Author: Admin

Mission accomplished; Basha dam finally being built

Admin

The signing of the contract and the Prime Minister’s visit to the site, is of great satisfaction to me since I have been struggling for hydroelectric development and dams on the Indus  since 1975. What is reprehensible is that its construction could have been started after 1984, when its feasibility had been prepared. There have been several impediments as well as opportunities lost in these 36 years. These will be explained in this article. The West Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority was established in 1958, recognizing that Pakistan had…

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The Taliban, at Least, Are Striking Gold in Afghanistan

Admin

For decades, Afghanistan’s untapped mineral wealth has been touted as the country’s trillion-dollar El Dorado. But while the Afghan government has never been able to monetize mountains of copper, iron ore, gold, and gemstones, the Taliban have—and are ramping up their mining operations as just-started peace talks aim to shape the future of a postwar Afghanistan. In recent years, the Taliban have deliberately moved to secure control over regions of Afghanistan rich in mineral deposits, from lapis lazuli mines in northern Badakhshan to gold, lead, and zinc in Helmand and…

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Organised Exploitation

Admin

LAHORE: Though Pakistan is operating under the principle of open market economy the consumers at large, however, always remain at the receiving end due to weak regulations and unholy cartels that thrive in such environments. The absence of state writ has given free hands to the price manipulators. Consumer exploitation by the entrenched entrepreneurs has reached a level that rates of most items do not retreat even during extreme recessions in the country when supplies are higher than demand. The principle of supply and demand no longer applies. When demand…

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AGP recovers Rs5.66bn in July, August

Admin

The Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) has recovered Rs5.66 billion during the first two months of the current fiscal year ending June 30, 2021.  According to the data available with this scribe, the recoveries from federal government departments stood at Rs5.411 billion while that from provincial and district offices were recorded at Rs243.9 million.  According to break-up figures, the highest recovery during the period under review was made by Lahore director general audit (petroleum and natural resource) that recovered Rs3.757 billion followed by Lahore director general audit (postal & telecommunication)…

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Punjab Govt To Welcome Investment For Solar Panels Manufacturing

Admin

MULTAN, (APP – UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 22nd Sep, 2020 ) :Provincial Minister for Energy Dr. Akhtar Malik said on Tuesday that the Punjab government would welcome investment for manufacturing of solar panels in the country. He expressed these view in a meeting with officials of two Chinese companies including China Machinery Engineering Company (CMEC) and Zhunergy, said an official release issued here. CMEC branch manager Saman and Zhunergy general manager Gordon Gao expressed interest in investment in alternate sources of energy. Alternate sources of energy could serve as game changer for Pakistan and different companies were showing interest in…

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Time to go back to import substitution

Admin

Globalization has lost its shine for the rich countries which in the first place had been its promoters as they went around the world looking for cheap labour in the 1980s. East Asia and then in a big way China became their sweatshops. The result was, not only millions were lifted out of poverty in these regions, but the transfer of manufacturing to these regions had brought them stunning economic advancement bringing in the process China almost at par economically with these rich countries. Now China is seriously challenging the…

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CPEC: Gwadar Emerging As Immense Trade, Energy-transportation Hub, To Economise Landlocked States

Admin

LAHORE, (APP – UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 22nd Sep, 2020 ) :The China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project intends to build Pakistan‘s most needed infrastructure and boost its economy by constructing modern transportation networks, setting up of Special Economic Zones (SEZ) and numerous energy projects. Geo-strategically, CPEC project is located between three key important landlocked regions of the globe including economically emerging and rich-resourced Central Asia, oil-rich Western Asia and thickly populated South Asia. �After globalization, digital technology is transforming the world into global-digital-village in the real sense of modern technology usage, and regional integration is a key aspect of this information mechanism.�� If…

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After debt reduction, PSO to reap benefit in next quarter

Admin

Despite declaring a loss after tax of Rs 6.465 billion for the year ended June 30, 2020, Pakistan State Oil (PSO) may have found a silver lining as the company has managed to retire Rs 42 billion debt in the company’s short-term borrowings. As per details, PSO short term borrowings reduced from Rs 121.678 billion in FY19 to Rs 79.032 billion in FY20, signifying a debt decline of an impressive 35 percent. As per a report from Foundation Securities, the decline in short-term debt is likely to have a strong positive…

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MEPCO outperforms DISCOs in achieving recovery target in 2018-19: Nepra

Admin

LAHORE: The Multan Electric Power Company (MEPCO) remained very close to its recovery target, followed by Gujranwala Electric Power Company (GEPCO) and Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) by showing their recoveries as 99.8 percent, 98 percent and 97.67 percent respectively during 2018-19, said Performance Evaluation Report of National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) for the fiscal year 2018-19. However, none of the DISCO has achieved the milestone of 100 percent recovery. According to details, against a target of 100 percent, the actual recovery of Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) stood…

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Pakistan looks to auction unutilized LNG capacity: industry body

Admin

Karachi — Pakistan may auction unutilized LNG regasification capacity of around 300 MMcf/d available at the government-owned Gasport Terminal in an effort to reduce the financial burden, Abdullah Ghais Paracha, chairman of the All Pakistan CNG Association, told S&P Global Platts. The country’s Economic Coordination Committee in July approved a proposal to give third parties access to its LNG receiving facilities by selling capacity not utilized by the state-run importer, a move industry officials say would encourage more private sector participation in the country’s LNG sector. Ghais said the government’s plan…

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