Federal Urdu University students clash

Students clash with law enforcers at varsity
Karachi, March 10: The Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology will remain closed for two days after the students clashed with the law enforcers over the arrest of students belonging to the Imamia Students Organisation (ISO) on Tuesday.

According to university officials, some Rangers personnel had sustained injuries in a clash between the ISO and the Pukhtoon Students Federation two days ago, after which the university was closed. "When classes were resumed on Tuesday, a former graduate Zakaria Masood Ali of the ISO arrived and the Rangers tried to apprehend him," said a university official.

"Ali was the only one responsible who's barred from entering the premises of the university, but the Rangers urged the administration to also ban the entry of five current students whom they also tried to apprehend, which lead to the situation turning violent," the official added. Moreover, all the students that the Rangers wanted to bar are affiliated with the ISO. This further enraged the students who gathered on the road outside the university and staged a protest against the highhandedness of the Rangers.

The angry crowd blocked the main University Road that leads to Civic Centre and Nipa Chowrangi, and pelted the passing vehicles with stones, while chanting slogans against the Rangers and university administration. They demanded to kick out the Rangers from the university.

Following the incident, the local police arrived on the scene. However, the angry mob also attacked them with stones. Reports claimed that when the police arrived on the scene, some unidentified people resorted to aerial firing and attempted to snatch weapons from the law enforcers.

As a result, the law enforcers had to resort to baton charge and tear gas to disperse the crowd, resulting in at least half a dozen students getting minor injuries. It took the law enforcers two hours to take control of the situation. However, none of the students responsible for the incident were arrested.

Later, the higher authorities met with the university's vice chancellor, and holding Ali's companions at the university responsible, demanded to cancel their registration. Although the university did not cancel their registration, a committee has been formed to make proper inquiries in this regard.

Gulshan Town SP Javed Maher said that the police promptly brought the situation under control, but was unable to apprehend the culprits involved in the incident as they managed to escape. A case has been registered against Ali and five other students, the SP added.

The university officials have announced that both campuses of the university would remain closed for two days and classes would commence from Friday as per the schedule. Daily times

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Over 320,000 students to take SSC exams
Karachi: Over 320,000 candidates (both male and female) will appear in the Secondary School Certificate (Class IX and X) Science and General groups annual examinations-2010, beginning on March 24 under the aegis of the Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK).

According to the schedule of the examinations, Class IX and X General group papers for both the regular and private candidates would be held in the morning shift (from 9am to 12 noon) while Class IX and X Science group papers would be held in the afternoon shift (from 2pm to 5pm).

BSEK officials said that over 450 examination centres were being set up at schools to conduct examinations while vigilance teams to monitor examinations and check the use of unfair means would be formed in due course of time.

Meanwhile, the BSEK authorities are reportedly in a fix in the wake of a Sindh education department steering committee's decision under which it has been made mandatory for the board to select only government schools for setting up of examination centres to avoid last year's situation when rampant use of unfair means and cheating in exams was reported at the centres set up at private schools.

Sindh Education Minister Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq has asked BSEK officials to ensure that the steering committee's decision concerning the examination is implemented. Dawn

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SC stays school project
Karachi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the Sindh government to stop construction work on a school building outside District Tandoallayar and also the grant allocated for the school. The court also directed to build the in the district or its immediate vicinity.

A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar M Chaudhry, comprising Justices Chaudhry Ijaz Ahmed and Ghulam Rabbani issued the directions while hearing a petition of former district Nazima Rahila Magsi against the construction of a school 30km miles away from the district instead of inside the district.

She filed the petition through senior lawyer Abdul Hafeez Pirzada by submitting that the provincial government had announced the establishment of nine schools in different parts of District Tandoalayar and started the works on it, but did not take the revenue department and the district administration on board in this regard.

She pointed out that one of the schools is being constructed far away from the district, therefore the area people will not able to benefit from that school due to its long distance.

The petitioner added that the lands allotted for the school was provided through a private sector instead of the revenue dept, while Rs25 million was allocated for it, the petitioner pleaded to stop the construction and shift the school inside the district and some another nearer area of the district, the court after hearing the counsels directed to stop working on the school being constructed far away from the district and also stop the grand allocated for the school.

On the other side, Accountability Court, Karachi Judge Mir Mohammad Sheikh acquitted former deputy directed Federal Intelligence Agency FIA Chaudhry Shahid from two corruption references.

The former FIA official was charged with accumulating assets beyond his earning resources, misuse of authority for personal interests and committing corruption causing a great lost to the national exchequer. His counsel Amir Raza Naqvi contended before the court that his client was falsely implicated as nothing was proved against him in the corruption.

The court acquitted him from the corruption reference after hearing the comments from both the sides.

Justice Mushir Alam and Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi issued the notices to the secretaries and directed them to submit the relevant records and documents regarding the salaries of the judicial and none judicial staffers of the province.

The constitutional petitions were moved by Rasheed A. Rizvi, president of Sindh High Court Bar Association and Amanullah Khan, seeking the equal salaries and other benefits to the judicial employees being provided to the Punjab. The nation

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Poet laid to rest
Sukkur: Renowned writer and one of the pioneers of abstract poetry, Dr. Malik Nadeem, who died early on Tuesday morning in a Karachi hospital, was laid to rest in his ancestral graveyard in Kandhkot.

He was paralysed after a stroke and shifted to Karachi for treatment six days ago. His mortal remains were brought to Kandhkot on Tuesday. He was laid to rest in the afternoon.

Thousands of people from all walks of life attended his funeral. He was 64. He left behind three sons and six daughters to mourn his death.

Malik Nadeem, whose actual name was Malik Abdul Razzaq, was born on April 8, 1946. Dawn

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