Crop survey in flood-hit parts
MULTAN (APP): Provincial Parliamentary Secretary on Agriculture Ijaz Ahmad Noon ordered EDOs agriculture of flood-hit districts to complete a survey of crop area early to ensure in time payment of compensation to farmers.He ordered officials to aware farmers in flood-affected areas where water was receding on how to protect their crops and orchards in post-flood situation. Rana Ijaz Noon said a crop damage assessment report be prepared in a transparent manner and in addition to cotton, the report should also carry detailed information regarding damage caused to paddy and sugar cane crops, says a release issued by media liaison unit of Punjab agriculture department on Wednesday.
Agriculture extension officials were directed to monitor surveying teams to bring transparency in preparation of crop damage assessment report and subsequent payment of compensation to farmers.
He said separate reports regarding partial and complete damage to crops be prepared.
A survey process should be completed speedily and teams should move into areas immediately after water start receding.
He said that those found negligent would face punishment as per law.
Noon said the Punjab government was taking concrete steps to compensate the losses of flood-affected communities as per instructions of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and stressed that agriculture department must play its due role honestly and with dedication to achieve the objective.
He said that he himself would monitor the whole process and officials found to be negligent would face the music.
Pak mangoes in Japanese island
ISLAMABAD (APP): Pakistani mangoes have made their way to Japan's Honshu region, giving the Japanese locals a new exciting reason to shop for the King of Fruits. Honshu is the largest and most populous island of Japan. The AEON, one of the leading retail giants of Japan, is showcasing Pakistani mangoes bringing quality and affordability for its customers in Japan. The AEON, being the pioneer retail chain store in Japan, has increased its import of mangoes from Pakistan and continue to work with Global Gap Certified companies of Pakistan meeting the international food standards. "We are trying to expand our sales remarkably this year by advertising the most prominent characteristic of Pakistani mango - sweetness," Mr Wakamoto of AEON said.
He said AEON was planning to sell mangoes till the middle of September.
Besides Japanese customers, Pakistani nationals, residing in Japan, have long desired for easy availability of their country's most prized fruit.
PM briefed on Pak-Belarus coop
ISLAMABAD (Staff Reporter): Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif chaired a meeting to review Pakistan’s cooperation with Belarus in areas of trade, investment, agriculture and defence production in the context of his upcoming visit to Belarus. Minister for Trade and Commerce Khurram Dastgir, Minister for Defence Production Rana Tanvir Hussain, Minister for National Food Security Sikandar Hayat Bosan, Chairman Board of Investment Mifta Ismail and SAPM Tariq Fatimi briefed the Prime Minister in their respective areas. The PM was informed that during the visit of President of Belarus to Pakistan various MoUs were signed in the public and private sectors. Chairman BOI briefed the PM about the details of agreements/MoUs expected to be signed during the visit to Belarus.
The PM directed to follow the progress on cooperation between the two countries and also directed the ministries and concerned departments to remain in contact with their counterparts.
Sufficient sugar stock in country
LAHORE (Staff Reporter): Chairman Pakistan Sugar Mills Association Punjab Zone Javed Kayani has said that there are sufficient stocks of sugar available in the country and there is no possibility of shortage of sugar. While commenting on whether mills have curtailed supply of sugar to increase the price, he said it is just a baseless allegation against sugar industry. Contrary to these accusations mills are keeping huge stocks of sugar and there is no sale of sugar for the last one month. In such a situation blaming sugar mills for planning to create artificial shortage of sugar is neither justified nor truthful.He said allegations of cartel have proven wrong in past as well. Price is driven according to demand and supply and there is no manipulation on our part.
SECP promoting microinsurance
ISLAMABAD (Staff Reporter): The SECP is taking vigorous steps for the promotion of microinsurance market to enhance the insurance penetration and financial inclusion. It is being done in the wake of Microinsurance Rules that were issued to promote the microinsurance market in Pakistan. The SECP is encouraging all insurance companies to include micro insurance business in their annual business plans. In this regard, a few steps which SECP is considering taking are to have lower capital requirements for dedicated micro insurance companies or to reduce solvency requirements relating to micro insurance business. Another step to promote micro insurance is encouraging insurance companies to invest in necessary technological infrastructure.
For this purpose, the SECP may relax the requirements relating to admissibility of investment in technological infrastructure for the purpose of solvency.
It may be added here that serious efforts for micro insurance at the national level only picked up in the last decade with the advent of microfinance institutions (MFIs) and a mushrooming growth of NGOs. However, there is still tremendous scope for growth in this area.