Once upon a time, in 1947, there was a country which was one of the 23 founding members of the General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT), and now that country ranks 60-70th in the list of global exporters and doesn’t figure among prominent players in the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the successor of GATT. Interestingly, the country is the…
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Islamabad: The experts speaking at the webinar on Saturday opined that the core reasons for the degradation of ecosystems they cited were the unchecked deforestation, use of land change and overexploitation of natural resources including subsurface water. Aquifers are depleting casing severe threat to water security as we have already reached below the required water per capita. The unsustainable adaptation…
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There has been some confusion or even controversy over Nepra’s role and responsibilities. It is a regulator, yes, but what it should be doing. Should it restrict itself to issuing tariffs or should it be doing much more. There are extreme views on it. One is minimal being restricted to tariff and the other being total sectoral control. One of…
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We have a new minister for energy. He is young and appears dynamic, therefore, there is every reason for pinning high hopes on him. Our energy supply chain substantially lacks the required agility. Failure to maintain a consistent exploration and production (E&P) programme, gradual exodus of E&P multinational companies (MNCs) and resultant compulsive spending of 35% of the annual budget…
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Pakistan’s debt problems are escalating as liabilities due on China-funded energy projects established under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) surpass $31 billion and Beijing declines to restructure $3 billion in liabilities coming due that Islamabad possibly won’t pay. The debt load, owed largely for the building of independent power producers (IPPs) on take-or-pay power generation contracts, is substantially more than…
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ISLAMABAD: The government is considering unbundling K-Electric into separate generation, transmission and distribution companies instead of transferring it as a single entity to some other large foreign firm. The new policy consideration has officially come to the fore after recent spar between Karachi-based trade bodies led by the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) and K-Electric over…
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Mohmmand Dam construction was recently inaugurated by the Prime Minister. Similarly many other dams are also in the process of construction in KP and other provinces. With so many dams producing Hydel power that would need to be transported to populated areas would result in massive line losses that would be a wastage. Therefore with the launch of every new…
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MOSCOW, May 28 (Reuters) – Russia and Pakistan have signed an agreement to build the Pakistan Stream gas pipeline, Russia’s energy ministry said on Friday. Russian Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov and Pakistan’s ambassador in Moscow Shafqat Ali Khan signed the agreement, the minsitry said. (Reporting by Maria Tsvetkova; Writing by Alexander Marrow; editing by Louise Heavens)
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The water shortages for Sindh and Punjab went up to 32 per cent on Friday as river flows continued to drop and storages at both Mangla and Tarbela dams neared dead level. The Indus River System Authority (Irsa) said it reviewed the overall water situation on Friday and decided to apply 32pc shortages to the two larger provinces instead of…
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The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Water Resources on Monday endorsed a proposal of the Punjab government for appointment of independent inspectors at critical barrages for spot checking of water losses as the provinces complained about shortages. The meeting of the panel was presided over PPP’s Nawab Yousaf Talpur. Besides members of the committee, the meeting was also attended by…
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