SIALKOT: Federal Minister for Defence, Water and Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif has said the government has released a special grant of Rs180 million as fist installment for establishing the Sialkot campus of the National University of Science and Technology (NUST).

He was talking to the media here on Sunday. MNA Armughan Subhani, MLA-AJK Muhammad Ishaq, local bodies minister Mansha Ullah Butt, MPAs Muhammad Iram, Arshad Javaid Warraich, Tariq Akhtar Subhani and District Council Chairperson Ms Hina Arshad Warraich were also present.

Mr Asif added the Sialkot campus of NUST would be established on 150 acres with a total estimated cost of Rs4 billion for providing international standard education to the local students.

He said specially designed advanced courses would be launched at the campus keeping in view future needs of export-oriented industries.

The minister added separate campuses of the Government College Women University (GCWU) and Khawaja Muhammad Safdar Medical College (KMSMC) would also be established soon.

LAID TO REST: A minor girl who was drowned in a nullah at Shakargarh by her “mentally unstable” father on Saturday night, was laid to rest in the local graveyard.

A large number of people from all walks of life attended the funeral.

The suspect, Amjad, who is said to be mentally unstable had pushed his two minor daughters -- Maryam (8) and Zainab (11) -- into a seasonal nullah, Baeen.

As a result the younger sister, Maryam, died, while the elder, Zainab, who survived the attempt on her life, was admitted to the Children’s Hospital in Lahore, where she was said to be stable.

Shakargarh police SHO, quoting relatives of the two minor girls, said their father Amjad had to undergo a surgery for removal of a brain tumor some eight months back following which he turned mentally unstable.

The SHO said police were awaiting the postmortem report of the deceased girl and after that physical remand of the suspect would be sought for further interogation.

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2017