diesel on the basis of self-generation is underway in Goth Umar Din Arain of Ghora Bari taluka, Thatta district. According to the AEBD website, the Economic Coordination Committee of the Federal Cabinet has approved a policy to introduce the use of bio diesel as an alternative fuel.
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Water shortage
Hundreds of Pakistan Railways workers staged a demonstration and a sit-in in Loco Shed, Rohri on Tuesday, in protest against scarcity of water and lack of sanitation in their locality. They told journalists that their locality had no water for a week and they were forced to fetch water from far-flung areas.
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Over Rs3bn allocated for health schemes
: The Sindh government has allocated Rs3027.936 million for 21 new and 62 ongoing health schemes under the annual development programme in the 2007-08 budget. Last year it had made allocations for 19 new and 61 ongoing health schemes. The government has allocated Rs50 million for the Enhanced HIV/Aids control programme and Rs2.5 million for the reproductive health project against the ongoing foreign project assistance in the new fiscal year.
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Project to combat desertification launched
As the World Day to Combat Desertification is being observed on Tuesday, the government says it has launched a full-scale project on sustainable land management (SLM) to combat desertification. The programme is being implemented for a period of two years from 2008 to 2009 to protect and restore ecosystem and essential ecosystem services that are key to reducing poverty.