Month: July 2022

On July 14, 2022, we, the Heads of Government of India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the United States, convened for the first leaders’ meeting of the “I2U2” Group. This unique grouping of countries aims to harness the vibrancy of our societies and entrepreneurial spirit to tackle some of the greatest challenges confronting our world, with a particular focus on joint investments and new initiatives in water, energy, transportation, space, health, and food security. We intend to mobilize private sector capital and expertise to modernize infrastructure, advance low…

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National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) and National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) are said to be on the warpath with respect to implementation of the Competitive Trading Bilateral Contract Market (CTBCM), sources close to Chairman Nepra told Business Recorder. Sharing the details, sources said, the Authority, in a letter to Managing Director NTDC, expressed serious annoyance at the latter’s letter in which serious questions were raised on the design of CTBCM. “The Authority is extremely disappointed at the highly unprofessional letter in which NTDC has raised very basic queries,” Nepra…

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Chinese company Yutong Bus accepted the offer to set up a public transport plant in Sindh following a meeting between provincial minister for transport Sharjeel Inam Memon and Yutong Bus Country Manager Paul Zhang, on Thursday. The plant would either be set up in Karachi or Hyderabad. The parties agreed to create a ‘concrete’ proposal regarding the matter by next week. The plant is to apparently be constructed on 15 to 18 acres of land. “The Department of Transport is making every effort to set up a public transport plant…

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With the government set to burden consumers with Rs893 billion electricity tariff rebasing during the current fiscal year, on top of fuel adjustments in tens of billions of rupees per month, one of the most crucial elements untouched by policymakers remains the high system losses and low recoveries. Both elements put together entail a revenue shortfall of about Rs750bn. This stems from roughly 17 per cent technical losses and about 10pc short recoveries against billing, where a 1pc loss translates into Rs28bn. Unless this elephant in the room is tamed,…

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Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in his address to the nation on Thursday, announced that the price of petrol was being cut by Rs18.50 and diesel by Rs40.54. The price cut, which takes place after four rounds of massive hikes under the current government, will go into effect at midnight tonight. The prime minister began his speech by explaining that he had inherited a “troubled economy” from the previous government. “The previous government trampled on the agreement it had with the IMF and laid landmines for us,” he said. PM Shehbaz…

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