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Pakistan’s Punjab, Chinese firm sign agreement to set up robotic agricultural equipment manufacturing plant

Pakistan’s Punjab, Chinese firm sign agreement to set up robotic agricultural equipment manufacturing plant
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif (third from left) visits Al Force Tech in Beijing, China, on December 9, 2024. (PML-N/X)
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Updated 10 December 2024
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Pakistan’s Punjab, Chinese firm sign agreement to set up robotic agricultural equipment manufacturing plant

Pakistan’s Punjab, Chinese firm sign agreement to set up robotic agricultural equipment manufacturing plant
  • Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, who is on a visit to China, witnessed the signing of MoU between Punjab and AI Force Tech
  • Pakistan, which has been faced with an economic crisis, is currently looking to boost its agricultural production and exports
Updated 10 December 2024
Arab News Pakistan
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ISLAMABAD: The agriculture department in Pakistan’s most populous Punjab province has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a Chinese firm, AI Force Tech, to set up a robotic agricultural equipment manufacturing plant in the province, Pakistani state media reported on Tuesday.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, who is on a visit to China from Dec. 8 till Dec. 15, witnessed the signing of MoU between the two sides and dilated upon agriculture sector reforms in Punjab during her meeting with AI Force Tech officials.
Agriculture is the backbone of Pakistan’s economy and constitutes its largest sector. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), agriculture contributes about 24 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and accounts for half of the employed labor force in the country.
Sharif inspected the latest agricultural tools equipped with robotic technology and observed the robotic machinery, assuring the company of her government’s full cooperation in manufacturing the modern robotic agricultural machinery in Punjab, Pakistan’s APP news agency reported.
“It is our determination to make farmers prosperous by adopting modern agricultural technology,” she was quoted as saying by APP. “On my invitation, a delegation of AI Force Tech will visit Punjab soon for the purpose.”
Pakistan, which has been faced with an economic crisis, is currently looking to boost its agricultural production and exports to earn precious foreign exchange to support its economy.
In August this year, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan was looking forward to exploring new avenues to benefit from China’s agricultural prowess and “modernization.” He said that as he arrived in the Chinese city of Xi’an, which has matured into an agricultural, industrial and educational hub since the 1980s as part of the economic growth of inland China.
“Looking forward to learning about China’s agricultural modernization and innovation from the world class facilities of this great city,” the premier said on X. “Keen to explore new avenues of cooperation and further deepen our linkages in agriculture to enhance Pakistan’s food productivity and quality.”
In September, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said Pakistan would be sending 1,000 agricultural experts to China to get training and transform the agriculture sector on modern lines.

Topics: Pakistan China

Bodies of 12 Pakistani migrants who died in boat sinking have been repatriated

Bodies of 12 Pakistani migrants who died in boat sinking have been repatriated
Updated 28 February 2025
AP
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Bodies of 12 Pakistani migrants who died in boat sinking have been repatriated

Bodies of 12 Pakistani migrants who died in boat sinking have been repatriated
  • The boat was carrying Europe-bound migrants with more than 60 Pakistani nationals
  • Officials say 37 Pakistani were rescued while 16 died and 10 remain unaccounted for
Updated 28 February 2025
AP

PARACHINAR: The bodies of 12 out of at least 16 Pakistanis who died this month when a boat carrying dozens of Europe-bound migrants sank off Libya’s coast have been repatriated to Pakistan, officials said Friday.
Most of the victims who died in the capsizing were from Kurram, a district in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The boat was carrying more than 60 Pakistani nationals, and out of them 37 people were rescued, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Ten people remained unaccounted for.
Ashfaq Ahmed, a government administrator, said nine of the 12 bodies were sent to Kurram by helicopters on Thursday and Friday. He said the bodies of the four remaining victims will be brought home soon.
Libya, which shares borders with six nations and has a long coastline along the Mediterranean, is a main transit point for migrants escaping war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East to seek better lives in Europe.
Every year, hundreds of Pakistanis die while attempting to reach Europe via perilous land and sea routes, often facilitated by human smugglers. In January, authorities said dozens of Pakistanis died when a boat capsized off West Africa.

Topics: Libya shipwreck Pakistan migrants kurram district parachinar

Security forces kill six militants in Pakistan’s northwest

Security forces kill six militants in Pakistan’s northwest
Updated 28 February 2025
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Security forces kill six militants in Pakistan’s northwest

Security forces kill six militants in Pakistan’s northwest
  • The incident occurred in North Waziristan during an intelligence-based operation
  • Killing of militants came on the same day a suicide attack claimed six lives in KP
Updated 28 February 2025
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces killed six militants in an operation in the country’s northwest on Friday, the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said in a statement.
The intelligence-based operation was conducted in Ghulam Khan Kalay, an area in North Waziristan, a district bordering Afghanistan that was once a stronghold of militant groups before Pakistan launched military offensives to reclaim the region. The area, along with the rest of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has seen a surge in militant violence since a fragile ceasefire agreement collapsed between the government and the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in late 2022.
Pakistan labels TTP fighters as “khwarij,” a historical reference to an extremist sect in early Islam known for rebelling against authority, declaring other Muslims apostates, and justifying their killing.
“On 28 February 2025, security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation in the general area of Ghulam Khan Kalay, North Waziristan District, on reported presence of khwarij,” ISPR said. “During the conduct of the operation, own troops effectively engaged the khwarij location, as a result of which six khwarij were sent to hell.”
The statement added that weapons and ammunition were recovered from the militants, who had been actively involved in attacks on security forces and the killing of civilians.
ISPR said a “sanitization operation” was underway to eliminate other militants in the area, reiterating that Pakistani security forces remain determined to wipe out militancy from the country.
The killing of the militants came on the same day a suicide attack at a seminary in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa claimed six lives, including that of a prominent cleric, during the Friday prayer congregation.
In another incident, an improvised explosive device blast in Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, injured nine people, including a paramilitary soldier.

Topics: Pakistan Army ISPR Pakistan Taliban

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Pakistan to begin Ramadan on Sunday, a day after Saudi Arabia, as moon remains unseen

Pakistan to begin Ramadan on Sunday, a day after Saudi Arabia, as moon remains unseen
Updated 28 February 2025
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Pakistan to begin Ramadan on Sunday, a day after Saudi Arabia, as moon remains unseen

Pakistan to begin Ramadan on Sunday, a day after Saudi Arabia, as moon remains unseen
  • Country’s central moon sighting committee says it did not receive testimonies of Ramadan crescent
  • Pakistan’s space agency had already predicted it would be difficult to sight the moon on Friday
Updated 28 February 2025
Muhammad Ibrahim

ISLAMABAD: The head of Pakistan’s central moon sighting committee announced on Friday the Ramadan crescent was not seen across the country, adding the first day of the Muslim fasting month will fall on Sunday, a day after the ninth month of the Islamic Hijri calendar begins in Saudi Arabia.
Ramadan is observed by Muslims worldwide through fasting from dawn to sunset, with most practicing Muslims considering it a time of spiritual reflection, self-discipline and devotion. Fasting serves as a means of strengthening faith and developing empathy for the less fortunate.
The month holds special significance as it was during one of its nights that the first verses of the Holy Qur’an were revealed to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), in what is considered its most sacred night. Muslims mark Ramadan with increased prayer, charity and community gatherings, culminating in the festival of Eid Al-Fitr.
“There has been no reported sighting of the Ramadan moon,” Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad, chairman of the Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee, said while speaking to the media in northwestern Peshawar city. “The first day of the holy month of Ramadan will be on Sunday, March 2, 2025.”

Maulana Abdul Khabeer Azad, Chairman of Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee, Pakistan’s moon sighting committee, along with others members use a telescope to look for the new moon that will mark the start of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, in Peshawar on February 28, 2025. (REUTERS)

Pakistan’s national space agency had already predicted the Ramadan moon would be invisible to the human eye in Pakistan on February 28, explaining the crescent would be difficult to sight due to its low altitude and distance.
It had also said people in the South Asian country were likely to mark the beginning of the holy month from March 2.
In Pakistan, however, the moon sighting committee is tasked with determining the start of new Islamic months.
The dates for Ramadan and Eid festivals are confirmed through visual observations and testimonies from different parts of the country reporting the crescent’s sighting.

Topics: Ramadan 2025 Reut-e-Hilal Ramadan moon sighting

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Islamabad says eight Pakistanis deported from United States

Islamabad says eight Pakistanis deported from United States
Updated 28 February 2025
AFP
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Islamabad says eight Pakistanis deported from United States

Islamabad says eight Pakistanis deported from United States
  • Diplomat confirms this is the first such flight since President Trump returned to power
  • White House says the US president plans to carry out a mass deportation operation
Updated 28 February 2025
AFP

ISLAMABAD: Eight Pakistan nationals residing illegally in the United States have been deported to Pakistan, Islamabad said Friday, with a diplomat calling it the first such flight since Donald Trump returned to power.
“We can confirm that eight Pakistani nationals, who were staying illegally in the US, have indeed returned yesterday,” Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesman Shafqat Ali Khan told a press conference.
A Pakistani diplomat confirmed that this was the first such flight since Trump’s second term began in January.
“But (it is) not the first ever as in 2019, several such flights also arrived in Pakistan,” the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Trump promised a crackdown on illegal immigration during the election campaign and began his second term with a flurry of executive actions aimed at overhauling entry to the United States.
On his first day in office the Republican signed orders declaring a national emergency at the southern border with Mexico and announced the deployment of more troops to the area while vowing to deport “criminal aliens.”
The White House has also said Trump plans to carry out the largest mass deportation operation in US history.
In addition, Trump’s administration has halted an asylum program for people fleeing authoritarian regimes in Central and South America, leaving thousands of people stranded on the Mexican side of the border.

Topics: deportation drive US immigrants PAkistani migrants Donald Trump Pakistan US Ties

China’s BYD starts delivering vehicle in Pakistan, aim to roll out 100 units in 48 hours

China’s BYD starts delivering vehicle in Pakistan, aim to roll out 100 units in 48 hours
Updated 28 February 2025
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China’s BYD starts delivering vehicle in Pakistan, aim to roll out 100 units in 48 hours

China’s BYD starts delivering vehicle in Pakistan, aim to roll out 100 units in 48 hours
  • BYD partnered with Mega Motor Company last year to introduce electric vehicles in Pakistan
  • Both companies plan to establish 15 experience and care centers across Pakistan this year
Updated 28 February 2025
NAIMAT KHAN

KARACHI: China’s BYD, the world’s largest New Energy Vehicle (NEV) manufacturer, and Pakistan’s Mega Motor Company (MMC) started delivering vehicles in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad on Friday, with plans to roll out 100 units within the first 48 hours, confirmed their official statement.
The milestone comes after BYD and MMC partnered last year to introduce electric vehicles (EVs) in Pakistan, aiming to accelerate the country’s transition toward sustainable mobility.
BYD, a global leader in battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, has expanded aggressively in Asia, Europe and Latin America. Mega Motor, a subsidiary of Pakistan’s Hub Power Company (HUBCO), is spearheading the local manufacturing, distribution and sales of BYD-branded vehicles.
“It is an honor to embark on this crucial development chapter in Pakistan,” said Lei Jian, BYD country head in Pakistan.
“BYD has long been dedicated to fulfilling people’s aspirations for a better life through technological innovation,” he continued. “We firmly believe that BYD’s new energy vehicles and technologies are destined to make even greater contributions to Pakistan’s green development journey.”

This handout photo, released by China’s BYD auto company on February 28, 2025, shows BYD Experience and Care Centers in Islamabad. (BYD Pakistan/Handout)

The companies have launched BYD Experience and Care Centers in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi, offering customers access to their advanced automobiles. 
he initial rollout includes models such as SEAL and ATTO 3, with plans to establish 15 centers across Pakistan this year to expand accessibility.
“We are thrilled to begin vehicle deliveries across Pakistan,” said Danish Khaliq, VP Sales and Strategy at MMC. “This marks the beginning of an exciting journey for BYD and our customers, as we introduce world-class NEV technology to drive Pakistan toward a cleaner and more sustainable future.”
NEVs refer to alternative-fuel vehicles that rely on electric, hybrid, hydrogen, or other non-traditional power sources instead of conventional gasoline or diesel engines.

Topics: BYD Pakistan electric vehicle (EV)

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