LOWER DIR: To provide timely diagnosis and treatment for newborns including premature and low-birth-weight babies, aiming to reduce infant mortality in the district, a modern neonatal nursery was inaugurated in Timergara on December 23. The facility established under the supervision of district children’s specialist Dr Qiyamud Din Kashaf is equipped with state-of-the-art medical devices. The nursery has 15 beds along with a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine to assist infants suffering from severe
Child Rights in Focus
BAHAWALPUR: The additional district and sessions judges (AD&SJ) in Lodhran and Kahror Pacca have handed down life sentences and heavy fines to four individuals convicted in two separate cases involving the rape of young boys. In Kahror Pacca, AD&SJ Umar Farooq Awan sentenced two men, Abdullah Zafar and Shah Mir, to life imprisonment for the gang-rape of 13-year-old boy. A third accomplice, Mahad Saeed, was sentenced to five years in prison. Report said on
KASUR: The 16-year-old rape victim who attempted self-immolation after a court acquitted the accused rapist, a cop, succumbed to her burn injuries on December 24. According to details, an additional sessions court on Dec 5 acquitted the accused police constable along with his three female relatives, after a three-year trial, when the DNA samples obtained from the victim girl’s child, born as a result of rape, did not match the DNA of the accused. On the
KARACHI: Two days after the health department officials at a meeting chaired by the chief secretary claimed that 250 rabies treatment and prevention centres were currently operational across the province, another child fell victim to the deadly infectious disease, it emerged on Tuesday. Sources said the 12-year-old victim, who was brought to the Indus Hospital on Tuesday morning, hailed from Usta Muhammad, Nasirabad district, Balochistan. He was initially treated at the government taluka hospital
ISLAMABAD: Sociologists and security experts described rapid population growth as one of the most serious threats to Pakistan’s national security, warning that large numbers of out-of-school and unemployed youth undermine human development and increase vulnerability to instability and extremism. The Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI), in collaboration with the Population Council Pakistan, convened a high-level roundtable meeting with security and policy experts on “Rapid Population Growth and its Security Implications.” The meeting brought
KHYBER: Educationists and representatives of teacher associations in Khyber have expressed reservations over simultaneous conducting of school-based assessment (SBA), semester and internal midterm examinations from primary to middle levels. They said that though SBA was beneficial in ascertaining and then removing flaws in educational system, it was implemented in a haphazard manner with miscalculated timings and high cost of stationery in the face of acute shortage of funds for primary schools. The elementary and
KARACHI: The chief secretary of Sindh was informed on December 21 that out of the Rs265 million allocated this year for mass dog vaccination and sterilisation, only Rs66.255m was released so far and only one centre was operational outside Karachi. The CS, Asif Hyder Shah, held a meeting on rabies prevention against the backdrop of media reports highlighting sharp increase in dog-bite cases and mortalities in Sindh. The meeting was attended by all divisional commissioners, officials
ISLAMABAD: The government is considering launching a new project aimed at making educational boards of the country equipped with modern technology on the pattern of the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (FBISE). Since 2015-18, the federal government has upgraded FBISE through a Rs50 million project, “Modernisation and Standardisation of Examination System.” The project was a brainchild of Federal Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal. According to documents, the project was completed in three years
BAHAWALPUR: A mother allegedly killed her teenage daughter for stopping her from smoking in Basti Sokar in the City Yazman Police station area in Bahawalpur district on Sunday. According to the police, accused Nabila’s daughter Aisha (16) disliked her smoking and used to stop her. Police claimed that when her daughter objected to her smoking on Saturday night, she got infuriated. She allegedly overpowered her daughter and strangled her to death in a fit
35-year-old Gul Rukh Bibi still remembers the silence that followed the birth of her eighth child: there were no congratulations, no whispered prayers, no relatives arriving with sweets. Only the quiet certainty that her life was about to change. Her husband had warned her months earlier that another daughter would cost her a marriage. “When the midwife said it was a girl, I closed my eyes,” Gul Rukh recalled, sitting on a woven charpoy
On the global stage, human statues are performance artists who usually stand motionless at city centres for purposes of arts and entertainment. But this trend, cloaked under the guise of street performance, has been exported to Pakistan and particularly Karachi in borderline abusive conditions. At various junctions across the city, you can spot children acting as statues donned in silver or golden paint in hopes of receiving alms by passing onlookers. These children are
Pakistan has experienced rapid growth in internet access, smartphone usage, and engagement on digital platforms. While this expansion has created new opportunities for communication, employment, and civic participation, it has also been accompanied by a marked rise in online threats, harassment, and technology-facilitated offences. The increasing number of complaints submitted to national authorities reflects a growing public concern about safety in digital spaces, particularly for women and children. As online interactions become more deeply