ISLAMABAD, AUG 24 (DNA) – Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhary Fawad Hussain has said no compromise will be made on the clauses of Media Development Authority (MDA) bill regarding fake news and the rights of journalists.

Talking to the office bearers of various journalists’ bodies including Fourth Pillar International, Pakistan Federal Union of the Journalists (Professional) and Young Journalist Association in Islamabad on Tuesday, he however said the government will welcome suggestions on the remaining clauses of the proposed bill. 

The Information Minister said laws of five countries were studied for the establishment of the Media Development Authority. He said this authority will have two departments of Media Complaints Commission and Media Tribunal.  He said there should be no control of government on these departments and an independent commission will be establishment for recruitment in them.

The Information Minister said the government has made payments of seven hundred million rupees to the media houses but they are still not paying salaries to their workers. Chaudhary Fawad Hussain said it is the first time that the government has earmarked funds for Digital Media.

On the occasion, the journalists’ bodies said they decided to approach Competition Commission of Pakistan against the ongoing media campaign on Pakistan Media Development Authority. They clarified that all the bodies representing the journalists have not rejected the proposed bill for establishment of Pakistan Media Development Authority.

He said some bodies could not be allowed to protect the interests of media owners. The office bearers of the journalists’ bodies said the PTI is the first government which has taken steps for the protection of rights of media workers. = DNA

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Faisalabad, AUG 24 (DNA )  Addl: IG Patrolling Akram Naeem Bharoka and DIG PHP Dr Abid Khan pinned Badge of Sr. Superintendent of Police to SP PHP Mirza Anjum Kamal in a gand ceremony held at Central police office, Lahore. On this occasion, Addl: IG Patrolling congratulated the SSP Mirza Anjum Kamal on his well deserved promotion. He further added that SSP PHP Faisalabad is doing great while fighting against crime in the beat area. He has many feathers in his cap as SSP PHP Region Faisalabad. The consummation of memorandum of understanding with different labortaries, Hospitals and educational institutions is hallmark of his tenure. The first ever construction of Yadgar-e-Shuhda adds commitment on his part. DIG Abid Khan wished him good luck and accorded him honour to do his best for the well being of PHP Personnel.SSP Patrolling Mirza Anjum Kamal thanked the Addl: IG Akram Naeem Bharoka, DIG Dr Abid Khan and other police officers present in the badge pinning ceremony for extending honour and prestige to him and pledged to continue to his professional commitment for the prestige of department and well being of Patrolling fraternity.

ISLAMABAD, AUG 24 /DNA/ Stakeholders on Tuesday urged the federal government to take notice of Pakistan Horticulture Development Export Company’s (PHDEC) failure to play its due role in enhancing this sector’s exports and decide if it’s worth it.
Talking to media, Vice President of Pakistan Businesses Forum and former FPCCI Chief on Agriculture, Ch Ahmad Jawad said to date the country has no export strategy for this emerging industry and Pakistan’s share in international market is meager” 
He said according to 2015 IFPRI IMPACT projections, Russia’s demand for fruit would the fastest growing category in food demand, reaching $11.4 billion and same was true for China, which could be a tremendous opportunities for Pakistani fruits.
Jawad said though PHDEC initially worked somehow well, it latter virtually becomes dormant. “PHDEC failed to introduce concrete measures for the promotion of horticulture exports. Even from the last five years company runs through acting chiefs.”

He said despite global trade, demand for horticulture commodities had increased over time. “It has quadrupled, from $51 billion in 2001 to $200 billion in 2018 and in contrast Pakistan has been unable to capitalise from the growth in global demand.”
It was due to a lack of focus and inadequate investment in requisite infrastructure such as cold chain, packing houses, proper logistics, and processing units however till date Pakistan horticulture exports around $700 million, which was unfortunate.
Jawad further told the officials of the commerce ministry mostly believed that after the 18th amendment, horticulture sector was under the mandate of the provinces and the federal government had nothing do with it, but they ignored the aspect regarding exports of horticulture sector as it was the sole responsibility of the commerce ministry to look after the affairs and problems of this sector.
On the question of packaging of horticulture commodities for export sector, Ahmad Jawad said the packaging is rising an essential element for export operation, impacting the safety, cost, communication and even marketing of your agricultural products; but we are behind as per international standards. Agricultural packaging has gained immense popularity across the world. According to Statista, the global agricultural packaging market is expected to reach $5.02 billion by the end of 2023.
He viewed the primary purpose of the agricultural packaging is not limited to protecting the cargo during the international logistic process. The packaging is also an essential element of the product’s marketing, as it conveys a strong image of the company in front of the consumers.
Unfortunately country horticulture export companies have lack in it, our packaging pattern and colour scheme was not up to mark. In today’s export world the presentation of the produce matters, in this regard our exporters should understand the new concept of packaging. He quoted the example that citrus exports used to be shipped in pallets so that cartons should be in shaped but from Pakistan our mostly exporters don’t follow that and in result it created bad impact infront of the buyer once it reached to the destination. 
Through attractive pacaking country agriculture exports could earn around $100 milion extra.
PBF official also suggested Ministry of Commerce must lay down some SOP’s in the account of packaging for agriculture and horticulture commodities.

Faisalabad, AUG 24 /DNA/ – Faisalabad Development Authority Director General Dr Faisal Azim has said that the consultative process is underway to make the 20 year Faisalabad Master Plan 2021-2041 draft more comprehensive and   transparent with the feasible proposals of all stakeholders.

He said this while talking to the newsmen here on Tuesday. The FDA Director General explained that the Faisalabad Master Plan draft had been made public on last week and it would be made final after completing the consultation with divisional and district administrations, parliamentarians, concerned departments/ institutions, chamber of commerce and industry, land developers/ builders and other stakeholders. He informed that the consultative sessions were being held to inform the details of Master Plan  and receiving the proposals and suggestions from the public at large.

He made it clear that the Faisalabad Peri urban Structure Plan had been prepared in 2015 with the consultation of relevant departments while master planning of Faisalabad had been started on 2017 for which consultancy services had been hired of Osmani & Company. The experts of this company gathered all data beside making study and analysis to prepare the draft of master plan which was being shared with all stakeholders, he maintained. 

The Director General said that different stages are left so far to give the final shape to the master plan. It would be sent to Punjab Government after getting approval from FDA governing body and finally, it would be placed before Provincial Cabinet for getting the approval. he added. He rebuted the some rumours and objects and said that the Master Plan would be prepared as par the ground realities by the consultants  and no one should feel any doubt and misunderstanding. DNA

ISLAMABAD, AUG 24: COMSTECH and ICCBS inaugurated 2-day international workshop on “Chemical Safety & Security in Academic and Industrial Laboratories”, on Tuesday at COMSTECH Auditorium in Islamabad.

Addressing the inaugural session, Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary, a renowned chemical scientist, Coordinator General COMSTECH and Director, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS), a world renowned institute in the field of chemical and biological sciences, said, chemicals have immense effects on human health and even impact on health of coming generations. He asked, when we buy chemicals from abroad, we are given safety instruction to handle them, but when we synthesize new chemicals, do we know the safety concerns? He stressed the need of knowing the kinds of hazards of chemicals we are exposed to in our labs and environment. He informed that there are many chemicals that have immense risk even if we are exposed to a very small quantity of them. Dr. Choudhary recommended that we must have proper training mechanism for people who work in labs and handle chemicals, develop capacity and infrastructure, spend more money to secure people exposed to chemicals, introduce regulatory framework, and develop a good system of chemical disposal.

Dr. Shahid Baig, Chairman, Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF), said that many chemicals have short and long term serious effects that can even take our life. He suggested we must have proper chemical handling training for lab workers, students, and chemical handlers. He informed that we do not have any chemical safety and security training course. He said academic and industrial labs would benefit from this workshop. Dr. Baig said that PSF and Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) commends the role of COMSTECH under the leadership of Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary for the capacity building of Pakistan and the entire Muslim world in the field of science and technology. He informed that PSF, MoST and COMSTECH are working together on number of projects, and have many in pipeline. Dr. Baig said that MoST is looking forward to cooperate with COMSTECH to achieve its objectives of socio-economic development and capacity building of OIC member states.

Mr. Khalid Latif, corporate sector consultant with 33-year experience in multinational chemical industry, said we use chemical in large quantity in our daily life without following any safety measures. He informed that health and environment are somewhat neglected areas, academic labs are also lacking in practicing safety measures. He informed, safety and security is most important in chemical handling, and emphasized the need of proper safety training in chemical handling.

Dr. Abdul Rashid, Director Pharmacy Services, Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan, said that safety and security is an area of negligence. He suggested that researchers and students should equip themselves with the multidisciplinary knowledge to produce innovative results. He said chemicals are used for commercial purposes, they are useful but dangerous to health and environment. He suggested that government and industry should develop chemical safety standards and provide proper training to students, chemical handlers and lab workers.

In his introductory remarks, Dr. Zaheer of ICCBS informed that we have 200 local and 300 foreign online participants attending this workshop. He said we need to develop and introduce safety culture in our academic and industrial labs to mitigate the hazards posed by the chemicals.