The Department of Meteorology has indicated the possibility of an increase in hot temperatures in Sindh and Balochistan while hailstorms are expected in some parts of Punjab, reports Geo News.
There is a possibility of a gradual increase in temperature during the day in the southern districts of Sindh and Balochistan, as per the Meteorological Department.
However, in Karachi, there is a chance of clear weather in the upcoming weekend. The minimum temperature recorded was 24.4 degree celsius in the last 24 hours.
The minimum temperature is expected to be 21 to 23 degrees Celsius and the maximum temperature is expected to be 33 to 35 degrees during the next 24 hours. Humidity is 76 percent while winds are blowing at a speed of 15 km per hour.
Simultaneously, heavy rain was reported in Muzaffarabad city and its surroundings and snowfall on the mountains made the weather beautiful.
The Meteorological Department says that there is a possibility of rain in various cities of Punjab, including Khushab, Jhelum Murree, Guliyat, Rawalpindi, Chakwal, Gujarat, Sialkot and Hafizabad. Meanwhile, there is a possibility of hailstorm in a few places.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Chitral, Dir, Swat, Kohistan, Shangla, Buner, Malakand, Abbottabad, Mansehra and Haripur will experience thunder and lightning along with the rain.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur has warned the Punjab government as well as the federal government to change their behaviours or he will “send police” to their homes, The News reported on Thursday.
“Stop threatening me, or else we would send police to your homes,” Gandapur said while referring to Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and President Asif Ali Zardari, after Anti-Terrorism Court Judge Malik Ijaz Asif issued non-bailable warrants against him in the alleged May 9 riots case on Tuesday.
Non-bailable arrest warrants are also issued against multiple Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders, including Murad Saeed, Shibli Faraz, Shahbaz Gill, and retired Lieutenant Colonel Shabbir Awan.
Warrants were also issued for former PTI leaders Shireen Mazari, Musarrat Jamshed Cheema, and Saad Jamil Abbasi.
Ali Amin Gandapur also said that the first information reports (FIRs) against him are “fake,” adding that it would be difficult for Punjab and the federal government to operate if they do not change their behaviours.
Following Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz’s visit to an all-girls’ high school in Lahore, social media had a large number of posts claiming that one of the school teachers was dismissed after posing questions regarding Nawaz’s male security members.
Samina Shahid, the public school teacher who went viral, was contacted by Geo Fact Check and she confirmed that she has not been sacked.
Her claims were also verified through other government personnel.
“The [social media posts] are false. There is no truth to them,” Geo Fact Check quotes Shahid who spoke to the team over the phone on March 15, “I am speaking to you right now sitting in my office.”
Additionally, the chief executive officer of Lahore’s district education authority, Pervaiz Akhtar, also confirmed that no teacher was fired following the visit.
Azma Zahid Bokhari, the information minister in Punjab, stated likewise.
“No action against any teaching or non-teaching staff has been taken by school administration after the visit of the chief minister Punjab to the government pilot girls high school Lahore,” Bokhari told Geo Fact Check via messages.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday issued a schedule of upcoming senate elections set to take place on April 2.
As per schedule, the returning officers will issue a public notice for all prospective candidates to submit their nomination papers. The electoral body will then scrutinise nomination papers and handle appeals.
The development comes as the ECP, on Monday, announced holding the election for Senate seats that were vacated after the expiration of the six-year term of the incumbent senators on March 11. However, elections will only be held on 48 seats as four reserved seats for the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) have been abolished after the 25th Constitutional Amendment.
Members of the Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), and Balochistan assemblies will vote to elect members for seven general seats, two women, and two seats for technocrats, including Ulema.
However, Punjab and Sindh assembly members will cast their votes for one seat each for non-Muslims.
As per the ECP’s schedule,
March 15 to 16 — Submission of nomination papers.
March 17 — Publication of nominated candidates.
March 19 — Last date for scrutiny of nomination papers.
March 21 — Last date for filing of appeals against acceptance, rejection of nominations.
March 25 — Last date for disposal of appeals by the tribunal.
March 26 — Publication of revised list of candidates.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has decided to field senior leader Dr Yasmin Rashid for Senate seat in Punjab for the upcoming polls set to take place on April 2, The News reported on Thursday.
PTI’s senior leader Mian Aslam Iqbal disclosed on his X (previously Twitter) account that Yasmin Rashid will be the party’s candidate for the senate seat in Punjab.
Mian Aslam Iqbal also said that Zulfi Bukhari and Hamid Khan are the party’s candidates for general seats. However, Brigadier (retd) Musadiq will be the PTI’s candidate for the technocrat seat.
The development comes as the senior politician’s earlier bid to secure a place in the National Assembly failed after she lost to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif on Lahore’s NA-130 seat in the February 8 polls.
Dr Yasmin Rashid is currently in Adiala jail in cases pertaining to the violent incidents of the May 9 riots last year.
52 seats are vacant in the Senate after the expiration of the six-year term of senators. However, senate election will be held on 48 seats, as the four reserved seats for Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) had been abolished after the 25th Constitutional Amendment.
As Chief Minister of Punjab Maryam Nawaz launched Saaf Suthra Punjab Campaign in Lahore, netizens all over the internet have started posting photos and information about the overflowing drains, sewage spillage, huge piles of garbage, and poor hygiene conditions in their cities.
Newly elected Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif is on a mission to transform Punjab. The latest in the series is the ‘Saaf Suthra Punjab drive’. Netizens are quick to remind her of the poor condition of drains and garbage in Lahore and other cities of Punjab.
In Lahore, citizens are struggling with the issues of overflowing drains, sewage water, and the stink emitting from them.
Blogger and activist Riaz Ali Turi posted about the uncovered drains in Lahore causing health risks and nauseating smells in NA-127 of Lahore which include the prominent areas of the city like Township and Green Town.
Urgent call to action: Uncovered drains in Lahore, particularly in NA-127, are posing serious health risks, with nauseating smells affecting residents, especially children. The situation on the ground was dire, as we witnessed. @MaryamNSharifhttps://t.co/uppeHGCyFVpic.twitter.com/II5KjUPwje
Another user with a pseudo name of I M Imran Khan shared the pictures of Shadman area in Lahore where overflowing drains are disturbing life. Adil posted about how the area around Urdu Bazaar is facing sewage issues to which Maryam Nawaz assured him of holistic action. Noman Waseem tagged CM Maryam that even though the initiative is great, nothing has been done in his city of Multan.
The whole shadman area in Lahore is worst than this, with a big sewage/ dirty drain in Shadman, jail rd, n chungi, which have become hallmarks of Lahore city. The moment u enter in Shadman, the unbearable sewer gas smell welcomes u. pic.twitter.com/LQvrbacUbM
In response to Zeeshan Malik’s tweet about the Punjab government’s work in Bahawalpur, a netizen commented that Pindi needs the same attention, and, not just on the roads but in the walled city as well.
Pindi mai kb ho ga zeeshan.just main roads per kaam na ho.asal maza tub hai androon yay saaf sutra punjab hona chew
A resident of Sheikhupura posted a series of littered streets that are disturbing the lives of citizens yet the commissioner was claiming to have started the project.
Dawn’s Khalid Hasnain interviewed a resident of a locality of Pine Avenue near Valencia Town named Aziz who complained, “You see the Sattukatla drain full of waste, which is choking its sewage flow. The water level in the drain is also rising due to the choking caused by the waste piling in it.”
“It is also surprising that though the WASA’s machine meant for desilting or cleaning the drain is parked here but no one has visited the site since long to operate it,” Aziz adds the Sattukatla drain overflows in the monsoon or the unexpected heavy rain while its choking is also spreading a very foul and unbearable smell everywhere.
The Current went to ask the residents near drains at Upper Mall which are especially disturbed by the foul smell which gets unbearable during rains.
Around Walton drains, a resident named Zahid Abbas complained that occasional breaking of the walls of the drain and overflowing of its contents causes many hindrances on daily basis. “When there is rain we become restricted to our homes and transportation via cars become increasingly difficult especially crossing the road,” says Zahid.
Traditionally, the epicentre of PML-N’s politics, Lahore has always been flaunted as the most developed part of the province the drains and heaps of garbage are depicting an opposite story. The situation is no better in other cities where grave problems require immediate action across the Punjab.
The Lahore High Court has approved the opening of restaurants in Punjab from iftar till sehr.
The court has also ordered schools to introduce one period a week on the environment, including practical activities, as the goal for the court is to inculcate environmental awareness in the population from a young age.
The court has asked for a detailed report on the revised curriculum to be tendered in the next hearing.
It has also sought a plan from Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) for a cleanliness campaign which must include students so that they contribute in countering pollution and uncleanliness in the city.
Moreover, the Court has also instructed Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) officials to put an end to tree-cutting and to brief the Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) beforehand.
A meeting was held under the chairmanship of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz in Lahore, in which it was decided that a free WiFi project will be launched in 10 different places in the provincial capital in two weeks while free WiFi points will be set up at 516 places in the city.
Also finalised today: 100000 houses Free Wifi for Lhr First IT city Waste Management companies for all districts. https://t.co/DaGYdIQz4e
21-storey Arfa Karim Tower-2 will be built in Lahore: Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif
Lahore, 12 March 2024: “IT, Education and Film City projects to start in Lahore at the earliest,” said Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif while presiding over a meeting on IT City and Lahore… pic.twitter.com/ynvN0yy03r
While briefing the meeting, it was said that the IT, Education and Film City project will start soon; while Microsoft, Oracle and other big companies have expressed their willingness for IT City.
Maryam Nawaz has also directed authorities to invite Chinese IT companies to build offices, adding that the best IT companies of the world will be provided business opportunities in the IT City.
The Chief Minister of Punjab has set a deadline for the plan of the establishment of Lahore Knowledge Park and IT City.
During a recent interview, Indian actress Sonam Bajwa shared her thoughts on Pakistan’s former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa, the man she shared a surname with.
While attending a Pakistani fashion brand’s launch in London, Sonam referred to a popular Pakistani internet joke comparing the two Bajwas.
“I saw on Twitter from Pakistan, ‘The Bajwa we love,’ and then they wrote my name. I like it, I think it’s my surname. They also speak Punjabi, and we also speak Punjabi, so I am one of them.”
The jokes center around Sonam being the better Bajwa after the Army Chief faced growing unpopularity. The Punjabi film actress was often tagged by Pakistani fans who simply call her ‘The Better Bajwa’ or ‘The Respected Bajwa’.
After Maryam Nawaz became the first female chief minister of Punjab and the first female chief executive of a province in the country, history was made yet again with the inclusion of the first Sikh minister in the provincial cabinet.
Ramesh Singh Arora, a member of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), took oath to become a minister in the provincial cabinet. The Sikh politician has returned to the provincial assembly for the third term, this time with the portfolio of a minister.
Arora, who hails from Narowal, has been allotted the minorities portfolio. He was also the first-ever Sikh lawmaker of Punjab, taking oath as a member of the provincial assembly in 2013. Meanwhile, the provincial cabinet has appointed Khalil Tahir Sindhu, a member of the christian community from Punjab, to serve alongside Arora. Sindhu will handle the human rights portfolio. Since 1970, various political parties or alliances, such as the PML-N, Pakistan Peoples Party, Islami Jamhoori Ittehad, Pakistan Muslim League Quaid, and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, have formed governments. However, the PML-N stands out as the only party to bring the first Sikh MPA to the house and include him in the cabinet.
