The licence of PSQCA Control Centre (QCC), Lahore, expired in July 2019. Photo courtesy PSQCA website
ISLAMABAD: Seven out of nine labs and technical offices of the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) do not have valid operating licences.
Details posted on the website of the Pakistan National Accreditation Council (PNAC) show that the Food Testing Laboratory PSQCA in Karachi and the Technical Services Centre (TSC)-PSQCA in Lahore enjoy validity of their licences up to May 2022 and November 2021, respectively.
The licence of PSQCA Control Centre (QCC), Lahore, expired in July 2019. The operating licences of Sugar Testing Lab, Quality Control Centre, Karachi; Water Testing Lab, PSQCA, Karachi; Oil & Fat Testing Lab, Quality Control Centre PSQCA, Karachi; Microbiological Laboratory PSQCA, Karachi; and the Building Material Testing Lab, PSQCA, Karachi, expired in July 2020. The operating licence of PSQCA Standards Development Centre (SDC)-Conformity Assessm
Pakistan Council for Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) on Thursday identified 22 brands of bottled water as unsafe for human consumption. AFP/File
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Council for Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) on Thursday identified 22 brands of bottled water as unsafe for human consumption.
The government, through the Ministry of Science and Technology has assigned the task to the PCRWR for quarterly monitoring of bottled or mineral water brands and publicising the results in the best interest of public health.
For the last quarter from April to June, 180 samples of mineral or bottled water brands were collected from Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Sargodha, Sialkot, Sahiwal, Bahawalpur, D.G. Khan, Mianwali, Karachi, Tandojam, Badin, Quetta, Loralai, Peshawar, Abbottabad, Muzaffarabad and Gilgit. Comparison of test results with permissible limits of Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) revealed that 22 brands were not safe for drink
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Cabinet mulls case of mis-declared import
Private company misreports import of two units of truck mounted cranes
ISLAMABAD:
A private company has mis-declared import of two units of old and used double cabin truck mounted cranes, a case that has now landed in the federal cabinet.
The Ministry of Commerce has sought one-time permission for post-shipment inspection of two units of truck mounted cranes that were imported for wind generation project in relaxation of the Import Policy Order (IPO) 2020.
However, during discussion, cabinet members pointed out that reasons for not conducting pre-shipment inspection had not been mentioned in the summary and questioned how the cranes were declared as “temporary import” in terms of Para 13 of IPO, 2020, which was restricted to construction, oil exploration and mining companies while Tricorn Wind Power (Pvt) Ltd was registered as an electric power generation company.
THIS refers to the report ‘Punjab-Sindh dispute over water deepens’ (June 13). The water crisis in Sindh, though seemingly political, has once again reminded the stark realities about the water issues the country has been facing since long, which may shortly transform to catastrophic situation if not addressed urgently and effectively.
The availability and quality of water, or lack of it, in Pakistan has various dimensions. The per capita water availability has been decreasing rapidly in recent years, having reached currently an alarming level of 908 cubic meters that is even below the water scarcity level of 1,000 cubic meters, or 1,000,000 litres.
This means Pakistan is already a water-scarce country. Only 35 per cent of the population has access to clean drinking water. Sadly, water accessibility has been declining persistently, in particular since 2005 on a year-on-year basis. The situation is compounded as the available drinking water is unsafe, specifically in urban and