Latest news with #Manzoor
Express Tribune
a day ago
- Business
- Express Tribune
Confusion reigns as PPP sends mixed signals on budget protest
Confusion continues to swirl within the PPP over its purported plans to stage a nationwide protest against the federal budget, as conflicting voices emerge from within the party's ranks. While some insiders deny any such plan, others maintain that a strategy was indeed in the works, but mainly being driven by the party's Punjab wing, as the central party has not been fully engaged in the decision. The Pakistan Peoples Party, whose senior leader Chaudhary Manzoor announced a countrywide protest against the budget draft, remains a key coalition partner in the federal government. Without its backing, the PML-N-led government would be left out on a limb. Any official protest call by the party's central leadership would signal a withdrawal of support for the finance bill, throwing the budget's passage into serious doubt. However, party leaders The Express Tribune spoke to suggested that Manzoor's call was more of a solo flight than a coordinated party line. While some leaders in central Punjab are rallying behind it, the move has not received a formal green light from the party's top brass. According to insiders, the protest plan was being shaped as an attempt to tap into the growing discontent among farmers and labourers who were being left high and dry by the government's policies. The party, by reaching out to farmers and labourers, would try to gather support before embarking on any protest plan, as it lacks sufficient muscle in Punjab to hit the roads without them. Senior Vice President Central Punjab Rana Farooq Saeed said they had not been informed by the party about any protest plan. He questioned under whose authority Manzoor had made the call. However, he added that the party does not approve of the budget, as it offered nothing for farmers and labourers. "It would be wrong to even call it a budget," he said. However, despite these reservations, the party has yet to take a formal decision. "Given that we are allies in the centre, we cannot give out impulsive statements against the budget," he said. Central Party General Secretary Hasan Murtaza avoided giving a direct answer regarding any party plans to hold a protest demonstration throughout the country. He said they were allies of the government and would try to knock some sense into the PML-N over the glaring discrepancies in the budget. If dialogue failed, he added, they would ultimately hit the roads. When asked if the central party had rejected the budget, which would mean the PPP would withhold support, he said that decision would be taken by the central leadership. However, he clarified that the party would not "stand in for PML-N's mistakes". "They will not carry their weight while they suck the life out of poor people and line their own pockets," he said. He listed several grievances, from the failure to renegotiate capacity payments to the taxation of solar panels. When asked about senior leader Naveed Qamar's acknowledgement of thorough consultation sessions with the PML-N on the budget, he responded that "consultation does not mean that their inputs are being incorporated". On Thursday, several media outlets reported that the PPP had rejected the federal budget for the upcoming fiscal year and announced a nationwide protest campaign against it. The impression was formed after Chaudhary Manzoor Ahmad, who heads the PPP's People's Labour Bureau, lambasted the federal government at a press conference in Islamabad for presenting a budget that favours the wealthy and ignores the miseries of the working class and poor. The PPP leader said the party had started contacting trade unions across the country to mobilise support for protest demonstrations. He stated that demonstrations would be held in all provinces before the passage of the federal budget in the National Assembly. When senior PPP leader Naveed Qamar was asked to comment on the budget, he said the party recognised that the government was walking a tightrope under the IMF programme. However, he also said the government's policies were misaligned and that if the PPP were designing the budget, it would have been vastly different. At no point during the programme did he outright reject the budget or announce plans for protest rallies.
Express Tribune
3 days ago
- Express Tribune
Rare dowry lawsuit filed decades after marriage
In a unique and unprecedented case in Pakistan's family courts history, a man has sued his brother-in-law 24 years after the marriage of his sister, demanding the return of 132 tolas of silver, 18 tolas of gold jewellery, and dowry items worth Rs861,000. The rare case has been filed in the Rawalpindi's family court, raising several new constitutional and legal questions. Family Judge Yasir Bilal of Rawalpindi accepted the case for hearing, issued notices to Manzoor Ahmed, and summoned him to appear in court with a reply on July 2. Along with the notices, advertisements calling for court attendance have also been issued. The case was filed by Mashahid Hussain against his brother-in-law Manzoor Ahmed. The petition states that his sister, Rana Arifa Sabohi, was married to Manzoor on July 29, 2001. The couple has no children. Manzoor's lawyer says they will submit their legal response according to family law on July 2.
The Hindu
5 days ago
- Science
- The Hindu
How extracting and producing nickel can be made more sustainable
Manzoor, U., Mujica Roncery, L., Raabe, D. et al, 'Sustainable nickel enabled by hydrogen-based reduction', Nature 641, 365–373 (2025). Nickel powers everything, from gadgets to green technologies. But getting it currently involves a far from green, in fact, a dirty process. However, a new study has revealed what its authors have said is a game-changing and sustainable method to extract nickel from low-grade ores using hydrogen plasma instead of carbon. It's a one-step process free of carbon dioxide that reportedly saves both energy and time. Nickel is an important metal used in several clean energy technologies, especially Electric Vehicles (EVs), and the demand for it is expected to surpass six million tonnes a year by 2040. While EVs are seen as a cleaner alternative to traditional fossil fuel-powered vehicles, there are hidden environmental costs associated with their production, especially in the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries. A major component in these batteries is nickel and its extraction is highly carbon-intensive. Producing just one tonne of nickel can result in more than 20 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. So while EVs reduce emissions during operation, the process of sourcing materials like nickel simply shifts the pollution burden from the transportation sector to the mining and processing sector, among others. The methodology The study, published in Nature on April 30, was conducted by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Sustainable Materials in Düsseldorf, Germany. In the study, the researchers bypassed the traditional multistep process to extract nickel — which includes calcination, smelting, reduction, and refining — and developed a single metallurgical step conducted in one furnace. 'The proposed method has the potential to be up to about 18% more energy efficient while cutting direct carbon dioxide emissions by up to 84% compared with the current practice,' the paper wrote. Ubaid Manzoor, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute and lead author of the study, said, 'Traditional nickel extraction is multi-step, energy-intensive and relies on carbon. Nickel oxide is heated with carbon, which removes the oxygen, producing pure nickel, along with carbon dioxide emissions.' The researchers have proposed replacing carbon with hydrogen as the reducing agent and using electricity as the energy source, specifically through an electric arc furnace. 'In our method, we use hydrogen plasma. Hydrogen gas, when subjected to high-energy electrons in an electric arc, splits into high-energy ions, entering a plasma state — the extremely hot and reactive fourth state of matter. It is distinct from solids, liquids, and gases. This hydrogen plasma rapidly reduces the metal oxides. From a thermodynamic perspective, the process is not only cleaner but significantly faster,' Mr. Manzoor said. He added that the method is kinetically superior — meaning the chemical reaction is more energetically favoured — thanks to the highly reactive and unstable nature of plasma. 'The end product of hydrogen reacting with oxygen is water, not carbon dioxide. Therefore, the entire process is carbon-free, using only electricity, hydrogen, and yielding water as a byproduct,' he added. Enabling sustainable production The study focused on laterite ores, a type of soil-rich rocks that contain metals like nickel. They form in hot, tropical regions when rain and heat break down rocks over time, leaving behind metal-rich layers. They are abundant but tough to process. 'While sulphide ores are found deeper underground and are easier to process, they're rapidly depleting. The new method used in the study works efficiently on laterites, making it key to future nickel production,' Mr. Manzoor said. India has substantial nickel laterite reserves, particularly in Odisha's Sukinda region. 'These deposits, containing 0.4-0.9% nickel as nickeliferous limonite in chromite mine overburden, are often overlooked because traditional methods require higher-grade ores. But [the team's method] excels at extracting value from these lower-grade resources,' Dierk Raabe, professor and director of the Max Planck Institute and co-author of the study, said. He added that the technology could play a major role as the demand for sustainably produced materials continues to grow. 'Without such innovations, the sustainability revolution — whether in electrification, renewables, or green infrastructure — risks merely shifting the carbon dioxide and energy burdens from one sector to another. In other words, we might build a 'greener' world through EVs, solar panels, and high-performance magnets while still relying on carbon-intensive methods to mine and refine the critical metals … that make all of it possible,' he said. The inescapable demand for nickel in multiple industries and its traditionally carbon-intensive production pose 'a particular challenge for countries like India, where rapid industrial growth is essential for economic development. India must simultaneously meet ambitious climate goals and leverage market opportunities in the green economy,' Mr. Raabe added. He continued that the technology aligns well with India's dual goals — to accelerate industrialisation and infrastructure development while staying committed to the goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2070. It also reduces the need to import high-grade ores and maximises the potential of domestic, underutilised mineral assets, he added. Some challenges Pratik Kumar, assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at IIT-Jammu and who wasn't associated with the new study, said this research could be a very appropriate method for nickel extraction from an ore, especially when the world is thinking critically in the direction of carbon neutrality. The method produces high-purity ferronickel — an alloy with which stainless steel can be made — eliminating the need for extensive refining steps and making the overall process more sustainable on paper. 'However, the scalability of the mentioned study to an industrial production would involve certain challenges, including a high initial investment in infrastructure and renewable energy and limitations in ore applicability. Also, further in-depth study on thermodynamic kinetics may be required along with a demand for continuous free oxygen species supply at the arc-melt interface,' Mr. Kumar cautioned. 'Despite these hurdles, the study offers a promising, sustainable alternative to conventional nickel extraction methods.' Hirra Azmat is a Kashmir-based journalist who writes on science, health, and environment.
Sky News
06-02-2025
- Business
- Sky News
Financial Ombudsman Service chief exits after board clashes
The head of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has effectively been forced out of the role after losing the confidence of its board amid growing government pressure on economic watchdogs. Sky News understands that Abby Thomas, whose departure was announced earlier on Thursday, was at the centre of several disputes with fellow directors over issues including the introduction of a fee for claims management companies (CMCs). Britain's banks and insurers have long argued for a fee to be imposed on CMCs that would deter spurious ambulance-chasing, with the FOS proposing last May to establish a £250 charge. Industry executives said that Ms Thomas had argued for a much lower fee - said to be as low as £25. Ms Thomas, who joined the FOS less than two-and-a-half years ago as chief executive and chief ombudsman, is said by insiders to have lost the confidence of the organisation's chair Baroness Manzoor. The prime minister, chancellor and business secretary have been intensifying pressure on regulators in recent weeks as they search desperately for ways to kickstart growth in the economy. That pressure resulted in the ousting of the Competition and Markets Authority chairman last month, and one bank executive said that Ms Thomas's exit - while not directly instigated by ministers - was a reflection of the same mood. Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, recently moved to intervene in the car loan providers legal action which threatens to saddle lenders with compensation bills running to many billions of pounds. In its statement on Thursday, the FOS - which is operationally independent but handles complaints according to rules published by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) - noted simply that Ms Thomas was "stepping down". The FCA also appoints FOS board members, and its chair with the approval of the Treasury. "Interim arrangements will apply with the Deputy Chief Ombudsman, James Dipple-Johnstone, covering the Chief Ombudsman role and the Chief Finance and Risk Officer, Jenny Simmonds, covering the Chief Executive role," the FOS said. Baroness Manzoor added: "On behalf of the board and the executive, I would like to record our thanks and wish Abby every success in her future career." Ms Thomas said: "It has been an absolute privilege to lead the Financial Ombudsman Service through this period of rapid transformation and innovation. "I am immensely grateful to the entire Ombudsman team for everything that they do to support our customers and build confidence in the financial services industry." A spokesperson for the FOS said it would not comment beyond the statement on its website.
