Urban areas to face five hours, rural areas seven hours loadshedding

 

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Sunday approved the release of funds for enhanced power generation during Ramazan so that the masses would not have to face six-hour loadshedding during Sehri, Iftar and Traveeh prayers.
According to official sources, the Ministry of Water and Power will provide the maximum relief to consumers during the three times that has been calculated to be six hours during the holy month.

In urban areas, loadshedding of up to five hours and in rural areas of up to seven hours during the remaining 18 hours has been planned so that the people may not face difficulties while they are fasting.

The government has already approved maximum electricity generation during Ramazan and the same has been lined up by the ministry by taking all necessary steps. The prime minister has already accorded approval to provision of necessary funds for enhanced generation during these days.

The sources pointed out that better generation from hydel and thermal power plants and addition of new plants like the Uch II, Guddu, will reduce loadshedding during the month. Oil supplies have also been enhanced and their stocks are being built at different points.

Fuel stocks at various power plants combined with continued daily fuel supply have been planned to ensure smooth operation of power plants during the holy month.

The load management plan will be tightly monitored and the Ministry of Water and Power Secretary Ms Nargis Sethi and all distribution companies chiefs along with their officers at their headquarters will be available during Sehr and Iftar the whole month besides their daily routine timings.

They will remain on video link during these hours. Each Disco and the ministry has installed dedicated landlines and mobile numbers at their respective control centers so that in case of a fault, it can be rectified immediately.

At the distribution level, down the line duties of the staff have been assigned and necessary equipment and their replacements have been provided so that prompt action could be taken in case of technical faults, the sources added.

The sources pointed out that due to transmission system constraints, there exists a demand and supply gap. The ministry is making all out efforts to reduce loadshedding during Ramazan. The ministry has appealed to consumers to curtail consumption of electricity so that the maximum number of people could get power. The sources said the plan has also been put up to Prime Minister Nawaz, who has asked the ministry to adhere to its commitment to facilitate the people to the maximum.

Suicide bomber kills seven in Shiite area of Baghdad

BAGHDAD: A suicide bomber killed seven people and wounded dozens at a market in the a north Baghdad neighbourhood of Kadhimiyah on Thursday, security and medical officials said.

The blast struck at about 6:30 pm (1530 GMT) in the Bab al-Darwaza market in Kadhimiyah, which is home to the shrine of a revered Muslim figure.

 

Suicide bomber kills seven in Shiite area of Baghdad

BAGHDAD: A suicide bomber killed seven people and wounded dozens at a market in the a north Baghdad neighbourhood of Kadhimiyah on Thursday, security and medical officials said.

The blast struck at about 6:30 pm (1530 GMT) in the Bab al-Darwaza market in Kadhimiyah, which is home to the shrine of a revered Muslim figure.

Iraqi airstrike kills seven Kurdish security forces in Diyala

BAGHDAD: At least seven members of the Kurdish security forces were killed in an airstrike in Iraq´s northeastern province of Diyala on Saturday, police said.

The secretary general of the Kurdish security forces said however that only two people had died near the town of Jalawla in what he described as shelling, and that it was not yet clear whether Iraqi forces or militants were responsible.

The incident and divergent accounts show the potential for security in Iraq to deteriorate further, given the deployment of several heavily armed factions and shifting areas of control.

Both Iraqi and Kurdish sources said insurgents from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) were also present in the area.

The rapid seizure of Mosul, one of Iraq´s largest cities, by insurgents led by ISIL, and the Kurds´ takeover of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk this week have raised concerns internationally about the split of the country, as government forces have abandoned their posts.

The Iraqi rapid response units said in a statement that some Kurdish peshmerga forces had behaved in a "strange way", confronting fellow Kurdish tribesmen who were assisting federal government forces in their fight against ISIL.

Jabbar Yawar, the secretary general of the peshmerga, said talks with Iraqi authorities were under way to ascertain what had happened. (Reuters)

 

Seven workers laying gas pipeline electrocuted

MUZAFFARGARH: Seven workers were electrocuted when they were laying a gas pipeline near Basira village, some 15 kilometres from here.

A metalled pipe touched the main power transmission line accidentally on the sandy dunes, electrocuting them on the spot. Four died immediately and the other three died on the way to hospital. They were connecting the the Turkish Colony housing flood-hit people and a hospital with a natural gas supply line on Saturday evening.

The deceased were identified as: Adnan, Javaid, Muhammad Ali, Liaquat Ali, Yasin, Irshad Ali and Shehzad. They all belonged to Okara district. Police, hospital and rescue officials confirmed the deaths.

Muzaffargarh DPO Rai Zamirul Haq said a contracting company was working round-the-clock to complete its task before the arrival of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to visit the hospital and colony, constructed with the financial assistance of the Turkish people.

Seven bodies recovered from cargo complex handed over to families

KARACHI: The corpses of seven unfortunate persons who were trapped in cold storage of the cargo complex at the Karachi airport were handed over to their families after identification on Tuesday, Geo News reported.

The rescue teams had recovered the seven bodies 28 hours after the attack on Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport and were shifted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) for identification as they were burnt and unrecognizable.

The teams of Army Engineering Core, Rangers, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and others took part in the rescue operation.

Senior MLO JPMC Dr Kaleem Sheikh told that the relatives of the deceased recognized their beloved family members with the help of their possessions including mobile phones and some other items that were present with the dead bodies.

The deceased who were identified included Sultan, Saifur Rehman, Farhanul Haq, Nabeel Ahmed, Faizan Ahmed, Enayatullah and Fareedullah.

The MLO further told the body parts that were brought to the hospital were of Jaman who was the members of the Airport Security Force (ASF).

MLO Dr Kaleem further told that DNA samples of the victims have been collected to ascertain their identity and the process will approximately take three weeks.

It is pertinent to mention that during the attack, local employees of a foreign company took refuge in the cargo complex; however, they could not come out after the fire erupted in the vicinity.

Seven soldiers martyred in Bajaur Agency attack

BAJAUR: At least seven security personnel were martyred and seven others injured in cross border attacks on Pakistani security check posts on Thursday, Geo News reported.

According to military sources, two soldiers were martyred in cross-border firing by terrorists at Mano Zangal and Makha Top check posts at the Pak-Afghan border. Four other security men including an officer were also injured in the firing.

Later in the afternoon, the terrorists attacked the check post at Makha Top again that killed two more soldiers. Four security personnel were also injured when a blast occurred in the evening.

In the retaliatory action by the military, several terrorists were killed.

The military sources further told that the recent attack is the third incident of cross border assault since May 25.

Sindh: Seven killed in road accident near Kot Diji

KHAIRPUR: At least seven people were killed and over 10 others injured in a road accident near Kot Diji here on Thursday.

Police said that the incident took place when a mini-truck and a passenger van collided near Kot Diji in Khairpur district.

The police said that the ill-fated passenger van was heading toward Sukkur from Ranipur. The injured were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Seven injured in North Nazimabad blast

KARACHI: A blast occurred near Rangers’ Headquarters in North Nazimabad on Wednesday morning that injured seven persons including a child, Geo News reported.

According to police, the explosion took place early morning today in Karachi Central area in block B of North Nazimabad early where Rangers Headquarter is also located.

Rescue teams shifted the injured to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for first aid. The injured also included a child.

Additional contingent of police and Rangers were called in after the incident. Several motorcycles and nearby buildings were also damaged due to the impact.

Initial investigation suggested that miscreants had planted explosives in a motorcycle that went off with a blast. Further details are yet to be ascertained about the explosion.

Thai forces shoot dead seven drug suspects

BANGKOK: Thai security forces shot dead seven suspected drug smugglers and seized hundreds of thousands of methamphetamine pills after a firefight in the Golden Triangle border region, an official said Saturday.

The clash broke out late Friday in the mountains of northern Chiang Rai province after a border patrol spotted about 10 hill tribe people who refused to stop after crossing the frontier, according to the authorities.

"When we cleared the clash site we found seven men shot dead and we seized six bags of methamphetamine," a local border task force official said by telephone, adding that each bag contained an estimated 100,000 tablets.

"Sporadic shooting continued through the night," said the official, who did not want to be named.

Clashes between security forces and drug traffickers are fairly common in the kingdom´s border regions including in the Golden Triangle, where the remote edges of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet.

Thailand has seen a marked increase in seizures of methamphetamine, which is relatively cheap and easy to make.

Known as yaba -- "crazy medicine" -- the pills are often smuggled from neighbouring Myanmar where armed rebels use profits from narcotics to fund their operations.

There are an estimated 600,000 yaba users in Thailand.General Pongsapat Pongcharoen, commander of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, said the traffickers probably wanted to take advantage of Thailand´s Songkran New Year holiday which starts this weekend.

"They thought that police are busy directing traffic or taking days off during the holidays but in fact we intensify the crackdown during this period," he said.

"This fatal incident may deter them for a while but it will not root out the drugs problem," he added.

Seven of a family gunned down in Shikarpur

SHIKARPUR: In a gruesome incident due to old enmity seven persons of the same family including two women were gunned down at Lakhi Ghulam Shah area in the limit of Rustam police station here, Geo News reported Sunday morning.

Police said that the two groups of Marfani community are at war for several years and in continuation of that an armed gang of one group storming into the house of the other group opened indiscriminate firing that killed seven inmates including two women, while one was severely injured.

The bodies and the injured person have been shifted to the Shikarpur Government Hospital.

Police registering a report of the incident have started legal actions.