Category Archives: Karachi
KU probe body finds teacher guilty of sexual harassment
KARACHI: An inquiry committee comprising senior teachers of Karachi University found a fellow teacher guilty of sexual harassment, it emerged on Wednesday.
The inquiry report was submitted to the KU vice chancellor a few days ago. It took the committee almost two months to complete the inquiry, though the report was supposed to be submitted within 10 days.
According to sources, the teacher appointed at the social work department had been accused of sexual harassment by many students. Upon contact, the KU registrar said: “Yes, the report has been submitted. But it is with the vice chancellor and is confidential.”
The KU vice chancellor was not immediately available for comments.
The report with recommendations would be submitted before the university syndicate for action.
Speaking to NNP, students expressed little hope that the teacher would be punished and said that the university had a poor record of punishing teachers allegedly involved in immoral activities.
“There is likely to be another inquiry in which the teacher would be absolved of all charges and declare innocent. This is what had happened earlier,” said a student while referring to a case in which another teacher facing similar charges was reinstated after a gap of two years in 2014.
In the same case, the sources said, the KU administration had instituted two inquiries: the first inquiry found the teacher guilty and recommended punishment for him. But for some unexplained reasons, another inquiry was initiated that absolved the teacher of the charges. The inquiry report was presented at the KU syndicate meeting last November and the teacher was reinstated.
Meanwhile, there has been no progress in a case of ‘inappropriate behaviour’ against a male teacher (of the Urdu department) who took classes at the mass communication department.
A complaint against the said teacher was submitted by the mass communication department chairman to his counterpart at the Urdu department in January this year.
“I was told that an inquiry committee would be set up to investigate the charges but nothing has been done about the case so far,” said chairman of the mass communication department Prof Tahir Masood.
Blast near Karachi’s City Court, no casualties
KARACHI: An explosion took place near the treasury of Karachi’s City Courts on Thursday.
The blast is said to have taken place due to the negligence of authorities who had cleared the space a few days earlier and moved some explosive material without taking precautions, according to security sources who requested anonymity.
Explosives, weapons and narcotics recovered from arrested criminals are stored in the treasury which is located within the court premises.
Fear and panic gripped the area after the incident.
Police and emergency teams rushed to the spot. Security forces personnel cordoned off the area and sealed all entry and exit points of the City Courts as a probe into the blast went underway.
Polling underway in Senate elections: Media barred from coverage in NA, KP
KARACHI: Polling for Senate seats went underway in the national and provincial assemblies on Thursday as 132 candidates contest for 48 seats in the Upper House of Parliament.
According to the Election Commission of Pakistan, 84 candidates will contest for 33 general seats from the provinces, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the federal capital, 22 for eight seats reserved for women from the provinces and the federal capital and 18 for eight seats reserved for technocrats, including ulema. Eight candidates will contest for two seats reserved for minorities — one each from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
No person entering the assemblies’ premises would be allowed to carry their cellphones or any other electronic devices with them as per the ECP’s directives.
The provincial assemblies had been declared polling stations for the respective provinces and the National Assembly for four senators from Fata and two from Islamabad.
The hall of the respective assemblies have been designated as the polling stations. Separate pollings stations have been formed in the National Assembly for the election of four senators from Fata and two from Islamabad.
The ruling PML-N and the main opposition PPP are expected to secure almost equal representation in the Upper House. The number of seats each party is expected to win is 25, but any behind-the-scenes moves can bolster the position of either party to enable it to clinch the offices of chairman and deputy chairman of the Senate.
The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf is set to make history by getting representation in the Upper House for the first time. The Jamaat-i-Islami, which had lost representation in the Senate in 2012 after it boycotted the 2008 general elections, is expected to make a comeback.
The Senate comprises of 104 members — 23 each from the four provinces, eight from Fata and four from Islamabad. The seats allocated to a province comprise 14 general seats, four reserved for women, four for technocrats and one for a minority member.
The election for half of the Senate seats takes place every three years.
Media personnel, including that of state-owned PTV, have been barred from entering the National and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly as part of security arrangements. Journalists have not been allowed to carry their cameras and were expelled from the press galleries of respective assemblies.
A Punjab Member of Provincial Assembly, Sobia Anwar Satti, who belongs to the PML-N and was elected on a seat reserved for women fell sick while the elections for the Senate seats were being conducted in the Punab Assembly.
Rescue 1122 teams reached the spot and shifted the ailing MPA on a stretcher to an ambulance which rushed her to a nearby hospital for treatment.
National News Portal. 