Blaze News - Pakistan

The Punjab Safe Cities Authority (PSCA) has rolled out AI-based Smart City Management System designed to transform urban monitoring, improve emergency response, and strengthen public safety across the province. According to officials, the system introduces an advanced AI feature titled: 'Talk to Camera', enabling officers to interact with the entire camera network through natural language commands. With this tool, the AI can instantly scan thousands of cameras to identify issues including open manholes, overflowing dumpsters, unusual smoke, or any suspicious activity. A PSCA spokesperson said, the system is capable of detecting abnormal or hazardous situations within seconds. Once a task is assigned, the AI conducts a province-wide camera sweep and returns precise, real-time information. Following the recent Lodhran incident, the authority has developed a dedicated AI module specifically for early detection of open manholes. The module was first tested in pilot projects in Laho...

Persistent neglect by the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB) has left residents of Liaquatabad's FC Area struggling with foul smell, choking smoke and health hazards after an open plot near the Government Lal Girls Secondary School was unofficially turned into a garbage dumping site. Locals say SSWMB staff began dumping waste in the vacant plot almost a month ago and failed to remove it despite repeated complaints. Since then, the stench and growing trash mound have made daily life miserable for hundreds of families, students of the nearby girls' school and worshippers at the adjoining central mosque. Residents suffering from asthma and respiratory illnesses have been the worst affected. The negligence took a dangerous turn on Tuesday when a fire broke out in the garbage heap-the second such incident in just a few days. Thick black smoke quickly spread across the neighbourhood, making it difficult for people to breathe and forcing many to remain indoors. Residents said ...

The process of linking the e-stamp paper system has been fully completed in the federal capital to eliminate fraud, deception, and the production of forged documents. In the next phase, work will commence on the issuance of judicial papers, which will bring an end to tampering in land transfers and registry documents. A meeting in this regard was held at the CDA Headquarters, attended by Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Irfan Nawaz Memon, ICT Director Rabia Aurangzeb, relevant officers from ICT and CDA, while the PLRA DG and his team joined via Zoom link. The meeting was informed that, under the agreement between ICT and PLRA, most of the stages relating to the issuance of e-stamp papers have been completed. The software for e-stamps has been developed, and the testing phase has formally begun. Progress on digitisation within ICT and CDA was also reviewed. It was reported that the digitisation of 24 revenue estates has been completed, while the process for the remaining 11 estates wil...

Following the positive results of the faceless e-challan system in Karachi, IG Sindh Ghulam Nabi Memon has decided to expand the initiative to more districts of the province. The decision was taken during a meeting, held at the Central Police Office in Karachi, with Sindh IG in the chair. The meeting was attended by key officials, including Additional IGs, Safe City Authority director general and various police officers. Participants of the meeting were briefed on preparations for implementing the faceless e-ticketing system in other cities. The DIG Traffic, Karachi, and PDITT provided detailed updates on the preparation for deploying the Traffic Road Accident and Control System (TRACS) and the installation of cameras in various districts. In the first phase of expansion Thatta, Khairpur, Shaheed Benazirabad, Mirpurkhas, Tando Muhammad Khan, and Larkana districts will be covered. The initiative, already operational in Karachi, aims to improve traffic law enforcement by providing an eff...

The bodies of three women were found inside a residential flat in Karachi’s Gulshan-e-Iqbal area, police said, sparking an investigation into the mysterious circumstances surrounding their deaths. The incident occurred on Sunday in a second-floor apartment of a residential complex known as Haramein Royal Residency, also referred to as Haramein Tower. Following the discovery, the management of the housing project reportedly restricted media access to the premises. The deceased were identified as Samina Umar (52), Maha Umar (22) and Samreen Umar (19), who were related as a mother, her daughter and daughter-in-law. Initial assessments indicate that two of the bodies appeared to be a few hours old, while one body was believed to be several days old, suggesting a possible time gap between the deaths. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) East Zubair Nazir Sheikh said a male family member, Yaseen (30), was shifted to hospital in critical condition, while the head of the household (father) wa...

Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb projected a confident message of economic stabilisation and forward-looking reform at the Doha Forum, telling a high-level panel that Pakistan has “rebuilt fiscal buffers, restored external balance and is now shifting decisively from stabilisation to sustainable growth.” Speaking at the session 'Global Trade Tensions: Economic Impact and Policy Responses in MENA', on Saturday the minister said, Pakistan is 'embarking on the right path of reform and resilience', crediting the post–IMF programme overhaul for easing pressures at a time when global trade disruptions, tariff shifts, and geo-economic rivalry are reshaping economies across the Middle East and North Africa. “This period of uncertainty demands adaptability,” Aurangzeb said, noting Pakistan's prudent engagement with the US on tariff measures, securing a relatively favourable 19 per cent tariff on key textile exports, and accelerating diversification of both markets ...

China on Friday launched its first large artificial intelligence (AI) model dedicated to monitoring and protecting arable land, and it will serve as a new digital tool for the national strategy of storing grain in the land and in technology. Released by the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning under the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) on World Soil Day, the model aims to upgrade China's farmland management from quantity-focused preservation to quality improvement -- a task that traditional manual monitoring can no longer handle efficiently. Developed by a team led by Tang Huajun, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the system integrates a central foundation model with dedicated "vertical models" designed for specific tasks such as field segmentation, crop classification and engineering quality inspection. Wu Wenbin, director general of the CAAS Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, said that the A...