ISLAMABAD, Oct 25 (APP): The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notices to Barrick Gold Corporation (BGC), Balochistan government, Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL), Pakistan Petroleum Company and others on the presidential reference regarding Reko Diq.

A five-member larger bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Aijazul Ahsan, Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Yahya Afridi heard the presidential reference.

President Arif Alvi, on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, had filed a reference in the Supreme Court to get validation for the new Reko Diq project deal under Article 186 of the Constitution.

During the course of proceedings, Additional Attorney General Chaudhary Amir Rehman appeared on behalf of the federal government and said that the Balochistan government entered into the Chagai Hill Joint Venture Agreement in 1993 while the Tethyan Copper Company invested $240 million in 2000.

He said that a constitutional petition was filed in the Balochistan High Court against the gold mining agreement in 2006, which was dismissed. The Supreme Court declared the Chagai Hill joint venture illegal in 2013, he added.

He said that Tethyan Copper Company approached the international courts against the Supreme Court’s decision and international courts had imposed 9 billion dollars fine on Pakistan. Under the proposed agreement, the Government of Pakistan would get 25% share and Barrick Gold Company would get 50% share, he added.

Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail asked what share Balochistan government would get from Rekodiq agreement. He asked why Barrick Gold Company was getting 50% share. He asked who actually owned Rekodiq?

The Additional Attorney General said that the Balochistan government was getting 25 percent share while the federal government was paying them. 104 billion dollars profit would come from Rekodiq agreement, Federation and Government of Balochistan would get 62% profit from Rekodiq agreement, he added.

He said that Tethyan Copper Company needed solid assurance for such a huge investment, if the court did not allow, Pakistan would have to pay 9 billion dollars.

Justice Ijaz asked from where the government of Pakistan would pay 9 billion dollars. On which the Additional Attorney General said that Pakistan was already saving the Roosevelt Hotel situated in New York in the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) case. If 9 billion dollars had to be paid, no foreign investment would be possible in Pakistan, he added.

Subsequently, the court also issued a notice to the Pakistan Bar Council for assistance and postponed the hearing of the matter till November 1.

ISLAMABAD, Oct 25 (APP): Over 400,000 children under the age of five would receive anti-polio drops during the week-long drive commenced on the other day, deputy commissioner, Islamabad Irfan Nawaz Memon said on Tuesday.

“Multiple teams are deployed at toll plazas, bus stands, hospitals, schools, parks and other areas so that no child would be missed during the immunization campaign,” he told APP, adding that all-out efforts would be made to achieve the set target.

Similarly, teams were visiting door-to-door to administer anti-polio drops to the children. The performance of teams were being monitored on daily basis to make the campaign successful.

“If a child miss vaccine during first day it was marked and kept on priority for the very next day,” he elaborated.

The additional deputy commissioner and assistant commissioners, he said were paying visits to high risk areas to guide the field staff to ensure coverage of refusal cases on priority.

He said the assistant commissioners were tasked to inspect the performance of polio workers and effective coordination with health teams participating in the drive in their respective jurisdictions.

He appealed to parents to cooperate with the teams in administering drops to their children for their healthy life and for making Pakistan a polio-free country.

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 25 (APP): Women in the field of Nuclear Science and Technology were honoured during a special session ‘Women in Nuclear (WiN) Pakistan’ on the second day of three-day conference ‘Applications of Nuclear Techniques for Sustainable Socioeconomic Development’, being held here.

The session, organized by the Pakistan Nuclear Society (PNS) on Tuesday, aimed at empowering the women scientists in the field of nuclear science and technology by celebrating their achievements.

Addressing the event, the chief guest, Ex-Director of CTC Naseem Bhatti lauded the role of women in the field of nuclear science and technology saying that the field had a lot of opportunities for women which needed to be explored, especially by the future generations.

She said that the field of nuclear science and technology was once considered a no go area for women, “but now a lot of women are exploring this field due to the vast exposure.”

Earlier in her welcome address, Dr Ismat Fatima from Pakistan Nuclear Society highlighted the role of WIN forum, saying “Women in Nuclear Global (WiN Global) is a global non-profit organization of women working professionally in various fields of nuclear energy and radiation applications.”

She said that WiN currently had around 35,000 members including chapter members and individuals from 129 countries.

Talking about WiN Pakistan, Dr Fatima said, “WiN Pakistan has great potential to contribute in the field of nuclear science and inspire women to join and contribute in this field.”

She was of the view that formation of the formal executive body through election was required to make the forum more effective in the future.

During the session, DCS/Head Electronic Division PINSTECH, Nazneen Kosar gave a presentation on ‘Instrumentation in Nuclear Power Plant’, while DCS/Head Chemistry Division PINSTECH, Dr Naila Siddique talked about the Nuclear Chemistry in her address.

Dr Ayesha Ammar from NORI Hospital talked about nuclear medicine. PS, LINAC Project, Dr Sumaira Javed briefed the participants about applications of LINAC while PS PINSTECH, Samreen Shehzadi spoke about agriculture and biotechnology.