Young Pakistani turns bedroom into robotics lab to develop humanoid droids

Syed Usama Aziz demonstrates his 3D-printed humanoid robot at his home in Multan, Pakistan on October 8, 2021. (Photo courtesy: Usama Aziz)
Short Url
Updated 05 November 2021
Follow

Young Pakistani turns bedroom into robotics lab to develop humanoid droids

  • 28-year-old electrical engineering graduate Usama Aziz has been developing his passion for robotics for the past six years
  • He sees a bright future for robotics in his country, where such initiatives are supported by the National Centre of Robotics and Automation

RAWALPINDI: It took Usama Aziz two years to build a white robot that dazzled YouTube viewers last month when with human-like fingers it poured a drink for his creator without spilling a drop. 

Aziz, 28, an electrical engineering graduate of the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) in Islamabad built the white shiny humanoid at his bedroom-turned- laboratory in Multan, where he has been developing his passion for robotics for the past six years.

“Humanoid robots are the most difficult robots to make because human structure is complex, and very difficult to replicate,” he told Arab News. “There are individual finger control elements, which means I can individually control its fingers as well as the elbow, wrist, shoulders and all the joints separately. It is very complex."

The white robot, which Aziz says is still in the development stage, has made the rounds on social media, but it is not his first creation.

In 2016, he made a food-serving droid, which was even put to work at a Multan restaurant in 2017. But that one was much simpler and could not move its arms.

For the drink-serving robot Aziz opted to go with a 3-D printer, also because of how he believes it could influence robot design, particularly in Pakistan, where research and development have been limited.  

“The number one benefit (of 3-D printing) is that it is very accurate, all the parts of the robot once developed can be replicated with exact dimensions, exact sizes, exact parameters, without any changing, without any difficulty it can be replicated,” he said.  

“This means once I open source my files through my website, or on any online portal, any researcher, student, enthusiast or roboticist, who wants to work in this field or want to make a humanoid robot, can use my design files and 3-D printable files, and can have their own version of the robot and can do so right here in Pakistan.”

Aziz says he sees a bright future for robotics in his country, where individual initiatives are supported by the National Centre of Robotics and Automation (NCRA).

Established in 2018 under the umbrella of the Higher Education Commission, the purpose of NCRA is to indigenize and advance the discipline in Pakistan.

“Because of these labs and the startup culture that is going to develop in Pakistan, the future of robotics has a great potential,” Aziz said.

His own robotics startup, NextGen Robotix, last year won NCRA's Robotics Start-Up Challenge competition and a prize of Rs300,000 ($1,750).




Syed Usama Aziz (right) receives a cheque after winning a robotics competition at the National Centre of Robotics and Automation located at the National University of Sciences & Technology, Islamabad in 2020. (Photo courtesy: Usama Aziz)

“Robotics is a cutting-edge field where you can create intelligent machines having the capability of performing autonomous or semi-autonomous tasks. It’s an exciting field because one can create something out of nothing,” Dr. Umar Shahbaz Khan, NCRA director and NUST faculty member told Arab News.

“The world is moving towards automation and robotics is an integral part of it. Whether it’s the Roomba robot cleaning the carpet in the house or the Mars rover on another planet, these are all robots.”  

An educationist by day, Aziz says many students are interested in the field.

"All we need is some sort of companies who are willing to spend money on the indigenous development of robotics here in Pakistan, and then we'll be really progressing in this sphere," he said.

Could this progress lead to a robot takeover of the world?

“It's a very common question among people. But I think there is nothing to be afraid of. We are still far, far, far away from robots taking over the world,” Aziz said. “We control the robots right now. And they are pretty harmless. Robots are pretty dumb, not as intelligent as humans are, so they cannot take over the world anytime soon.”


Pakistan economy to grow 2.7 percent in FY25, economic survey shows

Updated 5 sec ago
Follow

Pakistan economy to grow 2.7 percent in FY25, economic survey shows

  • The government initially targeted 3.6 percent GDP growth, but lowered it last month
  • Pakistan’s finance chief says the national economy is on an upward trajectory

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s economy is likely to expand 2.7 percent in the fiscal year ending June 2025 after growing 2.5 percent during the previous year, the government’s economic survey showed on Monday, a day before the country’s federal budget is unveiled.
The government initially targeted 3.6 percent GDP growth, but lowered it to 2.7 percent last month. The IMF expects real GDP to grow by 2.6 percent in FY25 and for the economy to grow 3.6 percent in FY26.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government aims for 4.2 percent GDP growth next year, the country’s planning minister said last week, amid competing priorities, including stimulating investment, maintaining a primary surplus, and managing defense expenditure amid heightened tensions with India.
Pakistan’s central bank, in a bid to encourage growth, cut its policy rate by more than 1,000 basis points in the current fiscal year. Its latest cut last month brought the key rate to 11 percent, resuming an easing cycle that had brought rates down from 22 percent after a brief pause in March.
Pakistan had a current account surplus of $1.9 billion in the July to April period of the current fiscal year compared to a deficit of $200 million in the same period last year, the survey showed.
“Pakistan’s economy has been globally acknowledged for achieving macroeconomic stabilization in the outgoing fiscal year,” Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said in his foreword to the survey.
“Pakistan is consistently advancing on an upward trajectory, built upon investment friendly reforms, enhanced domestic savings, and increased foreign direct investment, with GDP growth projected at 5.7 percent over the medium term,” he said.
The economic survey, a key pre-budget document, comes at a time when Pakistan’s economy is stabilizing but remains fragile as the country navigates reforms under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund program.
Pakistan’s federal budget for the next fiscal year starting July will be released on Tuesday.
The government’s total revenue for the first three quarters of the current year stood at 13.37 trillion rupees, the survey showed.
Increasing revenue to trim the fiscal deficit, a key demand of the IMF program, is considered challenging for Islamabad.
Other key performance indicators mentioned in the economic survey include fiscal deficit at 2.6 percent of GDP during the first three quarters of the fiscal year.
Inflation was seen at 4.6 percent for the year.


India-Pakistan conflict threshold at historic low after military flare-up — Bhutto-Zardari

Updated 5 min 19 sec ago
Follow

India-Pakistan conflict threshold at historic low after military flare-up — Bhutto-Zardari

  • Former Pakistani foreign minister emphasizes dialogue, diplomacy in interview with Sky News
  • He says Pakistan acted against militant groups by working with the Financial Action Task Force

ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistani foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari warned on Monday the threshold for war between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan had significantly dropped following last month’s military standoff during an interview with an international news outlet.

India and Pakistan engaged in their most intense military exchange only a few weeks ago, prompting fears of a full-scale war under the nuclear overhang. Over four days, both countries traded missile strikes, drone attacks and air combat before US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire on May 10.

The crisis erupted after a militant assault killed 26 tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir. New Delhi blamed the attack on Pakistan-based elements, a charge Islamabad strongly denied, calling instead for an impartial international investigation.

As the situation escalated, the global community moved quickly to ease tensions and avert the risk of a nuclear confrontation.

“At the moment, the threshold for conflict between India and Pakistan is the lowest than it’s ever been in our history,” Bhutto-Zardari said in an interview with Sky News in London. “We’ve achieved the ceasefire, but we have not achieved peace as it stands today.”

“If there’s a terrorist attack anywhere in India or India-occupied Kashmir, proof or no proof, that means war,” he added. “That’s not a tenable situation. Pakistan believes there needs to be dialog and diplomacy, where we discuss all issues — terrorism, Kashmir, water — and start moving forward.”

Bhutto-Zardari said Pakistan had long advocated peace through dialogue, as he pointed to India’s refusal to engage diplomatically.

He also criticized New Delhi’s position on the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), a World Bank-brokered agreement signed in 1960 governing water rights over rivers shared by the two countries.

While India has not stopped water flows entirely, he said, it had delayed releases, a tactic, which he noted, could devastate Pakistan’s agricultural output.

“Even a week’s delay in water supply can destroy crops in a country like Pakistan, which depends heavily on agriculture,” he said, warning that any move by India to build new canals or dams on rivers allocated to Pakistan would cross a red line.

“That would be war,” he said.

Bhutto-Zardari further rejected the idea that Pakistan harbored militant groups involved in cross-border militancy, noting the country had taken significant action under the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) framework, a global watchdog that monitors money laundering and terrorism financing.

“When I was foreign minister, Pakistan was on the FATF grey list. By the end of my term, we had successfully moved off that list,” he said, calling the removal an endorsement by the international community of Pakistan’s counterterrorism efforts.

Responding to Indian claims over the recent Kashmir attack, he reiterated that Pakistan had no role in the incident and challenged New Delhi to present credible evidence if it had any.

“They went to war with a nuclear power and still cannot name a single terrorist involved,” he said. “If India was being honest, we’d know who they were, where they came from, which border crossing they used. These are basic questions that remain unanswered.”

Bhutto-Zardari is currently leading a nine-member Pakistani delegation to various world capitals to present Islamabad’s position on the recent conflict with India.

The delegation held meetings in recent days with representatives of the United Nations, its member states and US officials before arriving in London a day earlier to continue its mission.


New warehouse fire breaks out in Karachi as factory blaze continues for second day

Updated 45 min 21 sec ago
Follow

New warehouse fire breaks out in Karachi as factory blaze continues for second day

  • Karachi hosts thousands of industrial units but struggles with outdated firefighting infrastructure
  • The new warehouse fire near Mauripur follows factory blaze in Landhi that injured five on Sunday

KARACHI: A fire broke out at an oil warehouse near Karachi’s Mauripur truck terminal on Monday, rescue officials said, as firefighters continued battling a separate blaze that erupted a day earlier at the city’s Landhi Export Processing Zone and has yet to be fully extinguished.

Karachi, Pakistan’s financial hub, is home to thousands of industrial units but suffers from outdated firefighting infrastructure and lax safety enforcement.

“Fire and rescue teams were dispatched with one ambulance and two fire brigade trucks immediately upon receiving the alert,” Rescue 1122 said in a statement. “Efforts are under way to bring the blaze under control.”

Meanwhile, firefighting operations at the Landhi zone, which began on Sunday, entered their second day, with flames still active inside some of the affected factories.

Authorities said the fire has been partially contained but full extinguishment and cooling may take additional time.

At least five people were injured on Sunday after part of a building collapsed at the industrial site, which houses multiple textile factories, officials confirmed.

The injured were moved to a nearby hospital.

A total of 11 fire brigade trucks and a snorkel were involved in efforts to control the blaze, which were hindered by thick smoke and water shortages in the city of over 20 million.

Hundreds of fire incidents are reported every year in Karachi.

Last November, a shopping mall blaze killed a dozen people.

In April 2023, four firefighters died responding to a garment factory fire, and in 2021, a chemical factory blaze claimed 10 lives.

The deadliest such incident in the city’s history occurred in 2012, when 260 workers were killed in a garment factory fire.


Inside Islamabad’s thriving farmers market, where nature meets community

Updated 09 June 2025
Follow

Inside Islamabad’s thriving farmers market, where nature meets community

  • 79 approved sellers selected through rigorous vetting process that includes soil and water testing, on-site visits to farms
  • Many vendors have been displaying at 12-year-old market for years, new entrepreneurs have also found their footing 

ISLAMABAD: Every Saturday morning, a quiet corner of Pakistan’s capital comes alive with the earthy scent of fresh produce, the hum of friendly chatter and the unmistakable feel of community. 

This is the Islamabad Farmers Market, now more than a decade old and having grown from a humble initiative into a thriving hub of sustainability, entrepreneurship, and local connection.

Launched in 2013 with just six vendors, the market now hosts 79 approved seller, each selected through a rigorous vetting process that includes soil and water testing as well as on-site visits to farms. 

The aim? To keep the food chain clean, ethical, and transparent.

“The main goal was to eliminate the middleman and help small-scale farmers and producers connect directly with customers,” said Ali Raza, a representative of the market. “Today, we have created a trusted space for clean, organic, and ethical products.”

Each stall at the market tells a different story. Beneath canopies strung with fairy lights and shaded by leafy trees, you’ll find everything from heirloom tomatoes and farm-fresh eggs to artisan sourdough and wild honey from the mountains.

Among the market’s earliest supporters is Naghma, a 70-year-old anthropologist and environmentalist who only gave her first name. 

A regular since its inception, she now sells her homemade hummus and baba ghanoush, an Arab eggplant dip, prepared with hand-ground tahini, alongside a variety of other organic spreads.

“I come here every Saturday with three bags and go back with five or six,” she laughed. “I buy all my raw materials here.”

For Naghma, organic eating is more than a preference, it’s a lifelong passion rooted in gardening and the rhythms of the seasons.

“I follow seasons because organic by definition is seasonal,” she said. “So, I make French Boursin cheese. My products, I call them ‘Les Deli De Naghma,’ so there’s a definite French touch.”

The Farmers Market has also become a vital platform for small-scale growers not just from Islamabad, but also more remote northern areas of the country such as northern Gilgit-Baltistan.

Sherazam, the founder of Hunza Organic, is one such vendor who has been displaying at the market for over a decade. On his table: ruby-red dried cherries, sun-cured apricot oil, and jars of thick wild honey, all harvested by hand and brought straight from the mountains.

“Our clientele knows that our products are pure. Many others also source their raw materials from us,” he told Arab News.

Sherazam said his business model was deeply community-driven.

“In Hunza, everyone farms. The women in my village produce these items, and we handle the packaging in Islamabad,” he added.

“RELIABLE, FRESH, FAMILY-FRIENDLY“

New entrepreneurs are also finding their footing at the Islamabad Farmer’s market. 

Waleed Noor Malik, representing “Guy Knows Food,” a popular kimchi brand, said the market had helped launch their business and acted as an accelerator. 

“We started selling kimchi here because we couldn’t find a brand in Pakistan that matched our taste,” he said. “Sampling at the market really helps build our brand. People try it here and often follow up on social media.”

Engineer-turned-farmer, who manages 300 beehives and a young olive orchard near Taxila, shared a similar experience. His small-batch raw honey and extra virgin olive oil are bottled with care and sold directly to those who seek quality over mass production.

“It’s not easy to compete with bulk commercial sellers, but here, people appreciate authenticity,” he said.

Raza, the curator of the market, said many of its vendors had started small, with just a few pots or a home kitchen and now had full storefronts.

“Many people in and around Islamabad, from Chak Shehzad and Barakahu, were producing and running small-scale farms but they didn’t have a platform to sell their fruits and vegetables. So, the main aim was to provide them with a platform,” he added. 

Much of the market’s success hinges on its rigorous commitment to quality. Vendors undergo lengthy screening processes, including environmental checks and farm inspections.

“We look for the soil test, water test, and then we do a site visit,” said Raza. “We make sure that no insecticides, pesticides, or urea are used.”

This transparency has earned the market a loyal following. Dr. Shanza Khan, a dentist and long-time visitor, summed it up simply: 

“The vendors are reliable, and their products are fresh. It’s a very family-friendly environment.”

More than a market, this is clearly a community garden in motion, where each bag of microgreens or bottle of honey is part of a larger story of connection and care for the land. And with the launch of an online platform, the market has extended its reach beyond Saturdays, giving customers access to their favorite organic products throughout the week. For vendors, this means steadier sales and greater visibility in a growing wellness economy.

Another attraction lies at the far end of the market, where food and coffee stalls beckon with the smell of sourdough sandwiches, artisanal cheese, and specialty brews. Some mornings, live music plays in the background, or a spontaneous art therapy session spills onto the grassy space beside the Dino Park. Children run through the park’s dino sculptures while parents sip cappuccinos under the trees.

Mahnoor Omer, a lawyer and regular visitor, has made coming here a weekly ritual. 

“Coffee, sourdough, cheese sandwiches, and sometimes, spontaneous catch-ups with friends,” she said, smiling. 

“It’s a great outlet for home-based growers and vendors from northern areas to bring their produce straight to our kitchens.”


Pakistan National Assembly speaker meets Saudi crown prince, urges deeper ties at Hajj luncheon

Updated 09 June 2025
Follow

Pakistan National Assembly speaker meets Saudi crown prince, urges deeper ties at Hajj luncheon

  • Pakistan National Assembly speaker meets Saudi crown prince, urges deeper ties at Hajj luncheon
  • The Crown Prince reaffirmed his commitment to addressing challenges facing the Muslim world

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday at a luncheon hosted for Muslim leaders visiting the Kingdom for Hajj, expressing hope for even stronger ties between the two countries, according to an official statement.
The meeting underscored a longstanding relationship rooted in economic, diplomatic and military cooperation.
Saudi Arabia has repeatedly come to Pakistan’s aid during financial crises, including through multibillion-dollar deposits in Pakistan’s central bank and deferred oil payment facilities in the past. Such support has helped Islamabad shore up its foreign currency reserves and even unlock International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout programs during periods of acute external financing pressure.
“Saudi Arabia has always stood by Pakistan in times of adversity,” Sadiq said during the meeting, thanking the crown prince for Riyadh’s consistent backing.
“We hope that ties between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia will grow even stronger,” he added.
According to the National Assembly, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reiterated his commitment to addressing challenges facing the Muslim world.
The speaker’s meeting follows a two-day trip to the Kingdom last week by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who performed Umrah alongside Army Chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir and other senior officials.
During the visit, Sharif thanked Saudi leadership for its role during last month’s military standoff between Pakistan and India and praised Riyadh’s efforts to promote regional and global stability.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have also been expanding their economic ties.
In October last year, the two countries signed business-to-business agreements and memoranda of understanding worth $2.8 billion aimed at boosting trade and investment.