Lahore

LAHORE: In a bid to bail out Pakistan Railways (PR) from prevailing engine shortage crisis, Korean Railways (Korail) has offered PR authorities cooperation in the field of locomotives.
The general manager (Operations) PR disclosed this during a media briefing about the outcomes of a meeting with a nine-member delegation of Korean Railway (Korail) here at railway Headquarters on Monday. Ashfaq Ahmad Khatak told the media persons that Korean railways was ready to help out PR in the

LAHORE: More than dozen businesses are in full boom because of weddings going on in the city, people associated with businesses told Pakistan Today on Monday.
The businesses include marriage halls, tailoring, catering, jewelers, decorators, cooking, rent-a-car, movie making, photography, flowers, generators, chicken, mutton, rice, naan and milk selling. People associated with these businesses said their sales and demand have increased at least three times.
The wedding

LAHORE: The All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) staged a protest at the Lahore Press Club on Sunday demanding immediate release of blasphemy accused Aasia Bibi who was awarded a death sentence.
The protesters urged the federal government to suspend discriminatory laws including 295 B/C, which was being used for revengeful activities against minorities.
They said that Aasia was innocent and due to a personal grudge she was trapped in a fake case of blasphemy. Addressing

LAHORE: Shopkeepers and retailers have alleged Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) workers are distributing sugar to favourites and ignoring the majority of shops, Pakistan Today has learnt on Sunday.
The availability of sugar also disturbed due to closure of Akbari Mandi and no supplies during Eid days. It is not for the first time that PML-N is using commodities for bagging votes, as similar tactics were adopted in sasta ata (cheap flour) distribution at tandoors and to shops,

LAHORE: The present rulers though claim to be elected have not taken any steps for mitigating people's suffering and now people's faith in democracy is shaking, said former senator and human rights activist Syed Iqbal Haider.
Iqbal Haider, founding member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), was talking to Pakistan Today before leaving for India to get the 4th Mother Teresa Memorial Award, which has been conferred upon by the Global Harmony Foundation this year in

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has taken serious notice of below par arrangements made by the Directorate of Haj for Pakistani pilgrims in Saudi Arabia and ordered an immediate inquiry into the matter.
"The prime minister has also recalled the haj director general to Pakistan," an official statement issued on Saturday said. Gilani said the shifting of responsibility and blame game was unacceptable and ordered that the Foreign Ministry should coordinate all

LAHORE: Panic spread in the Mayo Hospital's Emergency Ward after a fire broke out in the main electricity board in the hospital basement on Friday. The fire also caused sparks in the switch board in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the emergency ward producing a lot of smoke in the emergency ward. But the news of the incident created panic in the emergency ward, as patients and attendants rushed towards the exit gates, trying to vacate the building and shift their patients.
The

LAHORE: Unidentified armed men opened fire at the worship place of Ahmedis at Ganjbakhsh Bazaar in Mughalpura Police Station precincts on Thursday. No one claimed responsibility for the shooting but according to police, some drunkards had carried out the firing.
Police officials told Pakistan Today that the firing was result of a scuffle between two groups who had carried out aerial firing in the area saying that the attack was not in line of the attacks on worship places of

LAHORE: Besides the traditional festivities and the observance of the sacrifice ritual, this Eidul Azha also witnessed a severe cold war between the religious parties and humanitarian organisations for the collection of animal hide.
According to sources, more than 50 percent of the hides collected were given to religious groups, including banned outfits, which continue to operate in the city despite the fact that the government had announced a zero tolerance policy for the

LAHORE: Toll plazas on the Lahore-Islamabad Motorway remained congested and witnessed a heavy traffic flow throughout the three days of Eid, as citizens continued returning to Lahore after celebrating the festival in their hometowns.
The toll plazas resembled a parking lot, as long queues of cars were seen lined up there. The provincial metropolis, being the largest city of Punjab, offers numerous employment opportunities and most non-Lahoris prefer travelling on the motorway

LAHORE: Staff of the Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) and the City District Government Lahore (CDGL) worked tirelessly during Eidul Azha in order to look after the cleanliness of Lahore, as people were busy sacrificing animals.
The CDGL tried its level best to keep Lahore clean and its staff was seen working around the clock during the festival. The LWMC had cancelled the Eid holidays of its staff and assigned duties to them for keeping the city clean. Various teams were

LAHORE: Like in other parts of the country, the faithful in the provincial capital observed all three days of Eidul Azha with religious zeal and fervor and around 3 million animals including goats, oxen and camels were sacrificed to observe in accordance with the religious ordainment.
The first day of Eid began with Eid prayers, for which special security arrangements were made at all mosques and Eidgah's. The Eid prayers were offered at over 1,000 Eidgah's, mosques,

LAHORE: The English-speaking, English-reading, English-watching crowd likes what reinforces its values to itself. The more sensitive amongst the crowd likes what raises critical questions in their system of values. The values of Punjabi films have little to do with the values of an English-speaker. Sitting in a cinema playing a Punjabi movie is to be transported into a different value world.
Sitting in Prince Cinema watching the 'first day, first show' of Ilyasa Gujjar, one was

LAHORE: Aashiq Masih, with his stooped posture, frail body and dull yellow eyes, stands in a small compartment with his three daughters, Sidra, the eldest, followed by Eesha and Eeshum.
The girls are weeping silently. On the other side of the metal grille is Aasiya, the first woman to be given the death sentence for alleged blasphemy.
Eeshum, about twelve years old, whines like a baby for her mother, asking her when she will be back. The child suffers from retardation and

LAHORE:The mass exodus emptied the provincial capital as according to an estimate over three million people belonging to different parts of the province left to celebrate Eidul Azha with their families at their respective home towns, on Tuesday.
Almost half of the people living in Lahore belong to other districts and they all try to celebrate Eid with their families. Lahore's total population is about 9 million and when over three million returned to homes, the city traffic took

LAHORE: The Punjab University (PU) administration has started watering all big and small lawns and grounds within the university premises, turning them into breeding grounds for the deadly dengue mosquito, Pakistan Today has learnt.
According to PU sources, the drive was started on Tuesday from the lawns in front of the Political Science and History departments and would cover all small and big lawns and grounds of the varsity during the Eid holidays. Even the students sitting

LAHORE: Even soaring prices could not harness the joy of the public as markets were crowded with chattering men and women and giggling children. 'Chaand Raat' as always had people rushing in and out of malls, and arcades of Gulberg and Defence, while the narrow streets of places like Icchra and Anarkali were never deserted even for one second.
Hawkers cried out with good bargains for busy haggling women, while their husbands admired themselves proudly in shop mirrors,