Science and Environment

The Consul General of the Peoples Republic of China in Lahore Mr. Zhao Shiren has said that China believes Pakistan can hold a peaceful, safe and timely elections while the solution of Occupied Kashmir should be according to the resolutions of the United Nations. He expressed these views while talking to journalists in Meet the Press program at Lahore Press Club. Mr. Zhao Shiren said that general elections are internal matter of Pakistan.  We should not interfere, but we will welcome whoever forms government and move forward together. He said CPEC is the joint venture of China and Pakistan which has completed 10 years and will be completed in any case. Under CPEC, he said US $26 billion have been invested so far while construction ...

January 26, 2024 at 11:56 am | Economic Affairs

Season of Lofty Promises The underlying assumption in each of political forces manifestos is that with their coming into power will lead to an instantaneous resolution of the myriad difficulties being faced by the Pakistani people. By Qamar Bashir The elections 2024 are unfolding in a landscape marked by intense competition and heightened political rhetoric. Major parties are engaging in a familiar cycle of blame games and lofty promises, often overlooking the complex economic and financial situation of the country. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has adopted a strategy that focuses on criticizing its main rival, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), branding it as responsible for the May-9 incident. Interestingly, PML-N app...

January 24, 2024 at 4:31 pm | Economic Affairs

Panacea to Economic Renaissance SIFC can contribute significantly to inclusive economic growth and sustainable development through CPEC. This involves ensuring that the benefits of CPEC are evenly distributed, addressing regional disparities, and fostering inclusive growth. By Qamar Bashir Like many other Pakistanis, I have also been pondering why the CPEC, touted as a game changer and harbinger of development and prosperity, has almost completed its first phase and launched its second phase, but inversely, the country is in deep financial and economic difficulties, the country is faced with the worst form of inflation, investment is almost negligible, and GDP growth is even worse. Hopes for growth and development in the coming ye...

January 21, 2024 at 12:23 am | Economic Affairs

China has become the largest foreign investor in Pakistan. Under the CPEC it has invested almost $30 billion and is committed to invest more in the future. By Prof. Engr. Zamir Ahmed Awan China and Pakistan are closet friends and with relations covering political, diplomatic, economic, and defense dimensions. Irrespective of whatsoever happening in the region or geopolitics, the ties between the two countries have remained undeterred. On the economic front, China has become the largest foreign investor in Pakistan. Under the CPEC it has invested almost $30 billion and is committed to invest more in the future, particularly focusing on investment in the power sector and infrastructure development. The next stage of the CPEC is focu...

January 19, 2024 at 2:29 pm | Economic Affairs

AgenciesCalifornia, Oct. 9 — The company that operates the pipeline that spilled an estimated 3,000 barrels of oil into the Pacific Ocean off California has an 800-page manual on handling an oil spill - but it is unclear whether its employees followed those procedures.Houston-based Amplify Energy Corp and several state and federal regulatory agencies have provided differing accounts of what happened on Oct. 2, when the pipeline spill that fouled beaches, killed wildlife and closed down fishing along miles of coastline was officially reported.The U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) said Beta Offshore, an Amplify subsidiary that operates the pipeline, received a low-pressure warning in its control room about...

October 9, 2021 at 10:38 am | Economic Affairs

BRUSSELS, Sept 24 - Young people around the world began taking to the streets on Friday to demand urgent action to avert disastrous climate change, in their largest protest since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.The strike takes place five weeks before the U.N. COP26 summit, which aims to secure more ambitious climate action from world leaders to drastically cut the greenhouse gas emissions heating the planet."Everyone is talking about making promises, but nobody keeps their promise. We want more action," said Farzana Faruk Jhumu, 22, a youth climate activist in Dhaka, Bangladesh. "We want the work, not just the promises."Demonstrations kicked off in Asia and were planned in more than 1,500 locations, according to youth movement Fridays ...

September 24, 2021 at 3:50 pm | Economic Affairs

EA Report KARACHI: sep. 21— Pakistan's largest city and Sindh's provincial capital Karachi has emerged 59th among 60 peers in The Safe Cities Index 2021 as one of the least safe major cities in the world as it was ranked, report compiled by The Economist Intelligence Unit points out.Safe Cities Index (SCI) 2021 report ranks 60 cities across 76 indicators covering digital, health, infrastructure, personal and environmental security.Pakistan’s financial hub Karachi attained an overall score of 39.7 out of 100 on the SCI2021 index, with only Yangon, the capital city of Myanmar, which is facing political turmoil scoring less than Karachi with 39.5 points.Denmark capital Copenhagen was placed first as the safest city in the world with a sco...

September 21, 2021 at 1:17 pm | Economic Affairs

By Amar Guriro KARACHI, Pakistan, July 6 (News Lens Pakistan) -- From its start in the Himalayas, the Indus River flows almost 2,000 miles to the Arabian Sea, ensuring there is fertile land for farmers along the way and sustenance for Pakistan's wildlife. The river is in trouble, though. Its 17 major creeks, which in the past helped push seawater back, have almost dried up, allowing the Arabian Sea to flow upstream, poisoning the Indus River Delta with salt water and fouling farmland. Meanwhile, sea levels are rising, swamping entire villages along the river and threatening a way of life for thousands of families.  "There were many villages in our area, which are now completely submerged and the residents had moved somewhere el...

July 6, 2015 at 3:25 pm | News Desk

The UK's decision to stop subsidising new onshore wind farms will make it harder to meet renewable energy targets, the EU's climate chief says. Miguel Arias Canete said the EU had already calculated that the UK was not on track to meet legally binding goals. Asked by EA if the wind decision would make the task harder he replied: "Of course". His officials have expressed bemusement at the decision to end subsidies for onshore wind energy a year early. They said onshore wind was by far the cheapest way to hit the target of 15% of all energy from renewables from 2020. 'Mind-boggling' The SNP estimate the change will cost bill payers up to three billion pounds. After a media briefing on climate policy at the European Commission, one ...

June 24, 2015 at 6:05 pm | News Desk

KARACHI: Is Karachi experiencing climate change? Where is all this heat coming from? How can the heat kill people in hundreds? Baffled Karachiites are wondering what is happening to the weather patterns in their city but the recent heat wave may not have come as unannounced as some of us think. Scientists have warned for some time now that heat waves will become more frequent and intense due to climate change, yet the government is yet to recognise this impending threat. Death toll from the ongoing heat wave across Karachi, which was amplified by high humidity, load-shedding and low water consumption as people are fasting, has now risen to above 700. Currently, hundreds of patients suffering from heat stroke and heat exhaustion are...

June 24, 2015 at 4:04 pm | News Desk

Under an agreement reached among provinces and federal government at a high-level national meeting on National Climate Change Policy Implementation Committee (NCCPIC), each of Pakistan's five provinces will create its own committee to take action on climate change policy and report back by May 5 on how they intend to take action on both reducing climate-changing emissions and supporting adaptation to climate change impacts. It was also agreed during the meeting that climate change sections also would be established in the federal planning commission and provincial planning and development (P&D) departments for smooth coordination among the federal and provincial governments on climate change and climate funding. “Such plans will be ...

June 22, 2015 at 1:56 pm | News Desk

Saleem Shaikh Along with dozens of other farmers in the western Himalayan village of Namli Mera, Muhammad Naeem had been planning to give up agriculture and move to a nearby city. Resigned to opening a roadside coffee stall or working as a labourer in an auto shop, Naeem decided two years ago to abandon his potato fields after losing much of his three hectares of terraced farmland to soil erosion and landslides – problems that have become more frequent due to intense rainfall in the area. Namli Mera, located on the northern border of Ayubia National Park some 80 km from Pakistan’s capital city of Islamabad, was once famous for its sparkling natural springs. But in recent years the village has become better known for its uns...

September 18, 2014 at 2:16 am | News Desk

Saleem Shaikh It has been a renewal of life and livelihood for Muhammad Naeem, a vegetable grower in north Pakistan’s Namli Mera village who was about to give it all up and move to the city after shrinking water supply and pollution had made farming unviable. But the mountain stream has revived, the water quality improved and he is able to irrigate his four-acre plot with ease thanks to an innovative watershed management programme that has saved many farmers like him. “Water supply from a centuries old natural sparkling spring in our area was shrinking, getting turbid and polluted because of rising deforestation in our mountain village. I realised that farming was no more viable and was thinking of abandoning it to migrate to ...

August 12, 2014 at 3:16 am | News Desk