HYDERABAD, July 1: The Hyderabad Electric Supply Company announced here on Wednesday that various departments of the Sindh government had cleared an amount of Rs278 million outstanding towards electricity bills.

The payment of dues followed a meeting between Hesco chief Syed Hassan Rizvi, commercial director Amjad Shaikh, deputy commercial director Mehmood Kaimkhani, Sindh finance secretary Israr Malik and consultant Aijaz Abbasi on June 25.

However, a Hesco spokesman said Rs999 million were still outstanding against the government departments. He said that from June 21 to 30, Hesco recovered Rs2,400 million from government and domestic consumers and added that the campaign against defaulters was in full swing.

Meanwhile, an intelligence team of the company severed 25 domestic connections in Liaquat colony on finding that the meters had been tampered with.

SLA: The Sindhi Language Authority has welcomed the appointment of noted Sindhi and Urdu writer, Afaq Siddiqui, as member of the board of governors in place of the late Syed Hashim Raza.

In a statement issued here on Thursday, SLA chairman Dr Qasim Bughio said that the appointment of Mr Siddiqui would go a long way in the development and promotion of Sindhi language and literature and would also bring Sindhi and Urdu speaking people closer.

SAB: The Sindhi Adabi Board announced here on Thursday that the board had published its quarterly magazines - Mehran, Surtiyoon and Gul Phul. A SAB press release said that noted writers and poets, Agha Saleem, Abdul Jabbar Junejo, Habibullah Siddiqui, Imdad Hussani, Hari Dilgeer, Wali Ram Walabh and others had made valuable contributions to the periodicals. It also said that autobiographies of renowned writers, besides many other books, had been republished.