ISLAMABAD, May 2 (APP):Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), in annual development plan for the year 2018-19, has proposed to grant 33 licenses to promote LPG sector and ensure smooth supply of the commodity in far-flung areas especially during peak winter season.
“Among the proposal, 25 licenses are for operation/marketing of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) storages and filling,” official sources told APP.
According to the OGRA’s annual report for the year 2016-17, the authority had issued around 21 licences to different companies pertaining to regulated gas sector since 2002, which were meant for transmission and sale of gas to various entities in different parts of the country.
The authority granted diverse licenses to different companies including Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited, Sui Southern Gas Company Limited, Mari Petroleum Company Limited, Pakistan Petroleum Limited, Oil and Gas Development Company Limited, Fauji Fertilizer Company Limited, Engro Chemicals Pakistan Limited, Central Power Generation Company Limited, Fatima Fertilizer Company Limited, Foundation Power Company Limited, Star Power Company Limited, Star Power Generation Limited, Engro Fertilizer Limited, ETPL, Universal Gas Distribution Company, Gaseous Distribution Company and Fauji Oil Terminal and Distribution Company.
Giving the regulatory regime overview, the report said, the regulatory functions of natural gas sector were transferred to the OGRA on March 28, 2002 with the objective to break the public sector monopoly, open the natural gas transmission and distribution to private sector and promote competition in the midstream and downstream oil and gas sector.
Since then, the authority has been performing functions like grant of licenses for regulated gas sector, formulation of rules, regulations and procedures for the conduct of licensees, determination of revenue requirement petitions of SNGPL& SSGCL, monitoring and enforcement of rules, regulations and applicable license conditions, resolution of disputes and complaints lodged by the consumers, pipeline capacity allocation, licensing of low pressure (flare) gas and for sale of re-gasified liquefied natural gas.
OGRA proposes 33 licenses for LPG sector promotion
UNICEF for stronger investment in children, adolescents
ISLAMABAD, May 2 (APP):United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is hosting parliamentarians from the entire South Asia region in an effort to increase investment in children and young adults, bringing about much needed change for millions of poor and improving the prospects for healthy economic growth in the region.
The South Asia Parliamentarian Platform for Children (SAPPC) being held in Dhaka, Bangladesh on May 2 and 3 aims to strengthen opportunities for children in the first two decades of their lives said a press release issued here.
Lawmakers from eight countries in South Asia will meet to prioritize, promote, and safeguard children’s rights and discuss the prospects for further investment in Early Childhood and adolescent years.
Senator Dr. Mehr Taj Roghani, is representing Pakistan at the SAPPC. Prior to be elected as member of the Senate of Pakistan, Senator Roghani had served as the Minister for Health and Special Advisor to the Chief Minister, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and also as the first ever woman Deputy Speaker of the KP Assembly.
“While South Asia is home to one fourth of the world’s population, its share of global income is just 4%. This fact underlines one of the biggest challenges for South Asia’s progress on the social and economic front: namely the lack of investment in its largest asset, its Human Capital – and especially the young within the society,” said Jean Gough, Regional Director of UNICEF South Asia.
This year’s meeting focused on the region’s commitment to increased investment in children. 300 million children in South Asia are so-called multi-dimensionally poor with too little to eat, a high risk of falling sick from preventable disease and a very slim chance of ever going to school.
Evidence show that investment in the young pays strong dividends to society. One dollar invested in quality Early Childhood Development will give a return of between 6 and 17 dollars. If low- and middle-income countries ensured preschool enrollment to half of the country’s children, the result could be cumulative lifetime earnings gains of $15 – $34 billion. The urgent, timely and adequate investments in early childhood and adolescent years would lead to well-developed brains and a highly productive workforce.
UNICEF South Asia is honored to bring together law makers to discuss the increased need for investment in favor of the most marginalized children.
“There are very good chances for bringing about radical and important change: in most countries in the region, children and young people make up a large part of society and even smaller investments now will give good results for children and South Asian societies”, said Jean Gough of UNICEF South Asia.
Achievement of development goals can be fast tracked by empowering labourers: Marriyum
ISLAMABAD, May 1 (APP):Federal Minister for Information, Broadcasting, National History and Literary Heritage Marriyum Aurangzeb said the labourers have a pivotal role in the development of a country and the achievement of the development goals can be fast-tracked by empowering them.
In a message on the International Labour Day issued here Tuesday, she said that the sacrifices of the labourers of Chicago has transformed into a global movement for their rights which was continuously moving forward.
The minister said that the manual and blue-collar workers all over the world including Pakistan deserved unqualified salute of the entire world community.
She said that the process of durable and sustained development could be ensured by taking care of the food and health facilities for the labourers as well as by imparting different skills to them.
She said that it was a day to reiterate the pledge for supporting the labourers in their endeavours for the protection of their rights, promoting their welfare and providing social security to them.
Marriyum said that the Almighty had spotlighted the exaltedness of the labourers by calling them his friends and ordered the Muslims to pay them their wages before drying up of their sweat. She said that the entire world acknowledged the key role of the workmen in the global development. The minister said that the present government was taking effective measures to improve the lot of the drudges and providing better avenues of employment to them, adding that concrete steps had been taken for carrying out reforms and enforcing discipline in the relevant departments of the government.
She said that the government was determined to continue working for the welfare and development of the labourers.
Marriyum observed that the development of the working class was instrumental to the development of the country and the society. She said that those nations who believed in the dignity of the labour invariably achieved greater heights.
COAS in Quetta: Hazara community decides to call off all sit-ins
ISLAMABAD, May 2 (APP):Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwas meeting with notables of the Hazara community in Quetta has been successful as they (Hazara community) decided to call of their all sit-ins, sources said on Tuesday.
Earlier, Director General Inter-Services Public Relations Major General Asif Ghafoor had said in tweet that the COAS had reached Quetta to get an update on security situation and meet with notables of Hazra Community.
According to sources, DG ISPR, Minister for Interior Ahsan Iqbal, Commander Southern Command Lieutenant General Asim Saleem Bajwa, Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo and Balochistan Home Minister Sarfraz Bugti were also part of the meeting.
People now realize PML-N’s slogan of ‘give respect to vote’: Nawaz
SAHIWAL, May 01 (APP)::Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supreme leader Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Tuesday said people’s enthusiasm at the public meeting showed that every Pakistani had now realized the PML-N’s slogan of “Give respect to vote”.
Addressing a mammoth public meeting here at Sheikh Zafar Ali Stadium, the former prime minister said the Lahore public meeting of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) had no match with today’s PML-N gathering, as that meeting was like ‘Jalsa Lahore da, te majma Peshawar da aur agenda kisi hor da’ (It was a public meeting of Lahore but participants were from Peshawar, with agenda of someone else).
Nawaz Sharif said the ‘Ladla’ (Imran Khan) was a total failure as he had claimed of making ‘a new Pakistan’ but he could not develop the of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (where his party was in government) and its capital Peshawar.
The PTI chief, he said, had been making tall claims of adding more electricity into the system but delivered nothing on all fronts. The PML-N, however, had the credit of adding significant electricity into the system that was unprecedented in Pakistan’s history, besides laying a vast network of motorways and highways as well as ensuring other infrastructural development across the country, he added.
It was again the PML-N government that had not only ensured peace in Karachi and Balochistan by eliminating the menaces of terrorism and extremism through a well-conceived strategy, he said and added that he had also initiated the mega developmental projects under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The PML-N Quaid said Sahiwal now had a modern university, a medical college and a coal power plant, and it would also be connected to the motorways network, if the PML-N was elected again.
He alleged that the PTI chairman had ‘sold’ his party members, who in the Senate election voted for the Pakistan People’s Party candidate. He acted like a ‘stooge’ by voting for others and the people must beware of such stooges, and vote only for the PML-N which had the track record of public service, ensuring their prosperity and that of the country, Nawaz added.
He claimed that Asif Zardari would not oppose Imran and vice versa as they had some secret understanding. However, they could not fool the people, he said, adding that those who had embezzled billions of rupees from the national exchequer in the past and even exploited Haj pilgrims should be held accountable.
Nawaz Sharif said the PML-N had never compromised on the nation’s dignity and Pakistan’s sovereignty even during the times of turmoil and that was why the people should again vote the party into power. He assured that if elected again, his party would provide shelter to the homeless.
“Sahiwal is my bhaiwal (partner/companion),” he said and urged its people to actively vote for the PML-N and turn the next general election into a referendum.
Earlier, Maryam Nawaz said Imran Khan played the role of a ‘guest actor’ in every election and he would disappear after the upcoming general election. The PML-N would continue its journey of selfless public service and upholding the country’s dignity, she vowed.
She said the PTI leadership had called in the party workers from all over Pakistan to participate in the Lahore meeting as the people of Punjab had refused to listen to it, as they knew that Imran was nothing more than a ‘rubber stamp leader’. Billions of rupees was spent by its ticket holders to woo people for attending to the meeting but in vain, she said and advised the voters to be vigilant of the elements, who sold their votes to other party.
Maryam Nawaz said that Nawaz Sharif was the only leader, who was ‘Sadiq and Ameen’.
Punjab Law Minister Rana Sana Ullah Khan, former Senator Pervez Rashid, MNA Javed Latif, Provincial Minister Malik Nadeem Kamran, Pir Syed Imran Ahmed Shah and other party leaders and local office-bearers were also present in the meeting.
UN expert voices grave concern over fighting in Myanmar’s Kachin state
UNITED NATIONS, May 1 (APP)::A United Nations rights expert Tuesday expressed grave concern over reports that Myanmar’s military has used heavy weapons and conducted aerial bombings in civilian areas as fighting against ethnic rebels in northern Kachin state has escalated sharply.
While the world focuses on the plight of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state, a civil war has flared against the Kachin Independence Army, with thousands of civilians displaced from their villages near the Chinese border, according to the United Nations.
What we are seeing in Kachin state over the past few weeks is wholly unacceptable, and must stop immediately,” Yanghee Lee, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, said on Tuesday.
According to UN reports, more than 5,000 civilians have been displaced from villages near the Chinese border in the last three weeks. Children, pregnant women, the elderly and people with disabilities are among those who have been displaced.
In a press statement, the UN rights expert reiterated that all parties to the conflict had to abide by international humanitarian law, and take precautions not to harm civilians.
Civilians must never be subjected to violence during the course of conflict. All parties must take all necessary measures to ensure their safety and security, she said.
Ms. Lee also raised concern over reports that more than 100 civilians have been trapped in the village of Man Wai for the past three weeks, with inadequate access to food or medical supplies.
A food convoy, organized by the Myanmar Red Cross, was reportedly prevented from entering the village last week.
All parties to the conflict must allow the passage of humanitarian assistance, Ms. Lee said. Any wilful impediment of relief supplies may amount to war crimes under international law.
In March, as the worlds attention was focused on the situation in Rakhine state and the Rohingya refugee crisis, the Special Rapporteur had raised alarm over deteriorating situation in Kachin, Shan and other conflict affected areas of Myanmar.
In Kachin state, where sporadic violence and intermittent killings have been the norm in recent years, there has been an increase in the frequency and intensity of clashes between the Tatmadaw Myanmars armed forces] and Kachin Independence Army (KIA) since October 2017, resulting in deaths and the displacement of the civilian population, Ms. Lee said in her report to the Human Rights Council.
‘Germany keen to boost mutual trade ties with Pakistan’
SIALKOT, May 01 (APP)::Deputy Ambassador of Germany in Pakistan Mr. Jens Jokisch has said that Germany is keen to boost mutual trade ties with Pakistan, pledging to make efforts to remove all hurdles from the way of promoting mutual trade between Pakistan and Germany.
He stated this while talking to the Sialkot exporters during his visit to several leading industrial units on Tuesday during the second day of his visit to Pakistan’s export-oriented Sialkot city.
German Deputy Ambassador witnessed the craftsmanship of Sialkot based artisans and termed it a world class craftsmanship.
He showed keen interest in the production process of sports goods and surgical instruments there.
He stressed upon the need of making effective joint efforts to boost mutual trade between Pakistan and Germany. Germany will encourage the regular exchange of the mutual trade delegations between Germany and Pakistan, he added.
He said that Germany can be a gateway to EU markets for Pakistan.
He said that both Germany and Pakistan have been enjoying good friendly and cordial trade relations and now the time is ripe to further strengthen these mutual trade ties, as all the things are moving to the right direction in this regard.
German Deputy Ambassador revealed that the several more companies of Germany have shown keen interest to invest in Pakistan in different trade fields especially in energy sector.
He said that Germany intended to have developed and strengthened mutual trade relations with Pakistan, saying that Germany will ensure the easy access of Sialkot exporters to EU and German markets.
High Commissioner attends Sir Tim Hitchens inauguration as the new President of Wolfson College Oxford
LONDON, May 01 (APP):High Commissioner attends Sir Tim Hitchens’ inauguration as the new President of Wolfson College, Oxford Syed Ibne Abbas, Pakistan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (UK) here on Tuesday attended the inauguration ceremony of Sir Tim Hitchens, CMG LVO as the new President of Wolfson College, Oxford.
A statement of the Pakistan High Commission issued here said that the ceremony took place in the
Haldane Room of Wolfson College, Oxford and was attended by, among others, Lord Chris Patten, former Presidents of College, Ambassadors, senior government officials and members of academia.
The High Commissioner felicitated Sir Tim Hitchens on his election as the new President of a
prestigious institution and wished him well with his new role.
He also discussed academic collaboration with the facility members between Pakistan and UK.
In his interaction with Sir Tim Hitchens and Prof. Matthew McCartney, Director of South Asia Studies at
Oxford, the High Commissioner discussed academic collaboration between Pakistani educational institutions and Oxford University. Professor Matthew McCartney would soon be going to Pakistan as Visiting Professor.
The High Commissioner also interacted with Pakistani students currently studying at Oxford University.
CPNE delegation calls on Shehbaz
LAHORE, May 01 (APP):A delegation of Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) led by its president Zia Shahid called on Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President and Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif here Tuesday.
The delegation appreciated the performance of Punjab Information Department over the release of government advertisements and provision of their dues.
CPNE President Zia Shahid said distribution of advertisements in the province was being carried out in a transparent manner as the Information Department had adopted a foolproof mechanism in that regard. “Your team is proactively working,” he added.
The CPNE delegation appreciated the performance of Shehbaz Sharif for the speedy development of the province and added that everyone was fond of his hard work. They said a number of development works had been carried out in Punjab during the last ten years, but no work was done during the last ten years in Sindh; rather it had been put in reverse gear. Therefore, there should be a Shehbaz Sharif in Sindh as well, they said.
Speaking on the occasion, Shehbaz Sharif said the nation was going towards elections and it was hoped that free and fair elections would be held. “The future of democracy and that of the country lies in it,” he added.
He said elections would be held on the basis of performance and the voters would give votes on the basis of performance.
He said the role of media was very important in that regard. He said, “Facts should be brought out as facts because national interest lies in it. Baseless allegations are not in the interest of the country,” he opined.
He said appreciation of Information Department by the CPNE was praiseworthy and congratulated the whole team of the department.
Shehbaz Sharif said future of country would be bright by giving equal opportunities to all in the elections.
He said Imran Khan was given a wonderful opportunity to implement the 11 points in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, but he did not take benefit of it. “We have taken wonderful steps for the improvement of every sector in Punjab,” he added.
He said Pakistan was swirling for the last 70 years and now it should be moved forward with joint consultations. There was no need to worry about as the country’s future was bright, he added.
He said, “We will run a vigorous election campaign in Punjab and in other provinces.”
Shehbaz Sharif said development in other provinces was also necessary along side the Punjab. Unique steps had been taken for the development of Southern Punjab during the last ten years. About 42 percent development funds were provided for 31 percent population of Southern Punjab, with 10 percent additional quota in every development programme, he added.
He said he was sorry if anyone was hurt over the statement of Rana Sanaullah.
ProvincialmMinisters Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman, Rana Mashhood Ahmad, Zaeem Qadri, spokesman Punjab government Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan and others were also present on the occasion.
Bajaur Zalmi upset Bajaur Levies in Super League Twenty20 Cricket
BAJAUR AGENCY, May 1 (APP)::Bajaur Zalmi on Tuesday
crushed Bajaur Levies, by three wickets in their second match in the ongoing
Bajaur Super League (BSL) cricket tournament being played here at Bajaur Sports
Complex.
Bajaur Zalmi batsman Maz Khan who helped the Zalmi to win
the important match was awarded man of the match for his sure-footed innings of
74 off just 35 balls.
Earlier, batting first Bajaur Levies Team scored 149 runs
for the loss of seven wickets in the 20 over match. Bajaur Levies team which
said to be the most favorite and strong
team of the tournament due to its strong batting line, however, Bajaur
Zalmi bowlers have restricted it to only 149 runs.
In reply, the Bajaur Zalmi successfully chased the 150
runs target with the loss of six wickets in the final over.
Though all batsmen of Bajaur Zalmi have showed brilliant
performance in the match, however Maz Khan and Said Khan have played fantastic
innings by secured 74 and 30 respectively. The 16 year old Maz Khan was
declared Man of the Mach for his remarkable performance.
Once a time in Bajaur Zalmi innings when its five top
batsmen were out for just 53 runs in eight over, Maz Khan and Saeed Khan have
made a wonderful partnership of 96 runs of just 42 balls to rescue their team.
Speaking to reporters in the post-match ceremony, Maz
Khan said that he was very glad of his brilliant performance against a strong
team like Bajaur Levies in an important match. “I didn’t feel any pressure and
played his natural game throughout his inning despite four reliable batsmen
have already been departure to the dressing room and certainly sensing the responsibility
played the innings,” he added.
“I’m very happy that Zalmi won the match by defeating one
of the strong team of the tournament and will try my best to continue this
magnificent performance in next matches to make the Zalmi the winner of the
BSL,” he added. To a question, the Bajaur Zalmi hero Maz Khan said that he wishes
to be part of Pakistan National Team in future.
Meanwhile talking to reporters after winning the tough
match, Bajaur Zalmi’s skipper Zahid Shah Zalmi said that he was very excited to
win the today match. He was the view that almost all spectators were believed
that Bajaur Zalmi was not in the position to beat a team like Bajaur Levies as
it’s have great and experience players, but, they hopeful to defeat the Bajaur
Levies.
“Almost spectators sitting at the stadium believed that
we are not in the position to win from Bajaur Levies team, but we are
determined for the win and today win has proved that Bajaur Zalmi is a team of
committed players who can defeat any team in the BSL,” he added.