LDA completes 2.1km-long link road

[Salman]

LAHORE (PR): Lahore Development Authority has completed construction of 2.1 kilometers long link road from LOS Ferozepur Road to Multan Road at a cost of Rs4.35 billion and has opened it for traffic.
It was the first ever road in the provincial metropolis which had been constructed by covering 40 to 60 feet wide Cantt Drain in the area.
This dual carriage way was 11 meters wide on each side and comprised of three lanes for flow of traffic on either side. Initially more than 70 thousand vehicles will be benefitted by this project and this number will substantially increase in coming days.
Parking facility and foot paths had also been constructed on both sides of this road besides construction of a de-silting chamber for the drain. LDA staff had to face a number of challenges due to the complexity of this project, especially for shifting of utility services.

Peek Freans Rio carnival
KARACHI (PR): Peek Freans RIO, Pakistan’s leading cream biscuit brand, organized a fun carnival for children at a local amusement park, which sought to promote learning with entertainment among children. Held as a celebration for the winners of a recent competition that the Brand had held, the event included several activities which encouraged the participating children and their parents to have fun while exercising their physical and cognitive skills and building group interaction.
Well-known and popular artist Khaled Anam conducted the main part of the event and regaled the young audience with his stories, songs, humour and quick quizzes, all with a high level of interactivity. Upon arrival the children were greeted by a Tall Man and entertained by jugglers, while a face-painting stand also drew a rush. In between the various activities, sessions were held to give away the prizes to the competition winners. At the end the audience was treated to a magic show and refreshments, following which the children were given tickets to enjoy various rides at the amusement park.
Speaking on the occasion, Zulfiqar Ali Ansari, Head of Marketing at English Biscuit Manufacturers (Pvt.) Ltd. (EBM), the makers of Peek Freans RIO, stated, “When you think of Peek Freans RIO, you think of the fun-filled and flavourful experience it provides, especially for children, as they are the main target consumers of this product. We at EBM strongly believe that an essential part of growing up is to have an active lifestyle, and our event is aimed to bring home this message in a fun way.”
The competition run earlier by the brand required people to text unique codes printed on Peek Freans RIO packs to a designated number, followed by sharing their details. The audience was engaged throughout the length of the activity with interactive activities such as playing quizzes, sharing jokes, stories, etc. The campaign resulted in really successful engagement and more than 400,000 entries were generated. Over one hundred winners were then selected through a carefully fashioned metric ensuring a fair distribution of prizes. Prizes such as X-boxes, play stations, bicycles, toys, stationery sets and branded gift hampers were given.
Peek Freans RIO, launched in 1995, has taken the market by storm and become the number one selling cream biscuit brand within the entire biscuit industry. From a single flavor, the brand has grown to include several unique variants including Strawberry Vanilla, Chocolate Vanilla and Chocolate, which are loved by children across the country.

Pharma Bureau organises conference
KARACHI: The relevance of ethics to pharmaceuticals and healthcare is even more paramount. It is our responsibility to ensure that we operate with the highest levels of ethics and integrity in everything that we do, as our treatments directly touch the lives of patients and with this comes greater responsibility.
This was stated by Arshad Saeed Hussain, Chairman Pharma Bureau, at a conference here in Karachi. The conference, “Ethics and the Future of Healthcare”, was organized by the Pharma Bureau, a representative body of the research based multinational pharmaceutical companies in Pakistan with an aim to highlight importance of integrity, the role of ethics in the industry and the industry- physician relationship.
Senator Haseeb Khan said that it is our collective responsibility to make aware, educate and equip the patients and physicians in Pakistan with the right information, the right diagnosis and the right therapies and treatments.
“Being a member of standing committee for health care regulation, I have always stressed over having a Health Care and Drug Regulatory Authority (HCDRA) instead of only Drug Regulatory Authority (DRA) with a limited scope”, added Hasseb Khan. Speaking on the issue of counterfeits he said, ‘not long ago we have had major catastrophes where we lost a number of human lives to the hands of substandard medicines Whether it is the cardiac patients suffering in PIC, Lahore or the cough syrup that claimed the lives of so many people, these are real challenges and they are a direct result of non-compliance and failure to follow ethics in this industry’.
‘The public and private sector needs to work together to ensure that we benefit the patients in Pakistan, follow all ethical, moral and legal obligations and above all, keep the interest of the patient our top priority,’ he added.
The importance of such a seminar is timely as wide spread availability of counterfeit medicines, rising incidence of improper diagnosis, quackery, non GMP compliant methods, have taken its toll and has taken too many precious lives in the recent past. ‘Regulatory challenges in the pharmaceutical sector have emerged over time due to underresourcing of regulatory institutions and weak accountability mechanisms,’ said Dr. Sania Nishtar of Heartfile in her keynote address.
‘These systemic constraints need to be addressed as a priority in order to achieve the goal of access to quality medicines; notwithstanding, we also need disruptive solutions, which have potential to spread a contagion of ethical behavior in the entire pharmaceutical value chain,’ she added.
‘Mass serialization of medicines with a concomitant drive to create stakeholder awareness offers such a disruptive solution,’ Dr. Sania said while strongly urging the industry to rally behind such a solution, which with the help of civil society and media engagement can be truly a game changer.
‘Integrity is the bedrock of the relationship between the private sector and the regulator. We must uphold that principle as a mechanism of safeguarding intended outcomes in the pharmaceutical sector, both from the access to medicines perspective as well as the commercial angle,’ she added.
Ayse Burcu Acarer of Novo Nordisk, Turkey also gave a presentation on the role of ethics and the future of the pharma industry which was followed by a very interesting interactive session involving participation of the audience.
Leading health care professionals and industry leaders such as Dr. Tipu Sultan, Dr. Shaheen Sheikh, Dr. Ahson Qavi and Dr. Abdul Bari spoke at the conference.
All participants agreed that compliance in the health spectrum involved going beyond laws and regulations, establishing new approaches to stakeholder interactions and of building new relationships built on trust and shared values. They also reiterated that the future for business practices should be primarily driven by values.

TDAP inks MoU in Vietnam
KARACHI (PR): The third meeting of Joint Trade Commission between Pakistan and Vietnam was held in Hanoi at the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam the other day. The Pakistan side was led by Muhammad Shahzad Arbab, Secretary Commerce. The Vietnam delegation was headed by Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, Do ThangHai.
The two sides reviewed the entire gamut of economic relations, identified obstacles and impediments to trade and set forth lines of actions to further develop and promote trade relations between the two countries.
A memorandum of understanding on cooperation for trade promotion between the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade) and Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) was signed on this occasion. The signing took place at the Ministry of Industry and Trade in Hanoi. Ms Rabiya Javeri Agha, Secretary TDAP and Bui Huy Son, Director General Vietrade signed the MoU. It was agreed that the next Round of Joint Trade Commission would be held in Islamabad on mutually convenient dates in 2016.