South Asia Investor Review

Last year, California lawmakers voted 31-5 to approve the first state-wide bill (SB 403) explicitly banning  caste discrimination . The bill, enjoying broad support among California voters, was sponsored by Senator Aisha Wahab.  It was vetoed by Governor Gavin Newsom under pressure from wealthy political donors belonging to the Hindutva lobby.   Senator Aisha Wahab with Supporters of California Law to Ban Caste Discrimination Hindutva Lobby: The Hindutva lobby's opposition to the California anti-caste discrimination bill was spearheaded by Ramesh Kapur, a wealthy Massachusetts entrepreneur.  “If you want to be our next president, veto the bill”, Kapur told the governor in no uncertain terms, according to a recent investigative piece written by British journalist Andrew Cockburn and published in the  Harper magazine .  Here's an excerpt from the article:  "The ultimatum was decisive. Kapur said that Newsom emailed him three hours before going public: “I’m going to veto it.”

International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has ranked Pakistan (score 96.69/100) among top tier countries for cybersecurity in 2024.  Out of a maximum score of 20, Pakistan received 20 for legal measures, 18.21 for technical measures, 20 for organization measures, 20 for capacity development and 18.48 for cooperative measures, according to the Global Cybersecurity Index 2024 report released by the ITU.  Pakistan Cybersecurity Scores 2024. Source: ITU Pakistan's tier one cybersecurity ranking is a big improvement from its 79th rank (score 64.88 from 100) it got in the cybersecurity ranking by the ITU in 2020 . Four years ago, Pakistan scored 15.97 on legal measures, 12.26 on technical measures, 11.01 on organizational measures, 17.25 on capacity development and 8.38 on cooperative measures.  Increasing penetration and rapid growth of the Internet user base in Pakistan has brought in a lot of user complaints of bullying and fraud, necessitating government action, including new le

Semi-arid Pakistan, with its farmlands predominantly  irrigated  by the world's largest contiguous canal system, has experienced an increasing amount of annual rains and floods for several years. Even the desert regions of the country, like the vast  Thar desert  straddling India-Pakistan border, have recently been turning green. Now a study has found that  "the mean rainfall over the semi-arid northwest parts of India and Pakistan has increased by 10%–50% during 1901–2015 and is expected to increase by 50%–200%" by the end of the current century. The authors of this study published by  Advanced Earth and Space Science  conclude as follows: "While an adaptation strategy to increased hydrological disasters is a must, harnessing the augmented rainfall would lead to a substantial boost in food productivity, bringing transformative changes in the socio-economic condition of people in the region".  Annual Summer Monsoon Rainfall in Millimeters For 1979-2015. Source:

Recent experience in California has shown that changes in incentives have a huge impact on residential adoption of solar power technology. Since the introduction of NEM 3.0 last year, new rooftop solar business in California has dramatically slowed. New residential solar installation applications have plunged 80%, according to  Cal Matters . This has driven many solar installers out of business. The business that remains is mostly focused on adding batteries to existing solar installations.  Impact of California NEM 3.0 on Solar Business. Source: Cal Matters California Net Energy Metering (NEM 3.0) was launched last year after heavy lobbying by the state's utility companies like PGE and SoCal Edison. It has reduced payments for the excess power exported by the consumer to the grid by 75%. This change means that the consumer is better off with storage batteries to maximize self-consumption of the power generated by the solar panels. Companies such as Tesla Solar with its PowerWall 3

A look at Pakistan's current fiscal year 2024-25 budget helps gain insights into how the country is run. It shows the money flows from the key sources of revenue and the nation's spending priorities. Total planned federal spending for the current fiscal year is Rs.18,900 billion (about 69 billion U.S. dollars). This figure does not include the transfer of Rs. 7,438 (US$ 26 billion) from the federal government to the provinces. Under the 18th amendment passed in 2010, the federal government is obligated to share 57.5% of its revenue with the provinces. The federal government is primarily responsible for  defense , foreign affairs,  debt servicing , foreign trade, ports and shipping, and development programs, while food and  agriculture ,  education , healthcare and housing are devolved to the provinces. There still appears to be some overlap of domestic responsibilities between the federation and the provinces.  Pakistan's Budget 2024-25 at a Glance. Visualization Courtesy o

Pakistani automobile joint ventures with Chinese automakers BYD and Changan have recently launched several all-electric and plug-in hybrid models of automobiles in Pakistan. Earlier, Honda Atlas Cars Pakistan Limited announced plans to build a hybrid electric vehicles plant in the country. Other major brands like Toyota, Haval, and Hyundai are already offering similar models in the country. It all began with the 2019  electric vehicle policy  approved by the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan to incentivize the electrification of the auto industry. Pakistan EV policy goal is to achieve 30% of new cars sales, 50% of new 2-wheeler and 3-wheeler sales and 30% of new truck sales by 2030. By 2040, the target is 90% of all new vehicle sales to be electric. The main incentive is the reduction of sales tax from 17% for internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to 1% for all-electric (EV) vehicles. BYD EV. Source: CNBC BYD Launch: Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD has announced plans to o