C2 LUMS: SPADES (Society for the Promotion and Development of Engineering and Sciences) conducted science olympiad event at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) from 11th to 14th January 2017. The objective of this event is to promote the learning and under-standing of science through real world scenarios and a competi-tive environment which gets your intellect stimulated.PsiFi VIII, Pakistan’s longest last-ing Science Olympiad, attracted thousands of delegates from various educational institutions of Pakistan. It was the 8th install-ment of the science competition and exhibition.

The competition consisted of 15 events including quiz-based Tour de Mind, the Sherlockian-deduc-tion styled Diagnosis Dilemma, the medieval war nod Siege, Tech Wars, and the Macgyver-esque car race that was Gear Up. The participants from schools and universities all over the Pakistan showed their creativity and en-thusiasm.

TechJuice: Pakistan has been ranked 111 out of 118 countries in ‘Global Talent Competitiveness Index 2017’ (GTCI).Launched for the first time in 2013, the GTCI is an annual benchmarking report that meas-ures the ability of countries to compete for talent. The report ranks 118 countries according to their ability to grow, attract and retain talent. The index is intended to help countries over-come talent mismatches and be competitive in the global mar-ketplace.The theme of this year’s edi-tion of the GTCI is ‘Talent and Technology: Shaping the Future

of Work’. The study focused on how technology is affecting talent competitiveness and the nature of work, exploring both significant challenges and op-portunities, and important shifts away from traditional working approaches.Switzerland has topped the list, followed by Singapore, UK and USA. Pakistan is ranked 111, just after the Ethiopia and two posi-tions above Bangladesh. India was ranked 92nd. Region wise, Pakistan is on 7th position. With 188.9 million population and al-most $270 million GDP, a major-ity of the people belong to low-er-middle income group.

PTA: Pakistan’s first Internet Ex-change Point (PKIX) has been inaugurated at Higher Education Commission (HEC) Islamabad, under the headship of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and support of HEC as well as Internet Service Providers (ISPs). The IXP hareware is do-nated by Huawei Technologies.State Minister for Information Technology and Telecommuni-cation Anusha Rehman was the chief guest in the inauguration ceremony. Chairman HEC Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed, Chairman PTA Dr. Ismail Shah and Executive Director HEC Dr. Arshad Ali were also present on the occa-sion.

STAFF REPORT: Federal Minister for Climate Change Zahid Ha-mid stressed the importance of innovation in clean technology in mitigating harmful impacts of climate change.Pakistan’s vulnerability to the impacts of climate change has been increasing with the passage of time despite that its contribu-tion to the global warming is very much negligible. It is currently on the seventh position among the world top 10 countries vulnerable to the vagaries of climate change and global warming.Pakistan’s greenhouse gas emission is less than a percent of global emission, but still it is most vulnerable to its impacts. “In 2015, Pakistan was at the 8th position and now it is on the 7th place among top 10 countries of the world which are most vulner-

able to the climate change,” Za-hid Hamid, Minister for Climate Change, said this while presid-ing over the UNIDO’s Cleantech Awards distribution ceremony here. The awards were distrib-uted under the Global Cleantech Innovation Programme (GCIP) of UNIDO. He said this while addressing an award distribution ceremony organized by Global Cleantech Innovation Programme (GCIP) of United Nations Industrial Devel-opment Organization (UNIDO).The ceremony was attended by more than 250 high ranking officials and dignitaries, Am-bassadors, international donor agencies, Rectors and Vice Chancellors of Universities, Rep-resentatives from government in-stitutions including allied depart-ments of MoCC, representatives

from Industries, Investors, Minis-try of Industries and production, Climate Change Division, Cham-bers of Commerce and industry and private sector stakeholders and GEF cell.The minister handed over priz-es to five winners in a graceful ceremony and appreciated role of UNIDO and its partners in ar-ranging this competition to foster cleantech startups and introduce viable solutions to the current en-ergy crisis in Pakistan.He reiterated his ministry’s con-tinued support to this endeavor.During third cycle of the pro-gramme this year, the GCIP sup-ported Eighty Two SMEs and Startups in Pakistan through a comprehensive programme of extensive mentoring, training, access to investors and show-casing opportunities.

Winners received awards ranging from US$ 20,000 (National Win-ner) to US$ 15,000 (4 Runner-up Prizes), including a prize for the most promising woman-led business.As part of the package, all win-ners would receive a funded opportunity of mentorship and training during their exposure visit of Silicon Valley, USA.The Chairman of PCST Profes-sor Dr. Anwar ul Hassan Gilani highlighted the role of the PCST in supporting entrepreneurship in the country particularly in clean technologies to ensure sustain-ability of the ongoing initiatives.He also reiterated possible role of the PCST as hub of activities of National Cleantech Platform of UNIDO.At this occasion, Project Manag-er from UNIDO HQ Alois Mhlanga

highlighted the significance of in-novations in Clean Technologies and appreciated the achieve-ments of the GCIP in Pakistan.He launched National Cleantech Platform (NCTP) of Pakistan to promote clean technology inno-vations and competitiveness in the SMEs in Pakistan to deliver global environmental benefits.He shared that during last three cycles of the call for awards, GCIP Pakistan had mobilized public and private sector along with academ-ia and civil society which could play a vital role in ensuring sus-tainability of the initiative through national institutions.The NCTP would comprise of federal, provincial and regional chapters with a diverse group of members committed to promote cleantech innovations in Pakistan in their respective fields.

www.TechnologyTimes.PkJanuary 16 – 22, 2017Pages: 8 Vol: VIII No: 03

Clean technology can mitigate harmful impacts of climate change: Zahid

Working group of scientists to be formed for S&T: Ahsan

IT Exports to Raise $10 Billion by 2025: Pakistan Software Export Board

Women Safety Smart Phone Application launched in Punjab

Germany to support efforts of PAS to make Pakistan science conscious

PsiFi VII: Science Olympiad attracted delegates from educational institutions

Global Talent Competitiveness Index 2017: Pakistan ranked 111 out of 118

Pakistan’s first IXP inaugurated

CONDUCTIVE INK is an ad-vanced ink which is used to draw or print circuits on various sub-strates that can conduct electric-ity and are used in printed elec-tronics. Conductive ink printing usually uses common printing equipment i.e. a printer suitable for defining patterns on material, e.g. flexography, screen print-ing, gravure, offset lithography, and inkjet. They are the domi-nant conductive ink technolo-gies, serving a range of markets such as photovoltaics, switching membranes, electromagnetic in-terference shielding etc. Conduc-tive inks are based on the metal-lic nanoparticles which serve as a conduction medium for the electricity. Copper and silver na-noparticles or flakes and carbon nanotubes are currently being used as conductive materials in commercially available products. There are numerous companies producing conductive ink prod-ucts such as Henkel, Ink Tec, Methode Electronics, Inc., Du-Pont, Microcircuit Materials, Sun Chemicals, ID Tech Ex, Plextron-ics, Inc., Nova Centrix, etc.

Before the dawn of nanotech-nology, the most conductive ma-terials for such inks were charge transfer complexes and con-ductive polymers. The emerging nanotechnology has replaced these materials with metallic and carbon nanomaterials. The most important part of the electronic devices is their guided pathway structure for electricity con-duction by connecting various components of the device like transistor, electronic gates etc. This pathway structure is fabri-cated by depositing the metals by different methods like photo-lithography, vacuum deposition, screen printing and inkjet print-ing. In commercialization there is always a gap to develop methods to make them cheaper and quick with high quality. In electronics industry, conductive inkjet print-ing technology with the use of inks based on metal nanopar-ticles, metal-organic decom-position ink is a very attractive, direct, fast, scalable and cost ef-fective metallization technology. While none inkjet printing meth-ods have disadvantages like high curing temperatures, difficulty in achieving fine feature size and often a non-smooth surface is obtained. A major challenge in applying inkjet techniques for the deposition of functional materials

is the formulation of suitable inks. Electrical resistivity is the inverse measurement of the conductor’s performance after sintering pro-cess followed by printing. Sin-tering is a process of joining of metal particles at a temperature below the melting point of the metal so that they can conduct electricity continually. Due to the Brownian movement, the aggre-gation of metal nanoparticles in the colloidal solution (ink) before printing is overcome with addi-tion of stabilizing agent by two mechanisms, electrostatic and steric. The other hurdle is oxida-tion of metal nanoparticles which is also tackled by the stabilizing agents (ionic or non-ionic disper-sant or polymer) which reduces the oxidation rate.

Silver nanoparticles are inkjet printable, require low curing tem-perature, have close packing and fine feature size and they have higher conductivity. They are prepared with a range of man-ufacturing techniques including

chemical reduction method and evaporation-condensation etc. Copper nanoparticles are cheap-er than silver having reasonable conductivity however preventing their oxidation and stabilizing the ink limit the cost reduction. Graphene has advantages of its high performance and mechan-ical flexibility; however, there is no clear way to manufacture it cheaply at large scale.

The major applications of metal conducting inks are in photovoltaic cells, membrane switches, thin film transistors, electroluminescence devices, displays, automotive, rear view mirror defrosters, solid-state lighting, sensors, radio-frequen-cy identification (RFID) antennas and most of all printed circuit boards. RFID is the transfer of data wirelessly through electro-magnetic fields, for the purposes of automatically identifying and tracking tags attached to objects which could contain electronical-

ly stored information being used in many industries. Touch control buttons are replacing mechanical switches, in which silver inks are screen printed onto two polyes-ter film layers separated by spac-er layer, and when physically depressed, the two silver traces make a connection. Transparent conductive ink is a screen-print-able, electrically conductive ink ideal for touch-screen and other applications where fine feature printing is required. In conclu-sion, conductive inks allow en-gineers to develop smaller and powerful electronics that can be manufactured in some footprints. These inks offer a more econom-ical way to lay down modern conductive traces. The conduc-tive inks are widely used today in varied applications and have be-come a necessity of the modern electronic world.

Over the past few years, the global market has seen a sub-stantial growth due to increasing demand of conductive inks. The

US and global conductive inks market is expected to reach USD 3.9 and 4.22 billion respective-ly by 2022. As per the market analysis, different factors have created a boom in the global conductive inks market are supe-rior physical properties, growing application industries, huge de-mand from Asia-pacific regions, replacing traditional circuit and energy consuming wires and others. A similar trend in demand for conductive ink products is forecasted in Pakistan however a very few companies in Pakistan are involved in this business in-cluding Matrix Electronic, Allied Impex Corporation (Pvt) Ltd., Babri Industries (Pvt) Ltd. Cotton Art Printers and Dollar Industries Ltd etc. Therefore, it is a need of time to develop this industry in Pakistan to save a huge amount of foreign exchange in future.

The Corresponding Author is faculty mem-ber at Department of Chemistry, University

of Agriculture Faisalabad.

02 – TechnologyTimes.Pk

Conductive Inks: The Future of ElectronicsCONDUCTIVE INK is an advanced ink which is used to draw or print circuits on various substrates that can conduct electricity and are used in printed electronics.....

AgriTechEDITORIAL

Conductive Inks: The Future of Electronics

Dr. Muhammad Irfan Majeed and Allah Ditta

IN A report of Climate Asia, it is found that electricity shortage, food insecurity, and non-availability of clean water are biggest worries of the developing countries people. High inflation is adding pressure on their lives. These worries are being aggravated by increasing climate changes that result in rising temperatures, changes in rainfall patterns, and shifts in seasons. Pakistan is facing these changes over the years but public understanding on changing phenomenon is absent. Very few people heard the term “climate change”, and hardly few know what it meant. Whereas, people in Pakistan are experi-encing these changes in weather and in non-availability of: water, food, electricity, and fuel, which having high impact on their lives, lifestyles, and health. After the 18th constitutional amendment, the political milestone devolved the subjects of environment pollution and ecology to the provinces, and has made climate concerns as much a provincial matter not as a federal responsibility. While it is scientifical-ly established that climate-change is no respecter of neither national nor international boundaries. It is a global issue that threatens every corner of the world. Industrialized countries are primary responsible for greenhouse gas emissions, but the saddest fact is that the most vulnerable group against the climate change are the poorest people of developing countries, who are minimum most contributor to green-house gas emissions and have least resources or capacity to tackle it. Pakistan’s greenhouse gas emission is less than one percent of global emission, but still it is most vulnerable to its impacts. It is evident that the capacity of national, provincial and local governments in Pakistan is inadequate to fight these challenges in conventional solutions. It is needed to adopt innovative and effective approaches to address climate change. The country urgently needs a coordinated approach to tackle climate change. It is required to mainstream climate change and climate-proofing into its poverty alleviation and development strategies. Besides the government approach, the people of Pakistan are adopting resilience measures at their own. Having the feeling of misery, and with low financial resources, they are responding in one way or another to these challenges themselves; from rotating and diversifying crops, saving water and using renewable energy, to storm-proofing their houses. It is generally observed that the people are looking for learning and information sharing at community level. They look for capacity building; awareness and training; and field op-erations to mitigate the climate change effects. They need not only to develop new technologies to enable them to adapt to climate change but also to remove barriers to the utilization of present technologies. People need long-term decision making by legislators to understand the costs involved and support a coherent approach to tackling adap-tation, a reassessment of legal constraints with better communication and synchronization between different policy groups to ensure consis-tent in encountering the climate change challenges, more emphasis on the gap between research and deployment of new technologies and the requirement of monetary assistance for changing behaviour at all levels. Adaptation will take time and requires innovation in approach as well as technology but action is required immediately. There is strong need to bridge the gap between research and devel-opment, and technology employment through public encouragement of pilot trials and innovative economic mechanisms. New thinking to incorporate all significances and promote cross-sector collaboration for solutions to climate change adaptation. It is highly recommended to provide no-regret solutions, join up research policy and business, and remove barriers to accomplishment to swift adaptation. Once the people are well-versed, they can better able to cope with the shifting weather. With high levels of TV viewership and growing mobile phone use in Pakistan, there are prospects to provide people throughout the country with knowledge on coping with resource deficiencies and seasonal modifications on a much bigger scale. Communication and media can not only provide information at desperate times such as television alerts through extreme weather, but also help people hold their leaders and institutions to justify through sharing of best practices, discussion shows, for example, plays, theaters, or reality TV challenges. If these ideas could be patronized on a broader scale, it could go an extended way to aid some of regions most vulnerable communities.

Climate Change mitigation: what people need?

Executive Editor A. M. Zaidi Editor SAMZ Paras Ali

Incharge Editorial Section Sidra SaifBureau Chief Karachi Syed Ali Raza

www.technologytimes.pkE-mail: info@technologytimes.pk

HeadOffice BureauOffice Suite 5, G Floor, Khudadaad Heights, C-89, Sherton Heights, Margalla Avenue, E-11, Islamabad. Abul Hassan Isphahani Rd, Karachi. Phones: +92 336 000 75 65 Phones: +92 321 242 6088 +92 333 638 324 1 +92 333 57 55 926

Volume VIII — Issue 03No. 8444/2 (100) Press - 2009

Published by S. A. Mustafa Zaidi Paras Alifor Foundation for Comprehensive Social Development (FCSD)

Dr. M Irfan Majeed

January 16 – 22, 2017

Prof Dr Atta-ur-Rahman

03 – TechnologyTimes.PkEduTechJanuary 16 – 22, 2017

Biotechnology: A hotspot of AgricultureAsad Riaz

DEVELOPMENT OF technologies via using organisms of interest for the service of man-kind is designated with the status of

Biotechnology. Biotechnology is modernising daily life by its new inventions. Almost in every field of life, biotechnology is providing

its products. Biotechnology has its vast application in agriculture, live-stock, genetics, medicines, war industry as well as textile. Agricul-ture is the fundamental component over which life can be shaped up. It provides basic needs of life like food, shelter and clothes. Biotech-nology has crucially improved the agriculture sector. By the interven-tion of GM (genetically modified)

crops, there is a treasured increase in the nature and bulk of the crops. The production of different crops and vegetables e.g. corn, cotton, sugarcane, wheat, rice, chickpea, potato, and tomato need to im-prove via conventional and non-conventional techniques.

Biotechnology in crops: Biotechnology is gaining its

fame in daily life itinerant prod-ucts. These products subsume millets cowpea certain vegeta-bles and natural product mix-tures. Most of the workload is on the cash crops international-ly. Many genomic and molecular techniques have been developed to better understand the govern traits that have the direct effect on plant physiological and eco-

nomical values. Marker assisted selection techniques are widely used to determine the relation between the traits of the breeds that are hard to examine. Such PCR-based marker helped de-termination strategies were presented in Indonesia in 2002. In china, national research pro-grams are using the same mark-

Continuted on pg: 4

Reviving hope in higher education

PAKISTAN HAD a number of reasons to celebrate in 2016. The Unesco director general formally signed a document on November 21, 2016.....

PAKISTAN HAD a number of rea-sons to celebrate in 2016. The Unes-co director general formally signed a document on No-

vember 21, 2016, designating the International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences at the University of Karachi as its Cen-tre for Excellence and entrusting it with the responsibility of training scientists from other countries at the PhD level.

One of the centre’s important achievements was to host the country’s largest science con-ference, the 14th Eurasia confer-ence, during December 2016, in which some 750 scientists partic-ipated. These included about 150 scientists from Europe, Canada, the US, Australia, Japan and many other Asian and African countries.

Another reason to celebrate was the appearance of an in-ternational report on Pakistan’s higher education sector by Thom-son Reuters, the world’s leading company which publishes the Web of Science and international citation statistics related to re-search output. The report lauded the tremendous progress made by Pakistan’s higher education sector under the Higher Education Commission. This was primar-ily due to the quality assurance measures introduced at universi-ties by the HEC since 2003. The report compared Pakistan to Bra-zil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) and, after a careful analysis of the statistics, concluded that the rate of improvement in scientific pub-lications in Pakistan exceeded the progress made in any of the BRIC countries.

This dramatic improvement in the higher education sector was due to a number of steps taken during my tenure as chairperson of the HEC and beyond. These included the strengthening of the PhD level faculty by sending some 5,000 students abroad for

training. The liberal research fund-ing, the ranking of universities to create competition, the closure of substandard campuses, and toughening of the quality criteria for appointments and promotion of faculty also provided an impe-tus.

The steps also included the laying down of minimum criteria to open new university campus-es, facilitating the process of filing international patents, establishing a huge digital library for the provi-sion of text books and journals to all university students in the pub-lic sector. Other measures includ-ed linking all universities together through video-conferencing facil-ities, establishing an international lecturing programme at universi-ties for the live delivery of lectures from advanced countries and modernising the curricula.

The emphasis placed by the HEC on quality rather than quan-tity was applauded by a number of neutral international observers in their reports. This put to rest the criticism from certain faculty members who found the going to be tough under the newly-intro-duced quality criteria.

The resulting increase in re-search publications – from only 800 per year in 2003 to over 11,000 per year in 2016 – the increase of PhD outputs – from only 125 per year in 2002 to about 1,500 per year in 2016 – and a similar increase in citations prompted India to follow Paki-stan’s example.

In July 2006, a presentation was made to the then Indian PM about Pakistan’s progress under the HEC. This led the Indian cab-inet to decide to close down its UGC and form an organisation that was similar to the HEC – the National Commission for Higher Education and Research. How-ever, the decision remains to be approved by the Lok Sabha, the Indian parliament.

In a recent, exciting develop-

ment, the KP government has decided to establish a top-class engineering university in Haripur. The degrees in various engineer-ing fields will be given by Austri-an universities and the training will carried out be under Austri-an supervision. A consortium of four Austrian universities has been formed. I am the chairper-son of the steering committee to establish this university – which is named Pak Austrian University of Science and Technology – in Haripur. This will be a major mile-stone for Pakistan in the develop-ment of the engineering sector. It is hoped that other provinces will follow in the footsteps of the KP government and establish cam-puses of foreign universities in Pakistan.

A start has already been made in this direction by the Punjab government. I am involved in ne-gotiations with French and Italian universities to set up their cam-puses in the Lahore Knowledge Park. My efforts to establish for-eign engineering universities in collaboration with France, Italy, Austria, China, Sweden, Korea and other countries had almost led to the establishment of these campuses in Pakistan between 2007 and 2008. However, the programme was shattered by the previous PPP-led government, which had other priorities. I am pleased that I can once again play my part to resurrect that visionary programme and provide quality engineering education in Pakistan.

In spite of the progress that has been made so far, all is not rosy. From having five universities which are in the top 300-500 in-stitutes across the world in 2008, we have witnessed a decline due to the destructive efforts of the previous government. As a result, we do not have a single univer-sity which ranks among the top 700 schools of the world now. Many universities remain weak because of their disregard of the HEC’s quality criteria. The state of

schools and colleges across the country is simply appalling. With ill-qualified faculty and the lack of proper lab facilities for training, these schools adequately serve feudal interests that the country should remain either poorly ed-ucated or illiterate. An educated mass will pose a serious threat to the feudal landlords being elected into power. So our parliaments ensure that the least investment is made in education, ranking Pakistan among the bottom nine countries of the world in terms of investment in education as a per-centage of GDP.

We need to realise that the only way forward for Pakistan is to establish a strong knowledge economy. The CPEC offers an opportunity for doing that, pro-vided we have the correct vision and strategy. The CPEC needs to have a dozen high technology industrial and knowledge clusters in engineering goods, metallurgy, information & communication technologies, robotics phar-maceuticals/ biotech products, electronics, new materials, na-notechnology, defence product manufacture and high-value ag-riculture. These should be set up in collaboration with top Chinese universities and research centres and the Chinese private sector aimed at achieving exports from these industrial zones of at least $1,000 billion annually within 10

years.A 15-year tax holiday should

be given to boost manufactur-ing as was done by me in 2001 when I was Minister of Science & Technology (including IT and Telecom). The 15-year tax holiday given at that time led to the growth of the IT business from only $30 million per year in 2001 to about $3 billion per year at this stage.

Education cannot flourish in a country where corruption is at the core of government policies. The terrible situation in Sindh is high-lighted by the fact that, according to recent reports, about Rs90 billion were allocated during last eight years for the development of Larkana alone, but not even Rs1 billion appears to have been spent. The money has been pocketed and deposited abroad by dirty politi-cians whose greed is limitless.

Unless we drastically reform our justice system and introduce severe punishments for corrup-tion, we will continue to suffer and decline. The country has no op-tion but to look to the few honest and committed parliamentarians and senators and to the Supreme Court as that is the only ray for hope for Pakistan.

The writer is chairman of the UN Committee on Science, Technology & Innovation for

UNESCAP region and former federal minister for science & technology. He can be reached

at ibne_sina@hotmail.com

Reviving hope in higher educationProf Dr Atta-ur-Rahman

Biotechnology: A hotspot of AgricultureDEVELOPMENT OF technologies via using organisms of interest for the service of mankind is designated with the status of Biotechnology..... Asad Riaz

04 – TechnologyTimes.PkSciTechJanuary 16 – 22, 2017

Natural sciences key to sustainable future of PakistanIT IS always being a cognitive dissonant for being a social scientist. That is why social sciences have remained sidelined and forsaken.....

Natural sciences key to sustainable future of Pakistan

Kainat Abdul Shakoor

THE 21ST century has seen the establish-ment of global and regional strategic mi-lieu around the world. This strategic milieu persuades geo-eco-

nomic and geo-political tactical partnership among regional coun-tries. Regional connectivity is one of the most significant aspects of Pakistan’s foreign policy and Pa-kistan has been trying to develop good relations with its adjacent countries. Maintaining creditable and healthy relation with China has been an essential part of Pa-kistan’s foreign policy, as China is Pakistan’s strategic partner and helps Pakistan in maintaining bal-ance of power in the region.

The history of Pak-China re-lations can be traced back since 1950 and both countries managed their connection in a very produc-tive and articulated way. With the support of China, Pakistan has gained significant important not only in the region but the entire world. In recent years, both China and Pakistan developed a strong bond of trust and Chinese foreign policy gives a special focus to Pakistan in future endeavors of China. China-Pakistan Econom-ic Corridor (CPEC) is one of the most prominent example of that. The CPEC is a megaproject that will connect Gwadar and Xinjiang via a network of highways, rail-ways, and pipelines to transport goods, oil and gas. This econom-ic corridor will run about 30,000 KM from Gwadar to Kashgar. The investment package is estimat-ed at over $ 46 billion, compris-ing special economic zones, dry

ports, energy projects, highways, railways, telecommunications, natural gas and oil pipelines con-necting China to the Middle East and improving intelligence sharing between the two countries.

CPEC is an under-construction megaproject which will not only achieve the political and econom-ic objectives through trade and development but also strengthen the economic and trade cooper-ation between the two countries. Pakistan’s leadership illustrates the CPEC as a game changer for Pakistan and the region. On the contrary, the dividends of this project will wholly turn up grad-ually over a period of 10 to 15 years thus requires an unremit-ting determination on the part of China and Pakistan to stay firm on the course. A strict scrutiny of the performance and quality of work on different projects is need of time. Similarly, safeguards are needed against corruption, pilfer-age of material and project pay-outs. Additionally, security con-cerns have been the most critical challenge to the CPEC and both Pakistan and China have been trying to meet these. Pakistan faces several challenges in the

implementation of the project and these challenges include external and internal. Today’s biggest con-cern is the safety and security of engineers, technicians and labors working on the corridor project. Providing security to Chinese per-sonnel is today’s major challenge for Pakistan.

In April 2015, the Pakistan Army announced the establish-ment of a ‘Special Security Divi-sion’, headed by a Major General, for providing safety and security to those working on the project. De-cision makers should realize that effective action in complex and dynamic areas require both new analytical tools and new approach of collaborating between stake-holders and these tools must be adequately sophisticated to deal with convolution of the policy are-na. Geographic Information Sys-tem (GIS) meet this sophistication and intelligible requirements. The power of a GIS is its capability to graphically organize and display a series of location-based informa-tion. GIS enables strategic secu-rity and public safety by helping government agencies protect borders and critical infrastructure. GIS provides a common operat-

ing picture that is used for routine operations in mitigation, prepar-edness, response and revitaliza-tion from all kind of emergency events. GIS is a core component of situational awareness and can integrate various sensors, field activity, road closures, threats, assets, critical infrastructure, and weather to better inform emer-gency and security concerns. The under listed are some recommen-dations which may help in the use of GIS for CPEC strategic security.• There is an urgent need for

massive acquisition and in-stallation of GIS equipments in the country.

• There should be immediatetraining of security personnel who will handle GIS technol-ogy to curb terrorism in the country. Pak-China counter terrorism mechanism is also required.

• TerroristhotspotsinPakistanshould be map out by the se-curity agencies in collabora-tion with criminologists and technology experts for the purpose of constant monitor-ing using the GIS.

• Government should direct its

finances to the area of great need such as the GIS. And leaders should exhibit good moral character in their gov-ernance and eradicate cor-ruption and nepotism in the society.

• Corruption and nepotism inthe public system especially within the security outfits must be drastically tackle. Security agencies must purge them-selves of all acts of corruption and nepotism if the GIS must be successful in tackling ter-rorism and security concern.

The CPEC project will auda-ciously alter Pakistan’s geo-graphic location into an asset. The ongoing construction of the CPEC is undeniably one of the largest endeavors for so-cio-economic progress in the country and deployment of GIS technology throughout CPEC will not only enable strategic se-curity but also perfection in dis-aster management, healthcare planning, food security, water resource management, urban development, public safety, ed-ucation, and the economy for citizens of that Pakistan.

Kainat Abdul Shakoor

er assisted methods to improve the rice quality. These tech-niques are also used in produc-ing good quality fibre of cotton. Qualities are altered by marker helped choice in single exten-sive scale marker helped de-termination. Whatever is left of the genome is recognized by the routine systems for field based reproducing.

Biotechnology in GM crops: Biotechnology is the only

science that allows us to pro-duce any desired characters in crops that are present in other kingdoms. Since GM crops also have some open-ended argu-ments around the world. Two

recent incidents have been en-countered in the USA. In 2000 a GM harvest of maize was proved to be highly nutritious which the evidence for food pro-vision to the humanity was. The second case was the reflective shipment of the unapproved GM product of maize somewhere around 2001 and 2004. For more delicate screening of the GM, nourishment PCR investi-gation is consolidated. It’s the need of time to gain the sustain-able yield of wheat for the basic need of the world.

Biotechnology in crop yields: In vascular plants, starch is

the major origin of carbohy-

drates which contains glucose polymers like amylase and amy-lopectin. Plastids are the manu-facturing sites of photosynthetic polymers. The starch volume in plants foresees the crop yield, it means an amount of starch is di-rectly proportional to crop yield. Now biotechnologists are having attempts in increasing starch val-ue in a predictable way.

Biotechnology in weed resistant crops:

Glyphosate-resistant crops also renowned as GR crops are controlling weed in cer tain crops for example GR soybean, sugarbeet, maize and cotton. Many crops made to smashup the obstacles of weeds. This is one of the victories of biotech-

nology field that glyphosate addiction outcomes in weed transmit.

Crop nutrition and quality im-provement: Zinc is obligatory for good human health. Biotechnolo-gy made the bioavailability of zinc for the welfare of human health. Crops yield also enhanced by po-tassium substance.

Biotechnology in livestock: Biotechnology has revolution-

ized livestock by developing the techniques e.g. cloning, gene mapping and gender pre-selec-tion. Biotechnology is also the legacy of germplasm cryopreser-vation. Biotechnology also boost-ed the milk production by portray-ing methane production control and genomic selection in cattle.

Biotechnology is a leading technology for the production of satisfactory food supply to meet the requirements of the bur-geoning world population. It is a plateful tool to control the future food security risk as it provides the high level of nutrition and yield through the development of GMOs and livestock. As car-bohydrates are the main source of high-yielding of crops, the biotechnologists aiming the tar-get of enhancing the starch level which will ultimately strengthen the yield.

The author is scholar at Center of Agricultural Biochemistry and Biotech-

nology (CABB), University of Agriculture Faisalabad. He can be reached at

<asad.riaz76@gmail.com>

Biotechnology: A hotspot of Agriculture

To,The Governor Sindh, Mr. Mohammad ZubairDear Sir,

Since the last several months, there has been a steady stream of publicity about the Chandi Technology (an innovation of Gul Bahao) in the European me-dia especially Hungary, Britain, Germany, Holland, Italy, France, Greece etc. CNN, Voice of Amer-ica and Aljazeera have given it substantial coverage. what is more our website is being con-tinuously studied all over the world.

The Chandi Technology is a research product whose devel-opment and extension has taken 23 long years on which millions of rupees of the wealthy and educated people of Karachi has been spent. This can be as big a change maker as the mobile telephone.

What is the Chandi Technol-ogy?. Briefly, they are modular blocks and panels whose raw material is Metalized film which is in fact a by product of plastic manufacturing industries, mak-ing it the most modern form of construction material hitherto. At the same time the techniques employed may be used for any and every kind of plastic waste, making it very useful for munic-ipal waste management as well. The Chandi blocks however are absolutely clean and may be used in high quality prefabricated construction. being prefabricat-ed, modular and portable, the Chandi blocks may be used as :— Mobile factories, Mobile res-

idential colonies, Mobile of-fices, Mobile schools - all of them being solid structures. Thanks to the insulated nature of the metalized film (the raw material used in the building blocks), the entire structure

becomes cool in summer and warm in winter.

Due to the sheer strength of the columns, a single room is easily extendable four times.

The cost of manufacture and installation is unbelievably low because of the abundant availa-bility of the raw material.

Interchangeable nature. A two storied Chandi Ghar can easily be converted into a water reser-voir, a comfortable bed, sofa in no time and vice versa. Similar-ly the roof panels may easily be converted into light weight tables and chairs .

So far more than 150 struc-tures using this technology have been put up all over Pakistan in following areas:

In Disaster Affected areas such as Prefabricated Houses.

Several times at Expo Centre and as Entertainment Hall and Lecture Hall.

A Reception Hall which acts as a Rest House for patients attendants. It is being used by scores of people on a daily basis in Civil Hospital Mithi for the last three years.

A Ware House for Frontier Works Organization on the Su-per Highway housing chemical drums.

Given the immense economic potential of the Chandi Technol-ogy, it would be but natural to use it for raising the employment level to the extent of Reviving the Economy.

At this point let us remember that the west has not developed because of its natural resources but because of its inventions like the Steam Engine, Antibiotics, Electricity etc. Without having basic resources like abundant sunlight. At this stage, it is imper-ative that the government of Pa-kistan recognizes the immense

importance of this technology which can help to revolutionize the economy as well as raise its image at the international level.

Now I would request a meet-ing with you to inaugurate any or all of the following projects:

Launching of a book called Chandi Technology - Rozgar La Mehdood at the arts council

Inauguration of a Chandi Ghar outlet on superhighway near the Sabzi Mandi.

Inauguration of the Interna-tional Institute for Recycling and Research.

In addition I would like to seek your help for raising investment for the launching of this wonder-ful technology.

Waiting for an early reply,I am,

Yours Sincerely, Nargis Latif

(CEO Chandi Technology)

An open letter from Chandi GharPak NCE Contributes to Sustaining Nuclear Security

SINCE THE last several months, there has been a steady stream of publicity about the Chandi Technology (an innovation of Gul Bahao) in the.....

PAKISTANI FRONT line officers and first responders are in a better position to fight illicit trafficking in nuclear and other radioactive materials, as well ..... Nargis Latif Aabha Dixit

05 – TechnologyTimes.PkSciTechJanuary 16 – 22, 2017

Pakistan’s National Centre of Excellence Contributes to Sustaining Nuclear Security

An open letter from Chandi Ghar

Aabha Dixit, IAEA Office of Public Information and Communication

PAKISTANI FRONT line officers and first responders are in a better position to fight illicit traffick-ing in nuclear and other radioactive

materials, as well as to use ad-vanced radiation detection and monitoring equipment, thanks to training they have received at the country’s Centre of Excellence for Nuclear Security. This is just one of the benefits the country has reaped from the Centre, which is collaborating with the growing International Network for Nucle-ar Security Training and Support Centres (NSSC Network), building national capacity through training and strengthening technical and scientific support programmes.

Since the establishment of the Centre of Excellence, Pakistan has organized training courses on nuclear security for personnel from national and regional organ-izations. The Centre of Excellence also offers technical support to personnel involved in the main-tenance and upgrade of facilities, with a focus on enhancing techni-cal and scientific skills and quality control of equipment.

With an integrated capacity building programme in place, Pa-kistan can now offer its training facilities to other countries for ca-pacity building in physical protec-tion of nuclear power plants and nuclear security, said Muhammad Anwar Habib, Chairman of the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Au-thority, adding that a new Physi-cal Protection Exterior Laboratory was established in April this year.

Specific training enhances security

Pakistan has used its Centre of Excellence to promote and share best practices in nuclear security through three affiliated institutes: the Pakistan Centre of Excellence for Nuclear Security (PCENS), the National Institute of Safety and Security (NISAS), and the Paki-stan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS).

The PCENS offers training in nuclear security and response, while NISAS conducts specialized courses to provide comprehen-sive training for effective regulato-ry operations. In addition, PIEAS conducts academic courses at the master’s level in nuclear secu-rity. Academic courses in this field

will prepare the next generation of young engineers and scientists to take up nuclear security responsi-bilities, Habib said.

“Pakistan’s Centre of Excel-lence for Nuclear Security will offer cutting edge education and training in nuclear security and contribute to the work of the In-ternational Network for Nuclear Security Training and Support Centres,” he added.

What is the NSSC Network?

The NSSC (‘Nuclear Security Support Centre’) concept, devel-oped by the IAEA, is a means to strengthen the sustainability of

nuclear security in countries, and has the following objectives:1. to develop human resources

through the implementation of tailor-made training pro-grammes;

2. to establish a network of ex-perts; and

3. to offer technical support for equipment management and scientific support for prevention and detection of, and response to, nuclear security events.

The NSSC Network was estab-lished in 2012 in response to the international community’s grow-ing focus on nuclear security. It

fosters nuclear security culture and enhances coordination and collaboration among States that have established, or are interested in establishing, an NSSC.

“The NSSC Network has be-come an established community of practice for Member States and the IAEA to exchange information, identify best practices, and deepen cooperation on the development of such centres,” said Juan Carlos Lentijo, Deputy Director General and Head of the IAEA Department of Nuclear Safety and Security.

This article was featured in the IAEA Bulletin, December 2016.

PR: iFlix, an online streaming ser-vice similar to Netflix and Hulu, is now available in Pakistan at a price of 300 Pakistani Rupees per month. Users can enjoy first month free without providing any credit/debit card information.iFlix is a Malaysian based Netflix competitor. It boasts a good li-brary consisting of both Western and Eastern content. According to iFlix, it works on a Spotify model of business, which means that the content on iFlix is available univer-sally to all users.Upon taking the first look, there are a number of titles on iFlix which are not currently available on Netflix. There also seems to be more local content on iFlix as compared to Netflix.

HEC: Minister for Planning, De-velopment and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal emphasized upon forming of a working group consisting of top scientists to advise gov-ernment to foster development of science and technology in the country.The minister expressed these views while addressing Round Table Conference (RTC) on ‘Pro-moting Scientific Education and Research in Pakistan’ held in Is-lamabad.The RTC was also attended by Chairman Higher Education Commission (HEC) Dr Mukhtar Ahmed, scientists, academia and officials.The conference aims to promote science and technology research which includes improving edu-cation and research system to

increase country’s competence.Ahsan Iqbal reiterated that knowl-edge and technology were pivot-al to advancement of our human civilization.The participants of the confer-ence highlighted various options to promote science education and research in the country.They emphasized to revise the science curriculum, science teacher’s training, developing computer and science labs in primary and high schools, con-ducting science fairs and com-petitions for students.Ahsan Iqbal apprised the con-ference about other government efforts which include nation-al curriculum reforms, teacher transformational training initia-tives for bringing radical changes in the education sector.

LAHORE: The Punjab government has launched “Women Safety Smart Phone Application” as part of its efforts to prevent and com-bat harassment of women.The App was was launched by the Chief Minister’s Special Mon-itoring Unit in collaboration with the Punjab Safe Cities Authority and the Punjab Commission on the Status of Women in Lahore, today.The Chief Guest of the launch ceremony was Ms. Zakia Shah Nawaz, the Minister Population Welfare who formally launched

the App. The launch was attend-ed by the Senior Member, Special Monitoring Unit-Mr. Salman Sufi, the Managing Director Punjab Safe Cities Authority-Mr. Ali Amer, the Ombudsperson Punjab-Ms. Farkhanda Wasim Afzal, Chair-person Punjab Commission on the Status of Women-Ms. Fauzia Viqar and Mr. Raghib Naeemi.The Minister Population Welfare congratulated SMU, PSCA and PCSW for working together to eliminate harassment of wom-en through the launch of a us-er-friendly Smart Phone App.

07 – TechnologyTimes.PkTechWire

Women Safety Smart Phone Application launched in Punjab

iFlix is now available in Pakistan

Working group of scientists to be formed for S&T: Ahsan

January 16 – 22, 2017

AppIdea Contest

Jan 04, 2017

AppDev Contest

June 05, 2017

Prize Distribution

Oct 26, 2017

17 Topics — 10 Countries

One Challenge

Transforming ICT based innovative ‘Ideas-to-Reality’

for achieving SDGs

info@appidea2r.com

www.appidea2r.comSYED ALI: 0333-6383241 SHOZIB: 0300-9849845

07 – TechnologyTimes.PkTechWireJanuary 16 – 22, 2017

C2 PNEC: The 28th Convocation of Pakistan Navy Engineering Col-lege (PNEC) was held at Bahria Auditorium. Mr. Rana Tanveer Hussain, Minister for Science and Technology was the Chief Guest at the occasion. On arrival, the Chief Guest was received by Rector NUST Lt General (Retd) Naweed Zaman and Commander Karachi Rear Admiral Farrokh Ahmad.361 graduates were awarded de-grees at the convocation out of which 80 received Masters De-grees whereas 281 received de-grees in the discipline of Bachelors of Engineering and Management Information Systems. To acknowl-edge the outstanding academic performance of students in their respective disciplines, 39 medals were also awarded to the position holders which included 20 Presi-dent Gold Medals, 06 Chief of the Naval Staff Gold Medals, 07 Chan-cellors’ Silver Medals and 06 Rec-tor Gold Medals.While addressing the ceremony, Rana Tanveer Hussain congratulat-ed the graduating students for hav-ing successfully completed their professional studies. He appreciat-ed the role of PNEC in continuously producing quality engineers for the country as well as navies of 14 other brotherly countries. He further said that the efforts of naval educational institutes in grooming their students academi-cally, professionally, morally, intel-lectually and physically are lauda-ble.He also commended the role of NUST in promoting engineering education and said that it is suc-cessfully achieving it mission of becoming a research-led universi-ty with a focus on technology, in-novation and community service. He added that the government is also focusing on development of technology and promotion of re-search culture in the country. Ear-lier in his welcome address, Rear Admiral Dr. Nassar Ikram, Com-mandant PNEC apprised the audi-ence that 33 PNEC graduates have been selected for employment and have already been sent to China for professional development and training. He highlighted with hon-our that QS World University rank-ing has placed NUST in top 100 world universities.NUST has been ranked number one university in HEC standing of 2015 and is also among the top

20 universities in Asia according to BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) ranking.

C2 IIU: A four member delegation of academicians from Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) visited Interna-tional Islamic University.The delegation was headed by for-mer KSA Minister, Ali Bin Ibrahim Al-Namla who is a professor of Information and Library Sciences at Imam Muhammad Ibn e Saud University, Riyadh. He was ac-companied by professors, head of departments and faculty members of various universities of the King-dom which included Dr. Ali Bin Ab-dulah Al-Ataibi, Dr. Abdurrehman bin Jameel Qsas and Dr. Saleh Bin Abdullah Al-Ghamdi.

In the meeting, both sides agreed to have detailed sessions on needs of Muslim world and higher educa-tion. The delegation was received by the Rector IIUI Dr. Masoom Yasinzai and President Dr. Ahmed Yousif Al-Draiwesh along with Vic-es Presidents, Deans, DG and Di-rectors. They were given a detailed briefing about IIUI through a docu-mentary, while various relevant of-ficials shed light on the disciplines and aspects being covered by the university.Lauding the IIUI role, Dr. Ali said that university has been achieving the goals with a meaningful pace

and its atmosphere of contem-porary education with a blend of Islamic teachings was a much needed step which he said all uni-versities of Muslim world should follow.He said the visit was to have an in-troduction about the university and cooperation will soon start bilater-ally. Dr. Masoom said on the oc-casion that IIUI’s collaboration with KSA educational institutions were found really positive and support of varsity’s Pro Chancellor Dr. Su-laiman Abdullah Aba Al-Khail was a great source of development of the university. He hailed KSA gov-ernment for taking meaningful steps for improvement in educa-tional standards.Dr. Al-Draiweesh earlier welcomed the guests and apprised them about the role of university, its achievements and its future plans. He also told the delegation about university’s linkages to the various universities across the globe.

Role of Pakistan Navy, NUST in promoting education laudable: Tanveer

Saudi education delegation visits International Islamic University

PSEB: Pakistan Software Export Board has recently projected Country’s Information Technology exports to boost from $2.8 Billion to $5 Billion by 2020 and to $10 Billion by 2025.Managing Director PSEB Asim Shahryar Hussain briefed the Na-tional Assembly Standing Com-mittee stating that IT Exports had mounted up a whopping $2.84 Billion by 2017 and would mount further to $5 Billion by 2020. The Exports through Freelancers were said to be $200 Million for the year while IT export were projected at $661 Million for the year 2017.The Committee Member aston-ished, questioned the way such target was to be achieved but Official had no answers. What fascinated even more was that the projected export was far away from the trends. During the last 20

years it had just accounted $2.8 Billion and here was Pakistan Software Export Board Managing Director claiming it to double up in the next 4 years!The Committee headed by Captain Muhammad Safdar commenced on Tuesday. The committee ex-pressed exasperation over the IT export being less than par. The officials confirmed that Pakistan was far behind in the IT exports from the neighboring countries, excusing Pakistan’s negative Rep-utation as the cause of it.

HEC: Federal Minister for Plan-ning, Development and Reform Ahsan Iqbal on Thursday said that Pakistan has great potential to become a developed nation by 2025. “We need more focus on our system of education”, the Minister said this while address-ing to “Vice Chancellor’s Com-mittee Meeting” organized by the HEC.He urged vice chancellors of public universities to help High-er Education in devising higher education Vision 2025 to cater socio-economic needs of the country.The meeting stressed upon pro-moting science and technology research through US-Pakistan Knowledge Corridor,which in-cludes improving education and research system for consistent performance. Federal Minister

observed that all developing and developed countries are focusing on scientific education.He said that developed nations in the world have made use of the great opportunities inherent in the system of higher education and ushered in the required paradigm shift to build the knowledge capi-tal and pave the way for real de-velopment.

TechJuice: Inbox Consulting and MIV Digital have joined hands to introduce SparkCognition’s IIoT practices like Machine Prognos-tics and Data Analysis in Pakistan.SparkCognition is successfully building and deploying a cogni-tive, data-driven analytics plat-form for clouds, devices and

the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). IIoT is the use of Internet of Things (IoT) in the manufac-turing sector.The cutting-edge IIoT practic-es and technologies will be de-ployed in manufacturing, energy and aviation sector of Pakistan. These practices will use analytics

within a sensor-based ecosys-tem for optimization of machin-ery and preemptive maintenance cycles for minimal downtime. The proactive analytics will help save millions of dollars spent in the repair of machinery.Inbox and MIV Digital will also establish a team to help Inbox customers in financial services, telecom, retail and other sec-tors to give insights about their business. Mir Nasir CEO of Inbox Consulting remarked,“Our customers all want analytics but we will make sure they get in-sights instead of spending all their time managing data. We will also make sure our large customers running industrial machinery save millions of dollars using the most precise, proactive and intelligent IIoT solutions available”.The agreement covers training, sales support, customer enable-ment and onboarding in Pakistan. The intelligent machines will have a positive impact on the produc-tivity, efficiency and operations of industries in Pakistan.

PAS: Pakistan Academy of Sciences resolve for conduct of responsible science in Pakistan, says Prof. Zabta Shinwari, Secre-tary General, Pakistan Academy of Sciences. Pakistan Academy of Scienc-es (PAS), Islamabad organized a joint AvHand PAS Meeting of the AvH Fellows of Pakistan to discuss the “Contributions of Pa-kistani AvH Alumni to Pakistan’s S&T”. The event was graced by The Ambassador of F.R Germa-

ny H.E Mrs. Ina Lepel as Chief Guest. Many renowned scientists from Pakistan who are serving at distinguished posts and hold the honour of AvH and DAAD Fellows were present and shared their views and experiences with the young audience.AvH fellows described that how every year the AvH foundation grants more than 700 compet-itive research fellowships and awards worldwide, primarily go-ing to academics from natural

sciences and the humanities.Fellowships and awards from the Foundation are considered to be among the most prestigious and generous awards in Germany; the alumni network is the foun-dation’s greatest asset.In Pakistan there are more than 100 AvH alumni contributing significantly towards Science & Technology. The Ambassador AvH alumni Pakistan encouraged the young scientists as well as the AvH alumni to explore the grant oppor-tunities provided by the foundation for Pakistani nationals.

GOOGLE: Google Director South-east Asia Ann Lavin discussed the possibilities of a role Google could play in promoting eCommerce in Pakistan with Finance Minister Ish-aq Dar.Google Director of Public Policy and Government Relations for South-east Asia and Greater China Ann Lavin met Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in Islamabad on Thursday. Lavin acknowledged the economic progress Pakistan has made in the past years and that her company could help in digitalization of the economy and IT development.She also claimed that Google’s collaboration in promoting e-com-merce would also help attract in-vestments in Pakistan.Defence Minister said that the Gov-ernment of Pakistan works on pro-viding a level playing field to all the potential local and foreign investors.

Dar asked her to submit her plans and strategy for implementation of proposals so that it could be con-sidered by relevant stakeholders.Talking about Pakistan being a po-tential economy in the world, Dar said that Pakistan has been project-ed by many foreign institutions as the second best place for invest-ment in the world. With Pakistan’s improved energy and security situ-ation, macroeconomic stability and conducive environment for invest-ment many new investors have also shown a keen interest to invest in IT sector of Pakistan.Google has collaborated and invest-ed in many technology projects of Pakistan in past, like tech incubator Nest I/O, Startup Summit 2016 and more.Many Google representatives and Finance officials of Pakistan attend-ed the meeting.

ZONG: Pakistan’s largest 4G ser-vice provider held its annual busi-ness conference at Islamabad. The management expressed strong optimism stating that the company is ready to take on new challeng-es as confidence soars high with the company’s exceptional per-formance in 2016 coupled with unprecedented achievements in company’s history. Zong’s top management reaffirmed their re-solve to continue and consolidate the gains and achievements of the last year in 2017.

NADRA: Mastercard, a lead-ing technology company in the global payments industry has announced a strategic collabora-tion with NADRA technologies to optimise National ID cards with electronic payments facility.Pakistani citizens will be able to use their national identity cards (CNICs) to carry out financial transactions and receive govern-ment disbursements. This was announced at World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2017 tak-ing place between January 17 and 20 in Davos, Switzerland.The citizens would also be able to

use their CNICs to send and re-ceive domestic and international remittances. This would eliminate the requirement to physically visit a bank branch or currency ex-change house to meet their mon-ey transfer needs.Under the terms of the agreement, Mastercard would also use its next-generation payment process-ing technologies to process all on-line payments made by Pakistani citizens for the issuance of Nation-al ID cards, passports or any other document provisioned by National Data and Registration Authority (NADRA) technologies.

08 – TechnologyTimes.PkTechWire

Inbox technologies to offer top notch Industrial IoT in Pakistan

Google interested in IT and eCommerce Industry in Pakistan

Zong to invest $200 million in 4G sites

NADRA to collaborate Mastercard for e-payment

Pak will become developed nation by 2025: Ahsan

IT Exports to Raise $10 Billion by 2025: Pakistan Software Export Board

Germany to support efforts of PAS to make Pakistan science conscious

January 16 – 22, 2017