Punjab | Pakistan

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.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif congratulated the party’s candidates on their victories in the Punjab and KP by-elections.

By-elections were held for six National Assembly and seven Punjab Assembly seats on Sunday amid allegations of rigging by the PTI. According to reports citing unofficial and preliminary results from some polling stations received until midnight, the PML-N was leading in a few constituencies. Most seats on which the by-elections were held had fallen vacant after the disqualification of PTI lawmakers due to their convictions for alleged involvement in the May 9, 2023 violent riots. The six NA constituencies where polling was conducted included one in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, NA-18 (Haripur), and the rest in Punjab — NA-96 (Faisalabad), NA-104 (Faisalabad), NA-129 (Lahore), NA-143 (Sahiwal) and NA-185 (Dera Ghazi Khan). The seven Punjab Assembly constituencies where by-polls were held were PP-73 (Sargodha), PP-87 (Mianwali), PP-98 (Faisalabad), PP-115 (Faisalabad), PP-116 (Faisalabad), PP-203 (Sahiwal) and PP-269 (Muzaffargarh). The PTI had officially boycotted the polls in all constituencies except Lahore and Haripu...

Punjab police have finalised a comprehensive security plan for the by-elections being held in national and provincial constituencies across the province on Sunday (today).

The PTI and the Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP) on Friday staged demonstrations across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab in protest of the 27th Constitutional Amendment and the mistreatment of PTI founder Imran Khan’s sisters outside Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail. Concurrently, the PTI and TTAP staged a protest in Karachi, where police detained about half a dozen people to prevent them from moving towards the demonstration’s scheduled venue. In KP, the demonstrations were staged on the directives of the PTI’s KP President Junaid Akbar, after the TTAP made the decision to march. They were held at the district level, where charged PTI workers chanted slogans against institutions while holding portraits of the party founder. In Peshawar, dozens of PTI workers held a protest outside the Peshawar Press Club, which was addressed by Provincial Minister for Local Government Meena Khan Afridi, Member of the National Assembly (MNA) Sher Ali Arbab and the PTI’s Peshawar district president Irfan Saleem. In his speech, Afr...

Sugar prices are likely to decline in the coming days as all sugar mills across Punjab have officially begun crushing for the new season.

Punjab Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb on Friday said she was “honoured” that members of the US Congressional Pakistan Caucus have recognised the provincial chief minister’s “bold vision” to mechanise brick kilns, end bonded labour and “peshgi” exploitation, and build a green, ethical and “investment-ready” brick kiln industry. Peshgi system is the commonly used term for the practice of debt bondage in Pakistan. Instead of just seeking wages in exchange for labour, poor workers take an advance from an employer (in cash or any other form) under the obligation to work for that employer until the debt is paid off. “Child labour at kilns, once a painful reality, was eliminated under a campaign initiated by [then chief minister] Shehbaz Sharif, neglected for [four] years, and now fully revived and strengthened by CM Maryam Nawaz,” Aurangzeb said in a post on X. The senior minister’s post highlighted that all brick kilns across Punjab have been geo-mapped, QR-coded, drone-surveyed and linked to a central monitor...

Punjab has achieved a historic milestone in governance and development, recording record savings of Rs120 billion for the first time in the province’s history.

In a major move to modernize judicial proceedings and ensure timely justice, the Lahore High Court has launched a video link facility across district and ex-cadre courts in Punjab.

Punjab has reported 43 new dengue cases in the past 24 hours, including 15 infections in Lahore, provincial health officials said on Wednesday.

The population of the rare Urial species in Punjab’s Salt Range has shown a significant increase, thanks to the persistent efforts of the Wildlife Department.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MoIB) on Monday debunked a claim by former United States special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, who had alleged that a ISIS- Khorasan (ISIS-K) commander had been killed in Punjab. On Sunday night, Khalilzad said on social media platform X, “Good news from #Pakistan: Reportedly a senior ISIS-K commander Burhan, also known as Zaid, was killed in Patak part of Akhtarabad city in Punjab.” In response to the post, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s official fact-checking account said the incident in question took place in Habibabad in Kasur district on March 5 and not in Akhtarabad as claimed. “The victim, Burhan, was killed by a dacoity/robbery-related incident or a case of personal enmity, not a counter-terror operation,” the ministry said, adding that a first information report (FIR) of the incident was also registered on March 6 at the Saddar Pattoki police station. It said that Burhan was living with his father-in-law, Shah Muhammad, near a fr...