LSF holds Qiraat and Naat Competition

LAHORE – Hafiza Habiba Yasmin, Qari Zikria Khalid and Qari Abdus Salam Azizi on Monday won the Lahore Shopping Festival (LSF) Qiraat Competition jointly organised by the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and Qudratullah & Company.
Yasmin stood first among the women participants while Khalid and Azizi bagged top positions in the non-professional and professional categories respectively. Hafiza Shahnaz Akhtar, Hafiza Tahira Bilquees, Qari Hassan Raza, Qari Mushtaq Ahmed Awan, Qari Riaz and Qari Zubair Aslam secured the second and third positions respectively in all categories. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Member of the National Assembly (MNA) Hamza Shahbaz Sharif was the chief guest at the Qiraat Competition while LCCI President Shahzad Ali Malik presided over the function.
PML-N MNA Pervaiz Malik, LCCI Senior Vice-President Sheikh Arshad and Vice-President Sohail Azhar also spoke on the occasion. Hafiz Ajwad Obaid of the Jamia Ashrafia and Hafiz Raghib Naeemi were the chief judges of the competition. Speaking on the occasion, Hamza paid rich tributes to the office-bearers of the LCCI for making the Qiraat Competition a part of the LSF and urged them to make it an annual event. The PML-N MNA agreed with LCCI’s proposal for establishment of a state-of-the art Vocation Training Institute in Lahore and promised to allocate land for the said Vocational Training Institute so that the shortage of skilled manpower could be overcome. He said that today, the country is facing multiple internal and external challenges and citizens should fulfil their respective responsibilities to cope with these challenges.
“If we are really sincere and serious about getting out of the present economic logjam, we will have to chalk-out an elaborate action plan aimed at reducing our dependence on external assistance and learn to rely on available resources, even sacrificing some of the comforts in the process to achieve our long-term goal of progress and prosperity,” the Punjab CM’s son said.
He said that it was very unfortunate that the country was facing an energy crisis despite the fact that the value of our coal reserves is around $30 trillion that is 187 times more than the GDP of Pakistan. Hamza said that the worth of our coal reserves is higher than the combined oil reserves of Saudi Arabia and Iran. Only two percent of Pakistani coal reserves could generate 20,000MW electricity for almost 50 years, he said. The PML-N MNA said that despite this never ending wealth, citizens and industry are facing the worst power crisis.
LCCI President Shahzad Ali Malik said that the LSF has been designed to promote economic activities in Punjab. He said that at the three-day Expo Punjab, around 175 renowned business groups are showcasing their products. On sidelines of the exhibition, an investment conference will also be held at the Lahore Expo Centre Auditorium where leading economic experts will highlight the potential of Punjab. In the photography exhibition and competition to be held on April 5, around 200 photographers will take part highlighting the tourism potential of Lahore and also showing modern Lahore to the world.