Foreign funding case lodged to blackmail PTI, says Fayyazul Hassan Chohan

LAHORE :Provincial Minister for Colonies Fayyazul Hassan Chohan said on Saturday that the foreign funding case against the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was lodged to blackmail the party.

Addressing a press conference, he said the rival of PTI had made accusations for their vested interests. “The looters gained noting earlier except become a laughing stock,” the minister said.

He said the opposition had said that they would not allow the PTI government to pass the budged but they failed in it.

He recalled that PML-N’s Hanif Abbasi had also taken the foreign funding case to the Supreme Court. The minister said the Supreme Court had referred the case to the Election Commission of Pakistan, he said, adding the PML-N’s representatives had been lying continuously. He said the audit of the PTI was done by the top-rated companies. He claimed that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had registered its two parties with the Election Commission of Pakistan.

Zardari has even not submitted any file of his party with the election commission, Fayyazul Hassan Chohan said. He said PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal is an iqama holder in the UAE.

He said the opposition parties had even failed in giving resignations from the assemblies. —INP

Our correspondent adds: Minister for Agriculture Punjab Malik Nauman Ahmed Langriyal has said that the agriculture sector was ignored in the past but now the protection of rights of farmers is at the top of the current government's priorities.

Presiding over a meeting organised for farmer organisations in the Agriculture House, he said during 2018-19, 6 millions of tonnes of potatoes were exported, which was 100.000 tonnes more than the last year. The government is taking measures to finalize the rate of sugarcane from Rs 180 to 190 per monds during this year. Under the Prime Minister's Agricultural Emergency Program, 432,500 sacks of certified seeds of approved varieties of wheat are being subsidized to farmers. The meeting was attended by Rana Ali Arshad Additional Secretary Task Force Punjab, Dr. Anjum Ali Director General Agriculture (Extension), Adviser to Minister Shahid Qadir, Rana Iftikhar Ahmed, President Anjuman Farmers Punjab, Rao Tariq Ashraf, President Farmers' Alliance Lodhran, Mian Arshad, Sajid Ashraf Watto President Punjab Youth Farmer's Alliance, Muhammad Hussain Khokhar, Malik Zulfiqar Hussain Awan, Chaudhry Tabasam Bhallar and other farmer representatives attended the briefing session.

Dr Anjum Ali, Director General Agriculture (Ext & AR), briefed the meeting that production of rice remained 4.27 million tonnes and maize 6 million tonnes, which wers 0.37 million tonnes and 0.6 million tonnes more as compare to last year, respectively. For the first time the cotton crop in 2018-19, the government provided farmers approved seeds of subsidised varieties upto 1 lakh acre. The minister inquired the representatives of the farmer organisations about their problems and issued orders to resolve them.

WB: World Bank (WB) representative Dr Graham Harrison has said that World Bank would fund those research projects in Pakistan that would bring socio-economic development to it and achieve sustainable development goals.

He was addressing a workshop titled “Road Show on New R&D Framework of HEC” organised by Higher Education Commission (HEC) Pakistan and Punjab University Office of Research, Innovation and Commercialisation (ORIC) at Al Raazi Hall here on Saturday.

PU Faculty of Engineering and Technology Dean Prof Dr Taqi Zahid Butt, HEC Research and Development Director General Dr Zainul Abidin, PU ORIC Director Prof Dr Arshad Javed, British Council representative Hajira Khan, directors of ORIC from a large number of universities from Punjab participated in the workshop.

Addressing the workshop through video link, Dr Graham Harrison said Pakistani researchers should work on the academic ideas that could be commercialised. He said research projects should resolve the problems being faced today. He said World Bank encouraged technology transfer and promotion of innovation and entrepreneurship culture. He said World Bank had allocated seven hundred thousand dollars for those research projects that would focus resolution of local issues.

Prof Dr Taqi Zahid Butt lauded the role of HEC in the promotion of research in universities. He said academia was strengthening relations with industrial and corporate sectors with the help of HEC. He said universities had important role in socio-economic development of the country.

Dr Zainul Abidin said World Bank would give 400 million dollar to HEC in the next five years, out of which, a research grant of 127 million dollar would be provided. He gave a presentation on various programmes of HEC to fund research projects. Ms Hajira Khan gave briefing on Pak-UK Education Gateway. Dr Arshad Javed said the workshop would create awareness among researchers regarding the available research grants.