Unidentified gunmen kill three Sindh-based barbers in southwestern Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s National Food Security Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain on Sunday asked authorities to ensure timely sale of stored wheat to avoid financial losses to the country and to benefit farmers and consumers, ahead of the arrival of new crop.
Hussain issued the directives while presiding over a meeting to review wheat reserves, management strategies, and the selling process to avoid any future crises.
In Pakistan, wheat crop is planted in mid-December and the harvest usually begins in March, with the majority of the crop harvested between April and early June.
Last year, farmers in Pakistan held several protests over lower wheat prices due to the import of excess amounts of the commodity that flooded local markets.
“There would be zero tolerance for any delays in the wheat sale process as prolonged storage could impact the quality of wheat and lead to financial losses for the national treasury,” Hussain was quoted as saying by the government’s Press Information Department (PID).
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.
However, the prices of wheat last year dropped significantly in Pakistan and were much below the government’s support price of Rs3,900 ($14) per 40-kilogram bag.
During Sunday’s meeting, Pakistan Agricultural Storage & Services Corporation (PASSCO) officials informed the minister they had strengthened coordination with different agencies and provincial authorities to accelerate the sale of wheat.
“Various measures have been implemented to ensure transparency in the wheat sale process, benefiting both farmers and consumers,” they were quoted as saying.
Hussain instructed PASSCO officials to devise effective policies to address administrative and financial challenges, ensuring smooth operations in the future, according to the PID. He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to agricultural development, food security, and farmers’ welfare.

ISLAMABAD: Huawei, a leading Chinese multinational corporation and technology company, has trained more than 20,000 Pakistani youngsters in advanced information and communication technology (ICT) skills, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office said on Sunday, amid Islamabad’s efforts to develop a more technologically skilled workforce.
These youngsters have been trained under an agreement signed between Pakistan and Huawei last year to train 300,000 Pakistani youth in ICT skills to match international standards.
The Chinese tech firm is providing training to Pakistani youth in artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, cloud computing and other advanced technologies under the initiative.
“Huawei Technologies has trained 20,315 students so far. The program is upskilling students, trainers and those working in ICT technologies,” Sharif’s office said, following his meeting with a Huawei delegation in Lahore on Sunday.
“The master trainers trained by Huawei Technologies will provide training to youth at the local level.”
Pakistan views ICT as a driver of economic change and seeks to transform the sector into a cornerstone of its strategy for financial stability, courting foreign investment from countries like China and the Gulf states.
In Jan., the Pakistani IT ministry and Huawei launched a training portal to develop a more technologically skilled workforce in Pakistan, aimed at enabling the Pakistani youth to contribute to the country’s development.
During Sunday’s meeting, Sharif asked officials to ensure speedy implementation of IT training projects.
“The prime minister directed to make the ICT training portal accessible to maximum number of people, and expand the project to all provinces, including Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan,” Sharif’s office said.