Director of Physical Education Apa Sarwat and Professor Noor Muhammad Sahito attended as special guests, HYDERABAD: Young women and girls of the interior Sindh’s Matiari district got their long-awaited break to show their sports talent. The all-women Sindh Pink Games 2025 came to Matiari with a colourful opening on 12 February. The district, steep in sufi traditions, is home to the shrine of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai. Local Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Yousif Shaikh formally
Child Rights in Focus
ISLAMABAD: The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio at the National Institute of Health (NIH) has confirmed Pakistan’s second wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) case of 2025 from District Badin, Sindh. The case was detected in a 48-month-old girl from Tehsil Tando Bago’s Union Council (UC) Mithi. She developed symptoms on January 30, and her samples were collected on February 3 and 4 before being sent to the lab on February 5. According to health
50k teachers will receive Google education training starting in April. Rawalpindi. The Punjab government has decided to introduce modern technology in government educational institutions with the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in classrooms. Under this project, 50,000 government teachers will receive Google education training starting in April at the beginning of the new academic year. Additionally, 100,000 students will be trained in coding and Google AI. Smart laboratories will be established in Punjab’s
RAWALPINDI: A 12-year-old domestic worker, allegedly subjected to severe torture by her employer, succumbed to her injuries in Rawalpindi on February 12. Initial police investigations have revealed that the child suffered a deep head injury, with her skull fractured, which ultimately led to her death. The accused, identified as Rashid Qureshi and his wife, who have eight children, allegedly tortured the young girl, Iqra, after their daughter accused her of stealing chocolate. Police sources
Childhood is a time of innocence, joy and learning. To quote Dave Pelzer, “Childhood should be carefree, playing in the sun; not living a nightmare in the darkness of the soul.” Sadly, for millions of Pakistani children, these formative years are clouded by the dark realities of child labour. These children labour long hours for a pittance in exploitative conditions – exposed to hazardous tools and environments. This deprivation not only snatches their rights
CM launches show for students from across the province LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif launched the largest government schools science and technology show in the country’s history. She visited the Government Pilot Higher Secondary School and distributed cash prizes among the winners of Jashn STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and methamatics) in eight categories. Students and their teachers from Hafizabad, Jhang, Dera Ghazi Khan and Multan received prizes. Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz viewed
LHC upholds family court ruling, declares oral adoption invalid and sides with biological parents LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has upheld a family court’s ruling, declaring that biological parents have the preferential right to a child’s custody, declaring the oral adoption arrangement unjustified. The court further observed that the minor could not inherit from the adopter family, reinforcing the legal and Islamic principles governing guardianship and inheritance. The case revolved around Ameer Hamza,
• Human rights body calls for concrete strategy to combat such crime • Legislation regarding children, differently abled rights deferred • Sindh police chief says 289 kidnapping cases reported last year, 269 children recovered ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary body on 11th February focused on key legislative and administrative matters concerning children’s rights, the protection of persons with disabilities, safeguarding minorities, and measures to prevent crimes against children. The Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights convened
LAHORE: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the Punjab Home Department has set up beggary barracks in every jail across the province, increasing the total capacity to 10,000 beggars with spaces for women and children as well. In Lahore’s two jails, the department has designated barracks to keep 1,000 beggars while others will be accommodated in the jails of Kasur, Sheikhpura, Gujranwala, Multan, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Bahawalpur, Narowal, etc. The prisons department has managed food and
NAROWAL: Sialkot police claimed on 11th February to have arrested two suspects, one of them for sexually assaulting two minor brothers and the other for allegedly raping a widow, in separate cases. In the first incident, Ghulam Murtaza, a resident of Raipur Awan village in Sialkot district complained to the police that the suspect ‘H’, sexually assaulted two minor sons of his sister by trespassing her house. He said the 12 and eight-year-old children
MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Chaudhry Anwar ul Haq on 11th February announced that all orphan students studying in schools and colleges across the state would be exempt from registration and examination fees of the AJK Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (AJKBISE). He made this announcement while addressing the annual medal and award distribution ceremony of the AJKBISE in Mirpur as the chief guest. In the future, no student from
KARACHI: Emphasising the need for creating public awareness about epilepsy, experts at a programme held on 11th February shared that the much stigmatised neurological disorder largely affected young children, the majority of whom could be effectively treated, if the disease was timely diagnosed and the parents ensured compliance to the treatment protocol. The event was organised in connection with World Epilepsy Day at the National Institute of Child Health (NICH) in collaboration with the