KARACHI - Federal Minister for Science and Technology Chaudhry Fawad Hussain on Saturday said the scientific committee, formed recently by the government to resolve the moon-sighting controversy, was preparing a `mobile application’ for moon sighting.
Now the people would also be able to sight the moon from their `mobile application’, he said, adding not a single qualified cleric had voiced against him for setting up of the scientific committee.
He was talking to newsmen here at the Dr Panjwani Centre for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research (PCMD), University of Karachi (UoK). Prime Minister’s Task Force on Technology Driven Knowledge Economy Chairman Prof Dr Atta-ur-Rahman was also present on the occasion.
The minister said the calendar to indicate the exact dates of Islamic festivals, including Ramazan, Eidul Fitr, Eidul Azha and Muharram, would be finalised by the 15th of Ramazan.
He said Pakistan had superiority in the field of `space science’ among the Muslim countries. In 1962, Pakistan became the second country in the world after Russia by sending its rocket into space.
He pointed out that formation of science and technology based economy, and the governance were two important challenges for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government. It focused not only on the establishment of Technology Driven Knowledge Economy but also on strengthening of large science and research institutions in the country.
Talking about the current political development, Fawad said Prime Minister Imran Khan was the only national leader in the country. It was the phenomenal fact which required the opposition parties to wait patiently for five years until the PTI government ended its tenure.
The leaders of the opposition parties must stop fake crying on the economic crisis as they had disfigured the national economy while in government, he added.
As regards the issue of dual nationality, he said dual nationals were national assets and the criticism against a cabinet member having dual nationality was worthless.
Talking about his ministry, Fawad said various development projects were being initiated at the national level, which included `provision of fresh water’ and establishment of 15,000 new schools, where science would be promoted on priority.
The government would also fund `workable projects’ of any citizen whose age was below 40, he added.
Earlier, Ch Fawad Hussain and Prof Dr Atta-ur-Rahman chaired the meeting of Task Force on Technology Driven Knowledge Economy held at the Dr Panjwani Centre. Dr Atta-ur-Rehman made a detailed presentation on transformation towards technology driven economy in the meeting.
The meeting was attended by many national experts and scholars, including Prof Dr Muhammad Iqbal Choudhary, Director, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, Captain (retd) Nasim Nawaz, Secretary, Ministry of Science and Technology Syed Yawar Ali, Prof Dr Naveed A Malik, Former Rector, Virtual University of Pakistan, and others.