Featured Punjab and California Officially Declared Sister Provinces

[Goritoes]

Pun-fornia
Cali-Jab

take your pick

 

[GumNaam]

@ california "parliament"!

 

[Bilal9]

Actually in 60s all cotton and Citrus seeds came from US especially citrus from California I agree with U Pakistan can learn alot from them in farming

Yes the US sells a lot of cotton to Bangladesh too (even today), which is the world's largest importer of cotton.

Back in the day (mid 1800s to mid 1900s) there used to be special "reefer" or refrigerator citrus trains (carrying fresh oranges, limes, lemons, malta, grapefruit as well as canned/bottled citrus juice products) that ran several times a day from California to colder parts of the East Coast.

These California citrus reefer express freight cars of late 1800's were suspended on super fast bogies (see below) to avoid spoilage of the fruit and made it to the East Coast in less than two/three days which is phenomenal for steam locomotives and trains back in the day. Since refrigeration equipment was not yet invented before the 1890's these freight cars used loaded ICE blocks on each end of the car.

Here is a Southern Pacific Lines steam locomotive carrying PFE reefers probably around 1920's (after WW1) over Tehachapi Pass in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains. climbing to 4000 feet elevation before descending to Nevada.

Think that we have not yet done this refrigerated freight service in the subcontinent - we are approximately 180 years behind the US.

 

[Bilal9]

Some of the California Citrus Fruit Packaging before 1900's was quite colorful, and was a marketing tool. These designs are very popular in California to this day as vintage framed art.

 

[Bilal9]

there is one huge problem ... as a land owner in central punjab i can tell you the market rates are not as regulated as in US which results in unpredictability. Untill this is sorted out, this fututristic talk wont happen!

You are absolutely right. Produce prices depend on the vagaries of the weather which fluctuates. The US govt. has ensured that farmers will get a fair price on their produce no matter what. Farming subsidies are very generous and are a hotly debated item with GOP protecting them. Most farmers are Republican as a result.

I have heard that some times the US govt. takes thousands of tons of produce (wheat/rice/corn) and dumps it in the ocean, to artificially stabilize prices. They should give it to poor countries instead.

But other than farming subsidies there are other (yet unexplored) avenues for increased business. In Pakistan and Bangladesh there should be an FTA at least on fruits and vegetables, if not anything else. There is a huge market for produce in both countries, and in Bangladesh case, India is manipulating that market.

India pulled a fast one on Bangladesh on onions and potatoes, creating artificial scarcity during Ramzan, as we all saw last year. Bangladeshis were miffed to say the least and decided after the fact they won't buy these items from India anymore. Therefore an opportunity exists for Pakistan to sell onions and potatoes to Bangladesh market.

I think both Bangladesh and Pakistan agri products overlap somewhat (ex: Mangoes) - but certain things (coconuts and many exotic tropical fruits such as dragonfruit, carambola etc. from Bangladesh) are not grown in Pakistan, and can be supplied from Bangladesh. Likewise, Bangladesh does not grow a lot of apples, peaches, plums and pomegranates and those can be supplied by Pakistan.

Both countries should invest in and increase canning and preservation technology so that canned fruit extract (concentrate) and packed fresh fruit in syrup (as opposed to preserves like jelly, jam, marmalade) can be exported. Thailand is currently making a killing in selling these items to US and EU markets (especially coconut juice for retail and dried tamarind paste as bulk restaurant supplies). Turkey is also a very large exporter of preserved and processed agri-products.

 

[Dr-who]

What is the benefit of declaring sister provinces??

 

[Mk-313]

What is the benefit of declaring sister provinces??

It’s kinda like a gimmick to promote culture but sadly it doesn’t come with concrete benefits. Cali is sisters with 28 provinces

 

[KAL-EL]

What is the benefit of declaring sister provinces??

I believe at least one of the benefits are vinyl record swapping between provinces.

 

[Areesh]

@Areesh @Syed1.

Nobody cares. We are not racists like you

 

[Baby Leone]

IMHO Baluchistan should be the sister province of California same land scape and weather.

OK since I live in California - I'm officially half Punjabi now I guess.

By the way - if it were a country, California’s $3.1 trillion economy would be the fifth biggest in the world, ranked between Germany and the United Kingdom. The state represents 15% of the U.S. economy. Home prices in the state are the highest in the nation at a median of $592,000.

I sure hope the Punjab govt. folks can come benchmark some things (other than agriculture) from California, it would help them quite a bit.

There are many, many Sikh folks farming in California for three generations now and some of them speak Punjabi too. Here is the Sikh Gurdwara in San Jose. You see these Gurdwaras all across the central valley, where the Sikh Farmers live.

and punjab GDP is around 600 billion USD.

 

[VCheng]

In a landmark achievement for Pakistan and the United States of America, the California State parliament has approved a new bill declaring Punjab and California as ‘Sister Provinces’.

Except that California is not a province. It is a State.

 

[Taimoor Khan]

LOL.

 

[El Sidd]

OK since I live in California - I'm officially half Punjabi now I guess.

By the way - if it were a country, California’s $3.1 trillion economy would be the fifth biggest in the world, ranked between Germany and the United Kingdom. The state represents 15% of the U.S. economy. Home prices in the state are the highest in the nation at a median of $592,000.

I sure hope the Punjab govt. folks can come benchmark some things (other than agriculture) from California, it would help them quite a bit.

There are many, many Sikh folks farming in California for three generations now and some of them speak Punjabi too. Here is the Sikh Gurdwara in San Jose. You see these Gurdwaras all across the central valley, where the Sikh Farmers live.

Cool.

PM Pakistan says Japan and Germany shared a border in WW2.

This just requires Punjab to have a link with Pacific ocean via Wagah

now punjabis will get californian green card easily .

Before that, Kingdom of Bihar and Bengal may offer the opportunity first.

 

[Bilal9]

Except that California is not a province. It is a State.

It's the spirit that matters. Terms are pointless. Plenty of Punjabis in California.

It’s kinda like a gimmick to promote culture but sadly it doesn’t come with concrete benefits. Cali is sisters with 28 provinces

I don't think there is a whole lot of similarity in culture that can be shared - but Punjab can benchmark agricultural practices to start with. This is actually where the rubber meets the road - but it will require very radical changes in governance and innovative thinking. Somewhere to start, which the current govt. can show benefits rather quickly.

Industrial practices - China is a better benchmark and of course, much closer.

 

[VCheng]

It's the spirit that matters. Terms are pointless. Plenty of Punjabis in California.

Yes, but mostly it is the "other" Punjab.