Month: July 2026

Cholpon-ata: President Asif Ali Zardari, accompanied by President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov, visited the Rukh Ordo Cultural Center in Cholpon-Ata shortly after his arrival in the Kyrgyz Republic.

During the visit, President Zardari was briefed on the significance of the Rukh Ordo Cultural Center as an important symbol of the Kyrgyz Republic’s rich cultural heritage, history and traditions.

The two Presidents toured different sections of the cultural complex and exchanged views on the importance of preserving cultural heritage and promoting greater understanding among nations through cultural exchanges.

A traditional cultural performance was presented in honour of President Asif Ali Zardari, showcasing the vibrant folk music, dance and artistic traditions of the Kyrgyz Republic. President Zardari appreciated the warm hospitality extended to him and lauded the rich cultural heritage of the Kyrgyz people.

A banquet was also hosted in honour of President Zardari and his delegation, during which traditional Kyrgyz musical performances dedicated to Pakistan and its people were presented, reflecting the warmth of the host country’s welcome and the enduring friendship between Pakistan and the Kyrgyz Republic.

Peshawar: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has formally launched a performance framework aimed at improving governance, enhancing the quality of public services, and strengthening accountability across government institutions.

In the first phase, performance agreements have been signed with the Health Department, the Polio Eradication Programme, and the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI).

The initiative is part of the provincial government’s broader reform agenda, introducing measurable targets, defined timelines, and a structured performance evaluation system to improve service delivery, said an official release.

The agreements were signed between Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah and the relevant administrative secretaries in the presence of provincial ministers at the Chief Secretary’s Office.

The signing ceremony was attended by Additional Chief Secretary (General) Muhammad Abid Majeed, Additional Chief Secretary Planning and Development Islam Zeb, Provincial Health Minister Khaleeq ur Rahman, and senior officials.

Under the agreement with the Health Department, the government has set a target of recruiting and deploying 500 new doctors at Basic Health Units (BHUs) and Rural Health Centres (RHCs) across the province to ensure that no facility remains without a doctor.

The department will also upgrade 250 BHUs and RHCs to provide round-the-clock maternity services, improving access to safe maternal healthcare in remote areas and helping reduce maternal mortality.

In addition, targets have been set for the construction, rehabilitation, and upgradation of basic and comprehensive emergency maternal and newborn care centres.

The framework also includes plans to hand over the management of 62 district-level secondary hospitals to professional institutions to improve hospital administration and the quality of healthcare services.

A separate tripartite performance agreement was signed for polio eradication by Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah, Health Secretary Shahid Ullah Khan, Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) Polio Coordinator Shafiullah Khan, and EPI Director Dr. Muhammad Sohail Farooqi.

Under the agreement, the Health Department, EOC Polio, and EPI have committed to achieving joint targets for polio eradication.

These include deploying 150 additional doctors to BHUs and RHCs in southern districts, reducing the number of missed children during polio campaigns in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to below 10,000, and ensuring consecutive polio-free environmental samples in Peshawar, Bannu, and North Waziristan.

The EPI has also pledged to keep more than 97 percent of vaccination centres fully operational and increase the province’s full childhood immunization coverage to 85 percent.

Addressing the ceremony, Provincial Health Minister Khaleeq ur Rahman said that although the government, under the leadership of CM Muhammad Sohail Afridi, had allocated a record budget for the health sector, significant work remained to be done.

He said the growing disease burden posed a major challenge and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to improving healthcare services across the province.

Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah said the health sector remained the provincial government’s top priority and emphasized that the objective was to ensure affordable, quality healthcare for every citizen.

He noted that efforts were underway to ensure doctors at every primary healthcare facility, provide 24-hour maternal healthcare services, and improve the performance of underperforming hospitals.

He added that the policy of entrusting hospitals to professional management institutions had already produced encouraging results, citing improvements at the Mushti Mela Hospital in Orakzai after its management was transferred.

The Chief Secretary said polio eradication remained one of the government’s highest priorities, with special focus on reaching every child, vaccinating missed children, and strengthening routine immunization.

He described the Performance Framework as a major governance reform that would institutionalize accountability and results-based management, enabling objective evaluation of departments and officers while rewarding strong performance and improving public service delivery.

Rawalpindi: In a shocking incident, two people, a father and his son, were shot dead by unidentified assailants in the jurisdiction of Gujar Khan Police Station on Sunday, prompting City Police Officer (CPO) Rawalpindi,Hassan Mushtaq Sukhera, to order an immediate investigation and the swift arrest of those responsible.

According to police, unidentified gunmen opened fire on the victims, killing both at the scene. Acting on the incident, the CPO directed the SSP Investigation, SP Saddar, and ASP Gujar Khan to reach the crime scene without delay and personally supervise the investigation.

Police teams have cordoned off the area and are collecting forensic evidence, while the bodies have been shifted to a hospital for post-mortem examination. Investigators are examining all possible angles to determine the motive behind the double murder.

The CPO said the suspects involved in the killings would be arrested at the earliest and brought to justice.

Issyk-kul: President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday arrived at Issyk-Kul International Airport for an official visit to the Kyrgyz Republic, where he was warmly received by Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov.

Upon his arrival, President Zardari was presented with a guard of honour at the airport, marking the beginning of his high-level visit aimed at strengthening bilateral ties between the two countries, a Presidency’s news release said.

The visit is of particular significance as President Zardari becomes the first Pakistani head of state to visit Kyrgyzstan since the historic visit of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 1995. The trip is being viewed as an important step in continuing high-level engagement between Islamabad and Bishkek.

During the visit, President Zardari and President Japarov are expected to hold comprehensive discussions on all aspects of bilateral relations and review cooperation across a wide range of sectors.

The two leaders will explore opportunities to enhance collaboration in trade, investment, energy, mining, agriculture, education, healthcare, tourism, the digital economy and people-to-people exchanges.

Regional connectivity and measures to further strengthen the longstanding brotherly relations between Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan will also feature prominently in the discussions.

Rawalpindi: The Management Board of the RCCI Rawat Industrial Estate has announced a limited-time special discount offer for factory and plot owners to clear their outstanding dues.

According to the details, the offer aims at facilitating the industrial community and ensuring timely collection of revenue.

The scheme will remain operational until September 30, 2026.

Under the incentive package, a 25 percent discount will be provided on outstanding monthly dues for all operational factories and plots, while a 50 percent waiver will apply to fixed dues for vacant plots. However, the management clarified that the discount can only be availed upon a lump-sum payment of all accumulated liabilities, and no relief will be extended for payments made in installments.

The notification, issued by Board Chairman, Chaudhry Nadeem A. Rauf further specified that the discount includes the one percent accumulated surcharge, and no additional concessions will be granted under this package. The special offer will automatically expire after the September 30 deadline.

Chaudhry Nadeem urged the industrial community to leverage this opportunity and clear their total outstanding payments before the cutoff date. He emphasized that the timely recovery of dues is critical to sustaining ongoing infrastructure projects, including road networks, drainage systems, utility services, and other essential civic developments within the Rawat Industrial Estate.

Attock: Five persons were netted over sexual crimes in two different incidents in various parts of Attock, police sources said on Monday.

In the first incident, four persons were arrested for molesting a 16-year-old boy and recording his inappropriate videos in the Ashrafpura area in the limits of Hazro Police Station.

The victim’s father reported to police that four persons of the same area took his teenage son to their house where they molested him one by one and also filmed him during the incident.

Police registered a case against the nominated accused identified as Sajjad Shah, Shakeel, Bilal and Ihtisham and sent them behind bars.

Meanwhile, Attock City Police arrested a man who had abducted a teenage girl and sexually assaulted her. Police sources said that Kashif Masih abducted the 15-year-old girl and later raped her.

Police, after a medical examination of the victim which confirmed the assault, registered a case and sent him behind bars.