Failed Terrorist State of Pakistan: Idiotic Musings

Swesh

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No water 20 hours a day and no electricity 22 hours a day~

Posting full article here


GILGIT: The residents of Skardu are expected to face severe water shortage as the water level in Sadpara dam has fallen to a dead level.

The dam, southwest of Skardu, is the city’s only water source which caters to the residents’ drinking, irrigation and other needs and also generates electricity.

Due to the shortage, drinking water is being supplied to Skardu town only during sehri and iftar hours.

A local, Shakoor Abdullah, told Dawn that currently, Skardu residents were facing power outages of up to 22 hours while no drinking water was being supplied for 20 hours.

The water shortage has become more serious since the start of Ramazan, said Ishaq Jalal, who is one of the approximately one million residents of Skardu.

He said locals only get drinking water during sehri and iftar hours. Mr Jalal said the only solution to overcome the shortage was the diversion of water from nearby streams into the dam. “Unfortunately, the plan was yet to be materialised even after many decades.”

Locals have criticised Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) officials for mismanagement and failing to ensure water and power supply to Skardu.

A Wapda official told Dawn that currently, the water level in Sadpara dam has fallen to a dead level.

“Following the decrease in water level, drinking water is being supplied to Skardu at particular hours,” he said.

The official said the dam receives water from melting glaciers during the summer season. The inflows remain normal from May to October, enough for electricity generation and to fulfil irrigation and drinking water needs.

However from October to May, inflows reduce considerably and the officials rely on stored water to fulfil the needs of locals, the Wapda official told Dawn.

The official added that last summer, the water flow from melting Glaciers remained irregular due to bad weather. Therefore, the dam couldn’t be filled to the maximum level.

The official said low water levels also reduced the water discharge which affects the power generation from the Hydro Power Station leading to load shedding. He warned that the shortage was expected to last till May as the reservoir is already at the dead level and it will improve only after the glaciers start melting in summer.
 

Swesh

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KARACHI: Khalid Siraj Textile Mills Ltd (KSTML) said on Monday it’s shutting down operations until May 31 owing to political unrest, import restrictions and an “unchecked” increase in the dollar rate.

“These factors have increased inflation, undermined the rupee, driven up cotton prices, driven up the cost of electricity per unit and, most importantly, harmed business confidence,” it said.

The textile maker has joined a steadily growing number of firms that’ve shut their plants because the country has run out of dollars to pay for the import of industrial raw materials.

Dozens of listed firms, especially in the textile and auto sectors, have faced supply-chain disruptions in recent months. The government has failed to revive the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programme for months on end. The Washington-based lender has withheld fresh disbursements on account of Islamabad’s failure to fulfil the loan’s preconditions. The delay in the staff-level agreement with the IMF has also postponed the inflow of dollars from friendly countries, further deepening the foreign exchange crisis.
 

Swesh

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ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Monday approved about Rs72 billion financing facility for payment of the Balochistan government’s obligations in the Reko Diq Project dispute settlement.

The meeting presided over by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, however, deferred proposals for increasing the minimum prices of about 177 medicines because of poor defence by the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) chief executive and the secretary of national health services.

While the meeting rejected a proposal for increasing the price of Remdemsivir 100mg injection from the existing Rs1,892 per vial, it directed Drap and the Ministry of National Health Services to prepare their case and come back to the ECC to justify an increase in prices of 177 other medicines.

The ECC also deferred a summary for the appointment of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank as transaction adviser for the outsourcing of the country’s three top airports — Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad — for 25 years.

ECC defers summary for price increase in 177 medicines
The ECC approved a summary of the Ministry of Energy regarding the arrangement of Rs65bn ($337.2m) to fund the Government of Balochistan’s share of obligation in Reko Diq project dispute settlement. It directed the Ministry of Finance to arrange payment of markup amounting Rs6.238bn for the period from March 31, 2022 to Dec 30, 2022 to the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) for the short-term finance facility of Rs65bn.

The meeting was informed that the Ministry of Finance had arranged a short-term finance facility of Rs65bn from the NBP on the balance sheet of Government Holdings Private Ltd (GHPL) — a subsidiary of the Ministry of Petroleum — with government guarantee for Balochistan’s share of $337m in March last year.

As the final settlement was in progress, the interest on the amount became due to the tune of $12.72m as Balochistan’s share towards interest payable to Antofagasta for a period up to Dec 15, 2022 and was deposited in the escrow account from the Rs65bn loan facility. The facility expired on Dec 30, 2022 and the NBP issued notice for repayment of the principal amount of Rs64.478bn along with Rs6.238bn interest.

Therefore, the entire funding facility had to be refinanced. The Ministry of Finance initially resisted the interest payments and refinancing arrangement and asked the petroleum division and GHPL to arrange the funding but they had no financial resources.

The petroleum division reminded the ECC and the finance ministry that even earlier arrangements had been made with a written commitment of the finance division which should provide a technical supplementary grant from Rs180bn block allocations for supplementary grants and provide a guarantee for refinancing the NBP loan facility.

Under the refinancing facility, the Rs65bn loan would attract 0.20pc of margin and 0.16pc of processing fee for seven years plus a grace period of two years. The repayment period would be five years at a base rate of six-month Kibor on a semi-annual basis.

It may be recalled that after the endorsement of a $6.5bn settlement deal with Reko Diq consortium by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the government had in December last year approved a payment of more than $900m to the Chilean firm Antofagasta over six years to exit the Reko Diq project.
 

Swesh

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) wants external financing commitments fulfilled from friendly countries before it releases bailout funds, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday.

The lender has been negotiating with Islamabad since early February to resume $1.1 billion in funding held since November, which is part of a $6.5 billion bailout agreed in 2019.

The funding is very critical for Pakistan to unlock other external financing avenues to avert a default on its obligations with its central bank reserves falling to as low as to cover hardly four weeks of imports.

Now we are being told that the commitments from friendly countries be fulfilled and God willing we will,” Sharif told Parliament in a speech.

Several friendly countries such as Saudi Arabia, China and the United Arab Emirates, have made commitments to help Pakistan fund its balance of payments.

An agreement would be signed once a few remaining points, including a proposed fuel pricing scheme, are settled, an IMF official said on Friday.

Sharif had earlier announced the government’s plan to charge affluent consumers more for fuel, with the money raised used to subsidise prices for the poor, who have been hard-hit by inflation. In February it was running at its highest in 50 years.

The IMF’s resident representative in Pakistan, Esther Perez Ruiz, said earlier that the government had not consulted the fund about the scheme.

The lender wants Islamabad to explain the fuel scheme before any loan deal.

The IMF has not responded to Reuters request for a comment on the fuel pricing scheme.
 

Sanatani

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Anandhu Krishna

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I really liked her articles, shame she turned out to be another Porki apologist.
What is the point in blaming her if modi is planning to trade with Pakistan!?

The Indian Deputy High Commissioner to Pakistan recently made a rather surprising statement. At a talk at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he said that India wants to move toward normalising business ties with the neighbour, stressing that today’s diplomacy focuses on tourism, trade, and technology because “money speaks its own language”.
 

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