1,197 PIA flights cancelled in two months, NA told

The performance of the national flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) can be gauged from the fact that during a two-and-a-half month period, a total of 1,197 PIA flights were cancelled due to various reasons such as bad weather, poor load, poor load adjustments, bird hits and maintenance requirements, incurring a loss of Rs 413.80 million to the organisation.
Minister for Defence Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar told the National Assembly in a written reply on Monday that the total daily loss suffered by PIA was Rs 70 million. The minister for petroleum and natural resources told the House that seven power producing companies owed Rs 29,465 million to PSO as of December 13, 2011. He further told the House that during the last three years, the ministry suffered a loss of Rs 147 million due to incidents of sabotage and terrorism in the country.
The National Assembly was informed that there was no proposal under consideration by the Election Commission to constitute new constituencies, but an exercise was underway for minor changes in the existing limits of the constituencies to make them compatible with new electoral rolls. Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Moula Bakhsh Chandio told the House during the question hour that the commission had set up a committee to undertake the work relating to re-description of existing constituencies of the national and provincial assemblies. It is expected to submit its report in a month. To a supplementary query, he said new voter lists were expected to be finalised by March.
Parliamentary Secretary for Petroleum and Natural Resources Tariq Khattak told the House that terms and conditions for gas supply and purchase agreement between Pakistan and Turkmenistan had been finalised and an agreement was expected to be signed this month. He said preparatory work on Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline project had been completed and the actual work would begin on the Pakistani side after the completion of the tendering process.
To a question, he said Iranian gas would be inducted into the system of the Sui Southern Gas Pipeline Limited at Nawabshah, where it would be utilised for power generation. To another question, he said the price of CNG had been increased six times since January 2008.
Price of petrol and kerosene increased 21 times each and that of diesel by 24 times during the same period on account of increase in international prices, he added.
Minister for Science and Technology Mir Changez Khan Jamali told the House that a water disinfection tablet with trademark of “Mahfooz Pani” had been developed, having the capability of disinfecting 20 litres of drinking water with one tablet.
A pack of 30 tablets would cost Rs 75 and efficacy of the tablet had been tested by relevant organisations. He said the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research had invented 253 technologies and processes in various industrial disciplines. Of them, 135 had been commercialised, while 118 were under process.
Earlier, PML-N parliamentarian Hanif Abbasi raised the issue of low gas pressure in Rawalpindi that was forcing residents to come out on roads in protest.
Syed Khurshid Shah said he would talk to the authorities concerned to improve the situation.