2,32,000 poor people to be given assistance in Balochistan under BISP
Chairperson Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) met separately Balochistan Governor Muhammad Khan Achakzai and Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch in Quetta on Monday.
She briefed the two leaders on BISP's projects to give relief to deserving poor people.
She said that two hundred and thirty-two thousand poor people would be given assistance under Benazir Income Support Programme in Balochistan.
Radio Pakistan
Rs600m released for Medical College Bahawalnagar
The Punjab government has released six hundred million rupees for the establishment of a medical college in Bahawalnagar.
In an interview Commissioner Bahawalpur Division, Saqib Zafar said two hundred million rupees would be released to complete construction work of the Bahawal Victoria Hospital’s kidney transplant and dialysis unit in Bahawalpur.
He further stated that the provincial working development party has also approved the release of one hundred million rupees for the completion of cardiology and cardiac surgery block at the BVH and the funds would be spent on the purchase of machinery.
Radio Pakistan
Punjab to set up LNG power plant at Sheikhupura
The Punjab government has decided to set up 1000 MW Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) power plant near Sheikhupura.
Chairing a meeting in Lahore, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said the federal cabinet has approved setting up of LNG-based power projects at three different places in Punjab. These plants will generate a total of 3600 megawatt electricity.
Shahbaz Sharif said the Prime Minister will soon inaugurate 100-MW power project at Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park, Bahawalpur, which has been completed in a record period of six months.
Radio Pakistan
Rs 8 bln allocated for development projects in Attock
State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab Ahmad has said that Punjab government has allocated more than eight billion rupees for different development projects in district.
He said this during his visit to under construction 2.6 km long road from Session Chowk to Polytechnic College Attock.
He said the 34 percent construction work of the above road has been completed and its remaining work will be completed soon.
Radio Pakistan
Govt to set up satellite stations of forensic labs in Punjab: Shahbaz
The Punjab government has decided to set up satellite stations of forensic laboratories in nine divisions to curb crimes.
The decision to this effect was taken at a high level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif in Lahore on Friday.
During the meeting which he was briefed in the project of the establishment of the criminal justice education and research development institute.
He said that the utilization of modern and sophisticated technology plays an important role in providing justice to the victims.
The Chief Minister said establishment of this institute has tremendous importance in the context of the current prevailing situation in the country and it would go a long way in uprooting crimes and terrorism.
Radio Pakistan
E-Learn program: Schools in Punjab to have tablets for replacing books
54 thousands schools in Punjab will be equipped with SIM based tablets and smart devices in order to replace dozens of books and heavy schools bags.
In order to elevate the level of education in the province and as a part of Punjab government’s efforts to digitize the schools and education system, under E-Learn program, it has decided to upgrade the learning process by adopting the model which is in practice in other developed countries.
In the first phase of E-Learn that is scheduled to be completed in the existing financial year, 20,000 schools will be provided with latest tablets with digitized content inside them.
Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) while acting as the technology partner in the E-Learn program has converted the curriculum of grade 6 to grade 10 into digital format.
A PITB official while highlighting the cost effectiveness of the E-Learn project told More Magazine, “This is highly innovative initiative of government of Punjab in which least number of resources were used in order to save cost of millions”.
Under the supervision of able professionals, the entire digitization of text books took place within the premises of PITB.
According to details, the only cost PITB incurred was the acquisition of computer machines for rendering the graphical tasks.
The Program Manager at PITB, Kashif Farooq explained that, “in association with education department the team at PITB literally had to re-write all the curriculum and in the process we were able to find out and rectify over 15000 errors in the text books”.
Although, the mistakes have been corrected in the digital format but these will be reflected in respective print editions in the coming year.
The entire data will reside on a central server that will serve as central repository from where students and teachers will be able to access or download their desired content on their devices.
For giving the offline access to this digital content, Punjab government is also providing the same to the schools where it created computer labs. Some 4,280 labs were created in the province back in 2009 having 16 terminal in each facility.
In order to deal with new challenges, PITB has trained some 50,000 teachers across the province who will be provided with special tablets integrated with a built-in projector for communicating with entire class more efficiently.
This tablet will be able to create a display of 50 inches on wall or any other surface with the help of projector from a distance of 6 feet.
For distributing this huge number of tablets, government is yet to bring on board an able vendor that could provide a customized solution.
According to reports, Punjab government is in talks with several vendors and tablet manufacturers in this regard for making the tablets that are water proof as well as jerk resistant so they don’t get damaged easily during the use.
It is interesting to note that after digitization of curriculum, several private schools have also started on the foot steps of the government. School chains like City Schools, LACAS and Beacon House have also started to offer smart teaching techniques using the tablet technology.
“Few private schools have also adopted the same model but they are doing it on smaller scale. Few of them have signed MoU with us for providing them the digitized content that we have already created”, Farooq highlighted further.
The E-Learn project was conceived after the success of Laptop Distribution project among the students that Punjab Government has been running for last 3 years. When PML(N) government came into power, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced a country wide laptop distribution scheme in September 2013 that was also followed by a similar schemein KPK later.
Punjab government has also planned to award tablets to classes above grade 10 in a later phase.
E-Learn program: Schools in Punjab to have tablets for replacing books - More Magazine
Punjab to build new city in Salt Range
LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has approved building a new city and a special economic zone in Salt Range near the Motorway.
The decision was taken in a high-level meeting chaired by the chief minister on Monday. Addressing the meeting, Shahbaz said the proposed project will prove to be a milestone in promotion of industrial, job opportunities, economic and trade activities in the province.
He directed for immediate steps be taken for practical implementation of the project, adding that services of prominent international consultants should be acquired and necessary work be initiated immediately.
Planning & Development chairman, Provincial Minister for Industry Chaudhary Muhammad Shafiq, and Minister for Housing Tanvir Aslam Malik, among other officers, were present at the meeting.
Construction work on Attock-Mianwali bridge begins
The construction of Attock-Mianwali bridge has been started at a cost of one billion rupees.
Member National Assembly of PML-N Malik Aetbar Khan said after the completion of this bridge a new era of development will start in this region.
He said at present to reach Mianwali, the residents of Attock district specially those belonging to tehsil Jand have to cover a distance of 227 km to reach Mianwali. After the completion of this bridge this distance will be reduced to just 63 km.
At present only train service is available between Attock and Mianwali.
Radio Pakistan
Irrigation Project in FATA