LAHORE: (Wednesday, August 9, 2023): A team from Institute of Botany, consisting of Dr Aneeqa Ghafoor, a young entrepreneur and recent PhD graduate, along with her supervisor Prof Dr Abdul Rehman Khan Niazi has been awarded Prestigious Prime Minister National Innovation Award in Largest Idea Pitching Competition of Round II. The award includes a cash prize of 0.5M and an additional IM for startup to establish of Indigenous Mushroom Industry in Pakistan that will ultimately contribute to the vegetable market of Pakistan. Out of staggering total of 13,000 teams that appeared in this idea pitching competition Phase-II from across Pakistan, only 251 teams were shortlisted to present their business ideas in front of a distinguished jury comprising investors, top researchers and industrialists at NUST, Islamabad. The team thanked Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Khalid Mahmood for all the encouragement and support towards research initiatives and also thanked to the Prime Minister for this initiative to support entrepreneurial culture in the youth of Pakistan.