Year: 2020

Growth in the petroleum industry has gradually moved from positive to negative over the last four years. Product-wise overall growth that recovered post FY16 has been falling in the last two fiscal years. FY20 has been the weakest year in terms of year-on-year growth that stood at -20 percent as per SBP’s Annual Report for FY20 released yesterday. Year-on-year growth in individual key fuels has been catching up with the overall trend where FY20 saw all petroleum products including petrol (or Motor Spirit) incurring a negative growth rate. This is…

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The Sindh government announced on Wednesday the successful completion of its ground-breaking pilot project to extract palm oil from the indigenous plantation of oil palm trees in the Thatta district. It said the pilot project successfully completed by its Environment and Coastal Development Department had shown that the coastal strip of the country had the capability of growing oil palm trees. Environment and Coastal Development Adviser Barrister Murtaza Wahab visited the newly established mill in the Ghulamullah Town of Thatta for extracting palm oil from the nearby oil palm tree…

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Pakistan and India are likely to witness a prolonged winter this year, global environmental experts have predicted. According to the Indian meteorology and climate change organisation Skymet Weather’s vice-president Mahesh Palawat, winter in Punjab, Northern Sindh, and Northern Balochistan may be longer and more severe this year.  He said that historically, winter during the La Niña years are harsher and longer in duration, adding that a similar situation was witnessed in 2011 and 2012.  La Niña refers to the periodic cooling of ocean surface temperatures in the central and east-central…

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As the air quality in Pakistan and India continues to decline, experts have warned that the situation will get from bad to worse if not controlled in a timely manner. Pakistan’s Air Quality Index (AQI) levels suggest that from January to November 2020, the amount of particulate matter in Karachi and Lahore ‘s air exceeded the amount prescribed by the World Health Organisation as safe. Particulate matter is 30 times thinner than a human hair and even smaller than viruses and bacteria. When inhaled, they can easily get absorbed into…

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