Day: September 23, 2021

At the same time the world’s largest plant-based foods company launches its first ESG report

Amsterdam, Sept. 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Ahead of the UN Food Systems Summit in New York City, Upfield, the world’s leading producer of plant-based butters, margarines, creams and cheeses, has announced its commitment to enhance the livelihoods of 140,000 smallholder farmers and plant-based entrepreneurs. As part of this commitment, Upfield has become a signatory of the Zero Hunger Pledge, led by the Global Alliance for Improve Nutrition (GAIN). This coordinated private sector pledge aims to tackle the global hunger crisis which is unfortunately rising unabated with up to 811 million¹ hungry people in the world in 2020 – that’s one in ten people suffering because they did not have access to a most basic need and fundamental right of food. COVID-19 health crisis has made the issue even worse.

As part of its pledge commitments, Upfield is investing in two projects in rural Kenya – focusing on the peanut and canola (rapeseed) supply chains. These projects support the ambition of the Zero Hunger Pledge; to eradicate world hunger by 2030.

Commenting on Upfield’s commitment to the Zero Hunger Pledge, David Haines, CEO Upfield Group said, “Transforming food systems is essential to achieve food security, improve nutrition and put healthy diets within reach of all. At Upfield, we believe that a collective shift to a more plant-based diet is the shift we need to achieve food system transformation and improve access to affordable nutritious foods. That’s why our newly launched ESG report addresses the areas where we believe we can make the biggest impact, at pace.”

Increasing the resilience of canola supply chains

Upfield is expanding its support for local Kenyan smallholders by helping them to grow canola as a rotational crop, which increases their incomes and improves the resilience of their supply chains. The project has grown from 500 farmers in 2015 to 7,500 farmers today and is still expanding. The project includes a training programme for farmers on climate-smart agriculture to secure their livelihoods amidst the challenge of global warming. Canola oil is a core ingredient in Upfield’s Blue Band™ spreads. Currently, 80% of the canola oil in Upfield’s Blue Band spreads in East Africa comes from this local sourcing initiative, and Upfield has a goal to achieve 100% in 2023.

Supporting farmers to grow high-quality peanuts

Upfield supports NAFAKA, a Kenyan farmer co-operative, providing a new source of income in peanut growing and helping to supply the resources needed to successfully grow high-quality peanuts. In Kenya, a common problem with growing peanuts is Aflatoxins, which can damage peanut yields. Upfield is working to provide a discounted rate for the agricultural inputs needed to achieve aflatoxin-free supply chains and guarantees an income in peanut-sourcing for the smallholder farmers involved. The high-quality peanuts produced by NAFAKA Co-operative are to be used in Upfield’s Blue Band™ Peanut Butter product, which is popular in Kenya and other East African markets.

Both projects form part of Upfield’s broader ESG strategy, which outlines a suite of other initiatives and targets all designed to support the sustainable transition to ‘A Better Plant-Based Future’, with the aims of:

• Encouraging 1 billion people choose delicious plant-based products by committing to driving plant-based adoption through investment in purposeful brands, innovation, naturalness and category expansion.
• Positively impacting 200 million lives by providing healthier, more affordable and more accessible products that are equivalent, if not better than their dairy counterparts in both taste and performance.
• Enhancing 140,000 livelihoods and reaching 5 million chefs by committing to programs, grants and initiatives that will support them to drive towards a plant-based future.
• Achieving “Better than net zero” by 2050 and committing to 95% of our packaging being free from plastic by 2030, as well as responsibly sourcing 100% of our ingredients with no deforestation or exploitation.

You can read more about Upfield’s commitments at www.upfield.com/purpose

 

Notes for Editors

ABOUT UPFIELD

At Upfield, we make people healthier and happier with great tasting, plant-based nutrition products that are better for the planet. As a global plant-based company, Upfield is the #1 producer of plant-based spreads and cheeses with more than 100 brands, including iconic brands FLORA, RAMA, BLUEBAND, PROACTIV, BECEL, I CAN’T BELIEVE IT’S NOT BUTTER, COUNTRY CROCK, and VIOLIFE. With headquarters in Amsterdam, we sell our products in over 95 countries and have 14 manufacturing sites throughout the world. The company employs over 4200 Associates. Since 1871, we have been the authority in the spreads category which gives us unmatched experience, know-how and inspiration. We are focused on leading in this new era focused on delivering healthier products that are great tasting, have superior quality and help us deliver on our vision to create “A Better Plant-Based Future.” For more information, please visit our website at www.Upfield.com.

About the pledge

The Zero Hunger Private Sector Pledge is a multi-stakeholder platform of cooperation and action with a single objective of ending hunger for good. It involves businesses supported by civil society, member state governments, and international organisations. Each of the actors provides a commitment within the remit of its organisation. The flexible and voluntary character of the Pledge is its strength as it creates a platform for cooperation for actors who wouldn’t have necessarily worked together in the past.

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¹ State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI 2021) report

Susannah Moore
Upfield Europe BV
07909686870
susannah.moore@upfield.com

Karachi, September 23, 2021 (PPI-OT):Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said that under CPEC the next level of engagement on Thar Coal should be considered for moving from mine-mouth power generation to coal transportation to potential sites. “Great potential exists for connecting Thar coal with Keti Bandar and develop Keti Bandar Port for coal blending, power generation and the rail connectivity between Islamkot and Mirpurkhas would help in replacing power plants operating on imported coal with much cheaper Thar coal thus reducing the unnerving energy circular debt.

This he said while addressing a CPEC-related 10th Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) meeting held in Islamabad through video link on Thursday. Minister of Energy Imtiaz Shaikh and Secretary Energy Abu Bakar also attended the meeting.

The CM said that his government has been working closely with Chinese on Thar Coal-based power projects under CPEC and “we believe that it’s about time to move to the next level by employing Thar coal for coal-to-gas and coal-to-liquid conversion, the CM said and added this conversion was crucial for reducing Energy sector circular debt, ensuring Pakistan’s food security through fertilizer production, and ensuring energy needs of the country for economic growth.

Mr Shah said that he had discussed these aspects in 9th JCC meeting, and it was high time to devise ways and means to implement and capitalize on these potentials, including Coal to Liquid Engineering Plant based on Thar coal at Thar Block-IV for Coal gasification to Fertilizer Projects. Murad Ali Shah said that the next level of engagement on Thar Coal should be considered to move from mine-mouth power generation to coal transportation to potential sites.

“Great potential exists for connecting Thar coal with Keti Bandar and develop Keti Bandar Port for coal blending, power generation,” he said and added similarly, Rail connectivity between Islamkot and Mirpurkhas would help in replacing power plants operating on imported coal with much cheaper Thar coal thus reducing the unnerving energy circular debt.

Talking about Karachi Circular Railway, the CM said that the KCR has been part of all JCCs and it was an integral part of Karachi Transportation Plan. “Different Bus Rapid Transport Systems, which are at various levels of implementations, will improve connectivity but without KCR loop the whole idea remains incomplete,” he said and requested that in the JCC, requisite assurances from the government of Pakistan and Chinese government should be taken so that the KCR was kick-started.

Mr Shah said that the socio-economic zone of Dhabeji located in proximity to Port Qasim would be ready for industrial estate development by August 2021. “We are keen for engaging with Chinese investors for investment in already identified sectors of Steel, Automobile Manufacturing, Automobile Vendors, Electronic Manufacturing and Assembly, Food Processing, Chemical and Pharmaceutical, Textile and Garments,” he said and added “We are committed to substantially increase the area from 1500 acres for facilitating Chinese investment and industrial relocation”. As a follow-up on JCC, he requested the Sindh Chambers, Chinese Investors and Entrepreneurs exchanges to work on these potentials.

According to Mr Shah together, Pakistan and China are entering the next phase of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), with greater emphasis on socio economic uplift, poverty alleviation, agricultural cooperation and industrial development. He said that his government has already shared 15 projects in three Batches for Socio-economic Development under CPEC and he hoped that these projects would be kickstarted soon. “However, we are keen to deepen our engagement in areas of agriculture productivity, agriculture and livestock research, and agro based industrialization,” he said and added one specific area for agriculture cooperation was Biosaline agriculture for coastal districts of Sindh.

He requested the Chinese government to work with agriculture and livestock departments, growers, and Chambers representatives for their visits to China and work on specifics of engagements. He thanked Ministry of Planning, Development, and Special Initiative and NDRC for convening the JCC and hoped the meeting would help in further strengthening the bond between two brotherly countries.

For more information, contact:
Press Secretary,
Chief Minister House, Sindh
Tel: +92-21-99202019 (Ext: 336)
Website: www.cmsindh.gov.pk

Karachi, September 23, 2021 (PPI-OT):The provincial cabinet, expressing serious reservations on the decision of the federal cabinet which has unilaterally amended Alternate and Renewable Energy (ARE) Policy 2019 approved by the Council of Common Interest (CCI) and excluded several Sindh government’s cheap alternate energy projects and included costly Hydro-power projects, decided to refer the matter to joint parliament.

“The federal cabinet or cabinet committee on energy is not competent to amend any policy approved by the CCI, therefore we would refer the matter to the joint parliament for discussion as we have already referred to the matter of Census.” This was stated by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah while presiding over a cabinet meeting here at CM House on Thursday. The meeting was attended by all the provincial ministers, advisors, special assistants, chief secretary Mumtaz Shah, Chairperson P and D Shireen Narejo and concerned secretaries.

Minister Energy Imtiaz Shaikh briefing the cabinet said that NTDC had submitted Indicative Generation capacity Expansion Plan (IGCEP)-2047 in April 2020 based on certain assumption sets but it was withdrawn on the objections raised by the NEPRA. He added that after a public hearing, NEPRA directed NTDC to update the plan.

The Ministry of Energy (MoE) – Power Division, presented the IGCEP 2021-30 Assumption Set to Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE) on April 20, 2021 and the same was approved on April 22, 2021. The IGCEP 2021 – 30 was formulated based on the approved Assumption Set by CCoE, using generation planning tool, PLEXOS, by considering all the existing as well as committed and candidate power plants.

The meeting was told that the CCI in its 47th meeting approved the National Electricity Policy (NEP) on 21stJune, 2021 mandating that the IGCEP 2021 – 30 Assumptions would be approved by the CCI. Accordingly, the Assumption Set was circulated among the provinces for the inputs/comments so that the same may be processed/considered.

The Sindh Energy department submitted it’s views/comments as follows:

To include the impact of actual power load shedding. In addition to the federal government PSDP having the PC-I approved and funding secured (as of March 2021) the Provincial Public Sector Projects with PC-1 approved by the ECNEC shall also be considered such as the World Bank funded `Sindh Solar Energy Project’ for development of 400 MW Solar energy;

The government to government (G2G) Power Generation projects which are listed under Federal government’s international (bilateral or multilateral) must include CPEC commitments in provinces too;

The Power projects based on Thar Coal for which associated mining lease has been signed for large scale exploration of coal;

In addition to Wind, Solar, Bagasse enlisted in Category I and II of CCoE’s decision of April 4, 2019 the RE-plants of Category-III having Tariff awarded by NEPRA before the notification of ARE Policy, 2019 shall be included. The Sindh has five wind projects of cumulative capacity of 275 MW;

Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said that his government believes that a CCoE or Federal Cabinet decision could unilaterally amend ARE Policy 2019 which was approved by the CCI. He added that the Hydro was not the part of ARE Policy 2019. “The scope of ARE Policy 2019 covers technologies such as biogas, biomass, energy from waste, geothermal, hydrogen, synthetic gas, ocean/tidal wave energy, solar, storage technologies, wind and hybrid of all these technologies,” he elaborated.

The CM said that the `Presumed unilateral inclusion of hydel power in the ARE Policy 2019 would destroy the whole structure of the policy which was based on least cost and competitive bidding principles. Therefore, separate policy and targets should be introduced for Hydro projects, he suggested.

The cabinet was told that in the 48th CCI meeting held on 6th September, 2021 in which Sindh government had categorically objected to the way and manner in which IGCEP was being proposed and how it would have the effect of ignoring the cheaper electricity options of renewable energy such as wind and solar.

It is pointed out that when the Sindh CM had raised the issue that ARE Policy 2019 was being amended through IGCEP 2021 whereby Hydel was being made part of RE whereas it was not part of RE in ARE Policy, 2019. It was shocking to note that the minutes of 48th meeting of CCI issued on September 13, 2021 erroneously mentioned that the decision to approve the controversial IGCEP was made unanimously despite objections raised by different provinces including Sindh.

The cabinet after thorough discussions and deliberations decided to refer the matter to the joint parliament as was referred to as the matter of census approval. Procurement of buses: Minister Transport Awais Qadir shah told the cabinet that the chief minister has already allocated Rs8 billion in 2020-21 and Rs6.4 billion in 2021-22 for procurement of 250 Diesel Hybrid Electric Buses under Sindh Intra-district peoples Bus service Project for Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkano, Mirpurkhas and Shaheed Benazirabad.

The cabinet approved to award the project to the NRTC to procure the buses by December 2021 and invest Rs3 billion on the development of infrastructure such as establishment of Depots and bus stops and operate the buses. The chief minister termed it good news for the people of the province, particularly of the city.

Subsidy to farmers: Advisor to CM on Agriculture Manzoor Wassan told the cabinet that the federal government has approved subsidies to the farmers during Kharif crop 2021. He added that the on fertilizers (DAP) for Rice and Cotton would be given at the rate of Rs1500 per acre in which the federal government would give 75 percent or Rs2.7 billion and the provincial government would share 25 percent or Rs902 million.

Similarly, subsidy on cotton and rice seed would be given at Rs.12,00 per acre and subsidy for white fly control would be Rs12,00 per acre. Mr Wassan said that the Board of Revenue (BoR) has collected the data of the farmers at taluka level and growers have been categorized in two slabs – 1 to 16 acres and 16 to 50 acres. He said that the Sindh Bank has designed an E-card and has furnished a list of designated branches for giving subsidies. He proposed to name the E-card as` Peoples Hari Card’ which the cabinet approved.

NAB to be asked to allow wheat releases: The Minister Food department Mukesh Kumar Chawla told the cabinet that 33,917.41 tones of the wheat were lying in godowns of Naushehro Feroze and Kashmore where the concerned food department officers had stored the grain without approval of the department. Therefore, NAB has sealed the godowns and is not allowing lifting of the wheat. Mr Chawla said that if the wheat was not lifted the grain would be infested with weevil. The cabinet authorized the minister of food to talk to the NAB and get the grain released.

MOU for KMC Taxes: The cabinet on the request of the local government allowed the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) to sign an MOU with the K-electric for collection of Conservancy and Fires Taxes through electricity bills. Administrator KMC Murtaza Wahab briefed the cabinet about the proposed collection of the taxes and said their rates would be reduced so that minimum burden could be imposed on the citizens. He added that his objective was to strengthen the KMC financially.

Sister cities: The cabinet was told that to commemorate the commemoration of 70th Anniversary of Pak-China diplomatic relations the Sindh government has decided to declare Sister-province relationship between Sindh and Hubei province of China. The cabinet approved Sister-City relationship between Karachi and Shenyang, Tianjin and Chongqing municipalities. Sister-city relationship between Badin and Sukkur with Kunming and Sister-relationship between Thatta and Zhanjiang.

The cabinet approved the development of Khan Chowrangi, Clifton as Pak-China friendship square. Fisheries Rules Amended: The cabinet approved amendment in Rule-4 of the Fisheries Rules 1983 to increase time for validity of fishing license from one year to three years. The cabinet approved an amendment in Education City Act 2013 to appoint Chairman Higher Education Commission Sindh as chairman education City Board in place of the chief minister who could not hold education city’s board meetings due to his busy schedule.

For more information, contact:
Press Secretary,
Chief Minister House, Sindh
Tel: +92-21-99202019 (Ext: 336)
Website: www.cmsindh.gov.pk

Karachi, September 23, 2021 (PPI-OT):As many as 6 more patients of Coronavirus died overnight lifting the death toll to 7,316 and 782 new cases emerged when 17,774 tests were conducted. This was stated by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah in a statement issued here on Thursday. He added that 6 more patients of COVID-19 lost their lives lifting the death toll to 7,316 that constituted 1.6 percent death rate. Mr. Shah said that 17,774 samples were tested which detected 782 cases that constituted 4.4 percent current detection rate.

He added that so far 5,926,454 tests have been conducted against which 453,110 cases were diagnosed, of them 91.7 percent or 415,466 patients have recovered, including 339 overnight. The CM said that currently 30,328 patients were under treatment, of them 29,725 were in home isolation, 38 at isolation centres and 565 at different hospitals. He added that the condition of 508 patients was stated to be critical, including 37 shifted to ventilators.

According to the statement, out of 782 new cases, 233 have been detected from Karachi, including 93 from East, 50 South, 39 Korangi, 25 Central, 19 Malir and 7 West. Hyderabad has 126, Thatta 42, Jamshoro and Naushero Feroze 34 each, Umerkot 28, Sukkur 26, Tharparkar 25, Sanghar 24, Shikarpur 23, Badin and Shaheed Benazirabad 21 each, Matiari 20, Ghotki 19, Tando Allahyar 18, Jacobabad 17, Dadu 13, Khairpur 11, Mirpurkhas 10, Tando Muhammad Khan 5 and Larkana 4. Murad Ali Shah urged people to abide by the SOPs issued by the government.

For more information, contact:
Press Secretary,
Chief Minister House, Sindh
Tel: +92-21-99202019 (Ext: 336)
Website: www.cmsindh.gov.pk

Canberra, September 23, 2021 (PPI-OT):The first meeting of the Pakistan-Australia Parliamentary Friendship Groups was held virtually on 23 September 2021. Convener of the Pakistan-Australia Friendship Group in the National Assembly of Pakistan Maryam Aurangzeb and Senator Rana Maqbool Ahmed led the Pakistan side, while the Australian side was led by the Chair of the Australia-Pakistan Friendship Group in the Australian Parliament Rowan Ramsey and Vice Chair Andrew Giles.

Pakistan’s High Commissioner-designate to Australia Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri and the Australian High Commissioner to Pakistan Dr. Geoffrey Shaw also participated in the meeting. Appreciating the excellent bilateral relations between Pakistan and Australia, Ms. Maryam Aurangzeb emphasized the need to further enhance cooperation in diverse fields, including parliamentary affairs, trade and investment, education, agriculture and sports.

Senator Rana Maqbool Ahmed raised the issue of Pakistani students who are unable to travel to Australia due to the Covid-19 restrictions and hoped the Australian side would assist Pakistani students once the international borders were reopened. He also briefed the Parliamentarians on the human rights situation in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

Mr. Rowan Ramsey underscored the importance of Parliamentary Friendship Groups in promotion of bilateral relations. He appreciated the Pakistani Diaspora in Australia and their contribution to the development of the two countries. He also thanked for Pakistan’s government assistance in evacuation of Australian officials and citizens from Afghanistan.

Mr. Andrew Giles underscored the need to match the strong friendship between the two countries with greater bilateral trade and economic cooperation. He appreciated the strong leadership of Pakistani Diaspora during the Covid-19 pandemic. The members of the Friendship Groups agreed to work closely to identify areas of cooperation to further strengthen relations between the two countries.

The Pakistan-Australia Friendship Group in the Australian Parliament has members from both the House of Representatives and the Senate. In Pakistan, the Senate and the National Assembly have separate Pakistan-Australia Friendship Groups. These Friendship Groups play an important role in enhancing cooperation between the two countries.

For more information, contact:
High Commission for Pakistan, Canberra
Postal Address: P.O Box 7130, Yarralumla, ACT 2600
Physical Address: 4 Perth Avenue, Yarralumla, ACT 2600 (Australia)
Tel: +61-2-62731114
Fax: +61-2-62731199
Email: phc@pakistan.org.au
Website: https://www.pakistan.org.au/

Islamabad, September 23, 2021 (PPI-OT):In a drive to curb tax evasion, Directorate of Intelligence and Investigation, Inland Revenue (I and I-IR), Lahore conducted a raid on the business premises of a steel mill located at Ferozwala, District Sheikhupura and unearthed estimated tax evasion of Rs. 400 million.

The steel mill was engaged in the manufacturing of steel bars ingots and billets. During the initial investigation, it was revealed that the steel mill had filed Nil Sales Tax/ FED Returns for one year, however, electricity meter installed at the premises showed huge consumption of electricity during that period. On the basis of initial scrutiny of available information and after fulfilling legal formalities, a raid was carried out and relevant documents and records have been impounded.

According to the initial estimate, tax evasion of Rs. 400 million is involved in the case. The record is under scrutiny at the Lahore Directorate and further legal action will be taken to recover the evaded taxes and duties. In a similar operation, Directorate of Intelligence and Investigation, IR Multan raided on a unit located in the Industrial Estate, Multan under Section 38 and 40 of Sales Tax Act 1990. The said unit was engaged in the manufacture of Polypropylene bags.

After scrutiny of record, it transpired that the said unit was blacklisted by FBR but despite that, the unit was engaged in the manufacturing of product for a long time. The Sales Tax number was also not got restored by the unit. According to the initial estimate, tax evasion of Rs. 60 million is involved in the case. Further legal action will be taken after the thorough scrutiny of the record under the relevant provisions of law.

In accordance with the instructions of Directorate General of Intelligence and Investigation IR, Islamabad, such operations across the country shall continue in order to detect the tax fraud and revenue leakages because FBR is committed to implement its zero tolerance policy against tax evasion.

For more information, contact:
Second Secretary (Public Relations)
Federal Board of Revenue (FBR)
FATE Wing, Federal Board of Revenue,
Constitution Avenue, Sector G-5,
Islamabad, Pakistan
Phone: +92-51-9217267
Fax: +92-51-9208456
Email: mujeeb.talpur@fbr.gov.pk, talpur35@gmail.com
Website: https://www.fbr.gov.pk/

Islamabad, September 23, 2021 (PPI-OT):In accordance with the timelines mentioned in Information Memorandum (IM) for the Spectrum Auction for Next Generation Mobile Services (NGMS) in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJ and K) and Gilgit Baltistan (GB) 2021, PTA received bids from CMPAK (Zong), PMCL (Jazz), PTML (Ufone) and Telenor Pakistan on 22nd September 2021, for both 1800 and 2100 MHz spectrum bands. After scrutiny of submitted bids, PTA hereby declares all 4 bidders as qualified.

Furthermore, auction will be conducted for 1800 MHz band on 28th Sep 2021 in line with auction rules published in IM, whereas, no electronic auction will be conducted in 2100 MHz band.

Current spectrum auction will provide improved quality of service to the consumers of AJ and K and GB and enhance coverage footprint for Voice and Data services. This will positively impact the tourism sector of AJ and K and GB. Total revenue generated and final auction results will be declared after completion of auction on 28th Sep 2021.

PTA is conducting the auction process with assistance of internationally reputed consultant JV Telco net/ Frontier Economics who was on board since April 2021, and conducted thorough consultation with cellular industry and other stakeholders.

For more information, contact:
Public Relations,
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA)
PTA Headquarters, Sector F- 5/1, Islamabad – 44000, Pakistan
Tel: +92-51-2878152
Fax: +92-51- 9219921
Email: pr@pta.gov.pk
Website: https://www.pta.gov.pk