Year: 2020

The government continues to struggle with ensuring a seamless supply chain for imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) for the third winter in a row. The Petroleum Division is again under fire this year for delaying LNG import orders resulting in higher prices. This caused a loss to the exchequer and made gas less affordable to consumers. While the peak winter season is still weeks away, complaints about gas shortages and low pressure have become widespread particularly in Punjab. But such grumblings have become almost a routine owing to continuously expanding…

UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has informed the international community that it’s working on a plan to ensure that by 2030 at least 30 per cent of the vehicles used in the country are electronic. Along with Denmark and Norway, Pakistan co-chairs a 32-nation Group of Friends on Sustainable Energy, which is committed to a transition from fossil fuel to renewable energy. Pakistan is also a member of the Group of Friends on Climate Change, which is also committed to promoting the use of safe, renewable energy. Speaking at a virtual meeting…

As Chairman FBR I was handling the issue of withdrawal of zero rating for sales tax on five export-oriented sectors it was then that I realized that price of electricity and subsidy thereon for industries is more important than many other things. I was not able to quantify, however, it was quite clear that a subsidy is warranted for such sectors. This leads me to the question of cost competitiveness of our export-oriented sectors. The issues that were discussed were tariffs in Lahore vs Karachi and many other such allied…

Avram Noam Chomsky, an internationally recognised linguist, philosopher, social critic and political activist, delivered an online lecture titled ‘Bullet Dodged or Merely Delayed: Reflections on the Future of Democracy, Nuclear Proliferation and the Looming Environmental Catastrophe in a Post-Trumpian World’ on Monday. The lecture was part of the Habib University’s flagship Yohsin Lecture Series. Prof Chomsky discussed the recent outcome of the US presidential elections, as well as the escalated nuclear threat, fading democracy and environmental catastrophe the world is facing today. He contextualised his lecture in relation to the…

Bitterly criticising the federal and provincial governments, as well as political parties, for their failure to implement the coronavirus-related standard operating procedures (SOPs) in the country, health experts on Monday, claimed no space was left at intensive care units (ICUs) and high dependency units (HDUs) of leading public and private health facilities in Karachi as the number of coronavirus patients requiring hospitalisation is constantly on the rise. They said only a countrywide lockdown with stricter measures would be left as the last option to save the lives if the political…

HYDERABAD: Thar and Kohistan, the main arid regions of Sindh, are witnessing devastating impacts of climate change in terms of depleted underground water and shrinking vegetation cover, the main natural resources for the local communities. Reports revealed that a cycle of severe droughts followed by heavy rain floods continued to erode livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of rural people in Thar Desert, comprising Tharparkar and parts of Umerkot districts. These communities depend solely on seasonal rain-fed agriculture and livestock rearing. Farmers in the region remain uncertain about the situation. They…