Tag: Punjab

  • No social media allowed for Punjab Government employees

    No social media allowed for Punjab Government employees

    The Services and General Administration Department Punjab has issued a letter to government officers restricting them from expressing their personal opinions on social media and commenting on conventional as well as social media.

    In view of the increasing trend of using social media among newly recruited government officers, the Punjab government has imposed a ban on Grade 17 officers, including assistant commissioners, on expressing their opinions on social media and media.
    The letter says that according to the civil services rules, giving statements in the media and social media based on one’s personal opinion is a violation of the rules.

    The letter says, “The young officers of PAS/PMS in BS-17, posted against various slots in the field as well as in the Secretariat, are considered as the face of the Provincial Government. However, it has been observed with grave-concern that these officers often engage themselves with social media i.e. Websites, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram, Microblogging, TikTok, YouTube etc, without taking into consideration of its fall out amongst public at large, especially using the social media in official capacity.”

    It further states, “Often, the views/ comments/ conduct/ personal opinion of the officers, may either harm the national security; or offend public order, decency or morality; or amount to contempt of court or defamation or incitement to an offence; or propagate sectarian creeds and capable of embarrassing the government, which is tantamount to misconduct and inefficiency under the rules.”

    It also warned that strict action will be taken against those violating the instructions.

  • Punjab mein kahan ho rahi hai sab say ziada bijli chori?

    Punjab mein kahan ho rahi hai sab say ziada bijli chori?

    Ever wondered which district in Punjab has the highest percentage of electricity theft? Well, surprise, surprise, it is Kasur.

    Kasur has left all districts behind when it comes to power theft, as almost half of the total 20 highest loss-making grid stations of Punjab exist there, causing Rs40 billion losses annually, which is 40 percent of the total theft costing nearly Rs 100bn to Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) in the province.

    LESCO has intensified operations against electricity theft in the district.

    “There are total 103 high-loss feeders in all service areas of Lesco falling in Lahore, Kasur, Okara, Sheikhupura and Nankana Sahib. Of these, 77 feeders are in Kasur alone, placing the district on top of the list in power theft,” a LESCO source told Dawn.

    Interestingly, the power thieves stopped pilferage during the daytime due to continuous raids by LESCO teams and resorted to theft during night hours.

    It is pertinent to note that when it was brought to the knowledge of the most senior officials, they directed the authorities in Lahore to suspend supply to such areas during night hours to stop the pilferage. Following this, the power supply was kept suspended for almost 12 hours on Monday night forcing the consumers to involve local politicians (former MNAs, MPAs, etc.) from Kasur and other parts of the division, who approached LESCO management.

    Meanwhile, a senior official of the Ministry of Energy (Power Division) confirmed the development, saying Kasur is like a tribal area causing billions of rupees loss to LESCO because of massive electricity theft.

    “In Punjab, the government has been facing a loss of Rs99bn in the form of power theft. Of this, about Rs40bn theft is being reported from Kasur district (Lahore Division) alone, annually,” the official says.

    There are around 20 highest loss-making grid stations in Punjab, out of which nine are in Kasur district alone, LESCO has, however, been asked not to shut the supply to the high-loss feeders after the local politicians assured of full cooperation with the field teams in eliminating power theft.

    The official says one of the reasons behind the massive power theft in Kasur is that the district includes border areas and belts along the riverbeds of Sutlej and Beas where law enforcement is a hard task.

    “These areas have almost become like tribal belts where criminals routinely flout the law. That is why they are stealing electricity without fear,” he explains.

    Meanwhile, on the 26th consecutive day of the anti-power theft drive, LESCO teams arrested 132 power thieves and detected pilferage on 501 connections in all five districts. According to a spokesman, the applications for registration of FIRs against 498 electricity thieves have been submitted to the respective police stations, out of which 391 FIRs have been registered, while 132 accused have been arrested.

    An official says the connections where power theft was detected include two industrial, nine agricultural, 13 commercial, and 477 domestic, adding that supply to all these has been disconnected. He says all the electricity pilferers have also been charged a total of 758,052 detection units worth Rs39.980 million.

    He says that separately constituted teams also recovered Rs21 million from 1,359 chronic defaulters on Tuesday.

  • No more advantage points for Hafiz-e-Quran in medical admissions

    No more advantage points for Hafiz-e-Quran in medical admissions

    As per the new policy, Hafiz-e-Quran candidates applying to medical colleges will no longer be given additional marks in their application process.

    Concurring with Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), Punjab Health Department confirmed that the policy has been revoked.

    According to the previous policy, Hafiz-e-Quran candidates were given an addition of 20 marks in merit calculation during the admissions process

    The marks remained a part of the admission procedure till it came to Supreme Court’s notice in April under a six-member bench, led by Justice Ijazul Ahsan.

    The PMDC’s lawyer, Afnan Kundi, stated during the proceedings that the policy had already been revoked.

    With no conflict over the matter raised, Justice Ijazul Ahsan closed the suo motu case.

    Eliminating advantage points is considered to be a fair move in creating an equal opportunity and chances for candidates to qualify through a merit-based system.

  • 15,105 pink eye cases reported in 24 hours in Punjab

    15,105 pink eye cases reported in 24 hours in Punjab

    Conjunctivitis infections are increasing in Punjab with 15,105 new cases reported during the last 24 hours.

    According to Primary Health Punjab, 3 lakh 79 thousand 690 cases of conjunctivitis were reported this year.

    Moreover, 22,481 cases were reported in Lahore this year, while 916 new patients were reported in the past 24 hours.

    Whereas in Multan and Faisalabad, 1217 and 1827 cases were reported respect yesterday.

    Due to the outbreak of conjunctivitis, schools across Punjab will remain closed until Monday.

  • 21 million more voters registered since 2018: ECP

    21 million more voters registered since 2018: ECP

    Compared to the statistics of the 2018 general elections, the number of voters in Pakistan has increased by 21 million 24 thousand and 863 voters.

    The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has said that the total number of voters has reached 126,980,272, while the total number of voters in the country in the 2018 general elections was 105,955,409.

    The number of male voters in 2023 has increased to 68,508,258; while the number of female voters has increased to 58,472,014.

    This means that the number of male voters is 10,036,244 more than women.

    Province-wise increase in voters

    Punjab

    Voters in Punjab have increased by one crore 16 lakh 37 thousand (11,637,811).

    2018: 60,672,771

    2023: 72,310,582

    Sindh

    In total, an increase of 42 lakh 59 thousand (4,259,917) voters has been recorded in Sindh.

    2018: 22,391,244

    2023: 26,651,161

    Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

    In total, 63 lakh 78 thousand (6,378,212) voters have increased in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

    2018: 15,314,169

    2023: 21,692,381

    Balochistan

    The number of voters in the province has increased by 9 lakh 58 thousand (985,100) voters.

    2018: 4,299,494

    2023: 5,284,594 

    Islamabad

    Number of voters in the federal capital has increased by 2 lakh 76 thousand (276,107) voters.

    2018: 765,447

    2023: 1,041,554

    Age-wise voter statistcis:

  • ‘Spread love not hate’: AP Dhillon supports Shubhneet Singh

    ‘Spread love not hate’: AP Dhillon supports Shubhneet Singh

    Canadian-Indian rapper Shubhneet Singh is facing backlash from conservative politicians and social media users accusing him of being a Khalistan supporter, after the rapper’s post from March recirculated around social media. Several cricket players like Virat Kohli, Hardick Panday and KL Rahul had unfollowed the rapper on Instagram following the controversy.

    Singh’s tour in India in September was cancelled, after sponsor BoAt announced they were no longer sponsoring the tour as they announced in a post on their X, formerly Twitter, account.

    “At boAt, while our commitment to the incredible music community runs deep, we are first and foremost a true Indian brand. Therefore, when we became aware of the remarks made by artist Shubh earlier this year, we chose to withdraw our sponsorship from the tour.”

    BookMyShow, the online ticket portal confirmed on their X account that they were refunding customers who had purchased ticket’s for Shubh’s concert in Mumbai and other cities.

    In light of these accusations, Indian rapper AP Dhillon released a lengthy statement on his Instagram stories where he publicly sided with the ‘We Rollin’ rapper, condemning the way artists are targeted by special interest and political groups.

    “As an artist it has become almost impossible to stay focused on your craft and do what you love. I try to be mindful of everyone’s sentiments but it has gotten to a point where we have to second and triple guess our every move due to the fear of unintentionally fueling even more division.”

    “Spread love, not hate,” wrote the ‘Brown Munde’ rapper. “Let’s start thinking for ourselves and not let hateful influences program our beliefs. We are ALL one. Let’s not let man made social constructs divide us. Division has gotten us to this point but unity is the key to the future.”

    Shubhneet Singh addressed the backlash in a lengthy statement posted on his Instagram account and said he found the allegations “extremely disheartening.”

    “My intent in resharing that post on my story was only to pray for Punjab as there were reports of electricity and internet shutdowns throughout the state. There was no other thought behind it, and I definitely didn’t intend to hurt anyone’s sentiments.”

    The backlash to Shubh arrives after relations between India and Canada took a sour turn when Justin Trudeau publicly accused the Indian government for being involved in the death of the Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who had been a vocal supporter of setting up a separate state for Sikhs living in India.

    “Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty,” said Trudeau.

    “In the strongest possible terms, I continue to urge the government of India to cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter.”

    READ MORE: Canadian Punjabi rapper’s India tour cancelled as diplomatic row continues

    After the Instagram post by Shubhneet went viral, the youth wing of the BJP party in India BJYMP filed an FIR against the rapper with the Mumbai Police, calling Singh a Khalistan supporter.

    “Shubh is openly a Khalistani supporter,” the complaint read. “And if he is allowed to hold a concert here, he will be influencing a lot of youth in Mumbai and our country to support his agenda…He has evidently proven that he is a pro-Khalistani activist and openly supports their agenda and [he] is also influencing the youth of the country to do the same and wage a war against the Government of India by posting such absurd and derogatory post about Government of India.”

  • Major weather change on its way in Pakistan

    The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has issued a forecast for heavy rainfall spanning from September 22 to September 24, affecting various regions of the country. Read the story to see if it will rain in your city or not.

    Met Office has confirmed that weak to moderate moist currents from the Arabian Sea are likely to penetrate in upper parts of the country from September 22, 2023. A westerly wave is also likely to affect the upper parts on September 22.

    Under the influence of this weather system rain/wind-thundershowers (with few moderate to heavy falls) are expected in:

    Kashmir (Neelum valley, Muzaffarabad, Poonch, Hattian, Bagh, Haveli, Sudhanoti, Kotli, Bhimber, Mirpur)

    Gilgit Baltistan (Diamir, Astore, Ghizer, Skardu, Hunza, Gilgit, Ghanche, Shigar)

    Punjab: Murree, Galliyat, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Attock, Chakwal, Jhelum, Mandi Bahauddin, Hafizabad, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Sialkot, Narowal, Lahore, Kasur, Sheikhupura.

    Chitral, Dir, Swat, Shangla, Buner, Kurram, Mansehra, Kohistan, Abbottabad, Haripur, Kohat, Peshawar, Mardan, Swabi and Nowshera from 22nd to 24th September with occasional gaps.

    Rain/wind-thundershower is also expected in Lakki Marwat, Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, Karak, Waziristan, Mianwali, Sargodha, Khushab, Faisalabad, Toba Tek Singh, Jhang, Bhakkar, Layyah, Dera Ghazi Khan, Multan and Bahawalnagar on 23rd & 24th September with occasional gaps.

    Possible Impacts:

    Moderate to heavy falls may cause urban flooding in low-lying areas of Lahore, Gujranwala, and Rawalpindi on the said dates.

    Moderate to heavy rains may trigger landslides in the vulnerable areas of Murree, Galliyat, Kashmir, Gilgit Baltistan, Chitral, Dir, Swat, Kohistan, Shangla, Buner, Mansehra & Abbottabad from September 22-24.

    Farmers are advised to manage their crop activities accordingly. Tourists and travelers are advised to remain cautious to avoid any untoward situation during the period.

    Wind thunderstorms may damage loose structures like electric poles, solar panels, etc. The general public is advised to stay at safe places during windstorms/lightning/moderate/heavy rains.

  • Canadian Punjabi rapper’s India tour cancelled as diplomatic row continues

    Canadian Punjabi rapper’s India tour cancelled as diplomatic row continues

    Canadian Punjabi rapper Shubhneet Singh has been targeted by right wing politicians after sharing a cryptic post on his Instagram stories, leading to allegations that he supported the notion of setting up a separate state for Sikhs in India. On Thursday, ticketing platform Book My Show announced on X (formerly Twitter) that they had cancelled bookings for the Punjabi rapper’s shows in cities like Delhi and Kolkata, refunded money to the customers.

    “Singer Shubhneet Singh’s Still Rollin Tour for India stands cancelled. To that end, BookMyShow has initiated a complete refund of the ticket amount for all consumers who had purchased tickets for the show. The refund will be reflected within 7-10 working days in the customer’s source account of the original transaction.”

    This development came after members of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM)- the youth wing of the right wing party BJP, launched protests against Shubhneet. On March 23, the rapper had shared a map of India on his Instagram stories, which didn’t show Punjab or occupied Jammu and Kashmir as part of the country, along with the hashtag #prayforpunjab.

    Members of the BJYM wrote to the Mumbai Police, calling for an FIR to be registered against Shubhneet “for waging war against Government of India and posting anti-government posts”.

    “Shubh is openly a Khalistani supporter,” the complaint read. “And if he is allowed to hold a concert here, he will be influencing a lot of youth in Mumbai and our country to support his agenda…He has evidently proven that he is a pro-Khalistani activist and openly supports their agenda and [he] is also influencing the youth of the country to do the same and wage a war against the Government of India by posting such absurd and derogatory post about Government of India.”

    The tensions arrive after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave a strongly worded statement about the murder of Canadian Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Monday, stating that there was credible evidence of the connection between the murderers and the Indian government.

    “Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty,” said Trudeau.

    “In the strongest possible terms, I continue to urge the government of India to cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter.”

    READ MORE: ‘Credible allegations’; Trudeau blames Indian govt agents for Nijjar murder

    Nijjar was a vocal supporter of the creation of Khalistan- a separate state for Sikhs living in India. He was branded as a terrorist by the Indian government, which maintained that he was wanted by the state for his active involvement with the Khalistan Tiger Force (KLF) an organisation declared as a terrorist group by the country. Nijjar was shot outside a Sikh temple on June 18 in Surrey, which was deemed as a targeted attack by the police.

  • Punjab food department ceases wheat quota subsidy 

    Punjab food department ceases wheat quota subsidy 

    The Punjab Food Department has decided to discontinue a substantial subsidy programme linked to the allocation of government wheat quotas. 

    Officials responsible for this matter have informed the media that the government has set the price of wheat at Rs3,900 per maund, with the distribution of wheat from the government quota to flour mills commencing on October 15th.  

    Within the framework of the government quota, wheat will be made available to 1,000 operational flour mills at a rate of Rs4,450 per maund.  

    In the wake of the issuance of government wheat quotas, a 20-kilogramme bag of flour will be retailed at Rs2,600, while in the open market, the same 20-kilogramme bag of flour is currently selling for Rs2,750.  

    These officials have also disclosed that the Punjab Food Department currently maintains a wheat stockpile of over 40 lakh tonnes.  

    Read more: IMF urges Pakistan to increase taxation on the rich and ‘protect the poor’ 

    In June, the Punjab Food Department had temporarily halted the allocation of wheat quotas to flour mills, opting instead to conduct wheat auctions in accordance with the regulations set forth by the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA).  

    As reported by ARY News, the Punjab Food Secretary mentioned that mill owners are eligible to participate in these auctions.  

    Furthermore, the provincial government is contemplating the provision of direct subsidies on flour, with these measures aimed at curbing any irregularities associated with the allocation of wheat quotas. 

  • Number of voters reached 127 million this year: ECP

    Number of voters reached 127 million this year: ECP

    The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has released voter data of the country from 2018 to 2023. According to the data, the number of registered voters increased from 105.95 million (105,955,409) in 2018 to nearly 127 million (126,980,272) in 2023.  These numbers are according to the calculations done in July this year.

    The number of male voters is over 68.50 million (68,508,258), while female voters reached 58.47 million (58,472,014) in 2023.

    According to figures given by the electoral authority, the number of voters in Islamabad increased from 765,447 in 2018 to over 1.04 million (1,041,554) this year. This is one of the country’s major urban centres.

    The total number of voters in Punjab reached 72.3 million (72,310,582) this year, while the number was 60.6 million (60,672,771) in 2018.

    The number of voters in Punjab reached 72.3 million (72,310,582) this year. On the other hand, the number was 60.6 million (60,672,771) in 2018.