Cabinet okays placement of amendment for FATA’s merger before parliament

• Cabinet decides to retain Gilgit-Baltistan Council as advisory body

ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet Tuesday approved the placement of draft constitutional amendment for the merger of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa before the parliament.

The decision was taken at the meeting of federal cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi held here at PM Office.

The cabinet was informed that Gilgit-Baltistan Council would be retained as an advisory body towards the functions of the federal government.

It was also informed that with the devolution of greater administrative and financial powers to the government of Gilgit-Balitistan, all the rights would be available to the citizens in GB as available to the people in other 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.  The decisions of the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE) taken during its meeting on October 12, 2017, were also ratified.

The federal cabinet also ratified the agreement between Pakistan and Bosnia on cooperation in the sphere of the defence industry. It also approved the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Pakistan and France.

The cabinet also approved the signing of a MoU between Educational Scientific Productive Complex International of Kyrgyzstan and the Allama Iqbal Open University of Pakistan in the field of distance education.

It approved the appointment of Ashtar Abbas, district and sessions judge (D&SJ) as judge of Banking Court-IV, Lahore.  The cabinet approved repatriation of Syed Zulfiqar Ali Shah, judge Banking Court-IV Karachi to High Court of Sindh. Ijlal Hyder Memon, D&SJ Tando Muhammad Khan, has been appointed in his place.

The cabinet also approved the extension in the tenure of Obaid Ahmed Khan, D&SJ as a special court (control of narcotics substance-II) Karachi for a further period of two years from May 7.

Appointment of Justice (r) Ch Shahid Saeed as chairman of Copyright Board in IPO-Pakistan was approved. The meeting further approved the reconstitution of the board of directors of Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) and also granted ex-post facto approval for the appointment of, PNSC, Karachi chairman.

Maximum retail prices of drugs were also approved during the meeting.

A proposal for inclusion of various items in the compulsory certification mark scheme of Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) was also approved. The cabinet also approved Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) Gas (Third Party Access) Rules, 2018.

The cabinet also approved National Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) policy and Digital Pakistan policy.

Approval was also granted for the signing of an agreement for the provision of grant facility for $14 million to Somalia. It also approved a proposal for the creation of Jinnah Visiting Professorship at London School of Economics.

Reconstitution of the board of directors of Pakistan Expo Centres (Pvt) Limited was approved.

The cabinet also approved the nomination of private sector members for the board of directors of Trade Development Authority of Pakistan.

On the other hand, a meeting of parliamentary leaders and representatives of various political parties chaired by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Tuesday discussed legislative matters pertaining to implementation of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) reforms.

The meeting was held here at the Prime Minister’s chamber in National Assembly, PM Office media wing said in a press release.

The meeting was attended by National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Leader of Opposition in the Senate Sherry Rehman, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Syed Naveed Qamar, Shireen Mazari, Sartaj Aziz,  Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, Haji Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, Shah Jee Gul Afridi, Sahibzada Tariqullah, Mir Hasil Bizenjo, Zahid Hamid, Haji Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, Lt Gen (r) Abdul Qadir Baloch, Barrister Zafarullah Khan, Mahmood Bashir Virk, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqi, Bilal Rehman and Syed Ghazi Gulab Jamal.