Tag: Punjab

  • Prolonged load shedding continues across country in extreme heat

    Prolonged load shedding continues across country in extreme heat

    With record breaking temperatures, hours of load shedding of electricity have caused inconvenience for people in a number of cities across Pakistan.

    In many areas of Hyderabad, the duration of load shedding has reached up to 12 hours.

    Spokesperson of HESCO said that load shedding is happening on the basis of line losses. He also claims that load shedding is not interrupting examination hours.

    Meanwhile, urban areas of Sukkur are experiencing six to eight hours of load shedding while Jacobabad, Shikarpur and Kashmore undergoing 12 to 14 hours.

    Thatta city and its surroundings are subjected to 14 to 16 hours load shedding, six hours in Kamalia city, and eight hours in rural areas.

    Wahari stands at four to six hours of load shedding while 10 hours in rural areas.

    More than 10 hours of load shedding is taking place in Mingora city, more than 16 hours in suburban areas, while Bannu is experiencing 18 to 20 hours of load shedding.

    Citizens say that business activities and life are being affected due to load shedding.

  • Shehbaz ko dhoti nahin pasand lekin Nawaz ko achi lagti hai, says Rohale Asghar

    Shehbaz ko dhoti nahin pasand lekin Nawaz ko achi lagti hai, says Rohale Asghar

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader Sheikh Rohale Asghar recently appeared in an interview on WE News in which he revealed that PM Shehbaz didn’t like his traditional dress (Dhoti kurta).

    “PM Shehbaz strongly complains about my clothes and even told me to change the attire but I refused,” said the PML-N leader.

    He further said, “I’m not a servant of Shehbaz Sharif. I am Sheikh Rohale Asghar son of Muhammad Asghar and I have my own identity.”

    Asghar also stated that Nawaz Sharif likes his dressing style but Shehbaz Sharif has complained to him multiple times about his laacha.

    Does this mean that Shehbaz Sharif never wears a dhoti? That would be strange as after all, it is the traditional rural attire of the province he governed twice.

  • Further reduction in naan prices by Punjab government

    Further reduction in naan prices by Punjab government

    The Punjab government has set the new price of plain bread in the province at Rs 14, effective from tomorrow.

    Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz issued a statement on the reduction in the price of naan, stating that while the price of plain bread is fixed at 14 rupees in Lahore, prices in other cities is fixed at 12 to 14 rupees.

    Previously, the Punjab government had reduced naan price to Rs 16.

  • College timings changed in Punjab as heatwave lingers on

    College timings changed in Punjab as heatwave lingers on

    Working hours of colleges in Punjab have been changed as the prevalent heatwave intensifies across the province.

    Department of Higher Education Punjab has announced that from May 21 to 31, colleges will be open from 7:30 am to 11:30 am and on Fridays from 7:30 am to 11:00 pm, while the second shift of colleges will be from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

    Provincial Disaster Management Authority Punjab has issued a heatwave alert from May 21 to 27 and the district administration has been directed to create awareness through a helpline, announcements in mosques, and media.

    The Health Department is directed to set up special counters in hospitals, ensure the availability of medicines, and cancel the leave of doctors and paramedical staff.

  • Maryam Nawaz’s govt stabbed our back after holding negotiations over bill, say journalist leaders

    Maryam Nawaz’s govt stabbed our back after holding negotiations over bill, say journalist leaders

    The Punjab Assembly on Monday approved the highly controversial Defamation Bill 2024 amidst immense opposition from journalists, human rights organisations and political opponents.

    The government considers the bill, aimed at stopping ‘fake news’, necessary while journalist leaders and opposition leaders labelled it “draconian” and a “black law”.

    Earlier in the day, representatives of media bodies met Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari and requested her to defer the controversial bill for a few days.

    However, the government decided to bulldoze the bill through Punjab Assembly despite strong opposition.

    Journalist leaders were of the view that the government stabbed them in the back after holding negotiations over the bill.

    Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has also expressed grave concern over the defamation bill, saying that it aims to uphold “parallel judicial structures” for defamation cases which goes against the very spirit of the Constitution.

    HRCP remarked that implementation of this bill would be a huge blow to freedom of speech and dissent in our society because there would be no due process or fair trials.

    “This is not a democratic bill. There is no compromise on press freedom,” stated Lahore Press Club President Arshad Ansari.

    He slammed the PML-N-led provincial government for passing the controversial bill and remarked, “You have cheated us. You have trapped us.”

  • Punjab to close schools, exams to be postponed in Karachi as heatwave gains strength

    Punjab to close schools, exams to be postponed in Karachi as heatwave gains strength

    As a stifling heatwave gains strength across Pakistan, the Punjab government has decided to shut down all schools across the province for a week while Sindh has decided to postpone matric exams.

    A notification issued by the Government of Punjab states that due to the heat wave, a seven-day-long holiday has been announced in schools. Therefore, schools will remain closed from May 25 to May 31. However, schools that are carrying out exams will be allowed to continue.

    PDMA Punjab had issued alerts earlier that the heat wave will span across Punjab from May 21 to 27.

    Karachi

    Class 9th and 10th exams have been postponed in Karachi due to a possible heat wave.

    The Board of Secondary Education has announced that there will be no matriculation board papers between May 21 and 27.

    On the orders of the Minister for Education Boards and Universities, the Matriculation Board Karachi exams have been postponed and now the Matriculation Board exams will be held from May 28 as per the schedule.

    Although the Intermediate exams were postponed earlier, now the Inter exams will start from May 27 instead of May 22.

    The plains of Punjab and Sindh are in the grip of intense heat and a heatwave alert has also been issued by the Meteorological Department.

  • Punjab government announces summer vacations for schools

    Punjab government announces summer vacations for schools

    The Punjab government has announced the dates of annual summer vacations in public and private schools in the province, Geo reported on Friday.

    As per the notification issued by the government, vacations will be observed from June 1 to August 14 in the entire province.

    Similarly, Punjab government has also reduced school timings due to scorching temperature in multiple cities of the country.

    According to the new timings, schools will open at 7am and close at 11:30am from Monday to Thursday; however, on Friday school will open at 7am to close at 10:30am.

    The Pakistan Meteorological Department has warned that a heatwave is expected to hit most parts of the country, especially Punjab and Sindh, starting May 21, due to high pressure in the upper atmosphere.

  • Punjab Cabinet says ‘undue interference’ by institutions unacceptable

    Punjab Cabinet says ‘undue interference’ by institutions unacceptable

    The Punjab cabinet, on Tuesday, made a strong statement that it would not accept any ‘undue interference’ in the government’s authority by another institution.

    Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz presided over the meeting and made it clear that the Punjab government believes in harmony between state institutions, but unfair interference in the executive authority was unacceptable.

    This statement came after the Lahore High Court passed a ruling to extend the stay order against the distribution of electric motorcycles by Maryam Nawaz among students.

    “It is the responsibility of all of us to uphold the sanctity of our office by exercising our powers within the constitutional limits,” Maryam Nawaz said while addressing the cabinet.

  • Seven Punjabi barbers killed in Gwadar

    Seven Punjabi barbers killed in Gwadar

    Seven people belonging to Punjab have been killed and one injured in an attack by unknown armed men in the Gwadar district of Balochistan.

    Police said that the unfortunate incident took place in the Sarbandar area of Gwadar. The dead and injured were barbers and belonged to Khanewal district of Punjab.

    The bodies have been sent for autopsy while the injured person has been shifted to Gwadar Hospital for medical assistance, the police told BBC.

    Sarbandar is a fishing village which is located approximately 25 kilometers east of Gwadar city towards Karachi. Gwadar district bordering Iran is a coastal district of Balochistan and since the deterioration of the situation in Balochistan, incidents of this kind of unrest have been happening in Gwadar as well.

    No one has yet accepted responsibility for this incident and SHO Mohsin Baloch informed BBC that an investigation is going on into various aspects of the incident.

    Earlier on April 13, 11 people, including nine people from Punjab, were killed and five were injured when Balochistan Liberation Army militants fired on a bus in the Nushki district of Balochistan.

    In the past, like other areas of Balochistan, Gwadar also witnessed attacks on workers and security forces and other incidents of unrest. In March this year, a major attack was carried out on the Gwadar Port Authority complex in Gwadar. The Majeed Brigade of the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack.

    Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti and Interior Minister Mir Ziaullah Longo have condemned the killings in Gwadar and said that the killing of innocent labourers in Gwadar is terrorism.

  • Controversy around Bushra Ansari’s dialogue in punjabi web series, sparks gender debate

    Controversy around Bushra Ansari’s dialogue in punjabi web series, sparks gender debate

    Veteran actor Bushra Ansari is facing social media backlash for her dialogue in an international Web Series “Our Big Punjabi Family”.
    Although the web series was released last year, recently, a social media clip from the web series featuring Ansari’s dialogue has gone viral. In the clip, Ansari refers to a transgender girl, who is in the kitchen when another character in the show asks Ansari why she is being so nice to the girl. Ansari says, “call her “they”or “them,” referring to pronouns that people can select for themselves.

    . The dialogue sparked a debate among fans, with some criticising Ansari for ‘clearly promoting an LGBTQ agenda by working in LGBTQ pro-content’. Some Pakistani fans are expressing their anger while others are applauding Ansari for taking on the role and promoting tolerance, with some fans saying ‘Love this and its about time’.