Black Shadow

Category: Engineering Bodies

  • PEC subcommittees declared unlawful

    GB dissolves all committees;Punjab Building Committee survives!

    ‘Of 800 members of 74 committees, 85 percent were outsiders’

    The governing body (GB) of the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) has dissolved all subcommittees but one, formed allegedly in violation of the PEC Act and bylaws. The only committee which remains is Punjab Building Committee.

    These committees were shaped by chairman PEC, Jawed Saleem Qureshi without due approval of the governing body, a number of the members of the body told Engineering Review.

    The alleged unlawful formation of the committees had created deepening unease in numerous senior members of the council as they believed neither the PEC Act had been followed nor the governing body been taken into confidence.

    The council is provided by the article 35 of the PEC Act to form one or more committees for carrying out special business. A senior engineer said although there was no specific number of committees mentioned in the PEC Act, it did not mean the law permitted formation of unlimited or a huge number of committees.

    To the surprise of many, the number of subcommittees formed to proceed with special business of the council rose to the all-time high as 74—all formed without ratification of the governing body which solely holds, as per law, the mandate of formation, deletion, extension and abridgement of Committees.

    Not only that but also the membership on such committees was so high in number that many engineers alleged it was a loss to public exchequer. An engineer claims the total number of the members of all committees was around 800. More ironical was the fact that, from this lot a high number of engineers on committees, only 15 percent were those who belonged to the governing body. The rest of the members making 85 percent of the total strength were outsiders who allegedly had been closer to the leadership.

    Yet another senior engineer requesting anonymity also confirmed such a grave situation in the council. He however differed the ratio on the committees saying GB-related members and outsiders on the council might be 35:65.

    Deterioration in the PEC is not a new phenomenon as the management committee—a body of senior engineers who are responsible to oversee the working of the secretariat so that the affairs of the council run as per law—allegedly kept mum and avoided bringing the issues to the notice of the governing body and thus failed to stop unlawful use of authority.

    The Committees were formed illegally and the secretariat continued with such proceedings of formations, dissolutions, deletions and extensions of the committees without any lawful authority and the management committee failed to oblige its legitimate role to stop these illegalities at the first step, alleged a senior engineer.

    The council is now replete with a question as to who is responsible for such a glaring violation of law which has put burden on council’s resources as well as on national exchequer.

    The situation, yet another engineer told ER, has turned so messy that the management committee has not met for over 2 months. Many engineers ask about achievements of the council which is supposed to play a crucial role for development of engineers and engineering in the country. The transparency in appointments of 41 sub-registrars is being questioned amidst whispering as regards groupings on political basis in the council.

  • Approval from CCI obligatory for Regulatory bodies notification

    The Lahore High Court (LHC) has suspended a notification by the federal government transferring administrative control of five regulatory bodies to their respective line ministries. LHC Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah observed that the prime minister should have sought approval from the Council of Common Interests (CCI) before issuing the notification. The government had issued the notification on Dec 19, placing the control of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) and Frequency Allocation Board (FAB) under their respective ministries. Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf secretary general Jahangir Tareen and a citizen, All Irfan, had filed identical petitions in this regard. Advocate Sheraz Zaka, the lead counsel for the petitioners, argued that under the law it was mandatory for the government to seek an approval from the CCI before transferring the control of autonomous regulatory authorities to their respective ministries. He said that in many judgements the Supreme Court had declared approval from the CCI a mandatory provision for this purpose. Advocate Zaka pointed out that on the one hand the government was involved in the production and transmission of electricity, and on the other, it wanted to assume the role of a regulator. Similarly, he said, placing the PTA and the FAB under the control of the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom, the PPRA under the Ministry of Finance and Ogra under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources, was a case involving conflict of interest. The lawyer requested the court to set aside the notification. A deputy attorney general argued that approval of the CCI was not necessary as the cabinet had approved the measure. In his remarks, Chief Justice Shah said that the rule of law was indispensable as the prime minister should have sought approval of the CCI before issuing the notification. He suspended the notification and asked the attorney general for Pakistan to appear at the next hearing.

  • IEEE Int’l Conference on ICIEECT from April 5 – 7

    The IEEE International Conference on Innovations in Electrical Engineering and Computational Technologies (ICIEECT) will be held 5th to 7th April 2017 by Indus University. The IEEE Karachi Section will provide technical sponsorship to the conference where as the Higher Education Commission Islamabad is providing the patronage to the event. A IEEE communication said the national and international researchers sent 107 manuscripts of which 63 have been accepted after a through peer review process by TPC through easychair. The Conference will be inaugurated by Chairman Pakistan Engineering Council and in the closing session Chairman PTA will be the chief guest. As many as 13 International keynote speakers have confirmed their participation for plenary talks and 26 National Speakers’ Technical Talks have been scheduled throughout from Pakistan whereas the maximum participation of Vice Chancellors, deans and directors, leaders Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, FPCCI, civil bureaucracy, the HEC, PEC, NCEAC and NTC, K-Electric, electrical engineering companies, leading businessmen, electrical contractors and officials are also expected to participate the moot. The Chairman Pakistan Council for Science and Technology, the President and ECO Science Foundation have consented to be the guests of honor. The conference proceedings will be published on IEEEXplore and selected papers will appear in leading electrical engineering Journals. The organizers have invited sponsorships from relevant organizations. They include air tickets and accommodation of foreign speakers, lunch, dinner, Hi-Tea, publications and stationary, air tickets of national Speakers, prizes for the best papers, prizes for the best PhD proposal, prizes for the best technology posters, shields and certificates for authors and speakers and also for fashion show and Gala Dinner. In return, the conference management will provide the companies with free stalls, access to promotional material to all participants, display of standees, exhibitors space in Conference area, display of panaflex, company name and logo on bags and stationary material.