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Deal over PTCL’s control signed
Pakistan signed a deal with Etisalat at the weekend giving the UAE’s telecom giant 26 per cent shares of the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd at a cost of $2.6 billion. The management control of PTCL will also change hands under the agreement.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz — who held a meeting with the chief executive officer of Etisalat, M. Hassan Imran, and also witnessed the signing ceremony — termed the agreement historic.
Responding to a journalist’s question, Mr Imran said: “The workers and experts of PTCL are a major human resource whose services will be utilised not only in Pakistan but they will also be considered for employment in other countries where Etisalat has its offices.”
The government and Etisalat reached the agreement on modalities and procedures for the transfer of PTCL’s management a couple of weeks ago, following a series of discussions in which additional concessions for the UAE company were reviewed.
Under the amended deal Etisalat will pay $1.4 billion before taking over the management control of PTCL. So far, it has paid $260 million. The remaining $1.2 billion will be paid in nine six-monthly instalments.
Planetarium tickets
Entry fees for the PIA Planetarium in Karachi has been enhanced by a full 50 per cent, making it difficult for middle-class families to visit it, sources told Dawn.
The fees to visit the on-campus aircraft, a particularly exciting experience for children from low-income households, had been increased by 66 per cent.
Sources claimed that the PIA Institute of Planetaria, which managed the planetarium and the aircraft, had increased the fees with effect from Feb 1 in order to turn the venture into a profitable one. Since the move, the income has not increased much but the number of visitors has come down substantially.
The combined entrance fees for the planetarium and the aircraft for an adult used to be Rs40 which has been enhanced to Rs60, while the cost of the same ticket for a child, which was worth Rs30 before February, now costs Rs45.
Environmental projects
The environment ministry has launched environmental improvement and biodiversity projects worth Rs1.67 billion throughout the country, according to some documents.
Of the total allocation, Rs189 million would be spent on the upkeep of parks in Rawalpindi, Chakwal and Attock districts, official documents revealed. In Rawalpindi, the Army Heritage Foundation will spend Rs17 million on providing and maintaining better facilities in the Ayub National Park.
The district government will construct parks and improve urban environment at a cost of Rs39 million. Similarly, the Zoological Survey Department, Islamabad, will carry out surveys of coastal and other areas.
The ministry has earmarked Rs12 million for improving urban environment in the Chakwal district. Pakistan Forest Institute, Peshawar, will construct a model park in Attock at a cost of Rs34 million. The Punjab forest department will spend Rs24 million on the rehabilitation of the Potohar tract, with the participation of local communities.
The global forest facility project, worth Rs26.39 million, will be executed by the forest departments of Azad Kashmir, Balochistan and the NWFP, while the forest sector research and development project worth Rs193.5 million will be undertaken by the Pakistan Forest Institute, Peshawar.
Research papers
An exhibition of research papers of Sir Shah Muhammad Sulaiman opened on Monday at the National Museum, Karachi, to commemorate the 65th death anniversary of the Muslim scientist.
The collection of papers, which will remain on display until March 21, includes the original theories of “New Relativity” and “Rotational Theory of Light” which were presented by Sir Sulaiman before independence.
Sir Sulaiman was critical of the postulate of relativity, as formulated by Einstein, and he thought that by modifying Newton’s theory the results which were observed could be deduced. In the field of quantum mechanics, he proposed that light was not a rare phenomenon but was a particle consisting of two parts, negative and positive.
According to him, both parts revolved around each other while moving forward. He called this the “Rotational Theory of Light” and claimed that with this assumption, he could prove all the laws dealing with light.
Solar eclipse
There will be a solar eclipse later this month. This was stated by chief of the Institute of Space and Planetary Astrophysics, University of Karachi, M. Shahid Qureshi, last week.
He said the solar eclipse would occur on March 29. The Sun will be visible only partially in various cities of Pakistan. The partial eclipse would be visible in Peshawar for the longest period of time. — Agencies
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