Tag: Lahore

  • Lahore to become Pakistan’s first smart city

    Lahore to become Pakistan’s first smart city

    The CEO of the Aga Khan Cultural Services Pakistan, Khawaja Tauseef Ahmad, paid a visit to Chief Minister of Punjab (CM) Ch Parvez Elahi at the CM Office. 

    The key decision to transform Lahore into a smart city in collaboration with the AKCSP was taken during the meeting.

    In this regard, the CM also sought a project plan. He said that Lahore would have the honour of being the first smart city in Pakistan.

    According to The Nation, he continued by saying that the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) will assist in the digitalization of the city of Lahore and that urban utilities will be provided via a mobile application.

    Moreover, Baba Bulleh Shah’s tomb in Kasur will also be renovated to resemble the architecture of the Wazir Khan Mosque.

    Last week, CM Punjab attended the induction ceremony of MPA Khayal Ahmad Kastro as minister at the Governor House. Khayal Ahmad Kastro was sworn in by Governor Balighur Rehman.

    The CM congratulated the newly appointed minister on taking the oath and expressed confidence that he will execute his duties responsibly while working to serve the people. The administration is focused on the welfare of the public, and it is taking every effort to provide assistance to the citizens.

    CM Elahi earlier said that Punjab is the most suitable province for investment and we have formulated a policy to give on lease uncultivated land on 30-year period.

  • Norwegian company plans to generate electricity from waste in Lahore

    Norwegian company plans to generate electricity from waste in Lahore

    A Norwegian company is planning to generate electricity from waste in Lahore. The company plans to invest $300 million for the project, reports ARY.

    According to the details, Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) held an important meeting on the Waste to Energy Project led by Chairman, Atif Chaudhry.

    Ali Anan Qamar, the CEO of LWMC and Shahid Latif, the Deputy Secretary Development, also attended the meeting.

    According to Atif Chaudhry, a team from a Norwegian business firm has arrived in Pakistan with the purpose of conducting an initial investigation. The company plans to invest $300 million in the waste-to-energy project.
    The project will create 2000 new jobs, added Atif.

  • Azam Swati turns to Supreme Court for help

    Azam Swati turns to Supreme Court for help

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Azam Swati has approached the Supreme Court (SC) to request the transfer of all cases registered against him in Sindh and Balochistan to Islamabad.

    In a petition to the apex court, Swati has said that Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested him in a false case, adding that multiple cases were registered against him in the country, and he faces a security threat when appearing in various courts.

    The senator also appealed to the court that the “operation of FIRs” registered against him be suspended till his plea is heard.

    In Lahore, PTI leader Dr Yasmin Rashid also filed a petition against Swati’s arrest at the SC registry in the provincial capital, terming it “illegal”. Rashid claimed in her petition that the senator was arrested on political grounds.

    On Sunday, Swati was once again arrested from his farmhouse in Islamabad by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for speaking against senior military officers. Later, on Tuesday, his physical remand was extended for four more days.

  • 2-year-old child, kidnapped, tortured, killed in Lahore

    2-year-old child, kidnapped, tortured, killed in Lahore

    A toddler, kidnapped from outside his house on Sunday, was found this morning, tortured and strangled to death, Samaa has reported.

    The tortured body of the two-and-a-half years old boy, named Zeeshan, was found near the Chohang area in Lahore. The child had gone missing while playing outside his house on Sunday evening.

    The family started a search for the boy and later found his body in a cemetery in the morning.

    However, the child’s family did not report their child missing to the police, and they instead carried on their own independent search for the minor.

    Initial investigations revealed that Zeeshan had been strangled to death, but a full investigation, autopsy, and forensic examination will determine the precise cause of death.

    Police are investigating the case.

  • Punjab: a joy-less land

    Punjab: a joy-less land

    Under pressure from conservatives, the federal government banned Saim Sadiq’s Joyland a few days before its countrywide release. After severe backlash on social media and mainstream media, the federal government finally reconsidered its decision and lifted the ban on Joyland. Less than 24 hours after the federal government decided to lift the ban, the Punjab government of issued a notice to the film’s producer, Sarmad Khoosat, saying that they cannot exhibit the film in the jurisdiction of Punjab province. Joyland is the country’s official entry for the Oscars, paving the way for Pakistan to make a name at the Academy Awards, with a bright chance to bring the Oscar home.

    So how did a film promising to spread joy, receiving a 10-minute standing ovation from the august audience at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, ended up getting banned in its own country and the very province it was filmed in, Punjab. Set in the eastern city of Lahore, Joyland tackles issues of gender and sexuality – taboo topics in Pakistan – through the story of a married man who falls in love with a transgender dancer, played by transgender actress Alina Khan. From what we understand, the story is about love, acceptance and tackling issues in relevance to gender. So the problem is basically because of the love between a transgender and a man in the movie.

    Any marginalised community in a country goes through struggles and challenges of its own. From their right to live to their right to freedom, their existence revolves around many obstacles. Pakistan is no different. The transgender community in Pakistan is a marginalised community that on a daily basis is ridiculed, harassed, abused, and given life threats. And this has been a pattern for many years. So the treatment with “Joyland” has been no different.

    The question is: what are we scared of? Does the representation of a marginlised community make us weak as a nation or does it make us stronger? How is upholding the ban in the wake of no real logic correct? How is Joyland a threat to the country’s cultural and social fabric? Pakistani cinema was in need of a moment like Joyland, until the bans which took away the joy from the land where transgenders are only laughed at, mocked, abused and not to forget, killed. It is acceptable to show transgenders being made fun of, but once they are shown as normal persons, living normal lives, it somehow becomes problematic and against social values. Isn’t it hypocritical of us? Joyland was one way people could understand and learn the pain and troubles the trans community goes through. But systems in Pakistan work and behave differently for the ones who are ‘different’. So here we are banning a film on a transgender and barring them an existence in fiction. Now imagine their existence in the real world. What is peculiarly interesting about the public outcry for the ban on “Joyland” is from people who are up in arms against a movie they haven’t seen.

    We as a nation want to see the cinema and film industry thrive — but look at what we do to people who are the reason that art, film and Pakistan can flourish. We are habitual haters of a thriving society. We just hope that Punjab, which has significantly become a “joyless land” learns from the provinces next to it, remembers to laugh, be okay to experiment and above all, becomes a joyland.

  • Head of team investigating attack on Imran Khan changed once again

    Head of team investigating attack on Imran Khan changed once again

    The Punjab government has again reconstituted the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) which was formed to investigate the November 3rd assassination attempt on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan.

    The team’s head has also been changed after the government appointed Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Lahore Ghulam Mehmood Dogar as its head. This is the third time that the JIT has been reconstituted, while its head has been changed for the second time.

    On Tuesday, Dogar paid a visit to Khan’s residence in Lahore. According to media reports, the CCPO Lahore was appointed on Imran Khan’s suggestion.

    Punjab government has issued a notification in this regard informing the appointment of Regional Police Officer (RPO) Dera Ghazi Khan Syed Khurram as a member of the JIT, along with Assistant Inspector General of the province’s investigation branch, Ehsanullah Chauhan.

    On November 9, a committee of the Punjab cabinet decided to establish a JIT to probe the attack.

    Mohammad Naveed, the suspect arrested by police right after the firing incident, has confessed to the crime. However, his insistence that he was operating alone has not been accepted by Imran Khan and his party.

  • City Traffic Police Lahore launches digital challan system to fine violators

    City Traffic Police Lahore launches digital challan system to fine violators

    To replace the decades-old manual system of fining traffic violators in Lahore, Chief Traffic Officer (CTO) Dr Assad Malhi officially launched the digital challan system on Tuesday.

    It started as a pilot initiative on The Mall, and after evaluating its success, it will be gradually expanded to the rest of the city.

    The busiest thoroughfare in the province capital, The Mall 1, The Mall 2, and The Mall 3, were the primary targets of the digital challans.

    CTO Lahore claimed that the use of digital challans would end complaints about fake and fraudulent challans and guarantee transparency.

    In this regard, he stated, a specially created App has been downloaded on the traffic wardens’ smartphones, and the general public will receive a challan message.

    All the information will be automatically filled in after inputting the ID card number or vehicle number into the app.

    He said that numerous government departments have been connected to or associated with the digital mobile phone app.

    They comprised the department of excise and taxation, the police crime record office, the anti-vehicle lifting squad, the route permit department, and the database management for fitness certificates.

    According to DAWN, the wardens will have access to the traffic offender’s criminal history after entering their CNIC number and will call the police right away to have the traffic offender arrested on the spot if he or she has a criminal history.

  • PTI submits petition to Supreme Court to look into attack on Imran Khan

    PTI submits petition to Supreme Court to look into attack on Imran Khan

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has on Monday approached five registries of the Supreme Court (SC) in different cities across the country to seek the formation of a judicial commission to investigate the assassination attack on PTI chief Imran Khan in Wazirabad, the secret recording of PTI Senator Azam Swati and his wife and the killing of senior journalist Arshad Sharif in Kenya.

    In the plea filed in the Lahore registry, former Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar is the applicant.

    The petition about the assassination attempt on Imran Khan maintains that following the incident, another “grave injustice” continues to fester as the police have “refused to register the FIR according to the request submitted by the complainant”.

    After the former Prime Minister was shot at during his party’s Long March, an First Information Report (FIR) was not registered. Imran Khan had nominated PM Shehbaz Sharif, Federal Minister for Interior Rana Sanaullah and Major-General Faisal Naseer as the conspirators behind the firing incident. However, later, on the SC’s orders, an FIR was registered by the Punjab police on November 8. PTI rejected the report as it did not contain the names of the people whom Khan wanted to nominate.

    The petition also sought the formation of a judicial commission into the “illegal private video recording” of Senator Azam Swati and his wife which was allegedly recorded while they were staying at an official rest house in Quetta.

    Additionally, the party has also raised the matter of slain journalist Sharif’s murder with the court. The petition said it is crucial that an independent commission inquires about the circumstance that compelled Sharif to flee the country and eventually end up in Kenya.

    In a press conference after submitting the petition to the SC’s Lahore Registry, PTI Vice President Shah Mahmood Qureshi also made an announcement regarding the petitions.

    He hoped that the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), Umar Ata Bandial, would consider his party’s pleas.

    In Karachi, PTI leaders Ali Zaidi and Imran Ismail along with other party members reached the SC registry to file the petition. Meanwhile, former National Assembly deputy speaker Qasim Suri and others moved the plea in Quetta.

    Earlier, Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif had also written letters to the CJ to form judicial commissions on two issues — the attack on Khan and Arshad Sharif’s murder.

  • ‘My eldest son always wanted me out of politics’: Imran Khan

    ‘My eldest son always wanted me out of politics’: Imran Khan

    Imran Khan, the Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and former Prime Minister has said in an interview that his life was in danger and he received immense death threats when he was campaigning against the incumbent government that was “imposed on the nation”.

    Talking to British television presenter Piers Morgan, he said, “I came into politics to fight these two families. When they brought them back through a conspiracy and imposed them on us, I decided that I was not going to sit at home.”

    The former premier again named PM Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and an intelligence officer as the conspirators behind the assassination attempt on him in Wazirabad. He urged Chief Justice (CJ) Umar Ata Bandial to look into the matter.

    Talking about slain journalist Arshad Sharif, he said, “He was hounded out of Pakistan, and the same intelligence officers were involved”.

    Narrating the firing incident, the PTI chief said the firing of shots sounded like firecrackers. “It felt like a burning sensation”, Khan recalled.

    He again claimed that there were two shooters at the scene who attacked him.

    Khan said that it took him two hours after the attack to reach Shaukat Khanum Hospital, Lahore from Wazirabad.

    “I went to the hospital after a two hours drive, and the moment I got there I spoke to my sons and of course to my wife. My wife was remarkable. The fact I was safe, she was relieved but my boys were worried.”

    Imran disclosed that his eldest son [Sulaiman] always differed with his decision to join politics. “He was quite worried when I was shot”, he said.

    “Sulaiman is very sensitive, he always wanted me to out of politics,” Imran said.

    “The moment my legs heal, I am going to be out again,” Khan said, during the interview. He claimed that he could be attacked again.

    “People are so worried in my country, I never had this feeling before because they know the guys who missed this time, they would try again,” Khan added.

    He also said that his party [PTI] is going to sweep elections this time.

    The PTI chief said his remarks about the significance of Pakistan’s ties with the United States (US) had always been clear.

    “It’s a superpower,” Imran said in response to a question. He underlined that it was unthinkable that one would not want to have good ties with the US.

    “I have only one issue. Pakistan-US relationships have been like a transactional master-slave relationship. We degrade ourselves, I think we allow ourselves to be used like a tissue paper,” he stressed.

    He said he wanted a relationship that mirrors the one that the USA has with India.

    Commenting on the election of Rishi Sunak as the first-Indian origin British PM, Imran said he was surprised at his election.

    “I must confess that I never thought that a day would come that Britain would be ready for an Indian-origin PM,” Imran said.

  • ‘Let’s appoint army chief together’: Shehbaz says Khan wanted to make a secret deal with him

    ‘Let’s appoint army chief together’: Shehbaz says Khan wanted to make a secret deal with him

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif has made a claim that Imran Khan, Chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) offered to conduct talks with the government through a mutual businessman friend, reports Geo News.

    During a meet-up with vloggers in Lahore, the premier said that the PTI chief approached him a month ago and wanted to settle two issues through dialogue.

    PM Shehbaz said, “The first matter was the army chief’s appointment and the second was holding elections. However, I refused,” he stated.

    Shehbaz Sharif said that he instead offered Imran Khan a discussion on the Charter of Democracy and the Charter of Economy.

    The prime minister shared that Khan offered to send him three names for the Chief’s slot and sought three from him to appoint the next army chief. The Premier said that Khan told him through the intermediary, “Let’s appoint the army chief together.”

    “I sent a message to him [Khan] that is a constitutional duty that the prime minister has to perform,” said PM Shehbaz.

    About the press conference by Director-General (DG) Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lieutenant General Babar Iftikhar and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Chief Nadeem Anjum, the premier said: “General Nadeem Anjum held the press conference with my permission.”

    Earlier this month, Khan himself said that COAS appointment should be on merit. “COAS should neither be my man nor someone else’s”, said Khan.

    This revelation has come at a time when the retirement date of current COAS, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, looms closer.

    General Bajwa will be completing his extended term in November this year. He was appointed to this position in 2016.

    COAS Bajwa has reiterated his promise to leave office after completing his second three-year term in November.