In a world of higher electricity demand growth, clean electricity is stepping up to the challenge. Spearheaded by exponential solar expansion, clean power is set to grow faster than demand, marking the start of a permanent decline in fossil generation. 2024 both clarified and consolidated the shape of the global …
Pakistan's first population census in 17 years is running into problems amidst strong protests in Baluchistan even as former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto warned that the "controversial census' will only create more problems. The Pushtoon-dominated areas in Baluchistan are refusing to oblige to the enumerators. Pushtoons fear that the Baluch-dominated …
The proposed US $1.9 billion gas pipeline from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan is expected to be completed by the year 2001, a government official said recently. "The gas pipeline will have a capacity of 1.5 billion cubic feet per day of gas transmission and is expected to be completed by 2001,' …
Pakistan's rice exports will get a boost with the imminent reduction of the involvement of parastatals, following a recent merger of Rice Export Corporation and the Trading Corporation. Now, the private sector would play a much greater role. In its new dispensation, Pakistan, as a rice supplier to the global …
Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif said the new motorway connecting Islamabad to Lahore would bring about revolutionary socio-economic changes. His comment came at a time when most road and railway experts have called the six-lane highway a "non-viable project.' They say the highway would cost the national exchequer nearly Rs …
The European Union (EU) has begun an inspection of Karachi's fish harbour to decide whether to ban seafood exports from Pakistan. The fishing industry in Pakistan exports around US $150 million of seafood annually. Almost one-third goes to Europe and sold mostly in the UK and the Netherlands. The EU …
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a US $100 million loan to Pakistan for a flood protection project. The loan will be used for building embankments, spurs and flood retention and dispersion structures and also to plant trees, shrubs and reeds along river banks to save them from erosion. …
A US $12.5 million project that focuses on poverty alleviation, environmental protection and improving the quality of education has been launched in Pakistan. The project, instituted by the United Nations Development Programme, will create teacher training and resource centres to improve the quality of teaching and of primary and secondary …
imports of goods made by forced or indentured child labourers may be banned if a bill is passed in us. The bill sponsors say that the trade ban will affect the imports of rugs and carpets from Pakistan and India, where children as young as four years old are sold …
Pakistan has planned to hold discussions with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for a US $22.8 million flood fighting project. The project is a part of Pakistan's initiative to combat the havoc caused by on-going floods in the country. The country is also expected to launch two projects costing US …
Torrential rains have caused destruction in many cities in Pakistan's central Punjab province, claiming 61 lives and rendering nearly 15,000 homeless. Nearly 1,000 houses have collapsed and about 16,000 partially damaged in the rain. According to Chaudhry Mohammad Azam, relief commissioner, several relief camps have been set up in the …
A project worth US $1 billion has enabled Pakistan to reclaim about 260,000 ha of waterlogged farmland. The project was launched with an assistance from the World Bank. Although Pakistan has the best canal irrigation systems in the world, the country's agricultural production has been badly affected by waterlogging and …
At least 65 people have been killed in heavy rains followed by flash floods in different parts of Pakistan. According to reports, people living in the hill areas were taken by surprise as mountain floods suddenly rose to the level of at least 14 feet and washed away several houses …
The US $785 million National Drainage Programme (NDP) of Pakistan is slated to be presented in the special meeting of the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank this October. The NDP would support improvement of the irrigation and drainage infrastructure. The project's design gives priority to areas with …
A 50-MW multipurpose nuclear reactor near Khushab in Punjub has become operational in Pakistan. The reactor is capable of producing isotopes, silica for solar technology, convert saline water into drinking water, make electric cables fire-proof and irradiate food items. Government sources said that instaffing such reactors will boost agricultural production. …
It is time to do away with myths. Hundreds of Pakistanis who have had kidney transplants are flocking to a playground during weekends to deliver a message to their countrypeople donate your organs to save lives. The event, first of its kind in the country, marked the start of a …
OVERFISHING and environmental degradation have pushed the endangered blind dolphin in the Indus river to the brink of extinction. Water pollution and construction of dams has shrunk the habitat of the dolphins, which once stretched over 2,800 km of the river, into a 170 km section of the river between …
A 450 MEGAWATT barge-mounted combined cycle power plant is scheduled to start operating in Pakistan by 1999. The plant, which is believed to be the world's largest barge-mounted power plant, will be constructed in the us on six barges and shipped halfway around the world to Port Qasim in Karachi. …
In Badin district of Pakistan, trees are being indiscriminately chopped down along canals, distributaries and roads in a display of utter disregard for the environment. Besides inflicting heavy economic losses on the government, the activity smacks of sheer callousness. Every year, the government spends millions of rupees for its tree …
Pakistan North West Frontier Province (NWFP) minister for irrigation, Bashir Bilour said in Peshawar recently that the construction of the Kalabagh dam could not be allowed at any cost as it was a potential hazard to four of the most cultivated districts of NWFP. Elaborating, the minister said that the …
