KARACHI : The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), Sindh, has dispatched relief goods to the rain-hit areas of Sindh province.

Relief goods — including food items, blankets water coolers, dewatering pumps and tents — were sent to provide relief to the people hit by the torrential rains.

According to PDMA, 200 water coolers, 1000 tens and 200 kitchen sets have been provided to the Tharparkar district administration, while district Badin received 13 torrential rains, Tharparkar district 10, Thatta 13, and Mirpurkhas 12.Similarly, 61 have been provided to KMC and local administration of Sindh, according to PDMA, Sindh.

Several people were killed and injured in different rain-related incidents as heavy rainfall continues across the Sindh.

The roads of the port city turned into waterways after frequents light to heavy rainfall for 12 hours paralyzing normal life.

Most of the main roads and streets in Karachi looking like nullahs and drains after the rainfall as three to four feet of water standing in North Karachi, Nazimabad, Nagan Chowrangi, according to reports.

Karachi is facing a situation of urban flooding, as knee-long rainwater gathered at Saddar, M.A. Jinnah Road and Tibet Centre, Sohrab Goth, Shara-e-Faisal, Malir and Landhi, Safoora Chowrangi, NIPA Chowrangi, Hassan Square and People’s Chowrangi. The roads at KDA Chowrangi, Five Star Chowrangi and Hyderi areas drowned under the water disturbing traffic flow.

ISLAMABAD : Reiterating his resolve to not tolerate any blackmailing, Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Tuesday it is up to the government to bring back former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to the country.

Chairing a federal cabinet meeting in Islamabad, he said the PML-N supreme leader should be repatriated without delay and issued directives for the authorities concerned to review legal aspects of the matter.

Sources relayed the meeting took stock of the country’s overall political and economic situation, Nawaz Sharif’s extradition as well as PML-N Vice-President Maryam Nawaz’s recent political activities.Speaking during the meeting, Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda opined that Maryam should have been arrested after a violent clash between the PML-N and police outside the NAB Lahore office. He demanded that she should not be let flee abroad come what may.

Some of the cabinet members raised the issue of a rumpus in yesterday’s National Assembly session deploring former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s remarks. Vawda said they have not received votes to listen to abuses of people like Abbasi.

Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar suggested revoking assembly membership of lawmakers found using foul language in the house.

Besides, the cabinet discussed and approved an 11-point agenda and sought a report on appointments to various government posts without its approval. It also endorsed appointment of Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) chairman.

The federal cabinet also gave a go-ahead to exclusion of 61 food and non-food items from mandatory certification list and endorsed decisions made by its Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) and legislative committee.

It also approved relaxing PPRA rules on public-private partnerships.

ISLAMABAD : Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar says present government has implemented long-term policies to bring economic stability in the country.

He was talking to provincial Energy Minister Dr. Akhtar Malik in Lahore on Tuesday.

The governor said conscious people of Pakistan are standing by government and they will never support the opposition that is in pursuit of political advantage.

He said that Prime Minister Imran Khan is a man of principles and he will not make any compromise on principles at any cost.

ISLAMABAD : PML-N President and Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif vowed on Tuesday to unite all opposition parties to forge a joint front against the PTI-led coalition government.

Speaking to media after a meeting with JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman at his Islamabad residence today, he said all parties conference (APC) of the opposition will also take place.

Sharif said opposition parties will sit together to iron out differences among them and move ahead with mutual consultations. He added opposition parties’ Rehbar Committee will also meet soon with a joint course of action to be devised in the next few days.He said he had a cordial meeting with the JUI-F wherein it was decided to take the consultation process forward.

The JUI-F chief said both parties reached an agreement to take political parties outside Parliament into confidence and move towards a joint strategy. He underlined the need for unity among opposition parties and a joint course of action to launch an anti-government drive.

He said the all parties conference will work out a future strategy as there is a consensus over the anti-government drive.

KARACHI: Several areas of Karachi facing power outages as 300 feeders and PMTs of the Karachi Electric (KE) have tripped after continued heavy downpour in the city.

Areas namely, North Karachi, Gulberg, Shadman, Nagan Chowrangi, FC Area, Buffer Zone, Malikr, Shah Faisal, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Akhtar Colony, Kemari, Baldia, Sher, Ajmer Nagri, New Karachi, Paposh, PECHS, Clifton, Malir, Shah Faisal, Landhi, Korangi, Jacobabad and other areas of the city facing power suspension.

The woes of the people living in the affected areas have doubled due to continued rain and inundated areas.Meanwhile, the KE spokesperson has said that supply of electricity has bee suspended in several areas as a precautionary measure due to flood-like situation.

Parts of the city received heavy to light rain on, leading to traffic jams and difficulties for motorcyclists.

Malir, Korangi, Landhi, Shah Faisal Colony, Gulshan-e-Hadeed, Saadi Town, Liaquatabad, Federal B. Area, North Karachi, Surjani Town and North Nazimabad were some of Karachi’s areas that received heavy rainfall between Monday night and Tuesday morning.

Karachi University road became inundated due to the heavy rain, with rainwater accumulating to a few feet high on the road linking Hassan Square with Safoora Chowrangi.

Sewerage and rainwater entered houses in the Naya Nazimabad and Azizabad Block II areas.

DNA

KARACHI, AUG 25 –  As the industrial sector is looking for availing legal option of filing review petitions of the Supreme Court judgment in Gas Infrastructure Development Cess, the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry has said that implementation of the honourable court decision is mandatory, appealing for leniency by government and settlement with the businesses, as the whole industry of the country, which is already facing liquidity crunch in post-corona slowdown, would be hit massively.

He hinted at some out-of-court settlement to resolve the long outstanding issue of GIDC with a view to release the financial stress of the manufacturers, besides helping revive the industrial activities.

In a statement issued here today, FPCCI President Mian Anjum Nisar observed that all industrial sectors of the country, including fertilizers, cement, textile, CNG, chemical, ceramics and steel will take a beating due to the GIDC ruling, as the whole industry consumes gas.

He observed that the court verdict will result in massive cash outflows of the already cash-strapped manufacturing sector, which will go bankrupt, as they have to pay Rs417 billion to the government in 24 equal installments, which is not possible for them especially in post-corona worst economic turndown.

Mian Anjum Nisar said that most of the industrial sectors would see their earnings drop and liquidity adversely affected owing to large cash outflows when the government starts recovering outstanding dues as the stock market index 488-point drop shortly after the verdict also testifies to the industry fears.

This was evident from the market’s reaction to the news. The fertilizer sector, which uses gas as a direct input in production, was in the red zone within minutes of the verdict.

FPCCI President said that the government has also not given any timeline for developing projects for which the levy was imposed and, as pointed out by the honourable court, it didn’t provide for a mechanism of obligations and consequences that might arise if the service is delayed or is not delivered at all.

In case no work is carried out on North-South pipeline within the prescribed time and for laying any of the two major pipelines of IP and TAPI and if the political scenario changes, the purpose of levying cess will be deemed to have been frustrated and the GIDC Act, 2015 would become permanently un-operational and considered dead. What does it mean, whether the industry will get refund after payment of GIDC?

He said that this is worldwide tendency that the civil matters are always avoided to approach court for arbitration.

It is not possible for the industry to pay such a huge amount at a time when the coronavirus pandemic and containment measures have plunged the economy into a deep contraction not only in the country but also globally.

The levy was imposed in 2011 to raise funds for gas infrastructure development on companies that used natural gas either as direct input for their products or as fuel to produce electricity at their power plants.

The total GIDC accrued so far is Rs700bn, of which about Rs295bn has been collected. Rs405bn will be recovered now. Now several companies have passed on its full or partial impact to their customers while others couldn’t do so. Some companies partially or fully deposited the cess with the government, or withheld payment pending a court decision. Last year, the government amended the GIDC law, requiring industrial consumers to pay half their outstanding dues while waiving the remainder through an ordinance, in order to settle the dispute.

Now the judgement allows the government to recover the outstanding amount from the industry in two years but links future collections to the complete utilization of the cess on projects for which the levy was imposed. Thus, the court order bars the government from using GIDC collection for any purpose other than gas infrastructure construction, which is not expected to be built in near future.

He said that the international organizations have been warning that the global economy would take years to recover, as the economies have suffered a bigger shock of the history.

Mian Anjum Nisar said the coronavirus pandemic has turned global economic growth sharply negative this year as the world faced the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

When the economists are forecasting that 2021 would only see a partial recovery while emerging markets and developing countries like Pakistan would be the hardest hit, the outflow of cash of hundreds of billions will destroy the industry completely, he warned.