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Price Rs.60 Pages: 5 Vol: VI No: 36 September 07 – 13 , 2015

Boost for improved vegetables seed pro-duction in PakistanTHE VEGETABLES have good value in human food and nutrients since time immemo-rial. The world countries of low economy and people with low living status and poverty espe-cially South Asian ..........

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Need based research projects can open up international funding

opportunities: Dr AshrafAhsan Jamil

THE PROJECT formulation im-plies to activities aimed at defining specific objectives that have defined timeframe within a defined budget. Pakistan is bestowed with eminent scientists, scholars, researchers and brains that can convolute for not only pinpointing the challenges horrifying the socio-economic dy-namics of the country but also in surfacing pragmatic and viable so-lutions through multidisciplinary approach. This was expressed by the speakers of ‘Project Formula-tion’ workshop organized by Paki-stan Science Foundation (PSF) at University of Poonch from Septem-ber 2-3, 2015.

Chairman PSF, Dr Muhammad Ashraf vehemently stressed on the need of problem solving research while speaking on the occasion he said, “The fund winning proposals can only be created through joint integrated efforts of scientists from multiple fields through intensive R&D and project formulation en-deavors. In the current scenario, Pa-kistani researchers don’t manage to come up to the potential and reach at the desired level from where they can attract foreign donor agen-cies and S&T organizations. This situation can be improved by ag-gravating scientific ecosystem in the country and emphasizing on a solution based research approach”.

The science maestros present on the occasion were of the view that the senior scientists through effec-tive communication with academia

under the umbrella of PSF can mentor and monitor the research activities and creation of grant win-nable proposals. This will not only attract foreign stakeholders towards Pakistan but also develop and ma-ture the scientific ambience in Pa-kistan. The challenges like climate change, water security, and food security can be addressed through project formulation and engaging scientists from industry and the ac-ademia to offer most to the country by productive efforts. PSF can lead the process by channelizing these activities.

Vice Chancellor, University of Poonch, Prof Dr Muhammad Kal-eem Abbasi greeted PSF for organ-izing such an important workshop at the University of Poonch, Raw-alakot, Azad Jammu and Kashmir. He suggested the faculty of the university to communicate more

effectively with the PSF team and resource person for preparing fund winning research proposals.

Prof Dr Shafiq-ur-Rehman, Dean, Kohat University of Science and Technology strongly supported the idea of setting the directional offset of scientists and researchers towards problem solving research projects and reaching out to the national and international donor agencies. He said, “It is the apt time for the scientists and research-ers to work proactively and explore national and international funding opportunities. The scientists, facul-ty of the university have to dig out new avenues for projects funding and concentrate on the problem solving research”.

It is high time to revisit the sci-ence policies as Pakistan`s number of researches and publications are increasing each year but the impact

factor is still not up to the mark and the challenges on the ground are still growing at fast pace shroud-ing the country`s economy with dark shadows of uncertainty.

The academia from public and private sector needs to vitalize the scientific advancement through several initiatives which push young researchers towards the problem solving research instead of the redundant research which still infest in various national and international journals but account for none of the existing problems of the country.

Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF) is the phoenix of S&T pro-motion and popularization in the country that is making its efforts for raising project formulation awareness and triggering scientists and researchers towards problem solving research.

MoIT launches e-offi ce project

STAFF REPORT ISB: The Ministry of Information and Technology (MoIT) and Tel-ecommunication held a ses-sion for its e-office pilot pro-ject briefing. “Charity begins at home is the famous prov-erb and MoIT is fully in com-pliance with this and this e-office system will account for automated official processes saving much of time and cost on paper to as much as Rs 2.5 billion annually once entire system is converted into e-filing”, said Anusha Raman, State Minister MoIT while briefing the partici-pants about the project.

“The system will boost the Ministry`s productivity and ensure transparency also by increasing efficiency, cut-ting redundant operational expenses and employing time effectively”, she added.

The system has been op-erational since July this year and all files of the IT minis-try are now communicated through e-office instead of papers, which has saved sig-nificant time in addition to providing other advantages. Pakistan is the first country in the region to successfully implement this e-office mod-el.

The e-office system has six modules including e-filing that accounts for electronic communication of the files. The automation and role technology in core business and organizational manage-ment are significant advance-ments towards improved performances and the reflec-tions will be manifested in coming years.

The MoIT sources also revealed that thirteen other ministries will also adapt the e-office system soon.

PCSIR held session for S&T, R&D promotion

Book on organic nomenclature

released

Drone technology can be used for civil purposes

Pak-Canada advance in tech promotion dialogue

IST holds International Conference on ‘Aerospace Science and Engineering’

STAFF REPORT KHI: The S&T promotion is inev-itable to resurrect the quell-ing economy of the country. A session was recently held at Pakistan Council of Scien-tific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) Laboratories Com-plex, Karachi to highlight the importance of S&T and exchanging ideas of experts and policy makers to ex-change ideas on the promo-tion of the very subject. The scientists, technologists of PCSIR, government officials participated in the event.

Secretary, Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST), Fazal Abbas Mak-en was present on the oc-casion. During his speech he stressed on the need of research, innovation and commercialization in order to put result oriented efforts and connect R&D with the socio-economic development and industrial uplifting.

Director General PCSIR, Dr Kaniz Fizza Azhar gave a detailed presentation to the participants about vari-ous R&D initiatives of the research center and briefed them about ongoing and fu-ture endeavors of PCSIR.

STAFF REPORT ISB: The scientific literature and content plays a piv-otal role in understanding of the subjects. National Book Foundation (NBF) has recently published a book titled as ‘Systematic Organic Nomenclature’. The book is authored by Professor Zia ul Haq who is an experienced chemistry professor.

Commenting about the book, Professor Zia ul Haq said, “The book is intended for college and university students of organic chem-istry. The book attempts to cater the comprehensive understanding of IUPAC nomenclature convention of organic compounds”.

The book has 26 chap-ters and entails all func-tional groups IUPAC nomenclature rules in a stepwise manner. Each chapter has included an ex-ercise at the end in order to give opportunity to readers to self-assess their under-standing about the chapter.

Prof Zia ul Haq served as Head of Chemistry De-partment in Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU).

STAFF REPORT PE-SHAWAR: The drones are often considered to be of ef-

fective military use and the general public perspective is ‘detrimental’ in this regard. Sarhad University of Science and Information Technol-ogy (SUIT) project aimed at promotion of civil use of drone and the final product of the project was exhibited this week in SUIT campus.

The drone was developed by electrical engineering de-partment and Anis ur Re-hman headed the project. He said while commenting on the project, “The basic theme behind this project is to promote the wider range of applications of drone

technology apart from the military use. The drone technology can be utilized in

multiple sectors including mete-orology, disaster management , metals and mining, rescue organi za t ions such as 1122, air borne surveys, security purpos-es etc”.

The light drone plane weighs about 2.5 kilograms

and has Global Positioning System (GPS) installed in it for navigation purpose. A demonstration of the drone plane was also done and it took a flight of few thousand feet for almost 15 minutes.

The project cost spent till now is about Rs. 0.1 million according to the university sources and is way too cheap than foreign companies manufactured drones.

The team behind the pro-ject urged governmental sup-port in order to interpolate necessary modifications and commercialization of the project.

STAFF REPORT ISB: The Information Technology (IT) has tendency to reform lifestyles and in-terpolate conveni -ence. The g r o w i n g IT and t e l e c o m sector in Paki st an is attract-ing many foreign investors to take a trek in Pakistan`s market. The Minister State for Ministry of Information Technology (MoIT) and Telecommunication, Anu-sha Rahman held a meet-ing with Canadian High Commissioner to Pakistan, Heather Cruden recently to discuss various avenues of cooperation in the IT and Telecom sector.

The Minister apprised ef-forts of MoIT in establishing enabling environment for foreign investors to explore the Pakistan`s untapped market. She said, “Pakistan government is committed to bring an innovation based technological boom in the country by creating enabling

environment for indigenous and international brands for creating a competitive ecosys-

tem in the tech sphere. The Haier mobiles recent MoU signing to setup Smartphone manufacturing unit in Paki-stan is a clear and positive indicator of things going in right direction”.

The Canadian High Commission exchanged ide-as of mutual cooperation be-tween Pakistan and Canada in the IT and telecom sector and said that it would fur-ther strengthen the equation of bilateral relation between both countries. He affirmed full cooperation in tech are-na and committed the

The sources from MoIT said that several agreements are underway between Paki-stan and Canada which will be surfaced soon.

STAFF REPORT ISB: The conferences on differ-ent S&T fields within aca-demia bridge the barriters

of confinement and open up collaborative atmosphere of learning, interacting and educating in a much inter-esting manner than the class-rooms. Institute of Space Technology (IST) recently or-ganized fourth International conference on ‘Aerospace Science and Engineering’.

Vice Chancellor IST, Im-ran Rahman chaired the ple-nary session. He said while speaking on the occasion, “The motive of the annual conference is to introduce new trends in the aerospace

sector and identify various research opportunities and involve foreign counterparts for exchange of expertise,

knowledge and information in this field”.

The plenary session was addressed by national and international maestros of aerospace engineering in-cluding Dr Shaukat Hameed Khan, Coordinator General COMSTECH, Dr Syed Is-mail Shah, Chairman Pa-kistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), and Syed Muhammad Asif Rumi, CEO National ICT R&D Fund addressed the first plenary session followed by technical sessions.

The major themes cov-ered during the conference included aerospace and avi-onics, mechanical engineer-

ing for aerospace applica-tions, aerospace materials design and engineering, satellite design develop-ment and security satellite communication and image processing, global naviga-tion satellite systems, remote sensing and GIS, astronomy and astrophysics, informa-tion technology, space tech-nology and cyber security,

The event spanned for 3-days and engaged scien-tists, engineers, researchers, professionals and students from all over the world.

COMSATS spuds in defense production

R&D initiatives

Customer`s treat: PTCL increases bandwidth,

decreases price

PITB develops app for restaurants grading

Consumers enabled to sell electricity units

STAFF REPORT ISB: The academia holds important responsibility to cater to the industrial needs of the coun-try including defense, agri-culture, energy and various other sectors. COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT) mulled to bring together academia-industry expertise in defense production.

The Federal Minister for Defense Production, Science and technology (MoDP&ST) Rana Tanveer Hussain had a productive meeting with COMSATS senior manage-ment. Rana Tanveer Hus-sain said while stressing on the need of exploring new avenues of cooperation with academia, “The academia can play a definitive role es-pecially in R&D to abet de-fense production sector and we must replicate the model of developed countries where academia and industry joint-ly play their national part and

synergic effect quadruples the success rate”.

Senior representative of COMSATS ensured full

support in terms of research and development in defense production and taking joint initiatives for improving the linkage between both organi-zations for a larger cause of strengthening the defense line of country by introduc-ing state of the art innovative technologies. COMSATS has always taken such initia-tives which are obligatory for national development, im-parting quality education and creating knowledge based economy required joint and collaborative efforts.

STAFF REPORT ISB: Pa-kistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has come up with exclusive packages for EVO, Nitro and Charji services with en-hanced bandwidth and de-creased costs.

According to PTCL sources, the new packages have been announced in or-der to cater the market need and expand the market share of the company in 3G and 4G. The growing number of subscribers is also due to the

launching of several 3G, 4G enabled Smartphones which has prompted PTCL to cash in and expand its canvas by engaging more subscribers into the net.

The new packages are applicable with immediate effect. It is pertinent to men-tion that the tax imposition on internet is on the scene whereas PTCL is still com-mitted for customers’ con-venience and fostering cheap access to internet in order to boost the cyber space.

STAFF REPORT LHR: The digitization and auto-mation plays a key role in

increasing the operation ef-ficiency of any organization. The Information Commu-nication Technology (ICT) has range of application in multiple sectors. The Government of Punjab has turned a leaf with Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) to develop a new application that will be used for grading restaurants in Punjab.

The application entails various important features

and will help a great deal in automating the complaint processing and food moni-

toring processes. Chairman PITB, Dr

Umar Saif said, “PITB is committed to deliver the best ICT solutions to various departments of the province which is not only making the per-formance better but also reducing the work load

of the employees. The man-ual processes were time con-suming where as now better monitoring and automated solutions are available which the hallmark of PITB”.

Earlier on, PITB also de-veloped flood monitoring systems, agriculture moni-toring systems, and various other apps to improve law and order situation etc thus creating an IT buzz across the Punjab and making it a smart province.

STAFF REPORT ISB: The electricity consumers having surplus power from solar panels or wind systems will be able to sell electricity to distribution companies. The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NE-PRA) approved the Net Me-tering Regulation, 2015.

NEPRA sources said while commenting on the decision, “Net metering re-gime will enable customers with a three-phase electricity connection to get monetary benefits by offsetting at least a part of their power bills by generating electricity”.

The sold power units will be adjusted in the electric-ity bill of the consumer. By producing 50 units daily, a consumer can produce 1,500 electricity units every month. Assuming that the consumer is paid at Rs13 per unit, the money that can

be made every month will be around Rs 19,500.

A consumer will have to submit an application to the

local sub-divisional office of the concerned distribution company to avail this facility under the Net Metering Reg-ulations, providing all rel-evant information regarding the installed power genera-tion system (solar or wind).

The regulation will en-courage domestic and com-mercial customers to build small scale power generation photovoltaic units for energy conservation and gaining monetary benefits.

STAFF REPORT KHI: A regional workshop on ‘Appli-cation of KOICA Trainings for Pakistan`s development’

was held in Khyber Pakh-tunkhwa (KP) which was jointly organized by Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and KOI-CA Alumni Association of Pakistan (KAAP).

KOICA is playing a key role in the uplifting of country`s socio-dynamics by imparting useful trainings and educating the human resource through its different initiatives which is a com-mendable job.

Resident Representative KOICA, Sung Choon-Ki in his inaugural speech said,

“Korea has become devel-oped through innovation and knowledge and now it want to give back developing

nations by supporting them to create enabling conditions for sustainable socio-econom-ic development. KOICA is committed to help Pakistan and especially the province of KPK being under devel-oped”.

“KIOCA assisted KPK in massive floods and earth-quake in 2010 and 2005 re-spectively in Swat, Malakand and Mansehra district. KOI-CA intends to extend its de-velopment programs for KPK which are mainly affected by the terrorism and stagnating law and order situation.

KOICA is committ ed for sustainable development

of Pakistan: Sung

OPNIONDisclaimer: Th e opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily refl ect the views and opinions of the newspaper.2

September 07 – 13 , 2015

EdTweet

THE ESTIMATES of species losses are stupefying, several species will extinct in near future, about 140,000 species are lost each year, globally. It is pertinent to understand that what does humanity lose when global biodiversity is significantly reduced? The significant human problems caused by reduced biodiversity are: economic cost of lost biodiversity, reduced food security, more unpredictable weather, loss of livelihoods, losing sight of “nature”, and increased contact with infectious disease. The globalization and ecological disruption appear to be cause of new epidemiologic transition which is directly or indirectly associated with emerging and reemerging of infec-tious diseases. The urbanization trend, industrial revolution, and greater mobility have contributed significantly to trigger the disruption of biodiversity. There are clear changes in the type and dominance of emerging and reemerging infectious diseases which have occurred due to globalization and indus-trial revolution. The habitat destruction and biodiversity loss are fueling this condition. The connection between biodiver-sity loss and human health is getting very little attention in the accelerating life trends. The evidence of this connection is the spread of nonindigenous vectors and pathogens. It is appeared that the loss of predators and hosts that reduce pathogen transmission are also increasing the incidence of vector-borne illnesses. They live in an ecosystem which de-pends upon survival of healthy functioning and interactions with each other as well as other organisms. As a result the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem commotion has major impacts of emergence, transmission, and dissemination of many human infectious diseases. A recent study reveals that “habitat destruction and biodiversity loss, driven by the replacement of local species by exotic ones, deforestation, global transportation, encroaching cities, and other environ-mental changes can increase the incidence and distribution of infectious diseases in humans”. It is not new to think about biodiversity, but it is emerging to understand the link between species and land conservation as inherent to human health issues, the commencement of a trend to bring ecology and epidemiology together. At this stage, it is not affirmed that bio-diversity loss is the primary force for emerging diseases but it appears to be playing a crucial role. Until now, no organization in Pakistan is putting questions of human infectious disease with reference to prevention of habitat structure and biodiver-sity in non-human species. By focusing in this direction on biodiversity loss, we can create a contrast between the natu-ral ecosystems which are associated with greater biodiversity. The protective effect of greater species diversity on the risk of human infection has appeared in many diseases like malaria in the Amazon, East Africa, Thailand, and Indonesia, Nipah virus infections in Malaysia, Lyme disease or West Nile Virus (WNV) in the United States (also found in other parts of the world, especially Europe), Hantavirus infections in South Ko-rea, and Schistosomiasis, and may be a common feature of many human vector borne diseases. Improved understanding of these causal mechanisms can inform decision makers on biodiversity conservation as an effective way to protect hu-man health, as well as common person to protect themselves from infectious diseases.

Link between ecology and epidemiology

Executive Editor A. M. Zaidi Editor S. A. M. Z. Paras

Incharge Editorial Section Sidra Saif CheemaBureau Chief Karachi Syed Ali RazaTechnical Editor Tajammul Hussain

www.technologytimes.pkE-mail: info@technologytimes.pk

Head Offi ce Bureau Offi ceHouse No. 81, Service Road (W), C-89, Sherton Heights, 7th Avenue, G-6/1-1, Islamabad. Abul Hassan Isphahani Rd, Karachi. Phones:+92 51 2607219 Phones:+92 321 242 6088 +92 333 638 3241 +92 333 575 5926

No. 8444/2 (100) Press - 2009Published and Printed by S. A. Mustafa Zaidi Paras Ali

for Foundation for Comprehensive Social Development (FCSD)at Khursheed Printers (Pvt) Ltd., Aabpara, Islamabad.

INFOTECH

AGRITECH

By Kainat Malik

By Usman Zulfiqar, Dr. Hassan Munir and Dr. Muhammad Maqsood

Pakistan’s IT sector in for a long haul

Precision Agriculture - a new approach to crop management

THE WORLD Economic Forum has placed Paki-stan 97th in a list of 143 countries it evaluated for business and innovation environment in its Global Information Technology Report 2015.

Being second in a series of a 10-pillar performance monitoring report; the business and innovation environment pillar evalu-ated the performance of gateways to entrepreneur-ship in Pakistan, as well as the structure of systems that boost business in the Infor-mation Technology (IT) sec-tor.

This evaluation consid-ered not just the ease of starting and doing business in the country, but also gauged the availability of technology, access, strength of conditions harbouring innovation and creativ-ity and presence of invest-ment capital. The report measured facilitation by the government through policies and incentives and the presence of an active, learned labour force in the IT industry.

Released on April 15, 2015, the report depicted an upward trend in Pakistan for the second pillar, while a score of 3.9 out of 5.0 indi-

cated a promising growth in avenues leading to innova-tion and business in the IT sector of the country.

The country’s IT sector is continuously bettering its share of contribution to the growing GDP per capita of Pakistan that has visibly

gone beyond the $1,307 mark reported in 2013.

The remarkable growth of the IT industry is the cumulative outcome of an

improved quality of engi-neering and management schools, a reduction in the time required to start a busi-ness, a maturing intensity of local competition and the easy availability of latest technology.

Helping the countries

other industries grow as well, the IT sector is being led by skilful business lead-ers who balance a potent mix entrepreneurial skills

and IT expertise to propel the industry forward.

Making a mark in the budding entrepreneurial and tech wiz-world of Pa-kistan are brothers Zee-shan and Imran Ali Khan who founded the coun-try’s leading property e-

portal,Zameen.com, in 2006.

Bringing real estate inves-tors, agents, property buy-ers, sellers and renters to a

single holistic platform, the talented duo hastaken the real estate sector by storm and revolutionized an in-dustry that until late relied on outdated methods of business.

Introducing pioneering tools for property search-

ing and analysing real estate trends, Zameen.com has brought laurels for both the IT and real estate sectors.

Their success is inspiring

many other individuals to establish online businesses by utilizing the continuous-ly improving technological infrastructure in Pakistan.

With a strengthening IT sector, other industries like energy, education and health are also ameliorating

immensely and benefiting from both the technology and the people who make technology work wonders in everyday concerns.

BY 2050, it is expected that the world’s population will reach 9.2 billion peo-ple, 34 percent higher than today. Much of this growth will happen in developing countries. To keep up with rising populations and in-come growth, global food production must increase by 70 percent in order to be able to feed the world. Even the intensively man-aged cropping systems are becoming unsustainable with respect to increasing profitability. It has become imperative that the next phase of the Green Revolu-tion must be triggered with a paradigm shift from the less efficient conventional farming towards an effi-cient farming system So that agriculture productiv-ity and sustainability can be optimized.

If we talk about Pa-kistan’s agriculture, it is characterized by small scale farms with low productiv-ity and inefficient use of inputs. In recent years, our agriculture sector has been facing some serious prob-lems, such as reduction in crop productivity, hike in input prices, water scar-city, power shortage and reduced acceptance of our products in international markets. Moreover, lack of subsidies on agricultural in-puts, unavailability of qual-ity inputs and lack of in-formation from consultant agencies, poor agricultural policies of government and untimely availability of irrigation are major fac-tors which negatively affect farming community.

The levels of our agri-cultural production system and market demands for quality products seem to have reached a stage where conventional farming sys-tem alone may not help in improving the economic conditions of farmers. To sort out this situation there is a need of a system in which we can maximize food production with minimum environmental impact risks and overall reduce the cost of produc-tion. In present scenario we have opportunity to create differences with the help of science and tech-nological innovations to address critical issues that will have significant effects on the lives of millions of people.

Precision agriculture is a farming management based on observing, meas-uring and responding to inter and intra-field vari-

ability in crops. It is about managing the variations in field accurately to produce more food using lesser re-sources and reducing cost of production. Precision agriculture is also known as site specific crop man-agement (SSCM). It ena-bles the farmer to produce more efficiently through rational use of resourced and balanced use of in-puts. Chemicals and other expensive inputs use only where and when they are necessary. In addition pro-motion of environmental stewardship is vital compo-nent of this system.

Precision agriculture is not technology, it is a management philosophy to respond to spatial variabil-ity but technology makes it possible. Precision agri-culture is a multi discipli-nary approach as it aims to identify, analyze and man-age spatial and temporal variability associated with all aspects of crop produc-tion within the fields for optimal productivity, prof-itability, and sustainability, protecting land resources and safeguarding the envi-ronments.

Precision agriculture has potential in utilizing natu-ral resources efficiently and protecting the natural ecosystem. There are four steps involving in imple-mentation of precision agriculture that include characterizing the extent and scale of variability in soil and crop attributes, in-terpreting the significance and causes of variability, managing variability on spatial and temporal basis, evaluation of the outcomes resulting from variability management practices.

First step in precision agriculture is characteriza-tion of variability and this is the most important step because other steps can be implemented successfully if variability is correctly known. In following at-

tributes, variability can be assessed; yield variability of a crop is determined by using yield monitors fit-ted on combine harvester with accurate spatial loca-

tions using global position-ing system device. Field variability in topography, elevation, slope and field boundaries can be meas-ured by proximal land sat-ellite based remote sensors.

Soil variably can also assess through proximal soil sen-sors.

It is the variability in soil physical (structure and texture), chemical (N, P, K and pH) and mechani-cal (bulk density and soil

strength) properties. Crop and tillage variability can also characterize. Once variation is adequately as-sessed then it is interpreted that what were the causes

behind it. After that it is managed by customizing agricultural inputs on site specific basis within fields. Finally evaluation is done. It includes the assessment of economic gains and en-

vironmental benefits of these technologies. Fur-thermore, this requires it complete comparison with conventional agriculture.

Precision agriculture comprises following com-ponents; Digital Global po-

sitioning systems (DGPS) is a network of different satellites, which is used to identify the location of data points of soil and crop attributes on basis

of longitude, latitude and elevation. Geographic in-formation system (GIS) in-terprets hardware, software and data for characterizing, managing, analyzing and displaying all forms of in-

formation. Remote and proximal

sensors are used to differ-entiate crop species and to monitor yield and locate different stresses in field. Application control can be done through map-based

control and real time con-trol. Map-based control mare commonly used as they required less compli-cated apparatus. Variable rate technology has a soil nutrient map with GIS sys-tem stored in a computer mounted on a GPS guided tractor that senses and find exact locations within field and decision support sys-tem decides exact require-ment of inputs in the field and commands the vari-able rate applicator to ap-ply exact dosage of input at each location.

In Pakistan, there is not even a single farmer who is using this advance tech-nology. The only precision technology that is used in Pakistan successfully is laser land leveling. In Pa-kistan, there is also need to support this informa-tion based agriculture by government agencies and the agriculture researchers should conduct research on farmer’s fields to bring their attention towards this contemporary type of agriculture. It is a fact that adoption of this innova-tive type in entire country is not possible as every farmer will not agree to adopt these sophisticated technologies, but there are some relatively developed farmers, which can act as incubators for adoption of these technologies for emerging.

There is need to drive modern agricultural tech-nologies in Pakistan. There is good scope of various precision technologies to be implemented in the country. In this perspective farmers and government authorities should look forward to adopt new and

sustainable technologies to increase the efficiency of available resources and re-ducing the input costs. The concept of doing the right thing in right place at right time has a strong intuitive appeal.

REPORT By AJ Qureshi

RMIT University Australia, PhD International

Scholarship (RPIS)RMIT PhD International Scholarships (RPIS) are funded by RMIT Univer-sity Australia. These scholar-

ships are awarded to Interna-tional students undertaking a research Doctoral degree on the basis of academic ex-cellence and research poten-tial. All scholarship applica-tions are ranked based on a model approved by RMIT’s Research Committee.

RMIT University fosters excellence in research and scholarship, as it is this ex-cellence which positions the university as Australia’s pre-mier university of technol-ogy and design.

The value of the RMIT PhD International Scholar-ships increase annually in accordance with indexation.

In 2015, the RMIT PhD In-ternational Scholarship pro-vided the benefits including tuition fees for the standard

duration of your re-search scholarship, the cost of an Over-seas Student Health Cover (OSHC) policy for the standard dura-tion of your program, a stipend of $28,849 per annum pro rata (full-time mode) which is equivalent to the Government APA rate of $25,849 plus

an RMIT top up of $3000, a relocation allowance for the cost of relocating in or-der to take up your PhD program, up to $515 per adult and $255 per child to a maximum of $1540, paid sick, maternity and parental leave (within the limits of the Scholarship Guidelines).

The standard duration of a research doctorate scholar-ship is three years full-time. Candidates may apply for an extension of up to six months subject to satisfac-tory progress and school ap-proval. The deadline for ap-plication submissions is Oct 30, 2015.

The country’s IT sector is continuously bettering its share

of contribution to the growing GDP per capita of Pakistan that

has visibly gone beyond the $1,307 mark reported in 2013. The remarkable growth of the

IT industry is the cumulative outcome of an improved

quality of engineering and management schools, a

reduction in the time required to start a business, a maturing

intensity of local competition and the easy availability of

latest technology

Precision agriculture is a farming management based on observing, measuring and responding to inter and intra-fi eld variability in crops. It is

about managing the variations in fi eld accurately to produce more food using lesser resources

and reducing cost of production. Precision agriculture is also known as site specifi c crop

management (SSCM). It enables the farmer to produce more effi ciently through rational use of

resourced and balanced use of inputs

Precision agriculture has potential in utilizing natural resources effi ciently and protecting the

natural ecosystem. There are four steps involving in implementation of precision agriculture that

include characterizing the extent and scale of variability in soil and crop attributes, interpreting

the signifi cance and causes of variability, managing variability on spatial and temporal

basis, evaluation of the outcomes resulting from variability management practices

September 07 – 13 , 2015

AGRITECH By Dr. Waseem Ahmed, Shah Masaud Khan, IjazHussain, and Rasheed Ahmed

By Dr. Muhammad Saeed and Nassrulla Khan

Boost for improved vegetables seed production in Pakistan

THE VEGETABLES have good value in human food and nutrients since time immemorial. The world countries of low economy and people with low living status and poverty especial-ly South Asian states have vegetable dietary habits hence grow and consume much more such green stuff for their food.

Pakistan has greater op-portunities, being a center for vegetable production and can export fresh and canned vegetables in most of the Asian countries to earn foreign exchange. At present, mostly the grow-ers depends on imported seeds, but it is true that many jobs farm of labor-ers, could be created by growing vegetables for seed production, seed trade and export business may also increase, which reduce an-nual import costs on veg-etable seeds.

Farmers grow vegetables preferably due to short duration and as low delta crop, which could lower the cost of production. The vegetables have great role in boosting the econ-omy of the country, due to that reason vegetables have potential to earn more in-come. Growing vegetables around big cities is very

profitable job due to local consumption, ease of mar-

keting and export for earn-ing hot income. However, profession of home and kitchen gardening increas-es in Pakistan. It is time

that farmers produce their own seed to discourage im-

port of vegetable seed from other countries and over-come the risk of diseases and quarantine. Pakistan has majority of urban and

rural population surviving on vegetables, which is rel-

ishing food due to nutritive value such as vitamins, pro-teins, Calcium, phospho-rous, iron, water and min-eral salts etc. In its varying

climatic conditions, the vegetables grown may vary from leafy to Cole crops, root vegetables to bulb or tuber crops, flower vegeta-bles to immature fruit veg-etables etc, grown in differ-ent parts of the country.

The area under vegeta-ble cultivation excluding potato and sweet potato but including onion, gar-lic, chilies was 0.381 mha (about 1.67% of the total cropped area), producing about 4.06 m ton of veg-etables. There is increasing demand of vegetables from rural to urban areas due to domestic consumption directly in food either in raw or cooked form. But, vegetables have variety of uses in the preparation of pickles, chutney ketchup, soups, sauces, salads etc. except their edible usage for cooking purposes. The vegetable cultivation in Pakistan is most probably done in different parts of the country.

There is great variety of vegetables along with their edible parts such as roots, tubers, bulbs, Rhizomes, leaves, flowers and imma-ture pods, fruits and seeds. The low quality seed is one of the major yield con-straints in vegetables grown in Pakistan. The seed pro-

ducing agencies and grow-ers both suffer a lot due

to timely production and availability of vegetable seed in the market during season. In vegetables, it is noted that the viability of

seed is low, which depends upon kind of vegetables

grown. Some vegetables are directly sown by seed, bulb or tuber and others are planted through their nurseries. Vegetables seed

production needs still at-tention to famer as source

of earning. So it should highly recommendations for seed community and grower to improve this sec-tor.

FOODTECH

PAKISTAN IS blessed with various environments for the cultivation of variety of fruits and vegetable. The southern parts of Pakistan are appropriate for citrus, mango, banana and other tropical fruits like papaya whilst the north and north-western parts provide suit-able conditions for temper-ate fruits like grapes, apple, apricot etc. Papaya mostly found in tropical and sub-tropical areas of the world however in Pakistan, prov-ince of Sindh and Punjab are rich in lush green or-chards of papaya.

Coastal areas of Sindh province and Malir area of Karachi have been growing papaya on marketable scale. Papaya grown in Thatta and Malir Districts of Sindh are known for their sweetness and size. Annual produc-tion of papaya in Pakistan is 8000 tones. Papaya (Carica

papaya L.) adherent to the family Caricaceae which has been developed up in Bharat, Philippines, South Africa, Australia, Ceylon, East Pakistan, Malaya, Ha-waii and in other countries.

Papaya offers not only the delicious taste but it has ample source of anti-oxidant components such as ascorbic acid, carotenes and flavonoids, the B com-plex vitamins, folic acid and pantothen, the miner-als (magnesium, potassium) and fiber.

Papaya contains mainly two types of amino alka-noic acid, amino acid and glutamic acid. Amino acid is present in large quantity as compared to glutamic acid. Papaya consists of a number of organic acids in which the major organic acid is citric acid followed by qiunic acid, L-malic acid, tartaric acid, succinic acid, fumaric acid and ethanedioic acid. Papaya has rich availability of ca-rotenoid compounds. Flesh colour of papaya is due to carotenoids.

There are three types of carotenoids namely beta-carotene, beta-cryptox-

anthin and zeta-carotene found in papaya fruit. Paw-paw is regarded as an out-standing source of ascorbic acid, riboflavin and a fair source of iron, calcium, thiamin, nicotinic acid, pantothen, pyridoxal and naphthaquinone. Ripe pa-paya fruit is also an excel-lent source of both soluble and insoluble source of di-etary fiber. Macro-minerals have Ca, Mg, Na, K and P. Micro-minerals include Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn and Se is pre-sent in papaya fruit.Papaya fruit has a lot of love. It is honored by ‘The Fruit of Angels’ by Christopher Co-lumbus.

Papaya have highly nu-tritional value per 100g, gives energy 163 KJ, carbo-hydrates 9.81g, sugar 5.90g, dietary fiber 1.8g, protein 0.61g, fat 0.14g, vitamin C 62 mg and minerals ap-proximately 30 mg. Papaya also contains low amount of anti-nutrient like oxalate, phytate and tannine, also contain natural toxicants present in papaya fruit such as benzyl isothiocyanate, benzyl glucosinolate and alkaloids. There are differ-ent type of cysteine endo-

peptidases such as papain, chymopapain, glycol en-dopeptidases and caricain. Papaya proteases consists of four related molecular weight cysteine-proteases, which donate 69–89% of total protein, up to 10 % of papain, 14–26 % of car-icain, 23–28 % of glycyl-endopeptidase and 26–30 % of chymopapain.

Papain is plant protease enzyme present in papaya latex, papaya peel, papaya leaves and seeds. Papain re-covery in each fruit is 8.17 g and rich amount of papain per plant is 686.29 g during a time of 6 months. Mo-lecular weight of papain is

23.406 daltons, Optimum pH as well as temperature ranging between 3-9 and 65- 80°C. Papain, cysteine protease hydrolase enzyme is very resistant and severe, which consists of num-ber of amino acids in the range of 212-218 and shows a great degree of homolo-gous.Structure of papain composed of a single poly-peptide chain having 3 di-sulfide bridges and papain enzymatic activity can be determined through sulfhy-dryl group. It was suggested that papain with 0.025% concentration at 3% level (w/w) can be utilized to develop better tenderness

and functional properties of spent hen meat cuts for efficient utilization.

Papain displays broad proteolytic action against the proteins, short chain peptides, esters and amide associations and is used widely for the area of food and pharmaceutical. Papain is also used as meat tender-izer in meat products to soft the hard meat. Papain is used as meat tenderizer to improve the texture, flavor, color, taste and overall ac-ceptability in beef kababs, duck patties, chicken nug-gets and other meat prod-ucts. Papain is also used as natural preservatives to in-

crease the shelf life of meat products like beef kababs by inhibiting the pathogen-ic microorganisms like Sal-monella typhimuriumand E.coli.

Papain acts as a debris-removing agent, with no harmful impact on sound tissues due to enzyme’s specificity, acting individu-ally on the tissues that lack the a1-antitripsine plasmatic anti-protease that inhibits chemical change in healthy tissues. Papain-based gel has conjointly been reported as a possible helpful in organic chemistry excavation proce-dures for dentin.

There is a long history

of enzyme to treat sports injuries, different causes of trauma and allergies. Luckilly papain includes a verified log in managing all of those conditions with clinical proof of great ad-vantages in cases of sports injury and minor injuries cured well quicker with this enzyme protease than with placebos. Moreover, ath-lete’s utilized this enzyme as supplements to reduce the recovery time from eight days to four days. Allergies associated with hypochlo-ridria (in sufficient stom-ach acid), gut syndrome and intestinal symbiosis like gluten intolerance are overcome by papain.

Enzyme has antecedently been reported to utilize as pain killer and anti-inflam-matory potential against symptoms of acute allergic rubor like headache and tooth pain with no harmful effect. Papain is additional-ly used as hair conditioner. Leaves of Carica papaya is employed as soap substitute that is used to eradicate the dyes and color.

Papain has macromole-cule digesting and milk clot-ting, degumming natural silk, beer chill-haze removal, cleansing silks and wools before dying, Papain is also used in chewing gums, re-moving hair from hides throughout tanning, extract-ing oil from tuna liver, used in dentifrices, shampoos and face-lifting preparations or utilized in the production of rubber. Enzyme is em-ployed for pain and swelling moreover as for fluid reten-tion following trauma and surgery. Enzymes are also used as an organic process aid and for treating para-sitic worms, inflammation of the throat and diarrhea, hay fever, dengue fever and a skin condition. They’re conjointly used with typical treatments for tumors. Indi-vidually apply on the skin to infect the wounds, sores and ulcers.

Papaya is not just a fruit, off ers great health benefi ts

Pakistan has majority of urban and rural population surviving on vegetables, which is relishing food due

to nutritive value such as vitamins, proteins, Calcium, phosphorous, iron, water and mineral salts etc.

In its varying climatic conditions, the vegetables grown may vary from leafy to Cole crops, root

vegetables to bulb or tuber crops, fl ower vegetables to immature fruit vegetables etc, grown in different

parts of the country

There is increasing demand of vegetables from rural to urban areas due to domestic

consumption directly in food either in raw or cooked form. But, vegetables have variety of

uses in the preparation of pickles, chutney ketchup, soups, sauces, salads etc. except their

edible usage for cooking purposes. The vegetable cultivation in Pakistan is most probably done in

different parts of the country

Papaya offers not only the delicious taste but it has ample source of antioxidant components such as ascorbic acid, carotenes

and fl avonoids, the B complex vitamins, folic acid and pantothen, the minerals (magnesium, potassium) and fi ber. Papain present in the Papaya latex displays broad proteolytic action against the

proteins, short chain peptides, esters and amide associations and is used widely for the area of food and pharmaceutical

Dr. Muhammad Saeed

4 September 07 – 13 , 2015

LWMC starts awareness programme for clean environment

E-Khidmat Center inaugurated in Lahore

‘Business Clinic’ aiming at technopreneurs training organized

WB tender support to Pakistan to deal with Climate Change

Punjab mulls 3600 MW gas power plant

IUCN and local NGO launch project for biodiversity conservation

Renewable energy comes to TCF School

Biotechnology has tendency to provide cheaper

solutions: Speakers

TEVTA signs agreement with Ufone, UBank for students’ fi nancial aid

STAFF REPORT LHR: The environmental aware-ness programmes are impor-tant to educate societies in

order to nurture a healthy en-vironment friendly ambiance in the cities as well as in the whole country. The munici-pal authorities and the civic agencies of cities shoulder an important responsibility in this regard. Realizing the chal-lenge of environmental pol-lution, Lahore Waste Man-agement Company (LWMC) has launched awareness pro-gramme in educational insti-tutions. The objectives of this programme are to raise com-munity awareness in environ-ment perspective and reform-ing their daily life habits that

add to the pollution. Senior official from

LWMC while comment-ing on this awareness pro-gramme said, “LWMC is focused towards a holistic approach in order to clean the cities, uplift the environ-ment by involving commu-nities and apprising them about their role which is important to combat the challenge as a whole. LWMC has initially planned to target 48 institutions in next four months. The youth especially students can play practical part in campaigning by vol-unteering and bring about a positive change”. The com-pany sources informed that the awareness programmes will be comprised of lecture series, seminars, documen-taries screening, interactive animated movies based on LWMC operations to sensi-tize the important aspect of environmental conservation and breathe in fresh air.

STAFF REPORT LHR: The electronic revolution is in air in Punjab. E-Khidmat Center has been inaugurat-ed in Lahore after successful opening in Rawalpindi. The

basic concept of e-khidmat center is to provide public delivery services i.e. CNIC, driving license, domicile, to-ken tax etc.

Chief Secretary Punjab, Khizar Hayat Gondal was the chief guest on the occa-sion. He said, “The different public sector departments are involved in public ser-vices and each uses different process either electronic or manual. The citizen had to face immense inconvenience

for rushing to different of-fices for fulfillment of their requirement. This project is the real change and commit-ment to deliver masses state of the art services while en-

suring the transpar-ency”.

Dr Umar Saif, Chairman PITB said on the occa-sion, “This e-khid-mat is a project of Citizen Facilitation & Services Centers at Punjab Informa-tion Technology

Board (PITB). Not only citi-zens can find their required services under one roof but also they can track their ap-plications via tracking ID, through website fc.punjab.gov.pk/, or by calling toll free number 0800 09100”.

The customer support is available 24/7 and SMS gateways are also introduced for citizens to receive system generated SMS at any time in service flow through PITB SMS Gateways 0800 09100.

STAFF REPORT ISB: The technology, innovation and business can be merged together through entrepre-neurship which can account a lot of cheaper industrial solutions and economic growth of the country. Unit-ed Nations Industrial Devel-opment Organization (UNI-DO) organized a ‘Business Clinic’ to train Small Medi-um Enterprises (SMEs) and startup technopreneurs who qualified as semi-finalists in Cleantech competition. The Business Clinic was organ-ized in collaboration with Is-lamabad Chamber of Com-merce and Industry (ICCI).

Senior official of UNI-DO said while comment-ing on the initiative, “The competition was designed to promote clean and inno-vative technologies in order to ensure sustainable envi-ronmental friendly develop-ment. UNIDO`s Global Cleantech Innovation Pro-

gram (GCIP) is run in vari-ous countries including Pa-kistan in order to nurture sustainable entrepreneur-

ship ecosystem in Pakistan. This was the second cycle of the competition in which highest number of applica-tions came from Pakistan in clean technology”.

The representatives from UNIDO and ICCI greeted each other for organizing the event and emphatically ex-pressed that innovation and clean technology are impera-tive to revive Pakistan’s econ-omy by bolstering the entre-preneurship in this sector.

STAFF REPORT LHR: The energy shortage in Paki-stan has instilled soreness to majority of industries. The government of Punjab has decided to set up 3600 MW gas power project in the prov-ince. This was announced by Chief Minister Punjab, Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif while chairing a high level meeting in which experts and senior government offi-cials and other stakeholders were present.

The Chief Minister ap-prised during the meeting, “Punjab government`s fore-most priority is to stem en-ergy crisis and in an attempt to that gas power plants will be setup in the province and feasibility reports of three projects has been prepared in this regard”.

Chairman Punjab Power

Development Company Arif Saeed was also present on the occasion. He said that the Punjab government is

fully committed to resolve energy crisis and these new gas power projects will be a puff of fresh air in the cur-rent dismal situation of pow-er shortage.

The renewable energy in-cluding solar, coal, and bio-mass energy can also be uti-lized for power production and the current situation de-mands to use all the available resources in a smart manner so to effectively combat with the challenges.

STAFF REPORT NA-GARPARKAR: The biodi-versity has faced immense deterring due to climate change impacts and many human activities which have accounted for extinction of many flora and fauna spe-cies in the country. Vultures are at risk of extinction in Pakistan and to preserve them a national level strate-gy is required. International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and a local non-governmental organiza-tion Baanhn Beli have come forward to frame a robust strategy for conservation of vultures. Both organizations have initiated the formula-tion of the National Vulture Conservation Strategy. US-AID is the potential donor of the project.

The launching of the pro-

ject was marked in a recently held event. The participants form IUCN-Pak, Baanhn Beli, local communities were present on the occasion.

The project over the next 10 months will include a series of coordinated actions are planned to be implemented with the active participation of village communities, local resource persons, relevant officials, technical interna-tional and national experts to identify specific meas-ures at multiple levels that will conserve existing num-bers and promote their safe breeding. Consultations will

also be held with the nation-al and international experts on similar initiatives taken in South Asia and Africa.

Speakers highlighted the significance of vultures in the ecosystem and said it was high time to take serious actions for their preserva-tion as they play a key role in cleansing the landscape from dead or rotting carcass-es of animals.

STAFF REPORT KHI: The renewable energy has vast scope in Pakistan and companies working on al-

ternate energies can supple-ment the energy sector of Pakistan as whole by con-tributing to the energy mix. Reon Energy Limited, the renewable energy company of Dawood Hercules Corpo-ration (DHCL) has signed agreement with TCF School to provide uninterrupted electricity supply.

Wasi-ud-din, Techni-cal Officer at TCF School Hubco said, “The school of-fers stress free environment and with the installation of Reon’s solar panels, an-other milestone in the CSR Programme for HUBCO is

completed. The objective of installation of panels was to create free electricity avail-able to the school. Reon’s Solar system has saved us a great amount of time and resources. Teachers can now conduct sessions as per their schedule.”

Reon Energy Limited is the prominent player in the private energy sector of Pa-kistan – in total, controlling up to 1,800MW of genera-tion capacity with ventures like Hubco, Tenaga Gen-erasi Limited, Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company, En-gro Power Gen, and Laraib Energy.

It was noted that due to electricity failures and off-grid locations there was a lot of interruption in the educational and operational activities of the school due to which it was imperative to hunt a solution and installa-tion of solar panels is now providing interruption free and cost effective energy so-lution to the school.

STAFF REPORT PESHA-WAR: The experts, scien-tists, researchers sat together in a seminar recently held on ‘biotechnology’ and dis-

cussed various avenues of im-provement in this field. The speakers emphasized that there is a need to develop the biotechnology infrastructure both in academia and indus-try to facilitate the aggrava-tion of the sector in order to open up new employment ventures for the students of biotechnology.

The seminar was or-ganized by Pakistan Soci-ety of Computation Biology (PSCB); senior representa-tive of PSCB said during the seminar, “This event is in an attempt to promote bio-

technology literacy to pre-pare resource for future to develop innovative cost ef-fective solutions in different sectors including health care (medical), crop production and agriculture, non food (industrial) uses of crops and other products (e.g. biode-gradable plastics, vegetable oil, biofuels), and environ-mental uses”.

Dr Johar Ali, head of genomics at Rehman Medi-cal Institute was present on the occasion. He said while speaking to the participants, “The undergrad students of biotechnology are deeply in fret due to scarcity of job op-portunities in this field due to which an ‘out of the box’ approach should be adapted by academia and students must be provided assistance apart from academic pro-grammes and their concerns must be slashed in order to continue their studies and re-search in most apt manner”.

STAFF REPORT ISB: Technical Education and Vocational Training (TEV-

TA) is the leading technical education institute of the Punjab that has introduced several impressive programs in order to promote tech ed-ucation and has established linkages with corporate sec-tor to seek funding as well as enhance employability chances of their students. An agreement was signed recently between TEVTA, Ufone and UBank in or-

der to provide stipend to as many as 62, 000 students of TEVTA across the province.

According to the MoU, Rs. 1000/ month will be disbursed by TEVTA to students of short courses in order to provide financial assistance to the underprivi-leged and needy meritorious students.

The technical education is important as the diploma holders constitute the mid-dle tier in the industry and are assigned important tasks in which precision is re-quired at large.

The MoU was inked by Chairman TEVTA, Irfan Qaiser Sheikh, Chief Of-ficer Customer Operations Ufone, Ahmad Kamal and Operations Head of UBank Syed Umar Viqar. Ufone and UBank representatives hailed the efforts of TEVTA and offered full technical and financial support for en-deavors of the institute.

Warid att racts NBP, BAFL for

payment solutions

CIMMYT decides to setup of ‘Research Centre’ at NARC

Punjab agri department vows to mollify noxious

agri medicine sellers

Water scarcity in Pakistan voiced at World Water Week

PPL discovers gas in Hala Block

STAFF REPORT LHR: Warid, the leading telecom company of Pakistan has signed agreement with Bank Alfalah Limited (BAFL) and National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) in order to foster the financial ecosystem of the country. According to the agreement a National Eco-system for digital financial services will be developed to host National services in-cluding P2G & G2P. This will enable customers to per-form transactions through services like Mobile Paisa.

The official MoU signing ceremony was held here in Lahore in which senior offi-cials from all three organiza-tions were present. Warid`s Chief Commercial officer, Suhail Jan said on the oc-casion, “The telecom and financial sector must come together in order to provide effective ICT based solutions to the customers by making them more inclusive. Na-tional Bank has dominated the G2P market for years.

STAFF REPORT ISB: The research and develop-ment (R&D) is the amal-gamation of knowledge, innovation, and ability to improvise. The agriculture sector of Pakistan is the major economy stabilizer sector of the country hav-ing share of almost 21% in the GDP.

The R&D activities need significant boost in agri sector. The Interna-tional Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) has articulated its intention to establish a research centre at the Na-tional Agriculture Research Centre (NARC) recently during the visit of a delega-tion to Pakistan.

CIMMYT Director General, Dr Martin Kropff visited Pakistan and had important meetings with focal persons of agri sector including Minister of Na-tional Food Security and Research, Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan.

STAFF REPORT LHR: The adulteration in pesti-cides, fertilizers is the nox-ious practice that ruins the crops. This malefactor and shady area must be exposed by concerned departments in order to ensure food and agriculture security. The Punjab government depart-ment of agriculture has de-cided to take stern actions on the agriculture and pesticide business owners involved in this consumer crime.

Dr Farrukh Javed, Agri-culture Minister Punjab has issued directions to all the district coordination offic-ers and staff of Agriculture department and pesticide in-spectors to start a crackdown against the crooked business owners that are responsible for huge national loss just for monetary benefit.

The raids will be con-ducted in different cities of Punjab to identify and cur-tail the malicious elements

indulged in this malpractice. The special task forces of Ag-riculture department have been formed to conduct

raids and mollify this corrup-tion and ensure transparen-cy that will help a great deal in agriculture uplifting and increasing crop yield as huge losses were incurred earlier on due to usage of spurious fertilizers and pesticides.

Agriculture sector con-tributes 21% to the GDP of the country and this share can be increased through proper monitoring, audit-ing, and introduction of ad-vanced farming techniques, micro-financing etc.

STAFF REPORT ISB: Pakistan is expected to be-come one of the most water stressed countries of the re-

gion due to lack of water pol-icy, climate change impacts, inadequate water reservoir management facilities, and over consumption of water. These views were expressed by Arif Ahmed, Secretary, Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC) during his par-ticipation in World Water Week (WWW) organized by Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI).

Arif Ahmed said while speaking on the occasion, “The climate change is one of most surreal global chal-

lenges which poses serious threats to biodiversity, sus-tainable livelihood resourc-es, socio-economic stabil-ity, water and food security, health and many more. The global water cycle has been disturbed by climate change impacts and water harvest-ing, conservation and judi-cious application at all levels through integrated efforts can better prepare us to com-bat the water scarcity chal-lenges”. He hailed the strate-gic framework established to deliberate solution for global water challenges.

Water is the essential nat-ural commodity and there is a dire need to conserve this resource as not only human lives but most of the sectors and scientific processes are water dependent especially chemical industry. Therefore it is responsibility of every one to put serious efforts in this regard and conserve water.

STAFF REPORT KHI: Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) has announced the new discovery in Hala Block located in District Matiari of Sindh. These are mainly gas and condensate reserves.

The exploration team of PPL involved in the project said, “This is the third discov-ery in this block; during the preliminary testing of Fazl X-1 the accumulated gas flow shown 20.3 million cubic feet per day of gas and 50 bar-rels per day condensate”.

It is important to mention here that PPL is the operator of Hala block with 65% stake along with the partner Mari Petroleum.

The incumbent govern-ment has taken exclusive steps in order to bolster the petroleum sector and produc-tion in order to cut the oil im-port that adds a lot load on national exchequer. Accord-ing to Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources, so far, 173 wells have been spud, 47 discoveries, and 17 leases granted during the tenure of this government.

STAFF REPORT ISB: Pa-kistan requires support from both internal and external circles in order to fight cli-

mate change. The World Bank (WB) has tendered support for Pakistan to devel-op carbon-resilient sustain-able growth regime.

A meeting was recently held between a three mem-ber delegation of WB and the officials of Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC). The WB delegation was led by Lead Economist Muthu-kumara S Mani. The session

was highly productive in establishing joint partner-ship for combating climate change.

Secretary MoCC, Arif Ahmed Khan presided the meeting. He said while talking to the delegation, “Pakistan`s development is posed to serious climate change phenomenon and without coping it through better climate resilient strat-egies, the goal of sustain-able development can`t be achieved. The developed countries and especially glob-

al financial institutions like WB are urged by MoCC to help Pakistan build a climate resilient ecosystem”.

Muthukumara S Mani said WB will always stand by Pakistan and aid it in order to take it out from the climate change risks. He assured the release of $3.8 million to Pakistan to fight the climate change. He said, “There is a need to prioritize the policy making and mainstreaming climate change issue in order to mull for sustainable socio-economic drive and quash the associated challenges like water scarcity, health etc”.

WB offering support to Pakistan in dealing this cli-mate change issue is a puff of fresh air for MoCC as it was already lacking optimum funds to implement the cli-mate change policy.

USAID upfront to resolve Pakistan`s energy crisis

STAFF REPORT ISB: The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has engaged Arizo-na State University in US to develop a groundbreaking energy research and solution hub in Pakistan. The US-Pakistan Centers for Advanced Stud-ies in Energy and Arizona University will start joint researches and exchange information on the core issue of energy crisis and to identify the untapped po-tential to overcome the rising challenge. Two Pakistani uni-versities i.e. National Univer-sity of Science and Technol-ogy (NUST) and University of Engineering and Technol-ogy (UET) will also be focal stakeholders of the initiative.

Senator John McCain commented on the partner-ship, “This initiative is mark-ing of a new era of coopera-tion amongst both countries and US is all in glee to help

in solving the intensifying energy challenge of Pakistan by developing more reliable and sustainable cheaper en-

ergy solutions through exten-sive R&D ac-tivities”. The five year energy program was launched at the occasion in the presence of rep-resentatives of

NUST, UET and USAID.The International nongov-ernmental organizations (INGOs) are playing very effective role in pulling out Pakistan from several serious challenges including energy, climate change, water, agri-culture etc. The US-Pakistan Centers for Advanced Stud-ies in Energy were made possible by an $18 million USAID grant as part of a larger $127 million project to support Pakistan’s economic development by enhancing universities financial and technical strengths.

September 07 – 13 , 2015

ABC CERTIFIED

Brief us about yourself, professional highlights and your interests?

I started my school in Saint Mary`s, Rawalpindi and then moved to Hamza Army Public School and

College and completed matriculation and Fsc from there. I am presently enrolled in Foundation University and doing grad-uation in Media and Com-munication. Since my early age, I was passionate about business because I always relished to remain inde-pendent and was never a job oriented person at first place. All my endeavors are based on this drive to be-come an entrepreneur.What is your inspiration, how did you get idea to establish yourself as cyber entrepreneur?

The idea flashed into my mind I bought products for myself from the market I often thought that these vendors are sitting in rent-ed shops and selling prod-ucts. I started working to think in an unconvention-al way and get an idea that I can sell products online without huge investment. This is what drove me to become a cyber entrepre-neur and since then there is no looking back.

What skill set a cyber en-trepreneur must exhibit?

The cyber entrepreneur-ship is a tricky thing and

not as simple as it looks. One should have the de-sired skills such as a sharp eye on the competitors, their product ranges, the proper time and place of launching your products,

market analysis skills, con-sumer behavior etc. All these things are necessary in order to extract maxi-mum out of the business. We see many of e-com-merce sites claim big but when it comes to quality only few meet the com-mitments. Do you think the scenario is hurting the web space of Pakistan and it is diffi cult to fi lter out serious contenders?

Yes there are malicious elements as well in cyber business just as in other businesses and it hurts to serious contenders to a certain extent. The posi-tivity in any case surpasses the negativity affects and at large the survival belongs to the serious contenders and hard work pays off in the long run. So, I strive to spread what is right and try to pierce through all the challenges that come my way through sheer hard work, passion, exuberance, and acumen. How much weightage do you give to consumer behavior in cyber venture?

The consumer behav-ior is much important but your improved services can

Cyber entrepreneurship can be on its peak in Pakistan in coming

years: Muhammad Nabbi Muhammad Nabbi is a student of Media and Communication in Foundation University, Rawalpindi. He is passionate

about business and runs online venture with the name ETHNIQUE. He is a self taught 3D modeler and has expertise in Autodesk Maya soft ware. Muhammad Nabbi is a smart cyber entrepreneur who is rose to limelight in a very brief time

through his business intelligence. Technology Times was privileged to catch him up for an interview

CYBERPRENEUR

I am very optimistic about the future of online market in Pakistan as it is fl ourishing day by day

and new entrants are coming each day. If the things keep moving the way they are, I am sure that Pakistan will soon become one of the most

booming online market places. It is the start of a new era in commerce and cyber space has also empowered much of the youth by pushing

towards entrepreneurship which is really a great sign and a glimpse of illustrious future ahead

win the faith of the con-sumers. We build relation-ships with clients by getting feedbacks and the network of our consumers is ex-panding day by day. There also exist some customers who demand personalized services and expect more than the conventional means therefore I would give 7/10 rating as most of the times the patience gets well tested and we have to keep the reputation of the company in tact so it is a nerve game as well.What are your main goals and how your online work is serving towards com-munity at large?

My main goals are to be-come a leading recognized online contender in the cyber market with range of quality products and ser-vices. It doesn’t matter if I am steadily charioting my way towards my goals but what I am concerned is the quality. I believe commu-nity serving is the quality services and we didn’t com-promise on it even if we have to get little profit. The community convenience is sufficed well at our outlet and our loyal customers are the real testament of our community serving.

What makes ‘Ethnique’ distinct from other e-commerce stores?

The exclusive service that Ethnique offers and

other don`t is that we take products to our custom-ers just to check the prod-uct quality. This service is mainly absent in other on-line stores and order con-firmation is necessary in those cases to come at your door step. We prefer qual-ity over profit as we believe the stronger will be our quality, the greater profit we can fetch. So, profit-ability comes towards you once quality is not compro-mised.What are the variables that govern the dynamics of successful cyber busi-ness, in your experience?

It is not a hidden secret from the vault, it is simple as quality stands above all and if you could establish your standing in the cyber market through quality services you will become the first choice of the cus-tomer. Therefore, I vividly

believe that no compro-mise on quality is the main variable that determines the success of your online or any other business.What is checklist for young cyber entrepreneurs before practically step-ping into online business? What is the necessary homework to be done?

First of all it is impera-tive for the online business owner to identify the fis-sures in the cyber market and search for the products that are not easily available in the market and custom-ers need them. Once you finalize which products you have to cater, then an effec-tive marketing plan must be

designed to increase your online visibility. Initially, one should start it with minimum possible invest-ment to sense the dynamics and when outcomes start coming in the form of or-ders one can jump into big investment and expand the operations from a specific target group to generic cus-tomer base.Is technology knowledge mandatory for cyber entrepreneur or any other professional and layman can make mark in it?

The online marketing and search engine optimi-zation (SEO) requires tech-nology knowledge there-fore it is indeed a great advantage to be a technol-ogy savvy to start an online business. Technology will always give u an edge over competitors and its ab-sence will always be a cause of lagging behind. There-

fore, I strongly recommend young fledglings of online business to get adequate technology knowledge to better orient your online business and be a competi-tive player.

What is the role of aca-demia in cyber business?

It only gives you more customers, because the in-stitutions you are studying in can become the base of your sales because peo-ple are familiar with you in educational institutes. Apart from that academics has no role in online mar-ket. Yes, the academics play important role in equip-ping students with basic business knowledge and fa-

miliarizing them with basic techniques of commerce in general.What future do you see

of online businesses and shopping trends in Paki-stan?

I am very optimistic about the future of online market in Pakistan as it is flourishing day by day and new entrants are coming each day. If the things keep moving the way they are, I am sure that Pakistan will soon become one of the most booming online mar-ketplaces. It is the start of a new era in commerce and cyber space has also em-powered much of the youth by pushing towards entre-preneurship which is really a great sign and a glimpse of illustrious future ahead.What measures must be

taken to promote cyber entrepreneurship culture in Pakistan and where we are lacking?

Online marketing tech-niques should be made compulsory in academics. The time when only one person earned after com-pleting his degree is over. Now one teenager leads a whole business empire. There are too many pros-pects to get into. Pakistan has to eliminate the getting a job mentality. We have to strive to get the younger generation out and be fo-cused on creating their em-pires by innovating and im-plementing their own ideas thus breaking the shackles of being dependent on par-ents. The chains of depend-ency are the main lacking which Pakistan is having.What is the formulation of fi nancial assets that one must have before setting up an online startup?

First is the parents, if not then the individual should present the idea to someone who likes it this much that he accepts to fi-nance the individual.What is the role of in-novation in success of an online business?

If you are not innova-tive you will just be like the people who are born who live a typical 9 to 5 life feed

their family and die in 60 years of age. Being innova-tive make your own ideas that are the catch point in online business and fancy your success chances.How mentoring of young entrepreneurs could be done?

Parents should start trusting their children more, and give them a free rein to explore the pros-pects in world. The gov-ernment should start pin pointing the success stories so others get more involved and attracted to the idea.What are your comments about Technology Times and Tech TV?

The efforts of Technol-ogy Times are well focused and marvelous as it is pro-moting S&T and entrepre-neurial culture in Pakistan. This is the objective based venture contrary to several media outlets which are tied to ratings and keep on pro-jecting trivial issues. I wish best of luck to Technol-ogy Times and its team and would like to see it growing.

What are your suggestions for rising entrepreneurs?

The work, work, work and work again (Smartly) is the only way forward as there are no shortcuts to success. Only hard work and steady progress is lasting.