LHC Issues Notices Against Rise in Power Tariff

LAHORE, Pakistan Breaking News: Chief Justice Lahore High has issued notices to federal and provincial governments and chairman NEPRA for January 21 against the petition filed by Jamat-e-Islami on the increase in electricity prices. Chief Justice Lahore High Court Khawaja Muhammad Sharif heard the petition.

Jamat-e-Islami Punjab’s leader Dr. Wasim Akhtar maintained that NEPRA don’t have any legal authority to raise the electricity prices while this authority lies with provinces. He maintained that common man is already facing problems due to inflation. It is requested in the petition that electricity prices should be curtailed to give relief to the countrymen.

New Year’s gift: An Increase in Power and Gas Rates Erode the Value of Rupee

ISLAMABAD,Pakistan News: The government’s New Year gift to the masses will be a significant increase in electricity and gas tariffs, which will further erode the value of each rupee earned. Under the Stand-by Arrangement (SBA) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the government has agreed to increase power tariff by 24 percent during the current fiscal year in three phases.

Power and gas prices will rise by 14.5 percent and 18 percent respectively effective from Friday (January 1, 2010). The notification to this effect has been issued. Standard normal IMF conditions support elimination of energy subsidies with the objective of full cost recovery, a policy that creates fiscal space and enables the debtor government to invest larger amount in development expenditures in 2009-10.

According to revised notification, tariff for above two million lifeline consumers would be increased by 43 percent because of adjustment in fuel charges. The Ministry of Water and Power had earlier announced that electricity subsidy for the lifeline and agriculture consumers would not be withdrawn.

The government had allowed Rs 56.8 billion in subsidy to the consumers falling under the two categories in the first half of the current year. Tariff for lifeline consumers will be raised from Rs 1.6 to Rs 2 per kWh, while the agriculture consumers will feel the brunt of Rs 1.5 per kWh. Domestic consumers who use 1-100 units will have to pay Rs 9.75 per unit from January.

Consumers, who consume 101-300 units per month, will have to pay Rs 12 per unit. Tariff for 301-700 units will be Rs 14 and above 700 units Rs 15.50 per unit. The government claims that the increase will fetch Rs 21 billion additional revenue to the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Rs 11 billion to the Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) during the current fiscal year.

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) has determined the increase through a process of public hearings held recently in Karachi and Lahore where representatives of categories of consumers opposed the increase on the ground that it would make input costs unbearable for industries and exports and push up the prices of all commodities and reduce purchasing power of the people.

The Ogra allowed about Rs 64.02 per million British thermal Unit (mmbtu) increase in the average rate of the SNGPL to Rs 296 per unit, up by about 18 percent. Likewise, the average rate for the SSGCL has been allowed to be increased by Rs 38.06 per mmbtu, up by about nine percent.

The average rate for all consumers, of both the SSGC and SNGPL, would go up by 18 percent to ensure uniform gas price across the country. According to Ogra’s gas price determination, tariff for the lowest slab (50 cubic metres per month) of domestic consumers would go up from Rs 80.65 to Rs 95.20 per mmbtu and for the second slab (50-100 cubic metres) from Rs 84.45 to Rs 99.65 per unit.

The rates for the third slab (100-200 cubic metres) would rise from RS. 153.73 to Rs 181.40 and for the fourth slab (200-300 cubic metres), it would jump from Rs 325.48 to Rs 348.07 per mmbtu. The domestic gas rate for the fifth slab (300-400 cubic metres) would increase from Rs 423.42 to Rs 499.64 per unit, for the sixth slab (400-500 cubic metres) from Rs 550.44 to Rs 649.52 per unit and the last slab (over 500 cubic metres) from Rs 730.17 to Rs 861.60 per mmbtu.

The gas rate for places of worship, educational institutions and armed forces and Roti Tandoors would also increase like the first four slabs of domestic gas consumers and for commercial consumers and ice factories from Rs 324.30 to Rs 382.67 per unit and for the CNG stations from Rs 427.15 to Rs 504 per mmbtu.

The gas price for the power stations of the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) has been allowed to raise from Rs 333.98 to Rs 394 per unit and for Liberty Power Project from Rs 1,060.4 to Rs 1,251.26 per mmbtu. Likewise, the gas price for independent power producers would increase from Rs 282.88 to Rs 332.62 and that of captive power plants from Rs 324.30 to Rs 382.67 per mmbtu. Mission chief for Pakistan at the IMF Adnan Mazarei has recently told journalists in Washington that there are significant challenges that remain.

“Significantly, the budget needs to be managed better. There is a need to fully reverse the first quarter fiscal outturn and slippage, and avoid future overruns to keep inflation low, build economic confidence and ensure that resources are available for poverty reduction, assisting internally displaced persons and boosting social spending.

“The budget deficit target for the fiscal year, ending in June 2010 is 4.9 percent of the GDP, including spending on IDPs financed by foreign grants. The overall target for the first quarter, which means end of September, was 0.3 percent of the GDP. The shortfall was 0.3. And the fiscal deficit should have been roughly 1.2 percent of the GDP, and it was 1.5,” he said.

According to the IMF, the government’s programme targets a reduction in the budget deficit to more sustainable levels. The programme seeks to achieve this reduction by raising revenues and restraining expenditures in 2008-09, including by phasing out fuel and electricity subsidies and better prioritising development spending.

The Fund staff is more concerned about aggregate spending and the revenue targets than their detailed composition. However, given the importance of adequate funding for priority development projects in Pakistan, the Fund-supported programme includes adjusters’ allowing for higher than projected development spending if external assistance turns out to be higher than envisaged in the programme. The programme also makes specific provisions to ensure an appropriate level of poverty-related spending in 2008-09 and the future.

Bong Nepro Raises New Hydroelectric Power Tariff Without Justification

ISLAMABAD , Pakistan News Updates: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has increased the power procurement tariff of the 84 MW New Bong Escape hydropower project from 8.3326 to 8.5453 cents per kWh, without any financial justification, after allegedly considerable manoeuvring between different agencies and the project’s sponsors, according to well-placed sources.

New Bong is Pakistan’s first hydro independent power producer (IPP), backed by Asian Development Bank (ADB), and had achieved its financial close after a series of extensions in the project deadline and almost doubling of the tariff–from 4.7 cents to 8.33 cents per kwh.

“The 84 MW New Bong Escape hydropower project successfully gained tariff increases over the years with the support of PPIB’s incumbent and former Managing Directors, Secretaries of Water and Power, and close aides to former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz,” sources said. A couple of extensions in financial close were granted on the insistence of Asian Development Bank, which approached the Secretary, Water and Power, for this purpose.

Nepra amended its previous decision of September 16, 2009 saying that Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA), in a letter dated October 29, 2009, had submitted that the final Power Purchase Price (PPA), duly signed by both parties ie CPPA and Laraib Energy Limited, for approval by the Authority was in accordance with Nepra’s interim power procurement (Procedure and Standards) Regulation, 2005.

According to the regulator, it considered the CPPA’s request and it was found that certain amendments/corrections had been incorporated in the final PPA. The observations of the Authority were conveyed to the CPPA for seeking its explanation and jurisdiction for such subsequent amendments in the PPA. Accordingly, a hearing/meeting with CPPA was held on December 7, 2009 wherein the CPPA explained the rationale, along with jurisdiction, in respect of all the amendments/corrections made in the PPA subsequent to the earlier decision of the Authority.

The Authority was assured by the CPPA that all these amendments had been made in consultation with the project lenders, including ADB, and the Private Power Infrastructure Board (PPIB) for clarity and text improvement which, however, would have no negative impact on tariff and its terms and conditions already approved by the Authority in its earlier decision of September 16, 2009.

After thorough examination of the amended and restated PPA on October 22, 2009, the Authority decided to amend its earlier decision as follows: (i) The amended and restated PPA signed between both the parties ie Laraib Energy Limited and CPPA/NTDC of October 22, 2009 is hereby approved.

Accordingly, Schedule-6 of the PPA is replaced with the finally amended schedule-6 of October 22, 2009. The typographical error of the rate expressed in cents “8.3326/kwh (7.5726+0.76 cents/kwh)” of the earlier decision of the Authority be replaced with “8.5453/kwh (7.7853+0.76 cents/kwh)”.

According to official documents obtained from PPIB, after detailed and extensive negotiations, prudence checks and verification of costs, a levelised tariff of 8.3326 cents /kWh (7.5726 cents/kWh+0.76 cents/kWh special ROE component) was agreed between NTDC and the company; and the government of Pakistan would consider a return on invested equity from year 2004 (signing of PPA and Implementation Agreements) instead of the previous date of LoS (1996).

The sponsors of the project are Hub Power Company Ltd ie Hubco (wherein majority shareholder is International Power of UK), Coate and Co (Private) Limited and Continental Power Limited who are investing $53.72 million through equity. The project is being financed with debt financing of $161.14 million through both local and foreign lenders.

The foreign lenders include Asian Development Bank (ADB), Islamic Development Bank (IDB), International Finance Corporation (IFC), and Proparco of France, while the local lenders include Habib Bank Limited (HBL) and National Bank of Pakistan (NBP).

Power Looms Owners, Workers Protest Against Thread Crisis

FAISALABAD, Pakistan news Updates: The workers of power looms have also started to stage protest along their looms owners against the crisis of thread in Faisalabad on Monday.

According to sources, the Labour National Movement of Faisalabad (LNMF) held a conference over the unemployment of power looms’ workers owing to thread crisis on Monday evening.

On the occasion, the labour leaders, addressing the attendees, said despite the growing assurances from government, the thread crisis has intensified for last two months, leaving workers jobless and leading to closure of factories.

Orators demanded government of immediate ban on thread export, fearing that otherwise all power looms factories will be closed down and which was unacceptable for labours.

President Transferred the Power of the NCA Chief of Prime Minister

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan news Update: President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday night divested himself of the powers of Chairman National Command Authority (NCA) and transferred the powers of Chairman to the elected Prime Minister. The shedding of powers of Chairman NCA was effected through re-promulgation of National Command Authority Ordinance, 2009 and amending it also, Spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Babar said in a statement.

He said that the National Command Authority Ordinance, 2009 is among the Ordinances that were promulgated before November 03, 2007 and which had to be placed before the Parliament within 120 days with effect from 31.7.2009 in accordance with the Supreme Court judgement of that date.

He said that President on Friday night also re-promulgated 27 other Ordinances which were promulgated before November 3, 2007 and which had to be placed before the Parliament within 120 days w.e.f 31.7.2009. The other ordinances re-promulgated included among others the Competition Ordinance, 2009, The Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority Ordinance 2009, Federal Public Service Commission (Amendment) Ordinance, 2009, Trade Origination’s Ordinance, 2009 and the Defence Housing Authority Islamabad Ordinance, 2009, he said.

National Disaster Management Ordinance 2009, Anti-Money Laundering Ordinance 2009, Pakistan Penal Code Amendment Ordinance 2009, The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission Amendment Ordinance 2009, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics Ordinance 2009, Code of Criminal Procedure Amendment Ordinance 2009, Intellectual Property Organisation of Pakistan 2009, National Vocational and Technical Education Commission Ordinance 2009, National Commission for Human Development Amendment Ordinance 2009, Police Order Amendment Ordinance 2009, National Disaster Management Ordinance 2009, Islamabad Consumer Protection Amendment Ordinance 2009, were other ordinances issued by the President.

The Ordinances were re-promulgated on the advice of the Prime Minister as the bills could not got passed from both the Houses within the deadline ie November 28, 2009 set by the Supreme Court, he said. He said that according to the re-promulgated Ordinance the Prime Minister would be the Chairman of the NCA instead of the President as before.

Other members of the Authority include Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister for Defence, Minister for Finance, Minister for Interior, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Naval Staff and Chief of Air Staff, he said.

Transferring of Chairmanship of National Command Authority to the Prime Minister is a giant leap forward to empower the Parliament and the Prime Minister, he said. He said in the original Ordinance, the then President had made himself the Chairman of NCA.

Farhatullah Babar said that the President had already urged the Parliament twice in his address to the joint session to rid the Constitution of all anti democracy clauses with a view to making it truly federal and parliamentary in character.

After his address to the Parliament the President also addressed a letter to the Prime Minister urging him to speed up the process of Constitutional Reforms through the Parliament in accordance with the commitment made by him and the party. A Parliamentary Committee has already been set up under the Chairmanship of PPP Senator Mian Raza Rabbani which is undertaking the task of democratising the constitution in consultation with all political parties, he said.

He said that after the amendment in National Command Authority Ordinance all powers and functions shall rest with the National Command Authority on whose behalf the Prime Minister will exercise these powers and functions. Farhatullah Babar said that President is also keenly awaiting for reforms in the Constitution through the Constitution Committee and the Parliament to make it truly democratic and vesting powers in the Parliament.

Radiation Leak at the Nuclear Plant at Three Mile Island

WASHINGTON news update: A radiation leak at Three Mile Island, the site of the worst nuclear accident in US history, has sent home about 150 workers, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) reported Sunday.

“They had an airborne radiological contamination alarm,” NRC spokeswoman Diane Screnci told media. “They evaluated all the workers, a handful of workers — I don’t have a precise number — had contamination. They since have been decontaminated,” she said.

About 150 people work in the building where the leak occurred.

Screnci said what she called a “leak… happened at 4:00 pm Saturday (2100 GMT) and they resumed work in the contaminated building” near Middletown, Pennsylvania.

“There was no impact on public health safety and it does not appear to have an impact on the workers,” she said adding that “this kind of incident occurs once in a while.”

So far, “they don’t know the origin of the contamination,” Screnci said. “There were a lot of activities going on at the time and when the alarm sounded. The engineers are working to determine what the cause was.”

“It’s a minor incident,” she said stressing it was “under control.”

Three Mile Island suffered a major accident in 1979, with the core of a reactor partially melting down.

Since then no new nuclear power plants have been built in the United States.

Nuclear energy supplies 20 percent of power in the United States with 104 reactors, while 50 percent comes from coal burning plants.

The rest is from natural gas, oil and renewable sources such as hydroelectric power as well as solar and wind power.

Fidel Castro Dead

Fidel Castro Dead: On July 27, 2006, Fidel Castro nearly died during emergency intestinal surgery to stem internal bleeding caused by chronic diverticulitis. Since then, Cuba-watchers and obituary writers have been on high alert awaiting his demise.
Fidel Castro DeadYet, more than three years later, Castro soldiers on, approaching his mortal end with the same zeal he lavished on his life. The 83-year-old appears to have adjusted to his medically mandated retirement, enduring various surgeries and their attendant complications. A state-of-the art convalescent suite has been installed in his principal residence, Punto Cero, where he is surrounded by family and Cuba’s finest doctors. On his good days, he entertains well-wishers — among them, Harry Belafonte and Oliver Stone. And he continues to intervene in the thorny politics of Cuba.

In 2007, while still hospitalised, Castro began a transition from being Cuba’s commander in chief to its pundit in chief, penning columns he calls ‘Reflections’ in the state-run newspaper, Granma. Late last year, he offered some personal introspection. “I have had the rare privilege of observing events for a very long time,” he wrote. He then acknowledged the gravity of his illness. “I do not expect I shall enjoy such a privilege four years from now — when President [Barack] Obama’s first term has concluded.”

But until Castro is in the grave, we will be hearing from him. While his brother Raul and the Cuban army are running the day-to-day affairs of the country, Castro retains and exercises veto power. And Cubans continue to feel the strongman’s sting.

In March, more than a dozen of the most senior members of the Cuban regime were purged from the government. While Raul Castro had initiated the internal coup, Fidel was quick to weigh in and assail its casualties, all former members of his inner circle. The men had succumbed to “the honey of power,” he wrote in his column.

Castro’s reluctant leave-taking — with its periodic near-finales — fits into a long tradition of Hispanic caudillos or dictators. Consider, for example, the life — and death — of Francisco Franco, Spain’s dictator of almost 40 years. Both Castro’s father and Franco hailed from the rugged northern countryside of Spain, a region renowned for its fierce and stubborn citizenry. And notwithstanding divergent political ideologies — Franco was a zealous anti-communist — the two men had a good deal in common. Both were willing to forge unpalatable and unpopular alliances with totalitarian states to shore up their power — Franco with Nazi Germany and Castro with the Soviet Union.

And Franco’s shrouded last days neatly foreshadowed Castro’s. Franco became grievously ill in 1974 and was forced to turn over his rule — “temporarily,” he insisted — to Prince Juan Carlos. Castro also initially ceded control to his brother only “temporarily”. Like Castro, Franco had an unexpected recovery, although his lasted only a year before he died at 82.

Although it is generally believed that Franco died days earlier, his death was announced on November 20, 1975, the same day on which Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, the founder of Franco’s fascist Falange party, died 40 years earlier.

Some people assert doctors kept Franco alive under orders from the dictator that he would live until the ordained date.

Castro’s untidy leaving has kept the news media in an indefinite state of high alert, as they formulate and reformulate coverage and obituaries. The veteran Spanish Civil War reporter Martha Gellhorn found herself in a similar pickle three decades ago. In 1975, she accepted an assignment from New York magazine to write about post-Franco Spain. “This thrills me, the sort of journalism I love,” she wrote her son. “I am waiting for the old swine to die; but obviously he is being kept breathing [no more] while the right tightens its hold on the country.”

When I asked Castro in a 1994 interview when he would retire, he snapped: “My vocation is the revolution. I am a revolutionary, and revolutionaries do not retire.”

Bardach is the author of Without Fidel: A Death Foretold in Miami, Havana, and Washington and serves on the Brookings Institution’s Cuba Study Project. Thanks to gulfnews.com

200 Megawatt Power Plant Opened: NRO Buried Forever, Says Prime Minister

PAKISTAN, LAHORE: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said here on Saturday that the issue of National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) has been buried for ever. Talking to reporters after inaugurating the $234 million 200 MW generating capacity Nishat power plant in Jamber, he said that the NRO issue was no more to be discussed for good.

He said that Article 58(2b) was irrelevant under present circumstances, especially in the presence of an active judiciary. “It is of no use today,” the Prime Minister said when asked to comment on the government’s intentions to abolish the “notorious” Article of the Constitution. When asked how long the military operation in Waziristan would last, he said that in view of the nation’s high spirits, it would not take so long to fight out the terrorists.

Regarding an offer extended to Aitezaz Ahsan to replace Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, Gilani said that no such matter was discussed in his recent meetings with President. Whether Pakistan will raise the issue of evidence of Indian involvement in Balochistan, Gilani said the matter could be discussed when Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh comes to the negotiation table.

He said Pakistan believed in maintaining friendly relations with all its neighbours including India on the basis of equality. The Prime Minister said that increased energy production in the country was a high priority on the government agenda and measures were afoot to exploit all available natural resources for this purpose.

He said that it was the third such project in the fast-track category and added that the government was working to meet the current shortfall of 3500 MW. aid He said the government of Benazir Bhutto also faced similar challenges of electricity shortfall of around 2000 MW in 1993.

During that period, he said, the power policy of 1994 was chalked out and Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) was set up to act as a one-window facility. He said it proved to be a mega success story and Rs 3 billion were invested, that led to the production of 3000 MW.

The Prime Minister emphasised on harnessing the potential of natural resources in the country and added that the government was focussing in this regard on medium to long term plans to generate more electricity and enhance industrialisation in the country.

He said the government was exploring all other options to generate more electricity. He stressed the role of private sector in power generation and said it can play a vital role in increasing its production in the country. Gilani however pointed that peaceful political environment was must for economy. He said despite external factors, and internal challenges the government was committed to have a stable political environment.

He said the government was taking along all political parties through a policy of reconciliation. He said creation of a better political environment was must for conducive trade and investment in the country. The Prime Minister said no country can work in isolation and Pakistan desires good commercial relations with all countries. He said Pakistan was also pursuing economic interests in foreign policy, aimed at catalysing trade ventures.

“We believe in private sector resource mobilisation as was evident in the 1994 power policy and the successive policies revolving around it.” He said the government was pursuing policies to attract foreign investment and providing investor friendly environment. He said Pakistan was passing through an important phase after yet again a long period of dictatorship.

He said PPIB, Pepco, Nepra and others were working with great cohesion to help increase power production in the country. Gilani congratulated Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif for promoting power generation in Punjab. He noted the ambitious plans of Shahbaz for adding new electricity projects in the province, by exploring hydropower ventures. He said the government would allocate more funds for hydel projects. The Prime Minister noted the credible track record of Nishat group in various projects and said it proves that Pakistan was an attractive place for investment.

Ahmadinejad: Iran’s enemies a ‘mosquito’ (AP)

AP – Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday compared the power of Iran’s enemies to a “mosquito,” saying Iran now deals with the West over its nuclear activities from a position of power.

More:
Ahmadinejad: Iran’s enemies a ‘mosquito’ (AP)

Philippines Damage Repairs After the Deadly Storm Kills 12

MANILA : Philippine authorities on Sunday scrambled to restore power and repair damage after Typhoon Mirinae smashed into the storm-weary nation, killing at least 12 people.
A day after Mirinae brought heavy rains and winds, crews were clearing roads of fallen trees and power lines in capital Manila and nearby areas.

Efforts were being made to repair four bridges that collapsed in urban areas south of Manila, while power was slowly being restored to most of the 22 towns that were blacked out at the height of the typhoon, the Red Cross said.

“We have been told that power in most areas has been restored and in terms of flooding, the waters receded within hours,” national Red Cross secretary general Gwen Pang told AFP.

She said a pre-emptive evacuation that saw the transfer of about 115,000 people in the typhoon’s direct path to safer ground days ahead of its landfall had meant fewer casualties compared with two recent deadly storms.

As of about 6:00 am Sunday (2200 GMT Saturday), Mirinae had weakened and was located 450 kilometres (279 miles) southwest of Manila in the South China Sea, the weather bureau said.

Manila’s National Disaster Coordinating Council and provincial authorities said 12 people died as a direct result of Mirinae.

Tropical Storm Ketsana, which caused massive flooding on September 26, and Typhoon Parma, which hit a week later, together killed more than 1,100 people.

“People were more prepared and more or less knew what to do,” Pang said. “People did not wait until it was too late to evacuate and were quickly moved away from harm’s way to safer ground.”

She said most of the more than 5,000 people who had moved into temporary shelters as typhoon Mirinae lashed the main island of Luzon had begun trickling back to their homes as the weather cleared Sunday.

However, relief and rehabilitation efforts will continue for the 87,000 people still packed into evacuation centres whose homes were destroyed by Ketsana and Parma, she said.

Even before Mirinae hit, outlying districts that are home to more than a million people were expected to remain flooded into the New Year, raising concern among health experts of an outbreak of deadly disease.

“We are moving into the early recovery stage, looking at shelter requirements as well as the medical concerns of these people,” Pang said.

A spokesman for President Gloria Arroyo, Cerge Remonde, said the government was grateful that Mirinae had left the country as quickly as it came.

“We thank our people for cooperating and by being more disaster conscious,” Remonde told AFP. “Let us be henceforth more aggressive in disaster preparedness.”

While the Philippines is used to an average of 20 typhoons a year, the recent deadly storms had tested its disaster response plans to the limit, forcing it to seek international help.

The storms also exposed the government’s poor urban planning that has allowed sprawling shanty towns to rise beside floodways and riverbanks.

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