One killed in fire

ATTOCK, June 1: A man was killed in Hazro Meena bazaar fire on Wednesday that also destroyed 80 shops and kiosks, causing over Rs10 million losses to the local traders.

As per reports, the fire was caused by short-circuiting during the duststorm about 5am and strong winds added fuel to the flames that rapidly gripped the shops.

Local people and traders rushed to the scene and started efforts to extinguish the fire on self-help basis as fire brigade facility was not available at the tehsil municipal administration (TMA) Hazro.

Police called fire-fighting unit of Rescue 1122 from Attock, some 45 km away from Hazro.

In the meantime, a patrol-filled generator of a shop went off due to fire and one of its iron pieces hit a local young man Mohammad Bilal. As a result he was seriously injured and later died.

Later on, the rescuers of Rescue 1122 unit with the help of police, local traders and people brought the fire under control after five hours efforts.

Meanwhile, local residents and shopkeepers demanded fire brigade unit at the Hazro TMA. —Correspondent

Student goes missing

RAWALPINDI, June 1: A young student who left for his university on May 20 has not returned and the police suspect he has been kidnapped by his rivals from Airport housing scheme.

Syed Amjad Ali, (Phd), the father of 20-year-old Syed Ali Raza complained to the Airport police on Tuesday that his son had left his house for university but he did not return.

Since the boy went missing, his parents started a search for him but failed to find his clue.

The police investigating officer said apparently the kidnapping of the boy seems to be an outcome of old enmity as the father of the missing boy had been having money disputes with his rivals.

However, he said the kidnappers had not made any contact with the boy’s parents for ransom.—Staff Reporter

Partnership with US

ISLAMABAD, June 1: The Afghan ambassador on Wednesday said Kabul would seek strategic partnership with US and Nato in future.

Addressing a press conference Mohammad Umar Daudzai said, “when US came to Afghanistan their stated mission was to eliminate Al-Qaeda and to topple the Taliban regime and they wanted to make sure that Afghanistan would never again become safe haven for extremists that imply a vigorous state-building process”.

He said that Afghanistan is experiencing deadly war and destruction for decades and Afghans for the first time in the history have welcomed foreign force.

He said that Al-Qaeda is decapitated however still able to cause fear and destruction and Taliban are no longer a ruling regime however they are running effective guerilla campaign against the foreign forces and the government.— A Reporter

334 families given free plots

TAXILA, June 1: The allotment letters with ownership rights of 5-marla plots were distributed among 334 homeless and deserving families here on Wednesday.

A special ceremony was held at the community centre in which former MPA Umar Farooq distributed allotment letters to the poor and deserving families. A special locality, Jinnah Colony, has been established in Union Council Lub Thatoo on Taxila-Hazara Road near Wah Cantt.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Farooq said that the Punjab government had chalked out a plan to provide free of cost 5-marla plots to the deserving families and new Jinnah Abadies were being established for the purpose. He said in Punjab, 12,075 acres of land had been specified under the scheme and the government would provide 5-marla plots to 46,555 homeless families. He said the government was fully aware of the problems being faced by the homeless families and the provincial government was committed to resolving the problems of the poor people. —Correspondent

Irregularities in BISP

CHAKWAL, June 1: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) MPA Fauzia Behram has accused party’s district president Shahjahan Sarfraz Raja of showing utter incompetence in managing the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) in Chakawal.

Addressing a press conference at her residence here on Wednesday, she said many irregularities had been detected in BISP in Chakwal district. “On the one hand, seven to eight members of a family were selected but on the other deserving people were ignored,” she added.

Lashing out at the formation of survey teams, Ms Behram said most members of the survey teams were corrupt. “The district president should have shown responsibility in this regard,” she added.

She also criticised Mr Shahjahan for making an alliance with Ayaz Amir in the last general elections, adding it harmed the party in the district.

She said PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari had directed her to monitor the BISP in the district. “I have been assigned to look after BISP in Chakwal with effect from May 9.” — Correspondent

Public transport

ISLAMABAD, June 1: The commuters have to face many troubles due to shortage of transport on different routes of the twin cities.

On Fridays and Saturdays, the people have to face worst shortage of public transport due to the weekly closure of CNG stations. In these days, public transporters do not complete their designated routes.

A large number of private and government employees coming from suburbs of both the cities reach their respective offices through private transport and most of the times they have to travel on the rooftops of the buses due to the shortage of transport on specific routes.

Sonia Naz, a government employee, told this agency that female commuters had to wait long to find seats therefore they could not reach their offices on time.

She also said that front seats of the vans were reserved for women but the drivers usually allowed the male passengers to travel on those seats. The attitude of the van conductors is always harsh. But the most serious problem is that there is no schedule for public transport.

“If you are travelling on public buses or vans, you don't know when you will reach your destination.” Drivers stop their vehicles at stands waiting for passengers, even though sitting passengers express anger because they get late. — APP