TOBA TEK SINGH: An eight-year-old daughter of a farm owner who was kidnapped by his servant on Nov 18 was recovered by Chak Jhumra police from Karachi and she was handed over to her father on Monday.

Police spokesperson said Hidayatullah of Rawalpindi was a worker at the farm of Zaneesha’s father, Maqsood Ahmad, at Chak 107-JB, Faisalabad, for the last three years. He kidnapped Zaneesha on Nov 18 and disappeared. Police registered a case against him, used technology and successfully traced and arrested him from Karachi. The minor girl was also safely recovered from him.

Police are still probing the suspect about the objective behind the abduction.

RAPE: A man raped a four-year-old boy at Chak 340-JB in Gojra.

The child was playing outside his house when the suspect took him to a sugarcane field on some pretext and raped him there. When the child fainted, the suspect fled. The baby had been shifted to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Gojra.

Police registered an FIR.

ADJOURNED: Anti-Terrorism Court judge Javed Iqbal Sheikh adjourned until Dec 2 the hearing of the cases against hundreds of PTI activists registered over May 9 incidents.

About 220 leaders and workers had to appear in FIR number 832, 200 and 1,277 before the court. They included Omar Ayub, Shibli Faraz, Zartaj Gul but none of them was present in the court during the hearing.

Legal team head of PTI advocate Malik Khalid Shafiq told the reporters that he had given an application before the court that all 420 accused who had to come to attend the court could not reach Faisalabad as all roads were blocked. At this, the court gave a one-time exemption to all 420 PTI activists from appearance in court and adjourned the hearing of both FIRs for Dec 2.

KILLED: An accident occurred near Gojra’s Chak 356-JB, Jhallaywala, on Samundri Road, where a sugarcane-laden tractor-trolley overturned, killing the driver.

Nadir Masih, 23, was transporting sugarcane to Kamalia sugar mills when he lost control at a road bump due to the overloaded vehicle. The trolley overturned into a 10-foot-deep roadside pit, trapping him under the sugarcane.

Despite two hours of efforts by Rescue 1122 staff, Nadir Masih was found suffocated to death when finally pulled out.

ACCIDENT: A woman was killed and four members of her family critically injured in a road accident near Chak 465-GB on the Samundri-Faisalabad bypass.

According to Rescue 1122, Sobia Qamar, 35, was riding a motorcycle with her husband Naseerul Haq, 40, and their three children when a car hit them. The impact caused the family to fall onto the road, where an oil tanker ran over them.

Sobia died on the spot, while Naseer, son Sajawal, 14, and daughters Mashal, 9, and Horain, 3, were seriously injured and taken to Samundri THQ Hospital for treatment.

CONFERENCE: A conference on ‘Functional Materials and Emerging Technologies’ organised by the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) Department of Chemistry discussed the need to integrate materials science with community needs and promote environmentally friendly technologies.

UAF Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Muhammad Sarwar Khan said the university is committed to advancing education and research to tackle environmental issues.

Dean of Sciences Dr Ijaz Ahmad Bhatti outlined the department’s efforts in areas like radiation and environmental chemistry, contributing significantly to chemical sciences.

Speakers also discussed the role of functional materials, their applications, and challenges, with Dr Bhatti highlighting the influence of Artificial Intelligence in innovation. Dr Habib Aslam Gaba and Dr Amer Jamil praised the university’s contributions to science and national development.

GCUF: The quality enhancement cell of the Government College University Faisalabad (GCUF) organised a workshop on improving the quality of education and research at the university with the teachers of the Faculty of Life Sciences, Medical Sciences and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

The objective of the workshop was to formulate a plan to achieve annual goals of research and education.

Quality Enhancement Cell Director Prof Dr Asim Mansha said they were working on a priority basis regarding the parameters of the HEC and their implementation in higher educational institutions. He said this was possible only if teachers were engaged in an intellectual quest, making the teaching process more purposeful and effective.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2024