Altaf demands smooth gas supply to Karachi

MQM chief Altaf Hussain has asked PM Gilani and President Zardari to ensure proper supply of gas to Karachi and to restore supply of gas to KESC by Sui Southern Gas.

In a statement issued from London, Altaf said that 12-16 hours loadshedding has been started in Karachis industrial and domestic sectors due to shortage of gas to KESC. Due to which, people were facing problems and industries were being shut down. Altaf said that Karachi should be provided proper gas supply as it was backbone of countrys economy.

Gas shortage: Gilani directs implementation of ECC distribution plan

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Monday issued directives for the implementation of the decision of Economic Coordination Council (ECC) regarding the equal distribution of gas.

Gilani convened a meeting of all stakeholders on Monday to consider ways and means for equitable distribution of energy shortfall across the country. The meeting reviewed the gas crisis hitting the country and its effects. The PM also ordered the concerned ministries to import LNG at the earliest and asked the gas companies to make efforts to check the gas theft and wastage. On the occasion, Punjab CM shahbaz Sharif thanked the Premier for taking interest in the issue and added that the meeting would help resolve the gas crisis facing the country. It is pertinent to mention that the PM summoned a meeting in the wake of the threat by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to start street protests against gas loadshedding in the province. Mr Sharif had accused the federal government and the gas companies of adopting a discriminatory approach in gas supply to the industrial sector in his province and threatened to stage a march on the Mall in Lahore along with labourers and industrialists to protest against the loadshedding decision that had forced a number of factories to close down.The countrys current average gas production stands at 4BCFD against total proven reserves of about 33 trillion cubic feet (TCF), enough to maintain current supplies for more than 20 years. But the shortfall is also estimated to increase to more than 2BCFD in 2013-14 and 5.08BCFD by 2019-20. More than 9 per cent of the gas production is lost to the system losses.

On the other hand, adding to the public woes Sui Northern announced that the CNG filling station of Lahore would remain shut form 8:00pm to 8:00am besides a complete closure on Tuesday. CNG association convened an emergency meeting over the schedule.

Gas Supply to Punjab industrial units suspended

The Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL) suspended the supply to industrial units in Punjab owing to increase in cold and decrease in supply from gas fields.

As per a notification by the SNGPL, the decision to the effect has been taken to meet the house consumers demands. SNGPL cancelled the gas loadshedding plans earlier issued to the industrial units of Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Multan, Bahawalpur, Sheikhupura and Rawalpindi regions. The officials concerned said that approval from the Centre has been sought prior to the decision, adding that the shortage would continue till January, 2011.

Meanwhile, the traders association strongly reacted against the announcement with Chairman Textile Processing Mills Association Saeed Sheikh terming the gas stoppage a conspiracy.

He also announced to hold a protest campaign by all textile bodies after the Ashura.

Punjab faces gas suspension, closure of CNG stations

Staff Report

LAHORE: The suspension of gas across many areas has caused problems for industries and routines of people. The weekly suspension of gas to industrial units of Punjab continues, despite protests staged by industrial organizations.

Gas suspension continues by Sui Northern Gas Company (SNGC) for two days to the industrial units of Lahore, Sheikhupura and Sahiwal. There are more than 3,000 industrial units closed just in Lahore. Thousands of laborers suffer the closure of industrial units, as they cannot earn their livelihood.

Closure of CNG stations has also started today. More than 2,000 CNG stations are closed in Lahore, Sheikhupura, Sahiwal, Faisalabad, Multan and Gujranwala, increasing problems in the routine of people. Trend Pk

Second Indian ‘child sacrifice’ murder claim

RAIPUR: Police in central India reported a second case of suspected child sacrifice on Thursday, casting a spotlight on witchcraft and occult beliefs that persist in some impoverished areas.

Police in the central state of Chhattisgarh said they had arrested 11 people including a “witchdoctor” and his wife after the body of a two-year-old boy was discovered in their house on Wednesday.

Further searches of the property in the industrial town of Bhilai, about 45 kilometres (30 miles) from state capital Raipur, revealed the skeletal remains of a second victim, a six-year-old girl.

The accused man had confessed to killing both children to acquire “occult power and good fortune,” police told AFP on Thursday, adding that there was a “worship room” in the home.

“The witchdoctor, his family and six other people have been arrested on suspicion of holding human

Karachi: KESC assures of reduced power outages

The governor Sindh Dr. Ishrat Ul Ibad Khan has directed the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) to work on emergency basis to ensure continuous power supply to the industrial zones of the city while the industrial zones have postponed tomorrow’s strike, Dunya News reported on Tuesday.
Expressing his discontent and displeasure over the lengthy power outages in the industrial areas the governor directed the KESC officers and other concerned authorities to work on emergency basis to provide the industrial zones with uninterrupted power supply. the governor said during the meeting that the matter of electricity shortage should be resolved in order to save the country from incurring huge economic losses. the governor also directed the KESC to present next six months plan for power supply, keeping in view all the needs. The MD of SSGPL, who also participated in the meeting, assured the governor of enhanced supply of gas to the KESC on priority basis whereas the MD KESC also assured the governor of reduced power outages in the industrial as well as in the residential areas. During the meeting the governor also contacted the federal petroleum minister and the federal finance minister for increased supply of furnace oil to the KESC so as to make it sure that the length of the power outages is curtailed. The federal ministers also assured the governor of immediate and effective steps in this regard.

Karachi: Governor Sindh takes notice of lengthy power outages

Federation of Pakistan Camber of Commerce and Industry has announced their support for the Wednesday strike announcement by their industrial sector of Karachi, Dunya News reported on Tuesday.
Whereas tomorrow all the industries of the cosmopolitan would observe strike against the lengthy power outages by KESC. On the other hand the Governor Sindh ha taken a serious notice of the issue and summoned all the concerned authorities and KESC officers tomorrow for an important meeting in the provincial governor house to resolve the issue.
KESC has refused to reduce the length of the power outages despite the announcement of strike by the industries of the city. According to the KESC sources, due to reduced supply of gas by Sui Southern Gas Pipelines Limited SSGPL it has become impossible for KESC to reduce the duration of load shedding in the industrial areas.
On the other hand the Governor Sindh Dr. Ishrat Ul Ibad Khan has taken serious notice of the power break downs and the consequent unrest amongst the masses. The Governor has summoned the concerned authorities and the KESC officers immediately to look into the matter.
The industrial unions of the industrial zones of Karachi, including those of S.I.T.E, North Karachi, Federal B. area, Landhi, Korangi and Super Highway, have announced a complete strike on Wednesday which was duly supported by the chairman of the federation Sultan Chawla in a press conference in Karachi. He also said that due to the planned one-day strike, atleast 10-12 billion rupess loss would be incurred in terms of production while atleast 1 billion would decrease from the tax receipts for the government. Sultan Chawla demanded from the government that the issue of these lengthy power outages should be resolved so as to save the jobs of almost 2 million workers and employees.

Bears rule Karachi Stocks

Bears ruled the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) today however the KSE 100 index maintained the level of 10, 500, Dunya News reported on Monday.
Market activities started with bulls rule and the index crossed 10, 600. Uncertainty in the industrial sector affected the sale pressure while the last nights increase in the petroleum tariff also cast adverse effects on the index due to which the investors remained cautious. At the end of the days activities and business, the index decreased by 60 points to reach 10, 538. Total trade volume remained 800 million shares.

SBP: Annual analysis report of fiscal year 2009-10 published

State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has published the annual analysis report of fiscal year 2009-10. According to the bank the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth rate is expected to remain 2-3 percent during the current fiscal year.
The report published by the central bank also reveals that fiscal deficit rose to 6.3 percent exceeding the last year statistics by 1.1 percent. The report also explains that the recent deluge has caused a huge damage to the economic targets. This natural catastrophe affected the arable land and Khareef crop as well. Not only this but the massive floods also affected the infrastructure and the industrial units. Despite initial progress the issue of circular loans of the energy sector could not be resolved.
On the other hand current account deficit declined while the foreign exchange reserves increased tremendously.

Two alleged robbers killed in encounter

Staff Report

KARACHI: Two robbers were killed in an alleged encounter with police in Gulshan-e-Maymar Colony in Karachi.

Police said they spotted three armed person looting passers-by in the industrial area of Gulshan-e-Maymar.

They opened fire at the police personnel who retaliated, killing two of the robbers, while the third one was arrested.

Police said that the dead robbers were wanted in several robbery cases.

Later, the dead bodies were shifted to Jinnah Hospital. SAMAA

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