Lahore
Minister for Excise and Taxation and Information Mian Mujtaba Shuja ur Rehman inaugurated three new double-decker buses and added them to the existing fleet of Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab ( TDCP) double-decker buses.
The minister said that Lahore was the city of gardens, rich culture, ancient civilization and lively people. On the great success of Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab double decker bus service, the Punjab chief minister took initiative to add more double-decker buses to the fleet for Lahorites.
He said the chief minister had inaugurated the first Sightseeing Lahore Double Decker Bus Service Project in Pakistan on November 25, 2015.t.
It was initially commenced with the operation of two double-decker buses of international standard procured through the process of international tendering at a cost of Rs 30m each, including Rs10m taxes.
The capacity of each bus is for 67 people, upper deck 49 and lower deck 18.
The project is being operated according to the best international practices with beautiful and tourist-friendly terminals, mechanism for organised bookings, trained drivers, uniformed staff, tourist guides en-route.
Terminal I is located at Punjab Stadium on Ferozepur Road and terminal II at Food Street on Fort Road.
Children, senior citizens and disabled persons can travel free while the ticket price for students is Rs100 and for general Rs200.
About 108,799 tourists, including from educational institutions, corporate sector and Special Education Department/ NGOs, have used and praised the bus service.
research on smog: Punjab Minister for Environment Begum Zakia Shahnawaz has said that Pakistan is a beautiful country and it is collective responsibility of all to protect its environment from all types of pollution.
She said this while addressing an international conference organised by Punjab University’s College of Earth and Environmental Sciences (CEES) here on Saturday.
Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) Chairman Prof Dr Nizamuddin, PU Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Zafar Mueen Nasir, CEES Principal Prof Dr Sajid Rashid, environmentalist Rafay Alam, renowned scientists from USA, Germany, Canada, Sweden and other countries, researchers from across Pakistan and a large number of students were also present.
Begum Zakia Shahnawaz said students must do research on smog so that the country could avoid its implications in future.
Dr Nizamuddin said presentation of 280 research papers on environment in the two-day conference was a matter of praise and the credit went to Punjab University.
Prof Dr Zafar Mueen Nasir congratulated Prof Dr Sajid Rashid on the conference’s success and said PU would provide guidelines regarding environment safety to the policymakers.
Dr Sajid Rashid said the foreign and local scientists, researchers and students had benefited from each other and such conferences would be made regular feature of the college.
In the conference, poster and oral presentation competitions were organised to encourage the participants. In poster competition, Asma Kalsoom, Maliha Arooj and Rehana Jamal obtained first, second and third positions respectively. In oral presentation competition, Ayesha Siddiqua, Shoukat Ali and Mehreen Khan secured first, second and third positions respectively.
ANF: Force Commander of Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) Brigadier Khalid Mehmod Goraya has said that the department is following the open door policy to guide and help the business community.
The businesspersons could approach ANF without hesitation, and their genuine issues would be resolved, the ANF force commander said while talking to Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) President Abdul Basit and Vice-President Muhammad Nasir Hamee at LCCI.
Brigadier Khalid Mehmood Goraya said ANF was working to remove the menace of narcotics smuggling and use.LCCI President Abdul Basit said that illegal drugs were injurious to entire society and there was a dire need to promote healthy activities among the youth to keep them away from this ill.
The LCCI president said that there should be a difference between small and large-scale dealers of chemical and one-window operation should be introduced.
He said that a number of LCCI members had complained that ANF staff destroyed the packing of export shipment while checking which was affecting the exporters badly as foreign buyers raised objection to bad packing.
He said that ANF staff should be careful in this regard.He said that the LCCI members were facing troubles in getting NOC and required licence for chemical business.
He said that procedures should be in the larger interest of trade and economic activities.