Pakistan

Holi conundrum: KU forms 3-member committee to probe incident

Published

1 year ago

Farwa

Justice (retd) Hassan Feroz to lead three-member committee.
Committee will submit recommendations within two weeks.
Students claimed they were stopped from celebrating Holi.

KARACHI: The University of Karachi Wednesday formed a three-member fact-finding committee to investigate the incident of Hindu students being allegedly stopped and beaten from celebrating Holi.

Dean Faculty of Law Justice (retd) Hassan Feroz will be the convener of the committee, while it will include three members — MPA and member of Syndicate of KU’s Sadia Javed and Assistant Professor Department of Computer Science Mukesh Kumar.

The committee has been tasked to reach out to the allegedly affected students, while it has been directed to submit its recommendation within two weeks.

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The move comes a day after some Hindu students studying at the university alleged that they had been “subjected to violence” and stopped from celebrating Holi by members of the Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba (IJT) — a student organisation.

Holi is a Hindu spring festival also known as the “festival of colours” and is celebrated by the Hindu community in Pakistan and worldwide with traditional and religious fervour.

The students, who organised the Holi celebration, said they belonged to the Sindhi department, and had been “tortured” for the festivities they had arranged.

“While we were celebrating Holi,” they alleged, “a number of boys from the Jamiat came and stopped us. They beat us and other students.”

A female student, in a video statement, corroborated this statement, saying while she and her classmates had been celebrating Holi, students from the IJT came and “harassed” them and beat up the male students.

In response, an official of the varsity, who wished not to be named, said that no student sought permission for celebrating Holi from the educational institution’s authorities.

“No incident of violence against students celebrating Holi was reported to the security office, student advisor, or the campus hospital,” the official said, noting that law enforcement agencies have also not reported such an incident.

The IJT, however, claimed that it had nothing to do with the incident.

IJT spokesperson Basiq Naeem told Geo News that the student organisation was not involved in the beating of students. “We respect all religions,” he added.

He also alleged that members of the nationalist organisation wanted to “promote religious hatred through baseless propaganda” and demanded that the university administration conduct a transparent investigation into the matter.

Sindh Universities Minister Ismail Rahu had taken notice of the incident and directed KU Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Khalid Mahmood Iraqi to investigate the matter.

Business

Price of LPG “slashed” by Rs. 20 per kilogram

Published

2 days ago

Farwa

Sources claim that LPG rates have been lowered by Rs 20, making the cost per kilogram drop from Rs 280 to Rs 260.

It is noteworthy to remark that the costs of LPG were reduced by Rs 20 per kilogram earlier, resulting in a total reduction of Rs 40 per kilogram within a few weeks.

The price of liquefied petroleum gas for the month of May 2024 was lowered by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) on April 30.

The LPG tariffs were lowered by Rs 11.88 to Rs 238.46 per kilogram in accordance with the OGRA’s notice. On Wednesday, May 1, 2024, the new rates will go into effect.

In April of last year, the price per kilogram of LPG was Rs 250.34. pricing reduction of Rs 140.18 has resulted in a new pricing for home LPG cylinders set for May 2024 of Rs 2813.85.

The OGRA reported a drop in liquefied petroleum gas pricing in April. The price of LPG is now Rs 250.34 per kg instead of Rs 256.78 due to a reduction of Rs 6.44 per kg.

The price of the household cylinder was fixed at Rs 2954.03 for the month of April, down from Rs 3030.12, a decrease of Rs 76.9.

Business

ADB delegation stops by FBR headquarters

Published

2 days ago

Farwa

Senior Director ADB Tariq Niazi oversaw the expedition, which also involved Sana Masood, Farzana Noshab, and Senior Public Sector Management Specialist Laisiasa Tora. The meeting included presentations from economists as well, according to an FBR press release.

The officers focused on structural and policy adjustments as they discussed the Domestic Resource Mobilization Program’s implementation at the meeting.

$300 million was given to the Pakistani government by ADB in December 2023 as a result of the hard work and dedication of FBR. Better laws, regulations, and institutional capability for the FBR were established by Sub-Program I.

With the $300 million in funding provided by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to the Government of Pakistan in December 2023, the delegation conveyed satisfaction with the program’s effective launch.

The FBR also underlined how crucial digitization is to recording the economy and boosting productivity in a sustainable way.

In order to promote the Government of Pakistan’s Digital Tax Administration Project, both parties decided to look into measures to improve their cooperation.

Latest News

Off-duty police in Islamabad are prohibited from donning uniforms.

Published

2 days ago

Farwa

The new directives, according to specifics, were sent via wireless by the federal capital police and state that no officer may wear a uniform when reporting for duty or leaving it.

According to the police official, uniforms will only be worn when on duty; otherwise, two policemen will accompany each other during duty hours and will always be required to carry guns.

A different development was the earlier release of an app by the Islamabad Police with the goal of improving crime prevention and public safety.

Launched on the orders of former Interior Minister Sarfraz Akbar Bugti, the recently released ICT-15 app aims to empower the people of the capital city by giving them the ability to actively engage in the battle against crime and protect their areas.

Residents of Islamabad can now easily download and utilize the ICT-15 app because it is easily accessible on the Google Play Store.

Citizens can report a variety of issues with this easy-to-use application, such as incidents, unlawful behavior, complaints against law enforcement, the presence of undocumented people, or any suspicious criminal activity.

The police promise quick reaction times as soon as information is reported using the app, so assistance will be provided as quickly as feasible.