Pakistan certifies first organic cotton bale
Balochistan on Wednesday marked the certification of Pakistan's first organic cotton bale at a ceremony held at Kot Sabzal. Balochistan's Minister for Agriculture Engineer Zamrak Khan said the provincial
Dawn (Pakistan)
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Seriousness at all levels key to polio eradication'
Sindh Health Minister Dr Sagheer Ahmed wants the health department and international health organisations to take polio eradication campaigns more seriously and come up with viable plans to improve the situation in Sindh, where 10 confirmed cases of polio have been reported in first half of the year.
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Food company asked to halt work in protected area
A food company has been "requested' by the Sindh Wildlife Department (SWD) to halt work on a proposed dairy farm, since it is located in a protected area where such activities are strictly restricted and require a specialised assessment on environmental impact, Dawn has learnt.
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CNG stations go on strike today
The CNG stations across the province would observe a day-long strike on Monday against increase in the existing taxes and introduction of new ones by the federal government. The strike would be observed under the aegis of the All Pakistan CNG Association. The CNG stations would stop supply of gas to motorist from 12midnight for 24 hours.
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Officials may bear the brunt for slack polio drive: Campaign begins on Tuesday
The district coordination officers (DCOs) and executive district officers (EDOs) of the health department may face the axe for showing slackness in the upcoming sub-national three-day polio immunisation campaign beginning on Tuesday.
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Official made scapegoat in bird flu controversy
The provincial government has transferred an official of the livestock department from Swabi to Mardan as punishment for allegedly disclosing that H5N1 strain of bird flu influenza had been detected in a poultry farm of the district, sources told Dawn. They claimed that on the advice of a local MPA, who favoured the poultry farm owners, Basic Livestock Officer Mohammad Ibrahim was made a scapegoat for revealing the information and "transferred within a day as the process usually takes a month'.
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Doctors to get managerial training: Anti-polio drive
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has asked the provincial health department to hold special training courses for all its grades 19 and 20 doctors to equip them with managerial skills.
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Poacher held in Cholistan
: The wildlife department claimed on Wednesday to have arrested an illegal hunter from Cholistan desert range. Bahawalpur Wildlife Deputy Director Mian Muhammed Naseem told Dawn that officials of the department raided a place near Dakwala Toba, some 20 kilometres away from Fort Abbas, and arrested Fayyaz Mahar with three slaughtered deer and 25 partridges while his two accomplices fled. Fayyaz's motorcycle was confiscated and he was sent to jail on the directives of a magistrate.
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Fata to get Rs8.6bn for ADP schemes
The Federally Administered Tribal Areas will get Rs8.662 billion for the Annual Development Programme for financial year 2008-09, showing an increase of 30 per cent over the previous year, officials said. The size of last year's ADP was Rs6.60 billion. Officials said 77 per cent of the new ADP funds would go to ongoing development schemes in the seven tribal agencies and six frontier regions and the remaining amount would be spent on new schemes. The ADP is likely to be presented to NWFP Governor Owais Ahmad Ghani in the next couple of days for approval.
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Sewage samples to be tested to detect polio viruses
: As a part of the ongoing polio virus control and environmental surveillance activities, the Sindh health department is considering a proposal to test sewage specimens to be collected from various parts of Karachi and others parts of Sindh. The samples are proposed to be examined in collaboration with certain national and international organizations to see if polio viruses were present. Sources in the health department said that the proposal was discussed at a meeting of senior representatives of international health organizations and the Sindh health department held here on Monday.
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Govt misses target on clean water initiative
: The clean drinking water programme of the federal government is unlikely to achieve the target it set for the installation of filtration plants in the country, as only 4,500 plants are likely to be installed against the target of 6,035 plants during 2007-08. A review of the installation of filtration plants showed not much progress on the approved policy of having one filtration plant in each union council. The utilisation of funds remained very low against MTDF targets, when only 440 water filtration plants were established against a target of 646 during 2005-07.