Student commits suicide

RAWALPINDI, Feb 28: A female student of a local madressah allegedly killed herself by taking excessive dose of pills over a domestic issue in the Allahabad locality of Westridge on Tuesday, police said.

Gul Bano, 18, who had been learning the holy Quran by heart, was taken to District Headquarters Hospital on Monday night where she died early Tuesday.

Mohammad Javaid, the elder brother of the victim, in his statement told the police that he was at his workplace when her mother informed him on the phone that Gul Bano had taken excessive dose of pills and her condition was deteriorating.

He said he rushed to his house and shifted his sister to the hospital where she died.

Sub-Inspector Sajid Hussain Shah, who is leading the investigation into the case, told Dawn that the girl had been in distress after her mother settled her marriage with a man against her will.

The body was handed over to her family after postmortem at the DHQ hospital. — Staff Reporter

Relatives protest patient’s death

RAWALPINDI, Feb 28: A young man died in a private hospital after what his family alleged being administered a wrong injection by the doctor on Tuesday. His relatives later staged a protest outside the hospital blocking traffic on Sadiqabad Road and demanding registration of a murder case against the management of the hospital.

Abdul Wahab, 17, a resident of Dhoke Gungal, was brought to the hospital with the complaint of fever on Monday.

The patient’s condition started deteriorating on Tuesday afternoon and he died at around 4.30pm.

The angry relatives damaged the hospital fixtures and fittings before taking to the streets. Later, the body was shifted to the DHQ hospital for postmortem. Police said a case would be registered after they received the postmortem report.

Meanwhile, a young girl was killed after her father’s pistol went off ‘accidentally’ in her house at Sadiqabad on Tuesday, police said.

The incident occurred when Nagina Naz, 20, daughter of a retried armyman, was packing the household items for shifting to another house.

She was taken to Benazir Bhutto Hospital where she was operated upon but died at around 8pm. — Staff Reporter

BISP’s Sehat card

ISLAMABAD, Feb 28: The Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) will launch a Sehat (health) card in Faisalabad next month to provide health insurance of up to Rs25,000 to each of the 90,000 poorest families comprising about 550,000 individuals.

BISP chairperson Farzana Raja briefed the prime minister about the new facility here on Tuesday.  Mr Gilani appreciated the scheme and observed that the rederess of health problems of the poor would be a step towards poverty alleviation.

The prime minister asked Ms Raja to roll out the scheme throughout the country to extend coverage to the six million families who have been benefiting from the BISP since its inception.

He said that the health insurance coverage to the downtrodden section of society was a major stride towards making Pakistan a welfare state and BISP would prove as a catalyst to achieve that goal.

The BISP chairperson said the list of deserving families had been prepared on the basis of poverty census. The scheme focused on the mother-and-child health cares because they are the most vulnerable and prone to diseases due to age and gender, she said.— Our Reporter

Rabbani’s book launched

ISLAMABAD, Feb 28: Pakistans first book on federalism titled ‘A Biography of Pakistani Federalism: Unity in Diversity’ authored by prominent politician, Mian Raza Rabbani, has hit bookshelves across the country.

The topic of federalism is getting relevance with the growth of democracy in the country. The book is equally interesting and useful for academicians, researchers, students and parliamentarians.

Mian Raza Rabbani, author of the book, has achieved public acclaim and acknowledgement, and respect from lawmakers and politicians, irrespective of their political affiliation, for his being honest to his thoughts and his vital role in the drafting and passage of the landmark 18th Amendment, which has purge our 1973 Constitution of dictatorial sections.

The book gives a complete understanding of the concept of federalism in international and local context, expounds delicate disparities surrounding terms like ‘autonomy’ and ‘independence’ and a brief history of constitutional evolution. — A Reporter

Call to check quackery

TAXILA, Feb 28: The Young Doctors Association has appealed to the Punjab chief minister to restart anti-quackery campaign before the dengue fever cases start rising again.

Talking to newsmen here on Tuesday, Dr Imran Younus, the president of YDA rural chapter Rawalpindi district, claimed that during the dengue outbreak last year over 250 patients died after they were mismanaged by quacks.

He said the chief minister had ordered to eradicate quackery in the province but all fake doctors had reopened their clinics and were once again playing with the lives of the public. — Correspondent