HYDERABAD, Dec 15: People’s Party Parliamentarians MNA Nawab Abdul Ghani Talpur has demanded that the federal ministry of tourism include the historic fort of Rani Kot, Gorakh Hill Station and Manchhar Lake in its list of Pakistan’s historic places where it plans to hold mega events next year to promote tourism.

In a statement faxed to Dawn on Thursday the PPP leader who is also on the National Assembly’s standing committee for tourism said that the federal ministry had included only Karachi, Moen Jo Daro and Sehwan in a list of 52 historic places to hold mega events, part of the ministry’s tourism promotion programme for 2007.

He said that it as a grave injustice to Sindh that Rani Kot, which was one of the greatest historical forts of the world, Manchhar Lake, the largest freshwater lake of Asia and Gorakh Hill Station had been left out of the list.

He advised the government to provide foolproof security to the tourists. The foreigners should be accorded the same facilities as the Dubai government provided them, he urged.

Mr Talpur demanded that the chairman and a member of the standing committee should be included in the entourage of minister for tourism for his visits abroad.

URS: District Nazim Kanwar Naveed Jamil opened the Urs celebrations of Syed Murad Ali Shah Jilani in Tando Qaiser on Friday by laying a floral wreath on the saint’s grave. He also witnessed Malakhro and visited stalls set up in the shrine’s premises.

ELECTRIFICATION: The EDO revenue Hyderabad, Abdul Sattar Jatoo, in a statement issued here on Friday, said that under instructions from the government, Pakistan Army, revenue department, Hesco and the nazims of union councils have jointly started the survey of those villages which have not been electrified till date.