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Pakistan's Punjab government on Friday declared smog a health crisis" and used artificial rain in several cities across the province in an effort to combat its hazardous levels, as millions reported breathing problems and other respiratory issues over the past month. This is the second time the Punjab government went for artificial rain. In December last year, the government had a successful cloud seeding experiment in Lahore. "The cloud seeding experiment conducted in Jhelum, Chakwal, Talagang, and Gujar Khan cities of Punjab resulted in rainfall in Jhelum and Gujar Khan on Friday," the Punjab government said in a late night statement. It said it held a successful trial of artificial rain using local technology. "Cloud seeding was carried out at 2pm Friday and within hours, it rained in Jhelum and Gujar Khan. There is also a strong likelihood of rainfall in Lahore after this experiment. The artificial rainfall will significantly help reduce smog," it said. Earlier in the day, ...
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, who scripted history when she became the first woman to occupy the post in any province of Pakistan, on Friday said she had to work "quite hard" for more than a decade to make space for herself in the ruling PML-N, a party founded by her father Nawaz Sharif. Speaking at an event to mark Women's Day in Lahore, she said, As this has been a very male-dominated party historically, I also had to work quite hard for 12-13 years to make space for myself. But if I am standing here, it is a message for every woman, mother and daughter, that if you want to do something, then being a woman cannot be an obstacle in fulfilling your dreams and mission, she was quoted as saying by the Dawn newspaper. Maryam, 50, who is considered a political heir to Nawaz Sharif, took oath as the chief minister of Punjab on February 26 reportedly as part of a deal worked out with the blessings of the powerful Pakistan Army when the three-time former premier's Pakistan Muslim ...
Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan's party plans to call a "parallel" Punjab Assembly session to elect the chief minister, speaker and deputy speaker, claiming that newly-elected chief minister Maryam Nawaz was in the House on a stolen mandate, a media report said on Tuesday. Maryam, the 50-year-old senior vice president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, made history by becoming the first-ever woman chief minister of Pakistan's most populous Punjab province after receiving 220 votes. She defeated Rana Aftab of 71-year-old Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), who received no votes as his party boycotted the election. Former-cricketer-turned-politician Khan's PTI party made a call for a "parallel" Punjab Assembly on Monday after claiming a strength of 250 members, including reserved seats for women and minorities, the Dawn newspaper reported. To win the chief minister's election, a candidate needs to win the backing of the majori
Pakistan is a "hostage" to the IMF which is treating the cash-strapped country like a "colony", senior leader of PML-N Maryam Nawaz has said while lambasting former prime minister Imran Khan for flouting the previous agreements with the global lender. Pakistan's economy is in dire straits. The country is awaiting a much-needed USD 1.1 billion tranche of funding from the Washington-based International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF is not ready to trust us. Pakistan is a hostage to the IMF and it is treating the country like a colony. Even if we try to come out of its clutches, we can't, Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) leader Maryam said while addressing the youth and social media activists in Model Town here on Monday. She castigated Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan for flouting the previous IMF agreement, the Dawn newspaper reported. Because of this today we are begging for Rs 1 billion, the 49-year-old leader said. She drew the comparison of her father Nawaz Sharif'
Pakistan's ousted prime minister Imran Khan on Sunday slammed the caretaker government of Punjab for its "double standards", saying it was giving a "free hand" to his political rivals to hold public rallies while illegally stopping his party from running the election campaigns. Khan, 70, said the PMLN-led federal coalition, Punjab caretaker setup and the military establishment were trying to delay the elections in Punjab province. "The cabal of crooks are trying their best to postpone the elections in Punjab scheduled to be held on April 30. They want to arrest me as they have instituted 80 fake cases against me," he said in a media talk on Sunday. "I wonder how Maryam is getting away for launching a scathing attack on Pakistani judges as she has been a given a license to do so (by the establishment)," he said.
Pakistan's Opposition leader Maryam Nawaz on Saturday lashed out at Prime Minister Imran Khan for lavishing praise on India, saying he should go to the neighbouring country if he likes it so much. The remarks of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam, who is the daughter of deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif, came after Khan called India a "nation with a great sense of honour". Prime Minister Khan, in an address to the nation on Friday night ahead of the no-trust motion where he has little chances of surviving unless some miracle takes place, said that he was not against India and had a lot of following in the neighbouring country. "No superpower can force India to do anything against its interests. They (India) are buying oil from Russia despite sanctions. "Nobody can dictate India. What the European Union ambassadors said here, could they say that to India also? he asked and added that they could not because India is a sovereign nation. Responding to his ...