The Petroleum Division has asked the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) to initiate a forensic audit of top 10 oil marketing companies (OMCs), which were allegedly involved in petrol crisis in June last year. The Petroleum Division has sent a questionnaire to the AGP, asking it to focus on it while conducting the audit of OMCs. The forensic audit will…
Read MoreYear: 2021
U.K. Builds Site to Recycle Plastic With High Pressure Steam
The first commercial scale plant to recycle all types of plastic using high pressure steam in the U.K. began construction. The plant in the northeast of England will cost 30 million pounds ($41 million) to build and ultimately process 80,000 metric tons a year of plastic waste after its starts operating by the end of 2022, according to a statement…
Read MoreChina, With $400 Billion Iran Deal, Could Deepen Influence in Mideast
China agreed to invest $400 billion in Iran over 25 years in exchange for a steady supply of oil to fuel its growing economy under a sweeping economic and security agreement signed on Saturday. The deal could deepen China’s influence in the Middle East and undercut American efforts to keep Iran isolated. But it was not immediately clear how much…
Read MoreSAPM Nadeem Babar asked to step down over fuel crisis: Asad Umar
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Petroleum Nadeem Babar has been asked to resign from his position over last year’s fuel crisis, federal minister Asad Umar announced on Friday. Addressing a press conference, he said Prime Minister Imran Khan had asked Babar to step down from the position for a 90-day period, during which the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA)…
Read MorePakistan’s power crisis: Trans-Mission Impossible
Poor governance, incompetence, lack of transparency, distribution and transmission losses (a euphemism for theft), have made powering Pakistan a transMission Impossible. A recently released book by the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars (Wilson Center) reviews the energy crisis in Pakistan and raises the question if there is a way out of Pakistan’s endless energy crisis? A careful read of the book…
Read MoreIMF Executive Board completes reviews of Pakistan’s economy; approves $500m for budget support
The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has completed the second, third, fourth and fifth reviews of the Extended Arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Pakistan and approved an immediate disbursement of $500 million for budget support. Following the Executive Board discussion on Pakistan on March 24, IMF Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair Antoinette Sayeh…
Read MoreTree plantation vital to keep atmosphere pollution free: Amin Aslam
Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam has said tree plantation is highly important to keep an atmosphere clean and healthy. He said this while inaugurating the Miyawaki Forest at Botanical Garden Jallo here on Thursday. He said planting trees was the only way to deal with smog and environmental pollution. He congratulated the Parks and…
Read MoreCircular debt threatens sustainability of power supply chain – Abdulaziz Aljomaih
Abdulaziz Hamad Aljomaih, representing Aljomaih Group of Saudi Arabia with major shareholdings in K-Electric, Pakistan’s only private and vertically integrated utility, held a range of high-level meetings in Islamabad and Karachi during recent visit to Pakistan, including the Prime Minister Imran Khan, President Arif Alvi, Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Privatization Minister Mohammedmian Soomro and Energy Minister Omar Ayub Khan.…
Read MoreK-Electric deal may face trouble
A close aide of the prime minister has stepped forward in the K-Electric deal that may lead to another controversy. Different quarters say that intervention by the premier’s close aide, who had previously worked on different positions in K-Electric, may derail the progress made so far in resolving the payables and receivables dispute among Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), National…
Read MorePhase-wise sale of firms proposed
Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Power Tabish Gauhar has suggested the privatisation of five power distribution companies in Punjab in the first phase after clearing their loans to improve the balance sheet and enable them to borrow from banks for restructuring. During discussions in a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCOP), he commented on the draft report…
Read More