DNA

ISLAMABAD, SEPT 2 – Addressing the Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change, Parliamentary Leader of the PPP in the Senate, Senator Sherry Rehman said, “The government had ordered that all brick kilns be converted to “zig-zag” technology, a design change that makes more efficient use of fuel but no deadline for the switch has been set.

We were told that the government will give 1 crore per plant, depending on the size to install the zig zag. The federal government made the comm/itment to provide them with the money and there was no talk on percentage or loan as brick kiln workers are the most vulnerable and exploited people”.

The capital, Islamabad should be a flagship for all the brick kilns getting that money and not on loan. We were told very clearly that 20 crores will be transferred and all these will be turned to zig zag but it has still not been done,” she added while emphasizing on the importance of introducing new brick kilns which will drastically cut air pollution by 70%.

She said, “Pakistan is the 5th most vulnerable country to climate change, two places up from last year and 36% of Pakistan’s glaciers will melt by 2100 due to climate change, which is about 14,000 glaciers.  This is indeed alarming and merits our urgent response as it will intensify flash flooding and monsoons in Pakistan”.

Concluding by taking notice of the Islamabad Zoo lions which died, Parliamentary Leader of the PPP in the Senate, Senator Sherry Rehman said, “The lions’ cage was set on fire to counter the cats’ aggression due to which they both lost their lives and this is just the tip of the iceberg as animals are abused and caged in small spaces. Has Kaavan been safely transferred or not? The animal caretakers, zoo staff and Islamabad Wildlife Management Board are criminally negligent in their duties. Many other animals like ostriches and bulls have also died during their relocation from Islamabad zoo. This brutality and caging needs to be stopped”. DNA

================

KARACHI : The election commission has started preparations for local government elections in Sindh this year with formation of committees for local bodies delimitation.

The election commission has notified formation of the committees for delimitation of local government constituencies.

The delimitation committee for each district will be comprised of three members and the District Election Commissioner will be convenor of the body, according to the notification. The Deputy Commissioner and District Education Officer or Taluka Education Officer will be other two members of the committee.The committee in the first phase will decide fresh delimitation of constituencies of union councils, union committees and wards.

The local councils polls will be announced after fresh delimitation of constituences in the province.

Local councils delimitation process will be completed between nine to 22 September in Sindh and preliminary delimitation of constituencies will be displayed on September 23.

The schedule for local bodies elections will be announced after completion of delimitation process, the election commission announced.

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Science and Technology, Fawad Chaudhry, on Wednesday vowed to make Islamabad Pakistan’s first city where transport will be fully electric.

While addressing a press conference here in Islamabad, the Fawad Chaudhry said that federal government will import 120 electric buses this year and local assembling of battery powered buses will start next year.

“Electric buses will operate in Pakistan this year as the government is all set to import 120 buses,” said Fawad and added that domestic manufacturing of these buses will start in three year time.The minister said the government was focusing on the electric vehicles as it will bring revolution in the transport sector. He said that said high technology farms will be developed in the country in order to promote the production of unconventional crops.

Commenting over the industrial and medical use of hemp, locally known as bhang, the science and technology minister said that government has identified Peshawar, Jhelum and Chakwal as sites for the cultivation of hemp.

Last month, Fawad Chaudhry had announced that battery-powered electric buses would operate in Pakistan from this year.

He said this after the signing ceremony of a strategic alliance agreement between Daewoo Pakistan Express Bus Service Limited and Skywell Automobile (Chinese firm) to set up an Electric Vehicles value chain in Pakistan.

It is pertinent to mention here that vehicles in Pakistan to be shifted on electric power as the country approved its first-ever Electric Vehicle (EV) policy in June.

DNA

ISLAMABAD, SEPT 2 – Founder of Byonyks, the medical devices company that developed Pakistan’s first bloodless dialysis machine, Farrukh Usman called on Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication Syed Amin Ul Haque on Wednesday.

Farrukh Usman, a Harvard graduate has developed a painless and risk-free dialysis machine with the support of Ignite SEED funding and angel investors. Byonyks’ unique technology does not require extracting blood out of the human body to perform dialysis. Patients can perform bloodless dialysis at home without any supervision with protection from life threatening infections. Byonyks is Pakistan’s first biomedical device startup that is developing affordable healthcare technologies using state-of-the-art medical engineering.

During the meeting Farrukh apprised the Federal Minister that multiple patients have used the painless dialysis procedure under prescription and supervision of Pakistan’s leading nephrologists. The testing and trial data is being gathered for feedback and patient health progress. Pakistan will be 5th country in the world to have its indigenously produced “Bloodless” Dialysis Technology after the US, Germany, Japan, France and China.

Syed Amin Ul Haque appreciated the spirit of Byonyks team for developing first of its kind electromedical equipment in Pakistan and putting the country among the leading comity of the world. He said that this machine will be beneficial for common man and kidney patients will get rid of expensive treatment. He hoped that kidney patients from lower strata of society will also be equally benefited from this technology.

The Federal Minister said that the Ministry of IT is fully committed to serve the masses and quip country’s youth with technical skills. He assured full support to Byonyks.

Syed Junaid Imam, CEO Ignite said that our SEED funding continuously looks out for the innovative ideas that can be turned into a commercially viable product. Byonyks has exceeded our expectations by developing this state-of-the-art dialysis machine that saves the patients from frequent hospital visits, recurring procedural hassles, pain and infections.

Current Blood based dialysis that is being used in Pakistan consumes One Million Liters of water for every 10 patients (per year). Byonyks’ BloodlessTM Technology saves 97% water in the process. Current Blood based method leads to Hepatitis C and other blood related infections. Transporting older parents to a dialysis center twice a day is another pain for both parents and working class people.

Byonyks is preparing for industrial manufacturing of its bloodless dialysis machine. The company hopes to reduce the cost of dialysis significantly.  The company was founded by MIT, Harvard graduates and medical device experts, Farrukh Usman, Michael Wollowitz, Eric Flachbart, and Dr. Frank Rudolph.

ISLAMABAD : The Supreme Court on Wednesday suspended the Sindh High Court’s (SHC) Aug 17 judgement of striking down the sugar inquiry commission and its report.

A three-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, allowed the relevant institutions to proceed with their investigation into the sugar scandal in compliance with the report.

The court was hearing an appeal filed by the federal government through which it challenged the SHC verdict. It issued notices to 20 sugar mills to file their comments on the petition and put off the hearing for a month.

On Aug 17, an SHC division bench comprising Justice KK Agha and Justice Omar Sial had announced the reserved verdict on a petition filed by the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) against the inquiry commission formed by the government to probe into a sugar crisis that hit the country earlier this year.

The SHC declared the report of Inquiry Commission null and void and also ordered the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to carry out an independent inquiry as per law.

DNA

KARACHI, SEPT 2 – TPL Trakker, Pakistan’s leading IoT Company providing Tracking, Telematics, and Location Based Services and Solutions, has partnered with Rider, a rapidly growing end-to-end e-commerce logistics company.

Following the partnership, TPL Maps, the mapping arm of TPL Trakker will power the Rider Mobile App to ensure accurate and hassle free deliveries. TPL Maps is Pakistan’s leading digital location technology provider licensed by the Survey of Pakistan. As a location data powerhouse covering 400 cities, 4.5 million geo-coded address and 600,000 km of road network mapped across Pakistan, TPL Maps will be a key technology partner for Rider, which in a short period of time, has expanded operations to six cities since its inception last year.

In the first phase, Rider has deep-linked the TPL Maps Navigation App (available on Android & iOS) in its Drive4Rider App. Following this, they will integrate the base-maps and other Location Based Services in their backend platform and the “Rider – Smart Deliveries” app. Rider is a market innovator, bringing cutting edge route optimization to ensure timely deliveries directly to the doorstep, a significant challenge in the local market. Capitalizing on TPL Trakker’s vast pool of fresh data, scalability, and a distinctly localized approach, this collaboration will support the continued growth and success of Rider. Since the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak, a rising number of consumers are having their retail needs met online which has led to higher expectations from logistics providers. The Company found TPL Trakker’s Location Based Services (LBS) to be scalable, cost effective and proficient to fuel their mission of providing precise and timely last-mile deliveries in the highly competitive on-demand digital space.

A significant number of start-ups and established businesses in Pakistan are testing and choosing TPL Trakker’s LBS APIs to make their assets location-enabled. These include leading brands such as Telenor, Jazz, Bykea, foodpanda, Eat Mubarak and MiRyde. TPL is effectively powering the next generation of intelligent digital services in Pakistan and contributing to the digital revolution in the country through innovative IoT solutions.

Commenting on the partnership, Sarwar Ali Khan, CEO, TPL Trakker, said “Location Based Services are at the very core of successful modern logistics operations. With Rider’s expansion in the logistics space and given a  highly competitive market, their LBS requirements have become more complex and rigorous and this is where our LBS have been ideally positioned to meet their needs. We are proud to support Rider’s continued growth with our innovative services. Our data strength, technological performance, cost-efficiency and overall customer support is driving leading international and domestic brands to choose us as their preferred LBS partner.”

Salman Allana, CEO, Rider said, “With Rider, we are addressing some of the most complex logistics challenges in Pakistan and bringing tremendous efficiencies for our clients using ingenious applications and teams of experts across the country. We have evaluated and found TPL Trakker’s Location Based Services to be ideally suited to meet our needs as we expand our coverage into new territories. We are excited to see what the future holds with this collaboration.”

DNA

LAHORE, SEPT 2 – The final list of candidates  for the seats of executive committee members in “corporate and associate class” was approved for contesting forthcoming annual election of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

A high level panel of founder group former presidents of chamber comprising Mian Muhammad Ashraf,Tariq Hameed,Mian Muzaffar Ali,Mian Mishab Ur Rehman,Abdul Basit,Shahzad Ali Malik,Almas Hyder,and Ali Hussam  sitting SVP and Mian Zahid  Jawaid VP as special representatives held marathon meeting with group chairman Iftikhar Ali Malik in chair.

The names of all candidates were discussed in details and the best of the eight candidates were finally approved which will be made public in a couple of days jointly along with the PIAF candidates.

The recommendations of the local leaders of the respective markets were also given due weightage while finalising the names. Earlier Iftikhar Ali Malik last week  assisted by former president Sh Muhammad Asif and  political advisor Waqar Ahmad Mian conducted interviews of the aspirants before placing their names for approval.

In his concluding remarks Iftikhar Ali Malik hoped that all candidates of PIAF Founder alliance will help promote economic activities and safeguard the interests of the business on top priority at all local and national level besides establishing bridge between public and private sector to accelerate the pace of development across the country.

Participants also congratulated Iftikhar Ali Malik for assuming the august office of President SAARC Chamber for a two year term.

Later Shaharyar Ali Malik, Chairman Young Entrepreneurship Committee of SAARC Chamber hosted lunch in honour of former presidents here at his residence.

==========

DNA

Islamabad, Sept 2 – Missing Persons Commission has disposed of 4642 cases upto August 31, 2020 as per monthly progress report released by Secretary (ColoED) on cases of alleged enforced disappearances for the month of August 2020.

A total number of 6729 cases were received by the Missing Persons Commission upto July 2020. During August 2020, 23 more cases were received by the commission and total numbers of cases reached to 6752. The Missing Persons Commission disposed of 26 cases in August 2020 and thus total disposal of Missing Persons upto August 31, 2020 is 4642 and balance as on August 31, 2020 is 2110.

 
The Missing Persons Commission will resume its hearings soon after review of Lock down policies announced by Federal Government and Provincial Governments in order to prevent from COVID-19 as per law.

Honorable Mr. Justice Javed Iqbal, Chairman, Missing Persons Commission and other Honorable members have disposed of 4642 cases upto August 31, 2020. The relatives of missing persons have lauded the efforts of Honorable Mr. Justice Javed Iqbal Chairman Missing Persons Commission and other Honorable members of Missing Persons Commission for taking personal interest in locating their near and dear ones. Honorable Mr. Justice Javed Iqbal, Chairman, Missing Persons Commission is serving Missing Persons Commission in an honorary capacity and is drawing no salary and availing other faculties which are admissible as per law.