Clash claims two lives

NOWSHERA, Dec 1: A man and a minor child were killed and three others sustained serious injuries when two groups clashed in Khudrazi village in Pabbi on Thursday.

Police said Mir Ali, son of Kutab Khan, and four-year-old Mohammad, son of Bukhari, residents of Khudrazi, Pabbi, were killed when two groups clashed over a dispute on selling drugs in the area. Three members of the rival group, namely Nadir, Suhail and Dawar were injured.

Mohammad Zaman, son of Qamar Zaman, lodged FIR against the injured Suhail, Nadir, sons of Rasool Khan, Javed, son of Zeban Shah, Rashid, son of Zaman, and Sawaid, son of Javed.

The police also registered a case against Bukhari, Sardar and Awal Zaman on the report of the injured Nadir.

Meanwhile, police rounded up an alleged car-lifter, Shireen, and recovered a snatched car from him at Azakhel on Thursday. —Correspondent

‘Wapda’s privatisation’

PESHAWAR, Dec 1: The Pakistan Wapda Hydro Electric Central Labour Union (CBA), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, will hold protest demonstrations across the province on Dec 8 to condemn Wapda’s proposed privatisation.

The main protest demonstration would be held in front of Peshawar Press Club, whereas, protest rallies would also be organised at all the district headquarters.

The announcement was made in a press release issued after a meeting of the union here on Thursday.

Chaired by the union’s provincial deputy chairman Haji Mustajab Mazdooryar, the meeting termed the proposed privatisation of Wapda as an ‘unwise’ decision and held that the workers would never let the government implement the intended move. —Bureau Report

Body recovered

CHARSADDA, Dec 1: The body of a ten-year-old boy, who was missing since Nov 26, was recovered from fields in Utmanzai area on Thursday.

Bacha Rehman, the brother of the victim identified as Asad, told police they were informed that his body was recovered from fields along the Takhtbhai road and shifted to Charsadda hospital.

Meanwhile, a man was killed and several others got minor wounds as a passenger van turned upside down in Shabqadar.

Locals said the van bound for Bajaur met the accident when its driver tried to save a car at Major Qilla in Shabqadar. The victim was identified as Sher Mohammad. —Correspondent

Journalist’s harassment

KARAK, Dec 1: Local journalists will boycott coverage of JUI-F activities in Karak to protest against the harassment of a colleague by some persons affiliated with the party MPA Malik Qasim Khan Khattak.

A meeting presided over by Karak press club president Nawaz Khattak on Thursday decided that the journalists would hold demonstrations in different areas to protest against JUI-F MPA Malik Qasim Khan whose brother and accomplices allegedly threatened the press club general secretary Haleem Bukhari of dire consequences. The meeting demanded of the party to rein in its lawmaker and his relatives. —Correspondent

College reopening hailed

MIRAMSHAH, Dec 1: The parents and students of North Waziristan have welcomed the reopening of only degree college in the agency after over six years and hailed the administrative measures taken by the present principal of the college.

The parents and students appreciated the role played by the secretary education, director education and others officials in the reopening of the college which was a longstanding demand of the students.

The parents said due to militancy and military operation the people of the region had migrated to safer places and as a result the education of their children had suffered.

They also appreciated the role of the present principal in the reorganisation of the college staff. —Correspondent

Govt to set up IT parks

PESHAWAR, Dec 1: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Science and Information Technology (IT) Mohammad Ayub Khan has said the government is determined to provide opportunities to the young generation for gaining experience in the modern technology as without adopting the latest technology the nation cannot compete with the developed nations.

He expressed these view while addressing as chief guest an awards distribution ceremony among the information technology graduates who completed their training here on Thursday.

The minister said the government had started the IT excellence centre as a pilot project and added now the government had arranged further training which would be extended to other districts. He said IT board had also been constituted for this purpose. —Bureau Report

Sufficient rains expected

PESHAWAR, Dec 1: Weather pundits expect normal climatic condition in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and adjacent tribal area forecasting sufficient rains and snowfall during this winter.

Regional director meteorological centre Syed Mushtaq Ali Shah said on Thursday weather would likely remain normal with sufficient precipitation in winter as compared to previous years, which witnessed late rains and snowfalls.

He said the region would receive two to three spells of good rains while high altitude areas would receive snow.

“The normal snowfall will reduce the melting process of glaciers in the region and will also effectively control floods,” said Mr Shah. He said heavy snowfall triggered glaciers and landslides which caused soil erosion and floods in the rivers.

He said weather pattern would remain the same from January to mid March and both plain and mountainous areas would receive normal rains and snowfall. —Bureau Report

Wheelchairs distributed

PESHAWAR, Dec 1: Fifty-seven wheelchairs were distributed by the Fata secretariat among the physically challenged people belonging to different tribal regions here on Thursday.

The chairs were distributed by the additional chief secretary Fata Fazal Kareem Khattak in a function held at the Fata secretariat.

Mr Khattak said all departments and directorates of Fata secretariat should ensure two per cent job quota for disabled persons.

He directed social welfare department to prepare a database of disabled persons in all the tribal areas to work out their ratio in the total population of the area.

He said social protection programme should also be pondered over for them which should include health and education. —Bureau Report