Summary to restore Environment Council sent to CM

LAHORE: A summary has been sent to Chief Minister Usman Buzdar for the restoration of Environment Council and in this regard a meeting has been called tomorrow (Wednesday) which would be presided over by the chief minister.

It was informed by Secretary Environment Department (EPD) Saima Saeed during a meeting chaired by Provincial Minister for Environment Muhammad Rizwan here Monday. She said the Cabinet Committee on Smog was set up after the approval of the CM, while smog policy also added to agenda of council meeting. She said that according to the proposal, the CM would be chairperson of the council, EPD Minister would be vice-chairperson, while official members will be secretaries of EPD, P&D, Finance, Irrigation, Health, HUD&PHE, Forestry, Wildlife & fisheries, LG&CD, Industries, Commerce& Investment departments and Director General EPA.

She briefed that proposed 35 non-official members of the council included representatives of different important departments and members from various chambers of commerce in the province. Director General EPD Tanveer Warraich briefed the minister that old technology brick-kilns were closed in 18 districts of the Punjab and EPA had constituted teams for identification and taking appropriate legal action against illegal resource recovery units, established without environmental approval in violation of Section 12 of PEPA Act 1997 and also causing environmental pollution in violation of Section 11.

The provincial minister said that first time in the history of Pakistan, the government was taking measures collectively to protect environment from pollution and hopefully after interest of CM Punjab all issues would be resolved regarding environment.

Teacher training: Punjab Minister for School Education Dr Murad Raas chaired a meeting on Continuous Professional Development (CPD) for schoolteachers at the Quaid-e-Azam Academy for Educational Development (QAED) here on Monday.

In the meeting which was also attended by Shehzad Roy, who is also involved in school reforms through his Zindagi Trust, the minister also observed that the schoolteachers needed to be equipped with the skills and knowledge required to keep pace with the rapidly changing educational and professional environment. He also observed that QAED would be remodeled into the premier teachers’ training university of the country.

violence against women: Punjab Women Protection Authority has launched a grand awareness campaign regarding violence against women. The chief guest of the event was Raja Basharat, Law Minister and Minister Social Welfare Department.

During this session the members emphasised on the need to make effort to eliminate violence against women at all levels. Raja Basharat said he is available to help in legal terms and Punjab Women Protection Authority will launch toll free number soon as well as open four new centres in Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Lahore and Bahawalpur.