MPs call for action to address global water crisis at UN hearing

UNITED NATIONS STAFF REPORT

A group of Pakistani parliamentarians spoke at the annual Parliamentary Hearing at the UN, calling for enhanced international cooperation to address the growing water crisis.

The water scarcity crisis is increasingly being impacted by global climate change, which is leading to water scarcity in some regions and flooding in others.

The Hearing, entitled ‘Water for

People and Planet: Stop the waste, change the game, invest in the future,’ is a joint initiative between the President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), and aims to provide a parliamentary contribution to the UN Water Conference, which will be held from March 22-24, 2023, in New York.

Over 250 members of parliament, Speakers, advisers, and related officials from 60 countries are participating in the

Counter-terrorism forces thwart TTP attack; kill four militants in North Waziristan

PESHAWAR STAFF REPORT event at the United Nations headquarters in New York. National Assembly Deputy Speaker Zahid Akram Durrani led the parliamentary delegation from Pakistan, which included several senators and a minister. Durrani told the hearing that water scarcity caused by climate change stemmed from underinvestment in water and sanitation and insufficient cooperation on transboundary waters. He emphasized that finance, technology transfer, and enhanced international cooperation are essential to overcome the challenges.

Militants from Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) launched an attack on law enforcement officers near Mir Ali Bypass in North Waziristan’s Mir Ali area on Monday night, according to a statement from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police. Personnel from the counter-terrorism department (CTD) were transporting prisoners from Miranshah to Bannu when militants fired on their convoy, killing three inmates. Law enforcement officials retaliated, killing at least four militants and causing five to six others to flee. The slain militants were wanted in connection with numerous heinous crimes, including targeted killings of security personnel and the murder of a constable.

A clearance operation is currently underway in the area to apprehend the fleeing militants. Previously, the agency claimed to have killed a suspected TTP terrorist in an encounter and detained 11 members of banned organisations in various cities during intelligence-based operations (IBOs) across Punjab. Pakistan has been struck by a surge of terrorism, mainly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, but also in Balochistan and Mianwali, a Punjab town bordering KP. The wave of terrorism has even reached the outskirts of Islamabad. January 2023 was the deadliest month since 2018, with at least 44 attacks nationwide resulting in 134 deaths — a staggering 139 percent rise — and 254 injuries.

The other speakers in the hearing also stressed the need to scale up investments, prioritize nature-based adaptation, mobilize innovative financing, adopt climate-smart agriculture, and explore and sustainably use groundwater. They called for the fulfilment of longstanding commitments, such as the mobilization of $100 billion in annual climate finance by developed countries.

Pakistan plans to quadruple domestic coal-fired power, move away from gas

ISLAMABAD

REUTERS

The government plans to quadruple its domestic coal-fired capacity to reduce power generation costs and will not build new gas-fired plants in the coming years, the energy minister told Reuters, as Pakistan seeks to ease a crippling foreign-exchange crisis.

A shortage of natural gas, which accounts for over a third of the country’s power output, plunged large areas into hours of darkness last year.

A surge in global prices of liquefied natural gas (LNG) after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and an onerous economic crisis had made LNG unaffordable for Pakistan.

“LNG is no longer part of the long-term plan,” Khurram Dastgir Khan told Reuters, adding that the country plans to increase domestic coal-fired power capacity to 10 gigawatts (GW) in the medium-term, from 2.31 GW currently.

The plan to switch to coal to provide the nation reliable electricity underscores challenges in drafting effective decarbonisation strategies, at a time when some developing countries are struggling to keep lights on.

Despite power demand increasing in 2022, Pakistan’s annual LNG imports fell to the lowest levels in five years as European buyers elbowed out price-sensitive consumers. “We have some of the world’s most efficient regasified LNG-based power plants. But we don’t have the gas to run them,” Dastgir said in an interview.

The nation, which is battling a wrenching economic crisis and is in dire need of funds, is seeking to reduce the value of its fuel imports and protect itself from geopolitical shocks, he said.

Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank have fallen to $2.9 billion, barely enough to cover three weeks of imports.

“It’s this question of not just being able to generate energy cheaply, but also with domestic sources, that is very important,” Dastgir said.

The Shanghai Electric Thar plant, a 1.32 GW capacity plant that runs on domestic coal and is funded under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), started producing power last week. The CPEC is a part of Beijing’s global Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

In addition to the coal-fired plants, Pakistan also plans to boost its solar, hydro and nuclear power fleet, Dastgir said, without elaborating. If the proposed plants are constructed, it could also widen the gap between Pakistan’s power demand and installed power generation capacity, potentially forcing the country to idle plants.

The maximum power demand met by Pakistan during the year ended June 2022 was 28.25 GW, more than 35 percent lower than the power generation capacity of 43.77 GW. It was not immediately clear how Pakistan will finance the proposed coal fleet, but Dastgir said setting up new plants will depend on “investor interest,” which he expects to increase when newly commissioned coal-fired plants are proved viable. Financial institutions in China and Japan, which are among the biggest financiers of coal units in developing countries, have been backing out of funding fossil-fuel projects in recent years amid pressure from activists and Western governments.

Police, Interpol and FIA liaison wing set up to net runaway fugitives: IGP

Lahore Staff Report

Punjab Inspector General of Police Dr Usman Anwar on Tuesday said that a liaison wing comprising the Punjab Police, Interpol and FIA, has been established to arrest runaway fugitive, asking all RPOs, CPOs and DPOs to take full coordinated measures with the complainants of cases to arrest the proclaimed offenders in the country and aboard.

In his special message for the media representatives, the IG Police said that if any proclaimed offender in any case resides abroad, the complainant should immediately contact the police so that practical steps could be initiated to arrest and bring back the accused. Dr Usman Anwar said that if proclaimed offenders are residing in countries such as the Middle East, South Africa, Europe and America, including the countries with which Pakistan has an agreement, then immediate action will be taken to arrest them and every facility of Interpol will be used to arrest the proclaimed offender immediately. He said that these SOPs and instructions have been issued to all the RPOs, DPOs of the province.

“The investigation officers themselves should contact the complainants and get whatever information they have about the proclaimed offenders to accelerate efforts for arrest the proclaimed offenders. Dr Usman Anwar said that instructions have been issued to speed up the efforts of the police officers to personally contact the plaintiffs to ar- rest the proclaimed offenders in the country. He said that the police officers with the cooperation of the plaintiffs should make it a priority to arrest the proclaimed offenders of all cases including dacoity, murder, theft, fraud, possession of property and cheque bounce as soon as possible.

The IGP clarified that the police officers will contact the plaintiffs themselves and if the plaintiff of case does not receive a call from police officer after February 20 to arrest the proclaimed offender then report it to 1787 so that strict departmental and legal action will be taken against the concerned officers and officials. He said that the officer or official responsible for the negligence in the arrest of the proclaimed offender will not get any sym -

Separately, on Tuesday, a petition was filed in the high court asking President Arif Alvi to announce a date for elections in Punjab, citing its order to the election tribunal.

The petitioner has named the federal government, the president, the governor, and the interim government as respondents. The petitioner has also requested that the court order the president to announce the election date under articles 48, 58, and 224 of the Constitution and Section 57 of the Election Act, 2017.

The petitioner is seeking disciplinary action against the governor and the ECP for not following the court order.

RUDA attracts foreign investment at UAE exhibition

LAHORE STAFF REPORT

The Ravi Urban Development Authority (RUDA) attracted investment in a three-day long international property show in Dubai, which culminated with a huge turnout of international developers, realtors and property conglomerates. According to a spokesman for RUDA, A total of 36 countries showcased their flagship projects. RUDA and CBD (Central Business District) presented the Pakistani Pavilion, which attracted interested international investors, expatriate Pakistanis and general visitors from host of business backgrounds. RUDA, the upcoming city by the river, closed the process of signing three memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with world renowned realtors and an internationally reputed brokerage firm. Negotiations with an international hospitality group has also finalised, which showed immense interest in building a chain of international hotels in Pakistan. For the construction of lowcost houses under RUDA’s different projects, funding of millions of dollars is finalised for prefabricated green houses. On the other hand, the CBD signed 4 MoUs, accruing substantive investment in the business district. A group of 50 expatriate investors based in Dubai visited Pakistani pavilion and showed their desire in materialising investments in RUDA and CBD. Chief Operating Officer and head of Pakistani delegates, Mansoor Ahmed Janjua thanked the organisers of the international property show for providing very congenial and people friendly atmosphere to the participants during the shows, seminars and walk around. He also reiterated that Government of the Punjab is committed to bringing prosperity to the people through foreign investment on one hand and providing affordable living opportunities to its denizens on the other.

Aamir Liaquat’s widow granted bail in obscene video leak case

KARACHI STAFF REPORT pathy and strict departmental action will be taken against him. IG Punjab said that for the convenience of citizens, 1787 Complaint Center has been kept active even on Sunday where citizens can call any time regarding their problems and get immediate relief from the police.

The IG Police directed the RPOs, DPOs to launch a strict crackdown in all districts under an effective strategy to arrest the proclaimed offenders and send weekly reports in this regard to the Central Police Office regularly. He said that the DPOs should personally monitor the crackdown to arrest the proclaimed offenders implicated in serious crimes so that they could be sentenced and brought to justice as soon as possible.

Dania Shah, the former wife of late MP Aamir Liaquat Hussain, has been granted bail in an objectionable video leak case by the Sindh High Court (SHC). The cyber crime circle of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in Karachi arrested Shah in December, and she challenged her arrest in the SHC on January 19. The court has ordered her release on surety bonds of Rs200,000. Shah was accused of leaking obscene videos of her late husband, and the FIA arrested her following a complaint from her stepdaughter. The prominent televangelist - turned-politician, 50, was found unconscious at his home in Karachi in June of last year and was taken to a hospital where he was later pronounced dead. He had switched from televangelism to politics, becoming an MP for Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party. In the last chapter of his life, he married Shah, his third marriage, but it ended publicly and acrimoniously within months. His bride, reportedly 18 then, filed for divorce, accusing him of domestic abuse and being a drug addict. A magistrate ruled in January that Shah, in May and afterwards, without authorisation, surreptitiously recorded Hussain, obtained his personal identity information (his sexually explicit images and videos) and then used, and transmitted it through information systems i.e. in the cyber village of multiple social media platforms, an offence punishable under section 16 (1) of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), 2016.