First all-women debating championship concludes

LAHORE: The Debating Society of Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan Medical and Dental College (SKZMDC) Lahore Monday arranged Pakistan’s first Intercollegiate All Female Debating Championship 2018.

According to a press release, Khalifa Parliamentary Debating Championship 2018-Women was held under the supervision of Shaikh Zayed Medical Complex Chairman and Dean Prof Dr Farid Ahmad with the assistance of SKZMDC Debating Society President Prof Dr Haroon Javaid Majid.

Teams from various educational institutes including Kinnaird College for Women University, Forman Christian College, Ameer-ud-Din Medical College, SIMS, UCL, Government College University, Lahore Alma and Fatima Jinnah Medical University participated in the competition.

The aim for organising the first “All Female Championship” was to showcase Pakistan as a progressive nation that believed in empowering the women. The competition provided women a platform to speak out their views and discuss the dilemmas faced by the society.

A team of Kinnaird College won the championship while the team of Government College University remained runner-up. Prof Dr Farid Ahmad Khan was gave away the trophies to the winner and runner-up teams. He congratulated the winners and appreciated the ideology behind organising the event. He said it was a proud moment to see the women of our country progress towards a progressive society. He hoped more events like this wold be held in future.

Liaison: Overseas Pakistanis Commission (OPC) Punjab Commissioner Afzaal Bhatti said OPC developed liaison with the federal institutions in order to redress the expatriates’ complaints pertaining to the federal agencies.

He said OPC delegation called on Islamabad Chief Commissioner Zulfiqar Haider and apprised him about the initiatives of OPC Punjab to resolve the issues faced by overseas Pakistanis. Zulfiqar assured cooperation and formed a committee to look after the issues of expatriate Pakistanis.

Afzaal said several federal institutions had nominated focal persons to enhance cooperation to OPC. The collaboration of OPC and the Islamabad Chief Commissioner Office would solve the issues of overseas Pakistanis relating to Federal Government institutions.

Model farms: Punjab Secretary Agriculture Muhammad Mahmood said establishment of model farms would be a gateway for selected products to enter international markets that prefer certified and traceable products.

The establishment of model farms would help producing quality products and their export to the high-end markets. The model farms would help the farmers learn about the advanced production technologies and crops management techniques.

The Secretary said, “On the model farms, use drip and sprinkler irrigation so the farmers could learn to use water resources properly.” He said the Punjab government was taking steps to start a new era of high value agriculture that would be in the interest of farming community. He said the agriculture department had assured provision of quality seed of all crops to the farmers and giving away billions of rupees’ subsidies to share the burden of farmers.

The Punjab government is establishing 150 high-tech mechanisation service centers across the province. The Agriculture Department will organise a high-tech mechanization expo-2018 for promotion of high-tech machinery among farmers.