The country of the ‘leftovers’
‘Abey yaar!’ – a phrase ubiquitous across the country. This is our safe-for-work alternative to other words to show our frustration when things go awry. ‘Abey yaar!’ in the 2000s…
Grid vs rooftop: the energy debate
The recent hype and chaos around net-metering and the roof-top solar taxation fiasco has brought the power sector of Pakistan to the brink of another planning conundrum. Pakistan’s total electricity…
The infringement of vested rights of rooftop solar generators
In its move to amend the Net Metering Regulations 2015, on 24th August Nepra (National Electric Power Regulatory Authority) issued a notice in the form of a draft SRO to…
FTO: Challenges and remedies
Judicial review is a method to shield administrative justice but it is not the only way. The other way is non-court-based mechanism, commonly known as Alternate Dispute Resolution, which seeks…
China’s ‘leftovers’
LITERALLY translated, the Chinese word ‘sheng nu’ means ‘leftover women’. The term refers to women, generally over 30 but sometimes younger, who have failed to find husbands. According to research,…
Rooftop solar promises revolutionary potential
Solar power cost crashed in 2009 with China becoming the largest manufacturer and exporter of the solar power equipment. It made solar power attractive and with multiplying installation the cost…
Egypt’s ‘terrace society’ flourishes on Cairo rooftops
On the roof of a once-grand apartment block overlooking Cairo's Tahrir Square, Shukri Mahmud's father built a humble shack, the din, congestion and worst of the notorious pollution in Africa's…
View from the rooftop
Any lecturer will recognise the species. They are to be found sitting in the front row of the audience or towards the back. They clamour to be recognised so that…
Crooks together
EITHER Thomas Crooks — the 20-year-old sniper who shot Donald Trump during the recent election rally in Pennsylvania — was an excellent marksman and nicked only Trump’s ear deliberately, or…
Eastern Europe braces for end to Russian gas supplies
Ukraine will block Russian gas supplies via its territory in several days, effectively halting its transit to Slovakia, Moldova and, to some extent, Hungary. Kyiv said it would not renew…
