Rice exports need more than lip service
GI tag alone cannot help boost earnings; Pakistan also needs to fetch better prices KARACHI:
Banks’ lending to rice processing mills more than doubled to Rs57 billion in Jul-Dec 2020 from Rs26.5 billion in Jul-Dec 2019, according to the latest statistics released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
However, this huge growth in lending to rice millers came in the form of restructuring of old loans under the special financial stimulus package announced by the SBP in March 2020 to mitigate the economic fallout of Covid-19 pandemic.
That’s why despite this massive lending – and that too at low interest rates – rice exports did not rise. In fact, Pakistan exported a little below 1.825 million tonnes of Basmati and non-Basmati rice in Jul-Dec 2020, against exports of 2.083 million tonnes in the same period of 2019, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
Over 70% of Siberian migratory birds have stopped visiting Pakistan
Dried up and contaminated water bodies, hunting and netting identified as major causes
Welcome no more: Siberian migratory birds which made their way to Sindh every winter season, have largely stopped coming due to various reasons. Photo: file
KARACHI:
The number of migratory birds coming in from Siberia has declined drastically over the past three decades. Around 150,000 birds, including local and migratory waterfowl, were estimated to have landed at 12 aquatic stopovers , which is 70% less than in 2017-2018, according to a survey conducted during the winter season.
The migratory birds usually arrive in Pakistan at the end of August and begin leaving in February. The birds are all gone by March.
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Pakistan, UAE agree to solidify multifaceted bilateral ties Staff Report
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday had a telephone conversation with Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and discussed the bilateral and regional ties as well as the Covid-19 pandemic situation.
The two leaders reaffirmed the existing close fraternal relations between Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates, and reiterated the resolve to further solidify and strengthen the multifaceted bilateral relationship, a press release issued by Prime Minister office said. They also exchanged views on Covid-19 pandemic and regional and international issues of mutual interest.
Filthy rich: A Karachi sewer operation for a sick city
Garbage and not squatters is the real reason it floods SAMAA | Mahim Maher and Sohail Khan - Posted: Jan 19, 2021 | Last Updated: 2 months ago SAMAA | Mahim Maher and Sohail Khan Posted: Jan 19, 2021 | Last Updated: 2 months ago
Two naughty little boys are having a conversation sitting on top of an empty king-sized sewerage pipeline behind a swarm of city officials surveying Manzoor Colony nullah.
âTera ghar to gira rahey hain,â one of them says. Theyâre demolishing your house.
âAbey, tujhe kaise pata?!â How the hell do you know?
âKyunke wo nishaan laga ke gae na!â he repliesâand then, as if to assuage his buddyâs feelings, hastily and a tad mournfully, adds: âMeri to poori galli ja rahi he.â Because they marked it. My entire alleyway is going…
Sindh is considered a haven for wind energy, with perfect wind conditions, primarily in Thatta. AFP/File
ABOUT seven kilometres from the Bholari turning point on left side of the Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway (M9), an uneven path leads to a barren land the site of many windmill towers. From M9 I could barely make out the huge windmill towers, or wind turbine towers.
As I reached the site I found some Chinese workers working. Each windmill tower having three long blades was approximately 100 metres high. The blades on the towers were rotating very slowly due to low wind pressure.
This is one of the 10 wind energy projects undertaken by independent power producers (IPPs) in Sindh’s Jamshoro district. These projects are currently passing through various phases of execution. Sindh Energy Minister Imtiaz Sheikh, however, says they have been facing delays.