Four injured in explosion in Quetta

QUETTA: At least four people were injured in a loud explosion near Saryab Flyover, rescue services said.

The injured have been shifted to the Civil Hospital.

A motorbike and two cars were also damaged in the explosion. The windows of the buildings in the vicinity also shattered due to the intensity of the blast.

The exact nature of the explosion is still being determined.

On Monday, 74 people were killed and 122 injured in a suicide blast at the Quetta Civil Hospital.

The explosion took place when Balochistan Bar Association President Bilal Kasi's body was being brought to the emergency department. He was gunned down at Mano Jan Road. Former Balochistan Bar President Baz Muhammad Kakar was injured in the attack. He later succumbed to his wounds at the hospital.

The civil-military leadership sprung into action after the incident.

On Wednesday, a high level security meeting presided by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and attended by Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif and DG ISI took place. During the meeting the implementation of the National Action Plan was discussed at length.

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Four injured in explosion in Quetta

QUETTA: At least four people were injured in a loud explosion near Saryab Flyover, rescue services said.

The injured have been shifted to the Civil Hospital.

A motorbike and two cars were damaged in the explosion. Windows of nearby buildings shattered due to the intensity of the blast.

Police and rescue services have reached the blast site.

The exact nature of the explosion is still being determined.

On Monday, 74 people were killed and 122 injured in a suicide blast at the Quetta Civil Hospital.

The explosion took place when Balochistan Bar Association President Bilal Kasi's body was being brought to the emergency department. He was gunned down at Mano Jan Road. Former Balochistan Bar President Baz Muhammad Kakar was injured in the attack. He later succumbed to his wounds at the hospital.

The civil-military leadership sprung into action after the incident.

On Wednesday, a high level security meeting presided by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and attended by Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif and DG ISI took place. During the meeting the implementation of the National Action Plan was discussed at length.

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Pakistani scholar appointed as visiting professor at Harvard

LAHORE: Dr. Osama Siddique has been appointed as the inaugural Henry J. Steiner Visiting Professor in Human Rights at Harvard Law School.

The new Chair has been set up to honor Henry J. Steiner who is currently Professor Emeritus at Harvard Law School, the Founding Director of the Harvard Human Rights Program and one of the leadings global scholars in the field of human rights.

The chair is open to non-US scholars, judges and advocates with distinctive work in the area. The appointment is only by invitation and it is a matter of great prestige that the very first appointee to this position is a Pakistani.

Dr. Osama Siddique is a graduate of Government College, Lahore and LUMS, studied as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford for his first law degree, and obtained masters and doctoral degrees from Harvard Law School. He has worked as a Wall Street lawyer as well as an advocate in the Pakistani appellate courts, was cardinally involved in setting up and served as the founding chair of an innovative law program at LUMS where he also taught for many years, and is the author of many academically ranked and peer reviewed scholarly publications.

He is the author of the book ?The Jurisprudence of Dissolutions: Presidential Power to Dissolve Assemblies under the Pakistani Constitution and its Discontents? (2008). His latest book, published in June, 2013 by the Cambridge University Press, is titled ?Pakistan?s Experience with Formal Law: An Alien Justice.?, makes a seminal contribution to existing literature on the historical and sociological evolution of formal legal systems in post-colonial developing countries (with a particular focus on Pakistan and India), the varied experience of ordinary citizens with these formal legal systems, and the experience and impact of major reform projects.

It was declared the Best Non-Fiction Book of the Year at the Karachi Literature Festival, 2014 and also awarded the American Institute of Pakistan Studies (AIPS) Annual Book Prize 2014-2015.

?Originally published in The News 

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28 principals of Pak-Turk schools, colleges replaced with locals

LAHORE: The management of the 28 Pak-Turk schools Wednesday replaced the Turkish principals with local senior teachers and vice principals of the schools across the country.

The Board of Directors is, however, intact and overseeing day-to-day affairs of its educational institutions across the country while Turkish teachers would continue teaching as the board counts them among the strong points of the education system.

Reportedly, the replacement of the heads was to thwart any likely move of ?handing over of the control of the school system to any organisation by the government.? Sources in the school management said the decision to replace the Turkish nationals was purely internal. They added the Turkish teachers would continue working on the teaching posts.

A chain of 28 schools and colleges is functioning under the Pak-Turk Education Foundation International Schools and Colleges in Pakistan in different cities including Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Multan, Karachi, Hyderabad, Khairpur, Jamshoro and Quetta. The education system, from pre-school to ?A? levels, has a student body of around 11,000 while there are 1,500 staffers of which 150 are Turkish.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Erdogan government wants closure of the education system for its alleged links with the US-based cleric, Fethullah Gulen, who is blamed for the recent coup attempt.

A senior government official seeking anonymity said the closure of the Pak-Turk Schools and Colleges was not possible since fate of thousands of students could not be risked. He, however, added a mechanism might be evolved to run the schools through local and incumbent Turkish government-led set-up. ?However nothing has been finalised so far?, he added.

Punjab School Education Minister Rana Mashhood said the Punjab government would only come into action after instructions from the federal government. He categorically said no policy decision was yet conveyed to the provincial government vis-à-vis fate of the Pak-Turk Education System. To a question, the minister said any decision about the Pak-Turk schools and colleges would only be taken keeping in view the student body.

About the rumours vis-à-vis extension in the ongoing summer vacation, Rana Mashhood said no decision was yet taken in this regard and added the educational institutions would reopen as per schedule announced earlier.

- Originally published in The News

         

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28 principals of Pak-Turk schools, colleges replaced with locals

LAHORE: The management of the 28 Pak-Turk schools Wednesday replaced the Turkish principals with local senior teachers and vice principals of the schools across the country.

The Board of Directors is, however, intact and overseeing day-to-day affairs of its educational institutions across the country while Turkish teachers would continue teaching as the board counts them among the strong points of the education system.

Reportedly, the replacement of the heads was to thwart any likely move of ‘handing over of the control of the school system to any organisation by the government.’ Sources in the school management said the decision to replace the Turkish nationals was purely internal. They added the Turkish teachers would continue working on the teaching posts.

A chain of 28 schools and colleges is functioning under the Pak-Turk Education Foundation International Schools and Colleges in Pakistan in different cities including Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Multan, Karachi, Hyderabad, Khairpur, Jamshoro and Quetta. The education system, from pre-school to ‘A’ levels, has a student body of around 11,000 while there are 1,500 staffers of which 150 are Turkish.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Erdogan government wants closure of the education system for its alleged links with the US-based cleric, Fethullah Gulen, who is blamed for the recent coup attempt.

A senior government official seeking anonymity said the closure of the Pak-Turk Schools and Colleges was not possible since fate of thousands of students could not be risked. He, however, added a mechanism might be evolved to run the schools through local and incumbent Turkish government-led set-up. “However nothing has been finalised so far”, he added.

Punjab School Education Minister Rana Mashhood said the Punjab government would only come into action after instructions from the federal government. He categorically said no policy decision was yet conveyed to the provincial government vis-à-vis fate of the Pak-Turk Education System. To a question, the minister said any decision about the Pak-Turk schools and colleges would only be taken keeping in view the student body.

About the rumours vis-à-vis extension in the ongoing summer vacation, Rana Mashhood said no decision was yet taken in this regard and added the educational institutions would reopen as per schedule announced earlier.

- Originally published in The News

         

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Pakistani scholar appointed as visiting professor at Harvard

LAHORE: Dr. Osama Siddique has been appointed as the inaugural Henry J. Steiner Visiting Professor in Human Rights at Harvard Law School.

The new Chair has been set up to honor Henry J. Steiner who is currently Professor Emeritus at Harvard Law School, the Founding Director of the Harvard Human Rights Program and one of the leadings global scholars in the field of human rights.

The chair is open to non-US scholars, judges and advocates with distinctive work in the area. The appointment is only by invitation and it is a matter of great prestige that the very first appointee to this position is a Pakistani.

Dr. Osama Siddique is a graduate of Government College, Lahore and LUMS, studied as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford for his first law degree, and obtained masters and doctoral degrees from Harvard Law School. He has worked as a Wall Street lawyer as well as an advocate in the Pakistani appellate courts, was cardinally involved in setting up and served as the founding chair of an innovative law program at LUMS where he also taught for many years, and is the author of many academically ranked and peer reviewed scholarly publications.

He is the author of the book “The Jurisprudence of Dissolutions: Presidential Power to Dissolve Assemblies under the Pakistani Constitution and its Discontents” (2008). His latest book, published in June, 2013 by the Cambridge University Press, is titled “Pakistan’s Experience with Formal Law: An Alien Justice.”, makes a seminal contribution to existing literature on the historical and sociological evolution of formal legal systems in post-colonial developing countries (with a particular focus on Pakistan and India), the varied experience of ordinary citizens with these formal legal systems, and the experience and impact of major reform projects.

It was declared the Best Non-Fiction Book of the Year at the Karachi Literature Festival, 2014 and also awarded the American Institute of Pakistan Studies (AIPS) Annual Book Prize 2014-2015.

â€"Originally published in The News 

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Two death row convicts escape prison in Azad Kashmir

AZAD KASHMIR: At least two death row convicts escaped the Kotli Jail late Wednesday night, according to sources.

The escaped convicts Muzammil Babar and Arsalan are involved in serious cases including murder, sources added.

The convicts were expected to be hanged to death this month.

A search operation in the area is underway to capture the escaped convicts.

Kotli is the second largest jail in Azad Kashmir.

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