Climate Action Board Bill approved
He said that the CAB will be an autonomous financial body, responsible for monitoring and coordinating environmental strategies across all government departments.
The board will also be tasked with developing and revising environmental policies, conducting research, assessing performance, and ensuring effective implementation. Furthermore, it will have the authority to collaborate with international organizations, environmental experts, and the private sector to address environmental challenges.
Saif added that a special "Climate Action Fund" would be established under the board to financially support environmental projects and encourage eco-friendly initiatives at the local level.
He emphasized that the initiative marked the second major environmental project by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, following the success of the Billion Tree Tsunami Project, and aimed to mitigate the risks of climate change while promoting sustainable development.
Menstrual Health and Hygiene Day 2025
The Khyber Medical University (KMU), Peshawar in collaboration with Menstrual Health Management (MHM) Working Group Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, WaterAid, UNICEF, and other sector partners, organized a high-level event at KMU's Alexander Fleming Hall.
The event held under the global theme "Together for a "Period Friendly World," the event brought together health professionals, representatives from academic and research institutions, development partners, and youth. KMU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Zia Ul Haq graced the occasion as the chief guest and reaffirmed the collective commitment to ending menstrual taboos and promoting dignified menstrual health. More input from APP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Express Tribune
4 days ago
- Express Tribune
NA passes acid, fire attack prevention bill
Listen to article The National Assembly on Tuesday passed the Acid and Fire Attack Prevention Bill 2024, prescribing the death penalty or up to seven years' imprisonment for perpetrators, and up to two years' jail or a fine for police officers found guilty of faulty investigation. The bill, moved by PPP lawmaker Mehreen Razzaq Bhutto, seeks to prevent acid and burn attacks, ensure swift justice and provide rehabilitation to victims. It mandates that relevant courts conclude all such cases within 60 days. Key provisions include free medical treatment for victims in government hospitals, the establishment of rehabilitation centres and the provision of free legal aid. An acid and burn crime monitoring board will be set up with at least 33% female representation. Moreover, the legislation requires special protection measures for victims and witnesses, and stipulates financial assistance for children and dependents of victims until they become self-reliant. Walkout over Imran's prison meetings Earlier in the day, the session, chaired by Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, was marked by an opposition walkout over the denial of meetings between the imprisoned PTI founding chairman Imran Khan and five MNAs waiting outside Adiala Jail. PTI's Asad Qaiser claimed that the move was a breach of members' privilege. The speaker urged both sides to hold talks, offering himself as a bridge between the government and opposition. 'There is no grander jirga than the National Assembly and Senate. I am ready to play the role of a bridge,' he said. He proposed a negotiating team from the government comprising Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, Talal Chaudhry and Syed Naveed Qamar, while urging the opposition to name its representatives. Tarar said the prison meeting issue was procedural but could be resolved through dialogue. PTI's Malik Amir Dogar agreed to consult his party before finalising names. Despite repeated requests from the speaker not to stage a walkout, opposition lawmakers left the chamber, returning shortly afterwards to declare it a symbolic protest. They then pointed out the quorum, which was found to be complete. Five bills passed, one sent back The House passed five bills: the Lawyers and Bar Councils (Amendment) Bill 2025, the National Institute of Health (Reorganisation) Amendment Bill 2025, the Acid and Fire Attack Prevention Bill 2024, the Allocation of Reserved University Seats Bill 2024 and the Zakat and Ushr (Amendment) Bill 2025. It also initially passed the Journalists' Protection (Amendment) Bill 2025, but on the intervention of Law Minister Tarar, the approval was withdrawn, and the bill was referred back to the relevant standing committee for further consideration. The session was adjourned until 11 am Wednesday.
Express Tribune
7 days ago
- Express Tribune
Religion becoming the governing philosophy in Pak neighborhood?
Listen to article The question asked in the title of this essay is important to answer for Pakistan. This I will do in the article that will follow in this space next week. Today, I will look at the way governance is understood in the country's neighborhood. Of the country's four neighbours, three have used religion in order to gain political legitimacy. China is the only neighbour that is using social and economic growth for attracting political support from the citizenry. The other three – Afghanistan, India and Iran – have turned to religion to provide the basis of governance. I will first write about the three states in the country's neighbourhood, before speculating about Pakistan's political future. After a struggle that lasted for more than two decades and involved military actions by two superpowers: first what was then the Soviet Union and then followed by the United States. Moscow sent its troops in 1979 to save from collapse of the Communist regime it had installed in Kabul. The Soviet invasion was resisted by several Islamic groups called "mujahedeen" who came together and fought against Moscow's troops. After losing a large number of soldiers and spending a fortune to win the struggle, Mikhail Gorbachev, then the leader of Soviet Union, signed what history was to be called the "Geneva accord". This was in 1989 which allowed Moscow to pull out its troops without being challenged by the Islamic fighters. The accord did not have any provision about the form of governance that would succeed the Soviet pullout. President Ziaul Haq, Pakistan's third military ruler, had told me in a meeting with him that he had used the provision in the Constitution that he had inserted before bringing civilian leadership into the government. Article 58-2(b) in the amended Constitution allowed the president to fire the prime minister and his entire cabinet and dissolve the national assembly. This he could do if he was not satisfied with the way the government was operating. He said he removed the government headed by Prime Minister Muhammad Khan Junejo after he had advised him not to sign the Geneva Accord before it was determined who would head the government in Kabul and how the new rulers would govern. "By getting the Soviet Union to pull out its troops, a political vacuum would be created and the mujahedeen who had vanquished the Soviet Union would fall on one another," said Zia. History was to prove that he had made the correct prediction. After a prolonged internal struggle which also involved American intervention, Kabul was to be ruled by the Taliban. This was a group made up of the students who had been taught in the seminaries established in the tribal belt that lay between Afghanistan and Pakistan. "Taliban" is the Arabic word for students. The Taliban governed from Kabul after imposing what they believed was the right way to govern a Muslim-majority state. The most prominent part of Taliban's governance is the severe reduction in the status of women in the Islamic society. Religion was also behind the movement that pushed out the ruling monarch from power in Iran and introduced a form of government in which clerics subscribing to Shiism became the rulers with total power. The clerics have an ayatollah as the supreme leader who is the ultimate decision-maker. When the ruler came under pressure from a religiously inclined population, the emperor fled from the country. That was the right moment for Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to return to the country he had left. In 1976, he flew back on a plane from Paris to Tehran and was greeted upon his arrival by a wildly enthusiastic crowd. He founded the Islamic State of Iran and appointed himself as the Supreme Leader. This system came into being when Emperor Reza Shah Pahlavi who had ruled over the country for decades was not able to control the rising religious movement that wanted a system of governance based on religion. The founder of the state headed by Islamic clerics had a provision for selecting a new leader if the one who was the leader died. The successor when the founder died was chosen by a council of senior clerics. The council chose Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the new supreme leader after the death of the founder. Following the tradition set by his predecessor, the new head of the state expressed disdain for Iran's pre-Islamic past, calling that a time of "illusion, not a source of pride that was afflicted by corruption and dictatorship". However, after attacks by Israel and the United States in the late spring of 2025, Khamenei gave a speech in which he repeatedly praised the country's "ancient civilisation" and boasted that Iran has "cultural and civilisational wealth" far greater than that of America. The verbal attack on the United States followed the American bombing of the sites where Iran was reported to be producing enriched uranium that could be used for making a nuclear bomb. By stressing Iran's cultural rather than religious identity, Ayatollah Ali Khamanei "sought to rally a population that was not only rattled by the 12 days of Israeli strikes but that also has, in large measure, soured on the clerics who rule the Islamic republic and the religious ideology that defines how society is governed," wrote Yeganeh Torbati in an assessment of the Iranian situation for The Washington Post. "This new nationalist tone comes at a time when top officials have repeatedly cited what they say is 'national cohesion and unity', emerging in the country in response to the Israeli and U.S. strikes in June." While developments in Afghanistan and Iran have brought religion into governance, India is also headed in that direction. Narendra Modi who had led the Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party, the BJP, to victory in the elections held in 2014 vowed to bring what he called "Hindutva" as the principle of governance. Modi was reelected in 2019 and 2024 and would govern India at least until 2029. By the end of his current term, he would have served in this position for 15 years, the second longest rule after Jawaharlal Nehru who was the founder of the independent state of India. Nehru was prime minster for 17 years. Nehru believed in an inclusive state that served India's very diverse population. Modi has opted to create a Hindu state in which those who subscribe to other religions will have a lower status.
Express Tribune
08-08-2025
- Express Tribune
Lawmakers award themselves hefty pay, perks increase
The Sindh Assembly on Friday passed three pieces of legislation, including a bill increasing the salaries and privileges of its members, the Sindh Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education (Amendment) Bill 2025, and the Anti-Terrorism Sindh (Amendment) Bill 2025. The bills were moved by Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Ziaul Hassan Lanjar during a session chaired by Speaker Syed Awais Qadir Shah. The House unanimously approved the salary and allowances bill, which was earlier cleared by the provincial cabinet on August 7. The new law equalises privileges for MPAs — both from government and opposition — covering hospitality, house rent, utilities, daily and conveyance allowances, accommodation, travel and mileage, telephone and medical facilities, as well as office maintenance. The leader of the opposition will now receive the same salary and perks as a provincial minister. Parliamentary committee chairpersons will be entitled to use an official vehicle — with fuel and maintenance — but must return it within three days of vacating the post. The Sindh Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education (Amendment) Bill 2025, passed by a majority vote, allows the appointment of BPS-20 and 21 officers as chairpersons of education boards. Lanjar said the move aimed to induct competent officers for better board performance. MQM-Pakistan's Sabir Qaimkhani, however, called for sending the bill to the relevant committee for further deliberation to safeguard board autonomy - a suggestion that was rejected by the House. The assembly also adopted the Anti-Terrorism Sindh (Amendment) Bill 2025. Details of the changes were not immediately debated on the floor. Speaker Shah announced that a special sitting will be held on August 11 at the old assembly building to mark Minority Day, with representatives of minority communities invited to participate. A privilege motion by MQM-Pakistan's Ammar Siddiqui on gas supply issues was rejected on technical grounds. During the question hour for the Auqaf Department, Parliamentary Secretary Shazia Sanghar replied to written and supplementary questions from members.
