GUJRAT: A 15-year-old son of a local trader was kidnapped allegedly by a prayer leader (Pesh Imam) in Dhakki gate locality in A-division police precincts. Reports said trader Muhammad Sultan lodged a complaint with the local police alleging that his son Hassan Sultan had gone to meet Qari Waleed, a prayer leader in a nearby mosque of his street, after the suspect called him on Oct 5. He said when his son did not
Child Rights in Focus
TOBA TEK SINGH: Faisalabad Civil Lines police arrested a trader for allegedly subjecting a minor female house help to brutal torture and shaving her head on October 8. As per the police, the complainant, Ashfaq, of Ghulam Muhammadabad locality, stated that his daughter Zohra Bibi (13) was employed as a maid in the house of a trader, Habib Salim. He alleged that Habib and his wife Sadaf would often subject Zohra to brutal torture
PESHAWAR: The province-wide protests against the proposed outsourcing of government colleges in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have intensified as teachers and students jointly staged demonstrations, boycotted classes and warned of an escalation if the policy was not withdrawn by October 11, 2025. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Professors, Lecturers and Librarians Association (KPPLLA) had announced an indefinite class boycott and lockdown of all public sector colleges, describing the government’s move to outsource colleges and amend service rules as
LAHORE: Punjab Education Minister Rana Sikandar Hayat has said that around 60,000 children have been unable to attend school due to the recent floods. He further said that flood relief camps had been set up in 415 schools, where thousands of affected people were still living amid standing water in their respective areas.He stated that nearly 100 school buildings have suffered severe damage, making it impossible to continue educational activities there. To minimise learning
ISLAMABAD: As global smoking rates fall to their lowest level in decades, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that new nicotine delivery products—such as e-cigarettes and heated tobacco devices—are rapidly spreading among youth in Pakistan due to loopholes in marketing regulations and the absence of national standards for these products. The WHO Global Report on Trends in Tobacco Use 2000-2024 and Projections 2025-2030 shows that while global tobacco use has declined from 33
BAJAUR: The students of the Government Postgraduate College Khar here on October 7 staged a protest demonstration by blocking the main Bajaur-Mardan Artery to press for resolution of their issues. Scores of students attended the demonstration held outside the college’s main gate at the main Bajaur-Mardan Road. The protesting students, who blocked the artery to all kinds of vehicular movement for a while, pointed out that they had been facing multiple issues for the
• World Bank cuts forecast by 0.5pc, predicts inflation may shoot to 7.2pc; exports to decline 1.5pc • WB official says removing barriers to women’s participation in job market can boost GDP per capita by 20-30pc ISLAMABAD: The World Bank on October 7 cut its growth forecast for Pakistan by half a percent to 2.6 percent for the current fiscal year due to the recent floods, which are also expected to push up inflation
LARKANA: Handicaps, problems and a strategy to ensure the success of the Oct 13-19 anti-polio drive in Larkana division were discussed at a meeting of the Divisional Task Force (DTF) chaired by Commissioner Tahir Hussain Sangi here on October 7. After receiving a briefing on preparations for the campaign, the commissioner said that the new drive carried special importance as two new polio cases had recently been reported in Sindh. He said that higher
ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (FBISE) has increased passing marks from the existing 33 to 40pc, besides notifying a new grading system. The new system will be implemented on annual examinations, effective next year. According to an FBISE official, existing passing marks in per subject are 33% but from next year, 40% will be considered as passing marks. The FBISE has also changed its old grading system of A, B,
The Climate Risk Index 2025 shows that from 1993–2022, over 765,000 people died and nearly USD 4.2 trillion in losses occurred due to more than 9,400 extreme weather events. Dominica, China, and Honduras were the most affected countries long-term, while Pakistan, Belize, and Italy ranked highest for 2022. Floods, storms, and heatwaves caused most fatalities and economic damage, with climate change driving both the frequency and intensity of these disasters. The report stresses that
PESHAWAR: October 8 (today) marks 20 years since the devastating 2005 earthquake that struck Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), killing more than 85,000 people and causing massive destruction. Among the fatalities, there were thousands of school-going children, who had just gathered for the morning assembly when the earthquake struck. According to official data, around 3,900 schools were either flattened or severely damaged in the quake. Yet, two decades later,
HYDERABAD: An eight-year-old girl was brutally murdered in Sakrand, Benazirabad district, apparently for stealing the tiny gold jewelry she was wearing. The dead body of eight-year-old Heer Bhagri, daughter of Lalu Bhagri, was found dumped on a plot in Asghar Colony on October 7. According to SHO Sakrand police station Ali Akbar Channa, her throat was slit while one of her arms and both ears were also cut off. The police, despite searching, could