Month: July 2026

Nowshera virkan: The local administration officials inspected flood-affected areas here after heavy monsoon rains inundated farmland and disrupted rural communities, the authorities said on Monday.

Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Sameera Ambreen and Assistant Commissioner (AC), Nowshera Virkan, Saadia Jamal visited several areas in Tetlay Aali and Nowshera Virkan to review the ongoing desilting of the Seem Drain, where heavy machinery is being used to improve water flow.

They instructed sanitation staff to accelerate the work, maintain quality standards and ensure roads were cleaned after the operation was completed.

Meanwhile, torrential rains caused widespread damage across several villages, including Gobind Pura, Qila Diwan Singh, Nokhar, Fatehiki, Zafarabad, Babbar, Mari Khurd, Mari Bhandran, Seech Suprayan and Shamsa Dhadda.

Large tracts of agricultural land remained submerged, with hundreds of fields of newly planted rice and fodder crops damaged by floodwaters, according to local officials and residents. The government teams continued to visit affected areas to assess the losses.

Sukkur: Nari Foundation Sukkur head Anwar Ali Mahar and Afshan Asghar have said that medical centers should be established to help smokers quit smoking, provide them with services and facilities, and demanded that parents play their role in this regard to make a smoke free Pakistan possible.

They expressed these views in a meeting organized for tobacco eradication in collaboration with the Alternative Research Initiative (ARI).

Anwar Mahar said that smoking is not just a health issue but a problem that affects our society, economy and future generations. He said that 31 million people in Pakistan use tobacco in various forms.

Medical centers should be established to help them get rid of this habit and every individual in society, including parents, should play their role.

Advocate Shafiq Koso said that laws have been made to prevent smoking but there is a lack of implementation. However, despite this, complete eradication of smoking from Pakistan is possible. He said that if the government provides medical assistance to smokers and awareness about the use of less harmful alternative products, smoking can be controlled.

Educationist and social activist Haider Ali Koso and Amjad Mahar said that diseases and deaths caused by tobacco smoking cause a loss of Rs. 615 billion to the country in a year.

They said that to achieve a tobacco free Pakistan, we need to learn from successful international examples like Sweden to control the harms of smoking in society. They said that the government should formulate rules and regulations for the use of less harmful alternative products to help smokers quit smoking and to keep non-smokers, including children, away from the use of these products.

Abdul Wahid Mahar of Nari Foundation Sukkur said that the government should ensure implementation of relevant laws to quit tobacco so that the availability of cigarettes and access to them in society is not possible for people. He said that parents should play their role in protecting their children from smoking.

Peshawar: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Commission on the Status of Women (KPCSW) has formally requested Speaker Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly to take lead in building a broad-based political consensus on raising the minimum legal age of marriage to 18 years in the province, describing the issue as a critical child protection and human rights priority.

The request follows a high-level Ministerial Briefing on Child Marriage held on 22 July 2026, jointly organized by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Commission on the Status of Women (KPCSW), UN Women, and Blue Veins.

The briefing brought together parliamentarians, finance advisor, senior government officials, development partners, legal experts, civil society organizations, and youth representatives to discuss practical measures to end child marriage and strengthen legal protections for children in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Participants unanimously agreed that meaningful legislative reform requires broad political ownership and recommended that the Office of the Speaker of the Provincial Assembly facilitate an inclusive dialogue among all parliamentary parties and key stakeholders to build consensus on the proposed reforms.

Acting on this recommendation, KPCSW Chairperson, Sumera Shams has formally written a letter to Speaker Babar Saleem Swati, requesting him to convene a closed-door multi-stakeholder consultation within the Provincial Assembly.

The proposed consultation would bring together parliamentary leaders, relevant government departments, religious scholars, legal experts, development partners, civil society organizations and youth representatives to discuss the proposed amendments and identify a shared way forward for protecting children from child marriage.

The Commission emphasized that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is currently one of the two provinces in Pakistan where the minimum legal age of marriage for girls remains 16 years, whereas Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan and the Islamabad Capital Territory have already established 18 years as the minimum legal age of marriage for both girls and boys.

Bringing provincial legislation in line with the national standard would strengthen child protection, improve girls’ access to education, reduce harmful practices and reinforce Pakistan’s constitutional and international commitments to the rights of children.

The Commission further noted that the Speaker’s Office is uniquely positioned to provide a neutral parliamentary platform where legislators from across the political spectrum can engage in constructive dialogue, consider evidence, hear diverse perspectives and work towards a consensus-based legislative solution that places the best interests of children at its centre.

Sumera Shams, Chairperson of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Commission on the Status of Women, said, “We appreciate the leadership of the Honorable Speaker and the support of the Secretary Provincial Assembly in facilitating dialogue on this important issue.

Their leadership can help build the consensus needed to strengthen child protection and advance this important legislative reform. ”

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Commission on the Status of Women reaffirmed its commitment to ending child marriage and promoting the rights, dignity and well-being of every child in the province.

Through its dedicated Sub-Committee on Child Marriage, the Commission will continue to engage with legislators, government institutions, development partners, religious scholars, civil society organizations and communities to promote evidence-based legal and policy reforms, strengthen public awareness and build lasting consensus for ending child marriage in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.