BAHAWALPUR: A woman and a man died and 26 others suffered injuries, nine of them seriously, in three road accidents allegedly caused by poor visibility due to fog in Bahawalpur, Multan and Burewala.

In Bahawalpur, six passengers were injured, four of them seriously, in a collision between a bus and truck on Multan Road.

The four seriously injured persons, Waseem, Shadab, Sarfraz and Shafiq, were shifted to the Bahawal Victoria Hospital (BVH).

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In Multan, a woman, identified as Fouzia, died after being knocked down by a speeding car while crossing a road. the car driver was arrested by traffic police.

In Burewala, a motorcyclist, identified as Abdullah, died and 20 passengers, including four women, injured when a bus collided with a truck in an attempt to save a cyclist at Manawala Morr on Lahore –Burewala road.

Out of the twenty injured persons, the condition of five is stated to be serious.

SUSPECT KILLED: Garha Mor police claimed on Wednesday that a suspect wanted in murders and other cases was killed in the firing by his own accomplices during a police encounter near Pull Laranwala in Mailsi tehsil of Vehari district.

According to police, the suspect, Asef, who was wanted in a number of heinous crimes, including murder, had also killed a prayer leader, Qari Abdul Qayyum, on Dec 13.

Qari’s mobile phone was also recovered from Asef, the police claimed. The victim’s father, who was complainant of the FIR registered against Asef, identified the suspect’s body placed by police at the Mailsi THQ hospital.

TRAINING: The Sugarcane Research and Development Board (R&DB) has decided to impart training to university students in sugarcane production, quality and different varieties in the country, under a scholarship programme.

The decision was taken at the R&DB Board of Governors annual meeting held at Ashraf Sugar Mills here on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Chaudhry Zaka Ashraf.

According to a press release, the universities from where students will be selected for this programme included, Islamia University Bahawalpur (IUB), University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF), Nawaz Sharif Agriculture University, Multan, Baba Farid Agriculture University, Rahim Yar Khan and University of Sargodha (UoS).

The officials of the department of agriculture (extension), progressive farmers and staff of the various sugar mills across the country will also be included in the programme.

The board decided to acquire 400 acres of land at Chak Jhumra from Faisalabad agriculture department to establish a research centre to evolve new varieties of sugarcane seeds.

The meeting also decided to invite a Brazilian sugarcane scientist Dr William to conduct research on the production, quality and varieties of sugarcane in Pakistan.

The meeting was also attended by board CEO Shahid Afghan, Punjab Cane Commissioner Shoaib Khan Jadoon, Food Secretary Sibt-ul-Hassan Shirazi and others.

Published in Dawn, December 26th, 2024