–Fazlur Rehman nothing but a pawn for Zardari and Nawaz, says Fawad
–Country’s import reduced to $12 billion from $19 billion while remittances and exports continue to increase, federal minister claims
LAHORE: Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry on Sunday sought an apology from the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee for the incorrect declaration of Safar 1 as the moon has been sighted a day earlier.
“Pictures have been released, in which the moon can be easily seen on Gwadar and Pasni,” he said.
Talking to the media, Chaudhry said that the formulated Lunar calendar (Islamic Calendar) was also not followed on the occasion of eid in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) either while an apology was later made by the religious body.
The federal minister questioned why and how eyesight glasses were used by those who considered moonsighting with the help of telescope as un-Islamic while adding that “education was imperative for moving forward in the right direction”.
He said that those having wisdom can understand but a certain section of the society could not be convinced.
Recently, the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee announced that the moon for the month of Safar was not sighted on Sunday (September 29), meaning the first of Safar would be Tuesday (October 1).
However, according to pakmoonsighting.pk there was ample evidence of moonsighting on the day.
Further, Chaudhry revealed that work on five big projects was underway, especially mentioning that a biotechnology park, which would be one of the biggest in South Asia, was being established in Jhelum in addition to a herbal medicine park which would be spread over two acres of land.
He further said a decision has been made to set up a battery research group comprising a consortium of industry, universities and foreign countries. “The research centre would work on the country’s own batteries as there is a possibility that poles and wires would be replaced with batteries in the coming years,” he added.
He said, unfortunately, the water table in Islamabad and Lahore was receding rapidly but the government was conscious of the issue and working on solutions. He said that the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) and Capital Development Authority (CDA) had been offered to begin water recharge schemes so that rainwater could be used for water refilling so that a solution is already in place once the problem starts affecting citizens.
He said that waste to energy schemes would be introduced to help generate gas with the help of waste.
He said the ministry was also considering to convert some 1,500 public schools onto stem schools by introducing science, technology, engineering and mathematics in 6th, 7th and 8th classes under the stem concept.
The minister said that he had requested the prime minister (PM) to lift the ban on drones in the agriculture sector.
At present, Chaudhry said, the best thing in the country’s economy was that the country’s import had reduced to $12 billion from $19 billion while remittances and exports were increasing.
He eulogised the PM’s speech in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and said that the premier had made the world aware of the consequences linked to the Kashmir issue.
He said that many Hurriyat leaders, including Srinagar Mayor Junaid Azim Mattu, were in jails and Modi did not even have councillor level political support in Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK).
Maintaining that Pakistan had repeatedly promoted peace even though the Modi government was stubborn, the federal minister urged the UN secretary general to take practical steps for resolving the Kashmir issue.
Speaking about the country’s global image and progress in tourism and economy, some political quarters were looking to create unrest for personal gains. “Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman just wants to create chaos in the country through Azadi March. Maulana is being used as a plea bargain chip by the opposition, he is simply playing the role of a pawn in the game of chess being played by Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari,” he said.
“Britain’s Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton will arrive in the country soon. It will definitely help in projecting a positive image of the country,” he concluded.
