TOBA TEK SINGH: Chinese Consul General Sun Yan has reaffirmed that agricultural cooperation remains the top priority in the second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Speaking at the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF), he appreciated the role of UAF’s Confucius Institute in fostering people-to-people contacts, cultural exchanges and friendship between China and Pakistan.

During his visit to the Confucius institute and the Expo Centre, a signing ceremony was held to establish two new subsets of the Confucius Institute at the Faisalabad Medical University and the University of Poonch, Rawalakot.

Mr Yan remarked that with the CPEC’s second phase launched in 2025, the focus has shifted to economic growth, livelihoods, innovation, and green development, with agriculture, industry, IT, and mining as key sectors. He shared the gains in Pak-China agriculture cooperation, including hybrid rice and rapeseed cultivation.

UAF VC Prof Dr Zulfiqar Ali also spoke.

Meanwhile, a workshop on “Career Development and International Scholarship Pathways” was organised on Thursday at UAF’s Constituent College Toba Tek Singh to guide students regarding career planning, higher education opportunities, and international scholarship pathways.

On the other hand, the Department of Political Science of Government College University Faisalabad inaugurated the 1st International Conference on Social sciences. The opening session of the workshop was inaugurated by Dean Social Sciences Prof Dr Asim Mehmood. The in-charge Department of Political Science Dr Mian Muhammad Azhar, Dr Shan Ali and other senior faculty of social sciences were among the speakers.

ACCIDENTS: Five persons died and four were injured in separate accidents in Faisalabad and Gojra on Thursday.

In the first accident, two youths died and as many persons were seriously injured as a car collided with a motorcycle and crashed into a tree near Chak 303/JB Kathur on the Jhang Road of Gojra.

Rescue 1122 said the car was on the way to Jhang when a motorcycle collided with it due to which the car went out of control and hit a tree on the roadside. As a result, three car riders, 20-year-old Abdullah Hammad, a son of Gojra THQ Hospital Medical Officer Dr Hammad Hassan, 19-year-old Hamza Burhan and 26-year-old Muneeb Ahmad, were seriously injured. Hammad and Burhan died on the spot while Muneeb and biker Shabbir were seriously injured. They were shifted to the Gojra THQ Hospital.

In the second accident near Guttwala Canal Bridge on Arif Road, a motorcycle rammed into a truck when it tried to overtake the truck. The biker and his two pillions fell on the road and a truck ran over them. As a result, they all sustained critical wounds. Two of them, Syed Tanweer Ali (35) and Saddam Hussein (22), died instantly while Muhammad Shahzad (24) was shifted to Allied Hospital, Faisalabad.

In Khanewal’s Chak 20/15-L, a boy died after he was crushed by a fodder cutting electric machine when he was pushing fodder into its inside. He was identified as Wasim Ijaz (14).

In Nankana Sahib near Baraghar Canal Bridge on Bucheki-Syedwala Road, a tractor hit a motorcycle. As a result, both bike riders were critically wounded. They were shifted to local hospital where Ali Hamza (24) succumbed to his injuries while his mother, Perveen Bibi (55), was under treatment.

COMMISSIONER: Commissioner Musarrat Jabeen imposed a fine of Rs200,000 on the contractor of the Project Management Unit for the poor cleanliness at Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Hospital, Haseeb Shaheed Colony, Faisalabad.

She conducted a surprise inspection of the hospital and inquired about the patients in different wards. She expressed her displeasure with the unavailability of the medico-legal certificate for the woman present in the hospital for two days and ordered the duty officer to resolve the issue immediately.

ARRESTED: A women police station team arrested a suspect booked in 13 theft cases.

A woman Kiran Bibi claimed in her FIR that the suspect, Saima, stole Rs20,000 from the purse of her sister in a bus. When people overpowered and handed her over to police it was revealed in record that she was a pickpocket and there were 13 cases against her.

KIDNAP: A kidnapped girl has been recovered from Azad Kashmir by Chak Jhumra police.

Police claimed that Rashid Iqbal had abducted Alishba (20) and took her to Azad Kashmir. The girl has been handed over to her parents.

FDA: In crackdown on illegal commercialisation in residential colonies under the control of FDA, its team carried out an operation in Gulshan Colony and Awami Colony, sealing nine plots for unauthorised commercial use of residential properties.

Director Town Planning Afnan Saeed Sandhu, led FDA team, along with Inspectors Aslam Ansari and Rizwan Cheema, and found that plots were being used for warehouses, schools, shops, and other commercial activities without approval or payment of the dues.

MURDER: A woman was murdered in Gojra Chak 346/JB by her husband.

Police said Sajida Bibi (46) and her husband Umar Daraz quarrelled over some domestic issue and the latter hit her with a chopper, killing her instantly. The suspect escaped.

Published in Dawn, May 15th, 2026