PTA unearths another illegal gateway exchange
islamabad (Staff Reporter): Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has unearthed an illegal gateway exchange in Lahore.  According to details, a successful raid against the grey operator was carried out along with FIA team at Jamil Town, Sabzazar, Lahore. An illegal exchange was found. The team confiscated all equipment including four gateways, 8 ports each, number of SIMs, laptops, and modems. The successful raids against the grey operators were made possible because of continuous monitoring, commitment and persistent efforts by PTA in curbing the menace of grey traffic thus curtailing the loss to the national exchequer because of grey traffickers in the country.
In order to curb the activities of grey traffickers, FIA has requested PTA to monitor the international calls, which show up as local numbers on their devices. Generally, in the grey trafficking, operators use illegal routes to make the international calls by skirting the legal routes, ultimately leading to high financial loses to the Government. Normally an international call should show a legal number and the corresponding country code. But the grey traffickers use a bypass due to which the international calls would appear to be a local call and the tariffs would change.

Engro’s LNG terminal ready to take cargoes, awaits import deal
ISLAMABAD (NNI): Engro’s Elengy Terminal (Pvt) Limited (ETPL) said the $135 million liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal is ready to start up provided the government strikes liquefied gas import deal, a senior company official said. “The terminal has been completed in a record time and now we are waiting for the government to finalize LNG procurement deal,” Shaikh Imran-ul-Haq CEO of ETPL said. “If the commodity is not delivered by March 31, 2015, the government would be liable to pay the capacity charges.” The FSRU Exquisite, the floating storage and re-gasification vessel is anchored at Dubai Dry docks and will be ready to make sail by March 15, 2015.
As per the agreement, the government will have to pay $272,000/day for not importing the LNG by March 31. The government has so far virtually failed to ink an LNG deal with any country, including Qatar.
Industry officials said international dealers are hesitance to supply LNG to Pakistan for power sector, which is virtually hit by circular debt and IPPs are not willing to make an agreement with LNG supply for back to back L/Cs.
Talking about their bid regarding second FSRU terminal at Port Qasim, Haq said they were hopeful about the result. He said that LNG import was inevitable for the country as it would address several energy scarcity issues.
“Given the energy demand of the country, only LNG import would not be sufficient. Pakistan will have to import other commodities also to streamline its energy mix,” he added.
Engro’s LNG terminal is completed even before the financial close. Engro Corp funded this project under bridge loans. However, recently Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $30 million project loan for the terminal.
Haq informed that the money would be transferred to them by early next month, which would have to be retired in 8-10 years.
Along with ADB’s loan, International Finance Corporation is expected to fund 15 percent of the project cost and local banks will finance around 35 percent. The rest of the project financing will come from equity proceeds, for a total cost of around $135 million.
The fuel, suitable for use at most of the country’s combined cycle power plants, will be supplied to Sui Southern Gas Company’s gas distribution network via a new high pressure pipeline.
The plant has the capacity for re-gasification of up to 600 mmcfd. The government had tendered for its requirement of 200 mmcfd but Engro has developed a surplus capacity setup.
Engro is in negotiation with other parties for the utilization of its surplus capacity.
SSGC has tendered for another terminal at Port Qasim, while a consortium of three investors is developing plans for another facility in nearby Karachi.
Pakistan urgently needs to utilize its existing power generation capacity fully, while reducing its reliance on costly imported diesel fuel for electricity generation.
Re-gasification of LNG will allow generation facilities to reach their maximum potential, using a cleaner and more efficient fuel, and will support the country’s push for greater energy security and diversification.
The converted fuel will help the government make an estimated savings of about $1.0 billion per annum on its current fuel import bill of nearly $15 billion.

Tusdec-ACTED trainees’ craft displayed at Expo Pakistan
LAHORE (APP): TUSDEC-ACTED consortia participated at the 9th Expo Pakistan which was recently organized by TDAP in Karachi. During the four day event, TUSDEC shared the communal objective of showcasing the collection of Pakistan’s export merchandise and services while promoting ‘Made in Pakistan’ tag to a large number of potential national and foreign buyers. TUSDEC and its partners (ACTED and PMN) participated in the expo to meticulously display the modern crafts prepared by trainees hailing from the district of Jacobabad, Kashmore and Shikarpur. The trainees are the area inhabitants and trainers of local TVET institutes who were trained through ToT sessions organized by TUSDEC in the trades of Hand and Machine Embroidery and Dress Making.
Following the ToT sessions, the beneficiaries sculpted more than 300 value added items under the supervision of seasoned experts to demonstrate their skills progression. Recognizing the significance of market linkages and business development, TUSDEC, ACTED and PMN showcased the crafts of the beneficiaries at the 9th Expo garnering support and appreciation on the master pieces while expanding their business prospects.
According to the company spokesperson, the activity proved to be a fruitful venture attracted numerous national and foreign investors who evinced profound interest in the items developed by the project beneficiaries.
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SECP registers 454 new companies

ISLAMABAD (NNI): The SECP registered 454 new companies during the month of February, new incorporation witnessed 5 % increase as compared to same period last year. Around 91pc companies were registered as private limited companies, while around 6pc companies registered as single member companies. 3pc of the companies were registered as public Unlisted, associations’ not-for-profit and foreign companies. The services sector took the lead with the incorporation of 58 companies, followed by trading with 50, IT with 39, construction and tourism with 35 each, fuel and energy with 18, broadcasting and telecasting and corporate agri farming with 17 each, edu with 16, food and beverages with 12, communication, engineering, real estate development and transport with 11 each and textile with 10 companies.

 Moreover, 5 foreign companies were also registered by CROs in Lahore, Islamabad and Faisalabad.
Foreign investment has been reported in 14 new companies. These companies have foreign investors from Belarus, China, Germany, Italy, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, UK and the US. These companies are from import/export, lodging, construction, information technology, engineering, mining and quarrying, paper and board, power generation and textile sectors.
During February, the highest numbers of companies, i.e. 141, were registered at the Company Registration Office (CRO), Karachi, followed by 131 and 102 companies registered at CRO Lahore and Islamabad respectively. The CROs in Multan, Faisalabad, Peshawar, Quetta and Sukkur registered 31, 19, 18, 7 and 5 companies respectively.
In the month of February, returns for an increase in the authorized capital of 127 companies were filed, with the total authorized capital increment of Rs. 17.99 billion. In addition, 90 companies filed returns for increase in the paid-up capital with the total increment amounting to Rs. 4.90 billion.

Farmers Mela opens at NARC today

ISLAMABAD (INP): Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN are organizing 3rd PARC & FAO-AAN Share Mela for Farmers. The two-day fair will open today (Wednesday) at National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC) Park Road, Chakshahzad Islamabad. The farmers from all provinces including AJ&K will participate in the event and present their innovation in a Farmer-to-Farmer forum, followed by interactions from private sector provider of services and goods for farmers. Scientists from PARC will also present recent output ready for farmer adaptation to their farms. Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research (NFSR) Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan will inaugurate the event.