National disaster response plan launched

Islamabad: National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has launched National Disaster Response Plan (NDRP-2019) on Friday. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Engineer Ali Muhammad Khan was the Chief Guest at the launching ceremony.In his remarks Engineer Ali Muhammad Khan has said that the Prime Minister’s vision for the future was very clear. He said that present government was well cognizant of the threats and challenges posed by the Climate Change and impending disasters. He emphasized that government was heading in the right direction to ensure a safer future to its citizen. He expressed his satisfaction over the fact that NDMA had developed elaborate plans and policies covering myriad potential natural and human induced disasters. He observed that preparation of NDRP-2019 was a very good step towards building a disaster resilient Pakistan. He appreciated the efforts of NDMA and assured government’s full support towards effective implementation of relevant plans and policies all over the Country.While addressing the audience at the launching ceremony of NDRP-2019, Lieutenant General Omar Mahmood Hayat, Chairman, NDMA has said that Pakistan since inception has undergone and handled multitude of devastating disasters, as a result over the period of time Disaster Management Bodies & the System itself has gone mature by contributing enormously towards making Pakistan a disaster resilient nation. He expressed his confidence that Disaster Management Bodies of Pakistan were in the process of becoming capable and ready to handle all types of disasters at short notice with minimum losses to human life. He noted that NDMA had considerably enhanced its technical capabilities in forecasting and closely monitoring predictable hazards.Earlier, Member Operations NDMA, Brigadier Mukhtar Ahmed in his presentation briefed the audience on NDRP-2019 and highlighted the salient features of the plan. He informed the audience that the revised National Disaster Response Plan (NDRP-2019) is updated version of NDRP-2010 and it has been formulated to cope up with the changes that have evolved over the years in environment and disaster management mechanism of the country.Our correspondent adds: The Plant for Islamabad campaign will begin on April 3 under the government's 10 Billion Tree Tsunami afforestation initiative. Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Climate Change Babar Hayat Tarar told reporters here that the minimum target of planting 100,000 saplings had been set for the Plant for Islamabad campaign.He said special sapling distribution points would be established by the Islamabad administration and Capital Development Authority on that day where the people could collect saplings free of charge.Babar Hayat said the government would invest one billion dollars in the 10 Billion Tree Tsunami afforestation programme. He said the provincial governments would contribute 50 per cent funds to the initiative. The official said the federal government would provide funds for planting saplings in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, tribal districts and the Islamabad Capital Territory.He said memorandums of understanding were also being signed with the corporate sector to the Clean and Green Programme partnership. Scholarship: The Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) will announce the results of scholarship examinations 2019 for fifth and eighth grades today (Saturday).According to the FDE director (exams), a special ceremony will be held at the Islamabad Model College for Girls, F-8/1, at 10 a.m. to give away prizes to top three exam position-holders. The FDE will upload the results on its official website at 11:30am.All public and private sector educational institutions will be able to get the result gazette from the FDE examination wing between 2pm and 5pm. Under the plans, 300 fifth graders including 150 girls and boys each will get the scholarships, while the scholarships will be given away to 200 students of eighth grade, including 100 girls and boys each. The scholarships will be awarded to the top exam scorers.

from The News International - Lahore https://ift.tt/2HOup2K