Use of CNG in public transport banned

ABDUL RASHEED AZAD

ISLAMABAD: The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) has clamped immediate ban on the use of compressed natural gas (CNG) in public transport vehicles to prevent deadly accidents, ease gas shortage and improve gas pressure.

The decision was taken in a meeting headed by the chairman Ogra here on Friday. The buses that have cylinders on roofs and underneath will be banned. Ban has been imposed after dialogue with the CNG Association.

Ogra further directed All Pakistan CNG Association (APCNGA) to immediately stop refuelling vehicles - buses, cars and wagons with cylinders installed beneath the passenger seats or on roof tops as such installation is in violation of the Safety Code.

The directions were given by Ogra Chairman Sabir Hussain here in a meeting which was also attended by representatives of APCNGA, Relevant officials of Hydrocarbon Institute of Pakistan (HDIP), Ogra and the Explosives Department to discuss various preventive measures to avoid occurrence of fire incidents in CNG fitted public transport.

During the meeting APCNGA submitted its plan for certification of vehicles at authorised workshops/CNG Stations to eliminate refuelling of unauthorised/substandard CNG converted public transport vehicles ie buses, mini-buses, vans, mini-vans, etc.

The meeting was informed that OGRA has already disconnected 13 CNG Stations today, which were found violating the refuelling procedure/Standard Code of Practice as a part of ensuring public safety at large.

Ogra directed APA to immediately nominate their diploma holders for one week training at HDIP as conveyed to APA by HDIP vide HDIP’s letter dated 29-12-2011.

Taxing times: CAA imposes new airport taxes for 2012

The CAA and the Sindh government have sent notices to airlines informing them about the upcoming levies.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has doubled the airport tax for international and domestic passengers with effect from January 1, 2012.  In specific terms, the tax for the economy class passengers has been increased from Rs500 to Rs1,000 per head whereas for the business class passengers the tax has been spiked from Rs1,000 to Rs2,000 per person. The CAA has also imposed Rs540 and Rs180 per person as Infrastructure Development Tax and Security Tax. However, it has not been decided whether the two taxes would be included in tickets or received from passengers in cash at airports.

The airlines are of the view that both these taxes will increase their cost of operations. Another concern of airlines is the levy of taxes on airport services in Sindh province through the Sindh Sales Tax on Services (Amendment) Ordinance 2011 issued by SBR.

Chairman Board of Investment (BoI) Saleem H Mandviwalla also wrote a letter to Federal Minister for Defence Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar on December 20, 2011 in which he pleaded the case of airlines.

When contacted, the spokesperson of CAA Pervez George said that ‘meetings between the stakeholders are under way’ and that this was all he had to say on this matter.

International Air Transport Association (IATA), on December 3, 2011, wrote a letter to DG CAA, Air Marshal (retd) Khalid Choudhry saying that such ‘revisions should not have been implemented without prior consultation with the airlines’.

CAA officials say that Pakistan is already three to four times cheaper than regional airports and that the new taxes on airlines will not even cover half of the annual rate of return on CAA’s equity.

Transporters observing strike against CNG closure

KARACHI: Transporters are observing strike in Karachi against closure of CNG stations on Saturday, Geo News reported.

Talking to 'Geo News' President Karachi Transport Ittehad (KTI) Irshad Bukhari said their business is badly affected by two-day weekly CNG closure, adding that transporters would register their protest by observing strike today.

CNG stations would remain close in Sindh on Saturday following the gas load management program. Due to CNG closure and transport strike, commuters are facing severe difficulties as no public transport is available on roads. 

Pakistan Open golf tees off today

The event carries a lucrative purse of Rs3 million which will be great attraction for the professional golfers gathering here from all over the country.

Pakistan number one Mohammad Shabbir Iqbal will be leading the pack of golfers in the 72-hole event.

Other prominent golfers competing are Matloob Ahmed, Mohammad Munir, Mohammad Tariq, Shahid Javed Khan, Imdad Hussain, Mohammad Siddiq, Waheed Baloch, Amjad Yousuf and Mohammad Afsar.

The winner of the professional category will be grabbing around Rs525,000.

The runner-up will pocket Rs480,000 while the third-position holder will get Rs450,000.

Besides the professionals and amateur categories, senior professionals will also be battling for Rs500,000 prize money.

The details of the event were unveiled at a news conference at the venue of the event by Pakistan Golf Federation secretary Taimur Hussain.

Tournament director Mehmood Aziz and chief referee Mohammad Irfan were present on the occasion.

Lee applauds Pattinson

Australia's cricketer of the moment, James Pattinson. Photo: Pat Scala
BRETT Lee, who famously engaged in shaking up tail-enders, has implored Australia's latest pace sensation, James Pattinson, to continue his combative, intimidatory approach and not to be deterred from using his mouth as a weapon against India.
Pattinson, 21, was man of the match in Australia's 122-run first Test win at the MCG and made waves for his use of aggression as well as the exquisite bowling that claimed Indian run machines Rahul Dravid and V. V. S. Laxman among others.
The Victorian was warned for bouncing tail-ender Zaheer Khan on the fourth and final day and earlier in the Test match was involved in a heated stoush with Virender Sehwag in the middle.

Army and Punjab win in opening matches of National Baseball Championship

KARACHI: Army and Punjab registered big wins on the first day of the National Baseball Championship, which got under way at the Iqbal Park Sports Complex on Thursday.

Army outclassed Police 11-0 as the match lasted until the fifth innings.

For Army, Arshad scored three with one grand-slam home-run. The other scorers for Army were Imtiaz, Zafar Junior, Iftikhar Ahmad, who scored two runs each. Obaidullah and Omar added one run apiece.

In the second match of the day, Punjab earned 21-2 win against Islamabad. The match also lasted till the fifth innings.

Mudassar and Zaman batted well for the winners, contributing four runs each. Aqeel and Ali scored three runs each.

Aasim, Faisal, and Ali Raza hit two runs each while Azeem made one run. For Islamabad, Tauheed and Mudassar could only score one run each, just to reduce the margin of the defeat.

Microsoft Recognized Teen Prodigy On Life Support

Arfa Karim Randhawa, now 16 years old, was named one of the youngest Microsoft Professionals at age 9 after meeting founder, Bill Gates. After suffering from cardiac arrest on December 22, Randhawa is now in critical condition, and doctors say that she has no hope for survival. 

“Only a miracle will allow my brilliant, genius daughter to live now,” says father Amjad Karim Randhawa who told  that her cardiac arrest was caused by an epileptic attack, which also caused brain damage.

Beginning to show an interest in computers at age 9, Arfa passed a very rigorous Microsoft certification test in 2004, which made her a worldwide celebrity. Arfa’s prodigious actions gave her global media attention, attaining such a credential at such a young age. “Everyone thought the result was wrong,” Randhawa told. 

Also in 2006, Arfa was invited by Microsoft to a keynote session in a Tech-Ed Developers conference in Barcelona, Spain. The theme of this event was “getting ahead of the game” and Arfa was used as an example of such a notion. 

She was also invited by the IT Professionals of Dubai to attend a dinner event where she was presented with several medals and awards for her outstanding achievements. 

Our hearts go out to her family during this difficult time.