TOBA TEK SINGH: Commissioner Mussarat Jabeen has indicated that the grain market and wholesale market in Faisalabad will be shifted outside of the city and the traders will be taken on board before the decision.

She expressed these views during a meeting held on Monday with President Anjuman Tajran Khawaja Shahid Razak Saka, President Anjuman Tajran Railway Road Muhammad Aslam Bhali and former MNA Mian Abdul Manan.

The commissioner said providing a conducive environment for traders associated with the grain and wholesale business was among the priorities. In this regard, she said, different sites outside the city would be reviewed before moving the proposal forward.

She further said construction of five parking plazas around the Clock Tower would begin soon to resolve parking issues faced by traders and customers. Efforts had also been intensified to complete the parking plaza outside Chiniot Bazaar, she added.

FIRE: A man suffered serious burn injuries after a fire broke out at a petrol pump in Kamalia.

According to Rescue 1122, underground petrol tanks at the filling station were being removed when a fire erupted due to sparking during the process of filling petrol into another tank.

As a result, 30-year-old Faisal Irshad sustained severe burn injuries and was shifted to THQ Hospital Kamalia for treatment.

UAF: Minister Counsellor to Pakistan from Indonesia Rahmat Hindiarta Kusuma has said that educational ties between Pakistan and Indonesia would be further strengthened to benefit from each other’s experiences and jointly address common challenges.

He stated this during his visit to the University of Agriculture Faisalabad on Monday, where he met Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Zulfiqar Ali, along with deans and directors.

The meeting discussed cooperation in agriculture, education, research and halal meat production. Mr Kusuma said educational collaboration and exchange programmes should be enhanced for the betterment of the agricultural sector.

He appreciated the initiatives taken by the university for agricultural development and stressed the need to promote people-to-people contacts to further strengthen bilateral relations.

Prof Dr Zulfiqar Ali said relations between Pakistan and Indonesia represented a strategic alliance between two of the world’s largest Muslim-majority agrarian economies. He said through formal agreements with leading Indonesian institutions, including Institut Pertanian Bogor University, a continuous exchange of knowledge was taking place.

He added that a letter of intent signed between UAF and the Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas PGRI Semarang, would help promote academic and research excellence to address shared challenges.

Discussing future collaboration avenues, he said partnerships with Indonesian universities, including IPB University, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Universitas Brawijaya, Universitas Padjadjaran, Universitas Nahdlatul Ulama Yogyakarta, Universitas Hasanuddin, Universitas Sebelas Maret and Universitas Indonesia, in areas such as drought- and heat-tolerant wheat and brassica varieties, crop modelling, water-use efficiency, robotic farming, genomic selection and OIC food security frameworks, could produce tangible results.

Published in Dawn, May 12th, 2026