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Budget 2018-19:

Government allocated

funds for textile schemes

Rs.1500 million has been allotted by the government and Rs.700 million for establishing an expo center
to the Public Sector Development Programme in Peshawar.
(PSDP) 2018-19 for the progress of exports, to
develop and promote the fashion industry and to Rs. 280.437 million has been allocated to the textile
attract the foreign and local investment in the sector. sector for two ongoing and two new schemes. For
the establishment of one thousand industrial
In Karachi for the establishment of a sub-campus stitching units and Faisalabad garment city training
and in Lahore for the student provisions, faculty projects, the government intends to spend Rs.154
hostel and transport facilities Pakistan Institute of million and Rs.18 million respectively, while on the
Fashion and Design have been allocated Rs.100 contrary Rs.58 million will be spent on
million each. Rs.500 million has been designated to standardization system of the production of high AD
Karachi expo center for renovation and expansion quality clean cotton.

Research on Cotton in the Space Station

The Sustainable Cotton Initiative

Twenty-five million metric tons of cotton is grown worldwide each year and each kilogram requires thousands
of litres of water to produce. A competition was organized by US non-profit Centre for the Advancement of
Science in Space (CASIS) to focus on the environmental and cotton impact.

Award winning projects by Gilroy and Christopher Saski were based on the research to increase sustainability
by generation of cotton with roots that collect water more efficiently and regeneration of cotton plant tissue in
micro and normal gravity environments, respectively.

Gilroy’s research is based on cotton variety that has roots with drought resistance stems using soil and water
efficiently. The research will help understand the plants growth, stress response and root behavior in the
absence of gravity.

Another innovative approach by Christopher Saski, will be a biological revolution in terms of genetic
regeneration of plant species critical to global agricultural sustainability by examining genes, DNA patterns and
gnomes sequences of embryogenic callus material that responds differently under micro and normal gravity.

April/May 2018 April/May 2018