Student injured in clash

PESHAWAR, March 19: A student was wounded when two groups of students exchanged fire inside the Peshawar University on Monday, police said.

An official of the Campus police said activists of two splinter groups of Pakhtun Students Federation exchanged hot words in the campus over an internal issue, which was later resolved.

“But when the students reached a hostel (B-block) they again exchanged hot words and opened fire with pistols on each other,” the official said and added they also beat each other up with sticks, legs and fists. The name of the injured student could not be ascertained.—Bureau Report

Development schemes

MANSEHRA, March 19: The advisor to prime minister Syed Qasim Shah has said an amount of Rs150 million has been sanctioned for various developmental schemes in Balakot.

Speaking to media men in Balakot on Monday Mr Shah said the October 2005 devastating earthquake had destroyed infrastructure in the tehsil. He said Rs35 million had been allocated for supply of electricity to Paris, Nika, Paring and Ghanool areas, while Rs25 million and Rs10 million had been set aside for rebuilding Bala Schain and Bonja bridges, respectively.

Mr Shah said remaining amount would be spent for reconstruction of various schemes in health and education sectors.—Correspondent

Drug smuggling bid foiled

KOHAT, March 19: The Kohat police foiled an attempt of smuggling drugs to Rawalpindi by arresting two inter-provincial smugglers at the Attock border on Monday.

Acting on a tip-off the police stopped a car at the Khushalgarh checkpost at the Indus River. Upon search they found eight kilograms of fine quality hashish in the car.

They arrested the smugglers Haroon ur Rasheed of Kohat and Bashir of Attock. Meanwhile, a petty dispute claimed life of a man and left a woman and her son injured in Darmalak area on Monday. The children of Jamal Khan hurled stones at the house of Khayal Wazir which infuriated him. He along with his son Ehsanullah entered the house of Jamal Khan and shot him dead. A woman and her son were injured in the incident.—Correspondent

Call for end to operations

PESHAWAR, March 19: Leader of Amn Jirga, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Syed Kamal Shah, has demanded an immediate end to military operation in Khyber and South Waziristan agencies. In a statement, Kamal Shah said innocent Pakhtuns had been displaced while hundreds others had fallen victim due to military operations.

He said such operations further alienated the population from national institutions and the tribesmen who had been defenders of Pakistan’s frontiers were being targeted along with their women and children. He said operations had been going on for years which had fuelled terrorism. He said Pakhtuns were peace-loving people and their patience should not be put to further test.—Bureau Report

Tree plantation drive

KHAR, March 19: The forest department will plant saplings on 2,800 acres of forest land during the spring tree plantation drive, which was kicked off here on Monday.

Political Agent Bajaur Islam Zeb, while inaugurating the campaign, said special attention was being paid to tree plantation in the agency and its surroundings, adding measures were being taken to preserve forests.

During a briefing to media, divisional forest officer Shafqat Munir said under the tree plantation campaign more than 14 lakh plants of different species would be planted. He said Bajaur was the most suitable area for developing forests and so for 16 per cent of area had been covered with forests.—Correspondent

Power outages spark protest

LAKKI MARWAT, March 19: Residents of Tajazai on Monday blocked the Indus Highway to protest prolonged power outages.

They gathered on the main road and chanted slogans against the local officials of Pesco, blocking for about two hours the busiest highway connecting Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with rest of the country and causing nuisance for transporters and commuters.

Elders said they had no objection to the official schedule of loadshedding, but the local Pesco officials disconnected electricity supply by dropping power links on the transmission line, which was unacceptable to them. They made it clear that they would not allow the local Pesco authorities to carry out ‘unjust’ power outages.—Correspondent

Corporal punishment

CHARSADDA, March 19: Society for the Protection of the Rights of Child (Sparc) arranged two CSM (Community Sensitisation Meetings) separately for males and females here the other day.

The main objective of the CSM was to make the community aware about the importance of the education specifically girl education and the active role of the community in this regard. Zahur Ahmad, district coordinator of the child rights committee, Wajid Ali Shah, project manager, Asif Raza district coordinator early recovery project and Fozia, social mobiliser, addressed the gathering.

Mr Zahur pointed out that corporal punishment in schools was a key factor in increasing dropout rate. He reiterated Sparc’s endeavour to end corporal punishment by training teachers through alternative disciplines. Mr Wajid said Sparc’s early recovery project was meant for increasing enrollment in schools in the target areas.—Correspondent

NAB starts inquiry

PESHAWAR, March 19: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has started high profile inquiry against the directors of Natover Lease and Re-finance Limited (NLRL) and Orion Investment Company for cheating public at large.

The total liability calculated against the companies in initial probe stands at Rs708 million. The companies deprived hundreds of people of their hard earned money on the pretext of giving them exorbitant profit/return, according to a press release issued here on Monday.

It was stated that scrutiny of the record revealed that investments were made in NLRL by the complainants for getting higher returns. To establish public confidence over the companies the investors were paid profit for some time. But later the same was stopped and even the principal amount was not returned.—Bureau Report

Directives for departments

PESHAWAR, March 19: The government has directed officials of different departments to immediately furnish to NAB a copy of an agreement, contract or undertaking entered into and auction, bidding, planned to be conducted of the minimum monetary value of Rs50 million or more.

The home and tribal affairs department, in a statement here on Monday, said section 33-B of the NAB, 1999 obligates to furnish to the Bureau a copy of any contract entered into by any government/public office in this regard.—Bureau Report