Tag: national

Posted on

SU Larkana inaugurates learning club and library

LARKANA:Sindh University campus Larkana on Saturday inaugurated Shams Rumi Shah Learning Club and Park Library in its premises.

 

The inauguration of club was performed with lecture and interactive discussion on the Philosophy of Shams Tabrizi, Moulana Rumi and Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai by renowned scholar Hashim Abro along with Prof Dr Azhar Ali Shah, Pro Vice Chancellor SUCL, Ms Chahat Batool, HoD English, GM Shaikh, HoD Business, Saleem Hulio, Secretary Shams Rumi Shah Club, Arsalan Mangi, President SUCL Community Service Society and others.

 

SU Larkana students are also engaged in establishment of mobile open libraries in the campus park and in this regard, Sajjad Chandio from BBA final year donated a number of English, Urdu and Sindhi books for the park library with support of SUCL Community Service Society President Arsalan Mangi. SUCL PVC Prof Dr Azhar Ali Shah expressed gratitude to Hashim Abro and Sajjad Chandio for their help with SUCL.

 

Posted on

Fisherfolk to celebrate World Fisheries Day on 21 November with one-week activities

KARACHI:Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum is celebrating November 21 World Fisheries Day with theme “Fisher people’s sovereignty on all marine islands” and conduct one-week activities from November 16-21 throughout the province.

 

Chairman PFF, Muhammad Ali Shah, in a statement said the World Fisheries day is celebrated every year on November 21 throughout the world by the fisher folk communities. From its inception in 1998, Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum has been celebrating and observing this event every year while this year it would be celebrated on theme of fisher people’s sovereignty on all marine islands and guard the rights of fisher peoples.

 

He said around 3.0 million fishermen in Sindh and Balochistan depend on marine fishing, mostly in creeks while the government has decided to develop islands and construct cities that would close paths of fishermen and deprive them of livelihood.

 

He said the federal government has constituted Pakistan Islands Development Authority (PIDA) to construct the city on twin islands of Bhundar (Bundal) and Dingi without any consultation with the Sindh government, as the area falls under the provincial jurisdiction.

 

“Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum is protesting against such decision and is celebrating this World Fisheries Day by protesting the construction of cities over islands, as they are places for fishing and mangrove forests,” he said. “Federal government’s such action is not only against the Constitution of Pakistan but it is also against international conventions and agreements, which provide social, economic and cultural sovereignty to the indigenous people.”

 

He said Pakistan has a coastal belt of over 1,050 kilometers and there are 300 small and big islands located in Sindh coast only that would be taken into control by the federal government. Along with Dingi and Bundal, these islands are home to thousands of hectares of mangrove forests, which are nurseries of fish and shrimps while these creeks from Karachi to Thatta are fishing grounds for the fishermen.

 

Shah said a recent United Nations study reported that more than two-thirds of the world’s fisheries have been overfished or are fully harvested and more than one third are in a state of decline because of factors such as the loss of essential fish habitats, pollution, and global warming. The fishermen have been suffering series of problems. Ghastly increasing marine pollution, unconventional and untraditional fishing practices including destructive nets and deep-sea trawlers have not only over fished and ruined the ecosystem but have been drastically affecting livelihood of fishermen.

 

The World Fisheries Day helps in highlighting the critical importance to human lives, of water and the lives it sustains, both in and out of water. Besides, overfishing and mechanization has also resulted in a crisis – fish stocks are being depleted through ‘deep sea factory ship’ vessels, bottom trawling, and other means of unsustainable fishing methods, he said. “Unless we address these issues collectively, the crisis will deepen.”

 

He said the World Fisheries Day helps to highlight these problems, and moves towards finding solutions to the increasingly inter-connected problems we are facing, and in the longer term, to sustainable means of maintaining fish stocks.

 

Narrating about one-week activities, he said the World Fisheries Day would be inaugurated on November 16 in all districts, corner meetings and various programs will be held in all districts from November 17 to November 20, all districts will hold rallies on November 19 while central rally would be held in Karachi from Regal Chowk to Press Club on November 21.

Posted on

Steps to ensure safe trade and food safety amid COVID-19 stressed

ISLAMABAD:Experts at a workshop stressed the need for taking practical measures to ensure trade and food safety amid COVID-19 so that the pandemic might not impact the lives of common man.

 

The online workshop titled: ‘Safe Trade and Food Safety amid COVID-19’ was organized by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) in collaboration with Pakistan Institute of Trade and Development (PITAD) here.

 

Experts mainly discussed as to how the improved federal-provincial coordination on food safety can increase the likelihood of Pakistan’s food exports being preferred abroad. They were of the view that coordination is required between product standard authorities and Ministry of National Food Security and Research to avert delays due to approvals and permits that harm the timeliness of Pakistan’s trade consignments.

 

They called upon the government to conduct a regulatory impact assessment to see how such costs which hurt the competitiveness of exporters can be reduced. In this regard, they said, the authorities concerned may also look towards the progressive practices adopted by peer economies in the Asia-Pacific region.

 

Speaking on the occasion, PITAD Director-General Raheela Tajwar said after the first wave of COVID-19, appropriate bio-security arrangements in trade has become imperative and good hygiene practice now needs to be evolved by all involved in the logistics.

 

Dr Ali Abbas Qazilbash, an expert in trade sector, said that the COVID-19 has seen an increase in non-tariff barriers, and it is impacting the global supply chain in agriculture as well. He said the world needs to achieve food safety compliance.

 

Freight forwarders and transporters need to implement the controls and human contact needs to be minimized by ensuring electronic certification, he said, adding that many organizations are now dealing with Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures, whereas a single authority as a focal point should be made available on SPS agreement.

 

Dr Vaqar Ahmed, SDPI Joint Executive Director, said that after the first wave of pandemic, many countries are paying due attention on hygienic and safe transportation, port handling, storage, and warehousing of cargo. In this connection, he maintained, new consignment handling procedures are being discussed in different countries, and the World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization are also considering these procedures.

 

“The safety of people involved in the supply chain and logistics has received attention in the recently emerging literature,” Dr Vaqar Ahmad said. Highlighting the importance of capacity building of institutions concerned to understand the food safety amid pandemic, he added: “We also need to minimize possible rejection of exports from Pakistan or food loss and waste on account of weak compliance of safety standards.”

 

Earlier, SDPI Researcher Ms Mahnoor Arshad said that a needs-assessment exercise should be conducted for the t trade governing bodies concerned to identify the real issues and meet future demands in the wake of any pandemic situation.

Posted on

HEC wins 15 medals in weightlifting championship

KARACHI:The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has secured 2nd position in the Inter-Departmental Weightlifting Championship (Junior Category) in addition to grabbing 15 medals, including four gold, six silver, and five bronze medals.

 

The national senior and junior Inter-Departmental Weightlifting Championship was held at Railway Stadium, Garhi Shahu, Lahore under the auspices of Pakistan Weightlifting Federation. The Championship was held under different senior and junior categories, 55kg, 61kg, 67kg, 73kg, 81kg, 89kg, 96kg, 102kg, 109kg and over 109kg.

 

HEC team won six medals in senior category while nine medals in junior category. For this national competition, HEC had conducted open selection trials for all the Pakistani higher education institutions at University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore.

 

Among other national institutions, teams of Pakistan Army, Pakistan Railways, Water and Power Development Authority, and police also took part in the championship. It is pertinent to mention here that HEC will also award prize money and one year scholarship to all of its medalist players.

Posted on

Collective efforts needed to curb drug use in universities: President Alvi

ISLAMABAD:President of Pakistan Dr. Arif Alvi has stressed the need for collective efforts to root out the growing menace of drug addiction in university campuses, and to extend all-out facilitation to differently-abled students. He was addressing on Thursday an online meeting with the Vice Chancellors of all public and private sector universities on issues regarding differently-abled students as well as drug addiction.

 

The meeting was also attended by Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood, Federal Minister for Narcotics Control Mr. Muhammad Azam Khan Swati, Federal Minister for Human Rights Dr. Shireen M. Mazari, Chairman HEC Tariq Banuri, and Director General Anti-Narcotics Force Major General Muhammad Arif Malik.

 

During the first session on proliferation of drug use on campuses, the meeting deliberated on measures to curtail drug use through student counselling services, creation of a hotline, formation of a whistler-blower mechanism, penalization of elements involved in use and supply of drugs, constitution of parent-teacher coordination bodies, student counselling, creation of a hotline, and coordination with rehabilitation facilities. Steps necessary for supply reduction, demand reduction, progress review, and de-stigmatization of institutions were also brought under consideration.

 

Mr. Azam Swati briefed the meeting about various initiatives for drug control taken by his Ministry, and the Ministry’s desire to work in close coordination with the universities to curb this increasing menace. He suggested a number of steps to be taken and implemented by the universities.

 

It was decided that all the relevant stakeholders will coordinate and come up with a concrete policy on curtailing use of drugs on campuses, latest by March. The President directed HEC to develop appropriate policy guidelines, in consultation with all the stakeholders, to support universities address this issue in an effective manner.

 

Dr. Alvi stressed that universities must take every step necessary to make their campuses safe from drugs. “This is not only a moral imperative. Universities have a legal responsibility to implement all relevant national laws.” He noted that environment of many universities around the world is threatened today by the proliferation of drugs.

 

He emphasized the role of media in creating awareness about the consequences of drug usage. He said that law enforcement agencies are playing an active role in dealing with the issue, yet there is a need for direct engagement with the youth. He informed that the Ministry of Health has been tasked to develop a broader helpline to deal with health-related issues, particularly illicit use of drugs. He said that the academia must utilize the services of psychologists and psychiatrists, social workers, and non-government organizations in issues pertaining to drug usage.

 

Vice Chancellors of Punjab University, Peshawar University, Haripur University, BUITEMS Quetta and SZABIST Karachi along with others shared how they are dealing with this challenge at present and gave suggestions to strengthen these efforts with coordination of all the stakeholders.

 

During the second session on differently abled students, the participants pondered upon measures to bring such students to mainstream and facilitate them in every possible manner. Different suggestions by participants included age relaxation for differently-abled students, wheelchair friendly buildings, scholarship and fee waivers, and special transport facility within campuses.

 

Minister Dr. Mazari informed the gathering that ICT Rights of Persons with Disability Act 2020 has already been passed. She said it extends to the whole of ICT territory and so is also binding on universities in this area. She added that other provinces may adopt this Act through passage of resolution from the respective constituent assemblies. She asked HEC to review its existing policy for differently abled students in light of this Act.

 

Chairman HEC Tariq Banuri highlighted HEC’s initiatives to facilitate differently-abled students, including promulgation of HEC policy on the subject, distribution of wheelchairs, establishment of Well Being Centres and formation of Student Clubs under Prime Minister’s Kamyab Jawan Programme.

 

The President appreciated HEC’s efforts to mainstream such students in the higher education sector. He observed that special attention needs to be given to students with visual impairment, hearing disabilities or mobility challenges. He said that he himself has taken the task for defining categories of differently abled students so that there should be a clear distinction among students with different needs.

 

He expected that the Vice Chancellors will take lead in implementation of policies on both the issues of drug control as well as facilities for differently abled students.

Posted on

Bilawal takes notice of gang-rape case

KARACHI:Chairman Pakistan Peoples’ Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has taken strong notice of a brutal incident in which a woman and her 4-year-old girl were gang-raped in Kashmore.

 

In a statement issued here, the PPP Chairman said that the incident has shocked him personally and beasts involved in this gruesome crime have shamed humanity.

 

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the tormented mother and the girl will get justice at any cost and asked Sindh government that the culprits meet the exemplary punishment under the law.

 

He also asked Sindh government to ensure adequate medical treatment to both the victims besides taking care of them.