HYDERABAD,(March 20 2004): Sindh Abadgar Board president Majeed Nizamani has taken exception to statement made by the chief of the Rice Export Association of Pakistan chief in Mumbai that Pakistan would be without rice unless the association was permitted to import rice from India.

In a statement faxed to Dawn on Friday, he said the statement of the delegation chief, Raheem Jano, was disturbing for the growers. Mr Nizamani referred to the statement of Sindh and Balochistan Rice Millers and Traders Association chairman who had clearly stated that more than 7.5 lakh tons of rice was surplus in Pakistan and available for export anytime.

He said the import of Indian rice would damage the local market. He said Mr Jano wanted to reap windfall profit for the REAP by arranging cheap and highly subsidised rice from India.

He appealed to the federal government to act through the ministry of commerce and the Export Promotion Bureau to prevent the REAP from importing Indian rice at the cost of local producers as it will also hamper the production of rice in the country.

PHD: Dr Abdul Latif Qureshi has been awarded a Ph.D degree in Hydraulics and Irrigation Engineering by the Mehran University of Engineering and Technology.

Dr Qureshi has developed a computer-based model for prediction of sediment concentration in alluvial channels. The model can also determine aggradations and degradation in distributaries/minors due to entry of sediment from main canals. His thesis has been evaluated by the Delft University, Netherlands, also. He is the fourth Ph.D scholar of the MUET.

MUTA: The chairman, Election Commission, Mehran University Teachers' Association, Professor Shahnawaz Chandio, on Thursday announced results of elections of the teachers association.

Dr Aftab Ahmed Memon and Inam Bhatti were elected unopposed as the president and vice-president, respectively. Ashfaq Ahmed Issani, Tasleem Sultana Chandio, Sultan Ali Memon and Abdul Qayoom Lakhyar were elected general secretary, joint secretary, treasurer and social secretary, respectively.

JUP: Senior vice president, Jamiat Ulema-e- Pakistan and MMA leader Sahibzada Abdul Khair Muhammad Zubair MNA, has said that the government had miserably failed on the internal as well as external fronts, and it had neither any policy for the welfare of the people, nor was it in a position to get rid of American pressure. In a statement issued here on Thursday, he said all the policies framed were under IMF and World Bank dictates.

The DAWN