Latest news with #LHC
Express Tribune
20 hours ago
- Business
- Express Tribune
LHC nullifies mining dues markup sub-rules
Lahore High Court (LHC) Justice Shahid Karim has struck down two sub-rules of the Punjab Mining Concession Rules related to imposition of markup on non-payment of royalty and annual rent. The court declared the sub rules ultra vires and illegal. The petitioners had challenged notices for payment, including markup calculated under Sub-Rule (2) of Rule 68 of the Punjab Mining Concession Rules, 2002 as well as a markup on outstanding rental and renewal dues under Sub-Rule (3) of Rule 73. The judge observed that the determination of rates did not mean that the provincial government was also vested with the powers to impose markup if a person had failed in its opinion to pay the amount of royalty or rent as required by Rule 68 or 73. "Certainly, the imposition of markup is strictly not covered by the power to determine rates by the provincial government and is in excess of that power," Justice Karim observed. The petitioners had challenged orders of the Punjab secretary for mines and minerals upholding orders issued by the director general on various dates. The legality of the rules was challenged before the lower forums but the secretary was of the opinion that they did not offend the primary enactment, the Regulation of Mines and Oil-fields and Minerals Development (Government Control) Act, 1948. The petitioners' viewpoint was that the act did not confer the power on the rule-making authority to impose markup in terms of rules 63(2) and 73(3). The dispute revolved around the payment of markup. The petitioners' counsel argued that Sub-Rule (2) of Rule 68 and Sub-Rule (3) of rule 73 were similarly worded and imposed a markup of one per cent per day on the amount or part thereof remaining unpaid from the due date until all outstanding amount was paid. The rules also compounded the payment of markup until all outstanding amount was paid. The essence of challenge of the petitioners related to the power to levy markup on any amount of royalty or rent unpaid by them. The respondents argued that the payment of markup would be covered by any matter ancillary or incidental to the matters set out in the other clauses of Section 2. Justice Karim observed that the phrase any matter ancillary or incidental to the matters set out in the clauses would not cover the imposition of markup in case of failure to pay the principal amount. These matters would perhaps have connection with the powers of the government to recover the amount of royalty or rent and for this purpose provisions have been made in rules 70 and 71, giving the power to the provincial government to recover the amount of royalty in case of failure by any person to make the payment. Clause (8) of Section 2 cannot be extended or interpreted to mean that by rule-making power an additional levy of markup can be imposed on a person whereas the primary enactment does not authorise such a payment to be made, he observed. Striking down Sub-rule (2) of Rule 68 and Sub-rule (3) of Rule 73 of The Punjab Mining Concession Rules, 2002, the court declared unlawful the impugned order and demands issued under the rules. The court also quashed the notices issued to the petitioners.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists Are Creating Plasma So Hot, It May Melt the Rules of Reality
Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: CERN's Large Hadron Collider will soon be smashing oxygen and neon atoms into other atoms of their own kind as part of its ATLAS experiment. The collisions will happen under enough heat and pressure to melt protons and neutrons and release their components (quarks and gluons), creating quark-gluon plasma. Quark-gluon plasma was thought to have emerged during the Big Bang, and could tell us more about conditions in the nascent universe. Even the most powerful telescopes have not yet been able to see far enough back in time to witness events from the Big Bang. But by smashing atoms, it is possible to create a plasma that existed right after the universe was born. As part of CERN's ATLAS experiment, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is now crashing oxygen ions into each other, and will soon be doing the same with neon ions. Heavy ions like this can create the quark-gluon plasma that is thought to have existed when the universe first exploded into being. During those very early moments of the universe, things were extraordinarily hot, and quark-gluon plasma behaves in strange ways when super-heated. This is because high temperatures will bring on changes in the strong force—one of the three forces in the Standard Model of Particle Physics that is impossible to break down any further. The strong force holds subatomic particles together—protons and neutrons stay in one piece because the quarks they are made of are held in place by the strong force, (which in turn keeps protons and neutrons themselves together to form the nucleus of an atom). This critical force is propagated by fundamental particles known as gluons, which are both massless units of energy that have no electric charge and bosons, which spin in full integer values (as opposed to fermions which have odd half-integer spins). Because quarks and gluons are held together so tightly by the strong force, the only way to release them is turning up the temperature and density so high that it can actually melt the protons and neutrons they make up, creating quark-gluon plasma. CERN is colliding oxygen ions with each other—and repeating the process with neon ions—because they have far fewer protons and neutrons than the lead ions which are usually smashed to create this plasma. This means that oxygen and neon will produce smaller blobs of quark-gluon plasma that could possibly reveal what happens somewhere between collisions of lighter particles (such as protons) in 'cold' conditions and heavier particles (such as lead ions) in immensely hot and dense conditions. CERN researchers are eagerly hoping to observe some specific potential phenomena during these tests. Jet quenching, for one, occurs when highly energetic particle jets begin to lose energy as they zoom through quark-gluon plasma. (It has been observed with xenon and iron ions before, but never with oxygen or neon ions.) If what theories have predicted actually happens, the results of the ATLAS experiment might show how dense quark-gluon plasma needs to get for jet quenching to begin. The tests could also provide more insight into conditions needed for the plasma to form, opening a proverbial a portal 14 billion years back in time to what conditions were like in the wake of the Big Bang. The tests could even give researchers new information on the showers of particles produced by subatomic particles of cosmic origin, which run into the oxygen and nitrogen atoms in Earth's atmosphere. There are still many unknowns present in these interactions, colliding protons with oxygen ions could recreating the situations in a way that scientists could analyze up close and personal. You Might Also Like Can Apple Cider Vinegar Lead to Weight Loss? Bobbi Brown Shares Her Top Face-Transforming Makeup Tips for Women Over 50
Express Tribune
3 days ago
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Bonus for finance officials challenged
Lahore High Court (LHC) Justice Khalid Ishaq has sought arguments on the maintainability of a plea challenging the legality and discriminatory nature of awarding a special honorarium to finance ministry employees for performing their duties during parliamentary budget session. As the proceedings commenced, Justice Ishaq asked what grievance the petitioner had if the government had announced the incentive. The petitioner's counsel responded that the state, under the Constitution, could not play a discriminatory role, adding that preparation of the budget is the prime responsibility of the employees of the finance ministry, which they render once in a year. On the other hand, employees of other institutions work throughout the year but no such honorarium is announced for them, which is a discriminatory act, the counsel contended. The counsel requested the court to set aside the notification issued in this regard by declaring the decision as discriminatory and unlawful.
Express Tribune
4 days ago
- Politics
- Express Tribune
High court adjourns May 9 bail hearing
The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday accepted the prosecution's request for granting an opportunity for submitting a reply regarding bail pleas filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Ijaz Chaudhry in four cases registered against him over the May 9 riots. The court adjourned the hearing of the bail applications till Thursday. An LHC division bench headed by Justice Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi heard the bail applications. The prosecution sought time for submitting the reply before the court. Petitioner Ijaz Chaudhry contended his bail application that he had nothing to do with the allegations levelled in the first information reports (FIRs). He alleged that he had been implicated in forged and frivolous cases that were politically motivated. He stated that nothing was available on record to establish his nexus with the offences portrayed in the FIRs. He requested the court to grant him bail.
Express Tribune
4 days ago
- Politics
- Express Tribune
LHC sets aside three Punjab govt notifications
The Lahore High Court (LHC) has warned the provincial government that legislative command deserves deference and no indulgence can be shown by extending protection to notifications that offend the mandate of the law. LHC Justice Asim Hafeez declared illegal and set aside three notifications of the Punjab government regarding social security contribution. The petitioners had challenged the notifications, contending that core provisions of the Provincial Employees Social Security Ordinance, 1965 had been made ineffective. "I refrain from attributing any mala fide to the government for not performing its functions, though delay caused in performance of obligations has inflicted harm to the class of employees," the judge observed. Justice Hafeez observed that the situation could be cured either by exercising powers in terms of Section 71 of the ordinance or amending the law, if the benchmark had to be linked with minimum wages — incidentally cure through notifications was not a solution but an attempt seeped in illegality. He observed that the judicial review jurisdiction could not be stretched to address the situation. "Miseries of the employees can be addressed upon prompt action by the government. Courts cannot compensate for an apparent inaction on the part of the government in guise of interpreting a beneficial legislation," the court observed. The counsel for petitioners argued that the contribution was solely determinable on the basis of wage notified by the government in terms of Section 71 and not otherwise; notwithstanding fixing of minimum wages under any other dispensation, be it the Punjab Minimum Wage Act 2019 or otherwise. The counsel contended that invalidity of the notifications was an obvious consequence if sections 2(f), 20 and 71 of the ordinance were strictly enforced. A counsel submitted that the notification of September 20, 2024 and those preceding it had been issued in accordance with Rule 4(3) of the Provincial Employees Social Security (Contributions) Rules, 1966, emphasising that determination of minimum wages, notwithstanding the nomenclature of statutes, provides legitimate basis for determining payable contribution.
