Author: Saima Altaf

LONDON: British-Pakistani entrepreneur and educationist Bilal Sheikh has paid tribute to Pakistan’s founder Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, saying his vision, political struggle and leadership gave the Muslims of the subcontinent a separate homeland that is today home to around 250 million people. He was speaking at the art exhibition by Mont Rose Foundation, titled “Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah: A Legacy Beyond Time,” to celebrate the enduring legacy of Pakistan’s founding father at the prestigious National Liberal Club on Whitehall Place in central London. The event featured Pakistan’s newly appointed High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Tipu Usman, along with artist…

As Pakistan’s Solar Market Matures, Trinasolar Highlights the Next Step: Integrating Battery Storage with Existing Industrial Solar Pakistan has built one of the world’s fastest growing distributed solar markets. According to recent research by Ember and Renewables First, it is estimated that Pakistan has approximately 38GW of distributed solar capacity across residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural sectors. As this installed solar base grows, the next challenge is making that energy more flexible and available when businesses need it most. Trina Storage, Trinasolar’s global battery energy storage business, says Pakistan’s expanding solar base is increasing interest in solar-plus-storage, particularly for utility-scale and microgrids for commercial & industrial (C&I). A Renewables First report estimates that Pakistan imported 4.6 GWh of BESS in 2025, representing 220% year-on-year growth.   Rather than replacing existing solar assets, well-designed solar-plus-storage systems can help businesses optimize renewable energy use, improve operational flexibility and support more resilient energy management strategies, depending on each site’s design and operating requirements. However, adding BESS to an existing solar installation is not a simple plug-and-play exercise. Projects require careful assessment of the site’s electrical architecture, inverter configuration, demand profile, equipment compatibility, energy management system, safety requirements and commercial objectives. For many retrofit projects, an AC-coupled approach provides a practical solution by allowing battery storage to operate alongside an existing PV system through its own Power Conversion System (PCS), helping retain much of the original solar infrastructure. Compatibility must still be assessed at system level, including electrical interfaces, communications, controls and compliance with the applicable IEC and UL standards. Designed for utility-scale and C&I applications, Trina Storage’s Elementa Series is compatible and is designed for integration within solar-plus-storage systems using Trina or third-party equipment, with compatibility assessed according to the project architecture. Beyond supplying technology, Trinasolar can work with customers and EPC partners to assess system compatibility, determine the most suitable BESS configuration and develop an operating strategy aligned with each site’s technical and commercial requirements. Trinasolar’s energy storage expertise builds on its long-established presence in Pakistan’s solar market, where the company has supplied more than 500MW of 700W+ modules across commercial, industrial and residential applications and recently introduced the Vertex N G3 760W series. Globally, Trina Storage, established in 2015, has achieved BloombergNEF Tier 1 Energy Storage Manufacturer status for 10 consecutive quarters and is expected to surpass 30 GWh of cumulative shipments by the first half of 2026. Its latest 6.25MWh Elementa 3 platform combines advanced battery technology, intelligent thermal management and integrated safety features for large-scale energy storage applications. “Pakistan has already built a strong solar foundation. The next phase is to consider how battery storage can be integrated with those assets to make renewable electricity available across a wider range of operating conditions. That requires careful assessment of the existing equipment, the site’s load profile and the role the battery is expected to perform. Trinasolar’s PV experience and Trina Storage’s global BESS capabilities give us a useful perspective across both sides of that system,” said Edison Zhou, Head of Pakistan, Trinasolar. 

Israel and Lebanon are heading back to the negotiating table, this time in Rome, with a narrow but consequential goal: turning a fragile framework into an operating security arrangement. What was confirmed The State Department confirmed the next round of US-mediated talks will run August 4 to 6 in Rome, after Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani first announced the session. A State Department official told AFP the technical groups will work on expanding the pilot-zone process, resolving border disputes, and building toward a comprehensive peace and security agreement — incremental steps rather than a single breakthrough. How the framework got…

Public patience with the Iran war is thinner than the White House would like, and the numbers explain why Republicans are nervous heading into November. The core finding A new Reuters/Ipsos poll found only about a third of Americans support US military action against Iran, with 69% of respondents — including four in ten Republicans — saying Trump has not clearly laid out what the campaign is meant to achieve. White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales rejected the idea that shifting sentiment should steer policy, framing the administration’s approach as decisive rather than poll-driven. A weaker start than past wars Approval…

Naheed Noor didn’t ask for a microphone. She got one anyway, and used it to say what many have been thinking quietly about one of Pakistan’s most publicly dissected marriages. What she said Naheed Noor, mother of YouTuber Zaid Ali, urged Dr Nabiha Ali Khan to stop narrating her separation from Haris Khokhar online. Her point was practical rather than moralizing: families traditionally mediate reconciliation privately, and that process breaks down once every detail is public. Reaction split along familiar lines — some called her advice grounded in “khandani” wisdom, others suggested Nabiha’s openness serves attention as much as catharsis.…

Nadia Khan let a photo do the talking. After days of online speculation that her marriage had ended, the veteran host posted a picture with her husband, Faisal Rao, effectively closing the story without saying a word about it directly. How the rumor started Khan has spent recent months focused on her shows Kya Drama Hai and Rise & Shine, stepping back from the family vlogging that once gave fans a window into her home life. That silence created a vacuum. YouTuber Mehreen Sibtain and others filled it with claims that Khan and Rao, a retired Pakistan Air Force officer…

Pakistan’s entertainment industry has its own quiet nepotism problem — one that mostly goes unnoticed because the talent got there first. Where the conversation started The scrutiny traces back to India. Actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death in 2020 triggered a reckoning over Bollywood’s family-run studios and easy debuts for star kids, with critics accusing power players like Karan Johar of gatekeeping the industry against outsiders. Pakistani audiences, who followed Bollywood closely for decades, absorbed that framework and began applying it closer to home. A different pattern next door What emerged in Pakistan looks different from Bollywood’s version. Rather than obvious…

Brent crude slid toward $87.80 a barrel Tuesday, and WTI dropped below $82, as a pause in US military action against Iran opened the first real window for de-escalation since fighting began. Markets read the lull as tentative good news, but not resolution. A fragile calm, not a settlement President Trump described “good talks” with Tehran on Monday, while warning that strikes would resume if negotiations collapse. Iran issued matching warnings about retaliation. Traders priced in relief, not certainty — both benchmarks touched one-week lows before paring losses, a pattern typical of markets unwilling to fully unwind a war premium…

Pakistan’s central bank chose caution over cuts. The State Bank of Pakistan held its policy rate at 11.5% on Monday, a second straight pause, as renewed Iran-Israel hostilities threaten to undo months of hard-won disinflation. A pause built on fragile gains The Monetary Policy Committee said the macroeconomic outlook has improved since its last meeting but warned that risks have intensified since fighting resumed in the Middle East. Headline inflation eased to 11.1% in June from 11.7% in May, helped by falling global energy prices and a favorable electricity tariff adjustment. Core inflation slipped to 8.4%, though the committee called…

Islamabad averted a third fuel-sector standoff in as many weeks on Monday, forming a high-level committee to settle a freight-rate dispute with oil tanker contractors just days after talks defused a threatened wheel-jam strike. What triggered the standoff The Oil Tanker Contractors Association had given the government a 72-hour ultimatum, warning that unchanged freight rates — frozen for three years even as motorway and highway toll taxes rose by roughly 180 percent — had made operations unsustainable. Contractors also demanded a shrunken quota for the White Oil Pipeline, an end to unauthorized commercial loading, and a freight formula tied to…