Lahore | Pakistan

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi visited the Lahore airport on Tuesday, where he again asserted that passengers with “complete documents” were not being barred from travelling, state-run PTV News reported. “No passenger with complete travel documents is being stopped from travelling, and they will not be stopped,” he said, adding that, however, passengers in possession of “incomplete or bogus documents will definitely not be allowed to travel”. Naqvi’s assurance and warning follow recent reports of arbitrary offloading at airports of passengers travelling abroad. The reports prompted clarifications by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) that only passengers without complete and correct documents were being stopped from travelling. The interior minister has also issued similar statements, saying that only those lacking genuine and complete documents were not being allowed to travel abroad. During his visit to the Lahore airport today, he reiterated the same. “No passenger who brings disrepute to the country c...

Control rooms have been set up at the Election Commission headquarters in Islamabad and Lahore to monitor the by-elections in six National Assembly and seven Punjab Assembly constituencies on Sunday.

The PTI slammed the PML-N government on Thursday for allegedly employing rigging tactics in support of its candidate in Lahore’s NA-129 by-election. The by-election is scheduled for Sunday. The party claimed that campaigning began with state personnel tearing down the PTI candidate’s banners and posters, managing polling stations and then appointing subordinates of the PML-N candidate, who has served as chairman of the Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) Board of Directors (BoD). The PTI leaders allege that this amounts to an orchestrated attempt to tilt the electoral playing field in favour of the ruling party’s candidate, Muhammad Nauman. The NA-129 seat, vacated after the death of Mian Muhammad Azhar, is being contested by his nephew, Chaudhry Arslan, who was nominated by Azhar’s son and former PTI Punjab acting president Hammad Azhar. The junior Azhar is absconding as he is wanted by the state in different cases. The PTI is contesting the by-election only in Lahore, where the seat was vacated, while bo...

The Punjab Environment Protection Agency, in collaboration with the Punjab Safe City Authority, has launched a major crackdown across Lahore targeting vehicles operating without mandatory Green Stickers.

Lahore’s walled city features some of Pakistan’s most iconic landmarks and monuments, from the imposing Alamgiri Gate to the Lahore Fort and Badshahi Masjid. The Mughal-era architecture has drawn visitors from across the country and the world, who can now tour the monuments at night. Dawn offers a glance at Lahore’s walled city as visitors enjoy views of brightly illuminated structures lighting up the dark of the night. A visitor walks through a section of the Lahore Fort during a night tour on November 15. — White Star/Murtaza Ali Visitors look upon the Hazuri Bagh pavilion during a night tour of Lahore’s walled city on November 15. — White Star/Murtaza Ali An image of Allama Iqbal’s mausoleum in Lahore’s walled city from November 15. — White Star/Murtaza Ali Visitors look at a view from the Lahore Fort, with Badshahi Masjid and the Minar-i-Pakistan visible in the background, during a night tour on November 15. — White Star/Murtaza Ali A view of the Lahore Fort and Badshahi Masjid during a night tour on Nove...

Lahore continues to battle hazardous air quality, ranking as the second most polluted city in the world on Sunday.

Punjab remained engulfed in dense, toxic smog on Saturday, with Lahore continuing to face dangerously high air pollution levels and holding its position as the world’s second most polluted city.

Air pollution across Punjab has surged to life-threatening levels, with Lahore once again emerging as one of the most polluted cities in the world.

Air pollution in Lahore and several other Punjab cities has reached dangerous levels, with air quality indices (AQI) entering the hazardous zone.

Lahore continues to grapple with dangerously high levels of air pollution, ranking as the second most polluted city in the world, according to global environmental monitoring data.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday ordered the Punjab Wildlife Department to submit a report on the demolition of a pet market in the walled city within 30 days and decide on a framework to prevent such incidents from occurring again, according to the lawyer who filed the petition with the court. A demolition operation was carried out at a bird market in Lahore’s Bhati Chowk area, near Data Darbar last Friday by the Lahore Development Authority (LDA), with shopkeepers accusing the Punjab government of killing dozens of birds and other caged pets; allegations the government has denied. This incident led to public outrage as the animals were not moved during the demolition. Animal rights lawyer Altamush Saeed filed a petition with the LHC on Saturday, naming the Punjab government, the Punjab Wildlife and Fisheries Department and the LDA, as respondents. A press release stated that the court ordered the Wildlife Department to submit a “comprehensive report” on the matter. It added that LHC Judge Shehram Sarwa...

Dr Arfa Sayeda Zehra, a human rights activist, poet and education expert, died on Monday. The author’s niece, Ameena Kamal, confirmed to Dawn that Zehra had passed in Lahore at age 83. “Dr Arfa will be buried in her family graveyard, Cavalry Ground, Lahore, tomorrow, and the time of her funeral will be announced at a later time,” Kamal said. President Asif Ali Zardari expressed “profound grief” over the educationist’s passing, the PPP posted on the social media platform X. “The demise of Dr Arfa Sayeda Zehra is an irreparable loss for Pakistan’s academic and literary circles,” he said, adding that the intellectual had dedicated her life to knowledge, research, and service to humanity. He said she had “set a shining example”, adding, “Her scholarly contributions and efforts for the promotion of the national language will always be remembered.” Zardari expressed heartfelt condolences and sympathy to the deceased’s family, students, and academic community. Dr Zehra was recognised for her knowledge of Urdu litera...

The smog crisis in Punjab continues to worsen, with Lahore’s air quality reaching dangerously high pollution levels once again.

A demolition operation carried out at a bird market in Lahore’s Bhati Chowk area, near Data Darbar, has become mired in controversy, with shopkeepers accusing the Punjab government of killing dozens of birds and other caged pets, allegations the government has denied. The operation was conducted on Wednesday morning by joint teams of the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) and the Traffic Engineering and Transport Planning Agency (Tepa) to launch the Bhaati Chowk remodeling project, aiming to reduce traffic congestion and control pollution. “The market consisted of a total of 149 shops, including some tuck (pan) shops. Around 13 to 14 [shops] were situated in the front, where the shopkeepers were able to take out the birds and cages late at night. The other shopkeepers could not do this since they closed the shops in the evening as per routine,“ Bahu Khan, Lahore Bhaati bird association office bearer told Dawn. “Thus, all birds (parrots, sparrows, etc) were buried to death after the field operation teams raise...

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has issued a clarification regarding the Lahore–Jeddah flight that made an unscheduled landing in Karachi early Thursday morning, emphasizing that the decision was taken purely as a precautionary measure after the pilot noticed cracks in the aircraft’s windshield during.

Lahore woke up to a pleasant change in weather on Monday, as temperatures dipped and a refreshing chill settled over the city.

The air quality in Lahore showed signs of improvement on Wednesday, with a significant drop in smog as the city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 163, according to air monitoring data.

Ticket holders and office bearers of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) from central Punjab and Lahore on Tuesday announced that they were severing ties with the now-banned organisation, stating that they were “standing with the state”. On Friday, all election ticket holders of the TLP from south Punjab announced that they had left the party, accusing it of pursuing an anti-state agenda that “aligns with the country’s enemies”. In a press conference at the Lahore Press Club today, multiple TLP ticket holders and office bearers announced their decision to step away from the religiopolitical group, with lawyer Usman Khizr Mangat saying that one can engage in politics within the state, but not against it. “Violence and mobs cannot create an impact by attacking the state,” he said. “Pakistan saw how these people carried out attacks. The government tried to start a dialogue, but the demands laid out were not accepted. “The state is like a mother, it tried to negotiate for six, seven days constantly with these pe...

An election tribunal has dismissed a petition challenging the victory of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz from PP-159, Lahore, it emerged on Monday. PTI-backed independent candidate Mehar Sharafat had filed the petition, claiming that he initially emerged victorious in the constituency based on the Form 45 results. The tribunal was presided over by retired justice Rana Zahid Mahmood. He alleged that the results were later manipulated using Form 47 to declare Maryam the victor. He had asked the tribunal to set aside Maryam’s victory notification and declare him a returned candidate. Maryam had secured 23,598 and Sharafat obtained 21,491 votes in the Feb 8 general election. An order of the election tribunal dated October 21 emerged today, which said that the counsel for the petitioner advanced “very short arguments … and it is important to mention that his arguments are general in nature with regard to allegations of corruption and corrupt practices during the election process in the constituency concerned, h...

Three people lost their lives in a tragic road accident after a speeding dumper truck rammed into a motorcycle in Lahore’s Defense Phase 6 area on Saturday.