Beijing: Former Chinese President Jiang Zemin died on Wednesday at the age of 96 of leukaemia and multiple organ failure, Chinese state media reported.

Jiang died at 12:13 p.m. in his home city of Shanghai, the official Xinhua news agency said, publishing a letter to the Chinese people by the ruling Communist Party, parliament, Cabinet and the military announcing the death.

"Comrade Jiang Zemin's death is an incalculable loss to our Party and our military and our people of all ethnic groups," the letter read, saying the announcement was made with "profound grief".

It described "our beloved Comrade Jiang Zemin" as an outstanding leader of high prestige, a great Marxist, statesman, military strategist and diplomat and a long-tested communist fighter.

Jiang was plucked from obscurity to head China's ruling Communist Party after the bloody Tiananmen crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in 1989, but broke the country out of its subsequent diplomatic isolation, mending fences with the United States and overseeing an unprecedented economic boom.

SOURCE: REUTERS 

Islamabad: Pakistan and European Union (EU) have agreed to continue working together to further deepen and broaden bilateral cooperation.

This came into, during the 8th round of Pakistan-European Union Political Dialogue which held in Brussels.

The dialogue covered a broad range of subjects in the context of Pakistan–EU relations, as well as regional and global developments. Both sides underlined the importance they attached to their multifaceted partnership.

The Acting Foreign Secretary Jauhar Saleem and Enrique Mora, Deputy Secretary General of European External Action Service led their respective sides.

Acting Foreign Secretary appreciated the timely and invaluable humanitarian assistance and support provided by the European Union for the victims of the massive climate induced floods in Pakistan.

Taking note of the multiple, complex challenges confronting Afghanistan, the Acting Foreign Secretary reiterated the importance of sustained engagement of the international community with the Interim Afghan Government in order to ensure wellbeing of the Afghan people.

Both sides agreed to hold the next round of the Political Dialogue in Islamabad next year.

Islamabad: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) Wednesday reduced the power tariff for K-Electric (KE) consumers by Rs 2.15 per unit for the month of October under the fuel cost adjustment (FCA).  

According to the details, the reduction will not apply to lifeline consumers (who use less than 50 units kWh per month), users of under 300 units, and electric vehicle charging stations (EVCS).

For domestic users who consume up to 200 units, the electricity will cost Rs1.48 per unit, while those using more than 200 units will be paying an additional Rs3.21 per unit.

Industrial consumers will have to pay an additional amount of Rs4.45 per unit of consumed electricity.

The decision came after NEPRA conducted a public hearing, considering the proposed plan.   

The hearing was led by NEPRA Chairman Engineer Tauseef H Farooqi and was attended by NEPRA Members Engineer Maqsood Anwar Khan and Engineer Rafiq Ahmed Shaikh.  

According to the official notification, the plea submitted to the relevant authorities, K-Electric required a slash of Rs7.83 per unit under the FCA for the first quarter of the fiscal year 2022-23.

However, after analyzing all the available data, the national power regulator calculated that the actual reduction under FCA was Rs2.15.

Following this, the KE consumers will get relaxation of Rs3.59 billion.

According to NEPRA official, “The K-Electric produced electric power at a cost of Rs32.96 per unit using its own resources, while the cost of purchased electricity from Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) stood at Rs12.1 per unit”.

In October, the power consumers embraced hike in power tariff as NEPRA notified an increase of Rs3.21 per unit.

The increase came on account of quarterly Fuel Charges Adjustment (FCA) for the last quarter of the fiscal year 2021-22 (April-June) due to excessive use of refined furnace oil (RFO), high-speed diesel (HSD) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) in power generation.

The hike was applicable to all consumer categories except K-Electric consumers.

Separately, the power regulator also notified a raise of Rs0.19188 per unit on account of FCA for the month of August which would put an additional burden of Rs3 billion on consumers.

The hike was applicable to all consumer categories except for lifeline consumers of all XWDISCOs and EVCS.

NEPRA also approved to reduce per unit cost of electricity by Rs4.8862 of K-Electric on account of fuel adjustment for August, providing relief of over eight billion rupees.