Indian visa

NEW REGIME:
Pakistan and India Saturday signed the much-awaited liberal visa accord at the Ministry of Interior.
Interior Minister R. Malik from Pakistani side and External Affairs Minister  Krishna from Indian side signed the agreement in the presence of high-level officials from both sides. 

This agreement will supersede all previous agreements on the subject and it can be amended by mutual consent through exchange of notes or by signing the supplementary protocols. The journalist visa category as earlier reported in the media is not part of that agreement.

Under the agreement, the applicants must avail the visa within a period of ninety days from the date of issue and if they are grounds requiring extension of validity, the concerned Mission will take a decision on such requests on priority. This provision will however not applicable for the holders of business visa. A fee of one hundred will be payable for the issuance or extension of visa.

The draft of the visa agreement have nine categories.
Business Visa: This visa will be issued to bonafide businessman who intend to travel for business purpose between India and Pakistan. Businessmen with an income of Pak Rs.   0.5 million or equivalent per annum or annual turnover/gross sale of Pak Rs.   3 millions or equivalent will be given one year business visa, with five places for up to four entries.
Business with an income of at least Pak rupees five million or equivalent per annum or turnover of Pak rupees 30 million or equivalent per annum will be given one year multiple entry visas for up to ten places with exemption from police reporting. The visa shall specify that the period of stay at a time shall not exceed 30 days. The maximum time taken into the processing of a business visa will not exceed more than five weeks.
Visa on Arrival: Persons of more than 65 years of age (senior citizens)will be granted single entry visa on arrival at the Attrai/Wagah check post for 45 days. This visa will be non extendable and non convertible .

Visitors Visa: A visitor visa will be issued to persons visiting the other country to meet the relatives or friends or for any other legitimate purpose. This visa will be valid for a maximum of five specified places and shall be for a period not exceeding six months. The visa shall also specify that the duration of stay of the visitor at a time shall not exceed three months.
A visitor visa for a maximum of five specified places may be issued for a longer period of up to two years with multiple entries to senior citizens (those above 65 years of age); national of one country, married to an a national of the other country; and children below 12 years of age accompanying parent (s).

Pilgrims Visa: Pilgrim visa will need to be applied at least 45 days before the commencement of the intended tour. The visas will be issued at least 10 days before the commencement of travel. These visas will be issued for a single entry, restricted to 15 days validity and would be non-extendable.

Group Tour Visa: Group tourist visa may be issued to individual applicants intending to travel in groups, with not less than 10 members and not more than 50 members in each group organized by approved tour operators/travel agents. Such visa will be valid for up to 30 days and will be non-extendable. This visa facility will also be available to the students of educational institutions of both countries but it would not be for those seeking admissions in educational institutions of either country.

Transit Visa: Transit visa valid for up to two entries in the city/port of entry for 36 hours in each case will be issued to persons travelling by air or sea and proceeding to another country through Pakistan/India. Such transit visa will need to be obtained before undertaking the ravel.
Diplomatic Visa/Non-Diplomatic Visa: A diplomatic visa valid for multiple entries will be issued to the heads of the Diplomatic and Consular Missions, members of the Mission holding diplomatic or consular rank, their spouses and children and diplomatic couriers. Diplomatic visa valid for single entry will be given to high-ranking dignitaries holding diplomatic passports.
Similarly, a non-diplomatic visa valid for multiple entries will be issued to non-diplomatic members of the Diplomatic and Consular Missions, their spouses and children and the personal servants of members of the Mission holding diplomatic or consular ranks. Diplomatic visa shall be originally issued within a period not exceeding 30 days of application and non-diplomatic visa shall be issued within a period not exceeding 45 days of application.

Official Visa: An official visa valid for single entry will be issued to officials entitled to diplomatic or non-diplomatic visa of either country visiting the other on official business including participation in international conferences. This visa will be valid for 15 days for specified places.
Registration: Holders of visitor visas shall be required to register themselves at the check posts of entry and shall, within 24 hours of their reaching the specified place of stay, report their arrival, in writing, to the prescribed authorities or the nearest police station They shall also make a similar report 24 hours prior to their intended departure from the place of stay. Persons of more than 65 of age and children below 12 of age are exempted from police reporting.

Entry/Exit Points: Under the agreement, Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad from Pakistani side while Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai from Indian side have been designated as air routes, similarly Karachi and Mumbai as sea routes and Wagah/Attari from Pakistani side as well as Khokhrapar/Munabao from Indian side respectively have been designated as land routes for the entry /exit for the nationals of the either country going to/ coming from the other country.

McDonald’s first vegetarian outlet

US fast food giant McDonald’s famous for its beef-based Big Mac burger revealed that it will open its first ever vegetarian-only restaurant in the world in India in 2013. 

The world’s second-biggest restaurant chain after Subway already tailors its menus to suit local tastes  which in India means no beef to avoid offending Hindus and no pork to cater for Muslims' requirements. It will open its first ever vegetarian outlet in the middle of next year near the famous Golden Temple( Sacred shrine of Sikhs) ,  in Amritsar  city northern India, where religious authorities forbid consumption of meat at the shrine.

“It will be the first time we have opened a vegetarian restaurant in the world,” a spokesman for McDonald’s in northern India, Rajesh Kumar Maini, told AFP.

High interest rates

High / best interest or deposit rates of Pakistani banks.

1. Habib bank limited:        10.25% for one year period on "HBL advantage account" with minimum account balance of Rs. 25,000.

2. Standard Chartered bank:    8.5% for one year period on "rupee term deposit".

3. Muslim commercial bank:     7.35%  for one year period on "PKR term deposit". 

4. KASB bank ltd:          6.0% per annum on daily balance basis paid every month on balance below 100,000 and 7% per annum on balance above 100,000 on "Mahana  khazana"

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1

Famous South Korea’s Samsung Electronics said Tuesday that it had launched a super-size version of its Galaxy Note smartphone, the latest salvo in its battle with Apple for the multi-billion-dollar handheld market worldwide.

The smartphone Galaxy Note 10.1 which went on sale on Monday in Germany and the UAE is almost twice as wide as its predecessor and nearly the size of a tablet.

The release comes as Samsung tries to make inroads in the tablet pc market which is currently dominated by Apple’s iPad. The two technology giant companies are also engaged in a  court battle over patent infringements.

The firm said that the new Note would be officially released in the US on August 15,2012 and sometime next week in GB and South Korea.

This new Galaxy Note 10.10 – powered by Google’s Android software – features a touchscreen which is 10.10-inches measured diagonally, a lot wider than the 5.30-inch screen of the previous Note.

Like its predecessor, it comes with a stylus called the “S pen” to write notes or draw on the screen. The new version allows users to split the screen into half to view two programs at one time.

The new device is equipped with a quad-core processor that allows users to run multiple applications faster than the previous version, which had a dual-core processor.

“The advanced technology and features included in Galaxy Note 10.1 give users the power to produce, create and customise communications,” JK Shin, the chief of Samsung’s mobile unit said.

Samsung — the world’s largest smartphone maker by shipments – in November introduced the first version of its Galaxy Note, a device positioned between its flagship Galaxy S smartphones and Galaxy Tab tablet computers.

“The Note 10.1 is practically a new tablet PC that comes with a stylus pen, which the iPad doesn’t have,”.

LAHORE HIGH COURT

*Umar Atta Bandyal is currently the chief justice of LHC.

*Chief justice Lahore High Court : Sheikh Azmat Saeed. He has given his willingness to be appointed as judge of Supreme Court of Pakistan. Justice Umar Atta Bandyal will be the next chief justice of High Court.
*15-05-2012:  69631 cases are pending before LHC and among these 27828 are writ petitions while intra-court appeals are 942. 3486 are tax review cases while criminal cases are 11254.

*2116 contempt of court cases are also pending.
*13-05-2012:Five new judges have been made permanent and have taken oath.. These include Justice Altaf Ibrahim Qureshi, Justice Abdul-Satar Asghar, Justice Mehmood Maqbool Bajwa, Justice Ameen-ud-Din Khan, Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti. After including these five now the number of permanent judges have reached 28.

*14-05-2012: Six judges among those who took oath 15 days ago have been posted at Multan while on at Rawalpindi bench. Those who have been posted at Multan include; Justice Sheikh Najmul Hassan, Justice Farukh Arfan Khan, Justice Mazhar Iqbal Sidhu, Justice Kazin Raza Shamsi, Justice Abdus-Sameeh Khan and Justice Shahid Waheed.

*Additional registrar LHC: Arshad Ahmed Rana.
*Court building is situated at GPO chowk at Mall Road

LAHORE ON MAP

Punjab Pakistan:
Different maps of Lahore for better understanding of its different aspects.
1. Town wise administrative division.

2. Ring road plan map of Lahore that shows most of the city and its important areas to be covered by the project.

3. Map of Pakistan that shows the position and location of Lahore.

KING EDWARD MEDICAL UNIVERSITY

* 12-05-2012: Convocation held at Patiala Block; 386 students got degrees. Among them 330 were MBBS students. Governor Punjab and Chancellor of the university Sardar Latif Khan Khosa was the chief guest .

*VC: Prof. Dr. Asad Aslam Khan.

*King Edward College has 151 years of remarkable history in health sciences education. t is rightly considered the best institution of the country imparting medical education.

*Situated near Neela Ghumbad and imparts post graduate medical education recognized globally as well.

*Advanced diagnostic lab has been set up at pathology department with amount of Rs. 50 million.

*All test are carried out on very less than market rates.

*Most modern tests facilty is available.

*Ten collection centres are being set up. One has been set up at the university.

*Lab got functional from May,2012.

EXCISE AND TAXATION

*Luxury tax:  2000 cc upto 3000 cc =  Rs. 200,000
                     3000 cc and above     =  Rs. 300,000
*11-05-2012: Registration of those vehicles whose owners have not paid  token tax will be suspended from 25^th May, director excise.

*Main office at Farid Court house near family hospital Mozang.

*One more Office at Defence More. Registration at this office has been started.

*Only 118 big vehicles registered during last one and half year in Lahore, may be due to high late fee.

*Secretary:  Fawad Hassan Fawad.

*DG Excise and Taxation: Saeed Ahmed Nawaz.

*Director excise: Rizwan Sherwani.

*Revenue collection target for the year 2011-12 has been set at Rs. 16 billions but due to difficulties in collection it has been revised down to 14 billions.

*Department made a contract with Three M Company in 2006 for providing number plates for vehicles and motorcycles. Company will start providing number plates that were allegedly stolen from Department’s warehouse, from 20^th May. Contract was cancelled with the company about six months ago.
*Department intends to set up two more registration offices will soon be opened one each at Shahdara and Tokar Naiz Bhaig.

WASA

*Head offie: Gulberg.

*Vice chairman: Haji Sharif.
*MD: Dr. Javed Iqbal.
* DMD Tasleem Sana-Ullah.

*DMD operations: Naveed Pervaiz. He has recently relinquished his charge due to some differences with MD. No new DMD operations has been appointed yet.

*Director finance: Naheed Gul Baloch.

*Director administration: Muhammad Irfan.
*It is sub department of LDA.

*Wasa has delayed the plan of Training and Research Academy due to financial constraints as the contractors have been unable to pay their dues. Currently training center is at Gulshan Ravi which was intended to be upgraded.
*14-05-2012: Wasa has invited applications for the post of 49 in total of directors, deputy directors , assistant directors  by 23rd May.
*15-05-2012: Date for submission of applications has been extended to 17th June and NTS exam date has been extended to 29th June for appointment of 3 directors, 15 deputy directors and 31 assistant directors.

UET

*UET student Moeed Riaz has stood third in international Car Designing Competition held in Dubai. He deserves great applause and congratulations to him on this great achievement. His success also proves that education standard of the university is quite remarkable among the universities of the world.
*UET stands fro university of engineering and technology.

*VC: Lt. General (Rtd.) Muhammad Akram Khan.

*UET has decided to put an end to engineering course in architecture and building due to very low demand in the market and the students have been given option to convert to civil engineering or architecture.

WALLED CITY AUTHORITY

*Notification of Walled City of Lahore Act, 2012 has been issued.

*The Authority will have jurisdiction over Andaroon Lahore. Walled city authority will also have all the powers under Local Government Ordinance.

*After this notification powers of city government, Ravi town, PHA, Lahore waste management company and so many other departments will pass to the Walled city authority.

*It will have authority over rehabilitation of historical buildings,sanitation, education, health, traffic control, transfer of property tax, map and license fee, toll tax, market and shops tax, outdoor advertisement, conversion fee etc.

*It will have authority of fines and punishment un local government ordinance.

*It will have the powers to protect environment and prevent prohibited businesses.

*Chairman will be CM Punjab and vice chairman will be Chief Secretary.

*A DG will run the organization.

PHA

*Stands for Parks and Horticulture Authority.

*DG: Capt. (Rtd.)Muhammad Mehmood Ahmed.
*Director horticulture parks and horticulture authority: Asif Zaheer.

*Established in 1998.

*DG has ordered to rehabilitate pension of more than 1400 official who were earlier regularized in 2007, with back benefits since 1998.

CONSUMER COURT

*Set up at Rewaz Garden.

*The court decided 66 cases in Aril, 2012 and collected fine of Rs.  0.165 million during the period. The court has sent its monthly report to Lahore High Court.

*2 to 3 cases are registered every day.

*560 cases are under process in the court.

*Unfortunately the Protection Council has been unable to spread awareness among masses about the consumer court.

SHO POLICE STATION

SHO PS Nasirabad: Inspector Raheel Anjum.

Do-   PS Model Town: Inspector Muhammad Atiq.

Do-   PS Johar Town: Inspector Muhammad Ishtiaq.

Do-   PS Shafiq Abad: Inspector Kamran Zaman.

Do-   PS Tibi City: Inspector Mansoor Ahmed.

Do-   PS Yakki Gate: Inspector Abid Hussain.

Do-   PS Sarwar road: Sub-Inspector Arfan Saeed.

Do-   PS Iqbal Town: Inspector Aamir Sohail.
Do-   PS Gawalmandi: Inspector Molvi Abdus-Sattar

WASTE MANAGEMENT COMPANY

*28-04-2012: Per house sanitation fee is Rs. 300, company intends to increase it to 500.

*50 drivers as employees on Rs. 7000 per month salary.

*Working under DCO Noor-ul Amin. Officers came from Punjab government working on BPS pay structure and formally came from solid waste management department of City Government.

*Punjab government has not yet issued notification about ownership of the company. Accountant General Punjab has withheld pay of the employees of the company and asked the government to issue notification if the company is a government entity. Assistant Managers  have been paid their salaries out of 2.8 millions of sanitary tax.
*Lahore waste management company picks up about 5 thousand tons of litter. The company intends to set a electric plant run by waste to produce about 200 MW of electricity.
*Manager operations: Asif Iqbal.
*Head office: Egerton Road.
*Vehicles tracking monitoring system is installed at the head office.
*Number of employees is more than 10,000.

BISE

*09-05-2012: Papers today- Morning shift , Physics and Health and Physical Education
                                             Evening shift, Physics, Health and Physical Education, Military and defense.
154,000 students are taking the exams. Part II exams will end on 25th May.
*Inter Part-II exams will start from May 8, 2012. Part I exams will start from 28th May.
*BISE Lahore offices will remain open tomorrow and students will be issued roll number slips.
*Main office is situated at Mozabg Road near Ganga Ram Hospital.
*Earlier the board issued roll number slips via mobile vans too.

RESCUE 1122

*29 vehicles in total. Have recently been replaced with new ones.

*Emergency services training academy for rescue 1122 new appointees is situated at LOS stop at Ferozepur road near Tolinton market.

*6 telephone lines are dedicated for Rescue 1122.

*It has 14 vehicles for forefighting.

*DG Rescue: Dr. Rizwan Naseer.

*Most of the vehicles of the organization have run beyond their capacity of 100,000 kms . They have run about 150,000 kms.

*Rescue 1122 has saved about 363,000 lives in 10228 fire incidents in the last eight years.

*They are serving about 10 million people of Lahore.

CHILDREN HOSPITAL

*Situated at Ferozepur road.

*New MRI machine worth $2.6 million will be installed at the hospital and this installation will take one year from now. Old machine is out of order since long.

*It has been learnt that only six to eight operations of children with heart diseases are being conducted per week while the queue of patients is very very long everyday. A lot of children die while waiting for their turn.

*Medical Director: Dr. Ahsan Waheed Rathor.

PASSPORT OFFICE

*One passport office is at Garden Town.Two assistant directors are appointed at garden town office , one is Mr. Shahid Iqbal transferred here in the second last week of april,2012.

*Second passport office is at Abbot Road, one assistant director is posted there.

*There is a lot of agents outside these offices; some people say clerks get bribes amounting to Rs. 800 or more through them.

*People are teased for petty things, like two addresses on ID cards, for bribe.

*No toilet facility or drinking water is available at Abbot road office. Overcharging at parking stand outside the office has also not been noticed yet by the administration .
*People are facing a lot of difficulties to get passport as Nadra is busy preparing voter lists.

ARFAH KARIM SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY PARK

*29-04-2012: CM inaugurated first e-governance exhibition at the park which will continue for two days. Forty two software projects were presented at the exhibition related to government departments on the first day. Among them were FIR lodging at model police stations, centralized blood bank system and dengue tracking system.

*28-04-2012: CM inaugurated website Car For You at the park. The website provides information about driving, road safety, license and buying and selling of cars.

*Named after world’s youngest MCSE who has died very young.

*Govt of Punjab intends to set up first technical university in it in collaboration with Turkish Middle East technical university.

*Situated at Ferozepur road near Itefaq hospital.

*Country’s biggest IT unverity’s temporary campus will be at the Arfah Karim Software Park, it will be shited to its permanent campus at Ring road.

*Chairman Punjab information technology board is Dr. Umar Saif.

PTI

*09-05-2012: Balouch brothery of Venice has joined Tehreek-e Insaf: Brothery leader Mushtaq Baluch.
*07-0502012: Son of SM Zafar, Asim Zafar has joined PTI and it will formally be announced tomorrow.
*06-05-2012: Imran Khan has announced that PTI will hold a big Jalsa at Rawalpindi on 27th May.
*03-05-2012: The party will not make any electoral alliance with any other party, Punjab president Ahsan Rashid said at the central media cell at the Cavalry Ground. President women wing Punjab Saloni Bhkhari was also president on the occasion.
*01-05-2012: PTI will hold save judiciary rally on 6^th May: Imran Khan.

*28-04-2012: Imran Khan visited the camp of missing persons at Islamabad
*27-04-2012: Ex MPA PMLQ Shaheena Asad joined PTI.
*27-04-2012: Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri has been appointed as senior advisor on foreign affairs.

*Chairman Pakistan: Imran Khan.

*Vice chairman: Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

*President Punjab: Ahsan Rashid.

*President Pakistan: Mukhdoom Javed Hashmi.
*Senior Vice President: Ishaq khan.
*Central Secretary information: Shafqat Mehmood.

*President Lahore: Main Mehmood-ur Rashid.

*senior vice president Lahore: Malik Zaheer Khokhar.

*Deputy Secretary information Lahore: Malik Ishtiaq.

*Youth wing central president: Ibrar-ul-Haq.
*Central media cell is at Cavalry Ground.

*Party’s one office is situated at Jail road and Punjab secretariat at Faisal Town.
*Secretary information Lahore: Mehmood Gillani.

PUNJAB AGRICULTURE AND MEAT COMPANY

*A company owned by Govt of Punjab .
*Chairman of the company is CM Punjab.

*Run by a CEO through board of directors.

* Constructed Lahore Meat Complex Shahpur Kanjaran ,latest slaughter house.

*CEO Dr. Hamid Jalil resigned on 21^st April,2012 after CM showed displeasure over his performance/corruption charges. Charge is now assumed by secretary livestock.

*3.5 million animals per annum are planned to be slaughtered in the latest slaughter house and a big portion may be exported as Halal meat as its market is very huge and untapped. This will earn valuable foreign exchange for the country besides providing earning opportunities for rural folk.

*Punjab government also plans to set up a meat technology institute in collaboration with University of veterinary and animal sciences.

*26-04-2012: Govt of Punjab has decided to separate Meat company and PAMCO today.

*Bakar Mandi at Shahpur Kanjaran to TMA Iqbal Town will not be shifted as local government contract rules do not allow, DCO said.
*Registered beef butchers will get concession of 25% in slaughtering fee. Their fee will be Rs. 375 and for non-registered and out of city butchers it will be Rs.500 per animal.
*As per master plan land measuring around 716 kanals was tranferred to the company, meat complex was built on 280 kanals while remaining land measuring 438 kanals is lying vacant.

  

LAHORE DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

*LDA in short. 

*Main office at Egerton road.
*Chairman: Noor-ul Amin Mengal who is also DCO Lahore.

*DG : Ahad Cheema.
*Vice chairman: Aamir Asghar Dar.
*Additional DG Housing: Irfan Bhatti.
*Director town planning: Muhammad Faheem Choudry.
*Director Finance : Zaheer.
*Assistant director research: Rana Shahid Irshad.

*Operating under LDA act 1975.

*LDA complex ,6 storey building at Court street is rented to Housing department on Rs. 35 per square foot .LDA vacated it during tenure of ex chief secretary Javed Mehmood.
*Website:  http://www.lda.gop.pk  

*24-04-2012: 320 files from LDA office lost. Investigation underway. Some of the files related to Avenue one,Johar Town and Sabzazar.
*26-04-2012:  It has set up a special counter at one window cell at its Johar Town office where people can get all the information about unregistered/illegal schemes to avoid fraud and other problems.Officials of Metropolitan planning wing will provide information about any plot of private schemes also to prevent frauds in sale and purchase of these plots.
*26-04-2012: NTS has declared results of the exams for jobs in LDA of sub-engineers, stenographers, assistants and data entry operators today. The result can be seen on website of NTS.
*The authority intends to hold auction of two restaurants and 54 shops at Park and Ride Plaza Liberty.
*07-05-2012: Building control of 5 towns have been reduced especially 80% control of Nishtar and Iqbal Towns has been transferred to LDA.
*Lahore development authority Community center is at New Muslim Town.
*15-05-2012:  102 housing scheme have been declared illegal by the Authority.

MIANI SAHIB

*The biggest graveyard of the city.

*The biggest graveyard of the country after Thatta.

*Consist of 1264 kanals and divided into eight sections.

*Janazghah, funeral prayer ground is situated on Lytton road.

*Situated between Chouburgi, Samanabad and Mozag.

*Named after after a wali Hazarat Tahir Bandagi. This land was gifted to him and he became to be known as Miani Sahib and he devoted it for graveyard.

*A village named Miani was at this site during Mughal era.

*Came in being in the reign of Shahab ud din Ghouri.

*Ghazi Ilm Din Shaheed id buried here.

*There are several graves soldiers of Ahmed Shah Abdali.

*Grave of brave Major Hafiz Atiq Ahmed, go martyred in operation Rah-e-Rast, Swat.
*Grave of Sheed-e-Awal of Pakistan movement.Quaid-e-Azam once visited his grave and offered prayers.
*Grave of great urdu poet Saghar Siddiqui.

*Fee structure:

Registeration fee,   

Kacha khata Rs. 100,                    Paka khata Rs. 1000 .

Dome fee Rs. 100,000

Fee permanent cemented grave  Rs.  20,000  , 2*3*6

Fee concrete roof flat that can be lifted  Rs. 25,000  , 7*4

Fee fibre/tin roof  Rs. 20,000  , 7*4

Undertaker fee, kacha khata Rs.  1500 , Paka khata Rs. 4500

Grave maintainance fee , Rs. 3000

Fee Mud-brick grave Rs. 1000

Graveyard wall repair fee Rs. 1000
*Funds of Rs. 100 million at hands but not being utilized to overcome problems at the graveyard. Commissioner Lahore showed his resentment at the management.
*Grave of brave soldier Maj Shabir Sharif (Nishan e Haider) is also at the graveyard.

Qadirpur gas field

 As a result of installation of compressors at Qadirpur gas field , the production  has been increased by around 100 mmcfd and the production has now reached 550 mmcfd. 

The production increase clearly indicates the compressors are upto the mark. The project was undertaken strictly in accordance with OGDCL Procurement Rules and Policy.

The performance test of the compressors was to be carried out in March 2011, but due to acute energy crisis was postponed to June  and subsequently it was carried out in September . The test has been successfully carried out and major concerns have been addressed. The correspondent has relied on an initial/interim report, the findings/recommendations of which are being implemented. 

As regards to the award of contract, it is clarified that a study for reservoir assessment was carried, which was based on reservoir productivity which declared the reservoir would start normal depletion from the year 2008. As per their recommendation, some new wells were to be added and compression facilities should be installed. 

OGDC started its working to pre-qualify a consultant. ILF of Germany was awarded the job of consultancy and project management and site supervision contract and after data input and validation of the data, the same was conveyed to 27 world renowned companies. Accordingly CPECC of China were adjudged to be the financially lowest evaluated bidder. The contract was awarded to CPECC for detail engineering, procurement, installation, erection alongwith commissioning at a total cost of $144 millions.

The current addition of gas from Qadirpur gas field will help alleviate energy crisis but to a very low level. 

GDP of the world

2012:   

World's  growth is slowly improving as recovery in the United States gains some strength and dangers from Europe recede, but risks remain elevated and the gains are very fragile, the IMF said on Tuesday.

Another flare-up of the euro-zone sovereign debt crisis or sharp escalation in oil prices on geopolitical uncertainty especially Iranian nuclear issue could easily undermine confidence and disrupt the improving growth path for world economy, the IMF stated.

"With the passing of the crisis and some good news about the US economy, some optimism has returned. It should remain tempered," said Oliver Blanchard, the IMF's chief economist, in the latest World Economic Outlook.

"Even absent another European crisis, most advanced economies still face major brakes on growth. And the risk of another crisis is still very much present and could well affect both advanced and emerging economies," he further added.

The global economy is on track to expand this year by 3.50% and by 4.10% in the year 2013, up slightly from 3.30 and 3.9 percent GDP output respectively that the IMF had forecast in January,this year, when market concern was rampant that Greece could default and Italy and Spain were facing budget crises.

World's GDP currently stands at $ 67 trillions.

GDP growth rate of China

China said on Friday its GDP grew by 8.1% in the first quarter, 2012, its slowest pace in nearly three years, as domestic demand fell and Europe's woes curbed business activity considerably.

Gross domestic product grew by its slowest pace since the second quarter of the year 2009 in the three months to the end of March,2012 , the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.

The figure marked the fifth consecutive quarterly slowdown for the world's second-largest economy, and NBS spokesman told that there was now "enormous" pressure on exports.

"The global situation in the first quarter is complex the pressure on exports growth is enormous," he told the media.

Output from China's millions of factories and workshops rose 11.61 percent in the first three months of this year, compared with growth of 15.70 percent a year earlier.

The figure is likely to fuel concerns about China's vast manufacturing sector, which has been badly hurt by falling demand for Chinese products in crisis-hit Europe, the country's main importer.

China's annual growth slowed to 9.20 percent last year from 10.41 percent in 2010, as turbulence in Europe and the United States hit the biggest export-driven economy  of the world.

Ali Musa Gillani

Ephedrine drug quota case:

The Supreme Court of Pakistan has issued a notice to the Prime Minister’s very beloved son, Syed Ali Musa Gilani in the chemical quota allotment case(accused in import of “Poor Man's Cocaine” ). A three member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry heard the case.

During proceedings in the court, the ANF comprising of Brigadier Faheem investigating the case were presented before the court. The counsel for Brgadier Faheem informed the court that the ANF team that was working on the case had been changed.

The CJ inquired as to why this had happened and remarked that maybe the reason was the involvement of some prominent person and further investigation was required.

Brigadier Faheem informed the court that the chemical quota was allotted by former health secretary Khusnod Lashari . The ANF has issued summons for Lashari and Ali Musa Gilani, and on the request of Lashari the ANF met him at the PM House.

Brigadier Faheem further informed the court that Ali Musa Gilani’s father PM Gillani was upset over the notice and the law secretary along with entire state machinery were trying to save Khusnod Lashari and Ali Musa Gilani in this case.

The court ordered Ali Musa Gilani and Khusnod Lashari to record their statements in ANF and the investigation team be reinstated. The hearing of the case will resume on April 20,2012.

It is pertinent to mention here  that the case regarding the illegal sale of a drug, ephedrine was registered on October 10,2011, after two pharmaceutical companies -- Danas Pharmaceutical Limited and Berlex Lab International --were accused of obtaining import quotas for the drug in collusion with the federal health ministry officials that exceeded the limits fixed by the Narcotics Control Board. The NCB had fixed an annual quota of 22,000kg of ephedrine for Pakistan for 2010-11, but the Ministry of Health following its devolution allocated a quota of around 31,000kg of the drug. 
Musa Gillani has fled the country.

People of Pakistan should look at these cheap politicians that they are now selling heroin in the country and destroying the future of many youth, our beloved talented and loving youth. A lot of families will be destroyed and agonized by these cheap people those who go to any extent to earn money. It is worst kind of corruption. I  request the people to stand with Supreme Court and give it strength to fight against these bastards who want to destroy everything in this country for their selfish means.

Earthquake resistant table

Two Israeli researchers Brutto and Bruno have designed a table that can withstand falling debris in  an earthquake. It could be particularly valuable in schools, especially those built near geological fault lines or in developing countries, where many buildings are poorly constructed.

People are often advised to crawl under a table if they can’t get outside during an earthquake but the designers said this could not be helpful because ordinary furniture normally collapses under heavy debris.

The ‘earthquake-proof’ or earthquake- resistant table, for which a patent is pending, is designed to remain upright under the debris expected when a single-storey building collapses, told Bruno, the lead designer.

The maximum expected weight of a falling ceiling is 350 kilogrammes, but the table could withstand up to a tonne, he told SciDev.Net.

Tables could even be arranged to provide passageways for rescue teams to move around a collapsed building when looking for survivors, he further added.

“We have made a great effort to create a table that will be light enough for two children to lift and cheap enough for most schools to purchase,” researcher Bruno said. “The cost of the table is approximately 2.5 times that of a standard school table, but it is of high quality so it will last about twice as long.”

Coal production in China

Peoples Republic of China's coal output increased 5.80 percent from a year earlier to 839 million tonnes in the first quarter of this year 2012, the official People's Daily reported on Monday, revealed by Wang Xianzheng, head of the China Coal Industry Association.

National coal inventories stood at 224 million tonnes at 31st March,2012, the newspaper report said.

Coal stocks in major power plants were 76.7 million tonnes at the end of last month, enough for 19 days' power generation, the report further added.

Afghan opium trade

Some facts.
Afghanistan supplies about 90% of the world’s opium , from which deadly heroin is made.
The poppy economy in Afghanistan, which provides an income for insurgent Talibans , grew significantly in the year 2011 with soaring prices and expanded cultivation,  a UN report revealed.
In 2011, the farm-gate value of opium production more than doubled from the year previously to $1.4 billion and now accounts for 15% of the economy of Afghanistan, the UNODC said.
Kandahar is of one of Afghanistan’s top poppy producing provinces.
A lot of people were buying the opium and the cannabis as a kind of gold standard, as a kind of security fearing conflict in the wake of withdrawal of foreign troops in 2014.

Circular debt in Pakistan

As on March, 2012 circular debt stands on Rs. 400 billion.


Circular debt is accumulated because consumers of electricity are paying less for every unit but the supplier PEPCO has to pay higher price to the power generation companies. This gap is filled by subsidy given by the government of Pakistan which has very weak financial health. This gap creates cash flow problems for Pepco because it receives less cash than it has to pay to generation companies and its constantly increases which results in further circular debt. Therefore govt has to increase the price of electricity to pass on its burden because it can not itself sustain this huge cost due to lack of resources because it is incompetent and negligent to collect taxes to increase its financial health .
The reason behind this problem is that we are producing electricity from thermal sources not much from hydel. Thermal is very very costly than hydel. Therefore govt increases price that causes inflation. This problem was sown when Benazir started IPPs to get kickbacks and commissions when we did not need electricity. She did not start to build a dam for cheaper energy for future needs because PPP people could not get bribes from that. We started to buy that costly power which we did not need at that time and tried to export it to India. If she had started a big dam it would have also provided a lot of water for irrigation and our   rural people and country as a whole would have been a lot prosperous. Furthermore it would have saved people of Pakistan from devastating floods and happen again and again besides generating cheap electricity.

Sindh Engro Coal mining company

The financial close of $ 3 billion Sindh Engro Coal project can be delayed if the govt could not resolve worsening circular debt issue or timely complete laying of transmission line.

CEO of Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) and Engro Fertilizer Ltd (EFL), Mr. Khalid Mansoor told this while addressing a press conference here Friday.

The project is a joint venture between Sindh Provincial Govt and Engro Powergen Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Engro Corporation Ltd. with 40% and 60% stake respectively.

He said the government also needs to ensure uninterrupted gas supply to the newly commissioned fertilizer project ENVEN worth $ 1.10 billion to improve financial position of Engro Corporation, the holding company of EFL and SECMC.

He said that the financiers of the coal project would like to see that all these issues are resolved before they okey the financing for the coal project.

He said that circular debt has reached Rs 400 billion in March ,2012 and this might create doubts in the minds of the financiers about their forthcoming investment in Thar coal project.

He, however, made it clear that SECMC is technically, environmentally, financially and socially viable project being undertaken. The lignite quality of Thar coal is one of the best in the world with several other advantages as well, including a 33 meters cumulative lignite seam thickness and minimum sulphur percentage (1.10 %), he further added.

Responding to a question, he said that Central Development Working Party has already accorded approval to the transmission line project two weeks ago and now ECNEC is to give approval to the project.

He further added the entire project is to be financed by Chinese investors which are also the executors of SECMC. They are large companies, all in coal mining, construction, power generation, etc.

Mansoor said that the commissioning of this project will reduce Pakistan's energy bill by about $ 1 billion and benefit electricity consumers by about $ 400 million.

"The development of Block II alone would bring an investment of $ 12 billion. This includes mining, power generation and briquetting of coal.

To a question, he said that the only solution to the current energy crisis, is the use of coal in power units of WAPDA which are closed due to non-availability of furnace oil which is imported and very costly. "We have offered the government of Pakistan to let us convert the Jamshoro power plant to coal. We had been qualified for bidding for the project which will require an investment of $ 400 million", Mansoor added.

Pak Arab refinery

Pakistan’s biggest refinery  Pak Arab refinery produces 100,000 barrels-per-day.

Pak Arab accounts for about a third of the country’s overall refining capacity. 

Last week, oil marketing company Pakistan State Oil issued a tender for 650,000 tonnes of fuel oil for April-June delivery, and also bought 75,000 tonnes of jet fuel and 140,000 tonnes of gasoline for April-May.

Sources said PSO had no plans to seek more fuel oil during the refinery’s maintenance shutdown as the refinery is currently undergoing maintenance .

Demand for oil fuel products in across the country is expected to increase by 10 to 15% from June, as the summer heat wave increases the usage of air conditioners and drivers run their cars more often.

Pak Arab refinery is a 60-40 joint venture between the Pakistan government and  Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

Child labour in Pakistan

Child labour is one of the curses that our society faces which have deteriorated the the quality of life and social fabric of the nation. This curse is very prevalent in Pakistan as 40% people live below poverty line and they have to feed their children so they put their children into child labour to increase their earnings to keep both ends meet. These children are therefore deprived of education and basic human rights as they are abused and put to work in hard and dangerous conditions. Their whole life becomes miserable and they usually never become good citizens of the state.

Oil import

Statistics showed that the oil import bill reached $5.86 billion in the first seven months of the fiscal year 2011-12, up by 47.38 per cent from $3.975 billion last year.

The surge in import of value-added petroleum products showed that Pakistani refineries were operating on low scale because of circular debt.

Import of crude oil was up by 18.21 per cent to $2.90 billion as against $2.45 billion in the same period last year.

This increase was because of rising oil prices in the international market. WTI crude is now trading above $100 for quite some time.The depreciation of rupee further added up the import value of oil during the period under review.

There is also a danger that if US- Iran relations go further tense it may push oil above 150.

Banks profits

It is the government not business community which makes banks rich in Pakistan as the profit of large private banks rose by more than 27% in the year 2011.

While presenting the bimonthly monetary policy a few weeks ago the governor State Bank was disappointed that most of the credit taken by the private sector was meant for working capital and that the banks heavily investing into government papers.

“Cumulative earnings of 4 big banks (HBL, UBL, ABL, MCB) reached Rs66 billion in 2011, up 27 per cent from 2010. Amongst listed private banks, four banks contribute 70 per cent of the market capitalization.

How vigorously govt borrowing is rising each year is visible from the State Bank`s latest report which shows that the government has so far borrowed about Rs690 billion from the scheduled banks till February 8, 2012 since July 2011.

At the end of June 2011, the stocks of the government loans from schedule banks had reached Rs1.67 trillion explaining the causes of real profits for the banks.

This huge investment in government papers yields real profit for the banks and despite an ailing economic growth the banks have been making profits due to this reason since 2008.

Economists believe the fiscal deficit is rising higher than last year and it might be ended at over 7 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) till June 30,2012. This will promote more borrowing by the government.

The IMF also criticized the government fiscal policies and massive borrowing from banks which finally stopped lending despite having an agreement for large amount of $11.40 billion. Pakistan received only $7.90 billion.

Currency in circulation

The total number of currency notes in circulation in Pakistan increased to Rs.1798.987 billion, according to a State Bank of Pakistan report for the week ending on February 10, 2012.

The corresponding figure for the week ending on February 3rd was Rs.1755 billion notes.

This latest report reveals that the total number of currency notes issued were Rs.1,799,114,377.00 (Rupees one trillion, seven ninety nine billion, one hundred and fourteen million and three hundred and seventy seven thousand).

The total number of notes held in the banking department stood at Rs.127,070,000. The total assets held by the State Bank were Rs.1,799,114,377,000 while the liabilities were also of the same figure. The total liquid foreign reserves as of February 10 stood at US $ 16,768 million.

Of this the reserves held by SBP were US $ 12,286 million. The net reserves of other banks were US $ 4,482 million.

It is important to note here that when govt prints extra notes to finance its budget deficit to meet its expenditure, it feeds inflation. Govt  should try either to reduce its expenses or increase its revenues.