HYDERABAD, July 5: The Atta Chakki Owners Social Welfare Association on Thursday demanded that the food department release wheat to flourmills from the government godowns to bring down spiralling prices of the grain in the market.

A meeting of the association chaired by its president, Haji Nawab Ali, here on Thursday pointed out that the price of wheat had shot up by Rs100 per bag just within a week after its supply from the interior of the province to the cities stopped.

The meeting said that a wheat bag which was being sold for Rs1,150 per bag only a week ago was now being sold for Rs1,250 per bag and the situation was forcing grinding mills to close down.

Naturally, it would push up the price of wheat flour and the hike would continue till the flourmills received wheat in ample quantity.Heavy rains, which have left roads in many parts of the province in tatters, and hoarding by traders in the small towns who primarily supply the grain to cities, are the reasons behind short supply of wheat, it is learnt.

LUMHS: The vice-chancellor of the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences, Prof Noshad A. Shaikh, on Thursday inaugurated video conferencing hall, set up under the Higher Education Commission's project “Online Lecturing and Net-meeting”.

Mr Shaikh said that with the establishment of the hall LUMHS had become one of the first 17 universities to be included in the first phase of HEC’s video conferencing facility.

He said that the facility would greatly enhance the standard of education and student-teacher interaction through distant learning. It would offer the students opportunity to learn from high profile teachers, exchange ideas and contribute and share research work, he said.