LAHORE: A special anti-rape court has sentenced a man to life imprisonment for sexually assaulting his minor stepdaughter and also imposed a compensation of Rs300,000 on him under the Anti-Rape (Investigation & Trial) Act 2021. Manawan police had registered a rape FIR against Farooq Maqbool on Jan 2, 2024 on the complaint of 10-year-old girl’s biological father. The mother of the victim had contracted second marriage with the convict after being divorced by her
Child Rights in Focus
Islamabad: The Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) has announced winter timings for all public schools and colleges in Islamabad from December 1, 2025, to January 31, 2026. According to the official notification, all institutions under the FDE, including Islamabad model schools and colleges in urban and rural areas, will operate under revised schedules to accommodate the winter season. For single-shift schools, classes will run from 8:30 am to 2:00 pm from Monday through Thursday,
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Climate Change Senator Musadik Malik on November 26 delivered a stark warning, urging policymakers, businesses and international partners to confront the “true magnitude” of the climate-driven devastation facing Pakistan. He was speaking at the Pakistan Business Council (PBC), which opened the 4th edition of its two-day Dialogue on the Economy 2025 in Islamabad. The event also marked PBC’s 20th year of impact in shaping Pakistan’s business ecosystem and bringing together
RAHIM YAR KHAN: Two minor siblings were allegedly killed in the firing by criminals who were fleeing after looting a man near Bhong town of Sadiqabad tehsil on the evening of November 26. Reports say Ajmal, a resident of a settlement near Bhong town, was returning home after visiting a doctor when he was intercepted by dacoits near Lal Shah Chowk. The dacoits snatched Ajmal’s motorcycle and attempted to escape. Ajmal immediately called his
PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Department of Education has announced a change in school timings for four districts, Charsadda, Mardan, Swabi, and Nowshera, after a surge in accidents caused by dense morning fog. According to the Directorate of Education, the decision comes in response to safety concerns following a recent road accident in Charsadda, where a school bus carrying children met with a collision, leaving dozens injured. Under the new directive, all government schools in these
LAHORE: The Office of the Inspector General of Prisons, Punjab, has provided official data confirming that a total of 72 children have been convicted to life imprisonment across various prisons in Punjab. The information was released in response to a request filed by Advocate Sarmad Ali under Article 19 (A) of the Constitution of Pakistan 1973, read with Section 10 of the Punjab Transparency and Right to Information Act 2013. According to the data,
Islamabad: Awaz Foundation Pakistan (Centre for Development Services) convened the First Multi-Stakeholder Task Force Meeting on Girls’ Education in Punjab, bringing together representatives from government departments, parliament, civil society, and education experts. The meeting aimed to push for an immediate enhancement of girls’ education stipends and stronger conditional cash-transfer mechanisms. The meeting followed the presentation of the latest study, “Economic Cost of Out-of-School Girls (OOSG): Estimating Pakistan’s Losses from Incomplete Secondary Education.” The study
The plight of children in Pakistan can be gauged by a recent report that says that in the first six months of 2025, over 4,000 cases of violence against children were reported in Punjab alone. Perhaps even more concerning is that the report by Sustainable Social Development Organisation (SSDO) is based on official police data, meaning that these are only cases where victims and their families came forward. Countless other victims will never become
Students across Sanghar, Shahdadpur, Shahpur Chakar, and Sakrand districts staged demonstrations against the recently announced Class XI results by the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Shaheed Benazirabad, accusing the administration of mismanagement and manipulation. Shaheed Benazirabad (SBA) division, along with Sukkur and Larkana divisions, had adopted e-marking for the results of the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) Part One and High School Certificate (HSC) Part One, which were announced on November 25. Board of
KARACHI: Civil society members on November 25 sounded the alarm on the rapid conversion of public parks into commercial ventures and its impacts on the environment and the ecosystem. Speaking at a press conference from the platform of the Karachi Residents’ Committee at the Karachi Press Club, city residents, representatives of the civil society and well-known environment activists said as many as 13 parks in Clifton, PECHS and adjacent areas had already been converted
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is losing billions of rupees every year to drug-resistant infections, health officials and experts warned on November 24, saying rising antimicrobial resistance (AMR) drives treatment failures, increases hospital deaths and forces families to spend more on prolonged care. Speaking at a national symposium held by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Ministry of National Health Services to mark World AMR Awareness Week, experts said AMR has become a major public-health
KARACHI: Provincial Assembly of Sindh Standing Committee on Home Affairs Chairperson Faryal Talpur has said drugs are a curse destroying our children’s future, so no leniency would be shown in the crackdown on them. During a standing committee meeting she chaired at the PA on Tuesday, Faryal stressed that the zero-tolerance policy against drug dealers must continue. The meeting discussed drug mafia members’ arrests, the forensic lab’s performance, the investigation of chemically adulterated milk,