Punjab | Pakistan

President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday tasked PPP lawmakers and members with commencing preparations for the local body polls in Punjab. The local body polls are likely to be held in Punjab next year after some amendments to the local government law. Under Article 140-A of the Constitution and Section 219(4) of the Elections Act, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is bound to hold elections within 120 days of the expiry of the term of the local government institutions. In April 2019, the then PTI-led Punjab government dissolved the local government institutions, which were later restored by the Supreme Court and subsequently completed their term on December 31, 2021. The elections were supposed to be held by the end of April 2022, but this was not possible because the provincial government kept amending the local government law repeatedly. President Zardari arrived in Lahore on Friday evening and met party leaders today at Bilawal House, directing them to enhance their public interaction. Punjab Govern...

On the instructions of the Chief Minister of Punjab, the Punjab Wildlife Department has rolled out the province’s first-ever Wildlife Informer Campaign aimed at cracking down on illegal hunting and poaching.

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

Setting aside their political differences, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz have exchanged greetings on social media platform X, with the former thanking the latter for the “positive gesture”. On Thursday, Maryam, in a post on X, had extended a “warm welcome” to Bilawal, who is currently visiting the province. “Punjab is your home, and you will always find a place of respect here,” she said. “Thank you for your gracious remarks. You have my heartfelt good wishes and prayers,” she added. Although Maryam did not specifically mention which comments she was referring to, Bilawal, during a media talk in Lahore this week, had said he would be very happy if the Punjab chief minister chose to contest polls from Sindh. In response, Bilawal on Friday said, “Thank you, madam chief minister for the warm welcome and positive gesture.” The PPP and PML-N, who are allies in the Centre, engaged in a war of words in September and October. The bad blood had escalated to the point that l...

LAHORE - Punjab will officially revive one of South Asia’s most vibrant spring festivals next month, as the govern­ment lifted the a ban of more than a decade on Basant, the centuries-old kite-flying celebration once halted after deadly incidents caused by ra­zor-sharp kite strings.

LAHORE - Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday chaired a high-level meeting to review progress in the province’s agriculture sector, where Punjab and China signed several Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) aimed at modernisation, technology transfer and enhanced research collaboration.

LAHORE - The scope of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s digital governance vision has been extended to municipal services, allowing citizens across Punjab to pay bills and other charges from the convenience of their homes.

Air quality across several districts of Punjab deteriorated sharply on Tuesday, with dense smog pushing pollution levels into the “extremely unhealthy” category, authorities and health officials said.

Transporters called off a Punjab-wide strike on Monday after talks with the provincial government representatives, with one of the participants included in the negotiations confirming to Dawn that authorities had largely agreed to transporters’ demands. The call for the strike today, which was also observed in Islamabad, was given by transporters’ bodies primarily in protest against a new traffic ordinance that significantly increased traffic fines. To discuss the matter, talks were held between representatives from the Punjab government, who were led by the provincial transport minister, Bilal Akbar, and a delegation of the Mutahidda Transporters’ Association’s action committee. After the meeting, action committee member Lala Yasir told Dawn that the transporters called off the strike after the government accepted their demands. He said that apart from the revision of the Punjab Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Ordinance 2025, the transporters also demanded an end to the registration of first information reports a...

Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) on Sunday issued a new gas load-shedding schedule for consumers in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the winter months of December to February, advising households to plan meals during the designated supply hours.

The Asian Development Bank on Saturday approved three projects totalling $381 million concerning agriculture, education and health services in Punjab. According to a press release, the development projects are aimed at fostering economic growth in the province. “Investing in education, health, and agricultural mechanisation will play a transformative role in driving the growth of Punjab, a vital pillar of Pakistan’s economy,“ ADB Country Director for Pakistan Emma Fan was quoted as saying. “These strategic investments will modernise agriculture, enhance human capital, and significantly improve livelihoods for millions of people across Punjab,” she said. According to the handout, a $120m concessional loan and $4m grant have been allocated for the Punjab Climate-Resilient and Low-Carbon Agriculture Mechanisation Project to accelerate the province’s transition to modern, disaster-resilient, and low-carbon agriculture practices, benefiting 220,000 rural farm households. “The project will help mechanise farming an...

After a hiatus of 18 years, the Punjab government on Tuesday lifted the ban on kite flying and allowed the celebration of Basant with strict regulations. The festival was banned in 2007 because of an increasing number of deaths and serious injuries caused by sharp strings, particularly to motorcyclists and pillion riders, as well as by celebratory gunfire. Basant Panchami, with ‘panchami’ meaning the fifth day of the lunar month Magh, is a celebration of future crop prosperity, spring, and good luck. Historically, in the 19th century, Maharaja Ranjit Singh held an annual Basant fair and introduced kite flying as a regular feature. The association of kite flying with Basant soon became a tradition centred in Lahore, which remains the regional hub of the festival throughout Punjab even today. However, the festival has also traditionally been celebrated in other parts of Punjab, including Indian Punjab. Over time, the festival began to be celebrated across the country. During the festival, the city sky is filled...

The Punjab chief minister’s office said on Tuesday that the provincial government had, in principle, decided to issue motorcycle licences and smart cards to 16-year-old motorists. The traffic police’s crackdown on traffic violations across the province left motorists in turmoil when they lodged over 4,600 cases and arrested around 3,100 citizens, including a large number of schoolchildren, during the last 72 hours, creating a criminal record for a majority of them. Parents lambasted the Punjab government for making criminal profiles of these children, saying it would have long-term consequences on their careers and declaring it an overreaction by the traffic police. According to a statement from the office, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif expressed her displeasure over minors being handcuffed for violating traffic rules. “A decision has been made in principle to issue smart cards and motorcycle licences to 16-year-olds,” the statement read. “Traffic police across the province will also host an aware...

The provincial governments of Punjab and Balochistan have issued the official schedule for winter vacations in all public and private educational institutions.

LAHORE: The Punjab government has introduced 20 major reforms in the 60-year-old Traffic Act, aiming to bring about better traffic management in the province. Under the new reforms, if any vehicle is repeatedly fined for violations, it will be auctioned. “Government vehicles involved in the violation of traffic rules will face heavy penalties, as no one is above law,” Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz said in a meeting here on Friday. A briefing was given on a modern traffic management system, road safety measures, and submission of challan reports regarding use of helmet, rooftop passengers, and other violations. A 30-day grace period was granted to eliminate one-way violations across Punjab. “U-turns will be redesigned to make roads safer and more organised. It was agreed that compensation (Diyat) must be provided immediately to the families of those who die in accidents.” Marriage halls will not be allowed to operate without proper parking arrangements, ensuring parking is mandatory. A decisive crackdown will be...

Pakistan’s first-ever “Apni Zameen, Apna Ghar” initiative has been formally launched, marking a major step toward fulfilling long-standing promises to provide free residential plots to deserving families across Punjab.

Noreen Niazi, the sister of PTI founder Imran Khan, has submitted a formal complaint to Punjab Inspector General of Police Dr Usman Anwar against the “brutal assault” of PTI protesters outside Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail last week. Last week, Imran’s sisters had camped outside Adiala Jail, where the PTI founder is currently incarcerated, along with other PTI members after being denied a meeting. According to the PTI, Aleema Khan, Dr Uzma Khan and Noreen were “sitting peacefully” outside the jail when they were manhandled and “violently detained” by police. Videos shared by the party on social media platform X showed workers, Aleema and Uzma gathered around Noreen, who appeared visibly shaken. “Those women were dragging [her] on the road,” Aleema said as Noreen’s hands trembled. In a post on X on Monday, the PTI said Noreen had filed a formal complaint with the Punjab IG over the “brutal assault and unlawful detention of peaceful citizens”. The party also shared the two-page letter, in which Noreen called the inc...

Punjab’s Agriculture Department has issued an important advisory for farmers using the Kisan Card, especially those who have misplaced their card or wish to have it reissued.

Over 4,150 cases of violence against children were reported in Punjab during the year’s first half, according to a report issued on Monday. The statistics were revealed in the Sustainable Social Development Organisation’s (SSDO) Factsheet on Violence Against Children (VAC) in Punjab, covering the period from January to June 2025. A press release issued by the organisation said that of the 4,150 cases, challans were presented in 3,989 cases, while 3,791 were under trial, with an average of 23 cases reported daily, based on district-level police data obtained through the Punjab Transparency and Right to Information Act 2013. It added that Punjab’s reporting mechanisms had improved over the past year, resulting in increased registration of cases. However, the SSDO noted that conviction rates remained “critically low and require immediate attention”. It noted that “despite the volume and severity of offences, only 12 convictions were recorded during the six-month period”, making for a conviction rate below one pe...

Punjab has ushered in a new era of environmental management by shifting from reactive measures to a fully data-driven smog control system powered by a province-wide network of Air Quality Monitoring Stations (AQMS)—the first IT-enabled setup of its kind in Pakistan.