ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday signed agreements to issue new licenses for oil exploration in the country, the ministry of petroleum said, with the projects aimed at attracting investment and meeting growing energy requirements.
“Government of Pakistan today [Thursday] executed Petroleum Concessions (PCAs) and Exploration Licences (ELs) of critical Blocks in the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan,” the ministry of petroleum said in a statement.
The statement quoted Omar Ayub Khan, Federal Minister for Petroleum, as saying the agreements, signed in Islamabad, were part of the incumbent government’s reform agenda and efforts to attract investment in the petroleum sector.
The exploration blocks are located in the province of Sindh and Balochistan and involve the Oil and Gas Development Company and Pakistan Petroleum Limited.
“The minimum firm work commitment for these blocks is US $ 13.61 million for a period of three years,” the statement said. “The companies entering into agreements today [Thursday] would be obligated to spend a minimum of US $ 30,000/year in each block.”
Last month, the consortium exploring the Kekra-1 well off the coast of Pakistan ended drilling operations after no reserves of oil and gas were found, said a spokesman for Oil and Gas Development Co. Ltd, one of the Pakistani partners, along with Italy’s ENI SpA and Exxon Mobile Corp.
News that the project was abandoned came as a blow to the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan which had pinned high hopes on offshore oil and gas discoveries to help with both the country’s chronic energy deficiencies and its ballooning trade deficit.
Pakistan is believed to have rich mineral resources, with conventional gas reserves estimated at 20 trillion cubic feet (tcf), or 560 billion cubic meters, and shale gas reserves, which are so far untouched, at more than 100 tcf.
The government is planning to offer dozens of new gas field concessions, hoping that improved security in recent years will reassure foreign investors who have been deterred in the past by the threat of militant violence.
Pakistan has been under mounting pressure to shore up its creaking energy infrastructure, both to provide more reliable supplies of oil and gas to its growing population of more than 200 million and to cut reliance on expensive foreign imports.
The country recently signed an accord for a $6 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund that helped send its rupee currency to an all time low and highlighted the need to cut import bills.
Pakistan issues new licenses for oil exploration in Sindh, Balochistan provinces
Pakistan issues new licenses for oil exploration in Sindh, Balochistan provinces
- Petroleum minister says new deals part of government's reform agenda, efforts to attract petroleum investment
- Pakistan has been under mounting pressure to shore up its creaking energy infrastructure
IDEAS 2024: Haider tank in spotlight on first day of Pakistani mega defense expo
- IDEAS has been held biennially since 2000 and has since grown into a key event for the Pakistani defense sector
- Second day of the exhibition, Wednesday, will see launch of new medium-altitude long-endurance Shahpar III drone
KARACHI: The third-generation Haider tank was in the spotlight on Tuesday as Pakistan’s premier defense exhibition, IDEAS, kicked off in Karachi, hosting 550 exhibitors, including 340 international defense companies, as well as 350 civilian and military officials from 55 countries.
IDEAS has been held biennially since 2000 and has since grown into a key event for the Pakistani defense sector.
This year’s exhibition, running from Nov. 19-22 at the Karachi Expo Center, is showcasing a wide range of modern and traditional defense equipment, weapons systems and vehicles.
“This tank is locally produced in Pakistan at the Heavy Industry Taxila in collaboration with our local and international technology partners,” Anza Aqeel, Assistant Director Heavy Industry Taxila, told Arab News, explaining that Haider had auto-tracking, a remote-control weapon system and a 470-kilometer cruising range.
“It has the capability of firing in both the day and night. It can fire up to eight rounds per minute due to its autoloading capability.”
Aqeel said the Haider tank was of export quality, with production currently underway.
“This tank has an auto tracker installed and both the gunner and commander can fire using the auto tracker,” he added.
The second day of the exhibition, Wednesday, will see the launch of the Shahpar-III drone, the third generation of the GIDS Shahpar unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) built by Global Industrial Defense Solutions of Pakistan and used by the Pakistani military.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said Pakistan’s volume of defense exports was not yet aligned with its potential.
“Though Pakistan is now exporting some high-tech products to more than 60 countries, the volume of exports is not at par with its actual potential,” Asif said.
“A crucial factor, however, has been the limited involvement of the private sector in defense production and activity.”
“In order to achieve this objective, I will stress upon the integration of public and private defense industry to achieve maximum results,” Asif added. “New ideas, entrepreneurship and management skills mastered by the private sector need to be co-opted with the public sector defense industry.”
This year’s event also features a “Startups Pavilion” designed to offer international exposure to young Pakistani entrepreneurs and give them an opportunity to showcase new projects and technologies.
Pakistani police arrest man accused of insulting Qur’an, save him from being lynched by mob
- Khan said man allegedly made derogatory remarks about Qur’an during heated argument with brother
- Demonstrators threw stones at police station, threatened to burn it if the man was not handed over to them
PESHAWAR: Police arrested a man accused of insulting Islam’s holy book, the Qur’an, in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday after being alerted that a mob wanted to lynch him, police said.
The man, identified as Humayun Ullah, was arrested in Khazana, an area on the outskirts of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police officer Nasir Khan said.
He said the man was arrested as a mob was trying to grab him in a street.
Video posted on social media showed hundreds of people blocking a road near a police station and demanding the man be handed over to them. Gunshots were also heard near the police station, where the man was being held for questioning.
Khan said the man allegedly made derogatory remarks about the Qur’an during a heated argument with his brother at the family’s home. He said some of the demonstrators threw stones at the police station and threatened to burn it and harm officers if the man was not handed over to them.
Under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, anyone found guilty of insulting Islam or Islamic religious figures can be sentenced to death — though authorities have yet to carry out a death sentences for blasphemy.
The arrest Tuesday came two months after the government said police had orchestrated the killing of a doctor who was in custody after being accused of blasphemy in southern Sindh province. The doctor had voluntarily surrendered following assurances from officers that he would be given a chance to prove his innocence.
In November 2021, a mob burned a police station and four police posts in northwestern Charsadda district after officers refused to hand over a mentally unstable man accused of desecrating the Qur’an.
Supreme Court dismisses petition challenging extension in tenure of army chief
- Pakistan earlier this month passed bills to extend the tenures of heads of the armed forces to five years from three
- Rights advocates say measures by PM Sharif’s coalition could be aimed at shoring up support from powerful military figures
ISLAMABAD: The Constitutional Bench of the Pakistan Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition challenging the extension of the tenure of Army Chief Gen. Asim Munir, state news agency APP said.
Pakistan’s parliament earlier this month passed bills to extend the terms of the heads of the armed forces to five years from three, a move that has been opposed by rights activists as well as the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of jailed ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The PTI believes extending the term of commanders including the army chief would deal another blow to the embattled Khan and his party, which blames the military for his downfall. The army denies involvement.
“The petition was dismissed after the petitioner Mahmood Akhtar Naqvi failed to appear before the court and defend his argument in spite of repeated notices,” APP said. “Also, the new legislation fixing the tenure of all three service chiefs paved the way for the dismissal of the petition.”
The office of the army chief is considered to be the most powerful in the country, with the military having ruled Pakistan for almost half of its 75-year history. Even when not directly in power, the army is considered to be the invisible guiding hand in politics and holds considerable sway in internal security, foreign policy, and economic affairs, among other domains.
The coalition government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has defended the passage of the new bills that extend the tenures of the army, navy and air force chiefs, saying the move would check against services chiefs granting themselves extensions and “formalize” the duration of their service. The government says the bills are aimed at building continuity and avoiding the political turmoil that usually surrounds the appointment of the army chief every three years.
Rights activists and democracy advocates say the measures by the Sharif-led coalition, which is opposed to Khan and took power after an election in February, could be aimed at shoring up support from powerful military figures.
Under the new law, Gen.l Munir, who took office in November 2022 with a timeline to retire in 2025, will serve until 2027 irrespective of a retirement age of 64 for a general.
Khan, who has been in jail since August last year, has been at odds with generals he blames for his 2022 ousting, after he fell out with then-army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa. The military denies it interferes in politics.
Khan’s party-backed candidates won the most seats in February’s election but fell short of a majority, clearing the way for his opponents led by Sharif to form a government.
Khan’s supporters have since been agitating in parliament and on the streets, alleging that the election was rigged to keep them out of power, which the election commission denies. The PTI says the ruling alliance does not enjoy legitimacy, an accusation the government rejects.
The passage of the new bills on extension in service tenure follows controversial amendments made to the constitution last month, granting lawmakers the authority to nominate the chief justice of Pakistan, who previously used to be automatically appointed according to the principle of seniority.
The amendments allowed the government to bypass the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, and appoint Justice Yahya Afridi as the country’s top judge.
The opposition and the legal fraternity have opposed the amendments, arguing that they are aimed at granting more power to the executive in making judicial appointments and curtailing the independence of the judiciary. The government denies this.
All schools to reopen in Pakistan’s Punjab province as air quality improves
- Lahore’s air quality index fell to 158 on Tuesday, which IQAir categorizes as unhealthy, after crossing 2,000 last week
- Record air pollution has triggered mass hospitalizations, school closures and lockdown orders in Punjab province
ISLAMABAD: Air quality improved in Pakistan’s Punjab province on Tuesday, prompting authorities in the worst-affected Lahore and Multan cities to reopen schools from Wednesday after over ten days of being closed due to record-high pollution levels.
Lahore’s air quality index (AQI) fell to 158 late on Tuesday, which Swedish group IQAir categorizes as unhealthy, after crossing 2,000 in some locations last week.
On Monday, the Punjab government had said schools would reopen across Punjab province, except for in the Lahore and Multan divisions.
“The ambient air quality has improved in Punjab, due to rain in upper parts of Punjab, change in wind direction and speed,” a notification said.
“Therefore, all the educational institutions in the whole province, including Lahore and Multan Division, shall be opened w.e.f. 20-11-2024 (Wednesday).”
The notification said school opening timings could not be before 845am, as smog is thickest in the early morning hours, and all students and staff had to wear face masks.
“There shall be a complete ban on outdoor sports and outdoor co-curricular activities till further orders,” the notification added. “All educational institutions shall introduce class wise school closing timing to avoid traffic congestions.”
Record-high air pollution levels have triggered hundreds of hospitalizations, junior and high school closures and stay-at-home orders in several districts of Punjab, including the provincial capital of Lahore, which has been enveloped in a thick, toxic smog since last month.
Schools and government offices were closed earlier this month in many districts of Punjab, with the closures affecting the education of more than 20 million students, according to associations representing private and government schools.
Authorities in 18 districts of Punjab also closed all public parks, zoos and museums, historical places, and playgrounds for ten days last week.
A court in Lahore ordered the government to shut all markets after 8pm, while authorities have already banned barbecuing food without filters and ordered wedding halls to close by 10pm.
Last week, the UN children’s agency said the health of 11 million children in Punjab province was in danger because of air pollution.
Pakistan, ADB sign ‘landmark’ $500 million climate loan agreement
- Program is aimed at strengthening Pakistan’s capacity for climate change adaptation and disaster risk management
- Finance minister said last month Pakistan is also targeting around $1 billion in a formal request for climate cash from IMF
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday signed a “landmark” $500 million dollar loan agreement under the ‘Climate and Disaster Resilience Enhancement Program,’ state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.
Pakistan is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change, according to the Global Climate Risk Index.
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said last month Pakistan was targeting around $1 billion in a formal request for funding from an IMF facility that helps low and middle income countries mitigate climate risk. The IMF already agreed to a $7 billion bailout for Pakistan in September but has additional funding available via its Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST), created in 2022 to provide long-term concessional cash for climate-related spending such as adaptation and transitioning to cleaner energy.
“The signing of the [ADB] agreement underscores Pakistan’s commitment to prioritize climate change initiatives and scaling up disaster risk financing using a risk-layered approach,” Radio Pakistan said, quoting Pakistan’s Minister for Economic Affairs, Ahad Cheema.
The program is aimed at strengthening Pakistan’s capacity for climate change adaptation and disaster risk management and will address the country’s vulnerabilities to natural disasters and climate impacts.
“The core objective of the program is to enhance institutional frameworks for disaster risk management by improving disaster risk mapping, response coordination, and gender-sensitive public investments,” Radio Pakistan added.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who spoke at a number of events at the UN COP29 climate summit last week, used the forum to highlight the need to increase climate finance for vulnerable, developing countries. He said developing countries would need an estimated $6.8 trillion by 2030 to implement less than half of their current nationally determined contributions (NDCs) or national action plans for reducing emissions and adapting to climate impacts defined by the Paris Agreement.
The main task for nearly 200 countries at the COP29 summit, taking place from Nov. 11-22, is to broker a deal that ensures up to trillions of dollars in financing for climate projects worldwide.
