LAHORE: Punjab Cabinet Committee on Law and Order’s Chairman Khawaja Salman Rafique has said that a school safety campaign has been launched in the province. A security audit of educational institutions across the province is also being conducted, he said while presiding over a meeting. The school education department has been directed to implement SOPs including boundary walls, training of guards and provision of technical equipment in the educational institutions. The minister said installation
Child Rights in Focus
ISLAMABAD: Residents of the Golra Police Station’s suburban area near Chora Stop thrashed seven Chinese nationals who allegedly attempted to lure young nomadic girls with money and forcibly take them away on December 10. Three of the Chinese nationals were apprehended by locals and handed over to the police, while four others managed to flee the scene. Police sources said that a man named Muhammad Khan lodged a complaint with Golra PS stating that
LAHORE: A two-year-old girl who was reportedly abducted from Ghaziabad neighbourhood was rescued in Muzaffargarh. Investigators said the suspected kidnapper was the child’s stepfather who was arrested. According to officials, the child had been abducted a day earlier, prompting a search operation. The investigators said initial findings suggested the suspect had abducted the child due to a domestic dispute. Meanwhile, police arrested a 50-year-old man for allegedly raping a 15-year-old girl over the past
• Over 75pc of environmental samples tested positive since mid-2025, meeting told • CM Murad directs officials to look into emerging public health crisis • Week-long anti-polio drive to begin from 15th KARACHI: There has been a sharp surge in circulation of poliovirus in the province, affecting at least 21 union councils, forcing the chief minister to direct concerned officials to look into the emerging public health crisis and take targeted measures to strengthen
SAHIWAL: A 14-year-old girl was admitted to the Sahiwal Teaching Hospital in a critical condition after allegedly being gang-raped by three youth in village 82/6-R on the night of December 8. According to reports, victim ‘S’ had gone to a village tandoor shop to buy rotis when she was allegedly kidnapped by a woman and a man. The duo allegedly took her on a motorcycle to a nearby house where the two suspects were
RAWALPINDI: Experts at a workshop on December 9 said ending child marriage strengthens families by ensuring that girls marry only when they are physically and emotionally mature, equipped with the knowledge, skills, and resilience needed to take on new roles and responsibilities. They were speaking at a workshop on reproductive health and the complications associated with early and child marriages. The session highlighted how early marriages negatively affect girls’ education, health, and overall wellbeing,
TAXILA:A government school in Taxila on December 9 got Pakistan’s firsteco-friendly classroom offering students a modern learning space designed to conserve energy and reduce environmental impact. The classroom has been established in Government Boys Primary School located in a far flung and remote area near Mallpur by Moawin Foundation, in partnership with the Punjab Education Foundation (PEF)and support of Hashmi Foundation. Constructed with the support of the Heritage Foundation, the bamboo classroom has been
LAHORE: Leading medical experts have urged the Punjab government to focus on gathering accurate information, data and to promote factual knowledge about HIV/AIDS to counter the rising number of cases. They highlighted the leading factors behind HIV/AIDS cases, including practices by the quacks at an awareness seminar organised by the Department of Community Medicine at the Fatima Jinnah Medical University (FJMU) in connection with “World AIDS Day” on December 9. They said that it
SUKKUR: An ex-serviceman was shot dead allegedly by extortionists near Madeji Bypass in Shikarpur on December 8. The attack also left a 12-year-old girl dead and another man wounded. Police and locals told media that unknown armed men opened fire on the retired soldier, Liaquat Ujjan, leaving him and another man, Siraj Jatoi, critically injured. The young girl, Zoya Jatoi, also received bullet wounds and died on the spot. The victims happened to be
KARACHI: In one of the major neighbourhood-level interventions since the new local government system came into place in 2023, the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) has approved nearly Rs300 million per year —Rs100,000 per month each — for 246 union committees (UCs) to exclusively maintain manhole covers and streetlights. The decision came in a move triggered by a public outrage after a three-year-old boy drowned in an uncovered nullah near NIPA. “And this is in addition to
QUETTA: Unknown armed men gunned down a government school teacher and his 10-year-old son in the Kalat area, police said on December 8. The incident took place in the Mughalzai area, a locality on the outskirts of Kalat town, between Sunday night and Monday. Unknown armed men opened indiscriminate fire at an auto-rickshaw, resulting in the death of 10-year-old Mohammad Akram Zehri, who was travelling with his father. The school teacher, identified as Ghulam
ABU DHABI: Pakistan has emerged as a central focus of a global polio funding drive after international donors pledged $1.9 billion in Abu Dhabi to accelerate eradication efforts, with Pakistan remaining one of only two countries where the virus is still endemic. Pakistan committed $154 million to strengthen nationwide vaccination campaigns, surveillance, and emergency response. Pakistan’s Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal represented the country at the event, which was also attended by Bill Gates, World