KARACHI: President Mohammad Ayub Khan inaugurated a Rs10 crore hotel building programme when he laid the foundation stone of Hotel Karachi Intercontinental at the Polo Grounds last evening.

Addressing a distinguished gathering of ministers, diplomats, senior government officials and leading citizens, the president said that more and more modern hotels should be built in the country to provide maximum comfort to foreign visitors.

The president said Pakistan had many things to show to the outside world, and that the government was taking steps to develop the tourism industry. Wherever there are good rest houses, or circuit houses, the provincial governments were ready to make them available for use by tourists.

He hoped that the six modern hotels that have been planned to be built by the Pakistan Services Ltd in Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Dacca and Chittagong would attract large numbers of tourists.

It was, perhaps, the most colourful function of its type ever held in Karachi. PIA’s hostesses dotted the passages along which the president and the distinguished guests walked up to their seats.

Earlier, Air Commodore Nur Khan, Managing Director of PIA and Chairman of Pakistan Services Ltd, said that the 10-floor, 300-room Hotel Karachi Intercontinental was expected to accommodate 20,000 foreign guests annually.

KU students union

KARACHI: The old constitution of the Karachi University Students Union has been abrogated and a new one promulgated with immediate effect. The step has been taken with a view to improving the educational value of the union.