Sindh Minister for Transport and Mass Transit Sharjeel Memon has asked Sindh Mass Transit Authority for making Orange Line operational. He has reportedly set a deadline of a month.
Memon who presided over a meeting reviewed issues linked to BRT Orange Line project and directed the secretary, transport Sindh to hold a meeting with Sindh Infrastructure Development Company Limited to expedite the pace of work on the service.
Memon assured the moot that he would personally talk to Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal so that the project could be operationalized. The Orange Line should be made operational in a month to facilitate safe and comfortable traveling to the citizens of Orangi Town and adjoining areas, he said.
He took a detailed briefing on the mandate of the Sindh Mass Transit Authority and mass transit projects.
The meeting was informed that the BRT Green Line Phase 1 is operational from Surjani Town up to Numaish roundabout, while BRT Yellow, Orange and Red Lines are in the implementation phase.
The Green Line is a project of the federal government and will be handed over to the Sindh government in three years. It was further informed in the briefing that 98 percent of civil work of the Orange Line project from Orangi Town to the Board Office has been completed.
The project is completely funded by the Sindh government and is being executed under SIDCL – a federal government company. It was also informed that the Sindh government has made payments to SIDCL for the procurement of 20 buses for Orange Line.

Since ancient times, hydropower has been used to grind flour and accomplish other duties. Water-driven power gave the energy needed for the onset of the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century.
Hydropower has ability to provide significant volumes of low-carbon electricity on-demand, making it an important component of many safe and clean electricity systems. Because the quantity of electricity produced by the station may be modified up or down in seconds or minutes to react to changing energy demands, it is also a flexible source of electricity with a dam and reservoir. Large-scale hydroelectric power plants are more frequently regarded as the world’s largest power plants, with some hydroelectric plants equipped for creating over two times the introduced limits of the world’s largest nuclear power plants. Hydropower is a versatile source of energy since stations can be easily scaled up and down to meet changing energy demands. The start-up time of a hydro turbine is on the order of a few minutes. Although battery electricity is faster, its capacity is insignificant when compared to hydropower. Most hydro units go from cold start-up to full load in less than 10 minutes, which is faster than nuclear and practically all fossil fuel generation. Many hydroelectric projects are designed to service public energy grids, while others are designed to serve individual industrial firms. Dedicated hydroelectric projects are frequently constructed to deliver the large amounts of electricity required by aluminum electrolytic plants. Large reservoirs connected with traditional hydroelectric power plants submerge large regions upstream of the dams, obliterating organically rich and useful swamp and riverine valley backwoods, wetlands, and grasslands in the process. Damming rivers disrupts their flow and can impact local ecosystems, and big dams and reservoirs typically result in the displacement of people and species. Water has the potential to move particles heavier than itself downstream when it flows. This has a deleterious impact on dams and, as a result, power plants, particularly those located along rivers or in high-siltation catchment areas. Siltation can fill a reservoir, reducing its capacity to manage floods while also increasing horizontal pressure on the dam’s upstream section. Flue gas emissions from fossil fuel combustion are eliminated by hydroelectricity, including pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, nitric oxide, carbon monoxide, dust, and mercury in coal. In addition, hydroelectricity avoids the dangers of coal mining as well as the indirect health effects of coal pollution.
Hydroelectric capacity is ranked based on either actual yearly energy production or installed capacity power rating. Hydropower produced 16.6% of the world’s total electricity in 2015, and 70% of all renewable electricity.
The quantity of energy produced by a dam will be proportional to changes in river flow. Lower river flows diminish the quantity of live storage in a reservoir, limiting the amount of water available for hydroelectric power generation. In locations that rely largely on hydroelectric power, reduced river flow might result in power shortages. As a result of climate change, the probability of a flow shortage may increase.
Hydroelectric projects can have an impact on aquatic habitats both upstream and downstream of the plant’s location. The downstream river ecosystem is altered as a result of hydroelectric power generation. The water that exits a turbine normally has relatively little suspended sediment, which can cause riverbed scouring and riverbank erosion.
When there is an excess of electricity, it is also possible to reduce power generation quickly. As a result, hydropower units’ limited capacity is rarely used to generate base electricity, except to drain the flood pool or meet downstream needs. Instead, it can be used as a standby generator for non-hydro generators.

Thar Foundation (TF) has begun a new chapter of women empowerment. Recently, Human Development Foundation donated two rikshaws to promote girls’ education in our schools in Block-2 of Tharparkar. TF has trained two young girls namely Lakshmi and Asia, residents of Aban jo Tarr and Maansing Bheel villages of Block-2. They have properly acquired driving licenses. These two girls will take local girl students to our High School and also earn a livelihood by using these rikshaws after school hours. These girls were provided driving training by the foundation. They will earn a decent income as well as help young girls wanting to pursue their secondary education.
TF is striving to positively impact the lives of local communities with the support of the government of Sindh.

Few would consider drilling oil to be a path to net zero emissions. But that was, in effect, what the offset provider Bluesource claimed when it worked with Merit Energy to capture CO₂ and pump it underground to squeeze more oil out of a well — a process termed enhanced oil recovery. The carbon credits Bluesource sold counted the emissions savings from the CO₂ that was put underground but ignored the carbon footprint of the oil that was pumped out.
This extreme example illustrates how voluntary offsetting — purchasing carbon credits to balance against one’s own emissions — needs rules. Some offsetting projects provide real benefits. But, like any unregulated marketplace, offsetting overall is falling short.
How short? A lack of transparency makes even this basic question hard to answer.
The Net Zero Tracker — an independent research consortium that I co-lead — records the quantity and quality of net zero targets around the world. Shockingly, 91 percent of country targets, 79 percent of city targets, 78 percent of regional targets, and 48 percent of listed company targets fail to specify if offsets will be used in their net zero plans.
Similarly, of the companies with a net zero target that say they will offset to some degree, 66 percent fail to specify conditions on the use of offset credits, leaving the door open to ‘junk’ credits. Notably, 10 percent of companies have committed to avoiding offsetting altogether.
In theory, properly designed, rigorous offsets could be one useful tool among the many instruments that we’ll need to achieve net zero. Once net zero is achieved, we will probably still have some level of residual emissions that will need to be permanently neutralised. Offsetting could be a tool for doing this, as my university colleagues and I have laid out in the Oxford Principles for Net Zero-Aligned Offsetting.
However, most of the current offset market is not appropriate for this purpose.
For example, many current offsets are generated from avoided emissions — like increasing energy efficiency, replacing fossil fuels with renewables, or halting deforestation — instead of existing emission removals.
Of course, these are all important things to do. Tropical deforestation contributes up to 17 percent of annual global emissions — about the same as all the world’s cars and trucks. Halting it is an urgent priority.
But, while stopping additional emissions is welcome, it does not neutralise ongoing emissions — the amount of carbon in the atmosphere continues to grow. That is why we must see avoided emissions as supplements to, not substitutes for, reducing an enterprise’s own emissions.
What is more, many current offset projects are of questionable permanence. For example, increasingly damaging wildfires, driven in part by climate change, have claimed some of the very forests that have been protected under offsetting schemes, eliminating the carbon savings.
Some offsetting schemes, like the LEAF Coalition — a public-private initiative to protect tropical forests — make sophisticated and reasonable assumptions about how long carbon stored in trees or soils can be expected to endure, and have similarly rigorous verification mechanisms. Other schemes, however, do not.
On top of these quality concerns, there is a fundamental quantity problem. Last year, for example, data provider Ecosystem Marketplace reported that trades in the global voluntary carbon market had reached a record annual total of $1bn, representing just under 300mn tonnes of CO₂-equivalent. But that is less than 1 percent of global emissions, which, according to the International Energy Agency also hit a record, of 36bn tonnes.
Given offsetting’s decidedly mixed track record to date, and the lack of strong standards, it is not surprising that civil society groups like Greenpeace have called for an end to the practice. It is also no wonder that leading net zero commitment platforms like the Science Based Targets initiative or the UN’s Race to Zero campaign do not allow offsets that substitute for, or delay, emissions reductions.
To move forward, we must return to first principles. To reach global net zero, we need to do three things. Most importantly, we must cut emissions immediately, and halve them by 2030. We must also urgently preserve and restore forests, oceans, soils and other natural carbon sinks. And, over time, we need to develop ways to neutralise emissions that may remain once net zero is achieved.
A well-designed offsetting system could, in theory, help with each of these, but not without a radical overhaul of the system as we know it.
Efforts like the Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets and the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative have been working to put forward best practices. Ultimately, these will need to be built into a robust regulatory system.
Companies seeking to use offsets can help. First, they can be transparent about what offsets they are using, and pick only quality products. Separating internal reductions targets from external offsets helps clarify net zero pathways. Companies should show the world what they are buying.
Second, and critically, offsets cannot substitute for or delay science-aligned emissions reductions. Science-based reduction pathways are rapidly becoming the baseline expectation. Companies that want to show consumers and investors that they are going above and beyond can make contributions outside their value chains, by investing in nature or in future removals technologies.
Finally, companies should support the emergence of a fit-for-purpose offsetting system. Junk credits and greenwashing undermine the trust and legitimacy companies will need if they are successfully to navigate the net zero transition. Strong governance is not just a public good, but also a crucial enabling condition for companies to achieve their goals. – By Thomas Hale (Courtesy FT)

Westinghouse opened a Liaison office in Pakistan, a country with a growing market and potential challenges in the fields of safe electrical distribution. Westinghouse continuing its more than 100 years of legacy in the field of electrical engineering and manufacturing innovation has always been at the forefront of such challenges.
About Westinghouse:
Westinghouse is an internationally recognized organization with a deep known legacy of quality products and services. Founded on January 8, 1886, the firm became active in developing electrical infrastructure throughout the United States. The company’s largest factories were located in East Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, Lester, Pennsylvania, and Hamilton, Ontario, where they made turbines, generators, motors, and switchgear for the generation, transmission, and use of electricity. Westinghouse products were the first to supply the United States with AC electric power, transmit a commercial radio broadcast and capture man’s first step on the moon.
Built on a heritage of innovation and entrepreneurial spirit, Westinghouse remains a trusted name globally in consumer and industrial products. Today, Westinghouse continues to grow its diverse portfolio with a wide range of product categories that include home appliances, consumer electronics, lighting, and power generation. Currently, the company’s footprints are in North America, Europe, Greater China, the Middle East, Africa, Turkey, Asia, and Latin America.
Westinghouse in Pakistan
Westinghouse has announced the joining of Mr. Rehan Lutfi as Country Manager, Pakistan to lead its operations at the recently opened liaison office. He has brought with him a vast experience and understanding of business development, sales, and marketing with substantial international exposure; and a focus on operational excellence and customer satisfaction.
Rehan Lutfi has served in various leadership positions in his career for over 20 years. He has worked with the world’s most respected and renowned companies locally and internationally. After starting his career with AREVA Pakistan (formerly ALSTOM Pakistan), he served Schneider Electric, Pakistan, and then in Saudi Arabia for almost 10 years. He has also worked for Abunayyan Group as Head of Marketing and Business Development, successfully managed and developed businesses with Multinational giants like Rittal, Eaton, Hyundai, Phoenix Contact, Socomec, Schneider Electric, etc. Before joining Westinghouse, his last assignment was with Jubilee Corporation as General Manager, Business Development. Besides taking several business development and marketing initiatives, he takes pride in managing and developing high-performance teams at Jubilee Corporation.
The company has executed several projects in Pakistan in a short period and has a reasonably good installed base for MV Switchgear, Dry Type Transformers, Ring Main Units, and Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS). Westinghouse is committed to serving the increasing demands of the Pakistani market directly and through our partners and support channels. — PR