Pakistan Parliament becomes first in world to run entirely on solar power

Pakistan’s Parliament building located in national capital Islamabad became the first in the world to completely run on solar power.
It achieved this feat after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif switched on solar-powered building of the parliament in a simple ceremony.
Key facts

• The project to run parliament building on solar power is a venture supported by Pakistan’s close ally and strategic partner China.
• It was launched in 2015 when Chinese President Xi Jinping visited and addressed the Parliament.
• The project was first announced in 2014 by Chinese government as an act of friendship with financial support of 55 million dollars
• The solar panels of parliament have installed capacity 80 Mega Watts (MW) of which 62 MW is sufficient for it while remaining 18 MW will be connected to national grid.
• It is for first time since Pakistan became independent in 1947, the parliament became self-sufficient in electricity through solar power.

Note: Currently, there some parliaments in world like Israel’s Knesset that partly run on solar power.

About Parliament of Pakistan

• It is officially termed as Majlis-e-Shoora in Urdu.
• It is the federal and supreme legislative body of Pakistan.
• It is a bicameral legislature that consists of the Senate (upper house) and the National Assembly (lower houses).

Month: Current Affairs - February, 2016