HYDERABAD, Oct 26: The 9th annual party congress of the Sindh Taraqqi Passand Party (STPP) commenced at the Taraqqi Passand House on Friday under the chairmanship of the chief organizer, Dr. Soomar Mangrio.

In his inaugural speech, Dr. Soomar Mangrio said that great changes had occurred at the international and regional level following the Sept 11 incident and the US had declared a war against terrorists and fundamentalist extremist elements.

He said that presently a war was going on in Afghanistan which could result in changes in South Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East.

He said the Taraqqi Passand party considered terrorism as a criminal act against humanity and fundamentalism a great danger to the culture, civil liberties, and democratic struggle in Sindh.

He said that Sindh was passing through a critical stage as the Afghans were flooding Sindh which would bring destruction to the province.

He said keeping in view the complicated international, national, and regional situation, the party will have to evolve a new strategy and move forward cautiously.

ISRA: The ISRA University hospital announced on Friday that the intensive care unit for newly-born children had started functioning and for the first time an incubator had been installed, which was available in only a few private hospitals in Karachi.

The head of the paediatric department, Dr. Hatif Ali Shamsi, said that there was no need now to take the children of interior Sindh to Karachi as incubators had been made available for premature children or those born with a lung defect.