Punjab | Pakistan

The PTI has set up a three-member committee aimed at providing legal aid and welfare support to its members incarcerated in Punjab and their families. PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja has formally notified the committee, called the ‘PTI Punjab Legal and Welfare Committee’. Haider Majeed, Faiza Murad and Ali Ijaz Buttar have been named members of the committee. The notification states: “The PTI hereby announces the constitution of the PTI Punjab Legal and Welfare Committee for the support of party members who have been convicted or are currently incarcerated as well as for the welfare of their families. “All matters concerning the imprisonment, legal proceedings and welfare of PTI-affiliated prisoners and their families in the province of Punjab may be referred to any member of the committee,” it added. The committee will convene meetings as required and will remain in close coordination with the party leadership, it said. It further stated that it would keep the office of the secretary general fully in...

Dense fog blanketed several cities of Punjab on Sunday, sharply reducing visibility and disrupting road and air travel.

At least 24 people were killed and over 20 were injured in two separate accidents on Saturday, as a truck fell into a dry canal in Punjab’s Sargodha district and a coach overturned near Balochistan’s Ormara tehsil. In Sargodha, six children were among 14 dead, while nine others were injured in the early hours of Saturday when a truck carrying cargo and passengers fell into a canal from the Galapur Bangla bridge due to fog, said Rescue 1122. According to Punjab Rescue 1122 officials, the truck was travelling from Islamabad to Faisalabad with 23 people on board for a funeral when the unfortunate incident took place. “Due to heavy fog, the motorway was closed, so the vehicle took a local route. In the area of Kot Momin tehsil, the truck fell from the Galapur bridge into the canal,” said a statement from Rescue 1122, adding that the truck “lost control because of poor visibility”. The Rescue 1122 statement added that the canal was dry, but passengers were stuck beneath the truck when it overturned. The injured we...

Dense fog once again blanketed large parts of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on the night between Friday and Saturday, bringing routine life to a standstill and severely disrupting road traffic due to extremely low visibility.

Wheat prices have surged sharply over the past ten days across Punjab and Islamabad, triggering concerns over flour availability and rising costs for consumers.

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday said it had “taken a serious view” of the Punjab government’s failure to meet deadlines for tasks that would pave the way for the long-delayed local government (LG) polls in the province and decided to fix the matter for hearing. Sources told Dawn that according to the promised timelines, the Punjab Local Government (Delimitation of Union Councils) Rules, were to be finalised by October 27 last year. The input for the finalisation of the rules had been provided by the ECP but a notification by the relevant authorities was still awaited, the sources said. They said November 15, 2025 was the deadline for the provision of the Punjab Local Government (Conduct of Elections) Rules. The draft for the rules had been shared with the ECP by the provincial government and the former had given its input as well, but a notification was yet to be issued, the sources said. Likewise, the notification of Demarcation and Classification, showing the limits of loca...

In a significant move to combat child labour, the Punjab government has announced a plan to provide monthly financial assistance to parents of underage children, encouraging families to withdraw their children from work and send them back to school.

Dense fog in plain areas of Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the night between Sunday and Monday forced the closure of several motorway sections after visibility dropped to dangerously low levels.

Punjab Education Minister Rana Sikandar Hayat on Saturday announced that the government decided to extend winter vacations in all public and private schools across the province till January 19, citing the extremely low temperatures expected in the coming days. The decision comes a day after Hayat rebuffed rumors and fake news on social media regarding the extension of holidays and maintained that schools would reopen on Jan 12. The education minister, however, created a poll on his X account, asking people if schools and colleges should reopen from Jan 12 or 19. The majority of the users voted for Jan 19. In the latest post today on X, Hayat wrote: “In view of the prolonged severe winter spell and the forecast of extremely low temperatures in the coming days, and on the advice of PDMA, the Government of Punjab has decided to extend winter vacations until January 19.” Meanwhile, in a separate notification, the Punjab Higher Education Department stated that winter vacations for higher educational institutions w...

Punjab Education Minister Rana Sikandar Hayat on Friday clarified that all schools and colleges across the province will reopen on January 12. The clarification comes after a reportedly fake notification circulated on social media claiming that winter vacations in Punjab had been extended from January 10 to 17. However, the education minister rebuffed claims of extending winter holidays, urging the public to “avoid fake news.” Earlier this week, he had also denied any extension of the winter holidays. Later in the evening, the education minister posted a poll on his X account, asking people about when schools and colleges in Punjab should reopen. The two options were January 12 and 19. Around 11:30pm on January 9, 82.5 per cent of users were in favour of January 19, while 17.5pc for January 12. Commenters seemed in favour of reopening institutions on the later date, due to the increasing cold in the province, while others noted that January 19 would be peak cold in Punjab. Another user questioned why the mini...

Heavy fog blanketed large parts of Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the night between Thursday and Friday, forcing the authorities to close several sections of the motorway network as visibility dropped to dangerously low levels.

Preparations are underway to file the first-ever case in Punjab’s Defamation Court, following a formal announcement by Provincial Information Minister Azma Bukhari.

Dense fog continues to blanket large parts of Punjab, prompting the closure of several motorway sections as a precautionary measure to ensure public safety.

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has said that if the daughters of Punjab stand firm, they can change the destiny of the province, adding that women of the province are second to none and capable of achieving anything through hard work and determination.

LAHORE: Punjab’s potato farmers and independent researchers called for urgent government intervention through subsidised exports as a massive production surplus collided with stagnant domestic demand and shrinking export prospects. Due to the closure of the Afghanistan border over recent months, potato prices in Pakistan have plunged to rock-bottom levels. Independent researchers and farmers across Sahiwal, Okara, Pakpattan, Kasur, and adjoining districts feared the market had already begun to collapse, and in some places, it had collapsed even before the full arrival of the new crop. Wholesale prices had fallen below production costs, forcing some growers to plough standing crops back into the soil to avoid further losses. Potatoes were being sold in the market at Rs 20–25 per kg in the three districts of the Sahiwal division. President of the Pakistan Kisan Ittehad, Khalid Mahmood Khokhar, while highlighting the miseries of potato farmers in the districts of Okara, Pakpattan, Sahiwal, Kasur, Khanewal, and V...

The pace of development across Punjab’s cities and villages is set to accelerate further as Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif chaired a high-level meeting to review progress on major urban and rural development initiatives.

The concept of “martial rule” and the associated ideology of the “martial races” occupy a central place in the colonial and post-colonial history of Punjab. Far from being a mere military recruitment strategy, this theory evolved into a durable socio-political framework that reshaped agrarian relations, state power, and political authority in the region. Drawing upon the works of scholars such as Mustafa Kamal Pasha, Clive Dewey, Tan Tai Yong, and Rajit Mazumdar, one can trace how martial rule developed as an intellectual and administrative project, how it became deeply embedded in the agrarian economy of Punjab, and how its long-term ramifications elevated the military to a decisive force in contemporary politics. The theory of martial rule emerged from the broader colonial construct of the “martial races,” formulated by British administrators in the aftermath of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. As Tan Tai Yong demonstrates, the rebellion marked a decisive rupture in British perceptions of loyalty and governanc...

Various sections of motorways across Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh were closed on the night between Sunday and Monday as dense fog reduced visibility to dangerous levels, officials said.

Dense fog blanketed large parts of Punjab and Sindh overnight between Friday and Saturday, prompting authorities to shut several sections of the motorway network as visibility dropped to dangerously low levels, officials said.

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Friday said that the launch of shrimp farming will significantly increase Punjab’s exports, strengthen the provincial economy and create new opportunities for sustainable development.