Tevta pass-outs short listed
for job in UAE
LAHORE (Staff Reporter): 150 TEVTA pass-outs in electrician trade have successfully been short listed for job in UAE by Mercury Mena Company. A skill based interview session for TEVTA pass-outs was organized by TEVTA Foreign Placement Cell with the collaboration of UAE based company Mercury Mena headed by Faisal Bajwa. 300 TEVTA pass-outs were interviewed on the basis of International Skill Assessment criteria at TEVTA Secretariat. Chairperson TEVTA Irfan Qaiser Shaikh congratulated the shortlisted TEVTA graduates. He said that these graduates were shortlisted for the first batch and rest will be adjusted in the second and subsequent batches after fulfilling the skills assessment criteria as desired by UAE based company.

He further highlighted that these shortlisted candidates will initially be given a contract of 2 years. This contract, by the company, will also cover free transportation, boarding, lodging and health care facilities in UAE. General Manager Operations Hamid Ghani Anjum, General Manager Academics Engr. Azhar Iqbal Shad, TEVTA Consultant for Foreign Placement Amer Hasan, Director Human Resource Yasmeen Mehrunisa and other officers were also present on this occasion.

PBIT participates in investment forum in China
LAHORE (Staff Reporter):  Punjab Board of Investment & Trade (PBIT) Chairman Abdul Basit and Chief Executive Officer Ilyas Ghauri participated in the Investment Forum 2015 at Suzhou China to showcase the investment opportunities in Punjab. This forum was organized in cooperation of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Habib Bank Limited. The objective of the forum was to form industrial park for the exclusive purpose of attracting Chinese companies to setup industries in Pakistan that would manufacture products for both export and domestic market. It aimed to promote partnerships between Chinese and Pakistani companies.


For Pakistan these industrial parks will help in promoting economic development, attract foreign investment, modernize the industrial base and result in transfer of technology.
Representatives from ministries of planning & development, textiles, trade and commerce, port & shipping along with businessmen from cement, steel, home appliances and textile industry and officials from Federal Board of Investment also participated and presented at the forum. President ICBC, President HBL Pakistan, Chairman Ruyi Group and members of National Development and Reform Commission, China were also present at the occasion.

SECP okays transfers, promotions

islamabad(Staff Reporter): In its routine course of effecting reshuffle of jobs the SECP in its meeting held under the chairmanship of Zafar Hijazi approved some transfers and promotions as well as reassigning of responsibilities of commissioners and senior officers. Zafar Abdullah, the commissioner who was looking after the Securities Market Division has now been given the portfolio of Specialised Companies Division. Akif Saeed the commissioner in-charge of Specialised Companies Division has been given the portfolio of Securities Market Division and some other departments. The commission also promoted M Siddique and Ms. Musarat as Executive Directors from the exiting position of Director, Muhammad Siddique will continue in his present department.

, Corporatisation & Compliance Department and Ms Musarat Jabeen will serve as executive director securities Market Division. Muhammad Asif Jalal Bhatti has been given the portfolio of Policy Regulation & Development Department, Specialised Companies Division, as Executive Director/ Registrar Modaraba.
Imran Iqbal Panjwani the Executive director has been given the portfolio of Corporate Supervision Department, Company Law Division. Aamir Khan the Executive director has been placed in the Chairman Secretariat as Executive Director.
Chairman SECP hoped that these changes would further streamline and improve the working of these Departments.

JICA sends 5 energy experts
to Pakistan
LAHORE (Staff Reporter): Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), on request of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA), has sent five energy experts from Japan to implement a joint Energy Efficiency and Management Project (EEP) in Pakistan. The Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) comprising SMEDA and JICA members met here Wednesday with Alamgir Chaudhry, CEO SMEDA in chair to review work plan of the project. Takayama Morihito, project leader, and Ashfaq Ahmed, DGM SMEDA, presented the work plan of the project in the 1st meeting of JCC, whereas, members of JCC including Ms Yuko Enami, representative, JICA Pakistan Office were apprised about the key components of the project on this occasion.
Ms Yuko Enami, Representative, JICA Pakistan Office, while expressing her views on this occasion appreciated SMEDA for active involvement in the project.
CEO SMEDA Alamgir Chaudhry, while addressing the JCC, conveyed his gratitude to JICA for initiating this important activity on request of SMEDA. He also underlined the critical situation as regard of energy crises in Pakistan and its adverse affects for SMEs sectors. He said Pakistan is facing acute energy shortage, which is the greatest challenge of the time. He observed that energy outages were seriously hampering industrial production and economic growth. Continuous power outages and the high electricity price thus were posing significant challenges for the industry and the economic growth of the country. Power supply is ¾of demand in the country and this gap is widening rapidly with the passage of time forcing the industrial sector to breakdown their manufacturing operations, he said, adding that gas and electricity tariffs had increased at a rate of 10 to 15% per annum during past few years. He told that government was trying hard to cover this gap through power generation projects, which is, in fact, a long process. However, the gap can also be minimized by quick actions of demand side management and eliminating inefficiencies in energy usage by identifying prevailing inefficiencies in energy usage, he added.






Call to strengthen provincial seed production systems
ISLAMABAD (INP): The month-long Wheat Travelling Seminar (WTS) 2015, after the travel of almost 8,000 kilometers through over 40 districts of the country concluded here on Wednesday, proposing several measures for the development of agriculture sector with special focus on strengthening provincial seed production systems. The WTS jointly organised by PARC and CIMMYT in collaboration with other national partners started in Karachi on March 6 and traveled through various wheat-growing areas of over forty districts of all the four provinces, providing an opportunity to both the scientist community as well as the farmers to interact with each other and work for the promotion of agriculture field.
The concluding session of the seminar was held at the University of Agriculture Peshawar which was chaired by Vice Chancellor of the varsity, Dr. Zahoor A Swati while among others, the participants included Member PARC Plant Sciences, Dr Shahid Masood, Country Representative International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Dr Imtiaz, and National Wheat Coordinator Dr Attiq-ur-Rehman Rattu.
Federal and provincial government high officials, head of Agriculture research institutions, representative of international development agencies, eminent national and international agricultural experts and wheat scientists also attended the conference.
Several recommendations were presented by the scientists who have been part of the seminar, aiming at development of wheat crop. The scientists recommended strengthening of provincial seed production system and revival of Sindh Seed Corporation.

The scientists suggested development of appropriate production technology for rice belt of Punjab and also highlighted the importance of capacity building of farmers to maintain their own seed.