A police officer from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been awarded the ‘Best Police Officer of Asia’ by the United Nations (UN) for his input to the UN peacekeeping mission in Kosovo.
Superintendent of police (SP) Sajjad Khan, was recognised for his services as Legal Liaison Officer in Kosovo for conducting investigations into several cases of prosecution against Muslims and other criminal cases in the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The police officer had represented Pakistan in the UN Peacekeeping Mission from 2009 to 2012 and was positioned as the Team Leader in Kosovo’s capital, Pristina.
Khan has also served in the mission from 2007 to 2008 as the Interpol Investigation Officer while for the third time, he was given the additional responsibilities as Interpol Legal Liaison Officer and Admin and Logistic Officer.
Speaking to a media outlet, SP Khan said that performing duties for the first time as a police official in 2003 onward was challenging.
He added that the police department in Kosovo was headed towards modern policing and that they have developed separate units for every police department.
Giving advice to those joining police forces around the world, Khan said that it was important to learn and understand the indigenous culture of the countries they are employed. He added that getting selected for the UN Peacekeeping Mission was an honour.
Eight teachers of Government Higher Secondary School Rashkai in Peshawar have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
According to the Elementary and Secondary Education Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the infected teachers have been sent to their homes on 15 days leave.
Meanwhile, academic activities are ongoing under strict precautionary measures.
For the very first time, the South Waziristan district in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province has hired a woman as the head of the Education Department.
As per reports, the area has the lowest female literacy rate in the country.
Noor Khadija, who comes from a family of educators and has been linked with the education department for ten years, was appointed South Waziristan’s deputy district education officer in August.
“It was my long-standing desire to serve my community, specifically girls, to remove obstacles in the way of their education,” Khadija told a local media outlet.
A portrait of Fatima Jinnah hangs on the wall in Khadija’s office.
“As a woman, Fatima Jinnah proved that women could make a difference and play a decisive role to lead the society for positive change,” Khadija said.
“I will strive to provide girls schools with all missing facilities, to empower girls through education, which is of paramount importance for a vibrant society,” she added.
The industries department has announced that Kaghan Valley will be developed into an all-weather tourist destination under the Economic Revitalisation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Project.
As per reports, the chief minister’s special adviser on industry Kareem Khan handed over snow-blowing and other heavy machinery to Kaghan Development Authority (KDA) deputy director Sajjad Jan for the purpose.
Kareem told reporters that the KDA would find places in Kaghan Valley, where landslides are a common occurrence and make them accessible for tourists. He said the government wanted to boost tourism in these areas so it provided modern machinery to the Kaghan and Galiyat Development Authorities for garbage dumping to preserve the environment.
The chief minister’s aide said his department had allocated the financial support of Rs64 million to small and medium entities to promote tourism in the province.
“The government in collaboration with the World Bank has launched the Economic Revitalisation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Project in 2012 to support small and medium enterprises through the matching grant along with the promotion of integrated tourism through the clean and green initiative,” he said.
KDA deputy director Sajjad Jan said the industries department had given the authority heavy machinery, so it can clear landslides from the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad Road to control and restore traffic efficiently.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has decided to transform small dams into picnic points to boost tourism in the country. The government has begun to transform five dams into picnic points for the public.
As per details, Kundar Dam in Swabi, Jalozai Dam Nowshera, Thand Dam Kohat, Chattri Dam Haripur and Jhangra Dam Abbottabad are being completed as picnic spots.
Services like parking, restaurants, open cooking, solar system, spot fishing and others will be available for the visitors on these sites.
Earlier on August 19, Prime Minister Imran Khan had chaired a meeting on reviving the tourism sector in the country, where it was decided to form a coordination committee under the supervision of his Special Assistant on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resources Development Zulfiqar Bukhari.
The committee would meet after every week and would give a briefing to PM Khan over the progress and development of the tourism sector in the country.
A 76-year-old man in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is fulfilling his dreams of getting a B.A degree.
The old man could not complete his studies due to financial crisis. The financial problems might have stopped him from continuing his studies but he did not give up.
Speaking to Independent Urdu, Muhammad Khan said, “I passed the matriculation examination in 1962 and joined the government school in 1963 as a teacher. I retired as a teacher in 2004 but was interested in education, now I have passed the FA exam in 2020 and now want to do a BA.”
Khan, who enjoys reading, further shared: “I want to get a Master’s degree after doing a BA.”
The elderly man added that he has educated his daughters from primary to postgraduate and now wants to continue his own studies.
After so many years, Khan has now taken admission to appear in the BA Part-I exams. The vice-chancellor of the University of Malakand is supporting Khan financially and any other help that he might need.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has decided to set up a 14-kilometre long cable car, which will connect the scenic tourist resort of Kumrat in Upper Dir with Madaklasht area of Chitral.
According to a statement by the KP government, the decision was taken in a meeting of the tourism department, chaired by Chief Minister Mahmood Khan and attended by Tourism Secretary Mohammad Abid Majeed and other senior officials.
The meeting gave go ahead to the department to make a detailed feasibility study and engineering design of the project.
The statement said that the cable car project would be the longest and highest of its kind in the world. After completion, it was likely to appeal to eight million foreign and local tourists to the province and create employment opportunities.
The project would have car parking facilities on both the stations. It will also have an intermediate station with a restaurant and many other facilities. The project will be completed in five to six months.
“The proposed cable car will be built on international standards which, on completion, would attract foreign and local tourists in a large number. The project is environment-friendly and feasible on the grounds that no land acquisition process is involved therein,” said the statement.
Local politician and PML(N) leader, Arbab Khizer Hayat has apologised for Gul Panra’s viral music video, shot at a state-owned residence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
In a detailed clarification, Hayat said that he took Panra to the official residence as a family member where she recorded a Tik Tok dance video and aired it on social media, sparking controversy.
“On July 17, 2020, I went to District Landi Kotal to visit different historic sites in the area along with my family members,” said Hayat in his clarification statement. “Among the family members, I also had singer Gul Panra who joined us for the journey and we visited Michni Fort.”
He added that while visiting the area, he contacted Assistant Commissioner Khyber, Muhammad Imran and requested permission to have refreshments at his official residence. After refreshments, the family members began visiting the premises and inadvertently entered the residence from a back door, where the singer recorded a dance video, which later went viral.
Hayat said all that had happened without his knowledge and permission, so he sought apology from the quarters concerned for the singer’s mistake.
After the video went viral on social media, Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan had ordered a probe into to the matter.
According to reports, the KP chief ordered an investigation into Panra’s video after it was reported that part of the TikTok video was shot at the Deputy Commissioner Khyber District’s bungalow in Landikotal. CM Khan also questioned who allowed the singer to enter the state-owned property. He asserted that action will be taken against those who allowed Panra access to the government building.
The committee formed to investigate the issue was led by the provincial home secretary and had been ordered to submit the report within 24 hours.
Earlier, the singer also shared pictures from her trip to Landikotal.
Panra shot to fame after she sang Man Aamadeh Am with Atif Aslam in Coke Studio Season 8. Some of her most popular Coke Studio songs include the rendition of Nazia Hasan’s Hawa Hawa and Rasha Mama.
This is not the first time a TikTok video has shown an internet celebrity walking around an official building. Prior to Panra, Pashtun singer Sofia Kaif was seen walking around what reports claim is the official residence of CM Mahmood Khan. Before Sofia, who had reportedly been invited as a singer to the ceremony at the CM House, Hareem Shah, had also been spotted walking around the Foreign Ministry’s office in a TikTok video.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has issued a “final warning to Tik Tok to put in place a comprehensive mechanism to control obscenity, vulgarity and immorality through its social media application.”
Press Release: Number of complaints had been received from different segments of the society against immoral, obscene & vulgar content on social media applications particularly Tik Tok and Bigo, & their extremely negative effects on the society in general & youth in particular. pic.twitter.com/Zow1EuLj4N
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police have arrested offenders involved in smashing an antique Gandharan Buddha statue in Mardan, Adviser to KP Chief Minister on Information and Public Relations Kamran Khan Bangash has said.
In a Twitter update, the CM’s aide also said that an FIR has been lodged against the culprits under the Antiquities Act. Under the Act, demolition of archaeological sites is illegal.
Breaking News: All offenders who were seen smashing an antique Gandharan Buddhist statue in Mardan have been arrested by KP Police and an FIR has been lodged against them under relevant sections of the Antiquity Act 2016 (Photos courtesy Directorate of Archaeology KP) pic.twitter.com/B8EsB6sdFm
— Kamran Khan Bangash PK82 (@kamrankbangash) July 18, 2020
The ruling party’s official Twitter handle also shared the update and said that the remaining parts of the Buddha have been recovered by the Mardan Police.
Culprits involved in damaging the Buddha statue in Mardan have been arrested by @KP_Police1 and the remaining parts of the Buddha have been recovered by the Mardan Police. #KPKUpdatespic.twitter.com/nbl0vkm3K0
According to reports, the statue was discovered by locals while construction work was being done in a village near Takht-i-Bahi Tehsil in Mardan District. Situated 80km from the provincial capital Peshawar, Takht-i-Bahi is an important site for Buddhist archaeological remains dating back nearly 2,000 years.
In a video, which is being widely circulated on social media, several men are seen smashing the Buddha with a sledgehammer and congratulating each other for doing so.
Preliminary reports suggested that the locals smashed the Buddha at the behest of a local maulvi sahab who advised them to smash the statue or else they would lose their imaan (faith) and their nikkah would become invalid. However, Director Archeology Dr Abdul Samad Khan has said that the Buddha was broken due to lack of knowledge.
Dr Samad added that the statue belonged to the Gandhara civilisation and was approximately 1,700 years old.
Meanwhile, Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry condemned the act.
If progressive people of Pakistan remains silent observers and neutral all hopes of progressive and modern Pakistan ll be dashed, social degradation is immense and silence is not an option unless you want this society to be as dead as graveyard….. https://t.co/bdHul4F0HI
Actor Ali Rehman Khan also expressed his outrage at the incident.
I’m also angry to see clerics abuse power by spreading false omens in the name of religion. when will we learn? When will learn the difference between faith and preservation?
A video doing rounds on the internet shows a police constable rescuing a dog from a canal. Superintendent (SP) Hassan Jahangir Wattoo took to Twitter to applaud the police constable.
He shared the video with the caption, ‘A dog fell into a canal and couldn’t get out. A KP Police Constable can be seen rescuing it to safety. Kindness towards all living beings is our motto.’
In the video, the police officer can be seen pulling the animal from the canal as the stray dog was struggling to come out.
A dog fell into a canal and couldn’t get out. A KP Police Constable can be seen rescuing it to safety. Kindness towards all living beings is our motto.@KP_Police1pic.twitter.com/8K6aEDpLsO
— Hassan Jahangir Wattoo PSP (@HassanJehangeer) July 9, 2020
People on the internet cannot stop praising the police constable for his kindness towards the animal.
Thank you! May Allah Taalah bless and reward you, your team and the constable for their kindness and compassion towards an innocent voiceless soul. Ameen.
