KARACHI, MAR 2 – National Bank of Pakistan and EveryWater a Pakistani innovative start up signed an agreement; where NBP will extend financing to enable this Pakistani Startup formed by young chemical engineers go to market with its innovative water purification solution.

EveryWater (EW) was founded by, Shayan Sohail, Usama Tanweer and Arslan Ahmed, bright young graduates of University of Engineering & Technology Lahore. At EveryWater, they invented a unique polymer technology, that they named “Esoterik Resistive Membrane”, also known as intrinsically biofilm resistant membrane. EW has patent coverage across 82 geographies around the world for its ERM.

EWhas designed and tested sustainable and affordable water purification solutions suited for individual, household, community, agriculture and industrial use. EW products enable off-grid water purification for years without the need to replace devices or membranes. EW has succeeded in bringing down the cost of clean sweet raw water for domestic users to Rs. 20/100 liters, and cleaning brackish water to Rs.40/100 liters

The awareness and recognition of ERM technology and its impact on societies is growing. This growing recognition is evident from the many international awards that the founders have received. Most recently the team at EW have been listed by Forbes on its, Forbes 30 under 30 Asia, list;they have also won the Common Wealth Youth Award, the coveted YGS Belgium award, and the “Take of Istanbul Award” for their innovative and impactful work.

National Bank following its thematic push towards impactful investment has entered into equity partnership with EW. This groundbreaking and inclusive investment in a startup not only enables EW to go to market but also sends a strong signal to other startups that National Bank of Pakistan is open to innovative and viable overcome hurdles in going to market or scaling up challenges.

Mr Javed explained the journey of Everywater and how his interest in water led him to Shayan Sohail and his team who were working on revolutionary water filtration technology. He went on to thank Hashoo group and NBP for their investment in this venture.

Mr Murtaza Hashwani thanked Mr Arif Usmani, president NBP, for their investment in Everywater. He went on to explain the global water problem and how Everywater will be able to solve these problems by using their innovative products. He mentioned how the end goal of Everywater is affordable desalinated seawater which will provide access to clean drinking water for all.

Mr Zohair Ashir gave a brief introduction of Hisaar Foundation. He mentioned how he met Mr Javed and how they shared a passion for solving the water crisis. He explained the importance of water financing and thanked NBP for doing so.

Mr Arif Usmani explained how he believes the investment is not all about the returns and how he wants to make a difference and not follow in the footsteps of other commercial banks. His vision is to invest in ventures that can make a positive impact in Pakistan.

ANKARA, MAR 2 – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday unveiled a human rights “action plan” designed to strengthen the rule of law and judicial independence in a country.

Erdoğan quoted the late US civil rights leader Malcolm X in saying he stood “for justice, no matter who is for or against it” before laying out the details of his 11-point proposal.

Its commitments include respecting the presumption of innocence and a speedier judicial process to reduce the length of pre-trial detention.

Erdoğan said the plans’ ultimate goal was to lay the groundwork for a new constitution that he has promised to adopt by the time Turkey marks its centenary as a post-Ottoman republic in 2023.

“No one can be deprived of freedom for their thoughts,” Erdoğan said in a statement on Tuesday.

Erdoğan said that the “Human Rights Action Plan” would strengthen the right to fair trial and judiciary system.

“Broad-based consultations went into every activity in Human Rights Action Plan prepared according to our nation’s expectations,” Erdoğan also said.

Turkey’s new Human Rights Action Plan will be carried out over 2-year period, the Turkish president stressed in his remarks.

“We will continue to stand by the citizens against all kinds of threats to the dignity, belief, values, and life of the people,” he added, saying that the new plan includes nine main goals, 50 targets, and 393 actions.

He listed the principles that form the state’s irrevocable commitments to the nation as follows:

1. People enjoy inalienable rights given by birth, and it is the state’s duty to protect and develop these rights.

2. Human dignity, as the essence of all rights, is under the effective protection of the law.

3. Everyone is equal before the law, without any discrimination on the basis of language, religion, race, color, gender, political opinion, philosophical belief, sect, or similar factors.

4. Providing public service to everyone equally, impartially, and honestly is the main feature of all administrative activities.

5. The laws must lay out express, clear, understandable, and predictable rules without causing hesitation, and public authorities must implement these rules without compromising the principle of legal security.

“We aim to boost the effectiveness of system of individual applications to top Constitutional Court,” Erdoğan added.

To strengthen democratic participation, he added, the country will start comprehensive work to revise the political parties and electoral laws.

A new Human Rights Compensation Commission will cover the financial burden of long trials without the need to apply to the Constitutional Court, said Erdoğan.

He also pledged that an independent Human Rights Monitoring Commission for Penal Institutions will be formed, including members from both bar associations and universities.

RESOLVING INVESTORS’ DISPUTES

A new investment ombudsman’s office will be set up to settle disputes between the administration and investors, he said.

Turkey will also provide open access to the decisions of the ombudsman and human rights and equality institutions while also protecting personal data privacy, he said.

He stressed that in order to boost the standards of freedom of expression and the press, Turkey is developing measures to facilitate journalists’ professional activities.

Turning to the rights of non-Muslims in Turkey, a state that has long embraced people of all faiths and backgrounds, Erdoğan said: “Turkey is revising the Foundations Law on the establishment and election of board of directors of non-Muslim community associations.”

Moreover, public and private sector staff and students will be allowed to take leave for the religious holidays that they observe, regardless of their faith.

Under the new action plan, Turkish police will be able to take statements anytime-24 hours a day, seven days a week-and the country will end time limits for disciplinary probes of torture allegations, according to the president.

“The ultimate aim of Turkey’s action plan is a new civilian constitution,” stressed Erdoğan, returning to a theme he has touched on repeatedly this year.

Gunmen have released girls kidnapped from a boarding school in northwest Nigeria, the governor of Zamfara state said in a message posted on Twitter on Tuesday in which he shared pictures girls wearing Muslim veils.

An armed gang abducted 317 girls from the Government Girls Science Secondary (GGSS) School in the town of Jangebe at around 1 a.m. on Friday. The governor’s tweets did not state how many girls had been released, but carried images of girls.

It gladdens my heart to announce the release of the abducted students of GGSS Jangebe from captivity”, Zamfara State Governor Bello Matawalle said on Twitter.

“This follows the scaling of several hurdles laid against our efforts. I enjoin all well-meaning Nigerians to rejoice with us as our daughters are now safe,” he said.

Schools have become targets for mass kidnappings for ransom in northern Nigeria by armed groups, in a trend started by the terrorist group Boko Haram, and later its offshoot. Criminal gangs have carried out kidnappings since.

The government has repeatedly denied paying ransoms. But President Muhammadu Buhari issued a statement on Friday in which he urged state governments “to review their policy of rewarding bandits with money and vehicles, warning that the policy might boomerang disastrously”.

The raid in Zamfara state was the second such kidnapping in little over a week in the northwest, a region increasingly targeted by criminal gangs. On Saturday, gunmen released 27 teenage boys who were kidnapped from their school on Feb. 17 in the north-central state of Niger.

Nigeria’s most high profile school kidnapping was that of more than 270 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram from the northeastern town of Chibok in 2014. Around 100 of them remain missing.