Thari people come to Karachi to protest government’s ‘apathy’

A large number of residents of Tharparkar and Umerkot districts arrived in Karachi on Sunday to register their protest against what they said the apathy of the provincial government and local parliamentarians towards their problems.

The Bheel Intellectual Forum, an independent group working for the rights of the people belonging to the scheduled caste, had organised the protest march that started at the Mazar-e-Quaid and ended at the Karachi Press Club. Hundreds of people from the Thar region participated in the march, a majority of whom belonged to the Hindu community’s scheduled caste. Some of the protesters were also clad in the traditional Thari costumes.

The march was led by community leaders Lala Bheel, Lajpat Bheel, Hemraj Bheel, and Dilpat Singh who addressed the marchers at the end of the procession. A number of leaders of various political and community organisations, including the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum and the Qaumi Awami Tehreek, joined the protest to express solidarity with the marchers.

The speakers said the government had failed to mitigate the miseries of the drought-hit Tharis for the past many years where severe drought conditions had caused deaths of thousands of infants and pregnant women.

They also criticised Prime Minister Imran Khan, saying that his visit to the desert region proved to be of no use for the Tharis as he failed to announce any relief package for the drought-hit people of Tharparkar.

Explaining various issues being faced by the Tharis, the speakers called on the government to provide facilities in the desert region. They said Thar had been witnessing a rise in the number of deaths by suicides and the most worrying trend was that of joint suicides. “Poverty, unemployment, and marginalisation are the main reasons behind the rise in suicides but it is unfortunate that the governments are not interested in resolving the issues,” said a speaker.

The speakers also complained that various bodies, especially the Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC), were not honouring their commitment to provide jobs to the people of Thar. “Because of it, there is severe resentment and despair among the local youth,” he said.

They also said that dozens of people were killed due to lightning in November. “This was a big calamity for the poor people, they have neither been properly rehabilitated nor compensation paid,” said another speaker. He said the government should pay immediate attention to the matter and urgently pay the due compensation.

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Province-wide drive against vehicle tax defaulters starts today

The Sindh Excise and Taxation Department is starting a province-wide campaign against vehicle tax defaulters from today (Monday).

The department has constituted teams to carry out the drive. The decision was taken in a meeting which was chaired by the Minister of Excise and Taxation & Narcotics Control and Parliamentary Affairs, Mukesh Kumar Chawla. The meeting was attended by Secretary Excise and Taxation & Narcotics Control Abdul Haleem Sheikh, Director General Excise and Taxation & Narcotics Control Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui and other officers.

Siddiqui said a massive public awareness campaign had been launched through media to inform people that vehicle tax should be deposited in time. During the campaign, he said, teams would confiscate vehicles of tax defaulters and they would only be returned after payment of motorists pay vehicle tax.

Addressing the meeting, Chawla said it is mandatory for people to get vehicles registered on their names immediately after purchase or transfer of vehicles. If a vehicle was used in a crime, he said, the person on whose name the vehicle was registered would involved in the legal proceedings.

To make it payment of vehicle tax convenient for people, the mister said, there were 15 branches of the National Bank of Pakistan which were collecting tax. “The details of these branches are posted on the department's website and published in newspapers as well,” he added.

In a press statement meeting, Siddiqui mentioned the names of the bank branches. They are Awami Markaz, Clifton, Site Area, Nazimabad, Shahbaz Building Hyderabad, Millat Road, Korangi Industrial Area, M.A. Jinnah, Dinsu Hall, Fatima Road Jinnah Road Hyderabad, DHA, PIDC, I.I Chandigarh Road, Gulshan and High Court area.

In case of any problem, people might contact, the Karachi director at 021-99203671, the Mirpur Khas director at 0233-9290211, the Sukkur director at 071-9310202, the Karachi deputy director admin at 021-99201410, the Hyderabad director at 022-9200148, the Shaheed Benazirabad director at 0244-9370178 and the Larkana director at 074-9410751, according to the statement. Chawla directed the relevant officials to behave politely with the motorists. However, he also ordered them to strictly implement the law.

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CM Syed Murad Ali Shah for waging war on polio after a horrible year in Sindh

After kicking off the year’s final campaign to inoculate children against polio on Monday, Sindh’s chief minister hoped that during the five-day drive, which was launched after a six-month break, efforts would be made to vaccinate all the 9,087,234 under-fives in the province.CM Syed Murad Ali Shah was talking to the media after inaugurating the immunisation campaign with administering oral polio vaccine (OPV) to children at the Jannat Gul Hospital in Gadap Town. He was accompanied by Information Minister Saeed Ghani.Shah said he chairs a meeting before the start of every polio drive. “My efforts had borne fruit, as we had only two cases of polio last year, but this year has become quite horrible for us with the emergence of 16 cases in Sindh.”He said that new cases have emerged because of the influx from Afghanistan, Peshawar and Balochistan, but “I won’t make it into an excuse. Every child who comes to Sindh is our child, and we have to take care of them”.The CM said that proper inquiries have been conducted to trace each and every polio case, its causes and its origin. “The inquiries have revealed that most of the cases have surfaced in Gadap and their reason is travelling,” he said. That is why the government decided to start the drive here, he added.Shah said the prime minister had held a meeting on polio eradication a year ago and had urged him to keep holding such meetings so that the menace to the new generation could be eradicated.“I don’t know if more meetings were held by the prime minister, but we have to wage a war on this crippling virus,” said the chief executive.Replying to a question, he said that after the emergence of 16 new cases in the province, he has changed the strategy by involving all the elected representatives right from the union committees to the members of the provincial assembly.“Our health minister has briefed all the assembly members and requested them to get involved personally so that we can finally defeat polio,” he said. Shah said refusal will not be tolerated this time round. He urged each and every parent to cooperate with the polio workers and ensure proper vaccination to their children. “It’s our collective responsibility to administer polio vaccine to our children.”He said December 16 has been an unfortunate date in the history of Pakistan, as the nation witnessed the fall of Dhaka in 1971 and the murder of 132 innocent children in the Peshawar Army Public School (APS) attack in 2014.Now the nation is facing the crippling virus of polio, whose 104 cases have been detected all across the country this year, he added. “I think December 16 is the date on which we have to reiterate our national commitment to eradicate polio and evolve a strategy to stop incidents like the APS attack from happening.”He prayed for the children who lost their lives, and also prayed that Almighty Allah grant courage to their parents to emerge from “the pain that is alive in the heart and soul of every one of us”.Earlier, the chief executive administered polio vaccine to children at Gadap’s Jannat Gul Hospital. Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah also administered OPV to children at the Soldier Bazaar Maternity Home, and urged parents to get their children vaccinated against the crippling disease.Talking to the media later, the minister claimed that fake corruption cases were registered against the Pakistan Peoples Party leadership but they all got relief from the courts. He said that no action is being taken against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leaders who are involved in corruption and embezzlement of funds.

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Tania Aidrus pledges to pave way for PayPal, cryptocurrency in country

Tania Aidrus, former Google executive who is now the incharge of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s new venture Digital Pakistan Initiative, vowed on Monday to play her role in resolving the financial issues faced by ever-increasing freelancers in the country due to the absence of PayPal, an American company operating a worldwide online payment system.She was speaking to students of the Usman Institute of Technology (UIT) on Monday. “We don’t have any champions of ours in PayPal and it isn’t easy to bring it in the country,” she said, adding that to bring PayPal here, the government would have to comply with its terms and improve relations with other countries.She remarked that PayPal will not take a decision unless they are 100 per cent sure that they are safe here. “We need to give them assurance that if they come here, we will understand their issues of compliance,” she said. “We will start engaging them in a way which will be understandable to them.”When YouTube was blocked in Pakistan, Tania was its country manager for Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Recalling that time, she said the Pakistani government wanted controversial contents to be removed from YouTube but the video sharing website was adamant on making a local domain for Pakistan first. Since there wasn’t any legal infrastructure in the country for that, the issue could not be resolved, she said.“There’s a law called intermediary liability protection which protects platforms or anything that has user-generated content,” she said, explaining that under this law, the state cannot arrest employees of Google or YouTube because of any controversial content and if this legal provision does not exist in a country, the platforms like Google or Youtube consider it a risk operating there.Almost three years were wasted in the argument between YouTube and Pakistan. Tania said she was personally involved in the issue that was finally resolved when both the sides understood each other’s concerns as YouTube was conveyed how important it was to take down controversial content and the Pakistani government was communicated that if they asked to take down some video on YouTube every second, it would not work.As for the blocked cryptocurrency in Pakistan, which is a digital asset designed to work as a medium of exchange that uses strong cryptography to secure financial transactions, the speaker remarked that generally in Pakistan, those who drafted policies were not aware of several issues. Cryptocurrency, she said, was not only blocked in Pakistan but several other countries as well.She stressed the need for creating awareness about these digital tools among the policy makers. “Once our unit is formed, we will translate what’s happening in terms of technology in the rest of the world to the policy makers,” she said and asked the IT students not to expect that the ban on cryptocurrency will be lifted any time soon.She, however, assured the students that efforts would be made gradually to rationalise the policies with regard to such digital tools.She also discussed the issue of ease in starting a business in Pakistan. “One must not take four months to start a business,” she said and added that opening a corporation must not be a hassle. “We have to make it simple.”Under 20 per cent of the population in Pakistan has bank accounts, she said, while in India the ratio of such people is 80 per cent. “This has happened in four to five years after the Indian government pushed for it,” she explained, adding that the poor mostly used easy-paisa accounts instead of banks.She said the government interventions are required to increase this 20 per cent ratio to 40 per cent. In the Benazir Income Support Programme, the receiving mechanism is through a bank account, which she believed was a huge step that let a huge percentage of women open bank accounts.She also spoke on the importance of spreading basic education through digital means. Students generally don’t have any concept of coding system, she maintained. How can we expect from an 18-year-old student with no concept of basic coding to work in information technology (IT) field, she remarked, adding that the education system cannot be fixed overnight.She said she was looking for leads who were passionate about education and technology. As for the manufacturing sector, she gave the example of Vietnam, where local and international manufacturers were given tax breaks after which a company like Samsung started its massive manufacturing there, contributing billions of dollars to their exports. “We need different types of labour for the manufacturing sector,” she said.Tania shared with the students the email address of their initiative, which was digitalpakistan@emo.gov.pk. She said they were pondering on ways to ingest ideas and communicate their progress in a transparent way.She said information about the progress in the initiative would be available on their YouTube and Facebook pages and they wanted to have transparency in their affairs. “Targets of the projects, once finalised, will be published openly,” she said and added that whosoever will feel like volunteering could reach out to them.Talking to the media, she said things will not change overnight in the country. Whatever they are planning and working for is for the youth, but it has to be done under a well-planned mechanism, she added.She said they would keep disseminating information in a transparent way about what were their plans and what was their progress. She maintained that she had support of the top-level hierarchy of the country, including the president, prime minister and information minister.When we talk about digital, we need to fix education and quality of internet, make new systems and draft new policies, she said. “This not only involves the federal but also provincial governments,” she explained.Tania has got invitations from every province and she has plans to visit every area of the country to understand their issues. “Things cannot be done sitting in Islamabad,” she asserted.She pledged to take Pakistan forward with the help of technology revolution. “We need to bring long-lasting changes for Pakistan. We need our talent to stay in Pakistan. We need to reverse the brain drain. If we keep losing our top talent, we cannot expect any good.” With the help of technology students, women can start their startups sitting at home, she said. “Technology provides opportunities and internet gives knowledge.”

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Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Bakhtawar release turtles into the sea

The green sea turtles hatched at the Sindh Wildlife Department’s marine turtle conservation nursery at the Turtle Beach at Hawkesbay were released into the sea on Monday by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and his sister Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari.During the briefing, the PPP chief was informed that the wildlife department is engaged in marine turtle conservation since the past 34 years and holds the country’s first-ever President’s Award for Pride of Performance for marine turtle conservation.Every year in October and November, green sea turtles arrive at the sandy beaches of Hawkesbay and Sandspit, where they lay eggs and leave after burying them. The wildlife department’s staff takes cares of the nesting, and when the baby turtles emerge after 40 to 60 days, they are safely released at the shores. Decades later, the turtles return to the site of their birth.

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Death sentence of three upheld, life terms of as many annulled

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday upheld the death sentence of three activists of a banned militant outfit but set aside life imprisonment of three other co-accused in the case of the suicide attack that killed Pakistan Islami Tehrik and Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal leader Allama Hassan Turabi in 2006.An anti-terrorism court had on September 30, 2010, handed down death sentence to Mohammad Amin, alias Khalid Shaheen, Sultan Mehmood, alias Saifullah, and Mohammad Rehman, alias Mani, and awarded life imprisonment to Ashfaq Qureshi, Mohammad Akbar Khan and Raheemullah for their involvement in the case. They were prosecuted for masterminding the suicide attack that killed Turabi near his residence in Gulshan-e-Iqbal.According to the prosecution, an alleged suicide bomber, Abdul Karim, had blown himself with some explosive material when Turabi reached his house within the limits of the Sacchal police station after attending a rally against the Israeli aggression in Palestine and Lebanon.He was killed along with his nephew Imran Ali in the blast on July 14, 2006. Three policemen Azhar Hussain, Fakhar Hussain and Mohammad Rashid, and a woman, Noreen, were also injured in the blast.All the accused were also sentenced to life imprisonment for causing another bomb blast to kill Turabi in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, in which he had escaped unhurt. The prosecution alleged that the appellants had planted a remote-controlled bomb in a pushcart on April 6, 2006 to kill Turabi when he was travelling on Abul Hasan Ispahani Road within the limits of the Mobina Town police station. Turabi’s son Murtaza, gunman Mashooq and a pedestrian were injured in that blast.The appellants’ counsel submitted that the prosecution’s case had contradictions and it had failed to prove its case against the appellants. It was said that the prosecution’s evidence and confessional statements of the three appellants could not be relied upon in the eyes of the law and rulings of superior courts.A deputy prosecutor general submitted that the prosecution had proved its case against the defendants who conspired and prepared the suicide bomber to kill the religious leader of Shia sect.He submitted that the defendants first attempted to kill Turabi through a remote-control bomb in April 2006 but he escaped unhurt in that attempt. They, however, then prepared a suicide bomber and got Turabi killed in a suicide attack. The prosecution placed 37 witnesses, including eyewitnesses, to prove the guilt of the defendants.The witnesses said that Amin, Mehmood and Rehman were seen with the suicide bomber before he blew himself. A division bench of the SHC headed by Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha, after hearing the arguments and perusal of the evidence of the case, observed that Amin, Mehmood and Rehman had made a judicial confession of conspiring to kill Turabi on the sectarian grounds and their presence was witnessed at the crime scene by witnesses.The high court, however, observed that no sufficient evidence was found against the three co-appellants and set aside their life imprisonment. The SHC ordered the authorities to release them if not required in other cases.

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Religious minorities living peacefully in Pakistan, says DG Rangers

Pakistan is one of the most beautiful and peaceful countries of the world and not only different Muslim communities but religious minorities and ethnic groups are living peacefully in the country.Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah has given us a separate country and an independent identity not only in the region but also across the globe. We should be grateful to the Almighty Allah for such a beautiful motherland and we must also thank the Quaid-e-Azam and people who were the part of the Pakistan Movement. From north to south and east to west, this country has its unique recognition which makes it different from the rest of the world.These views were expressed by Director-General Sindh Rangers Major General Omar Ahmed on Monday. He was the chief guest at a programme arranged by the paramilitary force as part of Shukriya Jinnah, a campaign that aims to paid tribute to the leadership and vision of Mohammad Ali Jinnah.To celebrate the 144th birth anniversary of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the Rangers organised the Faith Declamation Contest at Karachi University’s HEJ Professor Dr Salimuzzaman Siddiqi Auditorium. Various schools and colleges participated in the event and laptops, gold medals, tablets and mobile phones were distributed among the winners.Maj-Gen Omar Ahmed said declamation contests were part of creating awareness among the masses, and they also showed that young minds were very talented, observed things in-depth and were also capable of expressing what they saw and what they felt.He informed the audience that after the 9/11 incident, the world had witnessed major changes in global politics and Muslim communities and countries were almost cut off by the West. Pakistan and other Muslim countries in the nearby regions were most affected due to changes in policies of the West, which occurred after the terrible incident in the United States of America.He said that Pakistani public and military successfully managed to defuse the situation which took place after the 9/11 attack and showed the positive face of the nation to the world. He further said that the military leadership cannot address the challenges and difficulties faced by the country without the help and support of the country fellows.The Rangers chief mentioned that the public and the army of Pakistan were united. He promised that violence would not be tolerated in the society in any circumstances and the Rangers would not let the people down.He observed that the APS incident happened five years ago, but still we felt the pain of the families of the victims and were committed to defeating the enemies.Meanwhile, Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Khalid Mahmood Iraqi shared that due to tireless efforts of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah we have Pakistan as the independent country and we are living in a sovereign state.He observed that the Quaid-e-Azam wanted to run this country through the constitution, not by power. He said that the Father of the Nation, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, had the vision that minorities would have the liberty to observe their faith without any fear or pressure.Prof Iraqi added that the Quaid-e-Azam had a lot of dreams and plans for this country, but unfortunately, we had not followed his lead at all. He called for developing a culture of dialogue to curb intolerance and extremism in the society.He said that people often claimed that difficult tasks cannot be accomplished in the country, but the restoration of peace in Karachi is a clear example that we can do anything and everything we want to do. This is our responsibility to think and plan what we can do for our beloved Pakistan, he added.“The army and Rangers have played a very important role in bringing peace back in the megacity. The Rangers have also arranged a series of programmes to pay tribute to the Father of the Nation Mohammad Ali Jinnah, which will surely help the youngsters and connect them to history.”

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Labourer dies after falling off building’s 25th floor in DHA

A labourer lost his life after falling from the 25th floor of an under-construction building in Phase VIII, Defence Housing Authority near Do-Darya, on Monday.The man was rushed to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The man succumbed to head injuries. The deceased was identified as Subhan, son of Sher Zaman. He was 30 years old.The man hailed from Bajaur Agency of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, according to Darakshan police. He was working as a labourer and living in Karachi’s Khayaban-e-Qasim area, the police said. One of Subhan’s relative, namely Ali Khan, said the construction company was responsible for the death as it did not provide safety gears to the deceased labourer. The police said they would register a case “if it was found that the death was caused due to negligence” of the construction company.

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KPT employee found murdered

The body of an employee of the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) was found in a garbage dump within the Khokhrapar police station remits on Monday.Police reached the crime scene after locals found the body wrapped up in a carpet. Responding to the information, rescuers also reached the scene and conveyed the body to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for an autopsy where he was identified as 50-year-old man Iqbal Amir, son of Ghulam Ahmed.The deceased was said to be an employee of the KPT and lived in the Clifton area. Police suspected that unidentified persons tortured him to death and later dumped his body at the abandoned place.

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Naqeebullah Mehsud murder case adjourned till Feb 2020

An anti-terrorism court on Monday adjourned the hearing of the Naqeebullah murder case for one-and-a-half months because of the unavailability of the judge. The ATC-III will resume the case proceedings on February 3, 2020.Twenty three policemen, including former Malir SSP Rao Anwar, have been charged with the murder of Naseemullah Mehsud, commonly known as Naqeebullah Mehsud, who along with three others, Sabir, Nazar Jan and Ishaq, was killed in a fake encounter on the outskirts of the city on January 12, 2018.Of the accused, Anwar, Qamar Ahmed, Muhammad Yaseen, Supurd Hussain and Khizar Hayat are on bail. Thirteen, including Allah Yar Kaka, Muhammad Iqbal, Arshad Ali, Ghulam Nazuk, Abdul Ali, Shafiq Ahmed, Shakeel, Muhammad Anar, Khair Muhammad, Faisal Mehmood, Ali Akbar, Raees Abbas Zaidi and Syed Imran Kazmi, are in custody, while seven, including Amanullah Marwat, Shaikh Muhammad Shoaib, Gada Hussain, Mohsin Abbas, Sadaqat Hussain Shah, Rana Shamim and Riaz, have been declared proclaimed offenders.The court, since the beginning of the trial in March this year, has heard six witnesses so far. Naqeebullah’s father Muhammad Khan, who lodged the complaint, passed away recently. Before his death, he expressed his disappointment at the judicial system and authorities as he received death threats for pursuing the case.Anwar had claimed that 27-year-old Naqeebullah was a terrorist who was killed with his accomplices during a shoot-out with law enforcers in the jurisdiction of the Shah Latif Town police station. Contrary to Anwar’s repeated claim, the investigation did not find any evidence of Naqeebullah’s involvement in any terrorist activity.

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Karachi University bags first position in SSUET’s speech competition

Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology (SSUET) on Monday organised a speech competition attended by a large number of students from different colleges and universities.The chief guest of the event was former principal of National College, Professor Anees Ahmed Zaidi, while Professor Naushaba Siddiqui hosted the program. A panel of judges included Khalilullah Farooqui, Anwar Azmi, and Talat.According to the judges’ decision, Hasan Raza of Karachi University secured the first prize while Mariam Batool of the Dow University of Medical Sciences and Hafiza Kainat of the NED University of Engineering and Technology got the second and third prize, respectively.In connection with the SSUET’s silver jubilee celebrations, a ghazal night was organised at Sir Syed Tower. Salman Alvi enthralled the audience with his ghazals.

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Golden era of television remembered at launch of book on documentaries

Among all the productions for television viewers, which include dramas, news, current affairs shows and musical programmes, the art of television documentary is arguably the most challenging, as it takes a lot of hard work, knowledge and insight to produce a good documentary.This view was echoed on Saturday night by academics and multiple television personalities of yesteryear who had gathered at the Arts Council for the launch of former Pakistan Television (PTV) producer Nazimuddin’s book titled ‘Documentary: Tareekh-o-Irtiqa’ (Documentary: History and Evolution).It was claimed that the book being launched was the first-ever to have been written in Urdu on the history of documentary. The author himself is considered one of the greatest documentary producers to have worked for the state television.The speakers said his productions were also featured at international awards. Among his notable documentaries are ‘Thar After Rains’ and ‘Wetlands of Pakistan’, both of which were talked about repeatedly at the event.The launch was hosted by another former PTV producer, Iqbal Lateef, who said he and Nazimuddin were among those 14 producers who were inducted into the PTV in 1975 after a written test that around 6,000 aspirants had taken.Politician and former television personality Mehtab Akbar Rashdi made poignant remarks as she lamented the decline in the standards of the state television. “The day the concept of marketing was introduced at the PTV, everything got destroyed,” she said.About the art of documentary making, she cited academic Prof Nisar Ahmed Zuberi, also one of the speakers at the launch, who had remarked that “documentary is the creative use of actuality”.Mehtab said that as documentaries are not fictional accounts, we have to show what is actually happening in the world, and thus the art of documentary lies in showing the actual world in a beautiful way.As she was the only female speaker, she concluded her speech by quipping that she was grateful to the organisers for not ensuring gender balance, due to which she, being the only woman, became prominent among all the speakers.Former producer Ishrat Ansari recalled his production of the documentary series ‘Sailani Ke Saath’ that was penned and voiced by Obaidullah Baig.He said that it might be the biggest documentary series in the entire world after the National Geographic, as Baig had covered the entire Pakistan, which also included Bangladesh at that time, for the series.Ansari said Nazimuddin was the master of documentary making. He added that when he had started working on Sailani Ke Saath, he knew nothing about the art of documentaries and he undertook the task as a challenge given to him by the legend Aslam Azhar.Another producer of yesteryear, M Zaheer Khan, said a producer is the most important person behind any TV programme.He said a producer must realise whatever they are making will be seen by families, and thereby will have effects on our culture and collective sensibilities, due to which it is a job that requires highly cultured, learned and responsible people.Earlier, the television used to propagate and sustain cultural values, but now the medium has been causing deterioration in society, he lamented.The author, who resides in Canada these days, said he wrote the book because he wanted some legacy of him to be remembered. He added that he thought of writing a book on documentary in Urdu because there had been no book on the subject in the national language.The book is divided into two parts, the first of which covers the world history of documentary and how the art changed globally with time. Nazimuddin said he wrote the first part after extensive reading at libraries in the Canadian cities of Toronto and Mississauga and on the internet.The second part covers the evolution of documentary making in Pakistan from the initial days of the PTV until the current era, in which the likes of Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy have brought local works to the Oscars.Prof Ziaur Rehman Zia, who wrote the scripts of almost all the documentaries produced by Nazimuddin, and others also spoke at the event.

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Meetings, vigils pay tribute to martyrs of APS attack

Different events, including Quran Khwani and candlelight vigils, were held across Karachi on Monday to pay homage to the fallen students and staff members of the Army Public School, Peshawar, on the fifth anniversary of the December 16, 2014, attack.More than 150 people were killed, including 134 children and school staff members, in the massacre carried out by Taliban militants. The dastardly attack had sent shockwaves globally, leaving the entire nation in grief and sorrow.MQM-PakistanLeaders of the Mutahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan paid tribute to the martyrs of the Army Public School by organising Quran Khwani in the party offices. The party also paid tributes to the martyrs of the Qasba Aligharh tragedy and the Fall of Dhaka.In this connection, the MQM-P had organised an event in a park near the party secretariat in Bahadurabad. MQM-P leaders, including federal minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Aamir Khan, Kunwar Naveed Jamil and members of the coordination committee, participated and offered prayers for the martyrs as well as for the well-being of the country.“Pakistan had to face a number of unfortunate incidents in December, including the martyrs of the APS massacre, victims of the Qasba Aligharh tragedy, and the martyrs of the Dhaka fall,” said Siddiqui. He said that the martyrs would always remain in the heart of the nation.PTI’s meetingThe Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Karachi division’s women wing organised a condolence meeting and Quran Khwani at the Insaf House, the party secretariat, in which party leaders, Karachi president MPA Khurram Sher Zaman and secretary general MPA Saeed Afridi, paid homage to those who lost their lives and those students and staff members who were injured in the Peshawar APS attack.MPA Sher Zaman said deep wounds caused by the brutal killing of APS students had not healed even five years after the attack. The sacrifices of the APS students would always be remembered, he said. He also said that after the APS attack, the security forces and the entire nation got united to eliminate terrorism from the society.PSP pays tributePaying tribute to the martyrs of the Peshawar APS attack, Pak Sarzameen Party chairman Mustafa Kamal said that December 16 attack was very tragic for the parents of the martyred students and the nation. He said that every member of his party paid homage to the martyrs, who sacrificed their lives for the country. “It symbolises the nation’s resolve and love for the motherland,” he said.Vigil heldA candlelight vigil was held at the Teen Talwar roundabout to pay tribute to the APS students and staff members. The Joint Action Committee for Shia Missing Persons organised the protest. The participants expressed complete solidarity with the victims, saying that the entire nation stood united against terrorism.

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Nine yachts, warehouses gutted in Fish Harbour fire

At least nine luxury yachts and some warehouses were destroyed in a fire which broke out initially at a hotel situated at the Karachi Fish Harbour on the night between Sunday and Monday.The blaze spread quickly due to strong winds and oil canisters placed in a scrap warehouse next to the hotel. Subsequently, the fire engulfed a mobile phone shop, scrap warehouses, fishing nets and yachts parked at the Karachi Fish Harbour.As rescuers were called in, fire engines from the Karachi Port Trust were first to reach the scene. They were followed by fire engines of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation and the Pakistan Navy.According to a KPT spokesperson, around a dozen fire engines of the Pakistan Navy, the KMC and the KPT did their best to put out the major blaze as it took them hours to only reduce its intensity. Firefighters also used sea water and foam.Fishermen Cooperative Housing Society in-charge Nasir Buneri told media a gas cylinder exploded in the restaurant’s kitchen after which oil canisters caught fire at the harbour. Buneri appealed the relevant authorities to take strict action against warehouses which store oil in an unsafe manner. The blaze has gutted a hotel, a shop, some warehouses and nine luxury boats. The overall loss is estimated at millions of rupees. Fortunately, no loss of life was reported in the incident.Another firePlastic material and a warehouse gutted in another fire which broke out at a plastic manufacturing factory in the Exports Processing Zone in Landhi area, within the remits of Sukkan police station.According to fire brigade spokesperson, fire engines from the Bin Qasim Town station reached the factory. It took fire fighters three hours to control the third-degree blaze, the spokesperson said. The cause of fire is yet to be ascertained and no one was hurt in the incident.

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11 houbara bustards seized

The Pakistan Customs seized 11 houbara bustards during a raid at the Moachko Check Point on Monday. According to Irfan Ali, a spokesman for the customs, Anti Smuggling Organisation of the Model Customs Collectorate Preventive personnel, during a reinforced anti-smuggling drive and acting on credible information , seized 11 houbara bustards. The value of the recovered birds is approximately Rs1.1 million. The bird is on the endangered list of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

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Citizen held for hitting, misbehaving with traffic warden in DHA

Police on Monday arrested a citizen for hitting and swearing at a traffic warden who stopped him for a one-way violation in the jurisdiction of Defence police.An FIR under Sections 353 and 186 was registered against the man, namely Bilawal, on behalf of traffic warden Sadaruddin at the Defence police station.Defence SHO Muhammad Ali said the citizen pretended to be relative of a police officer when he was stopped for the traffic violation. Instead of admitting his mistake, the man hit the warden with his motorcycle and punches, he said.A video of the incident is available on social media in which Bilawal is also seen using foul language. Of late, it is second reported incident of a citizen’s confrontation with a traffic warden in DHA.Days ago, Darakhshan police registered a case against a woman who misbehaved with a traffic police officer. The woman was stopped after she jumped a traffic light. A video of the incident had gone viral on social media.

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SHC bemoans state’s handling of orphans and destitute children

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has directed district and sessions judges to nominate magistrates to visit orphanage institutes in their districts and ensure that all orphan institutes are registered with the social welfare department.Hearing a petition with regard to implementation of child protection laws in the province, a single bench of the SHC comprising Justice Salahuddin Panhwar observed that though the Child Protection Authority Act 2011 was in field, its effective implementation was lacking and not a single child protection centre was established except three Darul Atfals in Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur while one is being constructed in District Korangi since 2010.The high court observed that such situation was very alarming and it was lamentable how the state was prima facie handling the orphans and destitute children who had no fault on their part.The SHC directed that judicial magistrates will be competent to pass any appropriate order for the implementation of the Child Protection Authority Act as well as the Children Act 1955 and the Orphanage Act 1976, which also provided that no name of any child involved in any case as accused or victim shall be flashed in newspapers as well as on the electronic media and its violation thereof constitutes an offence penalty of up to three years.The high court directed that the social welfare department as well as the child protection authority shall assist the judicial magistrates with regard to the registration of orphanage institutes and ensure free education for such children in private and public institutes.The SHC observed that judicial magistrates shall visit the orphanage houses on a fortnightly basis. The single bench observed that judicial magistrates shall ensure reunion of parents and shall examine the reasons of nestling of any child in any orphanage institute.The high court also directed the health secretary to issue directions to all hospitals that if any orphan was found on their premises or left by the parents, the child protection officer and the social welfare department shall be intimated forthwith and with their assistance the custody of such child shall be regulated through the magistrate.The Child Protection Authority director general admitted that yet there was no mechanism with regard to surveillance of orphans who are nestled in the private shelter homes and the registration process of private NGOs is yet to be completed and comprehensive data with regard to admission of orphans with private NGOs is to be compiled.Regarding free education endowment funds and providing free education to 10 per cent of students by the private education institutes, the court observed that there must be some mechanism for the private schools in a way similar to that provided under the free education endowment fund law so that mandatory rules were not exploited for want of mechanism which otherwise shall be failure of the objective of the induction of concerned rules. The high court directed the school and college secretaries to ensure that all rules are properly framed and implemented.The private schools director general admitted that private schools were not providing 10 per cent free education as provided under the rule 13 of the Sindh Private Educational Institutions (Regulation and Control) Ordinance 2001 and rules 2005.The high court directed the secretary endowment fund schools to submit the complete break-up of last 10 years with regard to allocation of funds, release of funds and use thereof. The court directed secretary finance to submit report for last five years with regard to allocation of funds and release of funds for school, colleges and universities as well as for schools under endowment funds and free education fund department.

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Durrani’s family told to appear in court by Dec 17 or be declared POs

An accountability court has issued advertisements in newspapers against 11 absconders, including family members of Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani, in a case pertaining to alleged accumulation of assets worth Rs1.6 billion through illegal means.Copies of the advertisement, which was published in newspapers on December 3, was submitted to the accountability court on Thursday.The accountability court-III judge, Farid Anwar Qazi, on a previous hearing had directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to initiate proceedings under the sections 87 and 88 of the Code of Criminal Procedure against the absconding suspects, including Durrani’s wife Naheed, his daughters Sonya, Shahana, Sara and Sanam, son Agha Shahbaz, and six others, namely Muhammad Irfan, Gulbahar Baloch, Shakeel Soomro, Syed Muhammad Shah, Ghulam Murtaza and Munawar Ali.Earlier, the NAB investigation officer had informed the court that the nominated members of the Sindh Assembly speaker’s family had gone to the United States and the United Arab Emirates, as per their travel history obtained through the Federal Investigation Agency, while the rest of the absconding suspects had gone into hiding. The absconders’ CNICs were also blocked on the court orders.The advertisement read that the absconders, who according to the anti-graft watchdog had gone into hiding to avoid arrests, must appear in the court on December 17 at 9am.They were warned that if they failed to comply with the directive, the court would initiate proceedings to declare them proclaimed offenders.Durrani, who belongs to the Pakistan Peoples Party, was arrested by NAB from Islamabad on February 20 for the investigation into his alleged movable and immovable assets beyond his known sources of income, making 352 illegal appointments, embezzlement of public funds in the construction of the MPA Hostel and the new Sindh Assembly building, as well as the appointment of project directors for these schemes.NAB had filed a reference against Durrani and 19 people, including the absconders, in May earlier this year. The bureau maintained that the Sindh Assembly speaker had accumulated assets beyond his income and could not account for a difference of Rs1,610,669,528 between his declared total income from 1985 to 2018 and the assets in his, his family, dependants and benamidars’ names.The federal anti-graft watchdog alleged that the fortune was made out of kickbacks, embezzlement of public funds and other illegal means. Durrani, who has been in judicial custody, is currently confined at his office in the Sindh Assembly. Some other suspects, including Agha Masihuddin, Mitha Khan, Tufail Sheikh, Gulzar Ahmed, Zulfiqar Dahar and Shamshad Khatoon, are on bail.

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Blanket octopus spotted for first time in Pakistani waters

In a rare occurrence, fishermen trained by the World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-Pakistan) have spotted three specimens of blanket octopus from different locations along the Sindh and Balochistan coast this week.According to a statement issued by the WWF-Pakistan, a 0.8-metre-long blanket octopus was spotted by Saeed Badshah from offshore waters of Balochistan on Saturday, December 7. This was the first live authentic report of this octopus species from the Pakistani waters, the statement added. While fishing 45 nautical miles south of Ormara, the fishermen caught the octopus in their gill net. Considering it a new and rare find, they released it safely back into the water.The second specimen was reported by Ameer Rehman and was caught about 103 nautical miles southwest of Ghora Bari, Sindh on December 8, Sunday. This one-metre-long specimen was also released back into water, the statement said. Another fisherman, Hasnat Khan, who was also trained by the WWF-Pakistan, caught a blanket octopus about 92 nautical miles southwest of Cape Monz at the confluence of Sindh and Balochistan on December 9, Monday. This octopus was about 0.8 metre long and was released immediately.The fishermen trained by the WWF-Pakistan have also released turtles, whales, dolphins, whale sharks, sunfish and other animals back into waters in the past.WWF-Pakistan Technical Adviser Muhammad Moazzam Khan in a statement said that the particular species of octopus was found in warm areas of the world such as Indian Ocean, Pacific and Atlantic. “This was never reported in Pakistani waters,” he said, adding that during the last week, various fishermen came across the species in the sea in Sindh and Balochistan. “This is a new addition to Pakistan’s biodiversity,” he said.Khan explained that the blanket octopuses (Tremoctopus violaceus) are oceanic cephalopods, which are found in surface to mid-waters in subtropical and tropical oceans. They are known as blanket octopus because of their long, transparent web that connects the dorsal and dorsolateral arms of adult females.The female blanket octopuses can reach two metres in length, whereas, the males are much smaller around 2.4 cm. Khan also shared that when threatened, the female octopus unfurls her large net-like membranes that spread out and billow in the water, largely increasing her apparent size, avoiding predation by fish and other animals. These animals also use ink to intimidate potential predators. The WWF-Pakistan technical adviser said the species’ addition to Pakistan’s marine animals could be a subject of future research. “This also indicates that our coastal areas are very rich in natural resources.”Dr Babar Khan, the WWF-Pakistan Sindh and Balochistan technical head, considered the occurrence of blanket octopuses an important addition to the cephalopod fauna of Pakistan. “Although this is the first record from Pakistani waters, but it can help find the remaining population of this unique cephalopod,” he remarked.

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Ismail urges women not to ‘disappear’ after medical education

Sindh’s governor said on Thursday that most of the female medical students “disappear” after graduating from medical colleges and universities. He urged them to serve society and do wonders during their practical lives like they do while studying at professional educational institutes.“All the gold medals are clinched by female students, as they are far ahead in the field of education than boys. But unfortunately, they disappear after getting professional education,” said Imran Ismail while addressing the 10th annual convocation of the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) at its Ojha campus.As many as 1,349 students were awarded their graduate and postgraduate diplomas and doctorate degrees at the convocation, while 27 students were awarded gold, silver and bronze medals for performing extraordinarily in studies during their graduate and postgraduate courses at the university.Claiming that female students are more talented than their male counterparts, the governor said that compared to him, his sisters are better in studies. He urged female students to serve society after getting professional education. “I urge you to remain in the country and serve it despite all the problems. Never give up and continue struggling for success”, he advised the students.He said the Dow University is one of the top 500 medical varsities in Asia, adding that it should be a moment of pride for the DUHS’s students that they are studying at one of the best institutes in the world. “The first heart transplant in the US was performed by a surgeon who was a former student of Dow and it should also be a source of inspiration for you.”Congratulating students and their parents on the important day in their lives, Governor Ismail said the present government has started a programme to provide loans of up to Rs5 million to educated and talented youth. With the money they could have their own start-ups and establish businesses like clinics, diagnostic centres and other facilities, he added.Earlier in his address, DUHS Vice Chancellor Prof Saeed Quraishy presented a detailed report about the performance of the medical varsity and informed the attendees that the Dow University was providing the best health care professionals to the country and the rest of the world. Congratulating the graduates on their success, he said that it was a proud moment for the students as well as for their parents. He stressed on the students to serve humanity with the best of their abilities.“Never deny medical treatment to those who are needy and deserving patients. It is your responsibility to serve the ailing humanity irrespective of cast, creed or religion,” he said, adding that the DUHS is providing the best medical education in the country. Earlier, Pro Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Kartar Dawani presented the welcome note, while Pro Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Zarnaz Wahid presented the vote of thanks.

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