Month: June 2020

Pakistan was ranked among the third-riskiest countries for coronavirus in a recent study conducted by the Deep Knowledge Group on nations and their safety against the pandemic. Pakistan came at 148th position out of a total of 200 nations, with a safety score of 370 (the highest being 752). The 250-page study listed Switzerland as the safest country in the world for coronavirus, with South Sudan at the 200th position, with a score of 300. Among Pakistan’s neighbouring countries, all but one were in the top 100, with China at…

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After Saturday’s (June 6) meeting between top Indian and Chinese military commanders in Ladakh, the Ministry of External Affairs said that “the two sides will continue the military and diplomatic engagements to resolve the situation and to ensure peace and tranquility in the border areas”. The unresolved situation on the disputed Sino-Indian border in Ladakh has been ongoing for more than a month, and tensions have not subsided. When did we first hear of tensions between India and China on the LAC?The first official acknowledgment of tensions on the border…

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Over 21,000 tons of diesel were leaked into the Arctic Ocean as officials were slow to respond. The incident marks one of the largest oil spills in Russian history, and experts say the area will need years to recover. Russian officials are scrambling to clean up an oil spill in a region in northern Siberia, after an oil leak that began at the end of May was found to have released over 21,000 tons of diesel into the Arctic Ocean. Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared a state of emergency…

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ISLAMABAD: The government is moving towards reopening of power tariff agreements with older independent power producers (IPPs) and may engage with their lenders as part of efforts to reduce electricity tariff. The increasing burden of net hydel profit payments to the provinces and reduction of system losses and improving recoveries remain works in progress. A senior official said the terms of reference (TOR) of the technical committee led by Shahzad Qasim, special assistant to the prime minister on mineral resources, set to the IPPs were very comprehensive and seek to…

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Coal consumption fell by 15 percent, down for the sixth year in a row, while renewables edged up by 1 percent. This meant renewables surpassed coal for the first time since at least 1885, a year when Mark Twain published The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and America’s first skyscraper was erected in Chicago. Electricity generation from coal fell to its lowest level in 42 years in 2019, with the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasting that renewables will eclipse coal as an electricity source this year. On May 21, the…

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