June 17, 2003	Tuesday	Rabi-us-Sani 16, 1424

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GILGIT, June 16: The Sost border crossing in Khunjerab valley will open after the arrival of the WHO-designed health kits, officials said on Monday.

Northern Areas Home Secretary Saeed Ahmed Khan told reporters on Monday that the border with China would open after the WHO- designed health kits arrive and installed at the border post to check Sars.

Mr Khan, who is also the Northern Areas’ information secretary, contradicted a news item regarding the border opening on Monday.

He said that they would take up the border opening issue within a couple of days at the federal level owing to mounting pressure from the business community.

He said that border could be opened after taking preventive measures against Sars, as trade continued through air and sea routes.

GRANT: The European Union has granted 20 million euros for Northern Areas’ educational sector.

The educational uplift programme for which the grant had been extended includes teachers training, capacity building and allocation of overseas scholarships to promising students, an official of the Aga Khan Education Service (AKES) said on Monday.

The official said that the grant would be utilized through the AKES which had been approved by EU official Ulkausi Talo during his recent three-day visit to the Northern Areas and Chitral.

POLICY REJECTED: The Northern Areas’ Colleges Academic Staff Association in a meeting on Monday rejected the recruitment conditions and academic requirements recently set by the Karakuram International University management. The meeting resolved that the terms and conditions set for the appointment of faculty staff were ‘well-nigh impossible’ to be fulfilled by the senior faculty members of the defunct Postgraduate College Gilgit (PCG).