12 February 2004	Thursday	20 Zilhaj 1424

FAISALABAD, Feb 11: Two of the arrested Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal leaders were released from the district jail after their bail pleas were accepted here on Wednesday. The third leader, who was among the detainees, will have to stay in jail under fresh orders.

Reports reaching here said Kotwali police had arrested MMA District President Sardar Zafar Husain, Jamaat-i-Islami District Amir Azeem Randhawa and an activist, Abdul Kareem, on Feb 6 allegedly for delivering provocative speeches against the government during a Kashmir Day rally. They were booked under 16 MPO.

On Wednesday, the detainees filed bail applications with the judicial magistrate, Mohsin Rasheed, who after short hearing, accepted the application and ordered their immediate release.

Sardar Zafar and Abdul Kareem were released by the district jail authorities while Azeem Randhawa, according to local MMA leaders, had been detained for three months after the issuance of fresh orders under 3 MPO.

FOOD POLICY: A five-year standardized food policy has been formulated in consultation with industrialists and scientists to wipe out adulteration and ensure supply of pure food.

This was stated by Provincial Excise and Taxation Minister Dr Muhammad Shafique while speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the three-day 14th All-Pakistan Food Science Conference at the University of Agriculture. The conference is being organized by the Pakistan Society of Food Scientists and Technologists.

He said the government would wipe out adulteration in eatables, and supply of substandard foodstuffs. The food scientists and technologists had contributed a lot in the field of research.

He said owing to use of high potency insecticides on crops and chemicals in the feeds of poultry and livestock, serious diseases were spreading among people.

After a detailed research and surveys conducted by scientists, especially a team of the university, it was observed that not a single case of bird flu was detected in the country. The poultry industry had suffered a huge financial loss due to negative propaganda of bird flue by some vested interests, he added.

UAF's Institute of Food Technology Director Dr Muhammad Faqir Anjum said scientists and policy-makers had been facing challenges to meet the requirements of food due to increasing population. There was an urgent need for adopting modern ways to process and preserve food, he stressed.

He claimed that the country could save destruction of 50 per cent of crops, fruits, vegetables, meat and milk by adopting modern technology and these could be exported for earning heavy foreign exchange.

PSFST President Dr Wazir Husain Shah, Prof Muhammad Shafique, Dr Javed Awan and Dr Nuzhat Ara highlighted the benefits of modern research as well as food shortage problems.