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Cellphone service for rural areas
The Pakistan Post and Ufone last week inked an agreement to expand mobile phone services to rural areas.
According to a statement, 7,000 postmen would be given cellphones under the agreement, which would be used by villagers on minimum charges. “It would not only give cellphone facilities to villagers but also generate huge revenue for both organisations as well as the government,” it said.
The MoU was signed by the Chairman of Pakistan Post, Ziaur Rehman, and CEO of Ufone, Baber Khan. Communications Secretary Tariq Mehmood, Additional Secretary Mohammad Abbas and other officials were present on the occasion.
Hospitals to be computerised
Federal Health Minister M. Nasir Khan has said the health ministry would computerise all state-run hospitals at central and provincial levels. He was speaking at the ceremony marking the automation of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences.
Federal Minister for Information Technology Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari on the occasion said his ministry would assist the health ministry in computerising the healthcare centres.
PCSIR-Dow agreement
The Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) for joint research and development work.
Sources in the university, providing details of the agreement, said the two institutions will collaborate in making medical education and healthcare research activities meaningful.
The agreement was signed by Prof Masood Hameed Khan, Vice-Chancellor of the university, and Dr Tanzil Haider Usmani, the Director-General of PCSIR. After the signing ceremony, the VC of Dow university visited different departments of the PCSIR complex. He also identified fields of mutual interest.
Water without chlorine
At least half the population of Lahore is being supplied with unchlorinated water by Wasa. Officials, however, deny this.
During raids conducted by city district government officials on 40-odd Wasa tubewells recently, it was found that at about half of them chlorine was not being mixed with water.
At many tubewells either the operators were missing or the chlorinators installed at the water supply lines did not have chlorine, says a report sent to the district nazim for taking action against the officials responsible.
It is learnt that District Nazim Mian Amer Mahmood had convened a meeting of Wasa officials to address the issue. He had, keeping in view casualties in Faisalabad, directed Wasa officials to immediately start chlorinating water.
The nazim had also announced that 60 water samples would be collected daily from consumers in all nine towns of the city, but except from a few posh localities, Wasa authorities had reportedly not collected any samples.
Nuclear plants
Pakistan is seeking two more nuclear power plants worth $1.2 billion from China and the issue is expected to be finalised between the two countries after the conclusion of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit.
Sources told Dawn that President Pervez Musharraf, who represented Pakistan at the summit, held wide-ranging talks with his Chinese counterpart for enhancing economic and defence cooperation between the two nations. However, the president’s emphasis was on the purchase of two power plants of 300 megawatts each so that Pakistan’s growing energy requirements may be met to some extent.
The president took with him a report on the country’s 88,000MW nuclear energy requirements by 2030. He also apprised the Chinese leadership of the Bush administration’s reservations in treating Pakistan at par with India for extending civilian nuclear cooperation.
Advancement in science
Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, M. Akram Sheikh, recently underlined the importance of technological advancement and linked the country’s progress to its position in science and technology.
He was speaking as chief guest at the National Engineering Robotics Contest 2006, organised by the College of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering. He said education was the backbone of a country, especially scientific and technological education.
The future of a country was dependent on its technological advancement, said Mr Sheikh, expressing his regret that Pakistan lagged behind other countries in science and technology. “We are at the mercy of countries which once looked towards us for technological discoveries,” he added. — Agencies
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