Federal govt holds Supreme Court in high esteem: PM

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Wednesday said the federal government held the apex court in high esteem and he had directed his principal secretary and the cabinet Secretary to appear before the court in Quetta.
He was presiding over the meeting of the cabinet at the Prime Minister’s Secretariat.
The cabinet congratulated the president on his successful participation in the NATO Summit held in Chicago and acknowledged the role played by the president in presenting Pakistan’s principled stand on various issues related to NATO.
The cabinet also expressed satisfaction over the outcome of the visit of Turkish prime minister to Pakistan. The cabinet appreciated the address of the Turkish prime minister to the Joint Session and for expressing his understanding with the stance taken by Pakistan over the NATO issue.
The Cabinet Committee on Energy chairman gave a presentation to the cabinet on the energy situation in the country. The prime minister directed that the Law Ministry should draft necessary legislation to deal severely with the issues of power theft, defaulters and recovery.
The cabinet reviewed the implementation status of cabinet decisions pertaining to State and Frontier Regions Division and Board of Investment. The cabinet was informed that 67% of its decisions pertaining to States & Frontier Regions had been implemented so far and the remaining were being implemented. The cabinet was further informed that 84% of its decisions pertaining to the Board of Investment had already been implemented and the remaining were under the process of implementation.
The cabinet considered and gave its approval for confirmation of the decisions taken by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) in its meeting held on May 15, 2012.
The cabinet reviewed its decision dated April 25, 2012 regarding amendment in the CDA Ordinance, 1960.
The cabinet also considered the proposal in its meeting held on April 25, 2012 and approved the proposed amendments in CDA Ordinance, 1960 with the directions that these amendments be made through an act of parliament instead of an ordinance.
The CDA was of the view that due to the influx of people to Islamabad, the residential problems needed to be resolved on an urgent basis, therefore, the aforementioned cabinet decision was required to be reviewed for onward submission to the president for promulgation of an ordinance instead of an act of parliament. The Finance Division gave a presentation to the cabinet on consumer price index to oversee/discuss the trend of prices of essential commodities.
The cabinet considered and accorded its approval to the signing of draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Military Technical Cooperation between the General Interim Committee for Defence in the Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and the Ministry of Defence. The signing would pave the way for broad-based military cooperation between the two countries.
The cabinet considered and accorded its approval for amendment in the Federal Employees Benevolent Fund and Group Insurance Act, 1969 (Act-II of 1969). The proposal to amend Section 4(1 )(c) of Federal Employees Benevolent Fund & Group Insurance Act, 1969 to be introduced by Law & Justice Division through official Bill was placed before the cabinet for its consideration/approval in terms of Rule 27(5)(a)(i) of the Rules of Business, 1973.
The cabinet considered and gave its approval for membership of the Inter-Governmental Organization for international Carriage by Rail (OTIF) and Accession (signing) of the Convention Concerning International Carriage by Rail (COTIF).
The cabinet also considered and gave its approval regarding signing of draft, convention between the government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the government of the Republic of Seychelles for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income.
The convention for avoidance of double taxation between the two countries would not only provide safeguards against double taxation on the incomes of the residents of the two countries, but will also promote economic cooperation and strengthen bilateral economic relations.
The prime minister also formed a four member committee headed by Makhdoom Muhammad Amin Faheem to look into the issue of law and order in Karachi and Sindh. The prime minister formed another committee headed by Farooq A Naik to look after the issue of missing persons in Balochistan.