City

Safe drinking water plan is a pipe dream

April 7, 2011 on by Yasir Habib

Safe drinking water plan is a pipe dream

April 7, 2011 on by Yasir Habib

LAHORE – Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has called for the inclusion of legislators to mature the Punjab Drinking Water Policy, further delaying its implementation, amidst alarming levels of water pollution in the province.
The first ever Punjab Drinking Water Policy, which has been pending over the last six months, is supposed to regulate quantity and quality of drinking water by addressing the institutional, administrative, legal, regulatory, fiscal, social and

LHC asks WASA to explain arsenic’s presence in tubewells

April 7, 2011 on by Staff Report

LAHORE – The Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice (CJ) Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry on Wednesday summoned Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) managing director for April 19 in a suo motu case and petitions against presence of arsenic in the city’s tubewells.
Former CJ Khawaja Muhammad Sharif had taken suo motu notice last year and Advocates Mateenul Haq and Muhammad Sohail Dar had filed writ petitions pointing out that citizens were suffering from hepatitis and other diseases after

Academics oppose HEC’s devolution

April 7, 2011 on by Adnan Lodhi

LAHORE – Students, faculty members and educationists condemned the proposed devolution of Higher Education Commission (HEC) and said that a mafia at public sector universities damaged the quality of HEC and forced the government to think about its devolution.
Students said that public sector universities had become a hub of academic corruption and HEC did not bother to stop professors who were looting the government’s money. Students also said that government should not devolve

Park and Ride Plaza shop auction gets lukewarm response

April 7, 2011 on by Yasir Habib

LAHORE – The controversy-ridden Park and Ride Plaza suffered a huge financial setback when its auction of shops received a lukewarm response from the public
on Wednesday. An LDA official told Pakistan Today that the ongoing trial in the Lahore High Court against the construction of the plaza on a piece of land allocated to a park had thrown a spanner in the works of the plaza. He said out of 26 ground floor shops put on open auction, only 11 could be sold and the auction of the

Let’s walk to reinvigorate the Lahoris

April 7, 2011 on by Nauman Tasleem

LAHORE – Hundreds of people participated in a walk arranged by the Lahore Chambers of Commerce (LCCI) on Wednesday. The walk titled ‘Business Walk’ is part of the ongoing LCCI Shopping Festival that is gradually reaching fever pitch. People from various sections of society turned up in large numbers to participate in the walk that started from the LCCI office and culminated at Governor’s House.
The motive of the walk was to take people out of the gloom that has enveloped the

Raymond Case – ‘Diyat money was paid from national kitty’

April 7, 2011 on by Staff Report

LAHORE – The Lahore High Court dismissed an application seeking prosecution against government functionaries who allegedly facilitated Raymond Davis’ release by paying Diyat money from the national exchequer. The court dismissed the application because the petitioner counsel failed to appear in court on Wednesday.
Justice Iftikhar Hussain was hearing the plea filed by Rana Ilamuddin Ghazi submitting that trial judge left lacunas in the case and acted in haste. He alleged that

UMT bags second position in Business Plan competition

April 7, 2011 on by Press Release

LAHORE – Students from the University of Management and Technology (UMT) bagged second position in the “Young Entrepreneurial Business Plan Competition 2011” jointly organized by the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and Government of the Punjab.
The four-member panel of experts selected GSM Home, the business plan developed by UMT students, for this position after a gruelling competition from teams of some of the top ranked business and engineering schools like

LHC extends stay against flyover

April 7, 2011 on by Staff Report

LAHORE – A Lahore High Court’s division bench on Wednesday extended the stay against construction of Kalma Chowk flyover and directed the Punjab government to file its reply at the next hearing on April 11.
Earlier, an additional advocate general appeared in court on behalf of the government and requested the court to withdraw the stay order. The court, asked him to file the government’s reply first then seek such relief.
On March 24, the bench had provisionally barred the

Muridke patwari, impersonator arrested

April 7, 2011 on by Staff Report

LAHORE – On the directions of Punjab Ombudsman Khalid Mehmood, Old Anarkali police has arrested Muridke Halqa Patwari Iftikhar Ahmad and his impersonator Muhammad Shoaib on Wednesday. Ombudsman Punjab had directed Old Anarkali SHO to arrest and register FIR against the accused on a complaint lodged by Sikandar Hayat, who submitted that he was the legal owner of a piece of land and his ownership was reflected by ownership register of Muridke Halqa Patwari from 1938-39 to 1999-2000.

25th Lahore Book Fair opens today

April 7, 2011 on by Staff Report

LAHORE – The 25th Lahore International Book Fair 2011 will kick off today at Lahore Expo Center, Johar Town. Books from a wide range of categories will be presented for sale at the book fair which will continue till April 11. Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif will open the book fair that will have hundreds of stalls from India, England, America and Pakistan.

492 centers for BA/BSC examination

April 7, 2011 on by Staff Report

LAHORE – Punjab University Controller Examinations Prof Dr Liaqat Ali has said that the university has satisfactorily completed all the arrangements for holding the BA/BSc Annual Examination 2011 commencing from April 7, for which 492 examination centers have been set up.
He said that out of the 492 examination centers, 312 are for female candidates and 180 are for male candidates. Nine examination centers have been set up in the prisons for inmates. He said a total of 153,648

Week-long survey of LPG,CNG stations

April 6, 2011 on by App

LAHORE – Environment department of the city district government has started week-long survey of the LPG cylinders and CNG stations in the city. Talking to APP on Wednesday deputy district officer environment Zahid Younis said that under the instructions of the commissioner Lahore division,joint teams of EPD,Civil Defence,OGRA and local district goverment will conduct survey of LPG cylinders selling units and CNG filling stations to check fitness of the
cylinders as well as

House count begins sans a provincial census commissioner

April 6, 2011 on by Staff Report

KARACHI – The first phase of the sixth census kicked off on Tuesday across the province, with as many as 8,500 officials having been engaged by the Karachi district government to complete formalities. The census has begun without a provincial census commissioner, even though the Federal government was supposed to appoint one and it did so for the other three provinces.
The first house to be marked in Sindh was Governor’s House, with Karachi Administrator Fazlur Rehman painting

ZAB reference challenged in SHC, but will President Obama testify?

April 6, 2011 on by Imdad Soomro

KARACHI – The reference filed by President Asif Ali Zardari in the Supreme Court for reopening the case of the “judicial murder” of former premier Zulfikar Ali Bhutto has been challenged in the Sindh High Court (SHC) on the grounds that two prior Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)-led governments did not bother to take any such initiative, and such a reference will weaken the judiciary.
President Zardari, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, Federal Law Ministry, US President Barrack

Roadside vendors’ pain is police’s gain

April 6, 2011 on by Ismail Dilawar

KARACHI – “You give them the money or not, I am going to give it,” said a vendor to another, who was seemingly reluctant on dishing out cash to the waiting policemen.
When asked who was asking for what, one of the vendors, pointing towards at least three police officers sitting inside a nearly-parked van, told this scribe that they were collecting bhatta from the small businessmen.
On a visit to the Jinnah Bridge – a scenic network of roads at the end of the MA Jinnah Road

Combining strong geometric elements with architectural principles

April 6, 2011 on by Staff Report

KARACHI – Combining strong geometric elements with recurrent patterns and architectural principles, Halima Cassell’s work utilises definite lines and dramatic angles in an attempt to manifest the universal language of number and create an unsettling sense of movement.
“To achieve these effects, I use heavily grogged clay that allows me to work on a large scale and utilise relatively thick surfaces to carve to the desired depth,” says Cassell.
She concentrates on simple forms

The inter-city bus fare – an increase of Rs 200 affair

April 6, 2011 on by Aftab Channa

KARACHI – Troubles continue to mount for the residents of Karachi as inter-city bus fares have also gone up by around Rs 200 per seat following the increase in fuel prices, particularly disconcerting those who frequently leave the city to visit their hometowns.
The fares of passenger buses that travel to the interior parts of Sindh, Balochistan and other destinations have been increased at all inter-city bus terminals of the city.
The Lahore-bound buses that leave from the

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