Man attacks grandparents

ATTOCK, May 2: A person shot injured his grandparents over a land dispute in Mari village of Saddar police station on Sunday evening.

Police said that Faraqat Khan reported that his relative Bilal Maqsood attacked his grandfather Aalam Khan and grandmother Fukraj Begum with pistol over a land dispute. As a result, both sustained serious injuries and were rushed to the district headquarters hospital. However, the elderly couple was referred to a hospital in Rawalpindi due to their serious condition. —Correspondent

One-day salary donated

ATTOCK, May 2: The police officials of the district have donated their one-day salary to the families of four policemen who were martyred during an attack of some unknown terrorists on the Nato supplies near Dulian village of Pindigheb on Sunday late night.

While talking to the newsmen after the funeral prayers of the martyred police officials at the district police lines here on Monday, DPO Dr Akhtar Abbas said the financial assistance under the Punjab government compensation plan would also be given to the families of the martyred police officials, while the police department would also extend maximum help to the welfare of their families. According to the sources, the police officials martyred in the incident were including Sub Inspector Muhammad Ramzan, Head Constable Munir Ahmad, Constables Zafar Iqbal and Asif Mehmood. Later, the bodies of the policemen were dispatched to their respective native villages. — Correspondent

Solo show of paintings

ISLAMABAD, May 2: An exhibition of 26 exquisite paintings on the subject of women by noted artist Abrar Ahmed was previewed at Nomad Art Gallery on Monday.

The show will be open for public on Tuesday (today) and continue till May 22, featuring the excellent combination of vibrant hues and bold lines. The paintings by self-taught artist depict symbolism blended with abstract portraits of women, sometimes adorned with jewellery in an attempt to show dissatisfaction of the soul despite the wealth and luxury of modern living.

He shows the idea of a rootless and alienated existence by the pensive expression of his female figures, reflecting his view of today's urban life. The artist tries to convey his deep-rooted ideas through the expressive moods of the faces of his subject which have been a major part of his artistic observation. What started off as a journey of rediscovery now becomes a solidly contemporary expression.—APP

FIA official reprimanded

ISLAMABAD, May 2: An official of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) was reprimanded by the senior civil judge on Monday for his failure to complete investigation against an accused involved in embezzlement of public money despite that he remained in FIA custody for 13 days.

FIA Inspector Muhammad Riaz produced the accused in the court of Senior Civil Judge Muhammad Aslam Gondal on Monday and requested the court to extend his physical remand for another day.

The investigation officer told the court that accused in cahoots with other employees of the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) had embezzled about Rs20 million in the pension accounts. Pindadan Khan Police arrested the accused and handed him over to the FIA on 13-day physical remand. The FIA has yet to recover the embezzled public money.

The FIA officer requested the court to extend the physical remand but the learned judge turned down the request and sent the accused to judicial lockup for 14 days. The judge directed that the accused be produced before the court on May 16. —Staff Reporter

Navtec to train unskilled youth

ISLAMABAD, May 2: Chairman National Vocational and Technical Education Commission (Navtec) Mohammad Mumtaz Akhtar Kahloon said the commission will provide training to 47,765 jobless youth under the 'President's Fanni Maharat Programme'.

The programme will produce skilled manpower in the next two and half years with the cost of Rs1.17 billions, he said.

The commission has started establishing 130 new Vocational Training Centres in 79 uncovered tehsils of Sindh, Punjab, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan. There is no vocational centre in all these tehsils.

The programme has been launched across the country under the directives of President Asif Ali Zardari. More than 17,000 youth have been trained so far and 7,298 are under training.

Mr Kahloon said the programme would help create new job opportunities for unskilled and jobless youth.

He said through this programme, a large number of skilled manpower will be able to get jobs in overseas which would result in rise of foreign remittances to Pakistan. — A Reporter