TIMERGARA: Eleven years have passed since the Government Primary School Koheri Bala in Lower Dir was destroyed by an earthquake but children have been forced to study in the open, jeopardizing their future. The earthquake, measuring 7.5 on Richter’s magnitude scale, hit northern Afghanistan and Pakistan in October 2015, leaving hundreds of people dead. The government had declared the school building unsafe for use. Later, the damaged building was razed to the ground with
Child Rights in Focus
KARACHI: The post-mortem of an 11-year-old girl found dead in Surjani Town has confirmed that she was subjected to sexual assault before being murdered, according to the police surgeon. The post-mortem, conducted by Police Surgeon Dr Sumaiya, found that the victim was strangled with a rope or similar object. While Dr Sumaiya verbally informed police of strangulation, PS Surjani Town stated that a written report is awaited. The police surgeon’s verbal confirmation did not
RAWALPINDI: The cervical cancer vaccination campaign for girls aged nine to 14 suffered a serious setback on its very first day, as 4,824 parents in Rawalpindi district refused to allow their daughters to be immunised. The drive, launched jointly by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and the District Health Authority (DHA) without a large-scale public awareness effort, began on September 15 and is scheduled to run until September 27, with a
RAWALPINDI: A final decision has been taken to conduct board examinations for class 5 and class 8 in all government schools from 2026. Following the announcement, the schedule for admission forms and exams has also been released. According to the issued circular, admission forms for the annual exams will be accepted from November 3 to November 15, 2025. The Class 5 exams will begin on February 9, 2026, while Class 8 exams will be
TANK: Unidentified armed men kidnapped three officials working for the anti-polio programme from the Umarkot area in the limits of Malazai Police Station in the Tank district on September 15. According to police, the team had been visiting the area to monitor the ongoing anti-polio campaign when they were kidnapped. The abductees were identified as District Surveillance Officer Dr Ihsanullah, Union Council Communication Support Officer Hikmatullah, and Union Council Polio Officer Abdullah. District Police
Islamabad: Pakistan Meteorological Department Climate Change Impact and Integration Cell (CIIC) at Meteorological Headquarters has issued a dengue alert on September 15 saying the historical trends, current and future climate outlook and the widespread inundation caused by flood like condition across the country show that certain parameters are creating an ideal environment for a dengue outbreak. The combined impact of favourable weather thresholds and flood-related water-logging has made conditions conducive from 20th September 2025
ISLAMABAD: National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR), in collaboration with Legal Aid Society (LAS), has launched a comprehensive documentary and research report to understand the drivers of forced conversion through marriages (FCM) and its multidimensional impact on survivors, religious minority communities (RMCs), and Pakistani society. The research report and the documentary were launched on September 15 at a national dialogue organised to discuss the drivers of FCM. The report presents firsthand accounts from survivors
JHANG: The district administration has rescued 423,594 people and 223,424 animals during the recent devastating floods, relocating them to safe areas. Relief efforts included the distribution of 12,901 ration bags across all four tehsils and the provision of large quantities of fodder for livestock, including 214,120 kilogrammes of green fodder and 393,880 kilogrammes of Wanda (cattle feed). Deputy Commissioner (DC) Ali Akbar Bhinder, briefing the media on September 15, said the operations were conducted
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has reported two more cases of polio from southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, raising the tally for the current year to 26. According to an official of the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at National Institute of Health (NIH), the two girls tested positive in North Waziristan and Lakki Marwat. These detections bring the total number of polio cases in Pakistan in 2025 to 26. So far, 18 cases have been reported from
ISLAMABAD: Convener of the Parliamentary Caucus on Child Rights (PCCR) MNA Dr Nikhat Shakeel Khan has urged young girls to take benefit from the vaccination campaign launched by the government against Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and vaccinate against the virus being the leading cause of cervical cancer. “Today marks an important milestone in safeguarding the health and future of our children, as Pakistan launches a nationwide Cervical Cancer Prevention Campaign from Sept 15 to 27.
KARACHI: The Pakistan Meteorological Department has issued a nationwide dengue alert, warning that the risk of dengue fever will be high between September 20 and December 5 due to post-monsoon weather conditions. The alert states that dengue has become a consistent public health threat in Pakistan over the past decade, especially in the weeks following the monsoon rains. According to scientific data, the risk of dengue transmission is greatest when temperatures remain between 26
LAHORE: At least 13 people died, whereas 1,823 were injured in 1,527 Road Traffic Crashes (RTCs) in Punjab during the last 24 hours. Of them, 823 people were shifted to hospitals, while 1,000 victims with minor injuries were treated at the incident sites. Data showed that 1,007 adult and 72 underage drivers, 187 pedestrians and 642 passengers were among the victims. The statistics show that 263 RTCs were reported in Lahore, which affected 340