PESHAWAR: Participants of a multi-party convention on the girls’ education on December 25 pledged to support the formal learning for girls through resolutions, increased investment and the provision of missing facilities. The moot was organised by NGO Blue Veins, with the support of Malala Fund, bringing together representatives from major political parties, including Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Jamaat-i-Islami, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, Awami National Party, Pakistan Peoples Party and Pakistan Mazdoor Kissan Party, according to
Child Rights in Focus
DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Nine children were injured on December 24 when a quadcopter drone struck a madrassa in Tank district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, police said. The drone was reportedly approaching from an unknown direction when it hit the building, causing injuries to children inside. The injured were identified as 12-year-old Rehan, 10-year-old Farman, 11-year-old Khayam, 13-year-old Habib-ur-Rehman, 12-year-old Naseem Sabai, 15-year-old Mastana, 12-year-old Wali Muhammad, 8-year-old Shafiq and 9-year-old Alia. All the injured children were
LAKKI MARWAT: A 12-year-old student of a seminary was assaulted in Serai Naurang area of Lakki Marwat district here on December 23, the police said. Three suspects intercepted the boy at gunpoint on Kakki Road and took him to an under-construction house where one of them assaulted him while another filmed the act. They said that the victim narrated the ordeal to his family members, who approached the police for registration of a case
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
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