The GSM network uses the IMEI number to identify valid devices and also to stop a stolen phone from accessing the network. Once the phone is blocked, it is rendered useless even if the SIM card in it is changed.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2012.

In Karachi, a woman and a teenage boy were electrocuted after a electricity pole fell in Gulshan-e-Hadeed and Kharadar. A dozen people were also wounded in Saddar, Gulberg and North Nazimabad.

In Hyderabad, 35-year-old Majeedan Malik was killed and her three children were injured when the roof of their house collapsed in Sanjhoro area of Sanghar district.

The winds reached the speed of up to 50 knots (92 kph) with visibility as low as 50 kilometres in Karachi while its speed was recorded at 10 knots in Hyderabad.

The heavy winds originated from Balochistan and also hit Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Sanghar, Bhitshah, Shaheed Benazirabad and Tando Mohammad Khan districts as rain and thunder were reported.

The storm is not part of any greater weather system ,according to the metrological office and rise and drop in the temperature is part of the local weather patterns. However, the wind gusts are stronger than the ones which came in March.

Even if the dust storm calms down and the winds stop blowing within two hours it can still take over 12 hours for the dust to dissipate. It can cause irritability in the eyes and breathing problems, especially to those with existing allergies, but the biggest danger is from flying debris.

Rural Sindh glad that it will have electricity for six hours

In Sukkur,the power supply to more than 100 cities, towns and villages of Sindh and Balochistan was restored on Saturday, after a dust storm had damaged five 132 kilovolt electricity towers between Guddu and Tangwani on Thursday.

Jacobabad, Thull, Mirpur Buriro, Bahoo Khoso, Mubarakpur, Manjhipur, Jungal and others in Sindh, while Jafferabad, Suhbatpur, Panhwar Sanhri, Belput and others in Baluchistan suffered additional power outages in the wake of the dust storm.

However, residents of Sukkur are often spared from the agony when Federal Religious Affairs Minister Khursheed Ahmed Shah is in town. Naudero reportedly receives uninterrupted power supply as the city houses the Presidential Camp Office.

Khairpur, hometown of Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, witnesses nearly twelve hours of power outages every day. B

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2012.

Adnan Anjum won the men’s pole vault event, edging out Army’s Rehan Anjum and Muhammad Saleem of Wapda.

Meanwhile, in the women’s 1,500m Rabia Ashiq finished first and Samabia came second positions while Farhat Batool of HEC finished third.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2012.

The Mohajir Suba Tehreek, which has been campaigning for the creation of a separate province for Sindh, has been advertising its demands through graffiti on walls, posters and a ‘newsletter’, which was placed at several locations including outside the Karachi Press Club. It has also been organising protests throughout the city and several supporters of the movement held placards for it at funerals for MQM workers recently.

While the MQM has denied any ownership of and support for the group, a legislator from the party did raise the question in the Sindh Assembly whether, given the demands, there was a possibility to open negotiations with the group and find out why they were asking for a separate province.

The Mohajir Suba Tehreek has been a source of contention within the province. Legislators who moved and backed a resolution against the group in the Sindh Assembly received threatening text messages and letters, while nationalist parties accused the PPP of not acting against the group.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2012.

KARACHI: The Sindh women’s development department and the UN Women and Asian Development Bank is organising a one-day forum on “Strategic Dialogue on Addressing the Concerns of Formal and Informal Women Workers in Policies and Programmes” on May 22.

Organisers said on Friday that since the devolution of powers under the 18th amendment in the constitution, the role of the women’s development department has widened. The forum for Tuesday will look at concerns of women associated with informal sectors and the needs of home-based workers within a broader humanitarian responseand reconstruction.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2012.

SUKKUR: The Sindh High Court has ordered the Ghotki SSP to produce four men before the court on May 22.

The men were picked up by the police from Haji Rasool Bux Korai village near Mirpur Mathelo, around 25 days ago. Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar was hearing a constitutional petition filed by Mehnaz, who is the wife of one of the men who disappeared, Mazari Korai, through her lawyer, Shafqat Raheem Rajput. According to the lawyer, she said before the court that the police raided their village and took away four men including her son, Akbar Korai and Nadeem Korai, Pervez Korai and Nizam Korai. She said that since their arrest, the police did not tell them about where the men were being kept. She feared that the police might not kill them in a fake encounter.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2012.

KARACHI: Hundreds of activists from the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) youth wing organised a rally outside the press club in support of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.

The rally was titled ‘Khape Gilani Khape’ and was led by senators Saeed Ghani and Aajiz Dhamrah. “We salute Prime Minister Gilani who has respect for the law,” said Senator Ghani, while Dhamrah said that the political workers of the PPP did not stay silent whenever there was injustice.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2012.

If the lists are ready in time, the elections will be held under the laws of 1979. Negotiations with the coalition partners are under way to make amendments to this law.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2012.

KARACHI: On Saturday, two suspects identified as Nabi Buksh and Abid Ali were arrested in a search operation in Baloch Para on Jahangir Road. A heavy contingent of Law Enforcement Agents cordoned off the area and conducted a door-to-door search. The Soldier Bazaar police seized two TT pistols from them.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2012.

SUKKUR: Three people were kidnapped near Daharki in Ghotki district on Friday. They came in search of a tractor, stolen nine months earlier, after receiving a call for ransom on Thursday. Qari Hameed, Mohammad Saleem and Abdul Qadir Ghalo, residents of Ahmed Pur Sharkia, Punjab were abducted by armed men along with their vehicle. Later, the victims contacted their relatives to inform them of their abduction yet no case has been registered.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2012.