‘Technology event to improve students’ abilities’ – 14 Jan 2023

LAHORE: Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), held a two-day technology event in collaboration with Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers bracket (IEEE) Society, titled CodinGuru 5.0. in partnership with S&P Global Pakistan.

According to a press release, the competition was aimed to improving the tech quotient of the students and encourage ambitious and skilled coders to enhance their abilities. The competition was planned across three segments: Programming, UI/UX, and WebApp Module. The participating teams developed innovative solutions for daily usage like delivery applications, climate change actions, and energy-saving appliances through different programming languages like C++, Java, and Python. To further highlight the correlation of ‘Diversity, Equity & Inclusion’ (DEI) with innovation and creativity, a panel discussion was held focusing on the significance of inclusion in workplaces. Senior Director Commercial S&P Global, Shafqaat Shah, addressed the audience and said, “At S&P Global, we not only deploy cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), virtual reality (VR), data science, and analytics in our products to power the markets of the future, but we do so while being inclusive and equitable towards our people, clients, and the communities we operate in. Together, we can accelerate progress in the world.”

The top three places were secured by FAST Karachi as the winner of the Programming Contest, LUMS students for the UI/UX module, and COMSATS Lahore for the WebDEV module.

LUMS has been organising this mega-coding competition since 2018. This year, a total of 70 teams from different universities, mainly Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Punjab University College of Information Technology, FAST National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences, University of Engineering and Technology, Information Technology University, COMSATS, and Government College University Lahore participated in the event. The participants were given 24 hours to design a creative IT solution and customer-friendly interface for a contemporary real-world problem aligned with the given theme.

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‘Islam teaches tolerance, peace’ – 14 Jan 2023

RAWALPINDI: Islam is a religion of universalism, tolerance, peace, and reconciliation. Islam teaches that life is sacred and that the believer has a duty to uphold truth and justice. Social justice is the core principle of Islam.

Islam emphasises on peace in communication with all Muslims and non-Muslims in a society, and encourages its adherents to avoid conflict and violence.

This was stated by the prominent religious and spiritual leader of the Islamic world, Pir Muhammad Naqib-ur-Rehman, custodian of Eidgah shrine, while addressing a gathering, says a press release.Islam teaches us culture of peace and tolerance in society, said Peer Naqib ur Rehman.

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Body formed for success of polio drive – 14 Jan 2023

Committee will remain intact for the next 2 years and will conduct an awareness campaign

RAWALPINDI:
The district administration of Rawalpindi has established a special committee consisting of 15 scholars/clerics to ensure the success of the polio campaign throughout the district.

This committee will remain intact for the next 2 years and will conduct an awareness campaign via mosques to spread the significance of administering polio drops.

As per the plan, announcements will be made in mosques, speeches will be made in favour of the anti-polio campaign in Friday prayers and anti-polio campaigns will also be conducted in public places.

The convener of the committee will be Allama Hafiz Muhammad Iqbal Rizvi while the other members include Maulana Aqeel ul Rehman, Maulana Izhar Bukhari and others.

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Edu dept decides to recover ‘occupied’ buildings, plots – 14 Jan 2023

The minister directed all types of illegal occupation of buildings and plots of government colleges to be removed

KARACHI:
The education department has finally decided to recover its college buildings and plots illegally occupied by different institutions.

Sources told The Express Tribune that the department was unaware of the total number plots and buildings illegally used by private people and state institutions for years. It was also learnt that with the support of local education department’s officials, even shops have been built. “In some areas, department’s land is being used for agriculture purposes,” an official informed.

“Billions of rupees assets of education department have been occupied only in Karachi,” he added, saying the officials in first phase will try to figure out the total number of buildings and plots.

“The next step will be to reclaim the public property,” he explained.

The meeting which was presided over by the Education Minister Syed Sardar Shah took the important decision on removing the illegal occupation of government college buildings and plots in the province.

The minister directed that all types of illegal occupation of buildings and plots of government colleges should be removed. “Steps should also be taken to eliminate encroachments around colleges,” he urged.

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Sindh ‘notorious for ghost schools’: CJP – 14 Jan 2023

CJP Umar Ata Bandial regrets indifference to educational system

ISLAMABAD:
Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial on Friday bemoaned the sorry state of affairs in the school education system in Sindh, saying that the province was notorious for its ‘ghost schools’ – non-functioning schools that continue to exist only on paper.

A two-member bench led by Chief Justice Umar Atta Bandial and comprising Justice Ayesha Malik was hearing the case filed against the decision of the Sindh High Court (SHC) regarding the forensic audit of the Sindh Textbook Board.

During the hearing, CJP Umar Ata Bandial noted that the biggest weakness of the country was that no attention was paid to the education system. Addressing the Sindh government’s lawyer, he remarked that the said province had a bad reputation for its ghost schools.

Later, the top court ordered the auditor general to conduct a forensic audit of the Sindh Textbook Board and submit its report to the relevant court.

The lawyer for the Board contended that the SHC had issued an illegal order.

Justice Malik remarked that the board got the budget of Rs2.3 billion and the SHC had ordered its audit, which the board was not carrying out.

The lawyer replied that the board had no objection to the audit but had an objection to the appointment of an additional registrar as a supervisor and conducting the audit immediately. The chief justice said that the weakness of the country was that no one paid attention to education.

He asked about the auditing authorities. The lawyer replied that the audit was conducted by the Accountant General Pakistan Revenues (AGPR). He added that he would submit the audit reports for the past 20 years if ordered by the court.

Later, the court ordered the Auditor General to audit the Sindh Textbook Board.

It is pertinent to note here that as per one report that came to the fore last year, as many as 11,000 schools in Sindh have teachers but no students while the teachers serving in these schools draw reasonable salaries without doing any work.

These schools are proving to be a burden on the state’s limited resources. Wages of 11,000 teachers are making up a whopping salary bill on account of payments to teachers.

The report said influential people are using these schools as their guest houses as no student is coming to these schools. There are 1.8 schools for every 1,000 students in rural Sindh. A mere 15 per cent of primary and middle schools have two teachers, it added.

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Girl dies, 10 injured in accident – 14 Jan 2023

MANSEHRA: A minor girl was killed and 10 persons sustained injuries when a passenger van plunged into a ravine in Gulozbanada area of Lower Kohistan on Friday.

The bus was on its way to Gulozbanda area from Pattan via Karakoram Highway when the driver lost control over steering and the vehicle plunged into a gorge.

The local rushed to the spot and shifted the injured to the nearby hospital.

A 12-year-old girl, whose identity was yet to be established, was pronounced dead while 10 other injured were hospitalised.

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Alleged killer arrested – 14 Jan 2023

ISLAMABAD: Khanna police with the assistance of investigation wing teams have traced a murder case, a police spokesman said.

On 10th January, 2023, Khanna police team received information about a woman’s body at Bilal Town. Upon receiving the information, the police immediately visited the crime scene and shifted the body to hospital for autopsy. Police also registered a case FIR no. 20 under section 302 PPC.

A special investigation team was constituted on the order of the top cop to detect the people involved in killing of a young woman, the spokesman said.

Police team utilised all available technical and human resources and arrested the accused involved in it. The accused was identified as husband of the victim. During the preliminary investigation the accused confessed that he strangled his wife to death. Further investigation is underway.

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10 die in road accidents in 24 hours – 14 Jan 2023

LAHORE: Ten people died in different road accidents across the Punjab province during the last 24 hours.

The Punjab Emergency Service Department (PESD) responded to 921 road traffic accidents in all districts of Punjab during the last 24 hours. In these accidents, 10 people died, whereas 943 injured. Around 503 people having serious injuries were shifted to different hospitals.

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Man strangles wife, confesses to crime – 14 Jan 2023

LAHORE: A man strangled his wife at his house in the Raiwind City area on Friday, and went to the police station to confess to his crime.

The accused Irshad told the cops that he used to have arguments with his wife Kalsoom over domestic issues. On the day of the incident, he strangled his wife and reached the police station and asked them to visit his house where his wife’s body was kept. Police arrested the accused and shifted the body to the morgue.

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11 more suspects arrested in police encounters – 14 Jan 2023

Eleven suspected criminals, including six in an injured condition, were arrested in separate police encounters across the city on Friday.

Two street criminals were arrested in an injured condition after an exchange of fire with police in Korangi near Bilal Chowrangi. They were taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) where they were identified as 25 year-old Waqas, son of Khan Nawaz, and Imran, 20, son of Nisar Shah.

During the initial interrogation, the suspects told District Korangi SSP Sajid Sadozai that they had killed a man, namely Qayyum, for putting up resisting during a mugging bid in Korangi last month. They also confessed to have been involved in more than 80 incidents of crime in different areas of Karachi. Sadozai said the suspects used to sell stolen mobile phones through an online application. Two illegal weapons and four stolen mobile phones were recovered from their possession.

In another encounter, Steel Town police arrested three suspects in an injured condition in Gulshan-e-Hadeed. The suspects were named as included Sahil, Zeeshan, and Salamat, while two of their companions managed to escape the scene under the cover of fire. Three pistols, three mobile phones, and looted cash were recovered from their possession. Police said that the suspects were involved in various cases of crime.

Separately, three suspects were arrested during an exchange of fire with the Korangi Industrial Area police. The police said the encounter took place when a police patrol team saw two armed robbers looting a citizen in Mehran Town. On seeing the police, the robbers opened fire on them and tried to escape. In retaliation, the police fired back. During the shootout, a robber was injured and all the three suspects were arrested. The injured robber was taken to the JPMC in police custody where he was identified as Qasim, while his companions as Daniyal and Umair. Three pistols, five snatched mobile phones, and a motorcycle were recovered from their possession.

Moreover, three operatives of Hassan Jhengu group were arrested by Bilal Colony police. The police said the suspects had robbed the owner of a construction company in Samama Shopping Centre and shot and killed a watchman, namely Ali, for resisting the robbery bid. The suspects were identified as Hussain, Roshan alias Bengali, and Sohail alias Don. The weapon with which the watchman was killed was also recovered from their possession.

Man commits suicide

A man allegedly committed suicide at his house in Defence Housing Authority’s Phase II on Friday. Rescuers took the deceased to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre where he was identified as 28-year-old Zain Khan, a son of Afzal Khan. Police said the man committed suicide by hanging himself from a ceiling fan over unexplained reasons.

Two hurt in shootings

Two people were injured in separate firing incidents in the city on Friday. According to police, 28-year-old Shehreyar, son of Mumtaz, was injured in firing by unidentified suspects in Nazimabad. Rescuers transported the injured to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH). Separately, 30-year-old Tahir was injured for resisting a mugging bid in New Karachi. He was taken to the ASH.

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