Proponents of an under-construction steel plant on a 220-acre plot leased from the Pakistan Steel Mills in the Bin Qasim industrial zone were criticised during a public hearing of the relevant environmental impact assessment report on Saturday for not observing the environmental laws of the land.

Gas has been discovered by the Oil and Gas Development Company in its exploratory Pasakhi-West deep well No 1 located in Hyderabad district in Sindh.

The wells were drilled down to the depth of 3.500 meters targeting to test the potentials of sand of lower Goru formation of cretaceous age.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has asserted that the Thar Coal and Energy Board is the only notified legal and authorised body to exercise all powers for deciding matters relating to mining and power generation from Thar coal.

He said this while presiding over a high-level meeting held here at the Chief Minister

Remote villages of Deh Tiko Baran in Jamshoro district will be provided electricity generated through solar technology at a cost of Rs10 million.

President Asif Ali Zardari and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai held a meeting with the World Bank president on Friday and agreed to facilitate electricity trade between Central and South Asian regions.

MUCH is being written on DST. Some people have even sought legal redress in courts to force the government to undo DST.

Let me give some important reasons why DST is of immense value:

a) The government announced that 250 MW electricity was saved last year through DST. There should really be no other reason needed to repeat DST every year.

Ms Karin Kortman, Germany

Energy scarcity has become more serious for the energy-deficient growing economies having insufficient resources to combat the environmental pollution, said former HEC chairman Dr Attaur Rehman in his inaugural speech as chief guest at a three-day international conference.

THE discovery of coal in Tharparkar district has given the country an alternative source of energy. Sindh has coal resources at Lakhra, Thatta, Badin, Jhampir and Thar coalfields, but only Lakhra is operational with annual production of two million tons. Total coal resources are estimated to be 186.5 billion tons, which is ranked as lignite suitable for power generation.

Special adviser to chief minister Pervez Malik has said that the government will work on the recommendations made by experts during a two-day conference on the prevailing energy crisis.

Chairing the concluding session of the conference here on Wednesday, he pledged to incorporate these recommendations into government policies.