Eidul Azha to be on August 12, says Fawad

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Science and Technology Chaudhry Fawad Hussain Monday said the ministry would present the Lunar Calendar before the Federal Cabinet for approval and its implementation across the country officially.

Addressing a press conference here, he said along with the calendar, the ministry would also suggest the cabinet to abolish the Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee so that technology could be utilised in the modern era for crescent sighting.

As per the calendar, Eidul Azha would fall on August 12 in Pakistan, he added. He said initially the calendar had been prepared for a period of five years as more research was taking place, which would introduce more modern techniques in coming years.

The minister, who recently returned from Iran after attending the conference of Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO), said he had also plannedto send the calendar to Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to adopt it as first-ever joint calendar of the Islamic world.

Accordingly, he said, a letter would be sent to the Foreign Office for onward submission of the calendar to the OIC as he received a good response from Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates authorities under this initiative.

Highlighting importance of switching over to science and technology-based developments, Fawad said efforts were being made to collaborate with Turkey, America, Russia and other developed countries. “Third world countries can’t progress without getting benefit of progress made in science and technology,” he said.

He hoped that cooperation between Pakistan and America would expand in the field of science and technology as a result of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s upcoming visit to America.