Tag: Govt

LAHORE: The federal government has nothing to do with Article 295-C of the constitution but parliament has the authority to take any decision on the law, Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Secretary General Senator Jahangir Badar said on Saturday.
He made these remarks in a press conference at the Lahore Press Club. Badar said that the PPP respected the decisions of parliamentary standing committees and always honoured them but Article 295-C's fate would be decided in the

BAGHDAD: Iraq's new government should be in place by mid-December, putting an end to a months-long political impasse, Prime Minister-designate Nuri al-Maliki said on Saturday.
Maliki's remarks came two days after he was awarded a second term in the top job by President Jalal Talabani and given 30 days to form a cabinet, following a power-sharing deal that was agreed earlier this month. "My timetable is, mid-December I can form a government," he told reporters at a news conference

ISLAMABAD: The government has directed ministries to stop unauthorised use of official vehicles by ministers, secretaries and departmental heads. A letter issued by the Cabinet Division last week directed the ministries to take immediate steps to stop unauthorised use of official vehicles, as recommended by the PAC.
The letter said the ministers, secretaries and departmental heads could use one official vehicle each. The ministries were requested to submit surplus vehicles in the

ISLAMABAD: The federal government will not let the provincial governments off the hook if they attempt to politicise the Reformed General Sales Tax Bill in the provincial assemblies, a senior Finance Ministry official said on Saturday.
The official, on condition of anonymity, said the introduction of the reformed GST on goods and services was approved at the meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI). The chief ministers had attended the meeting and president of the main

ISLAMABAD: The federal government will not allow anyone to misuse the blasphemy law, Federal Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti said on Friday.
After attending a meeting of the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Minorities, Bhatti said, President Asif Ali Zardari had directed that a committee consisting of experts and scholars be set up to revisit and review the existing law so that innocent people could not be targeted.
He said a blasphemy case against Asia Bibi

ISLAMABAD: A three-member Supreme Court bench on Friday directed the federation to avoid delaying tactics and ensure presence of its counsel Abdul Hafeez Pirzada on the next hearing or engage another lawyer to plead the petitions challenging the appointment of Justice (r) Deedar Hussain Shah as National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman.
When the bench, comprising Justice Javed Iqbal, Justice Jawwad S Khawaja and Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, took up challenges to the

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Hafeez Shaikh on Wednesday said the government also needed to put its own house in order by reducing non-development expenditures and cutting the size of the federal cabinet to win the people's support on the Reformed General Sales Tax.
At a background briefing on the reformed GST, organised by the Information Ministry for newspaper editors and TV anchorpersons, the finance minister was asked whether he was in favour of cutting the size of the cabinet,

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has conveyed a tacit message to its allies and opposition parties that it will accommodate their recommendations in exchange for their support to the reformed general sales tax (GST) Bill.
A source told Pakistan Today that the federal government was in contact with its coalition partners and opposition parties to chalk out differences over the GST. "It has been decided to show some flexibility in order to appease the concerns of political parties

ISLAMABAD: Finalising its recommendations, the Senate Standing Committee on Finance has unanimously asked the government to withdraw sales tax on food items, medicine and education-related stationery material, as proposed in the Reformed General Sales Tax Bill 2010.
The committee also asked the government that flood surcharge should not be imposed on people or firms having annual income less than Rs 500,000.
The committee said that all the above-mentioned items were part and

ISLAMABAD: As Finance Minister Hafeez Shaikh on Tuesday told Senate that there was no other option but to implement the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the General Sales Tax (GST), the senators lambasted the government for not controlling corruption in its ranks and taxing the poor instead.
Rejecting the finance minister's sugar-quoted arguments in favour of the GST, the senators termed the new tax 'suicidal' for the already over-burdened people and asked

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Monday directed federal government to raise at international forums the issue of hosting blasphemous material against prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and Holy Quran on Facebook and other websites. Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry passed the instructions directing ministry of foreign affairs and ministry of information technology to submit a detailed report till next date of hearing about the steps taken to stop display of derogatory contents against Islam on

ISLAMABAD: Giving impetus to the power sector reforms, the government has announced dissolution of the existing board of directors of the all power distribution, generation and transmission companies with immediate effect from November 22.
An official notification on Monday issued said the existing boards will cease to function immediately and new boards will be notified as soon as possible. This decision has been made in the wake of ongoing power sector reforms.
Official

LAHORE: Jamatul Dawa under the name of Falah-e-Insaniat is collecting hides and donations on Eidul Azha despite ban by the interior ministry, Pakistan Today has learnt.
The Interior Ministry directed the Punjab Home Department and Punjab Police to ensure ban on some militant organisations including Jamatul Dawa. The organisation was observed marketing across the city, displaying stickers in various markets including Kareem Block market for donation.
It has also set up 24

ISLAMABAD: Condemning the attack on the Crime Investigation Department (CID) building in Karachi, members of the Senate on Friday held the government responsible for growing terrorism in the country.
Addressing the session, Pakistan people's Party Senator Raza Rabbani said the government had not implemented the recommendations of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, which had resulted in the unabated continuation of terrorist activities in the country.