Solar system a better option to overcome energy crisis

With the growing energy shortage in the country, solar system looks a better solution to this crisis, which is already getting popularity in the world. Pakistan has a potential to generate over 2.324 million mega watt electricity per annum through solar system which can help to overcome prevailing energy crisis in Pakistan. Official sources at Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) talking to APP said switching over to the solar system for energy is the need of the hour and more people and scientists should come forward for this cause.
He said solar and wind power are the need of the hour and future belongs to them as they are cheapest sources of energy. According to scientists and experts, extensive use of solar power can change the face of remote and rural areas.
Hamdard University Vice Chancellor Dr Nasim Khan said the government has to make an initial investment to create a market. Once a market is in place, the rest of the job would be taken over by the private sector. It happened in case of Bangladesh where the private sector is now actively engaged in the solar market and 10,000 solar systems are being installed every month in a village,” he said. Dr. Khan said, “The system is still working at places where people have maintained batteries. We had also established an experimental research solar lab at over 18,000 feet above the sea level, near the K-2 base camp, in the late 1990s,” he said. Products on the sale include solar-powered fans (at an approximate cost of Rs8,000), mobile charger (Rs1,000), geysers (between Rs20,000 and Rs75,000), laptop charger (between Rs6,000 and Rs16,000), uninterrupted power supply system (minimum price Rs95,000), generator running on both diesel and solar energy (minimum price Rs350,000 per KV with battery), different types of lights (Rs600 to Rs10,000) and solar systems for residential use (cost depends upon the capacity for electricity generation and requirement). Mostly, the products are imported from China. APP
Manto’s 100th birth anniversary today: The 100th birth anniversary of prominent short story writer of Urdu language, Saadat Hassan Manto will be celebrated on May 11, paying tributes to his services in the field of literature.
A number of literary activities will be arranged across the country. Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) will hold a ceremony on legendary short story writer of the 20th century in connection with his cenitennial celebrations. Prof. Fateh Muhammad Malik will preside over the ceremony while Dr Anwaar Ahmed will be the chief guest. Prof. Ahmed Javed, Nelofar Iqbal and Muhammad Hameed Shahid will express their views on the occasion while Kamran Kazmi will conduct the ceremony.
Lahore Arts Council in collaboration with Sang-e-Meel publications would organize an event to mark centenary birth celebrations of Manto on Friday at Alhamra Arts Council. A bilingual commemorative book based on selected writings of Manto would also be launched on the occasion. Ajoka theatres will tribute acclaimed short story writer Saadat Hasan Manto (1912-2012) from May 14 to 17.
Theatrical performance of his works Siyah Hashiye, Toba Tek Singh, Khol Do would be presented in addition to reading of Akhri Salute by Naeem Tahir. Theatrical performance based on Naya Qanoon and dramatized readings of Sawerey Jo Kal Ankh Mairee Khuli, Pardey ki Baatain, Dekh Kabira Roya, Uncle Sam Ke Khatoot by Naseem Abbas and Furqan Majeed would also be presented Manto was also a film and radio scriptwriter and journalist.
In his short life, he published twenty-two collections of short stories, one novel, five collections of radio plays, three collections of essays, two collections of personal sketches. Combining psychoanalysis with human behaviour, he was arguably one of the best short story tellers of the 20th century. Manto’s concerns on the socio-political issues, from local to global level are revealed in his series, Letters to Uncle Sam, and those to Pandit Nehru. On his writing he often commented, “If you find my stories dirty, the society you are living in is dirty. With my stories, I only expose the truth”.The sketches were collected in his book Ganjay Farishtay(Bald Angels). The sketches include those of famous actors and actresses like Ashok Kumar, Shyam, Nargis, Noor Jehan and Naseem (mother of Saira Banu).
He also wrote about some literary figures like Meera Ji, Hashar Kashmiri and Ismat Chughtai. Manto’s sketch of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah was also first published in Afaq under the title Mera Sahib. Manto created a new tell-all style of writing sketches. He would mince no words, writing whatever he saw. “I have no camera which could wash out the small pox marks from Hashar Kashmiri’s face or change the obscene invectives uttered by him in his flowery style,” he wrote. Manto gave some of his best writings to the literary world. He wrote his masterpieces that include Thanda Gosht, Khol Do, Toba Tek Singh, Iss Manjdhar Mein, Mozalle and Babu Gopi Nath. Some of his characters became legendary. Manto born on May 11 in 1912 and was 42 years old at the time of his death in 1955. On his fiftieth death anniversary in 2005, Manto was commemorated on a Pakistani postage stamp.