Monday, April 19, 2021

Upgradation proposals sought for Marshalling Yard, Jumma Goth

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi
(Pakistan News & Features Services)
Federal Minister for Railways, Muhammad Azam Khan Swati, has sought proposals for upgradation of Marshalling Yard in Pipri (MYP) and container loading facilities at Jumma Goth during his recent visit. 

"The proposals must entail best provision of facilities and be in line with the demands of our valued customers" he directed. 

During the visit of Marshalling Yard in Pipri, the minister observed the process of coal loading in a freight train at a loading point there. 

Pakistan Railways loads coal in multiple trains at Pipri that are destined for Yousufwala, Faisalabad, DaudKhel and Chichoki Malea. The minister was holistically apprised of official set-up, employees and the issues faced by them at Marshalling Yard. 

"MYP is the ground zero of freight activities and be upgraded in a manner that can ensure expansion of freight business of Pakistan Railways" he remarked.

The minister also visited the Jumma Goth station where he issued similar directives of upgrading the container loading facilities in line with modern standards.

Saturday, April 17, 2021

Shahzado Shaikh’s lecture series from April 18

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi
(Pakistan News & Features Services)
The Society of Asian Civilization (SAC) has decided to start a Ramazan Lecture Series by renowned scholar Prof Justice Shahzado Shaikh with the opening session to be held on April 18. 

According to details, the opening lecture of the series by Prof Justice Shahzado Shaikh will be starting at 10 am (Pakistan Standard Time) on April 18. 

The topic of the lecture would be ‘Ramazan: An Opportunity for Periodic Deep Cleaning of Human Genome’ and it would be open for people to join via Zoom using the link or Meeting ID (825 0949 4688) and Passcode (520605). 

Prof Justice Shahzado Shaikh, a former bureaucrat, who headed the Federal Shariat Court upon retirement as Federal Secretary, is an acclaimed scholar who has also authored numerous books.

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

Aziz Memon condoles Prince Philip’s death

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi 
(Pakistan News & Features Services)
Aziz Memon, President, English Speaking Union of Pakistan (ESUP), has condoled the death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who remained President of the English Speaking Union of the Commonwealth from 1952 to 2011. He died on April 9, just a couple of months before his 100th birthday. 

“Prince Philip was a staunch supporter of charity work, writing frequently and attending events at both Dartmouth House and venues across the globe on our behalf. Our public speaking competition, now the largest such competition for schools in England and Wales, came about as a direct result of a speech he had delivered in 1960,” Aziz Memon, having recently been elected as Vice President of the English Speaking Union (ESU) International for a term of next couple of years, recalled in statement shared with PNFS. 

“There are bound to be winners and losers in any contest but I hope that all the competitors will go home with respect for their opponents and with the realization that different opinions are no bar to lasting friendships,” Prince Philip was famously quoted to have observed during his speech at the World Schools Debating Championships, in which the ESU was involved, in 1991.

“With the above comments he had encapsulated the whole purpose of the ESU and we consider ourselves deeply honoured to have enjoyed his lifelong support,” Aziz Memon complimented. 

Prince Philip was also a known sports enthusiast, having helped develop the equestrian event of carriage driving. He was a patron, president or member of over 780 organizations, and he served as chairman of The Duke of Edinburgh's Award, a self-improvement program for young people aged 14 to 24. 

He was the longest-serving consort of a reigning British monarch and the longest-lived male member of the British royal family. He had retired from his royal duties in 2017, at the age of 96, after having completed 22,219 solo engagements and 5,493 speeches since 1952.

Tuesday, April 6, 2021

Azra Qureshi’s maiden travelogue published

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi 
(Pakistan News & Features Services)
Azra Qureshi, one of the seasoned medical librarians of the country, has debuted as author with the publication of her maiden travelogue by the name of ‘Barah-e-Safar’ under the auspices of the Karachi-based Library Promotion Bureau (LPB). 

Author Azra Qureshi has dedicated the 176-page book to Prof Dr Nasim Fatima, besides her parents. “The continued encouragement and guidance from Prof Dr Nasim Fatima played the pivotal role in the completion of the book,” she acknowledged. 

Prof Dr Nasim Fatima, the first women chairperson of the Library & Information Science department at any university of Pakistan, is also credited to have mentored and introduced many library professionals as authors with Azra Qureshi being the latest addition to the list. 

The widely travelled Azra Qureshi, having pursued a long career as a working librarian, had first thought about authoring a book in 2013 upon her return from Australia when she was assigned to pen the experiences of her tour for Bazm-e-Akram’s annual publication Adab-o-Kutub Khana. 

Having contributed to various journals and annuals besides participating in conferences and conventions over the years, she finally started putting together her travel stories of 17 or 18 countries which she was able to visit during her career and it took her almost a year to bring out her maiden book finally. 

An active member of Lions Club International, she also has attended its convention in the United States besides having undertaken trips of Australia, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, India, Maldives and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) among other countries. 

One of the features of the book, priced PKR 250 per copy, is the publication of eight pages of colour photographs many of which were clicked abroad. The production of the book, however, has not matched the high quality of contents inside the covers.

Monday, April 5, 2021

Rotary Darakhshan making things happen

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi 
(Pakistan News & Features Services)
Rotary Club of Karachi Darakhshan (RCKD) has had the knack of making its presence felt on the scene with its various projects and activities aimed at serving the community and fulfilling other obligations of Rotary. 

Chartered in 2004, RCKD has been in the news on a regular basis by carrying out their functions in accordance with Rotary spirit to earn more goodwill to the one of the top nongovernmental organizations, working globally for more than a century. 

The Founder President of RCKD, Jahangir Moghul, who earned the honour of being elected as the Governor of Rotary International’s District 3271, has remained the motivating force in urging his teammates to continue raising the bar.

Engr Asim Murtaza Khan, President, RCKD, has carried forward the mission with equal passion and he has led the club by personal example during the current Rotary year of 2021-21. 

The RCKD office-bearers and members were engaged in a flurry of activities recently besides conducting their regular meetings to promote fellowship and further spread the Rotary message.