The nationalist Choudhry Rahmat Ali was born in 1895 and passed away four years later after the creation of Pakistan. He was among the advocates of the creation of a separate homeland for the Muslims of the Sub-continent. He is honored for the creation of the name of “Pakistan.” The creative Rahmat Ali has created the name when he was at the University of Cambridge studying Law in 1933. He issued the name in his first pamphlet “Now or Never; Are We to Live or Perish Forever?” In this pamphlet, he has given the reason for the creation of a separate country “Pakistan”.

The enthusiastic Rahmat Ali has started his famous pamphlet with these words  “At this solemn hour in the history of India, when British and Indian statesmen are laying the foundations of a Federal Constitution for that land, we address this appeal to you, in the name of our common heritage, on behalf of our thirty million Muslim brethren who live in PAKISTAN – by which we mean the five Northern units of India, Viz: Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, Kashmir, Sind, and Baluchistan.”

He is the one who persuaded people towards the partition movement and motivated them even to fight for the movement. After the independence of Pakistan, he was not happy because what he had written in his pamphlet was larger than what they have gained. He was the one who raised the issue of Kashmir in the United Nation and also argued for the rights of Muslims in India.

China’s digital farming and smart agriculture practices are going to be a shot in the arm of Pakistan’s agriculture growth with inspiration from Chinese agro-based innovative technologies and techniques. A group of young Pakistani agri-tech entrepreneurs has pioneered a project “Digital Dera” in district Pakpattan, around 148 kilometers away from Lahore.

A tech-savvy project “Digital Dera” aims to empower farmers with cutting-edge agriculture solutions and assist them in the creation of smart communities. Talking to Gwadar Pro, founder of “Digital Dera” and co-founder of a Think Tank ‘Agriculture Republic’, Aamer Hayat Bhandara emphasized that data, information, advisory, and technology are pre-requisites for maximizing agricultural growth.

He believed that despite the ideal weather and fertile land, Pakistan is unable to achieve the standard yield due to the lack of modern agricultural techniques. He also urged the usage of sensors to assist farmers in making accurate decisions for their crops. He was of the view that because China is leading the world in technological innovation, therefore, he proposed that Chinese agro-based companies aligned with modern agriculture vision may digitally equip Pakistani farmers by transferring technology of agriculture drones, geo-tagging, data collection through satellite imagery, electric tractors, and human resource development.

Talking about the impact and prospects of “Digital Dera”, he said that this model can easily be replicated anywhere in the country. He also looked forward to collaborating with China on capacity building and the transfer of digital technology in agriculture.

It is an encouraging development that footprints of China’s digital farming in Pakistan are getting visible. Farmland Digital Integrated Management System, which Shandong ARK IT Business implemented in east China’s Shandong Province, is now working on digital agriculture development in Pakistan. While supplying high-quality drip irrigation and sprinkler irrigation equipment, the company also uses artificial intelligence technologies to help Pakistan’s small farmers and large-scale plantations save money and boost efficiency.

The Farmland Digital Integrated Management System’s machine vision and intelligence are primarily used for monitoring plant diseases and insect pests. To achieve agricultural production prediction, pest control, and other challenges, the system uses artificial intelligence technologies such as computer vision, picture recognition, and deep learning. Pakistani farmers can directly replicate the advanced Chinese agricultural technology in order to accomplish higher crop yields to ensure food security in the country. It should be noted that Pakistani food imports have risen by 54 percent during the last fiscal year. In Pakistan, various factors have contributed to increased food imports, and one of them is low crop yield. According to a study conducted by Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited in 2020,

(The Daily CPEC) Construction on CPEC’s Karot Hydropower Station has achieved 95% construction. After 6 years of construction, the project was finally able to close its diversion gates and has started storing water. The power plant is located on the Jhelum River in Punjab. With an installed capacity of 7,200 megawatts, it can generate over three billion kilowatt-hours of clean energy each year. China Three Gorges Corporation, a Chinese enterprise, has made an investment in the project worth $1.7 billion.

The first hydropower project under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the Karot Hydropower Station, has achieved another milestone as 95 percent working on it has been completed. CPEC is a 3,000-kilometer-long route of infrastructure projects connecting northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and the Gwadar Port in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.

On Saturday, the project closed the gates of its diversion tunnels after six years of construction and officially started impounding water in its reservoir for future use. Chinese engineers recalled challenges they faced during the construction of the hydropower plant.

“We spent two years working out solutions to cope with the sandstone and mudstone underground, which interrupted our grouting work. We made it after repeated trial and error. The cement used for the construction was produced locally, so we tried very hard to control temperature rise and reduce cracks in the concrete,” Zuo Yaxi, head of the Engineering Department of China Three Gorges South Asia Investment Ltd. (CSAIL), told CGTN in an interview.

The power plant is located on the Jhelum River in Punjab. With an installed capacity of 7,200 megawatts, it can generate over three billion kilowatt-hours of clean energy each year. Besides creating jobs for people in Pakistan, it would provide electricity at a lower price. China Three Gorges Corporation, a Chinese enterprise, has made an investment in the project worth $1.7 billion.

Once completed, the hydropower project is expected to help reduce carbon dioxide emissions in Pakistan by 3.5 million tonnes per year, Chinese media reported.