Hundreds of industrial workers, traders and industrialists on Tuesday staged a demonstration near Small Industrial Estate Sialkot and blocked the main Shahabpura Road for about two hours in protest against the prolonged power outages. The protesters burnt tyres and staged a sit-in. They also blocked the Shahabpura Road with the help of containers. They were carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans against the government.
The affected workers and industrialists said the prolonged power outages had badly affected industrial production in the export-oriented Sialkot city. In addition, hundreds of workers and labourers were losing their jobs daily, they lamented. The business community urged the federal government to exempt export-oriented Sialkot city from power load shedding to boost industries. Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) President expressed grave concern over the worst energy crisis.
DEATH ANNIVERSARY: The first death anniversary of Dr Jameela Akhtar, the elder sister of senior journalist Zafar Malik, was observed here in Daska. Quran-Khawani was also held for the eternal peace of the departed soul. A large number of people from all walks of life attended the death anniversary.
TRAFFIC POLICE SET UP COUNTERS: The traffic police have set up special counters in all the four tehsils, Sialkot, Daska, Sambrial and Pasrur, for issuing learning licences to the people at local level. Earlier, the people had to go to Sialkot for getting their learning licences. Traffic Police (Education Programme) in charge Anees Anjum Cheema said this step had been taken on the directions of DSP Sialkot Mazhar Fareed to facilitate the people at local level.
OBITUARY: Daska-based senior journalist, Lala Nawaz Khokhar’s younger brother, journalist Naveed Shahzad Khokhar’s uncle and journalist Mukarram Riaz’s father, Muhammad Riaz Khokhar, passed away here on Monday after protracted illness. He was laid to rest in his native graveyard, Gulzar-e-Hanfia, Islampura, Daska, in the presence of hundreds of mourners from all walks of life.
Meanwhile, journalists, including Zafar Malik, Abid Hussain Mehdi, Arif Mehmood Sheikh, Ghulam Nasir Mughal, Mirza Yousaf Daskavi, Khawaja Tanseer Shahi, Rana Mushtaq Ahmed, Rana Ghulam Mustafa and Khawaja Atif Raza Khan, offered deep condolences over the sad demise.
