Chelsea consider loan move for Fabio Coentrao

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho is considering making a loan move for left-back Fabio Coentrao in the January transfer window, according to the Daily Mail.

The 25-year-old, who was linked with a move to Premier League champions Manchester United at the end of the summer transfer window, has been identified as the ideal replacement for the injured - and aging - Ashley Cole.

Cole, who turns 33 next month, has struggled with a rib injury in recent months - while Cesar Azpilicueta, a right-back by trade, has been deputising in the England international's left-back position.


Mourinho is a keen admirer of Coentrao after working alongside the Portugal international for two seasons at the Bernabeu - while both manager and player share the same agent, Jorge Mendes, which may increase the likelihood of a deal being completed in the new year.

While a loan looks the most likely option, Chelsea are expected to make the deal permanent next summer if he settles in west London.

Mourinho is reportedly not convinced by Chelsea's 24-year-old back-up left-back Ryan Bertrand, who has been linked with a move to Liverpool this week.

Clean energy: With biogas power plants, demand for fossil fuel to come down

The new plants are capable of producing electricity both for domestic and commercial consumption. PHOTO: FILE

FAISALABAD: A rural support organisation is introducing biogas-run power plants as an alternative to pricey fossil fuels in an effort to slash soaring electricity bills of consumers and ease the pressure on power plants.

This is an extension of the Rural Support Programme Network (RSPN)’s initiative under which it has already provided biogas plants that produce gas to meet the needs of consumers in rural areas where piped gas is not available.

The new plants are capable of producing electricity both for domestic and commercial consumption.

“If the technology spreads from region to region, the electricity generated from biogas could minimise the pressure on the national power grid,” said Rana Amir, Area Manager of RSPN, while talking to The Express Tribune.

RSPN is working in collaboration with the Netherlands, which is providing technical assistance without any fee, and is giving a subsidy of Rs40,000 per plant.

The two sides have already financed projects aimed at running tube wells and small-sized poultry farms on gas produced by the biogas plants.

“The new project will bring cheaper electricity for large poultry farms, control-shed farms, dairy farms and domestic consumers,” said Amir.

The cost of a 50-cubic-metre plant including all accessories and a special biogas engine imported from China is Rs475,000 and the 100-cubic-metre plant will cost Rs650,000.

The larger plant of 100 cubic metres will provide electricity without any disruption to control-shed and large poultry and dairy farms while the smaller 25 to 50-cubic-metre plants will cater to the needs of residential consumers depending on their demand.

Punjab is largely an agrarian economy with no dearth of livestock that provides the input for biogas plants. A majority of the people have their own farmhouses, who rear a large number of cows.

“To run a power plant, manure of 20 to 40 cows is enough to provide the fuel,” said Amir. “We are installing these plants in control-shed farms because they need uninterrupted supply of electricity and this will be the cheapest source of energy.”

Businessmen were the major buyers of biogas plants as they eager to reduce their cost of production, he said, adding these were a comprehensive product line of electrical generators to meet the consumers’ power needs.

According to Amir, the biogas plants will ease the threat of environmental hazards caused by dairy and poultry waste. The plants will also run on expired dairy products and waste to generate electricity.

Addressing environmental problems and promoting alternative sources of energy are crucial for Pakistan at a time when it is experiencing acute energy shortages

Indian expert placates Pak agri sector’s fears

India and Pakistan are net exporters and net importers in the same product, thus will complement each other, said the delegation. ILLUSTRATION: JAMAL KHURSHID.

KARACHI: Pakistan’s agriculture exports to India have jumped by 133% in the last five years, much higher than the 68% growth in India’s agriculture exports to Pakistan in the same period showing that India can be a significant future market for Pakistani agriculture products, Indian experts say.

“This data reveals that the fears of Pakistan’s agriculture lobby against liberalised trade with India are quite baseless,” said Nisha Teneja, an economic expert heading an India-Pakistan trade project at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER).

“To ease the lobby’s fears in Pakistan, the government can easily put in place ‘an automatic import licensing system’. This will require all importers to seek a licence to import anything from India and this way the government can monitor the inflow of Indian agriculture products into Pakistan,” suggests Professor Taneja, who has conducted over 100 interviews of Pakistani businessmen on Pak-India trade.

Professor Taneja is part of the delegation comprising over two dozen Indian businessmen and academics that is on a visit to Pakistan to share their latest research on trade and commerce between India and Pakistan.

Experts believe that one of the key reasons for delay in Pakistan granting most favoured nation (MFN) status to India has been the fear from agricultural lobbies in Pakistan that increased imports of agricultural products due to trade normalisation with India might harm Pakistan’s domestic agricultural sector.

However, according to them, the trade liberalisation process is likely to have a balanced impact on the agriculture sector as there are tremendous trade complementarities between the two countries.

India and Pakistan are net exporters and net importers in the same product, thus will complement each other, said the delegation.

While it is true that India offers subsidies to its agriculture sector in terms of access to cheaper inputs, such as fertilisers and electricity, non-product specific subsidies in India are less than 10% of the value of agricultural produce, well within the limits prescribed by the World Trade Organization (WTO)

Got milk?: Committee formed to settle dispute over Dairy Omung

4% of the total milk production in the country is processed, which costs higher than the loose milk available in the market. PHOTO: FILE

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has constituted a committee to settle the dispute between a leading food manufacturing company – Engro Foods – and the Punjab Food Authority (PFA) over restrictions on the distribution and sale of ‘Dairy Omung’.

The committee comprises Punjab’s food minister, PFA director general, food scientists, law secretary and industry stakeholders. It will also recommend classifications for dairy drinks, introduced by different companies in the market.

Engro Foods Chief Executive Officer Sarfaraz Rehman attended the meeting on Friday and expressed hope for a positive resolution of the issue.

The restriction came after the PFA claimed that Dairy Omung was not milk. The company itself agrees to it and calls it a dairy drink. The company conducted a research on the loose (raw) milk available in the market, and found that it was “unhygienic and not safe for consumption”.

“Fat contents in our product are made of vegetable oils and not only does it provide nutrition it is also cheaper,” the CEO said.

Rehman said necessary steps should be taken and a single classification system should be applied to all provinces. The current system is complicated for the manufacturers and discourages innovation in the food sector, he said.

The absence of such a system is the main cause behind frictions between the PFA and food manufacturers. Rehman said classifications and standards should be evolved at the earliest for products like dairy drinks, which are not only nutritional but also cost less than real milk products available in the market.

On November 21, the PFA closed a Lahore-based distributor for Dairy Omung, but the company managed to get a stay order from the Lahore High Court.

PFA officials argue that the product is not milk but falls under the milk category and if it is not milk, it cannot be sold. The company has admitted that the product is not milk, neither does it claim that it is milk. It demands a revised classification system where dairy drinks do not fall under the milk category but have a category of its own.

The Engro Foods CEO pointed out that Pakistan is facing a milk shortage and quality dairy products with nutritional values at affordable prices will help address the issue. He stated that only 4% of the milk production in the country is processed, which costs higher than the loose milk available in the market.

Rehman said the world is facing a 66% shortage of milk and countries like Brazil and Indonesia have started allowing low-priced dairy drinks. He asked the PFA to add more classifications for such innovative products with the help of food scientists and called for coming up with a more uniform system across the country

Water-intensive: Rice export earnings come with a price

Commenting on the deepening water crisis Khan said, “It is important to switch the country’s focus on water efficient crops.” PHOTO: FILE

FAISALABAD: Pakistan is earning $2 billion on rice exports at a huge cost of water consumption, since rice consumes 4,000 litres of water for every kilogram. This is particularly alarming since Pakistan is deemed as one of the water-scarce countries of the world.

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF), Prof Iqrar Ahmad Khan pointed this fact out at the ‘National Seminar on Water for Human Development’ on the university campus, organised by the Water Management Research Centre (WMRC).

Commenting on the deepening water crisis Khan said, “It is important to switch the country’s focus on water efficient crops.” Khan warned that Pakistan was threatened by a severe water crisis which can cause devastation in the coming years, unless necessary steps were taken to create awareness amongst the people to use water with prudence and increase its storage.

WMRC Director Prof Dr Allah Baksh and Dr Amna Khan from Mahbub-Ul-Haq Human Development Centre LUMS also addressed the seminar.

Baksh said that “along with surface water, ground storage water must be increased. We are pumping heavy groundwater with the use of tubewells.” He suggested setting up a mechanism of recycling the water for making it re-usable.

Amna Khan said that “water has not been a top policy agenda for the South Asian countries.

Man selling testicle to buy sports car

A man is selling his left testicle for $35,000 to afford a sports car. 
Mark Parisi wants a Nissan 370 motor so much he is willing to sell the intimate body part for scientific research, and admitted he didn't even negotiate the fee, accepting the first offer. 
Mark revealed his intentions on US TV show 'The Doctors' and appeared to be at ease with his decision, despite the intimacy involved, however several females in the audience looked shocked when he spoke about what he was prepared to do to get his dream vehicle.

No new military cooperation contracts signed with Egypt: Russian official

Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov, said that the talks of Russian Foreign Sergei Lavrov and Defense ministers Sergei Shoigu, in Cairo this month, did not produce the signing of any new contracts in the field of military-technical cooperation.We talked about pushing military and military-technical cooperation, and expressed our eagerness to implement existing conventions. No agreements were signed on stationing or establishing any bases, Antonov said in a press conference on Friday.When asked whether the Russian Defense Ministry aims to keep the United States away from the arms market of Egypt, Antonov answered, We do not push away anyone from anywhere, and do not intend to. Our relationship is not directed against anyone. Egypt is our long-standing and unreliable partner.Edited translation from MENA