Karachi - The family of a Pakistani scientist in US custody fears she may die before her next hearing on September 22 in New York if urgent medical attention is not provided.

Aafia Siddiqui, 36, a US-educated neuroscientist from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), was extradited from Afghanistan after she allegedly seized a rifle from a US Army officer and tried to fire it at the interrogators who arrived in Ghazni, Afghanistan in July to question her about possible terror links.

In the exchange of fire, she was shot in the chest and feet.

Karachi, Sep 9: Professional beggars, mostly women and children, can be seen in the streets and shopping centers of Karachi throughout the year, but their number increases greatly during the holy month of Ramazan.

Initiator Human Development Foundation (IHDF) President Rana Asif Habib said that normally there are around 100,000 beggars in the city but during Ramazan, the average number of beggars surpasses one million.

Karachi, Sept 6: A new study has found that the Hindus belonging to lower (Scheduled) castes are unofficially declared as “untouchables” and are given a second-grade-citizen treatment. Their kids are made to clean the school premises and are forces to sit on back benches.

The study also found that Hindu women belong to scheduled castes were the most vulnerable and considered “sexually available by men” of Muslim-dominated communities. Since the SC Hindus are economically weaker with no social support or political leverage in the community, their young women/ girls were lured into matrimony or abducted and wed through forced conversions.

Karachi, Sept 6: A senior PPP member of the Sindh Provincial Assembly Ruqqaya Soomro reached the Assembly on stretcher to cast her vote in the ongoing presidential poll today.

According to The News, Soomro, a former Member of National Assembly (MNA) and now a sitting member of the Sindh Assembly, was the first lawmaker to come to the Assembly lying on a stretcher to cast her vote and set an example for others, despite her severe illness.

Meanwhile, voting is continuing in the National Assembly in Islamabad and all the four Provincial Assemblies, namely Punjab, Sindh, NWFP and Balochistan, to elect the next president of the country.

Polling began at 1010 am and would continue till 3:00 pm without break.

Karachi, Sept 6 : Even as Pakistan witnesses presidential election today for its 12 head of state, with PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari being the front runner, different astrologers have given varying predictions about his future.

Karachi, Sept 5 : The Sindh provincial government has reportedly decided to establish separate courts for women, Provincial Law Minister Muhammad Ayaz Soomro said here last evening.