An aerial view of buildings and homes during a nationwide power blackout. AFP/File
ISLAMABAD: An independent inquiry committee has found serious violations of safety and security protocols and severe deficiencies in the country’s power system operations starting from generation facilities both in public and private sector to the entire transmission network including the K-Electric (KE) that resulted in a prolonged power breakdown early last month.
The 24-page inquiry report “Total Power System Collapse on January 9, 2021” of the three-member independent inquiry committee appointed by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) also observed that “black start operations at most of the power plants were non-existent or non-functional which should have restored the power supply quite quickly in the country”.
CM orders all govt departments, municipal bodies to pay pensions timely
Karachi
February 24, 2021
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has directed all the departments, particularly the local bodies authorities, different boards and semi- government organisations to resolve the pension issues of their employees and report to him.
He took this decision while presiding over a cabinet meeting at New Sindh Secretariat on Tuesday. All the provincial ministers, senior advisers, Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah, Chairman P&D Mohammad Waseem and secretaries concerned attended the meeting.
The chief minister was told that there were pension issues of local bodies employees. âAn employee who retires from his/her service must be given their pension and dues in time,â he said.
100 high tech vehicles to replace security check posts in Islamabad
>The government is all set to purchase 100 digitally equipped vehicles to boost security in Islamabad, as they will be replacing security check posts in the capital.
According to the relevant details, the decision to purchase these advanced vehicles was taken during a federal cabinet meeting, in which the Federal Minister for Interior Sheikh Rasheed informed that 30 out of 33 security check posts have been removed from federal capital so far, and that the “remaining three checkposts will be removed after the arrival of 100 digitally equipped vehicles”.
Aside from the matter of cars replacing check posts, the meeting also approved the deployment of Rangers in and outside all the polling stations to ensure security and transparency during by-polls in the NA-221 Tharparkar constituency.
The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Wednesday increased power tariff by Rs1.53 per unit on account of monthly fuel charges adjustment (FCA) for December 2020.
All the independent directors are new faces on the board whose number has been reduced from six to five. AFP/File
ISLAMABAD: The government on Thursday reconstituted the board of directors of the National Transmission & Despatch Company (NTDC) under the chairmanship of former managing director of K-Electric Naveed Ismail.
According to a notification issued by the Power Division, seven out of 11 members of the existing board have been replaced. All the independent directors are new faces on the board whose number has been reduced from six to five.
They include Ali Zain Banatwala (a Karachi-based system optimisation and smart grids expert), Nauman K. Hyder (former HBL president), Almas Hyder (a Lahore-based businessman) and Haroon Jan Baraylay (a managing partner at FGE Ebrahim Hosain).