ISLAMABAD – The Federal Cabinet Tuesday approved the placement of draftconstitutional amendment before the Parliament for the merger of FederallyAdministered Tribal Areas (FATA) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi chaired the Federal Cabinet meetingheld here at PM Office.
The cabinet was informed that Gilgit-Baltistan Council would be retained asadvisory body towards the functions of the Federal Government.It was also informed that with the devolution of greater administrative andfinancial powers to the Government of Gilgit-Balitistan, all the rightswould be available to the citizens in GB as available to the people inother provinces of Pakistan.The meeting ratified the decisions of the Economic Coordination Committee(ECC) of the Cabinet taken during its meetings held on May 8 and May 11,2018.
The decisions of the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE) taken during itsmeeting on October 12, 2017 were also ratified.
The Federal Cabinet ratified the agreement between Pakistan and Bosnia andHerzegovina on cooperation in the sphere of Defence Industry.
It approved signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between theBoard of Investment, Government of Pakistan and Business France.The cabinet also approved signing of an MoU between Educational ScientificProductive Complex International of Kyrgyzstan and Allama Iqbal OpenUniversity of Pakistan in the field of distance education.It approved appointment of Ashtar Abbas, D&SJ (District and Sessions Judge)as Judge, Banking Court-IV, Lahore.The cabinet approved repatriation of Syed Zulfiqar Ali Shah, Judge BankingCourt-IV Karachi to High Court of Sindh. Ijlal Hyder Memon, D&SJ TandoMuhammad Khan, has been appointed in his place.
The cabinet approved extension in the tenure of Obaid Ahmed Khan, D&SJ asSpecial Court (Control of Narcotics Substance-II) Karachi for a furtherperiod of two years w.e.f. May 7, 2018.Appointment of Justice (Retd) Ch Shahid Saeed as Chairman of CopyrightBoard in IPO-Pakistan was approved.
The meeting approved re-constitution of the Board of Directors of PakistanNational Shipping Corporation (PNSC) and also granted ex-post factoapproval for the appointment of Chairman, PNSC, Karachi.Maximum retail prices of drugs were also approved during the meeting.
A proposal for inclusion of various items in the Compulsory CertificationMark Scheme of Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) wasalso approved.
The cabinet also approved Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) Gas(Third Party Access) Rules, 2018.The meeting approved National Technical and Vocational Education andTraining (TVET) Policy.
The Federal Cabinet also approved Digital Pakistan Policy.The cabinet approved signing of an agreement for provision of GrantFacility for USD 14 million to Somalia.
It also approved a proposal for creation of Jinnah Visiting Professorshipat London School of Economics. Reconstitution of Board of Directors,Pakistan Expo Centres (Pvt) Limited was approved.
The cabinet also approved nomination of private sector members for theBoard of Directors of Trade Development Authority of Pakistan. – APP