Karachi: As many as 14 people, including a naval officer and a Rangers personnel, were killed in Karachi as violence continued unabated in the metropolis despite Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s efforts to bring normalcy back to the city.
A Pakistan Navy officer Captain Muhammad Nadeem 45, son of Naseer, was shot dead and his wife wounded near National Stadium, within the jurisdiction of Shahrah-e-Faisal police station. The body and injured were taken to a naval hospital. Separately, four people, including a Rangers personnel were killed in firing at Shah Baig Lane, Lyari,in the remit of Baghdadi police station. The martyred official was identified as Sohil, 23, son of Akhtar. He embraced martyrdom during exchange of firing with criminals.
Three alleged criminals were killed in the shootout, who were identified as Moulla Saleem 45, Aziz 25, and Aman 22. The bodies were moved to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center (JPMC) for medico-legal formalities A 22-years-old Ayaz, son of Abdullah was gunned down by unidentified armed men in Chanesar Goth, Mehmoodabad area of Jamshaid Town, within the remit of Mehmoodabad police station. The body was moved to JPMC for an autopsy.
Mehmoodabad Police said victim was resident of same area where the incident took place and associated with a religious party. In other incident, a 26-years-old man, Imran, son of Salman, was shot dead in firing by unidentified armed men in Shah Faisal Colony No 3, within the precincts of Shah Faisal Colony police station. The body was moved to JPMC for medico-legal formalities. Shah Faisal police said victim received four bullets in upper torso and died before he could be taken to hospital.
A 45-years-old man, Ejaz, son of Yaqoob, resident of Metroville was gunned down by unidentified armed men near Frontier Colony Mor (roundabout), Orangi Town, within the remit of Mominabad police station. A police constable deputed at the Governor’s House was also gunned down in the same locality late night. The bodies were moved to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH) for medico-legal formalities. Separately, a political activist was shot dead in Orangi Town, within the jurisdiction of Iqbal Market police station. The victim was identified as Sheikh Babar alias Shakil Mota 40, son of Sheikh Rustam. The body was shifted to ASH for autopsy. Police said man received five bullets in his upper torso and died before he could be taken to hospital. Four other people lost their lives in different parts of the port city.
Tuesday, 3 September 2013
79 killed, 202 injured in bomb blasts across Pakistan in August
At least 79 people were killed and 202 others got injured in 19 bomb blasts including one suicide attack that took place across Pakistan during the month of August, according to official statistics.
The official data revealed that the suicide blast that targeted police in southwest of Pakistan killed 39 and injured 40 others.
August was the only month this year, in which less than one hundred killings took place in the bomb attacks by the militants.
Since the Pakistan's incumbent government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif hinted to hold peace talks with militants, especially Pakistani Taliban, a drop was seen in the number of lethal attacks in the country.
Out of 19 attacks, only three were of serious nature that targeted security forces, police and civilians.
The worst one of them was witnessed on Aug. 8, when a suicide bomber attacked a mosque located in the Police Lines in the southwestern provincial capital of Quetta where hundreds of policemen and civilians were gathering to attend the funeral of their colleague who was shot dead by militants. At least 39 people including 16 policemen and five police officers were killed and 40 others injured in the attack that was later claimed by the Pakistani Taliban.
One day before the Quetta blast, a remote controlled bomb explosion targeted the spectators who were leaving a football stadium after watching a match in the southern port city of Karachi, killing 11 and leaving 26 others injured.
During the period, 16 occasions civilians were the direct target of the militants' bomb attacks in 16 occasions that killed 40 people and injured 154 others.
Security personnel and policemen came under attack three times directly in which 25 personnel lost their lives while 48 others sustained injuries.
Militant conducted two direct attacks at security forces during the month and killed four personnel besides leaving eight others injured.
On Aug. 22, at least four security personnel were killed when a roadside bomb blast targeted an army convoy when security personnel were returning to their unit after conducting peaceful by-elections in Karachi.
Pakistan's northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that was always the soft target of the militants remained unhurt as there was no causality reported in any blast.
South Western province of Balochistan was the worst hit province with nine attacks followed by five blasts in northwestern tribal regions and four in southern province of Sindh.
The country's most populated eastern province of Punjab, that contains 60 percent of total population, was hit once when a bomb ripped through a train cabin in the Toba Tek Singh district of the province.
Majority of the bomb blasts were carried out with Improvised Explosive Device (IED) by planting it on roadsides or fixing it in vehicles.
Most of the attacks remained unclaimed.
Experts believed that less number of bomb attacks would be seen in September as the government has postponed the execution of Taliban prisoners and has been working to start dialogue with militants. In August, Pakistani government ordered a temporary stay of executions of prisoners days before they were due to be hanged and the decision was welcomed by Taliban.
The official data revealed that the suicide blast that targeted police in southwest of Pakistan killed 39 and injured 40 others.
August was the only month this year, in which less than one hundred killings took place in the bomb attacks by the militants.
Since the Pakistan's incumbent government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif hinted to hold peace talks with militants, especially Pakistani Taliban, a drop was seen in the number of lethal attacks in the country.
Out of 19 attacks, only three were of serious nature that targeted security forces, police and civilians.
The worst one of them was witnessed on Aug. 8, when a suicide bomber attacked a mosque located in the Police Lines in the southwestern provincial capital of Quetta where hundreds of policemen and civilians were gathering to attend the funeral of their colleague who was shot dead by militants. At least 39 people including 16 policemen and five police officers were killed and 40 others injured in the attack that was later claimed by the Pakistani Taliban.
One day before the Quetta blast, a remote controlled bomb explosion targeted the spectators who were leaving a football stadium after watching a match in the southern port city of Karachi, killing 11 and leaving 26 others injured.
During the period, 16 occasions civilians were the direct target of the militants' bomb attacks in 16 occasions that killed 40 people and injured 154 others.
Security personnel and policemen came under attack three times directly in which 25 personnel lost their lives while 48 others sustained injuries.
Militant conducted two direct attacks at security forces during the month and killed four personnel besides leaving eight others injured.
On Aug. 22, at least four security personnel were killed when a roadside bomb blast targeted an army convoy when security personnel were returning to their unit after conducting peaceful by-elections in Karachi.
Pakistan's northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that was always the soft target of the militants remained unhurt as there was no causality reported in any blast.
South Western province of Balochistan was the worst hit province with nine attacks followed by five blasts in northwestern tribal regions and four in southern province of Sindh.
The country's most populated eastern province of Punjab, that contains 60 percent of total population, was hit once when a bomb ripped through a train cabin in the Toba Tek Singh district of the province.
Majority of the bomb blasts were carried out with Improvised Explosive Device (IED) by planting it on roadsides or fixing it in vehicles.
Most of the attacks remained unclaimed.
Experts believed that less number of bomb attacks would be seen in September as the government has postponed the execution of Taliban prisoners and has been working to start dialogue with militants. In August, Pakistani government ordered a temporary stay of executions of prisoners days before they were due to be hanged and the decision was welcomed by Taliban.
by Jamil Bhatti
Tuesday, 20 August 2013
HEC announced ranking of Pakistani universities 2013 | PAKISTAN - geo.tv
ISLAMABAD: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has announced the ranking of Pakistani universities 2013 on the basis of quality and research.
Addressing a press conference here on Friday, Chairperson Higher Education Commission, Dr. Javaid R. Laghari, here Friday said the primary purpose of the ranking exercise was to drive the higher education institutions Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) towards improved quality, research and promote a culture among HEIs of Pakistan for participation in the world rankings.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Laghari said to strengthen the quality of higher education in Pakistan, HEC has taken various initiatives to bring the HEIs of Pakistan at par with international standards.
Ranking is one of the measures to scale the success of efforts of the HEIs to achieve the international competitiveness in education, research and innovation.
"It will also provide a transparent mechanism to universities on how they compare against their peers, and will inculcate a spirit of competition to raise the standard of education.
The recent inclusion of 10 Pakistani universities among top world and Asian universities is the result of regular ranking efforts by HEC.
This activity also promoted a culture of participation in the world university rankings which led to significant reflection of Pakistan's higher education development at the international level," he remarked.
Prof. Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Executive Director HEC and the vice chancellors of top ranker universities were also present on the occasion.
Ranking criteria for the universities revolve around three main parameters including implementation status of quality assurance criteria, teaching quality and research.
The HEIs established after December 2008 and the distance education like Allama Iqbal Open University and Virtual University were excluded from the ranking lists.
The ranking 2013 was based on the year 2011-12 data provided by HEIs.
Keeping in view the national context and problems faced by the universities in Pakistan, the primarily identified QS world ranking criteria was amended as per feedback received from the higher education institutions.
In spite of the difficulties associated with ranking, HEC is the first one in the Islamic world that has done rankings twice, first time in 2006 and second time in 2011, however the criteria over the period amended to respond to feedback by HEIs and to make HEC's ranking more compatible with global rankings.
Director General Quality Assurance HEC, Zia Batool informed that the universities had been ranked specifically by category/area of specialization to make it logical.
The sector-wise sorting had not been done to provide equal reflection to both the public and private sector institutions.
Universities could only be comparable within the assigned category.
In Agriculture/Veterinary category top five universities announced by HEC included, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Lahore, The university of Agriculture Peshawar and Sindh Agriculture University Tandojam and Lasbela University of Agriculture, water and Marine Sciences.
In Engineering and Technology category, Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Science, Islamabad, University of Engineering and Technology Lahore, Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering and Technology Swabi, Mehran University of Engineering and Technology Jamshoro and Institute of Space Technology, Islamabad.
In Business Education category, Lahore University of Management Sciences Lahore, Institute of Business Administration Karachi, Institute of Business Administration Sukkar, Shaheed Zulifikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST) Karachi and Institute of Management Sciences Peshawar as the top universities.
In Medical category, Aga Khan University Karachi, University of Health Sciences Lahore, Dow University of Health Sciences Karachi, Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences Jamshoro, Khyber Medical University Peshawar, King Edward Medical University Lahore were declared top universities by the HEC.
In General Universities (Large), National University of Sciences and Technology Islamabad, University of the Punjab Lahore, University of Karachi, Karachi, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology Islamabad, Government College University Faisalabad, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, Shah Abdul Latif University Khairpur, the Islamia University of Bahawalpur.
General Universities (Medium) includes Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad, Government College University Lahore, National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences Islamabad, Fatima Jinnah Women University Rawalpindi, Gomal University D.I Khan and University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Muzaffarabad.
General Universities (Small) included the University of Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Beaconhouse National University Lahore, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) Islamabad, University of Science and Technology Bannu, Isra University Hyderabad and Foundation University Islamabad. (APP)
Police make three arrests in connection with Islamabad standoff | PAKISTAN - geo.tv
ISLAMABAD: The information gleaned from Islamabad standoff gunman Malik Sikander’s mobile phone has so far led to the arrests of three key suspects implying that there is lot more to it than what meets the eye, Geo News reported.
Until the latest arrests, it was believed that the "lone" as well as the "lunatic" Islamabad gunman was not a terrorist, but not anymore as Sikander's active ties to terrorist/extremist elements have come to fore.
Following one of the leads Rawalpindi police traveled to Hafizabad's suburb Ghaziabad, conducted a raid on a house, and held one, Abdullah.
Abdullah, allegedly one of Sikander's close aides, was reported to be an activist of an outlawed religious-extremist outfit.
Sikander was continuously in contact with him via phone while he held the federal capital virtually hostage last week, the sources said.
Police believe Sikander was taking instructions from Abdullah.
At the moment, Abdullah was under interrogation at an unknown location, the sources added.
Moreover, a police party also went to Azad Jammu & Kashmir and apprehended a head constable of police from a border town near Line of Control (LoC). The identity of the held policeman has not been disclosed as yet.
Furthermore, the third suspect was of one of Sikander’s friends as well as the person he procured assault rifles from.
Khattak enjoying dual office: Asfandyar
PESHAWAR (Online) - Awami National Party Chief Asfandyar Wali Khan
said that PTI leaders in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa holding dual offices‚ while
their Chairman Imran Khan had been criticising President Zardari for
holding dual office.
Addressing a public gathering in connection with bye-election campaign in Peshawar on Monday‚ he said democracy allows everyone to express his views but there should be limits.
The ANP Chief asked all political leaders to avoid criticism for the sake of criticism.
Asfandyar said that Imran Khan should tell him whether his pre-election promises were to be believed or what was happening after May 11 polls.
The ANP chief sarcastically said that retaining party and ministerial portfolio in the same time was possible only in Khan’s Naya Pakistan.
He said that during ANP government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, its leaders Mian Iftikhar Hussain and late Bashir Bilour visited blasts sites. He said that in new Pakistan PTI ministers and leaders didn’t attend funeral prayers of their MPAs. He added that it was not witnessed in any other democracy of the world.
He asked whether Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had lost its writ after Dera Ismail Khan jailbreak. The ANP chief said that Imran Khan had said that the ANP government had failed after the Bannu jailbreak.
Addressing a public gathering in connection with bye-election campaign in Peshawar on Monday‚ he said democracy allows everyone to express his views but there should be limits.
The ANP Chief asked all political leaders to avoid criticism for the sake of criticism.
Asfandyar said that Imran Khan should tell him whether his pre-election promises were to be believed or what was happening after May 11 polls.
The ANP chief sarcastically said that retaining party and ministerial portfolio in the same time was possible only in Khan’s Naya Pakistan.
He said that during ANP government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, its leaders Mian Iftikhar Hussain and late Bashir Bilour visited blasts sites. He said that in new Pakistan PTI ministers and leaders didn’t attend funeral prayers of their MPAs. He added that it was not witnessed in any other democracy of the world.
He asked whether Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had lost its writ after Dera Ismail Khan jailbreak. The ANP chief said that Imran Khan had said that the ANP government had failed after the Bannu jailbreak.
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