Sindh | Pakistan

Cambridge honours 317 top learners; students from Sindh, Balochistan bag 120 awards

Dengue cases rise 12.6% in Sindh during first 10 months of 2025

Jamaat-i-Islami emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Sunday criticised the Sindh government’s e-challan initiative, calling it a “drama” meant to burden citizens instead of improving the city’s transport and road infrastructure. In June, the Sindh government decided that e-challans for traffic violations would be delivered to vehicle owners’ registered home addresses. Vehicles with unpaid fines would not be allowed to be sold or transferred. Last month, the system was officially inaugurated, drawing a mix of praise and criticism from the public. Speaking at an event in Karachi today, the JI chief said, “While the government was issuing challans worth Rs5,000, Rs10,000, and even Rs25,000 to Karachi’s commuters, it had failed to provide the city with a viable transport system.” “When the same challan is Rs200 in Lahore, and Rs5,000 in Karachi, isn’t the criticism on the Pakistan People’s Party valid?” he questioned. Citing World Bank reports, he said Karachi required around 15,000 buses, but the Sindh government had br...

KARACHI: The Sindh government has extended the deadline to replace old number plates of vehicles with new Ajrak-themed plates by two more months. According to a notification issued on Friday, the excise and taxation department “is pleased to extend the timeline for replacement of existing number plates with new security-featured number plates to 31st December, 2025 instead of 31st October, 2025 (in respect of all types of vehicles).” Earlier in August, the Sindh government had extended the deadline for citizens to obtain new number plates featuring the Ajrak design until Oct 31, following instructions from Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari. Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2025

Sindh police has launched a training drive to acquaint Karachi police drivers with the newly implemented e-ticketing system, it emerged on Friday. On Monday, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah inaugurated the Traffic Regulation and Citation System (TRACS). Under the new mechanism, traffic police personnel monitor real-time violations through surveillance cameras installed across the city and dispatch tickets to the home addresses of the violators. On Tuesday, more than 2,650 electronic challans were issued by the Karachi Traffic Police following the system’s inauguration, amounting to up to Rs1.2 million. Today’s decision was notified in a letter written by the director inspector general (DIG) of the Training Department of Sindh police to DIG Police Karachi, DIGs Traffic Karachi, Technical and Transport, Rapid Response Force, Special Protection Unit, Crime and Investigations, Counter-terrorism department (CTD) and Special Branch. “The training — to begin from November 1 — will aim to strengthen the skil...

The Sindh Health Department has released its latest report on confirmed dengue cases across the province, revealing that 439 new cases have been reported so far in October, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in 2025 to 1,083. Dengue, a mosquito-borne viral infection transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, remains a recurring health concern in Sindh — particularly during the monsoon season when stagnant water and poor sanitation accelerate its spread. The illness causes high fever and, in severe cases, can lead to life-threatening complications. While the provincial health department puts the total number of dengue cases in Sindh this year at 1,083, figures from Oct 1 to 16 obtained from three major Karachi hospitals and a public sector laboratory with branches in Hyderabad suggested an outbreak-like situation, with the actual number exceeding 12,000 in just six weeks. A statement issued by the Health Department, quoting Sindh Minister for Health and Population Welfare Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, said,...

At least 72 riverine dacoits surrendered to the authorities, as part of the provincial government’s newly implemented ‘Sindh Surrender Policy’, a press release issued by the Sindh Home Ministry said on Wednesday. The policy, approved earlier this month, will allow dacoits to surrender arms in return for assurances of protection for their families, rehabilitation and livelihood support. For decades, dozens of dacoit gangs armed with sophisticated weaponry have operated with impunity in northern Sindh as well as southern Punjab. Kidnappings for ransom, extortion rackets that cripple local businesses, brutal killings and looting people on highways have become a daily reality. According to a press release from the home department, “Around 72 dacoits surrendered under the Sindh Surrender Policy, and laid down more than 200 small-scale and heavy ammunition.” The weapons include: 62 G3 rifles, 97 submachine guns, 48 double-barreled guns, two RPG 7s, an anti-tank recoilless rifle and a 12.7mm anti-aircraft gun. The d...

The inside story of Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s meeting with the MQM-Pakistan leadership has emerged, with the discussion focused on terrorism, urban governance, and the sense of deprivation in Sindh’s major cities.

• A Tando Adam ginner is found mixing cotton waste into high-grade lint • Stakeholders say malpractice has pushed textile mills towards costly imports, deepening financial woes • Investigators allege armed men assault PCGA team LAHORE: A startling case of large-scale cotton adulteration has surfaced in Sindh, where a ginning factory in Tando Adam was allegedly found mixing cotton waste into high-grade lint to produce what industry insiders are calling “burger cotton.” According to reports, a four-member monitoring team of the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) — formed to curb such malpractice — raided the factory after receiving credible complaints. However, the operation turned violent when the factory owner allegedly summoned nearly a hundred armed men who assaulted and detained the visiting committee members for several hours on Sunday. The incident has sent shockwaves through the cotton ginning industry nationwide. In protest, an emergency meeting of the PCGA’s monitoring committee and Sindh-base...

In a significant development for Pakistan’s energy sector, Mari Petroleum Company Limited (MPCL) on Friday announced a new oil and gas discovery in Sindh.

KARACHI - The Government of Sindh has imposed a complete ban on all kinds of protests, demonstrations, sit-ins, rallies, and assemblies of more than five persons throughout the province for a period of one month to maintain law and order situation and prevent miscreants from assembly in a manner prejudicial to pub-lic safety.

The Sindh home department has imposed Section 144 across the province for a period of one month to maintain law and order in the interest of “public and peace”, a notification issued on Sunday said. Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code is a legal provision that empowers district administrations to prohibit an assembly of four or more people in an area for a limited period. According to the notification, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, “Section 144 is imposed to prevent all kinds of protests, demonstrations, sit-ins, and rallies and assemblies of more than five persons throughout the Sindh Province, for a period of one month. “The Government of Sindh is satisfied that in order to maintain law & order situation and to prevent miscreants from assembly in a manner prejudicial to public safety in the province of Sindh, it is necessary to take immediate measures.” It added that the concerned police stations were given the authority to register complaints under Section 188 of the PPC (Disobedience ...

• Home minister says bandits must deposit all weapons, explosives with police • Says courts likely to consider laying down arms as a mitigating factor in deciding cases KARACHI: Surrendering dacoits in the Katcha region will face trial without pardon, though voluntary surrender may be considered a mitigating factor in sentencing by courts. As per the Surrender Policy for Dacoits in Katcha Area of Sukkur and Larkana Divisions, recently approved by the Sindh cabinet, surrender does not mean pardon or immunity and all surrendering individuals shall face the prevailing law of the land, officials told Dawn. The policy ensures surrendering dacoits would not face harm from law enforcement and their families would be shielded from any sort of harassment or retaliation, providing a safe passage for reintegration. Speaking to Dawn, Home Minister Zia Lanjhar said that the Sindh government proactively worked to resolve tribal feuds, removing a major factor behind dacoit formation in the area. He said that communities in ...

LAHORE - At least seven people were wounded and four coaches of the Quetta-bound Jaffar Express passenger train derailed after an improvised explosive device (IED) went off in the Sindh province, police said on Tuesday.

At least seven people were injured on Tuesday after a blast on a railway track derailed four bogies of the Jaf­far Express in Sindh’s Shikarpur district, according to officials. With a rise in terrorist attacks over the past few years, Balochistan has seen a series of incidents where militants blow up train tracks, targeting the province’s transport infrastructure. Speaking to Dawn.com, Shikarpur Deputy Commissioner Shakeel Abro said, “A blast had occurred on the train tracks at 8:15am. The incident occurred at a distance of 1km from the Sultan Kot railway station.” He said that the blast had caused the derailment of four bogies. Abro said that seven people had been injured, out of which four had been taken to the Combined Military Hospital, while the remaining three had been taken to the Civil Hospital in Shikarpur. He said that the Jaffar Express train was bound for Quetta via Jacobabad. Sukkur Deputy Divisional Superintendent Syed Moalim said that the blast occurred while the train was moving on the track....

The Sindh cabinet on Monday approved the waiver of the death certificate registration fee for the general public across the province at the municipal, union council and town committee levels. The decision was taken in a provincial cabinet presided over by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah at the CM House. A press release issued today said that under the new arrangement, the Sindh government will bear the cost of the National Database & Registration Authority service charges, ensuring that citizens can obtain death certificates free of cost. “This step aims to facilitate citizens, promote digital registration of vital events under the Sindh Local Government Act, 2013, and strengthen the province’s CRVS (Civil Registration and Vital Statistics) system,” the press release said. It added that the decision followed the cabinet’s approval of free birth registration in September 2024 in line with the Sindh government’s commitment to the United Nations and international partners for improving CRVS coverage. In...

Light to moderate rain was likely in parts of Sindh and Balochistan on Saturday as cyclonic storm ‘Shakhti’ over the Arabian Sea had moved westward during the past 12 hours and further intensified into a “severe cyclonic storm”, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) said. “It is likely to move west-southwestwards and reach northwest and adjoining central north Arabian Sea by Oct 5, then it will recurve and move east-northeastwards during subsequent 24 hours and weaken gradually,” a notification issued by the PMD said. It said that under the influence of the storm, wind/thunderstorm and light to moderate rain was likely today in Sindh’s Badin, Thatta, Sujawal and Jamshoro districts, and Balochistan’s Hub, Lasbela, Awaran and Kech districts, as well as at isolated places in Karachi Division. The notification stated that sea conditions were likely to remain “rough to very rough” with squally winds gusting 55 kilometres/hour near the Sindh coast. It also advised fishermen not to venture into the deep sea t...

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) on Monday predicted rainfall with strong winds in southeastern parts of Sindh from tonight until October 2.

A man in Karachi’s Malir area has died of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF), raising the city’s death toll from the virus to five this year, the Sindh health department said in a statement on Friday. According to the World Health Organisation, the CCHF, commonly known as Congo Virus, causes severe viral hemorrhagic fever outbreaks with a case fatality rate of 10-40 per cent. There is no vaccine available for the disease. Experts say the CCHF virus is primarily transmitted to people either by tick bites or through contact with infected animal blood or tissues during and immediately after slaughter. As per the statement, a lab report confirmed that a 28-year-old butcher from Karachi’s Landhi area had contracted the disease. He developed symptoms on September 24, was admitted to the hospital the same day, and died within hours of admission. His symptoms included a high-grade fever, cough, shortness of breath, and bleeding from the mouth and rectum, following which a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test was...

KARACHI: The Sindh government is considering a plan to introduce O and A Level programmes in public schools across the province, with at least one institution in each district to offer the courses. Sindh Education Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah met the Country Director of Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE) in Pakistan Uzma Yousuf, who was accompanied by her delegation. Secretary School Education Zahid Ali Abbasi and other senior officials also attended the meeting. The discussions focused on strengthening Sindh’s education framework, particularly in the areas of curriculum development, teacher training, foundational learning and assessment reforms. Both sides agreed to establish a joint working group to devise actionable strategies and recommendations. Mr Shah said the Sindh government was committed to introducing Cambridge programmes in public schools. Under the initiative, at least one school in each district will offer O and A Level subjects, providing students from disadvantaged background...