Thar Foundation has decided to introduce computer literacy for women and men of Block-2 and Gorrano area of Tharparkar.
Applications are being invited from residents of these areas. A specially designed course will help students to learn basic IT functions and fluency in MS Office. This will enable local youth to compete in the job market where computer literacy is part of minimum qualifications. Women candidates will be given preference
Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), would provide around 549,821 new connections to domestic, commercial, and industrial consumers during the current fiscal year.
A per report of a state news agency, around 2.5 million applications for new gas connections are pending across the country, and the backlog is being cleared in sequence.
The SNGPL would add 405,450 consumers in its network including 400,000 domestic, 5,000 commercial, and 450 industrial, while SSGC has the plan to give 144,371 connections including 143,023 domestic, 1,164 commercial and 184 industrial.
During the last year, the companies awarded 430,145 connections of different nature, slightly exceeding against the target of 425,548, out of which SNGPL provided 300,000 domestic connections, 5,000 commercial and 450 industrial, making 100 percent achievement against the target of 305,450. The SSGC gave 123,900 domestic connections, 700 commercial and 95 industrial, exceeding 3 percent against the overall target of 120,098.
Besides, the two companies had laid 5,005 kilometers (KMs) additional supply and distribution lines in their respective areas to reinforce their transmission network across the country, out of which, the SNGPL laid 4,155 kilometers and SSGC 850 kilometers.
For the current fiscal year, the SNGPL has set the target to lay 6,965 kilometers transmission and distribution lines, while SSGC would expand its network by 1,418 kilometers. Pakistan has an extensive network of over 12,971 kilometers transmission, 139,827 kilometers distribution, and 37,058 kilometers services gas pipelines to provide the commodity to more than 9.6 million consumers across the country
Japan was encouraging its investors to look at investments in the autoparts sector in Pakistan and some Japanese investors would also be interested in re-locating their industry from elsewhere into Pakistan, said Matsuda Kuninori, Ambassador of Japan during a meeting with the Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar in Islamabad.
Mr Kuninori called on the Minister for Planning Asad Umar here. Both dignitaries discussed matters related to the bilateral relations, especially new possibilities of economic cooperation in the post-COVID-19 situation. The ambassador expressed his desire to further enhance cooperation between Japan and Pakistan and to help ensure that common objectives are met. The ambassador congratulated the minister on the government’s skillful handling of the COVID crisis which had resulted in containing the pandemic to a large extent. He said that the government departments had shown exemplary coordination along with the provincial governments. He said that Japanese nationals were now returning to take up various assignments in Pakistan after COVID enforced break. He said that the Embassy is encouraging Japanese investors to look at investments in the auto parts sector, building on the Japanese experience here in auto manufacturing. He said that some Japanese investors would also be interested in re-locating their industry from elsewhere into Pakistan. Asad Umar appreciated the efforts of the ambassador for enhancing economic cooperation. The minister said that the government initially focused on microeconomic stability, which has been achieved. The focus is now on growth. He said, “Economic indicators are positive and we would want to push the development expenditures as well as capitalize the private sector investment.” He said that the privatization program is also being revived. Asad Umar said that Pakistani & Japanese businesses can explore possibilities of collaboration in fisheries, agriculture, and textiles. It was agreed to organize a forum to discuss such opportunities in the near future.
Organization’s setups for center and Sindh announced; Engr Abdul Qadir Shah announced Chairman,
Engr. Mukhtar Shaikh Central Coordinator
Led by former chairman Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) Engr Abdul Qadir Shah, the National Engineers Welfare Association (NEWA) has initiated a process of its reorganization ahead of the PEC election due next year.
Engr Abdul Qadir Shah who lost polls to Engr Jawed Salim Qureshi, the incumbent chairman of the council believes reorganization of his association along with new strategies would benefit the organization in the next elections. Also, the organization would be able to raise the voice of the engineers in Pakistan.
As a first step, NEWA has announced organizational structures for the center and Sindh, and the orgnzation is busy finalizing office bearers for the rest of three provinces such as Punjab, KP, and Balochistan.
In the new organizational setup, Engr Syed Abdul Qadir Shah will lead the organization as the Chairman. The rest of the officer bearers are as following:
Engr. Zahid Arif (Sr.Vice Chairman), Engr. Mukhtar A.Shaikh (Central Coordinator), Engr. Zahid Hussain Lashari (Dy. Coordinator), Engr. Iftikhar Ahmed (Vice Chairman, Punjab), Engr. Raghib Abbas Shah (Vice Chairman, Sindh) Engr. Qazi Rasheed Ahmed (Vice Chairman, Balochistan), Vice Chairman KPK (to be announced later), Engr. Abdul Rehman Shaikh(General Secretary), Engr. Dr. Samreen Hussain (Joint Secretary), Engr. Mohsin Ali Khan (Social Secretary), Engr. M.Iqbal Qureshi (Information & Media Coordination) and Engr. Abdul Majid Malik (Secretary Finance).
Besides the central body, the orgnaztion has announced a 10-member Central Executive Committee as under
Engr. Dr. Wali Abbas, Engr. Abdul Khaliq Shaikh, Engr. Javed Shaikh, Engr. Abhiman Mullani, Engr. Parkash Lohano, Engr. Manzoor Ahmed Shaikh (CAA), Engr. Muhammad Farooq Baloch (Gawadar), Engr. Shahid Khan Babar, Engr. Abdul Hameed Mengal, Engr. Sarfaraz Ahmed Tunio and
Engr. Syed Waqar Hussain.
Moreover, the office bearers for Sindh are as under:
Engr. Dr. Zubair Ahmed Shaikh (President), Engr. Dr. Madad Ali Shah (Dy. President), Engr. Syed Nadeem Shah (Vice President-I), Engr. Faizer Ali Panhwar (Vice President- II), Engr. Nizamuddin Abbasi (General Secretary), Engr. Syed Zulifqar Ali Shah (Joint Secretary), Engr. Abdul Aziz Bhutto (Social Secretary) and Engr. Manzoor Ahmed Shaikh (Information/Media Secretary). The name of the Finance Secretary will be announced later.
The list if Sindh Executive Committee is as under:
Engr. Iqbal Ahmed Shaikh (Railway), Engr. Khursheed Ahmed Seehar, Engr. Mehfooz Ursani, Engr. Noor Hassan Sarki, Engr. Uzair Qureshi, Engr. Riaz Ali Memon (KHL), Engr. Rajev Oad (PTCL Hyd), Engr. Abdul Ghani Shaikh, Engr. Abdul Rauf Shaikh (NHA), Engr. Mumtaz Ahmed Jamali, Engr. Fahmida Rehman and Engr. Idrees Shaikh.
The officials of the organization say various committees are working on a new manifesto of the organization. However, a website has also been designed to promote the organization as well as the issues of the engineers in Pakistan
Karachi’s partial flooding has been a regular feature over the last few years but the situation this monsoon prevailed for the first time at least in almost 100 years.
This seems to be the very first point for the engineers and city planners that the new approach towards the development of the city must be inclusive in real terms.
Heaviest rains in almost a century, inundating several neighborhoods and trapping thousands of people in low-lying slums with complete cut off from power supply and all means of communication was something unprecedented. It was a catastrophe for sure.
Several development experts believe it was impossible for the current dispensation—at the center, the province, or local levels—to face such a challenge. The reasons that they put forth are (a) the quantum of rains, lack of capacity to handle the situation, faulty engineering, lack of planning, and bad governance.
Many senior engineers in the city have no doubts that it was a huge engineering failure that needs a comprehensive thought process to put things on the right track. For example, all the waterways were not only clear of the obstructions but also they were choked by the solid waste whose management has been an issue and stands far from being addressed. Therefore, most of the localities in the city’s low-lying areas were flooded. This shows a serious breach of planning and also the level of engineering.
‘Ironically, the solid waste management has been taken over by politics and no one cares asking what happened to the projects designed to address the issue,’ Says Fazlullah Qureshi, a senior retired planner.
Yet another senior engineer Engr Sohail Bashir, leading the Institution of Engineers Pakistan (IEP) says the Karachi situation was an engineering failure that exposed a lack of planning and design.
He is of the view that the management of solid waste is one of the major issues without which the rainwater could never be flushed out as this waste has choked drainage of each and every area of the city. ‘Handling this issue is a must, he says.
IEP, Karachi is now planning to organize a moot on engineering solution of Karachi, says Engr Sohail Bashir. He and many his fellow engineers and planners have long been indicating that Karachi has serious planning issues and affairs have been managed on adhocism.
But is it enough to address the issue? Maybe not, as there are many studies that Engr Bashir believes should be carried out. For instance, he says there has never been any hydraulic study of the city so that we know the topography and its features.
He says that addressing Karachi’s issues needs a new approach as the traditional approach would not work anymore.
Have a look at Naya Nazmimabad and the area near Yousuf Goth, he refers where the traditional approach created huge problems during rains.
But the question is if any new approach is being adopted by the ruling circles? It does not seem so from the decisions taken by Prime Minister Imran Khan during his Karachi visit after the floods. It only admitted that Karachi cannot be handled with the ongoing approach in which there is no nucleus in the city.
The prime minister announced an ambitious Rs1.1 trillion package for the development of the city and also set up a coordination and implementation committee led by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah.
This committee will bring all stakeholders and authorities together to make key decisions, remove hurdles, and ensure their implementation.
First about the funds. Prime Minister Khan says it would be contributed by both the federal and provincial governments. There is no mention of the ratio of federal contribution. However, the Sindh government says it will contribute Rs800 billion. It means Rs313 billion will come from the federal government.
The numbers and their origin show there is nothing new about the plan as the Sindh government had already secured funds from the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and Chinese which has been put in the package. Also, a good amount if already allocated under the Private Public Partnership. Thus, the package has only been recaptioned under Karachi Package.
However, the real issue is the capacity of the executing agencies—both in civil areas and cantonment boards. There is no central body or any authority for the city. Therefore it is yet to be seen if the chief minister would be able to address this issue
