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Express Tribune
4 days ago
- Business
- Express Tribune
Petrol price up by Re1, LPG down by Rs4.62/kg
Listen to article The federal government has raised the petrol price by Re1 for the next fortnight, while keeping the high-speed diesel rate unchanged. The new prices will be applicable from June 1. According to a notification issued by the Finance Department, petrol will now be sold at Rs253.63 per litre while high speed diesel (HSD) will continue to be sold at Rs254.64 per litre. The finance ministry said that the prices were based on recommendations from OGRA and other relevant ministries. The government is focusing more on collecting petroleum levy on petroleum products to redirect to subsidize electricity prices. It had earlier decided to fund Rs1.70 per unit subsidy for the consumers of electricity by redirecting PL collection. It also later decided to redirect PL collection to fund canal and road projects in Balochistan province. The government has already decided to increase the petroleum levy rate up to Rs90 per litre on the sale of oil products. At present, the consumers are paying Rs78 per litre in petroleum levy on petrol and Rs77 per litre on diesel. LPG The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) has reduced the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) for June 2025 in response to fluctuations in the global market. According to an Ogra notification, the new consumer price of LPG has been set at Rs2,838.31 per 11.8 kg cylinder, down from Rs2,892.91 in May. This reflects a decrease of Rs54.60 per cylinder, or Rs4.62 per kilogram. The regulator attributed the price reduction to a 2.67% drop in the Saudi Aramco Contract Price (CP), which directly impacts local LPG producer rates. Additionally, a slight 0.35% increase in the average dollar exchange rate was recorded. For June, Ogra has set the revised producer price at Rs199,234.49 per ton, which stood at Rs203,861.82 in May - causing a decline of Rs4,627.33 per ton. Irfan Khokhar, Chairman of the All Pakistan LPG Distributors Association, welcomed the reduction in LPG prices and urged the government to ensure that the official price set by Ogra is strictly enforced.
Express Tribune
7 days ago
- Business
- Express Tribune
Eid sacrifice comes at hefty price
An official of the Punjab Livestock Department conducts a spray at a cattle market in Raiwind to protect sacrificial animals against diseases. Medical facilities have been arranged in the temporary markets set up for the Eid season. photo: NNI With Eidul Azha drawing near, trading activity in cattle markets across Lahore is gaining momentum. However, soaring prices of sacrificial animals have left many citizens frustrated, while sellers point to rising costs of animal husbandry and transportation as key contributors to the surge. A visit to Shahpur Kanjran — the city's largest cattle market — and several designated sale points revealed a wide variety of livestock on display. However, buyers said prices had jumped by 80 to 90 per cent compared to last year, blaming market manipulation and inadequate regulatory oversight. Kamran Malik, a buyer at one of the markets, said he had planned to purchase a goat but was taken aback by the prices. "Even a small goat now starts at Rs80,000 to Rs90,000, and some are priced well into the hundreds of thousands depending on breed and appearance," he said. "It's becoming unaffordable for the average family." Prices of larger animalssuch as calves, cows, and bullsare even steeper, starting around Rs200,000 and reaching Rs500,000 or more for healthy specimens. Premium animals with distinctive features or exceptional build are being sold for over a million rupees in some markets. Muhammad Buksh, another shopper, criticised what he described as the commercialisation of a sacred tradition. "Eidul Azha teaches sacrifice, but it has turned into a season of profiteering," he said. "Traders cite inflation, fodder, and fuel costs, but in the end, it's the middle class that's burdened," he said. Other citizens echoed the sentiment and called for government intervention. Zia Qureshi, visiting a market in the Ravi area, urged authorities to regulate livestock prices. "If these trends persist, many people won't be able to perform qurbani this year," he said. Livestock traders defended the rising prices, citing increased operational expenses. Muhammad Boota, a farmer from Rahim Yar Khan, said fuel price hikes had doubled transportation costs. "From loading charges to roadside bribes, the journey from our farms to city markets is expensive," he said. "People assume we're overcharging, but we're just trying to recover the costs of raising animals all year." Shahid, another trader, said that despite the evening rush, overall sales remained slow. "Most people are here to survey prices. Nearly half are not committing to purchases yetpossibly waiting for last-minute deals," he added. In light of the growing activity, Lahore Division Commissioner Zaid bin Maqsood visited the Halloki cattle market on Wednesday to assess preparations and ensure compliance with official regulations. The commissioner inspected service camps set up by the livestock department, Lahore Waste Management Company, Rescue 1122, and other agencies. The Wagah assistant commissioner briefed him on the operational setup and preparedness. The commissioner reviewed the availability of essential facilities, including electricity, tents, potable water, sanitation, and medical support. He also interacted with traders to gather first-hand feedback. Special focus was placed on veterinary services. The commissioner examined the stock and expiry dates of medicines and verified staff attendance. He stressed the need for strict enforcement against unauthorised cattle enclosures and directed officials to take immediate action to dismantle illegal setups, maintaining zero tolerance for violations.
Time of India
27-05-2025
- Climate
- Time of India
Nashik civic body to use GSB material to temporarily fix potholes across city
Nashik: Continuous rainfall in May has worsened road conditions in parts of Nashik city. As tarring work is not possible owing to the downpour, the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) has opted for temporary repairs using Granular Sub-base (GSB) material. The civic body had initially planned to begin tarring of roads on May 15, but persistent rain led to delays. Areas significantly affected include Ambad, the Tarwala Nagar-Amrutdham route, various parts of Panchavati, Cidco division, Dindori, Makhamalabad, Peth Road, Jail Road, and Satpur. Nashik has experienced heavy rainfall for the past few weeks, severely impacting most city roads. Adding to the problem, some roads damaged during last year's monsoon are yet to be repaired. The NMC, during a survey conducted earlier this year in Feb, had identified 10,000 potholes in various parts of the city. Municipal commissioner Manisha Khatri also gave a deadline of March-end to complete the repair works of all the potholes. The public works department (PWD), however, could repair only 70% of the potholes. Moreover, the roads that were dug by the Maharashtra Natural Gas Ltd (MNGL) and other organisations for piped natural gas installations have deteriorated the road conditions of most of the city roads as they are yet to be repaired. The NMC has already issued work orders of around Rs90 crore to the agencies concerned for repairs and resurfacing of some roads. It also includes Rs52 crore for repair of roads dug by the MNGL and other agencies. The remaining amount will be spent on repairing roads across all six divisions. An NMC official, while talking to TOI, said, "The plan was to start road repair works from May 15, but rain played spoilsport. Now, as it is still raining, it is not possible to carry out tar works. Hence, instructions have been given to officials concerned to repair the road potholes temporarily using the GSB material," a senior NMC official said. "Instructions have been given to the PWD officials to submit the reports related to road repair works after every alternate day. Our objective is to repair the roads at least temporarily so that the city residents would not face inconvenience due to the bad condition of some of the city roads," the official added.
Time of India
26-05-2025
- Time of India
DGP orders probe into Rs2.90cr cyber fraud at CDCC Bank
Chandrapur: The Maharashtra director general of police (DGP) has ordered a detailed probe into the Rs2.93 crore cyber fraud in the Chandrapur District Central Cooperative (CDCC) Bank. The cyber heist came to light in February when CDCC Bank officials detected 33 unauthorised transactions routed through Yes Bank's Nagpur branch. Between February 7 and 10, cybercriminals diverted over Rs3.60 crore through a series of fraudulent RTGS transactions. Initial recovery efforts by the district police's cyber cell resulted in the retrieval of Rs90 lakh, but the remaining Rs2.93 crore remains untraced. Chandrapur MLA Kishor Jorgewar sent a memorandum to the DGP, seeking a high-level forensic probe and the immediate registration of criminal cases against all individuals involved in the scam. Jorgewar alleged involvement of senior bank officials, including the chairman, chief executive officer, IT chief, a computer assistant, and the cybersecurity vendor. The MLA also accused the bank of failing to implement adequate safeguards despite spending nearly Rs 100 crore on cybersecurity systems. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like CFDco IA: gana hasta $2,700 a la semana trabajando desde casa Digital Group Prueba ahora Undo "Shockingly, the bank neither had cyber insurance coverage nor followed proper legal channels when refunding the affected customers using its profits," he alleged. Criticising the bank's internal forensic audit as 'incomplete and misleading,' Jorgewar demanded that an independent cyber forensic team reassess the incident. He also pressed for the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT). Taking serious cognisance of these developments, the DGP has directed Chandrapur SP to initiate a comprehensive investigation and file criminal cases as required. Sources said the inquiry will delve into the technical loopholes, the bank's alleged procedural violations, and the possible complicity of insiders.
Express Tribune
24-05-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
PAC body seeks special audit of training funds
Listen to article The chairman of the sub-committee of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has directed auditors to conduct a special audit of training funds amounting to millions of dollars to ascertain their alleged misuse. The sub-committee met under the chairmanship of Convener Syed Naveed Qamar at the Parliament House. The chairman lashed out at the Petroleum Division over the misuse of training funds. He said that officials spent the money on their trip to Rome with their wives while ignoring the plight of children living near oil and gas exploration fields. The issue was taken up while discussing the audit para relating to the utilisation of training funds by Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL). Auditors said that OGDCL had a training fund of $584,000 but it utilised only 5%. OGDCL Managing Director Ahmad Hayat Lak challenged the claim, saying that the company had disbursed half of the money to the DG petroleum concessions and utilised more than half of the funds on the local and external training of officials. While discussing the audit para pertaining to strategic storages, Lak said that the storages helped the company to store oil at a time when Attock Refinery had shut down. He said that those storages were even used to store oil from other fields in the country. The sub-body settled almost all audit paras relating to OGDCL. While discussing audit paras concerning Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), sub-committee Chairman Naveed Qamar questioned the unaccounted-for-gas (UFG) benchmark set by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra). He criticised the regulator for setting an unrealistic benchmark. The auditors pointed out that SSGC had consistently faced a 17% UFG, which put a burden of Rs90 billion on consumers while causing another loss of Rs129 billion over the past few years. SSGC Managing Director Amin Rajput clarified that the company had achieved a milestone by reducing the UFG in recent years, which stood at 10.56% in 2023-24 compared to 13% in the previous year. He stressed that the company had been able to curtail the UFG level despite high losses in Balochistan where several cases of meter tempering were detected. Regarding liquefied natural gas (LNG) swap, the MD said that the issue had been resolved between SSGC and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) as both companies had signed a settlement agreement. SSGC has paid SNGPL Rs20 billion whereas the remaining Rs11 billion will be released in installments.
