Karachi’s first street library will open on December the 25th by Sindh government. The idea came to Commissioner Karachi Iftikhar Ali Shallwani, who wanted to promote education and book reading habits within people. This library will be near the Metropole Hotel. Further, Karachi Commissioner’s Office has decorated the walls surrounding the built-in library with portraits of the founder of Pakistan, his sister Fatima Jinnah and poet Allama Iqbal.
Motorcyclists in Peshawar cannot buy petrol unless they are wearing helmets in a move to encourage bikers to wear helmets, according to the decision taken by district government. Following this, the prices of helmets have increased from Rs800 to Rs1850 throughout the city as the demand for helmets has increased. According to a shopkeeper the average sale per day was 2 to 3 helmets but has increased to 10 to 15 now.
US State Department released a statement on Dec 18, designating Pakistan and eight other countries as “Countries of Particular Concern (CPC)”. Under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, countries on the CPC list are classified as “having engaged in or tolerated systematic, ongoing, [and] egregious violations of religious freedom”. The list also includes Myanmar, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
Former university lecturer in Multan, Junaid Hafeez, was sentenced to death on blasphemy charges by a district and sessions court on Saturday. Hafeez was booked on blasphemy charges and was arrested by police on March 13, 2013 and the trial began in 2014. Hafeez, who was also in the process of getting a graduate degree in English Literature, was charged with blasphemy over Facebook uploads.
National Highways & Motorways Police has announced new fine rates that come into effect from 1st January, 2020 on national highways and motorways under the revised Schedule XII of National Highway Safety Ordinance (NHSO) 2000. The fine for over speeding has been increased to Rs. 2500 while the fine rate for driving without a license will be Rs. 5000. Pakistan is among the few countries where, despite revision after nineteen years, fines for traffic violations are the lowest.
Nestlé Pakistan, District Council Hunza, Gilgit Baltistan Waste Management Company (GBWMC) and Karakoram Area Development Organization (KADO) have signed an MoU for “Clean Hunza Project”. The project shall focus on infrastructure development for a waste segregation, management and recycling system for Hunza. Segregation of plastics as well as paper packaging at the waste site will be the project’s focus, after the compressing and bailing process, it shall be brought down the country for recycling.
The northern areas of the country were jolted by a 6.4-magnitude earthquake on Friday, according to the National Seismic Monitoring Centre in Islamabad. The earthquake struck with the epicentre being a sparsely populated , remote mountain area in Badakhshan province in the northeast of Afghanistan with a depth of 210 kilometres. The effected areas include Lahore, Peshawar, Islamabad, Murree, Mansehra, Battagram, Chiniot, and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Public schools in Punjab don’t have any robust security measures in place which puts them at significant risk, according to a report of a security audit conducted of over 4000 schools. The main issues found in the report included schools having no boundary walls or walk through gates and absence CCTV cameras. Moreover, schools have no scanners while security guards let visitors go inside school premises without physical search.
Earlier in the day, the Special Court issued a detailed judgement in the high treason case against former president Pervez Musharraf. However, one of the judge received severe criticism for favoring exemplary punishment for the ex military personnel. Attorney General of Pakistan Anwar Mansoor Khan termed the judge as ‘mentally ill’, adding that the verdict is seemingly given on basis of enmity.
“We direct the law enforcemen
The detailed verdict in the high treason case against former military ruler retired Gen Pervez Musharraf was released, after the special court handed him a death sentence. The verdict is split 2-1, with Justice Shahid Karim of the Lahore High Court agreeing with Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Nazar Akbar of the Sindh High Court dissenting.