LAHORE: A World Obesity Federation report has raised the alarm over the rapid increase of obesity among schoolchildren in Punjab, warning that the province is on course for a severe diabetes crisis if swift action is not taken. The international study places Pakistan fifth worldwide for childhood obesity, with Punjab showing the fastest rise in both overweight students and related health complications. It highlights that nearly 28 per cent of Pakistani children are overweight,
Child Rights in Focus
ISLAMABAD: During proceedings on a case concerning the proliferation of narcotics in educational institutions, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) was presented with a performance report from the federal police, detailing operations conducted between January 1 and August 31, 2025. The report was submitted in compliance with an earlier directive issued by Justice Raja Inam Ameen Minhas, who had instructed the police to provide a comprehensive account of anti-narcotics efforts undertaken during the year. The
FAISALABAD: Police claimed to have arrested one suspect and are conducting raids to apprehend others following a series of separate sexual assault incidents targeting women and a minor child across various districts of the city, according to official reports. The incidents, detailed in First Information Reports (FIRs), outline a disturbing pattern of crimes occurring over recent days. In the first case, reported in the Balochni police precinct, Waqas and Awais, allegedly abducted a 17-year-old
• PM doubles compensation for families of victims to Rs2m • 161,000 houses, 395 health facilities damaged in Punjab, UNOCHA says • Senate panel told deluges left 1,000 dead, millions displaced ISLAMABAD: As millions of people have been affected and hundreds of casualties reported across the country during the recent floods and monsoon rains, the prime minister has raised the ex-gratia assistance for the next of kin of those who lost their lives from Rs1 million to
ISLAMABAD: The education ministry on September 26 directed timely completion of the ongoing missing facilities project of educational institutions in the capital. “Federal education secretary reviewed the progress on renovation and construction of basic educational facilities across schools in Islamabad Capital Territory under the project titled missing facilities,” read a press release issued by the education ministry on Friday. Chairing a meeting, Federal Education Secretary Nadeem Mahbub directed the completion of the project on
KARACHI: Two men confessed before magistrates on September 26 to raping a seven-year-old boy and murdering him by strangling him with a shoelace and striking him in the head with a brick. The investigating officer (IO) produced both suspects before the judicial magistrate (East) and moved an application seeking to record their confessional statements. As per Police Rules, Section 25.29, “When more than one person confesses or turns approver in a case, their confessions
TOBA TEK SINGH: The Faisalabad police claimed to have recovered a kidnapped newborn baby from Sargodha. Faisalabad City Police Officer (CPO) Sahibzada Bilal Umar announced the recovery during a press conference on September 26. Giving details about the case, he said that Muhammad Yasin, a resident of Chak 215, RB Nethri of Faisalabad, admitted his pregnant wife Bushra Bibi to the Faisalabad Allied Hospital for childbirth. The CPO said that after the childbirth, the
PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court has stopped deportation of an Afghan refugee married to a Pakistani woman, and directed National Database and Registration Authority to decide his case regarding issuance of Pakistan Origin Card (POC). A bench consisting of Justice Wiqar Ahmad and Justice Kamran Hayat Miankhel disposed of a petition jointly filed by a Pakistani national, Ms Husna, and her Afghan husband, Masood Khan, seeking directives for the government to issue the POC to him. “Since
The Lahore High Court has ruled that under Islamic law, a marriage contracted after attaining puberty is valid, even if the individual is below the age set in the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929. In Punjab, the minimum marriage age is 18 for males and 16 for females. Justice Tariq Mahmood Bajwa delivered the ruling while dismissing a petition filed by a father seeking to recover his 15-year-old daughter. The father claimed his daughter, aged
SUKKUR: The disappearance of 11-year-old Saira Soomro from the mansion of a local Pir in Bharchundi, Deharki, district Ghotki, has triggered widespread protests and public outrage across the province. As per details, the Soomro family, facing repeated threats and violence from members of the Bhutti community, had sought refuge at the residence of the influential Pir in Bharchundi. Fateh Muhammad Soomro, father of the missing girl, entrusted his daughter to the care of the
CHAKWAL: Two separate incidents of sexual assault have been reported in Chakwal, with both cases involving the alleged recording of videos to blackmail the victims. In the first case, a 14-year-old ninth-grade student from the village of Bhabbhar, within the jurisdiction of Dohman Police Station, was allegedly assaulted by a local shopkeeper. While returning home from tuition, the shopkeeper forcibly dragged her into his shop, locked the door, and allegedly assaulted her. She further
RAWALPINDI: As the outbreak of conjunctivitis (pink eye) spreads across the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, there has been a significant surge in the prices of eye-related medications, including eye drops and rose water, in the open market. Essential eye drops for conjunctivitis have reportedly vanished from local stores. With the rising cost of these treatments, the number of conjunctivitis cases is increasing at an alarming rate. In the past three days alone,