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Rs300m project for clean water
THE government has embarked upon a Rs300 million project aimed at the provision of clean drinking water.
This was stated by the State Minister for Environment, Amin Aslam Khan, while talking to a journalist earlier this week. He said that under the project a water filtration plant would be set up in every tehsil initially.
The minister pointed out that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz was himself leading the clean water initiative which would be run by the ministries of health, environment and science and technology.
Mr Aslam said the first phase of the project had been approved and a tranche of Rs15 million released. The project was going to be funded in its entirety by the government.
“Our target is to ensure the provision of clean drinking water to every Pakistani,” he said, adding that the goal would be pursued through a step-by-step approach. First, the government would initiate the project and then the private sector would be invited to collaborate.
The minister said work on the project would commence before the month of July.
Telecom sector
There are four players in the mobile telephony sector — namely Instaphone, Paktel, Ufone and Mobilink — and yet there is unmet demand.
So said Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari, Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecom, at the inauguration ceremony of the one-day Telecommunications Investment Conference 2005, which was held recently in Karachi.
The minister was of the opinion that there was a need for opening up the market, which was a big challenge. The government, he said, had come up with three major policies in a period of two-and-a-half years.
These included a mobile sector policy which was formulated in just three months’ time. The other two dealt with broad band and fixed line. Mr Leghari felt that the policies would contribute towards rapid growth in the telecommunication sector.
For the first time, he added, new standards regarding transparency had been set in place. He was of the view that in the next five years there would be a substantial growth in the telecom sector.
Bovine diarrhoea virus
Bovine diarrhoea virus regularly infects cattle of all ages worldwide, says Dr Munir Iqbal, a senior research scientist from the department of avian virology of the Institute of Animal Health, Compton, UK.
He said this while delivering a lecture on an “Overview of Bovine Viral Diarrhoea” in Lahore the other day. The lecture was organized by the Institute of Continuing Education and Extension, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore.
Dr Iqbal said the virus caused production and reproduction losses and increased susceptibility to other infections. “Its severe infection leads to fever, ulcers in the mouth and causes abortion and reduced milk production in animals,” he remarked.
He also presented his research findings on the subject.
Cable industry
The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) has said that it is formulating a set of criteria for cable operators so that quality service is provided to the public.
Talking to some representatives of cable operators early this week, its Chairman, Iftikhar Rashid, said the cable operators and Pemra were partners and they should work devotedly for the development and promotion of the industry.
He said the cable industry had made considerable progress in the last four years. He stated that he was a friend of the law-abiding cable operators and violations of law would not be tolerated.
The chairman of Pemra added that efforts were afoot to establish the industry on sound footing. He said illegal cable operators outnumbered the licensed ones.
Pakistan, China sign contracts
Islamabad and Beijing signed contracts early this week for the construction of four F-22P frigates for Pakistan Navy. The signing ceremony was held at the Ministry of Defence Production in Rawalpindi.
Four contracts were initialled for the construction of the state-of-the-art F-22P frigates with related equipment/systems, having provisions for transfer of technology. The ships, after construction, would be inducted into Pakistan Navy which would enhance its operational capabilities.
According to sources, F-22P frigates will be equipped with organic helicopters, specially designed for anti-submarine warfare, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, besides numerous self-defence systems.
China is Pakistan’s neighbour and also one of the country’s major defence suppliers. — Sci-tech World Report
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