Sindh | Pakistan

After withdrawing its two earlier notifications, the Sindh government on Friday notified a newly constituted eight-member medical board to carry out the exhumation of 25-year-old business owner Mir Ali Raza’s body on Saturday. The exhumation, which was originally scheduled for Friday, was deferred after the deceased’s family objected to the abrupt reconstitution of the medical board, just hours after the notification of the first one. A notification issued by the Sindh Health Department on Friday named police surgeon Dr Sumaiyya Syed as the convener of the board and Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) Pathology Department head Professor Dr Naseem Ahmed as the pathologist. The eight-member board also includes Jinnah Sindh Medical University’s (JSMU) Dr Farah Waseem as a forensic expert, Shanakht Project’s Amir Hassan Khan as a forensic identification expert, Additional Police Surgeon Dr Srichand, Jinnah Post-Graduate Medical Centre (JPMC) medicolegal officers Dr Kamran Khan and Dr Daniyal Mirza, and Offic...

Negotiations between the All Pakistan Goods Transport Ittehad (APGTI) and the Sindh government to avert a nationwide strike scheduled for August 8 have failed, prompting transporters to proceed with their protest.

Says Sindh Assembly not once, but many times unanimously opposed the creation of any new province in Sindh

Schools and colleges across Sindh will now observe a five-day working week, from Monday to Friday, after the provincial government reversed its decision to hold classes six days a week. The change was announced in a notification issued by the Sindh School Education and Literacy Department on Wednesday. “With the approval of the competent authority, it is hereby notified that all public and private educational institutions under the administrative control of the School Education & Literacy Department, Government of Sindh, shall observe a five-day working week, from Monday to Friday, with immediate effect and until further orders,” the notification said. It added that the working hours of single-shift and double-shift schools would be issued separately. Meanwhile, a notification issued by the Sindh College Education Department said: “With the approval of the competent authority, it is hereby notified that all public and private educational institutions under the administrative control of the College Education D...

KARACHI: At least seven people were killed and two others injured in separate rain-related incidents in Sindh’s Tharparkar and Umerkot districts amid ongoing monsoon rains.

The Sindh government’s School Education and Literacy Department on Friday announced that schools in the province would remain closed on Aug 4 (Tuesday) in observance of Chehlum of Imam Hussain (AS). A notification available with Dawn states that all public and private educational institutions under the department “shall remain closed on Aug 4, 2026 (Tuesday) on account of Chehlum (20th Safar 1448 AH)”. The notification has been sent to the principal secretaries of the Sindh governor and chief minister, as well as other senior officials. The Chehlum of Imam Hussain is observed on Safar 20, highlighting the sacrifices rendered by Imam Husain (AS) and his companions in Karbala. Earlier today, the department said private schools in Sindh have been allowed to decide their weekly teaching and working days according to their own schedules and convenience. A circular issued by the province’s Directorate of Inspection and Registration of Private Institutions clarified a notification issued by the education department ...

All private schools in Sindh have been allowed to decide their weekly teaching and working days according to their own schedules and convenience, the Sindh Education and Literacy Department said on Friday. A circular issued by the province’s Directorate of Inspection and Registration of Private Institutions clarified a notification issued by the education department on July 29, which directed that classes would be held six days a week at schools and colleges across the province from August 1 until further notice. The new circular clarified that the directive would not apply to privately managed schools. “It is hereby clarified for all privately managed schools across the province of Sindh that they may manage their weekly working days according to their own schedules and operative convenience,” Additional Director (Registration) Rafia Javed said in the circular. A copy of the circular is available with Dawn. In its July 29 notification, seen by Dawn, the Education and Literacy Department said: “In supercessio...

KARACHI: The Sindh government announced on Thursday that classes would be held six days a week at schools and colleges in the province from August 1 until further notice. The decision was announced in two separate notifications issued by the Sindh Education and Literacy Department and the College Education Department. In its notification, seen by Dawn and dated July 29, the Education and Literacy Department said: “In supercession of this department’s notification of even number dated March 31, 2026, it is hereby notified that all public and private educational institutions under the administrative control of the School and Literacy Education Department, Government of Sindh, shall observe a six-day working week (Monday to Saturday) with effect from August 1, 2026 till further orders.” Similarly, the notification issued by the College Education Department, issued on July 30 and seen by Dawn, stated: “In supercession of this department’s notification of even number dated March 31, 2026, it is hereby notified tha...

KARACHI: The Sindh government announced on Thursday that schools and colleges in the province would have six-day work weeks from August 1 until further notice. The decision was announced in two separate notifications issued by the Sindh Education and Literacy Department and the College Education Department. In its notification, seen by Dawn and dated July 29, the Education and Literacy Department said: “In supercession of this department’s notification of even number dated March 31, 2026, it is hereby notified that all public and private educational institutions under the administrative control of the School and Literacy Education Department, Government of Sindh, shall observe a six-day working week (Monday to Saturday) with effect from August 1, 2026 till further orders.” Similarly, the notification issued by the College Education Department, issued on July 30 and seen by Dawn, stated: “In supercession of this department’s notification of even number dated March 31, 2026, it is hereby notified that all publi...

The holiday will apply to all provincial government offices operating under administrative control of the Sindh

WHILE the killing of suspected criminals in alleged encounters is not a new phenomenon, it is rare in Karachi for arrested suspects to be brought to raids to arrest their accomplices and for them to end up dead “by firing from their own accomplices”. Thursday’s killing of three suspects, who were arrested recently for murdering a doctor during a robbery in Clifton, in a “shoot-out” between police and their alleged accomplices gives rise to the impression that Sindh police are now gradually moving towards the Punjab Crime Control Department’s (CCD) style of “dispensing justice”, which has been quite infamous for such encounters. Dawn reached out to several top officials for comments, but they declined to go on record. However, in background conversations, they said this was partly due to “frustration with the criminal justice system” and partly to prevent “the entry of criminals from Punjab” into Sindh, particularly Karachi. They said several suspects had fled the CCD operations in Lahore and came to Karachi, ...

Railway authorities on Monday partially restored the down track following the derailment of a freight train between Tando Adam and Wahab Shah railway station in Sindh, allowing train operations to resume at a restricted speed.

Govt mulls imports as Punjab asks for 1m tonnes, Sindh seeks 220,000

KARACHI: Karachi Mayor Barrister Murtaza Wahab has said the Sindh government carries out significant public welfare initiatives but has failed to effectively highlight its achievements.

ISLAMABAD: The Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) has decided to begin large-scale drilling operations following the discovery of significant shale gas reserves in Sindh, the company's managing director said.

• Committee headed by CS also recommends action against Civil Defence, fire department officers and building management committee • Suggests amendments to building control law to allow post-construction inspections KARACHI: The Implementation Committee constituted by the Sindh government has recommended disciplinary and legal action against officials of the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) who served between 2020 and the date of the incident in January 2026 when the deadly Gul Plaza fire broke out. The committee held them responsible for alleged failures in inspection, enforcement and regulatory oversight, including the approval of a revised building plan and its subsequent regularisation. It also proposed amendments to the Sindh Building Control Ordinance, 1979, to empower the SBCA to carry out mandatory post-construction inspections and enforce compliance after completion of buildings. The recommendations were made at a recent meeting of the committee held under the chairmanship of Sindh chief secret...

KARACHI: The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Sindh on Sunday issued an alert for dust storms and rainfall in several districts of the province, urging authorities to remain on high alert.

• Senior lawyers agree with Federal Constitutional Court that SC had overstepped its domain by ordering a citywide demolition drive • Say verdict binds provincial govt to regulate and preserve public amenities for future generations A DAY after the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) verdict recalling some Supreme Court orders that led to the demolition of the 15-storey Nasla Tower, senior lawyers and constitutional experts endorsed the FCC’s stance that the apex court had overstepped its domain, but caution that the fresh decision now puts the onus on the Sindh government and Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) to prevent illegal construction on amenity plots. Dawn spoke to four senior lawyers who were of the view that the Supreme Court had exceeded and overstepped its domain while issuing sweeping demolition orders, since there was limited scope, especially in its appellate jurisdiction. They also maintained that now, the issues of commercial activities and status of the subject plots, as well as illegal...

• Coalition partners trade barbs after PPP challenges PML-N to hold LG elections in Punjab, Islamabad • Saad Rafique opposes holding local polls in Punjab ‘on Karachi pattern’ • Sharjeel says people of Punjab should be given their constitutional right ISLAMABAD: The PPP said on Thursday that the next local government elections in Sindh would be held in 2027, amid a fresh war of words that has erupted between the party and its main ruling coalition partner — the PML-N — over the local government system in the country. “By the grace of Allah Almighty, local government elections will be held for the third time in Sindh in 2027,” senior PPP leader Senator Waqar Mehdi said in a statement issued in response to a recent statement by PML-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafique. In a post on X, Rafique had criticised PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s demand for local government elections in Punjab and the federal capital, saying such polls should not be held on the pattern followed in Sindh. He said it was Mr Bhutto-Zardari...

The federal and Sindh governments on Monday announced public holidays on June 25 (Thursday) and 26 (Friday) on account of Ashura. In a notification dated June 22, the Cabinet Secretariat said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has declared Muharram 9 and 10, falling on June 25-26, as public holidays. Meanwhile, the Sindh Information Department also issued a notification to this effect on social media platform X. The notification, issued by Sindh’s chief secretary, said. “The government of Sindh, hereby declares June 25 and 26, 2026 as public holidays throughout the province of Sindh, on the occasion of Ashura (Muharram 9 and 10, 1448 A.H).” It added that all offices, autonomous bodies, semi-autonomous bodies, corporations and local councils under the administrative control of the government of Sindh, except essential services, would remain closed. Muharram is a month of mourning, observed in particular by Shia Muslims worldwide. It commemorates the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD, where, amongst many, the grandso...