HYDERABAD: Accountability Courtjudgehere onThursday dismissed application for acquittal of eight accused in a Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC) case and fixed the matter for Sept 10 for framing of charges.

AccordingtoNationalAccountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor Ghous Bux Kaheri, eight beneficiaries/accused out of18 had Kled an application to seek their acquittal in the case.

The application was filed by Imran Qureshi and others.

NAB had filed a reference against 20 accused, including a former SPSC chairman andcontroller of examination and 18 beneficiaries.

The reference claimed that the beneficiaries had failed in combined competitive examination (CCE) 2003 but they in collusion with the then SPSC administration either got themselves declared successful and their numbers increased. After an inquiry conducted by NAB, a reference was filed.

The applicants claimed that they had not committed any offence and, therefore, they should be acquitted.

NAB prosecutor contended that the applicants had committed an offence under Section 9 of the NAB Ordinance, 1999 and, as such, they should be tried accordingly.He said that they were beneficlaries in the case and they got this favour in collusion with SPSC administration.

The court dismissed the application to allow framing of charges againstthe accused.

Need for research at varsities stressed Educationists at a programme held on Wednesday laid stress on research to bolster educational institutions.

`Institutions today are known by the quality of research they conduct. The 21st century is essentially the century of research in almost all walks of life, especially in the academic world,` Universityof Sindh Jamshoro Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Fateh Mohammad Burfat said at the third consecutive episode of a year-long research lecture series by the Institute of English Language and Literature, University of Sindh, Jamshoro, at Senate Hall of the Vice Chancellor Secretariat, according to a press release.

He opined that research had two major milestones to achieve; first, to discover new horizons of knowledge and second to verify phenomena interpreted as historical truths.

`I consider this initiative a great learning opportunity for MPhil and PhD students of the institute who have the opportunity to interact with senior, trained, experiencedand qualified faculty,` he said.

Congratulating SU Institute of English Language and Literature (IELL) director Dr Tariq Hassan Umrani and others, he said the IELL was one of the most academically rich departments of the varsity as it housed more than 15 PhD teachers in diverse dimensions of language and literature from various international settings.

Earlier, in-charge dean, faculty of arts, Prof Dr Rafique Ahmed Memon shed light on the significance ofthe event;institute director Dr Tariq Hassan Umrani presented an address of welcome whereas lecture series supervisor Dr Ghazal Kazim Syed moderated the proceedings.